cow goes. My old missus lives on the scal' milk."* What could I do? I knew the old rascal was as poor as a coot. I knew his wife was childish and had the rheumatism. I gave the guinea. Need I observe that it never came back to my pocket? Temper and I always felt very doubtful about that guinea. We thought it extraordinary the farmer should make so high a charge for keeping that pickpocket of a cow a few hours in the pound. However, we dared make no inquiries about it, as that might have let out the fact that I had driven the beast there. And you see I didn't want to get laughed at in my own parish. In about a year after this, I met Uncle Nat Treloob and his cow with a young calf. "Well, Uncle Nat," I observed, "your cow has got a fine calf. What have you called her?" "Dorcas, which, being interpreted,meaneth Tabitha," said the old sinner, taking off his hat, and passing on, with a droll expression in his pivot eye. And Dorcas that calf remains to this day. She is an old calf now; in fact, she isn't a calf at all, she is an elderly cow; and I always feel, when I see people grin over her name, that somehow I only came off second-best in the revenge I took on Uncle Nat Treloob. FOR reasons which we explained last week, we cannot regard the acquittal of the President, by the deficiency in the Senatorial majority for condemnation, as an event of much political good omen for the Constitution of the United States. That a country should be declared liable, for any period short of the four years of presidential reign, to be governed by a man who is so hateful to the Legislature that he is thought, by thirty-five out of fifty-four of the senators, to be guilty of "high crimes and misdemeanours," and is held guilty by a much larger proportion of the House of Representatives, is a political paradox scarcely to be equalled in the history of nations. Nothing seems to us to illustrate the rigidity, the utter want of flexibility, in the American political Constitution, so, forcibly and even ludicrously as this little fact. The people establish a Legislature to make laws for the Union. The people appoint a chief officer to carry out those laws. Nothing of Scald milk is the milk after the scald or clotted cream is skimmed off. course can be more important than that this chief officer should be in hearty accord with the spirit of the legislation which he has to carry out. If he is not, he has immense power to neutralize its provisions. He can choose subordinates who dislike its provisions, who will be languid in understanding what they dislike, who will be quick to avail themselves of every loophole to escape from what they dislike. This is precisely what has happened during President Johnson's rule; and nothing could have been more fatal to that unity and firmness of purpose so essential to the renovation of the political bond between North and South. And so conspicuous has this been that all but two-thirds of the Senate, and much more than two-thirds of the whole Congress, think Mr. Johnson a mere traitor, a political criminal, with whom it is impossible to keep any terms. Yet not Mr. Johnson but the Legislature has to give way. The man whom Congress trusts, and whom Mr. Johnson distrusts, has had to give up the War Office, and for the rest of the nine months of his reign, Mr. Johnson may do exactly what he pleases, so long as he does not openly or flagrantly violate any admitted law. Such a position strikes, or ought to strike, an educated political imagination as the highest of all possible absurdities. If the Americans do not see it quite as strongly as we do, it is perhaps for a double reason, - because they do not apply as vivid a political imagination as we do to the political circumstances of their country, and also because, partly perhaps on that very account, political evils which we should think of the most insupportable kind do not affect them so much, and indeed, so long as they remain political, are felt to be in a region not quite near enough to affect seriously the true life of the nation. But though we appreciate keenly-far more keenly than many of our contemporaries - the unfortunate result of the impeachment, as showing absolutely no constitutional loophole out of the inflexible system of the written Constitution, we cannot but respect the remarkable proof of stability, and in a certain sense doubtless of moral stability, which some of the senators have given under circumstances of great trial and pressure. We do not say whether or not the section of Republicans who deserted their party, - Mr. Fessenden, Mr. Trumbull, Mr. Henderson, and Mr. Grimes, decided wisely and rightly. How far they were or were not wise in their decision is a point on which we do not feel called upon to express any opinion. But that they showed the highest kind of political con scientiousness and firmness under some of of Mr. Johnson. They have disliked and the most trying circumstances to which poli- bitterly condemned his policy. They abhor ticians were ever yet exposed, is indisputa- the principles of the only party which has ble. Probably no party ever used weapons supported him. They think poorly of his more vulgar and violent to overwhelm hesi- motives and meanly of his powers. But tating members of it than the Republican they cannot convince themselves that he has party have used against these four senators. been guilty of "high crimes and misdeThe New York correspondent of the Daily meanours in the sense contemplated by News, himself a Republican, and at one the Constitution; and therefore, in spite of time at least before the party became so incessant persecution, in spite of delegafierce and factious a cordial supporter of tions which pursued them even into their the impeachment, details the disgraceful bed-rooms to insist on their changing their persecution to which these senators, who votes, in spite of every abuse the newspahave nothing to gain and much to lose by pers can lavish on them, they have stood their desertion of their party, have been ex-firm, and voted for a man whom they dislike, posed. The New York Tribune, says this condemn, and probably even despise, rather correspondent, "has an article on Mr. than violate their own political consciences. Grimes, of Iowa, every day, proving both There is a gallantry in this conduct which, his idiotcy and knavery. Another mode of whether we agree or disagree in their opinannoying him, which the same journal prac-ion, ought to raise very greatly our estimate tices, is to quote against him a line from the of the calibre of the American Senators. old song, running, Old Grimes is dead, The difficulty of standing firm against the that good old man.' Yesterday morning it mass of your own party in a democratic had a paragraph at the head of its leading country like America, where public opinion columns consisting simply of the words gains a sort of artificial sacredness for the Grimes is dead. Its correspondent at consciences of politicians, to say nothing of Washington goes further still, and describes the violent penalties which it imposes on his guilty, ugly looks as he sits in the Sen- those who offend it-penalties of which ate." This paper, the paper of Mr. English political criticism gives us absoHorace Greeley, a man who at one time lutely no idea at all—must be incalculable. held high and honourable rank among jour-Party organization is there so close and nalists, lets its Washington correspond- habitual that a man who sets it at defiance ent speak of Mr. Grimes as "curling him- literally irritates it into insane rage such as self up on his seat [in the Senate] as mean, we have just illustrated. It is so accusnoxious, and repulsive as a hedgehog in the tomed to dictate that it gnashes its teeth cage of a travelling menagerie. Such is a when its dictation on a question of first-rate mere specimen of the mud thrown at the importance is defied. If the inflexibility of four Republican deserters from the party the American Constitution is an evil-and for convicting Mr. Johnson. Now it is all we hold it to be a great evil- the inflexibut impossible that these men should have bility of the leading men who are engaged acted as they have from any but high and in applying it to practical politics is a mathonourable motives. It is true that they ter for pure congratulation. After all the may have felt a little pique at the elevation stability of the system depends on the staof Mr. Wade to the chair of the Senate, bility of character of the men whom the for which some of them had expected to be system breeds. If this be of a high calibre, chosen, and for which it seems certain that we may be sure that the deficiency of the some of them would have been far better system will sooner or later be amended, and fitted than Mr. Wade. But however possi- something more practicable and elastic subble it may be that a feeling of pique may stituted for the written law which now divides unconsciously have mingled with their mo- the Constitution against itself. But without tives, it is certain that it would have been probity and inflexibility of character in the far more conducive to any selfish and ambi- statesman, no system however perfect could tious hopes that they may have entertained, work for good. We are not sure that the had they supported their party instead of votes of Mr. Fessenden, Mr. Trumbull, incurring its bitter hatred. There is noth- Mr. Henderson, and Mr. Grimes were right. ing that is harder in public life than for men We are sure that they were votes which to endure steadily the bitter vituperation prove that the United States can still proand reproaches of friends and followers, duce political martyrs for principle, and without being supported by any sympathy that it is through such men as these, whether with their opponents. This is, we believe, precisely the position of the four Republican senators who have secured the acquittal right or wrong in their individual judgment, that the democracy of the States will ultimately be purified and saved. THE MORAL OF THE PIG; A Ballad for GROWN-UP CHILDREN, SHORT ARTICLES. Spectator, 247 Spectator, 254 220 JUST PUBLISHED AT THIS OFFICE : LINDA TRESSEL, by the Author of Nina Balatka. Price 38 cts. LATELY PUBLISHED: THE BROWNLOWS, by MRS. OLIPHANT. 38 cts. THE TENANTS OF MALORY, by J. S. LE FANU. 50 cts. PREPARING FOR PUBLICATION AT THIS OFFICE: GRACE OWEN'S ENGAGEMENT. THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP'S FOLLY, by CHARLES LEVER. PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY BY LITTELL & GAY, BOSTON. TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. FOR EIGHT DOLLARS, remitted directly to the Publishers, the LIVING AGE will be punctually for warded for a year, free of postage. But we do not prepay postage on less than a year, nor where we have to pay commission for forwarding the money. Price of the First Series, in Cloth, 36 volumes, 90 dollars. Any Volume Bound, 3 dollars; Unbound, 2 dollars. The sets, or volumes, will be sent at the expense of the publishers. PREMIUMS FOR CLUBS. For 5 new subscribers ($40.), a sixth copy; or a set of HORNE'S INTRODUCTION TO THE BIBLE, unabridged, in 4 large volumes, cloth, price $10; or any 5 of the back volumes of the LIVING AGE, in numbers, price $10. From The Owl. R. I. P. not accept the amendment. She was quite aware that there were some ladies who adored the luxury of grief, and who, thinking mournseries of flirtations to going boldly forward and ing very becoming, preferred widowhood and a competing for a Number Two, Three, or Four, as the case might be. (Murmurs.) With such Let them go in, and, if they could, win. (Hear, as these she had no patience. (Loud cheers.) hear.) But as to loungers on sofas in widow's caps, with cottages at Petersham, and miniatures on guéridons, it was unfair- (cheers)cheers)—and un-English. (Reiterated apunwomanly (cheers) unwidowlike- (loud plause.) The Marchioness Cityward rose and said that before a division was taken she wished to ask a few questions. She was not a widow, but soon but Marquises were sometimes partial to persons might be. Her husband-well, never mind; A MEETING was called a few days since at the house of a well-known Dowager Countess to lay down a fresh code for the duration of mourning amongst the Upper Classes. The noble Hostess being called to the chair, opened the proceedings with a few appropriate remarks. She said that the introduction of railways and telegraphs had hastened the action of human life and the mental system to an unprecedented extent. Look at the Funds. It was impossible, from one half hour to the other, to calculate on a permanent fall, or a permanent rise. A telegram might arrive any moment at the Foreign Office, and Mr. Hammond might interfere with the best devised financial combination. In fact, she herself, on the advice of an old Italian diplomatist, had beared Austrian stock but a few moments before a telegram from Pesth had established an she used the phrase advisedly. to persons advance of three per cent. Then, again, look who had wrongs. But never mind. She was at wars. What with railways and needle-guns not a widow, and really hoped not to be one for a they had become narrowed to the smallest di- long time. But she wished to know - first, mensions, and a peace was concluded in the whether the period of mourning was to begin space of time that, according to Sir Josiah Barrington, used to be consumed with an Irish ball. running from the day of decease or the day of the funeral. This was a most important considCourtships were over in three days. Honey-eration, and must not be overlooked. Secondly, moons were reduced to a week, and evanescent she wished to know if, at the expiration of the affections, which used to last from one to two mourning, supposing it to be a short one, the years, are reduced to as many months. Life now crowded into itself more events than were here- principle of immediate remarriage was admitted. Lady Angela Sweetlove said she would at once tofore comprised in a generation, and it was resolve these problems. She considered that in therefore indispensable that the period of mourncases where the mourning was to be under three ing should be curtailed, if, in fact, any at all were necessary. The noble Chairwoman therefore proposed that immediate steps should be taken to establish a uniform rule, and she hoped that all private family traditions, as to the duration of grief, should be merged in the general social legislation that would follow this important gathering. Miss Niobe Alpaca, from Jay's Warehouse, having been selected as permanent salaried secretary, the following resolutions were discussed Lady Moire Antique, as an elderly widow, considered it her duty to espouse the cause of those young married women who might ere long be reduced to the same sad condition as herself. (Cheers.) The first function of a woman was amusement. (Cheers.) The second, marriage, (Louder cheers.) The third, grief. (Protracted applause.) It was with regret that she stated that the absurd regulations respecting grief that obtained in her youth had debarred her for one year from amusement, for two years from marriage. (Oh!) Without further preface, then, she would move the first resolution -"That henceforth the mourning of widows for their dear defuncts shall be limited to one week for every year of marriage." The motion having been seconded, Lady Hysteria Gushing rose to move an amendment, viz. "That after the word defuncts should be inserted the words, 'except in cases of perpetual woe.' Lady Moire Antique replied that she could weeks it should date from the funeral. If for a longer term, from the date of the dear one's departure. As to the second question, she was of opinion that it must much depend on the eligibility of the proposed successor. Lady Maneater inquired what amusements were available during the first burst of grief. that she saw no harm in the Polytechnic. This, Lady Moire Antique took it on herself to say perhaps, did not suit all minds, in which case the Opera, or a play in a retired box, might, under certain circumstances, be admissible. A short discussion was then raised as to the mourning to be observed by aunts, sisters, nieces, and cousins; but this being considered an unnecessary waste of time, the question was put and carried unanimously. The President then reported progress, and tea was brought in. TURNING A TYPE INSIDE OUT. THE type of faith or Spiritual reliance, HIGH WALK OF ART.-BLONDIN across Niagara. Punch. From The North British Review. reign. Saint Louis was the Augustus or Histoire de Saint Louis. Par Félix Faure. the Pericles of the so-called Gothic style; Paris, 1867. the marvellous cathedrals of Amiens, Bourges, the choir of Beauvais, and many other masterpieces of ecclesiastical structure; such choice bijous as the Sainte-Chapelle, built as a reliquary for the crown of thorns, nople; a countless number of abbeys, convents, hospitals, and fine specimens also of pointed-arch civil architecture;—were either completed or commenced in the reign of Saint Louis. To use the picturesque language of the Sire de Joinville-"As the transcriber illuminates the book which he is writing with gold and azure, so the said king illuminated his kingdom with the fine abbeys which he built there, with MaisonsDieu and the monasteries of the Preachers (the Dominicans), and the Chartreux (the Franciscans), and other religious orders." VOLTAIRE said of Louis IX., "Il n'est pas donné à l'homme de pousser plus loin la vertu," and Voltaire can hardly be expected to be prejudiced in favour of a king consid-procured from the Emperor of Constantiered by the Church of Rome as a fit subject for canonization. The only rival, from a moral point of view, perhaps in all history, who can be found for Saint Louis, is Marcus Aurelius. Both were perfect representatives, the one of a religion, the other of a philosophy, which enjoined the practice of self-abnegation to an almost superhuman extent. But history, as a rule, may be said, like children, not to evince any extravagant attachment to those held up as paragons of exemplary conduct. She is more fond of associating herself with the grands scélérats of all ages -the Borgias, the Catherines de Medici, the Richards III., and Philips II.; and to say the truth, unless the paragon happens to be born in an age of revolution and trouble, his life is not likely to have much to do with those tragic Bouillon, ended with Saint Louis-both vicissitudes and episodes of terror which men of the grandest types of humanity, and rouse the wilder emotions into activity. the difference of which well illustrates the And the reign of Saint Louis especially, so progress of ethics and religion during the far as France is concerned, could, without two centuries and a half which intervened his Crusades, hardly be made very attract-between them. But it is as the last of the Crusaders that Louis stands in the most romantic light before posterity, and that history finds a tragic and sentimental interest in his life. The Crusades, which began with Godfrey de ive reading by any expenditure of human If it were not for the precious record art. Happy, it has been said, are the people who have no history; and France, from the date of the battle of Taillebourg in 1242, down to the end of the reign of Saint Louis in 1270, was in the enjoyment of profound peace. The only history of the country consists in a record of the yearly journeys of the King from town to town, vigilantly looking after the interests of his people,- of his administrative and legislative reforms, and in long accounts of the immense expenditure of his inexhaustible charities,-none of which subjects offer very attractive material for readers fond of stimulants, and not given to special habits of study. One portion of the achievements of his reign would indeed be of the highest interest to the student of art, if its history could be fairly exhibited, the progress of ecclesiastical and civil architecture,- since the pointedarch style reached its perfection in this which has escaped oblivion, the life-like and charming narrative of the Sire de Joinville,- we should have a very imperfect acquaintance with the real character of Saint Louis; and as it is, notwithstanding their close intimacy, and the delightful example of how a king and a hero can be familiar with a subject and yet retain his veneration, it is clear that Joinville was not capable of entirely comprehending the elevation and nobility of the King's mind, and that Saint Louis exercised a good deal of reserve towards him in the innermost convictions and highest aspirations of his soul. The piety of Saint Louis, like all true piety, was in the highest degree modest and sensitive; and he forbore to make any display of it, except so far as he thought it for their own and the public good. He showed, in the unforeseen way in which he proclaimed both his Crusades, that he knew how to |