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and appease his alarms. Shoals of pamphlets, all intended to exterminate 'Maga,' were forwarded to Mr Murray, the writers evidently believing that if Murray withdrew, 'Maga' was doomed. There were a venomous "Review of 'Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine' for October 1817," by Campbell Kidd; "Letters [four in all] to Dr Thomas M'Crie and the Rev. Mr Andrew Thomson on the Parody of Scripture lately published in 'Blackwood's Magazine' by Calvinus "--who was James Grahame, advocate; and "A Letter to Mr John Murray of Albemarle Street," -in short, the anti-' Maga' publications of the day would make a couple of goodly sized volumes. But the weakest as well as the silliest production of the enemy "Hypocrisy Unveiled and Calumny Detected," which obtained some notoriety through the challenges which Wilson and Lockhart forwarded to the author, more for the purpose of unmasking the calumniator than in any hope that he would prove worthy of powder and shot. Blackwood, however, knew quite well what he was doing in giving a free hand to Wilson and Lockhart, and it was not to be supposed that he would restrain the buoyant spirits that were making Maga' a power more and more every month. A glance at the state of contemporary criticism will show that strong writing was called for, and that the "personalities" only consisted in bringing before the public the men who were doing their worst to pervert the literary taste of the age. The very men who were lashed were themselves the greatest offenders against the decencies of letters; and the literary Flibbertigibbets who even in the present day glorify their sufferings, have reason to be grateful that they

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have been born under a milder régime. The lead which the new Magazine speedily began to take in both politics and criticism, must, more than any other consideration, have brought home to Murray, as the publisher of the Quarterly,' that the two interests were somewhat incompatible; and in the beginning of 1819 he withdrew his interest in 'Maga,' and his Edinburgh agency was transferred to another firm, Blackwood's increasing business as a publisher being now quite sufficient to demand his whole energies.

After the year 1830 Murray made it a rule to decline all original poetry; and indeed, in the years that have succeeded the deaths of Scott, Wordsworth, and Byron, no great sacrifice was involved by its observance. He had been princely in his remuneration of poetry, and the large sums which he had given for copyrights had not always been repaid him. Eight or nine years later he further severed his connection with belles lettres by disposing of his novels and romances the most notable of which were 'Anastasius' and ‹ Hajji Baba,' and Disraeli's Contarini Fleming'-to other publishers. The business was then narrowed down to the solid class of works with which the name of Murray has been chiefly associated during the present generation, and travels, biographies of distinguished individuals, works of science and art, and general literature." This field of literature though of the most practical importance, does not give the same prospects of sensational success— although we believe the sale of 'Lux Mundi' in our own day may be fairly said to rival any of the successes of the ancien régime; and with the banishment of the

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bards from the Albemarle Street Parnassus, the romance of the house subsides into dull though doubtless remunerative prose. In our times "Murray" is the motto of foreign travel, the "Hand-book" which is as essential to the British tourist as a Cook's ticket or a Foreign Office passport-the book which we scarcely know whether to ban or bless; for if it betrays your own nationality, it is equally serviceable in warning you of the vicinity of your dear compatriots. These useful volumes originated with the third John Murray, who through a long and honourable career has sustained the position of his house down to our day; and Dr Smiles in his work gives us many pleasant glimpses of the Continental journeys undertaken by him while collecting materials for the Hand-books, of the first series of which he was himself the author.

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To John Murray the elder, William Blackwood said with much justice,—"In your connections with literary men, when I consider the books you have published and are to publish, you have the happiness of making it a liberal profession, and not a mere business of the pence. This I consider one

of the greatest privileges we have in our business." In the view which both these publishers took of their calling, the author will cordially agree. The privilege which is given to the publisher of serving the interests of literature, of recognising and promoting the aspirations of genius, of enjoying the friendship and confidence of the most talented and brilliant of his contemporaries, is the only advantage which he possesses over the ordinary trader; and it is the account to which he turns this privilege that must determine the claim which his memory is to have upon posterity. "Authors have been my dearest friends and companions all the days of my life," said John Blackwood, speaking at the Scott Scott centenary banquet. "To them I can turn in joy and sorrow for safe and certain sympathy." In the present day, when publishing, equally with a brewery or a coal-pit, is regarded as the fitting subject of limited liability speculation, it is useful to have an ideal, higher and more honourable to the literary profession—which is, in the ultimate, the exploited subject-of the relations between author and publisher brought back to our recollection.

DESPOTISM, ANARCHY, AND CORRUPTION IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

THE popular outbreak at New Orleans to remedy the corruption or inefficiency of the courts of law by an act of self-assertive justice, and the perilous position in which it has placed America's relations with Italy, has revealed a feebleness of administration in the United States constitution, not indeed unknown to those who have watched its working, but manifesting itself in situations hitherto wholly unexpected. The central Government has already been compelled to make a humiliating confession of its powerlessness to controlits individual parts, and to offer any except pecuniary redress for an outrage which, however justified upon abstract grounds, is clearly a violation of international law and treaty assurances. The position of the United States Government is not an agreeable one. It has received what, had it been a European State, would have been equivalent to a declaration of war; and though in the present day we may anticipate that the difficulty will be got over without the blockade of New York or the burning of New Orleans, it is difficult to see how, even with the aid of the friendly mediation that will doubtless not be wanting, America can beat a dignified retreat from the imbroglio.

But the effects of the incident will not end with the patching up of the present disturbance. The example which Italy has set of calling the United States to account for the treatment of its emigrants will not be lost upon other European Powers. Every

State in Europe is largely represented in the population of the United States; citizenship is not always sought by the emigrant, and consequently every European Power is interested in the ability of the United States Government to afford adequate protection to the lives and property of those who have been induced to seek its hospitality. If we are not mistaken, the difficulties to the central Government of Washington arising out of the New Orleans incident will not terminate with its settlement. The mass of uncitizenised Germans, Austrians, Russians, Dutch, Scandinavians, and French, as well as the Italians themselves, have been forcibly reminded that their fatherlands are still interested in their welfare, and that they can look beyond Washington for protection and redress. The European Powers have had their eyes opened to the confession which America has made of her incapacity to exercise that authority over the different members of her confederation which the law of nations demands of every civilised State, and it will be their duty to watch more closely than before over the fortunes of their emigrants. We have credited the United States with possessing a latent despotism which could be effectively used in the public interests in times of emergency; but on closer examination we come to the conclusion that the republican despotism is only employed as a selfish and anarchic weapon, the tool of political parties and the auxiliary of private interests, and,

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worst of all, it is not in the executive power that despotism is always vested.

Citizens of the United States of America may pooh-pooh, or with more or less vehemence deny and perhaps resent, an assertion or suggestion that there is at least as much despotism in the United States as in any other country, civilised or uncivilised. It can be asserted, and is asserted, that pure republicanism does not pay in the United States, and is ignored; that most of the citizens are hoodwinked and deluded, and take a shadow for reality; that the population is divided into classes, and each class has "bosses" who see to it that they eat the oyster, their party members get the shells, and those not of their party can fight for the odour thereof. These "bosses" are tyrants, the majority of the others slaves. The United States, and each state, claims to be a republic, but each is practically an oligarchy of an objectionable form. Money and political power are ever in the thoughts of the people -with the exception of a small minority of noble men and women. The great idol of the country is "Self," and modern civilisation is moulded accordingly. It may be said, and practically it is true, that the present inhabitants of the United States are not descended from the heroic founders of the Republic, and do not possess the selfsacrificing qualities, the honesty of purpose, which carried the revolutionaries unflinchingly through all difficulties. Unless a change of policy comes timeously, the history of the Rise and Fall of the Republic of the United States of America may be written within the next century.

It is unnecessary to trace the circumstances which developed

VOL. CXLIX.-NO. DCCCCVII.

and brought about the issuing of the famous Declaration of Independence of 4th July 1776, or to relate how the thirteen original states became forisfamiliated, entered into an impracticable confederacy.upon 9th July 1778, and upon 17th September 1787 entered into the Union which still exists in terms of the then adopted Constitution of the United States of America as amended by fifteen articles. There are now fortyfour states in the Union (not counting territories), and the United States have grown and developed, and now rank as one of the most powerful nations upon earth. Each state in the Union is a distinct country, perfectly independent of all the other states, except in so far as it in common with all other states has restricted its powers, privileges, and immunities in terms of the Constitution of the United States as amended. Each state has its own constitution, adopted by vote of its citizens, and each citizen retains his inalienable rights of man except in so far as restricted in terms of the state and federal constitutions.

The citizens of each state are entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several states.

The

The legislative powers of the United States are vested in a Congress of the United States, which consists of a Senate and House of Representatives. Senate is composed of two senators from each state, chosen by the state legislature, who serve six years, and have each one vote. Every second year one-third of the whole number of senators has to be rechosen, their seats becoming vacated. The members of the House of Representatives are chosen every second year by the

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people of the several states; and the representatives are apportioned among the several states according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each state, excluding Indians not taxed. The number of representatives for the then thirty-seven states was restricted, after 3d March 1873, to 292, and such additional representatives as should be assigned to a new state upon admission to the Union. The apportionment of the 292 representatives to the thirty-seven states is made according to the federal census taken every tenth year. The last census returns acted upon were those of 1880. Certain states have an additional state census taken, so as to have an enumeration of inhabitants every fifth year; and these federal and state censuses regulate the apportionment of assemblymen to counties, and of senators to districts. In most of the states the legislature consists of a senate and an assembly, the assemblymen and senators being elected by vote of the citizens.

By the Declaration of Independence of 4th July 1776, which is incorporated in the constitution of each state, the citizens of the United States "hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its

foundation on such principles, and organising its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness."

The civil war, which ended more than a quarter of a century ago, seems to have established the point that might is right, and that no form of government, however destructive, shall be altered or abolished in states or in the Union, unless the party making the change be sufficiently strong to overcome the active opposition of all citizens of the United States. Had the natural resources of the seceding Southern states been as well developed then as now, or had the Union party not enlisted mercenaries or newly arrived immigrants, it is believed that the Confederate states would have succeeded in seceding, and that the above-quoted clause would have received a different construction. As it is, there is no apparent likelihood of further civil war between North and South; but there is the writing upon the wall in another direction. The inalienable rights of citizens are being whittled by partisan politicians, and the Republic cannot exist when these rights are gone. Can man exist without these inalienable rights? There seems to be an inconsistency somewhere. But the Declaration of Independence, which is incorporated into the constitution of each state, declares that citizens have the right to alter and abolish destructive governments. Were they to try to get rid of the evils of political "bossism" and the corrupt and corrupting system of partisan machine politics, there is no saying what form of government may be instituted.

A new race of men and women now inhabits the United States.

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