The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-11-12 00:00:00

SELECTIONS.

STAFFORDSHIRE EARTHENWARE.—if we compare
the common earthenware of England with that of the
French and Germans, or of any other nation, it appears
not only excellent in quality, but also highly ornamental
urid unsurpassably beautiful. The common French and
German earthenware is comparatively ugly, coarse, and
misshapen. On the other hand, English porcelain, par-
ticularly those articles in which beauty and elegance are
the main paints aimed at, are far behind those of the con-
tinent. I believe there is something characteristic of the
English in this. In articles of ordinary use, the English
seem better than we to know how to combine excellence
of quality with outward elegance and beauty, whereas in
those articles in which grace and beauty alone are to be
kept in view, the English are never equally successful.
Their tools, their furniture, their machines, their knives
and scissors, their bread, their joints of meat, are not only
excellent, vigorous, and nutritious, but also beautifully
formed, and not to be at all surpassed ; whereas, their
pictures, their sculptures, their pasties, and their cakes,
and, in short, everything in which fancy takes precedence
of usefulness, are far behind ours in excellence. Look,
not merely at the earthenware of the French, but at their
tools and their implements of gardening and agriculture.
They are all strikingly rude and little suited to thepurposes
they are intended for. Even the common bread in France
is inferior to that used in England. On the other hand,
how much loftier flights of fancy are displayed by the
French in works of art.—Ktnol's England.

CHARACTER OF LORD ELLENDOROUGH.—Lord Ellen-
borough possessed many qualities which, had they not
been neutralized or vitiated, would have earned for him
much admiration as a statesman and much affection as a
man. He had abilities of no common order, great quick-
ness of perception, extraordinary ardour of tempera-
ment, unquestionable courage, amd indefatigible industry.
The moral sense was not very strong—as the appropria-
tion of Sindh amply testifies ; but he was capable of acts
of justice and moderation, and sometimes exhibited in his
conduct the gederosity of a great mind. His impulses
were often kindly, often noble ; and his errors were sel-
dom the growth of mean and corrupt motives. There
was nothing inherently low in his nature; but he was
subject to very strong prejudices, which be had not
always the magnanimity to resist, and which therefore
sometimes caused him to commit mean and unworthy
actions. As in his policy, so in his personal bearing, he
was impulsive and uncertain. With strong predilections
and strong antipathies, which sometimes alternated
towards the same individual, he., was by turns courteous
and uncourteous, attractive and repulsive, now produc-
ing impressions of deep gratitude, now of ineradicable dis-
like. Though he often showed great kindliness and con-
descension towards individuals, he at other times betrayed
an utter disregard for theirf eelings ; and hesitated neither,
as the whim led him, to caress nor to strike those beneath
him. In this manner he made many enemies and many
friends, and the different judgments which have been pas-
sed upon him by different parties can never afford matter
for surprise. There is generally in the public treatment
of an individual a just compensation in the end; his
virtues are exaggerated by one party, his vices by another,
and the undue enthusiasm of his friends is balanced by the
undue bitterness of his enemies. Thus has it been with
Lord Ellenborough.—Calculta Review.
BURLEIGH HOUSE.—Burleigh House, near Stamford,
Lincolnshire, the seat of the Marquis of Exeter, to which
the Queen pays her next visit, is a magnificent Gothic
pile, remarkable for grandeur and for various interesting
associations. The founder of the family was the famous
Cecil, the cautious and wise minister of Elizabeth. Here
are collected some of the richest paintings of the ancient
masters, including the famous Salvetor Mundi by Carla
Dolce, which Sir Walter Scott said was " worth a king's
ransom," and for which six thousand guineas were of-
fered. It is a small enamel-like picture, of transparent
purity and brilliancy of colouring. The groves and park
of Burleigh are worthy the splendid mansion, and were
admired by Dryden, who translated the seventh book of
the .tEneid in this patrician and hospitable residence.•
flazlitt has related a story of Burleigh House more touch-
ing and romantic than any fiction. The late Earl of Exe-
ter had been divorced from his first wife, a woman of
fashion, and of somewhat more gaiety of manner than,
` lords who love their ladies like.' He determined to seek
out a second wife in a humbler sphere of life, and that it
should be one who, having no knowledge of his rank,
should love him for himself alone. For this purpose he
went and settled incognito (under the name of Jones) at
Hodnet, an obscure village in Shropshire. He made over-
tures to one or two damsels in the neighbourhood, but
they were too knowing to be taken in by him. His man-
ners were not boorish, his mode of life was retired, it was
odd how he got his livelihood, and at last he began to be
taken for a highwayman. In this dilemma, lie turned to
Miss Moggins, the eldest daughter of a small farmer, at
whose house he lodged. Miss Hoggins, it would seem,
had not been used to romp with the clowns ; there was
something in the manners of their quiet but eccen'ric
guest that she liked. As he found that be had inspired
her with that kind of regard which he wished for, he made
honourable proposals to her, and, at the end of some
months, they were married, without him letting her know
who he was. They set off in a post-chaise from her fa-
ther's house, and travelled homewards across the country.
In tbis manner they arrived at Stamford, and passed
through the town without stopping, till they came to the
entrance to Burleigh Park, which is on the outside of it.
The gates flew open, the chaise entered, and drove up the
long avenue of trees that leads up to the front of this fine
old mansion. As they drew nearer to it, and she seemed
a little surprised where they were going, he said, ` Well,
my dear, this is Burleigh House; it is the home I have
promised to bring you to, and you are the Countess of
Exeter I' It is said the shock of this discovery was too
much for this young creature, and that she never reco-
vered it. It was a sensation worth dying for. The world
we live in was worth making, had it only been for this. Ye
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