The Sun.
London, England, 1867-06-03 00:00:00

THE MAGAZINES.

BLACKVirOOD.—'lßrownlows" is continued, bu
very -much progress is not made in this number,
with the exception of the visit of Phoebe Thomson
to Mrs. Fennell. Mr. Brownlow is evidently on
the wrong scent with respect to the real claimant
for the property he holds in trust, and will doubt-
less make some strange blunders before he has done
with it. We meet with an article that is sure to
attract attention juFt now on the subject of
"Strikes and Trades' Unions." It is written by
one who evidently understands what he is about,
and it is much to the point. The spread of these
strikes is alluded to, and the astounding manner in
which the labourers have bestirred themselves, not
only in overcrowded Europe, but in thinly-peopled
America, to attain a greater price for their labour.
A very important part of the question of strikes as
regards this country is mentioned here when
it is asked how can the British employers
compete with those of- other countries if the
British labourer will only agree to work for four
and a half days' work out of the six, and if it takes
to support him twice as much as the Belgian re-
quires, or the Frenchman, or the German, and three
times as much as the Spaniard,lth e Russian ,or Italian;
ten times as much as serves the Chinaman, and
twenty times as much as the Hindoo, this is indeed
a thing that earnestly demands the notice of all who
are interested in the future progress and interests of
our country. It would be well if the promoters of
these mischievous movements of the strikes, and the
victims of their machinations, would consider a little
more before they acted so precipitately, and so en-
tirely without reference to their own good or the
welfare of others. The effects of a strike are here
ably set forth :
,4 It may be a small and ludicrous grievance if, in conse-
quence of a strike among the tailors, the fashionable
swells' of Landon and Paris are reduced to the sad ex-
tremity of wearing their old "inexpressibles " and their
threadbare coats. It may be a grievance equally small
if the hairdressers follow the example of the tailors,
and ladies who have received invitations to balls,
dinners, theatres, and evening-parties, are compelled to
trust the arrangement of their odious chignons, or that of
their own lovely hair, to the inexpert hands of thoir
chamber-maids. But a strike assumes a formidable
aspect, and is by no meals a subject of mirth, when
the chief industry of a whole town or city is paralysed
or destroyed by it; or when, as in the casa of the cab
and omnibus drivers of London—or, worse still, of the
engine-drivers on any great line of railway converging
to the capital—the affairs of the busiest community in tho
world are thrown into confusion, and the most serious
hardship and wrong are inflicted upon thousands of inno-
cent people. When a strike such as this last occurs, the
inconvenience, the mischief, and the loss which it occa-
sions are such as to force upon the attention of the most
apathetic the question, whether the right of workmen to
'strike' may not, if exercised systematically, amount to a
crime against the community ; and whether, if it be a right
at all, it is not a right that ought to be restricted in the
interest of the public anti for the prevention of anarchy,
as many other rights aro and must be in every civilised
country."
No doubt interest will be excited by the peni-
s l of that part of the article which refers
to the evidence taken before the Royal Com-
mission now sitting, and a sad proof is given
of the harm done by these perpetual strikes
in the bad feeling engendered between masters and
men. The old ties of association that had existed
for years, and in some degree smoothed the rugged
road of toil, and softened the asperities of com-
mercial and business life, are in a great measure
dissevered by the harsh rules of the new regime. In

a strike which took place some time ago men came
to their employer, who had served him for thirty or
forty years, and said, " This is the saddest day that
ever happened to us in our lives, but we must go."
Another great hardship is the ill feeling it produces
between the men thethselves, and the system of
terrorism that has been introduced cannot be too
strongly answered. A good suggestion is made at

the conclusion of this article, to the effect that there
might be an exception made in the principle of the
laissez faire in the matter of strikes on railways.
A strike on a railway line might, it is truly said,

amount to a national calamity. No strikes are
allowed in the army and navy, which are established
for the public safety and interest; and it seems

worth while at all events to turn one's attention to

his matter, which affects so many interests, and

cannot fail to be important to all. "My Ilunt of
the Silver Fox" is an interesting little sketch, but
the reader will not fail to sympathise with the un-

'ortunate amateur who failed to secure the inesti-

mable prize, which he coveted, of a matchless silver
fox. " King George the Third a Constitutional
King" carries one back to the politics of a past
generation, and the conclusion arrived at is that
this monarch was true to the principles which
brought his family to the throne, and the first of his
race who favoured literature and the arts. " The
Reform Bill " is treated of, and as those who have
propounded the measure "sight land," of course
the remarks assume a different aspect from what
they did when all was vague and uncertain. " Mr.
Lowe and Clause III." is the subject of a brief
paper, and it is encouraging to find so hopeful a
view of the situation taken by this periodical.
COLBITIIN'S UNITED SERVICE.—As often happens,
when peace is in the ascendant, people talk all the
more about the havoc of war, and become very
busy in discussing the most destructive weapons for
carrying it out to " the bitter end." Thus we be-
gin the June number of this well-conducted maga-
zine with " Naval Armaments," a subject rightly
handled from Noah's Ark downwards, when the
dove returned no more after it left the olive branch
as a memento with the Patriarch and his hetero-
geneous flock. The nearest modern approach to it
is the renowned Paris Universal Exhibition, which
attracts all the various royal and disloyal com-
petitors together in seemingly happy conclave to
shake hands with one another before the fighting of
Donnybrook Fair begins in real earnest, and the
Exhibition, like the dove, departs to return no
more in this our generation of peaceable make-be-
lieves, as the Fenians try to make out. So our naval
armaments are in a fair way, after a great waste of
powder in missing the bull's eye, to accomplish it at
the last moment before the Belgian volunteers come
over and catch us napping. We have guns of all
sizes and all degrees making, ready-made, and in
store, to give our brethren in arms a right royal
welcome from the Dane and the Russ to Grand
Turk, and still grander Japanese, or the Great
Mogul burning in gold and radiant with all the trea-
sures "of Ormus and of Ind," with a train of " inco-
herent conciliation," as Mr. Disraeli designated the
member for Birmingham's eccentric gratitude for
more favours received than could have been expected.
our gunmakers may now take courage and go on to
" Supplementary Remarks on the Army Reorgani-
sation Question," in which Dr. Rennie, of the 20th
Hussars, gives us a good deal of information of his
acquirements on the banks of the Peiho during his
eventful doings in China. Then come "The Dis-
cipline of the Army," " The Naval Discipline
Act," and " A Few Thoughts Concerning Weather
and Weather Lore," something in the manner of the
late lamented Admiral Fitzroy, whose prognostics
were very much missed during the late eventful
and most unseasonable atmospheric changes.
" Another Desert March," and a chapter on the
" Turret and Broadside Ironclads," tend to make a
pretty good account of the labours of the merry
month of May for the benefit of June readers of the
United service.

BENTLEY'S MISCELLANY.—This magazine is con-

tinned in its usual light and lively strain. The
editor's romance is finished, but it is succeeded by a
tale of the day, entitled " Modern Speculation,"
which will ro doubt find plenty of readers.
" Curiosities of the French Postal Service " is the

title of a paper affording some eutertainin greading.
" A sketch of Lapland Travel" introduces us to
some new scenes and characters. We have, besides,
the second part of the article on " Queen Elizabeth

and her Times," and a paper on " Aloz,trt in Lon-
don," besides the customary " cue " from Francis
Jacox, so that altogether the number is above the

average.

FRASER'S MAGAZINE.—Fraser opens with an ar-
cle on education, a weighty subject, carefully

rented. The difficulties iu the way of the goa

which all social reformers aim at are fairly consi-
dered, and the writer admits that much has been
done, but theie is no denying that much remains to
do. We commend the article, which, though com-
prehensive, is not lengthy, to all interested in the
present aspect of this great national question.
" The Teaching of Mr. Maurice" is fully discussed,
and a high tribute paid to the teacher. " Charlotte
Corday" forms the subject of another paper, which
sums up the principal points in her brief but
memorable career. The fourth article on " Military
Reform" examines the existing system of military
education, from which it affirms that many abso-
lutely essential parts of a practical military educa-
tion are altogether omitted. In several matters the
write; considers that the officers' position might be
greatly improved and their pay increased, while he
holds that they should be made to do more and
allowed less leave of absence. The number of of-
ficers in our battalions is, he thinks, too great, and
he would diminish them. The officers them-
selves, be says, wish for reform on many
points. " Over the Moro" gives us an ani-
mated account of the adventures and excitement

attending such an achievement. A little further on
we find two papers on points connected with the re-
presentative system, entitled " The Exclusion of
the Clergy from the House of Commons," and the
"Functions of an Upper House of Parliament."
Livelier if less solid reading is found in a pleasant
little paper, beating the familiar initials A. K. H. B.
" Concerning the Heads of Battering Rams." By
these he means not literal but figurative battering
rams, those " human heads that suffer many hard
blows in opening a way through old prejudices and
abuses." " A Charm of Birds" is a graceful and
pleasantly written essay on spring and its feathered
songsters, whose melody is unheard and unknown
in those tropical regions where there is no spring.
The story of " The Marstons" proceeds with inte-
rest and ability, and affords a welcome contrast to
the fashionable sensation romances.
TEMPLE BAR.—" Steven Lawrence, Yeoman," is
continued at some length, and is very ably described
in this instalment. The scene at the opera-house
is particularly good, and displays the various cha-
racters to great advantage. The hollowness and
artificialness of fashionable life present a curious
experience to the plain and downright backwoods-
man, and, despite his blunders, we feel more sym-
pathy with him than with the others, who weary
with their pretensions and affectation. " Cliques
and Criticism" is a peep behind the scenes which
produce an effect analogous to taking the gilt off
the gingerbread, but no doubt there is a great deal
of truth in its piquant descriptions. We cordially
agree with what is here said that "cliques, sets, and
coteries innumerable are the constant bane of the
world Of fiction, and their existence is a perpetual
check upon anything like free, outspoken opinion."
" Allie Fletcher" is concluded, and is a very
painful story, but it is most powerfully written.
" A. Lost Name" is proceeded with, and keeps up
its character of an eventful tale, with characters in
it mysterious. " The A% bite House on the Moor"
is an interesting chronicle, that will be completed
next time ; it is a story of plots and schemes, and
full of vengeance in its recital. "Whit I loarnt at
Blackby" is an amusing sketch,, and is told in an
attractive manner. The' Rhinoceros Major" is a
curious account of some adventures of Captain
Rhino, of the Black Lakes. The manner in which
he bore the operation of having the horn of another
rhinoceros extracted is very interesting, and shows
the sagacity of those animals in a striking degree.
" The Destiny of lAon Grenier" and " A Haunted
Hamlet," complete the prose contributions. There
are some verses by Mortimer Collins, called " Don't
Let Him Catch You."
THE SUNDAY MAGAZINE.—This popular and well-

conducted serial belongs, strictly speaking, to what
is called " Low Church," but there is much in it
which members of all denominations can read with
pleasure and profit. The story of the accomplished
authoress of "ritoyenne Jacqueline," with its skil-
ful portraitures of character and its quaint mixture

of French and English ways of life, must win the
favour of any reader. "My Chosen Friends," by
the author of " Studies for Stories," affords plesant
reading, while graver subjects are plentiful and
suitably treated. "Every Alan his own Philanthro-
pist" contains some suggestive reading. " Thorns"
forms the subject of some wise and kindly teaching,
and there are other articles in a similar spirit. A
poem, called " Anita's Prayer," is founded on a
touching record of childish faith.

141 DI.