GRAND, SQUARE, AND UPRIGHT Piano-Fortes Are now acknowledged the best instruments in America, as well as in Europe, having taken THIRTY-TWO FIRST PREMIUMS, GOLD AND SILVER MEDALS, at the principal fairs held in this country within the last ten years, and, in addition thereto, they were awarded a First Prize Medal at the Great International Exhibition in London, 1862, for POWERFUL, CLEAR, BRILLIANT, AND SYMPATHETIC TONE, with excellence of workmanship, as shown in grand and square pianos. There were 269 Pianos, from all parts of the world, entered for competition, and the speci correspondent of the Times says: "Messrs. STEINWAY'S indorsement by the jurors is emphatic, and stronger and more to the point than that of any European maker. "This greatest triumph of American Piano-fortes in England has caused a sensation in musical circles throughout the continent, and, as a result, the Messrs. STEINWAY are in constant receipt of orders from Europe, thus inaugurating a new phase in the history of American Pianofortes, by creating in them an article of export " EVERY STEINWAY PIANO-FORTE IS WARRANTED FOR FIVE YEARS. Among the many and most valuable important improvements introduced by Messrs. STEIN WAY & SON, in their Piano-fortes, the special attention of purchasers is directed to their PATENT AGRAFFE ARRANGEMENT. For which letters patent were granted them November 29, 1859. The value and importance of this invention having been practically tested, during a period of nearly six years, by STEINWAY & SONS, in all their Grands and highest-priced Square Pianofortes, and admitted to be the greatest improvement of modern times, they now announce that they have determined to introduce their "Patent Agraffe Arrangement" in every Piano-forte manufactured by them, without increase of its cost, in order that all their patrons may reap the full advantage of this great improvement. TESTIMONIAL OF THE MOST DISTINGUISHED ARTISTS TO STEINWAY & SONS. NEW YORK, December, 1864. The Piano-fortes, Grand, Square, and Upright, manufactured by Messrs. STEINWAY & SONS have established for themselves so world-wide a reputation that it is hardly possible for us to add anything to their just fame. Having thoroughly tested and tried these instruments personally for years, both in public and private, it becomes our pleasant duty to express our candid opinion regarding their unquestioned superiority over any other Piano known to us. Among the chief points of their uniform excellence are: Greatest possible depth, richness and volume of tone, combined with a rare brilliancy, clearness and perfect evenness throughout the entire scale, and, above all, a surprising duration of sound, the pure and sympathetic quality of which never changes under the most delicate or powerful touch. This peculiarity is found exclusively in the STEINWAY Piano, and together with the matchless precision, elasticity, and promptness of action always characterizing these instruments, as well as their unequalled durability under the severest trials, is truly surprising, and claims at once the admiration of every artist. We therefore consider the STEINWAY Pianos in all respects the best instruments made in this country or in Europe, use them solely and exclusively ourselves in public or private, and recommend them invariably to our friends and the public. We have at different times expressed our opinion regarding the Pianos of various makers, but freely and unhesitatingly pronounce Messrs. STEINWAY & SONS' Pianos superior to them all. S. B. MILLS, ROBERT GOLDBECK, WM. MASON, CARL ANSCHUTZ, B. WOLLENHAUPT, F. VON BREUNING, STEINWAY & SONS, WAREROOMS, Nos. 71 & 73 EAST FOURTEENTH STREET, Between Union square and Irving place, New York. CONTENTS OF NO. XXVI. I. THE JULIUS CÆSAR OF NAPOLEON III.. 205 1. History of Arabia, Ancient and Modern. By ANDREW CRICHTON. 2. Chrestomathie Arabe, ou Etraits de divers Ecrivains Arabes, tant en prose que' en vers; avec une Traduction et des Notes, à l'usage des élèves de Ecole Royale et Spéciale des Langues Orientales Vivantes. Nouvelle édition. Par M. le Baron SYLVESTRE DE SACY. 3. The Moallakát, or Seven Arabian Poems, which were suspended from the temple of Mecca; with Translation and Arguments. By SIR WILLIAM 4. Etudes Géographiques et Historiques sur l'Arabie. Par M. JOMARD. 5. Contes Arabes du CHEIKH AL MOHDY. Traduites par J. J. MARCEL. 7. Institutiones Arabico Linguæ. 8. Gramática Arábigo-Espanola, Vulgar y Literal. 1. Memoirs of the Life, Writings, and Discoveries of Sir Isaac Newton. By 2. Philosophic Naturalis Principin Mathematica. Auctore ISAACO NEW- TONO, Eq. Aur. Perpeluis Commentariis Illustrata, Communi Studio PP. THOME LE SEUR ET FRANCISCI JACQUIER, ex Gallicana Mini- morum Familia, Math. Proff. Editio Nova, summa cura recen- 3. Commercium Epistolicum, J. COLLINS et aliorum, &c. Edit. par MM. 1. Speeches at the Bar and in the Senate. By the Right Hon. WILLIAM CONYNGHAM, Lord Plunket, Lord High Chancellor of Ireland. Edited, with a Memoir and Historical Notices, by JOHN CASHEL 2. Sketches, Legal and Political. By the late Right Hon. RICHARD LALOR SHIEL. Edited, with plates, by M. W. SAVAGE. 3. Sketches of the Irish Bar. By the late Right Hon. RICHARD LALOR ART. VII. SAMPLE OF MODERN PHILOSOPHY.. 1. The Living Forces of the Universe. The Temple and the Worshippers. Know Thyself. By GEORGE W. THOMPSON. VIII. THE NATIONAL CONVENTION AND ITS WORK. 1. Address of the National Convention to the People of the United States. THE NATIONAL QUARTERLY REVIEW. No. XXVI. SEPTEMBER, 1866. ART. I.-Histoire de Jules César. Par S. M. I. NAPOLEON III. Premier et deuxieme tomes. Paris: Henry Plon, 1865-6. THERE are at least a hundred Frenchmen who could have given us a better history of Cæsar than this; yet it is by no means destitute of merit. It is neither a crude nor a shallow performance, but one that would have had many readers altogether independently of the prestige of its author. This, indeed, is the reason why we take up the book, not because it has been written by an emperor; and we will give our impressions. of it in the same spirit. If courtiers are expected to praise whatever their sovereign does, that is no reason why those who owe him no allegiance, or over whom he can exercise. no control, should pursue the same course; it would be still more absurd, however, to be harsh or hypercritical towards him, merely because he is a sovereign whose power cannot reach us. In our opinion, if the position of the author should have any influence on the estimate given of his work, it ought to be in his favor so far as to give him credit for what he most probably would have done had his opportunities been equal to those of others. No intelligent person who reflects for a moment will say that the chief of a nation like France has much time for literary labor; it will rather be admitted by all that it is only by the exercise of great self-denial he can devote any time to it. Yet there is nothing flippant in the volumes before us; we only wish that one-tenth of our professional writers, who make it their mission to instruct the public, would exhibit one-tenth the research of Napoleon III., for there is no writer of any authority on Cæsar, ancient or modern, whom he does not quote in a manner that can leave no doubt of his having studied him to a greater or less extent. 1 VOL. XIII.-NO. XXVI. The amount of knowledge, both historical and biographical, which he has thus embodied would have rendered his work valuable had every statement he has made about Cæsar been erroneous; and we would have recommended its perusal accordingly, feeling that, if the reader failed to find a true portrait of the illustrious Roman, he would find many other good things, which, if they are not new in themselves are in new combinations, and afford us that sort of pleasure which we derive from revived recollections of old and familiar friends. It is but justice to Napoleon III. to award him this credit, and that it should be awarded him is the interest of humanity; for certain it is that, if they are not the best sovereigns who occupy their leisure hours in discussing the great problems of the past, and showing how human progress has been promoted, or retarded, it must at least be admitted that they are not the worst. Had they been bad men before they commenced such a task, its obvious tendency would have been to reform them; since it would have impressed them with the uncertainty of all human power, especially of that which is obtained by violent or unjust means. The lessons taught by the history of Cæsar alone, to all who study them, are capable of subduing the heart of the proudest tyrant. In order to realize this it is sufficient to remember that on the day Cæsar was slain he was the most powerful sovereign in the world; nor had any warrior a nobler prestige than the conqueror of the Gauls. Hundreds of thousands of the bravest and best-disciplined troops loved him as a father, and were not only ready but anxious to obey any order he chose to give them. Still he was but a man; and as a man he fell by the hand of the assassin, after having won so many glorious battles and rendered his name a synonym throughout the earth with irresistible power. We need assign no further reasons for entertaining the opinion that those in power ought to be encouraged to devote themselves to history rather than attacked as if it were a crime for them not to equal or even excel professional historians. The editor mentions, in a note at the beginning of the second volume, "the names of sovereigns and princes who have occupied themselves with the same subject." Those given are Charles VIII. of France, the Emperor Charles V., Sultan Soliman II., Henry IV. of France, Louis XIV., the great Condé, Queen Christiana of Sweden, Louis Philippe, Joseph of Orleans, and Napoleon. Many more great names |