The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-10-21 00:00:00

VARIETIES.

THE NUTMEG STATE.—The following toast was given ai
a public dinner in the nutmeg producing state of Connecticut
viz.—" The NUTMEG State. Where shall we find a grater ?'

SWAPPING WIVES.—" John, I wish it was as much the
fashion to trade wives as it is to trade horses." " Why so,
Peter ?" " I'd cheat somebody most shockin bad afore
night."—New Orleans Balletin.
STAYMAKER'S PUN.--A poor corset maker, out of work,
and starving, thus vented her miserable complaint :
" Shame that I should be without bread, I that have stayed
the stomachs of thousands.
- -

JUST SENTIMENT.—A noble heart will disdain to subsist,
like a drone, upon the honey gathered by others' labour—
like a leech, to filch its food out of the public granary—or
like a shark, to prey on the lesser fry ; but will one way or
other earn his subsistence.

ANTI-MATRIMONIAL PARISH.—A correspondent informs
us that the parish of Silchester, famed far and near for its
remains as a Roman town, is scarce less worthy of note for
the numbers of bachelors and spinsters it contains. Some
time since, at a vestry dinner held there, it was a remarkable
be,, that there was not a married man amongst the party,
which consisted of seven ; and on a reccnt occasion, when a
gentlema❑ from a distant county, by way of example, led
one of the damsels of the neighbourhood to the altar, the
minister could not tell him the amount of the fees, declaring,
that though he had been in office for ten years, this was
the first marriage by license that had taken place.—Berkshire
Chronicle.

THE FRENCH REGALIA.—The general inventory of the
diamonds, pearls, and jewels of the Crown of France was
first made under the empire in 1810. A versification of that
inventory took place under Louis XVIII on his return from
Ghent, whither those jewels had been carried during the
hundred days ; and all the different pieces having been taken
usurider, the diamonds, pearls and jewels, which composed
them weighed and valued, it was found that those jewels
amounted in number to 61,312, that they weighed 18,751 7-
32 carats, and were worth 20,900,260 f. A new versification
was lately made, in virtue of the law of the 2nd of March,
1832, by Messrs. Bapst and Lazare, the jewellers of the
Crown, and no change was found either in their number,
weight, or value.—Commerce.
THE ABOMINABLE DOCTRINE OF INDULGENCES.—Ac-
cording to the doctrine of the Romish Church, all the good
works of saints, over and above those which were necessary
for their own justification, are deposited, together with the
infinite merits of Jesus Christ, in one inexhaustible treasury.
(Who these saints were it is hard to know, for the true
saints of Christ never had works sufficient even fur them-
selves ; for they were justified by faith only). The keys of
this were committed to St. Peter (poor Peter never had
such keys), and to his successors the popes (a monstrous
figment), who may open it at pleasure, and by transferring a
portion of this superabundant merit to any particular person
for a sum of money (this discloses the whole secret,—the
very end of the impious device), may convey to him either
the pardon of his own sins, or a release for any one in whose
pardon he is interested from the pains of purgatory (a place
falsely taught to exist to gain money). Such indulgences
were first invented in the eleventh century (an age, not of
faith, as the Tractarians teach us, but of gross superstition
and abject credulity) by Pope Urban 11., as a recompense
for those who went in person upon the meritorious enterprise
of conquering the Holy Land. They were afterwards
granted to those who hired a soldier for that purpose ; and
in process of time were bestowed on such as gave money (no
pardons without money at Rome!) for accomplishing any
pious work enjoined by the pope.—Dr. Robertson's Works,
vol. v. p. 76.

•
THE POPISH SYSTEM OF COMPOSITION FOR CRIMES.—
As the idea of composition for crimes was then familiar (that
is, during the dark ages), this strange traffic was so far from
shocking mankind, that it soon became general (so that it
could plead " unanimous consent"); and in order to prevent
any imposition in carrying it on, the officers of the Roman
Chancery published a book, containing the precise sum to be
exacted for the pardon of every particular sin. A deacon
guilty of murder was absolved for twenty crowns (:£5.) A
bishop, or abbot, might assassinate for three hundred livres
(.£l2. 10s.) Any ecclesiastic might violate his vows of
chastity, even with the most aggravating circumstances (by
rape or adultery) for the third part of that sum (about £4.)
Even such shocking crimes as occur seldom in human life,
were taxed at a very moderate rate. (And this is the Holy
Catholic Church, governed by infallible Popes !)—ld. p., 101.
QUEEN MARY'S HUNTING IN ATHOL, AND HER MA-
JESYY'S VISIT TO BREADALBANE.—An interesting pa-
rallel to the deer-hunting and oth, r amusements in honour
of the visit of her Majesty and her illustrious Consort to the
Highlands is afforded in a similar excursion by the unfortu-
nate Queen Mary. These " royal huntings" were con-
ducted on a scale of rude grandeur, and those who engaged
in them were exposed to such rough mishaps and danger as
would deter the timid from encountering them. The gentle
Mary, however, was not of so timid a spirit, but took an ac-
tive part in the fray which perilled the lives of the most dex
terous and intrepid, as will be seen from the following curious
account of the visit of this sovereign to the highlands of
Perthshire, and the grand hunting in which she took part,
given by an eye witness—Barclay. (Monarchornacus);—" In
the year 1563 the Earl of Athol, a prince of the blpod royal,
had, with much trouble and vast expense, a hunting-match
for the entertainment of our most illustrious and most
gracious Queen. Our people call this A Royal Hunting.'
I was then a young man, and was present on the occasion.
2,000 Highlanders, or wild Scots, as you call them here,
were employed to drive to the hunting-ground all the deer
from the woods and hills of Athol, Badenoch, Mar, Moray,
and the counties about. As these Highlanders use a light
dress and are very swift of foot, they went up and down so
nimbly, that in less than two months' time they brought
together 2,000 red deer, besides roes and fallow deer. The
Queen, the great men, and others were in a glen when all
the deer were brought before them. Believe me, the whole
body of them moved forward in something like battle order.
This sight still strikes me, and ever will, for they had a leader
whom they followed close wherever he moved. This leader
was a very fine stag with a very high head. The sight de-
lighted the Queen very much, but she soon had occasion for
fear, upon the Earl, who had been accustomed to such sights,
addressing her thus :—` Do you observe that stag who is
foremost of the herd ? There is danger from that stag ; for
if either fear or rage should force him from the ridge of that
hill, let every one look to himself, for none of us will be out
of the way of harm ; for the rest will follow this one, and,
having thrown us under foot, they will open a passage to this
hill behind us.' What happened a moment after confirmed
this opinion ; for the Queen ordered one of the best dogs to
be let loose on one of the deer; this the dog pursues—the
leading stag is frighted, he flies by the same way he had
come there, the rest rush after him, and break out where the
thickest body of the Highlanders was. They had nothing
for it but to throw themselves flat on the heath, and allow
the deer to pass over them. It was told the Queen that se-
veral of the Highlanders had been wounded, and that two or
three had been killed outright, and the whole body had got off,
had not the Highlanders, by their skill in hunting, fallen
upon a stratagem to cut off the rear from the main body. It
was of those that had been separated that the Queen's dogs
and those of the nobility made slaughter. There were killed
that day 360 deer, with five wolves and some roes."