THE MAGAZINES.

Macmillan has the best paper this month, or at least the one which has interested us the most,—an exquisite little sketch of " Nathaniel Hawthorne," by Mr. Edward Dicey. The foibles of the man, the timid hesitation of his intellect, the inability to face, far less enjoy, the common work of life, the habit of delay which made his decision always too late, is sketched with that fairness characteristic of all Mr. Dicey's writings, yet the effect is rather to raise than to diminish his readers' estimate of his subject. The following anecdote, besides being admirable in its kind, is, we think, the best little peephole into Hawthorne's inner nature which the world has yet enjoyed:—" On the last even- ing that I passed there I remember that our talk rambled, after many things, as men's talk often will, to the question of what was to happen to us when life is over. We were speaking of the spiritualist creed, that existence recommences, under another form, the moment after death. 'Alt P said Hawthorne, half laugh- ing, half seriously, 'I hope there will be a break. A couple of thousand years or so of sleep is the least that I can. do with before I begin life again." For though Yankee in intellectual structure, having always before him that strange sense of the direct connection between the spiritual and the material which is the Yankee intellectual specialty, which shines out in LowelPs satires as in Holines's theory that the bite of a rattlesnake might impart moral qualities, he was not Yankee either in person or by temperament. "He was utterly un-American in look,—unlike, that is, the normal Yankee type, as we picttire it to ourselves. As I write, I can see him now, with that grand broad forehead, fringed scantily by the loose, worn, wavy hair, passing from black to grey, with the deep-sunk flashing eyes,—sometimes bright, sometimes sad, and always distrait '-looking,—as if they saw something beyond what common eyes could see, and with the

soft feminine mouth, which, at its master's bidding,—or, rather, at the bidding of some thought over which its master had no control,—could smile so wondrous pleasantly." He was fastidious, too, so fastidious that he could not en- dure Mr. Lincoln, could hardly be restrained from publish- ing a sketch to express his personal loathing of the man, yet had somehow an inner sense that he was wrong, that the judgment of the people had in some inexplicable way lighted on

the man most competent to deal with the situation. His OWLV friendship was reserved for that astounding failure Franklin Pierce, whom, even after his career, he eulogized to Mr. Dicey as a perfect gentleman. Naturally with his temperament he was- no abolitionist, and naturally also, though hating slavery, his difficulty as to emancipation was the practical one,—how to pro- vide for the slaves. Politics he detested, not because he was uninterested in them, for he remained a strong Democrat in the American sense all his life, but because, like many over-

refined natures, he could not endure the bustle and the bunkum, the vulgarity and the hard hitting of political life.

His notion of a popular assembly would have been a conclave of gentle, humorous, but slightly solemn old men, discussing the

abstract best, as a coterie of Cardinals, did they come up to the popular notion of Cardinals, might be expected to do. There is no such assembly in the world, there is no hope of such an one in America, and he turned away half contemptuous and wholly dis- gusted. Macmillan also contains an article on electoral corrup- tion, by Mr. Maurice, which advocates the creation of a moral opinion against the practice,—a hopeful, but we fear impracti- cable plan, law generally being found necessary to strengthen opinion ; and the writer of the "Recollections of Three Cities" introduces us to the youth of Dr. Chalmers, whom, like every other Scotchman, he overrates. This is strong language to apply to a man who at best was not greater than Wesley, and without the same faculty of perpetuating his work :- "Personify that Scotland—imagine her in the totality of her thousand parishes, from those far Shetlands to this quiet Tweedsides, as one living being or form ; and here—here is a ferry-boat between Edinburgh and Fifeshire—is the youth who are long will have his hands twined and knotted in the hair of the huge creature's instincts, and will be holding and throiving her with the strength of a Milo ! Here is one who is to be for Scotland, ere she is done with him, another and one of the greatest in that series of her "national men," the over-topping functionaries-in- chief of the successive periods of her history, whom she is so fond of reckoning up one by one in their chronological order—men of a class for the appearance and recognition of which Scotland, by reason of her smaller bulk, and her easier submission on that account to one central influence, if not also by reason of the stronger Celtic touch in her temperament, has always (be it a virtue or a defect)been more apt than. England."

Cornhill is less interesting than usual, though the first story, " Brother Jacob," is well worth the shilling. It is a simple tale

of a scoundrelly little confectioner, who by aid of his idiot brother stole some of his mother's savings, and was, as it were, haunted by that brother ever afterwards ; but it is full to repletion of quiet subacid humour. The writer is describing a timid villain who would rob the till if he dared, and says, "It is not robbery to take property belonging to your mother ; she does

not prosecute you," a perfect illustration of that well-known virtue termed law honesty. The point of the story is the endea-

vour of a very acute scamp to use an idiot as his instrument, and his constant failures,—failures which ought not to occur, because his cleverness does not apply to a man without a brain, are most suggestively described. The padding strikes us- as poor, the Cornhill not being the place for histories of road-making, and the paper on "Sentimentalism" only con- tains one original idea. The writer contends that while the expression of sentiment is much restrained in the present clay,

the influence of sentimentalism is greater than ever. The in- fluence of novels as "informal and irregular arguments," and the attack on capital punishment through exaggerated sketches of the incidents accompanying executions, are quoted as proofs of this theory, which indeed they so far justify. But we suspect it will be found that it is only on matters which involve cruelty that sentimentalism increases, that on most other causes of emotion, love, grief, gratitude, duty, men are, as they appear to be, a good deal harder than of yore.

Blackwood of this month has very little indeed of readable matter, except the "Chronicles of Carl ingford ;" but there is another good paper on the "Principalities." The writer does not represent the moral condition of the community in very flattering colours. The Rouman men are brutnmagem Frenchmen, among whom the sense of honour is so low that it "is the habit never to play cards except with the stakes upon the table." As to the women,

they are pleasing and courteous, but the right of divorce by consent exists in its most absolute form, and :—

" In the whole society of Jassy there was only one woman who had notbeen divorced, but she had only been married afew weeks. It naturally follows in a limited society that the divorced couples are perpetually meeting each other ; and as they do not, in the first instance, part on the ground of incompatibility of temper or any domestic difference, but generally simply from love of change—or, in other words, change of love—they remain perfectly good friends afterwards ; and a woman in- troduces you first to her present husband as mom marl, and then to her late husband as mote ex-raari ; so that it is quite possible to find yourself dancing in a set of lancers with seven people, every one of whom has been married at some time in his or her life with each of the others. In this respect the system seemed productive of sociability and good fellowship rather than otherwise; and a great deal of the pleasure of society in these parts arises from the intimate footing upon which the members are with each other ; for it is evident that if all the papas and mammas have been husbands and wives, all the children are, more or less, brothers and sisters. There are certain inconveniences attending this great confusion of relationships; but one advantage to the stranger is, that he finds himself in a large family instead of in a stiff society, where some time must elapse before he feels himself at home."

The system is defended in Moldavia as prohibiting infidelity, but the writer's experience seems unfavourable even to that very limited defence. The only plea he can see for it is that it turns society into a great family party, which is therefore easy, and therefore also, we should think, much given to jealousy, backbiting, and over-frankness of speech. Indeed the last draw- back is admitted, the only topic of the ladies being each others' divorces, all reasons therefore being discussed with an easy

freedom which would delight the habitués of Sir James Wilde's Court, and them only.

There is an amu=ing paper in Fraser containing a series of personal sketches of the present judges of England which we must endeavour to summarize. The Lord Chief Justice, Sir A.

Cockburn, is the son of Colonel Cockburn, a small diplomatist, never gave any serious or sustained study to the law, as a barrister was "strong in conspiracy, happy in seduction, grand

in crim. con.," but makes a good judge by sheer intellectual ability. He still has a peerage at his disposal. Mr. Justice Crompton is a sound lawyer, particularly in commercial cases. "His judgments are marked by clearness and candour ; his de- meanour is unassuming, and his address conciliating." Mr.

Justice Blackburn is "the most deep-read lawyer in his court," with a strong logical faculty, but a defect of manner which makes him appear arrogant. Mr. Justice Mellor is "a fair average judge," with "sense, patience, and impartiality." "Mr. Justice Shee," along with a fair reputation as a lawyer, brings elements of strength and confidence which are rarer and not less valuable,— a manly independence of character, a solid and comprehensive understanding, a generous disposition, and commanding powers of expression, to enforce the dictates of his reason and his heart." Sir William Erie's qualities are not of a striking order, he has a plain manner and a touch of provincialism in his speech, but " he is a good scholar, a good speaker, an excellent lawyer, an ac- complished and agreeable gentleman." Mr. Justice Vaughan Williams is a little deaf, but "especially strong in special plead- ing and real-property law." "Admirable ingenuity, combined with an extreme fondness for technical distinctions and fine (not always obvious) analogies and trains of reasoning, is the forte of Mr. Justice Wills, an Irishman of Cork." Sir F. Pollock has a "mind undoubtedly one of extraordinary grasp, vigour, and

versatility ; and if he had stuck to mathematics or mechanics, he might be now in the same category with the Herschels, Aireys, De Morgans, and Babbages." He was a senior wrangler. Baron Bramwell has "a strong, broad intellect, well saturated with jurisprudential lore. His education was private ; and he is one of the best specimens of the hard-beaded energetic man of business who has forced his way without much general cultivation or refiatement." Baron Channell has abundant knowledge, which

he applies "neatly," but is undecided. Baron Martin is a quick- witted, hard-headed man of the world, "with an extraordinary

familiarity with every branch of practice," and Baron Pigott is too new for judgment. Finally, we have Lord Westbury and Dr. Stephen Lushington. Lord Westbury is the son of a physician of Wilts,—took a double first at Oxford in 1818, and acquired his habit of domineering in the Court of Vice-Chancellor Shadwell. It is this habit which makes him so annoying in Parliament.

"' The honourable member," he said, "has promised to turn it over in what he is pleased to call his mind.' 'The honourable gentleman has treated a subject of which he knows nothing, in a temper of mind which would incapacitate him for treating effectively one of which he knew much.' These are examples of the amenities with which he rather amused than irritated the Lower Home; but the more decorous lords were bo h shocked and scandalized when, in a debate on the Salmon Fishery Bill, he charged a numerous band of hereditary legislators, including cabinet ministers and ex-chancellors, with doctrines subversive of the most sacred rights of property. He utters these things in a clear, evenly- balanced, bland tone of voice, without the smallest symptom of auger ; and he has really very little gall in his disposition ; but they are not the less irritating on that account."

Ho is, however, a most able judge, and one who will surpass the most energetic of his predecessors in law reform. Finally, Dr. Lushington is the son of a baronet, educAted at Eton and. Oxford, a gentleman who has been a Liberal member of weight, but "it would be flattery to call him a great judge." These kit- cat sketches, generally of an ordinary page, are interspersed with a profusion of anecdotes, most of them old, but we have not, we think, frequently met with this. Lord Teuterdea had an inveterate habit of snubbing witnesses :—One day he is pre- siding at a circuit dinner, and "asked a country magistrate if he would take venison. Thank you, my Lord ; I am going to take boiled chicken.'—' That, Sir, is no answer to my question. I ask you again if you will take venison, and I will trouble you to say yes or no without further prevarication.' "