Chicago Daily Tribune Newspaper, January 18, 1874, Page 9

FRANCE. nurzclerislics‘or the People---Their Habits of Economy and Thrift. The Women More Handy, Tntelligent, and Sagacious than - the Men, few Cast-0F Costumes Are Sold at Hich | Prices to Fashionable Women o { Other Conntries. i ! gwindling of Americans by Parisian Shopkeepers. Thy Frencltmen Seldom Trarvel Abroad, or Acqutire Any Other Language than Their Own, fheir Feeling of Superiority Over All Other Peopless - Peculiarities of Thelr Domestic Relations. ‘Speeial Correspondence of The Chieago Tribune. Pams, Dec, 27, 1673 The smazing rapidity with which France is fecovcring from tho crushing blows inflicted by tho Germans gives one au exalted ides of the rosousces and wealth of this country. The pro- ductive: power of the mation is great, but the success in overcoming stupenduous losses in g0 brief & time must bo attributed as much to the Lsbits of economy and thrift as to the amplitude of production. No people in the world b PRACTICE FRANKLIN'S MAXING 0 generally and continuously as the French. They never censo thinking that o penny saved isworth o pennies earned, and that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, They babitn- slly sovo everything that 18 possiblo, and venture nothing wheie there is any chance of losing the invest:pent. . 14 The natural resources of France are great, ogriculturally ; but in the useful nnd important minerals they are quite small. France has but & very scanty supply of either ccal or iron,—the two most imporiant minerals, Shey produces but little lesd, copper, or galt, snd no tin; and- imports from England and Belgium the greater part of the conl consumed and the iron needed. Ifthe strength of nations were measured by their production of iron, as some wWriters con- tend, France would rank smong the second- clags Powers. The chief coal and iron mines of Frano) were in Aissce and Lorreine, and these the Gurmans have seized, with the’ double ob- ject of strengthening their own manufactures and production of iron, and weakening those of Trance. But the remarkablo eapacity of the Freach peoplo for ¥ MLEING THE MOST of every circumstance, of turning everything to the best account, enables them to produce great- er results from s given stock of materials than any other people, with the excepition, per- baps, of the Swiss, who are essentially French intheir babits of mind and domestic econo- mies, and may be included with the French in »ny survey of pational characteristics. One cannot help comparing the catural re- sonrcos of France with those of the United States, and perceiving how vastly the former fall ghort in everytbing except the production of fugar from beets, and the growth of the grape and the Bilkworm ; and yet the wealth of Frauce increases faster than that of the United tates; and, at a fair cash-valustion, the real- ized property of Franceis XOT LESS' THAN TOUBLE that of the American Union. France is im- proved and finished up to resemble a garden or park in beanty. The comforts of life have been provided for to & wonderful degres, and, to the eye of the traveler, there seems little left to be donein the way of improvement. The climate Is genial, and the peoble nniversally industrions. 1t ia true there are half-a-million of men play- Ing soldier in time of peace, Who contribute nothing to the public wealth, but are “iax- paters.” and have to be supported by those who dolabor. But, on the other hand, there are one or two millions more women who work than in the United States. The idle-lady class.in France is very small in comperison with that in Americs. Women seem almost to monopolize every avocation in the cities for which they possess the physical strength. They wnetitate the great bulk of the visible shop- teoping class. Male clerks are scarce in France, THE WOMEN HAVING “‘ RUN THEM OUT.” Clerking is not looked npon a8 men's work in this country. The hotels and boarding-houses are mansged by females, who keep accounts, make out bills, and look after the business of the establishment generally. All the lighter wechanical trades are largely filled with women, ¥ho menufacture most of the clothing, head- year, slippers, dolls, toys, snd a thousand Mticles of commerce with which the French rupply the markats of the world. In the country, all French women work ont of doors on their farms, side by aide with their male relatives. Thus the loss of the labor of the half-million of young men who are in the army, and tie *normous cost of their equipment and mainte- Dance, are made good and provided for by the auiversat industry of the women. It would be 1 8ae estimate to state that half the productive industry of France ia the result of femalo labor. The women seem to be XORE HARDY, INTELLIGENT, AND S8AGACIOUS than the men, sharper at & bargain, and more subtle and adroit in overreaching and cheating foreigners who purchase from them. They are 1ll emiles and professious, but truth and sinceri- $7 are not wasted on outside barbarisns in their deslings wich them. ln this respect the men wre not much behind the women. B Bat that in whicl the French more putimhflg xeal is econcmy. Compared with these Frenc people, our Americans are wastefully improvi- ept aud extravagant. It seems to me they live 20 just about one-half what the Americana do. Tocy have s knack, 8o to- peak, of making s lit'e go a great way, and of extracting sub- Sis.ence or comfort from things Americans %oild throw away or never notice. : may be instructive to point out a few of the Iatters'to which reference is heremade. In the 3t place, not an ounco of focd is wasted in esting or preparing for market. In the Dext place, not ‘sn ounce more of vegetables, fedh” fieh or fowl, groceries, or liquids, than’ is renlly needed, over goes into the pat ot kettle, oris placed on the tsble. The wife of every French family knows to a nicety what 3sntity of each kind of food is the lenst that ¥ill suflice to make s _comfortable meal, and not & particle more than that is cooked or served. o THERE ARE NO SLOP-BUCKETS ll of broken victuals -left on a tabls after bieakfost or dinner, to be thrown on the street 0% manure-hesp, or flung to dogs or ewine, a8 in America. No pieces of bread, or meat, or vege- tables, aro thrown sway; such quantitics are L3t bought as to become stale or gpoiled in the tallar or pantry, Servants are nover permitted towaste, or steal food for poor relatione, ss in- Lmerics, Thelady of the house looks after her Warketing, her kitchen, snd her pantry, with Shtp eyes and unflagging care. ¢ économy in the consumption of fuel for mkmg_md house-warming is immcnse as com- Pared with that in our wsateful conntry. One Te150n of course 18, that wood ana coal in France {5 searco and dear. They cost at lesst double e price puid therofor 1 the Tnited States ; the domestic consnmption is not ope-guar- n‘_.ll,mm:h. Paris contains between fopr and times the population of Chicago, but I find tut the fael consumed in it is LESS THAN IN CHICAGO, Ltistrue the climato is much warmer fop six {Ronths of tho year in Paris than in Chicsgo ; 4 after making due allowance for that, it still fewaing trne that only one-third to two-fifths as tach fnel is consumed per capita in Paris a8 in Chicago ; and, as far a8 my observation and in- o8 oxi the same proporticn Lolds good France s3 somphred with the States north of Mason & Dixon’s line i U?ted fiidets ixon’s line in the ‘ako mext the article of clothing, and the oconomy of tho French stands out in, S equsliy conspicuouslight. While they invent tho fashions, and change them 88 often a8 thay please, an the whole fashionable world of idiots elavishly and gervilely adopt them, the Freach thomsolves are far too shrewd and wise to throw away thoir germents as ofton us the milliners snd tailors of aris devise new styles, Tioy X DO NOTHING OF THE EIND. Not one pereon in France in ten follow the Paris fashions. Tho masees never change the style of their working clothes. Each person has one or more.Sunday-go-to-meeting suits of ap- parel, but these are not laid aside or cast away with every chauge of fashion, but are kept until they are well worn, when they find their way to second-hand clothing stores in England, Ger- many, or elses bere, or are put on and worn as every-day clothes, 'No monoy is wasted in try- ing to imitate the chamcloon changes of thie demi-monde of Paris; thet is left for foreign fools to do. They are far too sensible and prac- tical 2 people to do anything of the sort, and it aifordls them many s hearty laugh to see foreign- ors aping Parisian fashions, and trying to follow them as often as they are changed. Inotice in the French papers the snnounce- ment that the mantus-mukers, milliners, hair- dressers, and costumors of Paris, during the hol- idays, are going to present AL Sardon, the play- right, with a magnificent dismond ring, as_ & rewnrd for his successful endeavors in inventing new and costly fashions. Whenever trade is dull, Sardou comes forward in the nick of time to'inaugurate, with a PIECE AUX NOBES, : some startling fashion, which, by reason of its eccentricity and extravagance, is sure to capti- vate the butterflies of America and “otber coun- tries, but, from its absurdity, cannot last long. Take his play of ‘Oncle Sam,” mtended ostensibly to take off or caricature the follics, extravagances, aod corruptions of American fash- ionable life ; yet the real purpose was to give op- portunity for the display of some uew fashions in female dress he had inveunted, and which were fearfully exponsive. The play has_had a great run in Faris, and a certain proportion of Aweri- can female apes have actually fallen in love with the stage-dreeses intended to ridicule them and their countrynomen, and purchased hundreds of them, although they will be “ out of fashion " long before they can flaunt them in drawing- rooms and ball-rooms in America. ‘And now comes Bardou with a new play, & piece in three acts and five tablonux, called THE MERVEILLEUSES, which the Paris millners hope will impress the fashions on the womankind of every othor nation except France, Thers is no meris in tho play itself. The plot is wesk, the dislogue in- sipid, the whole thing absurd ; but the costumes aro gorgeous and captivating to the femalo mind. and mey bereafter make many & pater familins groan or swear when ho comes to foot the bills. There are soms tricks of the faghion-trade in Paris not generally known. yet well worth being made public. For example, thoso gorgeous dresses displayed oo the operatic and thestrical stage, what becomes of them? Aro they cast aside when the play has ruu out, or the opera- pioco has beon performed? Nothing of the sort. They are carefully takeo to the fashionable millinery-shops in_Paris, London, Berlin, Vienna, New York, Madrid, Rome, and other citics, temptingly displayed in the windows, and . BOLD TO THE BIRDS OF PARADISE 28 bran-new snd just out, for twice what they originally cost the manager. Those who have noticed 'thé magnificont costuames worn on the stago must havo observed that the parts which trail are always faced up with white muslin, to keep the garment from getting soiled. 'This is stripped off when it is placed in the shop for gale as an adorable robe just in fashion. But this little confidence-game is not restricted to the toilets of the Paris sactresses, but ex- tends to and includes the French la- dies of tho highest fasluonsble circles, who only iwear o dress & fow tumes. After they have taken the new out of it, the robe is placed in the bands of one of the bun- dreds of dressmakers, and sold to some Ameri- can, Russian, Cuban, or Brazilian lady, or sent over to London and sold there to the aristocracy or gentry. There are thousands of ladies in all parta of the world who get their dresses in Paris on order, o a8 to secure the very latest inven- tion of Sardou, Worth, or other patentees of fashion; and these orders are filled from THE CAST-OFF COSTUMES of the Paris dames, actresses, and demi-monde; and the foreign purchasers are charged for them os-and-a-half to twice the original cost of the garment. The French purveyors of fashion never pretend to fill an order or sell an article to an American or other foreign femhle at anything like tbe price charged to a Freoch woman. The Americans are the favor- ito prey of the Parisian shopkeepers and dress- makers, They are supposed not to know the ac- tual value or price of an article in_Paris, but to judge heroot by the New York prices, which in- clude 50 to 100 per cent tariff, cost of transpor- tation, insurance, and tho liberal profits charged by two or three sots of middlemen. Tha object of tho Paris dealers is to get from their Ameri-~ can customers as nearly as possible the NEW YORK RETAIL PRICE of everything. The same rule is followed in dealing with the natives of all other countries. They are charged substantially the home-price of the goods; while the Freach customers are sup- plied at the real value, because they know what that is. The Paris shop-Keepers have a very feoble and dim perception of what is called hon- esty or fair dealing. Their rule i8 to extract all they can get, take any advantage, and practico deceit and falsehood at every opportunity. But I am told that, in these respects, they are sur- assed by the shop-keepers of Vionna, who aro ahead of the world in the art of SWINDLING AND EXTORTION. Travelers who have visited Vienna and ob- servod the atyle of doing business there, always give this advice to those whom they mee : f'\Wben you buy things at the stores, take them away with'“you, and do_ mnot Jot them be sent to your lodgiug, beeause they are sure to be changed, and an in- ferior article substituted. Never stop at a hotal withont first making an exace bargain with the 1andlord for everything you are to have, and put it down in your memorandum-book in his pres- ence; leave nothing to his discretion, or he will certainly overcharge you. Practice the samo rule in hiring cabs, or in employing any service, a8 thero 38no honesty or couscience in Vienna in dealing with strangers.” Nothing will be logt in adopting theso precau- tions in , although it is not a general rule to substitate a purchased article, or for the cabs to charge more than the regulation rates. But the landlords will ** tuck it on” whenever there is a chance, and make & bill that will cause the victim to stare. Bat all Franco must not be judged by Pans, nor all Paris by the cheating propensities of the shopkeepers in their deslings with American geese and the birda of other countries. It is Erue, however, that thers caunof bo found sharp- or people in making & bargain. They are s quick- Sitted: clear-sighted, close-fisted, stingy, adrait, polite, and affable population. i Returning to the questionof economy in dress, and how s little is made to go & freu way, it would be #afe to estimate that it does Dot cost the people of France S ONE-ITALF A8 MUCI to clothe them a8 it does the people of the United States ; and yet they all secm. to be noatly, clesuly, and comfortsbly dressed. It is ravely one sees ¢ person 1n dirty old tatters in TFrance. There is no vast element of indigent, Tagged, misersble panpers, liviog on public charity, as in Great ‘Britain, Every one appears bo self-supporting. % O e other iterm in tha cost of living, that of boots and shoes. This constitutes in the Daited States one of the most serious bills m Bousehold cxpense. It costs the people of the Dnited Status 400,000,000 to 8500,000,000 per sonum for feet-gear. But in France, where hides nod leather are much dearer than in the United States, the expense of shoeing the popu- lation is less by one-half; perhaps it is not & third; and the reason 1, ‘that throe-fourths or more of the entire inhabitants wear WOODEN 8HOES,— 3 sabots they are cailed. The French insist that the sabots are warmer in winter, cooler in sum- Imer, dryer in wot weather, and healthier at all times, than leather-wear, while not costing 8 tenth’ part as much, as they last much longer. Even in Paris, a large majority of the population wear these wooden clogs ; not the Forbionable kind, but tho laboring claeses, who are the majority everswhere. Thus, in this one article of personal wear, the French eave in the aggregate s sum, a8 compared with what it costs the Americans, more than enough to psy the enor- mous interest on their stupendons national debt: o suother articlo which enters protty large- 1y into American hnueboslgs expenses : CARPETH. 0 not use or consume one-tenth Tl e o e or dollare® wortb, of carpet- i‘:;t: :fl:fl ericans. They denonuce carpets 2 unbealthy, a8 well a8 nseless ; a8 gatherin, ‘bich enters _the nostrils and mouth, an G othes and farniture. Ono rarely ses en office, & church, or public_ball eted ; and carpets are used very spsnngg' in hotels, and jndeed only in those frequen by Americans, Figure up the cost of the carpets a8 pur- Chased at_ retail in the Umted Btates, st out 0 per cent tbereof, and you will then bave abum | which more than represents what the French ex- pend on this one article of universal use in our country. . Again, the wealthy and fashionable classes of rauca NEVEE TRAVEL AEEOAD, 2nd spend teps of millions a yesr in other conn- tries. Their opinion is that the arts, literature, and methods of other countries are far inferior to what esn be found in France; that foreign standards of civilization are lower, tastes ruder. manners less refined, and the whole structure of society coarser. The French call themselves the * Greoks of modern times,"—the only really refined, polished, cle- gant peoplo in the world; all the other natioos Being, in their view, more imitators, and bar- ‘barians of various degrees of rudéness or re- finement, but none spproaching, much less sur- passing, the French. Thoy give, 08 3 REASONS FOR XOT TRAVELING ADROAD, that thero is mothing to be seen in foreign 1ands equal to what they have produced at home, and that they cannot endure the barbarous cookery of other countries, whick im- perils their health, destroys their diges- tion, and injures their poace of mind; besides, the habita of- the people of other uations lacerate their delicate susceptibilities, and cause thom great meatal distress in witness- ing such vulgarities. Thoy adduce, as an ovi- dence of their superiority over other peoples, the fact that the wealthy clasees of all other countries flock to France to_onjoy its superior civilization ; then why should they go abroad to study other people, when numerous specimens of overy nation come to France, where_they can ve secn and investigated ot leisuro? Other na- tions have mo elegant fashions in dress, adorn- ment, or farmture, to exhibit, except what aro imported from France, or made in imitation of French productions. *YOU INVARIADLY BORROW FROM US,” they say, and *‘originate nothing yoursslves, ex- cept the coarser classes of mechsnism. What Dhave you in art or ecience, music or literaturo, superior to what may bo found in France 3 Wky, thon, should we waste our time and monex iu traveling abrosd, when we have better things 1o be scen ¢ home, and when it i8 not necessary 10 50 away to observe other races, as they come bither to bo examined ?” So Monsieur Crapeau remains at home to ehjoy his fricaseed frogs and red wine, and huga himself i the confident be- lief of his immeasurable superiority over the rest of mankind. 1f e ventures to cross the Chan- nol into England occasionatly, for a few days, it is for tho purpose of finding subjects for nidicule or burleaque at John Bull's moustrous egotism, class-distinctions, and Paritanical pretenc Germany is rarely avor visited, as tho Teutol tribes beyond the Rhine are regarded with tho avorsion and in the . light in which the frontier settlers of America bold the savage tribes of the Plains, feariog but despis- ing .thom. When timo hangs hoavily on his hands, to throw off the ounui, sometimes & Frenchman will make an excursion to Switzer- jend to view Alpine scenery, but rarely under- takes to ¢limb & mountain, 88 the prospect is not considered a sufficient reward for the labor ; and occasionally one will visit Rome to inspect ancient ruins and admire Greek sculpture. But wuch o thing a8 crossing the Atlantic, to look at the Great Republic, NEVER SERIOUSLY ENTERS TS MIND. Does he not know all about the Americans already? Do they mnot swarm all over Frauce, and pour out their money like water 7 Do mnot their ladies take their fashions, aud many of their costumes and trous- scaus, from Paris actresses and opera-singers, aftor thoy have sufficiently displayed and worn them? * Why should they encounter the perils of the ocesn to sce & pioneer people producing raw materals for export, chewing tobacco, drinking French champague or raw whisky, swearng in lorrid English, dreesed in the style and clotties of the French theatrs, and poison- ing themselves with their fearful cool kery 7" Such is the estimation in which the Freoch hold foroizn nations ; and especially their opinion of “Qncle Sam” is not caleulated to flatter the vanity of that individual, or his fashionable family. The French raroly ever study ANY LANGUAGE BUT THEIR OWYN. They think no other tongue is fit to be spoken, and declare that it is us much superior to English or Germen as, in ancient timos, the Greek was superior to Latin or Arabic; and they point to the fact that Fronch ia the language of the Courts, of polite soctety, of travelers, of international conventions and expositions. What need havo they, then, to torture their memories to master English or- thography, or strain their jaws in vain_attempts- to pronounce Gorman or Russian gutturals ? TN THEIR SOCIAL, 28 well a8 their economical relations, the French pride themselves on their euperiority. They have a special aversion for the cold Puritanism of the Englishaud tho divorce-system of the Americans., As a rule, the men marry ldte in life; fami'ies are small, and the popu- Iation stationary. There is listle or npo incresse of numbers in France. Marriagos are not contracted. as o rule, aftor & long courtship, and upou s profession of mutnal sttachment and affection, as in England and Americs. On the contrary, they are o@airs of convenience,— partaership made to conduct the busines§ affairs of life. Tho contract is nearly always negotiated botween the mother of the young lady aud the applicant for her hand, Dot het Leart.. Tho futuré busband has_barely seon lier & few times, and conversed with Ler in the presence of the mother, and never alone. Nething that would be called a courtship iu the Americun sense takes Elnce before marnage. It would ruin tae girl's character it she should go to'a ball or out ricing in_carriage or on lorse- back, or to church, with him, unaccompaaied by the mother or & msiden-sunt, or some Other an- cient female relation. NO SPARKING IN ALLOWED or tolerated. The courtship is really carried on with the motber, and, if she be ot living, then with the sunt; ond it chiefly- relstes to the means of livelihood on one side and tha amount of dower on tho other, and the future disposi- tion of property and endowment of children, if oy there be, together with the exaction of & golemn promise that the intended son-in-law shall treat the girl gently and kindly, and accord foler all the rights aud privilogea which long custom concedes to married women. After thoy are marned, if tho husband ha pens to have had suy children that can be m tseful for domestic or other industrial parpase, they are brought home, and NO QUESTIONS ASKED 28 to their maternity. If the wife finds tbe temper and habits of mind of her husband not perfectly in barmony with her own, by the cus- tom of the country and the rights pe:taining to married women, she is at liberty to select an affinity and carry on a delicate intrigue. On the other hand, the husband is not required to cast off his favorite mistress and cleave only to the lady whom bis mother-in-law and the Church made his wife, Thus dishonors are easy, and incompatibility of temper is noz suffi- cient to causo separation or divorce, Indeed, divorces aro extremely rare in Franco, though fidelity to the marrisge-vow is almost oqually g0. And vet it is claimed that the married peoplo of France, #s & whole, Live togother as TAPPILY AND CONTENTEDLY s the married people of Great Britain or Amer- ica, where the * Puritan” ideas of matrimony prevail. Isuppose it very mnch depends on Low peoplo are brought up end aro trained o regard such mattes nthe eye of the colder and moro exacting civilization of the Anglo-Saxon races, the French must be regarded as s vory ug_ecuhsr poople, who entertain singularly_latitndinarisn notions on social subjects. It is proper to add that the French apologista for their system of affinitics assert that, after married ladies geb along towards middle life, they discard their Jovers, and the husbands do likewise with their inamoratas, aud that they really attein toa fond- ness for cach other which lasts the re- mainder of their days; and they argue that it is better to end life in this way than to begin with love ostentatiously avowed st the altar, and terminate with hatred publicly procliimed in & Divorce-Court, as is too fre- uently the case with marriagea among tho nglo-Ssxons, especiclly the American branch thercof. Thus the Frenchman retorts on the American who sssumes to ciiticise or reflect upon tho peculiur observance of matrimonial obligations in France. In all busmese-matters the French are the most cautious and conservative people m Eu- rope ; but, in what is of greater importance, the munsgement of their Government, they are the most ERBATIC, RECKLESS, AND CHANGEABLE people in the world,—upsotting law, constitu: tion, and suthority withas little compuuctios Desitation, or reflection 88 children knock over cob-houses, or 8 vicious horse rung away with the driver and vehicle, bresking the neck of tho one. and smashing the other. But, taking them all in all, they are s most extraordinary people, and farnish & perpetusl puzzle to the etatesman sod philosopher, at once realizing the worst criticisms of the eynic, and swakening the live- liest anticipations of the optimist. J.AL _A fine equestrisr psinting, nine by seven feet, representing the last meeting between Gens. R. E. Les and Stonewail Jackon, on the day before the battle of Chm;uuarannn. paint- ed by Mr. E. B. 0. Jolio, of New Orleans, is on exbibition st Richmond, It is valued at $10,000, aund will be pressnted to the Loe Memorial Chapel, &t Lexingtoz. " THE CHICAGO DAILY TRIBUNE: SUNDAY, JANUARY 18, 1874 ] 9 — LITERATURE. Descriptive Sociology. DESCRIPTIVE_SOCIOLOGY; on, Groues or §o- ctorocicas, Facts. Classified and Arranged by Henpepr Seexcex. No, 1: English, Seven Ta- hles Folio, with 70 Pages of Accompanying Test. New York: D, Appleton & Co. 1874 ‘Among the various points of criticism upon the philosophical system of Mr. Spencer, it has been charged that he bad ontirely neglected the facts of history. That he had been led mto genoralizations, in the fragments of sociological operations which have, in the course of the pub- lication of his volumes, sppeared incidentally when treating of the low of Evolution, which were purely speculative, and not sustained by facts, was urged before his work had reached its prescnt state, and for the time appeared well- founded. Tho present work is an abundant answer to such criticisms, and is, indeed, but the | necessary result of the plan upon which Mr. Spen- cer has from the first proceeded. In hisvolume on “ Education,” published ten years ago, he point- od out the worthleesness of ordinary history, and, in a few prognant paragraphs gave an ont- line of & natural history of society, which, en- tirety subordinating the purely, narrative history, should give usin its place an ascemblage of organizable facts, so arranged that we might readily trace the consensus subsisting between them, with the view of learning what social phenomena co-exist with what others: Let us [ae then sald] have an account of the govern- ‘ment of » nation, with as Little a8 10y be of goseip about the men who ofticered it, and as much as possi- blo about the structure, principles, methods, preju- dicen, corruptions, &c., which it exhibited; and let this sccount not only include the nature and actions of the central government, but also thoso of local gov- ernments, down to their minutest ramifications. Lot us, of course, olso have a parallel description of tho ecclesiastical government,—its organization, its conduct, its power, ita relations to the State; and, sccompanying this, the ceremonial, creed, and re- ligious idens,—not only those nominally belfeved, but those really belicved and acted npon. Let us, st the eamo time, be informed of the cuntrol exercised by cluea over «lass, o8 displayed in all social observances, —in titles, salutations, and forma of address, Let us know, too, what weroall the other customs wiich re~ ted the popular Hfe, out-of-doors and in-doors,— including those which concern the relatious of the sexes, and the relations of parents to children, The superstitions also, from the more important Tyths down to the charms in common use, ahould be in- dicated. Next should come a delinestion cof the in- dustrial system, showing to what extent the division of labor waoa carried ; how trades were regulatod, whether by caste, guilds, or otherwise ; whst was the connection betwecn employers and embloyed ; what swere the agencies for distributing commodities ; what were the means of communication ; what was the cir- culating medium. Accompanying’ all which should come an account of the industrial arts, technically con- sidered,—stating the processes in uso anl the quality’ of the products, Further, the intellectual condition of the nation in its various grades should be depicted,—not only with respect to the kind and amount of education, but with respect to the progress mado in acience. and tho prevailing manner of think- ing. The degree of esthetic culture, as_displayed in architecture, kculpture, rainting, dress, music, poetry, 2nd fiction, should be described. And lastly, to con- nect the whole, should be cxhibited the morais, theo— retical and pructical, of all classes, as indicated in their lawe, hubits, proverbe, deods, Such alons is the kind of information respecting past times which can be of rervice to the citizen for the regulation of Lis conduct, The onliy history that is of practical value is what may De called Descriptive Socfology. And the highest office which the historian can discharge is that of 80 narrat— ing the lives of nations 88 to furnish materiala for & Comparative Sociology, and for the subsequent deter- mipation of the ultimate laws to which social pheno- mena conform. That which Mr. Bpencer here briefly indicated we have now before us in & Sociological History of England. Under headings almost identical with those which he then named stand the array of historical facts corresponding to them, drawn from all sources, and from the best authorities in tne language. The rise and decline of custoras is shown in the colamus of these tables a5 never before in history. He who runs may read ther. They are distorted to subserve the icterests of no creed or party ; they are suppressed to palli- ate po Kingly misrule, or exaggerated by no admirer of the Diving right of Kings. Thoy are the facts, pure aud simple. Taking now the formula of evolution, which is ,“a change from an indofinite, incoherent homogeneity, to s dofinite, coherent beterogene- ity through continuous differentiations and integrations,” It us briefly oxamine it in the light of these tables. From » composition of numerous independ- cot tribes. frequently at war and rarely uniting azsinst a common foo, we come gradually to =z consolidation into one Kingdom, united for de- fense, with & common religion, and 2 tendency to assimilation of laws, usage, and local ad- ministrations. The gradual differcntistion into the civil and ecclesinstical branches followed the exercise of their functions by the same per- son. Slowly came increasing modifications, until at lagt the civil power has reached a complex and heterogeneons system of local and general Iaw, with their divisious into Execntive, Judi- cial, and Legislative; and the _ccclesiasticnl power is divided into & higher organized and Widely-difusad body, holdinz to & variety of croeds, and with minute differences of opinion, cach modifying and infiuencing the other. From the use of rings’of brouze and iron for money, tnd astato of barter, alowly the processes of modern political economy have arisen. The Dbusiness of exchange bas passed through the Jows; the coinage of money bag coma from the hands of private coiners to be the solo affair of government; the transactions in bills of ex- change has paseed from tho Lands of merclunts, frst to private bsnkers, and thence also to in- corporated istitutions. = The receiving of de- posits, at first confined to the handling of the rents of noblemen’s estates by the goldsmith, has grosn into that of tha banking eystem, which, in its development, has absorbed all the powers of the exchangeof wealth which 18 rep- resented by s circulating medium, whether money or credit, From villages which were mere circles of huts, hollowed out of hills, towns arose of stone and wooden_ buildings, gometimes detended by a wall or ditch, The halitation of the cbieftain consisted of a sot of buildings, imperfectly con- nected ; rarely wero they of more than one atory, with no chimney, and imperfectly closed and lighted. Further on, the residences were castles in effect,—the windows looking inward upon & court-yard ; and now followad inter- communication betweea the apartments in large buildings. Gradually the defensive character changed, ornamentation increased, chimneys were introduced; and, later, an increasing se- curity and the new architecture gave rise to tha modern mansion. The growth of each social factor is thus ghown. The politica), ecclesiastical, and cere- monial organizations, each eubdivided into numerous elements; the estbetic and moral sentiment; arts, langusge, food, clothing, im- plements, and weapons; the complete history of all, can be traced in like manner, For an explanation of the conception and pur- pose of these tables, and of their further con- tiouance to the history of other civilizations, the reader is referred to the provisional preface of Afr. Spencer, and to the preface of the vresent edition by his American editor, Prof. E. L. You- mans. It may be mentioned that the schemo comprises the treatment, in liko manuer, under three divigions, of all known history. namely: 1. Uncivilized Societies ; 2. Civilized Societies— extinct or decayed; 3. Civilized Societies—re- cent or still flourishing. 3uch of the work is well advanced toward completion, aud all sto- denta of social facts will watch with eager inter- est for their appearance. An African Romance. MY RALULU: A STORY OF CeNTRAL AFRmICA, Br Hexny AL STANUET, With Dllustrations, New York : Beribner, Armstrong & Co. This book, written exprossly for bogs, by the anthor of *How I Found Livingstone,” has an interest for readers of all ages, in presenting ac- curate pictures of life in Africs, among peopls inhabiting the region around Lake Tanganika. It is an African romance, founded upon the ob- servations and adventures of Mr. Stanley in his eearch for Dr. Livingstone. during the years 1871 and 1872, and it unites the atiraction of an exciting fiction with that of s true record of novel exploration, The principal characters and events are drawn from life. “My Kalulu”—Prince, King, tod Slave "—is a veritable youth, who accompanied his protector to England, 2nd who hopes still to return to his own people. The giant Simba, and his friend =nd constant compenion, * The wiry and sinewy fellow™ Moto, =aod the Arsb youth Selim, who shares with the hero the sympathetic consideration of the reader, have an idontity no less real. The ceremony of the Msgic Drink, which is portray- edin illustration, tack place two miles from Ta- bors, when several Arabs of wealth and influ- once fell victims to their own reckless courage in attacking XMirambo sud his northern Watata sllies, Tho story of the drowning of the poor women and children in the ®ungwa River 18 & reminiscence of terror imparted to the suthor by Kalulu, % ‘The fault may possibly be found with the book, that occssionslly inite pages the zeal of the travaler subosdicates to aciusl description the creative inucy of tha story-teller. No one 4 can read *My Ealulu” without feeling that he has entered the real heart of Africa; sbove all, no one can read it without feeling more keenly than ever that Slavery is an offspring of Darkness, which the bright day of Homanity must drive from the face of the earth. “ Ah. poor Kalula!" exclaims the novelist as hie describes the scene in which his hero was marched off to elavery with that inflexible iron collar aboul his neck, and the horrid chamn swinging from one eide to the other, with that long file of slaves before him, and the long file of flinty kidoappers be- hind him: Ab, poar Kalulu ! Thou art but ons of the thousands upon thousands of wretched men, viomen, and chil- dren, who have trodden that road 10 its present hard- ness und smoothness ; whose wild, delirions_thoughta Bave never found s as thine have ; whose hope- lesa looks have never been portraycd inany book ; whoso ailent prayers have never seen the light, nor hava been rehearsed in any hall whero kind, Christian men and women would liear them and commiserate thelr sufferings; whose indescribable agonies bavo nev- er been touched upon by & kindly pen t . The book is published in attractive form, and is embellished with sixteen full-page illustra- tions, among which are portraits of Belim and Ealulu; scenes of carousal and warfare, aod desperats encounters with wild beasts. Flowers. COMMON WAYSIDE-FLOWERS, By Taoas M1t~ LR, With Hllustrations by BIskeT FosTzR. Beau- tifally Printed in Colors by Epxusp EvaNs. Lun- don and Now York: George Routledga & Sons, To some book-loving people no volames are 80 pleasing 2s thoss which devote themselves entirely to Flowers ; and a volume that opens in midwinter with brightly-blossomed pages, s windowpano into Summer, is sure to be made welcome, particularly when, like this charming Dew-comer, the opening is made, not upon con- servatoried winter plants, but upon frosh nooks and joyously-haunted wilds of Natare. ‘The vignettes arc beautiful copies in oil-colors of Birket Foster's choice flower-studice. The frontispiece is a cluater of wild roses hovered over by twin butterflies; and the other illustra- tions observe the calendar of the wayside-year. The golden celandine unlocks the spring; the primroso follows, and the blue-bell, the wild hyacinthe, purple violets, and wood-anemone. Summer enters with buttercnps and daisies,— the children's treasury of ailver and gold, The dandelion (one of the daintiestof the drawings), the rose campion, grasses, clover, water-lilies, foxgloves nd forget-me-nots, honeysuckles; convolvolus and .scarlet poppies, reach the sutumn, sot with the bramble frait and blossom, and broin nuts; and winter brings' the holly with its crimson beads. - Theso ar tho illustrations; and the text poes hand in hand wizh the lovely portraits of the flosr- ers, drawing material both from botanists and poets, Overshadowing all these delicste little Lesuties is the closing subject of the volume,— the winter's own sad tree: The sombre-looking yew is_snother tres that was used in festive decorations, and had mot in_former times such gloomy associations conn with it aa hava been woven round it within the last two or three centuries. The bold bowmen whose limbs were tured in English mold * formed their elastic bowa out of its tough stem, and there were * most biting laws " 10 protect yew-trees in those ancient times before svile gunpowder” came in use, . . There is something very graceful 1n the tapering form of the yew; and, 3 it is but 3 very slow grower, it re- tains its beautiful shapo for many years, for, whenever wa seo a flat, broad-topped sew, we are in the presence of 4n aged trge, that has looked down upon muore changes than the oldest living man ever witnessed, In spring, 0o, its dark-green hue stands out grandiy amid the pale buliding vegetation, a if 1t were proud of having stood tho wear and’ tear of winterso well, and, intho great windy struggle, re- taining the green garment which the Borean bisst bad battled for, whilo mo many trees had lostall. The wood of the yew is at times besutiful, ruaning into variegated shadea of decp red spotted with black, which serve to throw up the white 5a if it were ivory; 2nd many of our old arm-chairs, named, we know not why, from Windsor, are formed entirely of bent yaw, ezcopting the ecats, ¥hich ore generally elm, We find the same shaped old-fashioned chairs made to figures in soma of our oldest ofl-paintings. Sacred Pocms. HONGS OF THE SOUL: GATHERED OUT OF MaNY LaNDS AND AGES, By SiMUEL IRENZUS PRIME. New York: Robert Carter & Bros. This finely-grouped aod rare collection of eacred poems, presented in a gracefuliy-refined form, 18 one of the most acceplable books of the senson. U neoneciously perhaps, so far as tho intention is concerned, but none the less re- markably in result, it takes its place as a rich addendurm to the Folk-Songs. 1t addstothe gath- ered songs of Home, and Heart, and Nature, and Life, with which we have become familiar, their spiritual companions and antiphonals. The selection and grouping made in this upper realm of song by Dr. Prime impress tho reader, as the prefaco states the compiler was himself impressed, with ‘‘a sense that the wanis and utterances of the soul have been the same in all climes and all ages.” Tho groups are classified according to subject, or uccording to their place in Holy-tides ; sud the poems aro cliosen for their intrinsic strength or eweetness, or spirituality ; and are by no mears exclusively drawn from anthors ambitious of thespecial tit e of *'sacred poets.” Translations aro made from the Latin, Greek, German. Rus- sian, Porsian, and Spavish; and altogether there are contrilutions from 180 suthors. Especially rich and beautiful are tho songa of “ Hope,” snd_* Love,” snd_" Praise,” and « Courage.” It is the ministry of song to stronzthen and cheer ; and, to the desponding and the sad, msny o page of the book will open like that little rift on a clondy dsy which shows the ctear bine eky : Some murmur when their sky is clear And wholly bright to view, 1f one small apeck of dark appear In their great hezven of bluc; And some with thankful love are flls” If but ono streak of light, Oze ray of God’s good mercy, gild The darkuess of thelr night. In palsces are hearts that ask, In discontent sod pride, Why life s such a dreary task And all good things denied ; And hearts i poorest huts zdmize How Love has, in their aid,— Love that not ever sce na to tire,— Such rich provision made. —Richard L. Irench. Selected by Dr. Prima with songef +* Thanksgirina.” A Drama. BIANCA CAPELLO. By Euzanfrn C. KINxer. New York: Hurd & Houghton. . A drams io blank verse, founded upon s tragedy of Florence, for whose characters tho suthor has studied the historical authorities of Nepier's ** Florentine History,” * Florence et Ses Vicissitudes,” * L'Osservatore Florentino,” ¢ Memoire di Bianca Capello,” by Stefano Li- cozzi, ete. Tha development of the plot in five acts keops true to tho real events by which the beautiful and baneful Bianca became metamorphosed from the infatuated bride of & poor rustic to the adored favorite of & Prince ; and finally, by an atrocious act of crime, became the crowned wifo of the Grand-Duke of Tuscany. with whom she died by poison prepared by her own hand for an enemy, whom she considered her lsat obstaclo in the career of power. The volume containing the sad story is stamped with tho insignis of St. Marco, and is uniform with the cdition of ‘‘ Poems” which, with a series of Italian letters, have made for the authoress many friends. The following mounclogue occurring in the scene where ;Bianca, banished to s convent, 18 recalled by ber lover, will serve to dieplay the fluoncy of the metncal style of the drawma. and furnishes & key to the dangarous character of ita heoroino: And thou, sweet Nature, speak not low to me, Through whispering pines, or mosning cypresses, Or murmuring rills, or sighing nightingsies ; But rather drive me to thy purpove With goading tempexta and night-haunting owls, Whose horrid screech but hurries daring doeds. [Enter a man bringing the recall from her lover 3] Haj hal slresdy? ot so soon I thought To hear the trumpet-call back to the field, Now gn:hered forces march right on to conquer, With new-gained strength new victories achleve, "Tia but to lifl the crown now at my feet Tp to my head, and bring my foes down there. (Going :] Farewell, calm exnctoary of chasts vows Farewell maternal Nature ; gentle tones Of breeze, and brook, and bud, farewell—fazawell | ‘Tauut mé to action hence, defiant winds ! All elements heroic in me join ; Yet leate the reil of womanhood e'er ally— A charm to lure, & petwork to retain, Firmness must keep what fondnosa first ahall gamn. [223] More Sacred Poems. RLIGIOUS POEMS. Dy the Autbor of “ Stepping Hetvenward.” New York: Anson D, F. Bandalph Readers familiar with the religious prose- writinga of Mra. Prantiss, and, above sll, with that nimitable sketch, “The Story Lizzie Told,” will welcome cordially this volume from bor efficient pen. ) Of the 120 pusmis DOW presanted,- slmost all ereof a personslly religious nature: verses composed in hours of an intimate communion of the soul with the Spiritusl Source of Life, and consequently sppreciable uniy to the eym- pathy of similariy-devotional hearts. Publishing the poems with evident rcliance upon the ~ prevalence of such sacred sympathy, the anthoress, in her preface, quotes two paragraphs: **Tho testimony of one is the experience of thonsauds;” for, “As in water, face answersth to face, 80 the heart of man to man.” i One of the least dependent for appreciation upon a mood of exaltation is the following grace- ful little form of good-wiskes: TITE ORANGE TREE. Bo like the faitarul plant that, not conteat “With bearing fruitage as a yearly store, ‘While that fruit ripens blossoma out anew, That they who plucked may come and pluck once more. Let thoss who seek thes find that bloesoms rars Deck thy meek bosom as with bridal grace, Sweet charity adorn thee, tendor amiles Light up and render beautiful thy face. And then surprise them with & harvest fall 0f glorious deeds, who fancied they should ind Fragrunce and loveliness, but did not dream To guther also food for heart and mind. English Landscnpe. BEAUTIES OF ENGLISH LANDSCAPE. Drawn by BrET FosTER, Engraved by Darzirr Broruzss, 3. Coorsz, E. Evaxa, W. Hazgl, and Oihers, Lone don and New York: Georgo Routledge & Sons. This conspicuously elegant gilt-book contains 300 quarto pages, one-half of which are devoted to gems of English landscape, executed in his best stylo byan artist already well known and admired; and ono-half to elncidative text, ee- fected from numerous poeis, among whom we find sach favorite American names as Longfel- low, Read, Bryant, Morris, and * Grace Green- wood.” The illustrations of Selections from Beattie's *Minstrel' " are placed nt the finis of the vol- ume, and would in themselves bo s prized pos- session. Among the miscellaneous pictures may be noted as especally fine the illustrations of *¢The Sun " on the ocean: And more magnificent art thou, bright Sun, Uprising from the Ocean’s billowy bad ; “My Sister Ellen;” Domestic Love; " *The Harnlet;’ * Moonlight Night,"—designed from Shelley’s ¢ How beantiful this vight ;™ * Scene on the Thames,” reminding us of & passsgo of Lake George; “The Harvest-Home;” *The Little Winter-Grave; " * Bolton Prio: And yet, even with this book-m g, you will open upon many pages that will seem to prove us quite oblivious of the surpassing gems. A Story for Children. s FANNY'S BIRTHDAY GIFT., By Jomaxya 3Mar- TuEws, Author of **The Kitty and Lulu Books.” New York: Robert Carter & Uros. The motto of this charming story for children is, “Suflicient unto the day is the evil thersof.” The writer indorses in an illustretive way, and with equal vivacity sod power, the comment of Jeremy Tsylor: “Sufficiont, but not intolera- ble. Bat, it we lok abrosd and bring into one day's thoughts the evil of many, certain and un- certain,—what will be and what will never be,— our load will be as intolerablo as it i noresson- The plot of the story is sufiiciently intricete to interest the clars of readers for which it is i tended, snd the characters are drawn with sprightlinces and fscility for dislect. The beroiue, httle Fanny, in an smusing. epitome of “Deep Grief;” and’ Auut Silvis @ shining ex- ample of sell-righteonsuess, wio concludes ber complacent boasts with g remark from *the Life™: “ No, Sister Beckys if dey wanta to see de comman’ments kep let dem look at me.” Pertodicals Receivd. National Quarterly Retiew, December, 1873. Edward I. Sears, New York. Contents: *‘Re— sponsibility of Government for the Public Health;" *Glaciers and Their Phenomena;" # Icelandic Literature ;” * Discovery of America by thoe Northmen ;” *‘The Dawn of the English Dramo;” Alexander Hamilton;” * Political Constitutions ;” ** Appendix—Insurance.” Atlantic Monthly for February, H. O. Hough- ton & Co., Boston aud New York. Contents: “Naples Under the Old Regime,” by Robert Dale Owen; A Gambrel Roof™ (poem), by Lucy Larcom: “Prudence Palfrey,” Chap. V. and VL., by T. B. Aldrich ; “ A Chain of Italian Cities,” by H. James, Jr.; * Moviug in Florida™ (‘imam), by Will Wallace Harvey: ** Tho Anti- Slavery Couvention of 1833, by Joho G. Whit- tier; * Wherefore ?" (poem), by Celis Thaxter ; ** Over Iliumand Ida,” by Willism J. Armstrong ; +Baddeck and That Sort of Thing,” 1L.,by Charlez Dudley Warner ; * Saerif Thorne * (poem), by J. T. Trowbridge ; ¢ Faithful Bean,” by * M. E. Y. 8. * Mose Evans,” Chap. V., VL, VIL, and VIIL, by William 3, Baker; * A Ballad o1 the Boston Tes-Party,” by 0. W. Holmes; ** Recol- lections of Agaswiz,” by Theodoro Lyman ; * Re- cent Literature ;" ‘¢ Art ;" ** Music.” Harper's New Monthly Magazine for Februsry. Harper & Drothews, New York. Contents “Legend of the Cscadea ” _(poem, illusirated), by S.A. Clarke; “ Somec Notes About Pottery and Porcelain " (il'ustrated), by Wilbam C. Prime ; *The Columbia Riverand Puges Sound” S{,lnflh‘nlcd , by Charles Nordhof ; ** Toad apel” (iflustratod), by Eugene Lavrence; tedn0dd-Treo,” by Walt Whit- man; “My Mother aud L” continucd (illca- trated), by Dinah Mulock Craik; **The Land of the White Elephant” Sillustmted,\, by 8. S. Conant ; *The Living Link,” continued (illus- trated), by Prot. James Do Mille; **Tho Now South,” IL _(with maps), by Edwin Do Leon; “Too Much fer Him," by Frank Leo Benedict; * Hope,” by Carl Spencer; “A Chinese Practical_Joke," by Emily E. Ford +Trifles,” by May E. Brooks; “ Holland House, by Engone Lawrenca ; the “Easy Chair;" “ Lit- erary, Scientiflc, and ’ Historical Kecords;” aad ** Drawer." Brownron's Quarlerly Review, Jaunary, 1674 Fr. Pustet, New York. Contents: ** Refutation of Atheism;" ¢ Education and the Republic;” -+ Holy Communion—Transubstantiation;” ** Tho Jlost Rev. Jobn Hughes, D. D. " ‘“Evangelical ‘Alliance ;” ** Archuishop Spalding ;" ** Howe and Foreign Politics;” * Laterary Notices and Crili- cisma.” > Cornell Unitersily R%'sler for 1873-'4, Uni- vervity Pross, Itbaca. N. Y. American Bibliopolist, Septcmber-December, 1878. J. Sabin & Sons, New York. ‘The Common School for January. W. E. Cros- by, Davenport, Iowa. ‘American Bee Journal for January. American Pablishing Company, Chicago. Wisconsin Lumberman for January. Wiscon- sin Lumberman Publisning Company, Milwwan- ee. Lumbermcn's Gazetle for December. H.S. Dorr, Bay City, Mich. Ladies Oun_Magazine for January. 3. C. Bland & Ca}z Chicago. African Repository for Jsnnary., American Cnlg;lizu_iun Socie!:‘"Wuhing!on. Bec-Keepers' Magazine for Janunry. H. A. EKing & Co., New York. * Song of tha Literary Items. Mr. Browning will scon give us another play upon & Greck subject. s, Ellet’s now work, *Ths Brides and Widows of the Bible,” will not appear until next spring. —The second snd conclnding volnme of 3r. Serjeant Cox's work on the mechaniem of man, entitled ** What am I? " wili shortly be published in Enwland. ire. Dahigren, widow of tho Admiral, has translated the Marquis de Chambrun’s late book on “ The Executive Power in the United States™ into English, and it will. shortly anpear, with an introduction by tha Hon. Caleb Cashing. —It i the testimony of disintercsted ob- servers that the sale of books ia gradually de- clining in England. On the other hand. periodi- cala of a\l clagses {Und more and more resders. —The Hartford, subscription book business is on the decline. _Out of 12,000 agents who were selling new books the majority are out of em- ployment, and instead of tho expecied salo of 950,000 covies. this searon, tho total sales have only reached about 60,000. —Blanchard Jerrold traveling_about the Continent, at work on his promisod ** Life of Napaleon [1L.," of which the first vo.ume is to appear in January. ~_A Coucordanco to Shakspeare's Poems. by Mre. Horace B. Furness, is in tho press. 3rs, Furnese is the wife of the accomplisbed editor of the variorum edition of Shakspeare, and Ler con- cordance to the poems will be. a werthy comgan- jon to Mrs. Cowden Clarke's Concordance to Shalkspearc's plays. —A" Hiuolx’fy T Japan " haa been compiled, chiefly from mative cod oficial sources, by Mr. P. 0. Adsms, formerly Acting Minister of Great Britain «¢ Jeddo. The first volume brings the history down to the year 1554 A —A Welsh Anthology. & tmanslstion into En- lish of the fineat Welati pcems, of conrse by Mr. 5ahn Jonkins, is to be issued in England. Welsh literataze eujogs aleo s ** Cambrian Bibliog- zaphy " of sormo 800 pages. : P Mtr. F. Leypoldt, of the Publishers' Weekly, has undertaken- the herculean tesk of printing Findiog Ostalogue ” of all American books now in Buch & work would be more use- ful to booksellers, libraries, and private colizc- tors of books than any other that could ba named. The cost of its publicstion will be very heavy, the chief item being the great lobor of preparation and collecting materiala. 5 © had & pasioral name, a thing quite common in the time when the world of po- etry was_called Arcadia, and posts wero shep- herds. Shakspears's name was Action, though he was probably also known as ifelicert ; Sneu- cer was Colin ; Janson, English_ Horace ; Dray~ ton, Corydon, etc. —The new English culture weekly, to rival the Athenum, sbsorbs the name as well as the be- ing of the dcademy, argning that that title properly denotes “a central organ of sound in- formation and correct taste in 1intellectnal mat- ters,” and is, therefore, the best for its purpose. It will be a twenty-page sheet, and the first uumber makes its appearance with the now year. —Sir Henry Holland, in_his * Recollections,” remarked that no poet had ever described the ‘phenomenon of tho son and moon bJth above the horizon at the hour of sunset. *“A Lincoln- sbire Rector,” mn Macmillan's Magazine, saya that Mr. Tennveon bas described this sight, and adds that upon his native Lincolnshire marshes fi:might well have beheld it. These are the es : The charming sunset lingered low adown In the red wost § “They sat them down upon the yellow sand, Belween the sun and moon, upon the shore, —The Eubliflbem of Seribner's Montkly an- nounce that * The Great South,” now runningin their magazine, will becontinued during thoyear. The February number will contaio the second of the papers called ** Glimpses of Texss.” Tho March, April, and May numbers will describe mountain-life in tha South. AMr. Edward King, the author, will sketch for ns the mountsincns regions of Virginia, North Carolina, and Ten- nessce. The June number will contain an arti- cle upon Missouri, and that for July will con- sider ** The South Carolina Problem—tio Epoch of Traneition.” This series will be profusely illustrated. ¥ —We have had Mark Twain ovor_here lectur- ing on the * Sandwich Islands” and * Nevada,™ at the Haoover Square Rooms. He made & great hit at first, but I am afraid has rather overdone it by lecturing every night. We ara not much of a lecturs-going peopls, and our public—you remember what Bsron said about “-hammering a hoarse lauzh from a coarse throng "—requircs educating to a comprehen- sion of tho subtleties of Amefican humor. I recollect hesring one of our most celebrated painters complain that he sawno fon in Arte- mus Ward, and that * the man evidently didn’t 8oe any himself, for he never smiled once."— London Lelter. —VWilkie Collins’ new novel, *The Dead Alive,” is his first American’ story. A corre- spondent of the Now York 7Tribuné says of it : +There is plenty of incident and excitement ia tlus one; mysterious disappearance, firsi-clase murder, love, treachery, cowardico, & corry to stimulato the most jaded palate. Mr. Collius has caught some American traits very happily, bot he does mot yob know the American girl. Save in a cartain unconventional fearlessaees, his heromne is more Englih than Americen. All the characters in this talo seem to mo veak, ig- nable, or disagreeable, if wo accept the pratty, true-hearted, courageons American girl, and ihe traveling Englishman who fell in lova with her. But, as it is in a transplavted Eoglish family that the scenes of tho drama are epacted, we ca for- give Mr. Collins for meking them as unliksblo as ho pleases.” —The report of the Librarian of Congress, Mr. Spofford, is a model of brovity, and yet he says a grest deal. The library, on Dec.” 1, ex- hibited” 258,752 volumes, and about 43.Cu0 pamphlets, the law departmeat containing 31,190 of the former. Threo thousand ore hundred aud forty-eeven books and 2,543 pamphlets bave been copyrighted during tho year, the wiolo number of copyrights issaed being 15,532. Mr. Spofford wisely urges tho passage of the pro- posed Iaw transferring the registry of trade- marks, labels, etc., to the Patent-Office. The library has agaia outgrown its space, esnd wa believe nono of the pians for a new building submitted by architects under the small offers al remuneration hitherto made have been adopted by the Commission. —AMA, Erkmann-Chatrian are now writing 2 new serial atory, which witl shortly appear iz Cassell's Magazine. It will be entitled * The College Life of Maitro Wablot,” aud will be based on the adventures of s young collegian during the Louis Philippe era. Here is & sketch of the two best known literary copartaers in France: *If one were to judge {rom appear- ances, few men are more unlike each other than M. Erckmann-Chatrisn. The latter is of mid- dle height; ho is very dark. ond bLis comblex- 1on rather swarthy., Ho looks more liko a portrait of Velasquez than like an Aleatian. Erckmann is his physical antithesis. Ho ix a tall apd rather bulky man, with a broad, full, smiling face, and eyes sparkling with gayoty and joy behind their gold epectacies. His monners are supremely frunk and bearty. AL Chzirian is cold, reserved. elmost icy in his way ; M. Erckmann is a8 oxpreasiva 88 pozsiblo. He may bo seen occasionally in o certain bras- serie of the Ruadu Faubourg Montmartre, Ha i8 o joyful companion, o grozt beer-drinker, ncd when lie leaves the bizsserio at nighe hie tabla is covered with empty chopes, for his absorption of beer, whilo smoiing his large Dutch pipe, re- calls Tonier's ¢ Kermeeses.’ Ho 18 very gay, affable, and kind, sud seems gnrofonndly con- vinced that thore is no greatar happiness for a man who has worked bard daring the day tban to converse in the evening with old friends, smoking a large vipe and drinking_ numercns grlassea of fresh Strasburg beer. He is, in truth, Jjust what tho reader would imagine him to be from hisworks. This evening far nicnfcin the brasserie is his only recroation; but the gravest events wouid hardly induce him to give it up when 7 o'clock strikes. The writer of thess lines remembers hot, on the first vight of Er: mann-Chatrian's drama, * Le Juif Polonais.” he found Erckmapn sitting as usual in tho brascerie. Vhen asked the reasou of his absence from tke theatre ou Bo important an occasion, Erckmaan repliod: ‘Oh! Chatrian is thero; . . . and besides,’ he added, smiling, *Iknow tao a ] 2 Nicwa. The ancient Nicza is no more. The town of TIzuik mark its eite. A correapondcat of the London Times, in writing sbout the new railwas to be run iu that viciaity, “'fue City 0f Niciee was founded by Antigonus on the gite o the old Helicon, and Nicma, the wife of Lyui: macus, usmed it after herseif. She so enlarged it that it ranked foremost among tne citics of ancient Bithynia, aud was famocs for its beauti- ful edifices and the opulence of its izhabitanta. Here in tho year 325, Constantine the Great con- voked the (Ecumenical Council which condemned the heresy of Arius and framed the Nicene Creed; hero the second (Ccumenical Council was beld in 787, when tho Icomociasts were cop- demned ; and here we see the remnants of & city which, on the occnpation of Coostanti- nopla by ' tho Latin Emperors, Theodorus Lascaris made the capital of tho Nicean Empire, and which 18 now miserablo vil- lage, shelteriny some thirty Greek and abont a8 many Tarkish familics. Externally, the double walls, majestic gates, and lotty towers of the ancient precinct, still well preserved, would scem to announce & town of great importance but within all 18 ruin_anG decaz. deserted an dezd. The palaces of tho Lascaria. the temples of the Greeks aud Remaus, even tho luter mosques built by the Osmanlis at tho conquest, —all havo disappesred in the gencral ruin. - The situation of this vibago is, Devertheless, mar- velously fiuo. In front is the glorious Lake As- canius, 14 miles long by 4°in bieadth, end atound rize green hills,wooded with foreet trees, extonding to_Olympus, whose smow-capped heighta aro distinctly visible in tho distaoce. “The beauty of the eito and prospect would writo one to prolong one's stay and edmire the scenery et awhile ; but with Nicza tho bhealthy climate a2 also disappeared. Slarshy patcaes have been formed in the neighborhood around, ren- deting the residence unhealthy, ta painfuliy evideaced by ths pallid and squalid Jooks of the scanty populetion.” A Mere Maiter of ‘Taste. From the Cincinnati Cor:mercial. A fow days since & yoang lady was invited by & physician to tskoe » buggy tide. The iuvite- tion was accepted, and the twain rode out intv the country. The physician, wko happeas to be connected with a medical colloge now in fall blast in this city, suggested to Lis fair friend that they visit 8 grave-yard. Tue lady con- sented, and when fairly ineide the inclosuse, the doctor espied the Sexton. Handing over the reius to his companion_he al’ghted from Lia buggy, and wes eoon by the mde of the grave- digger. After 2 few minutes’ cenversation tho Doctor retarned, snd inquircd of his female friend if ste had any objectiona to riding back heme with s corpse. Tue [ady, nonplused by wnch s proposition, wanted an explanation. and in reply was told that the Sexton bad -just eold him s fine subject for hia collegs, which he do- sired to tale bome; that if be waited womo other collera would got it. The astonisked I=dy then blandly remarked that if the body coald ho put under the seat of the bugzy alio would have no objectious, but ikiat if she had to nde home with Ler feet restinz vnpon it, she pre- ferred to be excased. The bodv was pot brought in on that trip, but came in an Lour or 50 later. The lady vows thst she has taken kor last ria with a_pbyaiciaa bent on * such horrid expei- tions.*