"Joseph had three workmen in his stall, The first of them were Peter and Paul, 'If your child be none other man's The bedstead shall be gold two spans, Mary that made God mirth, 'If the child be some other man's, The manger shall be straw to spans, Mary that made sin cease, Bring us to thy Son's peace." -pp. 242, 243. Had Tom Paine pretended to be a poet he would certainly have given us something less disgusting than this in the form of poetry; otherwise the enterprising individual who published his "Age of Reason" would hardly have attempted his "poems." According to Mr. Swinburne the only thing truly great is love, that is lust. The love which man has, and ought to have, for woman is the burden of all his rhapsodies; yet a fouler libeller of the sex than he has never set himself forward as its champion; were woman what he represents her she would be an object of loathing rather than of love. Most people think that women who live a religious life are not likely to be vicious; but, according to our poet, these are the worst class, and religious men he regards in the same light. He devotes a long, tedious rhapsody entitled "St. Dorothy" to the elucidation of this doctrine. Choosing Rome as the scene, our poet proceeds to show how easily pious people seduce each other. When overtures are made to the lady she first pretends to be shocked, but soon permits herself to be persuaded. Before she yields to her own lust, as well as that of her seducer, she is made to offer up a sort of burlesque prayer, as follows: "Christ king, fair Christ, that knowest all men's wit I have no speech nor strength upon my lip, Though I be least among thy handmaidens, Doubtless I shall take death more sweetly thus."-p. 269. The additional part of her story is too obscene to be quoted. And still worse, if possible, is the piece entitled "Dolores" (Notre Dame des Sept Douleurs). It is difficult to select anything from this that is fit to be read; indeed, there is nothing of the kind in it. We can only give as a sample a stanza or two which, however objectionable in this dress, are not so much so as others in the same piece : 66 "O garment not golden but gilded, Ŏ garden where all men may dwell, O tower not of ivory, but builded By hands that reach heaven from hell; O mystical rose of the mire, O house not of gold but of gain, O house of unquenchable fire, Who gave thee thy wisdom? what stories When desire took thee first by the throat? What bud was the shell of a blossom That all men may smell to and pluck? What sins gave thee suck?"-pp. 172, 173. In reproducing these passages we are aware that we have sullied our pages; but had we not done so we could hardly have expected our readers to believe that any American publisher would reprint a book of the real character of “Laus Veneris." The fact that so many of Swinburne's own countrymen refused to have anything to do with the work, that the publishers of his former performances spurned it as a filthy thing, might indeed have been regarded at least as presumptive evidence of its indecency. But all do not inform themselves on such topics; besides, many have a notion that they are often the best books which are condemned in Europe. Condemned books are indeed sometimes witty; they are occasionally philosophical as well as poetical, but for the rest they are seldom worth much. It is true that the volume before us has no such redeeming feature, and this may be urged as reason why we should not have noticed it. We admit that it is too dull and prosy to do much harm, even among the most depraved and illiterate class, and that it is too coarse and vulgar to exercise any influence among the cultivated class. But there is another fact which has to be taken into account; there is no book so vicious and worthless but that its publisher can induce certain papers to praise it. Even respectable papers are sometimes imposed upon in this way; first-rate notices" find their way into them in which obscenity and licentiousness receive the name of "warmth," "effervesence of genius," &c. ; and thus the innocent and pure are led to read performances which are only fit for the most abandoned. So far, then, as the author is concerned we might have allowed the book to fall unheeded into the oblivion to which it is destined. But is the publisher the less to blame because the poisonous drug which he presents as a wholesome aliment is compounded in such a stupid, clumsy manner as to be innocuous? If one publisher may corrupt the youth of our country with impunity, why may not another? The police will interfere, it seems, only with poor wights who issue nine or ten pages of obscene matter with a yellow cover, and with those who issue pictures of a similar character; it would appear that what they find in book-form, bound in muslin, &c., is all right, no matter how much it outrages public decency. But if the authorities will connive at vice and licentiousness where they find them in fine garments or in tinsel, the public should vindicate itself. Our self-respect requires that if a bookseller palms off an indecent book on us to-day for a decent one, we ought not to take his word to-morrow when he presents us another book. Who would not shun the broker who had intentionally given him brass for gold? and might not a vicious, licentious book injure one's family much more than the loss of the gold for which brass was fraudulently given? Let no one do, however, but what he thinks fair and just; if a publisher is justified in selecting for publication in this country the most objectionable books published abroad-books which vie with each other in pandering to vice and seeking to bring religion into contemptthen Mr. Carleton is right and ought to be encouraged, and we are wrong in finding any fault with so enterprising a per son. ART. VIII.-Speeches in Congress, and other Documents. 1866. ON almost the first day of the first session of the present Congress a resolution was introduced by Mr. Donnelly, of Minnesota, as follows: Whereas, Republican institutions can find permanent safety only upon the basis of the universal intelligence of the people; and, Whereas, The great disasters which have afflicted the nation and desolated one-half of its territory are traceable in a great degree to the ' absence of common schools and general education among the people of the lately rebellious States; therefore, Resolved, That the Joint Committee on Reconstruction be instructed to inquire into the expediency of establishing in this capital a national bureau of education, whose duty it shall be to enforce education without regard to race or color upon the population of all such States as shall fall below a standard to be established by Congress; and to inquire whether such a bureau should not be made a permanent and essential part of any such system of reconstruction. The above was argued by the House of Representatives. Although it had especial reference to the poor whites and newly made freedmen at the South, and seemed designed to introduce the subject of education as an element of the plan of reconstruction,after considerable deliberation and discussion it passed the House near the close of the session, providing for a department of education in our government, with duties and privileges relating to the subject of education throughout the whole country. Preliminary to the special consideration of this new department we may briefly advert to other subjects of an educational character which came before Congress, and some of which are affected by the department in question. Bills for the establishment of a mining bureau and for the granting of one million acres of the public land for a mining college were introduced at different times by Mr. Stewart, of Nevada. Their object is to develop the mineral opportunities of the country. Although the subject was treated with favor, nothing definite was arranged. Similar favor was shown to a bill proposing to grant a million acres of the public land for the benefit of the public schools of the District of Columbia. The author of the above resolution introduced a petition coming from the National Normal School Association asking for such a grant of land as has been made for agricultural colleges, in order to establish State normal schools. This memorial states that there are 2,500,000 children in the Southern States, and that normal schools are needed to prepare the 50,000 teachers necessary to instruct them. The question of repealing the internal revenue tax on school books was considered and appropriately referred, as well as the more important petition that Congress send to every public school in the country a copy of every public document published.* The act of 1862 making a grant of land to the States for agricultural colleges and the study of the mechanic arts was taken up with reference to an extension of the time in which States may accept the provisions of the act, and to provide for the admission of all persons to the privileges of their colleges without distinction of color. The Military and Naval Academies were considered with a view to provide for the admission to the privileges of the same of those who have been sons of officers or privates who have died in the war. A change in the age and requirements for admission was contemplated in the same bill. On February 15 a bill was introduced by Mr. Garfield, of Ohio, providing for a Bureau of Education. A select committee on this proposed bureau reported a bill for the same, which was rejected by a vote of 69 to 51. But near the close of the session a reconsideration of the vote took place, when, by a vote of 80 to 44, the bill was passed by the House of Representatives as follows: SECTION 1. That there shall be established at the city of Washington a Department of Education for the purpose of collecting such statistics and facts as shall show the condition and progress of education in the several States and Territories, and of diffusing such information respecting the organization and management of schools, the school system, and methods of teaching, as shall aid the people of the United States in the establishment and maintenance of different school systems, and otherwise promote the cause of education throughout the country. SEO. 2. That there shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, a Commissioner of Education, who shall be intrusted with the management of the department herein established, and who shall receive a salary of $4,000 per annum, and who shall have authority to appoint one chief clerk of his department, who shall receive a salary of $2,000 per annum; one clerk who shall receive a salary of $1,800 per annum, and one clerk who shall receive a salary of $1,600 per annum, which said clerks shall be subject to the appointing and removing power of the Commissioner of Education. SEO. 3. That it shall be the duty of the Commissioner of Education to present annually to Congress a report embodying the results of his investigations and labors, together with a statement of such facts and recommendations as will in his judgment subserve the purpose for which this department was established. In the first report made by the Commissioner of Education under this act there shall be presented a state * We would, however, have an exception in regard to Congressional speeches, for there are many of the latter that would do the schools more harm than good. |