happened, however, that everybody | at him, excepting at the Chamber and remained silent. So he went on: "Al- in the street. exander the Great stopped at the Hy- In July, 1887, he was appointed to phasis, and turned his back on India. the command of the 7th Corps at ClerIt was for that act of prodigious self-mont. The scene at the Gare de Lyon, control that posterity confirmed his on the night of his departure for his epithet of Great, which it has not post (when, very possibly, he might, if accorded to Napoleon. I tell you, he had dared, have made himself masgentlemen, real greatness consists in ter of France); his indiscipline and self-restraint." And he looked round disobedience; his condemnation to again. thirty days' arrest in his quarters; his deprivation of his command in 1888; his career as a deputy; the fierce opposition commenced against him; his flight; his exile; and his miserable death, all lie outside my bounds. I limit myself to the little I personally saw of him. The rest is public history. If he, of all men, could express such opinions, it was, I fully believe, because he honestly thought that they applied truthfully to himself. I never suspected him of being a wilful dissembler, for I never saw in him a sign of intentional deception. He was too blindly vain to be able to imagine that he needed to employ deception. He I add only a story from the Figaro was intensely content to be what he about the arrest, as an example of was ; was convinced that he was great; the manner in which everything serves and did not conceive that he had to to make a mot in France. The railprove it. That is what I want to con- way trains stop at Clermont for five vey in saying that his humbug was un-minutes, and passengers are informed conscious. Others may have judged of the halt by the usual cry of "Clerhim otherwise, -I am only saying mont, Clermont; cinq minutes d'arwhat I thought myself. In the spring of 1887 I met him for the last time, at a gathering at the Spanish Embassy; and there three or four French ladies gathered round him, sat with him, and talked to him intimately. The rest kept off and disapproved; but it was a commencement, and the general was palpably pleased by the feminine attentions of which he was beginning to be the object. Flattery in a social form was supposed to be new to him, and to have, for that reason, all the more attraction for him. If only he had lasted long enough, a little court would, I doubt not, have formed itself around him, in hopes of what he might some day become. But neither the flatterers nor the flattered were destined to continue their respective parts, for, in May, the Cabinet was upset, and the general, after sixteen months of office, had to give up the ministry of war. From that moment his official position in Paris was at an end, he ceased to be invited any where, and I had no more opportunities of meeting him, or even of looking rêt !" The Figaro pretended, while the general was in confinement, that the guards and porters were so affected by his misfortune that, in their emotion, they shouted instinctively and unconsciously, "Clermont, Clermont trente jours d'arrêt.” t; he was General Boulanger began explosively, and finished shatteredly; it may indeed be said of him that he was "hoist with his own petard." He knew how to dazzle a mob, but not how to win power. As my neighbor at the dinner when I first met him told me, essentially a metteur en scène, but when he had produced the scène his faculties were exhausted. He was aspiring and personally brave; but, as developments of his vanity, he was nervous, bad-tempered, mutinous, seditious, infirm of purpose, and without moral daring. He commenced so brilliantly and ended so deplorably that, out of pity for his fall, much may be forgiven him. I have the liveliest recollection of his faults (especially of those which I saw him commit); but I cannot help regretting his fate. There was not in him the stuff that | Wellington, who had seen the rise, and commands success; but, nevertheless, effected the downfall, of Napoleon, he got, apparently, very close to suc- was a prominent personage in English cess, for the reason that he gave super-politics; and, fifty years ago this ficial satisfaction to a need which is month, her Majesty, with Prince Alalmost permanent amongst a portion of bert, paid him a visit at Strathfieldsaye. the French the need of a leader. There were still survivors of the battle The events which have just occurred of Trafalgar in Greenwich Hospital; in Paris, like those which enabled Gen- and the queen paid an unexpected visit eral Boulanger to assume the position to Nelson's flagship, the Victoria, on of a pretender, signify undeniably that the 1844 anniversary of the battle. there is no fundamental solidity in the Mr. Gladstone, whom her Majesty has political organization of the country, seen gradually rise to the foremost and that a “saviour" would be ac- position as a statesman, and finally recepted to-day by many, and will per- tire from the political arena in his old haps be sought for to-morrow by many age, was then a promising aspirant to more. As, however, the probable rarely political advancement. Mr. Benjamin happens in France, no practical calcu- D'Israeli was about forty years of age, lations about the future can be based but had not achieved anything beyond on the circumstances which have just the leadership of the few ardent spirits led to the resignation of M. Casimir who were known as the Young EnPerier. But, without attempting to gland party. He was not regarded deduce any issues from those circum- seriously as a force in politics. One stances, there is no denying that the commentator, whose dictum expressed circumstances themselves exist, and the prevailing sentiment of the period, that they seem to indicate the possi- said of him, "His opinions are too bility of the very dangers which bring peculiar, and have too much novelty "saviours" to the front. No new pre-ever to become those of a party." So tender is in sight for the moment, but much for prophecy. one may spring up to-morrow. If he should appear, it will be interesting to compare his doings with those of Geueral Boulanger. To win the fight, he will have to be made of very different material. From Modern Art and Literature. The State trial of O'Connell, and other Repealers, had not long ended when the year 1845 opened; Mr. Cobden and Mr. Bright were vigorously keeping up the Anti-Corn Law agitation, and there were mutterings of discontent throughout the land. Speaking of O'Connell reminds us that, when he was entertained at a complimentary banquet in Covent Garden Theatre, the Sun newspaper of that epoch, containWITH the advent of 1895 the news- ing seven columns of the specches papers gave us a retrospect of the delivered on the occasion, was distribprevious year. It is interesting and uted before the guests quitted the instructive thus to review the world's theatre. This was considered a rehistory and progress annually; but it markable feat, though one which is may be even more interesting to look common enough now. It shows, howback to an epoch from which we are ever, that newspaper enterprise is not divided by half a century. Queen Vic- so modern as modern journalists imtoria was then, as now, the sovereign agine. Railways were yet in their of the realm; but the Prince of Wales infancy, though rapidly superseding was in the nursery, and her Majesty the old stage coaches; and the Southwas a young and happy wife. The Eastern line from London to Dover had sterling qualities of the prince consort only been opened less than a year had by this time won the appreciation previously. Steamers, however, were of the English people. The Duke of already plying to foreign parts, and often coming to grief. The electric telegraph had just begun to be recognized as a means of communication. Strange to say, its effectiveness was first convincingly demonstrated in connection with the arrest of a suspected murderer. The suspected person had got into the London train at Slough, his description was signalled over the Great Western Company's wire, and arrest followed when London was reached. People then were all agape with astonishment over the marvel. The new Royal Exchange had recently been opened by the queen; and her Majesty, the same year, opened Parliament in person. From Knowledge. BACTERIA OF PHOSPHORESENCE. THAT the flesh of certain animals, especially marine fishes, could often exhibit the phenomenon of spontaneous light was noticed as long ago as the days of Aristotle, but it is only within the present generation that the true cause has been made known. In 1676, a Dr. Beale, of Yeavil, in Staffordshire, published in the "Philosophical Transactions" of the Royal Society a curious instance of the kind, and mentioned as a possible explanation that the stars were exceedingly bright on that night, and the weather warm and gentle. A woman of that town had bought a neck of veal, which seemed perfectly good in every respect. On the following evening, about nine o'clock, the neck All Dickens, fifty years ago, was in the zenith of his powers and popularity. Campbell, the poet, had recently died. It is just half a century since "The of veal "shined so brightly that it did Chimes " was published and, two days put the woman into great affrightafter issue, a dramatized version was ment." She roused her husband, and performed with Mr. Keeley in the part he, seeing whence the light proceeded, of Toby Beck. Mr. and Mrs. Keeley endeavored to extinguish it by beating were stars in the dramatic firmament the veal, and eventually plunging it in those days; and the latter, just below water; but in vain. At last he about this time, assumed the manage- found he could extinguish the light by ment of the Lyceum. There was quite wiping the meat with a cloth. The a galaxy of theatrical talent then, for next day the joint was cooked, and cerMr. and Mrs. Charles Kean, Macready, tain neighbors who had seen it giving Richard Younge, Madame Vestris, and light were invited to partake of it. Charles Matthews were all to the fore; esteemed it as good as any they had and the death of Mrs. Siddons had only eaten. Many similar cases of meat beoccurred a few months previously. coming phosphorescent are on record. The operatic stars included Salvi, |In 1492 it was a frequent occurrence in Cerito, Mario, and Grisi; Fanny Ellsler exemplified the poetry of motion; the legitimate drama was said to be injuriously affected by the rivalry of the American dwarf Tom Thumb, whose departure from New York had been honored with an attendance of ten thousand persons. Those were the days when professional clowning tickled the groundlings. Hence the enormous crowd which turned out to see a clown The first recorded experiments to from Astley's drive twenty-eight horses | determine the cause of such cases were to Greenwich. A more ludicrous feat | made by Dr. Hulme in 1800, and from was achieved by another clown from his results he was let to conclude: the same establishment, who sailed in a 1. That putrefaction was not the cause, tub, drawn by four geese, from Vaux-for as decay advanced the light graduhall Bridge to Westminster Bridge. Padua, and during the early years of last century it became so prevalent in Orleans that several butchers were almost ruined, since their customers considered such meat unfit for food, and much of it was thrown into the river. Coming to the present day, Nuesch describes how the whole of the meat in a butcher's shop became luminous in one night. ally decreased; moreover, in the case of phosphorescent meat there was nooffensive smell. 2. That spontaneous light was a constitutional principle of | manner in which the bacteria produce some bodies, incorporated with their the light, there is still much research whole substance just as any other prin- needed. As Hulme found in 1800 (and ciple, and that it was probably the first principle that escaped after the death of marine fishes. This plausible solution has since been displaced by the discovery that bacteria were invariably present in phosphorescent sea-water and on phosphorescent meat, and that directly or indirectly the light was due to their agency. his observation has since been repeatedly confirmed), putrefaction does not assist phosphorescence. The light-producing bacteria are unable to do their work in a substance on which the putrefactive organisms are growing, and as soon as decay is fairly advanced the light altogether ceases. The presence of oxygen appears to be an essential, for colonies will only give light on the surface of the culture medium, where they can have free contact with the atmospheric oxygen. This gas, however, is not essential for the life of the bacteria. grow in an atmosphere of hydrogen or carbonic acid gas, but under such conditions will not produce light. Apparently it is not necessary for the colonies to be grown in the light of the sun, for cultivations made in complete darkness They will With regard to the conditions under which these various micro-organisms can produce light, it has been found that temperature has a good deal of influence. According to Ludwig, a piece of meat remained luminous as low as -14 degrees. Heated gently in a tube over a water-bath it was still phosphorescent at thirty degrees, but at forty degrees had ceased to emit light. Bacterium phosphorescens thrives best between fifteen degrees and twenty-five degrees, but Tilanus and Förster have been found to emit light as readily proved that it could live below zero. When kept at thirty-five degrees for a few minutes its luminosity disappeared, but on cooling returned. If, however, it was kept at that temperature for fifteen minutes its power of producing light was permanently lost. As to the as those grown in daylight. When it has been decided whether the bacteria are in themselves phosphorescent, or whether they are so only by virtue of their products, there will still remain the further problem of the nature of the phosphorescence itself. IN the American Engineer for January, | diminution with height. Above four thouProfessor H. A. Hazen gives some of the sand feet, clouds were encountered, and results of a very interesting balloon ascent these changed the rate of diminution, while made in the Svea at Stockholm, by S. A. at the highest point, the result was one Andrée. The account is taken from the degree in four hundred feet. The most Proceedings" of the Swedish Academy, interesting feature is the great dryness of vol. 20, part ii., No. 3. The balloon trav- the air above seventy-five hundred feet; at elled for one hundred and thirty-six miles six thousand feet the relative humidity was east over the Baltic, the highest point one hundred per cent., and at eighteen reached being nine thousand nine hundred hundred feet higher it was only four per feet, and at the time of the ascent, Stock-cent. Professor Hazen states that this is holm was nearly in the centre of a high the most extraordinary fall in humidity barometric area; this fact, in connection with the position of the balloon over a wide expanse of water, adds great interest to the observations. The diminution of temperature with height, allowing for increasing heat during the day, was about one degree in two hundred and fifty feet, in the first four thousand feet, which is noteworthy, as the sea surface causes less ever observed, and it shows how little we really know of atmospheric conditions even at very low heights. The value of the results to be obtained by balloon ascents in determining the laws of storms is beyond doubt, and Professor Hazen strongly advocates that such researches should be undertaken. Nature. Blackwood's Magazine, 750 763 Nature, 767 IV. IN THE TRACK OF THE WANDERING V. A CONGESTED DISTRICT, By H. Warth, For EIGHT DOLLARS remitted directly to the Publishers, the LIVING AGE will be punctually forwarded for a year, free of postage. Remittances should be made by bank draft or check, or by post-office money-order, if possible. If neither of these can be procured, the money should be sent in a registered letter. All postmasters are obliged to register letters when requested to do so. Drafts, checks, and money-orders should be made payable to the order of LITTELL & CO. Single copies of the LIVING AGE, 18 cents. |