The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1875-03-20
Magazine Notices.

Anr;l;s on interesting number. Among the
a.n,;os ve NAV note the following The Price
Of Her Folly. Illustrating the mischief which
cornas from the flirting of married ladies; La
DIV Romaines Dame de Campagnie; What was
Her Fate? showing the result of female will
fitness; Madge's Sacrifice,a very pretty story of
girlish generosity; 4 Terrible Wedding-Trp
An Old Sea Story, Her Letter, a we'll told sto-
nv in verse; Monsieur S'Amuse, a touching lit
tie love story, &c.
Among the more solid matter we may speci-
fy Englands Folly-America's Warning, in
which John Smith gives the history of the
English Resumption of Specie payments in
1928; Is Prayer any Use?" in which this i'm
portant question is considered by Henry Peter
son, in opposition to the views of certain lead
ing editors and Professor Tyndall; an interest
ing account of Socrates; Superstitons about
Sneezing, sc.
The April Atlantic is Of unusual interest,
some of the papers being worthy of special at
tention. Dr. o. W. Holmes furnishes an ar
ticle on Crime and Automatism, which is a
careful treatment of the psychological prob
lens of crminality. 1t is a summary OF the
opinions of Despine's Psychologist NdturetIe, re-
inforced by observations made and conclusions
drawn bv Dr. Holmes himself. 1t is he'd that
many of the worst criminals are not morally
responsible for their acts, being quite wanting
in the moral instincts. In treating this mat
ter we are governed the writer thinks, by in
stinct, law, and theology. Instinct urges to
hasty retaliation, law deals with expedienc,'
with relative justice, for of absolute justice it
knows nothing; theology insists en- treating
inf
All these ways of treatment DR.. Holmes OBJ
jects to. Of theology he says "Testng all
humanity in the scholastic vacuum left by
pumping out the whole moral atmosphere, il
sees two souls, one freighted with the burden
of fourscore guilty years, the other chargeable
only with the lishtest petulance of pulpy in
fancy, drop with the same swiftDess into the
abyss of boundless and endless retribution, just
as the feather and the guinea fall side by side
in an exhausted bell-glass aud reach the bot
tom at the same moment. Theological specu-
laton has thus climbed out of sight of the
facts of human nature, to find itself
sPinnacled dim in the intense inane,'
and the anthopologist of to-day must request it
to stand aside as the geologist of yesterday has
done with the old cosmOgonies;' and further
saws: "rhe subject of crime and the character
of the criminal must be studied calmly, ex
hanstively aud independently of all inherited
prejudices the idols of the market, of the bench
and of the pulpit must be treated as so many
stocks and stones by the naturalist who comes
to the study of man, as Huber gave himself to
the study of bees, or Agassiz to that of tor
toises. Savage instincts, barbarous usages,
ancient Beliefs will all find themselves con-
fronted with a new order of facts which mas
not been studied, and with new interpretations
of facts which have never been hazarded."
Another article of great interest is by Allan
B. Magr1der, and is chapter of the secret
history of the rebellion, telling of President
Lincoln's attitude toward the Virginia conven-
ton of 1861.
Mark Twain continues his "reminiscences of
a cub pilot, and has something very funny and
philosophical to say about chlls and fever. The
history of the inception of the John Brown
campaign comes to an end, and we are tod
who were in the secret of the expedition. The
instalment of Henry James's serial is devoted
to the bringing out of some weaknesses of his
hero's character. T. B. Aldrich contributes A
Midnight Fantasy, in which he imagines that
Hamlet wandered to Verona, met and married
and met and married Ophelia Rose Terry has
a good short story, The Thing Which Hath
Been Shall Be. George C. Waring contributes
an an entertaining sketch of cavalry cam
paigp. T. s. Perry tells us of William Blake
The number is strong in poetry. Mr.. Whittier
has The Two Angels "Pity and Love-" Mr..
Aldrich has tender little poem reproduced on
our fourth page. Other verses are by Edgar
Fawcett Mrs. Patt, J. M. Thompson, Helen
Bostwick and NJ. b. q.
One who seems TO know writes as follows
about Scribner for April: Miss Mary A. Hal
lock, whose designs in Scrbner's Monthly. and
accompanying Longfelew's last poem, The
Hanging of the Crane, have attracted SO much
attention, has a charming design, delicately
engraved by Marsh, on the first page of Serb
ner's for April. 1t illustrates The Proud Lady
of Stavoren a poem by Elizabeth Akers Allen.
Prof. Wells, who writes about German Par
laments, was himself victim of the famous
March Revolution, in the University of that
city. This pleasant paper has a historic as
well as personal interest. In the same num-
Der of the Monthly COL Waring gives us a
chatty and pleasant Farmers Vacation paper;
the subject being Hollow-land. 1 like, es-
sterdam. He seems to have been very favor
ably impressed by the clean and thrifty Dutch
people. In his next paper we are to have the
first detailed account, in English, of the tre-
mendous enterprise of draining HARLEM Lake.
The first of the illustrated series of papers on
American scenery is also given; Mr.. Edward
King writes enthusiastically about Baltimore,
which he styles The Liverpool of America.
Mr. Rideings article on Death-Dealing Trades
should be read by ybody-especially the
lawmakers There are three short tales a
remarkable sketch of life in the Northeast
ern woods, entitled Young MolPs Peevy, a
thoughtful and suggestive story; The Statue of
Life, by George p Lathrop; and Truls, the
Nameless, by the young Norwegian American,
Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen, now Professor at
Cornell. DIR. Hollands Story of Sevenoaks
gives us a glimpse of camplife in the woods,
and shows us Mr.. Belcher as confidential
friend and speculator; and Jules Verne's people
keep moving in their mysterious way. The
Shakespeare-Baco Controversy, by E. o.
Vale, gives an apparently fair and very read
able condensation of the arguments on both
sides of this vexed question, The Old Cabinet
by the way, taking up the question of Bacon's
pOeJry dbu putting III pea ioi ehO cioC anu
only Shakespeare" There are poems by Julia
G. R. Dorr, Harriet McEwen Kimball, DR..
Coan, Helen Barron Bostwick, and B. f. Tay-
lor-the latter pleasantly suggesting some
familiar pictures of country life under the title
of The Psalm Book in the Carrot.
DR.. Hollands Topics are Our Newspapers,
The Overcrowded Cities, and BY their Fruits.
The Editorial Departments are unusually full,
and the Etchlngs cover more ground than ever
before. We don't know, however, what the
Anneke JAMS people will say about certain
historical alluson to their illustriOus ancestor.
JoerStacys verses about Carniverous Plants
are quite up to date in their science.
st. Nicholas for April has for one of its prin
eipal features an article by Mr.. Joel Stacy, en-
titled John Spooner's Great Human Men,
agere. The manager of this wonderful
show-with generosity unusual among men
of his profession-lets us at once into the Sc
crets of the exhibition, and describes each
animal so infinitely that any half dozen boys
with enough ingenuity and pasteboard can
easily form similar collection for themselves.
Tho t,uo Sar;als Tha Vouno Survevor and