THE MAGAZINES.

WE have mentioned Mr. J. Chamberlain's article in the Fort- nightly elsewhere, and have here only to wish that in the next election he may be in Parliament, where his ability will find for itself its true scope and himself his true place, which is that of

leader of a forlorn hope with the bitter narrowness and the fierce determination of a Parliamentary theologian. He has not Mr. Fawcett's power, but he lacks the disadvantage of Mr. Fawcett's blindness, and he has often more insight into the popular defects, which he uses adroitly for his own purposes. He has, too, the inestimable advantage of never understanding the opposite side. For Mr. Chamberlain there is no opposite side beyond a pack of fools and rogues, who are not to be persuaded, but to be crushed, by dividing the Liberals so as to give the Tory gin distillers a certainty of victory. The best paper is the Editor's, though he will have it that the Spectator wants to teach geography out of Genesis, and considers every man who wants lads to understand his writing a besotted victim of priestcraft. There is eloquence, however, in the following, if not justice, though in what the parson differs from the minister, except in a slightly wider education, we fail to see :-

"Our people have an instinctive distrust of clerical influence—a distrust which often takes vulgar and even unjust form, but which is at impulses. ono a to of r etshpee ts ocuandn ems ahnadv a s hi nr e aw shrewdestt e oof f a lalavuer iactni ottilfiael inquiry for men who at the ago of three-and-twenty bind themselves in heavy penalties never again to use their minds freely so long as they live ? We may look upon the victims of these emasculating vows with more or less of friendly tolerance and personal sympathy, but it is , impossible to forget that as an order they move through the world of light and knowledge, of discovery and criticism and new truth, with bandaged eyes and muffled ears. They are in their non-official relations, as amiable, kindly, well-meaning as other bodies of men, if you will only excuse them from using their minds out of the prescribed bounds, or from coming to other than the prescribed conclusions. They are ever warning the world against science falsely so called, by which they mean the principal triumphs of genius and industry; and you can I hardly go into a church without hearing a sermon against that abuse of intellect, that pride of reason, which is the awful and desolating mark of these latter days. Laymen cannot discuss with figures in masks, ' fearful of gainsaying an article, or infringing a rubric, or slipping beyond a judgment of the Privy Council. ' There appears to me in all the English divines,' said Dr. Arnold, ' a want of believing or disbe- lieving anything because it is true or false. It is a question which does not seem to occur to them.' This is really the case."

Does Mr. Morley fail to see that while his system shuts out the layman from telling his pupils his own view of religious life, it also shuts him out from reading that passage as an exercise in English elocution, a study that will yet be taught in English national schools. - There is a thoughtful paper by Gustav Cohn on political economy in Germany, which, though erring in its faint wish for a permanent fusion or confusion between politics and economic science, is full of ideas, and contains passages quite as clear-sighted as the following :—

" England, though the mother country of inductive science, is as un- systematic and unprincipled, if I may use the expression, as possible. Yet with all its lack of system and principle, it has reached a higher stage of political and social development than any other country, how- ever groat its parade of system and logic. Nearly related to this practi- cal wisdom, and regard for experience as the only source of guiding rules in public life, is the care with which facts and the results of experience are collected and registered in England. Those innumerable Parliamentary Committees and Royal Commissions of Inquiry, with their countless volumes of Reports and Minutes of Evidence, on almost every public question which attracts much attention, whatever may be their immedi- ate utility, are beyond question most admirable efforts to determine t'io real facts of social and economic life ; and they constitute a vast repertory of information from which the economic science of the future will draw many valuable truths, however reluctant some of its present students may be to leave the easy beaten tracks of scholastic deduction for laborious investigation in the field of Baconian induction."

Of course the German believes that our materials will give him data for a new revelation, but there is no harm in that assumption, which is infinitely superior to the French one that he can arrive at a revelation without any data at all. " Lady Anna" continues to be good reading, though Mr. Trollope has reduced his usual pro- blem—the love of one woman for two men of different grades— nearly ad abmrdum: and though we hardly understand what Miss E. Simcox:meaus by complaining of Mr. J. Godkin's religious history of Ireland as too impartial, we recognise as fully as usual her desire to put books under " white light," and commend or condemn accordingly.

We will not be betrayed into criticising Mr. Herbert Spencer's chapters on Sociology in the Contemporary, even when they are presented in t he tempting form they assume in this particular number. We think we could smash part of his argument against the moralising effects of intellectual culture by merely presenting its effects among non-Christian races, but as we agree on the whole with his general view, that is not worth while, any more •,‘; than it is to answer his astounding Hindoo theory of heredity of sex—a theory which in Hindoo countries modifies all laws of pro- perty, and has, as we believe, no foundation whatever, the unborn child being originally sexless—but we can cordially recommend the paper to our readers as the one most provocative of thought which has

yet appeared of the entire aeries, and as clear as its author usually ie. Why should a deity wrap up thought, or Mr. Herbert Spencer? Mr. Snow's paper on " Natural Ordination" is worth reading, but surely it pushes the theory of the " call " rather far. He is not quite so absurd as the Scotch Churches, which demand a call and eight years of University education as conditions of acceptance, but surely this is a little strong :—

" Men never have rested in the idea of anything short of this in their teachers ; they demand men who can communicate grace to their hearers. They will never be satisfied with mere lecturers on the doctrines or the history or the evidences of religion: they want men who report what they hare seen—men who realise truths concerning the power of the invisible world which they cannot realise, and who by their life and utterance together succeed in communicating their own powers of realisation to others."

Even granting the truth of that, it is not yet quite settled that what men demand is the right thing they ought to demand, else were self-deceived impostors like Halhed or Thom the only teachers ; and certainly the doctrine laid down is completely refuted by all teachers of negative theology. Nobody thought that either Spinoza or Voltaire bad seen much, yet they were Bishops or Popes, or at all events most successful preachers to their respec- tive congregations. In the rest of the papers we have not felt much interest, the best beyond all controversy being Mr. Little- dale's, and we are rather tired of his subtle analyses of the kind of clergymen in existence in England. This, however, is 'humorous and true, and we recommend it to the careful con- sideration of any one of the ten thousand English girls who are jumping for a clerical husband :—

"On the one hand, clergymen in England hold, or may hold if they please, a good social position. They include amongst them many men of high birth and large fortune, as well as many of great learning, piety, and capacity. They are usually cultured-to some extent, the nature of their calling is a guaranty in most instances against grave misconduct; and they have in a very large number of cases a competent income, with the possibility of great emoluments and more than ducal rank. All these circumstances make them eligible as husbands, and sought -even when they do not seek. On the other hand, we must bear in mind the sudden shock of change which comes upon a young, inexperienced lad, just ordained, who has been in the habit at home, at school, and at college, of mixing with abundant and congenial society, and finds him- self all at once transplanted to a solitary lodging in a parish where ho knows nobody, and where the few there are to know socially as well as professionally are not attractive. Suppose him to have no very literary or scientific tastes, and to be supremely uncomfortable in his lodgings— no very inconceivable combination—then slicer loneliness and weariness will make him apt to propose to the first moderately passable girl with whom ho comes in contact, while the scarcity of rivals and the predilec- tion felt for his class will make her almost certainly accept him. If he had more knowledge of the world, more resources in himself, or a wider range of choice, he would blunder more rarely, but the practical issue is that an enormous number of clergywomen are hopelessly below par. Hence, a lady at the head of a large industrial school told me that she never sends her girls to service in clergymen's families if she can help it, because their wives are, as a rule, the worst mistresses she finds anywhere,—more exacting. ill-tempered, stingy, and inconsiderate than any others. Of course, almost everyone can find exceptions ,enough in the circle of his own acquaintance, but this experience is based on a wide induction."

Fraser is full of good papers, which just now we have only time to indicate. The best by far is the last, on the Protestant Restora- tion in France in the last century, which to those not familiar with the modern history of the Huguenots will be like a revelation. There is an account of Mrs. Archer Clive, evidently written by one who knew her well, but seems precluded by some motive from analysing her character, and remains content to analyse her in- tellect, with its "virile force," contempt for superfluity, and directness of object, to which we should add its utter despair of a

well-ordered world so manifest in "Paul Ferroll," and even more in this beautiful, but despairing poem :-

" One phantom was a girl, who hero Had glitter'd in her eighteenth year, So heavenly fair in these bright hours, With quaint device of dress and flow'rs, That the eye dwelt on her surpris'd, As on a fable realis'd

One, spell-bound most of all, had burn'd With love, which frankly she return'd ; But while their silken courtship sped, Did sudden clouds a storm unroll; And Iwixt them left a gulf so dread As frightened from its place her soul. The world, whose fragile ornament She for a time so brief had been, Heard, faintly, of some dark event, That hid her from its festive scene ; Heard all that was, and what was not ; Enquied, conjectned, and forgot. Meantime her Spirit's broken wing Just bore her to the Grave's relief ; Too weak was Life's elastic Spring To brook the bending hand of Grief. Her lover watch'd, with broken heart (Or what to him and her seeni'd broken), And the last words that she heard spoken, Were, • Not for long. my Life, we part.' She heard, and swil'd in death, to be Love's victim, and its victory.

" She came this night and (unseen) mov'd Where she had glitter'd, triumph'd, lov'd ; And 'mid new Beauty, sought for him Who should lament that hers was dim.

'She found him straight; but. ah ! no dream Of her, the dead, there seent'd for him ; He mov'd among the fair mid gay, His smile and ready word bad they ; He touch'd soft hands, and breathed a sigh,

And sought, and found, an answ'ring eye ;

And in the dance ho inix'd with many, As happy and as light as any.

Then on his breast the phantom rush'd, Hor phantom hair his bosom brush'd, Hor fond fantastic arms she wound, Beseechingly, his form around ; Her airy lips his visage kiss'd ; In vain, in vain ; no thought he cast Back on the memory of the past, And she must lot it go at last,— The cherish'd hope that she was miss'd."

Blackwood is delightfully entertaining,—positiv* chirpy ; there is no other word which will accurately describe tue comical light- heartedness of the Tory magazine. Is it because the Session being over, and the Scotch Members on their native heath, its soul is testing awhile from the task of solemn denunciation and scathing sarcasm, directed against all things and persons tainted with Liberalism ? The Solomon Eagle of the Gladstone Ministry has laid down his brazier, put on his clothes, and paused, if not ceased, from crying, " Woe, woe, woe ! " His jeremiads, which have degenerated of late into silliness and lost their savour, are agree- ably replaced by a little bit of social satire called, " How John was Drilled," which is exceedingly amusing. Blackwood's dreary jesting about the Shah last month made us naturally apprehensive of what " plain John Brown's" notions of good-humoured quizzing might be ; but they are very fair indeed, and his sketch of a competitive examination, with the "examination-paper of Mr. Benjamin Salt," is exceedingly amusing. The same sort of thing has been often done before, but we do not remember anything so droll as these exercises :—" English Grammar and Orthography : If the English alphabet were recast, what changes might be made to avoid redundancies, to supply deficiencies, and to correct anoma- lies?" And then, the extraordinary transmutation of Macaulay's description of Lord Shrewsbury into a passage that might have been written by the Claimant ! Grandmotherly Government is very drolly quizzed all through this amusing complaint, made by a victim of virtuous legislation, whom the State, in its laudable eagerness to improve his manners, his morals, and his health, has well nigh driven out of his wits. John Brown's wife is only in- dicated throughout the story, but she comes out delightfully at last, when she announces to her husband—driven to despair at the end by the proceedings of a Sanitary Commission, and his solicitor's bill of costs—that "Ben," the rejected of the Competitive, who has been doing wonders in Australia, has come to England. " He will never forget," she says, "how you stuck by him in the old times, and he has got you the offer of a place worth £800 a year, if you like to accept it. And, John, there is a telegram just in to say that Mr. Lowe has retired to the Chiltern Hills, and that Mr. Disraeli has been sent for by the Queen." A sympathetic but sensible article on "Don Carlos, Duke of Madrid," gives a concise history of the pretender to the crown of Spain, of whom so little is generally known. The picture of Don Carlos drawn by the writer is very unlike the fancy sketch of the ignorant, priest-ridden Bourbon, with all the bigotry and none of the bravery of his race, which has been hitherto presented to English readers. The writer reports Don Carlos to have said, " There are people who imagine that if I enter Spain it will be in a monk's habit. My dress is like anyone else's, and I try to have it as elegant as I can ; " and, " were I an Englishman or a Frenchman, it is plain that I would accept and maintain the freedom of worship and religious tolera- tion. I do not believe Spaniards will ever become Protestants. They may repudiate ostensibly all sorts of religious belief, and out of ostentation even indulge in cynical impiety. I doubt their sincerity in all this bravado; but supposing them to be sincere, they will not be Protestants ; should there be any, they will be at liberty to practise their worship in their own homes, for the habitation of a Spanish citizen must be inviolate, and each man master under his own roof." Of course such notions never could be carried out, but there is reason in what Don Carlos is reported to have said. We never knew a Spanish Protestant, or any one who had known one, but Spaniards who are infidels are as plenty as blackberries. The British public never realises that a revolt on a large scale from Catholicism in a foreign country does not mean an adherence to Protestantism. A very good story, called " My Active Subaltern," and one of the best New-Book papers we have ever seen in Blackwood, make up the chief of the contents of a number which proves that the dull season has not travelled North.

Macmillan is also unusually attractive. Miss Phillimore con- tributes a paper on " Petrarch : his Life, Times, and Works," which, like her recent charming sketch of Manzoni, has only one fault, its brevity. It is indeed impossible to do justice to such a subject within the compass of a magazine article ; we should have liked to see it treated by the writer in one of the Quarterlies. A beautiful translation of several stanzas from the "Trionfo della Morte " is included in this fine essay. It seems to us, though the author calls it "feeble," quite equal to the translations of the " Cori" which she quoted in her Manzoni. Mr. Freeman's paper on " The Place of Exeter in English History," recently read at the meeting of the Archm3logical Institute, is reprinted here; and the magazine contains a plain, forcible, entirely con- vincing exposition of his opinions and actions with respect to the National Agricultural Labourers' Union, by Canon Girdle- stone, which we recommend to all persons who are ignorant of the aims and history of that association, and to all those who, not being altogether ignorant of them, are apt to discuss them flippantly. There is a picture or two, in some plain words in that paper, which the caste of Vere de Vere may " hardly care to see," but which it is well to force under their eyes from time to time. Mr. Black is making his " Princess of Thule" more and more interesting and pathetic, and exalting our estimate of his ability with each successive development of her story. The touches of character-painting in the present instalment are very skilful indeed, and the perfect simplicity of the style is the embodiment of good taste. Sheila is by far the most charming of modern heroines of fiction, and she will live. The breezy freshness, the dignity, and the simplicity of her Highland home are in all her words and ways, and the subtle charm of the slight dialect in which she speaks grows upon the reader. A letter from Duncan Macdonald, the tall " keeper " on the Lewis, is the gem of the present number. For the second novel, " My Time, and what I've done with it," there is little to be said. It is not going on so badly as it began, but we have hardly ever read a story less fitted for publication in serial form.

In the Cornhill we find two of its choicest specialities, an astrono- mical article and a story by Miss Thackeray. The former, on "The Ringed Planet," is one of the most interesting of the series, which have united with their learning a condescension to the unlearned, for whom the science of the stars is hopeless if enveloped in technicalities. "Jack and the Bean-Stalk" is equal to any of its predecessors in the delicate adjustment of allegory which makes these stories such true works of art. Perhaps the present Jack is less interesting than the Giant-Killer, but Lady Stella Gorges is charming enough for two. The author of " Young Brown" has evidently a strong grudge against modern fashionable society, and he airs it plausibly enough, but with an increasing coarseness which is already disagreeable, and might easily become intolerable. There is an interview between the Duke of Courthope and his wife's father which is almost too cynical to be possible, and quite too bad to be pleasant. "A Vision of Communism" is only dreary fun, not nearly such pleasant reading as a paper on "Physical Education," which is learned and reason- able.

The author of "Clytie," in the Gentleman's Magazine, writes very odd English. What are a " vainless " search and a "Clytie taint "? Why does he confound an office with its bolder by writing " Prebend " for " Prebendary "? His poet, who seems to be a combi- nation of Swinburne and Joaquin Miller, must have done wonderful things indeed to be described thus :—" Rich, and glowing, and hot, and eloquent, burning, scorching, luscious words and thoughts met you at every page." There is a charming, unintentional distinction between words and thoughts in this sentence, which the author himself rather frequently suggests. The magazine is strangely arranged. The second fiction, called "Making the Worst of It," is also a story of chantage, running in the same well-worn groove as " Clytie." " Two Arab Markets" and " Across the Alps" are pleasant sketches of travel, but the Ace de resistance is an attack on Macaulay's estimate of Dante and his comparison of the Italian poet with Milton. The author argues that the first is perverted and the second erroneous, and we think he proves his case.