THE MAGAZINES.

WE do not quite know why those who write of Blackwood's Magazine, as some one does in this month's issue, confine themselves so closely to the first group of writers in it. We seem to have heard nearly enough of "Christopher North" and Lockhart, "the Ettrick Shepherd," and to wish to know something more of the hundred and one contributors who have since maintained the fame of the magazine. We should like to hear something of its poets, from "Delta" down to the Irishman, Bartholomew Simmons, who, though he was scarcely a poet in any true sense, had a talent for rhymed narrative which took a grip of you. The present writer was surprised and amused the other day to find that he could repeat the whole of " Mahmoud the Ghaznavide," though it must be nearly fifty years since he read it, and then only as one reads poetry in a magazine. There has been wonderful prose work, too, in Blackwood. We know of few things more absorbing to the reader than the too short series of " Rabbinical Legends," or the sketches from Turkish history, which are as brilliant and instructive as Dean Church's extraordinary monograph upon the origin of Turkish power, or than a whole catalogue of descriptions of less frequented parts of the world and of adventures therein. There must indeed be at least a hundred serious papers in the past numbers of Blackwood which are as worthy of republication as the Tales. We do not notice in this number anything that attracts us specially except the account of the magazine itself, bat there is a well- written and temperate plea for the Forward policy on the Indian Frontier.

The Contemporary Review is hardly up to the average, the majority of the articles lacking the distinction which separates a really good essay from a mere collection of more or less in- structive facts, such as the papers called "The Spirit of Modern Methodism "—it should have been called "The Facts and Figures of Modern Methodism "—and "The First Russian Census." The main piece of information which Dr. Davison gives us is that the Methodists of this country belonging to the central body and its offshoots number between four and five millions, besides the million adherents in Canada and twenty-five millions in the United States. That is a most serious statement, as is also Dr. Dillon's that the Russian Census of this year, the first ever carefully taken, shows that Russia, European and Asiatic, contains more than a hundred and twenty-nine millions of people, thus distributed :—

" 94,188,750 inhabit the 60 Governments of European Russia

9,442,690 ,. 10 . Poland 9,723,553

11 11 BP the Caucasus 6,731,732 I" 9 P. Siberia

3,415,174 r. 5 ,. the Steppe regions

4,175,101 1110 Provinces of Transcaspia and of Turkestan 6,413 BP Khiva and Bokhara 2,527,801 Al Finland

129,211,114."

We had, we confess, no idea of the population of the Caucasus, though we were aware that Siberia is not the entirely un- tenanted wilderness it is usually imagined to be. We could have wished that Dr. Davison had told us more of the tendency of modern Methodism and the special tone which distinguishes it from other great Christian Churches, and that Dr. Dillon, who calls the population of Russia" heterogeneous," had dwelt a little more upon the causes which produce in its external action such homogenity. We should have said that at least seventy millions of the population are in many ways more homogeneous than the majority of European peoples, than the inhabitants of the British Isles, for example, or of France or of Italy.—Lady Jenne would have done more for her friend, the late "Duchess of Tech," had she not suffered her enthusiasm to run away with her.

We can believe anything about the virtues of the Princess, but it is a little too much to say that when she married "no more handsome couple ever plighted troth to one another." Heaven has given much to the house of Guelf besides its marvellous capacity for keeping at the top, but the gift of beauty has been denied to it, as to most Royal houses, save the house of Wittelsbach. Even the flower of the house, the present Empress of Russia, despite a certain witchery in the thoughtful sadness of her face, would hardly be described by a. great painter as beautiful.—Sir Walter Besant writes an enthusiastic defence of the Salvation Army and its twelve thousand "officers," all doing missionary work, chiefly among white men, and we have no desire to

challenge either his views or his statements ; but we wish he bad given us rather more evidence as to the degree in which the Army does better work than other sects. Does it really purify a lower reservoir of humanity ? That, we do not question, is what it tries to do ; but does it succeed better than, say, the Catholic Church in Ireland, which also exercises influence over classes below the respectable ? That the Army gives thousands a shove upwards may be taken as certain, and that is good work ; but does it turn them into good men? We are not denying, be it understood, but only suggesting that the independent observers of the system like Sir Walter Besant should dwell a little more upon the degree

of its success.

The place of honour in the Fortnightly Review is deservedly given to the Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who sends "A French View of the British Empire," full of suggestiveness, of felicitous remark, and of—nothing else that we can see. It may be the result of our own stupidity, but we have not a glimmering of an idea as to the conclusion he wishes to draw, unless it be that England owes everything to its system of education, which may, the Baron thinks, be slimmed up in the sentence : "Act, never cease to act. Action in all its forms is the raison d'gtre of humanity." Do our schools, indeed, all teach that? The Baron, in fact, is a little vague, but he is worth reading, for he has caught hold of the idea that the English found nations where other peoples found colonial dependencies. He sees, too, very clearly that the free Colonies have a strong reflex influence upon English life, and will have more. This is a thoughtful paragraph :-

"In the fifteenth century Fortescue describes the English as an indolent, contemplative people, renowned for its urbanity, leading an intellectual and refined life. Let us suppose that his observation was incorrect, or that the nature of the race may have changed since then. Is there in that age, or in the ages immediately following it, a trace of any taste for commerce with distant nations, of any special vocation for the sea ? There is none whatever. In those days this insular nation was not mari- time; it did not even possess a permanent fleet. Still less did it possess industries. The great commercial and industrial countries were Italy ; later, Germany, and later still, Holland. If the manufacturers of Flanders, exhausted by the religions war which raged between Spain and the Netherlands, had not been sent later on to settle round Norwich, who can say whether English industry would have been supreme in its turn ? And if the spirit of intolerance had not driven away the first emigrants from English shores, would English be the language spoken to-day in the United States ? It must not be forgotten that America's greatness bad its origin in a 'moral Odyssey.' Those who landed on her soil, so far from dreaming of enriching themselves, actually expected to die of hunger. They did not even come in searuh of liberty, seeing that for a long time they were incapable of con- ceiving it for others, and having fled from persecution at home, they became persecutors in their turn. As soon as the mother country saw that they had become rich she began to oppress them. She put into practice the fable of the goose with the golden eggs. She killed the goose through covetousness and sheer stupidity. Can you name a single English statesman of the last century who had so much as an inkling of the true nature of colonial policy ? Not one. Pitt himself had only an imperfect idea of it."

That, we think, signifies only that England did not deliberately enter on her modern life, which is true, as it is true also of every other country. The founding of colonies, and the turning of an agricultural into an industrial people, were in great measure the results of position and accident. But we do not see why, because that is true, the Colonies should be leagued together, or why we should have to stand aside and let America take the first place. The paper, however, is well

worth reading.—So also are the papers on Spain, which indicate, to our mind, that the Carlists are stirring, that the failure in Cuba has once more awakened hopes in them, and

that they think the depression in the kingdom may lead to the recall of the " legitimate " dynasty. It may; but we should say it was much more likely to lead to a revolution from which Spain will emerge, for a time at least, as a Federal Republic. All who are interested in Spain should, however, read these papers just to see what the Carlists—who, it must be remembered, have devoted followers—are just now saying.

" Lord Rosebery's Apostasy" is only an argument to show that Lord Rosebery has given up his original views on Imperial Federation, and is not, either in matter or manner, very interesting ; while Mr. Archer's essay on Shakespeare's sonnets will attract only a class of experts who think it

important to ascertain to whom those sonnets were addressed. .---The remaining article of interest, "Parliamentary Diffi- culties in Austria," by " Germanicus," is a well-reasoned but inconclusive essay to show that the Austrian Monarchy is at

last in serious difficulties from the race conflict among its subjects. The subjoined figures are of much interest just now. The Empire contains :—

"Germans ...

• C7.0611E1

10,960,000 7,770,000 (with Moravians and Slovacks.) Magyars 7,508,000 . .Cxoats and Serbs ... 4,879.000 Poles ... 3,900,000 Ruehenians ... 3,668,000 ' Roumanians ... 2,940,000 Slovenes ... ... 1,325,000 . Italians ... ... 729,000 Besides Bosnians, Herzogovinians, Turks, and Jews."

The total is forty-three and a half millions, of whom the Germans constitute only a fourth. Even in Cisleithan Austria they are only a third, though of course they are first in cultivation, in wealth, and probably, though not certainly, in energy.

Those who care to understand the sugar question, which will shortly be upon us, will find a statement of the planters' Side of it in the National Review written by Lord Pirbright (Baron de Worms). He has not convinced us in the least, but he has put his side of the argument excellently well. There is a very good paper, too, in the National Review on "" The State of Spain" by Mr. Foreman, which represents the unhappy kingdom as drifting slowly but surely on the rocks. There'is no answer to it that we know of, except that we have read it all any time this fifty years, and that Spain remains t very much where she was. We wish some one with Mr. Ford's knowledge, if there is such a man left, would tell Europe in a convincing way what the causes of Spanish vitality are. That ity must be very deep-seated, for Spain has survived for three hundred years a system of government which would have killed any other monarchy in half a century.—There is a gOod deal of information in Mr. H. Birdwood's paper upon "The Queen as a Mahomedan Sovereign." He points out that the Queen is the greatest Mahommedan Sovereign in the world, having sixty millions of Muesulman subjects against the Sultan's thirty-three ; and he eagerly desires that a larger share in Indian administration should be con- fided to men of that creed. So do we ; but we ques- tion if the road to that end lies, as he thinks it does,

through our system of education. Few Mussulmana will qualify themselves to pass our tests, and only a limited number can, for the simple reason that they will not give up their own system of study and have no time to am; nirp two. • The Hindoo who desires office lets his own system drift.

Sir Auckland Colvin's essay in the Nineteenth Century on the problem of the Indian Frontier contains a good history of the causes of that problem ; but he is so reluctant to step beyond his métier and appear to discuss military problems, that his opinions leave a sense of inconclusiveness. He is, we believe, a determined opponent of the Forward policy upon financial grounds; but we wish he had described a little more clearly the financial position in which that policy will leave us. As we believe, it will at the very best suck up the whole revenue disposable for improvement in India, and at the worst land us in twenty years of heavy recurring deficits; but the experts dis- pute among each other as to the figures. Sir A. Colvin is a great financial expert, though he shrinks from precise arithmetic, and

we can see he believes that in the end Great Britain must support the coat of governing the Frontier. That means that India cannot —M. Francis de Pressense's paper on "The Dual and Triple Alliance and Great Britain" is really a careful argument—with a good many concealments in it—for the French official view of the West African dispute. It may be summed up in two lines: "Please do not play dog in the manger, as Chamberlain wants to do. We want some." Very good and quite reasonable; but how much P—" Tammany," by Mr. F. A. McKenzie, though lucidly written and full of interesting details, adds little to the general knowledge. Mr. McKenzie seems to have little hope for New York except in a reform of Tammany from within, the " bosses " with their "genial" ways, and rigid boycotting of all who disobey,

having quite captured the lower and more numerous popula- tion. Note that Mr. McKenzie, though bitterly hostile to

Tammany, thinks it possible that Tammany, being absolute for four years, may content itself with the "spoils,", and govern decently well. We shall see, but we fear there is little ground for hope. The curse of a munieipal

democracy is that the active electors prefer expenditure, because they get, fairly and unfairly, so much of the money.

Mr. Herbert Paul writes on" The New Learning" a fine, though rather bitter, critical paper, which we have read 'with much enjoyment He certainly does not mince his opinion, but tells some of the new writers on the classics, especially Professor Murray, that they are too much addicted to "jaunty jargon," and should remember the woe denounced upon "them that are at ease in Zion." He laughs heartily at the Professor for questioning the grammar and denying the style of Thticydides, and tells him flatly that he does not understand criticism or the humour of Herodotus, or that humour and reverence are inseparable. The rebuke is deserved, though Mr. Paul probably wastes his indignation. The disposition to write as "Arry " would write if "Arry " knew any- thing reappears periodically, and then disappears, its

work being forgotten. Does anybody now buy or read the Comic History of Rome 7---We refuse to read anything in a magazine about the Sleswig-Holstein question, and cannot

be interested in " Billiards " or "The Ways of 'Settle- ments' and of 'Missions,'" though the latter is written by Canon Barnett. His leading idea is that the " settle- ments " of London must do good because they bring the castes to acquaintance with each other. We sup- pose it is so, but we can see no logical reason why the castes should not hate each more because of their contact. You do not necessarily like a man because you have talked to him, nor are the places where different kinds of men live most closely together the places where friendship is most developed.

In the French Revolution no men were so bitter or so blood- thirsty as the footmen who had lived in the Same houses with their masters.—The sketch of a "Sub-Editor's Room" belongs rather to Household Words than to a magazine like the Nineteenth Century ; and Colonel Denison's description of "The Present Situation of England," though well written and interesting because the writer is a Canadian of ability and experience, is belated. What is the use of sentences like these at this time of day

The feature of the Free Trade policy that is most to be de- plored is its effect on the great agricultural interests of England. The ill-effect is widespread, working evil in every direction. No one can travel through England without feeling sad at the evidences that crop up everywhere of the disastrous results threatened by this policy. The agricultural population is diminish- ing, the acreage under cultivation every year getting less, and the food-supply grown within the islands gradually trending towards the vanishing-point. Every year the population is drifting more and more into the manufacturing towns, increasing competition and making life harder to bear. Paupers are increasing in num- ber every year, and the poor rates constantly going up. According to the Statesman's Year-Book for 1897, the number of paupers in receipt of relief in 1892 was 951,375, at an expenditure of 10,814,916/. The number receiving relief in 1896, only four years-later, was 1,025,864, at an expenditure of 11,910,324/. In addition to this, a large majority of the children of England, instead of being reared in the open country, under the dome of heaven, are being huddled in crowded towns, under a pall of factory smoke, among the soot- begrimed walls of narrow courts and alleys paved with cinders, without a blade of grass or a green leaf to be seen. The foul air and crowding in ill-ventilated houses must be affecting the physique and stamina of the race, and the day will soon come, if it has not yet come, when England in defending her national existence will no longer be able to rely upon a great rural popula- tion of the type of those yeomen who drew the long-bow at Cressy, Poictiers, and Agincourt, or of those farmers' sons and village lads who in their solid squares hurled back the pride of France in cur last great struggle at Waterloo."

Has Colonel Denison ever reflected on what England would have been like without Free-trade P His account of the danger in which England might be placed in war-time from an interruption to the supply of food is far more valuable, and should be carefully studied. His hypothesis, however, that if Russia attacked us the United States would help her by laying an embargo on food strikes us as dreamy. Americans might like to thrash us as a gratification to their pride, or in payment of long-standing grudges, but that America should wish to see us beaten by Russia is inconceivable.

['V We are asked to point out that The Sacred Poems of Henry Vaughan is not a publication of the Ballantyne Press, but one of the "Vale Press" publications issued by Messrs. been and Ricketts.]