The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-02-01 00:00:00

Oottrp.

THE FALL OF THE OAK,

PiN AUTUMN SCENT

;lorious tree is the old gray oak,
He has stood for a thousand years,
He has stood and frown'd
On the woods around,
Like a king among his peers.
round their king they stand, so now,
When the flowers their pale leaves fold,
e tall trees stand around him arrayed,
In their robes of purple and gold.

e autumn sun looks kindly down,
But the frost is on the lea,
And sprinkles the horn
Of the owl, at morn,
As she hies to the old oak tree,
Not a leaf is stirred,
Not a sound is heard
But the thump of the thresher's flail,
The low wind's sigh,
Or the distant cry ;

Of the hound on the fox's trail,

forester, he has whistling plunged,
With his axe in the deep wood's gloom,
That shrouds the hill
Where few and chill,
The sun-beams straggling come:

brawny arm he has bared f and laid
His axe at the foot of the tree,
The old gray oak,
And with lusty stroke,
He wields it merrily :

With lusty stroke,
And the old gray oak,
Through the folds of his gorgeous vest
You may see him shake,
And the night-owl bleak
From her perch on his leafy crest.
She will come but to find him gone from where
He stood, at the break of day ;
Like a cloud that peals as it melts to air,
He has past, with a crash, away.

Though the spring in bloom and the frost in gold
No more his limbs attire,
On the stormy wave
He shall float and brave
The blast and battle fire :
Shall spread his white wings to the wind,
And thunder on the deep,
As he thundered when
His bough was green
On the high and stormy steep.

ROMANTIC STORY

(From L'Audience.)

At a recent sitting of the Criminal 'Court of Tambof. a
province of Russia, 283 peasants were tried on a charge of
putting to death a Russian noble, under circumstances of a
shocking but romantic character, of which the following are
the details:—

On the evening in question all was merriment in the cha-
teau of Sokolin-Slaw. Gaiety and festivity were the order
of the day. Around a table richly and plentifully supplied
with the choicest viands sat 12 young officers wearing the
costume of the Starobouro regiment. The owner of the
chateau (M. Meerzeeloff,) aged about 22, had assembled his
comrades to celebrate, in a manner worthy the occasion, a
piece of good fortune which had happened to him, and to
commence with gaiety the enjoyment of an immense patri-
mony, of which he had just come in possession. " Another
glass of champagne," said Meerzeloff, taking up the bottle,
and pouring forth its sparkling contents.
" To the health of the child of fortune," cried all around,
as they followed his example in filling their glasses. "In
good faith," said one of the guests, "what is that?" de-
manded the amphytrion. " They are not wanting," said the
host. " Behold those young beauties. They shall be to you
as the houris of this terrestrial paradise." He pointed as he
And twelve young females were seen entering the
singing in chorus the favourite airs of the country.
The little of reason which remained to the host and his guests
now disappeared entirely. At the dessert the male attend-
ants were dismissed, and Meerzcloff, who declared that he
was determined to make his old comrades happy, directed
each of his guests to choose the one of the band of singers
which was most to his taste.

spoke,
chamb

Accustomed from the cradle to a blind obedience, and well
assured that they should find neither protection nor defence
among the serfs of Sokolin-Slaw, the poor girls upon whom
the choice of the officers fell, quietly submitted to their fate,
with one single exception, namely, that of Maryna, the most
beautiful of them all, who, taking advantage of the moment,
fled from the castle, and directed her steps towards the coun-
try. " What is this ?" cried Meerzeloff, on hearing the ru-
mour of her flight, " what savage dare shake off my yoke ?
Kij-Ivan ! Alexis ! fly in pursuit of Maryna, and let her be
brought back without delay." One of the men to whom
this order was given was the brother of Maryna, and the
other her affianced husband. They obeyed his commands,
however, as they were compelled to do, and went after the
fugitive like dogs in pursuit of game, and ten minutes bad
scarcely elapsed before poor Maryna was brought back, pale,
trembling, and bedewed with tears. But as soon as she was
restored to the castle, Maryna and the other damsels were
rayed in gorgeous dresses, and decorated with a profusion of
gems and flowers, and, night having arrived, commenced in
a saloon refulgent with light, one of those brutal orgies which
the Russian nobles, with their half savage ideas, call a
" Supper of Eden."
By midnight the sound of music had ceased in the chateau.
Those of the serfs, whose duties did not keep them at their
posts, had dispersed in the village. Kej-Ivan and Alexis, the
brother and lover of Maryna, had retired to a cabaret, where,
to chase away the thoughts that disturbed them, they were

drinking freel
During

time Maffa, the favourite of Meerzeloff, was
burning with jealousy. Her master had not allowed her to
go down to the banquet, lest her beauty should have attracted
the attention of the other officers. She had, however, not-
withstanding this, been a witness of the " drama of love,"
and, enraged beyond measure at what she beheld, resolved to
be revenged upon her faithless lord and lover. She accord-
ingly went to the cabaret where Kej-Ivan and Alexis were
drinking, and reproached therm with their want ot spirit,
" Base wretches ! you sit here drinking while robbed
of your sister and your wife !" They denied that they were
the base connivers at their own dishonour. They were rather
the victims of their tyrannical lord. Maffa continued to taunt
them until they became greatly incensed, and were on the point
of ill-treating her; but she said, "For shame! rather be the
avenger of your own wrongs than the assassins of a helpless
woman," and continued to work upon their feelings until she
at last made them swear that they would take no rest until
Meerzeloff had fallen under their avenging hands. " Ven-
geance !" now became the cry, and in less than half an hour
that cry was repeated by a band of 404 peasants, who bad
been assembled by Kej-Ivan and his friend.
In about three hours after this, and just before the dawn
of day, while the occupants of the chateau were locked in
the fast embraces of sleep, a band of nearly 400 peasants,
each bearing a truss of straw, surrounded the mansion, which,
like most of the residences of the province of Tambof, was
built of wood. At a given signal they set fire to the fence
which surrounded the chateau, and then retiring to a distance,
armed with muskets, axes, pitchforks, and scythes, they
waited until the Seigneur of Sokolin-Slaw and his guests
should be aroused from their slumbers by the conflagration.
Meet zeloff, the first alarmed by the light, rushed out and
tried to clear the gate ; but the contents of a musket, which
extended him upon the ground, told him what his guests had
to expect. The latter presently appeared, sword in hand,
resolved, if possible, to surmount the twofold obstacle op-
posed to their escape by the flames and the infuriated band
of peasants. A terrible and bloody encounter now took
place, in which the officers were fortunate enough to lose
but one of their number, Captain Dranberg, and ultimately
effected a retreat into a small wood, overcome with fatigue,
their hair partly burnt from their heads, and their clothes
torn to tatters in the deadly encounter with the peasants.
Four of their number were dangerously wounded.
As soon as the officers had fled, the peasants ran to the res-
cue of the females, and then returned to gratify tbeir feelings
of revenge in the most savage manner. They made a tre-
mendous fire of firwood, and as soon as it had become clear
and bright threw the living body of the unhappy Meerzeloff
into the midst of the glowing furnace. Maffa repenting too
late of her jealousy, in vain supplicated them to spare the
yet breathing sufferer ; and in reply to her troublesome en-
treaties they actually took her and threw her into the fire
after him. They next proceeded to burn down the chateau,
and to destroy everything that had belonged to its unfortu-
nate owner.

saying,

As soon as the occurrence bad reached the ears of the
Emperor Nicholas, his majesty ordered that a judicial inquiry
should take place into the circumstances of the case, and the
result was the apprehension and.trial of 283 of the peasants.
The above facts have been detailed in evidence, the Tribu-
nal condemned the prisoners in the first place to receive 100
knout—a punishment almost equal to a sen-
h, since seldom does more than one in ten sur-
vive it ; and, secondly, that all the survivors should be sent
to labour for life in the mines of Siberia.

teice of d

The Emperor, in consideration of the cause and provoca-
tion of their offence, has commuted the sentence to banish-
ment in the Caucasus ; and those capable of bearing arms
are to be enrolled in the Cossack regiments of the line.

Wiwi, CORNWALL ELECTION.—Mr. Bassett has retired,
and we believe that Sir Charles Lemon will walk over the
course. The hon. baronet will offer no factious opposition
to Sir R. Peel's government.—Western Luminary.
SPEAK FOR YOURSELF, NOT FOR ALL.—A Mr. Webb
Hall—the indefinite article is used for a reason which will
presently appear—has addressed a letter through the Times
to Sir Robert Peel, on the subject of the corn laws, to in-
form the premier how " the question might be settled with
as little consideration of burthen as the penny postage," and
that " he for one does not fear the result." He also reminds
Sir Robert that he has placed a printed pamphlet in his
hands, to dictate to him what be ought to do. If Sir Robert
were to read all the effusions in the way of pamphlets ad-
dressed to him on this subject, he would be a greater miracle
than Caesar, of whom it is said that he could dictate to an
amanuensis and listen to a lector at the same time. As Sir
Robert, however, does not affect such extraordinary powers,
Mr. Webb Hall should be content to believe that his printed
rpamphlet bad been unavoidably neglected by Sir Robert, as
t has been unread by the public at large. Perhaps Mr.
Webb Hall imagines that the public would read it if Sir Ro-
bert would notice it. The suspicion comes naturally to the
writer of these remarks, from knowing that Mt. Webb Hall
has all his life been trying to push himself into notice as a
agriculturist,
by differing with "great men." He
featleding out with Lord Spencer, Earl Fitzwilliam, the present
Speaker,
Sir Robert Peel, and others of equal eminence, at
the preliminary meeting for the formation of the Agricultu-
ral Cavendish-square, by obtruding his advice,
washing
inli g h
hands of all responsibility' (these were
), because they would not take it ! And who is
Webb Hall who_ ?
washes his hands of all re-
onsibilityunless his advice be taken, and "for one does
not fear the result "if it is
The Chronicle, eager to snap
Times, describes him thus: "Mr. Webb
such an ally from the
Hall's name was beforetheßrititshhepuabhloicleinpeeorriiondecstiircewtihthe
British agriculture throughoutots,
after the peace down to the
first alteration in our corn-laws,
adoption of the present sliding scale." Nonsense ; this
never before the public until
Mr. Webb Hall's name was
after the present sliding scale was proposed. The Webb
Hall of whom the Times and Chronicle are dreaming was in
his grave years before; and he undoubtedly did possess the
unbounded confidence of the farmers of England. The per-
son who succeeded to that place was the somewhat eccentric
can be no
Mr. Foster, of Brickhills, near Bradford. There
doubt that this Mr. Webb Hall thinks, that because his
father was an authority with the farmers of England, he
ought to be an authority too. But influence is
no more
hereditary than talent, and mere presumption will never
:-n ,

his word
this Mr.

womb well-directed talent moue
When this Mr. Webb Hall—the definite article is necessa-
rily repeated—says that "the question is not only very
different now from what it was 20 .years ago, but that it is
differing every day, may not the question. be asked of him.
whether his printed opinions are
"not only very different
from what they were fifteen yeii
'a ago, but differing every
day ?" Thus much. has been said to Prevent misconception
as to the identity ot the
rightpersonn the value of his opinions.
Mr. Webb Hall has a per.fect g, not to `fear the result"
.he policy he would dictate for one," but not to speak
merely because his more gifted father did so some
0.0, while secretary of the now extinct board of

agriculture