ster to cast the vote for Zachary Taylor. Subsequent events have thrown him pretty much out of public notice; still, however, he maintains a position among "conservative" politicians, along with such names as Winthrop, Cushing, Fillmore, Granger, and Thayer. The book has been written at a rather late period for the purposes which the author had in view, but still it gives a very elaborate exposition of the controversy which is well worth consideration. He has endeavored to trace the anterior course of the long controversy between the North and the South, without regard to party interests or prepos sessions. Slavery, he declares, though made an occasion was not in reality the cause of the war. "Self-seeking and ambitious demagogues" succeeding the wise and patriotic citizens of the former period, disturbed the equilibrium of the motion, and accomplished that calamity. "It is the misfortune of Repubublican institutions," he remarks," that many who have paid little attention to matters of state policy, and seem scarcely ab'e to understand it, must pass judgment upon men of superior ability and high attainments who have made such topics the study of their lives. Hence it has happened in this turmoil of politics, that the latter have been too frequently set aside for inferior persons, and their better considered opinions disregarded in favor of those of transient Congressmen, often incapable by nature, and sometimes disqualified for calm judgment by personal habits, and of Governors of States, who ought to have remained among the governed." Another object of this work of Mr. Lunt has been "to place in its true light the intelligent and patriotic conduct of conservative men of both great parties which took a leading part in the affairs of the country, until incidental causes deprived them of their due influence." This motive he declares was not merely to render justice to the South, but to see to the safety of the body politic. Much prominence has been allowed to the State of Massachussetts as presenting the most striking example among the several States, and being the most couspicuous of them all in pressing the claims of State rights from the earliest period. "No State has been at times more exclusive and sectional." Politically Mr. Lunt declares his confidence in the Whig party, as transcending by far, in principles and policy, their democratic adversaries. Their position was that they could not interfere with slavery in the States; that it was imprudent to take action in relation to slavery in the District of Columbia ; but that they had a perfect right to oppose the introduction of slavery into any territory of the United States already free. They were united while the democrats were divided, and, hence, were hated by the liberty party most cordially. If they had stood firmly to their original principles they might, Mr. Lunt thinks, have gained their ascendency, and saved the country from the incomparable ills with which it has been, and is likely long to be afflicted. But they became entangled in the meshes of sectionalism, and left their honorable chiefs, while the democrats showed themselves in the main, the defenders of the Constitution. After going at great length through the details of the controversey, Mr. Lunt finally brings his labor to the following conclusions, which deserve careful atten tion from statesmen : The superior power of the United States has been completely vindicated, and the South has abandoned all further purpose of resistance. The speediest pos sible restoration of the Southern States to equal rights under the Constitution is for the highest interest of the whole country, if the Union is to be and to remain a republic of equal rights in conformity with its own organic law. The present irregular, unequal and disorganised system of government, for the common safety, ought not to be permitted to continue for a moment longer than the most unavoidable necessity requires. The reason why restoration is delayed he attributes to ambition of a particular party for power. When the people rise above this and place the country upon the free and solid foundation of the Constitution and the Union, then ouly can the Republic be "Peace." The History of Henry the Fifth; King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Heir of France. By George Makepeace Towle, author of "Glimpses of History." New York: D. APPLETON & COMPANY, 1866. The name of Henry the Victorious has been made a household word by Shakespeare, wherever the English language is spoken. To be sure romance has often overstepped the domain of historical verity in the matter, but common readers are not particular in this respect. The House of Lancaster, to which Henry V. belonged, though it usurped the English throne, had finally succeeded in maintaining supremacy, and so historians were prone to exaggerate the virtues of the successful family, and to impute hideous vices and deformities to those defeated. The beneficent rule of the Fourth Edward and his brother Richard, who laid the foundation of the commercial greatness of England, has been overlooked, while the intolerant persecutors of the disciples of John Wickliffe have been extolled for chivalric qualities. The biographer of Henry draws his narrative from the old chroniclers. The introduction is a brief but interesting resume of English history from the Crusades to the death of Richard II., the last prince of the direct hereditary line of the Plantagenets. The history of the growth of that sublime mythos, the English Constitution, is admirably detailed. It was in the reign of Richard that Wickliff translated the Bible, and promulgated the doctrines which half the English people embraced, and were afterwards asserted by the iron-hearted Puritans of England. John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, defended Wickliffe, while the House of Commons was largely constituted of his disciples. It is not hard to perceive why the descendants of John, having usurped the English crown, should be extraordinarily zealous to purge their skirts of the suspicion of heresy, by cruel persecutions of the very religionists whom their great progenitor favored and protected. Mr. Towle devotes his first chapter to Jonn of Gaunt, whom he denominates Quixote in the right place with a royal coronet upon his head." He had the power, and will, and the opportunity to be a hero. The first part of his life was consecrated to war, the latter part to wisdom. He would, in any age, have been a reformer. After a futile effort to secure for himself the crown of Castile, he devoted himself to strengthen the hoards of his royal nephew Richard II. His name here "stands with that of Wickliffe as a pioneer of Christian faith, as a champion of free conscience, as a benefactor to all the future." The second chapter contains the history of his son, afterward Henry IV. It is full of incident, and gives much secret history of the causes of the revolt of Bolingbroke. The advice of his uncle: "the straightest road is always the best and surest," is worth pondering. It led him to the conquest of the English throne. A Parliament was elected which required Richard to abdicate, and made Henry king. It was a novelty in the age of feudalism and primogeniture; the people had a ruler of their own choice. It is not remarkable that in his reign, which was an able and wise one, the House of Commons secured the right of freedom of debate, the right to vote money, the right to legislate, and the right to appropriate funds. Henry V. was at once the King of France and England, and bequeathed both kingdoms to his infant son. His constitution was scrolulous, and great pains were taken in his boyhood to strengthen it by field-sports. from which arose the merry fictions of his early levity. He was almost feminine in his appearance, silent and thoughtful, and expressed his ideas with clearness and b evity. During the last years of the life of his father, prematurely old with the cares of governing, he exercised much of the regal authority. A little while there bad been an ill understanding between the two, but it was reconciled. The 'ate of the Second Edward and the Second Richard had warned him against ter errors. He was always popular. Paying the last rites to his deceased father, he also rendered the same honors to the murdered Richard II. He next lighted the fires of religious persecution, one of the most conspicuous examples of his zeal being the heyday companion of his earlier manhood, Sir John Oldcastle, wl on Shakspeare afterward transferred into the obese Falstaff. He was hanged by a chain round his waist, and burned to ashes by fire kindled beneath. Henry also devoted himself to restraining the influence of the papal court in English politics. He next began the conquest of France. The history of that campaign is familiar to all the students of history. In this volume it reads like romance. Though his army was devastated by pestilence, from Harfleur to Agincourt it won victories. Only four thousand men survived to accompany their monarch to England. A subsequent campaign was terminated by his marriage, a love affair, to Katharine, the daughter of Charles VI. The diplomacy, the secresy, and the way in which this was consummated surpass the delineations of a novel. On the morning after the nuptials he resumed the corselet, for France had been half reconquered. This was the queen whose subsequent marriage with Owain Tudor was the foundation of a new royal family. At her instance James I., of Scotland, was delivered from captivity, and married to Johanna Beaufort, the niece of the English king. Again, the exigencies of war summoned the chivalric Henry to France, and he left England for the last time, charging his queen not to give birth to her child in Windsor Castle. An astrologer had told him that the prince born there would lose the heritage of the House of Lancaster. Katharine disobeyed him ; and the hopeless Henry VI. first saw light in that fatal place. She then joined her husband, now suffering from wasted disease. In August, 1422, he died at Vincennes, in the flower of his years. No king had been more popular, or fastened absolutism more firmly upon the people. This work of Mr. Towle will be a favorite among students of history. It may accidently glaze over the despotic acts of the sovereigns of whom it treats; but the general effect for variety and the attractive style will be to almost every reader abundant compensation. Letters of Life. By Mrs. L. H. Sigourney. New York: D APPLETON & Co., 1866. Mrs. Sigourney is a familiar name in American households, and her productions have but recently ceased to fill the " Poet's Corner" in newspapers. It must. however, be acknowledged, from a hasty examination of these "Letters of Life," that her gift as a correspondent fully equalled her poetic inspiration. In this volume we have almost her biography, sketched out by herself, and about it nothing ary or tedious. She possessed great power of writing extemporaneously upon passing subjects at call; and as is usual when a woman steps somewhat from the accustomed circle, she was often beset for an immense number of literary contributions, such as poems for albums, letters giving informa tion of the best boarding schools, marriage odes, reading manuscripts to see whether they should be published, obtaining teachers, writing epitaphs and puffs for an author to make his reputation by, preparing a list of female poets, punctuating manuscript, drafting a constitution for a literary society, acting as umpire to a baby show, correcting poetry, versifying a love story, etc. "If there is any kitchen in Paruassus," she declares, “my muse has surely officiated there as a woman of all work, and an aproned waiter." Her literary course had its origin in impulse, but finally became a form of subsistence. Yet she received little pecuniary advantage from it in New England. Her benefactors were principally from New York and Pennsylvania. Letters of appreciation, however, came from others, as from the King of Prussia, the Empress of Russia, and the late Queen of France. We have glanced over the collection with interest. Each chapter is beautiful and attractive from the first-" Home and its Inhabitants"-till the last," Good Bye." Her description of her Garden equals that of Gail Hamilton, besides Laving a better moral. In short, she verided her own testimony: "I never wrote for fame The pay.nent seemed not to be with the toil; NOTE TO ARTICLE HOW TO RESUME SPECIE PAYMENTS," Since this article was sent to the press, my attention has been directed to a small volume entitled "A Critical Examination of Our Financial Policy,' by Simon Newcomb, in which some of the questions that I have adverted to are very clearly and forcibly presented. Professor John E. Cairnes in a paper read before the Dublin Statististical Society, "On the Best Means of Raising the Supplies for a War Expenditure," has also treate 1 that subject with his usual ability. R. G. HAZARD. ART. CONTENTS OF APRIL NUMBER. PAGE. ART. PAGE. 1. How to Resume Specie Payments..... 250 11. Arrivals of Shipping at New York in 2. Missouri and its Minerals 263 1865.. 304 3. Production and Consumption of Coal.. 267 | 12. Commercial Chronicle and Review 305 4. Fire Insurance. 269 13. Journal of Banking, Currency, and Fi 5. Analyses of Railroad Reports-No. 7 6. Finances of Tennessee.. 7. Railroad Debt of Missouri. 8. Taxation on National Banks-Decision in the U. S. Supreme Court 9. Trade of Great Britain with the United States for 1865 10. Fenianism and British Confederation. 272 289 14. The United States Debt. nance. 313 316 THE MERCHANTS' MAGAZINE AND COMMERCIAL REVIEW. MAY, 186 6. END OF THE INSURRECTION-SOME OF ITS TENDENCIES. THE official announcement that the process of national pacification is now completed, the condition of insurrection ended, and the late insurgent section restored to the exercise of its normal state functions, is cause for congratulation. An insurrection, and especially an unsuccessful one, is always fraught with danger to the liberties of the people; nor is the case otherwise when the outbreak happens under the government of a Republic. Extraordinary emergencies call forth large assumptions of authority; extra constitutional powers are necessarily exercised; civil law is superseded by military authority; the rights of the citizen are summarily dealt with, and every interest is held subordinate to the creation of an overwhelming military power. In short, whenever a country engages in a war, and especially in civil war, it necessarily, to a large extent, surrenders itself to a condition in which law and liberty are subordinated to force. Thus it has been in our own case. The Administration and Congress have been driven to the adoption of measures inconsistent in toto with the spirit of republican institutions, and justifiable upon no other ground than that they were designed to save from destruction a grand embodiment of those institutions. Many of the jealous conservators of liberty have been alarmed at the sweeping assumption of power and in their zeal for freedom have at times appeared to be opposed to some of the measures of the Administration. If, however, they have shown less earnestness than we desired in behalf of what were deemed necessary acts, we should not forget that they have at least done good service in checking the liability to tamper with the public liberties, and have demonstrated to the world that amid the demoralizing influences of an internecine struggle we can trust to a portion of the people to keep vigilant watch upon the bulwarks of constitutional freedom. |