The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-08-30 00:00:00

LITERARY NOTICES.

Abbotiford Edition of Waverley, Nos. 8 and 9. Robert
Cadell, Edinburgh ; Houlston and Stoneman, London.

We have received Nos. S and 9 of this splendidly illus-
trated edition, and can conscientiously state that it improves
as the publication progresses. The present numbers contain
a portion of Guy Mannering ; and, in addition to the beau-
tiful steel engravings which accompany each number, the
woodcuts in each are of the highest class of excellence. In
particular we may mention the portraitures of Dominic
Sampson, Meg Merrilies, and Dirk Hatteraick, which bring
these well-known characters before us just as we have pic-
tured them in our mind's eye, or, rather, as the great magi-
cian has painted them for us. The golfing scene brings to
our mind for the first time a vivid picture of an amusement
which we have hitherto only imagined. The gem, however,
is contained in the last number, and consists of the inimitable
representation of Counsellor Pleydell seated at his game of
high jinks, surrounded by his learned subjects, with the im-
mortal Dandie Dinmont, in boots, spurs, whip and all, a
delighted spectator of the wondrous scene. The figure of
the Liddlesdale Yeoman alone is worth the price of the
number.

The New Statistical Account of Scotland. Blackwood and

Sons, Edinburgh and London.

We received No. XXXVIII. of this excellent work, con-
taining the conclusion of Banff, and part of the county of
Aberdeen. The information of every parish, its topography,
natural productions, agricultural and other resources; the
number, customs, and condition of its inhabitants, and its
civil history, its eminent men, its objects of antiquity or in-
terest, and its capabilities of improvement, forms a body of
information that cannot but be highly valuable to all who
desire to acquaint themselves with the characteristics of
" the Land of Cakes." The articles are written by gentle-
men (chiefly clergymen) of education, and evident experience
and research in their several localities, and the arrangement
under distinct heads is all that can be wished for reference;
while at the same time the work so abounds with interesting
historical lore, that it may be taken up at any time and
Perused with amusement as well as instruction. Now that a
complete and minutely defined survey, on a large scale, of
Great Britain in counties is in progress, at the instance of
the government, this work becomes more valuable, as it will
form a suitabl
maps which
weill7co e mpaniment to the splendid and accurate
re long, be laid before the public. As a
specimen of the general style, we quote promiscuously the
following passage :lard tip to the life and character of the late
amiable Earl of pin
ter, one of the most distinguished
noblemen of Banffshir:
" There have been few men,tp whom his country has been
so deeply indebted, considered Earl
the character of a peacefel
patriot, as to James sixth 4Findlater and third Earl of
Seafield, born 1714. To that distinguished individual, ap-
pertained the exclusive merit, of
, equelatsotate
agriculture, manufac-
tures, Scotland those improvements
, which, in the space
tures, and all kinds of useful industry,
of a few years, raised his country from
of semi-bar-
barism to a degree of civilization
improved districts of the south. His lordship
of the most
excellent education by foreign travel, whichiPe completed an
qua-
lified him for the distinguished part he was destined
qua-
the field of philanthropy. In 1754, he was appointed toc act in
the commissioners of Customs in Scotland; and in ell one o f
constituted one of the lords of police. He was one 1765 was
trustees for the improvement of fisheries and manutacturtes
and for the management of the forfeited estates in Scotland;
and attended to the business of these boards with the most
exemplary zeal and assiduity. Enthusiastic in his desire to
benefit his native land, the prime object of his ambition, he
conversed much with and greatly honoured men of letters
and persons of ingenuity in every profession, always endea-
vouring to convert whatever knowledge he by such means
acquired, to the improvement of his country. In these truly
patriotic pursuits, he succeeded to an extent altogether un-
paralleled in the annals of industrial improvements ; and his
name is still a household word over the north of Scotland,
being regarded as that of a man who, in his day and genera-
tion,proved . himself one of the most substancial benefactors
of his species. His lordship died at Cullin House, 3d No-
vember, 1770, in the fifty-sixth year of his age."

DREADFUL DEATH FROM SWALLOWING VITRIOLIC
ACID.—On Friday one of the mechanics employed in the
moulding department of Woolwich Dockyard died in the
Marine •Hospital, in consequence of the extensive internal
injuries he received by swallowing a large quantity of vitri-
olic acid. The deceased, it appears, was at work in the
workshops of the moulding department, and, becoming
thirsty, he took up a mug containing that destructive liquid,
conceiving it to be spring water, and took a draught, which
a
burnt his mouth and throat in dreadful manner. He was
conveyed to the hospital, where every attention was paid,
but after lingering for nearly 48 hours he expired, having
suffered the greatest agonies. It appears the acid is an arti-
cle frequently required in the work. The deceased, whose
, _ name was Edward Nicholson, was a Soong man only 25
.1 j, is pf age, and had but recently been. married.—London
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