that his general estimate of the characters of the great drama, bears no marks of the contemptuous undervaluing which is, in the indidividual instances, exhibited. Epithets of respect and admiration are employed, when he speaks generally of the men by whom the Revolution was effected. The result is, a feeling of incongruity. It is like hearing a verdict of not guilty, after listening to an uninterrupted evidence of guilt.

Running, then, through the catalogue of the names of the leaders on this occasion, we feel within ourselves no peculiar desire to extenuate their misdeeds, no wish to believe them in the right; and we frankly own, that we find it difficult to make ourselves believe that it was wise to maintain and enforce, immediately after the Revolution of 1688, acts which, in 1829, it was wise to repeal. We cannot assent to the doctrine that both proceedings were equally wise and necessary. We do not find any difficulty in ascertaining why these acts were maintained after 1688. Fear and hate on the part of the Protestant party induced the leaders to uphold the exclusion of the Roman Catholics; fear and hate induced the leaders of the Church to maintain the exclusion of the Non-conformists. In no country had the experiment of perfect toleration been tried; and no sect, whether Protestant or Catholic, was prepared when in power, to make the members of all religions equal before the law. All sects, while under persecution, held a language different from that which they employed when in the ascendant; but none pretended practically to apply their liberal maxims when they were able to persecute. The fact is, that in this respect the opinions of statesmen have greatly changed. The experiment of toleration has been tried, and the precautions which were, in the seventeenth century, deemed indispensable, have been, in the nineteenth, set aside as unnecessary and mischievous. But while statesmen have been thus convinced, the people in our country, at least, still in a great degree retain the feelings of their ancestors. Had England, in 1829, been polled, the vote, we sincerely believe, would have been against Catholic Emancipation. If the Catholics of Ireland could at this moment do as they desire, Protestants would be excluded from power, and not improbably be subjected to persecution. In England, at the present time, the No-popery feeling is strong, and not insignificantly manifested by the language held, the questions asked, and the cries raised at the late elections. The great distinction between our own times and those of the Revolution of 1688, is, that the leaders and the people do not sympathize in their opinions. Statesmen have

now an exoteric and esoteric doctrine, and their conduct results from a compromise between the two. The more unscrupulous a politician is, the more easy is it for him to shape his course and please his party. If he thinks for himself, and will not stoop to falsehood, his power as a politician will be small; he may be esteemed, but he will not govern.

The merely political considerations of this work, however, form but a part of its attractions. At the outset, Mr. Macaulay gives a description of what he deems the duties of a historian. He says,―

"I should very imperfectly execute the task which I have undertaken, if I were merely to treat of battles and sieges, of the rise and fall of administrations, of intrigues in the palace, and of debates in the parliament. It will be my endeavor to relate the history of the people as well as the history of the Government; to trace the progress of useful and ornamental arts, to describe the rise of religious sects and the changes of literary taste, to portray the manners of successive generations, and not to pass by with neglect even the revolutions which have taken place in dress, furniture, repasts, and public amusements. I shall cheerfully bear the reproach of having descended below the dignity of history, if I can succeed in placing before the English of the nineteenth century a true picture of the lives of their ancestors."-Vol. i. p. 3.

The extensive and multifarious reading of Mr. Macaulay, his marvellous memory, his sensitive nature and disquisitive spirit, have enabled him to perform this part of his task with singular skill and effect. He has made himself so completely familiar with every part of the literature belonging to the times of which he speaks, that he describes like an eyewitness, and judges like a contemporary. In the margin of the page there is no ostentation of reference, no pretensive display of reading. But yet every page proves by its own intrinsie evidence that the author is perfeetly at home in his subject; that he has not, as is now too often the practice, crammed for the purpose in hand, and, with a false show of great research and careful consideration, contented himself with a superficial inquiry, and delivered himself of hasty and almost chance judgments. Mr. Macaulay has really lived again, by means of its literature, through the time of our great Revolution. His opinions are emphatically his own, the result of evidence attained by his own industry, and thus, whether correct or erroneous, deserve all the respect which is due, and so justly due, to an honest and independ

ent judgment. The work has besides one other, and, in our eyes, no trifling source of interest. In its style and form it may be received as the best illustration which its author can give of his own conception of the mode in which history should be written. With the historians of every country, of every age, Mr. Macaulay is familiar; composition, in many branches, more especially history, has been to him a subject of constant and profound meditation. A scholar to whom the great historians of Greece and Rome, of Italy, France, and Germany, are as familiar as those of his own country, he comes before us rather as their rival in the art of composition, than as the mere chronicler of events which he desires to leave on record. In the way of evidence, he adds nothing to our former acquired knowledge; still, from the manner in which the various facts are combined, the mode in which they are illustrated and commented on, a new picture is produced; a more vivid, as well as more accurate conception of the events themselves, is acquired by the reader, simply because the artist is skilful, not because he is a witness. Viewed in this light as a contribution to our literature, the work is worthy of a far more elaborate consideration than we can now bestow on it. Our first decision is entirely in its favor. But of such a book, regarded as a work of art, no off-hand judgment is of much value. The only sure test is the decies repetita; and the extraordinary fascination which has been the effect of a single perusal, makes us more than commonly doubtful of our present capacity for the forming of a correct. decision. The rapid style swept us onward with the force of a torrent: from the commencement to the end of two stout volumes there was no halt.

As we turned the last page we were surprised and grieved to find ourselves at the journey's end. Borne onward by the rushing stream of narrative, we gave ourselves up to the pleasure of indulging in unhesitating admiration of the many brilliant scenes past which we were hurried. Picture after picture came and went in quick succession, all brilliant, all attractive. From the beginning to the end there was no repose and we begin to suspect that when we are able, in a calmer mood, to view the whole picture together, the constant and dazzling light will appear excessive; and we shall need, what a more perfect art would have supplied, intervals of rest,-rest which a more sedate and quiet narrative, would, from time to time, have afforded. The illustration here taken from the sister art of painting we believe accurate, and, for the moment, useful, because it gives our criticism a sort of palpable existence,

and will enable others at once to decide whether their feelings have been the same as our

own.

The epigrammatic style employed throughout the work appears to great advantage, and is, indeed, then perfectly appropriate, when individuals are to be described, and their habits of thought and feeling, their moral and mental character, have to be brought vividly before the reader. In his delineation of the numerous actors in this vast drama, Mr. Macaulay shines with a steady, clear, and almost unequalled lustre. His spirit is, however, well under control, and he is never unjust for the sake of his epigram.-Fraser's Magazine.

Sir Thomas Mitchell has made successful experiments on a method of propelling through water by the screw,-which avoids the lateral resistance offered to all existing applications of the instrument; and left behind him instructions for a patent-which is now complete. Sir Thomas expects great things from this construction-no less, we understand, than a performance of 500 miles a day for large steamers. The results are incalculable if this prove so.

The sea will be no more an obstacle than the dry land. The wave will almost beat the rail. Thirty days out to Sydney, for instance, will bring that most remote of our colonies, comparatively speaking, nearly home. We shall soon hear more of Sir Thomas Mitchell's instrument if it can "put a girdle round about the earth" at any such rate of conjuring.

INDURATION OF STONE.-In connection with this subject, says the Builder, we have examined specimens of soft sandstone from the Calverley quarries, Tonbridge Wells, after being subjected to the indurating process practised by Mr. Hutchison. The effect, according to the patentee, is not merely to indurate soft stone, but to render all kinds of stone, &c., impervious to atmospheric action, vermin, &c.,-which qualities cannot be too highly estimated for hydraulic paving, building, decorative and monumental work. He professes to transform the Caen, Bath, and other stone, into materials invincible to destructive agents, to equal marble for beauty and durability,and says for water-pipes, reservoirs, cisterns, mangers, troughs, sinks, &c., neither iron nor other material can equal the indurated stone for cheapness and strength. We need scarcely say that time is the great test for such an invention.

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The deputation, consisting of a hundred and sixty members, listened in silence to the Emperor, and retired without uttering another word. "Never," said one of the deputies, did a sovereign bid a more sad farewell to a great nation." The deputies tore from their caps the mingled colors of Austria and Hungary, put in their place a red cockade, and hoisted a flag of the same color on the steamboat which took them back to Pesth. In that city the irritation was extreme. The revolutionary section of the government had not hitherto dared openly to proclaim a separation; they wished to retain the name of the king, that they might, under its sanction, impose upon the nation the decisions which they had arrived at without his concurrence, and frequently against his interests and well known will. This semblence of respect gave authority in the eyes of the people to the proceedings of the diet, and preserved for them the support of the old majority. It was only on this condition that it consented to follow Kossuth, seeking still to deceive itself, and not avowing that it was progressing towards a revolution, day by day more inevitable, against the constitutional king.

The return of the deputies dispelled the fiction, under the shadow of which the proceedings had hitherto been carried on. They had been badly received by the people of Vienna; at Pressburg, where the inhabitants were displeased to have lost the advantages which the sittings of the diet procured for them, gun-shots were fired at the red flag carried by their steamboat. It was now become necessary to tear aside the veil; either to return within the bounds of legality, to renounce the revolutionary measures which necessarily led to a rupture, or to proclaim aloud the separation. Would the old constitutional opposition, belying its principles and the sentiments from which it derived its strength, abjure the the faith which it had sworn, and pronounce for Kossuth and the radical party against the constitutional king? The discussion was loud and stormy. Bathiany and Deak wished the

In consequence of this division in the ministry, the radical party, feeling sure of the devotion of a majority in the assembly, suddenly resolved to place their resignation in the hands of the Palatine. They hoped that he would not dare to accept it, and that their power would be firmly established by this expedient. The Arch-duke Palatine deceived their expectations; he accepted the resignations, and wrote to the assembly that he was prepared to take the management of affairs into his own hands. The radical party did not intend this result; their adherents caused a violent tumult in the chamber, and treated the communication as unconstitutional, because it was not countersigned by all the responsible ministers. The former ministers, with the exception of Bathiany, surrounded Kossuth, and entreated him to withdraw his resignation. A deputation was sent to express to the Palatine the wish of the assembly that the ministry should return to power. The Palatine did not conceal the just displeasure which he felt at the conduct which the assembly had pursued towards him. It was the first decided step which he had taken since the commencement of the crisis; he had remained passive in the midst of the storm which threatened his family and the country, in the hope that, if he did not compromise his popularity, the day would come when he would be able to act the part of mediator between Austria and Hungary, and serve as security to both parties. He had sought, until this day (September 15th), to gain time, and had contented himself with endeavoring to incline the balance in favor of the best, or rather least dangerous counsels; and he had acted only as mediator between Hungary and Croatia, a character which had been assigned to him by an imperial decree, when the Arch-duke John was unable any longer to sustain it. He reproached, therefore, the deputies with some degree of bitterness for the hostility which was evinced towards him, and declared, that if it was their intention to constrain his actions, he would quit Pesth and Hungary. A few days later, after having been to reconnoitre the advanced posts of the Croat army, the young Palatine did, in effect, take his departure. It is said that in the Croat army he met the Arch-duke Frederick, and that the presence of his young cousin permitted him no longer to remain in doubt respecting the wishes

It was not only the reply of the Emperor to the Hungarian deputation which provoked this crisis. At the same moment, (September 11th), the Croat troops, with the Ban at their head, were crossing that river, the Drave, on the banks of which Bathiany had said to Jellachich that they should meet. The army advanced without experiencing any opposition. It halted before the fortress of Esseg, the commander of which displayed the imperial standard, and said that he was there, not for the Hungarian government, but for the Emperor of Austria, and the Croat army passed on. It was preceded by the following proclamation, which was issued by the Ban:

"To the Hungarian Nation;

"In setting my foot in this country, to which I am attached by the most lively sympathy, I take God for witness, that I do not resort to this measure, without having exhausted all the means of conciliation. I do it, compelled by the plots of a faction, of which the Hungarian ministry is only the legal instrument, and which, in the pursuit of its criminal projects, seeks to degrade the royal majesty, and to destroy the sacred alliance which binds Hungary and the united kingdoms to their king and their constitution.

"It is vain to apply the name of revolt or of treason to a step which is prompted only by a pure love of my country, and by fidelity to my king. Do not fear, however, that I wish to retract any of the concessions, any of the privileges which have recently been assured to the Hungarian nation by the royal word. All that has been done legally shall be preserved. It is not an enemy who invades the plains of Hungary; it is a friend who comes to succor the legal subjects of a constitutional king. They will extend to me the fraternal hand, and, with the help of God, we will together free the country from an incapable, odious, and rebellious government.'

It will be seen that, without omitting the national quarrel and the old grievances, the Ban of Croatia no longer speaks as the mere chief of an insurgent province or of an allied kingdom, claiming with armed hand its just rights, but that he utters also, he utters chiefly, the language of the Emperor's lieutenant, recalling nations to the loyalty which they owe to their sovereign. He proclaims liberty for all the different nations, equality

revered authority of the Emperor, the father, as he elsewhere calls him, of his country.

The approach of the Croat army had only increased the ardor of the revolutionary party at Pesth, and destroyed the last chance of the moderates. Count Bathiany, the president of the previous ministry, was then seeking to form a new one, from which Kossuth and the minister of the interior, Szémeré should be excluded. They were to be replaced by members of the old liberal opposition, now considered conservatives. Deak was to continue minister of justice, the brilliant poet and orator Eotoös, of public worship, and Count Alexander Erdödy was to represent the chamber of magnates, and give confidence to the friends of order. This ministry was on the point of being organized, when it was broken up by the reaction caused by the advance of Jellachich and a new refusal which the diet experienced at Vienna. This latter was even more serious than the previous one had been, for it came from the Austrian national assembly. The fact is important, and must be explained. On the 17th of September the diet had decreed that a deputation of twenty-five members should proceed to Vienna, and place itself in direct communication with the national assembly. They were to denounce the treason of the central government, and to demand assistance from the representatives of the em pire against the Croats. In this deputation were included all those who in former times had figured as political conspirators, and it was headed by Vessélény, the old agitator of Hungary, now blind, feeble, and bowed down by age. The assembly of Vienna deliberated, however, not what reply should be given to the deputation, but on the preliminary question, whether it should be admitted, and suffered to make known the object for which it came. The assembly decided, by a majority of 186 against 108, not to admit the deputation. The Hungarian diet resented this insult, and in its exasperation threw itself into the arms of Kossuth, and conferred upon him unlimited powers. He shared his dictatorship with his old colleague Szémeré, and selected six radical deputies to form a council of state. It is remarkable that the word republic was never mentioned; every thing was done in the name of the king, though it may readily be imagined that the royal sanction was not sought.

The new government immediately adopted vigorous measures for the defence of the capital; all the troops in the neighborhood were collected, and national guards presented themselves on every side. They were sent out