actuated by steam power, which will perform its work in a cheaper, speedier, and more effectual manner. The sheep-shearing machine recently placed before the public is due to Mr. Frederick York Wolseley, of Euroca Station, New South Wales- -a brother of the distinguished soldier of that name - who has devoted many years of patient ingenuity to perfecting his invention. The machine itself may be briefly described as follows: A toothcomb upon which works a three-bladed knife, in the same manner as a patent horse-clipper, is pushed by the operator into the fleece of the animal to be sheared, the cutter being actuated by a cord of round gut, working inside a flexible tube six feet six inches in length. The flexible tube leaves the operator free to work the comb and cutters backwards and forwards. Shafting of ordinary description is erected in the shearing-house, carrying wheels two feet in diameter and five feet apart, the motion being communicated from the main shafting to a series of leather bevel-wheels situated below, each of which in its turn imparts a rotary movement to the gut core inside the flexible tube, and so to the small rods working the crank inside the casing of the machine. The pressure of the cutter on the comb is regulated by a tension-screw on the back of the shears. All the working parts are covered, with the exception of the comb and cutter. Hand-labor, horse-power, water-power, or a steam-engine (portable, if desired) with a boiler to burn either wood or coal, can be employed to furnish motive power to the main shafting, as the facilities of each locality or the number of sheep to be | dealt with may demand. One man, it may be added, can furnish power sufficient for three machines; a horse can drive from ten to twenty of them; whilst an eight horse-power steamengine will actuate one hundred shears. The time occupied in shearing one sheep with the new patent is from three and a half to five minutes. Many advantages are claimed for the novelty now under consideration. The work is performed more thoroughly than by hand, it being calculated that on an average some ten additional ounces of wool per merino sheep are obtained by its employment. The operation, moreover, is carried out more humanely, the cuts and stabs often inflicted in hand-shearing, more especially when executed as "piecework," being entirely avoided, together with the consequent damage and deterioration to the pelts. It has been estimated that no less than one per cent. of the animals perish from injuries due principally to hand-shearing. The labor entailed on the operator is also considerably reduced; and aching hands, swollen wrists, and cuts or stabs to the worker himself, should be things of the past. A series of exhaustive trials in Austra lia abundantly testify to the high esteem in which the new machine, the cost of which is very moderate, is held. When it is added in conclusion that Australia alone is computed to hold upwards of one hundred millions of sheep, it is evident how wide a field, if only in that one quarter of the globe, exists for the new sheep. shearing machine. ISLAM AND ISRAEL.-Dr. Hirschfeld in | part taken in it by two Moslem gentlemen, his lecture at Jews' College, it may be noted, treated the Koran with the fullest sympathy and respect a fact on which all the Jewish speakers who took part in the discussion were unanimous. It would indeed be difficult for a scholar to devote time and thought to a subject without acquiring a certain amount of sympathy with the object of his devotion. It is therefore the more striking that one or two English Christian theologians, whose whole work lies in the history of the Pharisees, have never succeeded in reaching a sympathetic or even a just attitude toward the much maligned Pharisee of old. The discussion on Sunday night at Jews' College was enlivened by the whose defence of their faith evoked the warmest applause. The speakers were received with the most marked cordiality, and though the audience could not be in complete sympathy with them, yet all showed their respect for the enthusiasm evoked for another religion. The Jews in the Middle Ages received so many favors at the hands of the Mahommedans, when indeed the countries swayed by Islam were the only asylum open to the sons of Jacob, that it would have been ungenerous in a Jewish audience to receive representatives of Islam with any but a friendly demeanor. Nevertheless, the fact may be chronicled as not devoid of interest and importance. Jewish Chronicle. For EIGHT DOLLARS, remitted directly to the Publishers, the LIVING AGE will be punctually forwarded for a year, free of postage Remittances should be made by bank draft or check, or by post-office money-order, if possible. If neither of these can be procured, the money should be sent in a registered letter. All postmasters are obliged to register letters when requested to do so. Drafts, checks, and money-orders should be made payable to the order of LITTELL & Co. Single Numbers of THE LIVING AGE, 18 cents. And our eyes close, and all the phantom Enough, if 'mid our mist and snow throng Of doubts and troubles vanish into air; And the one face that we have loved so long, Smiles on us calm and fair. We may in darker hours remember The bliss, the warmth, the southern glow, That mingled July with December. But now a harp of loftier tone I hear resound to Dorian measure, Say, Arcady is rest alone, But toil is strung to nobler pleasure; Say, Arcady is fair and fine, Where Pan is lord of man and nature; But 'neath his face and form divine Lurks cloven hoof of faun and satyr. And sadness sits in every eye, And cynic youth is old at twenty; Who looks for aught in Arcady But languid ease and far niente? Then hence away, and northward ho! Where souls and limbs of men are stronger: But, O ye powers of frost and snow, From The Quarterly Review. SIR JOHN HAWKWOOD AND ITALIAN remarkable of the Italian capitani di ventura. Sigismund Malatesta, lord of Rimini, furnishes an instance of an independent prince taking service under another State. The "Life of Sir John Hawkwood known in Italian history as "Giovanni Acuto " - has been written in Italian, and has recently been published at Florence in a handsome volume by an English gentleman, Mr. Temple-Leader, with the assistance of an Italian man of letters, Signor Marcotti. Mr. Leader, whose name was not unknown many years ago in English political life, has lived for a long period near that city. He has restored for himself one of those ancient feudal the slopes of the Apennines, and which in the troublous times of the Italian wars of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries sustained many a siege, probably from Hawkwood himself. He has had access to documents, in the rich Florentine archives, relating to the great English captain, and to the events with which he was connected during his career. He has made good use IT has been said, with some truth, that the history of the Italian condottieri, or captains of mercenaries, is that of Italy during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. They played a most important, if not the principal, part in the political events of the peninsula during that period. Among them were men not only great in the art of war, but eminent as statesmen, as statesmanship was then understood. Their lives are even in many cases fit subjects for romance. Their adventures, the tragic fate of some of them, the marvellous rise of others who, through their craft and valor, attained to princely rank castles-that of Vimigliata —which dot and founded independent States, form episodes of the highest historical interest. The condottieri or capitani di ventura may be divided into three classes: foreigners, who had collected together men of every European nation, generally the very refuse and outcasts of society, and who, with their followers, took service under one of the Italian States. They led the first bands of mercenaries em- of them, and his biography of Hawkwood ployed in the wars which desolated Italy is a valuable addition to the history of the during the fourteenth century. They times to which it relates. were succeeded by Italian condottieri, into whose companies, as a rule-which, however, had many exceptions - only Italians were admitted. They also were employed in the latter part of the fourteenth century and in the first half of the fifteenth. Then came the better organized and better disciplined troops belonging to independent princes, who hired themselves and their subjects to other States, receiving stipends and rewards for their services. We have the type of the foreign condottiere in the renowned Englishman, Sir John Hawkwood. Carmagnola, whose valor and skill were the admiration of his contemporaries, ranks amongst the most * 1. Giovanni Acuto. Storia d'un Condottiere, testa. Par Charles Yriarte. Paris, 1882. After the final break-up of what remained of the Roman dominion in Italy, the peninsula became divided into numerous small, independent States, frequently consisting of a single city, with its sur rounding territory, comprising small walled towns and castles, the residences of nobles, which, before the employment of siege artillery, afforded a safe place of refuge to their owners and their dependants in times of war and invasion. In some of the principal cities, such as Florence, Pisa, and Siena, the democracy had driven out the nobles and had established a republic or commune. In others, such as Milan, Padua, and Verona, some member of a powerful family had usurped the supreme power, and governed despotically, usually meriting the title which he received of " Tyrant." The communes existed chiefly in central Italy; the despots, such as the Visconti, the Carraresi, and the Scalas, ruled in the north. In the south the dominions of the pope and the kingdom of Naples formed more ex- | Messer Falco d'Inghilterra at the head tensive and permanent States. of a company of fifteen hundred horsemen, in the pay of the commune of Pisa, then at war with the neighboring republic of Florence. The English mercenaries soon earned a high reputation for their courage, their warlike qualities, and their capacity to endure hardships, and were considered the best soldiers in Italy. Moreover, they were thought somewhat more trustworthy than those of other countries, who were at all times ready, for higher pay or better prospects of plunder, to betray their employers and to pass over to the enemy. But they were notorious for their cruelty and for being the most adroit and merci. less of depredators. They did not mutilate and roast their victims to extort money from them, as was the habit of the Germans, the Bretons, and the Hungarians; but in other respects they appear to have surpassed all other nationalities in outrages upon women, in incendiarism, rapine, and murder. So that "Inglese Italianato è un diavolo incarnato " became a popular saying in Italy; and a writer of the time declares that "non era nulla di più terribile che udire il solo nome degli Inglesi." These petty commonwealths were constantly at war with each other. The communes were jealous of the riches and prosperity of an adjoining republic, or had a greed for its lands. The Tyrants sought to extend their power and territories at the expense of their neighbors. In the conflicts which ensued, a local militia was called out. To bear arms was considered the right and duty of every citizen. When the war in which his city was engaged came to an end, he laid them aside and returned to his civic duties and employments. This militia in the republics was strictly democratic, and the nobles were excluded from it.* At the beginning of the fourteenth century it had fallen into decay. In the wealthy republics the citizens had gradually lost their martial habits, and had given themselves to trade and other peaceful pursuits. When they were summoned to arms, few responded to the call. The city found itself consequently powerless for either defence or attack. On the other hand, it was the policy of the Tyrants to disarm their subjects, and to crush out of them all warlike spirit, lest they should combine to overthrow the despotism to which they were exposed. A city thus deprived of its natural defenders found it necessary to have recourse to foreign aid and to employ mercenaries. Hence the origin of those companies of adventurers from all parts of Europe, under leaders of reputation for their valor and military skill, ready to sell their services to the highest bidder, and to shed their blood in the cause which promised the largest amount of wages and booty. They were simply organized brigands, and their wars organized brigandage. So that the Italian term for a foot-soldier, masnadiere, became synonymous with robber and outlaw. As early as the year 1314 we find one * See Ricotti, "Storia delle Compagnie di Ventura in Italia," the standard work on the subject; Canes trini, "Documenti per servire alla Storia della Milizia bria." In the middle of the fourteenth century one of these bands, chiefly composed of Englishmen, known as the Compagnia Bianca, or White Company, was the most renowned in Italy. The origin of the name is doubtful. According to some, it came from their armor and shields, which were polished so as to shine like mirrors; according to others, it was given them on account of their white uniforms and white standards, or of the white cross which they had adopted as a badge. The White Company had been originally formed in France by one Bertrand de Crequi. Hence it had passed into Italy, led by a German named Albert Sterz, a soldier of ability and experience, who had been chosen for the command on account of his knowledge of the English language. In 1362 it had entered into the pay of the Pisans, who were then engaged in one of their many wars with the Florentines. It soon turned the scale in favor of the former. But the English mercenaries were dissatisfied for some reason with their German leader, |