The Liverpool Standard, and General Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-09-26 00:00:00

FRO II OUR LONDON CORRESPONDENT.

MONDAY MORNING

THE cool mornings and gently lengthening nights lend
their potent aids in still further increasing the dreary
desolation of a London summer. Ere long, however, they
will begin to tell, in driiing back the truants -4` from
pebbly sea beach and from sylvan glade," to resume their
several tasks in Carrying on- the routine business of metro-
politan life. As yet topics of general interest appear like
" angel visits ;" and, under such circumstances, any theme
must prove a welcome one, if it do no more than merely
promise relief from the all-pervading monotony which,
like the brook in the tragedy of Douglas,

Imposes silence with a stilly sound

Among the home topics, no little amount of Cockney wit
has been expended relative to a hoax which appears to
have been played upon the railway officials north of
" Caledonia's capital," in connexion with Hsu 31,LTEsTr's
journey from Edinburgh to Banchory-ternan ; and by these
officials, in turn, upon those resident in the vicinity of the
various stations at which the royal cortege was to pass.
The hoax, a very poor one, consisted in an order, purport-
ing to be in accordance with an express wish of HER
ITAJESTY, that all the platforms should be kept entirely
clear of visitors and spectators, of loyal subjects, and of
curious gazers, and the order was strictly obeyed. The
consequence was a surprise, as ungratifying to our gra-
cious Sovereign as it was mortifying to her liege subjects ;
not a soul was within view or earshot of the royal party;
the blank platforms and cheerless solitariness contrasting
stangely, in the minds of all the travellers, with those out-
bursts of affectionate loyalty which were on all previous
occasions the spontaneous offering of a devoted people.
To no one did the singularity appear more striking or
more irksome than to the QI7EEN herself. At Stirling
the desertion had attracted notice; and as the royal train
rolled into the blank and tenantless station at Perth,

Tae Provno onA *harp.
inquiries were made, when the apocryphal injunctions
were adduced in explanation. Upon this, the too credulous
railwitly officials were informed by Sir GEORGE GREY, at
HER MAJESTY'S request, that no such orders had been
issued. At this point it was ascertained that the Earl of
MANsEraLD and a party were waiting outside, and had
been inexorably refused admission by the railway officials ;
and not till a royal order had been issued were his lord-
ship and his friends admitted. Who was the originator
of the hoax has not been discovered ; but be he who he
he will show more prudence in keeping his own
secret than he did in cracking his sorry joke, for, if found
out, he may rest assured he will be put " through the
heckle-pins" in a way he will not speedily forget. With
that consideration for the loyalty of her subjects which
has at all times characterised HER MAJESTY, she has
ordered explanations to be made in all quarters where dis-
appointment was likely to have been felt.

Another matter which has helped in no small degree
to enliven the dull autumnal coteries of London, has been
found in connexion with your own good town; and not
for many a day have the affairs of Liverpool occupied so
great a share of metropolitan attention as has been be-
stowed on the opening of St. George's-hall and its
attendant ceremonies. Private circles have been loud in
their comments, and the sentiments which have found
utterance in those circles have been echoed by the press,
with probably one not very remarkable exception, The
Times. This Organ of opinion has devoted much atten-
tion to the subject, and has bestowed on the event and on
those who had the management of it so lavish an extent and
so bitter a degree of abuse, as to cause some surprise in
those not to some extent acquainted with the machinery
of The Times and the tactique by which that machinery
is governed. The undeclared, though real policy of that
journal to promote centralization and discourage the
growth of provincial importance, has long been obvious to

those who have watched its progress; and many here
find no difficulty in tracing to that course of policy the
vituperation bestowed on the Liverpool musical festival,
on the gorgeous hall whose inauguration that festival was
held in honour of, and on the committee by which both
have been managed. The selection of the music, the
style of the arrangements, the capabilities of the hall,
have each in their turn been sneered at, questioned, and
condemned. Nearly similar performances by the same,
Or nearly the same artistes, have been within a brief
space given in Norwich and Worcester ; and the performers
and the performances at those places have been applauded
" till echo rang again." Simple-minded men ate at a
loss to account for such disparity of judgment, and com-
miserate the dyspeptic stomachs and diseased digestion of
those "leaders of the blind" who know so well the sci-
ence of "blowing hot and cold with the same breath."
Those better acquainted with the strategy of Printing
House-square, perceive at a glance that the "centralizing
principle" runs no risk from Norwich and Worcester. To
commend their efforts is not to raise them from their pro-
vincial character—an isolated success in one, or, better
than one, in both of these cities will not jeopardise the
supremacy of London ! A marked success—an enduring
triumph, a permanent advance in a vigorous, youthful,
and expansive community like Liverpool, is to raise a
competitor for the palm of power,;—to foster the growth of
a new-born, social, and commercial giant, is to throw ob-
stacles in the way of that centralizing progress which, by
direct and indirect, though always unproclaimed means,
the Times endeavours to promote. If not possessing
much of the "meekness of the dove," the Times is, at all
events, in a good degree imbued with the "cunning of the
serpent," and knows full well that, in such a case as the
one referred to, a semblance of impartiality and a display
of popular leaning are indispensable to success ;

hence its

tirades against the authorities. Hence also its clever prac-
tical adoption of the maxim,

Damn with faint praise, assent with civil leer,
And without sneering teach the rest to sneer ;
Willing to wound, and yet afraid to strike,
Just hint a fault and hesitate dislike ;
Alike reserved to blame or to commend ;
A timorous foe and a suspicious friend.

The cholera still continues a fertile, though far from
a pleasing subject of remark; general thankfulness, how-
ever, being expressed at the apparent mitigation of its
severity, the past week having shown a considerable dimi-
nution in the number of deaths. Should4he rate of mor-
tality continue to decrease, there will be reason for believ-
ing that, under the blessing of GOD, the power of the
scourge has been abated, and that ere long it will have
passed away. In the metropolis its ravages have been
great, and it still stalks abroad throughout the land with
a portentous stride, preceded by dismay, and followed by
desolation and mourning. A considerable sensation has

been created in consequence of the death of a cholera
patient, accelerated, as the Coroner's Jury have decided,
"by the use of WATERTON'S medicines." From the
evidence it is difficult indeed to say what, or whether the
medicine had any hand in bringing about the fatal result ;
but the fact of the death and the circumstances revealed
at the inquiry should go far to prove the impropriety
of relying exclusively upon the application of nostrums for
the prevention or cure of this terrible disease. Probably
under no other species of bodily affliction is it of such con -
sequence to watch varying circumstances, and to apply the
resources of pharmacal science with discrimination as in the
critical stages of this relentless pestilence, and these can
only be applied with safety under the instruction of a quali-
fied medical practitioner.

Just as the denizens of the metropolis had begun to in-
spect their coal-cellars, overhaul their winter habilaments,
and prepare for being " laid up in ordinary" for the winter
months, to hibernate unmolested by war's alarms, the town
has been suddenly roused by intelligence from the east, and
The war, which for a space did fail,

Now trebly thundering, swells the gale
with rumours in which a handful of fact is made to
colour and flavour a world of fiction, of every shape
and magnitude, except those of truth and likelihood. Of
these, one set has it, that a mere invasion of the Crimea
is all that can be effected, or that is contemplated during
the present campaign, and that the fall of Sebastopol will

be reserved till next year, when its capture will be made
the opening glory of the second campaign. The promul-
gators of this rumour insist that the utmost effort which
can be made this year will be the reduction of Anapa and
another bombardment of Odessa. Another set—but these,
seeing that the prosecution of the war is still entrusted
to the hands who reluctantly began, and have so listlessly
pursued it, are probably less entitled to regard—insist
upon the moral effect which would be produced by wresting
Sebastopol from the CZAR, and establishing a secure hold,
if not absolute possession:of the Crimea. The chief ob-
jection to be raised against the arguments of this party
is, that their views are too much in accordance with
common sense, and savour too earnestly of a desire to
bring the war to a conclusion. Men deeply learned in
ministerial mancenvres,and having well-grounded pretence
to skill in " war's vast art," ask significantly, if Ministers
had really meant all they said in their post-prandial
oratory, previous to despatching NAPIER to the north,
whether they would have sent him withont a vessel whose
draft of water was not too great to enter in safety the ap-
proaches to those arsenals he was expected to subdue ;
and whether also they would have allowed the army to