The Sun.
London, England, 1858-05-03 00:00:00

LONDON, MONDAY, MAY 3, 1858.

of State, as suggested by the GOvernment,
is far better than that of President, which does
not carry with it the same weight or dignity.

Notice has been given of many amendments
respecting the number, mode of appointment, 1
tenure of office, and functions of the contemplated I
Council. The chief questions are, whether there
are not to be more than twelve, or any number
varying between twelve and eighteen ; whe-
ther they are to be entirely nominated by the
Crown, or partly by election ; whether they
are to hold office dum se bene gesserunt.
like the Judges, or merely " during pleasure, or
to go out at certain intervals, with the chance of
reappointment, or re-election ! And whether
they are to exercise the preliminary patronage,
or that it is to be disposed of by competitive
examinations.

These are the main points to be decided. We
only wish that those which are best calculated to
promote the interests both of England and India
may be adopted ; and we say of the rival leaders,
as they did in the olden time, "May the best
man win."

On Wednesday Lord Bum's Bill to legalise
marriage with the sister of a deceased wife, will
be again before the House of Commons, on the
motion for its second reading. The first reading
of a bill with so few clauses, and of so simple a
character, especially after a fair discussion, is
nearly equivalent, as an expression of opinion, to
the second reading ; but on this occasion, what
has occurred since the introduction of the bill has
made it doubly necessary that the bill should be
so supported as to insure its being carried through
the House of Lords this session.

The case of BROOK v. 13noox, on which Vice-
Chancellor Sir JOHN STUART had not given his
judgment when we last wrote, is now decided, for
the present at least. The Vice-Chancellor has
given his judgment, which concurs with that of
Mr. Justice CRESSWELL. We need net re-state
the details of this particular case ; the effect of
the judgment is what our readers are chiefly con-
cerned to know. It is this :—A marriage of Eng-
lish subjects, if contracted between a widower and
the sister of his deceased wife, although solem-
nised, as at Altona in Denmark, in a country
where such marriage is lawful, is nevertheless
❑ull and void, and the offspring, if any, are ille-
gitimate. The disability of an Englishman to
marry his deceased wife's sister in his own coun-
try is construed to be a psrsonal one ; hence it
follows him whithersoever he goes ; and, what
is worse, the same incapacity attaches to his
children through succeeding generations ! Unless he
bercoms naturalised in some other country where
such marriages are lawful, and that is in most
eountries, he cannot get rid of his disability. He
may live any number of years in a foreign land, he
may emigrate with his wife's family to any of
our colonies, and her sister may be almost the
only person he could reasonably think of as a wife
after her death, but it would make no difference. Two
judges, whose decision, unless reversed by appeal
or by legislation, is law, have stripped him of the
liberty permitted him on this point, both by the
law of GOD, as revealed to the Jews, and by the
law of nature.

We do not complain of the judges. They have
doubtless decided in accordance with their con-
scientious views of the law as it stands, nor shall
we now enter on the grounds of our difference in
opinion from such very high authorities ; our
present object is legislation. We have, indeed,
the strongest hope that the House of Lords will,
on appeal, reverse that decision. But, first, there
are the known " glorious uncertainties of the
law ;" next, the cruel consequences which have
been inflicted by the decision itself on thousands
of innocent persons. It may not be known that the
Marriage Law Amendment Society has a register,
the names of the parties being, of course, given
in strict confidence, of not less than three thousand
cases of the marriages in question. They comprise
all classes, from day labourers to persons high in
station. Indeed, a noble Duke, in a dignified
office in her MAJESTY'S present Government, is
the offspring of one of these marriages, and its
legitimation was the well-understood object of the
Act of Lord LYNDHURST, in 1835, by which all
Englishmen were, as is now decided, wholly de-
prived of the right we now seek for them. Nume-
rous as the ascertained cases are, they must, how-
ever, be exceeded by those which are unknown.
The facility of evasion through the difference be-
tween the names of the brother and sister-in-law ;
the temptation to evade a law which is resented
as a flagrant invasion of a natural and scriptural
right ; and the readiness with which persons may
interpret, in a non-natural, or rather non-legal
sense, the declaration required before mar-
riage, all combine to induce many, in the
humbler walks of life especially, to marry with
little concern about unrighteous human laws,
being quite satisfied with the approval of their
GOD and their own consciences.

The remaining resolutions respecting the
Government of India will be brought forward
this evening. We trust that the House of Com-
mons will act fairly and impartially under the
circumstances, and, casting party considerations
aside, will strive to render the contemplated
legislation the best, both for Great Britain
and India, that can be hoped for. It is
not a subject that should be dealt with in
a factious manner. If ever there was a topic
requiring the most complete fair play, the total
absence of every party feeling, it is the one now
before Parliament. The welfare, happiness, and
prosperity of one hundred and fifty millions of
our fellow subjects hang in the balance. The
almost miraculous resources of that gigantic
empire only require proper development to
astonish even the most sanguine calculators.
It is scarcely too much to anticipate that even
before the present generation has passed away the
revenue of India may equal, or possibly exceed,
that of Great Britain, and that it may be derived
from perfectly unobjectionable sources. Surely,
then, on a question of such magnitude, no petty
considerations should be permitted to intervene.
It ought not to be made the battle field on which
to decide whether Lord DEREY, Lord PALMER-
STON, or Lord JOHN RUSSELL, is to be placed
at the head of her MAJESTY'S Government. The
latter nobleman deserves great credit for the course
he pursued in divesting it of a party character ;
and although the Palmerstonian journals have
bowled forth their disappointment in a variety of
keys at the responsibility being transferred from
the Ministry to the House of Commons, we scarcely
think that the veteran Viscount will irretrievably
damage his character by adopting the advice of
his reckless organs.
The first question to be decided is the title by
which the Minister responsible for the administra-
tion of affairs in India is to be designated. Is
lie to be Secretary of State, or merely President of
the Council It is said that " the rose by any
ether name will smell as sweet ;" and it would
seem that when the functions to be discharged,
and the responsibility to be sustained, are
identical, the mere title is of comparatively
trivial importance. The real point at issue
15 whether on any change of office between an
actual Secretary of State, and the head of the
Ludlam department, the seat in Parliament should
bet vacated, and a new election rendered impera-
tive. Now, it is quite right that a person accept-
ing office for the first time as a Cabinet Minister,
should appeal to his constituents for their ap
prove' of his conduct. But when he has already
received that approval, when his position as
an influential Member of the Cabinet ha :4
been recognised and sanctioned, it is a. mere work
of supererogation to require additional evidence
when he is merely transferred from one situation
.rank. The only effect can be
to another of equal
to delay and embarrass the Government, and give
an excuse for procrastination, when it might be
-of • the greatest importance to proceed with
the greatest despatch. On every ground,
therefore, the appointment of a Secretary

What then is the legal position of the thousands
who have married thus, and of their altogether
innocent children ?"—That the fathers and mo-
thers are living in concubinage, and that the chil-
dren are illegitimate ! The fathers might to-mor-
row send their wives (for such they are) out of
their houses, and be under no more legal respon-
sibility for them and their children, than if the
former were women without character, and the
latter their offspring! Thousands of perfectly
virtuous women, affectionate wives, and the chil-
dren of happy and honoured homes, have been in
one hour legally branded with the disgrace appro-
priata to the most degrading of the vices ! We
can have no fear that many, or perhaps even any
instances of such conduct will occur. It is the
fact that the marriages in question are generally
contracted from the highest motives and with the
soundest judgment ; but is it to be tolerated that
such should be the position of a noble-minded
woman, and her helpless children, and that sue h
should be the powers given by law to the man
who has married her ? Is the latter to be able to
tell her, should he prove unworthy to bear the
name of man,—" you are but my mistress !" and
is the former to have no reply but " I am at your
mercy?"

And for what is the nation to he covered with
cases of legal injustice of this kind? What great
social evil is to be warded off by it ? What greater
wrong is to be averted by the perpetration of this
wrong, so great in a itself t There is literally no
end whatever to be attained, but that of inflicting
the heaviest social penalties on those who
are willing to obey the laws of GOD, but
who refuse to be bound by the Popish canons of
the Church of England. That is all, literally aq.
With many other relics of Popery the Church of
England retains the degrees of consanguinity and
affinity established by the Church of Rome. In
1835 the cases in which marriages were voidable
by ecclesiastical law under the prohibition in
question, were so numerous, one of them, too,
being in the peerage, that Lord LYNDHURST intro-1
dated a bill to legalise the existing marriages, ,I
and to legalise in future all of a similar kind if
not annultedlyithin two years. This, in all con-
liecanc:o,ll7B. but, the
to the church and
LrnDit
Bishops of the day demanded
—and Lord
lIREIT found himself obliged'to •

THE SUN, LONDO

yield—that the price of declaring unimpeachable
all the existing marriages, should be their entire
prohibition in future ! By the recent interpreta-
tion of this act thousands of persons are now in a
worse position, in one more urgently requiring
legislative interposition than were those in whose
behalf Lord LYNDHURST'S act was passed. The
marriages of the latter were voidable by suit in an
Ecclesiastical Court during the lifetime of both
parties ; but, as few persons would wish or care to
interfere for such an odious purpose, practically
the marriages then were safe. By the late
decision, however, the numerous marriages cele-
brated in contravention of the act of 1835 are
declared to be now null and void, and not merely
voidable. If there was need of legislation in
Lord LYNDHURST'S time, much more is there now.
The pecuniary consequences of the decision are
not to be forgotten. BROOK v. Brtoork was, in
fact, a case raised on a pecuniary basis. BROOK'S
son by his second wife died intestate. The deci-
sion declares him to be an illegitimate son, and as
an illegitimate child can have no heirs, all his
share under his father's will goes to the Crown.
If the father and husband in case of one
of the marriages in question dies intestate,
the wife and children inherit nothing—not
even the beds they have lain on. One is
a stranger, the others are illegitimate ! If the
property be willed to the mother and children in
the mother's maiden name, which alone they have
a right to bear, still all the property pays 10 per
cent. legacy duty, instead of nothing for the
widow, and 1 per cent. for the children. Such
are the revolting consequences of the present legal
interpretation of the unnatural Act of 1835.
But we must take higher grounds than even
these unrighteous social and pecuniary results. We
ask,—what right has any earthly authority to step
in and deliberately put asunder those whom GOD
has joined together The great majority of Chris-
tiana hold that the marriages in question have the
divine sanction ; the unions have been formed in
that belief ; nature and revelation are quite at one
on the point. And who, we indignantly ask, are
the men who shall dare to pronounce thousands of
virtuous persons, whom GOD regards as man and
wife, not to be so ? It is not in their competency
to do it Legislators, legislating in behalf of
Popery, Mahomedanism, or even of the Church of
England, may torture by civil punishments those
who will not bow the knee to the dogmas of their
pet establishment ; they may embody their super-
stitious canons in the nation's laws, and enforce
them by the secular arm, but they cannot subvert
right and wrong, or abolish the least of the laws
of GOD. The thousands of persons now married in
defiance of Lord LYNDHURST'S Act are " joined
together by Gon," and the legislation which de-
clares their marriage null, and leaves each party
at liberty to marry whom he or she will, is nothing
more nor less than a monstrous piece of immorality
and profanity. /t must be repealed.

For 3,250,0001. the drainage of London can
be completely and perfectly reorganised. It his
now been distinctly intimated that for so much,
and no more, this good can really be effected. It
has been thus intimated to the House of Commons
by the Royal Commissioners appointed to inquire,
not only into the drainage of the metropolis, but
into the whole Sewage Question of the United
Kingdom. The preliminary report has at length
been laid upon the table of the House of Commons
by the Commissioners. And there, unmistakeably
upon that report, the fact already particularised
makesits appearance—the fact of this most satisfac-
tory intimation that for three nail/ions and one quartor
(for actually 74,0001. less than the estimated defici-
ency upon this next year's expenditure, according to
the first rough draft of Mr. DISRA.ELI'S Financial
Statement), we can secure the perfect drainage of
this vast capital ! AM what, let us ask, is implied
by the perfect drainage of London I
The purification of the Thames. The embank-
ment of that once more beautiful and salubrious
river. The construction of advanced terraces on
either side—on the Surrey side and the Mid-
dlesex side, all the way up from the Pool to
Chelsea Reach —so that the world-famous
metropolis of the greatest maritime power this
world has ever witnessed may no longer be ap-
proached, by water, through localities the most
squalid and dilapidated! Localities rendering the
Silent Highway the foul and unsightly back entrance
to the Imperial twin cities of London and West-
minster.

mag nificeutlyadorned and beautified. Remembering
hat wo are not talking of an idle day dream, but of
an actual reality, that may be any day undertaken
and rapidly completed by means of an expendi-
ture of no more than 3,250,0001., we cannot
but hail with satisfaction the production of the
report announcing these gratifying particulars to
the House of Commons, the preliminary report
but just now laid upon the table of the House,
and authenticated with the signatures of the eight
Royal Commissioners.

L &TEST NEWS.

Supposing this sum of 3,250,0001. to have
been expended as proposed by the Royal Commis-
sioners. Supposing the sewage of the capital to
have been deodorised in proper eovered. reservoirs
—the precipitated matter pumped into the coun-
try as manure, or to the sea as refuse, and the puri-
fied water alone allowed to run off into the river
current. Supposifig the Thames to have been re-
stored to a river, at once sightly and noble by the
building up of these projected double lines of
embankments—having advanced terraces, both
for carriage ways and for the convenience of
foot-passengers. Supposing all this to have been
actually accomplished—and the Commissioners
positively assert that for no more than three mil-
lions and one-quarter sterling it can, whenever
we please, be accomplished—How much is there
not inevitably then accomplished in the way of
subordinate and subsidiary metropolitan improve-
ments ? It would follow, then, inevitably, that
one of the very grandest of all the glorious public
buildings in England would be opened up to view
by a broad and direct approach from the river--
meaning, of course, no other edifice than Sir
CiLRISTOPKER WREN'S architectural master-
piece, St. Paul's Cathedral. Again, both
the ancient and modern architectural glo-
ries of Westminster would be in every re-
spect more imposingly and appropriately situated
—the old Abbey, the old Hall, the new and no
less stately Palace of the Legislature. Simulta-
neously, tio, the bridges of the metropolis would
be in a manner brought more distinctly within
the scope of general regard and appreciation.
Some of these bridges, remember, being among
the chef d'atimes among the pontine wonders of
Chrissndom—the Thames having at once the
noblest of all iron bridges, that of South-
wark, of all suspension bridges, that of
Hungerford, and of all granite bridges,
' that of Waterloo, the last-mentioned being
an object among others of CANOVA'S espe-
cial admiration. As at present these and the
other superb structures crossing the river Thames
are, and must c mrtinue t) be entirely so to speak
in the background. They can only be viewed in
a general way from the river itself as from one
another. It has been S 3 in a great measure with
the majestic structure of London Bridge ever since
the date of its inauguration. It will be so in like
manner with the new Gothic bridge now in course
of construction at Westminster. The projected
embankments will remove all this seclusion from
public view of the bridges over the Thames. It
! will bring all their hidden beauties to light con-
! spicuously. But beyond these and similar con•
siderations, there is the paramount consideration
of all, that by the river traversing this great city,
bisecting it, winding through its dense and ever-
increasing population, being effectually purified
,Ly the. very. same arraugolllolltS by which. it

'N, MONDAY EVENING, MAY 3, 185 S.

THE MAGAZINES.

Blackwood. —The third article on "Food and
Drink" contains some curious statistics respecting
the nature and properties of various kinds of food,
and their adaptability to different constitutions and
climates. The writer, in treating of M. St. Hilaire's
theory of the suitability of the " viaude de cheval"
for human food, tells an amusing anecdote. A
Frenchman was one day remonstrating against the
contempt expressed by Englishmen for French
beef, which he for his part did not find inferior to
the beef of England. "I have been two times in
England," he said, "but I nevare found the bif
so superieur to ours. I find it vary convenient
that they bring it you on leetle pieces of stick for
onepenny, but I do not find the bif superieur."
" Gaod heavens, sir !" replied the Englishman,
'you have been eating cat's-meat." The writer
contends that it is a wholesome and palateable food,
but we very much question whether many will be
inclined to follow the Frenchman's example. The
comparative quantities of food consumed by differ-
ent races or under different circumstances will
attract the curious. The increase in the degree of
atmospherical heat is generally supposed to dimi-
nish the quantity of food consumed ; but this asser-
tion is contradicted by the statements of Barrow,
in his Travels in Southern Africa, who tells us that
the Hottentots are the greatest gluttons on the
face of the earth. " Ten Hottentots ate a middling-
sized ox in three days ; an ,1 three Bosjestnans had
a sheep given them about five in the evening,
which was entirely consumed before noon of the
following day. They continued to eat all night,
without sleep and without intermission, till they
finished the whole animal." The objections against
attempting to reduce the myriads of varying indi-
vidual peculiarities to a few rules, or systems, are
just and sensible. " What Will He Da With It ?”
brings before us this month its more pleasing per-
sonages ; the ill-fated Jasper Losely does not
appear, but we are favoured with the presence of
the refined and intellectual Darrell. In the course
of the narrative he gains upon the attention by the
deep feeling expreised more in his actions than his
words, and the interview with his young kinsman
Lionel is very affecting. On the eve of a change
in his plans, he considers himself bound to disclose
some portion of the past to his young relative.
The tale which was told was indeed a sad one ; his
life was a mistake from the commencement—a dark
shadow rested on his path from youth onwards,
which, deepening at its meridian, suddenly dimmed
the splendour of his public career, and darkened
the brightness of his home for ever. Darrell's re-
appearance in Loudon society was the source of
much excitement and interest. All watched what
party he would join, which cause he would espouse;
for although be had been absent from the metro-
polis so long, his fame had remained behind him,
and kept his memory verdant in the minds of the
generation he had so adorned, and which had handed
down his triumphs to its successor!. This visit
to the house is an interesting one, and is thus de-
scribed :

" Once he was Been in the arena of his old triumph.,
on the benches devoted to strangers distinguished by the
Speaker's order. There, recognised by the old members,
eagerly gazed at by t•.e younger, Guy Darrel listened
calmly, throughout a long field night, to voices that mu-t
have roused from forgotten graves, kindling and glorious
memories ; voices of those—veterans now—by whose side
he had once struggled for some cause which he had then,
in the necessary exaggeration et all honest enthusiasm,
identified with a nation's lifeblood. Voices, too, of the old
antagonists, over wirise routed arrangements he had
marched triumphant amidst applauses that the next day
rang again throughout England from side to side.
Hark, the very man with whom, in the old battle days,
he had beea the most habitually pitied, is speaking now
His tones are embarrassed—his argument confused.
Does he know who listens yonder? Old members think
so—smile, whisper sack other, and glance significantly
where Darrell sits."

An article on the "Antiquities of Kertch" traces
the exploits and achievements of which it has been
the scene. A paper entitl-3d. " 0 )ileg,es ani Celi-
bacy" takes a very just and sensible view- of a ques-
tion of some social impor!auce, awl the varous
branches of the subject are discussed in a straight-
forward and practical manner, which recommend it
to the notice of university reformers and legislators.
The sixth and seventh chanters of Captain Burton's
interesting narrative, "Two Months' Experience
in East Africa," brings it to a conclusion." "The
Poorbeah Mutiny" is continued from the February
number, and gives a spirited account of the out-
break and its supprassioe. A lengthened history of
the fate of the 55:h Native Infantry is given, as
showing the way in which mutineers were
treated in the Puiljauh. In speaking of
the stern military justice exacted from the
traitors, the writer sap, with truth, that " when
the excitement shall have subsided, and such acts
have become history, some men, perhaps, will read
of them with horror as deeds of ruthl-se cruelty,
unworthy of a Chrislian people. But no one who
Ic.ts passed through them,, whatever be his tempera-
ment, will suer regard them otherwise than as acts

of stern ne;;essity-for the safety of those who were
still alive. Either their lives or ours was the sad
alternative: Mercy at such a moment would have
been mistaken for weakness or fear, and all would
have been lost. it was in this spirit that stern
justice was dtalt to the rebels ; there was nothing
of barsh,unfeeling cruel ty, much less ought approach-
ing to revenge, that prompted to the firm uncompro-
mising course adopted at Lahore and Peshawur,
under that master-spirit who at Rawul Pindee
saved the whole Punjaub." An article, en-
titled " Italy —of the arts, the cradle, and
the grave," will attract the lovers of art.
It is written in a somewhat high-flown and
grandiloquent style, but the subject is a fair
excuse for enthusiasm ; and the criticism on the
early schools of Byzantine and Roman art display
a familiarity with the different characteristics of the
rival styles. A paper on " Oude" tells us in a
lively and agreeable manner of their claims to our
veneration and respect. " Nineveh looks like au
old fellow when you go to the British Museum and
gaz3 upon his disinterred rem tins; but the people
of the winged bulls were but mushrooms compared
t• the Hindus." The conduct and character of
these descendants of antiquity do not, however,
keep up the romance. They do not adopt the motto,
"Noblesse oblige," but their age reminds us f acibly
of a more homely proverb. This article concludes
a number in which there is perhaps more instruc-
tion than entertainment.

Dublin. —" Gerald Fitzgerald" presents more
attraction for the, reader, in this month's number,
he has left the gloomy place in which be had first
found a refuge, and has joined a company of stroll-
ing players. ".Marietta," the girl he had before
seen, is a very interesting character, and is possessed
of feelings and ideas not in accordance with her po-
sition. The last chapters are exciting in incident,
and vivid in description. The scene in the Tuscan
police court merits attention. "Recent Historical
Revelations," is an article of considerable interest.
It enforces the necessly of giving the greatest pos-
sible publicity to original documents and corres-
pondences," They will gradually become a neces-
sityofcivilised nations, they lay bare the sources of
history ; they are the life-blood of historical science
—they unravel the true nature of men and their
deeds ; they greatly facilitate the future labours of
the historian, whilst they satisfy the doubts and
hesitations of the public." Further on some very
interesting details are given of four remarkable
episodes in Italian History, " The Sicilian Ves-
pers," the "Rise of Rienzi," the "Sack of Rome by
the troops of Charles the Fifth,"and the " Insurrec-
tion of Masaniello." It is observed that the reader
of history can now obtain a clearer insight into
these events, and form a more correct judgm-nt of
their cause and effects, asmanyerrors and exaggera-
tions b ave been removed from their reco rd,.. The s tory
of "Life and death in Tipperary," is concluded. It is
written with great power, but its incidents are very
sombre in their nature, and the sequel is meat
melancholy. The sad fate of "Nelly "is a warn-
ing to those who attempt more than is desirable,
and trust too much to their own exertion, instead
of following the safe path of duty, and leaving the
result to Providence. The elder Dillon furnishes
an instance of what blind prejudice and ungovern-
able rage will produce. " Competi ive Examina-
tions" contain some judicious remarks on a sub-
ject lately much dwelt upon. After citing the vari-
ous argurnen's on both sides, the writer gives the
the opinion of the author of " Latter Day Pam-
phlets." " Who are available to your offices in
Downing-str, et ? all the gifted souls who are born
to you in this generation. These are appeintA by
the true eternal divine right, which will never be-
come obsolete, to be your governors and adminis-
trators, and precisely as you employ the-n, or
neglect to employ th m, will your state be f woured
of Heaven or disfavoured." A paper is devoted to
the cm;4ideration of " Trinity College, Dublin," in
which it is said that this university stands in muLl
greater need of the influence of public opinion .htn
either Oxford, or Cambridge. Some verses on the
subject of " The Battle," by Jonathan Freke
Slicgsby, are a welcome introduction-in the midst,
of grave reflections on various mat' ers. The follow-
ing lines are decrip'ive of the s illneE,s that reigns
on the eve of the fight :
BEFORE THE BATTLE.
"The pall of the night falleth down on the plain
Where the weary hosts lie 'till the coming of day,
And death-like their *sleep, till the trumpet again
Shall wake them to muster in haste for the fray.

"No sound, save the challenge at intervals given,
No light, save the watch-fires that fitfully burn,
And the silence of earth and the darkness of heaven
But prelude war's thunders and lightnings at morn.
" But hearts in that silence are voiceful in prayer,
And souls find a light in the gloom of that sky ;
While ministrant angels aro watching to bear
The cry of each suppliant spirit on high.

"And dear ones at home, thro' the dark, stilly night.,
Keep vigil of prayer in the soldier's abode ;
And the plea lings of hearts, though far-severed, unite
With the warrior's prayer at the throne of their God!'

Fraser. —That universal enemy the east wind,
which has been anathematised by proverbs and
prose writers, and which requires the poetic imagi-
nation of Mr. Kingsley to discover its merits,
is attacked with some of its own malignity
in the opening paper of Fraser. The pic-
ture which is sketched of the remorseless
and übiquitous tormentor, the infallibility of its
victory over stoicism and resignation, and the hope-
less
.state of the sufferer, is amusingly drawn.
When the writer diverges from real to metaphorical
hurricanes he is not so successful. A lengthened
criticism of the tragedy of " Oulita, the Serf," by
the talented author of " Friends in Council," fol-
lows. The account of the work which it gives, and
the scenes extracted, will scud m sny readers to
the original volume, if the author's high and de-
srved reputation has not already done so. An
essay on " Our Indian Mutinies : our Past and
Fmure in Religion and Colonisation," treats of a
subject which, in spite of the thrilling sympathy it
awakened some months since, the historical
fame of our great soldiers, and the excite-
ment of a political question, is fast becoming
wearisome to readers of Magazines and Quarterlies.
This article, like another at the close of the num-
ber, is the production of an Anglo-Indian, and may
therefore be entitled to some share of att ntiou,
though scarcely laying claim to novelty. Burger
and the translations of his famous " Lenore" are
reviewed in an interesting paper. It is somewhat
curious, in examining the different speci-
mens, to notice how few verses possess any
intrinsic merit, even when they faithfully represent
the meaning of the original. They cannot even
claim the questionable compliment paid to Pope's
"Iliad." A professional painter continues his
criticisms on the Taste of the day, and attacks ie
this, his third paper, the architecture of our houses.
Any one who has noticed the smart gentility of the
buildings in our pretty suburbs, where thare is
so much space for the development of taste and
design, will coincide with his strictures on English
residences. We are afraid that some time must
elapse before much improvement will be visible in
this respect. " Squire Bolton's Transgression" is
continued with some degree of interest, though not
with any vivid origin elity or excitement. Oar English
stiffness and want of contimntal ease and friendli-
ness to strangers, is the subject of a severe c-nisure,
ridiculing people who live on the same floors of the
same house and pass each other half-a-dozen
times a day, yet cannot say "Good morning,"
because they have not been introduced. Tee
nature and habits of Gulls are described at length
in an ornithological paper, one of that series on
Natural History which has been continuing for
some time. It will interest the naturalist, though,
like most of its predecessors, it is somewhat too
lengthy and elaborate for the general reader.
" Passports and Turnpikes" are classed together
by a Grumbler, who has certainly on this occasion
some rational cause for complaint. These two very
unnecessary evils may well try the patience of a
nation less proverbially discontented than ,eir own.
" The Ancient Name of the Island of Mersey" is
the title of a somewhat unattractive paper : and
an article with the curious title of " B arthorel ,y"
reviews a work published some time since, which is
one of those volumes of local interest which have
rec ntly become the fashion. There are some poe-
tical contributions of no great merit. We must not
omit to mention an imitation of the manner of
Spenser, by the veteran Leigh Hunt, which will
affordmuch pleasure to the thoughtful and cultivat d
reader. It contains fine imagery, and reveals the
elements of real poetry.
This agreeable paper concludes a number of more
than average interee.

native languages," and on " Lord Dal-
housie's administration." This magazine, how-
ever, never restricts itself to a limited range of
subjects ; it treats of the home questions of the
day connected with the two services, of the
principles of military campaigns, of the treat-
ment of naval matters by those in authority, and,
in addition to those foreign subjects which
we have previously mentioned, it transports us to
the Celestial Empire, to Aden and the disputed
island of Perim, giving us an account of the Egyp-
tian revolivion of 1798, and a description of the
Party Politics of the United Sta•es during the last
three years. I❑ addition to all this varied and com-
prehensive in elligence, we meet with the "Editor's
Portfolio," containing all sorts of useful scraps of
news and criticism, literary notices, a full list of
promotions and appointments, and of the stations
Of the army, navy, and militia. It is, therefore,
evident that all readers who are in any way in-
terested in the naval and military defences of our
country will find the information, the statistics,
the criticisms they require in this serial, while
those who do not feel any particular interest in the
details of sails and swords may yet derive both
pleasure and profit from consulting the pages of
this sensible and ably written serial.

Colburn's New Monthly Magazine.—" Public
Works in Egypt" is the title of the first paper that
meets the reader of the New Mon sly. The various
plans and speculations which the dry and unpro-
mising districts of Upper Egypt have given rise to
are recorded at length, and those who have turned
their attention to this subject will find the article
repay perusal. The author of " Ashley" contri-
butes one of his usual tales, animated in style and
lift like in character, but strikingly improbable,
and invariably tinged with the horrible. Tile
frightful series of crimes, accidents, and awful
occurrences which have appeared in his catalogue of
stories would fill a Chamber of Horrors far more
alarming than Madame Tussaud's. lo the present
instance the catastrophe is merely the death of
a gentleman in a boat race, which will not there-
tore startle the reader more than usual. We regret
the more to see this writer eacouraging that morbid
love of the horrible which is only too common,
because the stories are of a superior tone, and evi-
deuce some degree of ability. Mr. Froude's third
and fourth volumes of the " History of England "
receive a lengthened criticism which is not devoid
of interest. An autobiographical tale i.s commenced,
under the singular title of " Hans Ernst Mitter-
kamp," giving a view of Germ in life and character.
An article on the " Fall of the Monarchy in J uly"
is founded on M. Granier de Cassagnac's recent
work. • It is remarked that English historians
seldom write contemporary history, but con-
sider it necessary for the leaders in the
strife to have passed away, and for the
calm retrospec ion of posterity to have taken
the place of the animtted discu sions of the
day. Our continental neighbours are of a different
opinion ; " journal histories" appear every day, in
which a judicial appreciation is taken of events
hardly yet consummated, and ef the characters of
public men still it, the full vigour of political ex-
istence." " A Sad Story," relates a melancholy
episode in a doctor's experience. " A Missionary
in Texas," relates the leci-,situdes and hardships
encountered by the Abbe Domtnech. It is an in-
teresting paper, inteispersel with numerous ex-
tracts. Tue recent memorials of Shelley come
under notice iu a brief paper. An amusing sketch
by Heherden Milford, is entitled, " Northern
Lights," and is followed by a picture of railway
literature abroad. "Shottery, a post's day-dream,"
transports us to the days of Shakspeare and Anne
Hathaway, and draws a glowing picture of "The
future Lord of Fame," wooing the village maiden.
The idea of the great dramatist discovering all the
qualities of the fair creations of his fancy in the
simple cottager, is a new and happy one. We
subjoin a few verses.
" Lovely shapes and fair prefigured
In her form's symmetric guise,
And the light of lives celestial
Gleaming in her gen le eyes.
Fawn-like Imogen affrighted
In the haggard cave's recess:
Pale Miranda shifting covert
Glances from the shifting chess :
Tender Juliet from her casement
Bending as some rose of June ;
When like Jessica's her blushes
Glowed beneath the silver moon :
Pensive Viola dissembling
Passions nought bat pride commands :
Wanton Cressida coquetting .
'Mid the din of hurtling brands
Lost Marina 'mid the billows
Lolled in dead maternal arms :
Lorn Helena as a pilgrim
Veiling all her idle charms :
Patient Desdemona sadly
Sighing for her tawny lord :
Frolic Lady Percy buckling
With a jest her hero's sword :
Meek Ophelia 'add the willow
Dazed in virgin faith forlorn:
Fitful Rosalind all Ruth-like
Rustling through the rippled corn :
Sad Cordella crooning softly
Ditties for her dying sire :
And brave Joan of Arc appearing
Radiant 'mid the ruthless fire :
And sweet Perilita with blossoms
Purpling in her lily hand :
And voluptuous Cleopatra
Gliding o'er the golden sand :
Dainty Ariel recumbent
'Neath the foxglove's freckled bell :
And Titania still enamoured
By the fay's puissant spell :
Wondering Beatrice embowered
In the thicket's woven shade :
Dreaming Silvia at twilight
Startled by a serenade."
The account of " A Visit to Iceland, in the Sum-
mer of 1857," by Mr. Bushby, gives an entertain-
inr descrip-ion of the peculiarities of that desolate
region. The statistics of the Eruptions of Mount
Hecla will interev. the curious. The earliest known
eruption took place in 1104, and since then there
have been no less than seventeen, the last
iu 1846, some of them being of frightful violence.

Bentley's Miscellany. —This serial maintains its
lively character, and attempts with its usual
success to entertain the superficial reader, or to
amuse the leisure hour of one wearied with graver
subjects. The number before us is above the ave-
rage ; it has several articles of sense and substance.
The usual anticipatory criticism of the Exhibition
of the Royal Academy for this year opens it, and
gives an interesting summary of the prominent
pictures. The continuation of the story of " Rush-
ing headlong into marriage;" appears under the
title of "Three hundred a-year," and continues the
catalogue of the misfortunes of the imprudent and
extravagant Captain Courtenay and his wife. There
is a great deal of truth in the details of domestic
mismanagement and lavish expenditure, and many
who lament the smallness of their income would do
well to regulate their appearance by their posses-
sions. Monkshood's new book notes are devoted to
Sir Arch. Alison's recent volatile. " Our Country
Quarters," is the title of an amusing story of love
affairs and pic-nics, pleasantly told. We are sorry
not to be able to commend Mr. Thornbury's Napo-
leon ba lads as we should wish to do. He has
displayed so much ability in some of his former
woks, both prose and verse, that he has now a
character to maintain. Guizot's memoirs are the
subject of an interesting paper, which enables the
yea ter to comprehend the sc .pe and character of
the volumes. " Giimpses of Harem Life" will at-
tract the admirers of Oriental life and manners.
The view given of Eastern domestic life is more en-
tertaining than attractive. Thanatos Athanatos is
continued in its rambling strain, now mournful,
now discursive, now eccentric, interspersed with
anecdotes and quotations. A paper on Bageneil
Dawison will very probably be the first introduc-
tion of many readers to that notability. He is a
new actor, who " has carried the whole of Ger-
many away before him, and is universally allowed.
to be the fin& st performer the century has pas.
duced." Very probably, accor-ling to dramatic
and artistic custom, he will give English audiences
an opportunity of judging of his powers. He is of
Polish origin, and his parents were very poor. By
degrees he has educated himself, and by the force
of perseverance and talent has struggled into fame.
A criticism on recent poetry treats of the respec-
tive merits of Wilberforce, Thernbury, and.
Blanchard. The continuation of Mr. Dudley Cos-
tello's elaborate romance brings the number to a
conclusion.

Tait.—This magazine always yields us the ex•
pectation of meeting something of a refreshing and
pleasant character, and the present number does
not at all disappoint us. " The Memoirs of Bee-
thoven" are concluded, and afford much interest-
ing information respecting his private life and
public works. We learn that he left a voluminous
collection of vocal compositions, masses, operas,
and oratorios, amounting to 300 pieces, and that
his personal appearance was not good, being short,
of a compact muscular figure, with a head out of
proportion and too large for the rest of his body.
His features, however, were strongly marked and,
intelligent, and his face expressive. One peculi-
arity he had which is rather confounding in its
nature—that of not being able to dance in time.
Had this been the case during only the latter part
of his existence, it might reasonably have been at-
iributed to his deafness ; but as it distinguished
him while young, and a devoted follower of Terpsi-
chore, it cannot be accounted for ; but it must ever
be regarded as a curious anomaly that a great and
perfect composer, the lea,ler of orchestras and di-
rector of musicians, "could not dance in time."
The series of articles, entitled " Woman and
Womanhood," gives us this month, one on "Spin-
sterho.4" in which there is much that is whole-
some in tone and amusing in style. Few will dis-
pute the truth of the following remarks :

An intelligent man wants both a companion and a house-
keeper ; an unintellectual man simply wants a house-
keeper, and finds his companion in her ; but it stands to
reason, that, if we have neither good housekeepers, nor in-
tellectually trained women, neither intellectual nor unin•
tellectual men can Be mated satisfactorily to themselves.
Very young men don't seek for either housekeeper or
intellect. A pretty face pleases—they fall in love—
propose—marry, fancying they can live on twopence per
hour, or some sum equally small; weekly bills prove the
fallacy of the supposition ; debt and duns form an unplea•
sant episode in married life ; the lady does not know how
to mend the matter—for her spinsterhood was passed in
unproductive idleness, and she now reaps its curse.
Spinsters have a fatal notion that useful occupation may
be deferred until they are married. As well might the can-
didate for university honours begin to study when called
up for examination. It may be, and it is, a very simple
thing to learn the simple detail f housekeeping. but it s
not at all an easy or a simple thing to undo the habitsP i
of a
lifetime, and learn how to order, and regulate, and control
a household. All this must be the consequence of experi•
enca, and if the gaining of it be commenced on the wedding
day, there will in all probability be a weary scene of disorder
and mismanagement in the household of the young wife.
which will not tend to raise her in the estimation of the hus-
band, if he be indeed a man whose esteem is worth gaining.
And if he besot such, his disorderly and reckless habits will
suit well with her own, and she will find out sooner or
later, that she has made a grand i,take, and had far better
have qualified herself for making a good wife, and thus
have gained a better husband, or have remained in the ob-
jectionable and yet preferable state of " old maidism.."

The author concludes his excellent essay with a
few words on the various causes of " Oldmaidism,"
and says :

Man's heartlessness and perfidy—man's fickleness and
instability of purpose—man's desertion and cruelty may,
and does, cause misery to thousands, and force the lot of
singleness on them.

Women of England marhave to thank themselves for
very much of the disappointment which falls to their
share ; but they are not exclusively to blame, and pro-
bably this might, may be fullyproved if we were to deal
as truly with man and mankind as with woman and
womankind.

A discussion on "The Banks and the Law of Eng-
land and Scotland" is worthy of close attention.
It handles plain facts in a plain wa3s and places
the spirit of speculators in awkward juxtaposition
with the principle of integrity. It treats of the
working of hanks very impartially, and constitutes
a valuable treatise on the important subject. There
is a pl•?Asant bit of gossip on " The Streets and
Street Nuisances," which meets the absurd topic
now so much dilated on in the shape of "Organ
Grinding" with well-merited expostulation and
ridicule. The writer says—

It is nothing new to confess to an attachment to " Ur,
streets ;" men of catholic feeling have always been fond Of
them—their sights, their incidents, their humour, their
pathos the latter not unfrequent to quick eyes, what•
ever may be said of English reserve. I am, myself,
an inveterate " mooner" when abroad, and have, in-
doors, such an inclination to look out-o'-window, as
seriously interferes with my aherwise industrious habit..

w
I think, indeed, I must be a born street-enjoyer, for I hail,
never been able to work myself up to any of those heights
of indignation about street nuisances to which others so
naturally reach. Ido not wish to be uncharitable ; but I,
should be inclined to suspect a great smeller-out and putter
down of street-nuisances for a selfish man.
Ile concludes thus—

I should be glad to see passed, in that Parliament of
Good Nature of which we are all members with more or
less of property qualification, an Act of vary stringent
powers to powers to put down a most real and dangerous
street nuisance—namely, the reckless strewing of footpaths
and public places with pieces of orange peel. I am totally
at a loss to understand how any one can be guilty of this
cruel carelessness. A ccidents frequently occur from it, and
are duly reported ; yet it continues. So great is the dead
passe n which I am abroad, hut I have to remove somebody's
weight of stupidity and selfishness in the world. Not aday
(.range peel from the pavement, and sometimes from stairs
to boat places, &c., where it is exceedingly dangerous.
do not complain o the labour ; I do not ask for a salary ;
I do not even ask for the honorary dignity of Orange Peel
Dispeller in Ordinary to the Public; but I should. like to
see a higher tone of virtue prevail in regard to orange peel.
If he who would make a pun would pick a pocket, I canzot
but conceive that he who would strew orange peel
on pavements would drop sparks on bedclothes, and
there you have all the fires in the metropolis accounted
for at once. Brethren, let us see to our orange peel.
i do ns„y, preserve it and sell it to the grocers
f„,..cee4t, I do not say, treasure it up in yob
pockets, like Dr. Johnson. But I do say, throw l"
into gutters, down gully-holes, or disused areas ; and above
all, never drop it on door-steps. Lay no flattering unction
to your souls in this matter. Do not say, if you see in the
pipers that a father cf a poor family fell down on Fridaye
and broke his thigh, in Great Russell-street, and died of
concussion of the brain, that, because you dropped your
orange peel on Tuesday, and on the Edgware-road, that
you are f,ee in this matter. Consider the example. Rea('
Paley on general Consequences (nor. and P. Phil., b. Is
c 8.) You share the guilt ; there is some fraction which,
if settled, would denote your proportion of it. Therefore,
throw no more orange peel about—let this bathe commence'
meat of a new life to you in relation to small things affect'
isle the welfare of others. Shut doors which are intends('
to be shut. Direct letters plainly. Give as little trouble.
as you can. Do not wear creaking boots So muck f.. 06

Colburn's United Service.—Many readers will,
doubtless, be plcasA w:tit a sketch of the care,,r of
the distinguished indivldual, who has recently ar-
rived on our shores to represent the Majesty
France. Mar,hal Relissier is well known to the
Engliih army, from luxing f light with the
allied forces on the Crimean battle-liclds. It is
observe I that i.n him "Iva receive tho represent t-
tive of a friend and an ally," and we ard willitig tp
believe that, in selecJog him, as so many of •he
French journals a,sert, tln Enperor ha 4 esp,ciatly
had in view the re-csrablislimen t of a friendly 11,
derstandiug between the two cou:itries. Another
paper, on a subject connected with our continental
neighbours, is entitled "The French Conscription,"
which system, it tells us, is as well adapted to the
spirit and constitution of the country, as our own
method is to the different character and social ma-
chinery of England. There are many exceptions
to the demands of conscription which, in some
rxtigite its severity. As a m •ter of coo, se
we met with se' oral articles on topics o,nnect, d
with Indian government and Indian life. Among
View are papers on "Sir Joseph Thackwell and
the S.klis," ou " The Acquirement of the