I N foreign politics attention has been concentrated during the week on the Aegean Islands and Albania, and on the German military mission to Turkey. These matters contain the...

as to the future of the Orient Company's railway in the newly acquired Servian territory. During the Balkan War Servia and Bulgaria took over the administration of the lines in...

Government, but in Berlin the disclosure of its terms in Paris is resented as leading to premature discussion. In Turkey the proposals for the cession of the islands to Greece...

Aegean questions, presented last Saturday, was divulged in Paris on Sunday evening. With regard to Albania, the Note aims at securing the assent of the Powers to the concession...

Powers for assistance and advice without dis- tinction. Thus Admiral Limpus had been lent by the British Admiralty to reorganize the Fleet, and the Porte hoped to find a British...

case.

military mission to Turkey arrived at Constantinople last Sunday. The British, French, and Russian Ambassadors immediately demanded information from the Grand Vizier as to the...

in the new French Ministry, has arranged, says the Times correspondent, for the issue of two decrees withdrawing the Bills for a £52,000,000 loan and for a new succession duty....

his honour by the National Liberal Club on Friday. the 12th inst. Replying to the toast of his health, which had been proposed by Sir Edward Grey in a genial speech, Mr. Bryce...

the Whitehall Rooms and consulted whether they should send a communication to Mr. Asquith, but "in the end nothing definite was decided upon." The deputation seems to have...

removes the greatest of the statesmen-clerics of the Vatican during the last thirty years, with the sole exception of Leo XIII. The son of a noble Sicilian house, he entered the...

Asquith received a large deputation of Liberal Members to urge upon him the existence of uneasiness in the Liberal Party at the anticipated increase in the new Naval Estimates....

which was stolen from the Louvre two years ago, was recovered in Florence. The thief is an Italian named Perugia. Perugia wrote to Geri, a picture-dealer of Florence, stating...

the Little-Navy men, they are so much in earnest and so hope.. lessly impotent. The Government do not fear them in the very least, for they know that if it comes to voting on...

prosequi in the case of Mr. Larkin and his associates, who had been in- dicted at the Dublin Assizes, recalls what is perhaps the best legal story in the world. Lord Chief...

in Glasgow last Saturday, the figures being—the Hon. W. Watson (U.), 4,257; Mr. G. Morton (L.), 4,006; Mr. T. Gibb (Labour), 1,674. As compared with the last election in...

on the migration from rural districts. The inquiry was undertaken at the request of the Dominions Royal Commission. The Report may be summarized as follows : Agriculture is not...

Covent Garden estate had been bought by Mr. H. Itallaby-Deeley, M.P. for the Harrow division. There are twenty-six streets on the estate, which covers nineteen acres, lying...

Sydenham on the Channel Tunnel. Lord Sydenham begins by meeting the point that, though we can trust the French, other nations beside the French might conceivably gain access to...

King's Bench Division, appointed about a year ago, was published on Monday night. The chief proposals are as follows : The number of King's Bench judges should be maintained at...

finally secured the Crystal Palace for the public. Two years ago he guaranteed the purchase-money fixed by the Court of Chancery, and, on the understanding that a Mansion House...

Consols (21) were on Friday 711—Friday week 72.

MR. AUSTEN CHAMBERLAIN AND TARIFF REFORM. W HEN last January the Unionist leaders wisely decided that they would not make Colonial Pre- ference through Food Taxes an issue at...

O UR readers know already what in our view would be the wisest and best course for the Opposition to pursue in the present crisis. We hold that they should not stand upon any...

W HEN we wrote last April about the fine and courageous efforts of Adeline Duchess of Bedford on behalf of the Royalist prisoners in Portugal we re- called the noble letters...

T HE threatened strike in the Post Office and the defeated municipal strike at Leeds together consti- tute one of the most instructive developments of recent labour movements....

T HERE has been an animated correspondence in the Times this week on the proposed federation of the non-Roman Catholic Churches in East Africa ; and once more we see Anglicans...

T N our more serious moments we have all said to our- selves that nothing of supreme value can be bought, and in our more sentimental moments we have most of us said it to...

(A TALE FROM THE CHINESE.) [A correspondent sends us the following tale, which he has discovered among some free translations from the Chinese classics, made, he suggests, by a...

THE PROGRESS AND PROSPERITY OF IRELAND. [To TILE EDITOR Or THE "SPECTATOR. ") SIR,—Ireland has been for many years advancing rapidly in prosperity. Some three years ago I spent...

[To Tag EDITOR Or THE "SracriTos.."1 Slit, — As I was reading Carlyle's "Shooting Niagara" (Mae- utillan's Magazine, 1867) I chanced upon two passages that seem peculiarly...

[To THE EDITOR or THE " SPECTATOR...I do not know whether you would care to print the enclosed. I got it printed to send to some friends. It was sent to the Prime Minister, who...

issue of November 29th, the Articles of War say, " Who shall disobey the lawful command of his superior officer" (I feel sure I quote correctly). if " Discipline's " conclusions...

[To TED Endros Or vas " SPICTITOR. " 3 SIR,—Might I suggest that the time has arrived when some- thing practical should be done to settle, once for all, this question of the...

Sin,—However the point be argued, it is plain that in all civil wars the Army has taken sides, generally dividing much as civilians did. Nothing else can be expected. Neither...

[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPELT tTOE:9 SIR,—The question whether officers should be allowed to resign their commissions in the case of civil war where their feelings are very...

[To THE EDITOR OF THY " SPECTATOR."' SIR,—In " The Secret of the Scot " the Sp•ctator remarked that Scotsmen were not pioneers, and did not possess the sort of enterprise for...

accuracy is so high that I hope it will not be considered pedantic to point out that there are three inaccuracies in the interesting article on " The Secret of the Scot" in...

"TO THE EDITOR O➢' THE "SPECTATOR. "' SIR,—In your issue of December 6th you described me as " a Roman Catholic Unionist." That is a misstatement which I must ask you to allow...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE " Sl'ECTATOR."1 subjoin the "old Scottish ballad" and the poem attributed to Robert Burns by Sir A. Quiller-Couch in the OLD SCOTTISH BALLAD. (See Notes...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR:1 SIR,—Your readers will, I am sure, learn with sincere regret of the untimely death of your contributor, Mr Frank Taylor. They will know him...

[To SHE EDITOR OP THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR,—A few days ago I came across the following Latin quotation, "Prudentia Nutresco, Justitia Regno." I wonder if any of your readers could...

I To THE EDITOR OP THE " SPECTATOR.") SIR,— " C. L. G.'s " tribute to our friend strikes me as very just, but I should like to add two points : (1) Mr. LytteltOn was a perfect...

EX-REVOLLICIONAR10.--MEXICO, 1913. THEY have taken away my horse; They have taken away my knife; They've taken my "forty-five calibre " guns, And they figure on taking my...

or initials, or with a pseudonym, or are marked "Communicated," the Editor must not necessarily he held to he in agreement with the views therein expressed or with the mode of...

MUSIC IN THE POETS. THE scheme of an anthology in praise of music, if not new, has at least been carried out in a novel and ingenious fashion by Mr. George Hyde Wollaston.* He...

WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM.* 1111. BASIL WILLIAMS' Life of Chatham is altogether admir- able. With infinite skill he enables us to understand the struggle which was...

THE Arab domination still casts its glamour over Spain. It is often looked for in strange places, as on the very border of France, in the name of Fontarabie, which had nothing...

How much of a classic Tom Brown's School Days has become is proved by such a reprint as this which Mr. F. Sidgwick has edited and for which Lord Kilbracken has written an intro-...

metrical skill which the singers of yesterday strove for in vain. Our poets are bolder and more versatile, handling words and rhythms with greater ease and a defter...

many years ago. wrote a very charming Southern novel, Colonel Carter of Carters- • ville. It was open to any of that book's readers to remark that before there had been Colonel...

Tuts is an English version, perhaps not exactly a translation, of M. Charles Bastide's book,• Anglais et Francais du dice- septieme Siècle, which interested many readers a year...

IN this fascinating volume Mr. Eckel attempts to give a complete bibliography of the first editions of all the published works of Dickens, with illustrations of their most...

WHEN WILLIAM CAME.t SINCE the days of The Battle of Dorking there have been a good many examples of that form of prospective romance which takes for its theme the invasion of...

THAT Miss Helen Keller, who lost her sight and hearing when barely two years old, should ever have learned to speak and to write argues ability amounting almost to genius upon...

2s. net.)—There is nothing in Mr. Austin's sketches of the so-called glory and glamour of warfare; they are the more awful and impressive for being far different in tone from...

MORE FAIRY STORIES. Suvue.u. books of fairy tales published in the last few weeks call for notice before Christmas, if at all. Of old friends, Mrs. Craik's The Fairy Book (T....

in the Fatherland. (Andrew Melrose. 6s.)—This is a most amusing little work, which tells of the initial struggles of two Englishwomen who set up house with a brother for a year...

and Stoughton. 65.)—Lady Esther Wyvern, the "ladyship" of the title, possessed a most uncomfortable conscience which caused her to do much harm. On the sole ground of her being...

Brothers. 6s.)—An American detective story partly founded on a play. The intelligent reader will have no difficulty in discovering the "curtains" of the different acts.—The...

SIR HARRY JOHNSTON has a rare combination of qualities, for besides being a man of action and a painter, he is able to write with authority upon history, geography,...

THERE are four new books of animal stories before us, written in English, but having their scenes laid elsewhere. Yoyo's Animal Friends, by R. Strong and Pierre Jan (J. M. Dent...

Asioxo the illustrated books which have come too late for earlier notice the most imposing is a large edition of Sir J. M. Barrie's delightful sentimental comedy, Quality Street...

many books are when illustrated by Mr. Rackham, it is still more delightful to have a volume of his works net. With such a feast before them not many of its possessors are...

made on November 5th by the Prime Minister, Sir Edward Grey, Lord Salisbury, Lord Selborne, the Duke of Devonshire, the Duke of Portland, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York,...

and Stoughton. 6s. net.)—It is a little difficult to say for what class of readers Captain Tharp intends his short story. There is a love interest of two young people, but the...

adventures of two boys in mysterious lands in Africa. The incidents are well told and exciting and the story makes a very good boys' book.

[Under tAis heading we notice such Books of the week as haw not been nesinved for review in otityr forma.] The Round Table has a very interesting article dealing with the Irish...

An author presumably knows what meaning he wishes to convey to the reader, but people who wish for a story-book will not find exactly what they expect here. These papers will,...

of "H. B." and " H. T. B." The verses deal with the anatomy, habits, and habitat of various animals :— " The Brimps, the Whuffieboom, I mean; The Kiz Kiz and the Spritch, The...