The Liverpool Standard, and General Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-07-18 00:00:00

VARIETIES

A GENTLEUAN who did not trust to memory wrote in
his pocket book, " I must be married when I get to
town."

NATURALLY ANSWERED.--" My dear," said an anxious
father to his bashful daughter, " I intend that you should
be married, but I do net intend that you should throw
yourself away on any of the wild, worthless boys of the
present day. You must marry a man of sober and mature
age ; one that can charm you with wisdom and good ad-
vice, rather than by personal attraction. What do you
think of a fine, intelligent, mature husband of fifty ?"
The timid, meek, blue-eyed little daughter looked into the
man's face, and with the slightest possible touch of interest
in her voice, answered, " I think two of twenty-five would
be better, pa."
Tire SEPOYS.—I have a regiment of the Shah's Hin-
dostanee Cavalry here. In an affair, a few days ago, in
which the Affghan army would not come near my brave
sepoys, I did all in my power to get this rascally cavalry
to charge, but they would not. The fellows annoyed me
so much, that, did not the welfare of my noble sepoys de-
pend upon me, I think I should have spurred myself into
the midst of the Affghan cavalry. A party of this first
Shah's Cavalry moved to attack, but instantly turned and
fled through the light company of the 38th Regiment
with the Affghans close at their heels. This light company
received the Affghan Horse on the points of their bayonets,
and nobly beat them back. This company is composed of
the Paten Boys, whom you saw frequently when they were
recruits at Delhi, when they used to range themselves in
line near the band, on band evenings ; and you will recol-
lect that they attracted much notice. They are reckless
dogs, but they are noble soldiers, equal to any in the world.
I have now several times seen European troops under fire
with sepoys alongside of them and, believe me, the more '
I gee of sepoys the more I like them ; properly managed
they are the best troops in the world. Some John Bulls
would hang me for saying this. Although our cavalry
would not charge, we licked the enemy well, and drove
them into the I.Trgundab River with great loss. How I
do long to be on some nice spot in Australia !—From Sir
W. Nott's Memoirs.
IMPRESSIONS OP RUSSIA.—We had, previously to the
journey we had undertaken together, severally visited the
two great capitals as well as some other towns of the
empire, and we had now seen many of the villages. We
had mixed more or less with the inhabitants everywhere,
and had had the opportunity of observing something of
the character and manners of the people, and of comparing
these with such as we had observed among the people of
the elder nations of Western Europe. To express our im-
pressions in a few words, it must suffice to say, that we
both quitted Russia Proper with high opinions of two out
of four classes of the people with whom we had come the
most frequently in contact, or with whom we had had the
best opportunity of associating, and with the reverse
impression of the remaining classes. The Russian
educated gentleman, and the mujik or peasant, had by
their suavity and politeness, however differently these were
displayed, wherever we met them, and in all transactions
we had had with them, equally gained our regard and
esteem. But of the inferior classes of the commercial part
of the population, and under the classes of the chinovik or
officials generally, we unwillingly entertained the most un-
favourable impressions, nevertheless, the good elements
are so predominant in the proper. Russian character, as it
must be perceived from the conduct of the peasant, whose
most conspicuous qualities are, piety, loyalty, fidelity,
hospitality, quickness,'and everlasting good humour, and
are so deeply seated, that we may hope, as an accomplished
education has finished the gentleman, some improvement
in the adaptation of the education of the other classes may
effect great and early changes in their moral character. It
is, however, at present said, and I am persuaded, with
good reason, that such knowledge as these classes have
been able to acquire, has hitherto tended rather to corrupt
than improve both their manners and moral conduct, and
become a positive evil instead of a blessing to themselves
and all their fellow-subjects.—Hill's Travels in Siberia.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF PERNAMRUCO.—It is a trite
remark, that there is probably no more permanent or
abiding impression on the mind than that created by first
visiting a country whose climate, people, habits, and ideas
differ essentially from those we have been brought up with,
and are accustomed to regard as a part of our nature.
After a lapse of more than thirty years, the sensations I
experienced on my first arrival here are as fresh in my
memory as if occurring only yesterday. The voyage,
which occupied no less than fifty-six days ; the eager
anxiety for a sight of land; the first view of the foreign
port and outlandish-looking craft ; and then the pilot
coming on board with a crew of blacks, seen for the first
time ; the debarkation amongst strange faces of every pos-
sible shade of colour; with the curiously formed streets
and singular houses, filled with a population of hues so
different from that left behind, every one apparently
shouting at the top of their voices ; whilst hundreds of
rainbow-tinted parrots, and harlequin-skinned animals,
more numerous than the managerial knowledge of a boy
of fifteen believed had ever appeared out of the Ark, all
helped to aggravate the preternatural din, the whole din,
i as may be imagined, being such as to become indelibly
engraven on such a spectator for the remainder of his life.
It was a season of eager curiosity and enjoyment. " Youth
at the prow and pleasure at the helm" look only to the
1 bright side of life's river ; but neither time or distance has
since dimmed the halo that seemed then to environ the
portals of his first launch into active being. Tempora
mutantur et nos mutamur in illis ; still the characteristic
peculiarities of a new country and new scenes remain fixed
in our minds, as if no change had ever come over the spirit
of our dream ; and such is Pernambuco still to me, though
in many respects, greatly improved, altered, and enlarged.
—Hadfield's Brazil.
COURT LIFE IN THE REIGN OF WILLIAM IV. was but
of a very sombre aspect. The good old King used to in-
dulge in giving toasts afther dinner, and he made long and
somewhat prosy speeches. Of the latter he was parti-
cularly fond, and he made the then young Prince George
of Cambridge his pupil by giving the health of his father,
the duke, and inducing the son to rise and return thanks
for the honour conferred. It was no bad discipline for one
who intended to become a public man. The young prince
became a very fair speaker by the old King's instructions.
William detested politics, and he invariably fell asleep
during the dessert. It would have violated etiquette to
have awaked him ; and the Queen and her ladies never
thought of rising until the royal eyelids began again to
give symptoms of returning wakefulness. He was fond of
talking, over the wine, of military details, and was proud
of two achievements connected therewith—first that he
had made Colonel Needham shave off his cherished whis-
kers according to the new regulations ; and that he had
succeeded in having all the Waterloo medals worn with
the King's head outwards. He frequently fell asleep dur-
ing these conversations, and the guests quietly passed the
wine from one to the other ; and as they drank off their
glasses,whue.tilhederea at,
generally
sleepingyw as music,Sovereign
during the
which the Queen Adelaide was as generally engaged in
bowedthe teovenorinsgm
worsted work. The King usually honoured some one with
an invitation to sit by his side on the sofa. He then fell
asleep again, and the unlucky, honoured, individual did not
--I dare leave his " coign of vantage" until the King awoke
were may be unable to account for and gave his signal. William was a very moderate joker,
. pertinacity with which the pro- and he loved a joke from others. It is reported that, when
,
seems to pursue the amateur pedagogue
_ ~,, heir-presumptive, he once said to a secretary of the
but no one can mistake the grounds of that vexa-
Admiralty who was at the same dinner table :—"C
the disapFointed when I am King, you shall not be Admiralty secretary !
tion which induces tutor to burst ! what do you say to that ?" "All that I have to say
off from diatribe, exclaiming, " enough and to that, in such a case, is (said C—) God save the King !"
more
I have heard it further said that William never laughed
than his
enough of this catchpenny counterfeit
. and betake himself to the more frater- so loudly as when he was told of a certain parvenu lady
of history," who, dining at Sir John Co le 's ventured to express
nal task of coddling the spasmodic science and her surprise that there wasP" Yno' pilfered water on the
; 111 theology of Sir David table.' -..." Table Traits," by Dr. DQran,
eulogising the que5t..0112,.. e

notion, nor can we even yet, unless it mean that
period of physical and mental confusion

That will verify thy song,

A. Manchester muse of progre

Considered rain and wrong,

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