XIX. The Judge upon the Justice-seat, XX. In convent cold, the prisoner lean In lightless den, the robèd queen, Even the youth who waits, Hiding the knife, to glide unseen Between the gates: XXI. He nothing human alien deems Man's meanest claim upon him. XXII. Because they know him Nature's friend, On whom she doth delight to tend With loving kindness ever, Helping and heartening to the end His high endeavor. XXIII. Therefore, though mortal made, he can XXIV. To make the thing which is not be, To fill with Heaven's infinity Earth's finite, to make sound The sick, to bind the broken, free The prison-bound, XXV. To call up spirits from the deep Into the birth of things, To move the mountains, and to sweep With inner wings XXVI. The orb of time, is his by faith; And his, whilst breathing human breath XXVII. If such a man there be, howe'er That man my friend to know -All the Year Round. IO TRIUMPHE! BY ELBRIDGE JEFFERSON CUTLER. Now let us raise a song of praise, like Miriam's song of old A song of praise to God the Lord, for blessings manifold! He lifteth up, he casteth down; he bindeth, maketh free; He sendeth grace to bear defeat; he giveth victory! Fling out, fling out the holy flag broad in the swelling air! Its stars renew their morning song. All hail the symbol fair! For what the fathers did of yore, the sons have learned to do; And the old legends, half-believed, are proven by the new. No. 929.-22 March, 1862. CONTENTS. Fort Donelson, 1. Capt. Slaymaker and the Second Iowa Regiment, 4. Retrospect of the American Difficulty, PAGE. 626 627 648 Macmillan's Magazine, 657 Good Words, 664 9. Morganatic Marriages, Chambers's Journal, 677 5. The United States, 6. The Latest Thing in Ghosts,. 8. Cartes de Visite, 10. A Chinese Case of Breach of Promise of Marriage, Dublin University Magazine, 682 SHORT ARTICLES.-Danger of Bad Milk, 647. Pure Water to Towns, 647. Dialect of Leeds, 666. Wild Boars on Vesuvius, 672. Mark Lemon's Lectures, 672. Mignet's Paper on the Life and Works of Henry Hallam, 672. A Gigantic Cephalopode, 688. Sounds by Galvanic Currents, 688. Ammonia from the Waste Gases of Coal, 688. PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY BY LITTELL, SON, & CO., BOSTON. For Six Dollars a year, in advance, remitted directly to the Publishers, the LIVING AGE will be punctually forwarded free of postage. Complete sets of the First Series, in thirty-six volumes, and of the Second Series, in twenty volumes, handsomely bound, packed in neat boxes, and delivered in all the principal cities, free of expense of freight, are for sale at two dollars a volume. ANY VOLUME may be had separately, at two dollars, bound, or a dollar and a half in numbers. ANY NUMBER may be had for 13 cents; and it is well worth while for subscribers or purchasers to complete any broken volumes they may have, and thus greatly enhance their value. When a brave young hero dies.”—T. Haynes Bayley. IN MEMORY OF CAPT. JONATHAN SMITH SLAYMAKER, Who was killed in the moment of victory, at the capture of Fort Donelson, 14 February, 1862. Aged 27 years. He was one of three sons given to the army | side, their bright bayonets glittering in the sun. by Samuel F. Slaymaker, Esq., York, Penn- The firing slackens. sylvania, and was nephew of the late General Persifor Frazer Smith. For several years he had been in business at Davenport, Iowa, and on the breaking out of the rebellion, volunteered as Lieutenant of a company of the Second Iowa Regiment. He was soon promoted, and for some time had been acting on Gen. Curtis' staff. THE FINAL CHARGE. A lull followed the storm. Our armies were preparing for the grand coup de main, by which the place was to be taken. Says the correspondent of The World :— "The task of accomplishing this delicate and dangerous enterprise was accorded to Gen. Smith. His division was divided for the attack into two brigades, one under Col. Cook, including the Seventh Illinois, Twelfth Iowa, Thirteenth Missouri, Fiftieth Illinois, and Fifty-Second Indiana; Col. Lauman with the Second, Seventh, and Fourteenth Iowa, Twenty-fifth Indiana, and Thirteenth Missouri. "What is more wonderful is, that Capt. Stone's battery of rifled 10-pounders, close behorses plunging and riders whipping. Upward hind the brigade, is tugging up the hill, the they go, where never vehicle went before, up the precipitous and clogged sides of the hill. No sooner on the crest than the guns are unlimbered, the men at their posts. Percussion shells and canister are shot from the Parrot guns at the flying enemy. The day is gained-a position is taken the troops surround the guns, and the enemy has deserted his post. The 34-pounder which had caused so much havoc is silenced by Col. Cook's brigade, and the rebels fly to the main fort in alarm. The day is gained! The air, and in a few minutes all is hushed. foc is running! Cheers upon cheers rend the "In fifteen minutes the lines were disposed of for the night. The surrender followed, as the reader knows, on the next morning.” THE SECOND IOWA COMPLIMENTED. Despatch sent to the Adjutant-General of the State of Iowa: "ST. LOUIS, Feb. 19, 1862. "Adjt. N. B. BAKER: The 2d Iowa Infantry proved themselves the bravest of the brave. They had the honor of leading the column which entered Fort Donelson. "H. W. HALLECK, Major-General." Extract of a letter from Col. Lauman, to his sister in York, Pa.: :- "Col. Cook took the right of the attack, menacing the centre of the enemy's position. Opposed to them were six Tennessee regiments, with the Second Kentucky Regiment. Col. Cook took his men straight up the side of the hill at the highest portion of the fortifications and the furthest removed from the river. The regiments went gallantly up the sides of the hill, and then encountered the barricade of felled timber and brushwood. The enemy's infantry kept a rain of fire upon them. A 34-pound gun in battery poured down grape and shell upon them. not, however, with very fatal effect. The men stood it without flinching, the lines remaining unbroken. In accordance with the plan of attack, it was decided that the brigade of Col. Cook should engage the enemy on the right, while the brigade of Col. Lauman should make the entree "He had, with his regiment, reached the into the works further on the left. He kept up breastwork, and passed in, when a ball struck an incessant fire of infantry, engaging the Ten-him in the thigh, and severed the main artery, nessccans, who were safely ensconced behind the earthworks. "The Second Iowa led the charge, followed by the rest in their order. The sight was sublime. Onward they sped, heedless of the bullets and balls of the enemy above. The hill was so steep, the timber cleared, that the rebels had left a gap in their line of rifle pits on this crest of hill. | Through this gap they were bound to go. Right up they went, climbing up on all-fours, their line of dark-blue clothing advancing regularly forward, the white line of smoke from the top of the works opposed by a line from our troops, "HEAD-QUARTERS OF U. S. FORCES, Fort Donelson, Tenn., Feb. 18, 1862. "We have had a great victory, of which you will be apprised long before this reaches you, and I only write a few lines to say that I passed through unscathed, whilst many a poor fellow shed his blood for the cause. "Poor Jack Slaymaker lost his life in making one of the most brilliant charges on record. and he bled to death in five minutes. I enclose you a lock of his hair, which I severed myself, which you will hand to his bereaved parents. He was as brave and gallant a soldier as ever carried a sword. After he was wounded, he raised himself on his side, waved his sword, and called on his men to go forward, then sank down and died. "I could not help shedding tears as I bent over his inanimate remains. 66 He was a good and steadfast friend of mine, and I mourn him very much. It is melancholy to think that the first time he was under my command should be the last. But he died gloriously; what more can a man do for his country! They reach the top! Numbers fall! The suspense is breathless! See, they climb over the works! They fall-they are lost! Another "I mingle my tears and sympathies with his group, and still another and another, close up parents in this their great affliction. I gave an the gap! All is covered in smoke! The lodg-order for the free transportation of his remains ment is made the troops swarm up the hill- to St. Louis yesterday." From The Quarterly Review. | not appear a somewhat presumptuous limit1. Memoirs of the Life, Writings, and Dis- ing of the possible capacities of the human coveries of Sir Isaac Newton. By Sir race, it might almost be said with confidence David Brewster, London, 1855. not only that Newton stands by himself, 2. Addresses on popular Literature, and on the above all who went before him, and all who Monument to Sir Isaac Newton. By Henry, have followed in the century and a half of brilLord Brougham, F.R.S. London, 1858. liant scientific discovery which has elapsed Of all the laborers in the field of science since his death, but that it is (so far as any since the world began, it is remarkable that such speculation can be trusted) impossible there is but one who has attained a popu- that any competitor can ever place himself lar as distinguished from a scientific famc. on the same level with the great interpreter There are multitudes whose achievements are of the motions of the heavens and the earth. recognized in the republic of science, and No one can say that the genius which not a few whose names are honored through-guided Newton through his rapid career of out the educated classes of every country discovery may not be equalled or surpassed within the range of civilization; but if we in some future age of human progress; but were to seek for a reputation which has not the force of Lagrange's observation must only illumined the study of the recluse and ever remain, that there can only once be the salons of society, but has penetrated even found a system of the universe to establish. to the nursery and the cottage, we should On the other hand, it is not difficult to dishave to travel beyond the bounds of phys- cover many reasons for the broad expanse ical or mathematical science to find another and the deep root of Newton's fame, which name to set beside that of Newton. Colum- have but a remote connection with the merit bus and Galileo might perhaps be cited as of which that fame is the enduring memorial. parallel instances; but it was the adventures of the one, and the torture supposed to have been inflicted upon the other, that made their names familiar to a wider circle than a scientific reputation commonly embraces. Those who love to dilate upon the unerring instincts of the mass of mankind may fancy that they find in this unexampled appreciation of the glory of the great English philosopher an additional proof of their untenable theory; while the more sceptical observers of the progress of human affairs may be tempted rather to question the title of Newton to the solitary eminence which has been awarded to him, than to acknowledge the sagacity with which people of all ranks, and the learned of all nations, have concurred in the selection of their chief scientific hero. There is a flavor of truth about both of these extreme views. That the popular verdict which has placed Newton on a pedestal apart from all rivals, whether contemporary or of an carlier or a later age, is right, is established by the common consent of all who have proved themselves qualified to pronounce upon so high a controversy, and is confirmed by every additional detail which the industry of our times has brought to light of the pursuits and the methods of the greatest inquiring mind which has ever grappled with the problems of nature. If it did The laws which govern the award of fame would furnish a curious subject of inquiry. The principles on which the critic or the historian acts, in meting out the due meed of praise to each workman on that great temple of science which has occupied all past generations, and must remain unfinished by the labors of all generations to come, are very different from those on which the judgment of universal opinion, with a justice of its own, is based. The dignity of the subject matter has at least as much voice in the decrees of fame as the powers displayed by the rival aspirants for the honor of an immortal reputation. The artist who decorates a chapel or a shrine, may show as much excellence as the architect who designs a cathedral; but the grandeur of his work reflects a lustre on the one which his fellow-workman may in vain aspire to share. So, in the conduct of the affairs of the world, the greatness of the sphere in which a man has lived has far more to do with his enduring reputation than the sagacity or the heroism which he may have displayed. The same powers which, in the ruler of an empire, would insure an immortality of fame, may be exhibited by the governor of a province with no other reward than the cold approbation of his superiors, followed by the oblivion which has settled on many of the greatest names. |