game, Ay, "put up thy sword," an' hae dinne wi' yer Ye hae lost a' the stakes that ye played for, gae hame, & Co. 1865. When Janet Hamilton published the "Poems and Essays," she described herself as "an old woman of threescore and ten, whose only school-room was a shoemaker's hearth, and her only teacher a hard-working mother, who, while she plied the spinning-wheel, taught Ja-Leuk after yer farm, let yer neebars alane, net' to read the Bible;" the only education moth-Ye hae wark on yer han', or I'm muckle mista'en." er or daughter ever received. She adds, "I was never learned and never tried to write till I was fifty years of age, when I invented a sort of caliThis, however, was but the error of a good prejugraphy for my own use, to preserve my composi- diced old Scotch lady who could hardly be expecttions till I gave them off to be written by my hus-ed to believe otherwise than her neighbors lent her band or son." Of this 'caligraphy' a specimen is light. Nor is the untimeliness of such poetical given in the preface to this little book; rough- forecasts, in face of complete and decisive victory, a matter of very grave consequence to anybody. hewn hieroglyphics are the old lady's capitals (for Mrs. Hamilton's miscalculations are awkward for she writes in a sort of capitals) as were ever seen. The "Poems and Essays" excited great attention, were praised by the critics as not only remarkable specimens of what native force can achieve in defiance of difficulties, but as full of genuine beauties both of thought and expression, and have passed through two editions. Here is other fruit from the same old tree,-old, but still fresh and full of sap. The little volume is dedicated by the old lady, now approaching to the age of eighty years, to her "dear and dutiful son, James Hamilton,' " and contains many pieces of merit, some of striking merit, while it is full of spirit throughout. We prefer Mrs. Hamilton's Doric to her English: the latter is pleasing, but often too pretty and modish, with talk about Flora and other heathen deities with whom the old Scotch lady has contrived to get up an acquaintance; the former is often singularly racy and forcible, is at times also genuinely pathetic. The prose tales are very characteristic of the "good old times." Nothing, by the way, could well be more dreadful to poor children than the highest orthodox style of Sabbath-keeping, as here unflinchingly, but, as we think, not quite approvingly, set down. Mrs. Hamilton is quite a politician. Poland, and Garibaldi, and the American war, have two or three poems apiece given to them. Unhappily, like most of her country-people, Janet Hamilton, ignorant of the real political history and of the true condition of the States, and led away with the prevailing current of temper and prejudice, has allowed herself to indulge in bitter injustice to the North. This volume was published just as the Northern cause finally, and with astartling completeness, stood forth victorious. How much the good old lady must be edified, as, by the light of present facts, she reads what she so lately published! "Hae ye come to yer senses yet, Sammy, my man? No cool't doun yer fever and sober't yer brain? It 's nane of them a', it's a million o' graves. rags; Of the woll of your men nocht is left but their banes, An' the kintra is fu' o' their widows an' weans. her; but amount to nothing in any other respect. They can not but remind us, however, of what comes to light even while we write this notice. On Tuesday, June 6th, the Times published a long letter from its American correspondent, intended to show that in Texas Kirby Smith would be at the head of large forces, and "might make a desperate fight," so that "Texas might possibly bethat letter was written, Smith had surrendered come the nucleus of a new Confederacy." Before with all his army! We hope that Mrs. Hamiland that then all the effusions relating to Ameriton's volume may soon come to a second edition; can affairs will be left out. They do her, to say the truth, no credit, notwithstanding their spirit and energy; and they unhappily reflect the lamentable injustice to a great nation, in its great agony, fighting for the cause of liberty and right, which has brought so serious a blemish upon the reputation of this country.-London Quarterly. Henry Holbeach, Student in Life and Philosophy. A Narrative and a Discussion. Two vols. London: Alexander Strahan. This work will be rather puzzling to the critic who is resolved to label and docket it. The discussions pursued through and no brief notice can convey an adequate notion these pages are, de omnibus rebus et quibusdam aliis, of their purpose. The book professes to be the work of an editor who produces the papers and "controversial letters" of one Henry Holbeach. The anonymous author shifts the responsibility of his meditations to an obscure, crotchety, impudent, impracticable person, who feigns impossible conditions, and one-sided correspondence, and other machinery of the bookmaker's craft. It is no easy task to understand the drift of the author. The reader can only perceive him through the reflection of a reflection. However, there are ingots of strong common sense and veins of holy thinking discoverable throughout this new artdigging. The narrative portion is rather too absurd. The formation of the Puritan Bohemian Club, where every possible shade of opinion was to be triumphantly accepted on the condition of unlimited freedom of discussion, entire personal confidence, and-beyond the walls of the club— utter mutual indifference, is hardly done into historical verisimilitude, and the disappearance of the founder of the club, and the legacy of his papers to the editor of these volumes, is scarcely so ingenious as Dickens's various devices for forming a homogeneous whole out of the olla podrida that he calls his "Christmas number!" The sketch of Gravely "little meeting" is about as realizable as the island of Laputa. "Calvinistic" "Arian" of your feeling against a future retribution is "Dissenters," familiar with all the intensest big- strangely out of harmony with the fears, the hopes, otry of Dissent, of Calvinism and Socinianism, the experience, and expectations of the whole huseem to us so incognizable, that we suppose the man race. If you take your ideas to the Hindu author means to "pooh-pooh "all theological yogi or the Buddhist bonze, to the Yorkshire colopinion and ecclesiastical action. He calls him- lier or the Italian brigand, to every man who has self a political dissenter, but thus affords himself waked up to the awfulness of life, will you help exceedingly little opportunity for the development him to forget his fears? Believe us, Dr. Newof his views on the relation of Church to State; man and Dr. Mansel, Richard Weaver and John and in the "sanctuary" provided for the fresh Wesley, will succeed better than you, in spite of growths of opinion and life, within the national your terrible sarcasm. However, the editor of church, he exults. The controversial letters ad- these papers deserves our thanks for his producdressed to John Stuart Mill, F. D. Maurice, tion. In spite of the bumptious manner and the Thomas Carlyle, J. H. Newman, G. H. Lewes, unsatisfactory apology of the real author, notwithMatthew Arnold, and others, form the most im- standing that exaggeration of humane impulses portant portion of the work. The style of these which leads him to think that man's judgment is letters has to be apologized for by the editor: he certainly more accurate than what we have every assures us that they are not in the least "rude,' probability to believe is the judgment of the "allthey are merely intensely "Puritan," and an ex- conquering goodness;" though Bishop Butler pression of individualism and of liberty carried to comes in for a sound thrashing, on the ground of the extremest verge of theoretical action. He his main principle, and though Comte is well gives us, moreover, an interesting analysis of them flogged for his vaunted philosophy, which is dein some "last words," which may help the atten- clared to be nothing but a barren classification; tive reader to understand them. We must, how- though everybody is driven into a corner, and noever, confess, that keen and strong as much of the body is or ever was right but Henry Holbeach, writing is, and that though, as we believe, some Puritan Bohemian; still we think that the book of the distinguished men above mentioned will is worthy of some of the themes which it discussreadily confess they have found a worthy antago-es, and will compel the distinguished men who nist, much of the sharp wit consists of the Punch- are addressed to listen and perhaps reply.-Britlike habit of saying uncourteous and incongruous ish Quarterly. and unceremonious things to celebrated men, without actually wishing to tweak their nose or meaning to be thought rude and unmannerly. The letters with which we can sympathize most heartily are those addressed to Carlyle and Lewes. The sledge-hammer style in which some of the fallacies of Carlyle on the identification of might and right are demolished greatly charm us, and throughout the book the brave manner in which mere Utilitarianism, Materialism, Positivism, and Authority are grappled with, convinces the reader that he is in the hands of one who has read extensively and thought profoundly on all the terrible questions of the day. But the letters to Mansel and Newman, though containing useful matter, are full of the dreariest and most audacious scepticism. The rock on which all the author's positive faith splits is the doctrine of eternal punishment and sin. "Twenty million times the evidence" would not prove the doctrine. If there were sufficient evidence, it would take away our God. The author for one would neither worship nor obey such a God, who would only be the deification of devil, &c., &c. In a perfectly Satanic manner our unknown author raves at this awful teaching of our holy Christianity, and, instead of falling back on infinite justice, love, and goodness, he proposes suicide and a general and humane resolve to put a term to the world's existence, and bring humanity to an end. We feel disposed to say, "O Bohemian-Puritan, with thy hand against every man and every god, what effect can your Satanic humor of rebellion against the government of God and immortality of man have upon the facts of the case? Rave as you will, you only show what effect years of sceptical meditation have produced upon your own nature. You do not help us by saying that you have only to 'hang or drown yourself,' if sin can be eternal, and probation is limited to earth. Pray do which you please, but remember that the intensity Pre-historic Times, as illustrated by Ancient Remains, and the manners and Customs of Modern Savages. By JOHN LUBBOCK, F.R.S., &c. London: Williams & Norgate. 1865. All of us are interested in knowing what were the habits of life and general characters of our early ancestors, and of late years the desire for information upon this subject has increased vastly. The literature of pre-historic man derived its first comprehensive contribution from Dr. Wilson; Sir Charles Lyell's work next appeared in the field, and now we find the distinguished president of the Ethnological Society presenting himself as a public instructor. We are glad that Mr. Lubbock has left for awhile the arena of technical science, not because we think he is better in his present capacity, but because he is an original observer, enthusiastic in his devotion to his pursuit, and capable of giving us the results of his inquiries in language which is as lucid as it is fascinating. There is another reason, too, why we are pleased to see the volume which he now addresses to general readers, and that is that we wish to see its author as thoroughly appreciated and admired by those external to scientific circles as he is by those within them. His book is a combination of reprints and original matter, and can not fail to be of interest to both naturalists and archæologists. It differs from Sir Charles Lyell's treatise, in containing less geological matter, and in embracing a more comprehensive and accurate account of those deposits in which flint weapons have been discovered. Firstly, he treats of the use of bronze in ancient times, and the bronze age; then he passes on to the consideration of the stone age, of tumuli, the lake habitations in Switzerland, the Danish shellmounds, North American archeology, cave-men, the antiquity of the human race, modern savages, and, finally, he concludes with a most philosophic and deeply-thought dissertation upon the primi tive condition of man, and the advantages of science. Not having space enough to review Mr. Lubbock's book we must content ourselves with a few extracts from those portions of the text which strike us as most interesting. Imprimis, we must state that the author's classification of pre-historic ages is somewhat different from that nsually adopted. He divides pre-historic archæology into four great epochs: "Firstly, that of the Drift; when man shared the possession of Europe with the mammoth, the cave-bear, the woolly-haired rhinoceros, and other extinct animals; this we may call the 'palæolithic' period. Secondly, the later or Polished Stone age; a period characterized by beautiful weapons and instruments made of flint and other kinds of stone, in which, however, we find no trace of any metal excepting gold, which seems to have been sometimes used for ornaments. This we may call the 'Neolithic' period. Thirdly, the Bronze age, in which bronze was used for arms and cutting instruments of all kinds. Fourthly, the Iron age, in which that metal had superseded bronze for arms, axes, knives, &c.; bronze, however, being still in common use for ornaments, and frequently also for the handles of swords and other arms, but never for the blades." Mr. Lubbock does not appear to agree with those who think that stone, bronze, and iron weapons were in all periods of man's history used contemporaneously, and he brings forward powerful arguments in opposition to this creed. "Conversely," says he, "as bronze weapons are entirely absent from the great 'finds' of the iron age, so iron weapons are equally wanting in those instances where large quantities of bronze tools and weapons have been found together." That the art of working in bronze had reached a very high degree prior to the introduction of iron is evident from the numerous sketches of beautifully designed swords and daggers which adorn the pages of Mr. Lubbock's book. It is strange too to find what a similarity there is between the weapons of different nations which could have had at the period no connection with each other. This is especially striking in the case of the Danish and Irish Celts, which seem as though they had been cast in the same mould. In touching upon the gravel deposits of the valley of the Somme, our author concludes that they afford proof of the existence of the human race at the time of their formation; and although he questions the authenticity of the Moulin Quignon jawbone, he considers that the reason why human bones are absent from these deposits is not because man did not then exist. "No bones of men have up to the present time been found in the strata containing the flint implements. This, though it has appeared to some so inexplicable as to throw a doubt on the whole question, is on consideration less extraordinary than it might at first sight appear to be. If, for instance, we turn to other remains of human settlements, we shall find a repetition of the same phenomenon. Thus, in the Danish refuse heaps, where worked flints are a thousand times more plentiful than in the St. Acheul gravel, human bones are of the greatest rarity. At this period, as in the Drift age, mankind lived by hunting and fishing, and could not, therefore, be very numerSo far as the drift of St. Achuel is con ous. cerned, the difficulty will altogether disappear if we remember that no trace has ever yet been found of any animal as small as man. When we find the remains of the wolf, boar, roe-deer, badger, and other animals which existed during the drift period, then, and not till then, we may perhaps begin to wonder at the entire absence of human skeletons." Mr. Lubbock is a firm believer in Darwinism, and consequently he believes that early mankind must have been animals whose habits approached very closely those of the monkeys. The simpler arts and implements have, according to him, been invented independently by each race, and are but slight indications of advance upon the intelligence possessed by the Quadrumana. "Even at the present day we may, I think, obtain glimpses of the manner in which they were or may have been invented. Some monkeys are said to use clubs, and to throw sticks and stones at those who intrude upon them. We know that they use round stones for cracking nuts, and surely a very small step would lead from that to the application of a sharp stone for cutting. When the edge became blunt it would be thrown away and another chosen; but after a while accident, if not reflection, would show that a round stone would crack other stones as well as nuts, and thus the savage would learn to make sharp-edged stones for himself. At first, as we see in the drift specimens, these would be coarse and rough, but gradually the pieces chipped off would become smaller, the blows would be more cautiously and thoughtfully given, and at length it would be found that better work could be done by pressure than by blows. From pressure to polishing would again be but a small step. In making flint instruments sparks would be produced; in polishing them it would not fail to be observed that they became hot, and in this way it is easy to see how the two methods of obtaining fire may have originated." Short as is the foregoing paragraph, it contains a vividly colored picture of the possible habits of primitive man, and it is not too much to say of it that it is as plausible as it is clearly the result of matured thought and philosophic induction. It gives, too, better than any other quotation we could have selected, an idea of Mr. Lubbock's pleasing style of diction, and of the interesting character of his book. The volume is well and profusely illustrated, and will amply repay those who peruse it.-Popular Science Review. SCIENCE. Spectra of Nebuble.-Professor Secchi, during the past winter, has examined the spectrum of the nebula of Orion, which he finds to agree with that found by Mr. Huggins in regard to the planetary nebula. He found that in the whole spectrum only three lines were seen, one coincided with the line F of Fraunhofer, and the strongest was situated between b and f. The group lies between the Sodium ray D and the Strontian blue line. The nebula is green, and the blue ray which coincides with F lies between the green and the blue. In reference to the absence of the dark line f in the star Alpha Orionis, Professor Secchi imagines that this may be a body intermediate between the perfectly formed stars and the nebulæ, 1865.] ART. as this circumstance agrees with the presence of diminution in the rainfall. The question is an ART. Art-Union of London.-The twenty-ninth annual meeting of the subscribers to this institution was held on the 25th of April, at the Adelphi Theatre, for the purpose of receiving the report of the council, for the distribution of prizes, and for presenting to the honorary secretaries, Mr. George Godwin, F.R.S., and Mr. Lewis Pocock, F.S.A., the testimonials which have for some time past been preparing for them by public subscription. Mr. Charles Hill occupied the chair at the meeting, in the absence, through illness, of Some idea of the effects which the Art-Union the president of the society, Lord Monteagle. of London has had upon Art and artists is obtained from the facts recorded in the last report of the council. Since the foundation of the Society, it has expended £324,000 in the purchase of pictures and the productions of works of Art; these latter including 35 large engravings, 15 volumes of No inillustrative outlines, etchings, and wood-engravings, 16 bronzes, 12 statues and statuettes, besides figures and vases in metal, and medals. significant number of all these various works have been circulated in America and other colonies, and sometimes in European continental states, thus circulating British Art over the civilized world. The question of diminishing rainfall is again revived, as it appears, from further discussion of meteorological observations, that less rain falls The subscriptions for the year 1864-5 amounted now than formerly. In some counties, chiefly in the eastern half of the island, the diminution is to £11,743, a smaller sum than they have reached greater than in others, and in some places small in the last few years: such fluctuations must streams that used to be perennial, have ceased to necessarily occur in spite of every exertion and flow. Certain considerations are hereby suggest-every attraction. The amount set apart for the ed. Does it indicate that we have entered on a cycle of dry years, or that a permanent change of climate is taking place? If the latter, to what is the change to be attributed? Does it depend on improved drainage and the grubbing up of hedgerows which have been carried on of late years? So far as the evidence goes, it shows that diminution of the leafage in any district is followed by purchase of pictures which the prizeholders may Edwards; 75 statuettes, in porcelain, from J. Durham's group "Go to Sleep," engraved in the Art-Journal for December, 1864; 200 chromolithographs of "Young England;" 200 chromolithographs of "Wild Roses," and 150 volumes etchings by R. Brandard. The chairman, in moving the adoption of the report, adverted to the thousands of good works of Art distributed through the agency of this society in the homes of the people of England; and argued from this that it was almost impossible to over-estimate the benefits that resulted from this fact in improving the taste of the public. Mr. S. C. Hall seconded the motion, and in his remarks contrasted the present love of Art and the larger amount of sale for British pictures now existing in comparison with what was expended thirty years ago. Professor Bell prefaced the presentation of the testimonials to the honorary secretaries with a few complimentary observations on the services these gentlemen had rendered the society, which unquestionably owes its long-continued success to the zeal and ability they have always shown in advancing its interest. Without such efficient aid as they have given it is very questionable whether the Art-Union of London would not long since have become a thing of the past, instead of being, what it is, a well-rooted and flourishing institution sending forth its branches far and wide. When it is remembered that the first annual subscription list was below the sum of £500, and, when this is contrasted with the large aggregate of funds received and disbursed since, it must be quite evident how much time and energy must have been devoted to the working of the society in order to produce such results. The testimonials consisted of a group in silver, executed by Messrs. Elkington, from a design by W. F. Woodington, representing "Wisdom Encouraging Genius," with four appropriate tazzas.-Art Journal. Mad'lle Rosa Bonheur's Great Picture." A Family of Deer crossing the Long Rocks in the Forest of Fontainebleau," now exhibiting at the French Gallery, will bear favorable comparison with anything she has before done. "The Horse-fair" is a marvelous display of prosaic difficulties overcome, and the descriptions in the "Breton Oxen" extend into lengthened argument; but in the picture now before the public there is a sentiment which, in tenderness, is far beyond the feeling Mad'lle Bonheur has hitherto shown. Five hinds and a fawn are being led by an old and wary stag across the wellknown plateau that rises at Fontainebleau some three hundred feet above the level of the Seine. The leader has suddenly stopped, with his head erect, his ears thrown forward, expanded nostrils, and an expression of alarm in his eye. The attitude of the animal is most expressive, and readily intelligible. The fear of the stag is shared by only one of the hinds-an old one, who knows perfectly the habits of the stag, from having been for years accustomed to follow him her head is raised, as trying to ascertain the cause of danger. Another of the hinds has her fawn by her side, and all her care is shown for her offspring, which she is caressing, heedless of the apprehensions of the two seniors of the family. The youngest hind, unconscious of danger, has stopped to drink at a pool left by the rain. Nothing can exceed the simplicity of the composition, which may be said to consist of only three well-united parts-the group, the ground, and the sky-yet the working out of this arrangement, simple as it is, has cost the artist perhaps, relatively, more labor than any other of her works.-Art Journal. Dead Warrior," recently purchased in Paris at National Gallery-Velasquez's picture, "The the sale of the Pourtales collection at the price of £1,480. is a valuable acquisition to the National Gallery, where it is now placed. The laid out" on its back, like some monumental figure, bare-headed, and wearing a breastplate, picture, so as to afford the painter an opportunieffigy, only at an angle with the plane of the It lies under the shadow of a great rock by the ty of exhibiting some admirable foreshortening. branch of a tree, and on this hangs a lighted seaside, from which protrudes the decayed lamp, to keep off evil spirits. White and cold the flesh looks as if it would yield to the touch, as marble is the dead man's upturned face, yet and the expression of the countenance is supremely placid. The color of the picture is low in tone, but the figure comes out with telling effect against the background.—Art Journal. VARIETIES. An Astronomer's Prayer.-These are the last words in Kepler's "Harmony of the World :""Thou who, by the light of nature, hast kindled in us a longing after the light of Thy grace, in order to raise us to the light of Thy glory, thanks to Thee, Creator and Lord, that thou lettest me rejoice in thy works. Lo, I have done the work of my life with that power of intellect which Thou hast given. I have recorded to men the glory of thy works, as far as my mind could comprehend their infinite majesty. My senses were awake to search. as far as I could, with purity and faithfulness. If I, a worm before. thine eyes, and born in the bonds of sin, have brought forth anything that is unworthy of Thy counsels, inspire me with Thy spirit that I may correct it. If, by the wonderful beauty of Thy works, I have been led into boldness; if I have sought my own honor among men as I advanced in the work which was destined to Thine honor, pardon me in kindness and charity, and by Thy grace grant that my teaching may be to Thy glory and the welfare of all men. Praise ye the Lord, ye heavenly harmonies; and ye that understand the new harmonies, praise the Lord. Praise God, O my soul, as long as I live. From Him, through Him, and in Him is all, the material as well as the spiritual-all that we know and all that we know not yet-for there is much to do that is undone." Foreigners in England. -According to the last Census there were 80.090 foreigners in England and Wales, being at the rate of 0.041 to every 100 natives. That, however, was considerably less than the number of foreigners in France or the United States. In France, in 1861, there were 506,381 foreigners in a population of 37,386,313, and in the United States, in 1860, there were 4,136,175 foreigners out of a popu |