ing something. Always the same thing | over whom, as he lay, the feeling came that What place is over there?" He rose up, he was in bed in a castle, on the sea-shore; looking eagerly at the horizon. She told him that the wind was coming from the sea every that there was another country opposite, now and then in chill eerie soughs; and that but he said he didn't mean that; he meant farther away-farther away! . . . And very often afterwards, in the midst of their talk, he would break off, to try to understand what it was that the waves were always saying; and would rise up in his couch to look towards that invisible region far away.* And when the gentle child is dying,-sister's and brother's arms wound around each other, while the golden light comes streaming in, and falls upon them, locked together, he says: "How fast the river runs, between its green banks and the rushes, Floy! But it's very near the sea. I hear the waves! They always said so!" And presently he tells her that the motion of the (imaginary) boat upon the stream is lulling him to rest. Years after the little boy is at rest, forever, Florence finds herself, with a tender melancholy pleasure, again on the old ground so sadly trodden, yet so happily, and thinks of him in the quiet place, where he and she had many and many a time conversed together, "with the water welling up about his couch. And now as she sits pensive there, she hears in the wild low murmur of the sea, his little story told again, his very words repeated, and finds that all her life and hopes and griefs, since, have a portion in the burden of the marvellous song." "Of And once again, in after days, she stands on deck by moonlight,-and her husband holds her to his heart, and they are very quiet, and the stately ship goes on serenely. "As I hear the sea," said Florence," and sit watching it, it brings, so many days into my mind. It makes me think so much"Of Paul, my love. I know it does." Paul and Walter." And the voices in the waves are always whispering to Florence, in their ceaseless murmuring, of love,—of love, eternal and illimitable, not bounded by the confines of the world, or by the end of time, but ranging still beyond the sea, beyond the sky, to the invisible country far away! † The author of "The Portent" known to be Mr. G. Macdonald-describes the midnight sensations of his enamored tutor *Dombey and Son, ch. viii. - since † Cf. Dombey and Son, pp. 79, 108, 144, 160, 409, 576. the waves were falling with a kind of threatful tone upon the beach, murmuring many maledictions, and whispering many keen and cruel portents, as they drew back, hissing and gurgling, through the million narrow ways of the pebbly ramparts."* A contemporary French poet, or playwright which you will, makes his very French Leandre remind Hero, that in their dainty dalliance under difficulties, they had nothing else to echo their tendres sanglots. "Que les chuchotements de la mer aux grands flots. Ils chantaient sur le bord, melant leurs rumeurs folles Aux doux mots, aux baisers plus doux que les paroles." + tranquil chuchotements de la mér :— Mrs. Browning has a pretty conceit about these "One dove is answering in trust The water every minute, Have her mate's cooing in it; In another poem she pictures a "cliff disrupt," disclosing the line where earth and ocean meet, "the solemn confluence of the two : " "You can hear them as they greet; And when you hearken to the grave You must believe in earth's communion, Considering the family tragedy which overtook her, and in which the sea played so cruel a part,-devouring her brothers before her eyes, this poetess must have had a profound and shrinking awe, an almost superstitious terror, of the varied voices as well as guileful aspects of the deep. On the strength, and in the bitterness, of that baleful experience, might she have penned such a couplet as that of Owen Meredith's, *The Portent part iii., The Omen Fulfilled. † Hero et Leandre, drame, par M. Louis Ratisbonne. E. Barrett Browning, An Island. & The Soul's Travelling. "And the blear-eyed filmy sea did boom With his old mysterious hungering sound." * All sailors, it is notorious, as Mr. de Quincey remarks, are superstitious; partly, he supposes from looking out so much upon the wilderness of waves, empty of all human life,-for mighty solitudes are generally fear-haunted and fear-peopled. "Now the sea is often peopled, amidst its ravings, with what seem innumerable human voices-such voices, or as ominous, as what were heard by Kubla Khan' ancestral voices prophesying war;' oftentimes laughter mixes, from a distance (seeming to come also from distant times, as well as distant places), with the uproar of waters." Hood's Hero says to her Leander,— "Or bid me speak, and I will tell thee tales Which I have framed out of the noise of waves." One other bit of marine word-painting, or word music, or both in one, we must give from Owen Meredith : "Now, lay thine ear against this golden sand, And thou shalt hear the music of the sea, Those hollow tunes it plays against the land,— Is't not a rich and wonderous melody? I have lain hours, and fancied in its tone I heard the languages of ages gone." * But how part with Thomas Hood, upon any subject, without a snatch of the grotesque? Be our last excerpt from him, then, that stanza which tells how his jolly mariner, the tallest man of the three, who stood away from land trusting to a charm, now “And when the dull sky darkened down to the and sickly,-how wind it up without a dip edges, And the keen frost kindled in star and spar, The sea might be known by a noise on the ledges Of the long crags, gathering power from afar shell Of the night."‡ For relief by contrast, glance at a fragment by the author of " Violenzia,”—in which we see him stand on the reedy margin of a waste and shallow shore, listening to "far Ocean's low continuous roar over the flats and sand." "The wide, gray sky hangs low above the verge No white-winged sea-bird flies; No sound, save the eternal-sounding surge, With equal fall and rise." § From Thomas Hood the elder we might cite passages to the point more than we may. As where he describes a certain mystic and "hollow," hollow, hollow sound, as is that dreamy roar when distant billows boil and bound along a shingly shore." Or where his Hero (italicised as a distinction with a difference from Mons. Rattisbonne's, in the chuchotements de la mer drame, previously quoted) thus importunes her dead Leander : into Tennyson, already, but quite cursorily, used for the nonce? Roam through the pic ture-galleries of his Palace of Art, and one mystic picture in chiaro'scuro you will notice of, in strange lands, a traveller walking slow, in doubt and great perplexity, who, shortly before moonrise, hears the low moan of an unknown sea; and knows not if it be thunder, or a sound of rocks thrown down, or one deep cry of great wild beasts. Around his Ulysses the deep moans "with many voices." His mad-lover in "Maud " is seen "Listening now to the tide in its broad-flung ship-wrecking roar, Now to the scream of a madden'd beach dragg'd down by the wave." § Elsewhere, standing by Maud's garden-gate, he hears no sound but "the voice of the long sea-wave as it swell'd Now and then in the dim-gray dawn." || Or-again he asks, “Is that enchanted moan only the swell Of the long waves that roll in yonder bay?" But turn rather to the "pleasant shore, and in the hearing of the wave," where they laid him of whom the poet in memoriam,-when the Danube to the Severn gave the darkened heart that beat no more : *Hero and Leander, st. 68. + The Sea-Spell. The Palace of Art. § Maud, III. Ibid, XIV. 4. Ibid., XVIII. 8. "There twice a day the Severn fills; The salt sea-water passes by, And in the same pathetic strains it is that we hear "the moanings of the homeless sea." In Mr. Alexander Smith the stars in their courses seem to fight against the sea for redundancy in store of similitudes. Star-studded and bespangled, regardless of expense, was his earliest poem; nor is it quite certain that the Sea is distanced in the competition. When autumn nights are dark and moonless, to the level sands his hero betakes him," there to hear, o'erawed,- "The old Sea moaning like a monster pained, The lady had a cousin once, whom she describes as having been "unlanguaged." "like the earnest sea, Which strives to gain an utterance on the shore, The crime for which 'tis lashed by cruel winds, * In Memorian, XIX. † Ibid., XXXV. but what he will, is better left unquoted. In another poem of Mr. Smith's, a youth steps forth, bright-haired as a star, who recites the various places and objects in which he nights, has heard it in the white and wailing has seen beauty,-"and oft on moonless fringe that runs along the coast from end to end." And in the first of his Sonnets the same poet has it, though more as man than poet, "The Sea complains upon a thousand shores : Sea-like we moan forever." * A Life-Drama, by Alex. Smith, pp. 45, 62, 115, † An Evening at Home. 120. THE perforation of the Mount Cenis Tunnel is progressing most vigorously. The new machines, first introduced in 1861, worked, in the month of March of that year, a distance of 9 mètres and 70 centimètres. In April the figures rose to 17 mètres, 50 centimètres. The result of the whole year 1861 was 170 mètres, 54 centimètres, in 209 work-days. In 1862 the engines were so far improved as to be able to be worked for 325 days, during which a progress of 380 mètres was achieved. It thus follows that the whole work, supposed at the outset to take five-and-twenty years, will be accomplished in much less than twelve. With respect to the cost, the mètre does not exceed an outlay of 4,000 lire, which, for the whole gallery-12,220 mètres long-will make about 50,000,000. At the end of last year the gallery had reached the length of 2199 mètres i. e. 1,274 mètres, on the side of Bardonnèdre, and 925 on that of Mondane; but on the latter only the ordinary instruments had hitherto been employed. In an extraordinary general meeting of the Institute of France, held last week, M. Oppert has been declared the successful candidate for the great prize of the emperor, awarded to M. Thiers two years ago. His unsuccessful rival was M. Mariette. BULWER LYTTON's "Strange Story," in French, forms the 580th to the 585th volumes of the Bibliothèque Choisie," published at Naumburg. THE Prize Essay (Latin verse) for the Paris Lyceums will, we understand, have for its subject Poland in the year 1863."' THE director of Imperial Printing-office, Paris, has, through the intermission of the Minister of THE ninth volume of the "Monuments de l'His- Foreign Affairs, been ordered to prepare a special toire de France: a Catalogue of Sculptures, Paint-printing-office for the use of the Abyssinian Misings, and Engravings, referring to the History of sionaries; and the casting of new type for the France and Frenchmen, from 1559-1589," has new establishment-to be taken from the Impejust left the press. rial types-is vigorously proceeded with. From the Saturday Review, 1 Aug. on the treatment of prisoners, would indicate a disposition to negotiate; but the temper of THE ignorant and implacable animosity of the North is not at present favorable to any the Northern Americans to England furnishes moderate arrangement. It is possible that no excuse for corresponding injustice, or for General Lee's advance into Pennsylvania may misrepresentation of current history. The have been a final effort to conquer an advanrecent victories have occasioned, as might tageous peace before the impending fall of have been expected, a recrudescence of cal- Vicksburg revived Federal confidence; and umny and malignity; but nevertheless they Mr. Jefferson Davis might, perhaps, now be are great, if not decisive victories. General willing to accept fair conditions, while his Lee has recrossed the Potomac; Vicksburg Virginian army is stili entire and formidable. and Port Hudson have surrendered uncondi- Notwithstanding the triumphs of the Northtionally; Charleston is in danger of cap-ern arms, the maintenance of the war on its ture; and General Rosencranz has advanced present scale depends entirely on the success into the heart of the Southern States. If the of the conscription. Unless 300,000 men can war were commencing, all the advantages be procured to fill up the ranks of the army, which have accrued to the Federal armies the South may once more find it possible to might probably be reversed; but the signifi- continue the contest with equal numbers. It cance of the recent successes consists in the is difficult to judge of the effect of the New proof that the Confederates are comparatively York riots, which may either render the conweak in numbers. Their wonderful energy scription impracticable or rally the enemies and unanimous devotion to the national cause of mob-rule and disorder to its support. The had almost taught bystanders to forget that outbreak was attended with all the melanfour millions were engaged in a desperate choly circumstances which everywhere decontest with twenty millions. The inability note the ill-omened supremacy of the rabble. of Johnstone to relieve Vicksburg showed that his department was almost denuded of troops; and the Confederates have since lost, at Gettysburg, at Vicksburg, and at Port Hudson, forty or fifty thousand trained soldiers. The continuance of the war has taught the Northern armies to fight, and a gradual process of elimination has brought forward more than one competent general. The rapid advance to Vicksburg, and the obstinate prosecution of the siege, prove Grant to be an able soldier. General Rosencranz seems to deserve the confidence of his troops; and General Meade is the first Federal general who has encountered Lee on equal terms without incurring disaster. If the occupa tion of the strongholds on the Mississippi cuts off the communication of the Confederacy with Texas and Arkansas, the proportions of the war will henceforth be largely curtailed. The possible capture of Charleston would relieve the blockading squadrons of a troublesome duty, and it would at the same time close to the Confederates one of their principal channels of supply. It remains to be seen whether Southern resolution will yield to accumulated misfortunes so far as to accept any terms of peace which involve a return to the Union. The proposed mission of Mr. Stephens, if it had any object beyond a negotiation The mere opponents of the conscription found themselves reinforced by the malcontents who object to the institution of property, and by the theives who only make it their business partially to correct its unequal distribution. The draft raised a dangerous question of socialist policy, by providing for the personal exemption of those who could pay three hundred dollars for a substitute. It was easy for demagogues to persuade the lowest classes that the law had provided a special privilege for those who, according to the American doctrine, are not to be called their betters. One of the rioters wrote to a newspaper to complain that the poor rabble were oppressed by the rich rabble, and it was useless to explain that the right of purchasing a substitute is strictly analogous to the right of purchasing any other commodity which its owner is willing to exchange for money. It would be grossly unjust to fix the price of exemption below the sum for which the services of a competent volunteer can be secured; but if, on the other hand, a fit substitute is willing to take the place of a wealthy tradesman, the community would gain nothing by prohibiting the bargain. Unfortunately, the mob of New York is familiar with revolutionary theories, which are everywhere directed against property when there is no po litical inequality to attack. The Democrats, more characteristic than the arguments which. though they assume the title of Conservatives, he addressed to an abnormal condition of unhave always allied themselves with the rabble of the city; and consequently they have found it convenient to flatter the vulgar prejudices against social distinctions. derstanding and of feeling. As his audience had been engaged in murdering unoffending negroes and in resisting the execution of Federal laws, the archbishop entertained them Governor Seymour, who seems to hold that with a disquisition on the iniquities of Engthe conscription is illegal, endeavored in vain land, while he carefully abstained from the to persuade the populace into provisional ac- unpopular topic of any immunities from quiescence in the measure. He was perhaps slaughter which might be claimed for the justified by necessity in obtaining authority colored population by enthusiastic advocates. from Washington to suspend the draft; but If the archbishop had been a Republican it is not surprising that his enemies should Abolitionist instead of a Democrat, he could suspect him of complicity with a movement not have appealed more confidently to the which was probably organized by some of the hatred of England which is the common propsubordinate agents of his party. The rioters erty of all American or semi-American demplaced their own interpretation on the legal agogues. There can be no doubt that, in scruples of the Government, and it was suffi- common with all but the lowest class of the cient for their purpose to procure the admis- community, he desired to put a stop to the sion that the conscription was possibly irreg- disturbances, and perhaps he took the readiular. Their own objection was not founded est course to obtain a favorable hearing. The on any interpretation of the Federal Consti- commotion was, however, too serious to be tution, but on the supposed injustice and in-ended by persuasion, and happily, in the equality of the permission to pay for sub- long run, military force is almost always stitutes; and having compelled the local Government to submit to their dictation, they will be more than ever determined to enforce the supremacy which General Butler and politicians of his stamp are accustomed to claim for the poor over the rich. It remains to be seen whether painful experience of mob-rule will induce the respectable classes to combine for the vindication of order. Beyond the limits of the great cities, genuine Americans are reasonably proud of the national reverence for law. available in defence of property. The security of New York from plunder and anarchy will probably be increased by the forcible suppression of the riots, but it is still uncertain whether the conscription can be continued. From the Economist, 1 Aug. AMERICA. THE late news from America has been of a very mixed character, with respect both to The mob behaved, as mobs behave in all what we expect to be the result of the Amerparts of the world, with the wisdom and con- ican civil war, and what we wish to be the duct of wild beasts escaped from their cages. result of it. The end which has ever been They burned offices, they plundered stores, wished for by us has been one singularly difthey hung an obnoxious colonel to a lamp- ferent from that desired by the zealots for the post, and they took especial delight in hunt- Federals, or the zealots for the Confederates. ing down unoffending negroes who had the We could produce rather strong invectives misfortune of showing themselves in the from our contemporaries who entirely sympastreets. The colored race is guilty of having thize with the Federals, charging us with been used by politicians as a pretext for the Confederate predilections, and equally strong war; and it is more directly obnoxious to invectives from our contemporaries on the the working classes, because its competition posite side charging us with Federal sympain the humbler forms of employment some- thies. What we have always wished is times tends to reduce the rate of wages. First. That the South should be indepenArchbishop Hughes, who ought to be ac- dent. We desire that the unwilling people quainted with his countrymen and co-re- of the South should not be forced into a unligionists, assumed probably on sufficient ion with the North which they dislike and grounds, that the Irish had taken a promi- hate. We know that a restoration of real nent part in the riots. Nothing could be union, of voluntary union by arms is impos op |