that this was the only fault with which Wellington could be reproached during the whole 匠 of that terrible day. Unfortunately for France, he conducted the battle admirably, notwithstanding the delay of the Prussians; he never engaged his troops beyond the necessities and opportunities of the battle; he invariably engaged them judiciously; and he knew how to have a powerful reserve ready for the decisive moment. He came to a critical point, nothing is more certain. But what commander of an army has not? To cite an example: Napoleon at Marengo, found himself in a position quite as much compromised as that of Wellington at Waterloo, when a happy inspiration on the part of Dessaix and the heroic determination of Kellermann converted a defeat into a signal victory."

ed

The most extravagant of Napoleon's criticisms was that in which he declared that

Wellington had twice resolved upon retreat, but found it impossible. "And thus -O strange eccentricity of human events!-his bad choice of a field of battle, which rendered retreat impossible, was the cause of his success." With this passage most readers are familiar. After pointing out the lines by which the English might easily have fallen back, Lieut.Col. Charras puts a series of questions.

upon Plancenoit; or at seven, when all our cavalry recoiled, despite its valor, from the English centre ?-or half an hour later, when the infantry of the guard, overwhelmed by numbers, redescended the plateau? ** No, Wellington did not think, and never could have thought of retreating, at any moment of the day.'

Col. Charras weighs the criticism. Napoleon Napoleon criticized Wellington, and Lieut. praised himself, and Lieut. Col. Charras values the eulogy. He devotes many cleverlyreasoned and substantial pages to a scrutiny of the French tactics at Waterloo, and points to a succession of manoeuvres which, on grounds of military science, he emphatically condemns. Of course, these judgments, in both cases, must be taken for what they are worth; the principal question is, whether and fairly employs his privileges as a hisLieut.Col. Charras produces fair credentials, torian. One fact, at all events, appears to have been demonstrated-that the Napoleon of Waterloo was decayed, exhausted, demoralized as a general.

The work of Lieut.Col. Charras is a narra

tive, not a disquisition. The critical scrutiny runs through it like a vein, and the points are summed up at the close, but the chapters are never tediously laden with parenthetical "But at what moment did Wellington matter. Uncommon praise, indeed, is due to ever conceive the idea of abandoning the the author of a book so well constructed, field of battle to his adversary? Was it

after he had beaten D'Erlon? Was it after judicious, and impartial. The history is ache had repulsed Ney's first charge, at five companied by an Atlas, containing five excelo'clock, when Bulow made his movement lent maps and plans.

undertaken without any solicitation on the part of the author; the application to him for permission to translate into the French was made through the editor of the Edinburgh Review. Mr. Motley is now residing in the Hague, deeply engaged in studies for his next work, which is a continuation of the history on which his reputation mainly rests.-N. Y. Evening Post.

MOTLEY'S DUTCH REPUBLIC.-A transla- | leading review of the country, written by one of tion of this work is soon to appear in the the best historical writers of Holland. These French language, under the superintendence of various editions and notices have all been M. Guizot, to whom Mr. Motley conceded the right of translation some months ago. A reprint has been published in Amsterdam, and has had a good sale. A translation of the work, complete, has been published, in the German language, at Leipsig and Dresden. A translation into the Dutch language has been made, under the supervision of Mr. Bakhuizen Vanden Brink, the Archivist-in-Chief of the Kingdom of the Netherlands-the most learned man and the cleverest writer in that country. He has written an introductory chapter to the book, of a very complimentary character, and has added many notes and comments. It is publishing in numbers, very handsomely printed, and will scarcely be concluded before the close of the year. An elaborate commendatory article upon the book has just appeared in the "Gids," the

THE young girls of Augsburg, Munich, and Nuremberg, who are obliged to go out when it is dusk, carry knives with which to defend themselves against the "tress-robbers"; but those who are further advanced in years are armed with a more efficacious weapon-a paper full of pepper or snuff.

CONTENTS OF NO. 720.-13 MARCH, 1858.

3. Cyrus Redding's Fifty Years' Recollections,

641

666

685

689

693

- 697

699

POETRY.-The Poet's Work, 702. Mamma's Pet, 702. The Eve of Election, 703. Havelock, 703.

SHORT ARTICLES.-Universities vs. Gown, 684. Galvanoplastie, 692. Arithmometer, 692. Chinese Modesty, 692. Encyclopedia of Education and Instruction, 688. Dr. Livingstone's New Expedition, 696. Prideaux's Connection of the Old and New Testament, 698. Free African Emigration, 698. Motley's Dutch Republic, in French, 701.

LITTELL'S LIVING AGE.

Or all the Periodical Journals devoted to literature and science which abound in Europe, and in this country, this has appeared to me the most useful. It contains indeed the exposition only of the current literature of the English Language; but this, by its immense extent and comprehension, includes a portraiture of the human mind, In the utmost expansion of the present age. J. Q. ADAMS.

This work is made up of the elaborate and stately essays of the Edinburgh, Quarterly, Westminster, North Brit ish, British Quarterly, New Quarterly, London Quarterly, Christian Remembrancer, and other Reviews; and Black wood's noble criticisms on Poetry, his keen political Commentaries, highly wrought Tales, and vivid descriptions of rural and mountain Scenery; and contributions to Literature, History and Common Life, by the sagacious Spectator, the sparkling Examiner, the judicious Athenæum, the busy and industrious Literary Gazette, the learned and sedate Saturday Review, the studious and practical Economist, the keen tory Press, the sober and respectable Christian Observer; these are intermixed with the Military and Naval reminiscences of the United Service, and with the best articles of the Dublin University, New Monthly, Fraser's, Tait's, Ainsworth's, Hood's and Sporting Maga zines, and of Chambers' admirable Journal, and Dickens' Household Words. We do not consider it beneath our dignity to borrow wit and wisdom from Punch; and, when we think it good enough, make use of the thunder of The Times. We shall increase our variety by importations from the continent of Europe, and from the new growth of the British colonies.

Published every Saturday, by LITTELL, SON & COMPANY, Boston. Price 12 cents a number, or six dollar a year. Remittances for any period will be thankfully received and promptly attended to.

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THE.

From The Quarterly Revie.

The Historic Peerage of England; exhibit-
ing under Alphabetical Arrangement the
Origin, Descent, and Present State of
every Title of Peerage which has existed
in this Country since the Conquest.
Being a New Edition of the "Synopsis
of the Peerage of England" by the late
Sir H Nicolas, G.C.M.G. Revised,
corrected, an continued to the present
time by William Courthope, Esq.," Som-

erset Herald." London. 1857.

it wise, and the respect for it generous, and we are glad that Mr. Courthope has given us an occasion for a colloquy with a wider some of the points of interest public on which the appearance of his book suggests. Though the English Peerage was founded by the Normans, aristocracy as an institution was far earlier amongst us, and indeed, is to be traced in the very first accounts we have of our northern ancestors. It is to be seen in the "Agricola." It was brought into THIS is a handsome and improved edition Britain by the Saxons. How it originated of the valuable work of a great antiquary. nobody can tell. The definition of Aristotle Mr. Courthope has done justice to Sir Harris that ebyévela or nobility of birth, is ¿bxałos Nicolas, as Sir Harris Nicolas to his subject. hourоç Kaì ¿beтǹ—“ ancient wealth and virFew men of modern times have attained tue "-is admirable, but the process by which greater proficiency than he attained, in those these organized themselves into governing genealogical studies which Leibnitz did not orders is not so easy to see. An age restdisdain, which were loved by Cecil and lessly impatient of individual superiority Fuller, and which amused the leisure of finds it difficult even to imagine early heroGibbon and Gray. In this volume the reader worship, and turns from the pedigrees in the can see in the course of a reference of a few Saxon Chronicle with incredulity and weariminutes, the history of any title ever borne ness. Yet then were laid the foundations of in England since the days of William the the state of society during which Europe Norman; and we do not hesitate to pro- became civilized; and all the institutions of nounce it as necessary a companion to the life, and law, and politics grew up during student of English history, as Johnson's times when respect for personal and herediDictionary to the student of the English tary superiority was strongest. language.

Mr. Thackeray observed in a satirical
mood that the "Peerage" was the English-
man's "other Bible." But this is not one of
the common Peerages which lie on the tables
of Tyburnia to tell who is the wife, and what
the age
of the last Whig nobleman appointed
to the government of a colony. This portly
volume, bright as is its exterior, is most rig-
idly business-like in its contents. Age by age,
date by date, each title is traced from its
creation, either to its extinction or its present
possessor. It is essentially what its title im-
ports, a historic work; and contains, there-
fore, many names not to be found in our day
in the English libro d'oro. Now, while this
constitutes great part of its value to the
student, it is likewise the feature which re-
quires to be brought prominently before the
world. It is the historical aspect of Aris-
tocracy of which the public knows least; yet
this is the element which makes the study of

LIVING AGE. DCCXXI. VOL. XX. 45

Certain it is, that though any definite history of the present Peerage must begin, as the work before us begins, with the Conquest, hereditary nobility then existed as an estab lished and understood thing. We find chroniclers of quite early times, such as Ordericus Vitalis, speaking of "ancient families " in the same matter of course way that we do. William of Malmesbury tells us that Rollo sprang from a noble race of Northmen, that had become obsolete through length of time. The knight who carried William's gonfanon at Hastings enjoyed that honor (says the Roman de Rou) from his "antecessours," or ancestors. Wherefore we must not suppose that the nobility of the best houses dates only from 1066, though the plasticity of the Normans had made them adapt themselves in some three generations so completely to their new land, that they made little account of the details of their Scandinavian extraction. And, indeed,