was moving towards Springfield. In vain did he look each day for the promised reinforcements;-they came not, and his little band seemed doomed to certain destruction. Affairs were now rapidly coming to a crisis. The two armies were nearing each other, and a terrible battle was impending. At last came the demand from a rebel General to surrender Springfield, to which Lyon returned the significant answer, "not until I'm whipped." The enemy, however, did not march upon the town, and at last Lyon evacuated it. To have remained would have been impolitic, for the place could not easily have been made defensible. But to retreat would have been as dangerous as inglorious, and the only other alternative, and the one which he accepted, was to secure the most eligible ground near the enemy and precipitate his small army upon them in the way of a surprise. This he accomplished at Wilson's Creek, ten or twelve miles southwest of Springfield. In the unequal strife, four thousand men contended against twentythree thousand, and fought with the energy of despair. The enemy were frequently repulsed, and by mid-day were so seriously cut up as to be unable to pursue the remnant of the government forces, who succeeded in making good their retreat towards Rolla. All that memorable morning General Lyon had been active among his men, inspiring them by his words of encouragement and by his own heroic example. Three times he had been wounded, and his strength was fast failing, yet he could not be induced to retire. At last, seeing that some deed of desperate daring could alone save the little band, he mounted a fresh horse, and threw himself at the head of the column and cheered it on. Terrible was the charge, and great was the slaughter. The foe were at last repulsed, but not till the gallant leader of our soldiers had fallen, one of the first in the long roll of martyrs who have yielded up their lives for the suppression of this insane rebellion and for the salvation of their country. Major Sturges, who succeeded to the command, in alluding to the event in his official report of the battle, says, "Thus gloriously fell as brave a soldier as ever drew a sword,-a man whose honesty of purpose was proverbial, a noble patriot, and one who held his life as nothing when his country demanded it of him.” - Chapter XIII., the closing chapter, gives an account of the impression which the death of General Lyon made throughout the country. As the funeral cortege pursued its slow journey eastward, from beyond the Mississippi, to his early home on the farther side of the Connecticut, it was met at every station by great multitudes of his sympathizing countrymen,-strong men shed tears, and women and children testified their reverence for his memory by strewing the bier with flowers. "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori." The name and services of this gallant soldier will be held in everlasting remembrance by a grateful nation. IN MEMORIAM WILLIAM S. HUGGINS.*-A worthy tribute to the memory of one well known and respected, twenty years ago, in New Haven and Yale College, as a superior scholar, and as a thoughtful, earnest Christian. He was born in New Haven, March 19th, 1822; graduated at Yale College in 1842, with high honor; was licensed to preach in 1847; graduated at the Yale Theological School in 1848; and died, Pastor of the Presbyterian Church, in Kalamazoo, Michigan, March 23d, 1862, having just completed his fortieth year. His classmates and early friends do not need this memorial to assure them that, in his Western parish, he proved a devoted pastor; an active and public spirited citizen; a faithful friend; and "a wise counselor of youth." But it is gratifying to them to see the abundant proof here given that his labors were duly appreciated, and that his memory is regarded with no ordinary affection not only by the people of his charge, but throughout the state in which he labored and died. HOLY LAND, WITH GLIMPSES OF EUROPE AND EGYPT.-The author remarks in his Preface, "I do not know of another writer who has brought the results of a journey of like extent into so small a space." His readers and critics may add with truth that he has very successfully managed the difficult task of compression. The Holy Land, as the title intimates, has received his chief atten * In Memoriam William S. Huggins. Three Sermons to Young Men, preached by Rev. WILLIAM S. HUGGINS, of Kalamazoo, Michigan; and a Funeral Discourse by Rev. SAMUEL HASKELL. With an account of the funeral and memorial meeting. Philadelphia: Presbyterian Publication Committee. 18mo. 1862. pp. 147. With a portrait. Holy Land, with Glimpses of Europe and Egypt. DRYDEN PHELPS., D. D. New York: Sheldon & Co. For sale in New Haven by Judd & Clark. Price $1.50. A Year's Tour. By S. 1863. 12mo. pp. 407. tion, and upon the places and scenes which he there encountered he has dwelt with sufficient fullness. The other countries which he visited, Ireland, Scotland, England, France, Belgium, the Rhine, Switzerland, Bavaria, Austria, Italy, Egypt, Turkey, and Greece, are sketched briefly, indeed, but with no crowding or haste, the author having a wise and skillful talent at selecting those incidents and features, both of men, manners, scenery, and institutions, which were best adapted to his purpose. His style is natural and clear; the personal allusions are modestly offered; the expressions of emotion are freely but unaffectedly poured forth; and the soul of the writer, gentle, elevated, and devout as his numerous friends all know it to be, breathes warmly on every page. The well-chosen, and in general well-executed cuts, add not a little to the attractions of this very pleasing and instructive volume. LES MISERABLES.*-The five novels, Fantine, Cosette, Marius, St. Denis, Jean Valjean-combined under the one comprehensive title of LES MISERABLES-are perhaps the most noticeable contribution to fictitious literature which has been heralded since the world-wide popularity of Uncle Tom. Eight years ago we read the announcement in a Memoir of the illustrious exile Victor Hugo, who had then been recognized for more than a generation as a master in French literature, that he was intending to devote the next ten years to a work, to be called Les Misères, which was to be the crowning literary production of his life. It has now appeared under a somewhat altered title. Our limits will not here allow space for even a word of criticism upon a book which has already found its way and been read and talked over among every civilized people. The professed object of the author is to call attention to the condition of the wretched beings who make the substratum of French society, and to awaken sympathy for them. They are treated as outcasts, and expected to manifest in their lives all the virtues! The critics tell us that the story is entirely improbable; that the interminable episodes, which abound, are so tedious that scarce one in a thousand readers but will skip them at sight; that the style is "French," and "sensational ;" and 1862. New York: Library style, * Les Misérables. By VICTOR HUGO. Royal 8vo. Carleton, Publisher. For sale in New Haven by Judd & Clark. $3.75. that different portions are of such unequal merit that it would seem as if they had been written by two different authors. Still, the book ranks, without a doubt, as one of the most brilliant productions of the times. The only point to which we can call attention here, is the fact that sympathy for the wants and woes of the suffering, the sinning, and the outcast, is no new thing with Victor Hugo. Charity, sympathy, and love for the unfortunate and the erring, have ever been sentiments which he has conspicuously avowed and inculcated with touching eloquence in all his earlier writings. Two short quotations from his Poems, published many years ago, will suffice to show this; and perhaps will not be read at this time without interest: Oh! n'insultez jamais une femme qui tombe! Qui sait sous quel fardeau la pauvre âme succombe, Qu'on secoue avec l'arbre, et qui tremble et qui lutte, "Donnez, riches! L'aumône est sœur de la prière. “Donnez! afin que Dieu, qui dote les familles, Passer dans vos rêves la nuit. In these lines is revealed the same compassionate spirit which is everywhere manifest in Les Misérables. Here is the key to the book. Victor Hugo has written his great novel with a high moral aim. He would impress anew upon the French nation, and the world, the divine lesson that, in the regeneration of the fallen, whatsoever else is necessary-charity, LOVE, is indispensable! "Cette fange, d'ailleurs, contient l'eau pure encor. Pour que la goutte d'eau sorte de la poussière, WILSON'S PRESBYTERIAN HISTORICAL ALMANAC FOR 1862.*This is an exceedingly valuable repository of statistics pertaining to the Presbyterian Church of every name throughout the world. The work is under the editorial care of Mr. JOSEPH M. WILSON, of Philadelphia; and four annual volumes, of nearly 400 octavo pages each, have already appeared. The "Historical Almanac" for 1863 is soon to be published, and will contain the details of the operations of the following branches of the Church. In the United States of America, The Presbyterian Church, (Old and New School); The United Presbyterian Church in North America; The Reformed Presbyterian Church, (old and new side); The United Synod; The Free Church; The Associate Presbytery of New York; The Associate Synod; The Independent Church; The Cumberland Presbyterian Church; the Presbyterian Church of the South; The Dutch Reformed Church. In British North America.-The Canada Presbyterian Church; The Presbyterian Church of Canada in connexion with the Church of Scotland; The Presbyterian Church of the Lower Provinces; The Presbyterian Church of Nova Scotia in connection with the Church of Scotland. The Presbyterian Church of New Brunswick; the Presbyterian Church of New Brunswick, in connection with the Church of Scotland. In Great Britain and Ireland.-The Church of Scotland; The Free Church of Scotland; The United Presbyterian Church of Scotland; The Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland; The Presbyterian Church of Ireland; The Presbyterian Church in England. The Biographical Department will include the memoirs of over eighty Presbyterian ministers who have died during the year 1862, The Historical Department will include an historical sketch of the Theological Seminary at Princeton, with an account of the recent semi-centennial celebration. The Presbyterian Almanac and Annual Remembrancer for 1862. By JoSEPH M. WILSON. Volume Four. Philadelphia: No. 111 South Tenth St. 1862. 8vo. pp. 386. Price $1.50. Sent by mail, free of postage, to all who prepay. |