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Of large frame and noble features; of gentle and winning manners; of a delicate courtesy in the society of women, and eager affection to little children; of unvarying serious demeanor, somewhat tinged with melancholy; fluent and eloquent in the gift of speech; appealing to the imagination also by the rich and scrupulously elegant oriental costume which he never abandoned, Rammohun Roy left a singularly deep and strong impression wherever he was met in personal intercourse. His visit to England in the spring of 1831, and his residence there until his death in September, 1833, of which this volume is the special record, was occasioned partly by his interest in the study of European life and politics, as well as by the hope of doing larger service to his people on his return. It is very grateful and touching, at this interval, to recall the cordial and thorough appreciation with which he was welcomed everywhere, and the genuine love and affection he inspired. Those who knew him personally then do not speak of him now without a peculiar emotion of veneration and esteem. And a larger circle of a younger generation will be glad to find in this fresh memorial a testimony to perhaps the purest native worth and nobility that we have known in the records of British India, and an encouragement to the best hopes that have been entertained for that ill-starred population.

MISCELLANEOUS.

THE War of the Union presents so vast a field of interests and operations, that many years must elapse before the records are sufficiently collated, the facts sufficiently digested, to furnish and perfect the materials for a thorough and complete history of this eventful section of American national life. No war, it is likely, was ever so copiously documented; but the very abundance of the documents embarrasses the task of the historian, whose obligation to the truth compels him, so far as possible, to examine, compare, and sift them all, in order to a final trustworthy judgment.

Meanwhile, therefore, an important service is rendered by the special contributions of competent witnesses and chroniclers whom personal experience or private interest has induced to elaborate single and select portions of this wide field. Of such contributions, we have met with none more weighty and every way satisfactory than Mr. Woodbury's faithful and laborious monograph.*

* Major-General Ambrose E. Burnside, and the Ninth Army Corps. By AUGUSTUS WOODBURY. Illustrated with Portraits and Maps. Providence, 1867.

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As chaplain of the First Rhode-Island Regiment, the author had abundant opportunity of becoming acquainted with General Burnside, who entered the military service of the war as colonel of that regiment; was afterward invested with the charge of a brigade; then received, in acknowledgment of his brilliant services, the commission of major-general of volunteers; and was finally promoted to the chief command of the Army of the Potomac. Whatever may be thought of his management in this latter capacity, a position which was thrust upon him against his inclination, there can be but one opinion as to the soldierly and moral qualities of this distinguished officer, than whom the war evoked no purer patriot, no truer, nobler spirit. His merits and services are set forth by Mr. Woodbury with a friendly and admiring, but not unduly biassed, pen. Indeed the book, both in what relates to General Burnside and other officers, and in sketching the operations of the Ninth Army Corps, is eminently temperate and calm. It is the tone of the thoughtful, self-possessed historian, not that of the advocate or partisan. Due credit is given where credit is deserved. Failures and incompetence are not glossed over, but neither are they made the occasion of bitter invective. The record is instinct with manly, Christian sentiment, but remarkably free from morbid sentimentality.

The chief value of this work consists in the carefully studied, thoroughly comprehended, and luminously described, operations and achievements, the marches, sieges, battles, captures, of the war, so far as the Ninth Army Corps had part in them; and that corps was concerned in many of the most important. The descriptions are illustrated with plans and maps, enabling the reader to form a correct and adequate idea of each operation. The roster of the corps is given in full, so far as practicable; and the whole is supplemented with a careful and minute index, without which no work of the kind is complete.

It is a thorough piece of work; and all who but glance at these pages, especially all who have had experience in book-making, will appreciate the labor and pains it must have cost. We congratulate Mr. Woodbury on having accomplished so arduous a task, and we cordially recommend his work to all who are interested in studying the details of the most gigantic struggle for national existence against treason and rebellion which history records.

VOL. LXXXII.-NEW SERIES, VOL. III. NO. II.

22

F. H. H.

WE have received copies of two essays on widely differing themes, which bear the titles below, and possess an interest independent of their intrinsic value as discussions of the subjects they severally handle. They are the productions of a young fellow countryman, who has had the unusual honor of winning in the University of Oxford two prizes assigned to excellence in departments of study so distinct that pre-eminence in both implies, not only rare intellectual ability, but breadth of scholarship and completeness of training equally rare. Their author-the son of the Rev. William H. Channing, well known in this community, and grand-nephew of the late Dr. Channing of world-wide repute—has lately, as we learn, been elected Fellow of University College at Oxford, and charged with the responsible office of preparing the select young men of that College for "honors in greats," as it is technically called; that is, of training students who intend to compete for honors at the great examination.

The first essay, on one of the most obscure and most interesting of psychological problems, the nature of instinct and its relations to organic and to intellectual life, after stating the popular conception of this form of psychical action, and comparing the views of modern philosophers, Des Cartes, Leibnitz, Condillac, Hume, and others, concerning it, proceeds to analyze the operation of the faculty so named, discriminating its action from that of mere organic mechanism on the one hand, and of pure intelligence on the other, and reaches the conclusion that instinct is a special determination of the vital force; a psychical power, original, distinct, spontaneous, and unconscious in its action; the immediate "response to the natural adaptations and the natural conditions of each creature." The analysis displays a good degree of metaphysical acumen, as well as great clearness and vigor of presentation. The incidental illustrations are pertinent

and striking.

The second essay is of greater significance and more conspicuous ability. It discusses, with a show of learning, which, judged by the standard of American university acquirements, seems prodigious, the bearings of the speeches of Greek orators, which have come down to us on the facts of Grecian history; introducing this topic

1. Instinct. A Prize Essay read in the Theatre, Oxford, June 21, 1865. 2. The Greek Orators considered as Historical Authorities: the Arnold Prize Essay, for 1866. By FRANCIS ALLSTON CHANNING, B.A., late scholar of Exeter College.

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with a brief review of the nature and history of Greek oratory of their time. The conclusion arrived at is, that, "down to the wars with Philip, they throw little light on the more important events of Greek history. . . . Still, the full details given by the orators of the internal events of Athens, at some of her most critical moments, are of great value. They complete the scanty information of contemporary historians, and afford more ample materials for judging the strength and weakness of Athenian institutions. In the time of Philip, all the interest of Greek history is gathered around the decisions and the movements of Athens; and, for this period, the orators are the best authorities, as they were the chief actors in the events they describe." The amount of classical research which illustrates the discussion of this topic is very remarkable; but the ease of handling, and the solid maturity of judgment in so youthful a scholar, are still

more so.

The gratification afforded by these essays would be complete, if the author could find, in his native land, a sphere of action worthy his attainments, and suited to his powers.

sor.

F. H. H.

THE second volume of Napoleon's "Histoire de Jules César" * brings the history down to the outbreak of the civil war in the year B.C. 49. This volume does not differ materially in character from its predecesThe motive of the work, to uphold the dynasty of the writer by the aid of one of those fallacious parallels in which history so abounds, is perhaps kept rather more in the background than in the first volume; and, probably, whatever original material the emperor has finds its place chiefly in this volume. The notes on the Gallic War, and the appendices, are very valuable.

One is astonished, however, to find so little of worth in the body of the work. It is the fruit, no doubt, of great labor. The events of the period are carefully arranged by years, with great fulness of detail, and with a fidelity which may sometimes be callel slavish, but which, at any rate, makes certain chapters a very useful guide to the student. Even those portions of the work which invite most temptingly to widen the verge of inquiry, and give some of the results. of modern investigation, are as meagre as any. In the chapter on

Histoire de Jules César. Par S.M.I. NAPOLÉON III. Tome deuxième. New York: D. Appleton et Cie., libraires-éditeurs 443 et 445, Broadway. MDCCCLXVI.

the state of Gaul, hardly any authority is cited but Cæsar, — the chief and most indispensable of all, of course, but who imperatively needs illustration and expanding.

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On page 47, for example, the author states, in a matter-of-fact way, - almost translating Cæsar's very words, that each state, each canton, and each family, was divided into two parties. What was the nature of these parties, whether religious, political, personal, or national, he takes no pains to inquire. In a few words, he gives the bare facts as to the rivalry between the Edui and Sequani, but tells us nothing of the relation which this bore to the sacerdotal institutions of the Gauls, or the sense of national unity which was beginning to make itself felt among them; nothing of the degree in which this particular rivalry exerted an influence in the remoter parts of Gaul, or was connected with similar rivalries there; nothing of the connection it had with the parties in the individual cantons and private families, - obscure points, to be sure, which can be investigated only by following out slight hints and isolated statements in ancient writers, but, for this reason, all the more interesting and deserving of consideration. But it is not the way of this imperial author to concern himself with any thing but the commonplaces of history.

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MR. STAUNTON's work on the great schools of England* contains information which very many will be glad to have in so convenient and attractive a form. In regard to the history, organization, and peculiarities of these schools, he has left little to be desired; although a foreigner would like explanation, now and then, upon points perfectly clear to an Englishman. Matters of professional detail, as systems of instruction, methods of recitation, character of text-books, he hardly notices at all; and, consequently, we find little in the volume which will be of much practical service to us in America: for, much as we might learn from the English methods of instruction, the organization of their public schools is something entirely foreign to our usages and needs, and has few features which we should care, or have it in our power, to copy.

It is therefore with a view to gratify a praiseworthy curiosity, rather than to draw practical lessons, that we shall copy, from the work before us, some of the most interesting facts as regards these

The Great Schools of England. By HOWARD STAUNTON. London: Sampson Low, Son, and Marston, Milton House, Ludgate Hill. 1865.

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