having betrayed a follower or forgotten a partisan. However irritating the blunder, however black the catastrophe, Mr. Disraeli could be relied on in the hour of need. His personal hatreds were well under control -I never trouble to be avenged,' he once said to the writer; when a man injures me I put his name on a slip of paper and lock it up in a drawer. It is marvelous how men I have thus labeled have the knack of disappearing!' In judging men, though not infallible, he seldom erred.

"Disraeli's chivalrous devotion to women is abundantly clear from his novels, but it has been made clearer still to those, Mr. Froude among them, who have had access to his unpublished letters to Mrs. Brydges Williams, now in the possession of Lord Rothschild, and who were cognizant of his almost daily correspondence with another lady of great powers of mind and personal charm, who, to the deep sorrow of all who knew her, has recently followed the leader whom she honored with her friendship. His royal devotion to lady Beaconsfield and the adoration he inspired in her have for long been notorious. What wonder, then, that to Disraeli, a romanticist in statecraft, an idealist in politics, and a Provençal in sentiment, his chivalrous regard for the sex should have taken a deeper complexion when the personage was not only a woman but a queen? In trifles Disraeli never forgot the sex of the sovereign. In great affairs he never appeared to remember it. To this extent the charge of flattery brought against him may be true. He approached the Queen with the supreme tact of a man of the world, than which no form of flattery is more subtle."

BUT TWICE SEEN TO LAUGH.

Mr. Brett says Beaconsfield was not a flatterer, but governed his conduct with prudence, as he said on one occasion: "I never deny, I never contradict, but I sometimes forget." At first the Queen did not like him: "The dictum that far-reaching ambition and perfect scrupulousness can hardly co-exist in the same mind he perhaps exemplified. By the Queen this incompatibility was noticed, when it was indeed painfully obvious, and she shrank from the spectacle. As years rolled on, the conflict grew less glaring, and the Queen's attention, together with those of her subjects, became fixed on the finer qualities of the man. His pertinacity and undaunted courage, his patience under obloquy, his untiring energy, his high conception of the honor and keen regard for the interests of England-all these characteristics were recognized and admired.

"The Queen parted from her minister with unfeigned sorrow. On this man who had complained that all existence was an ennui or an anxiety, but who nevertheless said of his dying wife, for thirtythree years she has never given me a dull moment;' this man who was accused by his friends of taciturnity, who was but twice seen to laugh, and who 'kept all his fireworks for when women were present,' the Queen had bestowed that strong regard which had not been given to any Prime Minister since Lord Aberdeen."

ΤΕ

JOHN ERICSSON.

HE services rendered by John Ericsson to the United States government and to the world at large, are appreciatively set forth by two writers in the magazines this month.

In Cassier's Mr. William Conant Church concludes his series of articles on the great inventor, begun in the November number of that magazine, the present article relating especially to his life and work in America. Ericsson first came into prominence in this country in 1839, when he came over from England,-where he had already won reputation as the inventor of a screw propeller for steamships,—to build a war vessel for Uncle Sam. This vessel, the Princeton, which he completed in 1844, has served as the model for all war steamers which have since been built, not only for the navy of the United States, but for all the navies of the world. The Princeton was not the first steam vessel built by the United States government, but was the first one into which steam was successfully introduced. "Ericsson," says Mr. Church, was the pioneer in applying power directly to the shaft turning the screw, so as to get rid of the complication of belts or gearings, and the engine of the Princeton was the first large example of this type to mark the new departure, and was at the time openly and unsparingly ridiculed by all the experts who examined it. In spite of them and their wisdom, it did its work so successfully and accurately that it wore out one hull and another was built expressly for it."

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ORIGIN OF THE MONITOR.

Ericsson's relations to the United States government were not confined to this work upon the Princeton. His greatest service to the government, as everyone knows, was in furnishing the Monitor, a submerged turpeted vessel, especially devised for overcoming the Merrimac, which for some time had been acknowledged master of the sea. The story of the many difficulties Ericsson met with in having his plan for its construction adopted by the government is briefly told by Mr. George H. Robinson in United Service for January. In 1854 Ericsson had sent to Napoleon III a plan of a monitor, differing only from what is known as the original Monitor in that the turret was a rounded dome. These plans were not adopted, but the Emperor was greatly interested, acknowledging them personally and sending Ericsson a gold medal testifying his appreciation. On August 3, 1861, President Lincoln approved an act appointing a board to determine upon building iron-clad steamvessels "One of the first sets of plans recommended for adoption by the committee," says Mr. Robinson, "was presented by C. S. Bushnell, and he was awarded a contract to build the vessel known as the Galena. He consulted Mr. Delamater, many of the naval men having doubted her ability to carry the stipulated amount of iron. Mr. Delamater advised him to go to Captain Ericsson, whose opinion would settle the matter definitely and with accuracy. He called on Ericsson, laid the matter before him, and was requested to call the next day for his verdict. It

was entirely favorable. Captain Ericsson then produced his model and plan of a monitor sent to Napoleon. He found a most willing champion in Bushnell and gave him both plan and model to present at Washington.

"Bushnell, knowing Secretary Welles was at Hartford, proceeded there by first train. The secretary urged all possible dispatch to have the plans submitted before the board, and the next day Bushnell was in Washington. He was joined by John A. Griswold and John F. Winslow, both of Troy, and friends of Secretary Seward. The secretary gave them a strong letter to President Lincoln, who went with them to the Navy Department the next morning. Surprised at the novelty of the plan, some advised trying it,some ridiculed it. It was at this conference that President Lincoln remarked, 'All I have to say is what the girl said when she stuck her foot into the stocking-" It strikes me there's something in it."' The next day the board condemned the plan. Bushnell labored with them and won over Admirals Smith and Paulding, who promised to report favorably if Captain Davis would join them. Captain Davis told Bushnell to take the little thing home and worship it, as it would not be idolatry, because it was in the image of nothing in the heaven above, or on the earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth.'

RAPID SHIPBUILDING.

"Bushnell felt the only way to succeed was to have Captain Ericsson present in Washington. He came to New York, saw Mr. Delamater, and together they went to Beach street. The exact facts were not given to Captain Ericsson, but he was told some explanations were needed that he alone could make. He went to Washington that night. He was told as soon as he appeared before the board that his plans had been rejected. His indignation impelled him to withdraw at once, but he wisely asked why the plan was rejected. He was told the vessel lacked stability. He explained with elaborate demonstration, and so convincingly that Commodore Paulding said frankly and generously, 'Sir, I have learned more about the stability of a vessel from what you have said than I ever knew before.' He was told the next day by Sec retary Welles that a contract would be awarded, and asked to proceed at once with the work. The contract was signed October 25, 1861. The keel of the Monitor was laid on the same day. Steam was applied to the engines at Delamater Iron Works December 30. She was launched January 30, and practically completed February 15, 1862. She made her first trial trip February 19. Ericsson's work during that three months was herculean. Not only the necessary labors, but the worries from continued doubts sent from Washington required almost superhuman power."

The Monitor left New York harbor March 6, 1862, commanded by Commodore Worden. She arrived at Hampton Roads on the morning of the 9th, and before sunset that day the famous battle of the Monitor and the Merrimac was done. The war vessel was

changed in a day. The monitor type became the war vessel of the world.

PERSONALITY.

Some interesting recollections of Ericsson are also presented by Mr. Robinson in his article.

He says: "Captain Ericsson was not a tall man, measuring only five feet seven and one-half inches. He was stoutly built. His chest and shoulders showed the athlete. His head was large; every feature of his face was strong, particularly the mouth. His voice was powerful, and he could thunder with it. Without being so, he gave one the impression that he was a large man. His dress was peculiar. During the last twenty years of his life, whenever I saw him, winter or summer he invariably wore two frockcoats, and always with vest and stock of buff Marseilles. His secretary told me that during the war he found a piece of piqué that pleased him very much, and bought all the tailor had,-some one hundred and forty yards; this was all used for his vests and stocks. 'Seated before him, I always felt that he was of a superior order of beings,-of a race from which kings should spring. His strength was prodigious. During one of his visits of inspection to the Delamater works, he stumbled over a bar of iron. Turning to two workmen, he asked them to remove it, but they said it was too heavy. Nettled at this refusal, he stooped over, picked up the bar, and, carrying it across the shop, threw it on a scrap heap. Amazed at this exhibition, the men procured assistance at noon time and weighed the bar: it showed on the scales five hundred and ninety-two pounds.

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PHYSICAL REGIMEN.

"His life in Beach street was ordered with military precision. His simple diet was chosen with care, and measured with exactness. His baker supplied for his use each day two loaves of bread of given size, which he entirely consumed. He used no intoxicating drink nor tobacco in any form. He was fond of strong tea, and drank it regularly. Every morning he had his calisthenics for two hours; then his bath and rub-down. When he left his drawingboard at night he took a brisk walk before retiring, often walking eight or ten miles, and few who met the rapid walker with his long-striding gait, arms full swinging, ever suspected his identity. He rarely left his house during the daytime.

"I remember on the morning of his eightieth birthday he told me he had that morning turned a hand-spring, and added that he felt he was good for a hundred years. Chiding me for not coming to a regular meeting, which fell on Christmas-day, I asked him how he had spent his holiday. His reply was, I had two chops for breakfast instead of one.' As late as 1888 he wrote to a friend, 'I very seldom quit my drawing-table before 11 P.M., and not once in the course of a year go to bed before half an hour past midnight. Brain, muscle and eyes, thank God, all hold good.' He was then past eighty-five."

FR

THE CENTURY.

ROM the February Century we have selected the paper on "New Weapons of the United States Army" to quote from in the Leading Articles.

The much-beloved Autocrat of the Breakfast Table never appeared to better advantage in his most brilliant premeditated sallies than in the private letters to his publisher, Mr. Fields, some of which are clustered in this number of the Century in a running article by Mrs. Annie Fields. Mrs. Fields lays special emphasis on Dr. Holmes's pride and pleasure in the Saturday Club. She says: "Throughout the forty years of its prime he was not only the most brilliant talker of that distinguished company, but he was also the most faithful attendant. He was seldom absent from the monthly dinners, either in summer or in winter, and he lived to find himself at the head of the table, where Agassiz, Longfellow, Emerson and Lowell had in turn preceded him." Of Dr. Holmes's sunshiny nature Mrs. Fields says: "It was not a determination to be cheerful or witty or profound; but it was a natural expression like that of a child, sometimes overclouded, sometimes purely gay, but always as open as a child to the influences about it, and ready for a good time. His power of self-excitement seemed inexhaustible. Given a dinner table, with light and color, and somebody occasionally to throw the ball, his spirits would rise and coruscate astonishingly."

Rebecca Harding Davis makes an eloquent appeal to the philanthropy of her sisters for aid nearer at home than the fields that generally employ their charitable energies. "In the Gray Cabins of New England" there are people, she says, whose life is empty and powerless. She tells pathetic stories of the desert existence in these unfavored regions of the Eastern States "It is not sympathy, but practical help that is needed by these women. First, they should have remunerative work. Establish industries among them. Give them a chance to earn money (and better still, to spend it) as bee farmers, florists, saleswomen, shopkeepers, trained nurses, librarians, etc., or in any of the lighter handicrafts. Even in the larger towns all kinds of work are now almost monopolized by women from New Brunswick or Ireland. If work cannot be found for them at home, help them to emigrate to the Middle States or to the West. Let them follow their brothers. They have enough of energy. They are like a steam engine' before the fire is kindled."

Mrs. M. D. Van Rensselaer makes a readable and suggestive essay on people in New York, with profuse illustrations from Mr. Gibson's pen of those types which he has made his reputation in delineating. Among other social phenomena which Mrs. Van Rensselaer observes is the recognition of the ascendancy which the young married woman has gained, in point of social popularity, over her débutante sister. This has operated for good in more than one way, Mrs. Van Rensselaer thinks. " 'Nay, the youthful matron has actually captured the girl's right to the first place in society, and she does not yield what she has achieved even when the adjective no longer fits her. Of course there is great gain in this, for social talents, like other gifts, must be developed as well as born; and a reflex part of the gain already shows in the improvement of the girl herself. Her manners have greatly bettered;

she dresses more attractively than ever, because more appropriately; she thinks more about her mind and her intellectual tastes-indeed, just now, her ambition in this respect hardly takes enough account of the boundaries prescribed by her sex and age; and, as was not formerly the case, she continues to improve as she grows older."

IN

HARPER'S MAGAZINE.

N the Editor's Study of the February Harper's, Mr. Charles Dudley Warner has an even more than usually witty and healthy essay, prompted by that literary condition of the atmosphere in London which has given rise to the Yellow Book and its following. Mr. Warner, while naming no names, likens these extraordinary manifestations to the "yellows" in peach trees, and follows out his metaphor with considerable success. He says: "London has a bad attack of the Literary Jaundice. It seems to be infectious, but, considered atmospherically, its appearance in our Western sky is only a diffusion of impure particles in the atmosphere. And as a mental affair it is too self-conscious to be called a natural phenomenon. The sociologist takes little note of it, because he regards it as an affected pose. It easily shifts its hue, to gain notoriety, from yellow to a sickly painted green. And it is a sophisticated and not an innocent pose. The clever Oscar Wilde, the name has become typical, is not a fool, any more than Mr. Beardsley is an artist. He privately said that he was not when in this country, making this confidence to a select few, and desiring that the impression should not become public. Going about in fantastic raiment, in stained-glass attitudes, with affected speech, bearing a lily in his hand, was only a method of gaining notoriety. It was the position of the late lamented Mr. Barnum, also a very able man, who said that the people wished to be humbugged. Mr. Barnum would have covered himself with green carnations if that would have advertised his show. And perhaps Mr. Wilde knows his public equally well. On any other supposition it is not easy to account for the present yellow atmosphere of London. It is, however, local. We can easily imagine that to a Londoner, dwelling in an opaque fog, all the world seems to have a sickly yellow cast. And no doubt there are idiots all over the world who get their fog and their fashions from London, and think they love the yellow literature of a few decadent spirits because it is the momentary atmosphere of London."

The first paper in this number is by Mr. Thomas A. Janvier, and tells in Mr. Janvier's jolly manner of the dashing days of "New York Colonial Privateers." After chronicling the most notable and picturesque deeds of the privateersmen in their glorious battles with the French, he apologizes for them and their freebooting ways on the theory that they were following their duty, according to their lights, and that the privateering fashion was but a part of the morals of their day. There has never been anything stronger and better in the way of magazine illustration than Mr. Howard Pyle's drawings of these fierce captains and the scenes of their forays. In another department we have quoted from John Bigelow's article, "What Is Gambling?" and from Antonin Dvorak's on "Music in America."

SCRIBNER'S MAGAZINE.

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Augustine Birrell writes a critical sketch of James Anthony Froude. The historian is described as a strenuous man who enjoyed himself in many ways, and could adapt himself to a great variety of circumstances." He was a lover of trout streams and of books-not only of books but of those thrice tremendous folios of Thuanus, through which he would grope with never-failing gusto. Mr. Birrell estimates that Froude's "History" is justly open to much animadversion, and that his greatest work is the much abused "Life of Carlyle." "Personal controversy Mr. Froude avoided. He seldom replied to his madened foes. He made no great pretensions, and held himself aloof from professional authorism. He enjoyed country life and country pursuits, and the society of cultivated women."

Dr. Charles S. Dana makes an interesting article on the subject of Giants and Giantism." He places the tallest authentic giant at eight feet four and one-quarter inches. The largest woman that ever lived, he tells us, was certainly Marianne Wehde, born in Germany in this century. At the age of sixteen and a half she measured eight feet four and one-quarter inches. He only credits four men with a height exceeding eight feet. He describes the peculiar disease accounting for a great many so-called giants, acromegaly, which swells the hands, feet and head enormously. He tells us the giant is physically weak, personally amiable and not over intelligent. While he is getting his growth he sometimes performs prodigious feats of strength. When matured he is, however, inactive, feeble and never evil minded. Giants die young; in all his records there being but one old giant; and he was only six feet ten inches. These rather pitiful big men marry and have children, but these children do not become giants. The English race has given more extraordinarily large men than any other, but Dr. Dana thinks this is partly because the English admire large men to a greater extent than others, and that their giants are quicker to come forward.

There is an excellent descriptive article on Patagonia, entitled "The End of a Continent," by John R. Spears, and Noah Brooks contributes a chapter of political history, "The Passing of the Whigs."

W

COSMOPOLITAN MAGAZINE.

E have reviewed elsewhere the article by Viscount Wolseley in the Cosmopolitan for February. Madame Rosita Mauri, herself a beautiful and famous danseuse, tells about the mysteries of ballet dancing, and chronicles the evolution of that pleasing art from the first ballet on record. This, it may be interesting to know, was danced in Italy in 1489, on the occasion of the marriage of the Duke of Milan with Isabel of Aragon. A number of very gay pictures show the mistresses of the art in their pretty costumes. Madame Mauri is conscious of a refinement and meaning of her profession which goes far to dignify it in her estimation. She concludes her paper with this paragraph :

"To substitute, according to the new fashion, great chorographic manoeuvres and transformations, and battalions of dancers, with beautiful steps, light and sure, for the delicate and spirituelle music, for the simplicity of the methods of the French dance is to transform the ballet into a mere spectacle; it is to go backward several

centuries. The ballet ought not to address the eyes and the senses alone, but also the mind and the heart."

A considerably less cheerful article is contributed by Mr. Julian Hawthorne in "Salvation Via the Rack," in which he tells of the various methods of torture which were utilized by the good people of the middle ages to bring around their friends and enemies to their way of theological thinking. The Cosmopolitan prints some sufficiently harrowing pictures showing folks in the process of being broken and racked and pulled to pieces by wild horses.

An excellent informational article called "Finny Protégés of Uncle Sam" is written and illustrated by Charles Bradford Hudson, who has made a thorough and firsthand study of fish culture experiments up to date. As an example of what things may be accomplished by a systematic and scientific introduction of new species, Mr. Hudson states that the shad, which were entirely a strange fish to the Pacific Coast, now yield from Western shore waters three million pounds annually to the fish market, worth $145,000, while the aggregate expense of their introduction was less than $4,000. The want of care in regulating fisheries produces just as startling results in the other direction. For instance, in the decade between 1879 and 1890, the Connecticut river shad fisheries changed their annual production from four hundred and thirty-six thousand nine hundred and eighty-one to thirty-four thousand three hundred and eighteen. Mr. Hudson says that this astonishing decrease was not due alone to overfishing, but rather to such other causes as the erection of dams without fishways to enable the shad to ascend during the spawning season.

TH

NEW ENGLAND MAGAZINE.

HE February number devotes a fair proportion of space to matters of current interest in the field of political reform. Mr. Raymond L. Bridgn writes of "A New Birth in City and State," showing that reform is possible under present laws, and that the millennium is not to be ushered in by legislation. "The Norwegian

System in Its Home" is described at length by Mr. David Nelson Beach, in an article which advocates that method of controlling the liquor traffic in Massachusetts. "The Harvard Divinity School" is the subject of an important illustrated article by the Rev. John White Chadwick. New England scenery comes in for its usual amount of exploitation in ot er features of the Magazine.

MUNSEY'S MAGAZINE.

R. ARTHUR HORNBLOW writes about contem

MR. C in the

and the magazine prints handsome half-tone portraits of the littérateurs in question. Zola, Mr. Hornblow tells us, is not rich. He spends nearly all he makes, though his Paris apartments are handsome, and his suburban chateau, built wing by wing on the profits of his novels, is luxurious. "His income does not exceed 100,000 francs a year. He sells eighty thousand copies of his novels annually, for which he receives 12 sous per copy, and the foreign rights bring in about as much again."

Harold Parker writes on "Presidents of the Republics," and discusses the chief executives of Guatemala, Nicaragua, Mexico, Chili, and other South American states. There is an article relating the history of Joseph Jefferson, under the title "The Dean of the American Stage," and a description of "Canadian Winter Sports."