THE
ATLANTIC MONTHLY.
A Magazine of Literature, Science, Art, and Politics.
VOL. XVII.—FEBRUARY, 1866—NO. C.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by Ticknor andFields, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District ofMassachusetts.
Transcriber's Note: Minor typos have been corrected and footnotes movedto the end of the article. Table of contents has been generated for the HTML version.
Contents
ENGLISH OPINION ON THE AMERICAN WAR.
TWO PICTURES.
THE FREEDMAN'S STORY.
THE ORIGIN OF THE GYPSIES.
PASSAGES FROM HAWTHORNE'S NOTE-BOOKS.
COURT-CARDS.
A LANDSCAPE PAINTER.
RIVIERA DI PONENTE.
DOCTOR JOHNS.
THE CHIMNEY-CORNER FOR 1866.
GRIFFITH GAUNT; OR, JEALOUSY.
THREE MONTHS AMONG THE RECONSTRUCTIONISTS.
REVIEWS AND LITERARY NOTICES.
RECENT AMERICAN PUBLICATIONS.
ENGLISH OPINION ON THE AMERICAN WAR.
The great events which took place in the United States between the firstelection of President Lincoln and the accession of President Johnsonexcited an amount of party-spirit in England greater than I recollect inconnection with any other non-English occurrences, and fairlyproportionate even to that supreme form of party-spirit which the sameevents produced in the States themselves,—the party-spirit which, inhostile and closing ranks, clenches teeth and sets life at nought,seeing no alternative, no possibility, save this one only, to carry itspoint or die. "I am a Northerner," and "I am a Southerner," were, duringthe war, phrases as common on Englishmen's lips as "I am a Liberal" or"a Conservative," "I am a Protectionist" (this, indeed, has about becomeobsolete) or "a Free-Trader." It would be very far from correct to saythat this party-spirit has yet subsided in England; highly importantquestions, personal and political, remain in ample abundance to keep itlively; but we have at any rate reached a point at which one may try todiscuss the past phases of our partisanship, not in the temper of apartisan. My endeavor in the following pages will be to do this,—veryimperfectly, beyond a doubt, but, as far as it goes, candidly andwithout disguise.
The writer must in the first instance, in order that his remarks may beaccurately judged by the reader, essay to define his own position andthe sphere within which his observations extend. He is a born and bredEnglishman and Londoner, of parentage partly Italian. His professionalemployment is that of a Government clerk, of fair average standing; heis also occupied a good deal in writing for publication, chiefl