The Sun.
London, England, 1869-06-08 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, JUNE 8, 1E69.

time Prime Minister of- France, one of the orga-
nizers of the July Monarchy, Annalist of the
Great Revolution, of the famous Consulate, of the
First Empire, Orator, Historian, Statesman, Finan-
cier—in one word, TRIERS. The peril confronting
the BOURBON Dynasty in 1789 lay in the tiers parti.
The peril, now, in 1869, impending over the BoNA-
PARTE Dyasty may be said to lie in the TIILERS parti.
Already the poignant grief experienced by M. TRIERS
on the memorable night of the coup d'etat, when he
found himself taken a prisoner by the armed emissa-
ries of the Prince President, and carried off from
the bed iu which they had roused him from his
slumbers to be taken in custody to the conciergerie—
already the anguish he then endured on being thus
completely, as it were, check-mated, M. TRIERS
must have the consolation of feeling has
been thoroughly avenged. Ile has long since
resumed his place in the Legislative Assembly
of his country as oue of the most illustrious
of her representatives. He has long since taken
anew, by right, his post in the Tribune in the Corps
Legidatif, as among the first and foremost of the
living Orators of France. For several years past
he has been the most fearless of censors in regard
alike to the home and the foreign policy of the
Government of the Reigning Sovereign. And, the
fact that he has been so, is in a very great measure
a vindication of that Government from the guilt of
being the despotic Government it is reported to be.
Were personal Government so very repressive, so auto-
cratic, so absolutely suffocating or strangling in its
influences upon the body politic as the sway of
NAPOLEON 111. is described to be by his more virulent
assailants—no such results as those we are now wit-
neSsing would or, for that matter, could have been in
any way possible. The enhancement of the Opposi-
tion, the triumphant return of such men as M.
TRIERS, the mere incident of the candidature
of such a political firebrand as the editor
of the notorious Lanterne, M. HENRI ROCHE-
FORT, could not have come about, supposing
the Government of the Emperor NAPOLEON 111.
were anything like what the foes of it have so long
been declaring. It is all very well to talk about the
grinding influence of Personal Government, about
the necessity for greater freedom of speech
and of writing. But, we should like to
know what greater freedom of writing, or of
speech could have been wished, than has within the
recollection of us all been witnessed and heard, read
in the columns of the newspapers, and listened to
from several occupants of the Tribune during the
last two or three years of this so-called intolerable
embodiment of Personal Government. In point of
fa It the freedom of speech manifested daring the late
elections in the populous streets and quarters of
Paris has, time and again, degenerated into the wild-
est license. Just as the red cap of Liberty has been
carried through the great thoroughfares of Lodon,
within our own very recant remembrance, by a dirty
procession, conducted by men like FINLEN and his
associates, bearing with them all the way from Clerk-
enwell to Hyde Park banners scrawled over with re-
publican and revolutionary devices and inscriptiona—
precisely in the same way, within this last month,
cries of an insurrectionary kind have been raised in
the French capital during these last electioneering
movements to the tune of 2r basl'Empire and to the choral
chant of the Marsellaise. The military an I the mob
came into collision in the streets of Paris, it may be said
however. Well, but the military and the mob have
come into collision since then, came into collision only
the other day, amongst ourselves, down at Mold, in
Flintshire. There are accidents and casualties even
in families the best regulated. The position of the
Imperial Government is no doubt very conspicuously
altered, now that it has arrayed against it a larger
Parliamentary opposition than any by which it has
been yet confronted, led still, moreover, as it hai been
during the last few years by an Orator as powerful,
and indeed as formidable, as M. Tuieis, the histo-
rian of the Consulate and the Empire. All this is
undoubtedly noteworthy : but it augurs the revision,
rather than the destruction, of NAPOLEON Hl.'d 14.) s-
tem of Personal, or, in other words, of Autocratic
Government.

IT is with much pleasure that we are able to
announce the speedy termination of the apparently
interminable negotiations in connection with the
transfer of the telegraphs. The terms with the
telegraph companies are concluded, and the necessary
arrangements with the railway companies are pro-
gressing very favourably. The time when the
telegraph wires of the United Kingdom will
be handed over to the control of the State
may be regarded as nigh at hand. We
can confidently assure the dubious taxpayer
that this great reform has been carried out
examinationlollf
in the most economical manner, and that the
bargain i
ytlatevneraytutgoodnature
f thison e A very . slightew
transfer will sh
that the price—twenty years' purchase—is not extra-
vagant. It is true that such terms might justly be
deemed excessive in the case of all ordinary business.
The purchase of the " goodwill" does not carry with
it the plant, which is either retained or sold at a
valuation. Moreover, the vendor is at liberty to
start business again. But we need hardly say this
purchase of the telegraphs is the purchase of a
monopoly. Further, twenty years' purchase includes
the plant, the value of 'which is very considerable.
One company alone has laid out more than a million
sterling in improvements, the plant being now worth
its full original cost. The profits, too, of the various
companies have increased—in one instance very con-
siderably. The estimates for the purchase, however,
have been made on profits earned previously to this
increase. Altogether, twenty years' purchase,
though very large for a mere business, is
but moderate when the plant, increased pro-
fits, and a monopoly are thrown into the bargain.
In the case of the leading company to which we
have referred, making due allowance for the
plant, the real price to be paid by the Government
is not more than eight or ten years' purchase. The
net profit which the Government is to buy is equal
to not more than five or six per cent. upon
the total amount which the Government will have
to pay for it. No exception can be taken to such
terms. Whilst they equitably provide for the rights
of the companies, it is not to be expected that
such a reform could be carried out more cheaply.

cotrenances;"tertain contempt-for etiqutte, which made
him not a few enemies: The pettiness of their
malignity may lie jndgeil"from the—fact that they have.
been praising Lord Mayo's wine, and contrasting it with
his predecessor's, whereas Lori Mayo bought Sir John
Lawrence's remaining stock. The other long article
(twenty-seven pages) on David Hume is full of interesting
information about the fat Scotch sceptic. The strangest
thing about him was his absolute contentedness with this
world, his absolute indifference about anything beyond.
He gave his body pleasant food, he offered his mind good
entertainment, and, having done that, was content, and
died as bravely and as calmly as the most devout
believer in that future life which Hume never
expected to behold. There would seem, says ' the
reviewer, no reason why such a soul should not be
gently extinguished on its exit from a world in
which it had found all it desired. The article on
" American Reasons for Peace " takes for its text Mr.
Sumner's famous speech, and is worthy of the text.

In these days of table-turning and spirit-rapping the
account of "Ancient Magic and Astrology," in the
Dublin University, is not without interest. Superstition
in the nineteenth century may console itself for the ridi-
cule of contemporaries by the recollection that Octavius
Cresar first learned that he was destined to wear the
imperial purple from the astrologer Theogenes, and that
in the houses of the great Roman families resident Indian
and Chaldean astrologers were frequent appendages
to the establishment. The dignity of such examples
is, however, a little marred by the existence
of medicine men among the American Indians,
of obi men among the negroes, of piackes among
the Caribbean Indians, of payout's among the Malays,
and of clianzans among the Mongols. Much of the magic
of the necromancers in more civilises countries was no
doubt owing to their partial knowledge of the powers
of science. The use of medicinal plants and herbs, of the
fumes of drugs, of phosphorus and chemical preparations,
and of mechanical contrivances, were not unknown to
them. "Every schoolboy," to use the favourite phrase of
the reviewer, now knows how to produce a flaming
figure on the walls of a darkened room by
the aid of phosphorus ; but in the days of
the early magicians such an apparition was quite sufficient
to establish a necromancer's reputation for supernatural
powers. " There are," says the writer of this article,
very few processes in charlatanism practised in our days
either in Europe or America which were not known in
ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, and ancient Italy." Yet
in the midst of all this ignorance and imposition
we catch occasional glimpses of something higher
and better. The Persians, though slaves to the
supposed influence of the signs of the zodiac,
still clung to the belief in a perpetual strife
between the two opposing powers of Good and Evil, which,
though obstinate, was not to be eternal, but should end in
the triumph of the Good. More striking was the tradition,
mingling with the superstitions of the Aryans, of the
self-immolation of the divinity Loma, "who, for the,weal
of the human race, allowed himself to be crushed in a
mortar, and afterwards rose in glory." From these early
traditions down to a very _recent date, when in Mor-
bihan, in Brittany, a piece of money was put
in the hand of a corpse, commemorating the custom of
paying Charon's fare, the ling record of human weakness
and credulity extends, and we have ample evidence in this
our high-wrought civilisation that the craving of the
human soul for spiritual aid and direction can never be
satisfied by intellect however brilliant, or science however
abstruse. The sense that " there are more things in
heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our philosophy,"
is too strong and too subtle for the arguments of the
logician, or the systems of the philosopher ; and the
scepticism which holds itself proudly superior to the religion
of faith and love, throngs the sjances of the medium and
accepts the tricks of the conjuror as revelations from the
unseen world. A very different phase of human life is
revealed to us in the essay on the world-famous book
attributed to Thomas's Kerripis—" De Imitatione Christi."
The authorship has always been a matter of some doubt,
and the question is hardly likely at this date to be ever
set at rest. The essay before us examines very carefully
into the evidence for and against the rival c!ain"ants to
the production of this marvellous work ; but the
writer, though lie goes through the whole of the
controversy, finds himself unable to determine the point.
This, however, he does not regret,hoping that the author.
ship may never be more accurately known, since the
knowledge might diminish the catholicity of the work,
and, with some minds, lessen its influence. " The book
has been instinctively adopted by men of all grades,
countries, and creeds, and under all circumstances. It
was one of the first books printed. in English, ordered by
the mother of Henry VII., and executed by Wynkyn de
Worde. Ignatius Loyola read it daily. Sir Charles
Burrowes called it the world's consoler.' Sir 1
Thomas More, in his last moments, said that
the book, if read, would secure the nation's
happiness. Massillon advised a young aspirant after
pulpit eloquence to study it next to the Scriptures. The
sceptical Jean Jacques Rousseau wept over it ; Racine
set it to verse ; Corneille paraphrased it ; Fontenelle
declared it was the best book that ever came from the
hands of man. Louis XVI. read it in the temple, and
found consolation in its pages. Johnson loved it ;,John
Wesley published an edition of it. Whitfield read it, and
appealed to it in sorrow 'and doubt. The influence
of the Imitation' has not been confined to'
the great, the mighty, or the intellectual.
It has sanctified the contemplations of cloister
cells; it has gone to the scaffold in the bosoms
of martyrs and patriots. To the Celt, the Teuton, the
Frank, and the Cossack it has been the adviser, the con-
soler, the guide—like the Gospel upon which it is
founded, it adapts itself to the wants of every phase of
humanity."

" Put Yourself in His Place" is the chief subject of
interest in the Cornhill of this month. The instalment is
an eventful one, for the cause of the Unions prevails
against Little, and he has to succumb, at least tempora-
rily, to their evil influence. He does not, however, quit
Hillsborough, but revisits old scenes in a new character.
A striking description is given of the various trades car-
ried on in the town, and the injurious effects they produce
on the health of the operatives. The most surprising
thing to notice is the dogged manner in which the victims
accept their fate. "Their fathers had been ground out
young, and why not they?- Indifferent to life, health, and
happiness, they could,, nevertheless, be inflamed about
sixpence a week. In other words, the money-price of
their labour was everything to- them, the blood-price
nothing." After a short- time Little makes another
attempt to overcome the archenemy of trades unionism,
and this time he employs stratagem in place of open
resistance. His old master, who unwillingly gave him
IT, is only too glad to secure his services without actually
compromising himself, and lends his aid with alacrity to
the new plan. " Maisons de Sant6 " is a melancholy
sketch that may well disenchant the admirer of conti-
nental customs and cause him to regard with increased
respect the rights and privileges of English subjects. The
visitor to Paris found that besides those houses which
were mere asylums, there was another class, bearing the
same name, but possessing a very different meaning. In
these dismal abodes mop, who are neither mad nor
culprits, are confined for weeks, months, and even years
with idiots and lunatics, the cause of their incarceration
being a quarrel with influential friends, or bringing them-
selves by a too candid expression of political feeling under
the notice of the Prefect fof Police. These dreary dwel-
lings first played a part in the government during the
time of Napoleon 1., and the eystem was found too con-
venient to be given up. The Bastille and lettres de
cachet have not been so unrepresented as some may have
imagined who have been proud of the progress and gloried
in the triumphs of modern days. At any rate, the peep
behind the scenes of a niaison de sante may reveal some
startling facts, and shew the necessity for a sweeping
reform in this respect. The writer forcibly remarks in
conclusion, that the French are proud of their Revolution
of 1789, which overthrew much that was evil. But who
knows that it may not need similar efforts to " work a
solid and salutary reform in the organisation of maisons de
sante, and to limit private madhouses to their true and
exclusive destination, that of retreats for those who are
really and unquestionably insane." The article on
" Idolatry "
well worthy of attention. The hero-
worshipper is advised to find out what part of his idol is
made of true metal and what part of clay. He cannot
know what his work is worth till lie has compared it with
that of other men, and criticised instead of worshipped.
" The Courtyard of the Ours d'Or " is a charming little
sketch of some scenes that took place in a quaint old
Flemish city. " Military Signalling and Telegraphing"
is a paper that seems to take a comprehensive view of the
question referred to. A second part of " Wallenstein and
his Times " is an interesting chronicle of those eventful
days; and "The Alchemists" is an article that the studious
reader can peruse with profit.
The author of a letter in Macmillan's on "International
Copyright between Great Britain and America" makes a
good point, which ought to tell with American men of
letters. He shews that if Anierican publishers can get
for nothing works on a certain subject written byEnglish-
men, they are not likely to run any risk by publishing
the works of American writers. Consequently, as English
books are more read on the other side of the Atlantic than
American books are on this side, American authors are
likely to have a poor time of it. Mr. Edward Dicey
gives a more favourable account of " The Italy of To-
day" than other recent travellers in that country
with whom I have conversed. He compares to-day with
ten years ago, and finds great improvements, new rail-
ways, new roads, increased education, and so forth. But
how about the taxes, how about the relations of the people
to the reigning house? Is :it -not a fact that -the
Galantuomo Be is just now as unpopular as any sovereign
in Europe? "Oxford Reform" deals not with colleges
and tests, but with the social life of Oxford. Altogether
that life is not so bade Doubtless more might be done in
the way of work and- less in the way of play ; but on the
whole the Oxonian is improving; For instance, he smokes
less, and he is more tolerant. No man who does not him-
self smoke is expected to keep cigars for his friends. No
man is tabooed for his political or religious opinions. It
may be added that no one now sacrifices the body to the
mind ; the tendency is rather to sacrifice the mind to the
body at the gymnasium and on the river. Mr. Burnell Payne
has a capital article on English Art, in which he describes,
the causes which led to the rise and the decline of the pre-
Raffaelite school. But though it has declined, its influence
is still felt, so far as it was a wholesome influence.
The International Exhibition of 1862 Mr. Payne considers
a most important epoch in English art. How it has
worked lie will shew in a future article. ,Victor Hugo's
new romance is most severely handled. " Our National
Insurance" is the title of an article on army reform. Mr.
Huxley sends his speech on Scientific Education.which he
made at Liverpool. He advocates-science as a part of
education because it would relieve us from the wretched
system now in force, whereby education is " almost
entirely devoted to the cultivation of the power of expres-
sion and of the sense of literary beauty. The matter of
having anything to say beyond a hash of other people'slt
a
opinions, or of possessing any criterion of beauty, so that
we may distinguish between the godlike and the devilish' is
left aside as of little moment. If science were made
the foundation of education, instead of being, at mpst,
stuck in as a cornice to the edifice, this state of things
could not exist." Mrs. Craik's (Miss Mulock's) new tale,
"A Brave Lady," is begun ; and Miss Olney's "Estelle
Russell" is evidently drawing to a close.
Temple Bar has deVoted several of its pages this month
and last to the discussion of "The Poetry of the Period.
The writer discusses the claims of Tennyson and
Browning to be considered great poets, and weighing
them in the balance finds both wanting. Not
that he does not consider Tennyson a poet
—a refined, cultured, neat poet-rebut be denies that
he is a great poet. Tennyson says pretty things
in a pretty way, gives us some beautiful songs, but nothing
grand. He talks of gardens, not of forests ; of rocks, not
of moentains; of cities, not of wilds. To Byron the hum
of human cities was a torture ; Tennyson finds the garden,
that he loves not altogether in the busy world, nor yet
'2
beyond it. I
2nprien, indeed, is readable without
requiring any large amount of study, and hp is therefore
popular. Which is more than can be said of Browning.
Talking by half words, in philosophic slang, Browning
leaves his readertoguessatwhat be means. And, according
, to the writer in Temple Bar, he does not mean, or at any

rate does not produce, poetry at all. He analyses and
dissects a character, a mind, well ; but when he has to
reconstruct, he makes his subject another Browning,
who talks and does just as Browning would talk and
and do under similar circumstances. The articles
are worthy of attention, the more so as many
of the opinions expressed are evidently the result of
long study of those who are criticised. For the rest,
Temple Bar has abandoned itself hopelessly to fiction.
"Red as a Rose is She," by the author of " Conieth'up as a
Flower," occupies the place of honour, and is written in
the half-dashing style which hardly likes to be boldly
naughty, and yet does not altogether degenerate to the
weakly foolish. There is much to condemn in it, but it is
undeniably amusing, and gives room for some good parts
as it proceeds.
In the Contemporary Review Dr. Hannah adds another
trouble to the uncomfortable existence of that wretched
individual—Primeval Man. On this subject Archbishop
Whateley and Sir John Lubbock have taken different
sides. The former holds that as no savage nation had
ever been known to raise itself without external assistance,
the germ must have been introduced by a supernatural
agent—the birth of civilisation must have been due not to
man. but to God. Sir John Lubbock takes issue on the
question of fact, endeavouring to shew that there are indi-
cations of progress even among savages, and that among
the most civilised nations there are traces of barbarism.
A third writer, the Duke of Argyll, takes a medium
course between these two, avoiding the errors into which
the Archbishop has fallen, but supporting in the main his
theory of divine intervention. Dr. Hannah believes that
the Duke has rendered good service in this branch of
philosophy. He has "lifted the entire subject into a
much higher range of thought ; and by the help of a few
skilful definitions and distinctions has brought it under a
clearer and more searching light." This is very high
praise. Seldom, indeed, can a nobleman attain such
literary distinction, and still more rarely is philosophy the
branch of learning in which the aristocracy excel. The
chief conclusion at which the Duke of Argyll arrives, and
in which Dr. Hannah agrees with him, is that there are races
who were never savage—the Jews, for instance, "of
whom we may affirm with confidence that they never rose
from so debased a state to the moral and spiritual civilisation
which brightens the whole course of their chequered
history." Other tribes which may be called barbarians
have shewn a respect for moral and religious obligation
and a vigorous aptitude for war and conquest which lift
them far above the level of savage life. These distinc-
tions, in Dr. Hannah's opinion, shut out the theory that
man originally rose froma dead level of brutality. The
Revision of the Lectionary is a subject which has
been under discussion for years, and the prospect
of a practical solution is as remote as ever. Dr.
Hessey, however, once more broaches this unpro-
mising topic. He is the advocate of thorough
revision,
.holding that no mere rearrangement of the daily
and special lessons, or of the latter only, will meet the
case. Amongst other changes, some of the chapters, he
tfiinks, ought to be shortened, ethers omitted altogether,
and even some whole books in the Apocrypha ought to be
left out. Finally, Dr. Hessey goes so far as to demand
the entire retranslation of the Bible as an indispensable
accompaniment of lectionary revision. This is no doubt
a great desideratum, but to make it an essential part of
lectionary revision is only to mix one reform with another.
The Rev. J. B. Mayor, in an article on "The Cry
of the Women," draws out a scheme by which the
problem of opening a career to unmarried ladies
may be solved. He proposes a home in
which single women who have no other social
ties might live together economically, and enjoy
each other's companionship. This home should be by no
means a convent, but should allow as much freedom as is
compatible with social life. Educational, charitable, or
artistic work should be undertaken by those who enter the
home. Mr. Arthur Mills contributes a very good article
on " Our Colonial Policy." Mr. Mills investigates the
subject very carefully, and comes to the general conclusion
that the colonies will continue their connection with the
mother country only so long as it is advantageous to them.
He is likewise opposed to the notion that the various pro-
vinces will naturally coalesce into confederations. This
isolated-independence theory may, however, be carried too
far. Mr. Mills errs in thinking that the provinces of the
Canadian Dominion may probably break up the confede-
ration iu which they are now bound together. It
is not easy for any isolated member of a
confederation which has once been formed to free itself
from the rest, as witness the case of the South. Moreover
these States are bound together by mutual interest. What
one has not, the other supplies. Canada has fine soil, but
no harbours or mines; the coast proviuces have splendid
harbours, plentiful mines, but no corn-growing territory.
Professor Huxley's famous article on the " Physical Basis
of Life," is examined in a good paper by the author of
" The Christ of History." Sir J. 'l'. Coleridge's book
furnishes the text for another epitome of the life of
Keble ; and lastly comes an appreciative notice of Mr.
Lecky's clever "History of Morals."
• _ _

Some of the papers in the Sunday Magazine are instruc-
tive and interesting. "The Phenomena of Growth," by
the Rev. S. Cox, is a suggestive article that calls attention
to the Parable of the Seed in St. Mark's Gospel. Many
blunders have been made by the readers of the New
Testament respecting this parable, and yet it is one which
may be studied with advantage by all. The object of
this paper is to trace the phenomena of the parable in the
history of the Divine Kingdom in the world. It is
impressively said at the conclusion that we should re-
member the seed grows mainly in the night, and so
"learn to take thankfully whatever darkness or sorrows
the Great Husbandman may send, knowing that His will
and purpose are that we should bring forth fruit and
bring it forth more abundantly." " A Quiet Charity" is
a little sketch by a City Man that may be appropriately
studied by those who wish to serve their poorer brethren.
More real good may be done by one earnest worker,
like Mrs. T - , than by scores of would-be philanthro-
pists, who never enter into the real troubles and
difficulties of the working classes. " Wet Sundays " are
an acknowledged social grievance, but a writer in this
magazine spews how they may be turned to account
in various ways. He adds, truly enough, that
the inconvenience and risk of going abroad on
a wet Sunday loom larger in the imagination than
they are really found to be when actually
encountered. A translation of " Three French Hymns"
includes one by Adolphe Monod, and was the only hymn
he ever wrote. "Earnest Words for Earnest Men" con-
tains a well-written pa per by Dr. Vaughan, on "The Inter-
preter's House." It is said that Christ is the expounder
and interpreter of His people, and if they place themselves
in His hands, and look to Him for guidance and interpreta-
tion also, they will hear his voice saying evermore, "What
I do, thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know here-
after."

Although it has failed to secure the favour of the more
rigid members of the Scotch Kirk, Good Words is not
likely to lose its prestige with the public. In the June
number I find some very interesting articles, among
which must of course be included the editor's " Peeps at
the Far East." In the sixth part he discusses the Chris-
tian missions in South India. especially at Conjeveram.
Dr. Macleod takes a survey of the whole history of Indian
missions, and it is encouraging to find that the progress of
education has, in his opinion, produced a most beneficial
influencen
on the Hindoos. The Bishop of Oxford co-
tinues his portraits of the " Heroes'of Hebrew History,"
and chooses the eventful life of the patriarch Jacob, which
affords full scope for eloquent narrative and vigorous
teaching. The Dean of Canterbury discusses on " Right
Views of Life" in a fearless 'and outspoken manner, not
shrinking from facing painful truths, or from pointing his
moral with the political incidents of the day. His cen-
sures upon the want of charity, which is the besetting sin
of the religious press, are certainly not undeserved, though
they are unsparing. "It may be doubted," says the
Dean, " whether the whole annals of the Church can pro-
duce anything so definitely and purely unchristian as the
files of certain newspapers now current amongst us."
Further on he exclaims, in a paroxysm of indignation,
" Talk of the thunders of the Vatican ! All are but pop-
guns compared to the fulminations which daily go up
from Protestant England. Protestant truly, in a sense
little hitherto deemed of ; all vigorously protesting one
against another." The author of "Friends in Council,"
in his " Short Essays," gives us, as usual, quaintly-
worded reflections on our every-day life, shewing keen
powers of observation and sound common sense. Some-
times these essays deal with very large subjects, as when
they discuss the discrepancy often perceptible between the
civilisation of a nation and the grandeur of its religious
ideas. This discrepancy was strongly marked among the
Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Romans—the three most
civilised nations of antiquity. Sometimes Mr. Helps's
subjects are evidently suggested by the topics of the day,
as when he complains, on behalf of the kings and queens
of modern times, that people will not regard them as ordi-
nary men and women. They are not only no longer
supposed to govern by Divine Right, but neither are they
allowed the right to conduct their joys and sorrows in the
same manner as other people. Very characteristic and
very suggestive is the paragraph on the possible future
open to mankind, "if men could only get a little spare
time to look about them and to think, and if more persons
could have greater freedom for observation and for
thought." The statesman, says the writer, can thus effect
much for his generation, not by what he does himself, but
by the obstacles which he removes from the paths_ of
others. " What would he not do for mankind," asks our
social philosopher, "if he could let loose. some of the
thought which is now employed in preparation for war, in
the interpretation of confused heaps of undigested law, in
meeting the vexatious incidence of taxation, and generally
in contending with needless difficulties. cre,ated by men in
the acquisition of the means of living. I his ought to be
his main idea, how he can render life more facile to all
the people he has to govern, and so give them more time
for thought, for enjoyment, and for discovery."
In Good Words for the Young most of the old contri-
butors are to be found this month. George Macdonald
takes his little hero through some more mystical adven-
tures " At the Back of the North Wind;" and Charles
Kingsley introduces us to " Madam How's Two Grand-
sons," whom he styles Analysis and Synthesis. As usual,
grown folks may find a good deal that is new to them in
this part of the contents, for in spite of the progress of
modern education it may be questioned whether the com-
ponent parts of the mud of the Atlantic floor, or .the
differences between Foraminifera and Pteropods, are very
familiar to the general reader, even though his schooldays
be left far behind. Rooks have often been the subject of
pleasant discussion, and some of their peculiarities are
described at length by Dr. Tristram, who includes their
whole genealogy—ravens, jackdaws, and carrion crows—
in his account. The picture of an Australian flood
given by "The Boy in the Bush," presents us with
a
phase of life at the Antipodes which is less familiar than
the drought.

The editor of the Art Journal is well pleased with the
new buildings•of the Royal Academy, albeit cynical per-
sons declare that everything has been sacrificed to the
object of giving the academicians a good banquet room.
It appears that the number of new works which actually
sought exhibition was 4,600, and that not quite a fifth
have obtained admission. The editor is quite pathetic
over the crushed hopes of rising artists, and finds conso-
lation only in the fact that the standard has been main-
tained. The criticisms upon this and the other principal
exhibitions occupy the greater portion of the Journals
space. But the biographical notices are continued, and
this month's is given to Mr. Cope, R. A., who made his
first appearance thirty-six years ago, and is now 58 years
of age. The picture gallery reviewed by Mr. Dafforne is
the Utilzj. The selected pictures are Ansdell's most
charming "In the Pasture," Miss Solomon's " Claim for
Shelter," and Couvier Belleuse's marble group " Entre
deux Amours."
"Oxford before Commemoration," is the first subject
met with in London Society. It is written in a pleasant
style, and furnishes a good deal of information to those who
may not have visited the academical city. Those who
meditate a trip to the old university town are advised to
time their visit so as to escape the " consummate
boredom " of the great annual academical carnival. " The
Trade in Locks," does not refer to the patents of
Chubb, or Bramah, but to the borrowed tresses
which are now co much sought after. It is worthy of
notice that with us the very poorest never sell their hair,
and the bulk of the false hair' worn in England is
imported from France, which sends us about 60,0001 b.
annually. In following the descriptions of this trade in

locks one may notice some striking contrasts—from the
peasant girl, who sacrifices her wealth of tresses for a trifle,
to the fashionable customer in Paris, who pays a fabulous
sum for the supposed advantage of appearing
in borrowed plumes. After reading the entertaining article
an the "Cost, Joys, and Woes of Smoking," it requires the
philosophy of the most inveterate smoker to regard with
complacency the prodigious expenditure this habit
entails on the community. The probable cost of tobacco,
as sold to the public, is about £8,177,812 annually. When
the cultivation of smoking as a line art is taken into
account, the cost of smoking - must be set clown
at not less than ten millions sterling per annum.
It is mentioned as a strange fact in connection
with the history of tobacco, that while civilisation
advances so slowly, "a fetid herb conquered the world
in less than two centuries." The writer of this article
sums up the various opinions that have been given by
well-qualified judges on the evils of smoking, but he
arrives at the conclusion that in this, as in
all other cases, the poison clings too closely
to the sweet to admit of a separation. Besides,
if our population give up smoking, what will be
the consequences to our revenue? That is the problem
which floors a writer who is evidently not a political
economist. The story, "M. or N.," is continued at some
length ; it is as exciting as heretofore, and its denouement
bids fair to he a sensational one. "De Verney's Eton
Days!' is a pleasing sketch, and " Piccadilly Papers"
contains some suggestive thoughts on various topics of
social interest.

The Churchman's Shilling Magazine continues its two
serial tales—Mr. Mayer's " Trials of Margaret Brand-
reth," and Mr. Stanley Arnold's " A Lonely. Life." The
first is the exciting, the second the quiet tale, so that both
classes of readers have their tastes consulted. " Every-
day Work," by Mr. Hickey, reads like a sermon, but is a,
good one. Miss Leslie's "Daybreak in Italy" is half
history, half fiction, and is a rather vivid representation
of the short-lived Reformation in Italy. Captain Archer
in an article headed " Count Cavour on Ireland and the
Irish Church Question," gives very little of Count Cavour
and a great deal of Captain Archer; so that we really
can hardly form any idea as to what the great Italian
statesman's opinions were on the chief topic of our day,
though possibly some persons might have thought them
more valuable than his critic's. Captain Archer, however,
is moderate in his ideas, and though he is decidedly op-
posed to the Irish Church Bill, it is pleasant to read his
arguments instead of the declamation with which we
have been flooded lately. "The Career of Rajah Brooke"
tells how that eminent Arglo-Indian, after having fought
in the Burmese war, sailed from Devonport in 18;38 in his
yacht Royalist, with a picked crew of twenty men and two
or three scientific assistants, for Singapore, and how, after
staying there a little while, he pushed on to Sarawak, where
he ultimately took up his abode. On his first landing he and
his companions pushed into the interior of Borneo, and were
delighted with the scenery, but painfully impressed by
the social condition of the people. The pirates who
infested the coast had contrived' to effect a settlement
inland, but Brooke soon scattered them. They had been
a terror to the natives for years ; Brooke got rid of them
in as many days. In that short conflict he gained the
confidence of the Dyaks. They came to him in their sore
troubles, when perishing of famine, and he fed them to
the utmost of his resources. At last the Raj of Sarawak
was made over to him, and under an agreement with
the Prince of Borneo the English Government also was
induced to co-operate in the work of pirate-
suppression. For his success in this work lie
was made a K.C.8.; and Oxford made him a D.C.L.,
and Cambridge an LL.D. He had worries. He was
accused of cruelty and unnecessary bloodshed, but the
charge was wholly disproved. He returned to England.
and the friend to whom he entrusted the management of
his affairs abused his confidence, and involved him in
heavy pecuniary losses. Occasionally he paid short visits
to his old dominion, but he considered the residence which
he had bought in South Devon as his permanent abode,
and there he died a year ago at the age of 65. The Rev.
R. Adams has a paper on " Episcopal Epitaphs," which
contain some curious information. Bishop Wilson, of
Sodor and Man, was a humble-minded prelate, and
ordered that no laudatory inscription should be placed
upon his tomb. His son obeyed the injunction in the letter
but violated it in the spirit, by writing that in accordance
with the express commands of his father he said nothing
in his praise ; but added, "let the island speak
the rest." " A Day in a Cambridge College" will contain
some information for lads who have not yet developed
into freshmen. We, however, do not remember the
following joke. An unfortunate "man "was undergoing
the trials of the little-go, and was asked if he could tell
anything about Garibaldi. He seemed never to have
heard of the great Italian, but, on being hard pressed, a
happy thought flashed upon him. "It is the place where
the red shirts come from," he replied.
In the Gardener, Mr. Hole continues his notes on Roses,
Mr. M`Millan his on the Cultivation of Hardy Fruits,
and Mr. Thomson his on the Grape Vine. In this last paper
there are cautions against allowing a vine to bear too much
fruit, as the grapes will then be sour Dr. Johnson's saying
that "of all the flowers in the garden the cauliflower is the
best," introduces a very useful article on that useful
vegetable. "A Word to Young Gardeners" on their
difficulties is well worth reading.

TH.E GENERAL ELECTION IN FRANCE.

PARIS, MONDAY.

Electioneering has apparently lost none of its interest
for the Parisians. The polling just about to terminate
haS been very brisk all day. From the first opening of
the polling booths to the time of closing the, stream of
voters has flowed incessantly. Certainly, none of the
candidates can co:np'ain of indifference to their interests;
every elector seemed anxious to exercise his right, and
some persons who have watched C'e polling all day
express the opinion that the number voting this time will
be even greater than at the first ballot. Undoubtedly
the utmost interest has been manifested in the contest.
There are various rumours of the Unfair interven-
tion of the authorities. At several places the placards
of the Opposition candidates have been torn down all over
the circumscription. From Besancon comes a serious
complaint, that the c:reula-s ad 'ress 3d to the electors
by the Liberal candidate have been un Itfy detained at
the Post 011 ice. Up to the time that I write, the utmost
tranquillity compatible with a la-z,e crowd prevails
Viroughout Parir.