The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1875-01-25

The large cap title leads one 10 suppose that the
bulk OF the volume Is devoted the SUBJECT which
Is given such prominence, but in this case at least
the suppostlon Is incorrect. The "Three Devils"
Is only one OF the several essays and occupies less
than sixty pages In a volume OF about 800. How.
! ever, the age demands an attractive and striking
title page to insure the attention OF the public.
The reader might receive the impression from
| what we have said that the volume Is an ad cap.
! tanduno effort, but IN tnls he would be mistaken
| 1t Is carefully written by man VINO Is evidently
studious critical and thoughtful, and who mas won
the right to speak and to be heard by a thorough
knowledge Of his subjects. The five essays, be-
sides the one which I've have already emphasized,
are entitled, Shakespeare ana Goethe" ''Ml.
toms YOUTH dryden and the Literature Of the
Restoration" "Dean Swift" which on many &C
counts is the most attractive, and "How Lttera-
ture May Illustrate History"
We nave been specially interested however, in
the first essay, which evidences both the general
style OF the writer. his peculiar intellectual
and his scholarship. Indeed. every one is inter-
ested in any biography OF the devil, from what.
ever source 1t comes. 1t Is q theme with which we
ali have some personal acquaintance, and we take
morbid pleasure IN finding out whether any
one else's knowledge Is more intimate than our
own That such being exists. either in mna-
ture or IN colossal bulk no man feels inclined to
deny. he Is at least a very convenient parsonage
upon whom TO throw the blame or the apparent
evils wnich beset our daily path.
The devil Ol Milton Is a literary production. In
the beginning tile great rebel stood on equality
with Raphael, Gabriel and Micnael. ale mad ac-
cuslomed many Of the angels to mis- mode OF think
Ing. One OF tine ways III which he gratlied his
moral and intellectual innuence over the inferior
angels. HIS CHIEF assOcate-aimOst his boon COM
| panoh-had been Beezebub, a princey angel.
Molocn, Belial aud Mammon mad likewise been ad-
mltted to his confidence. These tive had consti-
! tuted a sort OF clique In heaven"
MiltOn's devil was colossus, and withal. though
| boundlessy ambitious, very gentlemaniy and
courteous spirit. on more than one occasion he
/ hp u,ras
! with ana overc0mes. When he stands on the
fragrant sod Of Eden he for the first time STRIKES
out the idea oil existing Olever alter as the DEVIL"
Wherever ne goes, Whatever he does. he IS iol-
lowed by the regretful remembrance OF his former
seem to be bad all through. Glimpses OF possible
repentanee are seen, ana one Is led TO hope that
tue place from when he was driven.
Goethe's Mepnlstopheles is figure In drama.
| When you read Paradise Lost' you feel that
Satan Is growing worse all The time, that he Is
over the past ana preparing himself u work of
unmtlQated evil. Goethe's Mephlstopneles Is NIL
and Goethe simply continues the biography OF
! Satan whicn Milton began but left unfinished
ness of screening SAND all mat was lett OF the
arcnangel mas long since evaporated. He is now
ARK e1ng p sons sp Is
| enters Auerbachs wine cellar and introduces him.
self 10 the Jour drinking companions 1t Is TO set
! the poor brutes fighting and make them cut or
| each others noses" II he spends few minutes
! in talk with Martina 1T Is to make The SILLY Old
woman expose her folbcs In u word, GOethe's
devil IS the devil o! Milton after few thousand
! years. practice.
! Lutner's devil was not q part OF literature, but
part OF lie. He believed in nlm with all his might
ana main. TO Luther the devil no chimera,
! no mere orthodoxy; but stern and terrible TACT,
at whose head when he 1t materiazed on
acertan occasion, Il was his delight to throw
| his Inkstand. This being was Luthcr's personal
| enemy, who could stand any amoant of plain talG,
but VINO always lett wnen his interlocutor In
! dulged IN joke. That, II seems, he could not
I
him. Luther said -'Dcvlf, II, as you say, Christs
blood, when was shed or my sins, be not sum.
Client to insure my salvation, can't you pray Tor
me yourself. devil ~ and at this His Majesty. as
though s sea reply, incoatnentiy hed Alto
welcome guest at the hresde OF many student.
HISTORY OF THE LIFEDoAT, and its work, By
Richard Lewis. London: Macmillan & Co.
Our leasure in reading this fascinating volume
would have been unalloyed but for one tact, the
necessity of constantly using a dull penknlfe to
cut the leaves withal. When publishers learn TO
have selt-saoriflce enough to incur slight extra
expense in order to certain forciDe adJec.
tives which e1 plode on the lips Of the impatient
reader when he is compelled TO stop and separate
the leaves the millennium of bookmaking viii be
reached. good history OF the iieboat has long
been needed, and Macmillan & Co. have done the
general public service in producing this hand
somely illustrated volume, and Mr.. Richard Lewis,
OF the Inner Temple has dipped his quill in very
charming ink, and with the Inspiration OF literary
enthusiasm produced more than 200 pages OF IN
formation which reads like novel. His motto,
Peace hath her victories
Nolcss renowned than war,
is peculiarly appropriate and brings before US the
startling contrast between those national quar-.
rels which ultimate In graves and that grateful
philanthropy which robs the grave OF its victims
at the very moment when 1t Is prepared to fill
them.
Previous to 1854 the National Ltfeboat Institu.
ton increasingly expressed It's conviction OF the
utter inadequacy OF all existing means for afford.
ing succor to the shipwrecked. since that time,
however, the government has offered ample aid to
those engaged III this noble enterprise, and has
given money and sympathy enough to put the in
stitution on sound basis: 1t is pretty difficult to
determine who was the first builder or q liiebcat.
Mr.. Henry Greathedd has the credit OF doing 1t.
but ne must at least share the glory with Mr.
17s5-designed and lifted a boat Ior saving lie
when he called an unlmInergble boat. The then
Prince OF Wales sr aIterward George W. knew
offering to pay the whole expense OF MS expert
ments s ,sn as late as 1892 there were only
little interested were the general public
the institution was only about $1,000 In 1856
Hamilton Fitzgerald Royal Nav, lett it the muni-
application. From that time to the present the
institution has commended itself TO the financial
i
nearly $50 boats, and has been the means OF saving
upwards OF %, 900 lives IRON shpwrecKs. This ls
noble record, and speaks we'll for the generosity
OF the English nation towards Its rough and
weatner.beaten tars. 1t does one good TO look at
the map Of England and zee that every dangerous
point from the Sicily Islands to the GOODWIN
Sands on the south Is dotted with the red marx
which shows that lifeboat Is there while AL
alor. the shore, north and south, the same marks
give evidence OF the pity OF great people. But
what language. save that which describes actual
events, can give an adequate idea OF the priceless
valde OF those little craft which swim In any sea
ana are the good Samartans that rescue the
hopeless from watery grave? Let us take from
the volume an account OF noble service per.
formed by the Cullercoats (Northumberland)
llebUat:-
ION a New Years morning. some years since, a
severe tempest was experienced on our northeast
coast, anu soon alter daybreak the coast puard
men on the lookout at the Spanish battery TYNE
mouth, saw a vessel deeply laden, with i nag OF
distress dying. Sne was struggling 10 get to the