15 JUNE 1901

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NEWS OF THE WEEK.

The Spectator

T HE most recent war news is not of special importance, though there have been the usual captures of prisoners, stock, and ammunition, and in two instances Boer laagers have...

President McKinley has issued in a short letter to a

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sup- porter what is really an important political manifesto. He declares that not only is he not a candidate for a third term, but that if nominated he will not accept the...

• On Wednesday the King, accompanied by the Queen, pre-

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sented medals to three thousand officers and men who have returned from South Africa,—Lord Roberts being the first to receive the medal, and Lord Milner being one of the...

There are two curious items of intelligence from China this

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week, both of which bear directly upon the question of the future capital of China discussed in another column. The burning of the Imperial Library of Pekin with its collection...

There is a great quantity of rumour in the papers

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as to some diplomatic quarrel about Shanghai, of which we confess we believe very little. It is, of course, true that the nations are jealous of each other about that position,...

A very odd, indeed a.n unprecedented, incident has occurred in

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India. The Government of the Punjab is offended by Lord Curzon's creation of a new frontier province, which it regards with some justice as a slur on its capacity. It is still...

Lord Curzon may have moved a little too straight .to

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his object, though that doeS not appear on the surface ;' but Mr. Fanshawe is obviously in the wrong. Officials in his position are not colleagues of the Viceroy. but Executive...

*.! The Editors cannot undertake to return Manuscript,ia any eflle.

The Spectator

Page 2

In the House of Commons on Tuesday Mr. Balfour made

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his statement as to Government business. In the programme which must be carried out before Parliament rose he included the Budget Bill, the Loan Bill, the Agricultural Rating...

The new Premier of Austria, Baron Korber, has succeeded in

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partially appeasing the quarrel between the Czechs and Germans in Bohemia. He has introduced some considerable industrial projects, and to pass them the representatives have...

Everything scenic amuses Frenchmen, and Paris has been greatly interested

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in a duel between M. Max Regis, the fiery Anti-Semite Mayor of Algiers, and M. Laberdesque. They fought with swords on Friday week for two hours and a half without a wound being...

In the House of Commons on Thursday Mr. Bowles moved

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the adjournment of the House because the Government would not undertake to suspend the prosecution of certain works on the west side of Gibraltar. Mr. Bowles was very vehement...

On June 11th the Duke of Cornwall reached Auckland on

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his tour round the world, and was, of course, received with cordial enthusiasm. The special feature of his welcome was that the Maoris joined in it, and that the New Zealanders...

Applying these principles in practice, the Committee re- commend, to

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begin with, that the concession enjoyed by the Netherlands Railway should be cancelled. In regard to the question whether any, and if so what, compensation should be paid to the...

On Tuesday was published a Blue-book containing the Report of

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the Transvaal Concessions Committee. The Report assumes that the Government will protect all duly acquired rights, but notes certain necessary limitations in regard to the...

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As the Boer aspiration in regard to a united Dutch

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South Africa and the expulsion of British influence is still re- garded in many quarters as a myth, it is worth while to draw attention to a passage in one of the letters of Mr....

We shall publish next week an article by Mr. Rudyard

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Kipling, entitled "A Village Rifle Club," which will not only interest those of our readers who are believers in rifle clubs, but will, we trust, further the cause that they and...

In our last issue we gave publicity to a circumstantial

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account furnished by Reuter's agency of a successful engage- ment fought by Colonel Wilson near Warmbaths. We also quoted the statement, made on the authority of the same...

On Thursday was issued Sir David Barbour's Report on the

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Finances of the Transvaal and Orange River Colonies. He recommends, to begin with, a tax of 10 per cent. on the profits of the mines instead of the .5 per cent. imposed by the...

We have noticed the death of Sir Walter teaant else-

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where, but must record here the death of Mr. Robert Buchanan (born in Glasgow in 1841) on the next day. Mr. Robert Buchanan, though he never gave his undoubted genius its...

The Gazette de Lausanne, a paper that cannot certainly be

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accused of prejudice in favour of the British, pub- lishes in its issue of June 1st some instructive impres- sions of M. Pache, a Swiss volunteer who served with the Boers. M....

At the public banquet given to Sir John Tenniel. on

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Wednesday, Mr. Balfour, who presided, declared that Sir John Tenniel's chief and almost unique title to ad- miration was that, though a satirist, he had never once lapsed into...

Bank Rate, 3 per cent. New Consols (2D were on

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Friday 94.

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TOPICS OF THE DAY.

The Spectator

THE SOUTH AFRICAN SITUATION. T WO points of importance in regard to the South African situation call for attention this week. The first is the agitation in favour of the...

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THE FUTURE CAPITAL OF CHINA. T HE indemnity is the immediate

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question between Europe and China, but the question which governs the future is the choice of a, capital. The Powers naturally enough are exceedingly anxious that as soon as the...

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WAR OFFICE RECONSTRUCTION. E VERY one is agreed that the recommendations

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of Mr. Dawkins's Committee are sound in themselves, and that the Report shows that the need for reconstruction at the War Office is imperative. To speak plainly, the Report and...

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THE FLIGHT OF THE PLOUGHMAN.

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W E trust that Mr. Rider Haggard will publish in the form of a book the letters, or rather " Reports on the condition of English agriculture " which he is now sending to the...

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. THE REFORMED PUBLIC-HOUSE.

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A FEW years ago a humble little experiment was set on foot by the Bishop of Chester and Major Craufurd with the object of testing how far public-houses could be improved by...

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SIR WALTER BES ANT.

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T T is not difficult to state the cause of Sir Walter Besant's success as a litterateur, but it is most difficult to assign him his place in literature. His best books were not...

Page 10

SCHOOLGIRL IDEALS.

The Spectator

T HERE is an article in this month's National Review entitled " The Ideals of the American Schoolgirl." It seems that a number of girls in New England and the Western States...

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INSECTS OF THE THAMES.

The Spectator

A LMOST the last, and perhaps the most pleasing, book written by the late Rev. J. G. Wood was a work called " The Brook and its Banks," the result of many years spent on the...

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

The Spectator

THE ARMY AND THE PEACE NEGOTIATIONS. ITO THE EDITOR 05 THE "SPECTATOR:'] SIR, - It would be absurd to describe the members of the British Army now operating in South Africa as...

CONTEMPORARY RITUALISM.

The Spectator

TO 71IE EDITOR Or THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR, - I have to thank you for your courtesy in' publishing my letter in reply to your correspondent " X." upon Canon Gore's recent volume, "...

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THE DEATH OF MARSHAL NEY.

The Spectator

jTo ill!: EDITOR. Or THE " SPECTATOU." j S1R,—The painter of the picture in the Paris Salon to which your correspondent calls attention (Spectator, June 8th) gives no context to...

[To TUE EDITOR OF TUE "SPECTArox.1 Sin,—A few years ago

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I met a lady of perfectly reliable veracity, who reported the following to me as the experience of an intimate personal friend. Miss X. dreamed that she was occupying a room in...

A DREAM HOUSE.

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[TO TUE EDITOU OP TILE "SPECTATOR."] Sirt,-The account of the " dream house " in the Spectator of Jtme 1st, and its corroboration in your last issue, recall a somewhat similar...

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR. "] Sirt,—It is surely hardly

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worth while to notice the falsehood of the picture referred to in the letter under the above beading in the Spectator of June 8th. I have often heard a relative of mine, who had...

HELL AND QUESTIONABLE " ORTHODOXY."

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR, —It is with some surprise that I find myself called upon by " Inquirer," in the Spectator of June 8th, to give my authority for the...

MERCY IN HELL.

The Spectator

[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] Sia,—Mercy in hell is one thing, and the possibility of repentance in hell another, and a very different thing. May not part of the...

LORD GREY'S SCHEME AND RIFLE CLUBS.

The Spectator

[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] Srn,—About a year and a half ago, during the critical period of the South African War and when the Spectator was urging upon us the...

IS HELL LOSS OF BEING ? [To TAE EDITOR OF

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THE "SPECTATOR. "] SIR,—The correspondence in your columns on this subject forcibly recalls some lines of Monckton Milnes (Lord Houghton). Perhaps you may think it worth while...

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THE QUEEN AS A HINDOO GODDESS.

The Spectator

[To TUB EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR.1 SIR,—Possibly I have hesitated too long for this communica- tion to be of interest, but not having seen anything of the kind recorded in your,...

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THE VIEW FROM RICHMOND HILL.

The Spectator

(TO THE EDITOR OR THE "SPECTATOR.") Sin,—While we have all been talking of " a green girdle for London" it seems to have slipped our notice that the most priceless part of the...

THE ENGLISH MOCKING-BIRD.

The Spectator

[TO THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—When I was Governor of the County Prison in Mon- mouthshire at Usk some five-and-twenty years ago I had very favourable opportunity of...

TOLERANCE AND INDIFFERENTISM.

The Spectator

[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.1 the Spectator of June 8th a correspondent uses the phrase " we who are tolerant mainly because we half-believe." This condemns us to an...

OLD HIGHLAND DAYS.

The Spectator

(To THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR:1 Sin,—I am very sorry you think "ungenerous " the sentence, or rather the fragment of a sentence, which you quote from my preface to " Old...

MR. H. D. TRAILL AND WORLD-HUMOUR.

The Spectator

[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR:. SIR,—I agree with the whole of Mr. Cator's interesting letter in the Spectator of June 8th, with the exception, if it be an exception, that...

MAITRE LABOR!.

The Spectator

Fro THE EDITOR OF TIIE " SPECTATOR.") Sin,—Your excellent article on the reception .accorded to Maitre Labori recalls the words of Lord Brougham, which I will quote :— " An...

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POETRY.

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TILE WASTED LIFE. THE autumn hours are come—the hours that yield Rich harvest in each toiler's well-tilled field. Alas ! alas ! no seed I sowed in spring Now meet and ripe...

MUSIC.

The Spectator

SHAKESPEARIAN OPERA. THERE are few more interesting points in the literary history of art than the inspiring influence of Shakespeare on musical, and especially operatic,...

THE SESSION OF THE POETS.—Auuner, 1866. DI titagni, sataputiuns disertuni

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!—CAT. LIB. LIII. The following stanzas are taken from a poem by the late Mr. Robert Buchanan which appeared in the Spectator of September 15th, 1866. We reprint them as a...

RAILROAD ANIMALS.

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V O THE EDITOR OE TILE SPECTATOR.") Szn,- , -In an article entitled as above in the Spectator of June 8th attention is drawn to the expectant coyotes on the Canadian-Pacific...

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BOOKS.

The Spectator

TROOPER 8,008, I.Y.* WE congratulate Mr. Sidney Peel most heartily on his frank and manly book.. That it will obtain a very large number of readers we do not doubt, for it is a...

Page 19

THE PROGRESS OF ASTRONOMY.*

The Spectator

THOUGH the two books before us are of very unequal value, they may be mentioned together as affording a convenient measure of the advance made by astronomy in the last hundred...

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THE PAPACY IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.* " THE essential purpose

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of this history," says Mr. Schwab in his preface, " is to rescue Catholicism from its Papal carica- ture, and to maintain its importance as a corrective to Protestant...

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MR. HERBERT PAUL'S ESSAYS.*

The Spectator

THESE essays are all of them interesting,—most of them ass even brilliant. For our own part, we think " Gibbon's Life and Letters " and the paper on Swift called " The Prince of...

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NOVELS OF THE WEEK.*

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THE series of translations of the novels of the famous Italian novelist, Matilde Servo, announced by Mr. Heine- mann, opens with The Land of Cockayne, a work whose ironic title...

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A GARDEN DIARY.

The Spectator

methodical daily record of a year's sowings and growings and blowings will be disappointed. The book is not a diary in the practical sense. It is rather a journal intime of...

THE CANADIAN CONTINGENTS.

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The Canadian Contingents. By Sanford Evans. (T. Fisher Unwin. 6s.)—This book, though it will, like all compilations, prove rather dry reading to the general reader, should be of...

CURRENT LITERATURE.

The Spectator

EGYPT AND THE HINTERLAND. Egypt and the Hinterland, by Frederic Walter Fuller (Long- mans and Co., 10s. Gd. net), is one of a class of books inspired by Sir Alfred Milner's...

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SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.

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[Under this heading us notice such Books of the Week as hoes not been reserred for retino in other forms.] Henry Drummond. By Cuthbert Lennox. (A. 3lclrose. 2s. Gd. net.)—This...

A Short Account of the University of Glasgow. By Jaine3

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Coutts. M.A. (MacLehose and Sons, Glasgow. 1s. net.)—This pamphlet has been prepared fa view of the approaching celebration of the ninth jubilee of the University. This was...

Schopenhauer. By T. Bailey Saunders. (A. and C. Black. Is.

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Gd.)—This is an eloquent and acute estimate of the great pessimistic philosopher. The strength and the weakness of his theory are plainly set forth. That there was something in...

The Writings of King Alfred. By Frederic Harrison, M.A• (Is.

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net.)—Mr. Harrison reprints hare an address which he gave at Harvard some three months since. It is devoted to the literary work of the Meat King, of which it giros an admirable...

The Curse of Education. By Harold Gent. (Grant Richards. 2s.

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Gd.)—Versatile persons sometimes turn their attention to subjects with which, to put it mildly, they are but imperfectly qualified to deal. We have an example in Mr. Harold...

YEOMAN SERVICE.

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Yrontan Service. By Lady Maud Folkston. (Smith, Elder, and Co. 7s. Gd.)—Lady Maud Rolleston has written a very fascinating book. It is simply the " diary of the wife of an...

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India in the Nineteenth Century. By Demetrius C. Boulger. (Horace

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Marshall and Son. Gs.)—Mr. Boulger has been most successful, it seems to us, in keeping himself clear from partisan- ship and prejudice. It must be understood that he does not...

The Parentage and Kinsfolk of Sir Joshua Reynolds. By Sir

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Robert Edgcumbe. (Chiswick Press.)—The author sets him- self to account for the fact that Sir Joshua sought his associates, not among his fellow-artists, but among literary men....

Poems by Alexander Smith. With Prefatory Note by R. E.

The Spectator

D. Sketchley. (W. Scott. 2s.)—We are glad to see this collection of the poetry of Alexander Smith. This generation knows little about his work, yet it is worth attention. The "...

Sheffield in the Eighteenth Century. By Robert Emden Leader, B.A.

The Spectator

(Pawson and Brailsford, Sheffield.)—Mr. Leader, who is an acknowledged expert in Sheffield matters, has made in this volume a highly interesting collection relating to the...

The Highland Bagpipe. By W. L. Manson. (Alexander Gardner. 'is.

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6d. net.) —We shall be content to make a general recommendation of this book to our readers. It contains the "History, Literature, and Music, with some Account of the...

China Under the Search - Light. By William Arthur Cornaby. (T. Fisher

The Spectator

Unwin. 3s. 6d.) —" China," says Mr. Cornaby, is " a continent rather than a country." Some part is tropical; much has great extremes of heat and cold; the staple foods are...

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lathe°Ws Abbey. By. Alan Reid. (Romanes, Dunfermline. ls. 6d. &

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2s.)—This "notable Fife-shire ruin" is on an island in the Firth of Forth, lying, to speak roughly, between Aberdour in Fifeshire and Cramond rn Midlothian. St. Colomba is said...

hirsoamaxgous.—Poents of English History. Edited by J. A. Nicklin, B.A.

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(A. and C. Black. ls. 6d.)—A collection of historical and patriotic poems, some fifty in number, and reaching from the earliest down to the most recent times.—In the " Library...