THE MAGAZINES.

WE note with pleasure the appearance of the second number

of Lady Randolph Churchill's quarterly, the Anglo-Saxon Review. The binding of the second number is, considering the conditions of its production, an excellent piece of work.

It is copied from a binding by Derome, of the Morgante Maggiore of Paid. The illustrations of the present volume are quite as good as those in the first, and include a, most striking picture of Queen Elizabeth, which has been dis- covered at Siena. Very interesting, too, are the plates of the Sardonyx Cameo from the Marlborough Gems and of Antonio Moro's picture of William the Silent. A high average is sustained in the letterpress of the volume, though none of it is of sensational interest. The second instalment of Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire's letters is full of bright and curious touches, while Mr. Gorst's essay on "The Oriental Character" is not only very read- able, but fall of insight into the strange abyss with which it deals.—We note also Mr. Fasham's "Some Realities of The Pilgrim's Progress," in which various places around Bedford are identified with Christian's journeyings. The editor should publish a companion paper dealing with the attempts which have been made to show that Guildford is the City of Destruction, Shalford Meadows the Slough of Despond, Shalfor3 Fair Vanity Fair, the North Downs the Delectable Mountains, and so on. There is a good deal to be said for the theory. The pastoral character of the landscape in The Pilgrim's Progress certainly points to a rough upland country rather than to Bedfordshire. It is said that Bunyan lived for a time at the old pest-house,—a timbered cottage between Guildford and Shalford.—Before we leave the

Angle-Saxon we must not forget to mention the very notable poem by Mr. Stephen Phillips, "A Poet's Prayer." It is a

very fine piece of work, and shows that Mr. Phillips knows how to handle the heroic couplet with a force and character all his own. Without imitating Dryden, his lines are clothed with that majestic, almost thunderous, note that belongs to the grandest passages in " The Hind and the Panther." Here are three or four lines from the poem in question

" I ask not that false calm which many feign, And call that peace which is a dearth of pain. True calm doth quiver like the calmest star ; It is that white where all the colours are.

....... • • Spaces thou bast ordained the stars between, And silences where melody bath been : Teach me those absences of fire to face, And thee no less in silence to embrace."

The Nineteenth Century for November is a good number ; that is, it is one full of papers which the average 'man will be inclined to read, and will benefit by reading. The first two are, of course, on South Africa. Mr. E. Dicey contends that the Dutch Republics once defeated, the whole of South Africa should be federated in one Dominion, the separate Colonies and the Republics becoming provinces thereof, after the example of Canada. He does not believe in permanent race. hatred, and holds the Boer to be a man who will accept accomplished facts. He thinks that the only fear is lest the British, misled by a false generosity, should fail to deprive

the Boers of the power to resume the struggle.—Mr. Green's paper on " Native Unrest in South Africa " is newer, and amounts to this, that all the dark races are more or less oppressed, especially about their wages, that all dislike the whites, and that this dislike has recently shown itself in a desire to found native Churches with an exclusively native ministry. Mr. Green, though not exactly endorsing this movement, says the natives are often cheated, and that the beat remedy would be their admission into the Legislatures. We doubt this as yet, and would rather secure them justice by affirming in the Constitution that they shall be entitled to precisely the same treatment as foreign white men ; that is, shall have every right of every kind except the vote. If we give them this wholesale we shall have to take it away again as the Americans have practically done, possibly after a dangerous insurrection.—Mr. Mallock in his very long and able paper contends that science is dissolving that belief in Scripture which is the basis of Protestantism, and that the Roman Church, as the only one not resting on that ground, is emerging from the anarchy around her with renewed strength, which her perfect organisation will enable her to utilise fully.

That is not a view which will commend itself to many Protestants, but Mr. Mallock's defence of it is worth reading for intellectual reasons. We underrate the force of the argument which Catholics see in the idea that the Church is her own best witness to the truths of Christianity.—The curious paper by Mr. D. Young on " The Dalmeny Experi- ments" is a statement of the great advantages obtained at Dalmeny from using a light top-dressing of ground lime, " ordinary burned lime shells ground to a fine state of division." The ordinary quantity is 4 cwt. per acre, applied at the ordinary time of "working the land." There is much more detailed information in the paper, but this is the essential teaching which it is desired to diffuse, and which it is declared produces admirable crops.—The account of "A Devil Dance in Ceylon," by Mrs. Corner-OMmus, will interest all who believe in mental medicine. It is, we should say, a wild ceremony intended to render mystical the fact that Singhalese mesmerists occasionally cure obstinate forms of melancholia. The danoe has no effect, the mesmerism has.—Mr. Wallace Duthie strenu- ously advises families which send sons to the Colonies not to send them monthly remittances. The unearned supply nearly always ruins them. Mr. Duthie, who gives plenty of illustrations of his thesis, certainly has the courage of his convictions. He would let the exile " touch the bottom, if need be, of destitution and despair." Then he may prosper, but with regular remittances he will do nothing but drink. It is a hard doctrine, and we should like a few facts as to the effect of remittances upon those who can resist the drink fiend, or are never tempted by him.—Mr. A. Shad- well gives a most readable account of the outbreak of plague in Oporto. It was, he said, the true Oriental plague, and it was most difficult to deal with, for the people believed it an invention of the doctors, refused to go to hospital, and resented every rule imposed by the authorities. The attack was not, however, an aggravated one, for of seventy-six cases only thirty-one died; and Mr. Shadwell believes that in a severe epidemic the people would fall into a panic. Possibly, but possibly also not. Hindoos do not. We should like to know the traditional origin of the Southern suspicion of doctors. Did they ever in past ages benefit pecuniarily by deaths ?

The number of the Contemporary Review for November is not a striking one. The first three papers are all devoted to South Africa, and though two of them are instructive, they all leave an impression of being slightly belated. The first is by Sir Charles Warren, G.C.M.G., and is a repetition of the idea that our policy has always been undecided or zigzag, so that we have never been able to develop loyalty. Sir Charles is confident that if we will but adhere to our claim to govern there will be no race bitterness, and that the Boers once " drubbed " will be fairly loyal subjects. He inclines to the opinion that President Kruger's ultimate determination to fight was produced, not so much by a blunder as to the relative strength of the antagonists, as by a belief that we should not care to go to the expense of reducing the Trans- vaal. The main idea of the "Old Campaigner," in the second paper, is that, while we must not allow the natives to assist us, and thus reproduce the native question after this war is over, we ought to allow the native chiefs to refuse transit to Boers, and to disarm any Boers who enter their territory. Is not that asking a little too much self-control of savages? The "Old Campaigner" remarks incidentally that the Boers have a profound respect for Sir Redvers Buller. Mr. Molten, in the third paper, maintains that Sir A. Milner has been wholly in the wrong, that we ought to have waited and waited, that if we had done so the irreconcilable Boers would have trekked again (whither P), and that the remainder would have peaceably accepted the drift of events. Considering that the Boers have invaded Natal, there is little that is practical in that speculation. Mr. Molteno desires a speedy peace, and thinks that Mr. Schreiner and Mr. Hofmeyr will still act as mediators. Surely the time is past for all that. There must be a result for our expenditure of lives and treasure.—Canon Knox Little protests against the Lambeth " opinion " upon incense, as tending to show that the Anglican Church is not a branch of the Church of Christ, but a mere creation of Acts of Parliament, which do not become spiritual because they are

quoted by Archbishops. That is very true, but then, also, they do not become ineffective because Archbishops quote them. The Canon's argument points directly to Disestab- lishment.—Sir E. Fry defends legislation against illicit commissions on the ground that it will not only strengthen men's consciences, but give them a distinct reason for declin- ing to accept such bribes, and is inclined to suggest the formation of a Society pledged to prosecute, as the societies do which prevent cruelty to animals and to children.—Mr. Anderson, the author of " The Silence of God," explains that book as intended to teach that God is silent because revelation is already complete, the revelation being that body of doctrine usually taught by the Evangelicals.—We have but a faint idea what Mr. Charles Johnston means by his paper on "Primeval Language," unless it be that men spoke together originally in vowels, only as babies now do, and gradually invented the consonants,—a thesis it would be very hard to prove. The fact that " streams of vowels " have in Poly- nesian definite meanings proves nothing whatever, as neither we nor our languages are of Polynesian descent. Mr. Johnston seems to think that babies uttered the first words ; but were their mothers silent, or would the children of the dumb speak articulately P

Of the three articles on the burning question of the hour which appear in the November Fortnightly, that on "A South African Settlement" strikes us as the most reasonable and in- forming. The paper on the course of the war indulges in predic- tions with regard to the invasion of Natal, which has been falsi- fied by the retreat from Dundee and the recent disaster at Lady- smith, but the writer is doing good service when he observes that " the Press can best serve the public interests, at the present juncture, by cultivating the qualities of patience and reticence, and by showing confidence in those who are charged with the conduct of military operations." Dr. Karl Blind's views on the "Transvaal Independence and England's Future " deserve the respect due to a strenuous champion of political liberty. We think, however, he is going much too far when he says that England's "best friends all over Europe, men who had undergone much obloquy for having so often sided with her, are turning aside. They unanimously say that President Kruger was systematically forced into his last fatal step, that he was cunningly driven to the wall, and finally had to defend his country, whatever the issue might be."—Mr. Whates, who writes on the Venezuelan award, takes an optimistic view of the profitable development of what he considers to be one of the neglected estates of the Empire, especially in regard to the goldfields.—The miscellaneous and literary articles are of more than average merit or vivacity. Ouida's paper on Unwritten Literary Laws teems with feline amenities,—e.g.," One of the Sonnets of Proteus is worth the whole swagger of the Seven Seas." English authors, publishers, binders, printers, and illustrators all fail under the lash of Onida's comprehensive castigation. Incidentally she mentions, a propos of the length of modern novels, that " my own Illassareenes, published in 1897, contains the same number of words as Esmond." Mr. Arthur Symons's paper on Donne is quite the ablest and sanest piece of literary criticism we have ever read from his pen ; and Miss Edith Sichel writes with delicate sympathy of the letters of Mrs. Holland. Mr. Garrett Fisher's paper on "The Art of Fly- ing," and that of Mr. E. Vincent Howard on " The Menacing Comet" are both excellent.

Reconstruction is dealt with by the Hon. Evelyn Ashley in the National Review in a short paper beaded " After' in South Africa." He, like the writer in the Fortnightly, favours the formation of Johannesburg and the goldfields into a separate municipality, and the rectification of frontiers for strategical reasons, but lays special stress on the necessity of enacting that " no existing British, subject shall forfeit his British citizenship by any naturalisation or other necessary form of compliance with the law of the Transvaal State in order to qualify—equally with the Dutch burgher—for the exercise of the franchise or other political privilege." As regards the Orange Free State, he would be content with a substantial indemnity for the expenses caused by their gratuitous aggression, and the disarmament of their artillery force, but holds that the simplest solution of the difficulty would be the absorption of the Free State into the Transvaal. —Mr. Spenser Wilkinson, who writes on " Moral Factors of the War," clearly analyses the factors of character on either side as affected by the degree of organisation or embodied thought in the two conflicting States ; the most effective passage in the article being the following :—

" The Boers are fighting for their right to exclude British settlers from their body politic, and for their intention to break up the body politic which Great Britain, with infinite pains, has for a century been building up around them, a structure under the shelter of which their States have grown up. Great Britain is fighting to maintain that structure, and to assert the right of her people to a place in the Boer States corresponding to that • given to the Boer or Dutch inhabitants of the British Colonies.

But the wrongness, the wickedness of the Boer policy is best seen in their attempts to raise the blacks against the British. The British authorities have exerted their utmost endeavours to keep the Basutos and other tribes from any sort of attack on the Boers. That a word from the British Resident would have let loose the Basutos on to the Free State everyone knows. That word has not been and will not be spoken, though it would relieve Sir George White from his difficulties, and though the Boers have been saying and doing all they can to persuade the Basutos to massacre the British. The historian will ask not only what were the rights and wrongs of the moment, but what each of the two States stood for in the world. The answer will be that the Boers stood for ignorance, for prejudice, for race hatred, and for mis- government, and that Great Britain stood for fair play, for freedom, and for justice."

—Mr. Maurice Low in " The Month in America" devotes

most of his space to the personality and prospects of Admiral Dewey. He pays a high tribute to his modesty, simplicity, and considerateness. Admiral Dewey is, we are glad to learn, quite unspoiled by his triumph, and perfectly sincere in his declaration that he has no ambition to be more than he is,—a full Admiral in the United States Navy. But Mr. Low seems to doubt whether, in the long run, he will be able to withstand the tremendous pressure and the tremendous temptation to

which he is subjected. 2 propos of the death of Mr. Vander hilt, Mr. Low remarks : " The student of sociology must have

been interested in observing how little resentment the death of Cornelius Vanderbilt caused When Jay Gould died a few years ago the newspapers had nothing good to say of him. Mr. Vanderbilt's death has called out only sympathetic allusions to his unostentatious charity and his kindness of heart." But then, as Mr. Low proceeds to explain, the two men were widely different : Gould was a successful wrecker, while Vanderbilt's talent was constructive. In connection with the war in the Transvaal, Mr. Low states that the attitude of America is in the main distinctly friendly to England ; but the editor in his " Episodes of the Month "

insists that this feeling will never be translated into active support, or advance beyond the stage of friendly resolutions. —Mr. C. A. Whitmore, M.P., in a paper on "Redistribu-

tion," based mainly on the suggestions of Mr. Kimber, M.P., arrives at two m ain conclusions. First, that it is " practically impossible to have a Redistribution limited to meet the views of those who primarily wish to reduce the repre- sentation of Ireland, or of those whose simple desire is to give additional representation to particular districts of Great Britain. Secondly, any Redistribution, however localized and limited it might be in its inception and original design, must, if it proceeds on the lines suggested by both these sets of reformers, be a step forward towards the general adoption of equal electoral districts." It is pretty clear from Mr. Whitmore's further comments that he regards the carrying out of such a scheme as calculated to exert a dangerous influence on our political life. Anyhow, he is convinced that there is no use in "fiddling with" a question which will require

the undivided attention of the Government.—M. Urbain Gohier's article on "The Role of the Roman Catholic Church in France" is an expansion and restatement of his previous indictment, with copious citations from the clerico-militarist Press and Le Peril Protestant. It is amusing to learn that the Arlair, which formerly anathematised the Transvaal Boers for imposing disabilities on Roman Catholics, now lavishes its sympathies upon them in their struggle with England. "Apparently," remarks M. Gohier, "English Pro- testants are looked upon as more Protestant than those of the Transvaal." — Mr. Leslie Stephen's essay on " The Cosmopolitan Spirit in Literature" is an admirably sane and

lucid rejoinder to the somewhat sensational predictions in M.

Joseph Texte's interesting volume, but Miss Godley seems to have missed a golden opportunity in "A Play-Goer's Protest."

She falls foul of London for its pardonable loyalty to Sir Henry Irving, and has not a word of complaint to make against that triumphant incursion of lubricity and vulgarity from which Sir Henry Irving has always honourably stood aloof.

Blackwood opens with an interesting paper on " Some Maxims of Napoleon," as illustrated chiefly by modern strategy in the North and South, Franco-Prussian, and Russo- Turkish Wars. Amongst other conclusions, Lieutenant-Colonel Henderson, who writes the paper, tells us that " great generals will not be more numerous, for genius is not a product of

education; but there will be far fewer bad ones." He also holds that— "In the future as in the past, the tactical offensive will be far more often associated with victory than the tactical defensive; and the latter must remain, as heretofore, the resource of an inferior force against a concentrated foe. The doctrine that salvation is to be found in impregnable positions is most dangerous teaching, and, if history be any guide, the endeavour to give it practical application leads not only to the waste of time and the neglect of opportunity, but almost invites the assailant to manceuvre against flank and rear."

Napoleon, according to his enemies, broke every rule of war, a reproach which, as Lieutenant-Colonel Henderson reminds us, might be levelled against almost every leader who has won a name in history. "But," he continues, "Napoleon and his

compeers never violated established principles—they only invented new methods of applying them."—A most valu- able account of the daily life of an officer on service in the Uganda Protectorate is contributed by Captain Neil Malcolm, D.S.O. There is a delightful anecdote of Captain Malcolm's senior native officer, " a splendid old Dinka, Snrnr Effendi by name," who when asked whether the next day was Thursday or Friday, replied: "It is as you may order."

Taken all round, the author concludes, as a training-ground for young men, Africa is unrivalled throughout the world. —Major Arthur Griffiths in his pleasant account of a trip in a motor-car makes the significant remark that the latest method of traction and locomotion has never yet been

properly appreciated by our War Office ; and while auto- mobiles have been tried with marked success at the great

mancauvres in France, Germany, and Italy, they have hardly as yet been experimented upon here. Patriotic millionaires seeking about for a suitable bridoat; might bear this in mind.