THE MAGAZINES.

IT is a strange faculty, that of the true poet, being often, it would seem, independent of himself. The Fortnightly Review

for this month gives the post of honour to a long " elegy " by Mr. Swinburne on Sir Richard Burton, the great mass of which will strike the reader as distinctly poor. Even the commend of melody has in this production failed Mr. Swinburne. But then, in the midst of the verses occur these ten lines describing Siena in Auvergne, which only a genuine poet could have written, and one who can make his thoughts stand out like sculptors' figures :—

" Set fast between the ridged and foamless waves Of earth more fierce and fluctuant than the sea, The fearless town of towers that hails and braves

The heights that gird, the min that brands Le Puy; The huddled churches clinging on the cliffs As birds alighting might for storm's sake cling, Moored to the rocks as tempest-harried skiffs To perilous refuge from the loud wind's wing ; The stairs on stairs that wind and change and climb Even up to the utmost crag's edge curved and curled ;"

Is there a prose-writer in the world who with unlimited space could paint a more perfect picture ? The number of the Review

is fall of instructive papers, one being Mr. Bompas's on "Non- conformists and Home-rule." There is nothing new in it, but Mr. Bompas states the final arguments against that proposal in a curiously terse and direct way. He says, for instance, of the theory that the majority of a people have a right to

decide their own affairs :—" Those who hold these views do not seem to realise that though this may be true of a nation,

it is not true of any part of a nation that chooses to form itself into a separate community, and that if it were so, Oil right of the Protestant counties of Ulster to a separate Govern-' ment from the rest of Ireland would be equally clear." And again, speaking of the theory that Irish Protestants have no ground for their fears:.—" This is inconsistent with the reason often given for Home-rule, that the Irish can alone understand their own affairs, and the effect that legislation will have upon them." And again, remarking on the belief that the superior power of Great Britain could always prevent oppression, Mr. Bompas writes :—" If an attempt were made to destroy the Protestants by violent means, this might be the case; but the thousand small annoyances and exactions which would accom- plish the same end could not be dealt with by the English Parliament without a contest and obstruction far worse than any that now exists."—Mr. F. Adams's outbreak of contempt for "some recent novels," and especially Mrs. Ward's work and Mr. Hardy's, contains some acute criticism ; but it is absurdly bitter, and fails to explain at all wherein the charm of those works lies ; while M. Delille's criticism of "Guy de Maupa,ssant " reads to us far too eulogistic. At least, it is not justified by the evidence within the article itself, which suggests that its writer is so captivated by a perfect style that he can hardly judge sharply defects either of plot or thought.

—Lady Jenne writes kindly on "The Servant Question," which, by-the-way, was far more amply discussed thirty years ago; but she suggests no remedy for the overwork which is the real grievance of the mass of single-handed servants. It must come from a supply of certain kinds of labour from outdoors, and through the adoption of certain kinds of machinery ; but no plans of that sort have yet been discussed. Why on earth should doorsteps, for example, be washed from within P or coals be distributed over a house by hand-carriage ? Lady Jenne, we see, thinks that the demand for servants is decreas- ing, owing to the introduction of flats ; but we fancy that the increase of population and wealth overbalances that. The real change is the increase, the very proper increase, among the lower classes of servants in their wants and their ambition. Ladies like Lady Jenne could do them a great service by clearing the ladder for them,—that is, by convincing em- ployers that to resist their desire to better themselves is radically unjust.—Mr. Lionel Tollemache hardly makes the portrait of his father, Lord Tollemache, distinct enough, though some of his gossipy anecdotes are amusing. This is the one of most historical interest :—

" The ship of an admiral, who was the Duke of Wellington's near connection, was wrecked. He was placed in command of a second ship, which was also lost, and he himself was drowned. Lord Charles communicated the disaster to his father, who merely exclaimed, with Spartan coldness and brevity, That's the second ship he has lost.' The twin anecdote, so to call it, had reference to Lord Charles himself. Being ordered with his regiment abroad, he felt much concern at bidding farewell to his aged father whom he might never see again. On his making the announcement, the Duke, who had been reading, damped his emotion by saying shortly, Good-bye, Charlie, good-bye !' and, taking a last look before leaving the room, the son was mortified to see that the father appeared to be as intent on his reading as ever."

A certain hardness about individuals, hardly distinguishable from selfishness, has been a mark of most great men. Lord Beaconsfield had observed that and made it a distinct charac-

teristic in his portrait of Sidonia.—Mr. Coventry Patmore sends three " essayettes "—(what an abominable barbarism, Mr. Patmore; why not write " essaylings," if "little essays" will not do ?)—of which the second has some intellectual interest. Its writer believes that every great country dies, and that this one, thanks to Mr. Gladstone, is dying a hundred years or so too soon. The causes are, he thinks, the decay of patriotism, and the growth of the desire to regulate all life according to- the will of the majority. Those are the growing evils, no doubt, ,but will they last? Patriotism is only purified selfish- ness, and selfishness never dies ; while a reaction against government by majority is just as certain as reaction against any other tyranny. Before Mr. Patmore dies, he will pro- bably have seen a patriotic war, and an Inspector kicked.— Mr. Arnold White/writes an over-strong defence of the Salva- tion Army, in which, however, he succeeds in refuting the absurd charge that the Army exists for the pecuniary benefit of the Booth family. They monopolise power too much, but they take only bare maintenances, and sometimes not that. All expenditure, says Mr. White, after minute inquiry, is care- fully audited, and the General lives on a small income secured to him from sources outside the Army funds. The expenditure on his journeys is made remunerative. Mr. White would have more weight if he were a little less enthu- siastic. He seems not to see that in stating that the Booths hardly eat enough "to keep body and soul together" (p. 123), he is making a charge of deficiency in common-sense. The most valuable paper in the number is that on the religious war in Uganda by Mr. G. S. Mackenzie, who, writing on official authority, thus sums up the present situation in Uganda :—

" The Protestant missionaries were evidently using every effort to restrain their followers from violence, but the great and con- stant provocation received from the French party, who saw they must act now or never if British authority were to be subverted, made this a difficult task. It was plain that the French, conscious of overwhelming numerical preponderance, were desirous of pre- cipitating a conflict to decide the question of supremacy. Captain Lugard's arrival on December 31st, with reinforcements recruited from the refugees of Emin Pasha's province, appears to have brought on the crisis. It was a last desperate effort on the part of the French party to exterminate the little British garrison, and so dominate its rivals the Protestants. The Catholic aggressors, so greatly superior in numbers, had every reason to look for victory ; and the crushing defeat which, by the accounts of the French priests, they appear to have sustained owing to the superior discipline and military skill of the British officers, being doubtless unexpected, was rendered all the more mortifying."

Mr. Mackenzie does not, however, doubt that other motives than religion entered into the war, the Protestants, as well as the Catholics, being little better than heathens. Only he maintains that Captain Lugard endeavoured to restrain both impartially, and is, in fact, solely endeavouring to make of Uganda an orderly State.

The feature of the Nineteenth Century this month is a group of ten short papers, in each of which some man, not a poli- tician, explains his reasons for voting against Home-rule. The ten are of all Christian Churches, all occupations, and almost all degrees of social standing; but their practical unanimity is complete. All give different reasons, but none of them, we think, reasons which have not yet been discussed, unless it be Professor S. H. Butcher, who states with unusual definite- ness what he believes will be the first consequence of Home- rule :—

" Let us for the moment suppose that Home-rule has been carried, and let us think out the consequences. The most sanguine Nationalist will admit that Home-rule will not set things straight in a day. Those who have been led to expect a golden era will be sadly disillusioned. For some time, at leastz capital will be withdrawn from the country, and economic troubles must increase. The party of Disruption will here see their oppor- tunity. We are hampered,' they will say, by the restrictions placed on us. We cannot protect our trade. We cannot endow our religion. We cannot deal freely with our education. The Home-rule policy has failed because it is fenced with vexatious safeguards. Trust the people. Withdraw your restrictions. What if in name it is Separation ? It is in truth the Union of Hearts.' Every argument that is now used for Home-rule will then be used, and with redoubled force for Separation. Many in Ireland who are now not even Home-rulers will then be Sepa- ratists. They will throw themselves into the movement with the passion of disappointed hope and the energy of despair."

The ten papers are a little deficient in immediate interest, and, with the elections actually begun, we turn more eagerly to Mr. Dicey's forecast of their result. It is a hopeful one, being based on the absence of any proof that the Gladstonians can win the sixty extra English seats which, as he calculates, are necessary to give them a majority :—

" According to the latest return, the House of Commons in the last days of its existence consisted—I am speaking now solely of England, leaving Wales out of count—of 14t Gladstonians and Nationalists, 278 Conservatives, and 42 Liberal Unionists. In other words, the Unionists had a majority in England of 320 votes to 145, or very considerably more than two to one. In Scot- land the Gladstonians held 45 seats against 27 held by Unionists ; in Wales 31 against 5. There is every reason to expect we shall increase our vote to a small extent in both Scotland and Wales. But even if we admit the utterly improbable hypothesis that the Liberals win every one of the thirty-two Welsh and Scotch seats which stood by the cause of the Empire, the safety of the Union is not endangered, provided England remains true to herself, and votes to-morrow as she voted six years ago."

Mr. Dicey is especially confident because of the growing Conservatism of the lower-middle class and higher artisans, which, he says, will render London and the greater cities safe for the Unionist side. He adds a forcible reason for energy at the Election which we do not remember to have seen before :—

" I believe myself the Home-rule problem to be practically in- soluble, but if the Liberals once get back into office under Mr. Gladstone, they will stop at no sacrifice of principle or policy be- fore they abandon the solution of the problem and with its abandonment forfeit their hopes of office. I should object most strongly to putting my neck within a halter on the strength of any assurance that my would-be executioner was too feeble to pull the cord, and yet this is practically what the Unionists are in- vited to do when they are told that, even supposing Mr. Gladstone should come back to office with a mandate to repeal the Union, no serious danger could arise from their discomfiture. I quite agree with the statement that the wit of man is unable to devise a scheme under which the Irish shall have a parliament of their own, and yet retain their representation in the British Parliament. I do not believe, therefore, that Mr. Gladstone can pass a Home- rule Bill that will work. But I give him the fullest credit for capacity to pass a Home-rule Bill that will not work. And the mischief that a Separatist policy might produce, even if it ended, as it certainly would end, in signal and disastrous failure, is utterly incalculable."

Mr. E. Delille describes the enormous extension of the American newspaper Press, upon which he passes a most un- favourable verdict, admitting, however, that it is most enter- prising and successful in the collection of news. Its editorials he considers almost invariably poor; while it is penetrated through and through by a noisy kind of vulgarity which excites his disgust. He attributes this mainly to a certain want of literary taste which he maintains to be universal in America ; but he does not in any way explain why that deficiency exists in a land where every one can read, and where English books are circulated by the hundred thousand. Nor does he explain the general want of any wish for reasonable comment on news, for what in England is called the editorial. The American apparently likes to do his thinking for himself, and provided the news is early and

ample ha quantity, is quite content with his paper.—Mr. J.

Jusserand sends an account of a journey to England made in 1663, twenty-five years before the Revolution, by a French- man named Samuel Sorbieres, who wished to improve his acquaintance with the philosopher, Thomas Hobbes. Sor- bieres was greatly pleased with the English landscape and the well-wooded aspect of the country, and the number of persons "of excellent minds who have addicted themselves

to an earnest study of the natural sciences." He found English cookery detestable, all lumps of meat ; but his general impression of the country was favourable, and he pronounced the people to have something in them of ancient Rome. They scorned foreigners too much, but what else could you expect from the proprietors of a land which "lacks neither iron, nor stone, lead, tin, coal, plaster, wood, corn, vegetables, meadows, oxen, sheep, horses, game,

pasture-land, springs, and rivers, nor plenty of fine sights, nor industry to turn all these into use with the ocean round them to prevent other nations from coming to trouble their felicity?" Strange to say, the book excited so

violent a resentment in England, that a representation was made to Louis xrv., who suppressed it by decree, and interned

its author in Brittany, whence he only returned to Paris under an amnesty procured for him by Charles II. Sorbieres seems to have been a fairly keen observer, and so impartial that he remonstrated with his countrymen for their ill-founded contempt for London, which was, he confessed with regret, a lirger city than Paris.—.A. very poor and thin article by the Duke of St. Albans, on "Jamaica Resm-gens," contains one instructive paragraph. In it it is stated that "a young man prepared to exert himself, live carefully, and with small capital, can do better here than in most parts of the world. He can turn his attention to the cultivation of coffee, choco- late, nutmegs, cocoanuts, bananas, tomatoes, spices, sugar, dye-woods, tobacco, which is an increasing and paying crop, while the development of railways, and better communica- tion with the United States, is likely to make growing early vegetables and fruit a remunerative industry. If the investor prefers it, the breeding of cattle and horses can be success- folly carried on Estates are pointed out which have repaid the purchase-money in the first year, and others paying 15, even 30, per cent., and, considering the generally healthy climate, the productiveness of the country, the low taxation and security of a settled government, land purchased with a knowledge of tropical agriculture, and selected with ordinary care and judgment, should prove to the energetic settler a remunerative investment."

The Contemporary Review publishes, besides another of Professor Dicey's papers, a contribution from an Irish Pres- byterian minister, who affects to fear persecution if he gives

his name, and who endeavours to show that the existence of Ulster is no argument against Home-rule. He declares, to begin with, that Ulster can hardly be called Protestant, five of her counties showing 430,770 Catholics to 197,524 Pro- testants, and only four a Protestant majority, which is due, he complains, solely to Belfast. In the entire province, the population consists of 744,353 Catholics, to 873,524 Pro- testants, a majority for the latter of less than 130,000. Of the thirty-three Members for Ulster, seventeen are Catholic and sixteen Protestant ; and in the belief of the writer, the Catholics alone could hold the Protestants in check. He maintains that the Convention was organised at an expense of 217,000, and that the Presbyterians were seduced into the ranks by flatteries and social pressure. The Presbyterian minister publishes a list of the Protestants holding office, which is no doubt immensely greater than the Catholic list ; and finally, he declares that Ulster is not flourishing, because outside Belfast her population, like that of all Ireland, has declined. There is not the smallest proof that Ireland benefits by an increasing population, and much proof that she does not, and this last argument, therefore, is worthless ; but the Catholic statistics of Ulster need to be borne in mind. They do not alter the fact that the strength and energy of Ulster is Protestant, but they will be much quoted should Home-rule ever be again debated.—Miss Price writes a charming account of M. Tiersot's book on "The Popular Songs of France," with its evidence that the song is every- where in France, and of all kinds, from the coarse and brutal

love-songs of the lower peasantry, up to songs that are fall of delicate poetry and feeling :—" Normandy has special songs for fruit-gathering and harvest ; the mulberry-trees of the Cevennes have a slow chant of their own; in Provence the young girls sing reveyes, to call each other to the gathering of olives or grapes. But one vintage song, " Plantons la vigne," is traditional in almost all the vine-bearing provinces of France. Only the vignerons of the Berry have chosen to re- place it with a song of their own, much less appropriate, being one more version of the ',mummies, with a special refrain." The cradle, marriage, and death, have all their popular songs, and there is a whole literature of Noel songs, all deeply reli- gions and Catholic. Nothing like the song-literature of France

exists in England, though, curiously enough, the Lowland Scotch, who are of the same blood and creed, are as fond of singing as the French.—The last article in the number, and perhaps the most valuable, is Mr. Bryce's on "The Migra- tions of the Races of Men." It is a perfect mine of know- ledge, Mr. Bryce explaining the reasons for all the great

historic movements. He notes the fact that "the most im- portant physical factor in determining lines of movement is

the climate," no race voluntarily changing the meteorological conditions under which it ordinarily lives, and seems to believe that emigration on the large scale is drawing towards an end :—

"We may conjecture that within the lifetime of persons now living the outflow from Europe to North America will have prac- tically stopped. A somewhat longer time will be required to fill not only the far less attractive parts of northern Asia I have men- tioned, but also such scantily-inhabited though once flourishing regions as Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, and Persia, because a more torrid sun and atrocious misgovernment keep these regions, so to speak, out of the market. In the southern hemisphere, whose land area is far smaller, there are the temperate districts of Australia and South Africa, of which, so far as our present knowledge extends, no very large part has moisture enough to be available for tillage; while in South America there are La Plata, northern Patagonia, and the highlands of Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador. The elevation above the sea of these latter tracts gives them a tolerable climate, but their wealth lies chiefly in minerals ; and the parts which are both fit for agriculture and healthy are of comparatively small extent."

There will shortly be an equilibrium of population through- out the world, the Chinese and Indians filling the equatorial regions, a prospect which Mr. Bryce looks forward to with little pleasure :—" It may be thought that as migrations have been a frequent cause of war in the past, the establishment of such an equilibrium will make for peace. But it must also

be remembered that the pressure of each nation on its neigh. hour, and of the members of each nation on one another, tends to grow more severe with that severer struggle for sub- sistence which increasing numbers involve, and which, after a few more generations, the outlets that now still remain to us. will no longer relieve." It is more probable, we should say, that emigration will cease before the equilibrium is reached, the labouring class in each half-stocked country refusing to. allow an influx of competitors any longer. They are beginning to do so already, both in North America and Australia, and though South America and South Africa may still be con- sidered open, within fifty years a large emigration will be a very difficult matter to arrange. Indeed, even now it would be nearly impossible to transplant the Russian jaws in any sufficient numbers.

Whoever wrote "The Bhut-Baby," in Macmillan's Magazine,. —we suspect the author of "The Rajah's Heir," —is a con- siderable artist, though his or her ethical sense is most obtuse. He or she manages to create a Hindoo atmosphere, which is a most difficult thing to do, and this although the accuracy of the incidents is not beyond suspicion. Could a Brahmin be- come a bearer in any part of India? Anyhow, the author had no right to suggest that the Brahmin who murdered the child to save his master, wonderfully as the character of his impulse is explained, performed an act as to the moral character of which one may entertain a doubt. The deed was murder, and the Brahmin knew it.