finds he can exert most influence; first, .let each man inform himself in the questions of the day, and, after he has conscientiously determined the course he will pursue, then let him also determine the amount of work he is willing to contribute. Politically considered, those who enjoy the elective franchise are divided into two classes,those who originate political doctrines, disseminate information and carry on the campaigns, and those who simply vote. Of those who confine their political labors to simply casting their ballot, a large number only vote at Presidential elections, and of the number who vote at general elections not one-tent h vote at primary elections; and of this small fraction who attend primary elections scarcely a voter makes any inquiry into the character of the delegates who are to be sent to the various conventions. This is the reason that nominations are entirely under the control of political" bosses" who have a sufficient number of their employés in every election division to control the primary elections. Reform within the party is impossible, because you cannot get a sufficient number of disinterested citizens to devote the time and labor requisite to overcome the influence and exertions of the office-holders and interested political workers, whose living depends on the successful manipulations of primaries. The cure for this evil is to release the office-holder from his political bondage by proper civil service legislation, and thus do away with the political retainer. The plan of reform, within the party lines, by controlling the primary elections, is very beautiful in theory, but, as a matter of experience, you cannot find a sufficient number of men who will make the sacrifice of business and pleasure necessary for the proper performance of the drudgery of division work. The contesting of a division in a primary election involves no principle or party platform, but compels the odious task-in which an honest. man has nothing to gain, and everything to lose,"—of investigating the integrity of delegates; therefore, it is scarcely possible to expect those who are making a great and unrewarded exertion in the cause of reform, to undertake in a general way this unpleasant work. If there was a large turn-out of voters at primaries, they could entirely control nominations. But unfortunately but few can be induced to vote at these elections. There are too many people who wish to enjoy the benifits of a free government, sustained by the labors of others, while they are engrossed in their own pursuits,

for the accomplishment of reform by this method. If those people who consider their time so valuable would bear a small portion of the necessary work of, a political campaign, they would feel much less like abusing those who bear the heat and toil of the day for no other reason than the consciousness of having performed a duty.

The only way in which reform can be accomplished is by independent popular movements in favor of candidates pledged to the correction of public abuses. The only way in which these movements can be made successful is by the now apathetic portion of the community giving some practical assistance to those engaged in carrying them on. If each voter would make a study of the questions that are being advanced by the reformers,-"Civil Service Reform" and the overthrow of the 66 boss" system,—so that he would be prepared to act without having to be solicited and urged, campaigns could be carried on with much greater rapidity, and the chances of success would be much greater. It would be very little trouble to each citizen to obtain an assessors' list of the voters of his division, so that he could assist in detecting fraudulent voting and aid in influencing the votes of others.

It is also highly important that our high schools and colleges should give some instruction in State and municipal government. It seems very absurd that a young man carefully trained in modern and ancient history, and in the Constitution of his country, should be utterly ignorant of the Constitution of his own State, of municipal government, and the laws relating to the elective franchise. Yet I think it will be conceded that the most ignorant political rounder has more practical knowledge on these questions than the college graduate. When we reflect that the country has to depend on the young men of education to keep up the tone of public life, and that half a dozen well-prepared lectures as part of a collegiate course would give the necessary instruction, it is very evident that this is an evil that can easily be cured, and should be attended to. The industries of the nation are prospering, and year by year our position among the Great Powers is becoming more commanding. Let all unite in protecting this great fabric from the evil consequences of misrule, the older portion of the community by making some atonement for past neglect, the younger element by setting an example of duty for future emulation.

E. F. HOFFMAN,

A SHORT EXAMINATION OF HAZLITT'S CRITICISM

IN

OF MASSINGER.

N an article upon Massinger which appeared in this magazine a few months since, we had occasion to call attention to the fact that all the critics whose dicta with reference to the Elizabethan drama are regarded as of weight, with the exception of Hazlitt, united in assigning to Massinger a high rank amongst the dramatic authors of his time, and in recognizing him as the possessor of genuine poetic, and especially tragic, ability of the highest order; from this general agreement Hazlitt dissented, and, in view of the deservedly high reputation of the critic, it may not be either uninteresting or uninstructive for us to consider for a short time the charges brought against Massinger as a dramatist and poet by Hazlitt, and endeavor to see how far they are justified by the writings which Mr. Hazlitt criticised.

In the fourth of his very interesting lectures on the dramatic literature of Elizabeth, page 104, Hazlitt says: "I must hasten to conclude this lecture with some account of Massinger and Ford, who wrote in the reign of Charles I. I am sorry I cannot do it con amore. The writers of whom I have chiefly had to speak were true poets, impassioned, fanciful, musical as is Apollo's lute;' but Massinger is harsh and crabbed, Ford finical and fastidious.

Massinger makes an impression by hardness and repulsiveness of manner. In the intellectual processes which he delights to describe, reason panders will;' he fixes arbitrarily on some object which there is no motive to pursue, or every motive combined against it, and, by screwing up his heroes or heroines. to the deliberate and blind accomplishment of this, thinks to arrive at the 'true pathos and sublime of human life.' That is not the way. He seldom touches the heart or kindles the fancy.. For the most part, his villains are a sort of lusus naturæ ; his impassioned characters like drunkards or madmen. Their conduct is extreme and outrageous; their motives unaccountable and weak; their misfortunes are without necessity, and their crimes without temptation to ordinary apprehensions." These are the main charges brought by Hazlitt against Massinger in a rather compressed account of the poet which is almost entirely condemnatory in its

tone. Some of his arguments and instances we will notice as we proceed, but at present let us sum up the charges, which may be stated as follows:

Ist. That Massinger is hard and crabbed.

2d. That he makes his impression by repulsiveness of manner. 3d. That the actions of his characters are purely arbitrary. 4th. That he seldom touches the heart or kindles the fancy. 5th. That his characters are mostly monsters.

Five quite serious charges these; let us see how far they can be sustained.

If Mr. Hazlitt means by "hard and crabbed " that Massinger's writings have not the same degree of passion as Shakespeare's or Marlowe's, we must agree with him; but if by "hard and crabbed " he means what is generally implied by those words, we must differ from him. Hazlitt does not bring arguments drawn from Massinger's writings to support this charge; he merely makes the sweeping charge, and attempts to carry it through by the force of statement. Now, Hazlitt is a great name, surely, but as this is, in the way Mr. Hazlitt presents it, offered rather as an opinion than as a fact proved to the satisfaction of the reader, we might offset Hazlitt's dictum by the dicta of Coleridge and Hallam, either of which would outweigh his. But it is better always to meet a case on the evidence, and therefore let us simply refer to a few scenes of this "crabbed " writer, and see the hard and crabbed manner in which they are treated. Take, for instance, the story of Bertoldo and Camiola, in the "Maid of Honour." Bertoldo is a Knight of Malta, a natural brother of the King of Sicily, and the lover of Camiola, a maid of honor, who loves him dearly in return, but recognizes the fact that the vow of the Order makes an impassable gulf between them. Bertoldo, against his brother's orders, goes to the wars and is taken prisoner by the forces of the Duchess of Sienna, and is thrown into a dungeon. The King refuses to allow his ransom to be paid. Hearing of his captivity, Camola sells a great part of her estate to ransom him, resolving then to allow Bertoldo to do what he had before proposed,-to obtain a dispensation from his vows of celibacy. To carry to her lover the news of his approaching liberation, she sends Adorni, a faithful serving-gentleman, who loves Camiola himself, and who, after a hard struggle, goes to Bertoldo's prison, finds the Knight asleep, and as he bends over him thus shows the result of his struggle:

"Howe'er I hate him,

As one preferred before me, being a man,

He does deserve my pity. See! he sleeps,

Or is he dead? Would he were a saint in heaven!

'Tis all the hurt I wish him. But I was not

Born to such happiness."

He tells Bertoldo of his ransom by Camiola, and hears from him the passionate burst of love and vows of eternal fidelity to the lady:

"Divine Camiola!

But words cannot express thee. I'll build to thee

An altar in my soul, on which I'll offer

A still-increasing sacrifice of duty."

But a trial is in store for Bertoldo, for, on his going to take his leave of the Duchess, she declares love for him, invites him to share her throne, and he, dazzled by the glitter of a crown, consents. Adorni bears the sad tidings to Camiola, who, almost heartbroken, yet, while she cannot deny Bertoldo's treason, bitterly reproaches the honest Adorni, who frankly confesses that he did not feel much sorrow at Bertoldo's fall, since it would serve to set off his own faith. When Bertoldo, in the train of the Duchess, whom he has not yet married, returns to the Court in order to become reconciled to his brother, Camiola presents to the King his written promise of marriage, and claims him as her husband, recounts the service she has rendered him, and his ingratitude:

You saw him now in fetters, with his honor,
His liberty lost; with her black wings, Despair
Circling his miseries, and this Gonzaga

Trampling on his affections; the great sum

Proposed for his redemption; the King

Forbidding payment of it; his near kinsmen,

With his protesting followers and friends,

Falling off from him; by the whole world forsaken;

Dead to all hope, and buried in the grave

Of his calamities; and then weigh duly

What she deserved, whose merits now are doubted,

That as his better angel in her bounties

Appeared unto him, his great ransom paid,

His wants, and with a prodigal hand supplied!