NEW BOOKS.

We are aware, of

one of the nine or ten (does anybody know which ?) children of the martyred John Rogers, who suffered Woman's Record, or Sketches of all Distinguished at Smithfield, furnishes a sufficient title to a niche in Women, from the Beginning till A. D. 1850; ar- the only Temple of Fame our civilization has left to ranged in Four Eras, with Selections from Female us-a Biographie Universelle? Writers of every age. By Sarah Josepha Hale, &c. course, that Mrs. Hale, living as she does in the Illustrated by 230 Portraits, engraved on Wood, by midst of a circle of literary friends, has been obliged Lossing & Barrett. New York: Harper & Brothers. to propitiate the genus and gender irritabile, by Under the somewhat fanciful title of Woman's including in her pages many contemporaries who, if Record, Mrs. Hale has published a book which, in she were writing in 1952, would hardly find a place the language of men, would be called "A Manual of tions without offence, and thus reduce the band of We may omit them in our calculaFemale Biography." From mother Eve, who was made some hours after Adam, on "Friday, the 28th heroines nearly one-third, leaving about one distinof October, 4004, B. C., according to Blair's Chro-guished woman for every four years since the creation nology," down to the latest gifted fair one who has (reckoning according to Blair's Chronology). "penned a stanza for Graham or for Godey, every woman whose name has ever seen the light in type, has a place in the Record. Altogether there are two thousand five hundred-an imposing assemblage of ladies. One may well feel a sensation of timidity

when first introduced to them.

Mrs. Hale is catholic in her feelings. She has invited all to her gatherings, high and low; no matter what their degree (and we regret to state), no matter what their character. The only requisite for admission is, to have been talked about and written

about.

Foremost among the crowd are the women of the Old Testament, headed by Eve, whose biography affords Mrs. Hale an opportunity of arguing for the superiority of the sex, not only from the method of Eve's creation, but also from the affair of the fatal apple, which has hitherto been considered evidence for the other side. Mingled with these are the mythical Helen of Troy and Queen Semiramis, Hero and Lesbian Sappho (with a portrait), and the hetaira, or very fast women of Greece and Rome. Rhodope, Aspasia, Leana, Phryne! Lais. There, too, may be seen the stately dames of the middle ages; the brilliant and improper countesses and duchesses of the courts of Louis and of Charles, the esprit fort celebrities of the last century, the clever authoresses of the last generation, and our own fair contemporaries, "the gifted daughters of American Song." Apart by themselves stand the missionary sisters, nominis umbra, a mere list of names. These, all combined, display-as Mrs. Hale tells us in her preface-" a picture of woman's life, as it has been developed to the world from the creation to the present date, truly and completely."

From the creation to the present day (reckoning according to Blair's), the 5,857 years which have passed have only bequeathed to us 2,500 distinguished women-less than half a distinguished woman per

annum.

If we scan the claims to distinction of some of the elect, the number diminishes. We certainly may reject the apochryphal names of the first era, since no proof exists that flesh and blood women ever wore them. Ought we not to cast out among the goats, loose characters like the Countess Hohenheim, of whom Mrs. Hale tells us nothing noticeable but that she eloped from her husband; or, like Madame de Chateaubriand, who was only known as one of the mistresses of Francis the First. Certainly these are not women who have "won their way to eminence in pursuits tending to advance moral goodness and religious faith."

And can we not fairly refuse to consider worthy of such high pretensions, girls to whom only a sentimental interest attaches; like the deaf, dumb and blind Laura Bridgman; or the little Greek Garafilia Mohalbi, who died at Boston, aged thirteen; or Appollonia Jagello, a charming Hungarian, but nothing more? We will go further, and ungallantly ask whether the having written a hymn, or a few lines in a magazine, or a stanza or two in the poet's corner of some daily journal, or the being descended from

in her record.

Mrs. Hale is not a Bloomerist, or an equal rights woman. She sees no advancement for her sisters in

"But

the wearing of trousers or the commanding of ships.
Man, according to her, by the "Fall," was rendered
incapable of cultivating, by his own unassisted efforts,
any good propensity or quality of his nature.
woman was not thus cast down. To her was confided
the mission of disinterested affection." Mrs. Hale
is God's appointed agent of morality—the teacher
"believes and hopes to make it apparent that woman
and inspirer of those feelings and sentiments which
are termed the virtues of humanity." A very pleas-
ant and lady-like theory, which commends itself
that the sex are at the bottom of a great deal of the
strongly to our gallantry, although we must admit
mischief of the world.

ber of distinguished women Mrs. Hale has brought
We have been struck, not only with the small num-
together, but with the little she has found to tell
about them. In looking over her pages, we cannot
help thinking that most of these female worthies have
left a name only because they were women; and that,
in the republic of letters, those who have won, and
deservedly, too, the most brilliant places, are sadly
behind their masculine rivals, even in their own
peculiar province of feeling, devotion, and morality.
of every man who has had his name brought into
Imagine a work which should contain a short sketch
notice, from Blair's 4004 B. C., down to the present
century, including all those gentlemen who are an-
nounced as contributors to Putnam's Monthly!
Compared with such a collection, the Biographie
appear a mere pamphlet.
Mrs. Hale's work is very valuable as a book of ref-
erence. The mechanical execution is excellent.
omitted. Some of them are purely imaginary; such
portraits, we think, might have been advantageously
as Andromache, Sappho, Helen, Semiramis, &c. Oth-
had the pleasure of seeing, and are not striking resem
ers are appropriated to ladies whose faces we have
distinction of feature difficult; and the general impres
blances. The small size of the drawings renders any
sion remains that each person's picture was obtained
at a raffle, and was not selected because of any like-
ness to the subject it was employed to represent.-
Evening Post.

Universelle would

The

This movement of womankind threatens to become the individualizing element of the present era of the world. Intellect after intellect, masculine and feminine, of the first calibre, is emptying its tributarial impulse into the one great flood of thought that is sweeping through the subject.

"Woman's Record" is an elegant and profuselypictured octavo volume, of some nine hundred pages, opening with a steel engraved portrait of its wellknown editor, and inscribed to the "Men of America," who, we doubt not, will duly appreciate the compliment.

Mrs. Hale says her purpose has been to give the true idea of woman's nature and mission (as she conceives them), and more particularly to aid and to induce intellectual and moral progress among the sex. How nearly commensurate with this purpose is the

accomplishment, is not to be decided after so imper- | pieces; but his fame has been chiefly identified with fect an investigation as the press of other duties has his songs, some of which belong to the very first order compelled us to, and we shall not attempt it. But of lyric poetry. thus much we vouch for the book forms a valuable compendium of concise yet comprehensive sketches of nearly all the " shining lights" of womanhood, from Eve to Alice Carey. These sketches are compiled from the most veritable historic sources, and two hundred and twenty-nine of them are headed by portraits, procured, by dint of great exertion, from various parts of Europe. For these, however, little can be said. They are terribly homely; and, if faithful, it would seem that outright ugliness is the most common badge of a distinguished woman.-Nutional Era.

But as a tale-writer and essayist, Proctor has not been much known out of England, for the simple reason that his best pieces have been published anonymously. It is to the enterprise of a Boston publishing-house that the public are now indebted for the first collection which has been made of them, and for the first public avowal of their authorship. Mr. Proctor, who, be it observed, is not a man of letters by profession, but a barrister, and at present holds the post of Lunacy Commissioner, thus speaks of the contents of the two volumes which are now presented, with his sanction, to the American public. What he says, embodies all we need say of the work, at present:

right of publishing, in the United States, an edition of As far as I am able to invest you with the exclusive these prose writings, I do so by this letter. Some of them, you will take note, have never been printed in their present state before.

The Private Life of Daniel Webster. By Chas. Lanman. New York: Harper & Brothers. 1852. The author of this little volume was for many years Mr. Webster's private secretary and constant companion. He shares the unquestioning admiration which Webster contrived to awaken in the breasts of most all young men who pleased him, and he has You will find, amongst these selected papers, some given to the world such reminiscences of his distin- which were written as early as 1820, and some as late, I guished friend as seemed most worthy of preserva- think, as 1848 or 1849;-some which pretend to be tion. It is a very agreeable book, and no inconsider-"lively," and a few which are strictly "severe; "-sevable portion of it is entitled to occupy a place in the future biographies of Webster. It contains none of Mr. Webster's correspondence of any consequence, Mr. Lanman having very magnanimously deposited such letters as were in his possession with Mr. Web-fiction in America (among others, Mr. Hawthorne and You have, at present, such admirable writers of prose ster's literary executors, who will publish such parts Mr. Longfellow), that I might reasonably feel a little of it as they see fit. The topics discussed-we may diffident as to the reception my little pieces of prose are say without much order or arrangement-are, likely to encounter from your countrymen. "Birth and Boyhood,' 'College Days,' Early critics-English as well as American-have, for the most Legal Career, "Elm 66 Farm," Marshfield,' part, been always so good-natured to my efforts, that I "Traits of Personal Character," "Miscellaneous have no hesitation in throwing myself upon their kindMemorials," "Illness and Death," &c. ness once again. Evening Post.

"" ་་

The volume is illustrated by three engravings of Webster; one a front face, the other a profile, and, in our judgment, the best; and the third a full figure sitting with an old hat on his head, under a tree, at Marshfield. There is also a picture of the Marshfield mansion, and of Mr. Webster's birth-place.

The greatest curiosity we have met in Mr. Lanman's book is a couple of stanzas of verse; the only specimen of Webster's poetry, so far as we know, that over found its way into print. Our readers will, doubtless, be curious to see them.

THE MEMORY OF THE HEART.

If stores of dry and learned lore we gain,
We keep them in the memory of the brain;

eral essays, chiefly on poetical subjects, none which aro
very elaborate;-and a story or two in which pathos pre-
bushel) is hidden from the careless observer.
dominates, while the moral (like the light under the

But my

de Quincey, author of "Confessions of an English
Opium-Eater," etc. etc.
Ticknor, Reed and Fields. 1853.

Narrative and Miscellaneous Papers. By Thomas

In two volumes. Boston:

We think these volumes are superior to any of their predecessors, except the Biographical Essays and the magnificent volume on the Caesars. They have all that vast breadth of learning, that exceeding brilliancy of coloring, and that amazing but somewhat erratic eloquence which people have long associated with the great Opium-Eater. Take as an illustration that splendid paper on the Flight of a Tartar Tribe, commonly regarded as one of the most brilliant of his essays, and no person can fail to perceive that Mr. de But besides

Names, things and facts-whatever we knowledge call, Quincey is a man of wonderful powers.

There is the common ledger for them all;
And images, on this cold surface traced,
Make slight impressions, and are soon effaced.

But we 've a page more glowing and more bright,
On which our friendship and our love to write :
That these may never from the soul depart,
We trust them to the memory of the heart.
There is no dimming-no effacement here:
Each new pulsation keeps the record clear;
Warm, golden letters, all the tablet fill,
Nor lose their lustre till the heart stands still.
London, November 19, 1839.
Evening Post.

Essays and Tales in Prose and Verse. By Barry Cornwall. In two volumes. Boston: Ticknor, Reed & Fields. 1853.

This is the first collected edition of the prose works of one of the purest writers of English now living. Proctor first appeared as an author in 1815, when he published some dramatic sketches. In 1822 he produced his tragedy of Mirandola, which was played at Covent Garden Theatre with some success. Since then he has written several other elaborate dramatic

this remarkable paper-sufficient in itself to give a high character to any volume-these volumes contain a long and very striking tale, entitled the Household Wreck; a learned paper on the System of the Heavens as revealed by Lord Rosse's Telescopes; an interesting paper on Coleridge and Opium-Eating; and three noticeable papers on Modern Superstition, War, and the Temperance Movement, of which we should speak at considerable length, if there were not so great a pressure upon our columns at the present time. We must also defer some general observations on Mr. de Quincey's characteristics as a writer, until a more convenient opportunity. In the mean time, we table are among the best specimens of the products can only repeat that the two volumes now on our of his great and peculiar genius.-Traveller.

Knick-Knacks. By L. Gaylord Clark. D. Appleton & Co., 200 Broadway.

This beautiful volume contains a compilation of extract from the Editor's Table of the Knickerbocker Magazine. The general popularity of that feature in this well-conducted periodical might readily have suggested the certain success of a book made up of such

admirable material; but Mr. Clark received the further encouragement of a judgment still more experienced than his own, in the recommendation of Washington Irving, who "thought it a great pity that the sallies of humor, the entertaining incidents, and the touches of tender pathos, which are so frequently to be met with in your Gossip,' should be comparatively lost among the multitudinous leaves of a Magazine." Indeed, the book is full of the most various humor, embracing all its departments, from the deeply pathetic to the most reckless and rollicking. It contains poetry both in prose and in verse; but as a repository of fun it is especially remarkable. No better antidote to ennui, or the blues," exists in the whole compass of our literature.

Memoirs of a Huguenot Famuy. Translated and compiled from the original autobiography of the Rev. James Fontaine, and other family MSS., comprising an original journal of travels in Virginia, New York, etc., in 1715 and 1716. By Ann Maury. George P. Putnam and Co.

There is as much difference between an autobiography and a narrative of historical facts, in their outside of the theatre and the performance within it. effect upon the mind, as between the play-bill on the We read in D'Aubigné, the History of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and admit readily, as a general proposition, that the conduct of Louis XIV. was ill-judged and cruel; but we do not feel it. But the personal story of a sufferer, the little details of his rates us from the past, and makes us feel that flesh oned, tortured and driven out into beggary and exand blood men like ourselves were dragooned, imprisile. We were struck by this power of autobiographers, in looking over the book which heads this notice. As a literary composition, it has no great and praiseworthy, has little that is unusual or excit merit. The life it relates, though honest, energetic, ing. But it is the testimony of an eye-witness-worth to the historical inquirer pages of hearsay.

The quaintness and wit of the "Knick-Knacks" are enhanced by the refined taste and scholarly abil-adventures, raise a corner of the curtain that sepaity evinced in their preparation and illustration. What gives to Mr. Clark's productions so wide a popularity, is their author's genial sympathy with nature in all its guises. Nothing human is alien to his regard. With the keenest appreciation of the ludicrous, his satire is never malignant nor contemptuous.

The book is beautifully printed, and contains several engravings. A more attractive gift-book for the approaching holidays it would be difficult to select. Irish Melodies. By Thomas Moore. Elegantly The Rev. James Fontaine, descended from a noble illustrated. Philadelphia: E. H. Butler & Co. 1853. While the town is on tip-toe for Lord John Russell's Memoirs of Moore, in the press of the Appletons, Messrs. Butler & Co. very opportunely take advantage of the stimulated interest in the sweet bard of Ireland, to present a superb illustrated edition of his "Irish Melodies," embracing the most remarkable and popular collection of lyric poems that ever came from any single pen. The Butler's edition is printed in small quarto, on royal paper, is embellished with an engraving by Whitechurch, of Laurence's portrait of Moore, and eleven other choice mezzotint engravings by Sartain. The whole is a credit to the art and taste of our sister city, and to the enterprise of the publishers.-Evening Post.

family of Rochelle, was a candidate for the ministry at the time of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, in 1685, and escaped shortly after, from the village of Tremblade, in an English vessel. He took up his abode at Taunton, married a countrywoman, who escaped with him, and supported himself by teaching, shop-keeping, and the manufacture of woollen goods, in all of which he was successful. Having received his ordination, and hearing that a society of French refugees in Cork were in want of a pastor, he sold out his establishment in Taunton, and moved to Cork in 1694, where he preached for several years without compensation, supporting himself and his increasing family by another woollen manufactory. At last, to quiet dissensions which had arisen in his flock, he resigned his rectorship, sold everything and removed to the western sea-coast of Ireland, in 1699, near a

Records of Women. Songs of Affection, and Songs and Lyrics. By Felicia Hemans. E. H. But-place called Bearhaven. ler: Philadelphia. 1853.

This beautiful volume contains the gems of Mrs. Hemans' poetry, so universally popular with her sex. It is published in the same style as the Irish Melodies to which we have just referred, and is profusely embellished by the same artist.—Evening Post. The Home Circle. By Mrs. Kirkland, author of "A New Home,-Who 'll follow?" Scribner.

His intention was to engage in the herring fishery, in connection with a large London house. This enterprise proved unfortunate, and Mr. Fontaine soon lost his all. During his residence at Bearhaven, he was twice attacked by French privateers. In the first affair, with eight or ten laborers for a garrison, he beat off the crew of the vessel. The second time he was less fortunate. Surprised when only his wife, children, and farm servants were with him, he susWe have never seen anything from Mrs. Kirkland's tained a siege and the assault of eighty privateerspen that was not worth reading. "A New Home" men, and succeeded in obtaining an honorable capitu. is superior to any work illustrative of American pe- lation. For this spirited conduct he was pensioned culiarities of manner and character that ever came by government, and enabled to remove to Dublin and within our notice. It is a true picture of frontier life to open a school. There he remained until the comin the United States; and those whose impressions, position of this journal in 1722. During these years derived from actual observation, contradict Mrs. of industry and of privation, a large family of sons Kirkland's experience, must attribute the variance and daughters grew up about him, most of whom to a less shrewd perception and a less tolerant philos- removed to America. The diary of the eldest, John ophy on their part, than Mrs. Kirkland possesses, and Fontaine, who led the van of emigration, and settled applied with triumphant success, to neutralize the in Virginia, follows the narrative of his father, and is inconveniences, privations and impertinences, inci- curious as a sketch of those days in that colony. Letdent to settlement in a new country. "The Home ters of the Rev. Peter Fontaine, and the son, and of Circle" contains essays, written in a familiar style, the Rev. James Maury, a son-in-law, who also became on various topics, social as well as moral and literary, Virginians, are added to the compilation. The apand is designed as a companion for the "Evening pendix contains a translation of the Edict of Nantes, Book." The list of subjects promises a combination and of the Edict of Revocation, with some other hisof pleasantry and practical advice in the discussions torical documents relating to the persecution. This that prompts us to mark the book for perusal. It is book is brought out in Putnam's excellent style, and printed and bound very beautifully, and has numer-will find a place in every historical library.--N. Y. ous illustrations in holiday style.-Journal of Com- E. Post.

merce.

LITTELL'S LIVING AGE.-No. 454.-29 JANUARY, 1853.

From the Economist, 11th Dec.

THE FRENCH EMPEROR:

HIS CHARACTER, INTENTIONS, AND NECESSITIES.

well; and all his writings and speeches, even where they betray the narrow limits of his knowledge, indicate an eminently thoughtful mind. He has brooded over the history, politics, and social condition of France, till on these subjects he is probably one of the best informed men in the country, though, like most of his countrymen, wedded to many absurd and impracticable crotchets which a better knowledge of political economy would explode.

Now that Louis Napoleon is fairly seated on the throne to which he has aspired through so many weary years of disappointment, exile, imprisonment, and intrigue, it becomes a matter of the deepest interest and the most vital moment to English statesmen and English citizens thoroughly to understand the character, wishes, and inten- It is certain, also, that whatever he does and tions of the man who thus wields without control says is his own. He acts and speaks for himself, the enormous military power of their nearest without interference and without assistance. He neighbor-to penetrate, as far as possible, the listens to every one, asks advice from no one, gives designs which he may entertain, the ulterior his interlocutors no idea whether or not their arcareer which he proposes to himself, and those guments have made the least impression upon necessities of his position which may drive him to him, but revolves his plans in the gloomy recesses courses which of his free will he never would of his own brain, and brings them forth matured, have adopted. These are difficult problems for homogeneous, and unexpected. The minutest solution; on this subject, as on most others, accu- details of the coup d'état were arranged by himrate knowledge is not easy of attainment in self. All those, from Changarnier and Thiers France; "Truth (as Barrow says) cannot be dis-down to Faucher, who have endeavored to lead, cerned amid the smoke of wrathful expressions;" drive, or govern him, have all been baffled, outand the passions of those nearest to the scene of witted, and cast aside. When he rose at the table action, and, therefore, most favorably placed for of Bordeaux to make his recent celebrated speech, observation, are still so violent and angry, that their statements and opinions are rather misleading than informing. Nevertheless, having had opportunities of ascertaining the sentiments of most parties in France respecting the new emperor, and having, it is fair to state, conversed with five of his enemies for one of his friends, we shall endeavor to lay before our readers what in our judgment is the real state of the case.

he observed to his minister for foreign affairs, who sat next him-" Now, I am going to astonish you not a little." When he announced his intention of visiting Abd el Kader at Amboise, General St. Arnaud expressed his hope that Louis Napoleon would not think of liberating him, made a long speech expository of all the evils that would result from such a piece of Quixotic generosity, and quitted the president quite satisfied that he had succeeded in banishing any such scheme from his thoughts. Nor was it till he actually heard Louis Napoleon announcing to his captive his approaching freedom, that he was aware how much good argument he had thrown away. Whatever, therefore, of sagacity or wisdom is displayed in the language or conduct of the new emperor must be credited to himself alone.

In the first place, it is quite certain, and is now beginning to be admitted even by his bitterest enemies, that Louis Napoleon is not the foolish imbecile it was so long the fashion to consider him. Those who aided in recalling him to France and elevating him to the presidency, under the impression that one so silly and borné would be rendered a pliant tool in their hands, soon found that they reckoned without their host. His mind, it is But we shall greatly and dangerously miscontrue, is neither capacious, powerful, nor well ceive Louis Napoleon if we regard him as a man stored; but his moral qualities are of a most rare of shrewdness, reflection, and calculation only. and serviceable kind. His talents are ordinary, The most prominent feature of his character is a but his perseverance, tenacity, power of dissimu- wild, irregular, romanesque imagination—which lation, and inflexibility of will, are extraordinary. often overrides all his reasoning and reflective facHe is a memorable and most instructive example ulties, and spurs him on to actions and attempts that great achievements are within the reach of a which seem insane if they fail, and the acmé of very moderate intellect, when that intellect is splendid audacity if they succeed. The abortions concentrated upon a single object and linked with of Strasbourg and Boulogne, and the coup d'état unbending and undaunted resolution. Moreover, of last December, were equally the dictateshis mental endowments, though neither varied nor alike the legitimate progeny-of the same mental comprehensive, are very vigorous. He is naturally peculiarity. He believes, too, in his "star." He shrewd, secret, and impenetrable. He has the is even a blinder and rasher fatalist than his invaluable faculty of silence. He has, too, been uncle. From early childhood he believed himself a patient and a wide observer. He has studied destined to restore the Dynasty of the Bonapartpolitics in Switzerland, in America, and in Eng-ists and the old glories of the empire. He brooded land. He has devoted his mind to that one sub- over this imagined destiny during long years of ject. He is, too, a deep thinker. He ponders exile and in the weary days and nights of his im much-which few Frenchmen do. His six years' prisonment, till it acquired in his fancy the solidcaptivity in Ham matured and strengthened, by ity and dimensions of an ordained fact. He twice silent meditation, whatever natural capacities he attempted to pluck the pear before it was ripe. may have possessed. He writes well and speaks His ludicrous failures in no degree discouraged

him or shook his conviction of ultimate success. | expedient then may be utterly inapplicable now. The dazzling fame and the wonderful sagacity of Napoleon I. may be the ignis fatuus which will lure astray Napoleon III. to discomfiture and ruin.

66

There are three sources from which a man's intentions and probable course of action may be inferred-his language, his obvious interests, and his known character. Let us see what light these means of judgment throw upon the projects and views of Napoleon III., especially with regard to the all-important question of war and peace; and if war, with what nation and with what ultimate design.

He only waited for another opportunity, and prepared for it with more sedulous diligence and caution. He "bided his time": the time came: he struck and won. After such success-after having risen in four years from being an impoverished exile to being Emperor of France-after having played the boldest stroke for empire known in modern history-after having discomfited, deceived, and overpowered the cleverest, the most popular, the most eminent, and the most experienced men in France-we may well believe that his faith in his destiny" is confirmed and rooted almost to the pitch of monomania, and that no future achievement, no further pinnacle of great- The words of Louis Napoleon-that is, his pubness, will seem wild or impossible to him after lic announcements and professions unhappily can a past so eventful, marvellous and demoralizing. never be relied on as indicative of his intentions; Another peculiarity of his character is, that he but if regarded at all, must be interpreted by the never abandons an idea or a project he has once rule of contraries. He has surpassed even the entertained. If he meets with difficulties and usual limits of princely perfidy. By repeated and opposition, he dissimulates or postpones ; he never most flagrant perjuries he has forfeited all reasonreally yields or changes. Cold, patient, and in-able hope of being believed, even when he speaks scrutable, he waits and watches, and returns to his with sincerity and truth. Hence when he propurpose when the favorable moment has arrived. claimed-" L'Empire, c'est la paix"!—we are History affords few examples of such a pertina- reluctantly compelled to put the announcement cious, enduring, relentless, inexorable will. This, aside as conveying no meaning, and giving no clue of itself, is a species of greatness of the most for- to his real views and purposes. Other words, midable kind. If, then, to this delineation we however, spoken and written at earlier times, and add that, reserved and silent as he is, he has the when there existed no direct or immediate motives art of attaching warmly to him those who have for deception, may afford us the indications we been long about him and who have lived inti- desire of his habitual ideas, and his fixed, permamately with him ;-that, like most fatalists, he is nent, and long-matured designs. Now we know wholly unscrupulous and unhesitating as to his that long ago, at Ham and before, he repeatedly agents and his means;-and that he entertains declared his belief that he was destined to restore and has deliberately matured the most extensive, the empire and to recover the old boundaries of deep-laid, and magnificent schemes of foreign France. We know that before the Chamber of policy; we have exhausted nearly all that we Peers he said that "he represented a principle, a can speak of as certain and reliable regarding this cause, and a defeat :-the principle, the soverremarkable man; and assuredly we have said eignty of the people as opposed to legitimacy; the enough to satisfy our readers that France has cause, the empire; the defeat, Waterloo." given to herself a master whom it concerns all know that very recently he held up as Napoleon's European statesmen-those of this country more strongest title to the gratitude of Frenchmen that especially-to study closely and to watch unremit- he abdicated rather than consent to her dismemtingly. Cool, daring, imperturbable, cunning, and berment-i. e., her confinement to her former profoundly secret-a perplexing compound of the limits. We believe, too-(we cannot say we sagacious calculator and the headstrong fanatic- know, because our information is at one remove with a large navy, an unrivalled army, and a from first authority)—that he has more than once prostrate and approving nation-what is there avowed to his intimates his determination to have which he may not attempt, and might not achieve? a page of history to himself, and his idea of realOne other feature of Louis Napoleon's mind izing his ambitious dream by an achievement must be noticed before we can be in a position which no one since William, Duke of Normandy, rightly to estimate the probabilities of his future has attempted. So much for his language. career. He is a close and servile copyist of his His immediate and obvious interests all lie on uncle. He has studied profoundly not only the the side of peace. With the great mass of the history of the first Napoleon, but his opinions on French people of all classes any war would now all matters of policy and administration. He be- be most unpopular. They want rest; they want lieves, and we think justly, that Napoleon under- prosperity; they want time to devote to the restostood more thoroughly than any Frenchman of his ration of their shattered fortunes and the advanceday, the nature of the government which France ment of industry and wealth. They dread the needed, and the degree of self-government which increased taxation which war would inevitably she could manage and would bear; that his bring. The more reflective among them—and in sagacity and justesse d'esprit on nearly all subjects this class might be mentioned some of the first of administration approached to inspiration; and military men in the nation-deprecate a war, that if he treads in his footsteps he may aspire to because they believe it would be a war of aggresemulate his glory. (We do not, however, extend sion; therefore, probably, a war against combined this remark to Napoleon's warlike conduct and Europe; therefore, in the end, an unsuccessful one achievements.) This is a sentiment eminently and likely to be visited with heavy retaliation misleading, and full of danger. The talents of the two men are so wholly different, the internal condition and to a great extent the character and feelings of the nation have been so changed by thirty-five years of peace and free institutions, that maxims and modes of proceedings sound and

We

and certain dismemberment. The ouvriers know that war would put a stop to much of the public and private expenditure which now causes their prosperity. The commercial classes hate war instinctively as well as rationally. The railroads, and the constant intercourse they have encour