The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-06-17 00:00:00

THE SONG OF JUNE

Night's conqueror I : on his ebon roof-tree
My mantle of twilight hangs haughtily.
The glittering stars from their temples of space
Look down and grow dim o'er the isles I embrace ;
For my chariot wheels carry sunlight afar,
And my oritiamme, lightning, aye chalenges war,
Till hill calls to valley and mountains reply,
With the thunder I wield while I traverse the sky.
Though I frown and have shadows
While the bee winds his horn,
I rinz sithes in the meadows,

With the whetstone at morn,
ight send the mower home wearily
About the green hedges

I convolvulus twine;
Drive kine to the sedges;
Give bloom to the vine;
In the brook plunge the peasant boy cheerily.
I canopy lanes for young lovers to stroll
In the dimness of eve by the light of the soul

Where the glow of my roses
shade,

Illumines t

Yetvainlyopposes

bltish of a maid!

Ah, lover
With a s(

! fond lovers ! you ne'er can commune
asitive confidant secret as June.

y feet; for I bring him the joy
surrounded his thoughts and his heart when a boy
^ni of his porch of full fifty years gone,
n he loitered a listener in woods, not alone—

He shall dr

No ; a face tl:

was fairer, with soul insincere,
Poured its poisonous balm in the coquetting ear
Of her he adored, till fire flashed from his eyes,
And he thrashed the intruder, and bore off the prize ;
his dreary thoughts brightening.
vers for rough rambles ;
Gild the broom in the wild ;
I dry meads for the gambols
Of each dear happy child;
ind of all Nature's love tightening.
My bloom-pencil streaking
Full orchards, I ply,
While hay-wains are creaking
To homesteads hard by ;
_ e fawn and the leveret frightening.
I will fill the warm air with a myriad hum,
And the dragon-fly bold to your horse-fold shall come :
Where nightingale pineth,
And young squirrels grow,
And brown glow-worm shineth
'Midst fox-gloves below,
Oh, citizens ! citizens! come and attune
Your dull souls in the forests and pastures of June.
Tait's Magazine.

I have -1k

LITERARY NOTICES

England in the Nineteenth Century. Northern Division:
Lancashire. How and Parsons, London.
Part VI. of the Northern Division (Lancashire) is now
published, and the writer maintains the interest of his diver-
sified narrative with nnrelaxing vigour, dwelling on these
objects of grandeur, antiquity, or beauty, in modern erec-
tions, ancient ruins, or inviting scenery ; and these traits of
character peculiar to the inhabitants, which present the
greatest attractions to those who may visit the localities
which he itinerates, or those who, debarred of that gratifica-
tion, may praise the work in the family parlour or the study.
The valley of the Ribble, with its ancient halls ; the ancient
Roman town of Ribchester, and the interesting and antique
chapel of Stydd in its vicinity, are graphically described.
The following extract conveys a pleasing and merited confi-
dence to the two celebrated brothers, William and Charles

" Passing through Tottington we came to Walmersley, on
the banks of the Irwell, which exhibits the remains of a
beacon, erected in the days of Elizabeth to rouse the country
against the threatened Spanish invasion. In fine weather,
Runcorn, at the estuary of the Mersey, can be descried from
this lofty station. A tower stands on an eminence to the
left, erected by the Grants, who were the first manufacturers
of the district. William, the eldest has lately deceased.
Him and Charles we have seen now for some fifteen years
come in their carriage into Manchester on market-days, seated
side by side, looking of all things like a pair of brothers,
happy in themselves and in each other. The sight is changed :
Charles comes now alone, looking bereft and downcast.
" The father was a farmer in Inverness-shire. A flood
stripped his farm of his stock and very soil, compelling a
change of place. He and his son William made their way
southwards, and found employment in a print-works near
Bury, where the youth served his apprenticeship. It is said
that when they reached the spot where they settled, they
were in doubt as to what course was best. They stood on a
bill which overlooked the surrounding country, and gave
them every opportunity for making a judicious choice. The
valley was at their feet, and through it the Irwell was making
its circuitous way. Their well-practised eye saw the advan-
tages which the spot offered, yet other localities had their
recommendations. What was to be done? A stick was put
up, and where that fell, in that direction would they betake
.s for a home. In commemoration of this event,
probably as a kind of public thank-offering for the
sperity they reaped, they caused a monument to be

erected

" in this place these remarkable men pitched their tent,
and by years and days of industry, enterprise, and benevo-
lence, accumulated a million of money, earning meanwhile
the good-will of thousands, the gratitude of many. and the
respect of all who knew them."

,raving of the monument alluded to is given.
of Bury and Bolton are noticed at considerable
d amongst the illustrations are views of the birth-
place of the present Prime Minister, Radcliffe Church and
Tower, Hall in the Wood, Turton Tower, &c., besides a re-
presentation (accompanied by painfully-interesting details)
of the execution of the Earl of Derby at Bolton, after be had
thence dislodged the republican troops. The number is also
embellished with two engravings from steel, one of the Vale
of Todmorden, and another of the far-famed ruins of Furness

A. neat

st side of Morecambe Bay

THE THAMES TUNNEL.

(From Blaekwood's Magazine)

This extraordinary work is now on the point of completion ;
and the boldness of the enterprise and the indefatigable labour
with which it has been prosecuted. and the remarkable skill
which has been exercised in bringing it to this point of un-
questionable success, place it among the most remarkable
scientific performances of the age. We know that anything
may be laughed at, and that the world is fond of laughing
the most at the gravest things ; but we have no inclination to
n ridicule of a work which exhibits so singular a com-
ion of the daring and practical—of the lofty speculation
he profound science, both so characteristic of England,
so honourable to the national character. It is true that
hief engineer of this stupendous work is a Frenchman ;
ce see much less ground for national jealousy in his ori-
gin, than for national honour in his employment. England
boasts, and justly, of her attracting the commerce of the
;vorld. Her still prouder boast should be her attracting the

talents of the worla. A nation can give no higher evidence
of its superiority than its disregard of littleness of all kinds.
The Roman never gave a clearer evidence of his being marked
for the master of the world than when he borrowed the arms
of the conquered nations—when he adoped the lance of the
Sunnite, the shield of the Volscian, and the falchion of the
Tarantine. We only wish that our adoptions were larger and
more frequent, that we had the power of calling to our coun-
try the talents of every great sculptor, architect, and painter
of Europe ; and that we had thus nobly monopolised Thor-
walsen, Canova, and the builder of the Pantheon of Paris,
and the still lovlier Madeline.

toe tunnel has now completely reached across the river—
distance of 1,200 feet—and the projector and engineer had
he gratification, a short time since, of being the first who
walked from bank to bank, to the shaft on the London side.
Qhafts on both sides of the river, which are intended
,sengers, are really grand things. They are a suc-
. staircases going round a vast circular excavation,
~en 70 and 80 feet deep, and, when they shall be all
lighted with gas, will be among the most extraordinary of
the whole structure. Even now they strongly realise the
poetic conception of the descent into the caverns of the
Egyptian mysteries ; and the view of the interior, nearly a
luarter of a mile in extent, lighted with a long succession of
elancholy flames, would probably have suggested to a
eek the image of an entrance into Tartarus. But, in our
the sublime is well exchanged for the practical, and this
and formidable-looking cavern will he stripped of its
associations by the passage of carters and waggons,
..s of goods and herds of bullocks. Still it would be al-
most to divest ourselves of the recollections really attaching
to this work. We have before us altogether a new attempt
to conquer nature—a great experiment to make rivers pas-
sable without boat or bridge—a new and capable contrivance
for expediting the intercourse of mankind. The stone bridge
is at all times the most expensive edifice in the world, and
the bridge of boats is always liable to accidents, and almost
certain to be broken up in every instance of a flood. Be-
sides this, the fixed bridge blocks up the navigation of the
river for all vessels beyond the size of a barge or a small
steam-boat. The expense of the stone bridge also is
anrraaas- Waterloo Bridge cost upwards of a million-
31a to Bridge about as much more—Westminster and
ancieinfrlys Bridges, which were built at a cheaper rate
probabj,;,'ekaPer times, so constantly demand repairs that they
but the tunnel
cost more than either of the modern ones ;
side to aide of has the advantage of giving a passage from
river, a sto:At)ll.e Thames, where, from the breadth of the
millions than rolage would have probably cost nearer two
across without and where no bridge could be thrown
Thames, that 00,.-Zdng up the most important part of the
of London. Itit-tahoewhich may be called the great wet dock
to more than £4OO notz.Pense of the whole has not amounted
as an expense gredl,7_ rid even this is to be remembered
experiment, by diffiefaiaereseased by the utter novelty of the
by several eruptions of thr
foreseen in the commencement,
nen's wages, arising fro, gver, By the dearness of work-
ature of the labour conneetede peculiar peril and singular
at all hours, and wholly nh an undertaking carried
constant hazard of an minfaainolale light. All this, too,
iculties belonging to working in a min, and the various
body of water above, acting alikeol; The weight of a
which at any moment ;
m.ght breakrial summer and
3 incursions it was as necessary to fortify Land against
unel as the interior, added greatly to the cr difficulties
of
outside
of

for foot pas;
'ion of s

aiong.
iginal object of the tunnel was to comnveryo:Gaititall,
;rs, and general traffic from the rich counties on the
de to that great mercantile region of the et
,n and East and West Indian Dock,,
How far
.ow effected, is a question which remains to be
, experience. There can be no doubt, that if the
Je not impeded by the fear of passoifngesuenadpeinrgththee long
.t be immense. The convenience
at up to London Bridge, which, from
difficulty the varioupassis ob.
.;tions in the streets, and the general of ng
augh the most crowded portion
o must
r now
t
upy many hours, would obviously
the traffic into the tunnel. Hitherto,
doirfeethtethceit wyl;
no e_xpe.dient has
in adopted to shorten the passage
,
of the traffic and the
atrivance by which 1,200 clear feet are substituted for at
Ist time miles of the most encumbered thoroughfares
aaginable, must be adopted as a matter of palpable advan-
rae-
ige• Still, there may be difficulties in the way which., 11), we
tee only can exhibit. •But any fear of the structure itse i
liould regard as altogether visionary. The building off the
runnel seems to us solid as a rock. During the whole period
from its commencement, we have not heard a single instance
c
of its givin • - way, vast as the pressure was from above, and
trying
as were the damps, the ground springs, and the extreme
difficulty of building under water. At this moment the roof
is obviously as free from damp as. the roof of St. Paul's !
and unless an earthquake
E should burst it, the whole fabric
seems much more
diversities of temperatureYto last than were it exposed to the
The special advantage of the heats and frosts, above ground.
part
system of the tunnel is, that it
can be adopted in anypart Iv r the course of the river, and
even in its widest
breadth of the Thames at iteowhEuropean rivers exceed the
t erhithe, unless where they
spread into marshes or lakes), and yet offer no impediment
to navigation.