The Sun.
London, England, 1864-08-24 00:00:00

country to her fate, and with an agony of indigos.
tion ho protests against the modern system of non-
intervention.

0, Powers of Europe I—Powers of civilisation I When
brother is murdering brother, it is every man's duly to stop
the fratricidal strife. How long must nations stand aside,
and ask, "Am I my brother's keeper ?" Is there one
morality and one religion for men, and another for nations?
The public opinion of Europe has denounced this war as a
useless conflict. Why canna the opinion of Europe—" the
just judgment of mankind"—make itself respected.
As some solace in his exile, Dr Nichols has written
about his country—
In the weary hours of a most anxious exile, I have writ-
ten the following pages. I have described America, and
what seems to me most distinctive in its institutions and
people, as I remember them, looking back through a vista
of nearly half a century of a busy and varied life, and as
they appear to me viewed across the intervening ocean.
Americans have usually written of their country with pride
and exultation. I have written in sorrow and hurdli ition ;
yet not without the hope that, purified as in the fire, she
may in the future be worthy of the promise of the past.
Beginning with his eftrly life in New England,
some forty years ago, Dr. Nichols has given us
many interesting particulars respecting his country
and his countrymen, which would necessarily escape
the attention of the foreign visitor. As a picture
of American life,;by a thoughtful observer and actor
in the scenes which he describes, the book is full of
value. I.Ve must confess that when occasionally
the writer dwells upon the faults and shortcoming of
his people, we follow him with little sympathy.
That they have faults, and enough of them, we are
well convinced, but the telling of them comes with
ill-grace from the lips of a brother. Passing over
such passages, which are few and far between,
we have found much to please and interest
us in these American recollections. Bat the author
shall speak for himself. Here is a vivid glimpse of

A NEW ENGLAND WINTBaI
My birthplace is about the sal-ms latitude as Lyons, in
France, yet the snows fall :lase or four feet deep, and lay
on the ground three months at a time. The tee froze 20
inches in thietuess ; the thermometer went down at times
to 20, 30, and in soma mountain regions 40 degrees below
zero, Then the trees would burst with the frost with a
sound like a cannon, and the ground, frozen threA Peet deep,
would crack with a noise like thunder, shaking the house
when it passed near. These cracks extended across the
fields in straight lines for a long distance, and were as deep
as the frost extended, and nearly an inch wide; but after
reaching a certain point of cold, 10 or 20 degrees make
little difference with the feelings. Protect the hands and
feet and the ears and nose from freezing, and the cold
stimulates the system to resist it, and is less uncomfortable
than a drizzly chill above the freezing point. Steady, in-
tense cold is by no means the worst of weather: it makes
the blood circulate briskly, and the system put forth its
energies. The air condensed with the cold is rich in oxygen,
and the frost is exhilarating,
Then the sleigh-rides I The snow is four feet deep, but
trodden in the roadway hard as a rock. All the landscape
is glistening white in the dezz:ing sunshine, The trees
may be cased all in diamonds) glittering with prismatic
light. You glide along swiftly to the music of the jingling
bells, just feeling the notion, and wrapped in buffalo robes,
bear skins, or softer Aire. Perhaps it is a string of twenty
sleighs, with many couples, gliding through the frozen
landsce:ve moonlight,
with the silvery ring of a thousand
and shouts of merry laughter, ending with a supper
and a dance, and then home again Wore the day breaks.
Skating, too. It is hardly worth buying skates, or learn-
ing the beautiful exercise, for the chance one has of enjoy-
ing it in England ; but in the Northern States of America
you can calculate on three or four months of skating when
the snow is not too deep upon the ice. Sometimes the
snow falls before the large ponds and rivers freeze over—
,sometimes it is blown from the ice. I used to skate miles
up -and down the Connecticut river, and when thirsty,
creep carefully to the edges of the air-holes, or" glades,"
in the ice; and drink. The water, clear as crystal, ten or
twelve feet deep, ran in a strong current under me, It
seems very absurd now that I should have run such a risk
for a drink of water; but every boy, I believe, runs many
such, and shuadors at the danger in after years.
And here, as a striking contrast, is a graphic re
taioiscence of