The New York Herald Newspaper, April 29, 1874, Page 13

NEW YORK HERALD, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29, 1874—-QUADRUPLE SHEET. GERMAN LITERATURE. The Victor’s Story of the Late Franco-Prussian War. ——. Dr. Dollinger on a King in Letters. AUERBACH — SCHMIDT—HOLTZENDORF. FRankrort, April 7, 1874, The first volume of the Prussian general stat’s work on the German-French war is now completed, In the fiftn last instalment thereof just issued tne | events of the war from the morning of the 18th of August to the eve of the battle of Gravelotte are, treated, most of the apace belng given to the battle of Mars-le-Tour, .The result arrived at fa that in this battle, which the French claim a3 victory, the Germans fatied to open the way closed | tothem by the French; that at night each party held its battle fleld, but tnat on the following | morning, the French haying retired, the victory ‘was essentially Gorman. A chart of tho battle rounds accompanies the fifth issue, A few days ago I came across an exceedingly Interest- ing description of the labors which are carried on by the Berlin War Ministeriam in connection with this great historical work, which is being publisned ‘Under the eye of Count Moltke. Eleven rooms of the Ministerium are devoted to the war library and the writers of the work, The library is the largest of its kind in Germany. The war archives presorved in one of the vaults are exceeding!y rich, and contain moteriol relating to all the cam- paigns as far back as the time of Electa Sigis- mund. The archives contain 25,000 follo volames of documents, arranged in epochs of Prussian mili- tary bistory, and these again according to armies, | corps and regiments, The great divisions relate tothe Seven Years’s War, the War of Liboration, the Danish, the Austrian and the Franco-German wars, The 1870-71 campaign is represented by 4,600 volumes of official documents, besides other | volumes relating to strategical nd tactical | points, which are preserved in the various general commandos of the army. The great gencral stair work is compiled from these 4,600 folio volumes of | documents preserved in the War Mimisterom, Each folto volume contatns 350, 400 or 450 separate documents, and it is assumed that more than | $500,090 aocuments have to be reviewed before the | great work can be completed, besides more than 100 volumes from the pens of French, Engitsh, Kussian and German writers, and, further, ‘semi. | official reports and masses of charts and plans, | The yroces Bazaine resulted in a protecol of four large printed volumes for the Prussian | military archives. From twelve to four- teen officers are continually employed in the arrangement of material, and Count Moltke himself guides and overlooks every chapter, The work is distributed according to the @reat events of the war. Metz, the campaigns in the north and west of France, Sedan, Paris, Wer- der’s and Manteuffel's campaigns, the battles of | the fortresses are worked up {n distinct rooms, each | Officer having his assistanta. The rooms are nota- ble for their lack of luxurious adornments. They are iiterary workshops, and the iabor procecds in the deepest silence. slowly, thoroughly, silontly, instalment after instalment. is prepared by tho busy men of the sword. Two years has clapsed since the issue of the first part of the work, and we are only reading about the eve of Grave'otte. It will take further years to bring us to the con- Micts around Paris, and the close of this decade may, perhaps, bring us to the Treaty of Frankfert | aud the return of the victors to the Fatherland. DORLLINGER ON KING JOHN OF SAXONY. Dr, Dvllinger ts sti!l aiive, and apparently his mind Is a8 strong as ever, On the 28th of March he delivered a beautiful memorial address on King John of Saxony, before the Bavarian Acadomy of Sclences, of which he !s President. He speaks in terms of the highest eulogy of King John’s liter- ary lavors, to whose personal influence he believes is due the fact of Leipsic having grown tobe the first of German universities in standing and in the number of its students, Most interesting is Dr, Dollinger’s survey of the crowned authors of the past andthe comparison of them with the Saxon monarch, ‘Princely authors, and still More princely savants, are a rare phenomenon. Surveying ail civilized peoples of ail centuries, we find very few who have thought it worth the trouble to add to the princely rank of ; the royal crown the laurel wreath of an- thorship.”” Few have combined intellectual rauter- ship with the temporal. “Frederic the Great of Prussia possessed them in an cminent degree; tor Were they foreign to King Ludwig I. of Bavaria and the Third Napoleon, But King Jobn of Saxony | is a pre-eminent example of a happy combination | of both qnalities,” Dr. Dillinger does not over- | look the fact that King Jonn, like other ruiers who | Were famous as antiors, bad in youth no prospects | of succeeding to ihe throne, and therefore re- | ccived a training for other callings—like Marcus | Aurelius, King Ajfrec, Henry VIi., the Greek Em- | peror Kantakuzenos, the Polish King Stanislaus | Leczinskl, Some of these were drawn into | | | | i { literature by tho force of circumstances, as it were. Henry Vill. and James 1. placed the in- fiuenco of thelr works in the scale of the Refor- mation. Tho latter monarch, says Dillinger, was the only one, perhaps, in which his price asa | scholar was stronger and more touchy than his royal consciousness. FREDERIC THE GREAT, ETC, Dr. DUilinger {8 not surprised te nd many of the ryal authors simply apologetical, King Ludwig | I of Bavaria wrote bis “Walhalla Guests” because he wished to justify before the nation his selection of busts for bis “Waihalla” structure, The “Memoirs” of the Empress Catharine and some his- torical writings of Frederic Il, bear the same stamp. Napoleon JLi.’s “Life of Cesar” is palpably a@ historical apology for the coup a’état of the | 2d of December and Cesarism, What a con- trast are these to the writings of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, wio lived 1,700 yeara | before? Of royal authors whose works proceed | from the consciousness that the monareh’s duty is also to elevate the people in intellectual life, Dr. DUilinger adduces two stars of mediwval history—King Alfred of Engiand and Alfonso xX, of Castite, Alfred endeavored by his trans. lations of Latta works to rouse the Angio- Saxons to study atter they had retrograded and wildened through the long wara. But Alfouso, who a3 a ruler was weak and unfortunate, may be | cailed an unexampled phenomenon in the depart- Ment of intellectual Ilfe, for he was poet, historian, Mathematician, astronomer, lawgiver, a master o! style and. the formator of Castillan prose; hi Astronomical tables and bis law books assert thei My ortance and valuc to this day. His reign an Person mark the commencement of Castilia literature, The most fruitful of the royal autho! ‘was Froderic the Great of Prussia, whose wor! are published in some thirty volumes, Diilin; compares him with Alfonso thus:—“But in his af- vounting productivity, and in startling contrast the Castilian, Frederic scarcely mentions thinks of his own people im his writings; 414 not even write in his own language. He writta because he cannot remain idie and to bury. his dousehold discomforts, and ‘pour se corriger Wi- mene,’ 23 Ne once sata himself? Aboyo atl ties royal authors in scholar'y acquirements, in well chosen knowledge, King John of Saxony stands. Dr. DviNinger then reviews the literary labors of King Jobn, cspeciaily his translation of Dante’s “Divine Comedy,” “a work of love and art.” King Joun, so concludes Dvllinger, will | live In the memory of the German nation as one of the best of its princes; he will live on in the world of knowledge and of literataro; he will live on In the popular heart because of the good which | has resulted from his person and his works,” New to us is Doilinger'’s assertion that the King thought very seriously of going to Rome during the Vatican Council! in order to use ils intuence egainst the passing Of the dowma of inintipiity, | tton (1816) went | tion, { by Sickness and the apathy of his Court prevenced him from doing 80. DR. BASTIAN'S NEW WORK ON AFRICA, An important work on Africa is published by Costenobie, of Jena. We refer to the President of the Berlin Geographical Society, Dr. Adolf Bas- tian’a work on “The German Expedition on the Loango Coast of Africa; Together with a Résumé of Older Information Respecting tne Lands to be Explored by the German Expedition. Treated after Personal Experience.” The work isin two volumes, and is embellished with filustrations and ® map. Germany is following with considerable interests the German expedition to the west coast of Africa, to which the Emperor donated a sum of 25,000 thaters trom bis private purse, and the geo- graphical societies of Germany are uniting in its support. The portion of the African const de- scribed by Dr. Bastian (which bas been selected as the starting point of the expedition) is a terra in- cognita, and, excepting the old books of Degrand- pré (1803) and Preyart (j79-), we have no literature relating to it, Tuckey’s expedi- along tho southern borders only, Du Chailu’s routes were in a more northern region, and the Loapgo coast was never visited by a scientific traveller, But much information dating from the sixteenth and seventeenth centu- ries existsin works dificult to get at, and these are tne sources which Dr. Bastian has ured in the present work. Dr. Bastian speaks at length on the present state of the Ger- man expedition; he adds a monograph On the lands which the expedition 13 to explore during tne next few years. The work deserves the careful attention of all geographers in tho States. Dr. Bastian is @ geographical authority and de- serves listening to whenever he speaks. In a lengthy biography of Livingstone, published in a recent number of the Daherin, Dr. Richard Audree takes up the HERALD-Stanley controversy, and telis his readers how “Mr. Stanley, the bold American, whose story bas been so unjustly doubted in Ger- many,” found the missionary explorer. LAND AND FOREST CULTURE. An important book on the results of one depart- ment of the Vienna Exposition comes to us from the Austrian capital, and is deserving of atten- “The Culture of the Follat the Vienna Ex- position, 1872,” especially “prepared for Austrian land and forest culturists,” at the instance of the Austrian Ministry of Agriculture. Tho work win three volumes, and is enriched with wood cuts and ithographic tables, The first volame is devoted to ‘“‘Agricutture,” the sscond to “Forest Culture,” the third to “National. Econ- omy.” The first volume is especially | rich, and treats of nearly every subject connected with agriculture and its related branches. Tho second volume, treatipg of the forests, discusses All the important questions connected with this branch of national economy. It will be remem- bered that the Forest Congress was one of the most important of the Vienna International meet. ings. The third volume ta divided three sections—1, “Natural Economy and Statistics; 2, The Promotion of Land Culture by Governments and Societies; 3, Bibliography of the Vienna Exposition with reference to Land and Forest Culture.” The work suffers greatly, how- ever, from the narrow standpoint taken by the writers, Perthes, of Gotha, issues & work, “Pic. tures from the Rural Population in Thuringia, | Elsaas, Westphalia and East Friesland," by August Triimpelmann, which is a va'uable contribution to the literature of rural populations in Germany. “WALDFRiD."? Bortho!d Auerbach’s new three volume romance, “Waldfried,” stares at us in its ugly German dress- binding from every bookstore window. I haye not yet invested in it, for the reason that 1 think the publishers and the author do a great wrong to the public in attempting to get English prices for works printed and got up jn the German style. The whole romance would make a good soildly printed | single volume novel; but here author and publish- ers have managed to issue three small, mean- looking books, for which they ask ug very nearly a guinea, for which price the Loudon threo vole umes are geverally sold. But then it must be remembered that the London rublisiers. print in good type and on good paper and vind tieir books Well, 80 as t0 make up, im many cases, for the trashy contents. In the cago of “Waldiriea,” however, we have a pleve of delightful reading, for the Fagherlanders at Jeast, done up in bad imi- tation of the London style, and at a price which tho Germana are certainlz7 not accnatomcd to give. Paul Iinaau and other critica find in the romance a symbolical con- nection between Waldiried’s family and the German imperial family. fut the work is hardly fairly under the critic’s microscope, as Johannes Scherr (for whose sins Paul Lindau waa recently sentenced to prison) has this week an ar. ticle in the @ ware entitled “Vive Napoleon IV. 1" He says:—Peoplo laugh about it~now. Later many who now laugh may have good cause to | j Weep. Did not people langh when the son of the much beloved Hortense brought his ideas of impe- Tialdom on the tapis ? Later they Kageled thero- | for? Haman folly and human villany remata ever the same!” 8CUMIDT—HOLTZENDORT-—CREM ATION, The Bavarian novellst, latest historical romance, “Uoncordia, a German Imperial Story from Bavaria,” ts receiving a hearty welcome in South Germany. This author nas nearly ready & lengthy narrative poem entitled | “Winland; or, the Search for Fortune,” which he has received permission to dedicate to His Majesty King Ludwig of Bavaria, Sclinidt is filty-nine years of age aud still an untiring story teller. His subjects are chosen mostly from the Bavarian highlands, from the peasants and hunters, the wood burners snd the Inke = dwellers, over whom he throws the charm of po- etry and inicrest, Professor von Holizendort {s writing for the Berlin Gegenrart a series of inter- esting esaays on “The Conflict of the German Em. Dire Against the Cholera."* Holtzendorf considers the cholera to be for Germany a part of the Oriental question. The cholera, by the way, stiil prevails at Munich, and from two to three per- sons dio of the mysterious malady datly, From ¢urich Comes a Doteworthy pamphlet on “Crema: tion,”? by Wegiaann Ecolain, in whieh the author attempts to show that this ia the only rational mode of disposing of our dead. The new (or rather old) system of burning the dead will som be introduced into Germany, The first “bake-oven” for this purpose wil be opencd in few weeks lu Dresden. Pro/essor Siemens is building it. The communes of Lelpsic and Dresden have declarcd their readiness to adopt the system ag soon as the rosults are known tobe favorabie, Slemens believes that with his gas oven, with an enormous temperature, the pro- cess of cremation will not last over an hour. Viennese Cremation Soclety “Uru'13 about to @ “burning oven’? on the plan advocated by ‘ofessor Reclam, of Letpsic. The Zurich clergy ‘seem to favor the movement started in that city. There is no doubt that the custom of cremation will soon gain ground here, Somo of the German clergy ob- ject to it, however, on the ground that the pro- cess may interfere with their resurrection theo- ries; but since people have genorally come to the conciusion that the resurrection will be in the form of Schelling’s ‘‘soul-hody” they will be indif- Jerent whether their bodies dissolve to dust by the slow process of decomposition or be burnt into ashes in the short space of an hour, So many thousands of martys and heretics have been cre- mated in former times and are saiely landed in the heavenly regious that the religious conscioue- ness can have little to say aginst the process. ‘The burial fields will be siaaller and poor peopie will rejoice. The last case of burning the dead in Europe was in 1822, when Lora Byron laid the body of his inend Shelley on the pyre, A DIVISION SNOAMPMENT, Naw Yous, April 7, 1974. To Tue Eprron OF THR HERALD:— A division encampment fs just what wo want, It would be very beneficial in & military point of viow, and wonld be o pleasant and economical mannor for the young men of the Gaard to spend their summer Vacation; and those thinking spec- tators cssential would, doubtiess, be fully satisfied, a8 @ division encampment would be quite a rari A je WE voto bo Kon By the ator nt 0 talnk BWOUIG PrOVS FAYOTAM RD BRIGADE, into | Hermann = Sohmilat’s | The | | Two of the Jeaders have been captured and brought bat sue has spent or wasted it all. she Wis always am extravagant, capricious, kind hearted person, and = mis‘ortune has | will carn out any better fs a secret yet | thou of the southern provinces, SPANISH AFFAIRS, The Sqnabbles of the Royalists and Divi- sions of the Radicals, WHAT WILL RESULT P MADRID, April 6, 1874, There is a strong impression Serrano will make 0 bargain with Don Carlos, and that tho Bourton Prince may proclaim himself King of Navarre if he pleases to doso, Farther he cannot go. He has Not the smallest chance of becoming King of Spain. But thore ts nevertheless some doubt whether ho willaccept the prize now within bis grasp, He is the candidate of the Church party, who supply mm ‘iberaily with money and give him an importance which he would not Olberwise possess. It is, therefore, quite possibie that success may have turned a nead which ts said by his enemies to be at once Weak and ‘obstinate, Boeldes, kings are very much what their surround- ings make them, and Don Carlos is hemmed in by priests and flatterers, He might, however, do 2 worse thing than make up his mind to be content with the Kingdom of Navarre. He would have obedient, prosperous sub- Jects, numbering about 2,000,000, and, therefore, would be twice as biga king as the ex-King of Han- over. He might make Bilbao a very pleasant place and get a creditable civil list out of his dominions. George of Hanover got $500,000 a year from a poorer people, The rest of Spain will probably be given over at no distant period to Don Alfonso, the ex-Queen’s fon; but neither Don Carlos nor Yon Alphonso will keep their crowns. The ultimate destiuy of Spain is to split up into a confederation of about a dozen States, under repubitcan government, apd when Carlos and Alfonso have had their innings this will be the outcome of it, Royalty has had 350 years, more or less, of misrule in Spain, and as s00n as the people have learned the firat principle Of political economy they will upset it altogether. At present the republican party are all at log- g@erneads. Castelar seems the pleasantest of them; but then he does nothing but promise whatever is asked, Ho is merely an amiable, amusing crea- ture, Without sgrength of purpose or clear ideas; nevertheless there are one or two rising meu who may yet make thet mark in Spanish history at no very distant period, though they have not yet come to the front; and the Spaniards are excellent materiai for a statesman, whenever a ruler worthy of the name arises to lead them, The ex-King and Queen have been squabbling, ag ‘usual, for these last few days about money. Her Majesty accuses His Majesty of spending means upon courtezans; though really this is too bad aiter all that has been said before, Certain it ts that tho ex-King has no property of his own, ifho ever had any, and he is entirely dependent on the ex-Queen, who is in turn dependent on her Mother, a monstrous shrewd old lady in money Matters. Lasked some Spantards, who were likely to know, how It happened that the rich royalist nobility of Spain gave no eupplites tor the relief of the sovereigns to whom they continue to vow allegiance. The answer I received Was that the fortunes of the royalist nobility were much exaggerated and that few of them had much ready monoy, Tho Voke of Medina:Cell is 2 voy, tho Duke of Opuna is living on aa allowanco, and soon. In short, there is nothing tangible to be got ont of them. So it happens at this present writing that Span- Ish royalty is in a piteons case, There are quite a rabble ront of princes and princesses, dukes and g@randees living from hand to mouth The other day an acquaintance of mine visited a Bourvon princess, and having been admit- ted by accident to her apartment saw that it was 9 sort of cupboard, rather than a room. ‘The Princess, whose appourance revealed the fact ‘Mat she was shortly about to become a mother, was seated on & box, turned upside down, because tere were no chairs, Beside her sat her husband, and between them a young child. They were golng to have an early dinner—and snch a dinner! A dinner which a housemaid would reject with scorn, Her Royal Highness, thus surprised, showed & high bred tact and grace worthy of better fortune. Sho laughed gayly at her cupboard and its belongings, said that she had Incautlously given up her apart- ment and had been unable to find another, in con- sequence of which absurd series of events she had taken re:ugo here with a couple of boxes and a garlic sausage. This was not so very far from the truth. Her Royal Higness in fact had received peremptory notice to quit her late lodgings be- cause she could not pay any rent, and had been unable to find another apartment for the same renson. “it Is all very queer and very ad," cbserved my informant; ‘but ihe Prlacess is a relative of tho King, end, therefore, the Quoen will not support her, and as she holds the purse strings Her Royal Highness is ina bad way.” Inabad way surely! She and her husband will die of starvation unles: the King and Queen make up their quarrel. tc seeems that 'sabella had a good deal of Money placed in foreign securities when she left Madrid, made her neither less wayward nor more prudens, The Spaniards endured her government as long as it was hamanly poraible to do se, and only got rid of ber whea her admioi!sivation was absolutoly iInsupportabie, She has done and is coing nothing to regain tiely couddenee, and whether her boy known to none, Much has beon said against the ex-King, but, In fact, he is, perhaps, the best of the family, Be is @ reasonable, well bred man im conversation, ard would #ave done much better than he did if bis wite had not made him ridicuious, peXt phase in Spanish affairs will prob:biy & cool transaciton between Serrano and tho yalists. He will certainly try to make the best terms he can for himself; then Don Carlos and Alfonso will probably divide the government. of | Spain, fora ine, between them. Serrano is buc | laying room soldier, and is already Hoory a ck of fighting, He is aiso extremely needy, an his wife spends money by the handful, if Don Carioa will be satisfied with what be can get there will soon be peace in Spain, and that is a consuy mation devoutly to be desired; but in any c: the onteome of the struggle whl be the same— first, two Kklngs, and then & federal republic, when. ever a capadi paniard can be tound tv organize it upon a rational principle, JAPAN, The Popular Movement in Constitational | Reform in Active Progress—Curlous Escape of a Citizen Democratic Leader. Yououama, March 26, 18i4, The Southern {usurrection has been wholly sup- pressed, and quiet is again restored in the Empire, to Jeddo, but the chicf leader, Yeto Shimpei, has | not yet been canght, It appears that he endeav- ored to make his escape to China. Some of his followers seized a vosscl and started of with her, but subsequently the ship put iato a Japanese port, evidently at the instigation Ofa portion of the crew who had refused to goturther; but Yeto and his immediate followers were not ou board, So far this whole transaction is wrapped in impenetrable mystery. Whether Yeto ea caped with the connivance of officials who stood high in the confidence of the ernment or not ts @ question that will probably be solved in the course of the next {ew daya, Io tho meantime tho tact of the insurrectionist rising has given food tor refiection to the officers or the government, One of the local papers asserts positively that a parliament—a deltherative, elective sssembly— tobe tormed, How itis to be formed, upon what baais, who are to be eligible as representatives and who are to be tre electors, have not yet been toid, Nor canIsay when it i8 to assemble, But that tho edict has gone forth that such an assem. bly will be convened ts beyoad # doubt and will goon prove to be a fact, tn spite of the protesta- tiona of some foreign officials who have Wied to preyont it. RNEOUTIVE VISITATION, } Sehmadzn Savoro, who was sons down south to | endeavor to quiet the ingargents, returned to | Jeddo on the 14th tnst. He was received py the Mikado and three days afterward leit Jeddo again, itis presumed, with power to finish the pacifica- ‘eae aD ge me vf An oxtenalvo fre occurre @ forcign settle. Ment on the night of the 12th Inst. wit) loss amounted to nearly $200,000, Insurance com- panies are tho heaviest loscra. 7 RAILWAY OPENING, 7 Tho railroad between Kobe and Osaca, distance Rinetcen miles, 8 Dow comploted. ' Although trains have passed over the Wigle lao it is not | vet open ley Wwadic. j our respecta | business unsuspected in its midst. | prisoners and convicts wo have served their | For his purpose a list of all prisoners about to be REFORMED CRIMINALS, _——— How Repentant Convicts Are Reclaimed and Become Useful Citizens. MERCY VS. VENGEANCE. The American System of Treating | Discharged Prisoners, In many respects the administration of justice im Europe, and especially in Englana, ia superior in its practical workings to the administration thereot in this country. But in the equaly im- Portant irem of meroy, especially of mercy to the erring, Who are likewise repenting and reforming, the institutions of the United States are far in ad- vance of tho older countries. The ticket->l-leave system pervades the whole “penal civilization” of Great Britain and ita colonies, and has become famous in story and‘in drama, Yet this system is a curse instead of a blessing, or at least it is a very dis- agreeable and demoralizing result of the ad- ministration of justice, works badly at the best, and is lable to # hundred abuses, Butin the United States of America, especially in the great State of New York, a system prevails which is precisely the opposite of the ticket-of- leave system, and which works well and is one of the most creditable institutions yet devised by the intelligence of generous humanity for the beneft ofthe race. This system is directly the reverse of that which prevails abroad. In England the motto seems to be “Onco a criminal, always a criminal; and the fact that any persons have once been In prigon, as communicated by law toa large number of people, is made a pretext for sur- rounding them with evil influences, encompassing their future lives with shame and rendering their ultimate reformation improbable, if not impossible, But under the American systém the fact that 3 man has been once punished by society for an offence, is made the very reason for every possible effort to reform him. The fact of his disgraco ts kept a secret as far as possible. There 1s an “association” ready to take him by the hand when he emerges from prison, to suppors him till he cun support himself, and to obtain work for him under the best possible auspices, Certainly the theory upon which the American systom 1s founded ts by far the mest creditable to human nature—the moro mer- ciiul, the more Christian—and, what is a more im- portant point, it is practically the more profitable, alike to the individual and to the State, to human- ity and to morality. It works better. It has been 80 and will so continue for some time, and has been found to “pay” in every sense of the term, Tho English ticket-of-leave system is practically imposatble in this country. In England the police of the land, trom one end to the other, is under one central head and moves as one body; whereas in this country each State has its own indepen- dent regulations and each city its own independent police establishment. Consequently, the English system of communicating the fact of a man having been a prisoner irom one part of the land to an- | other, and of keeping a watch upon his move- ments 1n all cities, would be a practical tmpossibil- ity. But, outside of all this, the very idea of a | constant spying surveillance kept up year alter year upon any Individual ts hostile to the spirit of republican institutions, This being the asd, the formation of an assocta- tion designed for the cure of those Who have tatien under the Just cispleasure of the law, but who are not yet utteriy hardened; an Ossociation designed to see exact justice done to those who haye not the meaus or opportanity to defend themselves; to take care of prisoners, While serving out their sentences, that they are rot cruelly treated or abused; an association which likewise takes care of discharged prisoners, and, above all, whic! opens for them ayenues of je employment—such an association as \ this comiftrends. itself to the American public, Such an association bas been inexistence and ia | active operation among us for several years, under the offictul title of The Prison Association of New York." It has done and is doing, very quietly from the very natore of the case,a@ great amount of en id good than ts known to auy bat tne | nitiated few. “REFORMED CRIMINALS" IN OUR MIDST, It would surprise the (path public in New York, if 1¢ Knew wiiat—of course, it never will knuw—the large number of reformed convicts and discharged prisoners who are Itving and doin; In Englon Sich a state of affairs woald be utterly impossible. A thief or @ swindler or a brawior, once detected and puntsied, would forovyor be cut off from ail hopes of worldly protection or success. But in America, and its metropolis, New York, thanks to onr American system and the Prison Association, there are some men who occupy responsible pox tions, even positions of trusi are working indussriously and honestly in humbler osllings, WOO have Veen in thelr day “convicts,” “folons,”? who have “served their time,’ and who in any other country but this would ba, to all tn- | po hpi purposes in this world, “ost” and civilly “dead”? ‘There are in the city of Now York at the present, time several book&eepers aud clerks in téurance companies, several cierks in dry goods stores, Seve eral salesmen in other ines of business, one prac. | using physician, two druggists and seyernl mor- { chants, in fairstanding among their fellow men, who have tn times past been inmates of State | risons, ‘There are fifteen mien enjoying over 2,000 per annom salsries, twenty six having sal- aries over $2,000 @ year, a large number of persona in smaller positions, gnd several “specmators’? who are at the present time engaged in extensive “naneclal operations” wio have been “convicts,’? “felons? and social outensts, who, in Kugiand, would be ticket-of-leave men and pariahs of ciety, but who, in this country, and in this city. thanks to the more mercilul gonius of American institutl: Fe free Men, men not “marked” in any unplea & sense, and who are at present as | respected and as respectable as any other mem- bers of the community, ASSUMED NAMES, It is the policy and the princtple of the New | York Prison Association, to wuich the existence of | stch a state of things is due, to help dischargod | | | i { | term to obliterate all traces of their disgracetul past. For this purpose tt often transfers dis- | charged convicts at its own expense to new scen: 4 and associations in other parts ot the country, and o.ten Winks at their assuming now names ti- stead of the oid titles, which they have rendered infamous, A considerable number of men in New York city and State, who are now creditabiy koown dong thetr tellow mon by one name, wers formerly known discreditably by other names, and no one ts cognizant of the change of appell.ition put the Prison Association. In these cases, as the convict was by lis sentence in the cye of the law “cividiy dead,” und us the change of name signifies a change of Ite ior the better, thero is bo valid objection to the otier vise objectionable change of name, . DESTITUTE PRISONERS, But the good work of the Prison Assoctation | dses not confine itself even to the svove benedcial | Vmits. [¢ supports indigent prisoners until they are able io support theinscives, and tins saves hundreds annuaily fron ctime who would other- wise be jorced into it by despalr and waat. Lést year thirty-two mon were at one time clothed, ted and kot alive by the Prison Association untti the Boor. untortunates wero enabled to find someting odo, In England tie mere fact that these men had been criminals wonld have been a Most poworlul argument that every door giould havo been closed agamst them; but re, in America, the mere tact that they wore repenting criminals waa acknowl edged as aclatm the: upon humanity—a con- trast truly most creditable to our American Chrn- tlanity and civilization, Our American system also provides through the Prison Association for the taxing caro of and helping the more fortanate convicts to take care of and rightly invest what. ever moneys they may be entitled to trom sanoaes overwork, &o., When they leave tire prison, 1 13 money offen aniounts to several hundreds of dot. lars, and its proper charge and direction ot expen. ditare form an important item of the beneiiclal duties of the Prison Associaiulon. HOW CRIMINALS ARE MADE HONORABLY Usrece. The American system also providcs—and per- haps thls is the most lmportant work of the Prison Assoclation—for the ee ee of work and situa. tions for the discharged and repentant convict. discharged irom the various prisons is handed, a onrh in adyance of thelr discharge, to the Prison asoclation agent. The latter has personal inter- visws withthe prisoners designated, consults them i as to their capabliities, previous pursuits and his- tories and their desircs for she future; and then, on this baals, the Prison tion procures for those who seem sincerely repentant and desirous | to reform situations suitable, An honest and hon. | oradle course is pursaed in this pecuitarly dificult and delica! uudertaking to all concerned, Those irom whom work 1a golicie are frankly told the shamefn! secret in the i the would-be savior} but the Prison Associ- ation gives ® reason: guarantee for his future ood behavior, avd the secret is kept buried fn the breasts of those threo onjy—the emplover, the employé aad the Priaon Asacclation siout, | it nas only one | less than $3,000 per annum, and has two very | modest offices, in the Bible House and in Centre | | street, mear tne City Hall, ; yearly every prison in the State, sixty county | Jalis, six peitenstaries and three Stace prisons, | and have an official rank as “Inspectors of County | Prisons.” They have the charge of sometimes 500 ! "4 t, and many men who | they 4 A ' poard, clotaing, toois, railroad ticke: | have obtained for 4,139 prisoners work and sitt | tions—inaking a total of 23,446 prisoners mate- } Office in Londen, terly re! criminal and culty’ ia thug but on the other hand not @ few employers, being haman and sensible, after all really have @ certain pity for thoze wo offer their services to them under these cirenmetances, and while they keep a watch upon then, yet give them a chance to be useful. And in the grest majority of cases it has been found ree _ confidence of employers has not been dis- 6 experienced ber CURIOUS CASES OF RRFORM, A jeweller’s clerk 1s now in the employ of the very firm from whom he stole $75 and tor which thett he was imprisoned for five years, Hoe gives per- Ject satisiaction sinco his return from prison, A man who has served two terms in State Prison for burgiary, a moulder by trade, applied after the expiration of his second term to'the Prison Agso- | Ciation and said that if he could get a living to earn he would reform. Tho ‘Asso- Clation procured clothing for him and gave him tools, &c. It also procured a situation for bim with a house in this city, with whom he has been for several years, and who are thoroughly satisfied with him and his work. Ayoung man, well educated, committed forgery and served & five years’ term in State prison. He had been, previous to bis crime, the confidential clerk of @. Broadway firm, but for some months atter serving out his senteuce was utterly nnable to procurce employment. He would undoubtedly have dri:ted back into crime again had it not been for The Prison Association. He is now the ship. ping clerk of a large firm, wno are bighly pleased With him, A man wuo has served in State Prison for six and one-half yeara for burgiary, aud who Worked at the foundry while in prison, has since his discharge served ‘very acceptably in an iron foundry, and ts considered a capital workinaun, A young man was sentenced to the Penitentiary for six months for petty larceny. After wis dis- Charge he fell into bad company and being driven desperate by lack of junds and want of work was on the eve of commitung a burglary, when he ob- tained work, on promises of reform, through the agency of the Prisoa Association. He is now earn- ing good wages and is trasted by bis employers, | A youth, sixteen years of Ago, Rerved ono Yoar {oF | petty larceny “on the island.” He is now a thriv- ing saddler in 4 suburban town. A mon, fifty years old, who served two and a half years for grand larceny, 18 now, thougn an old man, in a respect- able and thriving position, being saved irom sliama and suicide by the Prison Association, A sailor, | who served two years in prison for assault and battery, aiterwards obtained a position as second mate on trading vessel, and 1s now on the higit | Toad to Breeton. A burglar, who served two and a half years in the State Prison, and who | worked in the shoeshop while there, is now the respecten foreman of onc of our largest shoeshops, and similar instances could be multiplied—eact | and ail of them creditable alike to human nature and the American system. Not only do the majority of the discharged con- yicts, who are thus benevolently and wisely treated, make good employés, but one man, a jew Jersey, who has taken several of farmer in N these discharged convicts off the hands of the Prison Association, prefers them to any others, having written to the Prison Association agent:— “$1 you have any more men like those you sent me send them along.” Even hardened convicts have been “rejormed” under the gentle tufluences ot | the American system. One man, who served jour- teen years and ten months for highway robbery, 13 | now in an hovorabdle position, works hard and’ is | well paid; while another criminal, wbo has been three times In prison, has yielded at last to the Prison Association, has obtained work through its agency, and gives satisfaction to his erp loyer. Jn several tustances employers who have made use of these discharged and repentant convicts have not hesitated, trom thelr experience of them, to recommend them to other people, and these letters of recommendation have been couched in the strongest terms. Ot course tae majority of these convicts who come under the infiuence of the Prison Association are thoso without friends, money or social post: tion; but even in some cuses of convicts of a higher class the Prison Assocation has proved oc- casionally of great use. A young convict, woo had been disowned by his Wealthy parents for his crimes, was taken by the Prison Association, and through its agency ob. | tamed a confidential position, whose duties he honorably discharged for some years, atte: woict, evidences of bis reform, his family consentea to receive him again, “DBTAINID'! AND PEMALB PRISONERS, But the kindly influences of the Prison Associa- tion are not liniited to tne care of convicts alter punishment; they also embrace the care of priso! ers previous to trisl and sentence—‘tletained pris- oners.”” Whero t¢ isa “first offence” every edort is used to obtain “suspension of sentence,” or “mitigation of punishment; and where there 18 any reasonable doubt of guilt and the prisoner is unfbis to pay tor counsel, counsel is turnished by the Prison Association, Hundreds of instances could be cited of the great good Gono ia this de- | partinent of 119 working, ‘there 18 also a Women’s Prison Association, a branch of the mato, This Women’s Association has “home” at 213 ‘Tenth avenue, known xs “The isaac T. Hopper Home,” where discharged female convicts are Clothed, fed and furnished with teu porary Work until supplied with more permanonut situations, SUGGESTIVE FIGURES. Such {s the good work of the Prison Association ot New York, which is the first and the leading or- ganization of the kind in the worid aud the model vee which all. other similar Stato associations have been founded. Itis supported chiefly by volun- tary cont ibutions, aided Mi an occasional, thougit sivall, contribution trom the State government. salaried officer, hs salary being Its members visit prisoners A month, and extend aid to sometimes 2,000 prisoners a year, ave vided 18,367 discharged py soners With ts or mone. rially, and therefore morally, benefited by ‘he: truy Caristian and clvilizing agonciss. Dw an average year exponses of this Prison Asso- ciation do not exceed $3,000, while the aniwunt of | Money or Money's Worth disbursed to convicts or | All the de ex-convicts ranges from twice to many times that sam, Whether considered from the points of theory | or practice, Whether regarded froma a moral or clvil point of view, the Prison Assoctation of New | York, therefore, as an iestration of the Americau | systein of dealing with discharged conviets | of those very distinctive American instinutions of | { which an American can feei justly proud. is one LITERARY CHIT-CHAT. a Tar LONDON Figavo says that aa editor ot Punch j Mr. Tom Taytor receives £2,200 a year. FirTReEN HUNDRED new journals have been regis- tered in France during the last three years, ‘fH# nuMper of periodicals printed In London, in February, 1874, was 762, being a decrease since tho same period Inst year of ten poriodicais, Tue celebrated Talmadist, Lazarus, father of Protessor Lazarus, of Berlin, died a few days ago, at Filetine, at the age of eighty-four, J. R. Osaoon & Co. will soon Issue “Good Luek” (alick Aui”’), translated from the German Ernest Werner, by Francia A, Shaw, A Sumof £60 has been given irom the Royal Literary Fund to Mr, Michacl Banin, one of the authors of “Tales of the O'Mara Family.” MR. WILKIE COLLINS will, It is ald, come back to America as soon as he can arrange Jor doing 20. “Tm WEALTH OP THE PaciFio” is the title of a forthcoming hook by Mr. H. Martin, of San Fran- cisco, whica wiil treat of the geneology, history and occupation of the prominent men of the Pa. cific coast. “THE MODERN AVERNCS; or, The Descent of England,” is the harrowing title of a book by Junius Junior, which has tately been let ioose upon | London, According to tne author it is Romanism that ts slowly bat surely destroying ail that is valuable in Engiand. Those who believe in tho Jeanitism of Mr. Gladstone and the decadence of England sh ould study this volume, and insist upon Parliament immediately undoing all that i¢ has doue .for the Roman Catholics since the days of O'Conneli. As an illus: tration of the power of red tape in Lng- land it may ve mentioned that the scholars of that country are now, for the first time, on the alert to discover the inventory of Shakespeare's property among the mventories at the Provate The oiticlals (un charge at Doc- tor’s Commons, however, have found so many ob- atacies in the way of overhauling tho collection of inventories tuat tie search has been practically abanfoned, ‘Lue CRirics are quarretiing with Victor Hugo for inacouracy in the reference to Pitt's forged assig- nats in his late novel, “Ninety-Three;” but Mr. G, A, Lebour, of the Geologicd! Survey, writes to the Athena@iwn that the novelist ts botter in- formed than his censors. He says:— May I reassert in your pages that the piate from which the sham assignata wero printed ts still, in existence, and that tho paper. mul in witch the paper was mde ay subsequent processes o1 manafac- ture carried out 13 Bininhiig, aivough oe worsing, The re! on which it stands, on the bangs Of one ol the most boauttiul and least fraudulent iooking of English rivers, and the fact that the assigvata were fed there, wero ally mentioned by me in @ paper printed in oy "00 sin the Athencenim, aud eathiied “Geolg: ia | Ofteu the gow employes owme Is chaaged~ai Worth Tynedale?’ sialng During twenty-five years { of is OUR PARKES, - A Review of the Condition of the Verlous Squares and Park:—Froposed Ime provements and Their Cost, — The following review of our parks will show What works are most needed, They have ail bees contemplated by the department, and will be car- ried ont this year if the necessary appropriation tg obtalued, THE BATTERY. The Battery seems to be ins tolerable conde tion, but in the rear of the sea walt the ground has caved in, The pavement ought to be taken up, | the ground refilled and the pavement reset, The sea wall was a bungling plece of work, which was | done under the Ring administration, and sadly needs repairs. At the general landing place for Towhoats it is proposed to build @ sielter or “shade,” in close proximity to the steps, for tho convenience of the hundreds of people who there | take boat for the ships, Thesé improvements Would cost about $10,000, as estimated by the de- partment, CITY HALL PARK. A pretty fountain bas Just been finished in the City Hall square. The pavement of the northern portion Ig in & very bad condition. It is quite worn out, and fuily deserves the name of “poultice pavement,” by which It has been designated, (It will be remembered that this kind of pavement was laid down a few years ago on Fifth avenue, and the general disgust causea by it frat gave rise to this novel appellation.) The work would cost from $80,000 to 340,000, FIVE POINTS PARK. There is probably in the entire city of New York not a spot where a plot of grasa and a few trees and shrubs are so imperatively needed as at the Five Points, thia centre of festering and squalor and unspeakable misery. The present condition of the place is disgraceful and dangerous to the health of those living near by. The proposed Improvement would be an inestimable boon to the denizens of Baxter street and the entire locality. How far they are removed from Central Park! There is no haven near whither they can escape from the stifling, tainted air, whicn saps the very life’s blood. In this foul, filthy neighbor- hood a little park would in reality be the very greatest blessing, and its benefits would really be incalculable. For humanity's sake the Depart / ment of Parks ought to carry out the plans which have been adopted, be the appropriation ever so small. The proposed park will be 9 triangle bounded by Worth, Little Water and Park streets,’ whose longest side will be 175 feet and tie ghortest' 125, with ornamental pavement of different colora, @ pretty fountain, trees, shrubs, flowérs, seats round the trees, a little drinking fountain® and a granite horse trough. Some grading nas already been done, and some of the carbstonea have been set, The first foundation of the tounta:a has been Jaid. ‘Tho trees will be placea as closely as will be deemed compatiple with their fine de- velopment and 80 as to afford pleasant views un- der the branches. The piace is so small t but little can be done in the way of grass, and 16 | probably will retuin the character of an Ly Space, doticd with pretty patches of lawn. work will cost $13,000, Tho HERALD 1s the firat to announce the croation of this park. What joyful | Rews to the poor and their children! JACKSON PARK. Ja n Park, at the junction of Eighth avenge } and it Tenth street, is a small gras*plot of ‘ triangular form, It hes been greatly pote ae | late, and only requires more trees and plants. It Js Dut little 1requented, but it was desirable to im. | Prove it because in its former condition it was an eyesore, The work will cost but $600, | WASHINGTON SQUARE, This square, although rather barren in foliage, is ina fair condition. ‘Tho fountain, however, ia in- { complete, ard certain connections of walks are not yet paved, This work will come to $9,000, i UNION SQUARE. The new fountain in Union square is nearly com. leted, with the exception of the centre picce with ronse finial. Tbe interior will be ornamentea | With aquatic plants, which wilt enhance the nov- elty of the design. The fagstaN and gas fixtures atthe norttern end are completed, go that the plaza at the north end, tor reviews of troops and Dublic mootings, can be conveniently The DoW ladies’ cottage 18 also finished. Tht pavement } $8 of the imported Neuchatel bituminous rock, amilar to the pavement of the boulevards of Paria and in the Strand, in London. The enclosure of | the Lincoln Monument is finished, with the excep. tion of a plain bronze rathug. A yortion ot thé | pavement will havo to be reiaid. Cost, $9,000, | MADISON SQUARE. The new fountain in this square onght to be fin- i ished at once, as {ta present appearance is per- {| lectiy ludicrous, The stone coping and granite | centre piece axe sadly needed to produce, at least, | & tolerable eifect. There isno provision in this i oe for the convenience of the weary peopie | who pass theough it and sor the chilarea whose datly resortit 1s, Cost, $13,000, | a | TOMPKINS SQUARR, 1» This square, as the readers of the HERALD will remember, Was a few years ago set apart as & i parado ground by the Legislature. e entire | ground waa leveled and the interior paved with concrete pavenieat aud sitipped of all its trees ; and shrabbeiy. The pavemené in the interior was another of the “poultice sort and bas pret much dizappeared, leavmg an orld waste of sand. Laat year tie department planted some shrubs in | the onter cége, as they cond not lawiully treneh upon the central portion, If some other parade Found Could be selected mis square could be Tansiorined into & pleasant park. It is certata that some breathing place for this overcrowded noghvorncod 1s torperatively needed, for none of our parks has always been so. jammed with people sia hot suuiner evenings as Tompking square. partment can do for the present is to ' plont a narrow strip round tie sides with shrabe In order $0 relieve AS Intch AS possible the barren. j aspect of the square, Lis Wi cost $10,000, and t ISK tion into @ park woakl come to ‘The | t, however, could not be done ou an appropriation ol only $250,c00, SYCTVESANT iit, tks {1 the central portion of the square have vever been paved and they certainiy ought tobe, Two drinking fountains, one In each park, ahonid be provided for the children who daily troop there ta large numbers. The pavement of ‘ferlor Walks is In a bad condition and oughe aid, Coat, $30,000, ~ MOUNT MORRIS SQUARE, {| . This fayortte resort of the intabitants of Harlem Ss been cultivated with some care, There is @ beautliul views are which have Some portions { high eminence trom whict commanded, The improvements been begin should be cuianplered. 0! the Walks are paved and otiers aro not, Some Of the exterior waiks are not od orly graded, A ; Structure crowning the hill should be erected ior ' the ase of toc children wro dttly ascend 1, This cottage is designed la the modcra Moorish style, and Will be a geeat ornastent to the square, Cost | ot completing ati improvenients, $16,000. } GRAND STROLT PARK, | The Grand Street Park, near the East River, ts of angular shave, very smail and very dilapidated, ii ¢ Lmprovements whicn were bogun a few years ‘ ago sixould be Milshed; for, in its present coudi- then, the Place 18 a@ great disfigurement to ff netguvor! Cost, $4,609, We now pass by the siniller squares, or rather plots, such as Abingdon, square ani those th Basch street, Duane street, , Canal street, Park avenue, which are in a fatrcon. dition; tho Christophor Btreot square, Waich ts | very duaplantea and ought to be thoroughiy re- | modelled, in the opinion of the engineer of the de- | paruiaent; Bowling Green, witich, by reason of Ite emalingsa, secing to Le capable of further improve. | ment, and come to | CENTRAL PARK. | . Ths most pressing work here is tho reconstruc. | tion of vite pars-eucloging wall and of the slopes ‘adjacent to it, made necessury by the radical | changes in the grades of the avenues. The wail | on Rigith avenue is under contract aad will be Guisned this year; on Fith avenge it 13s completed * to Ninctieth Street, aod on 110th strect it is also ; In process of reconstruction. Work has been | Degtn on 13,000 neal feet of watl construction. | In the interior # systein of walks, atfording access | to certain portions of the southeast. quarter, 1s la | progress. It willinclude two archways, ; Ing pedestrians from the necessity ot ovoasing ; Main drive ant ride on tooir grades, and aiso ! small wooden bridge over an arm ofthe low | lake. Plans have been adopted for ena Accommicdations at the proimeaade concer Mal. A pretiy wooden boathouse, with | rooms for passengers and for the storage of | below, with a covered shelter, aie ane views | the lake above, will be built.’ "Tho Belvidere, the | large stone structave at tne southern end of the Croton reservoir, the terminal point of the vista of the Mail, {3 about two-thirds compiete, and the | stone Work for its completion iy iW progress, ; Lowest extiniate of cost, $295,000, : MORNINGSIDE PARK. ‘The work on this new park, which extends from 110th to 1zath street, meur Ninth avevue, fas beom in active progress, but was sispended last Satute | day, when the laborers had to be aisclian be. cause the appropriation was ronning ou! in Vislons for the general drainage of the park have been completed, the walks have beet only par iy raded, the work of excavating a lake Le deo! Began and foundations latd for a portion of the ene ql Wall. if the work 19 not brought nearce to corpiction it will all have to be gy ‘ain. Half a milo of trench for ciralnage, r stanee, has becn opened, and unless the dy ce are laid soon the sides of the french wil surely Oanp in, Amount requarort for this year, $75,000, sai which. has been ta The “retaining wall, ‘compieted to prevent its t Fae ae park” Is. Bt preentag is tail ate the Improvements which ere ed and which will be carcied out py the partatent Af bho approprison le Rees LO, ao me