second place, it is an antidote to that vain-glory which, strange to say, is a great inducement with many to crime. Nothing that I can conceive would be more suitable to the case of the physical-force Chartists. Did it not put an effectual stop to the pastime of shooting at the Queen ? Why should it not prove an equally efficacious remedy for Chartism? Much of political disaffection is a sort of hypochondriacism, and it is for this reason that so many men who follow sedentary occupations, especially tailors and shoemakers, are to be found among the Chartists. Such men are very great cowards, and I would answer for them that they would shrink from the idea of a whipping. I look upon corporal punishment also as a matter of economy. At present, when a man has robbed an honest citizen or half murdered a policeman, not only does neither party get any effectual redress, but society has to pay for clothing and feeding the fellow in

prison. As a rate-payer I protest against this; and I contend that the Government is bound to charge us the least possible sum of money for punishing offenders. At any rate a flogging may be fairly substituted for all short terms of imprisonment. It is a peculiarly appropriate punishment for able-bodied men and boys convicted of begging; and if the silly people who give to beggars could be brought under the discipline of the lash, too, it would not be much amiss. But, seriously, this matter ought to be attended to. We are paying an enormous sum of money every year for feeding, clothing, and lodging people who ought to be whipped. Women present a difficulty; but much might be done with them, as has been lately suggested,* by cutting their hair close for minor offences, and shaving their heads for more atrocious crimes. It is said that a good washing in cold water is a very effective punishment. If so, it is highly to be commended.

THIS

THI is a most opportune publication, and its materials are evidently drawn from real life. Baron von Sternberg has thrown into the form of a novel the passing events of the day, which he himself witnessed. The author, although not a Prussian by birth, takes deep interest in the glory of the Prussian name, and has a quick discerning eye for the follies of the modern Radical school. The absurdities of the good Berliners about the unity of Germany, and the farce of a German fleet, are most amusingly hit off. Womankind seem to have made themselves especially odious in Baron Sternberg's eyes.

The book itself, although cleverly written, bears evident marks of haste; the story is so poor, that we are tempted to wish the author had altogether omitted the plot, and given us merely the sketches of what he saw. The hero of the tale is an old Colonel

von Rechow, a retired officer, who throws up his half-pay in disgust at the conduct of the king in giving way to the Berlin mob, and who is driven to support himself and his daughter by selling his few remaining valuables. The struggles of this patriotic and heart-broken gentleman, his conversational encounters with low Radical propagandists and democratical ladies, his mourning over the loss of a son who disappears mysteriously in early life, and who, of course, is found towards the end of the novel wounded, having fought on the side of the insurgents on the memorable 18th of March; - these form the chief incidents of the novel. As is the case in most novels, all ends happily. The son is found, and reconciled to his father; and the daughter is happily married to an honourable and loyal officer. With these few words we will

dismiss the story, and proceed at once to introduce our readers to some of the characters in the book :

• Is Colonel von Rechow at home?' asked a rough, blunt voice, in the passage. The door of the milliner's shop opened, and Mademoiselle Rosa Scholz, a fattish woman of forty, made her appearance. In her hand she held a cap made of tulle, trimmed with a wreath of jessamine; and while she took a pin from between her lips, she said to the man in a peasant's dress who made the inquiry,—

My friend, the colonel is not at home, but he will be in shortly. It is already past the hour when he generally comes in.'

'I will wait, then,' said the peasant. 'Come and see a man of the people,' said Mademoiselle Rosa Scholz, turning to the bevy of young milliners who had been listening to the conversation. 'Here is one: gaze upon him with reverence.'

'Oh,' said Betty, a little snub-nosed brunette, how good and wholesome it is to see such a sight, after one has looked till one was sick at the vain, empty, worn-out, and bloated aristocrats!'

Madam,' said the peasant, paying no attention to the giggling of the young milliners, I hear some one coming.'

"Excellent man of the people,' said Rosa, you are entitled to some compensation. Miss Betty, if you have any regard for me or my principles, go to this man and give him this halfpenny. But give it him with that grace, that je ne sçais quoi, which those who are noble themselves can exercise towards others equally noble. You understand me. In these times the only way to do ourselves honour is by honouring the people; or, as my Cousin Sigribi so beautifully expresses it, by bowing before the sovereignty of the people. Go, therefore, and give it him before he rises from his seat and departs.'

Betty advanced to do her bidding. The peasant drew his brawny hands out of his pocket and exclaimed,

Stand off there! I see, miss, you have got about you those cursed gaudy rags!'

Excellent, worthy man, these are the German national colours,' said Rosa.

I am a Pomeranian peasant,' said Adam Braun, with a threatening air, 'look you, and a good Prussian to boot. Do you understand me, now?

Also am

I no beggar. I have plenty of bread and meat in my wallet, which I am bringing here for my son Will, who is in the 24th Regiment.

The soldiers in Berlin want for nothing,' said the milliner. We feed and support them.'

'My son,' said the growling old peasant, 'shall receive nothing from the hands of those ragamuffins who have deceived and bullied our king, and who have driven away our brave soldiers. He shall not take a morsel from you so long as an ear of corn grows in Pomerania, or a flitch of bacon can be cut from our old sow's ribs.

This angry conversation is interrupted by the opportune arrival of the colonel, who takes the old Pomeranian peasant up to his lodging over the milliner's shop, where certain important money matters are discussed, until the conversation is interrupted by the arrival of the old colonel's daughter, Louise, who had come to request her father to escort her to a rich privy-councillor's house, where she had engaged herself as a humble companion. Father and daughter, on their way to their destination, step into an omnibus, and Baron Sternberg gives us a picture of modern Berlin manners :

"The omnibus was nearly full. On one side sat five young men in particoloured caps; their hair was long and shaggy; their collars turned down; their jackets, to which the German tricolour was appended, were absurdly short. On the other side sat a short man, dressed in a green frock-coat, covered with steel buttons, and wearing a grey-pointed hat. The latter did not utter a syllable, but took a good deal of snuff, and attentively examined his travelling companions from beneath his broad-brimmed beaver. The colonel and his daughter set themselves down by the little green man. Two of the students were smoking, although the practice is strictly forbidden in any public vehicle, but they utterly disregarded the remonstrances of the conductor. demand, however, of the old colonel, who spoke in the manner of one having authority, extinguishes the pipes.

The

A young girl now enters the omnibus, and the students poke their fun at her. The scene ends by the Der-Freischütz - looking individual robbing the colonel, and being detected in the act by the young girl whom Colonel Rechow had protected from the insults of the young Radical students.

We must, however, from want of space, omit the scene at the privycouncillor's table, in which Count Sternberg indulges in much goodhumoured banter about the absurd topics which have roused the noisy patriotism of the modern Berliners, the unity of Germany,' 'the German

fleet,' and the like; while we present our readers with a picture, no doubt drawn from the life, of the mode in which the Burgher Guard were wont to perform their onerous duties. Close by the guard-house a little barefooted lad had established a sort of ambulatory shop, consisting of a basket-full of songs and broadsides. These he distributed among the passers-by, singing the while some low ballad in praise of the burghers, and maligning the soldiers:

The guard-house, built in the noblest style of Grecian architecture by Schinkel, and admirably adapted for its purpose, glistened in the full mid-day light. The fine statues of Gniesenau and Schornhorst looked as imposingly down from their pedestals as if nothing new had happened in the area of the splendid square where stands the Opera-house. In this spot the city still looked like the Berlin of 1847, the glorious metropolis of a king fond of the arts, the abode of military glory and aristocratic pomp. The Opera-house stood there unchanged, with its Apollo, its nine Muses, and its tragic dramatists; so did the roccoco gable ends and pinnacles of the palace of Princess Amalie, the sister of Frederick, which has now been turned into the library. The grandiose front of the arsenal, the masterpiece of the architect Schlüter, still reared its head unaltered. The reddish walls of this proud building appeared to have forgotten the infamous attempt upon it some weeks back. They looked as proudly victorious and majestic as before; but the heart of every true Prussian patriot beat quickly as he passed by the stone deities who had witnessed the dastardly assault. This handsome square was now as brilliant as ever. The palace inhabited by one ofthe proudest princes and the most beautiful women of her day, likewise bore the same aspect as before. The hurricane had swept by, and left it unscathed. Nevertheless, the true patriot passed by its walls with an unpleasant sensation. Here, likewise, there were things to be forgotten and forgiven; and it was difficult so to do, because the wild mob which had done the mischief was composed of children of Berlin. Nevertheless, the handsome pile of buildings glistened in the light of the mid-day sun as if nothing of the sort had happened.

At this moment the sergeant introduced a small bright-eyed man, with a scarlet face, to the captain of the watch. Captain, this is Herr Plutzke, who has something to communicate.'

'Exceedingly glad to see you, Herr Plutzke; but it is not your turn. We don't want you again just now.'

'I am come to replace Herr Wildmeyer. He begs to make his excuses; but the wine-shop is so full of customers, that it is impossible for him to come. But, to make up for his absence, he sends a bottle of champagne, and three bottles of red wine.'

Those round the captain laughed heartily; but he himself said, with a serious air to the sergeant, If this happens often with substitutes, we shall have nothing to shew when the king rides this way but wretched small old men. You may look out for another captain, I tell you things become worse every day. The tall, able men, refuse to serve; they are always too busy, and none but the most rubbishy small-fry come to keep guard. Go and ask that long fellow Lunel there why, in Heaven's name, he wears those nankeen trousers!'

The sergeant delivered the message, and returned with the answer, that 'It was no business of the captain's. If they teased him again about such things, he would come on guard without any trousers at all.'

'Come, come, sergeant, you need not report every idle word these fellows say. Make haste and lay the cloth for breakfast; the bottle of champagne you will be so good as to put by for my own private drinking."

'But, unfortunately, people know that you have got it."

'Never mind, they shall have a double allowance of beer. Do you think I will throw pearls before swine-champagne before a pack of tinkers and tailors? However, I will be even with Wildmeyer, and report him. This is the seventh week he has shirked duty.'

'I recommend you not to do so, captain; you owe a long score there, and the fellow may make you book up. Ha, ha, that is the beauty of the system! We learn to know each other on guard, and thus manage to square our accounts.' 'Well, well, go along about your business, sergeant.'

At this moment Mademoiselle Rosa Scholz was seen approaching.

The captain observed her; so did the individual on guard.

The captain told the sergeant to inform the lady, who seemed to have every intention of talking with the sentinel on guard, that such a proceeding was out of all order.

The sergeant went on his errand, but was told by the sentinel that if the lady was in any way interfered with, he, Sigribi, would kick the sergeant out of the service.

'But, Herr Sigribi, the captain 'Give him my compliments, and tell him he is an ass.'

The captain leaves the spot in a fury. Herr Sigribi presents arms to Mademoiselle Rosa Scholz, who playfully begs him to put down his weapon.

'My God!' says the captain of the guard, if the king were to happen to pass by at this particular moment! Here, sergeant, convey to the lady and to Herr Sigribi, the sentinel on guard, my invitation to come and breakfast in the officers' room.'

So saying the captain rubbed his hands, rejoiced at having hit upon so good an expedient to avoid a public scandal.

Sigribi is delighted, takes Rosa under his arm, and forces one Plutzke, called for his cowardice Löwenherz, or the lionhearted, to take his turn as sentinel.

The officers' room sometimes looked like a shop, at other times like the tap of a pot-house. One individual had come laden with samples of cotton goods, and was bargaining with a Jew in one corner of the room; in another corner a wine merchant was tasting samples of wine with two others learned in the trade. Close by the stove sat a member of the National Assembly; his servant, who was on guard with him, was cleaning his boots, in order that he might appear decently dressed for that evening's sitting. In the middle of all this the table was laid for breakfast: the three bottles of red wine, sausages, slices of ham and cheese, made a goodly show. Before his guests entered the room, the captain said, in the politest tone, to the dealer in cotton goods,

'I think, my good friend, that you are fortunate enough not to be on guard to-day?'

I have that good fortune,' said the trader.

'You will excuse me, then, for saying, that I should be pleased if you could manage to conclude your business with the Jew in some other quarter. The officers' room is not exactly the place for this purpose, and there is scarcely room here for us all.'

'Room, indeed! no, how should there be, if you allow every one to come in and make it a convenient house of call. As far as I am concerned I have only a few words to say to my friend, and I am not the least in your way.'

'You are not in the way-of course not!' muttered the captain; 'but I wish you were at the devil.'

;

The captain equally failed in his attempt to get rid of the dealer in wines moreover, the member of the National Assembly gave no sign of moving, but seemed inclined to join the breakfast party.

Meanwhile Sigribi and Rosa Scholz enter the room arm in arm. 'And so this is the officers' room!' said Rosa. When the frivolous young Guardsmen lived in these rooms it was impossible for any decent young woman to be seen here,' said Rosa, with a toss of her head. The breakfast proceeds swimmingly, the member of the National Assembly eats like an alderman, when a noise, which for some time had been heard in the street, now increases into an absolute uproar. The captain is called out.

'Sir,' says the sergeant, Plutzke's wife is before the guard-house she is addressing the mob, and insists upon having back her husband, who, she says, is kept from her unjustly. There is a great row, and every one is laughing at her. Look, captain, there she stands, close by the piled arms, and the devil himself can't get her from the spot.'

The captain comes in time to hear her peroration, and to witness the shouts of laughter with which it is received. He at length pacifies the woman and returns to the breakfasttable, where he finds that the member of the National Assembly has eaten up every thing, and the sergeant has drunk the reserved bottle of champagne.

Meanwhile the clubs had been busily at work; journalists had been filling the minds of the ignorant people with all sorts of mischievous ideas; pamphlets had been distributed in all the low pot-houses. The agitation of foreign emissaries had been incessant. These men worked

The

upon the worst passions of the multitude, and it was evident that their labours had not been in vain. Unfortunately, in the month of March there were many men out of work in Berlin, and to these the sowers of sedition chiefly addressed themselves. students, always the first in all work of mischief, were heart and soul for the new state of things. The emissaries of rebellion had long directed their chief efforts to seduce the soldiers from their allegiance, but in vain. The agitators, however, by the middle of March, thought that, even without the soldiers, they had stirred the populace sufficiently to fit it for their purpose, and the revolution was accordingly fixed for the 18th of March.

The various Prussian regiments had left their barracks and taken up their appointed stations. The regiment of Guards occupied the palace; the Riflemen defended the public buildings, the Bank, and the Admiralty; while the Huzzars in strong bodies patrolled the town in all directions. All this time a dense mass of human beings, in a state of great excitement, was swayed hither and thither like the waves of the sea.

The king selected this moment to promulgate his free institutions. A constitution was now to be given to his people.

Freedom of the press was to be secured; the people were to have the right of assembling to discuss political questions; the suffrage was to be extended.

The king had long meditated this; he had made a point within himself to fulfil to the nation the promises made to it by his father.

The privy council, the princes, and great officers of state, were assembled in the palace. In the course of the day the crowd in the palace increased. The more threatening the posture of affairs, the stronger was the impulse of every true patriot to be near the king. There were many, however, who sought safety under the ægis of royalty.

Every moment deputations arrived from the country. The confusion in the palace increased with the increasing tumult and pressure from without.

Thus passed the first hours of the afternoon.

A dense mass filled the square before the palace, and thronged more especially to the side looking towards the Kurfursten bridge. Fresh streams poured continually from the bridge. There was a dark, confused mass, a constant flux and reflux, of human beings, among whom

were to be seen here and there a man on horseback (it was impossible to tell whether he belonged to the mob, or whether he were detained in his passage through the crowd). Several men, raised on the shoulders of their neighbours, were seen addressing the mob with burning words and excited action; what these men said was not heard, owing to the muttered roar of the multitude. Groups of men clung like bees to the colossal lamp in the middle of the square, in order to have a good view of the whole scene. Every window that looked upon the square,nay, even the roofs of the houses, were occupied with spectators.

At this moment the king appeared at the balcony. There was at first a sound like distant-rolling thunder, which was followed by a death-like silence.

Thousands of eyes were directed to one point, thousands of ears strained to catch tle least sound which came from that one place.

The king's articulation was not clear; his voice trembled, and he, whose words are generally so flowing, now hesitated in his speech he was evidently struggling with some great inward emotion. His right hand leant for support on the stone work of the balcony, his left arm was crossed over his breast. The king gazed on all sides, and it was clear that he endeavoured to single out individual figures and groups from among the countless multitude. As he apparently failed in his object, he allowed his gaze to rest quietly on the mass of people. Nevertheless, his eye was constantly turned towards some object in the direction of the bridge. Those immediately about the king-the adjutants, ministers, and courtiers-stepped back a few paces, and their figures crowded round the windows opening on to the balcony.

Scarcely had the king ended his speech, when a loud and incessant hurrah arose among the multitude in front of him. Men mounted on the shoulders of their neighbours loudly pronounced the king's name, and tendered him their thanks with expressions of profound gratitude. Suddenly a shot was fired then followed a second.

The king stepped back. Whosoever at this anxious moment happened to see the direction his eyes took might have observed that they again sought out a particular spot in the crowd. This lasted but a moment; immediately afterwards those about the king's person pressed round him, and he disappeared in the midst of the excited group formed on the balcony: the whole party retired to the interior of the palace.

The window remained open; no one thought of shutting it.