FEW of the tens of thousands who pass to hall, in order that it may look as festive as and fro through the crowded City of Lon-possible on the occasion of the Royal visit don have any idea of the various points of on the 8th of June; but it is doubtful if interest it contains, or of the interesting anything can render the abiding place of events which, as age succeeded age, have old Gog and Magog other than ugly. Even occurred within its boundaries. It has its ugliness, however, has a certain air of been the object of the author of this vo- rude grandeur, which cannot but impress lume to enlighten us on these subjects. the Prince and Princess of Wales, as it does And he has done more than this. He has all strangers, with a notion of wealth, given sketches of many of the most noted power, and greatness. So also with the characters who have lived and died within other purely civic buildings and institu the City's precincts; he has itemed with tions described by our author. In each and graphic power its every-varying customs; every case he has efficiently and sufficiently and has exhibited its curiosities with much supplied us with a mass of interesting and skill. Every page teems with London life amusing reading, so far differing from the as it appeared in times past, and as it ap- contents of a mere guide book, as to wear a pears in the enlightened age in which we greater semblance to originality than we at live. So deeply acquainted does "Aleph" first expected. appear to be with London Scenes and London People, that one might almost suppose that he was the veritable Wandering Jew one who has travelled the streets of the great city, and mingled with its life, from the time, at least, when the Romans held possession of the town.

No small or unimportant addition to the author's graphic delineation of City life and City character is to be found in the engravings that adorn the volume. One of these we are enabled to present to our readers. Here, as in the other illustrations, the past and the present are brought face to face--the picture of the First Exchange of Sir Thomas Gresham, and the map of Moorfields, as it existed in the year 1560, appearing in conjunction with the representation of that gorgeous piece of antiquity, the Lord Mayor's Coach. The inner life of London, as presented in these pages, is to a certain extent pictorial, though to the citizen himself it may often wear an aspect of the most leaden dulness. At this moment, for instance, at which we write, great preparations are being made to beautify that old Gothic pile, the Guild

Photographs of the Prince and Princess.

SURELY no Royal personages were ever so shockingly belied and scandalised in their portraits as the Prince of Wales and his lovely bride. If we are to believe in all the likenesses of Albert Edward and Alexandra, why, then, their Royal Highnesses are at one and the same time blonde and brunette, old and young, handsome and hideous, tall and short, emaciated and embonp int. But, as all cannot be true, we are content to believe they are young and fair, and royally handsome,-just, in fact, as they are represented in the photographs issued by our publishers, Messrs. Ward and Lock. These gentlemen have received a large supply of Levassior's cartes de visites of the royal pair, and we have no hesitation in pronouncing these portraits at once the most faithful and most satisfactory of any yet issued.

They possess the additional recommenda tion of being as cheap as they are goodthree sixpences being sufficient to purchase either of them post free.

THE EDITOR'S LETTER.

THE pleasant month of May, just passed into the limbo of irrecoverable things, and the "leafy month of June," as Coleridge happily describes it, do they not, to some extent, typify life-youth arriving at manhood-the youth of the year come to days of maturity, 'and glorying in might and power? How many great events have mingled with the course of our every day life during the bright, beautiful May for ever departed! With the opening of the Royal Academy-one of the great events of the month; and the Drawing Room and Levee-real carnivals of fashion; and the race for the Derby Stakes at Epsom-the most universal of holidays for highclass and middle-class London; and the musical triumphis at the two Opera Houses; and the Flower Show at the Crystal Palace; and the Debates in Parliament; and all the lesser affairs that go to make up what is known as the London Season; with the beauty and fullness of joy belonging to the delightful spring-time of the year, come dire accounts of war and dissension from distant places, in both the Old World and the New.

The opening of the month in the Dis-United States of America was signalised by a great defeat of the Northerns, under General Hooker, in Virginia. The first news flashed along the telegraphic wires represented him, on the 28th of April, crossing the Rappahannock, with his whole army, at two points above and below the town of Fredericksburg. The Confederates offered some resistance, but it was soon overcome by the exulting Federals. The design of General Hooker was carefully concealed. It was surmised that he intended to attack Lee, the Confe. derate general, in Fredericksburg, with one wing, while he prevented his escape with the other. In any case, it seemed certain that he would cut off Lee's communications with Richmond. While these speculations were occupying the public mind of Europe, news arrived from New York which dispersed to the winds the glorious anticipations the Federals had formed of this expedition. On the 2nd of May, that formidable chief, Stonewall" Jackson, made a sudden attack on Hooker's right wing, and the shock was so tremendous that General Schurz's division broke at once, and all attempts to collect and rally them proved vain. Whole regiments are described as throwing down their arms in a state of utter consternation, and flying towards headquarters. The panic rapidly spread, and another division, in the expressive language of the telegram, "also broke and ran." A desperate effort was made by a portion of the troops to check the pursuit, which closed only with daylight. On the following morning Jackson resumed the attack. For three hours and a half both armies fought with desperation, and the Federal General Berry was killed. Again the Federals were routed, and again they fled, the Confederates pursuing them as before. In this way the fight was continued for four hours longer, and ceased at last only when the exhausted troops got into a position which rendered it desirable, or necessary, to suspend the conflict. The slaughter is represented to have been "awful." The battle was resumed on the following morning, and again the Federals were defeated. It is not easy to foresee the effect of this victory; nor would it be safe to attempt to estimate it till the final result is fully known. The most cursory observer, however, cannot fail to perceive that the North had staked its main strength upon this movement, and that its failure must be attended by the gravest consequences. It is thought by some that this disastrous civil war is approaching its termination, and that the successes lately achieved by the Confederates, in various quarters, is but the beginning of