THE PERIODICALS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1161, 28 February 1874, Page 6

THE PERIODICALS.

We propose to present our readers with st monthly notice of the more eminent Periodicals. For good or evil we are a people that loves this sort of literature, and we read it, as Artemus would say, "muchly." While the Athenaeum table is strewn with bright covers, and tiere are but six days in which to read, selection is often difficult. A word or two drawing attention to the most remarkable papers of the month, may serve to lessen the somewhat tedious search for what will suit. In making our remarks, ability will be our only guide— creed, prejudice, and party being forgotten. A bad cause ably defended should win more readers than a good one spoiled. Every year this sort of reading gets, and deserves to get, more attention. The best writers of this year of grace, or rather of last, have not been ashamed to contribute their ripe thoughts to a monthly, instead of unfolding them with tedious prolixity in a folio designed for scholars. 'Tis a way we have now ; and he who wants to know the world's thoughts must not wait too long, lest the world should begin to think of something else. The man who reads nothing, imle&s stoutly bound in cloth, will be like a slow joker, ready with his ha, ha, when othets have gone on to the next topic._ Without further preface, we will begin with

THE CONTEMPORARY.

This favourite serial is, what it usually is, viz., readable from first to labt. An article headed " Whig and Tory, the Two Root Ideas," by Montague Cnokson, is an attempt to philosophise over the fundamental ideas which are more or less disintegrating English society, to build it up upon a firmer basis than Its name hardly indicates its contents with sufficient clearness, inasmuch as the purely political portion is but small. Conservatism is identified with indolence ; Liberalism with progress. Of the former we learn that

The most marked feature of this kind of indolence is an undue reverence for authority. Nothing is pleasanter to those whose main object is to savetlietri selves trouble than to find that a question lias boon " settled." It spares them all mental exertion. If the wise and good de terniined thus and thus a hundred } ears ago or more and the older the saw the greater the wisdom), for heaven's sake, they cry, don't treat the matter as still open to controversy. And so the argument is cut short, not from any desire to use the foregone conclusion as a premiss for further reasoning, but because they feel annoyed at being forced into activity by having either to maintain an old th« sis or to refute a new one. If they had ever thought for themselves, it might bo in pertinent to ask them to retrace their steps.

Of Liberalism the definition is more complete, and we could wish that the following was. more widely acknowledged :—: —

Test, for instance, the Permissive Prohibitory Bill, and it will be seen that though tins measure has its plausible bide, it lms not a truo Liberal ring. It savours too much of State intervention, and true Liberals are at length agreed that Government should leave the people as free as possible to choobo between good and evil. Ruinous us drunkenness and its consequences are, infinite mischief would be done if it wcro attempted to eradicate it by Act of Parliament. If alochol weie poison, the State would !>e justified, Mr Herbert Spencer, notwithstanding, in, making its sale or manufacture penal. But no onb who is not a total abstainer, and the bulk of men who live in our depressing climate ai'e never likely to become that— desires to see alcohol treated in England like opium in China. This is, tliorofore, not a case in which the majority has any right, by the exerciso of what is called locil control," to coerce the minority. Enforced sobriety is not virtue, neither is moral growth possible when all temptation is removed. It is not wiso to veneer the surface of society at the expense of the wellbeing of the individuals composing it. The reyimc of the Permissive Bill would ho a source of perpotual irritation, and an occasional open brawl is hotter than chronic discontent, though it never find vent in words. Public drunkenness is an offence against society, and society nmy punish it as it thinks fit, ovon when not followed by crime, for no one has a right to parade an evil example which may lead others astray. So it has a right to put down street- walkers or any other form of social post. But it ought not to try to prevent a man besotting himself in private, because it is better that some nion should be dogrnded than that no one should be free. Nor does tho argument in favour of the Permissive Bill derive any force from that in favour of compulsory education, tt is not intended to force tho adult to attond school, or to require that he should periodically submit himsolf to a competitive examination ; what is iuteuded is, to instruct the child

who eitlier has no'parent or guardian, or whose parent or guardian has neglected his plain duty. The same reasoning applies to the Factory Acts, which, so far from being an unwarrantable interference with industry, are in need of extension to the rural districts, in order to secure to tine children of the peasantry the scope for mental and bodily development which is only their due.

Though, as is usual, a good deal of distinctness is sacrificed to the love of sententious utterance, the article is clear enough upon most points that turn up. England is undoubtedly waking up to a sense of the following, and we 3hali probably not be far behind, judging by the signs of the times :—

Englishmen have discovered that they do not spend the six working days of the week more virtuously or more profitably by making themselves miserable On the seventh. Sensible parents no longer exact frtfm. their young children weary attendances at re'Wgioit's services, unintelligible to them, nor degrade Into a penitential exercise what ought to be a hory joy. Most of us have taught ourselves to think it better for the labouring man to spend his clay of leisure in the music-garden or the picture-gal-lery than to be left to soak in beer in his own cheerless home, or sleep away the sunny hours under the nearest hedge. Travel and experience of foreign countries— those mighty solvents of old-fashioned types— have even popularised new modes of house decoration, and thrown a halo of grace and refinement over the eating and drinking of life by admitting flowers and fruits to our once dish-loaded dinner tables. When we say that Mr Orbley Shipley has an article upon Confession and. the Bishops, we all know what the composition will b"e like. That reverend gentleman has set himself a task out of which he finds it difficult to struggle with his wonted straightforwardness. He proposes to show that however bad the Bishops are, and however much they desired to curse, Balaam-like, they were compelled to bless. The heavy articles are" on Robert Buchanan and Broad Church in the Netherlands —the latter uninteresting in the extreme. For well deserved bitterness and wrath, we have not often seen anything better than Mr Vincent E. H. M array upen Ouida's novels. A slight sketch of the main plot of one or two gives that gentleman the opportunity which he is quick to use of sarcasm unparalleled. He sums up in words which the Duneclin public will do well to make their own.

To enjoy.

It is because these words- which aptly sum up the aim of Ouida's works— throw an evil light upon the social corruption of which they are an exhalation, that we hold ourselves justified in directing attention to them. Precisely as certaiD diseased conditions of the body give rise to a craving after unnatural f oorl, so do certain morbid conditions of the mind produce an appetite for literary food which a sojimd mental organization would reject. Individual instances of such morbid affections are fit subjects of study for the physician only, and the fact that a silly and ignorant woman should write novels which are at once vulgar, nasty, and immoral in tendency, could not, in itself, be matter of interest for readers of the Contemporary Review. But that such books have a very large and increasing circulation should be matter of painful interest to every decent man and woman in England. The price at which they are published rendeis them inaccessible to those whom it. is customary to call "the people," and it is clear that a writer who tells us that " a gaunt, bull - throated, sanguinary brigand" is "the type of the jpopolares of all time," does not address herself to them. These books are issued by one of the first houses in the trade ; they are written for and read by society.

Is not the motto of Ouida's heroes—" to enjoy—the motto of society, and every day more openly, more shamelessly, avowed ? Wo believe it is, ami v. c believe further, that the society which reads and encourages such literature is a "whit«tl sepulchre," which, if it be not speedily cleansed by the joint effort of pure men and women, will breed a pestilence so foul as to poison the very life-blood of our nation.

THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY

Begins with a very interesting account of Mr Chase's life, to be read by all those who take the stump orator as the only type of American politicians. For dignity, reserve, hauteur, no Tory of the old school could beat the rising lawyer of Cincinnati. " Interesting People whom I met in London," is a chatty account of semi-literary life, sprinkled with good stories. " T tie Railroads and Farms," albeit rather too full of statistics, is well worth reading here just at present. 'Tis full of wholesome truths— undeniable truths— as against Protection, and like ino&t similar American productions, it rueomineuds as the cure — to vote, to vote straight, to vote always— man, woman, and child. " De Forest's Novels " gives a more hopefill account of American literature in this line than we had before conceived. "Recent Literature" is rubbish ; but the essay on Politics at the end of the number is the best of all. Written during the panic, it gives the true reason for its existence in the opinion of most outsiders.

What is the meaning, then, of all the doubt, distrust, accusations, investigations, and exposures which fill the air ? Why is it that we cannot open our morning newspaper without somo new revelations of such astounding character that oven hardened men of the world stand aghnsl at them ? We beliovo tlmt there is one simple answer to this question. The distrust we feel to bo in the air hivs been caused by fraud, by corruption, by the most shameless breaches of trust, and by open dishonesty. We do not care to discuss the question whothor we are more or less honest than other people. The day for patriotic international comparison of virtues has long gone by. No one cares whether wo are more or less honest than Euglishmen, Frouclnnon, or Germans. The question is, whothor wo aro honest when tried by the standards generally neceptod among civilised inon ; and we have no hesitation in saying that we am not. There is no use in beating about the

Ibtisft for excuses ; we may rs welladinit that, as 1 a rule, persons who are placed in positions of trust and profit, in which they hare large powers Icoiifided to them, are not trusted in the exerjcise of them; and with good reason. It is nob (for' nothing that the directors- of railroads, as a class, are accused of making use of the control of the stock to swell their own fortunes ; it is not for nothing' that people Begin to laugb -when a trust company is Mentioned as a safe place of deposit ; any more tl'san it is for nothing thfifcwhen Congress voted itself am increase of salary,, the acb was denounced us a tfcft%- and a howl of execration went up from one end! OS *Ue country to the other.

CHAMBERS

la decidedly below the mark; indeed itr shows evident signs of the want of the directing hand of its great founder. Lady Livingstone's Legacy is sensational as ever and a very passable novel. The short stories which are visually the gems of the periodical are bald, poor, and stupid-— odds and ends from J)r Robert Chalmers, albeit a little stale —are not bad, the following, e.g. :— ConftfcSotf of Ideas.— My brother W. once found a lady's braoch, which he next aay advertised in the* newspapers. Shortly after the announcement appeared!, he was waited on by a lady, who eagerly stated that she had lost a ring, and proceeded to describe it. "But," said my brother, "it was not a ring that I found; it w® a brooch." "Oh, yes," replied the lady, bwfe. I thought you might have seen or heaos! some* thing of mv ring 1" Phrenologists wo«M calß this a want'of casualty. It looks like a want ©£ common-sense.

" John Saltrain's Wife," and "To marry again, or not," are equally vapid and poor. It is dottbtless a trial to keep up the reputation of grntfrtaess month after month to high water mark, ltmtthe etory of a donkey is poor stuff, indeed veritable thistles and docks. Tis founded chiefly on a somewhat stale distich, concerning the animal. The month's Science and Art is of unfailing interest, aad contains much of especial interest to ourselves^ t.g>.

Young folk of the present generation may perhaps see the result of an attempt to repair Xk& mischief occasioned in Italy by the reckless cu*^ ting down of forests in bygone years, for the Marquis Ginori has successfully commenced the rewoodmg of his estates on the slopes of the Apennines, in the neighbourhood of Florence. On a large breadth of mountain which the torrents had swept bare as a turnpike road, he planted oak, ilex, cypress, pine, and other hardy forest trees, and these, after a growth of ten years, form a pretty and promising thicket, which year by year will grow broader and higher, and eventually become a forest. By clever management, the torrents, led into lateral # channel?, are converted into a friendly source of irrigation^ and add to the interest of the experiment. Ib isto be hoped that the marquis will find imitatorsamoug other landed proprietors in Italy : the* plains as well as the mountains will benefit thereby, and the climate will become really as agreeable as an Italian climate is fondly but erroneously supposed to be.

FRAZEB

has an article upon Jonathan Edwards, which is remarkable as showing to what lengths Calvinism can go unchecked by any surrounding influences :—: — God is angry with the wicked ; as angry with the living wicked as ' with many of those miserable creatures that He is now tormenting in hell.' The devil is waiting; the fire is ready; the furnace is hot ; the ' glittering sword is whet and held over them, and the pit hath opened her mouth to receive them.' The unconverted ate walking on a rotten covering, where there are innumerable weak places, and those places not distinguishable. The flames are ' gathering and lashing about ' the sinner, and all that preserves him for a moment is 'the mere arbitrary will and uncovenanted, unobligerl forbearance of an incensed God.' But does not God love sinners ? Hardly in a comforting sense. ' The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spicier or some other loathesome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked ; He looks upon you as worthy of nothing else but to be cast into the fire ; you are ten thousand times as abominable in His eyes as the most hateful ana venomous serpent is in ours.' The comparison of man te a loathsome viper is one of Bdwards's most favourite mttaphors (e.g. VII. 167, 179, LB2, 198, 344, 496). No relief is possible ; Edwards will have no attempt to explain away the eternity of which he speaks ; there will be no end to the ' exquisite horrible misery ' of the damned. You, when damned, * will know certainly that you must wear out long ages, millions of millions of ages, in wrestling and conflicting with this Almighty merciless vengeance, and then ■when yon have so done, when so nuiuy ages have actually been spent by you in this manner, you will know that all is but a point to what remains. .Nor might his hearers fancy that, as respectable New England Puritans, they had no personal interest in the question. It would be awful, he says, if we could point to one definite person in this congregation as certain to endure such torments. 4 But, alas ! instead of one, how many is it likely will remember this discourse in hell ? It would be a wonder if some that are now present should not be in hell in a very short time— before this year is out ; and it would be no wonder if some persons that now sit here in some seats of this meeting-house in health, and quiet and secure, should be there before to-morrow morning. With which blessing he dismissed the congregation to their dinners, with such appetites as might be left to them. " The India Civil Service."— Like all else, India is interesting or intensely stupid, according to its peculiar treatment, which is in this case good. Anyone who reads British Policy in Persia and Central Asia, will at least have the satisfaction of knowing more than many of his fellow- creaturea, which is always pleasant. " The new birth, according to St. Paul," is narrow in conception, ignorant in execution, and entirely stupid.

As the Cork Harriers, a pack holding the foremost place in the Irish Hunt, were in full chase, near Mallow, they ran on the railroad, and -were overtaken by a mail train. Several of them wore killed, and. ofcHetf} seriously injured.

HOME NOTES.

[BY MASTER HUJMPHBEY.] • December 26th, 1873.

After an absence of seven years the changes one observes on re- visiting England make a vivid and ineffaceable impression. The metropolis is completely transformed. That hideous excrescence, Middle Row, has disappeared, and taking one's stand on the Holborn Viaduct it becomes a hopeless task to recall one of the old features of the spot. Roundhereovoryfchinghas'bccn reconstructed, new streets lnd out — indeed not a landmark of the past remains. Opposite the old Post Office in St. Martin's le Grand, where a row of ugly, unsightly buildings used to extend, has arisen a stately and almost palatial erection, devoted to the immensely increased postal business. Railways have been so largely introduced, so resolutely pushed through the heart of the city, that the road traffic appears greatly reduced. You no longer observe the swarms of omnibuses in Cheapside which from nine to ten in the morning used to present so overpowering a spectacle. By the adoption of asphalt, too, in place of the oltl granite pavement, the noise of vehicles is greatly diminished, and instead of tie interminable roar, you now hear only the clank, clank, of the horses' hoofs. The carriages glide along quite silently, and the gain in comfort is immense. Objections, however, are urged against the use of asphalb on account of its being difficult for the horses to keep their feet, though this can in great measure be avoided by making the pavement partially damp. .On entering a railway station one is immediately struck by the much superior class of carriages now in use. The first-class, with its three partitioned seats, remains unaltered, but in the second and third, great improvement has been effected. Secondclass carriages are now larc'e and roomy, well cushioned, and with paddod backs extendiug about four feet above tbe seat. They are well lighted, supplied with racks for hats, &c, and, indeed, are almost /nc simile* of the first-class carriages used iv the Colonies. But in the third-class, the greatest and most needed change has been made. These are no longer the disreputable cattle trucks, or the dark, dreary, caravans, that directors devised with the idea of coercing passengers into a higher class. The accommodation now provided for the thirdclass passenger is proper and decent — far superior in comfort to what many secondclass carriages were in years not long gone by. In connection with this gain to the poorer classes may be noticed the still greater boon of having third-class carriages attached to all trains. Railway directorsindeed seem to have thrown away the last remnant of their obstructive prejudices, and have discovered that their true interest consists in accommodating rather than in thwarting their customers. Who does not remember the days of the parliamentary train, appointed to start and arrive at the most inconvenient hours that could be bit upon, and dragging miserably along with the evident purpose of inflicting on its passengprs the last drop of weariness and disgust ? Who can forget the inconvenience and annoyance designedly imposed on the traveller --the shunting into a sideing, and AVaiting till the swift express had shot past, and then the snail-like resumption of the journey. Well, all this is done away with. The poor man has trains now as often as anyone else, and excepting the mail trains which are run at specially high speed, can take his thirdclass ticket by any of them. The next thing that most prominently attracts the attention of a returned Colonist, is the vast expansion of the Postal system, together with the reduction in its rates. Formerly, it will be remembered, the inland postage on a half-ounce letter was a penny, twopence for an ounce, fotirpcnce for two ounces, sixpence for three ; but now all letters up to an o-mce pay only a penny, two ounces thrpebalfpencc, four ounces twopence. To make clear the difference, I will subjoin the comparative rates under the new and old systems :—: —

Then again the book postage has boon reduced, A halfpenny suffices to frank any printed matter or manuscript uiuW two ounces, and a halfpenny only is added for every additional two ounces. Newspapers within a certain time from their date of publication pay a halfpenny ; and it is noticeable that the Post Office now sells paper wrappers for newspapers or book packets, impressed with the halfpenny stamp, and smeared with gum like envelopes— the price being sixpence halfpenny per dozen. The se are a great convenience, and can be adapted for books weighing over two ounces by adding halfpenny stamps, which are also a new feature. The halfpenny post card we heard of in the Colonies long ago. "For many purposes they are most acceptable, enabling correspondents to answer a question or speak the three words, which alone are necessary, without going through the formulas of heading, date, address, "my dear air," and "yours truly," or "obediently,' as the case may be. They are largely used for circulars to convene meetings, &c, tho notice being printed on the back, nnd ib is hardly nooessary to add that advertisers rasort to them largely. When tbe telegraphs were purchased by he homo Government, we in the Colonies

were informed that the transaction would result in the highest benefit to the community ; but so far the public have had little reason to rejoice over this bargain. An astounding mistake appears to have been made in the bill authorising their purchase. Instead of giving the various Companies a sum of money bused on the average market price of their shares during the past few years, by some incomprehensible fatuity the price was to be ascertained by an advance of a certain percentage on the market price at the time of purchase. You will readily conceive the effect of this. Immediately the terms became known up we7it the si ares ; aud the consequence is that the Giveruwieul, instead of buying at 20 pur cent, advance, has in some cases had to pay 100 per cent. Altogether it is estimated that the nation, through the imbecility with which the transaction was conducted, has to put up with a lo's of £900,000. But this, it appears, is not the worst, and it now seems doubtful even if we have obtained possession of what we paid for so extravagantly ; witness the following :—: — THE GOVERNMENT PURCHASE OF THE TELEGRAPHS.

The Western Morning News of Friday, sth Decsmber, mabes the following announcement : —

"Ad error of enormous magnitude has been discovered, in connection with the Goya' nment acquisition of telegraphs. Instead of purihasing, as supposed, a freehold and absolute title, it is found that the Government purchased the leisehold only from the telegraph companies, who.se rights wei e bought up iv ni'iny instances. The telegraph lines w«re letsed f om the mil way companies, and what th v sold whs merely a leose of them. Thn iaihv»y companies >re now prena ing their claims. Some or them are very large. 'Ihe claim of tl.o Lancashire and Yorkshire Kmhvay tor the t»lcrraph line which the Government supposed that it had purchased from the magnetic Company amounts to ■£0.'i0,000. The matter is to be referred to two arbitrators,— Mr Weaver, secie tary of one of tho telegraph companies, on the pait of tlie Oov eminent, and .Sir John ll.u\k-haw, on the part of the Lancashire and Yorkshire It.iilw.iy. The umpire is Sir John Kru\slakc. When these claims come to be settled the Liberal Government will not forgot to icniind Mr Disraeli that it wa.s the Ministry ot which he w.is tho head that conducted the faulty transaction.

" Im-rodiblc as the foregoing ma> •iji]iOiii' I there is, wo fear, no doubt, from enquuics we )uve made, Ui.it it is largely founded on fact. Tho K.iilwvy Company contends llut tho Government puiohasetl only tho leasehold of the tuie^raphs, and tho claim will be u-.i]u-dti'atud upon in the manner piesuribuil by tho Tclugi.aph.s Act."— Manchester Guardian.

To a person who has been absent from England for some time, it cannot fail to excite remark that tho Government now is taking much more positive- action than formerly it did. It is true that if we go back GO or 70 years we shall find the Government continually interfering, and producing the utmost mischief in its attempts to regulate things with which it had no concern. This pernicious prrefcice brought about a violent reaction. Sin. h splendid and unhoped results were found to accrue from treeing commerce from legislative interference, as by the repeal of the corn laws aud adoption of free trade, that men were inclined to push the principle beyond its legitimate application. Government was, therefore, told to conline itself to protecting life and propetty (especially property). It was affirmed to be impossible to make people moral by Act of Parliament, and therefore absurd, if not impious, to attempt it. The laws of political economy were of spontaneous operation — supply and demand would overrule everything for good, aud even to punish adulteration of food and drink was a criminal interference with the liberty of the subject. These views, however, are now generally discarded, or rather the measure of truth contained in them is viewed in connection with other truths equally important. It is now tacitly recognised .as coining within the province of the Government to do anything by which the community can distinctly be benefited. Most prominent of all the functions it has assumed is that of providing national education, and the great feature in this is the enforced attendance of children up to fourteen. It may be imagined that among the working classess, who require to puc their children to work at an early age, such a measure would excite in my murmurs. A good deal of discontent was expressed at Tirst, but as its advantages became known, the feelings of annoyance gradually subsided, and poor people now are very thankful indeed to have th< j ir children so well cared for ; and nothing seems more certain than that m a few years' time the education of the poor will lie regarded as equally essential to our honour aud safety, as the maintenance of the army and navy.

Another phase of the positivism of Covernmenfc, is the early closing of public-houses. N > Intel, tavern, or inn may now be kopt open later than ton o'clock at night — except, of course, for tho use of pc sous in it. A great boon this has proved to many a poor woman, who had boon accustomed to see tho greater part of her husband's wages frittered away in drink. Then, Government is looking into the adulteration of food, &c, and has come down rather smartly on those practising it. The result is, you no longer get the same quantity of milk for twopence as you formerly obtaiued ; but the superior quality more than fully compcnaa'es for the difference

The question of denominational or secular education, instead of being settled by Parliament, has been relegated to the various School Boards; with, however, a provision that no subsidies arc permitted to a school where religious knowledge isimpaited, unless such iostruction be given either at tho beginning or the end of tho school time, and unless tho attendance of the children thereat be optional with the parents. The various School Boards not only are authorised to build and manage schools of their own, but (within tho above-mentionod condition) may pay tho tho foes for the children of poor peoplo attending tho schools. Here arises the great point of controversy, one party favouring the subsidies to denominational jchods, whilst tho otber urges ii> ac upjuufc

to tax a Protestant that his neighbour's children may be taught lloman Catholicism, or vice versa,. AVitbout, however, entering on the merits of this dispute, it is pleasant to remark how vasfcan improvement is evidenced by its mere existence A few shoit years ago national education was little more than the hope of a few earnest enlightened men, and now so universal has been its acknowledgemeut as a paramount necessity that the only question is one of subordinate detail. There can be litfcle doubt as to the causes which have brought about this momentous change. The wonderful tiiumphs of Prussia in her wars against Austria and franco, by demonstrating what could be accomplished by a people ot superior intelligence and education, rendered it impossible tor us to remain any longer in our state of apathy ; and wheu Italy went so far as to insist upon the education of every man to the age of 40, England certainly could no longer remain stationary.

Weight. to/..t o/.. li'iii. S oz. 0 m. 8 <v. 10 ox. 12 oz. S\stoin. System " Sci 2d 10(1 2!<l 10.1 2 T .d Is 2'il Is 4(1 3il is 8d ;:'.(! 2h 4(1

Weight. U)z. 1 oz. lloz. 2 oz. 22 l .i(Z. a OK. Old JNCW System. By.stem. lrl Itl 2tl Id •Id 1 \d •3d li'l (1,1 2d Cd 2d ad 2d