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The catastrophe in Afghanistan, so long anticipated in our 'columns,
The Spectatorhas occurred. General Roberts, who, ten days ago, was believed to be master of Cabul, and on the 13th inst. to have carried "a peak," and so dispersed not very formidable...
Probably no Prime Minister of modern times has come near
The SpectatorLord Beaconsfield in successfully misleading the people he is supposed to guide. Within about three months he has made two speeches to the City of London. On August 6th he said...
We have elsewhere stated the reasons which compel us to
The Spectatorbelieve that no strong reinforcements can pass Jagdalak for six weeks at least, and that General Roberts must depend upon himself. This view is also taken by the Viceroy, for he...
NEWS OF THE WEEK.
The Spectatorrp m very latest intelligence, the 19th inst., reports General Gough moving forward from Jagdalak to attack the enemy. "Result not known." Major Acton and Major Norman, with...
General Roberts, in his latest telegram (15th inst.), of course
The Spectatorexpected, with reinforcements, to restore British " command " in Cabul, and the Viceroy professes perfect confidence in his safety. The grounds of his confidence are, however,...
The news from Herat is so contradictory, that we hesitate
The Spectatoreven to form an opinion on its drift. Rejecting, however, all rumours not received via Caudahar, but accepting Candahar rumour as substantially true, we believe this theory will...
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The air has been full this week of rumours from
The SpectatorRussia, apparently started by the Lloyd, a Pesth journal of some standing, but repeated and amplified by Continental journals and correspondents. It was affirmed that the Czar...
Montenegro may very soon be compelled to reopen the Eastern
The SpectatorQuestion. The Turks have fulfilled the Treaty of Berlin, as far as Russia is concerned—Russia being strong—with com- mendable promptitude. Montenegro, however, Greece, and...
In the Gazette of Tuesday appeared a proclamation further proroguing
The SpectatorParliament till Thursday, February 5th, then to meet "for the dispatch of divers urgent and important affairs." The newspapers have also informed us that a Treasury circular has...
Mr. Diliwyn, M.P. for the Swansea Boroughs, addressed his constituents
The Spectatorat Neath on Monday, and put very strongly the real issue before the country,—whether or not the country are so well pleased with the doings of the last six years, that they wish...
Destiny is sometimes strangely ironical. It is more than probable
The Spectatorthat Lord Beaconsfield will have destroyed two of the only three independent Mussulman States. The Sulta.not is dying, the Ameership is extinct, and in a few months the "...
Mr. Walter's seat for Berkshire is seriously threatened, the Liberals
The Spectatorbeing irritated at his steady support of some of the worst acts of the Government. Yesterday week he attended a meeting of the Newbury Liberal Association, at Newbury, to defend...
We trust the old officers of the Army who approved
The Spectatorthe - suppression of independent Correspondence now perceive that secrecy is not equivalent to safety. General Roberts has gained nothing by his monopoly of intelligence, except...
The Donegal election was a great victory for the Liberalt
The Spectatorbeing not merely the gain of an Irish seat, but the gain a .air an Irish seat for a Liberal who has not pledged himself to 1 - j .f. the Home-rulers. Mr. Lea, the Liberal,...
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The distress in the West of Ireland, especially in parts
The Spectatorof "Kerry, Galway, Sligo, Mayo, ROBCOM mon, and Donegal," and also in the south of Cork, is now officially acknowledged. At least, the Duchess of Marlborough, the wife of the...
Even Whitchaven, the very country of the Lowthers, seems to
The Spectatorbe growing disloyal to the Conservative party. On Tuesday, Mr. Cavendish Bentinck addressed his constituents in the town- hall there, and was continually interrupted by cheers...
Sir Arthur Hobhouse, during his residence in India, has caught
The Spectatorthe Anglo-Indian weakness. He does not speak as well as he writes, or as clearly as he thinks ; but he would be a most valuable Member of the House. In a lecture to the...
The Cape Colonists have achieved a success, their local forces
The Spectatorhaving stormed the mountain stronghold occupied by Moirosi, the Basuto chief, dispersed his followers, and killed him. The only native, therefore, now in arms against the...
On Thursday week, Mr. Hunter Rodwell, M.P. for Cambridge- shire,
The Spectatoraddressing a farmers' meeting at Wisbeach on the sub- ject of agriculture, made some rather curious remarks on the law of entail :—" So far from the law of the land being...
Yesterday week, Mr. A. J. Balfour, M.P. for Hertford, and
The Spectatorprivate secretary to Lord Salisbury, addressed the Edinburgh Conservative Working Men's Association, endeavouring to undo the effect of Mr. Gladstone's onslaught on the foreign...
M. Waddington carries the French Parliament with him whenever he
The Spectatorchallenges its vote, and yet it is stated that M. Wad- .dington is going to resign, and M. de Freycinet to form a new Government in his place. It is clear that M. Le Royer,...
At a meeting held in Rochdale on Thursday, to wel-
The Spectatorcome Mr. T. B. Potter back from the United States, Mr. Bright made an interesting speech on America,—the enor- mous resources it possesses, and its vast size. He said that the...
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TOPICS OF THE DAY.
The SpectatorTHE PROSPECT IN AFGHANISTAN. S IR FREDERICK ROBERTS, in the early days of the new year, with the snow still thick upon the ground, will be compelled to fight his way through...
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MR. GLADSTONE'S CONSERVATIVE SIDE.
The SpectatorI T is very convenient for Tory papers, or papers which are Tory under a disguise, to treat Mr. Gladstone as the head of the ultra-Radical party in the country ; and to treat...
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THE "PALL MALL " ON INTERNATIONAL MORALITY. T HE Pall Mall Gazette
The Spectatoron Monday wrote a frank article in which it embodied its political confessions as to the limits within which moral ideas have any applica- tion to the intercourse of nations....
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THE LONDON AND WESTMINSTER BANK'S PROPOSAL.
The SpectatorW E cannot think that the proposal made by the Directors of the London and Westminster Bank, by circular to their Shareholders, is a wise one, or that it will benefit either the...
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POSSIBILITIES IN RUSSIA.
The SpectatorT HE Russian Government, like all Governments controlled by second-rate statesmen, our own included, preserves all the secrecy it can about " untoward" events ; but there seems...
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THE FORTUNE OF THE SWISS POOR.
The SpectatorP ROBABLY no European country offers so promising a field for the study of pauperism as Switzerland ; for none possesses so great a variety of systems for the relief of the...
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CLERGYMEN PAST WORK.
The SpectatorW HAT can be done with aged clergymen who are really only fit for an almshouse ' but under the existing laws of the Church of England have the charge of a parish ? The case of...
HANDWRITING AND CHARACTER. F ROM a little book on what is
The Spectatorvery ambitiously termed "The Philosophy of Handwriting,"* containing the auto- graphs of between one hundred and thirty and one hundred and forty public characters, whose...
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THE MORAL IDEAL.—I.
The SpectatorA MONGST those who have attended to the controversies of A . the last few years some must have been led to ask the question,—Will the ideal of morality be affected by a great...
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
The SpectatorDOUBTING DOUBT. (To THE EDITOR OF THE . 4 ISPEOTATOTI.1 SIlt,—It appears to me that both Mr. Gladstone's address to , the students at Glasgow, and your very interesting...
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THE VICTORIAN REFORM BILL.
The Spectator[To THE EDITOR OP THE " SPECTATOR.") you allow me to call the attention of such of your readers as take an interest in Victorian politics, to the present aspect of the...
MR. GLADSTONE'S SCOTTISH ANCESTRY.
The Spectator[TO THE EDITOR OF THE SPECTATOR. " ) SIE, — Your correspondent of last week gives Mr. Gladstone's Scottish origin on his father's side. On his mother's side, it is purely...
[TO THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR. ") SIR,—May I correct a
The Spectatorrather important mistake you make in an occasional note of this week's Spectator ? You speak of Mr. John Morley's "growing admiration" for Burke. So far from this being the case...
MR. JOHN MORLEY.
The Spectator[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR. " ) ,Sin,--Your comment does no more than justice to the quality of the speeches at this meeting, and no report I have seen gives any idea of...
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A HARD CASE.
The Spectator[TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR,—Your correspondent, "K. J. V.," notices a point which, in the present stage of the Ritualist controversy, is not without interest. Mr....
POLITICIANS, FICTIONS, AND SOLDIERS' FACTS. [To TITS EDITOR OF THE
The Spectator"SPECTATOR.") SIR, — The following extracts from the Times of the 17th ins". form a curious and suggestive contrast. The leading article says :—" We declared war against Shere...
THE FINE ART SOCIETY AND ITS CHARGES.
The Spectator[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] Sin,—In the last issue of the Spectator, your Art critic makes the following charges against the Fine-Art Society :- 1. That the charge of...
THE " HUMANITY " CLASS IN GLASGOW.
The Spectator[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR,"] Srn,—Allow me to correct an error into which you have in- advertently fallen in your notice of Mr. Gladstone's Rectorial address at Glasgow....
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BOOKS.
The SpectatorMR. ARNOLD'S SELECTIONS FROM WORDSWORTH.* Ma. AliNoLD has executed a delicate rather than a difficult task with his usual grace and insight. But we wish he had added to his very...
POETRY.
The SpectatorCHRISTMAS ROSES. PALE winter roses, the white ghosts Of our June roses, Last beauty that the Old Year boasts, Ere his reign closes ! I gather you, as farewell gift From parting...
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PICTURESQUE EUROPE. * THE more we study the five superb
The Spectatorvolumes in which Messrs. Cassell have collected a rich and varied series of pen-and-pencil illustrations of the picturesque scenery and buildings of Europe, the more are we...
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A CHILD'S BOOK.* Tins is one of the prettiest books
The Spectatorfor children we have over seen. If it be good for young eyes and . minds to become early acquainted with grace and beauty of form, as Plato and divers other profound...
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JUNGLE LIFE IN INDIA.* INeonstilioN about strange races and types
The Spectatorof humanity is always interesting; we like to be told in what their strangeness consists, and still more, perhaps, in what points they are, nevertheless, like ourselves. Mr....
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Morocco, its People and Places. By Edmondo do Amicis. (Cassell,
The SpectatorPotter, Galpin, and Co.)—Of Morocco, which, according to the author of this book, is "destined to be the great commercial high-road be- tween Europe and Central Africa," but...