The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-05-09 00:00:00

POLICE COURT.-YESTERDAY.

CHARGE OF ABDUCTION AND ROBBERY.—OD Saturday,
a young man, well dressed and of respectable appearance,
named William Barnes, stated to be a clerk with Mr.
Norris, solicitor, Southampton-buildings, London, was
brought before the Police Magistrate on a charge of hav-
ing absconded from London on the 17th of last month,
and carrying with him four bank notes for £2O, seven' £lO
notes, £lO in gold, and several articles of value, the pro-
perty of Mr. J. E. B. Smyth, Mornington-road, Regent's-
park, London. He was also charged with the abduction
of a young lady, aged about sixteen, daughter of a gentle-
man named Watson, likewise described as of Southampton-
, buildings. It appeared that,• after securing the money,
and eloping with the, young lady, the prisoner had her
conveyed to Manchester, where they had resided for some
time. The father of the young lady, it farther appeared,
having had some idea of their flight being northward,
proceeded to Liverpool in hopes of meeting with the
fugitives, but without success. On Saturday week, the
young lady, who was described as handsome, was put into
a train at Manchester, by Barnes, and returned to London.
On Friday night, from information received by the police,
Barnes was taken into custody inLiverpool, and the above-
named charges preferred against him. In reply, the
prisoner admitted the charges generally, as true, but said
the case had been compromised. To ascertain the truth
of this he was remanded till yesterday, when he was again
brought up, but, in the meantime, the authorities having
been advised that the allegation of compromisihvas true,
Barnes was discharged.
PASSING BAD MONEY.—AUD McDade, charged with
passing a base half-crown upon Mr. Fisher, a publican,
in Crosshall-street, on Saturday night, and also with
passing another bad half-crown piece on the same per-
son, at the same place, on the preceding Tuesday night,.
was remanded for a week.
ROBBING A LABOURER.—AIice Smith, charged with
stealing 14s. 2d. from the person of a labourer, on Satur-
day night, was discharged from want of evidence. It
appeared the prosecutor accompanied her to her lodgings;
where the robbery was effected— how he could scarcely
tell. The magistrate said the prosecutor was a foolish
fellow, and dismissed the case.

ROBBING CHILDREN.—John Prince, a smart-looking
lad, about 14 years of age, and William Swindlehurst,
were 'charged with robbing a boy named Doran, in St.
James's-street, on Saturday afternoon. From the evi-
dence, it appeared that Donau, who goes errands for

different individuals, . and was on Saturday sent by Mrs.
Goulbonrn, residing in Gore-street, in the Park, with two
half-crowns, three shillings, two sixpenny pieces, and
two halfpennies, together with a bill of sums due to Mr.
Leicester, in Great George-street, which he was to pay
As Dorran was looking in at a tobacconist's win-
- dow, Prince spoke to him, and said if he had any money
he had better take care of it, as some boys, had
been trying to rob him (Prince). Dorran replied that he
had money, when the other advised him to wrap it care-
fully up and put it in his pocket ; adding, " How clumsily
you do it," on seeing Dorran attempt the process, "give
it me and I will put it right for you," at the same time
apparently putting the parcel into Dorran's pocket, adding,
" Now, if I had been a thief, I might have stolen the
money." He then made off, and .shortly after Dorran
missed the money. The two prisoners being found to-
gether, and the money and papers being found on the
person of Prince, they were both taken into custody..
Swindlehnrst, the elder of the two, who said he knew
nothing about the robbery, and that he had an offer from
his brother to be taken out to America, pled hard to be
discharged ; he was remanded till this day (Tuesday), to.
allow time for inquiry into the truth of his statements.
Prince, against whom another charge was brought of
robbing a girl in a similar manner, in the month of-
February last, was committed f, ',ll at tI

or tria,

lions on

both eha'rges,
SUSPECTED CHARACTERS.—James Smith and Henry
Seymour were charged by Carlisle, the detective officer,
with attempting to pick pockets in the front of Messrs.
Busby's omnibus office, in Dale-street, on Saturday. No
one appeared to have been robbed, but the officer
said he saw them make several attempts at the pockets
of both ladies and gentlemen. Smith he' represented
as one of the most noted pickpockets in Liverpool : the
other was not known. Smith was sentenced to be impri-
soned for three months ; Seymour was remanded, in order
to allow time for inquiry being made respecting him.
SERIOUS ASSAULT UPON THE PoLicr.—John Jordan
and Frederick Rose, the latter a militia-man, were charged
with an aggravated assault upon police-constables Nos.
128, 509, and 619, in Dale-street, at the corner of Preston-
street, on Sunday morning, between twelve and one o'clock.
From the evidence it appeared that the prisoners, along
with a number of prostitutes and other dissolute charac-
ters, were making a great disturbance and fighting at the
time and place mentioned. On the police interfering, the
first (No. 128) was assailed with blows, was knocked down,
kicked, and severely injured on the head and face by stones
which were thrown by Jordan and others, who took a
violent part in the affray. Rose also, it appeared, was very
outrageous till he was accidentally felled by a stone thrown
by one of his fellow-rioters. Ultimately the two u ere se-
cured ; and Jordan was ordered to pay a fine of £5, or be
imprisoned for two months; Rose, in consideration that
he had received severe punishment by the blow he had
accidentally received in the brawl, was discharged with a
suitable admonition.

ROBBERY AT THE ELLESMERE HOTEL. John Teague
and James Wright, who now gave his name as .11`.Lauch-
lan, were brought up on remand, charged with having
robbed Daniel Parkyns of the sum of £5B instead
of £BO, as he had formerly stated, on Saturday, the 29th
ult., in the Ellesmere Hotel. No new matter was elicited,
except that 31`Lauchlan had the sum of £l5 in his pos-
session the night of the robbery ; although he was known
to be very poor previously. Both prisoners were commit-
ted for trial.

STEALING FOWLS AT BOOTLE.—JOIIII Chiswell, a boy,
was charged with the theft of a fowl, belonging to Mr.
Bradshaw, of Bootle. Mr. Bradshaw stated that depreda-
tions of the sort referred to had been carried on of late to
a great extent at Bootle and its neighbourhood ; he him-
self having lost about two dozen, while he believed Mr.
Ackers had lost about five dozen, some of them very valu-
able. The case was remanded till to-day, that further in-
quiry may be made.
ASSAULTING THE POLlCE.—Philip Welsh and Patrick
Mul!oy were severally ordered to pay a fine of 40s. each, or
be imprisoned for one month, for assaulting the police.

ME_ETLYG OF DOCK LABOURERS..
STRIKE. AT THE ALBERT DOCK.

YESTERDAY, at noon, a meeting of the dock labourers
of the town, who have beenbut on strike, was held at the
Concert-hall. There was a crowded attendance. The
meeting had been adjourned from Thursday night last, for
the purpose of determining what steps should be taken to
secure an advance of wages, &c. At a meeting held last
week in the Concert-hall, it was agreed by the men that
they should strike ye3terday (Monday) morning, if a series
of resolutions which they then carried should not be
agreed to by the master stevedores. These were—that
the rate of wages in future should be 4s. a day instead of
3s. 6d. as heretofore ; that 7s. should be charged for night-
work, or 7d. an hour ; and that the charge for Sunday
work, when it might occur, should be Bs. To secure these
terms, a majority of the hands employed at the south-end
left their employment and repaired to the meeting. At
thiS, it was announced that the master stevedores had
assented to the conditions imposed upon them, and so at
once the strike virtually, terminated.
There is one section of the men who struck, however,
who are not likely so readily to get their demands. Yes-
terday morning the extra-labourers at the Albert Dock
warehouses, to the number of about 500, left their employ
'meat, their demand being for 4s. a day and an allowance
of half-an-hour at noon for refreshment. Their hours
already are shorter than those of the men employed out-
side ; and we understand that, but for the great pressure
of shipping at present, their places would be easily supplied
at the old rates. As it was, many offered.

SATURDAY EVENING CONCERTS.—From an advertise-
ment it will be seen that Mr. Travers, a brother, we are
informed, of Miss Reiner, will, on Saturday evening, at
the Concert Hall, give his celebrated entertainment, en-
titled " Nelson, or the Life of a- Sailor." The incidents
narrated are happily illustrated by several of Dibdin's
most highly popular songs. Of Mr. Travers'performance
the London press speaks in terms of high commendation,
and from his antecedents we are inclined to augur most
favourably of the entertainment.
Tun EUROPA, British and North America Royal Mail
steamship, Captain Shannon, took her departare hence for
New York, on Saturday, with a full cargo, a large mail,
and eighty-four passengers, among whom were the Earl
of Elgin (who goes out to resume his official duties in
Canada) and suite ; the Hon. Mr. Rinks and family ; the
Hon. Mr. Perrie and son ; and Sir C. P. Roney, Royal
Commissioner to the Crystal Palace of New York.
STRIKE OF RAILWAY PORTERS.—The Manchester
Courier, of Saturday, states that the goods porters, to the
number of two hundred, employed at the Salford Goods
Station, struck ou Friday morning for an advance of
wages, and that the company have, in consequence; an-
nounced their inability to undertake the forwarding and
delivering of goods to or from any station north of Preston.
ANNUAL DINNER OP TUE LIVERPOOL LITERARY AND
DRAMATIC SOCIETY.—Last night the annual dinner of
this society, whose literary talents (as shown by the
manuscript inagazine)would reflect credit ou the metropolis,
and v: hose dramatic efforts have so far been extended only
in charity, was held last night at Mr. Whiteman's elegant
new hotel, in Clayton-square. About 50 members sat
down. The chair was filled by Mr. Thos. Hughes, and
the vice-chair by Mr. Cummins. The repast, which
was
sewed up of course in the first style, being over, the
cloth was withdrawn, and song and sentiment succeeded,—
refined wit and hearty and correct eloquence giving life to
the festive board. The usual loyal toasts having been
honoured and disposed of in due precedence, that of the
Army and Navy was drunk with a burst of enthusiasm.
Mr. R. Crompton then proposed the health of the Mayor,
and the patrons of the recent performance on behalf of the
families of the brave fellows who have gone to fight their
country's battles in the East.—Mr. James Hughes then
gave the toast of the evening, " The Literary and
Dramatic Society."—The Chairman next gave the senti-
ment of "Literature and the Drama," coupling with it
the immortal names of Shakespeare and Sheridan, which
was responded to by Mr. Lorraine, the chief tragedian of
the Theatre Royal. Mr. J. C. WlCenzie proposed the
health of the president and officers of the society, and the
chairman, the author of the clever prologue and epilogue,
spoken at the late performance. Mr. Robert Crompton,
who, after responding, proposed the health of Mr. Lloyds,
the conductor of the society's dramatic entertainments.
Other toasts, of a social character, succeeded, and a very
cordial and happy evening was spent.
INCENDIARISM AT MANCIIESTER.—On Sunday week,
three attempts at incendiarism were made at Manchester.
About half-past two o'clock in the afternoon the police
found some bundles of twist in flames at the warehouse
of Mr. Hodgkinson, Strutt-street. A piece of cotton-
waste was lying on the top of the bundles, which had
evidently been thrown through a sqare of broken glees in
eethlelacrelloafrstshei In the
of fingflAanreiserws. Lereodwiescoavnd Walton,
ered in the
n,
manufacturers of-Hessinn canvas, in Fountain-street. The
third fire took place on the premises of Messrs. Waters,
twist-dealers, in the same street. The fires were in each
case extinguished before much damage was done. •
NORTH ASUTON, NEAR WlGAN.—Through the inde-
fatigable exertions of the Rev. Shirley Woolmer, the pre-
sent minister of this parish, assisted by the churchwar-
dens, drily schools have been established. for affording the
most improved means' of education to the young of both
sexes, and the services have been engaged of an efficient
master and mistress from the model schools at Canterbury.
The master instructs the boys above six years of age and
the elder girls in arithmetic, writing, grammar, geography,
&c., while the mistress devotes her attention to the sewing
and knitting department, in addition to which there is an •
infant school. These advantages are afforded on terms
varying from a penny to sixpence a week, and there is also
'an evening school for adult classes. Besides these means
of extending the blessings of sound and Christian instruc-
tion, lectures on history, agriculture, and science are pe-
riodically delivered, to which the scholars, classes, parents,
and parishioners generally have free admission, so that no
effort is left untried to win: the labouring population from
the debasing influence of the ale-house mei fiie beer-shop.
The parish, however, is not a rich one, and, according to
the publiShed statement, there is a debt on the schools-
amounting to £l5, while a large sum will be requieel_fglar
the purchase of fittings, desks, maps, books, &C.
population,
the only practical mode of evangelizing the s
and those who " do good by stealth, and
fame," might here find an opportunity
ofxerminister in
benevolence by affording aid to the exemplary
his good work.
cl somewhat suddenly
belushcistlgerheirt
The PRESTON STRIKE /MS closed,
long foreseen. The
at last, though the issue
rsantrdontghefodir dimi-
nished demand for goods, have
unreasonably on one side,
men ; and a contest main
masters, assisted by the high Price
but considerable self-control on
harshly ou the other,
an unconditional surrender. Let.
both, has terminated 6priiicerovoedf fooood
misery endured—borne, we must say, with
wasted, much
•on and unrepining patience. Some
the results. Much wealth has been
have been permanently thrown out
five th°usajid people jealousy and isolation of the two
of work. The mutual
• ed. The maxim
hes been lastingly mcr that
classes
be regulated by the law of supply and
wages shall ont.y
which destroys the • I -
ritinsfisineeChivnhgatreasorea
demand—a maxim
only the commercial relationbetween the employer and
his " hands"—has been enunciated in the rudest and most
unqualified forma. Strikes, on this principle, are of course-
the just and legitimate because the only practicable means
which the workman has of keeping up the price of hie
labour. The defeat of the men is a less evil than their
victory would have been, but it is not a result to be proud
of on either side.—Guard;:,,

THE NEGLECTED WIFE TO HER
HUSBAND.

OH ! I have watch'd thee ever
With the tenderest of care,
In thy sorrow-stricken weariness,
And thy moments of despair;
When thy heart beat slow and feeble,
And thine eye was dim with tears,
I have sooth'd thee in thy wretchedness,
And cinell'd thy gloomy fears.

I have watch'd o'er thee in sickness;
I have tended by thy bed ;
And striven long and anxiously
To calm thy aching head :
And when thy speech grew fainter,
And thy frame was bent and weak,
1 strove to cheer thy sinking heart.
Though mine did well nigh break.

And when thy boon companions—
The gallant and the gay—
Applauded loud thy revellings,
And led thy heart astray,
The midnight hours I pass'd alone,
With anxious vigils dull,
And then I met you with a smile,
Altho' my heart was full !

And canst thou now reproach me
In tones of bitter ire?
And canst thou turn in hasty mood
On me those looks of fire?
Dbes not one kindly thought prevail
O'er wrath and fell decree—
One memory that will win thee back
In constancy to me?

Does not Affection's early dream
Still haunt thy truant breast?
Nor vow, nor duty, broken long,
Disturb thy wonted rest?
Does not the voice of her prevail
Whose joys are all heart-riven 7
Whose only bliss indeed it were
To make thy home a beav'n?

REVIEWS OF BOOKS.

Nannette and her Lovers. By Talbot Gwynne.
London : Smith, Elder, and Co.
This is a pleasing and well-told tale, in which
her naturally good disposition, aided by careful and
religious training, carry Nannette through nume-
rous and severe trials. The incidents are repre-
sented as opening at the period of the first French
Revolution, and represent in forcible and well-
sustained-pictures the inroads upon private peace
and rustic happiness, by the ruthless agents and
dire occurrences of that distracted and demoniacal
page in human history. The scene is laid at St.
Elog, in Normandy, and one of the early occur-
rences—indeed that from which the action of the
tale takes its most lively start—is a midnight in-
road. into the neighbourhood of the village, by a
band of the lawless patriots who, true to their
revolutionary instincts, commence the work of
political regeneration by burning the chateau,
desecrating the church, murdering the priest at
the altar, and carrying off a number of victims to
the guillotine. At this point, the distresses of the
heroine Nannette commence ; she is in love with
and betrothed to Antoine, to whom she is about to
be married ; but the revolutionary incendiaries, in
addition to their atrocities in having polluted the
church and slain the cure, have abolished marriage,
and in its place have set•up the formula of a civil
contract. To this Nannette, a faithful daughter
of the church, refuses to listen, and her beloved
Antoine is dragged from the village and carried off
for a soldier, under a conscription of all the un-
married men, for service in the army, and along
with him Arsene Potier, a disregarded though
sincere lover of poor Nannette. The simple-minded
girl remains at home, and through difficulties and
severe struggles, not always unattended by danger,
and but little heered by hope, she supports an
unwaning affection for Antoine, buoyed up only in
the expectation that one day priests and marriages
will be restored, and that she will be united to her
betrothed. Antoine proves himself utterly un-
worthy of her ardent regard, and displays nume-
rous characteristics of his baseness. As a wind-up,
Nannette is undeceived as to the true character of
Antoine, discards him, and is ultimately married
to the worthy and aithful Arsene Potier. In
working out the story, a great deal is made out of
very simple elements. The purity of character,
and unsuspecting as well as unrepining fidelity of
Nannette, are delineated with much power, and
are touched with delicacy. The rustic scenes are
beautifully elaborated, and in their peacefulness
contrast charmingly with the rude and remorseless
activity and cruelty of the revolutionists. In the
military portion of the story there are several
spirited and highly-wrought illustrations of a
soldier's lifeandadventures, duringthat singular and
stormy period, when all the bonds by which society
is held together were shaken and subverted. As
a whole, the story is well conceived and cleverly
worked out. Its scenes and incidents are in admi-
rable keeping.
The Dublin University Magazine. Dublin : James
McGlashan.
The May number of this excellent Magazine is
a fair and favourable example of its general charac-
ter. Its contents are, as usual, varied and interest-
ing. It opens with an admirable review of Pro-
fessor Forbes of Edinburgh's able work on the
Norwegian Glaciers. To the study of the laws
which regulate the formation and dispersion, and
which, in some degree, tend also to direct those
great physical operations in which glaciers act as
second causes, Professor Forbes has devoted long
and arduous attention, indefatigable industry, and
an inquiring zeal which no difficulties could re-
press. In this, his latest work on the subject, he
strengthens his former arguments, and gives ad-
ditional illustration of his previously announced
theory. To this interesting paper succeeds a
spirited biographical memoir of Colonel Cameron,
of Fassifern, one of the distinguished Scottish
officers who served under Wellington throughout
the Peninsular campaigns, and who terminated a
long and brilliant series of military exploits on the
field of honour at Quatre Bras, on the 16th June,
1815. This brave highlander, the lineal descend-
ant of the younger brother of the great Lochiel,
who commenced the insurrection in 1745, com-
menced his military career in 1793, and on the
24th of June, 1794, with a company of his own
raising, he joined the 92nd, or Gordon High-
landers, to which regiment he was all his life
afterwards attached, and in the command of which
he was killed in the midst of a conflict as severe as
it was gallantly sustained. At the present mo-
ment, when military expeditions and martial ardour
are so much in vogue, and when the claims of
those near and dear to the valiant upholders of our
country's honour are so properly made subjects of
public consideration, the fatigues, dangers, priva-
tions, and actual sufferings—apart from the casual-
ties of battle to which the military life is subject—
cannot be too generally known as incentives to the
public gendosity. Those sufferings are well pour-
trayed in the annexed description of
PA SSIPERN'S PROGRESS THROUGH ESTREMADURA.
During the harassing marches of Hill's division in the
desolate Estremadura, his (Cameron's) native hardihood
never flinched, though the miseries endured by the troops
were excessive in that naked district, where they were
constantly in arrears of pay, bivouacking without tents or
fire, or cantoned in roofless and ruined towns, marching
day and night in the wet and chill of winter, or the heat
of the summer solano, when the white dust blew down
the mountain passes, and the air became thick with flies;
when the soil of the vast plains cracked and rent ; when
the perspiration rose in hazy steam above the marching
columns ; when comrades fought like tigers around the
wayside wells and casual pools, to fill their canteens at the
puddle through which, perhaps, the advanced guard had
passed an hour before ; when years of hardship, danger,
starvation, and rags, were to be endured, Fassifern never
had a day's illness, or absence from parole ; nor did his
hardy Gordon Highlanders ever lose a man, save upon
two occasions—(of course this means by desertion or
straggling ; for between the 17th of August, 1799, and
the 18th of June, 1815, the regiment, we are told in the
same memoir, lost in killed and wounded, 117 officers and
1634 men.) These two exceptions were Lieutenants
Marshall and Hill, two fine young officers • the first of
whom died in a wretched bullock car—died 'of sheer s tar
vation, just as he was being conveyed into Badajoz ;and-
the second, unable to keep up with his men, perished of
the same awful death among the mountains, between
Talavera and Toledo.
Surely the wives and children of men who volun-
tarily face such horrors in addition to the perils of
the battle field, have a large and urgent claim
upon their country's sympathy.
Among other admirable papers contained in the
number is an eloquent and just tribute to the
memory of Professor Wilson ; as also a sensible
paper on the Eastern question, in which. latter
occurs the following piece of excellent
__
prac-
tical advice : " Temporary possession should
instantly be taken of Petropanlovski, in Kam
schatka, so as to cut. off the retreat of any
Russian frigates in the Pacific that may have cap-
tured any of our gold ships, or done other damage
to our commerce."

Blackwood' s Magazine. Edinburgh : Blackwood.
The number for this month opens with a tem-
perately written essay on the Oxford University
Reform Bill, but as the writer observes " that
acre is an apathy in the public mind upon this

great question which has reacted upon its repre-
sentatives," we fear that attention will not be
revived by any re-discussion of it. As a political
speculation, it has been a failure, and for any other
purpose the amount of good it will effect will be
bid small. An article on " Ancient and Modern
Fortresses" will be interesting to more than the
lovers of antiquities, the writer showing that
poetry and romance owe more than half their
charms to the ancient castle, with its symmetrical
external strength, and the gloomy mysteries of its
interior. Sir Walter Scott would have been shorn
of half his glories without his castles, and even
Shakspere would have failed in Macbeth had he
adhered to the historical truth of wicker or turf
huts, instead of mysterious Norman castles, which
did not exist until centuries after Macbeth's day.
A notice of " Firmilian : a Tragedy," by T. Percy
Jones, justly exposes that spasmodic style of out-
rageous fierceness which some modern critics mis-
take for fine writing. The pleasant story of " The
Quiet Heart" is here brought to- a conclusion.
With all its Scotticisms, it possesses a claim not
easily definable, in leaving much to the imagina-
tion, without rendering the author's description in
any way obscure. Recent events have rendered
the study of geography one of no ordinary interest,
and here the student may be oTatified in fair mea-
sure and variety. "London ''to West Prussia" is
descriptive of the manners and customs of a people
with whom the progress of the war is likely to
bring us more acquainted ; " The Progress and
Policy of Russia in Central Asia" furnishes a
theme for discourse which is daily increasing in
interest ; and "The National Life of China" affords
some information on a singular people, who, long
shut up in exclusiveness, are rapidly coming out
into the world around them.

The Beard ! Why do we cut it off? An Analysis
of the Controversy concerning it, and an
Outline of its History. By David. London.
Bosworth.
A long title this for so short a pamphlet ! And
yet it professes no more than it fulfils ; for, in a style
lively and racy, the whole subject is brought for-
ward, and reason with the argument. John Bull
has been, it is said, rather too .long " bare-faced ;"
and the author of this treatise urges him to return
to the wise uses of his ancestry, and, stroking his
chin, " swear by his beard."
" The case," says David, " stands thus. It is
ordained, among the laws of nature, that hair shall
grow upon the chin and upper lip of man,—at
least, throughout the European race ; but English-
men, for the last hundred and fifty years, have
declared that this hair is a disfigurement and a
nuisance—that nature made a mistake in putting
it there, and that they will diligently cut it off."
Fashion says we all must shave. But " the domain
of fashion is confined to that marginal region—that
frontier land—where the great laws of nature are
vague and indistinct. Here let her rule unchal-
lenged. But wherever nature's voice is clearly
heard—wherever her intention is evident—there
the laws of fashion have no force—they are super-
seded by the fiat of a superior power. * * * No
law of hers was ever more distinctly uttered than
that which ordains that hair shall grow upon the
lips of man ; and when fashion presumes to con-
travene that law, and to require of man that he
shall engage in a laborious contest with nature,
ending only when the coffin-lid is nailed over his
shaven face, she is beyond her sphere, and has no
authority on which to claim obedience."
Passing over the argumentum ad judicium, we
come to a sort of argumentum ad hominem, in
which there is wholesome truth : " The delicate
and complicated mechanism of the throat can have
no surer protection than the beard, and if man will
cut this off, no artificial envelopes of silk, linen, or
wool, shall preserve him from cough, stiff-neck,
sore-throat, and miserable hoarseness, without at
the same time destroying all free movement of the
head. Let the beard grow, and any other covering
which is required may be of the simplest and most
comfortable kind."
" The beneficial action of the moustache as a
natural respirator, in all the changes of this varia-
ble climate, has been practically proved by num-
bers of persons who have adopted it, and may easily
be imagined by those who have not. Who shall
say how much of that English and American
plague—consumption—which is still rather on the
increase than otherwise, has been originated, in the
male sex at all events, by our shaven chins ?"
The author closes the " controversy concerning
it," with these words :
" Englishmen have waged this war with nature
for a century and a half, but they have not gained,
in all those years, an inch of ground. Nature still
utters her protest unceasingly, though in silence,
and will utter it to the end of time. The beard
still grows as vigorously as it did five generations
back, in spite of all our efforts to extirpate it. And
the very fact that it grows only the more vigorously
after the application of the razor, should be to us
convincing proof that nature rebels against this
nudity, and strives earnestly to restore the true
order of things which our folly has disturbed, Is
it not time to cease this unreasonable warfare ?
Let us frankly acknowledge ourselves wrong, and
return to the true paths of dignity and wisdom.
Nature is magnanimous and kind. She will not
upbraid us for our folly, nor jeer at us for our ine-
vitable failure in the strife. She will gladly wel-
come back the prodigals, and will not grudge her
choicest robes to clothe their nakedness."
We have not space to enter into the historical
portion of this pamphlet, but let us refer to the
epoch of Queen Bess. " This was the golden age
of the beard. It was now cultivated in what may
be called the decorated style.' It was worn in
every variety of shape and size—round, pointed,
swallow-tailed, curled, and twisted. Fashion let
go the reins, and every new-fledged fop aspired to
handle them. The absurdities acted with the beard
in this reign were only surpassed by the still more
monstrous follies practised upon the hair of the
head two centuries later, when a lady's head-dress
was made-up' for a fortnight of tow, powder, and
pomatum, adorned with ribbons, flowers, and
coloured beads, and stood three feet high ! Pride
goeth before a fall ;' and when either art or fashion
run into extravagance, a speed revolution, probably
of the opposite extreme, may be pretty safely
- II

predicted.

Russia and the Russians; comprising an Account
of the Czar Nicholas and the Souse of Romanoff.
By J. W. Cole. London : Richard Bentley.
When the nature of our present and prospective
relations with Russia are considered, it will be
readily apparent that at no previous period had we
ever such active incitements to acquire a real and
practical knowledge of the condition and resources I
of that empire, as now. On the outbreak of a
serious war, every light which can be thrown upon
the capabilities—upon the strength and the weak-
ness of our antagonist, should be made carefully
and dispassionatly available. Of the ultimate
issue of this struggle there seems little reason to
form a doubt. The spirit, the intelligence, and
the resources of civilisation, must, and will, pre-
vail in the contest with barbarism and ignorance;
but whether that contest shall be of long or short
duration whether it shall end in an empty
triumph, or be productive of lasting benefit to the
civilised world, depends greatly on the mode in
which it is begun, and the direction in which it is
prosecuted, and on the adequacy of the resources
applied to effect the objects in contemplation. The
greatest military authority of modern times has
assured us, in emphatic terms, that we cannot, if
we would, have a " little war ;" that war, if begun,
to be successful in its result, and economical in its
management, must be conducted on a scale of
magnitude and with an amount of energy in every
way equal to the arduousness of the conflict, and
the extent of the interests impending. It is clear
to all that, to provide in such a style, it is not less
desirable to possess a thorough knowledge of the
means and resources of our antagonist, than to be
familiar with our own. Such knowledge is indis-
pensable to the proper direction of our own efforts,
and every means of communicating it is peculiarly
valuable at the present moment. The work before
us is written by a veteran officer of the 21st
Fusiliers, and contains interesting speculations on '
the military strength of Russia, and the degree of
readiness with which that strength can be made
available. Before commencing his military survey,
our author casts a keen and scrutinising glance
over the political position of the Russian empire,
and stronlly condemning the unscrupulous dupli-
, city of its policy, with equal judgmentanad dangerearnest-
nessnd
he inculcates the impropriety
of
listening to any terms of compromise, or to any
arrangement of the present quarrel, without full
indemnity for the past, and the most ample
security for the future.
The military resources of Russia are estimated
by our author with a readiness of professional skill,
and a matter-of-fact precision, which lead him,
by comparison of their respective means, to conclude
that either of the two powers, England or France,
is, single-handed, fully a match for Russia, with
the rest of Europe neutral. In estimating the
boasted military preparations and resources of
Russia, Mr. Cole depends partly on actual know.

ledge of the circumstances, and partly on a com-
parison of their pretensions with their performances
during the great French war. He dwells, also,
on the advantage possessed by the allied powers in
being able to select their own field of operations.