salutes his meanest subjects with courtesy; is sincerely though often mistakenly religious, and will acknowledge a fault committed towards his poorest follower in a moment of passion, with sincerity and grace.

'He is generous to excess, and free from all cupidity, regarding nothing with pleasure or desire but munitions of war for his soldiers. He has hitherto exercised the utmost clemency towards the vanquished, treating them rather as his friends than his enemies. His faith is signal. Without Christ,' he says, 'I am nothing. If He has destined me to purify and reform this distracted kingdom, with His aid, who shall stay me?' Nay, sometimes he is on the point of not caring for human assistance at all; and this is one reason why he will not seek with much avidity for assistance from or alliance with Europe.

"The worst points in his character are his violent anger at times, his unyielding pride as regards his kingly and divine right, and his fanatical religious zeal.

"He has begun to reform even the dress of Abyssinia, all about his person wearing large flowing trowsers, and upper and under vests, instead of the half-naked costumes introduced

by the Gallas. Married himself at the altar, and strictly continent, he has ordered or persuaded all who love him to follow his example, and exacts the greatest decency of manners and conversation. This system he hopes to extend to all classes.

"He has suppressed the slave-trade in all its phases, save that the slaves already bought may be sold to such Christians as shall buy them for charity. Setting the example, he pays to the Musselman dealers what price they please to ask for the slaves they bring to him, and then baptizes them.

"He has abolished the barbarous practice of delivering over murderers to the relatives of the deceased, handing over offenders, in public, to his own executioners, to be shot or decapitated.

"The arduous task of breaking the power of the great feudal chiefs-a task achieved in Europe only during the reign of many consecutive kings he has commenced by chaining almost all who were dangerous, avowing his intention of liberating them when his power shall be consolidated. He has placed the soldiers of the different provinces under the command of his own trusty followers, to whom he has given high titles, but no power to judge or punish; thus, in fact, creating generals in place of feudal chieftains more proud of their birth than of their monarch, and organizing a new nobility, a legion cf honor dependent on himself, and chosen specially for their daring and fidelity."

This sketch was written many years ago, but it shows that the man who

could call out so much enthusiasm could be no common character. It is probable, however, that his good qualities have faded since that time, and that his darker traits have been gaining the ascendant.

It was in 1855 that the young Emperor of the now united Abyssinia was crowned, and every thing promised well for his sway. He was strongly opposed to all Mahometans, and as strongly drawn to Europeans. Indeed, it is not too much to say, that if his first letter to Queen Victoria, in 1862, had not been contemptuously passed over in silence, his desire for an alliance with the Eng-lish, as well as with the French and Russian powers, would have led to results diametrically opposed to those which have taken place. Previous to Theodore's time-indeed as early as 1849-negotiations were opened between England and Abyssinia, but they led to few results; and it was only when the powerful mind of the young usurper took hold of the matter, that it began to assume moment. Yet his manner of going to work was wholly wrong. He knew the greatness of the European powers only partially; at any rate, ho overrated his own, and in writing to Queen Victoria, in 1862, his language) was so strongly steeped in oriental arrogance as to make him the jest of all, Europe. Yet it is not to be overlooked, in America at least, that the mistake which Theodore committed was not, greater than Victoria's, in not replying. He overrated himself, his kingly importance, and the relation of Abyssinia to the rest of the world. He showed the want of travel, and of that culture which lets men see the perspective of national importance. And it was only natural. How should he, a meanly educated African prince, know better? He saw that the arts of England were good, and that her manufactures were very desirable, but he could not know the weight of her gloved hand, nor the power of her armaments. It has been stated in a prominent American journal, that he went so far as to propose terms of marriage to Queen Victoria, but this

is not true; he simply desired to open channels of diplomatic and commercial intercourse. His letter, which was written in his own hand, was unanswered, and in his rage at this slight he began his acts of cruelty.

It was not till a year after Theodore had despatched his letter to the English Queen, and to Napoleon, that he went so far as to throw Colonel Cameron, the newly-appointed representative of the British government, into prison, and to keep him there chained to an Abyssinian soldier; but in the very summer of 1862, while waiting for his answer, his cruel treatment of Europeans began. His temper broke out most bitterly upon Rev. Mr. Stern, a German-English missionary, and two servants who had tried to act as interpreters between himself and the English. All three of these he caused to be whipped severely-indeed, so cruelly that the two servants died of their stripes the next day. From that time on the lives of all Europeans were manifestly at the mercy of the fierce Emperor. All accounts agree, that when his anger was kindled, his wrath was truly volcanic. At the time when Mr. Stern just escaped being flogged to death, Theodore was seated upon a rock a few feet off, his mouth foaming, his eyes glaring, a spear clutched nervously in his hand, and his whole aspect that of a madman. No language can surpass the energetic terms with which he is painted by those who were then the objects of his violence and his anger. Yet there was a certain dim fear of the consequences even then hanging over him; for while the two servants were being flogged to death for their want of skill in interpreting, Mr. Stern bit his thumb (a sign in Abyssinia that revenge will one day be exacted); and. Theodore, although raving with anger, did not dare to put the worthy though outraged missionary to death. So, too, through all these long years of captivity, from 1863 to 1868, amid all the privations, the degradations, the anxieties, the frequent removals, the scourgings, which the captives have been subjected to, no one

has been killed excepting the two interpreters already mentioned.

After Colonel Cameron, the English Consul, had been two years a prisoner at Magdala, the central and chief fortress town of Abyssinia, the British Government sent Mr. Rassam, an Asiatic by birth, although then one of its employés at Aden, to endeavor to procure the release of Colonel Cameron and the

missionaries. At that time, however, the mission was thought to be a hopeless one, for it was supposed that Theodore had a large and united army at his command, and it was supposed that his temper was so violent, that, should the British Government talk sternly and threaten him, he would immediately kill the prisoners and defy the English arins. Happily the English Minister, Lord Russell, had sent a note in the name of the Queen, and the French Premier, Druyn de l'Huys, had done the same in the name of Napoleon; but these did not wholly mend the matter. Mr. Rassam remained at Massonah, a Turkish port on the Red Sea, four hundred miles from Magdala, for more than a year, waiting for permission to go up into the interior; and when, at last, that permission was granted, Mr. Rassam was not allowed to take the direct route, but was compelled to make a detour of over two hundred miles. He enjoyed a gracious reception, however, and supposed that he should have no difficulty in accomplishing the object of his mission. He did, indeed, receive a distinct promise from Theodore that Colonel Cameron and all the other prisoners should be released, but it was soon withdrawn under the frivolous pretext that Theodore was fearing a combined Turkish and English invasion, and the captivity was prolonged. A Mr. Flad, one of the missionaries, was sent to England with a second letter to the Queen, beginning in this style: "In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. From God's slave and His created being, the son of David, the son of Solomon, Theodore," &c. It was no less arrogant in its demands than the first, and was calculated to throw

the English nation into a perfect ferment. And, indeed, it did do this; and from that time the English mind was as firmly and fixedly made up that there must be a war with this doubledealing, vituperative, England-despising Theodore, as was the mind of the North, after the assault on Sumter, that there must be war with the South. True, it was thought very doubtful what the issue might be: many supposed that it would be the most impracticable contest on which England ever entered. Those great Abyssinian mountains would afford perfect impunity to the barbarian Emperor and his hordes; there was a desert march of four hundred miles from Massonah on the Red Sea, to Magdala, and the odds were, on the whole, awful. There could no pecuniary or commercial advantage come out of it, people said, yet it must be attempted. Two English consuls were then detained as captivesColonel Cameron and Mr. Rassam-and the British Lion was not the animal to stand quictly by and see itself defied and derided by a barbarous mountainchief, with however large an army under his control. Yet, the more that was learned about Theodore, gave the English confidence and assurance. It was certain that his army, ten years before so strong, was completely demoralized; indeed, it was conjectured that only a few thousand men could be relied upon as loyal. His guns and munitions were old-fashioned and clumsy, his fortifications not at all adapted to resist the assault of modern weapons. It was known, indeed, that he was cunning and unscrupulous, but he might be at any time at the mercy of his passions, and be hurried into hasty and illadvised action. The mountain-passes might perhaps be found as accessible to Europeans as to Abyssinians; and, in deed, it is now known that no barbarians can compete, either in endurance or in daring, with well-equipped and well-trained men of civilized lands.

It was only in last year (1867) that the English Government sent Theodore its ultimatum, and concluded to risk

every thing to save its honor and the lives of its subjects. It has always been one of the most creditable features of British history, that no man, owing allegiance to the English crown, has ever appealed to the throne in vain where the majesty of the British nation has been assaulted in him. Word was sent to the treacherous Theodore that three months would be given him to return the prisoners, and that, at the end of that time, should they not be forthcoming, war would be proclaimed against him. The African monarch defied the threat, and in the autumn of 1867 an English army, composed of about 10,000 men, under the command of General Robert Napier, landed at Mas-· sonah, and began the march to Magdala. Their journey across the desert was slow and painful, and the threatened want of water proved a fearful trial and scourge. Fortunately, the American method of boring Artesian wells relieved this difficulty, and saved the army from death by thirst. The way was long-not far from three hundred miles. The army travelled with large numbers of mules and horses, to draw the heavy guns and the great baggagewagons; and numerous droves of cattle also accompanied the troops, for the purpose of supplying them with meat. Water was therefore a prime necessity; and, thanks to American skill and enterprise, it was gained by piercing deep below the desert surface.

It is unnecessary to tell in these pages the story of that march. The result is familiar in all minds. The conquest of Magdala on Good Friday of this year, the death of Theodore bravely fighting at the head of his troops, the recovery of all the English captives, are things of yesterday, and all know how triumphantly the English army triumphed over all obstacles, and made itself master of Abyssinia. What may in the future grow out of this conquest, it is impossible to conjecture. The country is rich in just those things which not England alone, but the civilized world, want— ivory, hides, and valuable woods; while the adjacent lands in the west produce

a very fine quality of cotton. Indeed, it needs nothing more than the last book of Baker's to show that the mastery of that healthful, romantic, rich, and productive tract must open to Englishmen a field for great business enterprise. It cannot be confounded for an instant with those sickly and dreary regions visited by Speke and Baker, further south, the great Lake country, a country wholly repulsive. The Abyssinian highlands are as attractive as the Lake district is uninviting.

It is hardly to be doubted, that in the future there will be two leading routes for reaching Abyssinia-one by way of Massonah, the other the one taken by Baker, and leading through Cassala. Indeed, this great explorer was strenuous in his advice that the British army should take this course. He pointed out the great danger to be apprehended by approaching from the cast, in the want of water; and had it not been for the Artesian wells, the disregard of Baker's advice would have been fatal to the whole army. things taken into account, however, I am inclined to think that the route by Massonah will henceforth be regarded as the most available, so close and easy are the connections between this port, Suez, Aden, and Bombay. Massonah is under Turkish control, and has no connection whatever with the empire of Abyssinia.

All

offer an exception to the rule; they present large and undulating plains, intersected by high hills; but we find nowhere that common character of the land, deep chasms separating from one another precipitous flat plateaux.

"With the exception of Taranta, Lalalmon, and some peaks in Shoa, Lasta, &c., that tower to a height of twelve or fourteen thousand feet above the level of the sea, the elev. tion of the plateaux averages between seven and nine thousand feet. The basin of the Tana Sea is somewhat lower, computed at six thousand feet, but the land shelves rapidly to the higher altitude, and a few miles from the lake seven to eight thousand feet are attained.

Abyssinia by giving birth to the Blue Nile, made that country at all times the longing ambition of travellers. Bruce had the first glory of ascertaining its source, surmised only before him. The source of the Blue Nile is at

Gojam, and issues at an elevation of ten thou

sand feet above the level of the sea. It flows at first north, towards the Tana Sea where it is greatly increased; again issues at the southeast extremity of that reservoir, circumvallates the province of Gojam, again to flow towards the north. The other most important rivers of Abyssinia are the Takazze, the Bashilo, the Djidda, and the Gumodge-all affluents of the Blue Nile. The principal lakes are Tana (Tzana) in Dembra, and Haik.

"Apart from Gondar, Adowa, and Kourata, there are but few towns of any importance.

Abyssinians prefer small villages situated near their fields and cattle to any of the advantages of towns. Gondar is no more; Adowa I have not seen; but if we take Kourata as a sample, we must acknowledge that they have not much to attract. Apart from a dozen stone houses, the dwellings of the citizens differ in no marked respect from those of the peasants. The same circular hut, with mud-walls and thatched roof, is common to both. The traveller, even favored with the hospitality of the wealthiest, will soon bid farewell to his well-meaning host, and seek elsewhere for fresh air and rest,"

But we need not cite further; ere long we shall have a flood of Abyssinia literature upon us, and the sketches which the English campaign elicited will doubtless-in quantity, and perhaps in quality-cause all that we have

at present to lose their lustre. Yet it is a romantic country, and it will be long before it will wholly lose the romance which Bruce long ago threw over it, and which Theodore has so prosperously continued down to our day.

WE shall none of us forget soon the impression produced on the public mind by the article in Putnam's Monthly, of February, '53, on the claims of the Rev. Eleazar Williams to be regarded as the Dauphin of France, followed, as the article was, by others with further proof. It was an interest which did not have to reach its height through gradual periods of growth. It sprang forth Minerva-like, and secured itself at once a prominent place in the newspapers, and among the current topics of conversation. In all parts of the country the question, "Have we a Bourbon among us?" divided the community; and there were few intelligent persons who did not range themselves on one side or the other. The interest was probably due to several causes. France was just then drawing the world's attention to herself by re-establishing the empire under Napoleon III., while the Count of Chambord was protesting in behalf of his legitimate Bourbon claims. Then, the matter had just enough raciness in it to make us keenly interested in what was to us only a curious historical problem. Probably we should have weighed our decision more carefully, and tested more anxiously the grounds on which it was formed, had it involved a change of rulers for ourselves. Then, part of the interest was due to Mr. Hanson's clever and evidently honest advocacy; and part to the contrast between the manner of Mr. Williams' previous life, and the position to which, if the claims were true, he was entitled, and out of which he had long been defrauded.

But great as the interest was, it subsided, after a little while, as quickly as it arose. For a time the newspaper paragraphists thought it worth their while to chronicle the movements of Mr. Williams; ladies sought an introduction to his royal presence; curiosityhunters begged his autograph. But, for some time before Mr. Williams' death, ten yeas ago, and ever since, there has been a profound indifference as to the whole subject. Nor was this surprising, because nothing arose to feed or prolong the interest; and in this country every thing must go to the wall that does not press itself before the public eye. And yet we can hardly believe-so utterly careless are we now as to the merits or issue of the question, so vague have become our impressions of the points which Mr. Hanson so tellingly made-that, besides creating so deep and general an interest in this country and even in Europe, besides securing the adhesion of men of calm judgment and profound historical acumen, such, for instance, as the late Hon. John C. Spencer, Rev. Dr. Hawks, and Dr. Francis; besides all this, the matter was made the subject of diplomatic communications between foreign ministers here and their governments abroad.

And, of course, whatever truth there was in the claim, the subsequent silence has made nothing against it. If the considerations put forth by Mr. Williams were valid, they are as true now as when he was a nameless Indian missionary in the West. But kings, like the gods, play with loaded dice; the possessors of power can smile compassion