out either restoring
the costumes of the Janissaries, or even assimilating the habiliments of
his troops to that which they wear in their own country, which would
have inspired a strong and useful _esprit de corps_, he has accepted the
uniform of the Zouave and Turcos of the French army. It is sufficiently
Oriental to meet the object desired, and is very popular in the Sultan's
army. It leaves to the wearer the free use of his limbs, but as a
parade-dress will not show so favorably, to European eyes, as the more
dignified dress of the Guards. The most difficult part of a military
costume is the head-dress; and the common red cap of the Turks, called
the _Fez_, is even more objectionable than the unseemly slouched hat
worn in the regular army of the United States. Around this cap the
Sultan has had a small turban bound, in one or two folds, which is a
relief to the eye, and easily kept in order. It is readily taken off, in
case of need, and may be bound around the waist as a sash, or girdle.

This change in the dress of his army has given to his people the idea
that their new Sultan is anti-Christian, and will restore the Ottoman
Empire to its former state and condition. How far this will be verified,
still rests to be seen. Reforms not entirely needed, and but half
carried out, leave the recipients in that transitory state which weakens
and demoralizes without effecting any permanent and real benefit. An
external change is certainly less efficient than a moral one, but it
goes far toward influencing the feelings of patriotism and loyalty which
are so essential to man in his political condition, and it is more than
probable that the anti-reforms of Sultan Abd-ul-Aziz will effect more
real good in his capital, and elsewhere, than the boasted reforms of his
illustrious father.

WITCHES, ELVES, AND GOBLINS.

The creative power of man, though so much boasted, is after all but a
mere phantom--a vapor which rises from the ground and floats with little
change of form from place to place. The diapason which we thought so
extensive, appears, on inquiry, to consist of only a few notes, and the
changes that may be rung upon them, may almost be counted upon the
fingers. Homer's fables are near of kin to those of Shakspeare; the
legends of ancient Greece find their details mirrored exactly in the
traditions of Spain, Scotland, and Scandinavia. Whether in the remoter
fogs of the past some glimmering traces of light may lead