Algeria considered as a Winter Residence for the English. By Dr. and Mrs. Bodichon. Published at the "English Woman's Journal" Office, 14A, Princes Street, Cavendish Square, London.

MORE time than we could have wished has elapsed between the publication of this work and its review in our pages, but the cool season of Algiers is yet unexpired by its two most beautiful months, and tourists who are so happy as to have leisure in spring may yet profit by the hints it contains; while next autumn, if the rumours of war have blown over, will assuredly witness the usual troop of human swallows "flying, flying, flying south."

Algeria, long known to the English only as the scene of those picturesque and bloody wars illustrated by the daring pencil of Horace Vernet, has of late years become a place of winter resort for the alleviation of pulmonary disease, and a new field of exploration for the luxurious wanderers who can float about the Mediterranean in their yachts, and cast anchor when it pleases them in each of the classic waters consecrated in history and renowned in song. The little book now under our notice is the only guide-book yet published in England for the French colony, and fully deserves that title from the quantity of compact and varied information which it contains. A prefatory note tells us that part of its contents “ has been translated from the following works of Dr. Bodichon of Algiers: Etudes sur L'Algérie et L'Afrique,' Considérations sur L'Algérie,' and 'Hygiène a suivre en Algérie,' and other parts have been written in English by him." To his wife (the well-known artist, Barbara Leigh Smith) the guide-book is indebted for its translation, arrangement, and a quantity of miscellaneous information of the kind especially useful to English ladies landing in the unknown territory of Algiers. The last chapter contains descriptive sketches of the town and country, from the pens of an English household located a mile from Algiers in the winter of 1856-7.

Chapter the first gives an historical sketch of Algeria, which belonged successively to Carthage, Rome, Constantinople, and to Mahometan invaders. Of the piracies which made its very name terrible for many hundred years every child has heard; the first severe check was given by Lord Exmouth, who, in 1816, "obtained a complete victory over the Algerine fleet, and compelled the Dey to give up one thousand Christian slaves. Other hostilities continued to take place between Algiers and Christian nations, (including the United States;) and, at length, after a fifteen years' war, Algeria became a province of France; Algiers making its submission on the 4th of July, 1830.” It was, however, long before the French conquered the whole of the three provinces now possessed by them; Constantine lying to the east, and Oran to the west of Algiers. Each tract may be said to have been torn piecemeal from the Arabs. Chapter the second gives us the present state of Algeria; its geography, its animals, its botany, agriculture, and trade. The third chapter treats of the climate and its influence on Europeans,

and contains meteorological tables. Ample details regarding the health of the colony, and the hygienic regimen desirable to be pursued by Europeans in the different seasons of the year, are given at length; and Dr. Bodichon's long experience as a resident physician enables him to speak with authority on all these points. Chapters four and five are descriptive of native manners and customs, and of various points of interest in the country. Here is an anecdote told in the course of a ride on horseback::

"We turn seawards, and go down to the sandy shore for some minutes, to take our horses into the blue crystal waves; then continue our route along the flat land, which borders the sea. We pass by orange gardens which scent the air with an exquisitely delicate perfume, lanes shaded with olives, carrubas, and lentisc, fiery scarlet or bright rose-colored geraniums, scrambling wild in the hedges, gleaming out of dark shadows, or burning in the sunshine; close by, purple and white iris in delicious masses relieve the eyes. 'Those dazzling lights on the Moorish houses, those blue shadows, this luxuriant vegetation, this azure sea, are enough to make us all drunk with pleasure; you are too dull for such a day, Lady A.'

"I was thinking of my visit yesterday,' rejoined Lady A., 'to that Moorish house you see high upon Boujereah there; that one with no windows, and three domes, surrounded with a hedge of cacti, a row of black cypresses standing round it, looks like what in fact it is, a tomb, for those in it can hardly be said to be alive. I went there with Mrs. T-, who speaks Arabic, to see a Moorish lady of distinction, a young widow, and her little girl; their dreary lives made an impression upon me which I cannot shake off. Mrs. T— was of little use, for the Moorish ladies have very little to converse about; all the Moorish families are very much alike, the ladies always ask if you are married, how many children you have, and what your clothes cost; and when you have asked them the same questions, there is little more to be said.'

"Le Docteur: "That is in truth all they have to say; like all people in a barbarous state, they are simple, and all very much alike, you soon learn all that is to be known about their lives. The wife of a French workman is a thousand times more civilized than the richest Moorish lady, is a being a thousand times more complicated and interesting. I know the lady you visited. I attended her father, the Dey, in his last illness: hers is a sad history. Her father, the Dey, when quite an old man, demanded in marriage a young girl of fourteen; the brother of the girl agreed to give his sister in marriage if the Dey would give him his daughter in exchange, and the two marriages took place immediately. In less than a year the old Dey, without any alleged cause, sent back his young wife to her brother. It so enraged the brother that his sister should be repudiated in this manner, that out of revenge he sent back the Dey's daughter, his wife, and she was the widow you saw.'

"We found at Lady A.'s Madame Luce, the originator and energetic teacher and conductor of the Moorish school for girls, the first Christian woman who has made a breach in the prison life of the Eastern women. All honor to her name and success to her endeavor, the difficulty of which no one, who has not examined her schools, can be aware. Madame Luce is a clever, agreeable woman, with a forehead which reminded me of Caroline Chisholm."

Here is the result of a lion hunt, several days journey inland :—

"We found, on reaching Teniet, that it is the most wretched place imaginable. Our accommodation that night did not deserve the name. My room

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was a miserable shed, with a muddy floor, and water running down the walls. The next day, with my courage a little frozen out of me, I had stationed myself in the shelter of a doorway, to sketch a group of Arabs, when our landlord came running towards me, and said, 'Have you seen the lion ?' 'Lion!' I cried, alive at the idea, 'no, where?" They have taken him up to show to the Commandant, and will bring him to the village directly.' Out I rushed towards the camp as fast as I could go, and met the people coming down. There he was, the huge beast, hanging across the back of a horse, who, with bandaged eyes, seemed to quiver under the load. It was extremely curious to see the Arabs come round and poke him with their fingers, calling him all kinds of bad names. The horses, as the wind blew the scent towards them, began to neigh and show signs of intense fear. All the dogs in the village were wild, barking and tearing about like mad things. Long before the lion was brought in, they had scented him and began their uproar."

Lest, however, we should frighten fair readers from visiting this beautiful land, we will conclude with assuring them that Algiers, and its neighbourhood for many miles around, is in a state of such civilized tranquillity, that English ladies, as we ourselves have tested, may ride, walk, or sketch alone, with as much impunity as they might in the heart of old England; and that "return tickets are to be obtained, allowing a four months' residence in Algeria, from Mr. Puddick, agent to the Messageries Imperiales, 314A, Oxford Street, London." What would the great men who in ancient days made famous the northern shores of Africa by their piety, their learning, and their skill in the art of warfare, have said to the notion of a return ticket for Algiers?

XI.-OPEN COUNCIL.

[As these pages are intended for general discussion, the Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the opinions expressed.]

To the Editor of the English Woman's Journal.
MADAM,

Your correspondent in the last number of the Englishwoman's Journal, signing "A Constant Reader," takes such singular views of marriage and married life, that I hope you will allow me, another "constant reader," to offer a few remarks upon that communication.

In the first place, the sentence in Passing Events of January, to which exception is taken, is not correctly quoted: "the law itself should be remodelled, giving, as in Prussia, divorce upon the ground of incompatibility alone," being arbitrarily modified and restricted by "A Constant Reader" into "incompatibility (of temper) alone."

Now "temper," though a very frequent and disastrous cause of "incompatibility," is by no means the sole cause, as a few moments' reflection will show. Other and very obvious causes, mental, moral, and physical, will readily suggest themselves to the minds of all enlightened and thoughtful readers, some of so delicate and distressing a nature, that nothing short of

divorce upon the ground of incompatibility alone-that incompatibility to be determined by the parties themselves-can ensure redress.

In Prussia, as elsewhere, where facility of divorce on the ground of incompatibility alone is the law of the land, care is taken to guard against compulsion, whim, or caprice, by rendering a succession of appeals, spread over intervals of longer or shorter duration, the condition upon which such divorce can be obtained.

There are but two points of view from which marriage can be legitimately discussed. Either, as in the Roman Catholic Church, as a sacrament, and consequently indissoluble, or as a civil contract, binding only under certain conditions.

The law of Protestant England looks upon marriage as a civil contract, and surely no more legitimate cause for the dissolution of this contract can be adduced, than the cordial desire of both parties to be released, care being taken, as just stated, to prevent coercion, whim, or caprice, from actuating the parties concerned.

The notion that "a man who had grown tired of his wife would have nothing to do but to indulge his ill-humour and make himself disagreeable till the poor creature was driven to sue for a divorce," if it have any foundation in nature, which is open to doubt, is an argument the more in favor of divorce; for surely no woman, worthy of the name, would care to remain united to the man in whose nature she could believe so base a possibility to lurk.

As to the extraordinary confession on the part of "A Constant Reader," that "one great object" women have in marriage is, "to secure to the woman in her age, the comfortable position that her beauty won for her in her youth," I can only say that though we hear of interested marriages,—see them, unfortunately, sometimes, this cool and mercenary avowal of the uses of a pretty face "out-Herods Herod," and I for one, and in the name of all honest and honorable women, protest most strongly against it.

I am, Madam,

Very truly yours,

P. D.

MADAM,

To the Editor of the English Woman's Journal.

Many years ago I endeavored, unsuccessfully, to organize an establishment, the want of which is much felt at the present time, namely, a selfsupporting home for gentlewomen of small incomes. Now that we Englishwomen have an advocate in the "Englishwoman's Journal" I feel again induced to attempt the same object, and by making known my views, I hope and trust that they will be responded to by those willing to avail themselves of such an establishment were it promptly commenced. May we not look towards you, dear madam, as the noble champion of our sex, to aid us in the formation of a plan which may (as much as possible) meet the views of most persons. I venture to submit my own ideas on this subject merely to elicit those of others, and thus many valuable hints may be gained. I propose then that a large roomy house be taken in an unfashionable part of London or its vicinity, rents being proportionably low, and that the rental of each room be fixed according to size, every lady having a separate bedchamber, reserving a large general assembly-room and a dining-room; the lighting and heating of the two last to be at the expense of the establishment. There must be of course an honorary secretary, and a lady superintendent, chosen from amongst ourselves. Considering the love of privacy connected with home comforts amongst the English ladies, I know not what plan to offer as regards the meals; taking them in common would decidedly be the

most economical, but I fear this would be objected to by many. Suppose, however, that a clever man and his wife, accustomed to cook and provide largely, were engaged, and who, for a certain sum paid monthly, would undertake to furnish the few domestics necessary, a table d'hôte, and also supply those ladies who should prefer dining, as is common in France, in their own apartment. In the above case, each lady would pay her proportion. The other meals could be easily arranged.

As society is one of the great wants of our class, we shall be gratified in our daily intercourse and general reunion in the evening when each can carry out her own idea of enjoyment. Once a month it would be agreeable, no doubt to every one, to join a simply conducted soirée, to which all could invite their friends at a trifling expense. Other pleasant little parties might also be occasionally formed, as a pic-nic in summer, or attending a concert or lecture in the dreary winter months. In short, I think it would depend upon ourselves to render the establishment a happy and intellectual home. I confess myself quite at a loss how to arrange the preliminary steps towards the formation of such a society as I have suggested in this letter, but I doubt not that some of your clever correspondents can point out the proper commencement. I am, Madam,

February 12th, 1859.

Your obedient Servant,

E. B.

MADAM,

To the Editor of the English Woman's Journal.

I avail myself of the space in your Journal which is kindly offered to those who may have any hints or suggestions to offer to your readers, to ask a question and to venture an opinion. Why is there no outcry raised when men invade the province of women, and accept work which cannot come under the term "manly," while if women seek occupations quite suitable to their sex, but hitherto in the hands of men, we have a vast deal of nonsense spoken about their losing their "womanliness," a word often without meaning, like many similar pet words of the day.

Among the various occupations fitted for women, I am surprised that no one advocates the art of hair dressing, which like many other feminine trades is greatly if not wholly monopolised by the stronger sex. Women it is true

are to be seen in perfumers' shops, selling the articles requisite for that part of a lady's toilet, but they are not to be seen combing or brushing ladies locks, nor even cutting the hair of children. Moustached youths or bearded men, are those who have the pleasure of arranging the chevelures of young maidens, of children, or of elderly ladies. Boys heat the curling irons and men use them.

Is it "manly" to stand behind a lady's chair, curling and perfuming her tresses, when hundreds of women know not how to gain a livelihood? This occupation, so light and easy, could not surely invalidate their "womanliness."

If any active woman trained for such work would open a shop, or in the first instance a room, where ladies and children could comfortably get their hair cut or dressed, I for one would be delighted to be spared the sight of the white-aproned men and youths who perform at present that dignified task.

I am, Madam,

Yours, etc.,

A.