can have them on no other terms. That is one of
the conditions of the part they accepted when they took upon themselves
their present posts at the beginning of a period of civil convulsion. If
they fail, they will be doomed to profound contempt. In the words of the
foremost man of all this modern world, uttered at the very crisis of his
own fortunes,--Napoleon I., in the summer of 1813,--"To be judged by the
event is the inexorable law of history."

HOW TO CHOOSE A RIFLE.

_To the Editors of the_ ATLANTIC MONTHLY.

Some thirty years ago, a gentleman who had just returned from Europe was
trying to convey an idea of the size and magnificence of St. Peter's
Church to a New-England country-clergyman, and was somewhat taken aback
by the remark of the good man, that "the Pope must require a very
powerful voice to fill such a building."

The anecdote has been brought to my mind by the unexpected position in
which I am placed, as the recipient of such a multitude of letters,
and from such widely separated portions of the country, elicited by my
article on Rifle-Clubs in the "Atlantic" for September, that I find
myself called upon to address an audience extending from Maine to
Minnesota. Fortunately for me, however, the columns of the "Atlantic"
afford facilities of communication not enjoyed by the Pope, and through
that medium I crave permission to reply to inquiries which afford most
gratifying proof of the wide-spread interest which is awakened in the
subject.

Almost every letter contains the inquiry, "What is the new
breech-loading rifle you allude to, and where is it to be had?"--but a
large proportion of them also ask advice as to the selection of a rifle;
and with such evidence of general interest in the inquiry, I have
thought I could not do better than to frame my reply specially to this
point.

The rifle above alluded to is not yet in the market, and probably will
not be for some time to come. Only three or four samples have been
manufactured, and after being subjected to every possible test short
of actual service in the hands of troops, it has proved so entirely
satisfactory that preparations are now making for its extensive
production. Thus far it is known as the Ashcroft rifle, from the name of
the proprietor, Mr. E.H. Ashcroft of Boston, the persevering energy
of whose efforts to secure its introduction will probably never be
appreciated as it deserves, except perhaps by those who have gone
throug