warmth and radiance of the sun, and, viewing him metaphysically, he typifies the genial influence of love and wisdom. We have hardly more space left than is required to give the names of the other deities. Njörd, born in Vanaheim, is a beneficent god who controls the winds and restrains the fury of the sea and of fire. His wife Skadi, daughter of the giant Thjassi, roams the rocky mountains of Thrymheim on her snow-skates in the chase of wild beasts. His son is named Frey, and his daughter Freyja. Frey is celebrated for his love affair with Gerda, the most beautiful of women, to gain whom he parted with his matchless sword, which would of itself put an army to flight. His sister Freyja is the Scandinavian Venus, and has a right to half the slain, in battle. Her husband Othur has wandered into distant worlds, and for him she weeps tears of pure gold. Tyr is the god of hardihood and duelling. Egir is the god of the stormy ocean, and his spouse Ran (Despoileress) is a still more tempestuous character, causing shipwrecks for the sake of catching in her net and appropriating whatever falls into the sea. Bragi is the Northern Apollo, and his wife Iduna is the goddess of youth, having charge of the apples of renovation, of which the gods, when they feel old age approaching, have but to taste to become young again. Heimdall, the White God, has teeth of pure gold, is the sun of nine virgins who were sisters, dwells at the heavenly extremity of Bifröst (Rainbow), hears the grass growing on the earth, sees through the thickest darkness, and acts as the warder of the gods, always warning them of the approach of their enemies. Hödur, the Blind; Vadar, the Silent; Vali, the Archer; Ullur, the Snow-skater; and Forseti, son of Baldur and Nanna, who decides all disputes so admirably as to give perfect satisfaction to all parties concerned, and, among the goddesses, Frigga, the wife of Odin, to whom the destinies of all are known, but which she never reveals; Saga, the goddess of history; Gefyon, the goddess of old maids; Vora, presidng over vows; Hlina, over rescues; Huossa, over the graces; Syn, over denials; Gna, the Northern Iris; and Jord (the Earth) are very celebrated. But we must slight these and other Scandinavian deities in order to say a few words on the great mythic drama of the Edda. Baldur, having been warned in dreams of danger threatening his life, Frigga exacted an oath from all animate and inanimate things that they would not harm Baldur, and it was afterwards thought to be doing him honor to hurl or hew at him, as nothing would injure him. Asa-Loki was filled with envy and malice at the sight, and having learned that the mistletoe had not, on account of its feebleness, been sworn not to harm Baldur, he forged it into a deadly weapon, and persuaded the blind god Hödur to do honor to Baldur by throwing it, under his (Loki's) guidance, at the most beloved of the Esir. The fatal instrument pierces its mark, and Baldur is slain. He descends to the dreary realms of Hela, and the gods are inconsolable for the loss of his companionship. Hela is petitioned to restore him to them, and she consents to do so, providing all things weep for him. All nature is besought to comply with this condition, and nothing refuses except an old hag named Thaukt (supposed to be Loki in disguise,) who replies: Pavck mun gnáta Baldrs bálfarar: Kyks nè dauds nautk? èo Haldi Hel pvi er hefir! Ho! weep will I Gain naught by son of man; How replete with expressive symbolism is the myth! Goodness, so solicitously spared and beloved by all, is yet hated by Envy for its very excellence, hated even when it has flown beyond the grave. Nothing in the universe could, however, be made instrumental in wreaking this deadly spite but a parasitical plant and blind ignorance. He was Loki's punishment was exemplary and severe. bound by the gods to three rocks, with the entrails of one of two of his sons, whom the other, transformed into a wolf, had partially devoured, and a serpent was suspended over his head, which dropped venom upon his face. Thus pinioned and tortured, he awaits the deliverance and revenge promised him at Ragnarök, or the Twilight of the Gods. That terrible day approaches. It is preceded by three severe and tempestuous winters, without an intervening summer. Three other such winters succeed, during which war, mercenary fratricide, and every kind of unnatural crime prevail. Wolves seize the sun and the moon, the stars are cast to earth, mountains fall, earthquakes, shake the foundation of the world, and all fetters and bonds are riven asunder. The wolf Fenrir now breaks loose and rushes forth. The serpent Jörmungand, cast from the depths of the ocean, appears on land, for earth and sea are blended. The ship Naglfar, constructed of dead men's nails, with Hrym at the helm, is borne on the flood. Fenrir's yawning jaws touch earth and heaven, and his eyes and nostrils flash fire. The Midgard serpent ranges himself by his side and floods the earth and fills the air with poison. The canopy of heaven is crushed in, and Surtur and the sons of Muspell pour through the breach. Fiery devastation precede and follow them. The beautiful bridge to heaven, Bifröst, breaks as they dash over it. Heimdall has sounded the Gjallar-horn, and the gods and Einherjar are arming. Odin, who has taken counsel of Mimer, leads the Æsir and the heroes of Valhalla to the battlefield called Vigrid, one hundred miles long on every side. There they encounter Fenrir, Mánagarm, Jôrmungand, Loki, Hela, Hrym, and all the Frost-giants. Odin assaults Fenrir with his spear Gungnir, but is swallowed by the monster, golden helmet, breastplate, and all. Vidar avenges his sire and kills Fenrir. Surtur, with his falchion. outshining the sun, vanquishes Frey, who, in this extremity, misses the sword he gave for Gerda. The dog Garm and Tyr kill each other. Thor despatches the Midgard serpent, but falls dead in the moment of victory, choked with the floods of venom vomited by the expiring monster. Loki and Heimdall effect each other's death, and then Surtur, who has kept his flaming legions apart, spreads a universal conflagration about him, and then all things become its prey, except the ash Yggdrasill, which, though shaken to its summit and exposed on all sides to the "raging fire reek," remains as ever and forever "the nurse of ages, blooming eternally over Urdar fountain.” Ragnarök, so far from being the annihilation of the universe, is merely its renovation, its purification by fire. The human race is perpetuated on earth; the evil are condemned to spend their future in a hall in Náströnd (Strand of the Dead), the roof of which is formed of wreathed or wattled serpents, whose heads are pointed at the inmates, especially the murderers, perjurers, adulterers, and seducers, upon whom they vomit a ceaseless flood of venom; and the right eous are assigned a heaven on the mountains of Nida and in Okolni, where the golden mansions of Sindri and Brimir are especially prepared to receive them. But Gimli is reputed to be the most blissful abode of all. The death of the purity and goodness represented by Baldur leads to the fiery woes of Ragnarök. The picture the Eddas present of the terrific winters that precede it show that its purifying flames do not arrive prematurely. The world has outgrown its usefulness, beauty, and virtue, and the iniquity of mankind overflows the measure. The sun and the moon, charity and faith, perish in the universal rapacity which prevails. Even the heavens are tainted and the temporal gods grown effete. The highest powers of the intellect and soul are debased and corrupted, and are no longer a sufficient restraint upon the evil propensities. Mental obfuscation (the Hrimthursar), craft and perfidy (Loki), insatiable greed (Fenrir), deadly perversion (Hela), and the entire sensual principle (Jörmungand) grown to excessive stature, burst all bonds and bounds, become rampant, aspiring to rule over the soul and annihilate the gods themselves. The rush of the fierce passions of conquest (Surtur and his host) breaks down the bridge to heaven. Bifröst is crushed to earth. The final conflict is at its height. Divine wisdom (Odin) is swallowed by lupine avidity (Fenrir). Canine tenaciousness (Garm) and pugnacity (Tyr) worry each other to death. Cunning and hypocrisy (Loki) and vigilance (Heimdall) share their fate. The might of truth (Thor) deals a deathblow to rampant sensuality (Jörmungand), but is suffocated in the flood of general corruption. The lust of conquest and fiery passion consume at last the love of the sex and kindred virtues (Trey), and wrap the temporal universe in flames. But the wisdom, perception, and life, siguified by the ash Yggdrasill and the Urdar fount, remain unconsumed and unimpaired, with surroundings purified and renovated by the searching ordeal. Lif (Life) and his spouse Lifthrasis, who have lain concealed during the general conflagration, fed with the dew of the dawn or heavenly manna, become the parents of a new race of men. The daughter of the sun, born previous to her parents' destruction, proves lovelier than her mother, and her brother, the moon, of greater purity than his sire. Love, charity, and faith are rekindled, and the Vala sings cheerfully: Sér hon uppkoma, Avdro sinni Jord orægi Acrar vaxa; Balvs mvn allz batna, From the dark blue main, The earth with verdure bright, ART. IV. 1. Narrative of Travels in Northern and Central Africa. By DENMAN AND CLAPPERTON. London. 2. Researches into the Physical History of Mankind. By JAMES COWLES PRITCHARD. London. 3. Description Physique et Historique des Cafres sur la Côta sud de l'Afrique. Par L. ALBERTI. Paris. 4. Bibliothèke Asiatique et Africaine, &c. Par M. TERNAUX COMPANS. Paris. 5. Types of Mankind; or, Chronological Researches, &c. By NOTT AND GLIDDON. Philadelphia, 1854. 6. Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile. By JOHN HANNING SPEKE. New York, 1864. It is an agreeable reflection that slavery no longer exists as an institution in the United States. We do not say so in a spirit of triumph or exultation, because the late masters of the slaves have been forced to liberate them; we deprecate any such vindictive feeling as scarcely less pernicious in its influence than slavery itself. In our opinion, the South ought to be as glad as the North that the institution is abolished. We do not pretend to think it is, however, but the contrary, although we know that there are Southerners who, while they yield to none in their love of the South, rejoice at heart at the downfall of slavery as much as the most noisy and zealous abolitionist. Nor are these the shallow or thoughtless; but those who best understand the past and can peer farthest into the future. In short, there is no statesman worthy of the name at the South, more than anywhere else, who does not comprehend that whatever advantages slavery may have conferred in former times on those who availed themselves of it, they do not exist any longer. Whatever outrages the public opinion of the civilized world is not an advantage in any proper sense of the term, no matter what amount of pecuniary benefit may accrue from it; and still less may it be said to be honorable. That the southerners are honorably disposed, when not excited by passion, we cheerfully admit; but the influence of habitin making wrong seem right even to the most conscientious and intelligent is well known. Those who have been surrounded by slaves from their infancy, as were their fathers and grandfathers before them, cannot be expected to look upon the sys |