The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-02-22 00:00:00

THE TEAR OF SYMPATHY

(For Me Liverpool Standard.)

leen bright Beauty cast her spell

Of swee

,thantment ro.

ev'ry c

entranc d, would dwell

arms whose pow'r so softly fell,
willine homage found.

&lid SWf

far than Beauty's

eeter still to me,
.hat down the cheek will flow,

As tribute to another's woe—
The tear of sympathy !

I've heard the gra7,eful, measur'd sound
Of silv'ry eloquence ; _ .

_ .
And, as its strains have floated round,
flow many list'ning ears were bound
In pleas'd and mute sus
But. ah ! no el

pence can tell,

The thoughts that in the bosom swell,
So sweetly as—l've marked it well—
The tear of sympathy !

I've watch'd as Friendship's kindly care
Hath comfort's balm supplied—
Hath tended faithfully despair,
Until the suff'rer breath'd the pray'r

Of gratitude, and—died !
But Friendship's love can ne'er disclose

cart which melts to se

s from earthly woes,

Air
More tenderly than when it shows

The tear of sympathy !

I've look'd as Wealth hath proudly turn'd
From Poverty's complaint;
And when Affliction, rudely spurn'd,
Hath nearly quench'd the hope that burn'd
With glimmer small and faint.

I saw another standing by,
Poor as the suppliant he,
And yet his pity could supply—
That lit with thanks the suff'rer's eye—

The tear of sympathy !

I've gaz'd as Death's cold, icy hand
Hath touch'd the feeble clay ;
And mourning relatives would stand
Around his couch whose love oft fann'd
Their fever'd griefs away,
What painted on his face the smile
Of calm serenity—
Told of the love that knew no guile,
And eas'd his dying pangs awhile?—
The tear of sympathy!

Wben sorrows strew my chequer'd way,
And elands obscure the sky—
When evening shrouds life's closing day,
And when my spirit breathes away
Its last sad, lingering sigh,—
Oh ! may 1 then this solace know I

And when, from troubles free,
I rest the verdant sod below,
May love and mem'ry still bestow

The tear of sympathy !

001, Feb. 18, 1842

J. M. L

LITERARY NOTICES

ition ; its abuse one of the chief causes of the present
en. By Isaac Preston Cory, Esq. Loudon :W. E.
.er, 341, Strand, 1842.

have been prevented by the demand both upon our
and tire from noticing sooner this admirable little
let, which ought really to he in the hands of every
reader. Its home truths are susceptible of being tested by
the most ordinary observer. They actually stare us in the
face in every street in every town and village throughout the

The vie

us of the writer are expressed in the title of his
nd we shall therefore not enter into them at length,
extracts, to enable him to speak for

preferring, by a f
himself.

" SMALL PROFITS AND QUICK RETURNS."—THE CUT-
TING SYSTEM.—In every trade, in every town, there are
individuals whom we can deem little better than swindlers,

whose object is wealth by the short cut of speculation, and
whose views are concealed, in some instances, we are ready

ve, even from themselves, under the specious maxim

" small profits and quick returns." The sole business of
a man of this class seems to be a reckless rage for under-
. Determined to engross some entire branch of busi-
ness to himself, he lowers prices below the sums which yield
a profit. Others must do the like, or yield their customers
to him. If a contract is advertised, he puts in tenders at
prices at which it never can be honestly executed. Sales are
effected at positive losses, rather than not at all. If such a
speculator's purse is long, or he can obtain sufficient credit,
all competitors may be run off the field, and, when he has
accomplished this philanthropic purpose, he flatters himself
that he may at his leisure recover the losses he has sustained.

selling

During his operations, all fair traders are at a stand, or sink-
ing helplessly by such reckless and wicked proceedings. If
the speculator succeeds, he has the satisfaction of rearing a
lid fortune on the ruins of his neighbours. This, how-
The common termination is,

s very rarely the case,

that he becomes a bankrupt

, is soon whitewashed, and upon
his legs again, to pursue the same, or some more reckless
course, in some other, or perhaps even in the same district—
thus ruining every one around him, without the slightest
permanent benefit to himself.
THE KITE-FLYING SYSTEM

—We will now take another
case, which is frequently practised, but it requires some tact

and address

A. person, with so little as £lOO only, enters
into business, takes large premises, commences some manu-
facture, or, more commonly, the business of a general
merchant, dealing in everything he can get credit for. Upon
the strength of his appearance and address he obtains credit
to the amount of some £3OO or £400; is careful to pay his
small bills, and keeps up an appearance of respectability.
Turning his 1100 or £4OO into goods, he sells them under
price, at a loss of five, ten, or even twenty per cent., to ob-
tain ready money to go on with, and take up his bills as they

become d

As long as he can increase his business, he
can augment his credit, and inveigle others who have means
to join him ; and, if a real genius, may contrive to fail for
not less than from £50,000 to £lOO,OOO, having lived all the
while like a nobleman, and reserved, perhaps, a handsome
competence, either to retire upon or recommence upon a
larger scale.

How INSOLVENCY IS MANAGED.—It is true, that these
men almost invariably stop, not once or twice, but several
times ; and it is also a fact, that they generally terminate in
destitution and beggary. But to the uninitiated it is surpris-
ing how they can, time after time, resume a station in society.
Yet it is by no means a very difficult matter. Upon the
first stoppage, a composition is generally attempted. A deed,
by which a dividend is offered, is carried about by a solicitor,
with the threat of " this or none : if the dividend be not
accepted, all will be swallowed up in law." And so, by
secret payments in full to a few refractory creditors, he
pretty well gets through. By some contrivance or other he
generally finds his way into his old works, and begins anew,
with the advantage of having his works already erected
without expense. The same reckless course, in a few years,
generally brings on the same result : a composition is often
tried again. Some other person, in as showy a way of busi-
ness as the unfortunate, comes forward and undertakes to
guarantee the payment of the new dividend, and to give bills
for it at distant dates. And there is not unfrequently held

s additional inducement—that unless the creditor

comes into the arrangement, and takes the dividend, there
must be bankruptcy, in which case probably all the old debts
will be brought in upon the present assets, and consequently
not a farthing in the pound.

ADULTERATION.--This is an universal complaint, and it
is a disgrace to England. There is scarcely an article sold
that is not adulterated, with the exception of the raw produce
of the laud ; nor is that always free : bread, milk, tea, coffee,
wine, medicine, silks, cotton, clothing of every kind, hard-
ware, coals—everything, in short, is adulterated; not only
for t - -

foreign, but for the home market also. If ever there
was an adulterous generation, this is one. Some years ago
Mr. Accum published a work called " There is Death upon
the Pot," in which he exhibits the analysis of every article
of food, and proves—by no means to the satisfaction, but to
the disgust of every reader—that there is no article of food
whirl' is not adulterated with some deleterious mixture. In
medicine its results have been fearful ; and we believe, in
many instances, verdicts of manslaughter, at least, ought to
have '

n returned against the venders of drugs, who have
ibatituted cheap, though harmless, for more expensive arti-
les. It is reported that the deaths of needy half a ship's
ompany are to be laid at the door of such a person, who, in
he medicine chests he sold, had presumed to save a few
pence by the substitution of sulphate of barytes for calomel.*
But how is the honest trader to meet this ? His customers
tell him that they can get the same goods cheaper elsewhere.
He cannot analyze them, to show the adulteration •, and he
finds that, in many instances, he must either lose his cus-
tomer, or adopt the same practices. To take an example.
Competition has brought the prices of soft sugars down so
low, that the only profit that the fair retailer can make upon
them is in the weight of the paper, which, by custom, is al-
ways weighed in with the sugar ; so that, by selling a pound
of paper with the due proportion of sugar, he gains the dif-
ference between the price of the sugar and the paper—some-
where about a shilling in the hundred weight. There is, in
fact, no other profit to be gained, unless by adulteration. On
this a---

mit it is that many houses of the highest respectabi-
refuse to sell sugar to any parties but those who take of
them their tea, coffee, and other groceries. But what a
trifling defence is this against the dishonest trader, who, by
mixing with his sugar the dregs of the soap-boilings, which
are regularly prepared fer the purpose,t can not only under-
sell his rivals, but derive a handsome remuneration for his
dishonesty.

. -
So Ingenious is the adulteration of many goods, that it can
be detected only by;
so palpable is it, and to such allaYils. In other instances,
h an extent, that I hesitate not to
affirm, that, if Government_rn .would employ some scientific
chemists to inspect the goods they purchase, they would
, anrsands a year.
effect a saving of very many
But all this competition
at le. the consequent reduction of
'ces, it may be said, is, , for the benefit of the con-
s, This I deny. A consumer4attt sits down to a frugal
east, and flatters himself be is eating bread and
and drinking coffee sweetened with sugar, and per-
;;ratulates himself upon the reduction of prices. Now
mrs in ten, especially if he is a
'king, but he is eating ait adaitpailetrloll Itia doing
with a
sotatoes, bean dust and bone spreadndottin
paintagOut a decoc-
e flour of
::ter and lard, and drinking
tion of chicory, which he thinks to render
purchased genuine ;
e by a com-
pound of sugar and the refuse of the vats of the soap boiler
all which ingredients they might have
much less price! than that which he has actually given, at some at
a
cheap shop, for the compounds ; and all this is said to be for
the benefit of the consumer.
But how can a man be honest against such competition as
this ? It may be difficult, under such circumstances, to gain
a livelihood, but it is not difficult to be honest. The strug.
gle may be long ; yet when the fame of genuine goods and
honest dealing is once established, to the credit of the great
body of consumers be it said, that there is no want of custom
* See The Chemist. t See The Chemist.

ha ps COng

ghters of England : their position in Society, Oa-
ra'ler and Responsibilities. By Mrs. Ellis. Fisher, Son

Dat

Fin ennobling feature in the character of the female

sof Great Britain in the present day, that, wit

tion, their best energies have been devoted
of virtue, religion, and morality. Whilst our
)opular and talented male writers have too often not
ed to pander to the depraved tastes of the popular
and have filled our modern literature with vulgar hor-
nith the portraitures of sentimental cut-throats and
sting ruffians—whilst the sympathies of the young and
portion of the reading public have been eagerly en-
in behalf of the Paul Cliffords, the Eugene Arams, the
;heopards, and other similar worthies, whose fitting re-
cord fvas the Newgate Calendar, and whose fitting monument
was in the execration of posterity—the genius of
our female
authors has been sedulously devoted to the development of

ly an ex