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diff --git a/old/13797-8.txt b/old/13797-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..78efdaa --- /dev/null +++ b/old/13797-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5540 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The International Weekly Miscellany, Volume +I. No. 9., by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The International Weekly Miscellany, Volume I. No. 9. + Of Literature, Art, and Science, August 26, 1850 + +Author: Various + +Release Date: October 19, 2004 [EBook #13797] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY *** + + + + +Produced by Joshua Hutchinson, William Flis, the PG Online Distributed +Proofreading Team, and Cornell University + + + + + +INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY MISCELLANY + +Of Literature, Art, and Science. + + * * * * * + +Vol. I. NEW YORK, AUGUST 26, 1850. No. 9. + + * * * * * + + + + +NUMISMATIC ARCHÆOLOGY. + +A magnificent work[1] upon this subject has just been completed in +Paris, where it was commenced fifteen years ago. It was begun under +the auspices of M. Paul Delaroche and M.C. Lenormand, member of the +Institute, and well known already as one of the first authorities in +the numismatic branch of archæology. Some faint idea of the greatness +of the task may be given by stating that it embraces the whole range +of art, from the regal coins of Syracuse and of the Ptolemies, down to +those of our day; that such a stupendous scheme should ever have been +carried into execution is not solely due to the admirable ease and +fidelity, with which the "Collas machine" renders the smallest and the +largest gems of the antique: but to him who first felt, appreciated, +and afterward promoted its capabilities in this labor of love, M.A. +Lachevardiere. Comparisons and contrasts, which are the life of art, +though generally confined to the mental vision, are not the least of +the recommendations of this vast work. For the first time have the +minor treasures of each country been brought together, and not the +least conspicuous portion are those from the British Museum and the +Bank of England. + +[Footnote 1: Trésor de Numismatique et de Glyptique; ou, Recueil +Général de Médailles, Monnaies, Pierres Gravées, Sceaux, Bas-reliefs, +Ornements, &c. Paris, 1850.] + +Whether we consider the selection of these monumental relics, the +explanatory letterpress, or the engravings which reproduce them, we +are struck by the admirable taste, science, and fidelity with which +the largest as well as the smallest gems have each and every one been +made to tally in size with the originals. + +The collection of the "Trésor de Numismatique et Glyptique," +consisting of twenty volumes in folio, and containing a thousand +engraved plates in folio, reproduces upward of 15,000 specimens, and +is divided into three classes--1st. The coins, medals, cameos, &c. +of antiquity; 2d. Those of the middle ages; lastly, those of modern +times. The details of this immense mass of artistic wealth would be +endless; but these three classes seem to be arranged according to the +latest classification of numismatists. + +In the first class may be noticed--1. The regal coins of Greece, +which contains, beside the portraits of the Greek Kings, to be found +in Visconti's "Iconographie," copied from medals and engraved gems, +all the coins bearing the Greek name of either a king, a prince, or +a tyrant, and every variety of these types, whether they bear the +effigy of a prince, or only reproduce his name. To the medals of each +sovereign are joined the most authentic and celebrated engraved gems +of European cabinets. Next come the series of portraits of the Roman +emperors and their families, with all the important varieties of Roman +numismatics, amongst which will be found the most celebrated coins +of France, Vienna, Dresden, Munich, Florence, Naples, St. Petersburg, +Weimar, &c.; and, moreover, those medallions which perpetuate great +events. These two volumes contain eight-fold more matter than the +great work of Visconti. + +In the second class, containing the works of the middle ages, and +showing the uninterrupted progress of the numismatic art down to +modern times, and forming alone fourteen volumes, we find the source +which the French artists and men of letters have studied with such +predilection. First in order are the Italian medals of the fifteenth +and sixteenth centuries, chiefly by the famous Victor Pisano, a +Veronese, whom Nasari has so much lauded. The scholars and imitators +of Pisano also produced works as interesting as historical documents +as they are admirable in workmanship. Here also will be found the +French and English seals, in which the balance of skill in design and +execution is acknowledged to be in our favor. + +Less barbarous, and indeed perfect works of art, in character of +costume and visage, are the medals struck in Germany during the +sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, when the influence of Albert +Durer and his school was strongly felt. And finally, relics of +ornamental art of different nations and epochs. + +In the third class, two parts only are devoted to contemporary art; +the medals illustrative of the French revolution of 1789; those of +the "Empire" and of the Emperor "Napoleon;" generally smacking of the +florid and corrupt taste of that period, they are nevertheless curious +as being often the sole evidence of the facts commemorated. There is, +however, a manifest improvement in the late ones, and in them may be +traced the transition from the independent ideas of the revolution +to the subsequent submission to one man: and not less striking is +the transition from a slip-shod style of art to a pedantic imitation +of the antique. The "Trésor de Numismatique et de Glyptique" is the +most scientific and important work of art which has been executed and +achieved of late years in France. Our great public libraries may be +proud of possessing so rich, so valuable, and so curious a collection, + +Most lovers of art have their favorite periods and well-beloved +masters, but in this varied range of excellence it is difficult which +to select for preference and admiration. The cameos have a beauty and +_finesse_ which far surpass that of busts and statues; they evince the +skill of grouping, which, with rare exceptions, such as the Niobe and +Laocoon, is seldom aimed at in the more important pieces of sculpture. +Cameos, moreover, let us, as it were, into the secrets of indoor +life. To these considerations we may add that these gems have had an +immense influence on French modern art. The "Apotheosis of Augustus" +especially, known to antiquarians as the "Agate of Tiberius," the +largest cameo in the world, and beautifully engraved the size of the +original in this collection, may be traced in more than one of their +late compositions. + +It is said that large medallions are a sign of taste either in the +medalist or the monarch he is supposed to honor; if so, Dupré and +Varin have drawn a thick vail over the effulgence of Louis XIV. +We would not, however, lose their wigs and smiles for a world of +historiettes. + +But it is to be remembered that the more names are blazoned on works +of art, the more art becomes deteriorated. In this respect the present +collection shows the rapidly progressive march of this evil through +twenty-five centuries--a most instructive subject of contemplation. + + * * * * * + + +THE CSIKOS OF HUNGARY. + +Of the chivalry, the gallantry, the splendor, the hospitality, the +courage, and the love of liberty of the Hungarian noble or gentleman, +no one doubts. Of his ideas of true constitutional freedom, or the +zeal with which that or Hungarian independence has been maintained +first through Turkish, and then German domination for some hundred +years past, doubts may be entertained. Neither do the Hungarian +peasantry or people reflect high credit on their "natural superiors." +Something should be deducted for the forced vivacity and straining +after effect of the littérateur; but this sketch of a large class of +peasantry from Max Schlesinger's "War in Hungary," just published +in London, must have some foundation in truth--and very like the Red +Indians or half-breeds of Spanish America the people look. + +"The Csikos is a man who from his birth, somehow or other, finds +himself seated upon a foal. Instinctively the boy remains fixed upon +the animal's back, and grows up in his seat as other children do in +the cradle. + +"The boy grows by degrees to a big horse-herd. To earn his livelihood, +he enters the service of some nobleman, or of the Government, who +possess in Hungary immense herds of wild horses. These herds range +over a tract of many German square miles, for the most part some level +plain, with wood, marsh, heath, and moorland; they rove about where +they please, multiply, and enjoy freedom of existence. Nevertheless, +it is a common error to imagine that these horses, like a pack of +wolves in the mountains, are left to themselves and nature, without +any care or thought of man. Wild horses, in the proper sense of the +term, are in Europe at the present day only met with in Bessarabia; +whereas the so-called wild herds in Hungary may rather be compared +to the animals ranging in our large parks, which are attended to and +watched. The deer are left to the illusion that they enjoy the most +unbounded freedom; and the deer-stalker, when in pursuit of his game, +readily gives in to the same illusion. Or, to take another simile, the +reader has only to picture to himself a well-constituted free state, +whether a republic or a monarchy is all one. + +"The Csikos has the difficult task of keeping a watchful eye upon +these herds. He knows their strength, their habits, the spots they +frequent; he knows the birthday of every foal, and when the animal, +fit for training, should be taken out of the herd. He has then a hard +task upon his hands, compared with which a Grand-Ducal wild-boar hunt +is child's play; for the horse has not only to be taken alive from the +midst of the herd, but of course safe and sound in wind and limb. For +this purpose, the celebrated whip of the Csikos serves him; probably +at some future time a few splendid specimens of this instrument will +be exhibited in the Imperial Arsenal at Vienna, beside the sword of +Scanderberg and the Swiss 'morning-stars.' + +"This whip has a stout handle from one and a half to two feet long, +and a cord which measures not less than from eighteen to twenty-four +feet in length. The cord is attached to a short iron chain, fixed +to the top of the handle by an iron ring. A large leaden button is +fastened to the end of the cord, and similar smaller buttons are +distributed along it at distances, according to certain rules +derived from experience, of which we are ignorant. Armed with this +weapon, which the Csikos carries in his belt, together with a short +grappling-iron or hook, he sets out on his horse-chase. Thus mounted +and equipped without saddle or stirrup, he flies like the storm-wind +over the heath, with such velocity that the grass scarcely bends +under the horse's hoof; the step of his horse is not heard, and the +whirling cloud of dust above his head alone marks his approach and +disappearance. Although familiar with the use of a bridle, he despises +such a troublesome article of luxury, and guides his horse with his +voice, hands, and feet--nay, it almost seems as if he directed it by +the mere exercise of the will, as we move our feet to the right or +left, backward or forward, without its ever coming into our head to +regulate our movements by a leather strap. + +"In this manner for hours he chases the flying herd, until at length +he succeeds in approaching the animal which he is bent on catching. +He then swings his whip round in immense circles, and throws the cord +with such dexterity and precision that it twines around the neck of +his victim. The leaden button at the end, and the knots along the +cord, form a noose, which draws closer and tighter the faster the +horse hastens on. + +"See how he flies along with outstretched legs, his mane whistling +in the wind, his eye darting fire, his mouth covered with foam, and +the dust whirling aloft on all sides! But the noble animal breathes +shorter, his eye grows wild and staring, his nostrils are reddened +with blood, the veins of his neck are distended like cords, his legs +refuse longer service--he sinks exhausted and powerless, a picture +of death. But at the same instant the pursuing steed likewise stands +still and fixed as if turned to stone. An instant, and the Csikos has +flung himself off his horse upon the ground, and inclining his body +backward, to keep the noose tight, he seizes the cord alternately with +the right and left hand, shorter and shorter, drawing himself by it +nearer and nearer to the panting and prostrate animal, till at last +coming up to it he flings his legs across its back. He now begins to +slacken the noose gently, allowing the creature to recover breath: but +hardly does the horse feel this relief, before he leaps up, and darts +off again in a wild course, as if still able to escape from his enemy. +But the man is already bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh; he +sits fixed upon his neck as if grown to it, and makes the horse feel +his power at will, by tightening or slackening the cord. A second time +the hunted animal sinks upon the ground; again he rises, and again +breaks down, until at length, overpowered with exhaustion, he can no +longer stir a limb.... + +"The foot-soldier who has discharged his musket is lost when opposed +to the Csikos. His bayonet, with which he can defend himself against +the Uhlans and Hussars, is here of no use to him; all his practiced +maneuvers and skill are unavailing against the long whip of his enemy, +which drags him to the ground, or beats him to death with his leaden +buttons; nay, even if he had still a charge in his musket, he could +sooner hit a bird on the wing than the Csikos, who, riding round and +round him in wild bounds, dashes with his steed first to one side then +to another, with the speed of lightning, so as to frustrate any aim. +The horse-soldier, armed in the usual manner, fares not much better; +and wo to him if he meets a Csikos singly! better to fall in with a +pack of ravenous wolves." + + * * * * * + + +THE PRESENT RELIGION OF PERSIA. + +An account of the Expedition for the survey of the rivers Euphrates +and Tigris, carried on by order of the British Government, in the +years 1835, 1836, and 1837; preceded by geographical and historical +notices of the regions situated between the Nile and the Indus, with +fourteen maps and charts, and ninety-seven plates, besides numerous +woodcuts, has just appeared in London, in four large volumes, from the +pen of Lieutenant-Colonel Chesney, R.A., F.R.S., &c., commander of +the Expedition. It is too comprehensive a work ever to be reprinted +here, or to be much read, even in England, but it is undoubtedly very +valuable as an authority. The following paragraphs from it describe +the present state of religion in Persia: + +"The title of Múlla is conferred on a candidate by some member of the +order, after the requisite examination in theology and law; and the +person is then intrusted with the education of youth, as well as +the administration of justice, and the practice of law. The Múllas +sometimes possess sufficient power not only to influence the people at +large, but even the King himself. + +"Of this class of priests, those who have been successful in life are +either placed in mosques or private families, waiting for advancement; +but a greater number are nominally attached to colleges, and live +by the practice of astrology, fortune-telling, the sale of charms, +talismans, &c. They who are not possessed of the requisite ingenuity +to subsist by the credulity of others, take charge of an inferior +school, or write letters, and draw up marriage and other engagements, +for those who are unequal to the task. They mix at the same time +largely in the domestic concerns of families. But in addition to +these and other vocations, a considerable number of the lowest priests +derive a scanty support from that charity which no one denies to +the true believer. These men wander as fakirs from place to place, +carrying news, and repeating poems, tales, &c., mixed with verses from +the Koran. The heterodox religions are very numerous; nor is Irián +without her free-thinkers, as the Kamúrs and Mu'tazelís, (Mitaulis,) +who deny everything which they cannot prove by natural reason. A third +sect, the Mahadelis, or Molochadis, still maintain the Magian belief +that the stars and the planets govern all things. Another, the Ehl +el Tabkwid, (men of truth,) hold that there is no God except the four +elements, and no rational soul or life after this one. They maintain +also, that all living bodies, being mixtures of the elements, will +after death return to their first principles. They also affirm that +paradise and hell belong to this world, into which every man returns +in the form of a beast, a plant, or again as a man; and that in this +second state, he is great, powerful, and happy, or poor, despicable, +and unhappy, according to his former merits or demerits. In practice +they inculcate kindness to and respect for each other, with implicit +obedience to their chiefs, who are called Pir, (old men,) and are +furnished with all kinds of provisions for their subsistence. This +sect is found in the provinces of Irák and Fárs. + +"The Táríkh Zenádikah (way of the covetous) are directly opposed to +the last on the subject of transmigration; and they believe that God +is in all places, and performs all things. They likewise maintain +that the whole visible universe is only a manifestation of the +Supreme Being; the soul itself being a portion of the Divine essence. +Therefore, they consider, that whatever appears to the eye is God, and +that all religious rites should be comprised in the contemplation of +God's goodness and greatness. + +"On these various creeds the different branches of Suffeeism seem to +have been founded. One of the most extraordinary of these sects is the +Rasháníyah; the followers of which believe in the transmigration of +souls, and the manifestation of the Divinity in the persons of holy +men. They maintain likewise, that all men who do not join their +sect are to be considered as dead, and that their goods belong, in +consequence, to the true believers, as the only survivors." + + * * * * * + + +THE "OLD DUKE OF QUEENSBURY." + +Mr. Burke gives in his gossiping book about the English aristocracy, +the following anecdotes of this once famous person: + +"Few men occupied a more conspicuous place about the court and town +for nearly seventy years, during the reigns of the Second and Third +Georges. Like Wilmot Earl of Rochester, he pursued pleasure under +every shape, and with as much ardor at fourscore as he had done at +twenty. At the decease of his father, in 1731, he became Earl of +March; and he subsequently, in 1748, inherited his mother's earldom +of Ruglen, together with the family's estates in the counties of +Edinburgh and Linlithgow. These rich endowments of fortune, and a +handsome person, of which he was especially careful, combined to +invest the youthful Earl with no ordinary attractions, and the +ascendency they acquired he retained for a longer period than any one +of his contemporaries; from his first appearance in the fashionable +world in the year 1746, to the year he left it forever, in 1810, +at the age of eighty-five, he was always an object of comparative +notoriety. There was no interregnum in the public course of his +existence. His first distinction he achieved on the turf; his +knowledge of which, both in theory and practice, equaled that of the +most accomplished adepts of Newmarket. In all his principal matches +he rode himself, and in that branch of equitation rivaled the most +professional jockeys. Properly accoutered in his velvet cap, red +silken jacket, buckskin breeches, and long spurs, his Lordship bore +away the prize on many a well-contested field. His famous match with +the Duke of Hamilton was long remembered in sporting annals. Both +noblemen rode their own horses, and each was supported by numerous +partisans. The contest took place on the race-ground at Newmarket, and +attracted all the fashionables of the period. Lord March, thin, agile, +and admirably qualified for exertion, was the victor. Still more +celebrated was his Lordship's wager with the famous Count O'Taafe. +During a conversation at a convivial meeting on the subject of +'running against time,' it was suggested by Lord March, that it +was possible for a carriage to be drawn with a degree of celerity +previously unexampled, and believed to be impossible. Being desired to +name his maximum, he undertook, provided choice of ground were given +him and a certain period for training, to draw a carriage with four +wheels not less than nineteen miles within the space of sixty minutes. +The accomplishment of such rapidity staggered the belief of his +hearers; and a heavy wager was the consequence. Success mainly +depending on the lightness of the carriage, Wright of Long Acre, the +most ingenious coach-builder of the day, devoted the whole resources +of his skill to its construction, and produced a vehicle formed partly +of wood and partly of whale-bone, with silk harness, that came up +to the wishes of his employer. Four blood horses of approved speed +were then selected, and the course at Newmarket chosen as the ground +of contest. On the day appointed, 29th of August, 1750, noble and +ignoble gamesters journeyed from far and near to witness the wonderful +experiment; excitement reached the highest point, and bets to an +enormous amount were made. At length the jockeys mounted; the carriage +was put in motion, and rushing on with a velocity marvelous in those +times of coach traveling, but easily conceived by us railway travelers +of the nineteenth century, gained within the stipulated hour the goal +of victory." + + * * * * * + + +THE DECAY OF GREAT FAMILIES. + +Not the least valuable parts of Burke's just published "Anecdotes of +the Aristocracy," are a species of essay on the fortunes of families. +The following is from a chapter on their decadence: + +"It has often occurred to us that a very interesting paper might +be written on the rise and fall of English families. Truly does Dr. +Borlase remark that 'the most lasting houses have only their seasons, +more or less, of a certain constitutional strength. They have their +spring and summer sunshine glare, their wane, decline, and death.' +Take, for example, the Plantagenets, the Staffords, and the Nevills, +the three most illustrious names on the roll of England's nobility. +What race in Europe surpassed in royal position, in personal +achievement, our Henries and our Edwards? and yet we find the +great-great-grandson of Margaret Plantagenet, daughter and heiress +of George Duke of Clarence, following the craft of a cobbler at the +little town of Newport in Shropshire, in the year 1637. Beside, if +we were to investigate the fortunes of many of the inheritors of the +royal arms, it would soon be discovered that + + 'The aspiring blood of Lancaster' + +had sunk into the ground. The princely stream at the present time +flows through very humble veins. Among the lineal descendants of +Edmund of Woodstock, Earl of Kent, sixth son of Edward I., King +of England, entitled to quarter the Royal arms, occur Mr. Joseph +Smart, of Hales Owen, butcher, and Mr. George Wilmot, keeper of the +turnpike-gate at Cooper's Bank, near Dudley; and among the descendants +of Thomas Plantagenet, Duke of Gloucester, fifth son of Edward +III., we may mention Mr. Stephen James Penny, the late sexton at St. +George's, Hanover Square. + +"The story of the Gargraves is a melancholy chapter in the romance +of real life. For full two centuries, or more, scarcely a family in +Yorkshire enjoyed a higher position. Its chiefs earned distinction +in peace and war; one died in France, Master of the Ordnance to King +Henry V.; another, a soldier, too, fell with Salisbury, at the siege +of Orleans; and a third filled the Speaker's chair of the House of +Commons. What an awful contrast to this fair picture does the sequel +offer. Thomas Gargrave, the Speaker's eldest son, was hung at York, +for murder; and his half-brother, Sir Richard, endured a fate only +less miserable. The splendid estate he inherited he wasted by the most +wanton extravagance, and at length reduced himself to abject want. +'His excesses,' says Mr. Hunter, in his 'History of Doncaster,' 'are +still, at the expiration of two centuries, the subject of village +tradition; and his attachment to gaming is commemorated in an old +painting, long preserved in the neighboring mansion of Badsworth, in +which he is represented as playing at the old game of put, the right +hand against the left, for the stake of a cup of ale. + +"The close of Sir Richard's story is as lamentable as its course. +An utter bankrupt in means and reputation, he is stated to have been +reduced to travel with the pack-horses to London, and was at last +found dead in an old hostelry! He had married Catherine, sister of +Lord Danvers, and by her left three daughters. Of the descendants of +his brothers few particulars can be ascertained. Not many years since, +a Mr. Gargrave, believed to be one of them, filled the mean employment +of parish-clerk of Kippax. + +"A similar melancholy narrative applies to another great Yorkshire +house. Sir William Reresby, Bart., son and heir of the celebrated +author, succeeded, at the death of his father, in 1689, to the +beautiful estate of Thrybergh, in Yorkshire, where his ancestors had +been seated uninterruptedly from the time of the Conquest; and he +lived to see himself denuded of every acre of his broad lands. Le Neve +states, in his MSS. preserved in the Heralds' College, that he became +a tapster in the King's Bench Prison, and was tried and imprisoned for +cheating in 1711. He was alive in 1727, when Wootton's account of the +Baronets was published. In that work he is said to be reduced to a low +condition. At length he died in great obscurity, a melancholy instance +how low pursuits and base pleasures may sully the noblest name, and +waste an estate gathered with labor and preserved by the care of a +race of distinguished progenitors. Gaming was amongst Sir William's +follies--particularly that lowest specimen of the folly, the fights +of game-cocks. The tradition at Thrybergh is (for his name is not +quite forgotten) that the fine estate of Dennaby was staked and lost +on a single main. Sir William Reresby was not the only baronet who +disgraced his order at that period. In 1722, Sir Charles Burton was +tried at the Old Bailey for stealing a seal; pleaded poverty, but +was found guilty, and sentenced to transportation; which sentence was +afterward commuted for a milder punishment." + + * * * * * + + +MADRID AND THE SPANISH SENATE. + +Gazpacho; or, Summer Months in Spain, is the title of a new book by W. +George Clark, published in London. Gazpacho, it seems, is the name of +a dish peculiar to Spain, but of universal use there, a sort of cold +soup, made up of familiars and handy things, as bread, pot-herbs, oil, +and water. "My Gazpacho," says the author, "has been prepared after +a similar receipt. I know not how it will please the more refined +and fastidious palates to which it will be submitted; indeed, amid +the multitude of dainties wherewith the table is loaded, it may well +remain untasted." It at least deserves a better fate than that. The +volume relates, in a pleasant, intelligent, and gossiping way, a +summer's ramble through Spain, describing with considerable force the +peculiarities of its people, and the romantic features by which it +is marked. The clever painter could not have better materials. The +party-colored costumes of the peasants, like dahlias at a Chiswick +show; the somber garments of the priests, the fine old churches, the +queer rambling houses, looking centuries old, the dull, gloomy streets +of Madrid, the life and activity of the market-place. Such are the +objects upon which the eye rests, and of which Mr. Clark was too +observant to neglect any. The following passages will give an idea of +the materials of which the Gazpacho is made up:-- + +MADRID. + +"I left, I suppose, scarcely a street in Madrid which I did not +traverse, or a church which I did not enter. The result is hardly +worth the trouble. One street and church are exactly like another +street and church. In the latter, one always finds the same profusion +of wooden Christs, and Madonnas in real petticoats, on the walls, and +the same scanty sprinkling of worshipers, also in petticoats, on the +floor. The images outnumber the devotees here, as in all other Roman +Catholic countries (except Ireland, which is an exception to every +rule.) To a stranger, the markets are always the most interesting +haunts. A Spaniard, he or she, talks more while making the daily +bargain than in all the rest of the twenty-four hours. The fruit and +vegetable market was my especial lounge. There is such a fresh, sweet +smell of the country, and the groups throw themselves, or are thrown, +into such pretty tableaux after the Rubens and Snyders fashion. The +shambles one avoids instinctively, and fish-market there is none, +for Madrid is fifty hours' journey from the nearest sea, and the +Manzanares has every requisite for a fine trout stream, but water. + +"Madrid has one peculiarity which conduces very much to the visitor's +comfort, namely, that there are very few inevitable 'sights' to be +gone through. The armory said to be the finest in the world; the +palace, ditto (which people who are addicted to upholstering may +go and see, if they don't mind breaking the tenth commandment); the +museum of natural history, where is the largest loadstone in active +operation between this and Medina; and the Academia, nearly complete +the list. Everybody should devote a morning to the last-named, were it +only for the sake of the Murillos. The famous picture of 'St. Isabel +giving alms to the sick' has been arrested at Madrid on its return +from Paris to Seville. As the Sevilians have instituted a 'process' +for its recovery, it is likely to stay there for some time longer. +'The Patrician's Dream' is quite cheering to look upon, so rich and +glowing it is. Shut your eyes to the semi-ludicrous effect of husband, +wife, and dog, in a decreasing series, like the three genders in +Lindley Murray, all asleep. + +"The gardens of the queen, sunk in a deep hollow below the palace, +deserve a visit. The head-gardener, of course a Frenchman, struggles +gallantly against all kinds of difficulties of soil, climate, and lack +of water. By a series of ingenious artifices he has concocted a plot +of grass, some ten feet square, to the great astonishment of all +natives." + +NARVAEZ IN THE SENATE. + +"One day my kind friend Colonel S. took me to hear a debate in the +_Senado_, the Spanish Chamber of Peers, which holds its sittings in +the chapel of a suppressed convent, near the palace. By dint of paint, +gilding, and carpets, the room has been divested of its sanctified +aspect, and made to look like a handsome modern room. They have not +thought it necessary that a place in which a hundred gentlemen in +surtouts meet to discuss secular matters in this nineteenth century, +should be made to resemble a chapel of the fifteenth. Antiquity is +here represented in the person of two halberdiers, who stand to guard +the door, dressed in extravagant costume, like beefeaters in full +bloom. Rows of raised seats extend on each side of the room; in +the center, facing the beef-eaters, are the chair and desk of the +president, and on each side a little tribune, from which the clerks +read out documents from time to time. The spectators are accommodated +in niches round the walls. Each member speaks from his place, and the +voting is by ballot. First a footman hands round a tray of beans, and +then each advances, when his name is called, to a table in the center, +where he drops his bean into the box. The beans are then counted, and +the result proclaimed by the president. On the right of the chair, in +the front, is the bench assigned to the ministers; and there I had +the good luck to see Narvaez, otherwise called Duke of Valencia, and +a great many fine names besides, and, in reality, master of all the +Spains. His face wears a fixed expression of inflexible resolve, very +effective, and garnished with a fierce dyed mustache, and a somewhat +palpable wig to match. His style of dress was what, in an inferior +man, one would have called 'dandified.' An unexceptionable surtout, +opened to display a white waistcoat with sundry chains, and the +extremities terminated, respectively, in patent leather and primrose +kid. During the discussion he alternately fondled a neat riding-whip +and aired a snowy pocket-handkerchief. Those who know him give him +credit for good intentions and great courage, but do not expect +that he will ever set the Thames on fire, whatever he may do to +the Manzanares. He is a mixture, they say, of the chivalric and the +asinine: a kind of moral mule. His personal weakness is a wish to be +thought young, and hence he was naturally angry when Lord Palmerston +wanted to give him a 'wrinkle.' I saw, likewise, Mon, the Minister of +Finance, smiling complacently, like a shopkeeper on his customers; +and the venerable Castanos, Duke of Bailen, who, as he tottered in, +stooping under the weight of ninety years, was affectionately greeted +by Narvaez and others. On the whole, the debate seemed to be languid, +and to be listened to with little interest; but that is the general +fate of debates in July." + + * * * * * + + +THE KANASZ. + +Of the Servian swineherd we have heard something of late, both in +history and romance; because this was the vocation of Kara George, the +Servian Liberator. In Hungary the swine-keeper does not seem to be so +respectable a person. Here is a sketch of him from Max Schlesinger's +new book on the Hungarian war: + +"The Kanasz is a swineherd, whose occupation, everywhere unpoetical +and dirty, is doubly troublesome and dirty in Hungary. Large droves +of pigs migrate annually into the latter country from Serbia, where +they still live in a half-wild state. In Hungary they fatten in the +extensive oak-forests, and are sent to market in the large towns, even +to Vienna, and still further.... + +"It is a true enjoyment to live in these shady forests. The oak +attains a finer and more luxuriant growth on the Hungarian soil than +in any part of Germany. The hogs find food in profusion, and commonly +stuff themselves to such a degree that they lose all desire for roving +about: so that dog, master, and ass, lead a comparatively easy life, +and are left to the quiet enjoyment of nature. But the lot of the +Kanasz is a pitiable one when, at the close of summer, he has to +drive his swine to market. From Debreczin, nay even from the Serbian +frontier, he has to make a journey on foot more toilsome than was ever +undertaken by the most adventurous traveler, pacing slowly over the +interminable heaths in rain, storm, or under a burning sun, behind +his pigs, which drive into his face hot clouds of dust. Every now and +then a hog has stuffed itself so full as to be unable to stir from the +spot; and there it lies on the road without moving, whilst the whole +caravan is obliged to wait for half a day or longer, until the glutted +animal can get on his legs again; and when at length this feat is +accomplished, frequently his neighbor begins the same trick. There +is truly not a more toilsome business in the wide world than that of +a Kanasz.... The fokos is a hatchet, with a long handle, which the +Kanasz hurls with great dexterity. Whenever he desires to pick out +and slaughter one of his hogs, either for his own use or for sale, +the attempt would be attended with danger, in the half-savage state +of these animals, without such a weapon. The fokos here assists him; +which he flings with such force and precision, that the sharp iron +strikes exactly into the center of the frontal bone of the animal +he has marked out; the victim sinks on the earth without uttering a +sound, and the drove quietly proceeds on its way. That he can strike +down a man with equal precision at eighty to a hundred paces, is +proved by the gallows at the entrance of the forest--the three-legged +monument of his dexterity. During recent events, too, the surgeons +of the Austrian army will readily furnish the Kanasz and Csikos with +certificates of their ability and skill." + + * * * * * + + +THE "WILD HUSSAR" OF HUNGARY. + +France, Russia, Prussia, and other countries, have introduced the +Hussars into their armies; but these soldiers are merely Russian, +French, and Prussian cavalry, dressed in the Hungarian laced jacket: +they want the spirit, the horse, and--the 'Magyar Isten.' For this +reason, the Hungarian Hussar will not acknowledge them as brethren; +and whenever he comes in contact with foreign Hussars, he lets them +feel in battle the full force of his contempt. A story is told, that +during a campaign against the French in the war with Napoleon, the +bivouacs of the Prussian and Hungarian Hussars were near to one +another. A Prussian came over to his neighbors in a familiar way with +a glass of wine, and drank it to the health of his 'brother hussar.' +But the Hungarian gently pushed the glass back, and stroked his beard, +saying, 'What brother?--no brother--I hussar--you jack-pudding.' + +This expression is not to be mistaken for a brag. The Hungarian hussar +is no fanfaron like the French chasseur, but he is conscious of his +own powers, like a Grenadier of the Old Imperial Guard. The dolmany, +the csako, and the csizma, have grown to his body; they form his +holyday dress even when off duty--the national costume transferred +into the army; and as he is aware that this is not the case in other +countries, the foreign Hussar's dress is in his eyes a mere servant's +livery; and logically the man is not altogether wrong. + +The Hussar, like the Magyars in general, is naturally good-tempered. +The finest man in the service, he is at the same time the most jovial +companion in the tavern, and will not sit by and empty his glass by +himself when a Bohemian or German comrade at his side has spent all +his money. There is only one biped under the sun who is in his eyes +more contemptible and hateful than any animal of marsh or forest. This +is the Banderial Hussar--that half-breed between Croat and Magyar, +that caricature of the true Hussar, who serves in the cavalry, as +the Croat in the infantry, of the Military Frontier. Never was an +Hungarian Hussar known to drink with a Banderial Hussar; never will he +sit at the same table: if he meets a snake he crushes it under foot--a +wolf he will hunt in the mountains--with a buffalo he will fight on +the open heath--with a miserable horse-stealer he will wrestle for a +halter; but as for the Banderial Hussar, he spits in his face wherever +he meets him. + +It was at Hatvan, or at Tapjo-Bicske, that Hungarian and Banderial +Hussars were for the first time in this war--the first time perhaps +in the recollection of man--opposed to one another in battle. If looks +could slay, there would have been no need of a conflict, for the eyes +of the Magyars shot death and contempt at their unworthy adversaries. +The signal of attack sounded; and at the same instant, as if seized by +one common thought, the Hungarian Hussars clattered their heavy sabres +back into the scabbard, and with a fearful imprecation, such as no +German tongue could echo, charged weaponless and at full speed their +mimic caricatures whom fate had thrown in their way. The shock was so +irresistible, that the poor Croats could make no use of their sabers +against the furious onset of their unarmed foe: they were beaten down +from their saddles with the fist, and dragged off their horses by +their dolmanys; those who could save themselves fled. The Hussars +disdained to pursue them; but they complained to their Colonel at +having been opposed to 'such a rabble.'--_Schlesinger_. + + * * * * * + + + + +ORIGINAL POETRY. + + * * * * * + +A HOROSCOPE. + +BY ELIZABETH OAKES SMITH. + +"Quorum pars magna fui." + + Oh! loveliest of the stars of Heaven, + Thus did ye walk the crystal dome, + When to the earth a child was given, + Within a love-lit, northern home; + Thus leading up the starry train, + With aspect still benign, + Ye move in your fair orbs again + As on that birth long syne. + + Within her curtained room apart, + The pale young mother faintly smiled; + While warmly to a father's heart + With love and prayer was pressed the child; + And, softly to the lattice led, + In whispers grandams show + How those presaging stars have shed + Around the child a glow. + + Born in the glowing summer prime, + With planets thus conjoined in space + As if they watched the natal time, + And came to bless the infant face; + Oh! there was gladness in that bower, + And beauty in the sky; + And Hope and Love foretold a dower + Of brightest destiny. + + Unconscious child! that smiling lay + Where love's fond eyes, and bright stars gleamed, + How long and toilsome grew the way + O'er which those brilliant orbs had beamed; + How oft the faltering step drew back + In terror of the path, + When giddy steep, and wildering track + Seemed fraught with only wrath! + + How oft recoiled the woman foot, + With tears that shamed the path she trod. + To find a canker at the root + Of every hope, save that in God! + And long, oh! long, and weary long, + Ere she had learned to feel + That Love, unselfish, deep, and strong, + Repays its own wild zeal. + + Bright Hesperus! who on the eyes + Of Milton poured thy brightest ray! + Effulgent dweller of the skies, + Take not from me thy light away-- + I look on thee, and I recall + The dreams of by-gone years-- + O'er many a hope I lay the pall + With its becoming tears; + + Yet turn to thee with thy full beam, + And bless thee, Oh love-giving star! + For life's sweet, sad, illusive dream + Fruition, though in Heaven afar-- + "A silver lining" hath the cloud + Through dark and stormiest night, + And there are eyes to pierce the shroud + And see the hidden light. + + Thou movest side by side with Jove, + And, 'tis a quaint conceit, perchance-- + Thou seem'st in humid light to move + As tears concealed thy burning glance-- + Such Virgil saw thee, when thine eyes, + More lovely through their glow,[2] + Won from the Thunderer of the skies + An accent soft and low. + + And Mars is there with his red beams, + Tumultuous, earnest, unsubdued-- + And silver-footed Dian gleams + Faint as when she, on Latmos stood-- + God help the child! such night brought forth + When Love to Power appeals, + And strong-willed Mars at frozen north + Beside Diana steals. + +BROOKLYN, August, 1850. + +[Footnote 2: "Lachrymis oculos effusa nitentes."] + + * * * * * + +FRIENDSHIP. + + How oft the burdened heart would sink + In fathomless despair + But for an angel on the brink-- + In mercy standing there: + An angel bright with heavenly light-- + And born of loftiest skies, + Who shows her face to mortal race, + In Friendship's holy guise. + + Upon the brink of dark despair, + With smiling face she stands; + And to the victim shrinking there, + Outspreads her eager hands: + In accents low that sweetly flow + To his awakening ear, + She woos him back--his deathward track. + Toward Hope's effulgent sphere. + + Sweet Friendship! let me daily give + Thanks to my God for thee! + Without thy smiles t'were death to live, + And joy to cease to be: + Oh, bitterest drop in woe's full cup-- + To have no friend in need! + To struggle on, with grief alone-- + Were agony indeed! + +August. WILLIAM C. RICHARDS. + + * * * * * + +THE BALANCE OF LIFE. + + All daring sympathy--clear-sighted love-- + Is, from its source, a ray of endless bliss; + Self has no place in the pure world above, + Its shadows vanish in the strife of this. + + The toil--the tumult--the sharp struggle o'er,-- + The casket breaks;--men say, "A martyr dies!" + The death--the martyrdom--has past before: + The soul, transfigured, finds its native skies. + + The good--the ill--we vainly strive to weigh + With Reason's scales, hung in the mists of Time: + Yet child-like Faith the balance doth survey, + Held high in ether, by a hand sublime. + +May, 1850. HERMA. + + * * * * * + + + + +SCIENCE. + + * * * * * + +The SPANISH ACADEMY OF SCIENCES have announced the following subject +for competition: "An experimental investigation and explanation of +the theory of nitrification, the causes which most influence the +production of this phenomenon, and the means most conducive in Spain +to natural nitrification." The prize, to be awarded in May 1851, is to +be a gold medal and 6000 copper reals--about seventy pounds sterling; +and a second similar medal will be given to the second best paper. The +papers, written in Spanish or Latin, are to be sent in before the 1st +May, with, as usual, the author's name under seal. + + * * * * * + +IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TELEGRAPH.--The _Presse_ gives some account of +experiments made at the house of M. de Girardin, in Paris, with a +new telegraphic dictionary, the invention of M. Gonon. Dispatches +in French, English, Portuguese, Russian, and Latin, including proper +names of men and places, and also figures, were transmitted and +translated, says this account, with a rapidity and fidelity alike +marvelous, by an officer who knew nothing of any one of the languages +used except his own. Dots, commas, accents, and breaks were all in +their places. This dictionary of M. Gonon is applicable alike to +electric and aerial telegraphy, to transmissions by night and by day, +to maritime and to military telegraphing. The same paper speaks of +the great interest excited in the European capitals by the approaching +experiment of submarine telegraphic communication between England +and France. The wires, it says, on the English side are deposited +and ready for laying down. It is probable that in a very few days the +experiment will be complete. + + * * * * * + + + + +AUTHORS AND BOOKS. + + * * * * * + +NEW ORLEANS AS SEEN BY A GERMAN PRINCE is very naturally not quite +the same city as in the opinion of her own pleasure-loving citizens, +nor can the republic whose South-western metropolis is condemned with +the rigidity of a merciless judge and the jaundice of an unfriendly +traveler, hope to get clear of censure from the same super-royal pen. +It seems that his serenest highness Major-General Duke Paul William, +of Wirtemburg, is traveling in America, and that the _Ausland_, a +weekly paper, of Stuttgart, is from time to time favored with the +results of his experience on the way. From some recent portions of his +correspondence _The International_ translates the subjoined _morceau_, +which, however, despite its great exaggeration, is not altogether +devoid of truth: "It is not necessary here to mention how much +New Orleans has altered, increased, and deteriorated, for it is an +established thing that cities which grow to such gigantic proportions +gain nothing in respect to the morals of their inhabitants. Here +drunkenness and gambling, two vices of which the Americans were +ignorant in the time of the founders of their great federation, +have taken very deep root. The decrease of the inflexible spirit of +religion, and the increase of vice and luxury, gnaw the powerful tree, +and are fearful enemies, which cannot be resisted by a structure that +might resist with scorn all foreign foes, and would have played a +mighty part in the world's history had the spirit of Washington and +Franklin remained with it. The annexation of Texas, the war with +Mexico, and now the gold of California, have transformed the United +States. A people which makes conquests, loses inward power in +proportion to the aggrandizement of its volume, and the increase of +its external enemies." + + * * * * * + +AN ARABIAN NEWSPAPER, with the title _Mobacher_. has lately been +commenced in Algiers, at the expense of the French Government. It +is edited in the cabinet of the Governor-General, issued weekly, and +lithographed, as less expensive than printing, which in Arabic types +would be quite costly. It contains political news from Europe and +Africa, the latest advices from Constantinople, all those laws and +decrees of the Government which in any way concern the Arabs, and +descriptions of such new discoveries and inventions as can be made +intelligible to the readers for whom it is designed. A thousand copies +are printed weekly and sent to the chiefs and headmen of all the +tribes that are under French rule or influence. At first it was not +read much, but now the vanity of the Arabs has been excited by it as a +mark of special attention from the Governor-General, so that they take +it as an honor, and a degree of curiosity has been excited to obtain +news from other parts of the world. + +Within a short time, also, an additional importance has been given to +the paper by the publication in it of the amount of the tribute which +each tribe is required to pay to France. Formerly this was known only +to the chiefs who would accordingly exact from their people whatever +amount they deemed best, under the pretense that it was for the +government, while the greater part was retained by themselves. These +tribes have profited greatly by the French conquest; it is estimated +that of the eighty millions of francs which the army in Algeria costs +yearly, from twenty to twenty-five millions remain in the hands of the +Arabs. The Arab sells his corn, dates, horses, sheep, the baskets he +weaves, &c., to the European population, but never buys anything from +them in turn, except it be arms and powder. The rest of his money he +carries home and buries where no one knows but himself, so that, if +he dies suddenly, it is lost. Only the chiefs of the tribe know how to +extort anything of these hidden sums. According to the most moderate +estimates the tribes must have from two to three hundred millions +of French money. The gains which the chiefs draw from this wealth is +considerable; some of them have from a hundred to a hundred and fifty +thousand francs income. They are beginning to build large houses, +and cultivate gardens around them, a disposition which the government +favors, because it is easier to keep tribes in order that are +settled and have dwellings to lose which they cannot take with them. +The publication of the tribute in the _Mobacher_, is, under these +circumstances, of great value for the Arabs, because it enables them, +as it were, to supervise their chiefs, and to refuse to pay exorbitant +taxes laid under pretense of a high tribute. This has increased the +respect generally felt for the paper, though it has not rendered it +more a favorite with the chiefs. The power of these leaders is very +great in the various tribes, having been in most cases hereditary, at +least since the tenth century, and although not always inherited in +direct line, the tribes have never suffered it to pass into the hands +of new families. Hitherto nothing has diminished it; the war rather +gave it new strength, and it is only by means of the chiefs that the +French can keep Algiers quiet. It would be a remarkable fact if the +dissolving power of publicity through the press should be manifested +here as elsewhere, and begin the overthrow of the long standing +influence exercised by the great Arabian families. + + * * * * * + +MRS. M. ST. LEON LOUD, of Philadelphia, has in the press of Ticknor, +Reed & Fields, of Boston, a collection of her poems, entitled, +"Wayside Flowers." Mrs. Loud is a writer of much grace and elegance, +and occasionally of a rich and delicate fancy. The late Mr. Poe was +accustomed to praise her works very highly, and was to have edited +this edition of them. + + * * * * * + +THE LITERATURE OF SOCIALISM occupies the press in France. The subject +is warmly debated, _pro_ and _con_. In a pamphlet called _Despotisme +ou Socialisme_, M. Pompery rapidly sketches the alternative which, he +says, lies open to those who rise against despotism. There are but two +religious doctrines according to him: the one absolutist, represented +by De Maistre, and the Catholic school, which is, logically enough, +desirous of reestablishing the Inquisition; the other professed by all +the illustrious teachers of mankind, by Pythagoras, Jesus, Socrates, +Pascal, &c., which, believing in the goodness of the Creator and the +perfectibility of man, endeavors to found upon earth the reign of +justice, fraternity, and equality. A more important work on Socialism +is that of Dr. Guepin, of Nantes, _Philosophie du Socialisme_; and M. +Lecouturier announces a _Science du Socialisme_. + + * * * * * + +MR. G.P.R. JAMES has taken a cottage at Jamaica, Long Island, and +is domiciliated as an American--we hope for a long time. He has made +troops of friends since his arrival here, and is likely to be as +popular in society as he has long been in literature. We are sure +we communicate a very pleasing fact when we state that it is his +intention to give in two or three of our principal cities, during the +autumn and fall, a series of lectures--probably upon the chivalric +ages, with which no one is more profoundly familiar, and of which +no one can discourse more wisely or agreeably. His abilities, his +reputation, and the almost universal acquaintance with his works, +insure for him the largest success. We are indebted to no other living +author for so much enjoyment, and by his proposed lectures he will not +only add to our obligations, but furnish an opportunity to repair +in some degree the wrong he has suffered from the imperfection and +injustice of our copyright system. + + * * * * * + +"THE LIFE, CHARACTER, AND GENIUS OF EBENEZER ELLIOTT," is a volume +by January Searle, author of _Leaves from Sherwood Forest_, &c., who +knew the corn-law rhymer well, and has been enabled to give very +characteristic sketches, original descriptions, correspondence, &c. +There are in it many judiciously selected specimens of Elliott's +poems, prose productions, and lectures. Mr. Searle observes of him, +that "he was cradled into poetry by human wrong and misery; and was +emphatically the bard of poverty--singing of the poor man's loves and +sorrows, and denouncing his oppressors." Again: "He has one central +idea--terrible and awful in its aspect, although beautiful and +beneficent in spirit--before which he tries all causes, and men, and +things. It is the Eternal Idea of Right; his synonyme of God. And this +idea is perpetually present in his mind, pervades all his thoughts, +will not be shuffled nor cheated, but demands a full satisfaction from +all violators of it." + + * * * * * + +THE LATE MRS. OSGOOD was in a very remarkable degree respected and +beloved by those who were admitted to her acquaintance. Without envy +or jealousy, or any of the immoralities of the intellect which most +commonly beset writers of her sex, she occasioned no enmities and was +a party to none, but was regarded, especially by the literary women +of this country, with a feeling of tenderness and devotion probably +unparalleled in the annals of literature or of society. Immediately +after her death, therefore, a desire was manifested to illustrate +the common regard for her by some suitable testimonial, and upon +consultation, it was decided to publish a splendid souvenir, to +consist of the gratuitous contributions of her friends, and with the +profits accruing from its sale to erect a monument to her memory in +the cemetery of Mount Auburn. This gift book, edited by Mrs. Osgood's +most intimate friend, Mary E. Hewitt, will be published by Mr. Putnam, +on the first of October, under the title of _The Cairn_, and it will +contain original articles by George Aubrey, Lord Bishop of Jamaica: +the Right Rev. George W. Doane, the Right Rev. Alonzo Potter, the +Hon. R.H. Walworth, the Hon. J. Leander Starr, the Rev. C.S. Henry, +D.D., G.P.R. James, Esq., N.P. Willis, Esq., W. Gilmore Simms, Esq., +Bayard Taylor, Esq., J.H. Boker, Esq., Alfred B. Street, Esq., R. +H. Stoddard, Esq., Miss Fredrika Bremer, Mrs. Sigourney, Mrs. Oakes +Smith, Mrs. Embury, Mrs. Lewis, Mrs. Neal, Mrs. Willard, Mrs. Whitman, +Miss Lynch, Miss Hunter, Miss Cheesebro', and indeed nearly all the +writers of her sex who have attained any eminence in our literary +world. The volume will be illustrated with nine engravings on steel, +by Cheney and other eminent artists. + + * * * * * + +THE REV. WALTER COLTON has just published through A.S. Barnes & Co. +"Three Years in California," a journal of experiences and observations +in the gold region, from the period when it first attracted the +attention of the Atlantic cities. Mr. Colton was some time alcade +of Monterey, and he had in every way abundant opportunity to acquire +whatever facts are deserving of preservation in history. His "Ship +and Shore," "Constantinople and Athens," "Deck and Port," and other +works, have illustrated his genial temper, shrewdness, and skill in +description and character writing; and this book will increase his +reputation for these qualities. It contains portraits of Capt. Sutter, +Col. Fremont, Mr. Gwin, Mr. Wright, Mr. Larkin, and Mr. Snyder, a map +of the valley of the Sacramento, and several other engravings, very +spirited in design and execution. + + * * * * * + +MR. GEORGE STEPHENS, author of the "_Manuscripts of Erdely_," has +been struck by ill health and reduced to poverty, and an amateur play +has been prepared for his benefit at the Soho Theater. He wrote "The +Vampire," "Montezuma," and "Martinuzzi." + + * * * * * + +The Gallery of Illustrious Americans, conducted by Mr. Lester, +continues with every number to increase in interest. The work is +designed to embrace folio portraits, engraved by Davignon, from +daguerreotypes by Brady, of twenty-four of the most eminent American +citizens who have lived since the time of Washington. The portraits +thus far have been admirable for truthfulness and artistic effect. It +may be said that the _only_ published pictures we have, deserving to +be called portraits, of the historian Prescott, or Mr. Calhoun, or +Colonel Fremont, are in this Gallery. The great artist, naturalist, +and man of letters, Audubon, is reflected here as he appears at the +close of the battle, receiving the reverence of nations and ages. +In the biographical department Mr. Lester has evinced very eminent +abilities for this kind of writing. He seizes the prominent events +of history and the strong points of character, and presents them +with such force and fullness, and happy combination, as to make the +letter-press as interesting and valuable as the engraved portion +of the work. We are pleased to learn that the Gallery is remarkably +successful. No publication of equal splendor and expensiveness has +ever before been so well received in this country. The cost of it +is but one dollar per number, or twenty dollars for the series of +twenty-four numbers. It is now half completed. + + * * * * * + +M. Max Schlesinger, author of "The War in Hungary, in 1848-9,"--a +work which, from what we read of it in the foreign journals, is much +the most striking and attractive of all that have appeared upon its +subject in English,--is described in the _Athenæum_, as by birth +a Hungarian, by the accidents of fortune a German. For some time a +resident in Prague, and more recently settled in Berlin, he has had +excellent opportunities of seeing the men and studying the questions +connected both in the literary and political sense with the present +movement of ideas and races in Eastern Europe. His acquaintance +with the aspects of nature in his native land--his knowledge of the +peculiar character of its inhabitants, their manners, modes of thought +and habits of life--his familiarity with past history--his right +conception of the leading men in the recent struggle--are all vouched +for as "essentially accurate" by no less an authority than Count +Pulszky. It would be an injustice merely to say that M. Schlesinger +has given in an original and picturesque way a general view of the +course of events in the late war, more complete and connected than is +afforded in any account hitherto presented to the public. He has done +more: he has enabled the German and English reader to understand the +miracle of a nation of four or five millions of men rising up at the +command of a great statesman, and doing successful battle with the +elaborately organized power of a first-class European state, shaking +it to its very foundations, and contending, not without hope, +against two mighty military empires,--until the treachery from within +paralyzed its power of resistance. + + * * * * * + +Dr. Mayo's new novel, "The Berber, or the Mountaineer of the Atlas," +published by Putnam, promises to be scarcely less popular than his +"Kaloolah." The _Evening Post_ says of it: "Kaloolah was a sprightly +narrative of the wanderings of a Yankee, who seemed to combine in +his person the characteristics of Robinson Crusoe with those of Baron +Munchausen; but the Berber professes to be nothing more than a novel; +or, as the author says in his preface, his principal object has been +to tell an agreeable story in an agreeable way. In doing so, however, +an eye has been had to the illustration of Moorish manners, customs, +history, and geography; to the exemplification of Moorish life as +it actually is in Barbary in the present day, and not as it usually +appears in the vague and poetic glamour of the common Moorish romance. +It has also been an object to introduce to the acquaintance of the +reader a people who have played a most important part in the world's +history, but of whom very few educated people know anything more than +the name. As Dr. Mayo has traveled extensively over the regions he +describes, we presume that his descriptions may be taken as true. His +account of the Berbers, a tribe of ancient Asiatic origin, who inhabit +a range of the Atlas, and who live a semi-savage life like the Arabs, +is minute, and to the intelligent reader quite as interesting as the +more narrative parts of the work. It is, perhaps, the best evidence of +the merits of the book, that the whole first edition was exhausted by +orders from the country before the first number had appeared in the +city." + + * * * * * + +Col. Forbes, who was in Italy during the revolution, and many years +previous, and who was himself, both in a military and civic capacity, +one of the actors in that event, the _Evening Post_ informs us, is +about to give public lectures on the subject of Italy in the various +cities and towns of the United States. Col. Forbes was intimately +connected with the revolutionary chiefs during the brief existence +of the Roman Republic, and was directly and confidently employed by +Mazzini. His knowledge of the country, its people, its politics, and +its recent history, will supply him with materials for making his +lectures highly interesting and instructive. + + * * * * * + +The Gem of the Western World, edited by Mrs. Hewitt, and published by +Cornish & Co., Fulton street, is a very beautiful gift-book, and in +its literary character is deserving of a place with the most splendid +and; tasteful annuals of the season. Mrs. Hewitt's own contributions +to it embrace some of her finest compositions, and are of course among +its most brilliant contents. + + * * * * * + +FRENCH PERIODICALS.--A Parisian correspondent of the London _Literary +Gazette_ observes, that if we exclude the _Revue des Deux Mondes_--a, +sort of cross between the English _Quarterly_ and the monthlies,--if +we exclude also a few dry scientific periodicals, and one or two +theatrical or musical newspapers, we shall seek in vain for any +_Quarterly_, or _Blackwood_, or _Art Union_, or _Literary Gazette_; +and that even the periodicals and journals which make the nearest +approach to the weekly, monthly, or quarterly publications of England, +are either wretched compilations, or abominably ill-written and +ill-printed. The _feuilleton_ system of the newspapers is no doubt +the principal cause of the periodical literature being in such +an extremely low condition. But though literary and scientific +periodicals be, generally speaking, vile in quality, they can at least +boast of quantity. There are, it seems, not fewer than 300 of one +kind or another published in Paris alone. Among them are 44 devoted +to medicine, chemistry, natural science, &c.; 42, trade, commerce, +railways, advertisements; 34, fashions; 30, law; 22, administration, +public works, roads, bridges, mines; 19, archæology, history, +biography, geography, numismatics; 19, public instruction and +education; 15, agriculture and horticulture; 8, bibliography and +typography; 10, army and navy; 7, literary; the rest theatrical, +musical, or of a character too hybrid to be classified. + + * * * * * + +THE ILLUSTRATED DOMESTIC BIBLE, edited by the Rev. Ingram Cobbin, +seems to us decidedly the best family Bible ever offered to the trade +in this country. It is printed with remarkable correctness and beauty; +illustrated with a very large number of maps and engravings on wood; +and its notes, written with much condensation and perspicuity, are +such as are necessary for the understanding of the text. Indeed, all +that is added to the letter of the Bible is legitimate and necessary +_illustration_. It is being published in a series of twenty-five +numbers, at twenty-five cents each, by S. Hueston, publisher of _The +Knickerbocker_, Nassau-street. + + * * * * * + +THE VIENNA UNIVERSITY, long one of the best in Europe, has not been +reopened since the insurrection of November, 1848, its principal +edifice having been occupied as barracks for a regiment of soldiers. +It is now proposed to restore it to its proper use, but great +difficulty is experienced in finding professors. The old ones +are scattered, some as exiles in foreign countries, on account of +democratic opinions,--some in prison for the same reason, others +employed elsewhere. Wackernagel, the eminent professor of the German +Language and Literature at Basle, Switzerland, tempted by liberal +offers, had promised to come to Vienna, and lend the aid of his +reputation and talents to the restoration of the University, but being +lately at Milan, on a wedding tour, as he and his wife were passing +through the _Piazza d'Armi_, their ears were saluted by cries of +pain, which on inquiry they found to proceed from sundry rebellious +Italians, of both sexes, who were receiving each from twenty-five to +fifty blows of the military baton, or cane, employed by the Austrians +in flogging soldiers. Madame Wackernagel at once declared that she +would never willingly inhabit a country whose laws and habits suffered +women to be so brutally punished for patriotism, and her husband could +only agree with her. He has accordingly broken off the engagement, and +the Government cannot hope to supply his place. + + * * * * * + +HINCKS ON LITERARY LARCENY.--A Canadian friend sends us the following +extract from a speech by Francis Hincks, a leading member of the +Canadian Ministry, touching the International Copyright question: + + "The American publisher steals the works of British authors, + because he is immoral enough to do it, because he is scoundrel + enough, and the nation is scoundrel enough to permit it. + (Ironical cheers.) Yes, because the nation is scoundrel enough + to permit it." + +Our unknown friend who sends us this wants us to give Hincks a +thorough roasting for it, and evidently expects every hair on our head +to bristle with indignation. Now we have not the least objection to +roasting the Minister aforesaid, and will do it when a fair chance +presents itself, but we don't consider this such a chance. In fact, +though we think Francis has drawn rather a strong draught from "the +well of English undefiled," yet essentially we regard his observations +above quoted as rather more than half right. It _is_ rascally to steal +a man's book, print it, sell it, read it, and refuse him any pay for +the labor of writing it; and we don't see that his being an Englishman +makes any material difference. There may be a cheaper way to get the +proceeds of another man's toil than by paying for it, but we don't +think there is any other strictly honest way.--_Tribune_. + + * * * * * + +HERR SCHUMANN's opera, "Généviève," was produced at Leipsic on the +28th ultimo. "This work," says the _Gazette Musicale_, "after having +been much recommended beforehand, does not seem to have satisfied +public expectation, being concert music, without any dramatic force." +For the verdict which will finally be passed on "Généviève" every +one must be curious who has at all followed the journals of Young +Germany in the recent crusades which they nave made, not so much to +establish Schumann as a great composer, as to prove him greater than +Mendelssohn. + + * * * * * + +THE GRAND LITERARY TRADE SALES are now in progress in New York: and +the catalogues of the rival houses are the largest ever printed. +Cooley & Keese at their splendid hall in Broadway present this year a +richer and more extensive series of invoices than has ever before been +sold in America. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE FINE ARTS. + + * * * * * + +Bavaria is a sort of artists' paradise, both the late King Louis and +the present Maximilian being determined to leave behind them the glory +of munificent patrons of art. In this they have so far succeeded, that +Munich, which before their time was by no means among German cities +the most worthy a traveler's attention, may now dispute the palm even +with Dresden, notwithstanding the unrivaled gallery of paintings, +possessed by the latter. For students of modern art, and especially +of the German schools, Munich is incomparable, while its collection of +ancient sculptures cannot be equaled out of Italy. We now learn that +King Maximilian has conceived the plan of a grand series of pictures +to comprehend the prominent epochs and events of history. The most +eminent German and foreign artists are to be invited to assist in +carrying out this immense undertaking; so that thus the series will +not only represent the great experiences of mankind, but will, it is +hoped, contain specimens of all the great schools of modern painting. + + * * * * * + +An exhibition of indisputable works by the old painters is now open +at Valenciennes, in France. It consists of pictures belonging to the +family of the Belgian general Rottiers. They are for sale, either +single or together. Among them is a St. Denis, bearing his Head, by +Rubens, said to have been painted by order of Pope Urban VIII. It was +deposited in the Convent of the _Annunciades_, at Antioch; in 1747, +Louis XV. offered 100,000 francs for it, but was refused, the convent +having no right to dispose of it. Afterward, on the suppression +of the convent, it fell into the hands of the family to which it +now belongs. The exhibition also contains a landscape by Salvator +Rosa, representing a scene in the Appenines; a Magdalen kneeling +in a Cavern, by Kneller; two Allegories, by Giulio Romano; several +portraits by Rubens and Van Dyke, besides other works of less value. + + * * * * * + +Darley's "Sleepy Hollow."--The London Art Journal, for July, has the +following notice of Mr. Darley's illustrations of Irving's "Legends of +Sleepy Hollow," published by the _American Art Union_: "The charmingly +quaint original legend told with so much quiet humor by Washington +Irving, is here illustrated by a native artist in a congenial spirit, +and his scenes realized in a manner which must give its author +satisfaction, and redound to the credit of the designer. We have +before noticed the great ability exhibited by Mr. Darley for the mode +of illustration he adopts, which we may add is that rendered famous +by Retzsh. The series we are now noticing are quite as meritorious as +that designed by the same artist to Rip Van Winkle; but the subject +matter is not equally capable of such broad contrasts in drollery +as that legend presents. Nevertheless, Mr. Darley has executed his +task in the truest appreciation of his author; and his hero is the +veritable Ichabod Crane of Irving; his love-making scene with "the +peerless daughter of Van Tassel" is exquisite in its quiet humor; +so also is the merry-making in the Dutch Farmer's home. Altogether, +the series is extremely good, and does the greatest credit to the +designer. American literature thus illustrated by American artists +cannot fail to achieve honor to that country in the old world as well +as the new. We believe Mr. Darley, in his line, to be as great as any +American artist whose works have fallen under our notice." + + * * * * * + +Chaucer's Monument.--The _Athenæum_ says, "One of the objections +formerly urged against taking steps to restore the perishing memorial +of the Father of English Poetry in Poet's Corner was, that it was not +really his tomb, but a monument erected to do honor to his memory a +century and a half after his death. An examination, however, of the +tomb itself, by competent authorities, has proved this objection to +be unfounded--inasmuch as there can exist no doubt, we hear, from +the difference of workmanship, material, &c., that the altar tomb is +the original tomb of Geoffrey Chaucer,--and that instead of Nicholas +Brigham having erected an entirely new monument, he only added to that +which then existed the overhanging canopy, &c. So that the sympathy of +Chaucer's admirers is now invited to the restoration of what till now +was really not known to exist--_the original tomb_ of the Poet--as +well as to the additions made to it by the affectionate remembrance of +Nicholas Brigham." + + * * * * * + +Lessing's new picture.--A letter from Düsseldorf under date of +9th July, in the _Courier and Enquirer_, says that Lessing's great +painting, "The Martyrdom of Huss," Sad just been finished and had been +exhibited for the last few days at the Academy of Fine Arts, where +it was visited by thousands. When it became known that orders for its +immediate shipment had arrived from New York, the desire to obtain a +last view of this truly great work became so intense that it was found +necessary to put the Police in requisition to keep back the throng, +and the gates of the Academy had to be closed. It causes general +regret that it is to be sent out of the country. The _Cologne Gazette_ +calls this picture the most sublime production of the great artist, +and expresses the conviction that a speedy fortune might be realized +by its exhibition in Europe. + + * * * * * + +Mr. George Flagg has just completed a portrait of Mrs. E. Oakes Smith, +which will be ranked among the first productions of his pencil. We +know of scarce a picture as beautiful or a portrait as truthful. It is +to be engraved, we believe, by Cheney. + + * * * * * + +Mlle. Rachel.--The wonderful accuracy of the death-scene in "Adrienne +Lecouvreur" has been the object of universal praise in London, not +merely from the thrilled and thralled public, but from men of art +and science. A physician, it is said, was complimenting Mademoiselle +on her amazing truth to the symptoms of mortal agony: "You must have +studied death closely," said he. "Yes, I have," was the quiet reply; +"my maid's. I went up to her--I stayed with her--she recommended her +mother to me!--I was studying my part." This is probably merely one +of those cynical stories with which the sharp people of Paris love +to environ and encircle every one who stands a dangerous chance of +becoming too popular. But smaller artists than Mademoiselle Rachel +have sometimes had recourse to curious expedients to give their +dramatic personations a show at reality. The French _prima donna_, who +not very long ago appeared in M. Clapisson's poor opera, "Jeanne la +Folle," is said to have shut herself up in the _Salpêtrière_, by way +of studying _her_ part, and to have been rewarded for her zealous +curiosity by receiving a basin of scalding soup dashed in her face by +one of the poor miserable objects of her examination. + + * * * * * + +A Frankfort journal states that the colossal statue of Bavaria, by +SCHWANTHALER, which is to be placed on the hill of Seudling, surpasses +in its gigantic proportions all the works of the moderns. It will have +to be removed in pieces from the foundry where it is cast to its place +of destination,--and each piece will require sixteen horses to draw +it. The great toes are each half a metre in length. In the head two +persons could dance a polka very conveniently,--while the nose might +lodge the musician. The thickness of the robe--which forms a rich +drapery descending to the ankles--is about six inches, and its +circumference at the bottom about two hundred metres. The Crown +of Victory which the figure holds in her hands weighs one hundred +quintals (a quintal is a hundred-weight). + + * * * * * + +The death of SIR ROBERT PEEL, says the _Literary Gazette_, has +awakened a busy competing spirit for the production of articles +relating to him, and especially in connection with Literature and the +Arta. In the one, Memoirs, Speeches, Recollections, Anecdotes, &c., +have been abundantly supplied; and in the other, every printshop +window in London displays its Peels of every style and every degree, +but mostly very indifferent, absolutely bad, or utter caricature. + + * * * * * + +Goupil, Vibert & Co. have published a series of portraits of eminent +Americans which is deserving of the largest approval and sale. +The head of Mr. Bryant is the best ever published of that poet; it +presents his fine features and striking phrenology with great force +and with pleasing as well as just effect. A portrait of Mr. Willis +is wonderfully truthful, in detail, and is in an eminent degree +characteristic. The admirers of that author who have not seen him will +find in it their ideal, and all his acquaintances will see in it as +distinctly the real man who sits in the congress of editors as the +representative of the polite world. The head of the artist Mount, +after Elliott, is not by any means less successful. Among the other +portraits are those of Gen. Scott, President Fillmore, Robert Fulton, +J.Q. Adams, Mr. Clay, Mr. Webster, and President Taylor. They are all +on imperial sheets, and are sold at $1 each. + + * * * * * + +The Paris papers tell a story of a young actor, who finding no +engagement in that city, came to America to try his fortune. From +New Orleans he went to California, was lucky as a digger, embarked +in business and got immensely rich. He is now building in the Champs +Elysées a magnificent hotel for his mother. All actors are not so +fortunate. + + * * * * * + +Expected arrivals from Nineveh.--The Great Bull, and upward of one +hundred tons of sculpture, excavated by Dr. Layard, are now on their +way to England, and may be expected in the course of September. In +addition-to the Elgin, Phigalian, Lycian, and Boodroun marbles, the +British Museum will soon be enriched with a magnificent series of +Assyrian sculptures. + + * * * * * + +Mr. Burt has nearly finished the "Anne Page and Slender" of Leslie, +which is to be the annual engraving of the Art Union. It will be an +admirable picture, but we cannot but regret that the managers selected +for this purpose a work so familiar. + + * * * * * + +The French Minister of the Interior has decided that marble busts of +M. Gay-Lussac and of M. Blainville shall be executed at the expense of +the government, and placed in the Institute. + + * * * * * + + +Mr. Powell, who is living in Paris, engaged upon his picture for the +capital, has been in ill health nearly all the summer. + + * * * * * + + + + +RECENT DEATHS. + + * * * * * + +The French papers report the death, at Paris, of M. MORA, the Mexican +Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of St. James. M. Mora was +the author of a History of Mexico and its Revolutions since the +establishment of its independence, and editor-in-chief of several +journals in Mexico. + + * * * * * + +MR. B. SIMMONS, an amiable and accomplished writer, whose name will +be recollected as that of a frequent contributor of lyrical poems of +a high order to _Blackwood's Magazine_, and to several of the Annuals, +died in London on the 20th of July. + + * * * * * + + +[FROM GRAHAM'S MAGAZINE.] + +ON A PORTRAIT OF CROMWELL. + +BY JAMES T. FIELD. + + "Paint me as I am," said Cromwell, + Rough with age, and gashed with wars-- + "Show my visage as you find it-- + Less than truth my soul abhors!" + + This was he whose mustering phalanx + Swept the foe at Marston Moor; + This was he whose arm uplifted + From the dust the fainting poor. + + God had made his face uncomely-- + "Paint me as I am," he said. + So he lives upon the canvas + Whom they chronicled as _dead_! + + Simple justice he requested + At the artist's glowing hands, + "Simple justice!" from his ashes + Cries a voice that still commands. + + And, behold! the page of History, + Centuries dark with Cromwell's name, + Shines to-day with thrilling luster + From the light of Cromwell's fame! + + * * * * * + + +[FROM THE EXAMINER.] + +WORDSWORTH'S POSTHUMOUS POEM.[3] + +This is a voice that speaks to us across a gulf of nearly fifty years. +A few months ago Wordsworth was taken from us at the ripe age of +fourscore, yet here we have him addressing the public, as for the +first time, with all the fervor, the unworn freshness, the hopeful +confidence of thirty. We are carried back to the period when +Coleridge, Byron, Scott, Rogers, and Moore were in their youthful +prime. We live again in the stirring days when the poets who divided +public attention and interest with the Fabian struggle in Portugal and +Spain, with the wild and terrible events of the Russian campaign, with +the uprising of the Teutonic nations and the overthrow of Napoleon, +were in a manner but commencing their cycle of songs. This is to +renew, to antedate, the youth of a majority of the living generation. +But only those whose memory still carries them so far back, can feel +within them any reflex of that eager excitement with which the news of +battles fought and won, or mailcoach copies of some new work of Scott, +or Byron, or the _Edinburgh Review_, were looked for and received in +those already old days. + +[Footnote 3: The Prelude, or Growth of a Poet's Mind; an +Autobiographical Poem. By William Wordsworth. London, Moxon. [New +York, Appletons.]] + +We need not remind the readers of the _Excursion_ that when Wordsworth +was enabled by the generous enthusiasm of Raisley Calvert to retire +with a slender independence to his native mountains, there to devote +himself exclusively to his art, his first step was to review and +record in verse the origin and progress of his own powers, as far +as he was acquainted with them. This was at once an exercise in +versification, and a test for the kind of poetry for which he was +by temperament fitted. The result was a determination to compose a +philosophical poem containing views of man, of nature, and of society. +This, ambitious conception has been doomed to share the fate of so +many other colossal undertakings. Of the three parts of his _Recluse_, +thus planned, only the second, (the _Excursion_, published in 1814,) +has been completed. Of the other two there exists only the first book +of the first, and the plan of the third. The _Recluse_ will remain in +fragmentary greatness, a poetical Cathedral of Cologne. + +Matters standing thus, it has not been without a melancholy sense of +the uncertainty of human projects, and of the contrast between the +sanguine enterprise and its silent evaporation (so often the "history +of an individual mind"), that we have perused this _Prelude_ which no +completed strain was destined to follow. Yet in the poem itself there +is nothing to inspire depression. It is animated throughout with the +hopeful confidence in the poet's own powers, so natural to the time +of life at which it was composed; it evinces a power and soar of +imagination unsurpassed in any of his writings; and its images and +incidents have a freshness and distinctness which they not seldom +lost, when they came to be elaborated, as many of them were, in his +minor poems of a later date. + +The _Prelude_, as the title-page indicates, is a poetical +autobiography, commencing with the earliest reminiscences of the +author, and continued to the time at which it was composed. We are +told that it was begun in 1799 and completed, in 1805. It consists +of fourteen books. Two are devoted to the infancy and school-time of +the poet; four to the period of his University life; two to a brief +residence in London immediately subsequent to his leaving Cambridge, +and a retrospect of the progress his mind had then made; and three +to a residence in France, chiefly in the Loire, but partly in Paris, +during the stormy period of Louis the Sixteenth's flight and capture, +and the fierce contest between the Girondins and Robespierre. Five +books are then occupied with an analysis of the internal struggle +occasioned by the contradictory influences of rural and secluded +nature in boyhood, and of society when the young man first mingles +with the world. The surcease of the strife is recorded in the +fourteenth book, entitled "Conclusion." + +The poem is addressed to Coleridge; and apart from its poetical +merits, is interesting as at once a counterpart and a supplement to +that author's philosophical and beautiful criticism of the _Lyrical +Ballads_ in his _Biographia Literaria_. It completes the explanation, +there given, of the peculiar constitution of Wordsworth's mind, and of +his poetical theory. It confirms and justifies our opinion that that +theory was essentially partial and erroneous; but at the same time it +establishes the fact that Wordsworth was a true and a great poet in +despite of his theory. + +The great defect of Wordsworth, in our judgment, was want of sympathy +with and knowledge of men. From his birth till his entry at college, +he lived in a region where he met with none whose minds might awaken +his sympathies, and where life was altogether uneventful. On the +other hand, that region abounded with the inert, striking, and most +impressive objects of natural scenery. The elementary grandeur +and beauty of external nature came thus to fill up his mind to +the exclusion of human interests. To such a result his individual +constitution powerfully contributed. The sensuous element was +singularly deficient in his nature. He never seems to have passed +through that erotic period out of which some poets have never emerged. +A soaring, speculative imagination, and an impetuous, resistless +self-will, were his distinguishing characteristics. From first to last +he concentrated himself within himself; brooding over his own fancies +and imaginations to the comparative disregard of the incidents and +impressions which suggested them; and was little susceptible of ideas +originating in other minds. We behold the result. He lives alone in a +world of mountains, streams, and atmospheric phenomena, dealing with +moral abstractions, and rarely encountered by even shadowy specters +of beings outwardly resembling himself. There is measureless grandeur +and power in his moral speculations. There is intense reality in +his pictures of external nature. But though his human characters are +presented with great skill of metaphysical analysis, they have rarely +life or animation. He is always the prominent, often the exclusive, +object of his own song. + +Upon a mind so constituted, with its psychological peculiarities +so cherished and confirmed, the fortunes and fates of others, and +the stirring events of his time, made vivid but very transient +impressions. The conversation and writing of contemporaries trained +among books, and with the faculty of speech more fully developed than +that of thought, seemed colorless and empty to one with--whom natural +objects and grandeurs were always present in such overpowering force. +Excluded by his social position from taking an active part in the +public events of the day, and repelled by the emptiness of the then +fashionable literature, he turned to private and humble life as +possessing at least a reality. But he thus withheld himself from +the contemplation of those great mental excitements which only great +public struggles can awaken. He contracted a habit of exaggerating the +importance of every-day incidents and emotions. He accustomed himself +to see in men and in social relations only what he was predetermined +to see there, and to impute to them a value and importance derived +mainly from his own self-will. Even his natural good taste contributed +to confirm him in his error. The two prevailing schools of literature +in England, at that time, were the trashy and mouthing writers who +adopted the sounding language of Johnson and Darwin, unenlivened +by the vigorous thought of either; and the "dead-sea apes" of +that inflated, sentimental, revolutionary style which Diderot had +unconsciously originated, and Kotzebue carried beyond the verge of +caricature. The right feeling and manly thought of Wordsworth were +disgusted by these shallow word-mongers, and he flew to the other +extreme. Under the influences--repulsive and attractive--we have thus +attempted to indicate, he adopted the theory that as much of grandeur +and profound emotion was to be found in mere domestic incidents and +feelings, as on the more conspicuous stage of public life; and that +a bald and naked simplicity of language was the perfection of style. +Singularly enough, he was confirmed in these notions by the very +writer of the day whose own natural genius, more than any of his +contemporaries, impelled him to revel in great, wild, supernatural +conceptions; and to give utterance to them in gorgeous language. +Coleridge was perhaps the only contemporary from whom Wordsworth ever +took an opinion; and that he did so from him, is mainly attributable +to the fact that Coleridge did little more than reproduce to him +his own notions, sometimes rectified by a subtler logic, but always +rendered more attractive by new and dazzling illustrations. + +Fortunately it is out of the power of the most perverse theory to +spoil the true poet. The poems of Wordsworth must continue to charm +and elevate mankind, in defiance of his crotchets, just as Luther, +Henri Quatre, and other living impersonations of poetry do, despite +all quaint peculiarities of the attire, the customs, or the opinions +of their respective ages, with which they were imbued. The spirit of +truth and poetry redeems, ennobles, hallows, every external form in +which it may be lodged. We may "pshaw" and "pooh" at Harry Gill and +the Idiot Boy; but the deep and tremulous tenderness of sentiment, +the strong-winged flight of fancy, the excelling and unvarying purity, +which pervade all the writings of Wordsworth, and the exquisite melody +of his lyrical poems, must ever continue to attract and purify the +mind. The very excesses into which his one-sided theory betrayed him, +acted as a useful counter-agent to the prevailing bad taste of his +time. + +The Prelude may take a permanent place as one of the most perfect of +his compositions. It has much of the fearless felicity of youth; and +its imagery has the sharp and vivid outline of ideas fresh from the +brain. The subject--the development of his own great powers--raises +him above that willful dallying with trivialties which repels us in +some of his other works. And there is real vitality in the theme, +both from our anxiety to know the course of such a mind, and from +the effect of an absorbing interest in himself excluding that languor +which sometimes seized him in his efforts to impart or attribute +interest to themes possessing little or none in themselves. Its mere +narrative, though often very homely, and dealing in too many words, +is often characterized also by elevated imagination, and always by +eloquence. The bustle of London life, the prosaic uncouthness of its +exterior, the earnest heart that beats beneath it, the details even of +its commonest amusements, from Bartholomew Fair to Sadler's Wells, are +portrayed with simple force and delicate discrimination; and for the +most part skillfully contrasted with the rural life of the poet's +native home. There are some truthful and powerful sketches of French +character and life, in the early revolutionary era. But above all, +as might have been anticipated, Wordsworth's heart revels in the +elementary beauty and grandeur of his mountain theme; while his +own simple history is traced with minute fidelity, and is full of +unflagging interest. + +We have already adverted to the fact that this Prelude was but +the overture to a grander song which the poet has left, in a great +measure, unsung. Reverting to this consideration an important +fact seems to force itself upon our notice. The creative power of +Wordsworth would appear to have been paralyzed after the publication +of his Excursion. All his most finished works precede that period. His +later writings generally lack the strength and freshness which we find +in those of an earlier date. Some may attribute this to his want of +the stimulus which the necessity of writing for a livelihood imparts, +and in part they may be right; but this is not the whole secret. That +his isolation from the stirring contact of competition, that his utter +disregard of contemporary events, allowed his mind, which for perfect +health's sake requires constantly-renewed impulses from without, to +subside into comparative hebetude, there can be no doubt whatever. +But the main secret of the freezing up of his fountain of poetical +inspiration, we really take to have been his change of politics. +Wordsworth's muse was essentially liberal--one may say, Jacobinical. +That he was unconscious of any sordid motive for his change, we +sincerely believe; but as certainly his conforming was the result less +of reasonable conviction than of willfulness. It was by a determined +effort of his will that he brought himself, to believe in the +Church-and-State notions which he latterly promulgated. Hence the want +of definite views, and of a living interest, which characterizes all +his writings subsequent to that change, when compared with those of +an earlier time. It was Wordsworth's wayward fate to be patronized and +puffed into notice by the champions of old abuses, by the advocates +of the pedantry of Oxford, and by the maintainers of the despotism not +even of Pitt but of Castlereagh. It is already felt, however, that the +poet whom these men were mainly instrumental in bringing into notice, +will live in men's memories by exactly those of his writings most +powerful to undermine and overthrow their dull and faded bigotries. +Despite his own efforts, Wordsworth (as has been said of Napoleon) is +the child and champion of Jacobinism. Though clothed in ecclesiastical +formulas, his religion is little more than the simple worship of +nature; his noblest moral flights are struggles to emancipate himself +from conventional usage; and the strong ground of his thoughts, as of +his style, is nature stripped of the gauds with which the pupils of +courts and circles would bedeck and be-ribbon it. Even in the ranks of +our opponents Wordsworth has been laboring in our behalf. + +It is in the record of his extra-academic life that the poet soars his +freest flight, in passages where we have a very echo of the emotions +of an emancipated worshiper of nature flying back to his loved +resorts. Apart from its poetic value, the book is a graphical and +interesting portraiture of the struggles of an ingenuous and impetuous +mind to arrive at a clear insight into its own interior constitution +and external relations, and to secure the composure of self-knowledge +and of equally adjusted aspirations. As a poem it is likely to +lay fast and enduring hold on pure and aspiring intellects, and to +strengthen the claim of Wordsworth to endure with his land's language. + + * * * * * + + +THE MONUMENT TO SIR ROBERT PEEL. + +A LETTER FROM WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR, + +TO THE EDITOR OF THE 'EXAMINER.' + +Now the fever hath somewhat subsided which came over the people from +the grave of Sir Robert Peel, there is room for a few observations on +his decease and on its consequences. All public writers, I believe, +have expatiated on his character, comparing him with others who, +within our times, have occupied the same position. My own opinion +has invariably been that he was the wisest of all our statesmen; +and certainly, though he found reason to change his sentiments and +his measures, he changed them honestly, well weighed, always from +conviction, and always for the better. He has been compared, and +seemingly in no spirit of hostility or derision, with a Castlereagh, +a Perceval, an Addington. a Canning. Only one of these is worthy of +notice, namely Canning, whose brilliancy made his shallowness less +visible, and whose graces, of style and elocution threw a vail over +his unsoundness and lubricity. Sir Robert Peel was no satirist or +epigrammatist: he was only a statesman in public life: only a virtuous +and friendly man in private. _Par negotiis, nee supra_. Walpole alone +possessed his talents for business. But neither Peel nor his family +was enriched from the spoils of his country; Walpole spent in building +and pictures more than double the value of his hereditary estate, and +left the quadruple to his descendants. + +Dissimilar from Walpole, and from commoner and coarser men who +occupied the same office, Peel forbade that a name which he had +made illustrious should be degraded and stigmatized by any title +of nobility. For he knew that all those titles had their origin and +nomenclature from military services, and belong to military men, like +their epaulets and spurs and chargers. They sound well enough against +the sword and helmet, but strangely in law-courts and cathedrals: but, +reformer as he was, he could not reform all this; he could only keep +clear of it in his own person. + +I now come to the main object of my letter. + +Subscriptions are advertised for the purpose of raising monuments +to Sir Robert Peel; and a motion has been made in Parliament for +one in Westminster Abbey at the public expense, Whatever may be the +precedents, surely the house of God should contain no object but +such as may remind us of His presence and our duty to Him. Long ago I +proposed that ranges of statues and busts should commemorate the great +worthies of our country. All the lower part of our National Gallery +might be laid open for this purpose. Even the best monuments in +Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's are deformities to the edifice. Let +us not continue this disgrace. Deficient as we are in architects, +we have many good statuaries, and we might well employ them on the +statues of illustrious commanders, and the busts of illustrious +statesmen and writers. Meanwhile our cities, and especially the +commercial, would, I am convinced, act more wisely, and more +satisfactorily to the relict of the deceased, if, instead of statues, +they erected schools and almshouses, with an inscription to his +memory. + +We glory in about sixty whose busts and statues may occupy what are +now the "deep solitudes and awful cells" in our national gallery. Our +literary men of eminence are happily more numerous than the political +or the warlike, or both together. There is only one class of them +which might be advantageously excluded, namely, the theological; and +my reasons are these. First, their great talents were chiefly employed +on controversy; secondly, and consequently, their images would excite +dogmatical discord. Every sect of the Anglican Church, and every +class of dissenters, complaining of undue preferences. Painture and +sculpture lived in the midst of corruption, lived throughout it, and +seemed indeed to draw vitality from it, as flowers the most delicate +from noxious air; but they collapsed at the searching breath of free +inquiry, and could not abide persecution. The torch of Philosophy +never kindled the suffocating fagot, under whose smoke Theology was +mistaken for Religion. Theology had, until now, been speculative +and quiescent: she abandoned to Philosophy these humbler qualities: +instead of allaying and dissipating, as Philosophy had always done, +she excited and she directed animosities. Oriental in her parentage, +and keeping up her wide connections in that country, she acquired +there all the artifices most necessary to the furtherance of her +designs: among the rest was ventriloquism, which she quite perfected, +making her words seem to sound from above and from below and from +every side around. Ultimately, when men had fallen on their faces at +this miracle, she assumed the supreme power. Kings were her lackeys, +and nations the dust under her palfrey's hoof. By her sentence Truth +was gagged, scourged, branded, cast down on the earth in manacles; and +Fortitude, who had stood at Truth's side, was fastened with nails and +pulleys to the stake. I would not revive by any images, in the abode +of the graceful and the gentle Arts, these sorrowful reminiscences. +The vicissitudes of the world appear to be bringing round again the +spectral Past. Let us place great men between it and ourselves: they +all are tutelar: not the warrior and the statesman only; not only the +philosopher; but also the historian who follows them step by step, and +the poet who secures us from peril and dejection by his counter-charm. +Philosophers in most places are unwelcome: but there is no better +reason why Shaftesbury and Hobbes should be excluded from our +gallery, than why Epicurus should have been from Cicero's or Zeno from +Lucullus's. Of our sovereigns, I think Alfred, Cromwell, and William +III alone are eligible; and they, because they opposed successfully +the subverters of the laws. Three viceroys of Ireland will deservedly +be placed in the same receptacle; Sir John Perrot, Lord Chesterfield, +and (in due time) the last Lord-Deputy. One Speaker, one only, of the +Parliament; he without whom no Parliament would be now existing; +he who declared to Henry IV. that until all public grievances were +removed, no subsidy should be granted. The name of this Speaker may be +found in Rapin; English historians talk about facts, forgetting men. + +Admirals and generals are numerous and conspicuous. Drake, Blake, +Rodney, Jervis, Nelson, Collingwood; the subduer of Algiers beaten +down for the French to occupy: and the defender of Acre, the first who +defeated, discomfited, routed, broke, and threw into shameful flight, +Bonaparte. Our generals are Marlborough, Peterborough, Wellington, and +that successor to his fame in India, who established the empire that +was falling from us, who achieved in a few days two arduous victories, +who never failed in any enterprise, who accomplished the most +difficult with the smallest expenditure of blood, who corrected +the disorders of the military, who gave the soldier an example of +temperance, the civilian of simplicity and frugality, and whose sole +(but exceedingly great) reward, was the approbation of our greatest +man. + +With these come the statesmen of the Commonwealth, the students of +Bacon, the readers of Philip Sidney, the companions of Algernon, the +precursors of Locke and Newton. Opposite to them are Chaucer, Spenser, +Shakspeare, Milton; lower in dignity, Dryden, Pope, Gray, Goldsmith, +Cowper, Scott, Burns, Shelley, Southey, Byron, Wordsworth; the author +of _Hohenlinden_ and the _Battle of the Baltic_; and the glorious +woman who equaled these, two animated works in her _Ivan_ and +_Casabianca_. Historians have but recently risen up among us: and long +be it before, by command of Parliament, the chisel grates on the brow +of a Napier, a Grote, and Macaulay! + +WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR. + + * * * * * + + +[FROM THE SPECTATOR.] + +JURISPRUDENCE OF THE MOGULS: THE PANDECTS OF AURUNGZEBE.[4] + +THE Government of British India have not neglected to countenance +the study of the indigenous and other systems of law which they found +established on acquiring possession of the country. Warren Hastings +was the first to recognize the value of such knowledge; and to his +encouragement, if not to his incitement, we are indebted for the +compilation of Hindoo law translated by Halbed, Jones, Colebrooke, +Macnaghten, Hamilton, and a pretty numerous body of accomplished +men, of whom Mr. Baillie is the most recently enrolled laborer in +the vineyard, have carried on the good work. More comprehensive and +accurate views of Hindoo law have gradually been developed, and the +more advanced and more influential system of Mahometan jurisprudence +has also shared in the attention of European students. There is, +however, still much to be done in this field of inquiry; as a few +remarks on the nature of the present publication, and the source +whence its materials are derived, will show. + +[Footnote 4: The Moohummadan Law of Sale, according to the Hunefeea +Code: from the Futawa Alumgeeree, a Digest of the whole Law, prepared +by command of the Emperor Aurungzebe Alumgeer. Selected and translated +from the original Arabic, with an Introduction and explanatory Notes, +by Neil B.E. Baillie, Author of "The Moohummadan Law of inheritance." +Published by Smith and Elder.] + +The law of Mahometan jurists is for India pretty much what the Roman +law is for Scotland and the Continental nations of Europe. Savigny has +shown how, throughout all the territories formerly included within the +limits of the Roman Empire, a large amount of Roman legal doctrines +and forms of procedure continued to be operative after the Empire's +subversion. The revival of the study of the Roman law, as embodied +in the compilations of Justinian, by the doctors of the school +of Bologna, augmented and systematized these remnants of Roman +jurisprudence, and extended their application to countries which (like +great part of Germany) had never been subjected to the sway of Rome. +In like manner, throughout that part of India which was permanently +subdued and organized by the Mogul dynasty, and also those parts in +which minor Islamitic states were established, the organization of +the courts of justice, and the legal opinions of the individuals who +officiated in them, necessarily introduced a large amount of Mahometan +jurisprudence. This element of the law of India was augmented and +systematized by the writings of private jurists, and by compilations +undertaken by command of princes. As with the Roman jurisprudence in +Europe, so with Mahometan jurisprudence in India, only so much of its +doctrines and forms could at any time be considered to possess legal +force as had been reenacted by the local sovereigns, or introduced by +judges in the form of decisions. A systematic knowledge of the whole +body of Mahometan law was important to the Indian lawyer, as enabling +him more thoroughly to understand the system, and its various isolated +doctrines; but the whole body of that law was at no time binding in +India. Since the establishment of British sway, only so much of the +Mahometan law as has kept its ground in the practice of the courts, +or has been reenacted by the "regulations" or "ordinances" of the +Anglo-Indian Government, _is law_; the rest is only valuable as the +"antiquities of the law," which help to trace the origin of what +survives, and thereby throw light upon what in it is obscure or +doubtful. + +Among the most valuable, if not indeed the most valuable of the +compilations from which we may obtain a knowledge of Mahometan +jurisprudence, is the "Futawa Alumgeeree," mentioned in Mr. Baillie's +title-page. Its value is not confined to the purposes of those +who would make themselves acquainted with Mahometan jurisprudence +in the peculiar form it assumed in India. It is highly esteemed +throughout Islam, and is quoted even by the doctors of Mecca as the +Futawa-i-hind, or the Indian _responsa prudentum_. It was compiled by +the orders of the Emperor Aurungzebe. It is a digest of the "Futawa" +of the most celebrated jurists of the Hanifeh (or, as Mr. Baillie +spells it, _Hunefeeah_) sect or school. Mr. Baillie informs us in +his preface, that "_futawa_ is the plural form of _futwa_, a term in +common use in Mahometan countries to signify an exposition of law by a +public officer called the _mooftee_, or a case submitted to him by the +_kazee_ or judge." The "futwa," therefore, seems to correspond not +so much with our English "decisions" or "precedents" as with the +"responsa prudentum," that fertile source of doctrines in the Roman +law. The "Futawa Alumgeeree" consequently resembles the Pandects +of Justinian in being a systematical arrangement of selections from +juridical authorities--compiled by Imperial authority; but differs +from it in this, that the selections are made exclusively from the +"responsa prudentum," and a few legal treatises, whereas Justinian's +digest combined with those excerpts from judicial decisions, +prætorian edicts, &c. With this distinction, we may regard the "Futawa +Alumgeeree" as the Pandects or Digest of Mahometan Law. As in the +Roman work of that name, to each extract is appended the name of the +original work from which it is taken; and the whole of them are so +arranged as to form a complete digest of Mahometan law. + +A work of this kind is invaluable to the student who would make +himself master of Mahometan jurisprudence as a system. But great care +must be taken not to misapprehend the exact nature of the knowledge +to be obtained from it. The "Futawa Alumgeeree" is a systematic +exposition of the principles of Mahometan law; it assuredly does not +enable us to ascertain what doctrines of that law are now of legal +force in India, or even what doctrines have at any time had force +in India. It does not appear to have been Aurungzebe's intention to +promulgate it as a code, but to present it to lawyers as a complete +text-book. Even if he did by ordinance attribute to it the power of +law, such ordinance was only effectual at any time in the provinces of +the Mogul Empire; and since the disruption of that empire, it has been +superseded and modified by laws and the practice of law-courts in the +various independent states erected on its ruins. + +Again the general scholar must be on his guard against the delusion +that he will find in this digest materials illustrative of the social +condition of India under the Mogul dynasty. The juridical works +excerpted in it are almost all foreign to Hindostan; the special cases +illustrative of abstract doctrines are taken from other countries, +and many of them from ages antecedent to the invasion of India by the +Moguls. + +Though Persian was the court language of the Mogul dynasty, there is +scarcely any Persian element in Aurungzebe's legal compilation. The +Shiite views of jurisprudence, as of theology, prevailed in Persia; +the "Futawa Alumgeeree" is strictly Sunnite. It is not difficult to +account for this.--The Mahometan conquerors of India were mainly of +Turkish or Tartar race; they came from Turan, a region which from time +immemorial has stood in antagonistic relations to Iran or Persia. This +may account for the fact that the races of Turan which have embraced +Mahometanism have uniformly adhered to the Sunnite sect--the sect +most hostile to the Persian Shias--not only when they settled in the +countries where the Sunnite sect originated, but when they remained in +their native regions. The views of the Sunnites were first promulgated +and have prevailed most extensively in those regions of Islam which +were once part of the Roman empire, which nominally at least was +Christian; those of the Shiites, in the countries where, under the +Sassanides and Arsacidæ, the doctrines of Zoroaster predominated. The +Euphrates forms pretty nearly the line of demarkation between them. + +The Caliphs dominated over both countries and over both sects. Under +their orthodox protection the Sunnite doctrines were able to strike +root in Balkh and Samarkand--the ancient Turan, and therefore hostile +to Iran and Persia. When Islam was reorganized after the anarchy which +ensued upon the overthrow of the Caliphs, Persia became the appanage +of the Sophis or Shiite dynasty; the regions to the West of the +Euphrates--the ci-devant Roman Empire--acknowledged the rule of +the Turkish dynasties, which were Sunnite. On the Oxus and further +East--the old Turan--the Sunnite sect was sufficiently strong to defy +the efforts of the Shiite sovereigns of Persia to eradicate it. The +doctors of Samarkand and Bokhara continued (and continue) as orthodox +Sunnites as those of Kufah, Mecca, and Stamboul. + +Accordingly, we find the authorities excerpted in the "Futawa +Alumgeeree" consist almost exclusively of two classes; they are either +the immediate disciples of Hanifa at Kufah and Bagdad, or the jurists +of Samarkand and Bokhara. The law-cases they expounded are such as had +originated, or might have originated, in those countries--in Babylonia +or Turan. And they are for the most part taken from a state of +society, and illustrative of social relations, which prevailed in +these countries at a period long antecedent to that of Aurunzebe. To +attempt to illustrate the civil and social condition of India, under +that Emperor by their aid, would be as preposterous as to attempt to +illustrate the civil and social condition of those parts of Germany +where the Roman law still possesses authority from cases recorded in +the Pandects of Justinian. + +The real use and value of the "Futawa Alumgeeree" may be briefly +explained. In every country in Europe where the Roman law is still +recognized as more or less authoritative--and indeed in every country +where the common law has borrowed more or less from the Roman--an +acquaintance with the system of Roman jurisprudence as it is embodied +in the law-books of Justinian has its value for the scientific lawyer. +In like manner a knowledge of Mahometan jurisprudence as embodied in +the "Futawa Alumgeeree" cannot fail to be instructive for the lawyers +of all the countries of Islam, and the lawyers of India, where so much +of the existing practical law has been derived from that source. To +the general scholar who wishes to master the civil history of Arabia +and Babylonia, in which the Sunnite sect, and more particularly the +Hanifite subdivision of it, originated, or to familiarize himself +with the moral theories which regulate the judgments and actions of +the modern Turks, Turcomans, Arabians, and Egyptians, the digest of +Aurungzeebee is also a valuable repertory of facts and illustrations. + +For this reason we incline to be of opinion that Mr. Baillie is +mistaken in thinking that a selection from the two books of the +"Futawa Alumgeeree," which embrace the subject of "sale" can have much +utility for Indian practitioners. It does not follow, because a legal +doctrine is declared sound in this work, that it is or ever has been +practically applicable in India. As an authoritative declaration of +legal doctrines, the book is as likely to mislead as to guide aright. +On the other hand, as an exposition of the general principles of +Mahometan law, even with regard to sale, it is necessarily imperfect. +The work from which it is taken is a collection of legal opinions, +which had in their day the force of judicial decisions--of something +equivalent to the "responsa prudentum" of Roman jurisprudence. Each is +expounded on its own merits; and all the special doctrines involved +in it are laid down. Hence it comes, that much that is calculated +to throw light on the principles of the law of sale must be sought +under other heads; and that much included in the chapters ostensibly +treating of sale refers to other topics. As part of an entire digest +of the law compiled on the same principle as that of Justinian, +the two books relating to sale are sufficient; but for an isolated +treatise on "sale," they contain at once too much and too little. + +Nevertheless, we welcome Mr. Baillie's publication as a valuable +addition to juridical and even to general literature. The translation, +though not by any means free from defects, is the best specimen of +a really good Mahometan law-book that has yet been published. The +defects to which we allude are twofold. In the first place, though Mr. +Baillie mentions that in the original the name of the treatise from +which it is taken is appended to every excerpt, he has not in his +translation given those references. His work is not therefore what +the original is, a Chrestomathia of the best Arabian jurists--a +succedaneum for their complete works--an illustration of Arabic legal +literature. Again, he is often loose and vacillating in the use of +the English words he has selected as corresponding to the technical +phraseology of the Arabian jurists, and sometimes infelicitous in the +selection of his English terms. It has occurred to us that he would +have succeeded better in rendering the exact meaning of his originals, +had he availed himself more of technical phrases of the Roman law +which are familiar to all European jurists. Is does not occur to +us that he would by doing so have been in danger of Romanizing the +Mahometan to an extent that might mislead. Mill, in his History of +British India, has noticed how closely the classification of the +Mahometan approaches to that of the Roman jurists. An attentive +perusal of Mr. Baillie's volume has convinced us that the analogy in +the substance is quite as strong as in the arrangements. This fact +seems susceptible of being accounted for on historical grounds. +Mahometanism is in fact a sect or heresy of Christianity. The views +and sentiments, the aggregate of which make up the body of Christian +opinion, are not all of Jewish or Christian origin. They are the moral +creed of societies whose opinions and civilization have been derived +in part from other sources. The philosophy of Greece and the law of +Rome have contributed in nearly equal proportions to the theosophy +of the Hebrews. The jurisprudence of all Christian nations is mainly +referable to Rome for its origin, and the same is the case with at +least the Sunnite Mahometans. The nations of Islam took only their +religious creed from their Prophet; the jurists of Kufah retained and +expounded the civil law which prevailed among them before his time. +That law was the law of the Greek Empire, developed in the same way as +that of the Western Empire under the judicial and legislative auspices +of Roman Prætors and Pro-Consuls, aided by Roman jurists. Theophilus, +one of the jurists employed by Justinian for his compilations, +lectured in Greek on the Institutions; and the substance of +his lectures still survives under the name of the Paraphrase of +Theophilus. The Greek edicts and novels of Justinian's successors are +mainly Roman law. Throughout the Byzantine Empire (within which Kufah +and the region where Bagdad now stands were included) Roman law was +paramount, and Roman jurists were numerous. The arrangement, the +subdivisions, and the substance of Mahometan jurisprudence, show +that it has been principally derived from this source. Some of its +doctrines are doubtless aboriginal engrafted on the law of the +Empire; and it has been modified in some respects to reconcile it to +the religious dictates of Islam, just as the law of Pagan Rome was +modified after Christianity became the religion of the Empire. But +still Mahometan jurisprudence retains undeniably the lineaments of its +parentage. + +This consideration places in a strong light the importance of the +study of Mahometan law. The increasing intimacy of our relations with +independent Mahometan states makes it of the utmost consequence that +we should entertain correct views of their opinions and institutions; +and no better key to the knowledge of both can be found than in the +historical study of their law. Again, we are called upon to legislate +and supply judges for British India, a large proportion of the +inhabitants of which are Mahometans. Even the Hindoos of the former +Mogul Empire have adopted many legal forms and doctrines from +their conquerors. A minute and accurate acquaintance with Mahometan +jurisprudence is an indispensable preliminary to judicious legislation +for British India. For these reasons, it could be wished that Mr. +Baillie, or some other equally accomplished laborer in that field, +would set himself to do for the "Futawa Alumgeeree" what Heineccius +and other modern civilians have done for the law-books of +Justinian--present the European public with an elegant and exact +abstract of its contents. + + * * * * * + +The following, from Southey's "Gridiron," now first published in his +Memoirs, ought to be set to music for the Beef-Steak Club:-- + + "Now the perfect Steak prepare! + Now the appointed rites begin! + Cut it from the pinguid rump. + Not too thick and not too thin; + Somewhat to the thick inclining, + Yet the thick and thin between, + That the gods, when they are dining, + May comment the golden mean. + Ne'er till now have they been blest + With a beef-steak daily drest: + Ne'er till this auspicious morn + When the Gridiron was born." + + * * * * * + +The most ignorant of the world's fools are those called "knowing +ones," a phrase satirical with the very glee of irony. + + * * * * * + + +THE MYSTERIOUS COMPACT. + +A FREE TRANSLATION FROM THE GERMAN. + +PART II--CONCLUSION + +(CONCLUDED FROM PAGE 192.) + +Several weeks passed away. Edward spared no pains to discover +some trace of the lady in question, but all in vain. No one in the +neighborhood knew the family; and he had already determined, as +soon as the spring began, to ask for leave of absence, and to travel +through the country where Ferdinand had formed his unfortunate +attachment, when a circumstance occurred which coincided strangely +with his wishes. His commanding-officer gave him a commission to +purchase some horses, which, to his great consolation, led him exactly +into that part of the country where Ferdinand had been quartered. +It was a market-town of some importance. He was to remain there some +time, which suited his plans exactly; and he made use of every leisure +hour to cultivate the acquaintance of the officers, to inquire into +Ferdinand's connections and acquaintance, to trace the mysterious name +if possible, and thus fulfill a sacred duty. For to him it appeared a +sacred duty to execute the commission of his departed friend--to get +possession of the ring, and to be the means, as he hoped, of giving +rest to the troubled spirit of Ferdinand. + +Already, on the evening of the second day, he was sitting in the +coffee-room with burghers of the place and officers of different +regiments. + +A newly-arrived cornet was inquiring whether the neighborhood were a +pleasant one, of an infantry officer, one of Hallberg's corps. "For," +said he, "I come from charming quarters." + +"There is not much to boast of," replied the captain. "There is no +good fellowship, no harmony among the people." + +"I will tell you why that is," cried an animated lieutenant; "that is +because there is no house as a point of reunion, where one is sure +to find and make acquaintances, and to be amused, and where each +individual ascertains his own merits by the effect they produce on +society at large." + +"Yes, we have had nothing of that kind since the Varniers left us," +said the captain. + +"Varniers!" cried Edward, with an eagerness he could ill conceal. "The +name sounds foreign." + +"They were not Germans--they were emigrants from the Netherlands, who +had left their country on account of political troubles," replied the +captain. + +"Ah, that was a charming house," cried the lieutenant, "cultivation, +refinement, a sufficient competency, the whole style of establishment +free from ostentation, yet most comfortable; and Emily--Emily was the +soul of the whole house." + +"Emily Varnier!" echoed Edward, while his heart beat fast and loud. + +"Yes, yes! that was the name of the prettiest, most graceful, most +amiable girl in the world," said the lieutenant. + +"You seem bewitched by the fair Emily," observed the cornet. + +"I think you would have been too, had you known her," rejoined the +lieutenant; "she was the jewel of the whole society. Since she went +away there is no bearing their stupid balls and assemblies." + +"But you must not forget," the captain resumed once more, "when you +attribute everything to the charms of the fair girl, that not only +she but the whole family has disappeared, and we have lost that +house which formed, as you say, so charming a point of reunion in our +neighborhood." + +"Yes, yes; exactly so," said an old gentleman, a civilian, who had +been silent hitherto; "the Varniers' house is a great loss in the +country, where such losses are not so easily replaced as in a large +town. First, the father died, then came the cousin and carried the +daughter away." + +"And did this cousin marry the young lady?" inquired Edward, in a tone +tremulous with agitation. + +"Certainly," answered the old gentleman; "it was a very great match +for her; he bought land to the value of half a million about here." + +"And he was an agreeable, handsome man, we must all allow," remarked +the captain. + +"But she would never have married him," exclaimed the lieutenant, "if +poor Hallberg had not died." + +Edward was breathless, but he did not speak a word. + +"She would have been compelled to do so in any case," said the old +man; "the father had destined them for each other from infancy, +and people say he made his daughter take a vow as he lay on his +death-bed." + +"That sounds terrible," said Edward; "and does not speak much for the +good feeling of the cousin." + +"She could not have fulfilled her father's wish," interposed the +lieutenant; "her heart was bound up in Hallberg, and Hallberg's in +her. Few people, perhaps, know this, for the lovers were prudent and +discreet; I, however, knew it all." + +"And why was she not allowed to follow the inclination of her heart?" +asked Edward. + +"Because her father had promised her," replied the captain: "you used +just now the word terrible; it is a fitting expression, according to +my version of the matter. It appears that one of the branches of the +house of Varnier had committed an act of injustice toward another, and +Emily's father considered it a point of conscience to make reparation. +Only through the marriage of his daughter with a member of the +ill-used branch could that act be obliterated and made up for, and, +therefore, he pressed the matter sorely." + +"Yes, and the headlong passion which Emily inspired her cousin with +abetted his designs." + +"Then her cousin loved Emily?" inquired Edward. + +"Oh, to desperation," was the reply. "He was a rival to her shadow, +who followed her not more closely than he did. He was jealous of the +rose that she placed on her bosom." + +"Then poor Emily is not likely to have a calm life with such a man," +said Edward. + +"Come," interposed the old gentleman, with en authoritative tone, "I +think you, gentlemen, go a little too far. I know D'Effernay; he is an +honest, talented man, very rich, indeed, and generous; he anticipates +his wife in every wish. She has the most brilliant house in the +neighborhood, and lives like a princess." + +"And trembles," insisted the lieutenant, "when she hears her husband's +footstep. What good can riches be to her? She would have been happier +with Hallberg." + +"I do not know," rejoined the captain, "why you always looked upon +that attachment as something so decided. It never appeared so to +me; and you yourself say that D'Effernay is very jealous, which I +believe him to be, for he is a man of strong passions; and this very +circumstance causes me to doubt the rest of your story. Jealousy has +sharp eyes, and D'Effernay would have discovered a rival in Hallberg, +and not proved himself the friend he always was to our poor comrade." + +"That does not follow at all," replied the lieutenant, "it only proves +that the lovers were very cautious. So far, however, I agree with you. +I believe that if D'Effernay had suspected anything of the kind he +would have murdered Hallberg." + +A shudder passed through Edward's veins. + +"Murdered!" he repeated, in a hollow voice; "do you not judge too +harshly of this man when you hint the possibility of such a thing?" + +"That does he, indeed," said the old man; "these gentlemen are all +angry with D'Effernay, because he has carried off the prettiest girl +in the country. But I am told he does not intend remaining where he +now lives. He wishes to sell his estates." + +"Really," inquired the captain, "and where is he going?" + +"I have no idea," replied the other; "but he is selling everything +off. One manor is already disposed of, and there have been people +already in negotiation for the place where he resides." + +The conversation now turned on the value of D'Effernay's property, and +of land in general, &c. + +Edward had gained materials enough for reflection; he rose soon, took +leave of the company, and gave himself up, in the solitude of his +own room, to the torrent of thought and feeling which that night's +conversation had let loose. So, then, it was true; Emily Varnier was +no fabulous being! Hallberg had loved her, his love had been returned, +but a cruel destiny had separated them. How wonderfully did all he +had heard explain the dream at the Castle, and how completely did +that supply what had remained doubtful, or had been omitted in the +officers' narrative. Emily Varnier, doubtless, possessed that ring, to +gain possession of which now seemed his bounden duty. He resolved not +to delay its fulfillment a moment, however difficult it might prove, +and he only reflected on the best manner in which he should perform +the task allotted to him. The sale of the property appeared to him a +favorable opening. The fame of his father's wealth made it probable +that the son might wish to be purchaser of a fine estate, like the one +in question. He spoke openly of such a project, made inquiries of the +old gentleman, and the captain, who seemed to him to know most about +the matter; and as his duties permitted a trip for a week or so, he +started immediately, and arrived on the second day at the place of his +destination. He stopped in the public house in the village to inquire +if the estate lay near, and whether visitors were allowed to see the +house and grounds. Mine host, who doubtless had had his directions, +sent a messenger immediately to the Castle, who returned before long, +accompanied by a chasseur, in a splendid livery, who invited the +stranger to the Castle in the name of M. D'Effernay. + +This was exactly what Edward wished, and expected. Escorted by +the chasseur he soon arrived at the Castle, and was shown up +a spacious staircase into a modern, almost, one might say, a +magnificently-furnished room, where the master of the house received +him. It was evening, toward the end of winter, the shades of twilight +had already fallen, and Edward found himself suddenly in a room quite +illuminated with wax candles. D'Effernay stood in the middle of the +saloon, a tall, thin young man. A proud bearing seemed to bespeak +a consciousness of his own merit, or at least of his position. His +features were finely formed, but the traces of strong passion, or of +internal discontent, had lined them prematurely. + +In figure he was very slender, and the deep-sunken eye, the gloomy +frown which was fixed between his brows, and the thin lips, had no +very prepossessing expression, and yet there was something imposing in +the whole appearance of the man. + +Edward thanked him civilly for his invitation, spoke of his idea of +being a purchaser as a motive for his visit, and gave his own, and +his father's name. D'Effernay seemed pleased with all he said. He had +known Edward's family in the metropolis; he regretted that the late +hour would render it impossible for them to visit the property to-day, +and concluded by pressing the lieutenant to pass the night at the +Castle. On the morrow they would proceed to business, and now he would +have the pleasure of presenting his wife to the visitor. Edward's +heart beat violently--at length then he would see her! Had he loved +her himself he could not have gone to meet her with more agitation. +D'Effernay led his guest through many rooms, which were all as well +furnished, and as brilliantly lighted as the first he had entered. +At length he opened the door of a small boudoir, where there was no +light, save that which the faint, gray twilight imparted through the +windows. + +The simple arrangement of this little room, with dark green walls, +only relieved by some engravings and coats of arms, formed a pleasing +contrast to Edward's eyes, after the glaring splendor of the other +apartments. From behind a piano-forte, at which she had been seated +in a recess, rose a tall, slender female form, in a white dress of +extreme simplicity. + +"My love," said D'Effernay, "I bring you a welcome guest, Lieutenant +Wensleben, who is willing to purchase the estate." + +Emily courtesied; the friendly twilight concealed the shudder that +passed over her whole frame, as she heard the familiar name which +aroused so many recollections. + +She bade the stranger welcome, in a low, sweet voice, whose tremulous +accents were not unobserved by Edward; and while the husband made some +further observation, he had leisure to remark, as well as the fading +light would allow, the fair outline of her oval face, the modest +grace of her movements, her pretty, nymph-like figure--in fact, all +those charms which seemed familiar to him through the impassioned +descriptions of his friend. + +"But what can this fancy be, to sit in the dark?" asked D'Effernay, in +no mild tone; "you know that is a thing I cannot bear." and with these +words, and without waiting his wife's answer, he rang the bell over +her sofa, and ordered lights. + +While these were placed on the table the company sat down by the fire, +and conversation commenced. By the full light Edward could perceive +all Emily's real beauty--her pale, but lovely face, the sad expression +of her large blue eyes, so often concealed by their dark lashes, and +then raised, with a look full of feeling, a sad, pensive, intellectual +expression; and he admired the simplicity of her dress, and of every +object that surrounded her: all appeared to him to bespeak a superior +mind. + +They had not sat long, before D'Effernay was called away. One of +his people had something important, something urgent to communicate +to him, which admitted of no delay. A look of fierce anger almost +distorted his features; in an instant his thin lips moved rapidly, and +Edward thought he muttered some curses between his teeth. He left the +room, but in so doing, he cast a glance of mistrust and ill-temper +on the handsome stranger with whom he was compelled to leave his wife +alone. Edward observed it all. All that he had seen to-day, all that +he had heard from his comrades of the man's passionate and suspicious +disposition, convinced him that his stay here would not be long, and +that perhaps a second opportunity of speaking alone with Emily might +not offer itself. + +He determined, therefore, to profit by the present moment; and no +sooner had D'Effernay left the room, than he began to tell Emily she +was not so complete a stranger to him as it might seem; that long +before he had had the pleasure of seeing her--even before he had heard +her name--she was known to him, so to speak, in spirit. + +Madame D'Effernay was moved. She was silent for a time, and gazed +fixedly on the ground; then she looked up; the mist of unshed tears +dimmed her blue eyes, and her bosom heaved with the sigh she could not +suppress. + +"To me also the name of Wensleben is familiar. There is a link between +our souls. Your friend has often spoken of you to me." + +But she could say no more; tears checked her speech. + +Edward's eyes were glistening also, and the two companions were +silent; at length he began once more: + +"My dear lady," he said, "my time is short, and I have a solemn +message to deliver to you. Will you allow me to do so now?" + +"To me?" she asked, in a tone of astonishment. + +"From my departed friend," answered Edward, emphatically. + +"From Ferdinand?--and that now--after--" she shrunk back, as if in +terror. + +"Now that he is no longer with us, do you mean? I found the message +in his papers, which have been intrusted to me only lately, since I +have been in the neighborhood. Among them was a token which I was to +restore to you." He produced the ring. Emily seized it wildly, and +trembled as she looked upon it. + +"It is indeed my ring," she said at length, "the same which I gave +him when we plighted our troth in secret. You are acquainted with +everything, I perceive; I shall therefore risk nothing if I speak +openly." + +She wept, and pressed the ring to her lips. + +"I see that my friend's memory is dear to you," continued Edward. You +will forgive the prayer I am about to make to you: my visit to you +concerns his ring." + +"How--what is it you wish?" cried Emily; terrified. + +"It was _his_ wish," replied Edward. "He evinced an earnest desire +to have this pledge of an unfortunate and unfulfilled engagement +restored." + +"How is that possible? You did not speak with him before his +death; and this happened so suddenly after, that, to give you the +commission--" + +"There was no time for it! that is true," answered Edward, with an +inward shudder, although outwardly he was calm. "Perhaps this wish +was awakened immediately before his death. I found it, as I told you, +expressed in those papers." + +"Incomprehensible!" she exclaimed. "Only a short time before his +death, we cherished--deceitful, indeed, they proved, but, oh, what +blessed hopes! we reckoned on casualties, on what might possibly +occur to assist as. Neither of us could endure to dwell on the idea +of separation; and yet--yet since--Oh, my God," she cried, overcome by +sorrow, and she hid her face between her hands. + +Edward was lost in confused thought. For a time both again were +silent: at length Emily started up-- + +"Forgive me, M. de Wensleben. What you have related to me, what you +have asked of me, has produced so much excitement, so much agitation, +that it is necessary that I should be alone for a few moments, to +recover my composure." + +"I am gone," cried Edward, springing from his chair. + +"No! no!" she replied, "you are my guest; remain here. I have a +household duty which calls me away." She laid a stress on these words. + +She leant forward, and with a sad, sweet smile, she gave her hand to +the friend of her lost Ferdinand, pressing his gently, and disappeared +through the inner door. + +Edward stood stunned, bewildered; then he paced the room with hasty +steps, threw himself on the sofa, and took up one of the books that +lay on the table, rather to have something in his hand, than to read. +It proved to be Young's "Night Thoughts." He looked through it, and +was attracted by many passages, which seemed, in his present frame +of mind, fraught with peculiar meaning; yet his thoughts wandered +constantly from the page to his dead friend. The candles, unheeded +both by Emily and him, burned on with long wicks, giving little light +in the silent room, over which the red glare from the hearth shed a +lurid glow. Hurried footsteps sounded in the anteroom; the door was +thrown open. + +Edward looked up, and saw D'Effernay staring at him, and round the +room, in an angry, restless manner. + +Edward could not but think there was something almost unearthly in +those dark looks and that towering form. + +"Where is my wife?" was D'Effernay's first question. + +"She is gone to fulfill some household duty," replied the other. + +"And leaves you here alone in this miserable darkness! Most +extraordinary!--indeed, most unaccountable!" and as he spoke he +approached the table and snuffed the candles, with a movement of +impatience. + +"She left me here with old friends," said Edward, with a forced smile. +"I have been reading." + +"What, in the dark?" inquired D'Effernay, with a look of mistrust. +"It was so dark when I came in, that you could not possibly have +distinguished a letter." + +"I read for some time, and then I fell into a train of thought, which +is usually the result of reading Young's 'Night Thoughts.'" + +"Young! I cannot bear that author. He is so gloomy." + +"But you are fortunately so happy, that the lamentations of the lonely +mourner can find no echo in your breast." + +"You think so!" said D'Effernay, in a churlish tone, and he pressed +his lips together tightly, as Emily came into the room: he went to +meet her. + +"You have been a long time away," was his observation, as he looked +into her eyes, where the trace of tears might easily be detected. "I +found our guest alone." + +"M. de Wensleben was good enough to excuse me," she replied; "and then +I thought you would be back immediately." + +They sat down to the table; coffee was brought, and the past appeared +to be forgotten. + +The conversation at first was broken by constant pauses. Edward saw +that Emily did all she could to play the hostess agreeably, and to +pacify her husband's ill-humor. + +In this attempt the young man assisted her, and at last they were +successful. D'Effernay became more cheerful; the conversation more +animated; and Edward found that his host could be a very agreeable +member of society when he pleased, combining a good deal of +information with great natural powers. The evening passed away more +pleasantly than it promised at one time; and after an excellent and +well-served supper, the young officer was shown into a comfortable +room, fitted up with every modern luxury; and weary in mind and body, +he soon fell asleep. He dreamed of all that had occupied his waking +thoughts-of his friend, and his friend's history. + +But in that species of confusion which often characterizes dreams, +he fancied that he was Ferdinand, or at least, his own individuality +seemed mixed up with that of Hallberg. He felt that he was ill. He lay +in an unknown room, and by his bedside stood a small table, covered +with glasses and phials, containing medicines, as is usual in a sick +room. + +The door opened, and D'Effernay came in, in his dressing-gown, as +if he had just left his bed: and now in Edward's mind dreams and +realities were mingled together, and he thought that D'Effernay came, +perhaps, to speak with him on the occurrences of the preceding day. +But no! he approached the table on which the medicines stood, looked +at the watch, took up one of the phials and a cup, measured the +draught, drop by drop, then he turned and looked round him stealthily, +and then he drew from his breast a pale blue, coiling serpent, which +he threw into the cup, and held it to the patient's lips, who drank, +and instantly felt a numbness creep over his frame which ended in +death. Edward fancied that he was dead; he saw the coffin brought, but +the terror lest he should be buried alive, made him start up with a +sudden effort, and he opened his eyes. + +The dream had passed away; he sat in his bed safe and well; but it was +long ere he could in any degree recover his composure, or get rid of +the impression which the frightful apparition had made on him. They +brought his breakfast, with a message from the master of the house +to inquire whether he would like to visit the park, farms, &c. He +dressed quickly, and descended to the court, where he found his host +in a riding dress, by the side of two fine horses, already saddled. +D'Effernay greeted the young man courteously; but Edward felt +an inward repugnance as he looked on that gloomy though handsome +countenance, now lighted up by the beams of the morning sun, yet +recalling vividly the dark visions of the night. D'Effernay was full +of attentions to his new friend. They started on their ride, in spite +of some threatening clouds, and began the inspection of meadows, +shrubberies, farms, &c. After a couple of hours, which were consumed +in this manner, it began to rain a few drops, and at last burst out +into a heavy shower. It was soon impossible even to ride through the +woods for the torrents that were pouring down, and so they returned to +the castle. + +Edward retired to his room to change his dress, and to write some +letters, he said, but more particularly to avoid Emily, in order not +to excite her husband's jealousy. As the bell rang for dinner he +saw her again, and found to his surprise that the captain, whom he +had first seen in the coffee-room, and who had given him so much +information, was one of the party. He was much pleased, for they had +taken a mutual fancy to each other. The captain was not at quarters +the day Edward had left them, but as soon as he heard where his friend +had gone, he put horses to his carriage and followed him, for he said +he also should like to see these famous estates. D'Effernay seemed +in high good humor to-day, Emily far more silent than yesterday, +and taking little part in the conversation of the men, which turned +on political economy. After coffee she found an opportunity to give +Edward (unobserved) a little packet. The look with which she did so, +told plainly what it contained, and the young man hurried to his room +as soon as he fancied he could do so without remark or comment. The +continued rain precluded all idea of leaving the house any more that +day. He unfolded the packet; there were a couple of sheets, written +closely in a woman's fair hand, and something wrapped carefully in a +paper, which he knew to be the ring. It was the fellow to that which +he had given the day before to Emily, only Ferdinand's name was +engraved inside instead of hers. Such were the contents of the +papers:-- + +"Secrecy would be misplaced with the friend of the dead. Therefore, +will I speak to you of things which I have never uttered to a human +being until now. Jules D'Effernay is nearly related to me. We knew +each other in the Netherlands, where our estates joined. The boy loved +me already with a love that amounted to passion; this love was my +father's greatest joy, for there was an old and crying injustice which +the ancestors of D'Effernay had suffered from ours, that could alone, +he thought, be made up by the marriage of the only children of the two +branches. So we were destined for each other almost from our cradles; +and I was content it should be so, for Jules's handsome face and +decided preference for me were agreeable to me, although I felt no +great affection for him. We were separated: Jules traveled in France, +England, and America, and made money as a merchant, which profession +he had taken up suddenly. My father, who had a place under government, +left his country in consequence of political troubles, and came into +this part of the world where some distant relations of my mother's +lived. He liked the neighborhood; he bought land; we lived very +happily; I was quite contented in Jules's absence; I had no yearning +of the heart toward him, yet I thought kindly of him, and troubled +myself little about my future. Then--then I learned to know your +friend. Oh, then! I felt, when I looked upon him, when I listened to +him, when we conversed together, I felt, I acknowledged that there +might be happiness on earth, of which I had hitherto never dreamed. +Then I loved for the first time, ardently, passionately, and was +beloved in return. Acquainted with the family engagements, he did not +dare openly to proclaim his love, and I knew I ought not to foster +the feeling; but, alas! how seldom does passion listen to the voice +of reason and of duty. Your friend and I met in secret; in secret we +plighted our troth, and exchanged those rings, and hoped and believed +that by showing a bold front to our destiny we should subdue it to our +will. The commencement was sinful, it has met with a dire retribution, +Jules's letters announced his speedy return. He had sold everything +in his own country, had given up all his mercantile affairs, through +which he had greatly increased an already considerable fortune, and +now he was about to join us, or rather me, without whom he could not +live. This appeared to me like the demand for payment of a heavy debt. +This debt I owed to Jules, who loved me with all his heart, who was +in possession of my father's promised word and mine also. Yet I could +not give up your friend. In a state of distraction I told him all; we +meditated flight. Yes, I was so far guilty, and I make the confession +in hopes that some portion of my errors may be expiated by repentance. +My father, who had long been in a declining state, suddenly grew +worse, and this delayed and hindered the fulfillment of our designs. +Jules arrived. During the five years he had been away he was much +changed in appearance, and that advantageously. I was struck when +I first saw him, but it was also easy to detect in those handsome +features and manly bearing, a spirit of restlessness and violence +which had already shown itself in him as a boy, and which passing +years, with their bitter experience and strong passions, had greatly +developed. The hope that we had cherished of D'Effernay's possible +indifference to me, of the change which time might have wrought in +his attachment, now seemed idle and absurd. His love was indeed +impassioned. He embraced me in a manner that made me shrink from him, +and altogether his deportment toward me was a strange contrast to +the gentle, tender, refined affection of our dear friend. I trembled +whenever Jules entered the room, and all that I had prepared to say +to him, all the plans which I had revolved in my mind respecting +him, vanished in an instant before the power of his presence, and +the almost imperative manner in which he claimed my hand. My father's +illness increased; he was now in a very precarious state, hopeless +indeed. Jules rivaled me in filial attentions to him, that I can never +cease to thank him for; but this illness made my situation more and +more critical, and it accelerated the fulfillment of the contract. +I was now to renew my promise to him by the death-bed of my father. +Alas, alas! I fell senseless to the ground when this announcement +was made to me. Jules began to suspect. Already my cold, embarrassed +manner toward him since his return had struck him as strange. He began +to suspect, I repeat, and the effect that this suspicion had on him, +it would be impossible to describe to you. Even now, after so long a +time, now that I am accustomed to his ways, and more reconciled to my +fate by the side of a noble, though somewhat impetuous man, it makes +me tremble to think of those paroxysms, which the idea that I did not +love him called forth. They were fearful; he nearly sank under them. +During two days his life was in danger. At last the storm passed, my +father died; Jules watched over me with the tenderness of a brother, +the solicitude of a parent; for that indeed I shall ever be grateful. +His suspicion once awakened, he gazed round with penetrating looks +to discover the cause of my altered feelings. But your friend never +came to our house; we met in an unfrequented spot, and my father's +illness had interrupted these interviews. Altogether I cannot tell +if Jules discovered anything. A fearful circumstance rendered all +our precautions useless, and cut the knot of our secret connection, +to loose which voluntarily I felt I had no power. A wedding feast, +at a neighboring castle, assembled all the nobility and gentry, and +officers quartered near, together; my deep mourning was an excuse for +my absence. Jules, though he usually was happiest by my side, could +not resist the invitation, and your friend resolved to go, although he +was unwell; he feared to raise suspicion by remaining away, when I was +left at home. With great difficulty he contrived the first day to make +one at a splendid hunt, the second day he could not leave his bed. +A physician, who was in the house, pronounced his complaint to be +violent fever, and Jules, whose room joined that of the sick man, +offered him every little service and kindness which compassion and +good feeling prompted; and I cannot but praise him all the more for +it, as who can tell, perhaps, his suspicion might have taken the right +direction? On the morning of the second day--but let me glance quickly +at that terrible time, the memory of which can never pass from my +mind--a fit of apoplexy most unexpectedly, but gently, ended the +noblest life, and separated us forever! Now you know all. I inclose +the ring. I cannot write more. Farewell!" + +The conclusion of the letter made a deep impression on Edward. His +dream rose up before his remembrance, the slight indisposition, the +sudden death, the fearful nursetender, all arranged themselves in +order before his mind, and an awful whole rose out of all these +reflections, a terrible suspicion which he tried to throw off. But +he could not do so, and when he met the captain and D'Effernay +in the evening, and the latter challenged his visitors to a game +of billiards, Edward glanced from time to time at his host in +a scrutinizing manner, and could not but feel that the restless +discontent which was visible in his countenance, and the unsteady +glare of his eyes, which shunned the fixed look of others, only fitted +too well into the shape of the dark thoughts which were crossing his +own mind. Late in the evening, after supper, they played whist in +Emily's boudoir. On the morrow, if the weather permitted, they were +to conclude their inspection of the surrounding property, and the next +day they were to visit the iron foundries, which, although distant +from the Castle several miles, formed a very important item in the +rent-roll of the estates. The company separated for the night. +Edward fell asleep; and the same dream, with the same circumstances, +recurred, only with the full consciousness that the sick man +was Ferdinand. Edward felt overpowered, a species of horror +took possession of his mind, as he found himself now in regular +communication with the beings of the invisible world. + +The weather favored D'Effernay's projects. The whole day was passed +in the open air. Emily only appeared at meals, and in the evening when +they played at cards. Both she and Edward avoided, as if by mutual +consent, every word, every look that could awaken the slightest +suspicion or jealous feeling in D'Effernay's mind. She thanked him +in her heart for this forbearance, but her thoughts were in another +world; she took little heed of what passed around her. Her husband was +in an excellent temper; he played the part of host to perfection; and +when the two officers were established comfortably by the fire, in the +captain's room, smoking together, they could not but do justice to his +courteous manners. + +"He appears to be a man of general information," remarked Edward. + +"He has traveled a great deal, and read a great deal, as I told you +when we first met: he is a remarkable man, but one of uncontrolled +passions, and desperately jealous." + +"Yet he appears very attentive to his wife." + +"Undoubtedly he is wildly in love with her; yet he makes her unhappy, +and himself too." + +"He certainly does not appear happy, there is so much restlessness." + +"He can never bear to remain in one place for any length of time +together. He is now going to sell the property he only bought last +year. There is an instability about him; everything palls on him." + +"That is the complaint of many who are rich and well to do in the +world." + +"Yes; only not in the same degree. I assure you it has often struck me +that man must have a bad conscience." + +"What an idea!" rejoined Edward, with a forced laugh, for the +captain's remark struck him forcibly. "He seems a man of honor." + +"Oh, one may be a man of honor, as it is called, and yet have +something quite bad enough to reproach yourself with. But I know +nothing about it, and would not breathe such a thing except to you. +His wife, too, looks so pale and so oppressed." + +"But, perhaps, that is her natural complexion and expression." + +"Oh, no! no! the year before D'Effernay came from Paris, she was as +fresh as a rose. Many people declare that your poor friend loved her. +The affair was wrapped in mystery, and I never believed the report, +for Hallberg was a steady man, and the whole country knew that Emily +had been engaged a long time." + +"Hallberg never mentioned the name in his letters," answered Edward, +with less candor than usual. + +"I thought not. Besides D'Effernay was very much attached to him, and +mourned his death." + +"Indeed!" + +"I assure you the morning that Hallberg was found dead in his bed so +unexpectedly, D'Effernay was like one beside himself." + +"Very extraordinary. But as we are on the subject, tell me, I pray +you, all the circumstances of my poor Ferdinand's illness, and awful +sudden death." + +"I can tell you all about it, as well as any one, for I was one of the +guests at that melancholy wedding. Your friend, and I, and many others +were invited. Hallberg had some idea of not going; he was unwell, with +violent headache and giddiness. But we persuaded him, and he consented +to go with us. The first day he felt tolerably well. We hunted in +the open field; we were all on horseback, the day hot. Hallberg felt +worse. The second day he had a great deal of fever; he could not +stay up. The physician (for fortunately there was one in the company) +ordered rest, cooling medicine, neither of which seemed to do him +good. The rest of the men dispersed, to amuse themselves in various +ways. Only D'Effernay remained at home; he was never very fond of +large societies, and we voted that he was discontented and out of +humor because his betrothed bride was not with him. His room was next +to the sick man's, to whom he gave all possible care and attention, +for poor Hallberg, besides being ill, was in despair at giving so +much trouble in a strange house. D'Effernay tried to calm him on +this point; he nursed him, amused him with conversation, mixed his +medicines, and, in fact, showed more kindness and tenderness, than any +of us would have given him credit for. Before I went to bed I visited +Hallberg, and found him much better, and more cheerful; the doctor +had promised that he should leave his bed next day. So I left him and +retired with the rest of the world, rather late, and very tired, to +rest. The next morning I was awoke by the fatal tidings. I did not +wait to dress, I ran to his room, it was full of people." + +"And how, how was the death first discovered?" inquired Edward, in +breathless eagerness. + +"The servant, who came in to attend on him, thought he was asleep, for +he lay in his usual position, his head upon his hand. He went away +and waited for some time; but hours passed, and he thought he ought to +wake his master to give him his medicine. Then the awful discovery was +made. He must have died peacefully, for his countenance was so calm, +his limbs undisturbed. A fit of apoplexy had terminated his life, but +in the most tranquil manner." + +"Incomprehensible," said Edward, with a deep sigh. "Did they take no +measures to restore animation?" + +"Certainly; all that could be done was done, bleeding, fomentation, +friction; the physician superintended, but there was no hope, it was +all too late. He must have been dead some hours, for he was already +cold and stiff. If there had been a spark of life in him he would have +been saved. It was all over; I had lost my good lieutenant, and the +regiment one of its finest officers." + +He was silent, and appeared lost in thought. Edward, for his part, +felt overwhelmed by terrible suspicions and sad memories. After a long +pause he recovered himself: "and where was D'Effernay?" he inquired. + +"D'Effernay," answered the Captain, rather surprised at the question; +"oh! he was not in the Castle when we made the dreadful discovery: he +had gone out for an early walk, and when he came back late, not before +noon, he learned the truth, and was like one out of his senses. It +seemed so awful to him, because he had been so much, the very day +before, with poor Hallberg." + +"Aye," answered Edward, whose suspicions were being more and more +confirmed every moment. "And did he see the corpse, did he go into the +chamber of death?" + +"No," replied the captain; "he assured us it was out of his power to +do so; he could not bear the sight; and I believe it. People with such +uncontrolled feelings as this D'Effernay, are incapable of performing +those duties which others think it necessary and incumbent on them to +fulfill." + +"And where was Hallberg buried?" + +"Not far from the castle where the mournful event took place. +To-morrow, if we go to the iron foundry, we shall be near the spot." + +"I am glad of it," cried Edward eagerly, while a host of projects rose +up in his mind. "But now, captain, I will not trespass any longer on +your kindness. It is late, and we must be up betimes to-morrow. How +far have we to go?" + +"Not less than four leagues certainly. D'Effernay has arranged that we +shall drive there, and see it all at our leisure: then we shall return +in the evening. Good night, Wensleben." + +They separated: Edward hurried to his room; his heart overflowed. +Sorrow on the one hand, horror and even hatred on the other, agitated +him by turns. It was long before he could sleep. For the third time +the vision haunted him; but now it was clearer than before; now he +saw plainly the features of him who lay in bed, and of him who stood +beside the bed--they were those of Hallberg and of D'Effernay. + +This third apparition, the exact counterpart of the two former (only +more vivid), all that he had gathered from conversations on the +subject, and the contents of Emily's letter, left scarcely the shadow +of a doubt remaining as to how his friend had left the world. + +D'Effernay's jealous and passionate nature seemed to allow of the +possibility of such a crime, and it could scarcely be wondered at, if +Edward regarded him with a feeling akin to hatred. Indeed the desire +of visiting Hallberg's grave, in order to place the ring in the +coffin, could alone reconcile Wensleben to the idea of remaining any +longer beneath the roof of a man whom he now considered the murderer +of his friend. His mind was a prey to conflicting doubts; detestation +for the culprit, and grief for the victim, pointed out one line of +conduct, while the difficulty of proving D'Effernay's guilt, and still +more, pity and consideration for Emily, determined him at length to +let the matter rest, and to leave the murderer, if such he really +were, to the retribution which his own conscience and the justice of +God would award him. He would seek his friend's grave, and then he +would separate from D'Effernay, and never see him more. In the midst +of these reflections the servant came to tell him that the carriage +was ready. A shudder passed over his frame as D'Effernay greeted him; +but he commanded himself, and they started on their expedition. + +Edward spoke but little, and that only when it was necessary, and +the conversation was kept up by his two companions; he had made every +inquiry, before he set out, respecting the place of his friend's +interment, the exact situation of the tomb, the name of the village, +and its distance from the main road. On their way home, he requested +that D'Effernay would give orders to the coachman to make a round of +a mile or two as far as the village of ----, with whose rector he +was particularly desirous to speak. A momentary cloud gathered on +D'Effernay's brow, yet it seemed no more than his usual expression +of vexation at any delay or hindrance; and he was so anxious to +propitiate his rich visitor, who appeared likely to take the estate +off his hands, that he complied with all possible courtesy. The +coachman was directed to turn down a by-road, and a very bad one it +was. The captain stood up in the carriage and pointed out the village +to him, at some distance off; it lay in a deep ravine at the foot of +the mountains. + +They arrived in the course of time, and inquired for the clergyman's +house, which, as well as the church, was situated on rising ground. +The three companions alighted from the carriage, which they left at +the bottom of the hill, and walked up together in the direction of the +rectory. Edward knocked at the door and was admitted, while the two +others sat on a bench outside. He had promised to return speedily, +but to D'Effernay's restless spirit, one-quarter of an hour appeared +interminable. + +He turned to the captain and said, in a tone of impatience, "M. de +Wensleben must have a great deal of business with the rector: we have +been here an immense time, and he does not seem inclined to make his +appearance. + +"Oh, I dare say he will come soon. The matter cannot detain him long." + +"What on earth can he have to do here?" + +"Perhaps you would call it a mere fancy--the enthusiasm of youth." + +"It has a name, I suppose?" + +"Certainly, but--" + +"Is it sufficiently important, think you, to make us run the risk of +being benighted on such roads as these?" + +"Why, it is quite early in the day." + +"But we have more than two leagues to go. Why will you not +speak?--there cannot any great mystery." + +"Well, perhaps not a mystery, exactly, but just one of those subjects +on which we are usually reserved with others." + +"So! so!" rejoined D'Effernay, with a little sneer. "Some love affair; +some girl or another who pursues him, that he wants to get rid of." + +"Nothing of the kind, I can assure you," replied the captain drily. +"It could scarcely be more innocent. He wishes, in fact, to visit his +friend's grave." + +The listener's expression was one of scorn and anger. "It is worth the +trouble certainly," he exclaimed, with a mocking laugh. "A charming +sentimental pilgrimage, truly; and pray who is this beloved +friend, over whose resting-place he must shed a tear and plant a +forget-me-not? He told me he had never been in the neighborhood +before." + +"No more he had; neither did he know where poor Hallberg was buried +until I told him." + +"Hallberg!" echoed the other in a tone that startled the captain, +and caused him to turn and look fixedly in the speaker's face. It was +deadly pale, and the captain observed the effort which D'Effernay made +to recover his composure. + +"Hallberg!" he repeated again, in a calmer tone, "and was Wensleben a +friend of his?" + +"His bosom friend from childhood. They were brought up together at the +academy. Hallberg left it a year earlier than his friend." + +"Indeed!" said D'Effernay, scowling as he spoke, and working himself +up into a passion. "And this lieutenant came here on this account, +then, and the purchase of the estates was a mere excuse." + +"I beg your pardon," observed the captain, in a decided tone of voice; +"I have already told you that it was I who informed him of the place +where his friend lies buried." + +"That may be, but it was owing to his friendship, to the wish to learn +something further of his fate, that we are indebted for the visit of +this romantic knight-errant." + +"That does not appear likely," replied the captain, who thought it +better to avert, if possible, the rising storm of his companion's +fury. "Why should he seek for news of Hallberg here, when he comes +from the place where he was quartered for a long time, and where all +his comrades now are." + +"Well, I don't know," cried D'Effernay, whose passion was increasing +every moment. "Perhaps you have heard what was once gossiped about +the neighborhood, that Hallberg was an admirer of my wife before she +married." + +"Oh yes, I have heard that report, but never believed it. Hallberg was +a prudent, steady man, and every one knew that Mademoiselle Varnier's +hand had been promised for some time." + +"Yes! yes! but you do not know to what lengths passion and avarice may +lead: for Emily was rich. We must not forget that, when we discuss +the matter; an elopement with the rich heiress would have been a fine +thing for a poor, beggarly lieutenant." + +"Shame! shame! M. D'Effernay. How can you slander the character +of that upright young man? If Hallberg were so unhappy as to love +Mademoiselle Varnier--" + +"That he did! you may believe me so far, I had reason to know it, and +I did know it." + +"We had better change the conversation altogether, as it has taken +so unpleasant a turn, Hallberg is dead; his errors, be they what they +may, lie buried with him. His name stands high with all who knew him +Even you, M. D'Effernay--you were his friend." + +"I his friend? I hated him!--I loathed him!" D'Effernay could not +proceed; he foamed at the mouth with rage. + +"Compose yourself!" said the Captain, rising as he spoke; "you look +and speak like a madman." + +A madman! Who says I am mad? Now I see it all--the connection of the +whole--the shameful conspiracy." + +"Your conduct is perfectly incomprehensible to me," answered the +captain, with perfect coolness. "Did you not attend Hallberg in his +last illness, and give him his medicines with your own hand?" + +"I!" stammered D'Effernay. "No! no! no!" he cried, while the +captain's growing suspicions increased every moment, on account of +the perturbation which his companion displayed. "I never gave his +medicines; whoever says that is a liar." + +"I say it!" exclaimed the officer, in a loud tone, for his patience +was exhausted. "I say it, because I know that it was so, and I will +maintain that fact against any one at any time. If you choose to +contradict the evidence of my senses, it is you who are a liar!" + +"Ha! you shall give me satisfaction for this insult. Depend upon it, +I am not one to be trifled with, as you shall find. You shall retract +your words." + +"Never! I am ready to defend every word I have uttered here on this +spot, at this moment, if you please. You have your pistols in the +carriage, you know." + +D'Effernay cast a look of hatred on the speaker, and then dashing +down the little hill, to the surprise of the servants, he dragged +the pistols from the sword-case, and was by the captain's side in a +moment. But the loud voices of the disputants had attracted Edward to +the spot, and there he stood on D'Effernay's return; and by his side a +venerable old man, who carried a large bunch of keys in his hand. + +"In heaven's name, what has happened?" cried Wensleben. + +"What are you about to do?" interposed the rector, in a tone of +authority, though his countenance was expressive of horror. "Are you +going to commit murder on this sacred spot, close to the precincts of +the church?" + +"Murder! who speaks of murder?" cried D'Effernay. "Who can prove it?" +and as he spoke, the captain turned a fierce, penetrating look upon +him, beneath which he quailed. + +"But, I repeat the question," Edward began once more, "what does all +this mean? I left you a short time ago in friendly conversation. I +come back and find you both armed--both violently agitated--and M. +D'Effernay, at least, speaking incoherently. What do you mean by +'proving it?'--to what do you allude?" At this moment, before any +answer could be made, a man came out of the house with a pick-axe +and shovel on his shoulder, and advancing toward the rector, said +respectfully, "I am quite ready, sir, if you have the key of the +churchyard." + +It was now the captain's turn to look anxious: "What are you going +to do, you surely don't intend--?" but as he spoke, the rector +interrupted him. + +"This gentleman is very desirous to see the place where his friend +lies buried." + +"But these preparations, what do they mean?" + +"I will tell you," said Edward, in a voice and tone that betrayed +the deepest emotion, "I have a holy duty to perform. I must cause the +coffin to be opened." + +"How, what!" screamed D'Effernay, once again. "Never--I will never +permit such a thing." + +"But, sir," the old man spoke, in a tone of calm decision, contrasting +wonderfully with the violence of him whom he addressed, "you have no +possible right to interfere. If this gentleman wishes it, and I accede +to the proposition, no one can prevent us from doing as we would." + +"I tell you I will not suffer it," continued D'Effernay, with the same +frightful agitation. "Stir at your peril," he cried, turning sharply +round upon the grave-digger, and holding a pistol to his head; but the +captain pulled his arm away, to the relief of the frightened peasant. + +"M. D'Effernay," he said, "your conduct for the last half-hour has +been most unaccountable--most unreasonable." + +"Come, come," interposed Edward, "Let us say no more on the subject; +but let us be going," he addressed the rector; "we will not detain +these gentlemen much longer." + +He made a step toward the churchyard, but D'Effernay clutched his arm, +and, with an impious oath, "you shall not stir," he said; "that grave +shall not be opened." + +Edward shook him off, with a look of silent hatred, for now indeed all +his doubts were confirmed. + +D'Effernay saw that Wensleben was resolved, and a deadly pallor spread +itself over his features, and a shudder passed visibly over his frame. + +"You are going!" he cried, with every gesture and appearance of +insanity. "Go, then;" ... and he pointed the muzzle of the pistol to +his mouth, and before any one could prevent him, he drew the trigger, +and fell back a corpse. The spectators were motionless with surprise +and horror; the captain was the first to recover himself in some +degree. He bent over the body with the faint hope of detecting some +sign of life. The old man turned pale and dizzy with a sense of +terror, and he looked as if he would have swooned, had not Edward led +him gently into his house, while the two others busied themselves with +vain attempts to restore life. + +The spirit of D'Effernay had gone to its last account! + +It was, indeed, an awful moment. Death in its worst shape was before +them, and a terrible duty still remained to be performed. + +Edward's cheek was blanched; his eye had a fixed look, yet he moved +and spoke with a species of mechanical action, which had something +almost ghastly in it. Causing the body to be removed into the house, +he bade the captain summon the servants of the deceased, and then +motioning with his hand to the awe-struck sexton, he proceeded with +him to the churchyard. A few clods of earth alone were removed ere the +captain stood by his friend's side. + +Here we must pause. Perhaps it were better altogether to emulate the +silence that was maintained then and afterward by the two comrades. +But the sexton could not be bribed to entire secrecy, and it was a +story he loved to tell, with details we gladly omit, of how Wensleben +solemnly performed his task--of how no doubt could any longer exist +as to the cause of Hallberg's death. Those who love the horrible must +draw on their own imaginations to supply what we resolutely withhold. + +Edward, we believe, never alluded to D'Effernay's death, and all the +awful circumstances attending it, but twice--once, when, with every +necessary detail, he and the captain gave their evidence to the legal +authorities; and once, with as few details as possible, when he had an +interview with the widow of the murderer, the beloved of the victim. +The particulars of this interview he never divulged, for he considered +Emily's grief too sacred to be exposed to the prying eyes of the +curious and the unfeeling. She left the neighborhood immediately, +leaving her worldly affairs in Wensleben's hands, who soon disposed +of the property for her. She returned to her native country, with the +resolution of spending the greater part of her wealth in relieving +the distresses of others, wisely seeking, in the exercise of piety +and benevolence, the only possible alleviation of her own deep +and many-sided griefs. For Edward, he was soon pronounced to have +recovered entirely from the shock of these terrible events. Of a +courageous and energetic disposition, he pursued the duties of his +profession with a firm step, and hid his mighty sorrow deep in the +recesses of his heart. To the superficial observer, tears, groans, and +lamentations are the only proofs of sorrow: and when they subside, +the sorrow is said to have passed away also. Thus the captive, immured +within the walls of his prison-house, is as one dead to the outward +world, though the gaoler be a daily witness to the vitality of +affliction. + + * * * * * + +Paris has been again emptied of its citizens to see M. Poitevin make +his second ascent on horseback from the Champ de Mars. To show that he +was not fastened to his saddle, the idiot, when some hundred yards +up in the air, stood upright on his horse, and saluted the multitude +below with both his hands. + + * * * * * + + +PEASANT LIFE IN GERMANY. + +We copy the following interesting paragraph from a work just issued in +London on "The Social Condition and Education of the People of England +and Europe," by Joseph Kay, of Cambridge University. + + "As I have already said, the _moral, intellectual and physical + condition of the peasants and operatives_ of Prussia, Saxony + and other parts of Germany, of Holland, and of the Protestant + cantons of Switzerland, and the social condition of the + peasants in the greater part of France, _is very much higher + and happier, and very much more satisfactory, than that of + the peasants and operatives of England_; the condition of the + _poor_ in the North German, Swiss and Dutch _towns_, is as + remarkable a contrast to that of the poor of the _English + towns_ as can well be imagined; and that the condition of the + _poorer classes_ of Germany, Switzerland, Holland and France + is _rapidly improving_. The great _superiority_ of the + _preparation_ for life which a _poor man_ receives in those + countries I have mentioned, to that which a peasant or + operative receives _in England_, and the difference of the + social position of a poor man in those countries to that of + a peasant or operative in England, seem sufficient to explain + the difference which exists between the moral and social + condition of the poor of our own country and of the other + countries I have named. In Germany, Holland, and Switzerland, + a child begins its life in the society of parents who have + been educated and brought up for years in the company of + learned and gentlemanly professors, and in the society and + under the direction of a father who has been exercised in + military arts, and who has acquired the bearing, the clean and + orderly habits, and the taste for respectable attire, which + characterize the soldier. The children of these countries + spend the first six years of their lives in homes which + are well regulated. They are during this time accustomed to + orderly habits, to neat and clean clothes, and to ideas of the + value of instruction, of the respect due to the teachers, + and of the excellence of the schools, by parents who have, by + their training in early life, acquired such tastes and ideas + themselves. Each child at the age of six begins to attend a + school, which is perfectly clean, well ventilated, directed by + an able and well-educated gentleman, and superintended by the + religious ministers and by the inspectors of the Government. + Until the completion of its _fourteenth_ year, each child + continues regular daily attendance at one of these schools, + daily strengthening its habits of cleanliness and order, + learning the rudiments of useful knowledge, receiving the + principles of religion and morality, and gaining confirmed + health and physical energy by the exercise and drill of the + school playground. _No children are left idle in the streets + of the towns; no children are allowed to grovel in the + gutters; no children are allowed to make_ their appearance + at the schools dirty, or in ragged clothes; and the local + authorities are obliged to clothe all whose parents cannot + afford to clothe them. The children of the _poor_ of + Germany, Holland and Switzerland acquire stronger habits of + cleanliness, neatness and industry at the _primary_ schools, + than the children of the _small shopkeeping_ classes of + England do at the private schools of England; and they + leave the _primary schools_ of these countries _much better + instructed_ than those who leave our _middle class private + schools_. After having learnt reading, writing, arithmetic, + singing, geography, history and the Scriptures, the children + leave the schools, carrying with them into life habits of + cleanliness, neatness, order and industry, and awakened + intellect, capable of collecting truths and reasoning upon + them." + + * * * * * + + +[FROM THE DUBLIN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE.] + +SUMMER PASTIME. + + Do you ask how I'd amuse me + When the long bright summer comes, + And welcome leisure woos me + To shun life's crowded homes; + To shun the sultry city, + Whose dense, oppressive air + Might make one weep with pity + For those who must be there. + + I'll tell you then--I would not + To foreign countries roam, + As though my fancy could not + Find occupance at home; + Nor to home-haunts of fashion + Would I, least of all, repair, + For guilt, and pride, and passion, + Have summer-quarters there. + + Far, far from watering-places + Of note and name I'd keep, + For there would vapid faces + Still throng me in my sleep; + Then contact with the foolish, + The arrogant, the vain, + The meaningless--the mulish, + Would sicken heart and brain. + + No--I'd seek some shore of ocean + Where nothing comes to mar + The ever-fresh commotion + Of sea and land at war; + Save the gentle evening only + As it steals along the deep, + So spirit-like and lonely, + To still the waves to sleep. + + There long hours I'd spend in viewing + The elemental strife, + My soul the while subduing + With the littleness of life; + Of life, with all its paltry plans, + Its conflicts and its cares-- + The feebleness of all that's man's-- + The might that's God's and theirs! + + And when eve came I'd listen + To the stilling of that war, + Till o'er my head should glisten + The first pure silver star; + Then, wandering homeward slowly, + I'd learn my heart the tune + Which the dreaming billows lowly, + Were murmuring to the moon! + +R.C. + + * * * * * + +True genius is perpetual youth, health, serenity, and strength. The +eye is bright with a fine fire that is undimmed by time, and the mind, +not sharing the body's decline from the prime of middle age, continues +on with illimitable accession of spiritual power. + +Our convictions should be based on conceptions got from insight of +principles, and not upon opinions spawned of authority and expediency. +Every man shall influence me, no man can decide for me. + + * * * * * + + +[FROM THE SPIRIT OF THE TIMES] + +REMINISCENCES OF SARGENT S. PRENTISS, OF MISSISSIPPI. + +BY T.B. THORPE. + +AUTHOR OF "TOM OWEN, THE BEE HUNTER." + +The death of Sargeant S. Prentiss has called forth an universal +feeling of sorrow; the consciousness that "a great man has fallen" is +depicted upon the faces of the multitude. + +The eloquent offerings to his virtues and to his genius that +everywhere follow the news of his demise, are but slight tokens of +that sorrow that fills the heart of all who knew the gifted Prentiss. +Having known him long, and having had frequent occasions to witness +exhibitions of his great mental powers, I cannot refrain from paying +an imperfect tribute to his memory. + +I first met Mr. Prentiss when he was in the full maturity of his +power, but I have the pleasure of knowing hundreds who were well +acquainted with his early history and early triumphs. Volumes of +interest might be written upon the life of Mr. Prentiss. And then +his high sense of honor, his brave spirit, his nobleness of soul, his +intense but commendable pride, his classical attainments, and his deep +knowledge of the law, can scarcely be illustrated, so universal and +superior were his accomplishments and acquirements. + +In his early career, I consider Mr. Prentiss both fortunate and +unfortunate. I have often imagined the shrinking but proud boy, living +unnoticed and unknown among the wealthiest citizens of the south. +Buried in the obscurity of his humble school, he looked out upon the +busy world, and measured the mighty capacities of his own soul with +those whom society had placed above him. I think I see him brooding +over his position, and longing to be free, as the suffocating man +longs for the boundless air of heaven. His hour of triumph came, +and surpassed, perhaps, his own aspirations. From the schoolroom he +entered that of the court--a chance offered--a position gained--the +law his theme, he at once not only equaled, but soared even beyond the +aim of the most favored of his compeers. + +The era was one of extravagance. The virgin soil of Mississippi was +pouring into the laps of her generous sons untold abundance. There +were thousands of her citizens, full of health and talent, who adorned +excesses of living by the tasteful procurements of wealth, and the +highest accomplishments of mind. Into this world Prentiss entered, +heralded by naught save his own genius. The heirs of princely +fortunes, the descendants of heroes, men of power and place, of family +pride, of national associations, were not more proud, more gallant, +than was Prentiss, for "he was reckoned among the noblest Romans of +them all." + +Each step in his new fortune seemed only to elicit new qualities +for admiration. At the forum he dazzled--the jury and the judge were +confounded--the crowd carried him to the stump, and the multitude +listened as to one inspired. Fair ladies vied with each other in +waving tiny hands in token of admiration--the stolid judges of the +Supreme Court wondered at the mind of the apparent boy--even the walls +of Congress echoed forth pæans to his praise. His course was as rapid +and brilliant as that of the meteor that suddenly springs athwart the +heavens, but he was human and accomplished his task, herculean as he +was, at the price of an injured constitution. + +In personal appearance Prentiss was eminently handsome, and yet +eminently manly. Although of medium height, there was that in the +carriage of his head that was astonishingly impressive. I shall never +forget him on one occasion, "in '44," when he rose at a public meeting +to reply to an antagonist worthy of his steel. His whole soul was +roused, his high smooth forehead fairly coruscated. He remained silent +for some seconds, and only _looked_. The bald eagle never glanced +so fiercely from his eyry. It seemed as if his deep blue eye would +distend until it swallowed up the thousands of his audience. For an +instant the effect was painful; he saw it and smiled, when a cheer +burst from the admiring multitude that fairly shook the earth. + +His voice was clear and sweet, and could be heard at an immense +distance, and yet, to be all like Demosthenes, he had a perceptible +impediment in his speech. As a reader he had no superior. His +narration was clear and unadorned, proper sentences were subduedly +humorous, but the impressive parts were delivered with an effect that +reminded me of the elder Kean. + +His imagination was unsurpassed, and the rich stores of his mind +supplied him with never-ending material, quoted and original. +The slightest allusion to anything gave him the key to all its +peculiarities if he had occasion to allude to the diamond, its bed in +the Golconda, its discovery by some poor native, its being associated +with commerce, its polish by the lapidary, its adorning the neck +of beauty, its rays brilliant and serene, its birth, its life, +its history, all flashed upon him. So with every idea in the vast +storehouse of his mind. He seemed to know all things, in mass and in +particulars, never confused, never at a loss--the hearer listened, +wondered, and dreamed. Thoughts of moment came forth as demanded, but +ten thousand other thoughts rare and beautiful, continued to bubble +up, after all effort ceased. + +No man had a more delicate or subtle wit than Prentiss, or a more +Falstaffian humor when it suited his purpose. Who will ever forget the +spending of a social dinner hour with him, when his health was high +and his mind at ease? Who so lovely?--who so refined? What delight +was exhibited by sweet ladies who listened to his words! Who could +so eloquently discourse of roses and buds, of lilies and pearls, of +eyes and graces, of robes and angels, and yet never offend the most +sensitive of the sex, or call other than the blush of pleasure and +joy to the cheek? Who could, on the "public day," ascend so gracefully +from the associations of tariffs, and banks, and cotton, and sugar, +to greet the fair ladies that honored him with their presence? How +he would lean toward them, as he dwelt upon "the blessed of all God's +handiwork," compared their bright eyes to "day-stars" that lit up the +dark recesses of his own clouded imagination; and how he would revel, +like another Puck, among the rays and beams of smiles called forth by +his own happy compliments--and how he would change from all this, and +in an instant seemingly arm himself with the thunderbolts of Jove, +which he would dash with appalling sound among his antagonists, or at +principles he opposed, and yet with such a charm, with such a manner, +that these very daughters of the sunny South who had listened to his +syren-song so admiringly, would now stare, and wonder, and pallor, and +yet listen, even as one gazes over the precipice, and is fascinated at +the very nearness to destruction. + +Prentiss had originally a constitution of iron; his frame was so +perfect in its organization, that, in spite of the most extraordinary +negligence of health, his muscles had all the compactness, glossiness, +and distinctiveness of one who had specially trained by diet and +exercise. It was this constitution that enabled him to accomplish +so much in so short a time. He could almost wholly discard sleep for +weeks, with apparent impunity; he could eat or starve; do anything +that would kill ordinary men, yet never feel a twinge of pain. I +saw him once amidst a tremendous political excitement; he had been +talking, arguing, dining, visiting, and traveling, without rest for +three whole days. His companions would steal away at times for sleep, +but Prentiss was like an ever-busy spirit, here, and there, and +everywhere. The morning of the fourth day came, and he was to appear +before an audience familiar with his fame, but one that had never +heard him speak; an audience critical in the last degree, he desired +to succeed, for more was depending than he had ever before had cause +to stake upon such an occasion. Many felt a fear that he would be +unprepared. I mingled in the expecting crowd: I saw ladies who had +never honored the stump with their presence struggling for seats, +counselors, statesmen, and professional men, the elite of a great +city, were gathered together. An hour before I had seen Prentiss, +still apparently ignorant of his engagement. + +The time of trial came, and the remarkable man presented himself, +the very picture of buoyant health, of unbroken rest. All this had +been done _by the unyielding resolve of his will_--his triumph was +complete; high-wrought expectations were more than realized, prejudice +was demolished, professional jealousy silenced, and he descended from +the rostrum, freely accorded his proper place among the orators and +statesmen of the "Southern Metropolis." + +Mr. Clay visited the South in the fall of '44, and, as he was +then candidate for the Presidency, he attracted in New Orleans, if +possible, more than usual notice. His hotel was the St. Charles; +toward noon he reached that magnificent palace. The streets presented +a vast ocean of heads, and every building commanding a view was +literally covered with human beings. The great "Statesman of the West" +presented himself to the multitude between the tall columns of the +finest portico in the world. The scene was beyond description, and of +vast interest. As the crowd swayed to and fro, a universal shout was +raised for Mr. Clay to speak; he uttered a sentence or two, waved his +hand in adieu, and escaped amidst the prevailing confusion. Prentiss +meanwhile was at a side window, evidently unconscious of being himself +noticed, gazing upon what was passing with all the delight of the +humblest spectator. Suddenly his name was announced. He attempted to +withdraw from public gaze, but his friends pushed him forward. Again +his name was shouted, hats and caps were thrown in the air, and he +was finally compelled to show himself on the portico. With remarkable +delicacy, he chose a less prominent place than that previously +occupied by Mr. Clay, although perfectly visible. He thanked his +friends for their kindness by repeated bows, and by such smiles as he +alone could give. "A speech! A speech!" thundered a thousand voices. +Prentiss lifted his hand; in an instant everything was still--then +pointing to the group that surrounded Mr. Clay, he said, +"Fellow-citizens, when the eagle is soaring in the sky, the owls +and the bats retire to their holes." And long before the shout that +followed this remark had ceased, Prentiss had disappeared amid the +multitude. + +But the most extraordinary exhibition of Prentiss' powers of mind and +endurance of body, was shown while he was running for Congress. He +had the whole State to canvass, and the magnitude of the work was just +what he desired. From what I have learned from anecdotes, that canvass +must have presented some scenes combining the highest mental and +physical exertion that was ever witnessed in the world. Prentiss was +in perfect health, and in the first blush of success, and it cannot be +doubted but that his best efforts of oratory were then made, and now +live recorded only in the fading memories of his hearers. An incident +illustrative of the time is remembered, that may hear repeating. + +The whole state of Mississippi was alive with excitement; for the +moment, she felt that her sovereign dignity had been trifled with, +and that her reputation demanded the return of Prentiss to Congress. +Crowds followed him from place to place, making a gala time of weeks +together. Among the shrewd worldlings who take advantage of such times +"to coin money," was the proprietor of a traveling menagerie, and he +soon found out that the multitude followed Prentiss. Getting the list +of that remarkable man's "appointments," he filled up his own, and it +was soon noticed as a remarkable coincidence, that the orator always +"arrived along with the other 'lions.'" The reason of this meeting was +discovered, and the "boys" decided that Prentiss should "next time" +speak from the top of the lion's cage. Never was the menagerie more +crowded. At the proper time, the candidate gratified his constituents, +and mounted his singular rostrum. I was told by a person, who +professed to be an eye witness, that the whole affair presented a +singular mixture of the terrible and the comical. Prentiss was, as +usual, eloquent, and, as if ignorant of the novel circumstances with +which he was surrounded, went deeply into the matter in hand, his +election. For a while the audience and the animals were quiet, the +former listening, the latter eyeing the speaker with grave intensity. +The first burst of applause electrified the menagerie; the elephant +threw his trunk into the air and echoed back the noise, while the +tigers and bears significantly growled. On went Prentiss, and as each +peculiar animal vented his rage or approbation, he most ingeniously +wrought in its habits, as a facsimile of some man or passion. In the +meanwhile, the stately king of beasts, who had been quietly treading +the mazes of his prison, became alarmed at the footsteps over +his head, and placing his mouth upon the floor of his cage, made +everything shake by his terrible roar. This, joined with the already +excited feelings of the audience, caused the ladies to shriek, and +a fearful commotion for a moment followed. Prentiss, equal to every +occasion, changed his tone and manner; he commenced a playful strain, +and introduced the fox, the jackal, and hyena, and capped the climax +by likening some well known political opponent to a grave baboon that +presided over the "cage with monkeys"; the resemblance was instantly +recognized, and bursts of laughter followed, that literally set many +into convulsions. The baboon, all unconscious of the attention he +was attracting, suddenly assumed a grimace, and then a serious face, +when Prentiss exclaimed--"I see, my fine fellow, that your feelings +are hurt by my unjust comparison, and I humbly beg your pardon." +The effect of all this may be vaguely imagined, but it cannot be +described. + +Of Prentiss' power before a jury too much cannot be said. Innumerable +illustrations might be gathered up, showing that he far surpassed +any living advocate. "The trial of the Wilkinsons" might be cited, +although it was far from being one of his best efforts. Two young men, +only sons, and deeply attached as friends, quarreled, and in the mad +excitement of the moment, one of them was killed. Upon the trial, the +testimony of the mother of the deceased was so direct, that it seemed +to render "the clearing of the prisoner" hopeless. Prentiss spoke to +the witness in the blandest manner and most courtly style. The mother, +arrayed in weeds, and bowed down with sorrow, turned toward Prentiss, +and answered his inquiries with all the dignity of a perfectly +accomplished lady--she calmly uttered the truth, and every word she +spoke rendered the defense apparently more hopeless. + +"Would you punish that young man with death?" said Prentiss, pointing +to the prisoner. + +The questioned looked, and answered--"He has made me childless, let +the law take its course." + +"And would wringing his mother's heart and hurrying her gray hairs +with sorrow into the grave, by rendering her childless, assuage your +grief?" + +All present were dissolved in tears--even convulsive sobbing was heard +in the courtroom. + +"No!" said the witness, with all the gushing tenderness of a +mother--"No! I would not add a sorrow to her heart, nor that of her +son!" + +Admissions in the evidence followed, and hopes were uttered for +the prisoner's acquittal, that changed the whole character of the +testimony. What was a few moments before so dark, grew light, and +without the slightest act that might be construed into an unfair +advantage, in the hands of Prentiss, the witness pleaded for the +accused. + +Soon after Mr. Prentiss settled in New Orleans, a meeting was held +to raise funds for the erection of a suitable monument to Franklin. +On that occasion, the lamented Wilde and the accomplished McCaleb +delivered ornate and chaste addresses upon the value of art, and the +policy of enriching New Orleans with its exhibition. At the close +of the meeting, as the audience rose to depart, some one discovered +Prentiss, and calling his name, it was echoed from all sides--he tried +to escape, but was literally carried on the stand. + +As a rich specimen of off-hand eloquence, I think the address he +delivered on that occasion was unequaled. Unlike any other speech, +he had the arts to deal with, and of course the associations were of +surpassing splendor. I knew that he was ignorant of the technicalities +of art, and had paid but little attention to their study, and my +surprise was unbounded to see him, thus unexpectedly called upon, +instantly arrange in his mind ideas, and expressing facts and +illustrations that would have done honor to Burke, when dwelling upon +the sublime and beautiful. Had he been bred to the easel, or confined +to the sculptor's room, he could not have been more familiar with the +details of the studio--he painted with all the brilliancy of Titian, +and with the correctness of Raphael, while his images in marble +combined the softness of Praxiteles, and the nervous energy of Michael +Angelo. All this with Prentiss was intuition--I believe that the whole +was the spontaneous thought of the moment, the crude outlines that +floated through his mind being filled up by the intuitive teachings of +his surpassing genius. His conclusion was gorgeous--he passed Napoleon +to the summit of the Alps--his hearers saw him and his steel clad +warriors threading the snows of Mount St. Bernard, and having gained +the dizzy height, Prentiss represented "the man of destiny" looking +down upon the sunny plains of Italy, and then with a mighty swoop, +descending from the clouds and making the grasp of Empire secondary to +that of Art. + +I had the melancholy pleasure of hearing his last, and, it would seem +to me, his greatest speech. Toward the close of the last Presidential +campaign, I found him in the interior of the State, endeavoring +to recruit his declining health. He had been obliged to avoid all +public speaking, and had gone far into the country to get away from +excitement. But there was a "gathering" near by his temporary home, +and he consented to be present. It was late in the evening when +he ascended the "stand," which was supported by the trunks of two +magnificent forest trees, through which the setting sun poured with +picturesque effect. The ravages of ill health were apparent upon his +face, and his high massive forehead was paler, and seemingly more +transparent than usual. His audience, some three or four hundred, was +composed in a large degree of his old and early friends. He seemed to +feel deeply, and as there was nothing to oppose, he assumed the style +of the mild and beautiful--he casually alluded to the days of his +early coming among his Southern friends--of hours of pleasure he had +massed, and of the hopes of the future. In a few moments the bustle +and confusion natural to a fatiguing day of political wrangling +ceased--one straggler after another suspended his noisy demonstration, +and gathered near the speaker. Soon a mass of silent but heart-heaving +humanity was crowded compactly before him. Had Prentiss, on that +occasion, held the very heart-strings of his auditors in his hand, he +could not have had them more in his power. For an hour he continued, +rising from one important subject to another, until the breath was +fairly suspended in the excitement. An uninterested spectator would +have supposed that he had used sorcery in thus transfixing his +auditors. While all others forgot, he noticed the day was drawing to a +close, he turned and looked toward the setting sun, and apostrophized +its fading glory--then in his most touching voice and manner, +concluded as follows:-- + +"Friends--That glorious orb reminds me that the day is spent, and +that I too must close. Ere we part, let me hope that it may be our +good fortune to end our days in the same splendor, and that when the +evening of life comes, we may sink to rest with the clouds that close +in on our departure, gold-tipped with the glorious effulgence of a +well-spent life!" + +In conclusion, I would ask, will some historian, who can sympathize +with the noble dead, gather up the now fleeting memorials that still +live in memory, and combine them together, that future generations may +know something of the mighty mind of Prentiss. + +The remains of the orator must ever be imperfect--the tone of +voice--the flashing eye--the occasion, and the mighty shout of the +multitude, cannot be impressed; but still Prentiss has left enough +in his brilliant career, if treasured up, to show posterity that he +was every inch a man. Let his fragmentary printed speeches--let the +reminiscences of his friends that treat of his power as an orator, +be brought together, and unsatisfactory as they may be, there will +be found left intrinsic value enough to accomplish the object. There +will be in the fluted column, though shattered and defaced, an Ionian +beauty that will tell unerringly of the magnificent temple that it +once adorned. + +BATON ROUGE, July 9, 1850. + + + * * * * * + + +[FROM HOUSEHOLD WORDS.] + +THE CHEMISTRY OF A CANDLE. + +The Wilkinsons were having a small party,--it consisted of themselves +and Uncle Bagges--at which the younger members of the family, home +for the holidays, had been just admitted to assist after dinner. Uncle +Bagges was a gentleman from whom his affectionate relatives cherished +expectations of a testamentary nature. Hence the greatest attention +was paid by them to the wishes of Mr. Bagges, as well as to every +observation which he might be pleased to make. + +"Eh! what? you sir," said Mr. Bagges, facetiously addressing himself +to his eldest nephew, Harry,--"Eh! what? I am glad to hear, sir, that +you are doing well at school. Now--eh? now, are you clever enough to +tell where was Moses when he put the candle out?" + +"That depends, uncle," said the young gentleman, "on whether he had +lighted the candle to see with at night, or by daylight, to seal a +letter." + +"Eh! Very good, now! 'Pon my word, very good," exclaimed Uncle Bagges. +"You must be Lord Chancellor, sir--Lord Chancellor, one of these +days." + +"And now, uncle," asked Harry, who was a favorite with his uncle, "can +you tell me what you do when you put a candle out?" + +"Clap an extinguisher on it, you young rogue, to be sure." + +"Oh! but I mean, you cut off its supply of oxygen," said Master Harry. + +"Cut off its ox's--eh? what? I shall cut off your nose, you young dog, +one of these fine days." + +"He means something he heard at the Royal Institution," observed Mrs. +Wilkinson. "He reads a great deal about chemistry, and he attended +Professor Faraday's lectures there on the chemical history of a +candle, and has been full of it ever since." + +"Now, you sir," said Uncle Bagges, "come you here to me, and tell +me what you have to say about this chemical, eh?--or comical: +which?--this comical chemical history of a candle." + +"He'll bore you, Bagges," said Mr. Wilkinson. "Harry, don't be +troublesome to your uncle." + +"Troublesome! Oh, not at all. He amuses me. I like to hear him. So let +him teach his old uncle the comicality and chemicality of a farthing +rushlight." + +"A wax candle will be nicer and cleaner, uncle, and answer the same +purpose. There's one on the mantel-shelf. Let me light it. + +"Take care you don't burn your fingers, Or set anything on fire," said +Mrs. Wilkinson. + +"Now, uncle," commenced Harry, having drawn his chair to the side of +Mr. Bagges, "we have got our candle burning. What do you see?" + +"Let me put on my spectacles," answered the uncle. + +"Look down on the top of the candle around the wick. See, it is a +little cup full of melted wax. The heat of the flame has melted the +wax just round the wick. The cold air keeps the outside of it hard, +so as to make the rim of it. The melted wax in the little cup goes up +through the wick to be burnt, just as oil does in the wick of a lamp. +What do you think makes it go up, uncle?" + +"Why--why, the flame draws it up, doesn't it?" + +"Not exactly, uncle. It goes up through little tiny passages in the +cotton wick, because very, very small channels, or pipes, or pores, +have the power in themselves of sucking up liquids. What they do it by +is called cap--something." + +"Capillary attraction, Harry," suggested Mr. Wilkinson. + +"Yes, that's it; just as a sponge sucks up water, or a bit of +lump-sugar the little drop of tea or coffee left in the bottom of a +cup. But I mustn't say much more about this, or else you will tell me +I am doing something very much like teaching my grandmother to--you +know what." + +"Your grandmother, eh, young sharp-shins?" + +"No--I mean my uncle. Now, I'll blow the candle out, like Moses; not +to be in the dark, though, but to see into what it is. Look at the +smoke rising from the wick. I'll hold a bit of lighted paper in the +smoke, so as not to touch the wick. But see, for all that, the candle +lights again. So this shows that the melted wax sucked up through +the wick is turned into vapor; and the vapor burns. The heat of the +burning vapor keeps on melting more wax, and that is sucked up too +within the flame, and turned into vapor, and burnt, and so on till the +was is all used up, and the candle is gone. So the flame, uncle, you +see, is the last of the candle, and the candle seems to go through the +flame into nothing--although it doesn't, but goes into several things, +and isn't it curious, as Professor Faraday said, that the candle +should look so splendid and glorious in going away?" + +"How well he remembers, doesn't he?" observed Mrs. Wilkinson. + +"I dare say," proceeded Harry, "that the flame of the candle looks +flat to you; but if we were to put a lamp glass over it, so as +to shelter it from the draught, you would see it is round,--round +sideways and running up to a peak. It is drawn up by the hot air; you +know that hot air always rises, and that is the way smoke is taken up +the chimney. What should you think was in the middle of the flame?" + +"I should say fire," replied Uncle Bagges. + +"Oh, no! The flame is hollow. The bright flame we see is something +no thicker than a thin peel, or skin; and it doesn't touch the wick. +Inside of it is the vapor I told you of just now. If you put one end +of a bent pipe into the middle of the flame, and let the other end of +the pipe dip into a bottle, the vapor or gas from the candle will mix +with the air there; and if you set fire to the mixture of gas from the +candle and air in the bottle, it would go off with a bang." + +"I wish you'd do that, Harry," said Master Tom, the younger brother of +the juvenile lecturer. + +"I want the proper things," answered Harry. "Well, uncle, the flame +of the candle is a little shining case, with gas in the inside of it, +and air on the outside, so that the case of flame is between the air +and the gas. The gas keeps going into the flame to burn, and when the +candle burns properly, none of it ever passes out through the flame; +and none of the air ever gets in through the flame to the gas. The +greatest heat of the candle is in this skin, or peel, or case of +flame." + +"Case of flame!" repeated Mr. Bagges. "Live and learn. I should have +thought a candle-flame was as thick as my poor old noddle." + +"I can show you the contrary," said Harry. "I take this piece of white +paper, look, and hold it a second or two down upon the candle-flame, +keeping the flame very steady. Now I'll rub off the black of the +smoke, and--there--you find that the paper is scorched in the shape +of a ring; but inside the ring it is only dirtied, and not singed at +all." + +"Seeing is believing," remarked the uncle. + +"But," proceeded Harry, "there is more in the candle-flame than the +gas that comes out of the candle. You know a candle won't burn without +air. There must be always air around the gas, and touching it like, to +make it burn. If a candle hasn't got enough air, it goes out, or burns +badly, so that some of the vapor inside of the flame comes out through +it in the form of smoke, and this is the reason of a candle smoking. +So now you know why a great clumsy dip smokes more than a neat wax +candle; it is because the thick wick of the dip makes too much fuel in +proportion to the air that can get to it." + +"Dear me! Well, I suppose there is a reason for everything," exclaimed +the young philosopher's mamma. + +"What should you say now," continued Harry, "if I told you that the +smoke that comes out of a candle is the very thing that makes a candle +light? Yes; a candle shines by consuming its own smoke. The smoke of +a candle is a cloud of small dust, and the little grains of the dust +are bits of charcoal, or carbon, as chemists call it. They are made in +the flame, and burnt in the flame, and, while burning, make the flame +bright. They are burnt the moment they are made; but the flame goes on +making more of them as fast as it burns them: and that is how it keeps +bright. The place they are made in, is in the ease of flame itself, +where the strong heat is. The great heat separates them from the gas +which conies from the melted wax, and, as soon as they touch the air +on the outside of the thin case of flame, they burn." + +"Can you tell how it is that the little bits of carbon came the +brightness of the flame?" asked Mr. Wilkinson. + +"Because they are pieces of solid matter," answered Harry. "To make +a flame shine, there must always be some solid--or at least +liquid-matter in it." + +"Very good." said Mr. Bagges,--"solid stuff necessary to brightness." + +"Some gases and other things," resumed Harry, "that burn with a +flame you can hardly see, burn splendidly when something solid is +put into them. Oxygen and hydrogen--tell me if I use too hard words, +uncle--oxygen and hydrogen gases, if mixed together and blown through +a pipe, burn with plenty of heat but with very little light. But if +their flame is blown upon a piece of quick-lime, it gets so bright +as to be quite dazzling, Make the smoke of oil of turpentine pass +through the same flame, and it gives the flame a beautiful brightness +directly." + +"I wonder," observed Uncle Bagges, "what has made you such a bright +youth." + +"Taking after uncle, perhaps," retorted his nephew. "Don't put my +candle and me out. Well, carbon, or charcoal is what causes the +brightness of all lamps, and candles, and other common lights; so, of +course, there is carbon in what they are all made of." + +"So carbon is smoke, eh? and light is owing to your carbon. Giving +light out of smoke, eh? as they say in the classics," observed Mr. +Bagges. + +"But what becomes of the candle," pursued Harry, "as it burns away? +where does it go?" + +"Nowhere," said his mamma, "I should think. It burns to nothing." + +"Oh, dear, no!" said Harry, "everything--everybody goes somewhere." + +"Eh!--rather an important consideration, that," Mr. Bagges moralized. + +"You can see it goes into smoke, which makes soot, for one thing," +pursued Harry. "There are other things it goes into, not to be seen +by only looking, but you can get to see them by taking the right +means,--just put your hand over the candle, uncle." + +"Thank you, young gentleman, I had rather be excused." + +"Not close enough down to burn you, uncle; higher up. There--you +feel a stream of hot air; so something seems to rise from the candle. +Suppose you were to put a very long slender gas-burner over the flame, +and let the flame burn just within the end of it, as if it were a +chimney,--some of the hot steam would go up and come out at the top, +but a sort of dew would be left behind in the glass chimney, if +the chimney was cold enough when you put it on. There are ways of +collecting this sort of dew, and when it is collected it turns out to +be really water. I am not joking, uncle. Water is one of the things +which the candle turns into in burning,--water coming out of fire. A +jet of oil gives above a pint of water in burning. In some lighthouses +they burn, Professor Faraday says, up to two gallons of oil in a +night, and if the windows are cold the steam from the oil clouds the +inside of the windows, and, in frosty weather, freezes into ice." + +"Water out of a candle, eh?" exclaimed Mr. Bagges. "As hard to get, I +should have thought, as blood out of a post. Where does it come from?" + +"Part from the wax, and part from the air, and yet not a drop of +it comes either from the air or the wax. What do you make of that, +uncle?" + +"Eh? Oh! I'm no hand at riddles. Give it up." + +"No riddle at all, uncle. The part that comes from the wax isn't +water, and the part that comes from the air isn't water, but when put +together they become water. Water is a mixture of two things then. +This can be shown. Put some iron wire or turnings into a gun barrel +open at both ends. Heat the middle of the barrel red-hot in a little +furnace. Keep the heat up, and send the steam of boiling water through +the red-hot gun barrel. What will come out at the other end of the +barrel won't be steam; it will be gas, which doesn't turn to water +again when it gets cold, and which burns if you put a light to it. +Take the turnings out of the gun-barrel, and you will find them +changed to rust, and heavier than when they were put in. Part of the +water is the gas that comes out of the barrel, the other part is what +mixes with the iron turnings, and changes them to rust, and makes +them heavier. You can fill a Wadder with the gas that comes out of +the gun-barrel, or you can pass bubbles of it up into a jar of water +turned upside down in a trough, and, as I said, you can make this part +of the water burn." + +"Eh?" cried Mr. Bagges. "Upon my word! One of these day, we shall have +you setting the Thames on fire." + +"Nothing more easy," said Harry, "than to burn part of the Thames, or +of any other water; I mean the gas that I have just told you about, +which is called hydrogen. In burning, hydrogen produces water again, +like the flame of a candle. Indeed, hydrogen is that part of the water +formed by a candle burning, that comes from the wax. All things that +have hydrogen in them produce water in burning, and the more there +is in them the more they produce. When pure hydrogen burns, nothing +comes from it but water, no smoke or soot at all. If you were to burn +one ounce of it, the water you would get would be just nine ounces. +There are many ways of making hydrogen besides out of steam by the +hot gun-barrel. I could show it you in a moment by pouring a little +sulphuric acid mixed with water into a bottle upon a few zinc or steel +filings, and putting a cork in the bottle with a little pipe through +it, and setting fire to the gas that would come from the mouth of +the pipe. We should find the flame very hot, but having scarcely +any brightness. I should like you to see the curious qualities of +hydrogen, particularly how light it is, so as to carry things up in +the air; and I wish I had a small balloon to fill with it, and make go +up to the ceiling, or a bag-pipe full of it to blow soap-bubbles with, +and show how much faster they rise than common ones, blown with the +breath." + +"So do I," interposed Master Tom. + +"And so," resumed Harry, "hydrogen, you know, uncle, is part of water, +and just one-ninth part." + +"As hydrogen is to water, so is a tailor to an ordinary individual, +eh?" Mr. Bagges remarked. + +"Well, now then, uncle, if hydrogen is the tailor's part of the +water, what are the other eight parts? The iron turnings used to make +hydrogen in the gun-barrel, and rusted, take just those eight parts +from the water in the shape of steam, and are so much the heavier. +Burn iron turnings in the air, and they make the same rust, and gain +just the same in weight. So the other eight parts must be found in the +air for one thing, and in the rusted iron turnings for another, and +they must also be in the water; and now the question is, how to get at +them?" + +"Out of the water? Fish for them, I should say," suggested Mr. Bagges. + +"Why, so we can," said Harry. "Only, instead of hooks and lines, we +must use wires--two wires, one from one end, the other from the other, +of a galvanic battery. Put the points of these wires into water, a +little distance apart, and they instantly take the water to pieces. +If they are of copper, or a metal that will rust easily, one of them +begins to rust, and air-bubbles come up from the other. These bubbles +are hydrogen. The other part of the water mixes with the end of the +wire and makes rust. But if the wires are of gold, or a metal that +does not rust easily, air-bubbles rise from the ends of both wires. +Collect the bubbles from both wires in a tube, and fire them, and they +turn to water again; and this water is exactly the same weight as the +quantity that has been changed into the two gases. Now then, uncle, +what should you think water was composed of?" + +"Eh? well--I suppose of those very identical two gases, young +gentleman." + +"Right, uncle. Recollect that the gas from one of the wires was +hydrogen, the one-ninth of water. What should you guess the gas from +the other wire to be?" + +"Stop--eh?--wait a bit--eh?--oh! why, the other eight-ninths, to be +sure." + +"Good again, uncle. Now this gas that is eight-ninths of water is the +gas called oxygen that I mentioned just now. This is a very curious +gas. It won't burn in air at all itself, like gas from a lamp, but it +has a wonderful power of making things burn that are lighted and put +into it. If you fill a jar with it--" + +"How do you manage that?" Mr. Bagges inquired. + +"You fill the jar with water," answered Harry, "and you stand it +upside down in a vessel full of water too. Then you let bubbles of the +gas up into the jar, and they turn out the water and take its place. +Put a stopper in the neck of the jar, or hold a glass plate against +the mouth of it, and you can take it out of the water and so have +bottled oxygen. A lighted candle put into a jar of oxygen blazes up +directly, and is consumed before you can say Jack Robinson. Charcoal +burns away in it as fast, with beautiful bright sparks--phosphorus +with a light that dazzles you to look at--and a piece of iron or steel +just made red-hot at the end first, is burnt in oxygen quicker than +a stick would be in common air. The experiment of burning things in +oxygen beats any fire-works." + +"Oh, how jolly!" exclaimed Tom. + +"Now we see, uncle," Harry continued, "that water is hydrogen and +oxygen united together, that water is got wherever hydrogen is burnt +in common air, that a candle won't burn without air, and that when a +candle burns there is hydrogen in it burning, and forming water. Now, +then, where does the hydrogen of the candle get the oxygen from, to +turn into water with it?" + +"From the air, eh?" + +"Just so. I can't stop to tell you of the other things which there is +oxygen in, and the many beautiful and amusing ways of getting it. But +as there is oxygen in the air, and as oxygen makes things burn at such +a rate, perhaps you wonder why air does not make things burn as fast +as oxygen. The reason is, that there is something else in the air that +mixes with the oxygen and weakens it." + +"Makes a sort of gaseous grog of it, eh?" said Mr. Bagges. "But how is +that proved?" + +"Why, there is a gas, called nitrous gas, which, if you mix it with +oxygen, takes all the oxygen into itself, and the mixture of the +nitrous gas and oxygen, if you put water with it, goes into the water. +Mix nitrous gas and air together in a jar over water, and the nitrous +gas takes away the oxygen, and then the water sucks up the mixed +oxygen and nitrous gas, and that part of the air which weakens the +oxygen is left behind. Burning phosphorus in confined air will also +take all the oxygen from it, and there are other ways of doing the +same thing. The portion of the air left behind is called nitrogen. You +wouldn't know it from common air by the look; it has no color, taste, +nor smell, and it won't burn. But things won't burn in it, either; +and anything on fire put into it goes out directly. It isn't fit to +breathe, and a mouse, or any animal, shut up in it, dies. It isn't +poisonous, though; creatures only die in it for want of oxygen. We +breathe it with oxygen, and then it does no harm, but good: for if +we breathed pure oxygen, we should breathe away so violently, that +we should soon breathe our life out. In the same way, if the air were +nothing but oxygen, a candle would not last above a minute. + +"What a tallow-chandler's bill we should have!" remarked Mrs. +Wilkinson. + +"'If a house were on fire in oxygen,' as Professor Faraday said, +'every iron bar, or rafter, or pillar, every nail and iron tool, +and the fire-place itself; all the zinc and copper roofs, and leaden +coverings, and gutters, and pipes, would consume and burn, increasing +the combustion.'" + +"That would be, indeed, burning 'like a house on fire,'" observed Mr. +Bagges. + +"'Think,'" said Harry, continuing his quotation, "'of the Houses +of Parliament, or a steam-engine manufactory. Think of an iron +proof-chest no proof against oxygen. Think of a locomotive and its +train,--every engine, every carriage, and even every rail would be set +on fire and burnt up.' So now, uncle, I think you see what the use of +nitrogen is, and especially how it prevents a candle from burning out +too fast." + +"Eh?" said Mr. Bagges. "Well, I will say I do think we are under +considerable obligations to nitrogen." + +"I have explained to you, uncle," pursued Harry, "how a candle, in +burning, turns into water. But it turns into something else. besides +that. There is a stream of hot air going up from it that won't +condense into dew; some of that is the nitrogen of the air which the +candle has taken all the oxygen from. But there is more in it than +nitrogen. Hold a long glass tube over a candle, so that the stream +of hot air from it may go up through the tube. Hold a jar over the +end of the tube to collect some of the stream of hot air. Put some +lime-water, which looks quite clear, into the jar; stop the jar, +and shake it up. The lime-water, which was quite clear before, turns +milky. Then there is something made by the burning of the candle that +changes the color of the lime-water. That is a gas, too, and you can +collect it, and examine it. It is to be got from several things, +and is a part of all chalk, marble, and the shells of eggs or of +shell-fish. The easiest way to make it is by pouring muriatic or +sulphuric acid on chalk or marble. The marble or chalk begins to hiss +or bubble, and you can collect the bubbles in the same way that you +can oxygen. The gas made by the candle in burning, and which also is +got out of the chalk and marble, is called carbonic acid. It puts out +a light in a moment; it kills any animal that breathes it, and it is +really poisonous to breathe, because it destroys life even when mixed +with a pretty large quantity of common air. The bubbles made by beer +when it ferments, are carbonic acid, so is the air that fizzes out of +soda-water, and it is good to swallow though it is deadly to breathe. +It is got from chalk by burning the chalk as well as by putting acid +to it, and burning the carbonic acid out of chalk makes the chalk +lime. This is why people are killed sometimes by getting in the way of +the wind that blows from lime-kilns." + +"Of which it is advisable carefully to keep to the windward." Mr. +Wilkinson observed. + +"The most curious thing about carbonic acid gas," proceeded Harry, "is +its weight. Although it is only a sort of air, it is so heavy that +you can pour it from one vessel into another. You may dip a cup of it +and pour it down upon a candle, and it will put the candle out, which +would astonish an ignorant person; because carbonic acid gas is as +invisible as the air, and the candle seems to be put out by nothing. A +soap-bubble or common air floats on it like wood on water. Its weight +is what makes it collect in brewers' vats; and also in wells, where +it is produced naturally; and owing to its collecting in such places +it causes the deaths we so often hear about of those who go down into +them without proper care. It is found in many springs of water, more +or less; and a great deal of it comes out of the earth in some places. +Carbonic acid gas is what stupefies the dogs in the Grotto del Cane. +Well, but how is carbonic acid gas made by the candle?" + +"I hope with your candle you'll throw some light upon the subject," +said Uncle Bagges. + +"I hope so," answered Harry. "Recollect it is the burning of the +smoke, or soot, or carbon of the candle, that makes the candle-flame +bright. Also that the candle won't burn without air. Likewise that it +will not burn in nitrogen, or air that has been deprived of oxygen. +So the carbon of the candle mingles with oxygen, in burning, to make +carbonic acid gas; just as the hydrogen does to form water. Carbonic +acid gas, then, is carbon or charcoal dissolved in oxygen. Here is +black soot getting invisible and changing into air; and this seems +strange, uncle, doesn't it?" + +"Ahem! Strange, if true," answered Mr. Bagges. "Eh? Well! I suppose +it's all right." + +"Quite so, uncle. Burn carbon or charcoal either in the air or in +oxygen, and it is sure always to make carbonic acid, and nothing else, +if it is dry. No dew or mist gathers in a cold glass jar if you burn +dry charcoal in it. The charcoal goes entirely into carbonic acid gas, +and leaves nothing behind but ashes, which are only earthy stuff that +was in the charcoal, but not part of the charcoal itself. And now, +shall I tell you something about carbon?" + +"With all my heart," assented Mr. Bagges. + +"I said that there was carbon or charcoal in all common lights, so +there is in every common kind of fuel. If you heat coal or wood away +from the air, some gas comes away, and leaves behind coke from coal, +and charcoal from wood; both carbon, though not pure. Heat carbon +as much as you will in a close vessel, and it does not change in the +least; but let the air get to it, and then it burns and flies off in +carbonic acid gas. This makes carbon so convenient for fuel. But it is +ornamental as well as useful, uncle. The diamond is nothing else than +carbon." + +"The diamond, eh! You mean the black diamond." + +"No: the diamond, really and truly. The diamond is only carbon in the +shape of a crystal." + +"Eh? and can't some of your clever chemists crystalize a little bit of +carbon, and make a Koh-i-noor?" + +"Ah, uncle, perhaps we shall, some day. In the mean time I suppose we +must be content with making carbon so brilliant as it is in the flame +of a candle. Well; now you see that a candle-flame is vapor burning, +and the vapor, in burning, turns into water and carbonic acid gas. The +oxygen of both the carbonic acid gas and the water comes from the air, +and the hydrogen and carbon together are the vapor. They are distilled +out of the melted was by the heat. But, you know, carbon alone can't +be distilled by any heat. It can be distilled, though, when it is +joined with hydrogen, as it is in the wax, and then the mixed hydrogen +and carbon rise in gas of the same kind as the gas in the streets, and +that also is distilled by heat from coal. So a candle is a little gas +manufactory in itself, that burns the gas as fast as it makes it." + +"Haven't you pretty nearly come to your candle's end'!" said Mr. +Wilkinson. + +"Nearly. I only want to tell uncle, that the burning of a candle is +almost exactly like our breathing. Breathing is consuming oxygen, +only not so fast as burning. In breathing we throw out water in vapor +and carbonic acid from our lungs, and take oxygen in. Oxygen is as +necessary to support the life of the body, as it is to keep up the +flame of a candle." + +"So," said Mr. Bagges, "man is a candle, eh? and Shakspeare knew that, +I suppose, (as he did most things,) when he wrote + + 'Out, out, brief candle!' + +"Well, well; we old ones are moulds, and you young squires are dips +and rushlights, eh? Any more to tell us about the candle?" + +"I could tell you a great deal more about oxygen, and hydrogen, and +carbon, and water, and breathing, that Professor Faraday said, if I +had time; but you should go and hear him yourself, uncle." + +"Eh? well! I think I will. Some of us seniors may learn something from +a juvenile lecture, at any rate, if given by a Faraday. And now, my +boy. I will tell you what," added Mr. Bagges, "I am very glad to find +you so fond of study and science; and you deserve to be encouraged: +and so I'll give you a what-d'ye-call-it'?--a Galvanic Battery, on +your next birth-day; and so much for your teaching your old uncle the +chemistry of a candle." + + * * * * * + + +[FROM A REVIEW OF GRISWOLD'S _PROSE WRITERS OF AMERICA_, IN THE +SOUTHERN LITERARY MESSENGER.] + +DANIEL WEBSTER, + +AS A STATESMAN, AND AS A MAN OF LETTERS. + +Mr. Webster is properly selected as the representative of the +best sense, and highest wisdom, and most consummate dignity, of +the politics and oratory of the present times, because his great +intelligence has continued to be so finely sensitive to all the +influences that stir the action and speculation of the country. + +With elements of reason, definite, absolute, and emphatic; with +principles settled, strenuous, deep and unchangeable as his being; +his wisdom is yet exquisitely practical: with subtlest sagacity it +apprehends every change in the circumstances in which it is to act, +and can accommodate its action without loss of vigor, or alteration +of its general purpose. Its theories always "lean and hearken" to +the actual. By a sympathy of the mind, almost transcendental in +its delicacy, its speculations are attracted into a parallelism +with the logic of life and nature. In most men, that intellectual +susceptibility by which they are capable of being reacted upon by the +outer world, and having their principles and views expanded, modified +or quickened, does not outlast the first period of life; from +that time they remain fixed and rigid in their policy, temper and +characteristics; if a new phase of society is developed, it must +find its exponent in other men. But in Webster this fresh suggestive +sensibility of the judgment has been carried on into the matured and +determined wisdom of manhood. His perceptions, feelings, reasonings, +tone, are always up to the level of the hour, or in advance of it; +sometimes far, very far in advance, as in the views thrown out in his +speech at Baltimore, on an international commercial system, in which +he showed that he then foresaw both the fate of the tariff and the +fallacy of free-trade. No man has ever been able to say, or now can +say, that he is before Webster. The youngest men in the nation look to +him, not as representing the past, but as leading in the future. + +This practicalness and readiness of adaptation are instinctive, +not voluntary and designed. They are united with the most decided +preference for certain opinions and the most earnest averseness to +others. Nothing can be less like Talleyrand's system of waiting +for events. He has never, in view of a change which he saw to be +inevitable, held himself in reserve and uncommitted. What Webster is +at any time, that he is strenuously, entirely, openly. He has first +opposed, with every energy of his mind and temper, that which, when +it has actually come, he is ready to accept, and make the best of. He +never surrenders in advance a position which knows will be carried; he +takes his place, and delivers battle; he fights as one who is fighting +the last battle of his country's hopes; he fires the last shot. When +the smoke and tumult are cleared off, where is Webster! Look around +for the nearest rallying point which the view presents; there he +stands, with his hand upon his heart, in grim composure; calm, +dignified, resolute; neither disheartened nor surprised by defeat. +"Leaving the things that are behind," is now the trumpet-sound by +which he rallies his friends to a new confidence, and stimulates them +to fresh efforts. It is obvious that Webster, when contending with +all his force for or against some particular measure, has not been +contemplating the probability of being compelled to oppose or defend a +different policy, and, so, choosing his words warily, in reference to +future possibilities of a personal kind: yet when the time has come +that he has been obliged to fight with his face in another direction, +it has always been found that no one principle had been asserted, no +one sentiment displayed, incompatible with his new positions. This +union of consistency with practicability has arisen naturally from +the extent and comprehensiveness of his views, from the breadth and +generality with which the analytical power of his understanding has +always led him to state his principles and define his position. From +the particular scheme or special maxim which his party was insisting +upon, his mind rose to a higher and more general formula of truth. + +Owing to the same superior penetration and reach of thought, the gloom +of successive repulses has never been able to paralyze the power +which it has saddened. The constitution has been so often invaded +and trampled upon, that to a common eye it might well seem to have +lost all the resentments of vitality. But Webster has distinguished +between the constitution and its administration. He has seen that the +constitution, though in bondage, is not killed; that the channels +of its life-giving wisdom are stuffed up with rubbish, but not +obliterated. He has been determined that if the rulers of the country +will deny the truth, they shall not debauch it; if they depart from +the constitution, they shall not deprave it. He has been resolved, +that when this tyranny of corruption shall be overpast, and the +constitution draws again its own free breath of virtue, truth and +wisdom, it shall be found perfect of limb and feature, prepared to +rise like a giant refreshed by sleep. + +Mr. Griswold, we suppose, is quite right in suggesting that the only +name in modern times to which reference can with any fitness be made +for purposes of analogy or comparison with Webster is that of Burke. +In many respects there is a correspondence between their characters; +in some others they differ widely. As a prophet of the truth of +political morals, as a revealer of those essential elements in the +constitution of life, upon which, or of which, society is constructed +and government evolved, Burke had no peer. In that department he rises +into the distance and grandeur of inspiration; _nil mortote sonans_. +Nor do we doubt that the Providence of God had raised him up for the +purposes of public safety and guidance, any more than we doubt the +mission of Jeremiah or Elisha, or any other of the school of the +Lord's prophets. But leaving Burke unapproached in this region of +the nature and philosophy of government, and looking at him, in his +general career, as a man of intellect and action, we might indicate an +analogy of this kind, that the character, temper and reason of Burke +seem to be almost an image of the English constitution, and Webster's +of the American. To get the key to Burke's somewhat irregular and +startling career, it is necessary, to study the idea of the old whig +constitution of the English monarchy: viewing his course from that +point of view, we comprehend his almost countenancing and encouraging +rebellion in the case of the American colonies; his intense hostility +to Warren Hastings' imperial system; his unchastised earnestness +in opposition to French maxims in the decline of his life. The +constitution of the United States, that most wonderful of the +emanations of providential wisdom, seems to be not only the home of +Webster's affections and seat of his proudest hopes, but the very type +of his understanding and fountain of his intellectual strength: + + ----"hic illius arma;---- + Hic currus." + +The genius of Burke, like the one, was inexhaustible in resources, +so composite and so averse from theory as to appear incongruous, but +justified in the result; not formal, not always entirely perspicuous. +Webster's mind, like the other, is eminently logical, reduced +into principles, orderly, distinct, reconciling abstraction with +convenience, various in manifestation, yet pervaded by an unity of +character. + +Mr. Webster has not merely illustrated a great range of mental powers +and accomplishments, but has filled, in the eye of the nation, on a +great scale, and to the farthest reach of their exigency, a diversity +of intellectual characters; while the manner in which Burke's wisdom +displayed itself was usually the same. We cannot suppose that Burke +could have been a great lawyer. Webster possesses a consummate legal +judgment and prodigious powers of legal logic, and is felt to be +the highest authority on a great question of law in this country. +The demonstrative faculty; the capacity to analyze and open any +proposition so as to identify its separate elements with the very +consciousness of the reader's or hearer's mind; this, which is the +lawyer's peculiar power, had not been particularly developed in Burke, +but exists in Webster in greater expansion and force than in any +one since Doctor Johnson, who, it always appeared to us, had he been +educated for the bar, would have made the greatest lawyer that ever +led the decisions of Westminster-Hall. We should hardly be justified +in saying that Burke would have made a great First Lord of the +Treasury. Mr. Webster, as Secretary of State, proved himself to be +a practical statesman of the highest; finest, promptest sagacity and +foresight that this or any nation ever witnessed. Who now doubts the +surpassing wisdom, who now but reverences the exalted patriotism, +of the advice and the example which he gave, but gave in vain, to +the Whig party at the beginning of Mr. Tyler's administration? His +official correspondence would be lowered by a comparison with any +state papers since the secretaryship of John Marshall. Does the public +generally know what has become of that portentous difficulty about the +Right of Search, upon which England and America, five years ago, were +on the point of being "_lento collisæ duello_." Mr. Webster settled it +by mere force of mind: he dissipated the Question, _by seeing through +it_, and by compelling others to see a fallacy in its terms which +before had imposed upon the understanding of two nations. In the +essential and universal philosophy of politics, Webster is second only +to Burke. After Burke, there is no statesman whose writings might be +read with greater advantage by foreign nations, or would have been +studied with so much respect by antiquity, as Webster's. + +In a merely literary point of view, this perhaps may be said of Mr. +Webster, that he is the only powerful and fervid orator, since the +glorious days of Greece, whose style is so disciplined that any of +his great public harangues might be used as models of composition. His +language is beautifully pure, and his combinations of it exhibit more +knowledge of the genius, spirit, and classic vigor of the English +tongue, than it has entered the mind of any professor of rhetoric to +apprehend. As the most impetuous sweeps of passion in him are pervaded +and informed and guided by intellect, so the most earnest struggles +of intellect seem to be calmed and made gentle in their vehemence, +by a more essential rationality of taste. That imperious mind, which +seems fit to defy the universe, is ever subordinate, by a kind of +fascination, to the perfect law of grace. In the highest of his +intellectual flights--and who can follow the winged rush of that eagle +mind?--in the widest of his mental ranges-and who shall measure their +extent?--he is ever moving within the severest line of beauty. No one +would think of saying that Mr. Webster's speeches are thrown off with +ease, and cost him but little effort; they are clearly the result +of the intensest stress of mental energy; yet the manner is never +discomposed; the decency and propriety of the display never interfered +with; he is always greater than his genius; you see "the depth out not +the tumult" of the mind. Whether, with extended arm, he strangles +the "reluctantes dracones" of democracy, or with every faculty called +home, concentrates the light and heat of his being in developing into +principles those great sentiments and great instincts which are his +inspiration; in all, the orator stands forth with the majesty and +chastened grace of Pericles himself. In the fiercest of encounters +with the deadliest of foes, the mind, which is enraged, is never +perturbed; the style, which leaps like the fire of heaven, is never +disordered. As in Guido's picture of St. Michael piercing the dragon, +while the gnarled muscles of the arms and hands attest the utmost +strain of the strength, the countenance remains placid, serene, and +undisturbed. In this great quality of mental dignity, Mr. Webster's +speeches have become more and more eminent. The glow and luster +which set his earlier speeches a-blaze with splendor, is in his +later discourses rarely let forth; but they have gained more, in the +increase of dignity, than they have parted with in the diminution +of brilliancy. We regard his speech before the shop-keepers, calling +themselves merchants, of Philadelphia, as one of the most weighty +and admirable of the intellectual efforts of his life. The range of +profound and piercing wisdom; the exquisite and faultless taste; but +above all, the august and indefectible dignity, that are illustrated +from the beginning to the end of that great display of matured +and finished strength, leave us in mingled wonder and reverence. +There is one sentence there which seems to us almost to reach the +_intellectual_ sublime; and while it stirs within us the depths of +sympathy and admiration, we could heartily wish that the young men of +America would inhale the almost supra-mortal spirit which it breathes: +"I would not with any idolatrous admiration regard the Constitution +of the United States, nor any other work of man; but this side of +idolatry, I hold it in profound respect. I believe that no human +working on such a subject, no human ability exerted for such an end, +has ever produced so much happiness, or holds out now to so many +millions of people the prospect, through such a succession of ages and +ages, of so much happiness, as the Constitution of the United States. +We who are here for one generation, for a single life, and yet in our +several stations and relations in society intrusted in some degree +with its protection and support, what duty does it devolve, what duty +does it _not_ devolve, upon us!" In the name of distant ages, and a +remote posterity, we hail the author of this and similar orations, as +Webster the _Olympian_. + +But we leave a subject which we have incidentally touched, sincerely +disclaiming any attempt to estimate the character or define the +greatness of Webster. In reference to him we feel, as Cicero said to +Cæsar, "_Nil vulgare te dignum videri possit._" + + * * * * * + + +[FROM THE ATHENÆUM.] + +THE NEW PROPHET IN THE EAST.[5] + +The vicissitudes of the war in the Caucasus of late have been +surprising enough to awaken the interest of Western Europe, even +amidst her own nearer anxieties. Last year it was said that the +conquest of Achulgo, the stronghold of the redoubtable Schamyl, +had effectually broken the power of that daring leader. In direct +contradiction to such reports, later accounts from Daghestan tell +of the reappearance of the notable partisan amidst the lines of the +Russians, and of a defeat of the latter, the most severe, if the +details of the event be true, that they have yet suffered in the +Caucasus. In any case, these exciting changes of fortune would be in +favor of a book professing to describe this interesting region, and +to add to our knowledge of its brave inhabitants. The main interest +of Herr Bodenstedt's work will now be enhanced by its undertaking +to give a more precise account than had previously appeared of the +priest-warrior of Daghestan. and of the new sect as the prophet of +which he succeeded in arraying the independent mountain clans against +their common enemy with a kind of combination unknown in earlier +periods of the struggle. + +[Footnote 5: The people of the Caucasus, and their Struggle for +Liberty with the Russians--(_Die Volker des Caucasus, &c._) By +Friedrich Bodenstedt. Second Edition. Frankfurt am Main, Lizius; +London, Nutt.] + +The author has evidently lived for some time in the region which he +describes, or in the bordering districts along the Caspian, both in +Georgia and in North Daghestan, His acquaintance with Asiatic and +Russian languages and customs appears to have been gained both by +study and from intercourse with the natives of the south-eastern +frontier. He is not ignorant of Oriental writings that refer to +his subject; and his Russian statistics prove an access to official +authorities which are not to be found in print. These, however +obtained, can scarcely have been imparted to him as one of those +writers whom the Court of St. Petersburg hires to promote its views +through the press of Western Europe. His sympathies are declared +against Russian usurpation; and the tendency of his essay is to prove +how little real progress it has yet made in subduing the Caucasus, the +enormous waste of money and life with which its fluctuating successes +have been bought, and the fallacy of expecting a better result +hereafter. + +What it has cost in life on the Russian side to attack-hitherto with +no lasting effect--the handful of Caucasian mountaineers, may be +guessed from a single note, dated 1847: "The present Russian force in +the Caucasus"--including of course, the armed Cossacks of the Kuban +and Terek--"amounts to two hundred thousand." Taking into account the +numbers yearly cut off by disease, more fatal even than the mountain +war, every step of which must be won by the most reckless waste +of life,--the "Russian Officer" may perhaps truly affirm that the +_annual_ expenditure of life by Russia, in her warfare with Schamyl, +has for many years past exceeded the whole number of the population at +any one time directly under the rule of that chieftain. + +We have said that the most instructive part of Herr Bodenstedt's essay +is his sketch of that politico-religious scheme which made Schamyl +formidable to the Russians. This system, it is to be observed, arose +and has since been fully developed only in the Eastern Caucasus, where +of late the main stress of the war has been. The western tribes (our +"Circassians") who took the lead at an earlier stage of the contest, +were not then, nor have they since been, inspired by the fanatic zeal +which united the tribes of Daghestan. They fought from a mere love +of independence, each little republic by itself; and their efforts, +however heroic, being without concert, gradually declined before the +vast force of the invader. In the region looking westward from the +Georgian frontier on the Euxine, on the one side of the Caucasian +range, and along the lower Kuban on the other, the Russian posts +are now seldom threatened but by small predatory bands; the natives, +retired to their mountain villages, have for some time made but few +more formidable incursions. The war is transferred to the region +spreading eastward from the Elbrus to the Caspian; where the strife +for free existence is animated not less by the hatred of Russian +slavery than by a fresh outbreak of Mohammedan zeal against infidel +invasion,--a revival, in fact, of that war-like fanaticism which made +the Moslem name terrible from the eighth to the sixteenth century. + +It dates from the years 1823-4; at which period a "new doctrine" began +to be preached, secretly at first, to the select Uléma, afterward to +greater numbers, in word and writing, by one Mullah Mohammed, a famous +teacher and a judge (or _kadi_) of Jarach, in the Kurin district of +Daghestan. He professed to have learnt it from Hadis-Ismail, an Alim +of Kurdomir, highly famed for wisdom and sanctity. It laid bare the +degradation into which his countrymen had sunk by irreligion and by +the jealousy of sect; their danger, in consequence, from enemies +of the true faith; and urged the necessity of reform in creed and +practice, in order to regain the invincible character promised by the +Prophet to believers. The theoretical part of the reformed doctrine +seems to be a kind of Sufism,--the general character of which mode +of Islam, long prevalent in the adjacent kingdom of Persia, has +been described by our own orientalists. Disputed questions as to its +origin, whether in Brahmin philosophy or in the reveries of Moslem +mystics, cannot be discussed here; it must suffice to indicate those +points which appear to connect it with the hieratic policy that has +given a new aspect to the war in the Caucasus. + +Proceeding nominally on the basis of the Koran, it inculcates or +expounds a kind of spiritual transcendentalism; in which the adept is +raised above the necessity of formal laws, which are only requisite +for those who are not capable of rising to a full intelligence of the +supreme power. To gain this height, by devout contemplation, must be +the personal work and endeavor of each individual. The revelation of +divine truth, once attained, supersedes specific moral injunctions; +ceremonies and systems, even, of religion, become indifferent to the +mind illuminated by the sacred idea. A higher degree is the perfect +conception or ecstatic vision of the Deity;--the highest-reserved +only for the prophetic few--a real immediate union with his essence. +Here, it will be seen, are four steps or stages, each of which has +its sacred manual or appropriate system of teaching. In the hieratic +system, of which Schamyl is the head, the divisions seem to correspond +pretty nearly with this arrangement, as follows:-- + +The _first_ includes the mass of the armed people; whose zeal it +promotes by strict religious and moral injunctions enjoining purity of +life, exact regard to the ritual of the Koran, teaching pilgrimages, +fasting, ablutions; the duty of implacable war against the Infidel, +the sin of enduring his tyranny. + +The _second_ is composed of those, who, in virtue of striving upward +to a higher Divine intelligence, are elevated above ceremonial +religion. Of these the _Murids_ (_seekers_ or _strugglers_,) are +formed: a body of religious warriors attached to the Imam, whose +courage in battle, raised to a kind of frenzy, despises numbers and +laughs at death. To accept quarter, or to fly from the Infidel, is +forbidden to this class. + +The _third_ includes the more perfect acolytes, who are presumed to +have risen to the ecstatic view of the Deity. These are the elect, +whom the Imam makes _Naibs_ or vice-regents,--invested with nearly +absolute power in his absence. + +The _fourth_, or highest, implying entire union with the Divine +essence, is held by Schamyl alone. In virtue of this elevation and +spiritual endowment, the Imam, as an immediate organ of the Supreme +Will, is himself the source of all law to his followers, unerring, +impeccable; to question or disobey his behests is a sin against +religion, as well as a political crime. It may be seen what advantage +this system must have given to Schamyl in his conflict with the +Russians. The doctrine of the indifference of sects and forms enabled +him to unite the divided followers of Omar and of Ali, in a region +where both abound, and where the schism had formerly been one of +the most effectual instruments of the enemy. The belief in a Divine +mission and spiritual powers sustains his adherents in all reverses; +while it invites to defection from the Russian side those of the +Mohammedan tribes who have submitted to the invader. Among these, +however, Schamyl, like his predecessors in the same priestly office, +by no means confides the progress of his sect to spiritual influences +only. The work of conversion, where exhortation fails, is carried on +remorselessly by fire and sword; and the Imam is as terrible to those +of his countrymen whom fear or interest retains in alliance with +Russia, as to the soldiers of the Czar. With a character in which +extreme daring is allied with coolness, cunning, and military genius, +with a good fortune which has hitherto preserved his life in many +circumstances where escape seemed impossible,--it may be seen that the +belief in his supernatural gifts and privileges, once created, must +always tend to increase in intensity and effect among the imaginative +and credulous Mohammedans of the Caucasus; and that this apt +combination of the warrior with the politician and prophet accounts +for his success in combining against the Russians a force of the once +discordant tribes of Daghestan, possessing more of the character +of a national resistance than had been ever known before in the +Caucasus,--and compelling the invaders to purchase every one of their +few, trifling, and dubious advances by the terrible sacrifice of life +already noticed. + +In this formidable movement the highlander's natural freedom is fanned +into a blaze by a religious zeal like that which once led the armies +of Islam over one half of Asia and Europe. Although it reached its +highest energy and a more consummate development under Schamyl, it was +begun by his predecessors. Of the Mullah Mohammed, who first preached +the duty of casting off the yoke of the Giaour, and the necessity of +a religious reform and union of rival sects, as a means to that end, +we have already spoken. This founder of the new system, an aged man, +untrained in arms, never himself drew the sword in the cause; but was +active in diffusing its principles and preparing a warlike rising by +exhortations and letters circulated through all Daghestan. Suspected +of these designs, he was seized, in 1826, by the orders of Jermoloff; +and although be escaped,--by the connivance, it is said, of the native +prince employed to capture him,--he afterward lived, in a kind of +concealment, for some years. The post of Imam was thereupon assumed +by a priest who was able to fight for the new doctrine as well as +to preach it. The first armed outbreak took place under Kasi-Mullah, +about the year 1829; from which time, until his death in a battle at +Himry, in 1831, he waged a terrible, and, although often defeated, +a virtually successful warfare, against the Russians, while he +prosecuted the work of conversion among the tribes of Islam who +delayed to acknowledge his mission, and to join in his enmity to the +Russians, by the extremities of bloodshed and rapine. His death, after +an heroic resistance, was hailed as a triumph by the Russians. They +counted on the extinction of the new sect in the defeat of its leader, +whose dead body they carried about the country to prove the imposture +of his pretensions. This piece of barbarism produced an effect the +reverse of what they expected. The venerable face of the Imam, the +attitude in which he had expired, with one hand pointed as if to +heaven, was more impressive to those who crowded round the body than +his fearless enthusiasm had been,--and thousands who till then had +held aloof, now joined his followers in venerating him as a prophet. +Of this first warrior-priest of Daghestan, Schamyl was the favorite +disciple and the most trusted soldier. Kasi-Mullah was not killed +until Schamyl had already fallen as it seemed, under several deadly +wounds:--his reappearance after this bloody scene was but the first of +many similar escapes, the report of which sounds like a fable. He did +not, however, at once succeed to the dignity of Imam: the office was +usurped for more than a year by Hamsad Beg (Bey), whose rapacious and +savage treatment of some of the princely families of Daghestan nearly +caused a fatal reaction against the new sect, and the destruction +of its main support, the Murids. Hamsad Beg performed no action of +consequence against the Russians; but expended his rage upon the +natives allied with them, or reluctant to obey his mandates. He +was assassinated in 1834, by some kinsmen of a princely house whose +territories he had usurped after a massacre of its princes. In the +affray which took place on this occasion, there perished with him +many of the fanatic Murids, who had become odious as instruments of +the cruelties of their Imam. On his death, Schamyl was raised to +the dignity,--but it was some time before the mischief done by his +predecessor was so far repaired as to allow him to act with energy +as the prophet of the new doctrine. One of the ill effects of Hamsad +Beg's iniquities had been the defection to the Russians of n notable +partisan--Hadjii Murad--for many years a fatal thorn in the side of +the independent party.[6] This and other difficulties, among which was +the unpopularity of the Murids under Hamsad Beg, were removed by new +alliances and precautions, while all that eloquence and skill could +perform was applied to restore the credit of the religious system, +before Schamyl could hazard a direct attack of the Russian enemy, +who meanwhile had taken advantage of the delay and disunion to gain +ground in many parts of Daghestan. From the year 1839, however, the +tide rapidly turned; and the result, from that date until the period +at which the account closes (1845)--when Woronzow was appointed to +command in the Caucasus, with nearly unlimited powers,--has been, +that the Russians, in spite of tremendous sacrifices, were constantly +losing ground and influence, while Schamyl gained both in equal +proportion. The details of the campaigns during this interval are +highly interesting; and we regret that conditions of space forbid +us to translate some of the exciting episodes recorded by Herr +Bodenstedt. We may, however, extract the following account of the +Caucasian hero,--whose portrait, we believe, has never before been so +fully exhibited to European readers;-- + +[Footnote 6: It is worth noting--as a characteristic of Russian +misrule and of its consequences--that this chieftain, after having +been a devoted soldier of the Emperor for seven years, was goaded by +the ill treatment of his officers into abjuring the service; make the +offer of his sword to Schamyl, against whom he had fought with the +utmost animosity; was heartily welcomed by that prudent leader, and +became one of his principal lieutenants.] + +"Schamyl is of middle stature; he has light hair, gray eyes, shaded +by bushy and well-arched eyebrows,--a nose finely moulded, and a small +mouth. His features are distinguished from those of his race by a +peculiar fairness of complexion and delicacy of skin: the elegant form +of his hands and feet is not less remarkable. The apparent stiffness +of his arms, when he walks, is a sign of his stern and impenetrable +character. His address is thoroughly noble and dignified. Of himself +he is completely master; and he exerts a tacit supremacy over all who +approach him. An immovable stony calmness, which never forsakes him, +even in moments of the utmost danger, broods over his countenance. +He passes a sentence of death with the same composure with which +he distributes "the sabre of honor" to his bravest Murids, after a +bloody encounter. With traitors or criminals whom he has resolved to +destroy, he will converse without betraying the least sign of anger or +vengeance. He regards himself as a mere instrument in the hands of a +higher Being; and holds, according to the Sufi doctrine, that all his +thoughts and determinations are immediate inspirations from God. The +flow of his speech is as animating and irresistible as his outward +appearance is awful and commanding. "He shoots flames from his eyes, +and scatters flowers from his lips,"--said Bersek Bey, who sheltered +him for some days after the fall of Achulgo,--when Schamyl dwelt for +some time among the princes of the Djighetes and Ubiches, for the +purpose of inciting the tribes on the Black Sea to rise against the +Russians. Schamyl is now (_circa_ 1847?) fifty years old, but still +full of vigor and strength: it is however said, that he has for some +years past suffered from an obstinate disease of the eyes, which is +constantly growing worse. He fills the intervals of leisure which his +public charges allow him, in reading the Koran, fasting, and prayer. +Of late years he has but seldom, and then only on critical occasions, +taken a personal share in warlike encounters. In spite of his almost +supernatural activity, Schamyl is excessively severe and temperate in +his habits. A few hours of sleep are enough for him: at times he will +watch for the whole night, without Showing the least trace of fatigue +on the following day. He eats little, and water is his only beverage. +According to Mohammedan custom, he keeps several wives--[this +contradicts Wagner, who affirms that Schamyl always confined himself +to one]; in 1844 he had _three_, of which his favorite, _Dur Heremen_, +(Pearl of the Harem) as she was called, was an Armenian, of exquisite +beauty." + +Will Russian arms prevail in the end? The following is Herr +Bodenstedt's answer; after noticing the arrival of Woronzow, and the +expectations raised by his talents, by the immense resources at +his command, as well as by such events as the storm of Schamyl's +stronghold of Cargo:-- + +"He who believes that the issue of this contest hangs on the +destruction of stone fortresses, on the devastation of tracts of +forest, has not yet conceived the essential nature of the war in the +Caucasus. This is not merely a war of men against men--it is a strife +between the mountain and the steppe. The population of the Caucasus +may be changed; the air of liberty wafted from its heights will +ever remain the same. Invigorated by this atmosphere, even Russian +hirelings would grow into men eager for freedom: and among their +descendants a new race of heroes would arise, to point their weapons +against that servile constitution, to extend which their fathers had +once fought, as blind, unquestioning slaves." + +To this answer of Herr Bodenstedt's we will add nothing of our own. We +are weary with waiting for the events of history such as we would have +them. + + * * * * * + + +COOLING A BURNING SPIRIT. + +An incident which occurred soon after the accession of the present +Sultan, shows that, in some respects, at least, he is not indisposed +to follow up the strong traditions of his race. At the beginning +of his reign, the Ulema was resolved, if possible, to prevent the +new Sultan from carrying on those reforms which had ever been so +distasteful to the Turks, grating at once against their religious +associations and their pride of race, and which recent events +had certainly proved not to be productive of those good results +anticipated by Sultan Mamoud. To attain this object, the Muftis +adopted the expedient of working on the religious fears of the +youthful prince. One day as he was praying, according to his custom, +at his father's tomb, he heard a voice from beneath reiterating, in a +stifled tone, the words, "I burn." The next time that he prayed there +the same words assailed his ears. "I burn" was repeated again and +again, and no word beside. He applied to the chief of the Imams to +know what this prodigy might mean; and was informed in reply, that +his father, though a great man, had also been, unfortunately, a great +reformer, and that as such it was too much to be feared that he had +a terrible penance to undergo in the other world. The Sultan sent for +his brother-in-law to pray at the same place, and afterward several +others of his household; and on each occasion the same portentous +words were heard. One day he announced his intention of going in state +to his father's tomb, and was attended thither by a splendid retinue, +including the chief doctors of the Mahometan law. Again, during his +devotions, were heard the words, "I burn," and all except the Sultan +trembled. Rising from his prayer-carpet, he called in his guards, and +commanded them to dig up the pavement and remove the tomb. It was in +vain that the Muftis interposed, reprobating so great a profanation, +and uttering warnings as to its consequences. The Sultan persisted, +the foundations of the tomb were laid bare, and in a cavity skillfully +left among them was found--not a burning Sultan, but a Dervise. The +young monarch regarded him for a time fixedly and in silence, and then +said, without any further remark or the slightest expression of anger, +"You burn?--We must cool you in the Bosphorus." In a few minutes more +the dervise was in a bag, and the bag immediately after was in the +Bosphorus.--_De Vere's Sketches_. + + * * * * * + + +[FROM HOUSEHOLD WORDS.] + +AN OLD HAUNT. + + The rippling water, with its drowsy tone,-- + The tall elms, tow 'ring in their stately pride,-- + And--sorrow's type--the willow sad and lone, + Kissing in graceful woe the murmuring tide;-- + + The grey church-tower,--and dimly seen beyond, + The faint hills gilded by the parting sun,-- + All were the same, and seem'd with greeting fond + To welcome me as they of old had done. + + And for a while I stood as in a trance, + On that loved spot, forgetting toil and pain;-- + Buoyant my limbs, and keen and bright my glance, + For that brief space I was a boy again! + + Again with giddy mates I careless play'd, + Or plied the quiv'ring oar, on conquest bent:-- + Again, beneath the tall elms' silent shade, + I woo'd the fair, and won the sweet consent. + + But brief, alas! the spell,--for suddenly + Peal'd from the tower the old familiar chimes, + And with their clear, heart-thrilling melody, + Awaked the spectral forms of darker times + + And I remember'd all that years had wrought-- + How bow'd my care-worn frame, how dimm'd my eye, + How poor the gauds by Youth so keenly sought, + How quench'd and dull Youth's aspirations high! + + And in half mournful, half upbraiding host, + Duties neglected--high resolves unkept-- + And many a heart by death or falsehood lost, + In lightning current o'er my bosom swept. + + Then bow'd the stubborn knees, as backward sped + The self-accusing thoughts in dread array, + And, slowly, from their long-congealed bed, + Forced the remorseful tears their silent way. + + Bitter yet healing drops in mercy sent, + Like soft dews tailing on a thirsty plain,-- + And ere those chimes their last faint notes had spent, + Strengthen'd and calm'd, I stood erect again. + + Strengthen'd, the tasks allotted to fulfill;-- + Calm'd the thick-coming sorrows to endure; + Fearful of nought but of my own frail will,-- + In His Almighty strength and aid secure. + + For a sweet voice had whisper'd hope to me,-- + Had through my darkness shed a kindly ray;-- + It said: "The past is fix'd immutably, + Yet is there comfort in the coming day!" + + * * * * * + + +KILLING A GIRAFFE. + +At every stride I gained upon the giraffes, and, after a short burst +at a swingeing gallop, I was in the middle of them, and turned +the finest cow out of the herd. On finding herself driven from her +comrades and hotly pursued, she increased her pace, and cantered along +with tremendous strides, clearing an amazing extent of ground at every +bound; while her neck and breast, coming in contact with the dead old +branches of the trees, were continually strewing them in my path. In +a few minutes I was riding within five yards of her stern, and, firing +at a gallop, I sent a bullet into her back. Increasing my pace, I next +rode alongside, and, placing the muzzle of my rifle within a few feet +of her, I fired my second shot behind the shoulder; the ball, however, +seemed to have little effect. I then placed myself directly in front, +when she came to a walk. Dismounting, I hastily loaded both barrels, +putting in double charges of powder. Before this was accomplished, she +was off at a canter. In a short time I brought her to a stand in the +dry bed of a watercourse, where I fired at fifteen yards, aiming where +I thought the heart lay, upon which she again made off. Having loaded, +I followed, and had very nearly lost her; she had turned abruptly +to the left, and was far out of sight among the trees. Once more I +brought her to a stand, and dismounted from my horse. There we stood +together alone in the wild wood. I gazed in wonder at her extreme +beauty, while her soft dark eye, with its silky fringe, looked down +imploringly at me, and I really felt a pang of sorrow in this moment +of triumph for the blood I was shedding. Pointing my rifle toward the +skies, I sent a bullet through her neck. On receiving it she reared +high on her hind legs and fell back with a heavy crash, making the +earth shake around her. A thick stream of dark blood spouted out +from the wound, her colossal limbs quivered for a moment, and she +expired.--_Cummings' Adventures_. + + * * * * * + + +THE VETERAN KOLOMBESKI. + +Several journals have spoken of the entry into the Hotel des Invalides +of a soldier, stated to be 126 years of age. This is not quite +correct. The following are some precise details respecting this +extraordinary man, who arrived at the Hotel on the 21st inst.:--Jean +Kolombeski, born at Astrona (Poland), on the 1st of March, 1730, +entered the service of France, as a volunteer in the Bourbon regiment +of infantry, in 1774, at the age of forty-four. He was made corporal +in 1790, at the age of sixty. He made all the campaigns of the +Revolution and of the Empire, in different regiments of infantry, +and was incorporated, in 1808, in the 3d regiment of the Vistula. He +was wounded in 1814, and entered the hospital at Poitiers, which he +soon afterward left to be placed _en subsistence_ in the 2d regiment +of light infantry. On the 11th of October of the same year he was +admitted into the 1st company of _sous-officiers sedentaires_, and, in +1846, into the 5th company of Veteran Sub-Officers. The last three of +these companies having just been suppressed by the Minister of War, +Kolombeski was placed _en subsistence_ in the 61st regiment of the +line, received a retiring pension by decree of May 17, 1850, and the +Minister authorized his admission into the Invalides. Kolombeski is, +therefore, more than 120 years of age; he reckons seventy-five and +a half years of service, and twenty-nine campaigns. He enjoys good +health, is strong and well made, and does not appear to be more than +seventy or eighty. He performed every duty with big comrades of the +5th company of Veterans, When King Louis Philippe visited Dreus, +Kolombeski was presented to him, who, taking the decoration from +his breast, presented it to the veteran soldier. This is the most +astonishing instance of longevity that has, perhaps, been ever known +in the army. The Marshal Governor of the Invalides ordered that +Kolombeski should be brought to him on his arrival; but, as the old +soldier was fatigued, he was taken to the infirmary, and the Governor, +informed of it, went to his bedside with General Petit, the commandant +of the hotel, and addressed the veteran in the kindest manner. The +Governor has issued an order that, for the future, all centenarian +soldiers admitted into the hospital shall mess with the officers, in +order to show his respect for their age, and for the long services +they have rendered to the state.--_Galignani's Messenger_. + + * * * * * + + +ANECDOTE OF LORD BROUGHAM. + +The "Life of the Rev. Dr. Hugh Heugh" has a description of an +interview which a deputation of Scotch dissenters had some years ago +with Lord Brougham. The _Scotsman_ adds, from its private knowledge, +some odd incidents of the affair. + +His lordship, on coming out of the court to meet the deputation, +immediately on being informed of their object, burst out in a volley +of exclamations to the effect that, but for dissent, there would be +"No vital religion--no vital religion, gentlemen, no vital religion." +While pouring forth this in a most solemn tone, he was all the while +shaking violently the locked doors of a lobby full of committee rooms, +into one of which he wished to find entrance, and calling for an +absent official not only in passionate tones, but in phraseology +which the reverend deputation, at first unwilling to trust their own +ears, were at last forced to believe was nothing better than profane +swearing. At last, he suddenly drew himself up to the wall opposite a +locked door, and with a tremendous kick, smashed the lock, and entered +(exclaiming, first in a vehement and then in a solemn tone, but +without pause) "--that fellow! where the ---- does he always go to! No +vital religion, gentlemen, no vital religion--no, no, no." + + * * * * * + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The International Weekly Miscellany, +Volume I. 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