The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-11-22 00:00:00

CORRESPONDENCE

TO THE 'WOODSIDE COMMISSIONERS

Cunt lutulentusflueret erat, q

!zod tonere relies I

Most worthy and worshipful Woodside commissioners,
If you e'er take a hint from your brother parishioners,
I entreat you at once, without any delays,
Set about instantaneously " mending your ways"!
For with every shower there comes such a flood,
(Like O'Connell and Hume,) you " stick fast in the mud
No sagacity 's wanting, I'm sure, to remark,
That, if bad in the day, 'tis twice wors
A hint from a stranger I'm sure
You know " those who look on "

in the dark !

in won't blame

must see " n;ost of the

How much worse (for we know that it might come to pass)
If some Papist again try to let off the gas!
Yes, he must be a Papist—l'm sure I am right;
For the Papists, of all, most object to the light
I perceived their attempt, but not I,n,,win,g a soul,
The best person to tell was, I thought, Mr. Cole!
Of course he looked black when he heard of the case,
Nor indeed was he slack to proclaim the disgrace.
See what beautiful roads HE made outside the town, •
And I trust that success will his energies crown.
Would you'd get him to mend—what road's worse, in repair
Than from Trinity Church. on the left, to the Square ?
Unless for our low lands we use High-land kilts,
Or, abandoning boots, walk about upon stilts,
Our lives are not safe—'tis beyond all endurance—
For our " policy " now must be one of insurance
If we haste to the boat or back, no matter which,
We are oft on the point to fall into the ditch,
Or rather the pit, you intend for a bath!
Now all this would be saved if you made us a path.
To be "Knight a' the Bath" some might think it a bliss,
But who'd be benighted in baths such as this?
Pray take, sirs, this hint ; for you know, I am sure,
That " prevention is ever far better than cure ;"
Unless you engage Mr. Pike by the year,
To dive after all who perchance fall in here!
Out of mercy he jumped into Mersey's pure stream,
But (except for a Hero) plunge here he'd ne'er dream.'
The road opposite this, and with it parallel,
Is alike "ups and downs"—wants repairing, as well.
If you take my advice, you'll contract fur the whole,
And, to have it done properly, give it to Cole.
But don't wait till spring, till the wet shall have dried,
Or some wag will, I fear, call the town land Mud-side ;
Pave with Kyanised timber, each pathway and street,
And then you'll have " Woodside," and Woodside complete
TOUJOURS PRET.
Woodside, Nov. 21st.

TOXTETH-PARK ROADS

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD

I beg to call the attention of the proper authorities to the
shocking state in which the foot-walks are in Toxteth-park.
They are really so dirty that it is far preferable walking in
the middle of the road, than getting over shoe top in mud.
Representations have been frequently made, hut to no pur-
pose ; and I assure you that I am only speaking the senti-
ments of all the pedestrians on that road ; and it certainly is
disgraceful to any parties who have the management of public
affairs that they have so long neglected their duty. A consi-
derable sum has been lately spent in levelling the road near
St. James's Church ; but if the foot-walks had been attended
to, which really wanted improvement, and even a single flag
laid down, which would be a great benefit, it would have
given more general satisfaction to the rate-payers; and really
while the taxes are so great, it is only reasonable to expect
something ought to be done. _

Hoping this public application may have a beneficial effect,

I remain, Sir, yours, &c.,

A. RESIDENT

THE " MERCURY'

AND TUITION

TO TILE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD

SlR,—The Mercury of last Friday contains some remarks
about the salaries given to the masters of church schools.
The writer also states, that the teacher ought to be as well
paid for his arduous duties as the minister is for service not
more important, and much less difficult. The sentiment is
in perfect accordance with the high toned liberality and im-
partial justice so often expressed, and so loudly proclaimed
by many of the same party ; but is it in perfect accordance
with their practice ? Do they place in their own schools
men of greater talent than are to be found in ours? If so;
what salaries do they pay them ? Is there one teacher of a
free school of the Liberals (?) who gets £lOO a-year ? Or
is there any branch of education taught at any of their schools
which is not equally well taught at ours? lam not asking
what Mr. Yates SAID he " would have taught to the working
classes." lam not asking what any one said in the council,
or at ward meetings ; but I am asking what is practised ?
Where are Latin, and mathematics, and natural philosophy
taught? And I would thank the writer in the Mercury for
distinct answers to these distinct questions.
A stranger, judging from the humane and truly liberal
sentiments expressed at anti-corn-law meetings, would think
that certain gentlemen—and of honourable women not a
few—were most warm-hearted in the spread of knowledge
amongst the poor, and that the teachers of their schools were
living on the fat of the land. I find, however, that the
enthusiasm about the elevation of the working classes is fre-
quently expended in the effervescence of public meetings,
and soon subsides into a smooth milk-and-water level when
removed from the public eye; that the knowledge which
they are so anxious to disseminate is such as leads to a dis-
satisfaction with the laws and religion of the country ; and
that they give themselves as little trouble about Latin,
mathematics, or natural philosophy, as those who consider
these branches useless to the working classes; that they pay
their • teachers less salaries than are paid to some of our
church school masters ; and that the education given in their
schools, making some allowance for the show made for the
satisfaction of visitors, is in no respect better than the educa-
tion given in church schools.
We have, perhaps, erred in giving the Liberal party too
much credit " for their honest intentions," without searching
into their mode of realizing these intentions. The comparison
between what one party does and what another SAYS ought
to be done, is not a fair way to determine their respective
merits.
The frequency with which such liberalism has been forced
before the public, and the importunity with which some men
clamoured to get " a good education given to the working
classes," induced us to institute some inquiries. The result
is such as to satisfy us of the hollowness of these pyramids of
morality, and the selfishness and parsimony of these patterns
of generosity.—Tours, &c.,
INVESTIGATOR.
London Road, November 21, 1842.

" REMARKS UPON THE CONVERSION OF M
ALPHONSO RATISBONNE TO ROMANISM."

This title is given to an article in the last July number
of the Jewish Intelligence, where an account may be found
of the great politeness shown by the Pope to a rich Jew of
Strasburg, aged 28, who is described as wandering alone
through Italy towards the East. It appears that during his
sojourning at Rome this young Israelite had " felt himself
touched by a profound emotion, which he could not explain,
in the church of Ara Cteli, near the capitol ;" that he pos-
sessed certain objects of interest, such as medals, blessed by
his holiness, and ornamented with representations of the Vir-
gin Mary, as well as other matters equally worthy the adora-
tion of a thinking being; that having plied these things dili-
gently with the aid of a friend, who incessantly teazed him
with legends, and Roman sight-seeing, and supplied him with
proper prayers to the Virgin, he at last brought his efforts to
a genuine Roman crisis, and, on the night of the 19th of Ja-
nuary, to all men be it known, instead of a sleep, he had a
Vision,—" a vision of the design which exists on the reverse
of his medal." The following day he had another vision,
" precisely the same as the design on the obverse of his me-
dal ;" and here the miracle was completed. We cannot fail
to commend the Israelite more or less in this matter,—the
reverse and the obverse he had passed in review,—Jews
mostly look on both sides of a coin, but we are disposed to
find some little fault with the editor of the Intelligence for
giving a serious notice of this ridiculous performance, when
we need only know the dramatis person& to guess at the cha-
racter of the acting : the Pope, a wandering Jew, a quantum
suflicit of cardinals, Baron Theodore de Bussiere and com-
pany • the scene being placed in one of the modern Roman
temples, well furnished with images of beautiful virgins,
equal to so many graces, and with the true effigies of various
saints, equal to so many Gods ; so that the stage being good,
and the actors well chosen, the thing could not fail to go off
well, as the duty as well as the pleasure of the spectators was
to attend, to believe, and admire. How, after his vision,
Ratisbonne called out " I have seen her, I have seen her,"
we need not stop to consider, but he is said to have proceeded
forthwith, in company with his friend, to relate his short
tale before a confessor, sighing for instant baptism, and even
martyrdom. The 31st of January was a great festival in
Rome, for then Ratisbonne was baptised in the—Jesuit
Church, by his reverence the Cardinal Vicar. During the
preparatory devotions the young Israelite clasped fervently
the rosary which he held in this hand, and gazed on the me-
dal which was attached to it, as if to derive from it fortitude
to bear him through all the events of the day. After the
psalms, &c., followed the Cardinal's breathing upon him
thrice, to expel demons, the prayers of exorcism, the tasting
of " the salt of wisdom," the prostration of the convert in the
porch, and his kissing the Cardinal's stole ; then the baptism
of water, a sermon, and mass. He was soon after presented
to the Holy Father, who received him with expressions of
the greatest kindness, and presented him with a crucifix
blessed by his own hand.

REFLECTIONS.—Many have joined the Freemasons and
Other secret societies for the sake of knowing their mysteries,
or for that of knowing whether they had any, and I can easily
imagine a prying son of Abraham desiring to get behind the
sacerdotal veil of Roman performances, and to study the
moral and mental curiosities of the Eternal City, on his way
to the holy land. After all we would rather give him credit
for his sincerity, and suppose that by staring at the sirgin
he became sufficiently hypnotized, and really saw both sides
of the medal, which could not fail to have a miraculous effect,
as we shall readily understand by viewing the matter philoso-
phically, and recollecting that. he had his first vision when
wide awake, on the very night that he could not sleep,—that
he saw the reverse first, and afterwards the obverse of the
medal, and that plenty of time was allowed for turning the
object between the first and the second appearances. " After
the vision Ratisbonne became quite fanatical," kissed the
medal, and called out as before remarked, "I have seen her,
I have seen her," and next. in St. Peter's was overpowered
by the real presence of the sacramental wafer, and displayed
too many other items of miraculous condition to allow us to
mention them here. It is a pity that moral definitions are
not more like certain mathematical ones, that are short and
self-evident, for then, perhaps, we might be allowed a concise
illustration of this matter, in the expression, that "what is
not sense, must be nonsense," and we need not take the
trouble to examine whether or no this " miraculous conver-
sion". were in any way analagous to that of St. Paul, or
this
ingenious comparison has already been instituted;which re-
minds us indeed of nothing so much as an expression of Lord
Bacon, that, amongst philosophers, some are distinguished
by an extraordinary talent for discovering. resemblances
things, whilst others are famous for detecting their dissimi-
larity
; for indeed the Romanists must belong to the former
class, who discover that the infidels who accompanied Paul
resembled the priests at Rome ; that the sight of the medal
was like the sound of the voice ;. that the Strasburg merchant
was like the apostle of the Gentiles; that Gamaliel was the
prototype of the Mayor of Strasburg, whose Common Coun-
cil, no doubt, should be compared to the Sanhedrim of Je-
rusalem ; nor should it surprise us that men who have the
power of discovering such resemblances, should not be able
to distinguish between Christianity, which we may call the
religion of Jesus, and Romanism, which might well be styled
the religion of Mary. X. Y. Z.

Loss OF THE WATERLOO CONVICT SHIP.—It appears by
a reference to Lloyd's Register of Shipping, that the Water-
loo stands ./E 1, that is, a second-rate vessel of the first class ;
she bad a new deck and large repairs in 1833—bad her damages
i repaired n 1836—refitted, doubled, and coppered in 1839, and
sundry repairs in 1842. She was surveyed by the East India
Company's surveyor in April of the present year, and sailed
on her ill.fated voyage in June last. By the same registerit
appears that the Abercrombie Robinson, a vessel lost at the
same time and place as the Waterloo, stands on the same let-
ter with scarcely any repairs.—Globe.

S 113,1)

GARDENING OPERATIONS FOR THE WEEK.

VEGETABLE GARDEN-lii-doOr Department

Pinery.—Where the flue runs near the tan-bed, the latter
is liable to become very dry ; where this is the case, it should
be frequently moistened with water, and the plants will also
require to be more frequently looked to than those at a dis-
tance from the flues. Ripening fruit should be set in the
hottest part of the house.

Grapery.—Houses;containing grapes will now require a
little fire-heat during the day, and, if the weather will per:nit,
the top lights should be opened a few inches. Remove all
decayed leaves from the vines; and cut out the rotten berries
as soon as they are observed.

Peach-house.---The trees in the late houses may be pruned
immediately the leaves have fallen, as the same reasons can-
not be given for leaving them unpruned till spring that are
given for leaving those against the open walls unpruned till
that time : the fruit-buds can be discerned as well now, by
those having any knowledge of the matter, as at any time.
Fig-house,,,--The temperature of the house should never
be allowed to get much below 40 deg., or the figs will receive
injury. Those in pots may be removed to any house main-
taining that degree of heat.
Prune and nail vines and other fruit trees as before recom-
mended. Brush the leaves off the peach and nectarine trees
with a new birch broom, and unnail the small shoots. Fig-
trees will, in some situations, require to be protected. This
may be done in a variety of ways, but we prefer gathering
the shoots into several bundles, after being unnatled, and
wrapping mats round them.