signed for war, must, according to the established precedent, be permitted to leave the British port. They can then go to some appointed rendezvous, be transferred to the Confederate officers, take on board their armament, and be ready to prey upon us. The position of the British Government is thus one of great embarrassment.- -It is reported that the Confederate Government, displeased at the cool reception which Mr. Mason has met with from the British Cabinet, have recalled him from his mission to England. resenting the sentiments of the people. They affirm | there shall be no evidence to show the duplicity of that the course of Governor Gamble is directly dis- the transaction. The vessels then, though evidentloyal, and that in organizing the militia of the Stately unsuited to individual purposes, and clearly dehe gives every possible countenance to disloyal men. They affirm also that General Schofield, the commanding General of the Department, acts wholly in accordance with the Governor; and declare that "from the day of his accession to the command of the Department matters have grown worse and worse in Missouri, till now they are in a more terrible condition than they have been at any time since the outbreak of the rebellion. This could not be if General Schofield had administered the affairs of that Department with proper vigor, and with a resolute purpose to sustain loyalty and suppress dis loyalty." They therefore ask that General Schofield be removed, and General Butler be appointed in his place; and also that the State militia, enrolled by the Governor, be discharged from service, and the military control of the State be restored to the national officers and troops.-On the 2d of October a public meeting was held at New York, at which speeches were made by various members of the Missouri Committee to the same general purport as their address to the President.-We are not yet in a position to pronounce absolutely how far the statements of this body are borne out by the actual facts of the case. The position of the French Emperor in regard to American affairs still remains wholly dubious. There are continual reports that he is upon the point not only of recognizing the Confederate States, but of entering into an armed alliance with them for the purpose of breaking our blockade. And as the French press is wholly under Government surveillance, these unofficial statements are not without plausibility. The Florida also has been permitted to enter the port of Brest, and remain there for repairs. The true explanation we presume to be, that the Emperor has not yet decided upon his course, and is simply waiting to see the issue of events. The Polish question presents no new aspects. Five Russian vessels of war are now lying in the Diplomatic correspondence between the various powharbor of New York, the first which have ever vis-ers is still carried on. The essential points being ited our ports. They have been received with a cordial greeting. On the 1st of October the officers were publicly welcomed by the authorities of the city. In the present position of European politics the presence of these vessels in our ports has a special significance. During the late Crimean war the Russian fleet was closely shut up at Cronstadt and in the Black Sea, and was unable to render any effective service. The Russians have now quite an effective naval force in the open seas. The experience of the Alabama and Florida shows how much damage may be effected by one or two armed vessels upon the commerce of an enemy. Should a war break out, as still seems most probable, between Russia and France and England, the example set by the English Government will afford a precedent for our dealings with the belligerents. The Russian vessels now at large, with such aid as we can give, in precise accordance with the course of the English Government toward us, could render the commerce of England insecure. EUROPE. that the Russian Emperor, while resolved to do all in his power for the pacification of Poland, refuses to recognize the right of the Western Powers to interfere in the internal affairs of the Empire. In the mean time the Russian Government is evidently making arrangements which look to the probability of a war. Iron-clad vessels with turrets, not unlike our Monitors, are building at St. Petersburg. These, as our experience has shown, would be amply sufficient to keep the Baltic clear of any naval force which could be employed in that sea by France and England; and there are reports of extensive military and naval preparations going on in the region of the Amoor. A few swift steamers in this quarter could embarrass, if not destroy, the great English commerce with China, India, and Australia. The report is confirmed that the Archduke Maximilian of Austria has finally decided to accept the Imperial crown of Mexico, renouncing his rights and prerogatives as the nearest collateral prince to the throne of Austria. If such a step is taken, it implies a positive assurance that all the great European Powers will recognize the new empire. JAPAN. In Great Britain the leading topic of the month has been the course to be pursued in regard to the armored vessels notoriously fitting out for the Con- The Japanese appear to have drifted into a war federate service. The Government and the press with the European Powers, in which we have also have at length begun to appreciate the danger to unfortunately become involved. As to the general Great Britain arising from the policy which has been causes, it is sufficient to say that the great Daimios, pursued toward us. If it is persisted in it is seen or hereditary princes, exercise in their own dominthat war is hardly to be avoided; and even should ions an authority not unlike that claimed by the there be no actual war with us, but one with any separate States of the Southern Confederacy. In other power, say Russia, we could, and would, do the General Government, whether represented by for Great Britain precisely what she has done for the Mikado or his administrator the Tycoon, they us. Consequently the British Government is en-recognize only an agent, for a specified purpose. deavoring to find some reason for reconsidering its They have from the first been bitterly opposed to course. It is announced, at least semi-officially, that the Government had decided not to allow the new rams to put to sea without ample satisfaction that they were not designed for the service of the Confederates. But it will be easy for the builders to ostensibly dispose of these vessels to a private individual of a neutral nation, in such a way that the treaties by which foreigners have gained access to the empire. Their armed retainers have at various times attacked members of the legations and other foreigners. Among others, a few months since, Mr. Richardson, a British subject, was assassinated. For this act reparation was demanded. The General Government agreed to pay nearly half a million of dollars; but coincident with the payment it was town of Simosak, a steamer, sloop of war, and bark, compelled by the Daimios to order that all foreign- under Japanese colors, were discovered. Fire was ers should leave the country, and the ports which opened upon these and upon the shore batteries. had been opened by treaty should be closed. Some The steamer attempted to get off, but two shells of these princes, acting apparently upon their own striking her passed through her boilers, explodauthority, proceeded still further in their hostility. ing them; the brig was sunk, the bark damaged, The initiative was taken by the Prince of Nagato, and serious injuries inflicted upon shore. During whose territory is situated on the southwest of the action the Wyoming was hit eleven times, Niphon, the main island of the Japanese empire. and sustained some damage, besides losing five From his batteries upon the shore and from ves- men killed and six wounded. Similar outrages sels he fired upon several ships of various nations had been about the same time perpetrated upon who were passing through the straits. Among Dutch and French merchantmen by the Prince of these was the American merchant steamer Pem- Nagato, and a French vessel was dispatched to chasbroke. The American steam sloop Wyoming, Cap- tise the perpetrators: this seems to have accomtain M'Dougal, then lying at Yokohama, near Yed-plished but little. Still further accounts state somedo, at once set out for the scene of the outrage, what indefinitely that the British had also underreaching it on the 13th of July. Approaching the taken offensive operations against the Japanese. Literary Notices. A Practical Grammar of the French Language, text-books for teaching the classics, there were and A French Reading Book, by WILLIAM I. none of any value for modern languages. There KNAPP. (Published by Harper and Brothers.) were "Systems" enough-Manesca, Ollendorff, and These two volumes supply a want of the present the like, but no really scientific work by following time. Modifications must be introduced into our which an American teacher could guide his pupils system of academical and college education. In in the study of French or German. Yet there is no this the study of Greek and Latin has heretofore reason why, as a mere intellectual exercise, apart been the leading feature. This system was orig- from the absolute value of the acquisition, the study inated at a time when the accumulated treasures of a living lauguage should be less available than of the world's wisdom were enshrined in the two that of a dead one. The necessary apparatus for "classical" languages. If one could not read these, such a study only has been wanting. The two he could find nothing worth reading. There was no volumes of Professor Knapp fully supply that want. history except that of Herodotus and Thucydides, The "Grammar" presents the laws and usages of of Livy and Tacitus; no philosophy except that of the French language, clearly expressed and philoAristotle; no metaphysics except that of Plato and sophically arranged. The "Reader" embodies a wide Lucretius; no eloquence except that of Demosthenes selection from the best French writers, with abundand Cicero; no poetry except that of Homer and ant references to the Grammar in elucidation of all Virgil; no drama except that of Eschylus, Sopho- difficult points of construction or idiom. Copious cles, and Euripides; no satire except that of Horace, vocabularies are appended to each work, accompanied Juvenal, and Aristophanes; no science except the by a figured pronunciation, which will enable the pure mathematics of Euclid; no novels at all. All student, without the aid of a teacher, to master very that the genius of the world had produced was em- nearly the actual vocalization of the language. In bodied in two or three score of volumes in two lan- every respect these two volumes are the best textguages. A man who had mastered these was edu- books for the study of French that have been procated; one who had not was ignorant. The struc-duced, falling in no respect below the highest standture of the languages which contained the treasures of the world became a matter of study, and the Greek and Latin grammar was treated profoundly, and its study grew to be the best-almost the sole means of intellectual training. Gradually, however, men ceased to think and write in Greek and Latin. Englishmen, Frenchmen, Germans, wrote in their own vernacular; and we may safely say that the literature and science contained in either of these languages exceeds in value that embodied in either of the classical tongues. Every one acknowledges that for all real uses the acquisition of French or German is, to one speaking English, of more value than that of Greek or Latin; yet in our academies and colleges the study of the dead languages has always taken precedence of that of the living ones. A reason for this may be found in the training of teach ard which has been attained in similar works upon the ancient languages. The student who shall have mastered these needs nothing further than a good lexicon to enable him to understand any work in the language. The First Year of the War, by EDWARD A. POLLARD. This work possesses some claims to attention as being the only formal attempt yet made to narrate the history of the war from a Southern point of view. The author is editor of the Richmond Examiner, the leading opposition journal of the South. His purpose is quite as much to decry President Davis and his Administration as to describe the events of the war. According to Mr. Pollard the President of the Confederate States is an imperious despot, "unfortunately possessed with the idea that he is a great military genius," who has seized upon every function of the State; his Cabinet, with but one exception, are "intellectual pigmies;" Mr. Benjamin, successively Attorney-General, Secretary of War, and Secretary of State, is at best only 66 a smart, expeditious, and affable official," who has been "guilty of doubtful official acts;" Mr. Mallory, the Secretary of the Navy, is "the butt of every naval officer for his ignorance, his sang froid, his slow | man physician, who is the assumed narrator of the and blundering manner, and the engrossment of his mind by provisions to provide gratification for his social habits." In short, the Government has been "eaten up by servility, and has illustrated nothing more than the imperious conceit of a single man." Mr. Pollard makes up for his censures of the Confederate Government by the most unsparing and virulent abuse of "the Yankees." As a work of history its merits are very slight, almost every page teeming with errors in fact; still it has some value as furnishing materials for the history of the times. It is republished in New York, from the Richmond edition, by Mr. C. B. Richardson, who also republishes the Southern Reports of Battles, as far as they have been officially published by the Confederate Government. These, of course, have a special value for the historian of the war. es. The Social Condition of the People of England, by JOSEPH KAY. Some fifteen years ago the author was commissioned by the University of Cambridge, England, to travel throughout Western Europe and examine into the social condition of the poorer classHis work, originally issued in 1850, consists of two volumes-one relating to England, the other to the Continent. The first of these is here republished, with an introduction by an American traveler, who declares, from minute personal examination, that the facts which it presents give a fair view of the present state of the poorer classes in England. Mr. Kay sums up by stating that in that country "the poor are more depressed, more pauperized, more numerous in proportion to the other classes, more irreligious, and very much worse educated than the poor of any other European nation, solely excepting Russia, Turkey, South Italy, Portugal, and Spain." He might, from the evidence which he produces, have made his exceptions still fewer. Indeed, except in the single point of education, the physical and moral condition of the four millions of American slaves is better than that of the same number who form the lower strata of the English population. It is well that such a work should have been written by an Englishman, an ardent lover of his country, and devoted to efforts for the amelioration of the evils which he describes. If it had been the work of a foreigner its statements and conclusions would have been set down as unfair. (Published by Harper and Brothers.) Shoulder-Straps, by HENRY MORFORD. (Published by T. B. Peterson, Philadelphia.) This pretends to be a story of the war, but it strikes the reader at the first glance over its pages that this is a false pretension. The tale, for the most part, is the development of a mystery connected with a sorcaress, with a love-story sandwiched in between the wonderful revelations of the black art. The part relating to the war is not only a secondary consideration, but one which is not satisfactorily in unison with the main part of the story. To make the volume still more miscellaneous there are interspersed, at convenient intervals, a number of dissertations on superstition and such like subjects of popular interest. On the whole the book is entertaining, in spite of its many faults, the chief of which are its entire lack of method and the appeal which it continually makes to the vulgarly superstitious. The Ring of Amasis, by ROBERT BULWER LYTTON. The author, under the nom de plume of "Owen Meredith," has won reputation as a poet; this volume, though not in verse, should be considered rather as a prose poem than as a tale. A young Ger story, meets with a certain Count and Countess, between whom he recognizes the existence of a strange secret. He encounters the Count Edmund in various places, and always under the influence of the hallucination that he is accompanied by a spectral apparition of a hand wearing an amethyst ring.— The doctor has written a volume on apparitions, which comes into the hands of the Count, who at length reveals the mystery of his life. While in Egypt he had discovered the mummied body of King Amasis, from whose hand he took an amethyst ring, to which he learns a secret power is attached. He gives this to his betrothed bride, who loses it, and vows to marry the man who restores it to her. This is done by a brother of Edmund, who is also attached to her. At length the two brothers are out in a boat. Felix falls overboard and, Edmund refusing to succor him, is drowned. Edmund marries the lady, but at the marriage ceremony, when he is about to present his hand, he sees its place taken by the hand of his dead brother, wearing the fatal ring. The Count'reveals the secret to his wife, who never forgives him. Hence their strange deportment to each other, which had at first excited the wonder of the physician. Upon this ghostly thread are strung disquisitions upon spectres and apparitions, which form really the substance of the volume, which is certainly the work of a poet and a man of genius. (Published by Harper and Brothers.) Peter Carradine, by CAROLINE CHESEBRO. The second title of this novel, The Martindale Pastoral, indicates its design and scope. The readers of this Magazine have not to learn that Miss Chesebro possesses genius of a high order. We think that there is no female writer in America, and not more than three in Great Britain, who equal her in the power of unfolding character; her figures grow under her hand, as those of a painter do under the careful touches of his pencil. That her novels have been mainly drawn from her own imagination, rather than from observation of the moving world around her, has doubtless prevented her from acquiring that popular approbation which has been given to others every way far below her in all higher qualities. In this work she has made a great advance upon any of her previous efforts. She has a story to tellinteresting, if not exciting to those who have been accustomed to the "thrilling" plots of so many recent tales. Her characters are here persons who might really have lived in this world, and the phases of their development are wrought out with the conscientious care of a genuine artist. Without attempting to give an analysis of the story and characters, we must content ourselves by saying that the cultivated reader will consider "Peter Carradine" the best American novel which has been written for years. (Published by Sheldon and Company.) A Class-Book of Chemistry, by EDWARD L. YOUMANS. No other science has within the last ten years made such positive advances as Chemistry. Nowhere can this advance be better measured than by comparing the present work with the previous one by the same author. That presented, in a moderate compass, the state of the science ten years ago; this represents it as it now is. To mention the absolutely new theories and facts embodied in this volume would far exceed the space at our command. The author possesses, in addition to the technical knowledge required to set down the bare isolated facts of science, the poetic faculty of con ceiving and presenting them in their relations to more than the charm of a novel. We stand face to The Sioux War and Massacre of 1862-'63, by ISAAC V. D. HEARD (Published by Harpers). This is a faithful history of the terrible massacres of 1862, of which merely an episode was given in the June number of this Magazine. The opportunities of the author-as a resident in Minnesota from a time previous to the occupation by the Sioux of their " reservations" on the Minnesota River, as connected with the command of General Sibley during the summer campaign against the savages, and as a member of the Military Commission at which about 400 of the perpetrators were tried-have enabled him to present a strictly authentic narrative. And of such a narrative, to say that it is authentic is to give it the highest commendation. In the recital of events at which the heart of man shudders-of murder inflicted upon unoffending men, upon helpless women and innocent children, of the burning of homes, and of outrage and rapine too deliberate to be believed, and too horrible almost to be told-in the recital of a calamity so terrible and so near at hand, no one will trouble himself about the rhetoric or criticise the turning of a sentence. The rhetorician finds little place for him here-for there is no need of invention or enlargement certainly in the particular incidents, nor is there any lack in the development of the plot which might furnish occasion for the most fastidious of romancers to meddle with it. The Sioux have settled those little matters themselves; they have seen to it that the plot was perfect and perfectly executed; nothing is left to Mr. Heard but to arrange his materials and tell us the straight story. This he has done, and satisfactorily. The more striking events of the story are soon told-the outbreak the series of startling and desolating murders the gathering together of the Indians of the Upper and Lower Agency for the consummation of their diabolical work-all this moves rapidly through the first bloody week. Then follows, but more sluggishly, the punishment-the conflict with the Indians, the pursuit, the capture, and the final execution of the principal malefactors. The author closes the book with some very sensible suggestions as to the future conduct of the Indian Department, with a view to securing justice to the Indians, and safety to the white settlers in the vicinity of the "reservations." In the Tropics (Published by Carleton). This is the most sensible, straightforward book on the subject of which it treats that we have ever noticed. The writer, shrinking from the poor prospect afforded him in the city goes to San Domingo, choosing a tropical soil in preference to the far West, as being quite as near, and more bountiful in its products. This volume, the record of the experiences of a single twelvemonth, is a simple story of the author's career in his new home, carried through its various stages of success. It is, however, told so faithfully, and the picture is so carefully finished, that it has Eleanor's Victory, by M. E. BRADDON. The author of "Aurora Floyd," as we have before had occasion to say, is a story-teller. She endeavors to produce her effects rather by narrating incidents than by depicting character. She chooses, therefore, such as are striking and exciting. In this novel we have the story of an old spendthrift, who, after the wreck of his fortunes, comes to Paris to take refuge with his daughter. Once having a good sum of money at hand, he is enticed away by two fast young men who induce him to gamble it all away; whereupon he commits suicide. His daughter resolves upon avenging the death of her father upon one of his tempters. How and in what degree she accomplishes this forms the plot of the story, which no novel-reader will thank us for divulging. It is quite sufficient to say that there is quite enough of plot and incident to satisfy the most exacting reader. This novel forms No. 236 of the "Library of Select Novels," published by Harper and Brothers.Martin Pole, by JOHN SAUNDERS, forms another Number of this popular series. It consists of a number of isolated stories, connected by a thread of narrative. The purport of this is, that, in order to divert the mind of a young man who believes that he is to die at a certain hour, some of his friends undertake to keep him amused until he tides over the fatal moment. This they do by reading to him sundry stories and poems which they have composed. These are of every sort, some of the most tragic nature, others of a more quiet character. The connecting story is very cleverly managed, and the tales themselves are of considerable though unequal merit.— Another recent addition to this same series, is Live it Down, by J. C. JEAFFRESON, whose former tale, "Olive Blake's Good Work," gave abundant promise, which is here more than fulfilled. The Young Parson. (Published by Smith, English, and Company.) This is represented to be the work of a gifted young clergyman, the author's first book. Whatever may be said for the devout reverence of the writer, it is certainly true that we have in this book an endless extravaganza of the ludicrous-a volume of facetiæ. This would not be expected from the nature of the subject, or from the profession of the author. Yet it is true that about subjects the most sacred the opportunities for waggish ridicule are the most numerous. The work is decidedly an entertaining one; but the entertainment is that of broad caricature. Very few of the situations are natural, and it is just their unnaturalness which makes us laugh. The Sunday-School, and how we Conduct it, by WALDO ABBOTT, will be welcomed by that large class of noble workers who are engaged in this great lay-missionary enterprise. They will find it especially valuable for the account which it gives of the practical methods employed in some of our largest and most successful Sunday-Schools. An Introduction, by Rev. JOHN S. C. ABBOTT, the father of the author, gives in the space of a few pages not a few admirable hints. (Published by Henry Hoyt.) WHAT Chair can be easy in times like these? sense, bas meant always a truce, an armistice. For instance, in this century Europe was at peace," as it was called, after the treaty of Vienna, which "settled" vexed questions. But that peace had exactly the same foundation that the previous state of things had, namely, fatigue of arms. The fatal debate continued, and after physical forces were recuperated broke out again into battle in France, in Belgium, in Italy, in Poland, and in Spain. In this country, after the Missouri settlement of 1820, we had what was pleasantly called an era of good feel The commotion which began upon this continent two years ago now disturbs the world. From Japan, from Russia, Poland, Germany, Spain, France, England, and Mexico come wars and rumors. Those of us who in tranquil youth read the tremendous story of battles that shook Christendom in the beginning of the century find ourselves part of a struggle still more momentous. It is gradually assuming the aspect of a contest between continents, the Eastern representing ancient wrong, despotism, and monarchy, with an alliance of the slave-ing. Was it the result of any real change of tendholding aristocracy upon this side of the sea, and the Western standing for eternal liberty, popular rights, and human equality. While all civilized countries tremble with the shock of the collision, how shall any Chair, however hitherto devoted to mild meditations and calm observation of the social details of life, hope to maintain its tranquillity? ency among the opponents? Had the inevitable forces ceased to work? Let the Boston mob that sought the life of Garrison in 1835, and Gilmore's bombardment of Charleston in 1863 answer. The final result of the universal contest is sure, and why? Because of the equally evident and inevitable tendency of human nature, as recorded in human history, to perfect liberty. The instinct of the human heart assures us that in the general strug has no attribute that can take sides for slavery. This is not a limited but a universal truth. It is no less true of religious and political than it is of social life. And it is as easy to imagine the reversal of civilization in general, as it is to suppose that the Romish Church of Gregory will again dominate the religion of Christendom, or that the feudal system shall rise from its tomb to universal sway, or that men and women shall be every where rated and sold as cattle. But There is but one way, and its indication shall be the Easy Chair's Thanksgiving discourse. It is by clearly seeing that in the nature of man the struggle, as Jefferson said of it in one special form, God gle is inevitable, that it must continue under various forms until it is finally determined, and that that final determination must be the victory of man over men, or of the many over the few-of right over privilege of democracy over aristocracy. Looking before and after, men are naturally mingled of conservatism and reform. The youth, wanting experience and flushed with enthusiasm, trails clouds of glory as he comes, and sees the Future all cloudcapped palaces and shining towers. The older man, tried, troubled, and disappointed by experience, Every new year, therefore, brings reason for yearns for the soft security of his childhood's cradle, thanksgiving. Individual men mature and lose and would gladly stop the sun lest he should go far- heart, and fall hopeless, faithless, and dead. ther, and wheel the world backward, rather than man sickens not nor tires. The race advances from tempt the unknown. So the ancient sailors hugged Athens, where more than four-fifths of the populathe shore and gazed fearfully beyond the Pillars of tion had no acknowledged rights, to New York and Hercules toward the vast vague sea. But the mar-New England, where, with the exception of one uniners of a newer day sailed into that sublime uncer- happy class whose wrongs convulse our society, tainty, and found half the world unknown before. equal rights are practically conceded and enjoyed. So every advance in science, every brave claim in We must not look, therefore, for any fairy peace, religion, has been sternly rebuked, excommunicated, nor suppose that we escape storms by shutting our exiled, and punished; but over the burning plow-eyes. Because we were born we are soldiers in the shares of hate and doubt and persecution the virgin holy war. Nature drafts the whole race, and there feet of hope and faith and experiment have pushed is no exemption. We were clad in butternut or in on, and all the fires of furious Conservatism have blue before we came upon the field; and by every never stayed the colossal heresy of human thought, thought, sympathy, emotion, hope, word, and deed, which is the primeval and immortal reformer. we fight upon our side until we are converted or conEven now, when the great debate is, as periodic-quered. Whoever deprecates the struggle, by that ally it always has been, adjourned from the church and the rostrum to the battle-field, there is no more significant sign than that the leader of Roman Catholic politics in Europe, Montalembert, declares not only for personal but for civil liberty, and not only for civil liberty but religious also. He apparently sees, as every faithful man must, that whatever can not withstand the searching glance of human rea-wards from himself will fall upon his children. son will shrink and dwindle at last like the Lamia before the Philosopher; and that the effort to stultify and defy that reason is but the struggle to believe the Lamia, who is a snake, to be a beautiful woman. The English excitement over Colenso, the French over Renan, are but evidence of the contest in its religious aspect, sharing the fervor which marks it in the political and social arena. very state of mind takes part in it. Whoever longs for peace is but a half-hearted fighter, and gives to the enemy the blow he should have struck. Among ourselves the force of arms will be presently exhausted as it always has been. But if the victor does not understand the battle, the peace he makes will be but another truce, and the blow he IMMEDIATELY about the Chair the air is full of rumors of foreign war; nor does any serious man doubt that the danger is grave and threatening. We have before in these columns deprecated war, especially with England. Yet the public mind of this country is so inflamed that it hardly seems possible to escape some pretext for trouble; and should the iron-clads now building in the Mersey sail, before these words are printed war will have really begun. In the last two years we have entirely outgrown |