22 SEPTEMBER 1900

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NEWS OF THE WEEK.

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p ARLIAMENT was dissolved on Tuesday, and already we are in the thick of a General Election. The write will be issued next Tuesday (September 25th) summoning Parlia- ment for...

More definiteness has been introduced this week into the negotiations

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with China. On Wednesday a "Circular Note" was published addressed by Count von Billow to the German Ambassadors. In this document, which may prove a land- mark in history, the...

The peoples of Europe have accepted the Circular with a

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unanimous expression of pleasure, and it seems to be under- stood that it will be at once endorsed, not only by Austria and Italy, but by Japan, France, and Great Britain....

The Parliament which has just passed away is not one

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which will be remembered in history except as an illustration of the truth that a Parliamentary Constitution only works really well when there is an efficient and well-balanced...

The results of the Election will of course be awaited

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with interest—that is inevitable—but it is clear that there will be nothing like the excitement that usually marks an appeal to the electors. The truth is, the country is jaded,...

* ** The Editors cannot undertake to return Manuscript, in

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any case.

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Mr. Chamberlain's address, also issued on Thursday, deals, as might

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be expected, chiefly with the South African War and the settlement. He shows how monstrous is the accusation that the Government precipitated the war, and then asks whether the...

Nevertheless, the Circular may not mean peace. As we have

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repeatedly pointed out, the capture of Pekin is not the conquest of China, and the Empress and her advisers may think it safest, as well as least humiliating, to resist. This...

The war in South Africa is ending as we always

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believed it would end,—that is, in the melting away of the Boer forces and without any heroic last stand or "staggering of humanity" by a Boer Thermopylw. Telegraphing on...

Mr. Balfour issued his election address on Thursday night. After

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boldly declaring his belief that it would be impossible to find in the history of this country "any Parliament which has more successfully carried out the policy, or more...

The Nationalist party in Paris has levelled a cunning blow

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at the Government, which has fallen short, however. The President of the municipality, M. Grebauval, invited all the Mayors of the Communes of France, fifteen thousand in...

Mr. Bryan, the candidate of the Democratic party for the

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American Presidency, has issued a manifesto announcing the principles upon which he will conduct the contest. He declares against Trusts, and is on the workmen's side in almost...

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The official accounts of the mortality in Galveston reduce the

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number of ascertained deaths to four thousand five hundred, but this appears to be independent of the returns from many scattered villages, which are said by the Governor of...

One of the noticeable features of the electioneering cam- paign

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is the number of literary candidates. No fewer than five novelists are mentioned as likely to stand, including Dr. Conan Doyle, Mr. Gilbert Parker, and Mr. Anthony Hope Hawkins....

A writer in Die Information of last Saturday makes the

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following interesting comments :—" The war has resulted in the complete annihilation of both South African Republics, and of all the terrible disasters which were said to be...

If rifle clubs are really to flourish, especially in the

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country, the Government should adopt the spirit of the Birmingham proposal. What is wanted is that the Commissioners oi Inland Revenue should be empowered to issue a shilling...

The Monthig Review (J. Murray, 2s. 6d.), of which the

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first number was published on Wednesday, is outwardly most attractive. Its cover is a "powder blue," delightful to the eye. Inside, the page is ample, the paper good, and the...

The Birmingham Rifle Club in a letter to Mr. Chamberlain

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recently raised the question of rifle licenses. They suggest that free licenses should be issued to members of rifle clubs on their undertaking to use their rifles at the ranges...

The Queen, mindful of the splendid loyalty recently shown by

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Australia, has in a most kindly message permitted the Duke of York to open the first Session of the first Australian Parliament, and the Duke will sail southwards in command of...

Bank Rate, 4 per cent.

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New Console (21) were on Friday 98i.

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TOPICS OF THE DAY.

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THE DISSOLUTION AND THE DUTY OF THE ELECTORS. T HE Dissolution has come, as we felt convinced it would, and the candidates are already hard at work. We shall not waste time in...

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THE GERMAN CIRCULAR. - wr E are inclined to believe that the

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German Circular, which has been so warmly received in this country, may prove even more beneficial than is supposed, especially if it is true that it was preceded by a telegram...

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TFrE CONDITION OF THE LIBERAL PARTY.

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1Vi TE insisted last week on the impossibility of Unionists who cared for the well-ordering of public affairs taking any action which might directly or indirectly - lead to the...

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THE MISSIONARIES IN CHINA.

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O F all the questions to be settled with China, this of the missionaries is perhaps the most difficult and perplexing. We do not believe that their preaching was the main cause...

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A NATIONAL HISTORIOGRAPHER. Woks, and the books of statistics, all

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of which are choked with information, the future Macaulay will either be over- whelmed and brought to a standstill, or be compelled to employ so many assistants that the impress...

THE COTTON TROUBLES. T HERE seems to be no doubt whatever

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that the grave disorganisation which is being suffered in the great cotton industry of Lancashire is due to a quite real deficiency in the supply of the raw material. With all...

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MORTMAIN IN THOUGHT AND LIFE.

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H UMAN life, however we may ultimately regard it, is from one point of view an art, as the Greeks thought of it. Each race of mankind has had its fundamental con- ception of...

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ENGLISH HEDGES.

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A FTER the corn is carted, and before the woods begin to -.CI. flame with autumn fire, the prettiest sight in the country is the hedges. At this moment they are so loaded with...

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CORRESPONDENCE.

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WAR OFFICE RESPONSIBILITY. go THE EDITOR. OP TIII1 "SPEOTATOR.1 Sin,—If we are ever to have an Army worthy of our position among the nations of the wcrid, we must start by...

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

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CAN THE DUTCH BE ABSORBED ? [TO THE EDITOR OP TEE " SPECTATOR."] Sin,—Mr. C. Baumgarten in the Spectator of September 15th states that "the Dutch population is one which can...

THE RESETTLEMENT OF SOUTH AFRICA.

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(TO TUE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR.") SIE,—The resettlement of South Africa—the responsibility for which is coming sensibly home to us as the armed resistance of the Boers is...

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THE BOERS AND THE OLD TESTAMENT.

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[To THE EDITOR Or THE "SPECTATOR."] Sra,—Among Christian educationalists there is now a con- troversy going on with regard to the teaching of the Old Testament, on which Miss...

guarantees for the future we can exact; nor from whom.

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I respectfully accept Mr. Mitford's estimate of Japanese history and character. " Conservative " was doubtless a wrong de- scription. When I wrote I was thinking of the...

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[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."]

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Sul,—The words quoted by your correspondent, P. M. Martineau, in the Spectator of September 15th, form the first verse of a touching poem by Sarah Geraldine Stock, called "One...

THE LATE PROFESSOR SIDGWICK.

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPEOTATOR."] SIE,—Your correspondent " M. " denies the accuracy of the statement in your admirable estimate of the late Professor Sidgwick that, while he...

EPITAPH.

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MO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SLR,—The epitaph quoted by Mr. P. M. Martineau, "One less at home," &c., in the Spectator of September 15th, is the first stanza of a little...

JEFFERSON DAVIS AND PAUL KRUGER. [To THE EDITOR OF THE

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"SPECTATOR."] Sin,—When you gave ex-President Kruger a niche beside Jefferson Davis, were you thinking of Lowell's words ?- d sooner take my chance to sten' At Jedgment where...

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[To THE EDITOR OF TICE 'SPECTATOR."] Sza,—The deeply interesting and

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sympathetic article on "The Things Beyond the Tomb" in the Spectator of September 15th has suggested to me that the little paper of thoughts on the same subject which I enclose...

THE NEW ORDER.

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(To TEE EDITOR OF THE .sescr.aros..1 do not remember ever to have questioned any judgment on a written work of mine, and I do not now appeal from the sentence passed by your...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SFECTAT011.1 St,—As a unit

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among the gropers in faith, I should like warmly to thank the writer for his Scriptural, sober, yet most sympathetic article on the above subject in the Spectator of September...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SFECTATOR.1 Snt,—No Christian who reaches

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back into the thought of God Himself can ever believe that the light of Christianity will lead him "over a precipice to annihilation." Our Lord's own words certify him of the...

THE THINGS BEYOND THE TOMB.

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[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] Sut,—Your paper on "The Things Beyond the Tomb" in the Spectator of September 15th reminds an old reader of the best traditions of the...

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ENGLAND'S COAL STORE.

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[To THE EDITOR OP THE " SPECTATOR."] Sru,—Will you allow me to point out that there is room for some difference in opinion upon the conclusion arrived at in the Spectator of...

AGRICULTURAL LABOURERS.

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[TO TILE EDITOR OP THZ "SPECTATOR:] gra,—With reference to the article under the above heading in the Spectator of September 1st, may I tell you a story ? Not long since I had...

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THE UNIONIST ATTACK ON MR. HORACE PLUNKETT.

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[TO TEX EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."] am glad you couple Mr. Gerald Balfour with Mr. Plunkett in your defence of the latter. Both have shown singular- courage in giving effect to...

• A CORRECTION.

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SLE,—The brief mention of "The Battle of Maldon, and other Renderings from the Anglo-Saxon, together with Original Verse," in the Spectator...

POETRY.

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PACISQUE IMPONERE MOREM. THE flame of battle burns no more For warrior Briton, warrior Boer; No more their answering thunder fills The hollows of the fortress hills; No more...

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THE WHITE ROSE.*

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Mn. LANG has never been more happily inspired than in this study of the broken life-story of one who will always be a premier figure in romance,—the last conspicuous Prince of...

BOOKS:

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BRISTOL.* BRISTOL in the seventeenth century was not onlythe second city in the kingdom ; it was still the city of enterprise and romande: Though in the year of the Armada...

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THE WELSH PEOPLE.*

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IT may seem curious that, at a time when the Imperial senti- ment of the English-speaking world is waxing stronger every year, the national sentiment of its component parts was...

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DYING- OFF.* IT is, unfortunately, but seldom that we can

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find 9race to notice French works of fiction. But the novel which forms the subject of the following notice is so striking and so full of an interest which, in one form or...

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NOVELS OF THE WEEK.*

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MR. JACOBS, enviably impervious to all the literary influences of the hour that make for pessimism, proceeds tranquilly with his genial delineations of the humours of the...

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THE EVOLUTION OF THE ENGLISH NOVEL.

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The Evolution of the English Novel. By Francis Hovey Stoddard, Professor of English Literature in New York Uni- versity. (Macmillan and Co. 6s.)—This is a pleasant little book,...

CURRENT LITERAT LIRE.

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THE GENIUS OF PROTESTANTISM. The Genius of Protestantism : a Book for the Times. By the Rev. R. McCheyne Edgar, D.D. (Oliphant, Anderson, and Ferrier. 6s.) –It was a good ides...

THE EXPOSITOR'S NEW TESTAMENT.

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The Expositor's New Testament. Edited by W. Robertson Nicoll, MA. Vol. II. (Hodder and Stoughton. 285.) — This second volume contains Acts (by Professor Knowling), Romans (by...

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THE LAW RELATING TO PATENTS.

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The Law and Practice Relating to Letters Patent for Inventions. By Roger William Wallace and John Bruce Williamson. (W. Clowes and Sons. 40s.)—This is a legal text-book on a...

Studies in Texts. By Joseph Parker, D.D. Vol. VI. (Horace

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Marshall and Son. 3s. 6d.)—This is the completing volume of Dr. Parker's "Studies." The title is not descriptive, for the texts, so far at least as this volume is concerned, are...

Thomson's Winter : a Reproduction of the Original Edition. With

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Introduction by W. Willis, Q.C. (W. H. Bartlett. ls. net.) —Mr. Willis is a collector of editions of Thomson, and is probably unrivalled in his knowledge of the poet, who,...

SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK

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[Under this heading we notice such Books of the week as have not been reserved for review in other forms.] The Speaker's Chair. By Edward Lummis. (T. Fisher 17nwin. 2s. 6d.) —In...

The Young Sportsman. Edited by A. E. T. Watson. (Lawrence

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and Bullen. 10s. 6d.)—Mr. Watson, the editor of the Badminton Magazine, has put together in this volume the articles in the "Encyclopedia of Sport" (published by the same firm)...

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The Palace of Poor Jack. By Frank T. Bullen. (J.

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Nisbet and Co. is. net.)—Mr. Crockett commends Mr. Bullen to the public —modestly saying that the " Palace " needs no " porch " of his making—and Mr. Bullen commends a design...

We have received a very convenient edition, described as "The

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Elongated Edition," of The Book of Common Prayer (Oxford Press), which may be obtained with or without "Hymns, Ancient and Modern," attached, and also printed on either common...

Dartmoor Illustrated. By T. A. Falcon, M.A. (J. G. C,ommin,

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Exeter. 12s. 6d. net and 25s.)—This volume is intended to be a "Pictorial Companion" to a recent republication of the "Peram- bulation of Dartmoor and the Venville Precincts."...

Eiententary Studies in Chemistry. By Joseph Torrey, jun. (A. Constable

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and Co. Gs. net.)—Mr. Torrey is an instructor in Harvard University. It is specially interesting, therefore, to see what demands lie makes on behalf of the subject which he pro-...

NEW EDITIONS.—In "The New Century Library" (Nelson and Sons), we

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have Vol. V. of "The New Century Thackeray " (2s.), containing The Paris Sketch-Book, The Irish Sketch-Book, A Journey from Cornhill to Cairo.—Curiosities of Natural History. By...

Half - Hours in Japan. By the Rev. Herbert Moore. (T. Fisher

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Unwin. (1s.)—Mr. Moore, who has been engaged in missionary work in Japan, writes a pleasant little book—perhaps too elabor- ately simple in style—about the manners and customs...

WAR Booxs.—Of books about the war in South Africa we

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have The Siege of Mafeking, by J. Angus Hamilton (Methuen and Co, 6s.) Mr. Hamilton republishes in this volume certain con- tributions to the Times and to Black and White,...