our 'being's end and aim.'" Art in its relation to morals and religion is considered at length; and the essay concludes by pointing out that art is great only when representing national individuality. "What we do for Art directly is valuable; but it is as nothing to what we do for her indirectly. If we become a base, sordid, unjust nation, caring only to heap up material wealth, it will be in vain to attempt any higher expression in Art; if we forget the great principles of freedom and democracy, and seek to build up an aristocracy of wealth, or race, or inherited culture, our Art will become narrow and traditional; if we care only for the intellect, and neglect love, and faith, and imagination, we may have a learned art; but we can only have an art that is truly original, noble, and beautiful, by cherishing and developing a national character of which it is the fitting expression." Following this opening chapter on the general subject of art, there are fourteen chapters on special topics: Greek Art; Early Christian Art; Byzantine Art; Restoration of Art in Italy; Michael Angelo; The Poems of Michael Angelo; Spanish, French, German, American, English, and Contemporaneous Art; David Scott; Albert Dürer. The least satisfactory of these, perhaps necessarily, is that upon contemporaneous art. Some felicitous translations are given in the chapter devoted to "The Poems of Michael Angelo," although, in the poem on the death of his father, the lines, "Less hard and sharp it is to Death to bow As growing age longs for its needful sleep, Where true life is, safe from the Senses now," lose somewhat of their strength by comparison with the rendition by Miss Bunnett in her translation of of Grimm's Life of Michael Angelo: "Death is less hard to him who wearily Bears back to God a harvest fully ripe, Than unto him in full and freshest mind." But, on the whole, this Ruth, who has gleaned after many reapers, in a field by no means new, has yet gathered "an ephä of barley." A DICTIONARY OF ENGLISH PHRASES. By Kwong Ki Chiu. New York: A. S. Barnes & Co. 1881. That a work on English phrases should be compiled by a Chinese scholar is an anomaly in literature. However, it has been done, and well done. The appendix, containing, among other things, a selection of Chinese proverbs and maxims, an historical account of the different dynasties, and a short biographical sketch of Confucius, is not the least instructive part of the compilation. By the way, isn't the practice of bolstering up a book by publishing in it letters of approval from "'eminent" persons being pushed a little too far? THE LIFE OF GEORGE THE FOURTH, including his Letters and Opinions, with a View of the Men, Manners, and Politics of his Reign. By Percy Fitzgerald. New York: Harper & Brothers. 1881. For sale in San Francisco by A. L. Bancroft & Co. We have here an interesting book about a totally uninteresting character. It is a little strange that any one should think it worth while to write a life of the "first gentleman of Europe" after Thackeray had endeavored to analyze his character, and had exclaimed in despair: "I try and take him to pieces, and find silk stockings, padding, stays, a coat with frogs and a fur collar, a star and blue ribbon, a pocket handkerchief prodigiously scented, one of Truefitt's best nutty-brown wigs reeking with oil, a set of teeth, and a huge black stock, underwaistcoats, more under-waistcoats, and then nothing." If it had not been that this man of "pad and tailor's work" lived in momentous times, and was surrounded by men whose anatomies did not end with their waistcoats, Mr. Fitzgerald would not have had the material for so entertaining a book. THE CHINESE, their Education, Philosophy, and Letters. By W. A. P. Martin. New York: Harper & Broth-ers. 1881. For sale in San Francisco by Payot, Upham & Co. The light which is thrown upon the subjects of edu-cation and competitive examination for civil service in China constitutes the chief value of this latest contribution on the Orient. It is, perhaps, worthy of mention, for the benefit of would-be poets, that the Emperor, Yungcheng, addressed the members of the Hanlin, or imperial academy, in these words: "Literature is your business; but we want such literature as will serve to regulate the age and reflect glory on the nation. As for sonnets to the moon and the clouds, the winds and the dews-of what use are they?" APPLETON'S HOME BOOKS. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1881. Building a Home. By A. F. Oakey. How to Furnish a Home. By Ella Rodman Church. This is the latest printed matter at hand in sympathy with the prevailing æsthetic craze. The series promises to consider all subjects pertaining to Home. The first two books, now out, may be said to be suggestive, particularly to a large class who "would if they could." They are inviting little books, and would be tasteful additions to the table of any pretty home they describe. Such books can no longer boast of novelty as excuse for being; however, all hints on household art are useful, at least in helping people to decide what they do not like a most important hight to reach to escape drowning in the inundation of new ideas. FRANKLIN SQUARE Library. New York: Harper & Brothers. 1881. For sale in San Francisco by Payot, Upham & Co.: No. 153. Love and Life. An Old Story in Eighteenth Century Costume. By Charlotte M. Yonge. No. 154. The Rebel of the Family. A Novel. By E. Lynn Linton. No. 155. Dr. Wortle's School. A Novel. By Anthony Trollope. No. 156.-Little Pansy. A Novel. By Mrs. Randolph. No. 157.-The Dean's Wife. A Novel. By Mrs. C. J. Eiloart. No. 158. The Posy Ring. A Novel. By Mrs. Alfred W. Hunt. No. 159.-Better than Gold. A Story for Girls. By No. 160.-Under Life's Key, and other Stories. By OUTCROPPINGS. THE ANTIQUITY OF CHOCOLATE. During a visit to Lima, South America, in 1850, I was invited by Don Petraco Massoni, an enthusiastic Hispano-Corsican antiquarian and naturalist, to join him in making explorations in the neighborhood of the ancient Peruvian city of Cuzco. The added persuasions of his wife and daughter caused me to forego a proposed expedition to the head-waters of the Rimac for the pleasure of being adopted as a member of their family during the excursion. Besides, I had discovered that they were equally zealous and capable of aiding as amateurs in the Professor's favorite specialties, and their fondness for the study of ancient relic lore created in me a desire to enlist as a neophyte, that I might participate in, and, if susceptible, realize in some degree kindred enjoyment. For in the display of their collected treasures their interest extended beyond the vague pride of possession, as each article was viewed in the light of an index, that bore an inference relation, more or less clear, to events and the realities of custom and habit that had transpired in the remote past, peculiar to the requirements and peculiarities of the race with whom they had origin. Although it would revive many pleasing incidents and mirthful impressions to pass in review our various discoveries, which served as keys to open the gates of the past for the revelation of the social relations of a race conquered, and rendered in fact extinct, notwithstanding the mongrel remnants of mountain tribes who yet claim to be descendants from the Children of the Sun, I will select one with which, as a favorite beverage, we are all familiar. From long acquaintance with the methods adopted by the ancient Peruvians in the material arrangement of their habitations for the management of their domestic affairs, religious rites, and articles rated as agents of exchange, Don Petraco was en abled to direct his operations so that they rarely led astray. A favorite custom was to imbed jars filled with nicely preserved edibles, prepared in their customary way for food, and liquid beverages, hermetically closed, in the walls of their houses. This custom, which bears a resemblance to ours of placing mementoes beneath the corner-stone of public buildings, offered to the descendants of the family or household successors, when discovered, this expressive emblematic salutation: "To future friends or strangers to our family name, we offer you this tribute of food and drink with which we were accustomed to support life while living, with the hope that in kind it may prove congenial to your tastes and health. Accept with it our congratulations." We know that the Egyptians were accustomed to inclose in jars, and bituminous sealed folds of the shroud underneath the swathing bandages of embalmed bodies, seeds and fruits, which, although they failed to fulfill the probable intention, served to supply after generations with the means of renewing the exhausted stamina of species in kind; and Don Petraco suggested that in the transmitted similarity of custom might be found the link of Cuzconian derivation. In the wall of a house which was recognized by Don Petraco as the ancient habitation of a cacique of the third degree, we found a glazed jar so impermeable and perfectly closed that it defied the test of eyes, nose, and tongue to detect the savor of its contents. On opening it, the grateful aroma of the cocoa-nut, when roasted for admixture in chocolate combination, saluted our nostrils. Upon inspection, we found it filled with cakes of about two ounces each in weight, and so exactly adapted to the interior of the vessel in form and size that it was as compactly fitted as it could have been if the mass had been introduced in a plastic state. The odor exhaled was so delicious and tantalizing to our perceptive tastes that we forthwith voted to subject it to the test of our mouths in the usual style adopted by the Peruvians in preparing chocolate for the table. The sipping trial that followed its preparation was accompanied with such expressive evidences of satisfaction and surprise at the seemingly improved condition or well preserved qualities of the compound from the superiority of artistic admixture in the first instance, that the pride that prompted the care shown in its preparation and preservation would not have been disappointed in the measure or sincerity of its test approval, in resurrection, after the passage of centuries. Whether derived from any occult method, or material employed in its preparation, or diffusion of volatile properties through the mass during the lapse of ages, it certainly imparted to us a tonic quality of stimulation in character similar to the effect produced from chewing cocoa leaves. The impermeable quality of the ancient Peruvian pottery is shown from the fact that jars of quicho, a spirituous liquor resembling the pisco manufactured at the present day, inclosed in walls, when opened was found but slightly diminished in quantity from the effects of evaporation, although exceedingly volatile. Don Petraco suggested that the delicate aroma of the chocolate might have been imparted from a process similar to that by which the grain is prepared for fermenting quicho, which the younger class of antiquarians allege was chewed by young and beautiful maidens, while tradition avers that the old and toothless were the operators employed; but this innuendo in no way diminished our zest of memory or relish for a repetition. To those who are only acquainted with chocolate prepared by the ordinary process of venders and cooks the description that I have given may appear like an ecstatic eulogy of imagination, but others, in after judgment of its effects, were quite as enthusiastic in praise of its exquisite flavor; and some had lived in Guayaquil, which produces the best cocoa, and women from an upland tribe of Indians who are so well skilled in preparing it for the table that their reputation adds an inducement to many visitors to prolong their stay in the city of mosquitoes, at an expense of blood and money, for the gratification of taste. Whether age or art, or both combined, gave to our ancient Cuzconian chocolate its delicious flavor, certain it is that the Indians of the western slope of the Andes, with their primitive stone slab and pestle roller for crushing and uniting the pulp or kernel of the cocoa-nut with the panocha (fire-caked sugar), succeed far better in developing and retaining the peculiar aroma than civilized nations have with their extractive and machine methods of preparing chocolate to please the eye rather than the palate. The manufacturer of chocolate for the market may claim that the superiority, aside from the effects of imagination, is mainly dependent upon the quality, ripeness, and freshness of the nuts, and the fact that they are used without being subjected to the exposure incident to transportation. These have undoubtedly their influence, still they are insufficient to balance the difference; besides, there is an inherent fatty principle or quality in the kernel of the nut, after being roasted, which protects it from rancidity, rendering it in a great measure proof to the changes wrought by climate and weather. This antiseptic quality of the "butter of cocoa," when extracted after the kernel has been roasted, has been practically known to the Indians from time immemorial, and used as a corrective, preservative, and curative remedy for the deteriorations caused by the hot climate. ELTON R. SMILIE. A DEL NORTE JUSTICE OF THE PEACE. Bledsoe, in his recently published History of Del Norte County, relates the following: The Prosecuting Attorney went on to state "that on such a night, at such a place, in such a county and State, Ben Strong did, in a quiet game of keards called euchre with Joe Short, with malice aforethought and evident intention to rob, steal, and swindle, 'turn up' a point more than he had made, thereby unlawfully taking the plaintiff's money." Ben was also accused of "renigging." Two witnesses were examined as to the character of the opposing parties. Each of the attorneys made a speech and put the case in as strong a light as possible. Then came the "charge:" "Gentlemen of the jury," commenced the Squire, very gravely, "the pints of this here case, like angels' visits, are few and far betwixt. The Court knows nothing about euchre, and never did, but she knows a few about law, gentlemen of the jury. The Court has went through Blackstone on Law twice, and she has read Snuggs's Seven-up, and, gentlemen of the jury, she has picked up a good many pints on poker; but she ain't nowhere on euchre, and never was. But, gentlemen of the jury, the Court thinks she understands the pints in this case. Ben Strong and Joe Short they played at ten dollars ante, and Ben he won. Will you, gentlemen of the jury, fine Ben for winning? Who wouldn't like to win? Not even the Court herself. But you kin do as you please about it. Then the opposite attorney says that Ben he cheated. But, gentleman of the jury, did he prove that pint? No, he didn't begin to do it. Ben Strong plays a fair game at keards. The Court has played old sledge and whisky poker with Ben for the last two years, and he never ketched him stocking the papers or turning the jack from the bottom. But, gentlemen of the jury, you can do as you please with Ben. The pints in the case, then, gentlemen of the jury, are: First, ef you find that Ben Strong won Joe Short's money, it is clear that Ben hilt the best keards. Second, ef you find that Joe lost his money, it is clear that Joe was in thunderin' bad luck. These, gentlemen of the jury, are all the pints of the case, and you kin retire-and don't be out long, for Ben is going to treat the whole court." The jury, without leaving their seats, rendered a verdict of "not guilty;" after which the winning side, headed by the Court, adjourned to a saloon to imbibe. The "opposite" side, headed by Joe Short, left in disgust. MILTON. Upon my book-case shelf I see with shame Exalted air thy mighty wings are spread, And though dost turn upon the Fountain-head Of day thy steady gaze. My grosser frame With effort rises to that lofty air. The sun is blinding to my weaker sight; And soon I sink to lower regions, where I find a denser air, a softer light. A thousand simple pleasures charm me there, And common griefs my sympathy invite. CHAS. S. GREENE. MY BOTANY. Out in the morning very early, Away in the dewy hollows Along the uplands now I stroll, "Where's wake-robin, wake-robin." The birds pipe, too, their joyous song; And nearer now the echoes come- "Will you, my bonnie, bonnie Kate, sing: "Wait, Robin-wait, Robin!" L. J. DAKIN. JUNE. I leave behind the dusty town, I climb the steep sky-kissing hill, The year is in its youth, and I Can feel a thrill of joy divine, Burn through my veins like seasoned wine. O God! thine earth is bright and fair, In wrath on every wooded hill. Because my sky was not walled in by hills, For sight of field and whispers from the wood, |