The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-05-24 00:00:00

francs.

M. Rostan has reported some very interesting cases of
clairvoyance," where magnetised patients described some
of the internal parts of their own body : one in particular,
where the position, size, and form of the heart were the sub-
ject of description ; the patient also telling the number of
blood-vessels connected with the central organ of the circu-
lation—naming the colour of the fluid which they contained,
and the rate of circulation—as quicker or slower—in different
neighbouring tubes. While M. Calmeil, a recent writer on
this subject, and long on the alert for such phenomena, has
never seen any case where anatomical descriptions given by
such people were couched in better language, or distinguished
by greater accuracy, than would have accompanied an attempt
in their normal condition and waking hours.
In all the instances observed by M. Calmeil where the
heart, liver, or any other internal organ was described by a
magnetic somnambulist, the approach to correctness was in-
variably such as could be at once associated with that degree
of anatomical knowledge (frequently not amounting to an
acquaintance with the commonest outline of things) which
the patient, as well as others in the same social position,
might be easily supposed to possess.
When the magnetized described remedies, or suggested their
employment, a like degree of intelligence and a correspond
ing accuracy prevailed; if an ignorant person were converted
into a sleeping seer, the ptisans, teas, and syrups came recom-
mended by the oracle—not in any new or classic dress, but
with such names as they bear amongst the most experienced
female practitioners; or on the pages of the village Pharma-
cophwa ; in short, the new, or the fancied new, intelligence
on such occasions never went beyond the accuracy or the
science of those written medical documents which are pre-
served by the midwives of every hamlet, and now and then,
by accident, rescued from obli'vion by some one raising the
broken lid of a disused teapot in the chimney corner, or
turning upside down the precious things which an antiquated
cupboard contains.
M. Rostan details one case where his patient told him—
and this at several different times without any mistake—
whether he (the doctor) had his stomach full or empty. M.
R. does not inform us respecting the possibility of the som-
nambulist knowing his dinner hour ; or attending to the
state of his circulation, or the temperature of his hand while
he was engaged (as might happen) in feeling the pulse. No
doubt he would guard against any possible source of fallacy
of this kind, and would not allow the fair sybil to discover
his condition of plenitude by his breathing the vapours of
wine.

Truth, indeed, is strange !—stranger than fiction ! Even
if we were to believe in the existence of the magnetic fluid,
which Mesmer said he demonstrated,—to suppose it capable
of the movements he described, and fancy it yielding to the
influence of his will, we should not have in all this a phe-
nomenon half as surprising as many of those which, from
their every day occurrence, and from the manner in which
they constantly minister to our enjoyments, are lost sight of
because always present, and not appreciated until we are
deprived of them. For who will compare the flight of
Mesmer's fluid with that of the invisible source of visibility
—with the light which outstrips the lightning? or allow its
asserted wonders in any way to equal the returning emana-
tions of the sun ? Yet all this has been done!

There would not be anything wonderful in all the practices
of Mesmer, supposing every fact to be real, every influence
he assumed to be really possessed, if compared with the power
of the human eye, or the endowments of its central aperture
known to every one. For that, on one hand, we should take
in the aspect of the distant celestial orbs, measure their
mighty mass, or estimate their periodic revolutions—while,
on the other, with the aid of the microscope, we aspire to cal-
culate the myriad of animalcules which a single drop of water
contains—and that not only all this, but even the wide pic-
ture of nature, and the faithful representation of all created
things, should, in travelling to the mind, have to find their
way through an organic aperture, the pupil of the eye, (at
mid-day scarcely larger than the head of a pin,) and that, be-
yond this, they should drop on a living canvas, of barely an
inch in diameter, which receives with equal ease, and trans-
mits with equal truth, the fascinating tints of a Titian, or the
startling gloom of a Rembrandt—is certainly to be looked
upon with more surprise, as a well-known work of God, than
are any of those productions of the hypertrophy of fancy
which are now-a-days so common amongst men.
The lecturer concluded by remarking, that any investiga-
tion which, directly or indirectly, might tend to throw light
on the hitherto half studied functions of the nervous system,
ought to be regarded as valuable and praiseworthy, and that
no inquiry or experiment connected with this subject, how-
ever fallacious it might at first sight appear, should he con-
demned as unfair, or slighted as contemptible, until it could
be associated with that dishonest intention which, in some
instances, has been mistaken for philosophical zeal. Indeed,
it deserves to be remembered, that the bold empiricism of
Panacelsus, and the reveries of Van Helmont and the alchy-
mists, did their share in paving the way to that developement
of modern chemistry, which has adorned the civilized world
with its productions, and astonished man with his own power.
At the conclusion of the lecture, which was received
throughout with the marletd applause of the audience, a vote
of thanks to Mr. Nottingham for his kind explanations of
this mysterious subject, was passed by acclamation.

A young man, respectably attired, shot his brains out on
Saturday morning, on Croydon Common. On the blank
leaf of a book found in his pocket was written, " Because of
not knowing how to make better use of my brain, I have
come here to shatter it."

RIGHT OF PROPERTY IN WIND.—Water-mills Were at one
time, particularly on the continent, included among the re-
galia or rights of the crown; and, on the introduction of wind-
mills. this assumed right was extended over air as well as
water. A whimsical instance of the attempted exercise of
this privilege is on record. It seems that the Augustine
monks belonging to the monastery at Weindsheim,in the
province
neighbourhood;f Overssel, were dezirous of erecting a wind-mill
in the g but the lord of the soil opposed their
project, on the extraordinary presumption that the wind in
that distri©t belonged to him. I.Tpon this the monks applied
to the Bishop of Utrecht, who decided,. in .a towering passion,
that no one had power over the wind in his diocese but him-
self; and thereupon he immediately granted letters-patent
to the good monks.—Guide to Truth.

Vottrp.

THE SINGLE MAN,

BY MRS. ADDY.

He meets the smile of young and old, he wins the praise of all
He is feasted at the banquet, and distinguished at the ball;
When town grows dull and sultry, he may fly to green retreats,
A welcome visitor in turn at twenty country seats ;
He need not seek society, for do whate'er he can,
Invitations and attentions will pursue the Single Man.

Fathers and brothers anxious„ ..,pt his taste to suit;
O'er manors without number 'tis his privilege to shoot ;
Political opponents to his principles concede ;
He quaffs the finest Burgundy, he rides the fleetest steed ;
And never yet were families, since first the world began,
United, blest, and fond as those who court the Single Man

The price of bread, the price of funds on him inflict no ills,
He fears no winter avalanche of tradesmen's lengthy bills ;
" Academies" and " Colleges" he passes calmly by ;
Nor casts on " ruination shops" a sad and timid eye;
The rates of " Life Insurances" he never cares to scan,
" Trustees" and " jointures" boast no powers to rack the
Single Man.

But years steal on, and he begins with careful folks to class,
And shuns the pic-nic scramble, and the dinner on the grass,
And dreads the cold spare chamber, and the crowded hall of

mirth,
And loves the spreading easy-chair, and blazing quiet hearth ;
And votes warm rooms, and early hours, the best and wisest
plan ;
And home affords few comforts to the ailing Single Man.

He lacks a true and kindred heart his joy and grief to share,
He lacks the winning tenderness of woman's gentle care ;
No children gather round him, a beloved and loving train,
Eager to win a father's smile, and sooth their father's pain ;
He rates his poor dependants as a mercenary clan.
Attachments come not ready made to cheer the Single Man.
He stirs the fire, undraws the blind, and counts the clock's

dull chime,
Acquaintance sometimes sit with him five minutes at a time,
Longer they cannot really stay, so nervous he is grown,
It seems a charity to go, and leave him quite alone !
No earnest eyes to his are raised, his changeful looks to scan,
The bland physician's queries must suffice the Single Man.
Ye " eligibles " ponder, to my warning lay attend,
Flirtations. waltzes, and duets, one day must have an end ;
0 ! wait not then till prosiness and peevishness shall come,
Choose in the summer time of life a bride to bless your home ;
Let chaperons for others weave the sly and subtle plan,

And only look with pity on the flattered Single Man

LITERARY NOTICE,

The Case and Claims of the holders of Spanish Treasury
Bonds. By Joseph Tasker, Esq. London : James Ridg-

way, Piccadilly.
The pamphlet before us contains the case of the duped
holders of these Spanish Securities (!) plainly stated in
letters addressed to the Minister of Finance, Senor Surra y
Rull, the Earl of Aberdeen, the Spanish Ambassador, Gene-
ral Sancho, &c. ; and presents to public reprobation an in-
stance of the most barefaced political swindling which ever
disgraced the annals of any nation. In the olden time
" Punic faith" was but another term for treachery; and it
would really seem that, along with the Moorish blood which
runs in the veins of a great portion of the Spanish people,
the present- race, or their government at least, have inherited
the treacherous and unprincipled nature of their Punic an-
cestry. In financial matters, at all events, the most un-
stable kind of security must, in all time to come, be ac-
counted to be that which is dependent upon—Spanish
Faith !

We have little sympathy, we must confess with the Stock
Exchange gamblers whose " greed"—how expressive is the
word used by our Scottish fellow-countrymen, who, by the way
are well acquainted with the feeling itself, and, of course, able
to describe it !—has led to many simple, and we doubt not,
honest individuals, to invest their hard earned savings in the
rascally and irredeemable rags called Spanish Bonds. We
abhor all these tricky and unprincipled speculations ; and
most assuredly do not pity the thimbleriggers when they
chance themselves to make such a bargain as appears to be
this Spanish one in question. For all this, however, that
government and that nation is worthy only of execration
which violates, as Spain has done, its most solemn engage-
ments ; and the punishment which we would advise for such
national rascality would be the outlawry of the nation itself
from all financial or trading intercourse with civilised and
honest states. Let Spain shew a disposition, even, to pay
her engagements, and we would readily pardon her present
inability ; but if foreign governments are permitted, as Spain
has been, to proclaim their insolvency, in almost the same
breath which came whining to our shores for money, and no
such punishment is inflicted, we must, as our last resource,
shut the purse of the English capitalist to every similar ap-
peal from whatever foreign quarter.
We are told, by-the-bye, that the United States govern-
ment is coming to us for a loan of a million or so. Would
it not be well that that government should first guarantee
the payment of its various State loans, which have just now
a rather Spanish appearance?

WHITE SLAVERY IN ENGLAND

(From the Halifax Guardian.)

How would the following anecdode, from the report of the
Children's Employment Commission, have roused the sym-
pathies of a crowded auditory, if it had been told on an Anti-
Slavery platform ?
" One of the most disgusting sights I [.T. C. Symons,
Esq.] have ever seen, was that of young females, dressed like
boys in trowsers, crawling on all fours, with belts round their
waists, and chains passing between their legs, at day pits.
* * * In one, near New Mills, the chain passing high up
between the legs of two of these girls, had worn large holes
in their trowsers; and any sight more disgustingly indecent
or revolting can scarcely be imagined than these girls at
work—no brothel can beat it."
And how would the white handkerchiefs of our fair coun-
trywomen have been bedewed, had the following narration
been given as the words of a married negress I have a
belt round my waist, and a chain passing between my legs ;
and Igoon my hands and feet. The pit is very wet where
I work, the water comes over our clog tops always, and I
have seen it up to my thighs. My clothes are wet through
almost all day long. The belt and chain is worse when we
are in the family way."
Or this :—" I have worked in a pit since I was six years
old. I have had four children; two of them were born while
I worked in the pits. I had a child born in the pits, and I
brought it up the pit shaft in my skirt."
Or this :—" I have wrought in the bowels of the earth 33
years. Have had nine children ; had two dead born ; thinks
they were so from the oppressive work ; a vast of women
have dead children and false births. I have always been
obliged to work below till forced to go home to bear the
bairn, and so have all the other women.
And yet true charity will be as active for these poor Eng-
lish and Scotch women as it was for the African population
of our West Indian colonies. What! have we paid twenty
millions for the abolition of West Indian slavery, and shall
we hesitate for a moment to put a legislative stop to this
worse than West Indian slavery, this harder than Egyptian
bondage ? Is the philanthropy of England so perverted, that
like the love of Desdemona it moves only towards a black
visage? Or has our English charity such a telescopic eye
that it can only see and magnify distant objetts?
Surely not. The " Report" shows (as we may next week
prove) that these barbarities are not required or necessary
(the tyrant's plea) for the purpose of coal getting. The em-
ployment of girls has been forbidden by the Low Moor and
other great companies ; and the use of infant labour can also
be similarly dispensed with. Surely, then, the " philanthro-
pists" (egotistically so-called) will join us in this work of
mercy—this labour of love. The ten hour bill then must
also join us; for there is not a single argument against infant
factory labour, that comes not with accumulated force on the
employment of children in coal mines.
Was factory labour commenced at too early an age ?—in-
fants are sent to coal pits at five, four, and even three. Was
factory labour prolonged to a wearisome length ?—the hours
of labour in coal pits are 11, 12, and 13, in Yorkshire and
Cumberland ; in Derbyshire, Durham, and Northumber-
land, from that to 16 hours ; and in the east of Scotland,
from 15 to 18—" from two in the morning till six at night."
Was it the practice in factories to have night work in addi-
tion?—in some mines in Northumberland and North Dur-
ham " boys and young men work in the pits what is termed
double and treble shifts, i. e., for twenty-four or thirty-
six consecutive hours ; and some instances are stated of
their having worked quadruple shifts, that is, for 48 con-
secutive hours ;" and John Dixon, 14 years old, says in his
evidence, " Last fortnight I was down the pit three days and
three nights without coming up at all." Is it the tendency
of infant factory labour to cripple the "human form divine,"
and to bring on premature old age ?—we have undeniable
evidence that infant colliery labour produces "a crippled
gait, often connected with positive deformity"—that in York-
shire, Warwickshire, Leicestershire, Shropshire, and Staf-
fordshire, " there are no old colliers"—that in South Dur-
ham " they are generally short lived"—that in Scotland
" most of the men drop off before they get the length of 40
years"—that in Derbyshire one race of them is old at 28 or
30—and that in East Lothian "the men die off like rotten
sheep." Was it proVed that the air of factories was perni-
cious ?—and is it not equally certain that the atmosphere of
coal mines is more so, and therefore less fit for a child to
whom pure air is more necessary than food itself ? Is factory
labour liable to many accidents ?—and are not coal mines
equally full of danger, though equally open to be made
innocuous if the legislature decree that they shall be so made ?