11 DECEMBER 1886

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Then Lord Selborne spoke, following up this appeal to Mr.

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Gladstone with a special appeal to Lord Spencer, who had said that we cannot tolerate anarchy in Ireland, and recommending to all Liberals Professor Dicey's powerful book on...

Lord Derby followed in an admirable speech, of which we

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only regret the single sentence in which he declared that he would limit the majority competent to close debate in the House of Commons to a majority of two-thirds ; while Sir...

At the evening banquet at the Hotel MOtropole, Mr. Goschen

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proposed the toast of "The Unionist Cause" in a very vigorous and eloquent speech, in which he said that though not in office, their leader was "practically in power," and that...

NOTICE. — With this week's "SPECTATOR " is issued, gratis, a LITERARY

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SUPPLEMENT.

E s * The Editors cannot undertake to return Manuscript, in any

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case.

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

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T HE Liberal Unionist Conference at Willis's Rooms, on Tuesday, was attended by a great crowd of sagacious and influential politicians. Mr. Bright wrote :—" If I were forced to...

Lord Hartington, in a stately opening speech, insisted on his

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party's alliance with the Conservatives for the one object of main- taining the Legislative Union, as the very key of the situation. That alliance could not be given up. As for...

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The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin is perfectly satisfied with

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the report of his opinions on the new campaign of the National League which was contained in the Pall Mall Gazette of Wednesday week, or rather, so far as he modifies that...

General Digby Willoughby, " Ambassador " from the Queen of

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Madagascar, publishes a series of letters in the papers which show that war between Madagascar and France is very near. The Treaty of December 17th, 1885, was, when signed,...

As for the campaign which has thus received his Grace's

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blessing, it is going on merrily. On Sunday last, Mr. Dillon, at Castlereagh (County Roscommon), surpassed himself in the violent Jacobinism of his menaces. He threatened what...

It is evident that the German Parliament will pass the

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new Military Bill increasing the German Army by 40,000 men, operative from January 1st, 1887, and lasting till April 1st, 1895. General Bronsart, the new Minister of War, has...

The only news from Eastern Europe this week is of

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apparent but probably not of real importance. The Porte has issued a Circular stating that Prince Nicholas of Mingrelia is the- Russian candidate for the throne of Bulgaria, and...

After an interregnum lasting for nearly a week, M. Goblet,

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the anti-clerical Minister of Instruction, has agreed to form a Ministry. He is a second-rate advocate, a good administrator, and tolerably conservative on every point except...

Another French Ministry has fallen, and there are two theories

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about its fall. According to one, the Chamber has displayed its usual recklessness ; and according to another, M. de Freycinet has snatched an opportunity to resign. On Friday...

The Irish Revolution, like the French, is beginning to devour

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its own children. The Fenians of New York have not requested O'Donovan Rossa to resign, but have called a Convention, which has found him guilty of "fraud, treachery, treason,...

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Lord Salisbury made a vigorous speech at a banquet of

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the City Conservative Club on Wednesday. The Unionist meeting -of the previous day had given him, ho said, the utmost confidence that resistance on behalf of the fundamental...

The annual Central Poor-Law Conference was held in Exeter Hall

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on Wednesday, and attended by three hundred delegates from Boards of Guardians and others connected with the work of providing for the poor. They unanimously passed a resolu-...

Language of this kind has very naturally frightened the English

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Liberals. Lord Kilcoursie, the Gladstonian Member for South Somerset, who is of course an avowed Home-ruler, writes to Tuesday's Daily News in undisguised alarm at Mr. Dillon's...

It is stated that the quagga, the beautiful wild striped

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ass of South Africa, has suddenly ceased to exist. The boot. makers of London and New York wanted his skin for a par- ticular kind of sportsman's boot, and he consequently...

The Campbell divorce case has been dragging on all through

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the week, and may possibly last till Tuesday. Mr. Justice Butt and the counsel before him all say they are doing all they can to terminate a scene which the Judge declared to be...

Bank Rate, 4 per cent.

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Consols were on Friday 10q to 100ix4.

On Ireland, Lord Salisbury declared that, in his opinion, the

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landlords ought to be most forbearing in enforcing their rights, and to take into consideration in the fullest way the fall in the price of produce which had diminished the...

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TOPICS OF THE DAY.

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THE LIBERAL UNIONISTS AND IRISH JACOBINISM. " C ARRIED to a suspense account," was the witty com- mercial phrase in which Sir Henry James described the present position of the...

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THE GERMAN VIEW OF THE SITUATION.

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T HE debate in the German Parliament on the renewal of the Military Septennate leaves on our minds the impres- sion that the German Government, which is the beat informed in...

LORD SALISBURY ON THE CONSERVATIVE NAME.

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1 - 0RD SALISBURY'S effective speech in the City on 1 Wednesday betrayed a good deal of sensitiveness as to the accusation of Mr. Morley, Mr. Mundella, and others that the...

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A MECHANICAL SWORDFISH.

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T HE account of the 'Peacemaker,' the new submarine steel vessel which has just been tested in New York, published in the Daily News of Tuesday, is not pleasant reading for a...

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MR. STANHOPE'S CIRCULAR TO THE COLONIES.

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T HERE are possible gains in having Ministers who are not men of genius ; the misfortune is that one cannot be sure that the compensation will accompany the drawback. Sometimes...

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THE FRENCH CHAMBER.

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W E cannot affect to regret the fall of M. de Freycinet, whom we have reasons, not yet published, for regarding with profound distrust ; but that fall reveals a great danger to...

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THE CONDITIONS OF SOUND CRITICISM.

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A CONTEMPORARY which evidently attributes a good deal of the depression in the artistic world to the depreciatory criticisms passed upon Art exhibitions, suggests, by way of...

PRINCE ALEXANDER OF BATTENBERG.

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W E rather wonder that the English people have made so little fuss over the visit of Prince Alexander of Batten- berg, and if we were cynical, we should say their indifference...

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THE HUMOURS OF CORK.

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I N a recent article in this journal, the "Humours of Kerry" were treated in a very amusing and interesting way; and it has occurred to the writer of this paper that the Humours...

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THE SCANDALS OF REPORTING.

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."1 Sllt,—The thanks of all good men are doe to you for denouncing the recently adopted practice of reporting at length the foul details of...

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

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THE LATE MR. AYRTON. [To TEE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."' you allow me, as a nephew of the late Mr. Ayrton, to correct one or two trifling errors of fact in your appreciative...

CIVIL SERVANTS AND POLITICS.

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."" fear you will think me a nuisance for "going on ;" but the truth is, you put my points so much better than I do, that you tempt me to...

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BOOKS.

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PROFESSOR DOWDEN'S LIFE OF SHELLEY.* [FIRST NOTICE.] As it is tolerably certain that this Life of Shelley will supersede all others, since it both sifts and appraises the...

EXPERIMENTAL PATHOLOGY.

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LTO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR. "3 SIR,—In my letter on "Experimental Pathology," which you were good enough to publish in your issue of December 4th, the name of "Mr....

THE SILENCE OF DEAN MArTLA_ND.

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECFATOR."1 SIB.,—Yon may possibly deem the following remarks relevant in reference to your criticism of the above-named novel :—" Maxwell Gray" is a...

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THE STORY OF CARTHAGE.*

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THE name of Professor Church guarantees at once the historical- accuracy and the literary excellence of The Story of Carthage, the latest volume of an admirable series, "The...

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SOME OF THE PRINCIPAL CHRISTMAS BOOKS.—IV.* IT was a happy

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thought to bring out a " Jubilee Edition" of The Pickwick Papers, the first number of which appeared fifty years ago. And in some respects the thought has been well carried out....

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Rinaultrie. By Mrs. Milne Rae. (Nelson and Sons.)—The plot of

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the story is one which has been used before, one would say, not a few times only. In fact, it is the old " claimant " affair over again. But the claimant in this case is little...

My First Curacy. By Ingellea Polkinghorne. (Christian Common.

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wealth Publishing Company.)—The author's hero seems to have had a good opinion of himself, for within a week of his ordination, he tells a correspondent, not without some...

Fairy Phcebe. By L. Taylor. (I. F. Shaw.)—In this story

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there is a strong element of sadness, as, indeed, in such a subject there could scarcely fail to be. The moral is that there is much sorrow and trouble beneath the glare and...

We have received the annual volumes of Cassell's Saturday Journal

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and Cassell's Family Magazine. (Cassell and (lo.)—The former con- tains plenty of fiction—Mr. G. M. Fenn's "Affair Next Door" among it—and, we might say, plenty of everything....

The Black Witch of Hone ycritch. By Phcebe Allan. (S.P.C.K.)

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—The so-called "Black Witch" is a really admirable woman, whose reputation suffers from her living in a disreputable hamlet, and from being married to a man who is anything but...

The Young Standard-Bearer (Wells Gardner, Darton, and Co.) is the

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collected issue of a magazine intended for the young, and pub- lished by the "Church of England Temperance Society."

"Oran." By " E. A. B. D." (Nisbet.)—This is a simple

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story of the poor, having a special reference to the evils of drink. It is well told. Bat we cannot think that the illustrations are an ornament. In that one which faces p. 167,...

Summer, Spring, Autumn and Winter : Songs and Sketches, Selected

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and Arranged by E. Nesbitt and Robert Ellice Mack (Griffith, Ferran, and Co.), contains a variety of extracts from the poets and some original verse, illustrated with drawings...

Climbing Higher. By Jessie F. Armstrong. (J. F. Shaw.) —The

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story of a lost heir, not, perhaps, more improbable, but scarcely less so than such stories commonly are. But little Lille, the unhappy victim of the travelling showman, is,...

"Honour is My Guide." By Jeanie Herring (Hrs. Adams Acton).

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(Cassell and Co.)—This is not the happiest specimen that we have seen of these " motto " stories. The story illustrates more or leas forcibly a number of excellent maxims, but...

Two very pleasing little stories of child-life may be mentioned

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together, The Hawthorns, by Amy Walton (Blackie and Son), and Not So Very Long Ago, by the Author of "At all Times," Ao. (J. F. Shaw.)—In the first, we have a country parsonage...

Young Ishmael Conway. By "E. A. B. D." (J. F.

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Shaw.)— Ishmael, so named in a grim joke by his father, is a powerful sketch of character, uncommon, indeed, but not, we should say, impossible. He is fierce, intractable, even...

In Letters of Flame : a Tale of the Waldenses.

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By C. L. Mattiaux. (Cassell and Co.)—A. lively style and plenty of incident, taken together with a subject which is sure to excite sympathy among readers in this country,...

Longfellow's pathetic little poem, The Wreck of the Hesperus,' appears

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in an illustrated edition. (Griffith, Ferran, and Co.)—The pictures are good, and the engraving displays some of the marvellous effects which American artists were the first to...

Messrs. Chapman and Hall send us a very pretty edition

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of Dickens's Christmas Tales, in five volumes, in a box, with the old illustrations. It makes an exceedingly pretty Christmas gift.

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True Stories of English History. By Oscar Browning, M.A. (Griffith,

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Farran, and Co.)—Here we have some hundred short accounts of important events and persons in our history. With these Mr. Oscar Browning has judiciously mingled some sketches of...

"Foremost if I Can." By Helen Atteridge. (Cassell and Co.)—There

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is a certain difficulty about a foundling turning up in any probable, and at the same time respectable way, on land. Hence the favour with which the sea is regarded. But surely...

The Christian Year. By John Keble. (Hogg.)—This is a reprint,

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with a Memoir prefixed, and a Portrait. Of the latter we cannot honestly express our approval, but the memoir is very mach to the point, and could hardly have been improved...

The Secrets of Finland, by Anna Johnson, illustrated by" Dulcamara"

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(London Literary Society), is one of the numberless stories belonging to the class of which "Alice in Wonderland " is the type. Aggie, the heroine, is left behind when her...

We have received from Messrs. Blackie new editions of two

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of Dr. George Macdonald's tales, At the Back of the North Wind, and Ralph Bannerman's Boyhood. Both of them are illustrated by Mr. Arthur Hughes, the former with seventy-five,...

*** We are desired by Miss Dorothea S. Sinclair to

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state that her fairy stories, The Prince and the Goblin and The Enchanted Princess, are new, and not, as we supposed, republications. We much regret the mistake. Our excuse must...

The late Mr. W. H. G. Kingston abridged into a

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volume of some hundred and fifty pages the Trarels of Mungo Park, Denham, and Clapperton, and this has been republished by Messrs. Roatledge and Sons. It is well that these...

The SPECTATOR is on Sate regularly at MESSRs. CUPPLES, IIPHA.M,

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AND Co.'s, 283 Washington Street, Boston, Mass., U.S.A., where single Copies can be obtained, and Subscriptions are received.

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PUBLICATIONS OF THE WEEK.

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As Common Mortals, or 8ro (J. & R. Maxwell 3/6 Baxter (B..), Life of, by J. H. Davis, vo 8 (Ken t) 10/6 Bower (A.), Asserted, not Proved, or 8vo (T. F. Unwin 4/6 Brine (If....

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LONDON : Printed by Jose ()Animism, of No. 1 Wellington

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Street, in the Precinct of the Savoy, Strand, in the County of Middlesex, at 18 Exeter Street, Strand; and Published by him at the "SPECTATOR" Office, No. 1 Wellington Street,...

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SPECIAL LITERARY SUPPLEMENT

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1 0 FOR pHertator No. 3,050.] WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1886. GRATIS.

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BOOKS.

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THE CHINESE THEATRE.* A SKETCH of the Chinese theatre from the pen of a cultured Chinaman familiar with Western civilisation could scarcely fail to prove interesting to a wide...

Littrarp uppientritt.

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LONDON: DECEMBER 11, 1886.

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THREE BOOKS OF VERSE.* In the present collection, Mr. Story

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gives us, reclassified and renamed, such portions of the contents of his three volumes as his maturer judgment approves, together with some pieces that have hitherto appeared...

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TWO RIVAL TRANSLATIONS OF GUSTAVE FLAUBERT'S " SALAMMBo."* THE Standard,

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writing some time before the American transla.- tion of this famous romance was published, pointed out very clearly the great difficulties of such a task, but observed untruly...

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HENRIETTA KERR.* THE heroisms of the spiritual life have singular

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attraction, even for those who hardly understand the source of strength which in various manifestations and at all times has amazed those who have little capacity for...

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SARAH DE BERENGER.*

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Ir is to be feared that great novels cannot be written, as some great ships are built, on the compartment principle. But for this unfortunate circumstance, we should have said...

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WORTH'S "HISTORY OF DEVONSHIRE."

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Timm is probably no county in England that offers such varied features of interest as Devonshire. Its prominent share in English history, its distinguished worthies, its...

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QITIIsTET'S " LETTRES D'EXIL."*

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TIIE publication of Quinet's Lettres d'Exil is now complete, the fourth and last volume containing even nearly two hundred pages written after his return from exile; and the...

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DR. PFLEIDERER'S "PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION."* ABOUT two years ago, Pfleiderer

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published the second edition of The Philosophy of Religion. It. was revised throughout and greatly enlarged. The first volume contained a "History of the Philosophy of...