Ten Years of My Life. By the Princess Felix Salm-Salm.
2 vole. (Bentley.)—The words "my life " imply an egotistical book, but in this book the egotism is not at all offensive. The author has seen and dons many things that are strange to stay-at-home people, and even to those who have been moderately adventurous. But she tells her story simply, without any wish to parade her sagacity or courage. There are three books, the first containing an account of Prince Salm-Salm's campaigning on the Northern side in the American Civil War, in which he held the rank of General of Division. Tho second book takes us, the war being finished, to Mexico, and is perhaps the most interesting part of the work ; it is certainly the most novel. The account of the last few months of the unfortunate Maximilian's reign is very graphic. The Princess hints pretty strongly that if the Austrian Ambassador had helped with money instead of words, the Emperor's life would have been saved. From Mexico, whence indeed the author was glad to escape—Prince Felix was condemned to death—we go to France and to the Franco-Prussian cam- paign. The Prince was killed at Gravelotte, but his widow remained with the army, and did good service in the hospitals. We need hardly say that the book is excellent reading. To us it seems absolutely simple and honest ; indeed, the author has a knack of speaking out which will not please everywhere. That she expresses her opinions pretty plainly, the following may show ;—" The Irish rabble of New York are the most degraded and brutish set of human beings that I know." Not too strong language, if it be true, as we read on the next page, that they burnt a colonial orphan asylum, containing several hundreds of coloured children, and threw some of the children into the flames. Bazaine "was not only arrogant, brutal, and cruel, he was also rapacious and mean, and employed the lowest artifices to enrich himself." President Juarez, on tho other hand, is well spoken of. It was, we are told, with the profoundest emotion that he resisted the effort to procure the pardon of Maximilian.
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