Meton objected.

"I feel certain to have seen women,' said he, "possessed by the male demons, some good and some evil."

But Diotima would not suffer him to proceed.

"I restrict you," said she, "to the finishing of this story, for it is broad morning, and I hear banqueters going home from the ward feast."

Just at this moment there was a noise of voices in the street, some singing, oth

ers shouting, as if intoxicated; and while we listened, some began to beat at the gate; and presently it was opened and a number of young men with garlands on their heads, came into the court calling for Diotima. She immediately rose, and going to the door, they saluted her and threw their garlands at her feet, and presented gifts of wine and other delicacies; and one threw a rich robe over her shoulders, and kneeling down kissed her hand as if she had been a princess. She received their gifts, and having dismissed them courteously, returned to the banquet room, where her guests were waiting in some wonder as to the result. When they saw her returning with the purple robe upon her shoulders, having the air of a princess, they were struck with astonishment. But she only dismissed them, after appointing another day to finish her story, and bidding Cymon attend her in another apartment, Then having saluted her, they left the house.

THE establishment of a people in the enjoyment of liberty and competency is allowed by all writers to be the noblest work in which a man of great spirit can be engaged; but as the opportunity of composing constitutions and building up institutions of freedom is rare, and happens only once in a century or more, it well becomes the ambitious spirits of those ages which offer none of these fortunate occasions to look about them, lest, for mere want of occupation, they fall into contempt, and play the miserable part of eulogists, and defenders of antiquated systems. Their only chance for distinction lies in being the first to pull down what their fathers established. Military conquerors of the despotic order have rare opportunities of immortalizing themselves in this fashion.

The arts which they pursue are well known, and have not yet gone out of use. But of that order of conquerors who busy themselves chiefly about the foundations of their own States, the world is not half so well informed; not because their work is any less difficult and praiseworthy than that of the warlike order, but that it requires a subtlety and refinement of genius which historians either do not always appreciate, or will not be at the pains to set before the world in a proper light.

A great politician, lately retired from office, and who employs the leisure of his old age in reading, and meditation upon his own experience, proposes to write a volume for the use of statesmen, and for politicians, by which he shall guide them to a more systematic and effectual de

struction of their institutions, than they ever could accomplish under the merely natural impulse of ambition and the love of change.

We happen to be very intimate with the designer of this treatise, which its author means to entitle "The New Machiavel; or a Treatise on the Art of Destroying a Nation from within." The first part will be a profound essay on the nature and uses of Opinion, and of the various arts of creating it. Of this portion a friend quite competent to the task, has promised us a popular review. The author evidently regards it as the most important portion of his work, for at the very page we find this sentence, "The Constitution and Laws of a people rest upon three columns: these are, Prejudice, Interest and Opinion." It is unnecessary to remind the reader that whatever rests upon three legs, if one be knocked away, will fall to the ground. Our author believes that the Prejudices of a people, which are quite distinct from their speculative Opinions, are a main support of their government, and he proposes to devote a separate treatise to the art of undermining inherited prejudices.

The third part is of the Interests of a Nation-in what they consist, and how they are most judiciously and easily brought to the ground. As the practical experience of our author lies chiefly in that field, he having been the cause of undermining and annihilating larger and more valuable Interests, than have ever before been ruined by any private adventurer, without detriment to himself, may be regarded as perfectly good authority upon this topic at least.

One principal defect, however, has been noticed by the judicious who have seen these treatises, and that is that the venerable writer, while he tells us how to bring down the edifice of state in a tasteful and magnificent style, so as to make a very fine ruin of it, neglects to show us how to "stand from under;" and while we read "of trains and plots and machinations dire," our enthusiasm is checked by the reflection that some of these grand engineers might possibly be hoist with their own petards, or buried under a falling column. These, it may be, are but the reflections of nervous and over-fearful persons. To give some faint idea of the work, we subjoin a few extracts from the plan.

"To destroy the interests of a nation the most effectual methods are obviously those which will sink the largest amount of labor and capital, or which will turn the labor and capital of the people into the least productive channels. This cannot be done immediately, or in one generation, and the most that we of this time can do is to begin the work.

"Having by a judicious working upon opinion, induced the people to elect an Executive sufficiently ignorant, obstinate, and ambitous, you have then to provide a suitable cabinet for guiding and instigating. You are to keep all real information out of reach and hearing of your Executive, and fill his ear with continual flatteries, so that his opinion of his own judgment, where it is necessary that he have any, be swelled to the largest. He will then be in a good condition to use, for carrying out your grand scheme..

"Having now got your Executive ready, and in good order for the work, you must begin by setting him against something, with which he shall be heartily angry. Anger and pride together, will make him persevere. This may be either some great public institution, as a legislative body, a moneyed corporation, a college, a church, or a neighboring State. If you can engage him in a little war,' be content: little wars always continue long, and cost more in the end than great wars, which agrees with your main design.

"It may be shown that wars of conquest are the best in the world for your purposes: for

"1. They are the greatest destroyers of property, by sinking productive capital in the maintenance of unproductive bodies of men, armies, navies, office-holders, and the vast crowd of idlers that live upon their means while waiting for offices; which is a great consideration.

"2. By a national debt, increasing the number of speculators, stock-jobbers, and the like.

"3. By the sudden augmentation of the army and navy, a vast number of laborers, mechanics, dealers and contractors, previously engaged in commercial or other economical pursuits for the increase of national wealth, are now engaged in the production of a surplus, which is to be consumed without render or profit to the nation.

"The surplus capital of the nation, which would otherwise have been used for the cultivation of farms, the building of cities, the establishment of manufactories, and the opening of new channels of internal and external commerce, is now directed upon the production of clothes, food, munitions of war, forts, navies, &c., which, instead of being a profitable investment for the surplus of the national wealth, are in fact a perpetual sink and drain, swallowing up in taxes for their after maintenance and support, those earnings of poor men, which would otherwise have just lifted them a little above poverty.

"This last effect is of the greatest importance to your scheme. We know very well, and you must not fail to persuade the people, that a war stimulates the industry of a nation, gives employment to a vast number of persons, and employs a great amount of capital. It is not this first effect, however, but the secondary consequences of war, which should occupy your attention-namely, that all this industry and wealth is employed, so to speak, in digging a pit to throw in the people's money.

"Having got your war well agoing, and the public debts running mountain high, you will now observe a three-fold effect on the nation: first, a general stagnation of business, following on the close of the war; secondly, a large increase of crime and poverty, through the return of myriads of adventurers; lastly, but which will appear more slowly, the enlargement of the class of paupers, and the depression

of the working classes generally, through the necessary effects of taxation.

"If the nation enjoyed a free trade before the war, you will now find it necessary to raise your tariffs as high as possible; an operation which will injure some nations and benefit others; but by a skillful adjustment of duties you may succeed in killing off some valuable manufactures and stimulating others that will be of little or no value. Your main reliance, however, will be on taxation. The debt having been incurred, it must be paid; but you will bend all your efforts toward increasing the number of the poor, who are always your very dear friends; and what good man is there that does not wish to increase the number of his friends? To this end you will begin by taxing the necessaries of life, food, fuel, clothes, &c., taking care to persuade the people that the loss will fall upon the traders and producers, who will take good care on their part to sustain little or none of it. The man who saved forty dollars a year will now save but twenty, and he who enjoyed twenty will have nothing to spare; he who lived decently and saved nothing will now live meanly and have nothing, and those who lived meanly and laid up no earnings, will fall into poverty, debt and dependence. Thus by your vast army and navy you have not only conquered the enemy and earned a great name for yourself, but you have conquered and subjected a vast body of refractory citizens, poor people, who will not fail to swell the ranks of the Reform party, which is always yours."

THE late financial crisis has been the subject of long debate in the British Parliament. The matter was brought forward by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the 30th Nov., and committees of investigation have been appointed by both Houses. From the debate it appears the ministers are of opinion that, although the pressure may have been ultimately aggravated by the Currency Act of 1844, yet its real cause was an unprecedented drain on the available capital of the country, partly for the purchase of corn and partly for permanent investment in railroads, which began in the summer of 1846, and acting on an unduly extended state of credit, brought on the revulsion. In 1837 there was a season of great commercial depression, which destroyed the houses whose credit was too much extended. In 1839 occurred a severe drain of gold for purchases of corn, but trade being in a healthy state the commerce of the country was not very materially affected. In October, 1847, the circulation in the hands of the public, including bank post bills, was £19,577,000, being £3,000,000 more than at the same period in 1839; and the private securities lodged with the bank were £21,260,000, also showing an increase of £8,000,000 above Oct., 1839; from which it appears that the pressure was not from the mere want of notes or bank accommodation. In the summer of 1846, the Bank of England had on hand a very large amount of bullion and a large reserved fund; and they, in consequence, reduced the rate of interest to three per cent. There was also at that time an accumulation of deposits of railroad money in the hands of the London bankers, which enabled them to afford facilities to commerce, and made the money market easy. At that time there existed an unlimited expansion of credit. The harvest of 1846 failed and the potato crop also, which caused a great drain of gold from the country for the purchase of corn; and in this period the increased demand of capital for railroads had begun to take place; and the consumption of manufactured articles diminished, in consequence of the high price of food. In January the Bank raised the rate of interest, first to 3, and afterwards to 4 per cent. The drain of capital for railroads and food increased; and the rate of interest in the money market (not at the Bank) became higher. One of the most important railroad companies announced they were prepared to pay 5 per cent. for money on loan; the Bank fixed the same rate of discount, and

then came the panic. The Bank is severely blamed for having imprudently parted with their gold, and having afterwards too suddenly restricted their discounts, by which latter operation a great state of alarm was created. On the 30th July the notes in circulation amounted to £18,892,000; on the 5th August the Bank raised the rate of discount to 5 per cent., and about that time the great commercial failures began; but these failures, with few exceptions, were then confined to houses in the corn trade. Between May and September the price of corn had fallen no less than 50 per cent.; the average price in May being 102s. per quarter, and in September about 48s. The cost of corn imported, from June, 1846, to Jan., 1847, was £5,139,000; from January to July, 1847, £14,184,000; and the amount from July to October, 1847, was as great as that of the preceding six months, viz., £14,240,000; making altogether an aggregate of about £33,000,000. This was the cost of imports and freight, exclusive of profits made in Great Britain. The demand of capital for railways increased in a like manner. The amount expended on railways in 1841, 1842 and 1843, was about £4,500,000 per annum. In 1844 it rose to £6,000,000, and in 1845 to £14,000,000; in the first half year of 1846 to £9,800,000, and in the last half year of 1846 to £20,600,000; in the first half year of 1847 to £25,755,000; and, if the works had proceeded at the same ratio, they would have required in the last half year of 1847 no less than £38,000,000. ducting from this about 5 per cent., for Parliamentary expenses and land, which was not a sinking capital, the sum expended on railways would amount altogether to between £80,000,000 and £90,000,000. The large abstraction thus caused from the capital formerly at the disposal of ordinary commercial enterprise, and the amount also converted into fixed capital, were the leading causes of the pressure.

De

Want of confidence in the public mind, also caused a large hoarding of gold and notes, which were thus withdrawn from circulation. Two of the great discount houses in London stopped payment, the others feared to act in such a state of affairs; and thus the discounting business of the country was, in a great measure, thrown upon the Bank of England. "At this time," (October,) says the Chancellor of the Exchequer, "the Government saw parties of all descriptions, who said to us, 'We do not want notes; we only want you to

give us confidence.' We asked, 'What will give you confidence?' They replied, 'If we only know that we can get notes, that will be enough. We do not want the notes. You can charge any rate of interest you please. Charge 10 or 12 per cent.; we do not mean to take the notes, we only want to know that we can have them.' Under these circumstances the Government, on the 25th October, gave the recommendation to the Bank of England referred to in our number of December last, when large amounts which had been kept in the hands of capitalists were again deposited with the London bankers, the amounts drawn from the Bank of England were very materially lessened, and public confidence restored.

On the 29th November, a bill for the suppression of crime in Ireland was introduced into the House of Commons by Sir George Grey, who stated that, so far from the disturbances being general throughout Ireland, in the greater part of that country crime has diminished, and life and property are as safe as in any other portion of the kingdom; and that the crimes against which the bill is directed are held in detestation and abhorrence by far the greater portion of that country. The bill is of a mild character, and had the support of a great portion of the Irish members; it passed a first reading with a majority of 206, only 18 votes being given against it, and on the 13th of December it finally passed the House of Commons by a vote of 173 to 14. A motion for repeal of the union was brought forward by Mr. Feargus O'Connor, on the 7th December, which was negatived by a vote of 255 to 23. Bills have also been introduced for removal of all Roman Catholic and Jewish disabilities, which are expected to pass the Commons; but the passage of the latter through the House of Lords is doubtful. About the 6th of December the coast of Great Britain was visited with terrific gales, and the destruction of shipping and boats has been most extensive. An American ship, the "Robert G. Shaw," was burned to the water's edge, off Weymouth, having been struck by lightning, December 6th. The present suspension of Sir Robert Peel's act for the amendment of the Corn Laws expires on the 1st March next. The President of the Board of Trade, in reply to an inquiry on the subject, stated that it was not the intention of the Government to propose a further suspension; in which case the import duties on wheat will be regulated by the following scale-When the average price for six successive weeks is under 48s. per quarter, the duty will be 10s. per quarter. At every advance of 1s. per qr. in price the duty will fall 1s., until the price reaches 53s., at which price, and upwards, the duty will be 4s. per quarter. The average price for the six weeks ending 11th December was 52s. per quarter, at which rate the duty would be 5s. Accounts to the 1st January,

state that commercial affairs have not improved to the extent which the increased facilities for discount might have been supposed to warrant. In the manufacturing districts there is more employment, more hands are employed, and the short time system is being curtailed; but the produce markets continue depressed. In sugar and cotton there is a decline, and the general consumption is much affected by the state of the public health. The fluctuations in the funds have been less considerable than for a long time previously. On the 1st January consols for the account were 853. The Bank of England has replenished its coffers to the extent of £11,991,376, in both departments, and the position of that establishment is considered safe and satisfactory. The Bank rate of discount was 6 per cent. on the 18th Dec., and was reduced on the 23d to 5 per cent.

The influenza prevails very generally throughout Great Britain. The number of deaths has consequently increased to an immense extent. In the week ending November 20th the number in London was 1086; and in the three following weeks, 1677, 2454 and 2416 the latter showing an increase over the average of the same season in other years of 1370, or 130 per cent. Mr. Robert Liston, the celebrated surgeon, died at London, on the 7th December, from a disease of the throat. An account for the year ending 10th October last shows the income of the United Kingdom from taxes, &c., to be £52,579,501, 2s. 1d., and the expenditure to exceed that sum by £327,608, 8s.

The governments of France and England have been in communication, relative to the blockade, by the former, of the river Plata ; and on the 13th of November it was stated by Lord Palmerston that he had no doubt, on the arrival of instructions there, a speedy cessation of hostilities would take place. The grippe (influenza) is extremely prevalent in many parts of France 10,000 persons are said to be laid up with it at Lille; at Toulouse, 15,000 out of 55,000 are suffering from that malady; and at Marseilles half the population (of 160,000 souls,) are said to be confined to bed from the same cause. Precautions are being taken in France to prevent the introduction of the cholera. The reform banquets still continue, and are frequented by persons of distinguished character and station. Arrangements have been made by which, after the 1st of January, two mails will be daily dispatched between London and Paris-a day mail and a night mail from each capital. Specimens of cotton grown in Algeria have been sent by the Minister of Commerce to the principal manufacturing towns, with a view to ascertain its quality. The reports have been so favorable that the French government is likely to adopt measures to promote the growth of cotton in Algeria upon an extensive scale. Since 1830, Algeria has cost France half a million of soldiers.