The Sun.
London, England, 1859-09-02 00:00:00

TEE MAGAZINES.

Blackwood's Magazine.
" Horse Dealing in Syria" is the title of the first
paper that meets the reader of Maga. The writer
was engaged in a horse purchasing expedition,
despatched into Syria, in 1854, by the British
authorities, previous to the invasion of the Crimea.
The particulars of the dealings with the Bedouins,
and the qualifications of the Arab horses, so famed
"in story and in song," will be attractive to all
who take an interest in equestrian pursuits. The
traveller's opinion on the relative merits of English
mid Bedouin horsemanship is worthy of attention,
and perhaps, now that Mr. Rarey has inaugurated
a more humane system of treating these noble and
sensitive animals, it may convince some readers.
After describing the mode of riding, and the Arab's
thorough control over his horse, without bit or
spurs, he observes—" When I say that our pur-
chases in the desert amounted to one hundred
horses, it may be supposed that the number of
horses I saw tried and ridden was considerable :
amongst the whole I never saw one attempt to
pull or show the least want of docility." After re-
marking that this fact will appear most wonderful
to those who have seen the Arab horse with our
troops in India, where he is so restive and inclined
to pull, he asks, " Why should he display this
failing with us, and not with his original masters ?
My own impression is that the secret lies in the diffe-
rent temper of the English and Bedouin horseman.
The Bedouin exhibits a patience towards his horse as
remarkable as the impatience and roughness of the
Englishman. I am 'not inclined to put it to his
credit in a moral point of view ; he is simply with-
out the feeling of irritability which prompts the
English horseman to acts of brutality, and he rides
on serene and contented where the latter would go
into a paroxysm of swearing and spurring." After
describing the calmness with which an Arab
secured a horse which had broken loose among the
horses brought for sale, and had thrown everything
into confusion, leading it back without any anger
to its pickets, he observes, " Contrast this with the
' job' in the mouth and the kick in the ribs, and the
curse that the English groom would bestow under
similar circumstances, and you have in a great
measure the secret of the good temper of the Arab
horse in Arab hands." The story of " Felicita" is
bronght to a conclusion. The calm and matter of
fact fortune hunting of Angelo Peruzzi is abruptly
terminated, and after a probation of five years he
finds a more suitable bride in his cousin. An
article on " Voluntary and Involuntary Actions,"
plunges into the dark regions of abstruse meta-
physics. It is justly observed that on this and
similar topics no man will wisely dogmatise, since
we can but build systems—we cannot see the
truth. " The Luck of Ladysmede," is con-
tinued, and is followed by an admirable
article on " Fleets and Navies," which we
have noticed elsewhere. Mr. Speke furnishes
an account of his cruise on the Tanganyika Lake,
in Central Africa, in answer to the numerous in-
quiries which have been addressed to him by men
of science and learning. To gratify their desire
for information he has sent a journal, kept during
the expedition, to Messrs. Blackwood, hoping by
its publication in their magazine to give the oppor-
tunity of perusing it to a wide circle of readers. A
map which accompanies it will enable the reader to
comprehend the narrative. The lover of mysticism
and originality will be attracted by a curious sketch
entitled " A Dream of the Dead." It professes to
be a faithful transcript of a dream which visited
the writer, and which was certainly well worthy
of preservation. It is an extraordinary mixture of
life and death, a quaint combination of reality and
romance, from the immensity of the hall of infini-
tude in which the wanderer finds himself at the
commencement, to the suddea suspicion of the new-
comer, whom he is introducing to the mysteries of
the place at the conclusion, when he innocently
asks how much money he has brought with him ?
Papers on the mortifying disclosures of the recent
elections, and on the present position of foreign
affairs, conclude the number.

The Dublin University Magazine.

This magazine, always one of the most worth
reading among the serials, greets us with an inter-
esting title-page. The third part of the story of
" Artist and Craftsman" opens it, and shows us Clara
resolutely following her'art at Venice, and resisting
all the charms of success and society. As an artist,
in the highest sense of the word, she is resolved to
be something more than a mere commonplace prima
donna, and endeavours to qualify herself as a fitting
interpreter of the spirit of her art by severe and
patient study. Mark, the " craftsman," is repre-
sented as regarding with some jealousy the applaud-
ing crowds that greet the success of his beloved.
The sixth of the series of University Essay's is on
the important and comprehensive subject of "The
General Principles of the REligions of Mankind."
The author is the Rev. James Byrne, A.M., ex-
Fellow, T.C.D. It takes a thoughtful review of
the various principles that have animated or in-
spired the different creeds which have swayed
humanity. The effect of the aspect of nature on
the religions of various localities is remarked upon.

" Thus, the sense religions of America answer in some
degree to the latitudes in which they are found. The in-
habitants of the northern regions, where the long nights
shut out external Nature, devote their principal homage to
spirits ; in the southern regions the worship of the powers
of Nature predominates. The great spirits, both good and
evil, of the Greenlander, dwell in the sea, because to him,
who lives by fishing, the sea is the principal object in Na-
ture. Among the hunting natives of Canada, the worship
of the spirits of the brute most prevailed. Of the powers
of Nature which were most worshipped further south, the
Missouri Indians adored the atmosphere and the fertile
earth. The worship of the sun appears among the Natchez
still further south. The ferocious Caraibs adored the moon
as their national god, and as an evil deity, no doubt because
its light favoured nocturnal enterprises, and their national
genius was war and mischief. For similar reasons the
warlike Abipones of Paraguay cultivated the worship of
the constellation of the Pleiades, and saluted it as their
grandfather. The national god of the Orinoco Indians was
the bounteous power which gave them their abundant
harvests. The religion of each race assuming a form which
is the reflection of their habits and. of the aspects of Nature
which struck them most."

The peculiarities of race, the increase of knowledge,
and the progress of social organisation are also con-
sidered as influencing creeds. It is an able and
thoughtful article, suggestive of reflection. The
melancholy story of " A Woman's Sacrifice" is con-
cluded. Lady Douglass is arrested on the charge
of committing the murder of which her husband
was really guilty. Unable to account for the pos-
session of the fatal weapon, without inculpating
him, she is silent, and is found guilty. Her hus-
band, who is travelling abroad to escape detection,
hears accidentally of the condemnation. In dismay
he hurries back to England just in time to receive
the last adieux of his wife, who sinks under her.
sufferings. James Orton contributes a graceful,
though somewhat mystical lyric, entitled " The
Belfry." Another paper belonging to the poetic
department gives us a criticism on the poems of
Mrs. Alexander. In some of the extracts from her
graceful writings the readers of the Dublin Univer-
sity will recognise a familiar hand. A sketch of the
great Earl of Cork does not represent that celebrity
in a very attractive light. The writer remarks that a
biographical sketch, like a landscape painting, is
tame if without contrast of lights and snadows,
and he tells us that Mr. BuOgell, author of "Lives
of the Boyles," hds forgetten this maxim, since his
memoir of the Right Hon. Richard Boyle, com-
monly called the great Earl of Cork, is a simple
panegyric, unshadowed by a censure. The article
before us goes fart() prove such unqualified approval
to have been unmerited. An ably written paper
entitled " Kaye and Marshman on India," reviews
the two works by these well-known writers, and
displays much straightforward sense and modera-
tion. Referring to the high theories so readily
upheld by those who are safely removed from the
difficulties of practising what they preach, the
writer refers to the Hon. Baptist Noel's recommen-
dation that none but good men be appointed to any
office in India. This advice, he observes, " may be
left with Ahasuerus' injunction ' that all wives
should obey their husbands'—a piece of good advice
always desirable, but not always attainable." After
rendering due honour to Mr. Kaye's admirable
work, the writer goes on to comment on the result
of the recent mutiny. We have had enough ex-
perience, he says, to teach us two things—that
the policy of State interference either to promote
Christianity or to prop .heathenism is equally
dangerous. "We do not conciliate the Hindu by
protecting his religion ; we shall not convert him
by prohibiting it. We are not believed when we
disclaim all idea of proselytising. We should not
sir.!cced if we were to attempt to makes proselytes
as the Dutch and Portuguese did." The writer
arrives at the just and sensible conclusion that it
is our duty to lay truth before the Hindu by every
agency in our power, whether schools, the pres or
public preaching, but to use no other means of
persuasion, not challenging the progress of a work
which is overruled by a higher wisdom than ours—
content to lay the seed in the ground, not pulling
it up to see whether the root has struck. Imme-
diately after this able paper we come to the con-
tinuation of our old friend" The Season Ticket,"
which is as usual full of amusing anecdote. There
are other papers of interest in the number, one of
them bearing the appropriate title of "A Peep
into Dublin.'

Fraser's Magazine.
A treatise on Machiavelli is the first paper in
Fraser, and discusses thG merits •and demerits of
that Italian, who has given a name to all unprin-
cipled and Jesuitical statesmanship since his time.
The writer remarks that, whether Machiavelli was
a good republican and an honest man, and his
Prince a satire on rulers, or whether he seriously
maintained the principles he advanced in it, and

deserved his ill-repute, are points yet undecided,
notwithstanding Lord Macaulay's brilliant essay.
It is remarked in the paper before us that " Machi-
avelli invents little or nothing. What he has really
done is to reduce the politic practice of successful
and unscrupulous politicians, not only of his own
time but of all ages, to the form of principles.
Indeed we believe it is less the matter than the
manner of the " Prince" that has brought so much
obloquy upon its author. He does not shroud his
meaning in fine phrases or a circuitous form of
words. Machiavelli does not, with M. Thiers and
others, term a murder a tragical revolution at the
palace,' or disguise other ' deplorable events' in in-
flated language. He simply says that the man was
strangled, or as the case may be." This article,
which will interest' many readers who are attracted
by historical and political topics, is followed by an
essay on the " Gold Question." " Holmby House"
is proceeded with, and shows us Charles Stuart a
prisoner, though not yet a hopeless one. Our fair
friends, Mary Cave and Grace Allenby, again ap-
pear upon the scene ; and a mysterious fisherman
gives promise of being something more than a
pescatore ignobile. " Some Remarks on Mr. Buckle's
History of Civilization" are well worthy of per-
usal. Mr. Buckle seems to be getting into the wars
with the contributors to Fraser. In this instance,
however, so much genuine admiration is expressed
for his work that he may well pardon the strictures
of so discriminating a critic. The NN riter objects to
Mr. Buckle's comparison of the effects produced by
the moral and intellectual forces in the civilisation
of mankind. Mr. Buckle assigns the higher place
without hesitation to the mental powers, and asserts
that moral principles are stationary, that " morality
admits of no discoveries." In this view of the
question Mr. Buckle appears to us to make a mis-
take. It does not follow, though the laws of mor-
ality are unchanged, that their influence is there-
fore restricted. They may be better diffused among
mankind, we may be slowly acknowledging their
power ; and who shall say that the dominion of
the laws of morality over the world at large is fully
established ? When it is, and no beneficial result
towards the cultivation and elevation of humanity
is perceptible, the historian of Civilisation will
have a right to sep that its civilising influences are
inferior to those of the Intellect. The facts of
reading and writing remain the same now as they
were on the discovery of printing ; but who shall
say that the influence of those capabilities is the
same now as then ? Thousands have learned to
avail themselves of those faculties they were igno-
rant of, thousands hive learned to love literature
and to be influenced by its teachings. A science,
an art, a principle, may be the same intrinsically ;
it may be capable of no further development ; but
so long as it is capable of diffusion and extension
among those who formerly disowned it, its power
cannot be said to be exhausted. Mere intellect,
however lofty, will not succeed in reforming the
world. As the critic in Fraser observes, "If in-
tellect could keep the passions in order those of
Caesar Borgia, and Tiberius might have been as
well regulated as Fenelon's." The new work of
the Poet Laureate receives a highly favourable
notice; and the copious extracts afford the reader
who has not met with the work, a fair opportunity
of judging of its merits. Mr. J. R. Chorley, con-
tinuing his " Notes on the National Drama of
Spain," gives some interesting sketches of the
Hispanian character and code of honour. The
system adopted is no doubt highly romantic, but to
ordinary observers it appears to be remarkably in-
convenient; and however great the deference qd
devotion professed towards the fair sex, and how-
ever queenlike the right conferred on them of ex-
acting the assistance, and, if need be, the life of
any stranger they meet, the jealousy and suspicion
which give rise to such a system are anything but
complimentary. " Sword and Gown" is continued
with spirit. The fair and proud heroine is placed
in a most painful position in which she does not
acquit herself heroically. One of the mysteries of
Royston Keene's ltfe is cleared up, and the author
contrives, notwithstanding his repellent qualities,
to invest him with some degree of interest. A
paper entitled " Concerning Friends in Council,"
gives a well-merited welcome to the new edition of
Mr. Helps' delightful work. Those who have not
the'pleasure of the acquaintance of the circle of
friends will be tempted by the perusal of this
article to obtain a speedy -introduction.

Bentley's Miscellany.

The first paper in Bentley puts a question which
a good many individuals, more experienced in State
craft than the readers of this miscellany are likely
to be, might be puzzled to answer. "IS the peace
peaceful ? " is the Spinx-like query propounded,
and it is not inaptly observed that the Peace of
Villa.franca bears a strong resemblance to the last
chapter of Rasselas, which is " a conclusion in
which nothing is concluded." Ouida furnishes
another of his amusing stories, in which the familiar
figures of a professedly stern and misanthropic
hero, who is secretly sincere and warm-hearted, and
a lovoly intelligent damsel, who immediately pene-
trates the secret of his assumed cynicism, re-appear.
These interesting personages, in the present in-
stance, (Lot on Sir Anthony Absolute's plan, that it
is Best to begin with a little aversion, for they en-
tertain a cordial dislike of each other, which it
takes much acquaintance, and sundry romantic
catastrophes to counteract. Sufferers from the
gout may find some consolation for their miseries
in Monkshood's article, " A Gouty Subject." He
fut nishes a list of the illustrious victims who have
suffered from this respectable malady, from Charles
the Fifth, the mightiest potentate in Europe, whose
abdication of his weighty sceptre was hastened, the
historians tell us, by the ravages of his constitu-
tional enemy, more invincible than French kings or
Algerine pirates; down to James Smith, whose verses
on Mr. Strahan's gout so pleased the old gentleman
that he left him three thousand pounds, which, we
may hope, consoled him in his old age, when, as
Monkshood tells us, he went on crutches from the
same complaint. A new story, which promises in-
terest, is commenced under the title of "Great and
Little Whitton," and our old acquaintance "Gurney,
or Two Fortunes," is continued. The story of the
virtuous and unfortunate Francesco de Carrara is
proceeded with, and we meet with an interesting
historical paper on Frederick the Great and Cathe-
rine 11., two contemporary potentates, whose
celebrity, as sovereigns, certainly ranks high above
their memories as man and woman.