The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-12-23 00:00:00

CHRISTMAS CUSTOMS

Now is come the Christmas.feast,
Let every man be jolly ; • . .
Each room with ivy leaves be drest,
And every post with holly.
Without the doer let sorrow lie,
And if, for cold, it hap to die,
We'll bury it in a Christmas pie,
And evermore be merry.

This is indeed the season of rest, of thankfulness, and of
festivity, to the rural life of England. It is by theip still
kept up nearly in the spirit of the olden time, with equal
sincerity, and certainly with more refinement. It is for se-
veral reasons interesting to read an account of the modes of
life led by former generations of farmers. Many instructive
reflections will arise from such a retrospect. Thus the cul-
tivator will see, from the account which Tusser gives of tae
customs of his days, that the tillers of the soil have in the
three last centuries benefitted very considerably, in many
respects, by the improvement of agriculture, by the better
rotation of crops, leading to the enlargement of their winter
stock of cattle and sheep, by the increase of knowledge, and
the consequent banishment of superstition. The " Book of
Husbandry" of Tusser is also interesting, from the informa-
tion it gives with regard to the household habits of the far-
mers of more than three centuries since. It is evident that
they then lived very much upon salt fish ; for in his direc-
tions for the farmer's diet, he mentions for Lent, herrings
and salt fish ; at Easter they had veal and bacon ; at Martin-
mas, beef; before the feast of St. John, mackerel; fresh
herrings at Michaelmas ; at Hallowtide, sprats and sparlings ;
for Christmas fare, they seemed to have all the modern stand-
ing dishes—

`• Good bread and good drink, a good fire in the ball,
Brown pudding and souse, and good mustard withal ;
Beef, mutton, and pork, shred pies of the best,
Pig, veal, goose, and capon, and turkey well drest."

They bought, in Tusser's time, stocks of salt fish, such as
would amaze a modern farmer in these Protestant days,
when, by the disuse of fasting, and by the increase of green
winter food, cattle and sheep are kept easily through the
winter, and fresh meat is always to be had. Few farmers
would now think of undertaking a Journey to buy fish ; yet,
he thus directed the farmer of the sixteenth century,—
" When harvest is ended, take shipping or ride
Ling, salt fish, and herring, for Lent to provide ;
Get home that is bought, and go stack it up dry,
With pease-straw between it, the safer to lie."

There is increased inducement now for the enjoyment of
" an Englishman's fireside," and there are few attractions to
lead us abroad. For, as Miller remarks in his " Beauties of
the Country," the woods are now bare and desolate ' • or if a
leaf or two remain upon the topmost boughs, they hang as
mournful remembrancers, like undestroyed captives exhibited
in triumph. The flowers are all gone ; we saw them decay one
by one from the flush of summer to the straggling ranks of
autumn ; while a few stood solitary, and braved the increasing
winds, until their rich colours were pale with watching, and
they also vanished. Earth, air, and water, but a little while
since teemed with life; there was a dashing in the rivers, a
rustling in the green branches and the long grass, and a sound
of mingled voices filling the fragrant air with harmony ; and
now all is silent but the turmoil of the elements. Beautiful
are these associations between man and nature—festivals and
flowers, rejoicings and green boughs. Izaak Walton felt this
when he " thought the fields too pleasant to be looked upon
excepting on holydays," Now. however, in open weather,
the fox-hound is busily labouring in his joyous vocation—
the sportsman revels in the full tide of enjoyment. Wild
fowl begin to be numerous, for in this month arrive, amongst
others, the brent goose, the black and red-throated divers,
the wild swan, the black, pin-tailed velvet, and elder ducks.
and the snow flake. The grey plover is almost the only de-
parture. There is little noticeable now in the vegetable
world, yet, as the author of "The Mirror of the Month's"'
remarks, the monthly or China rose begins to be again appre=
ciated. It has been flowering all the summer long for its
own peculiar satisfaction, and almost unnoticed amidst the
flush of fresher looking beauty that surrounded it ; but now
its pale blossoms,_ with their faint perfume, are the favourites
of the garden. Now, too, here and there start up those stray
gifts which have " no business" to be seen at this season, but
which, like fragments of blue sky scattered amidst black
clouds, remind us of the beautiful circle to which they belong
—we mean the little precious primroses, snow-drops, &c.,
that sometimes during this month find, or rather loose, their
way from their winter homes, where they ought now to be
hiding, and peep up with their pale faces, as if in search of
spring.

The Cheltenham stag-hounds, on Tuesday, had a narrow
escape of adding another item to the long catalogue of
" dreadful railway accidents." The meet had been the Rising
Sun, and the stag having given its pursuers a smart run
thence in a circuit round the town, crossed the railroad near
Badgeworth, just as one of the Glocester trains came up.
The foremost dog was instantly crushed beneath the car-
riages, and had the train been a few seconds later, the whole
of the pack must have shared the same fate, as the hounds
were at the moment coming full speed down the bank, but
the engine being at full speed also, the train had passed be-
fore they crossed in pursuit, followed by such of the fields as
were up at the time. The stag was captured all safe at Badge-
worth.—Cheltenham Looker-on.
DISTRESS AND DESTITIITION.—We are sorry to have to
record the death of a poor man named Coldwell, who died on
Saturday last from sheer destitution. From the evidence on
the inquest, it appeared that the deceased had been long out
of work, and subsisted by the kindness of neighbours almost
as poor as himself. On Saturday he attended prayers at the
Catholic Chapel, and was found in a kneeling posture, imme-
diately after the servicet.a. corpse. It seems strange, that in
a town where charity is ever going about seeking to do good,
that this poor fellow's distress should have escaped observa-
tion and been attended with so lamentable a result.—Chel-
tenhanz Exanziner.—At the inquest, held on Monday, a ver-
dict was returned of " Pied from want of the common neces-
saries of life."

STEAM SUMMARY.—The following steamers are fixed to
carry out the respective mails ;—Oriental, on the Ist of Jan-
uary, with the Mediterranean and East India; Caledonia,
on the 3rd of January, with the north American ; Royal Tar,
on the 17th, with the Peninsular. The Clyde is still in dock
under repairs. The Thames has, arrived at the Havannab
with 300,000 dollars on board. The Peninsular and Oriental
Cpmpany intend from February to book passengers all the
way between Calcutta, Madrns, nncrlanri. in-
cluding the transit thronah Egypt. The same company.t In-
tend despatching the Tagus on an ex
gittliCaeukttgendoVP4st.3,oPlA' Pie Treetta l trip
callingp l w
Synope, and
Sansoun. The Napoleon steamer has been launched at
Havre—length, 159 feet : greatest breadth, 284 feet ; draught
of water, laden 12 feet; 120-horse power; diameter of the
screw 7 feet 8 inches ; length of the screw, 3 feet 4 inches ;
she is rigged with three masts. A new steamer, named
Paul, has been laid down at Brest, and is to be launched on
the 20th; she is 167 feet long, and 60-horse power. Two
very fine new steamers, of about 800 tons each, with engines
of 260 horse power, are now in the East India Dock, on the
point of departure from Constantinople ; they have been con-
structed for the Russian Government, and are destined to
ply in the Black Sea and Bosphorus.—Railway Magazine.

SCULPTURE.-Mr. Park, whose name is well known to
the public by the execution of many successful works in
sculpture, and who may justly be considered one of the most
imaginative sculptors of the day, is at present engaged in a
colossal representation of Ixion on the Wheel. On visiting
his studio the other day in George-street, Hampstead-road,
we were much struck with the commencement of this diffi-
cult undertaking. Instead of binding Ixion to the wheel with
cords, the artist has supposed him to be fastened to the in-
strument of torture by serpents, and by this arrangement he
certainly gains much in pictorial effect, as it will allow of
considerable contrast in the position of the limbs. Mr.
Park's design is at once energetic and expressive. In the
same studio we noticed some beautifully finished busts.
One of Mrs. Robertson of Dulwich, appeared to be remarka-
ble for the elegant poise of its head, and its soft, delicate,
and feeling execution. A recumbent figure, the daughter of
the same lady, is pervaded by all the artlessness of youthful
innocence. We observed, also, among many others of emi-
nent personages, a bust of Lord Jeffrey, an admirable like-
ness and full of character ; a bust of Mr. Scott of Teviot-
bank, a relative of Sir Walter, modelled with a soft, yet firm
touch, and with a fine expression, and two excellent busts of
Dr. Walmsley and Mr. Jardine, engineers, of Edinburgh.
An heroic figure of a Greek combatant attracts theattention
in Mr. Park's studio, not only on account of the correctness
of its anatomical details, but of the idea of the composition,
which is original and fine, and deserves high commendation.
—Morning Chrouicle.

A letter from Malta, of the 30th ult., gives the following
remarks on affairs in China, collected from the lips of a Bri-
tish officer passing through that island on his way home from
the expedition at Nankin. Though brief, they are very much
to the purpose :—" The Tartars are prodigiously fine athletic
men, and very courageous. The Chinese population are ex-
ceedingly well 'disposed towards us. On one occasion, when
the British wished to attack the Chinese or Tartar troops, a
dense population of Chinese stood between them. and when
the latter saw signs for them to withdraw they did so, and
upon the British making the attack, the Chinese clapped
their hands and laughed. The quality of cloth of the British
officers was greatly admired, and it appears probable that a
great demand will arise for woollen goods in particular, and
our commerce with China generally may be vastly increased.
There is'plenty of coal in China, it being used as fuel. The
houses of the rich are magnificently furnished, and the ladies
of rank splendidly dressed. The captain of the French fri-
gate Erigone, which was lying in the Yang-tse-Keang river,
proceeded to Nankin in his boat, and contrived to get into
the cabin of the Cornwallis, where the treaty was signed. Sir
William Parker would not request him to withdraw, but he
was much annoyed at it, as it had been his intention to in-
troduce him afterwards to the Chinese commissioners. He
is represented to be a shrewd clever man. What would the
French have said, had a British captain, under similar cir-
cumstances, intruded himself on board a French Admiral's
ship 1"
• INDIA JOINT-STOCK BANKING.—The following is an ex-
tract from a letter, published in India, as to the fitness of
joint-stock banking for Bombay :--" In ordef4p convey to
your minds a clearer idea of the evils of advancing upon pro-
duce, which everybody knows perfectly well the tendency of
the bank's operations will be to perpetuate, and of discount-
ing and making advances of a longer date than three months,'
I shall quote, as a practical illustration, a case which the
greater number of you must be familiar—l allude to the
bankruptcy of Messrs. Ferguson, Turner, and Co., of Bom-
bay. The failure of that firm is to be ascribed to precisely
the same causes which brought about the panic in 1825, viz.,
' the extreme facility with which discounts and advances were
procured upon bills at long dates,' both of which branches
of business are to be taken up by the Bank of Western India.
The facilities thus afforded to that firm by their bankers
furnished them with, the means of entering into speculations
which eventually resulted in their ruin, and but for the great
wealth of their bankers, and the assistance rendered them by
their friends to prevent their landed property from being
forced suddenly into the market and sold at a sacrifice, would
probably have brought them down also. One adventure into
which the command of money furnished by their bankers
tempted them to embark was a speculative purchase of iron;
in fact, the whole stock at that time in Bombay, in the ex-
pectation that the price would advance. Prices, which these
speculative purchases in themselves contributed to enhance,
did accordingly rise, so long as they continued to purchase,
and when they ceased, the utmost quantity that was sold at
a profit was, I believe, a few candles by retail. Prices were
nominally high, but there were no purchasers ; indeed con-
siderable quantities of the metal were re-imported into
Bombay from various subordinate ports in Guzerat and the
Coucan ; fresh importations also took place in the usual course
from England; and prices from having been forced up to an
unnatural height, speedily fell, leaving the adventure to be
wound up with an enormous loss. This was one of the causes
of the downfall of the house. If Messrs. Ferguson, Turner,
and Co., had been obliged to pay the money they' borrowed
from their bankers to purchase this iron at a short date, the
speculation would have been prevented, and the house most
probably would have been still in existence: Yet bills (that
is your money to be lent) at a long date is a branch of busi-
ness to be undertaken by the Bank of Western India ! The
more immediate cause of their downfall was overtrading in
cotton; and here again they were supplied with ' advances'
by their bankers—that is, with money by which they were
enabled to enter the market, and purchase the cotton. These
inordinate speculations resulted in their downfall. Do I al-
lude to this in reproach I—No ; I do it with sorrow, in order
to illustrate the evils of a system which all the world (and
you also, shareholders, by this time) must be perfectly aware
will be encouraged and aggravated by the new bank."