26 APRIL 1890

Page 1

Mr. Goschen replied to Mr. Gladstone in a speech re-

The Spectator

markable among his speeches for the extraordinary quickness and force of its repartees; but we must confine ourselves to- day to the answers directly offered to his opponent. He...

Great preparations are being made all over the Continent against

The Spectator

the coming First of May. The intention of the work- men everywhere is to take holiday and make a demonetra. tion in favour of a legal eight-hours' day. It is feared that, with...

Mr. Morley made a speech at Rochdale on Wednesday, a

The Spectator

good deal of which was occupied with eloquent and just praise of Mr. Cobden, Mr. Bright, and Mr. Sharman Crawford, the latter one of the earliest advocates of agrarian reform in...

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

The Spectator

case.

Mr. Gladstone, who took up the debate on Thursday, did

The Spectator

not endorse Mr. Parnell's alternative proposal, saying he did not quite understand it, though he thought his conduct " chivalrous " in offering any proposal at all. His own...

The division on the second reading of the Bill is

The Spectator

fixed for Thursday night, and it is stated that Mr. Parnell will not move his alternative plan in Committee.

NEWS OF THE WEEK

The Spectator

T HE debate on the Land-Purchase Bill on Monday began with a great surprise. Mr. Parnell opposed the second reading, as he had promised, but on unexpected grounds. He thought...

Page 2

Berlin is full of reports—which are, however, denied— that Prince

The Spectator

Bismarck is in a fighting mood, and intends to avenge himself for his "dismissal." According to one story, he intends to publish a pamphlet stating the true causes of recent...

Mr. Goschen has created great irritation in some quarters by

The Spectator

using his surplus for the reduction of indirect taxation, instead of the Income-tax, the well-to-do apparently feeling like an anonymous correspondent who wrote to the...

The two Houses of Congress have not quite agreed upon

The Spectator

the details of the new Silver Bill. All parties would accept a Bill ordering a minimum coinage of £900,000 worth of silver a month, to be held by the Treasury against an...

On Tuesday, Mr. Bartley moved a resolution for a Com-

The Spectator

mittee to inquire into profit-sharing, and drew a striking speech from Mr. Bradlaugh, who denied that the relations of labour and capital had become more strained. "The position...

On Saturday last, the ninth anniversary of Lord Beacons- field's

The Spectator

death—by-the-way, April 19th, owing to the utter want of taste in ordinary Englishmen, or rather, of any instinctive appreciation of what is fitting, has really begun to be...

It is stated that the Servian Premier on Monday addressed

The Spectator

the Skuptschina with closed doors. He demanded the equip- ment of the whole of the Militia, 130,000 men, stating that the position of foreign affairs was most ominous, and that...

Page 3

The Daily Telegraph of Tuesday published a singular piece of

The Spectator

information. Its Paris correspondent states that M. Leon de Rosny, a Professor of the Sorbonne, has recently announced his conversion to Buddhism, not " esoteric " Buddhism, but...

The Standard of Tuesday publishes a curious account of the

The Spectator

experiments which are being made in the French Army for training dogs to act as scouts, messengers, and sentinels. When a dog is on messenger duty, two men are detached from an...

On Wednesday, in the course of a trial before the

The Spectator

Judge of the Westminster County-Court, some curious revelations were made in regard to the number of proofs of popular engravings occasionally issued. A Mr. Muir subscribed for...

Mr. S. Smith on Friday week moved his threatened resolu-

The Spectator

tion in favour of Bimetallism, in a speech which was instruc- tive, but much too gritty with facts. He wanted a Conference of the chief nations of the world, and raised a...

Bank Rate, 3 per cent.

The Spectator

New Consols (2k) were on Friday 97+ to 98.

When on Tuesday the London County Council resumed its sittings

The Spectator

after the Easter recess, the Chairman took the oppor- tunity to review the work of the past year. Dealing with the doings of the Committees, he remarked incidentally that the...

If the French Government is not careful, it will suffer

The Spectator

a serious reverse in Dahomey. In its fear of the electors, it is trying to do its work there with inadequate force. The King having beheaded five French captives, a French...

Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY • THE FIRST OF MAY.

The Spectator

T is easy to exaggerate the importance of the European demonstration to come off on May 1st., and probably the foreign correspondents do exaggerate it; but the fact that such a...

Page 5

MR. PARNELL'S " ALTERNAILV PLAN." T HE amazement produced by Mr.

The Spectator

Parnell's speech against the Land-Purchase Bill has blinded most men to the meaning of the plan with which it ended. Nothing so ingenious as that plan has ever been proposed,...

Page 6

MR. BT. A TNE'S DREAM.

The Spectator

M R. BLAINE'S dream of bestowing upon the United States a political and commercial hegemony over the whole of the American Continent has melted into air, and nothing remains to...

Page 7

BIMETALLISM AS A POPULAR "CRY."

The Spectator

I F the bimetallists really intend to appeal to the electors, as we understand Mr. S. Smith to threaten in his speech of Friday week, they must alter their tactics, and...

Page 8

LORD HERSCHELL'S PROPOSAL.

The Spectator

T 4 OEDHERSCHELL hardly showed all his usual sweet reasonableness and common-sense in his speech on the inequality of criminal sentences. He spoke, indeed, as if he thought it...

Page 9

CRIME AND SUICIDE IN ENGLAND. T HE very interesting paper read

The Spectator

by Mr. George Grosvenor at the meeting of the Statistical Society on Tuesday, gives on the whole an encouraging picture of the abatement of crime in England during the last...

Page 10

THE SHAVING OF WIDOWS' HEADS IN BOMBAY.

The Spectator

T F the telegram from Bombay, published in the Times of Monday, is true, which we do not doubt, and means what it appears to mean, of which we are nearly as certain, it records...

Page 11

RECENT SHAKESPEARIAN REVIVALS.

The Spectator

T O see that Shakespeare still holds the stage as firmly as ever, we have only to look at the playbills. It is a proper tribute to the great fascinator of all time, that well-...

Page 12

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

The Spectator

THE NEW CAUSE OF QUARREL IN EUROPE. (To THE EDITOR OF THY " SPECTATOR:1 SIB,—Your interesting article on "The New Cause of Quarrel in Europe" seems to fall short of a practical...

THECLIFF-DWELLERS OF COLORADO.

The Spectator

A MONG the ancient races of the American Continent, there are perhaps none whose remains have excited greater interest than those of the strange people who at some remote period...

Page 13

PRINCE RUPERT.

The Spectator

[TO TER EDITOR OF THE " SPROTATOR."] SIR,—May I point out a. trifling slip made by your reviewer in his very interesting article on "Rupert of the Rhine "? He writes of the...

PAUPERISM IN THE BRADFIELD UNION.

The Spectator

[To THY EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR. " ] SIR,—I should like to say, in answer to the letter of the Chair- man of the Bradfield Union which appeared in your issue of April 19th,...

ART.

The Spectator

THE OLD WATER-COLOUR SOCIETY, AND ANTON MAUVE. THE exhibitions of the Old Water-Colour Society have always at least a negative merit,—they are small. The size of the gallery...

SUSPENDED CONSCIOUSNESS.

The Spectator

go THE EDITOR OF THE " srgc-rAros."1 Cia,—In the letter on the above subject in the Spectator of April 12th, the Rev. W. H. E. McKnight, describing the results .of the...

THE VERB "TO BOYCOTT."

The Spectator

[To THZ EDITOR OF THY "SPRCTATOR."] SIR,—You have done a real political service in giving a short and yet complete definition of the verb "to boycott,"—viz., " to -excommunicate...

RESPECT OF PERSONS IN THE WORLD TO COME.

The Spectator

[TO THE EDITOR OP THE " SPROTATOR."] Sin,—In the Spectator of April 19th, a correspondent, noticing your allusion to a French nobleman's observation upon the above subject,...

MODERN GRAMMAR.

The Spectator

[TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] Sin,—In your interesting article on the coinage of new words, you give one or two examples of incorrect grammatical ex- pressions which are...

Page 15

BOOKS.

The Spectator

verses in the language, could not have a more appreciative editor than Mr. Dobson, who has himself achieved a large success in this department of poetry. Although Dr. Johnson,...

Page 16

CAPTAIN COOK.*

The Spectator

THERE is a dramatic completeness in the career of Captain Cook which Mr. Walter Besant has done his best to describe within narrow limits. It is a romance of naval life, the...

Page 17

RECENT NOVELS.* A Heavy Beckoning is an exceptionally strong and

The Spectator

interesting novel, in which the author has succeeded in the very difficult task of carrying out an intellectual purpose without impairing the vitality and attractiveness of her...

Page 19

A FRENCH TRAVELLER OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.*

The Spectator

JEAN BAPTISTE TAVERNIER, the celebrated traveller, is one of the most interesting figures among the many men of striking originality which the grand siecle has produced. His...

THE VIKING AGE.*

The Spectator

HAVE historical theory-makers come to an understanding to compensate the Scandinavian race for its present insignificance, by discovering, or failing that, inventing for it a...

Page 21

AN ORIENTAL ANTHOLOGY.*

The Spectator

Mn. CLOUSTOWS collection, though put forth under a title which forms a clue to only a portion of its contents, is a good piece of work of its kind. There is much in it...

CURRENT LITERATURE.

The Spectator

The place of honour in the Universal Review for this month is given to a vivid and painful account of the sufferings of Russian exiles doomed to slow torture or to death by...

Page 22

Obeah : Witchcraft in the West Indies. By Hesketh J.

The Spectator

Bell. (Sampson Low and Co.)—Mr. Bell has some strange stories to tell us : marvels of Nature, and marvels that seem to be beside or below Nature. What are we to make, for...

The Star of Gezer, the King's Daughter. (Griffith, Farran, and

The Spectator

Co.)—" It is easier to criticise than to imitate," is the author's motto, taken from an authority whose name is scarcely familiar under its form " Zeuxis." We shall do neither,...

The Sling and the Stone, IX. By the Rev. Charles

The Spectator

Voysey. (Williams and Norgate.)—It is years since we last noticed a volume of The Sling and the Stone. We cannot compliment the author on any improvement in the capacity of...

"Why We Suffer," and other Essays. By Henry Hayman, D.D.

The Spectator

(W. H. Allen and Co.)—Dr. Hayman has collected here twelve essays published in various periodicals, the names of which are not always given. The first is the most ambitious, for...

Cardinal Lavigerie. Edited by Richard F. Clarke, S.J. (Longmans.)—Charles-Martial Allemand-Lavigerie,

The Spectator

born in 1825, became Domestic Prelate to the Pope in 1861, was appointed to the See of Nancy two years later, and became Archbishop of Algiers in 1867. This African See has been...

Ad Orientem. By A. D. Frederickson. (W. H. Allen and

The Spectator

Co.) —After seeing Europe, not in its happiest aspect, during the Franco-German War, Mr. Frederickson thought that he should like to refresh himself with a year or so of Cathay....

Devia Oypria. By D. G. Hogarth, M.A. (H. Frowde.)—Mr. Hogarth

The Spectator

gives us here the results of a tour in Cyprus, undertaken in the interests of classical archteology. These results, it must be allowed, are somewhat meagre. Mr. Hogarth found...

A Southern Planter. By Susan Dabney Smedes. (John Murray.) —Thomas

The Spectator

Smith Dabney was born in Virginia in 1798. He migrated to the State of Mississippi in 1837, finding that he could not make his Virginian plantation pay. There he lived till the...

The Life of General Boulanger. By F. Turner. (Swan Sonnen-

The Spectator

schein and Co.)—We learn that Georges Ernest Jean Marie Boulanger, son of Mons. C. J. R. Boulanger and Marie Anne Webb Griffith, his wife, was born at Rennes on April 29th,...

Page 23

The Life of Laurence, Bishop of Haar in Iceland. Translated

The Spectator

from the Icelandic of Einar Haffidason. (Rivingtons.)—Laurence, son of Kalf and Thorgrima, was born in 1267; born, if the author of his saga is to be believed, not without signs...

Duncan Morn, Partner. By Sophie F. F. Veitch. 2 vols.

The Spectator

(Alex. Gardner, Paisley.)—The writer has shown much skill and know- ledge of Lowland Scotch in her portraits of the two Morays. We should call them fine characters, peculiarly...

Shakespeare's Sonnets. Edited, with Notes and Introduction, by Thomas Tyler,

The Spectator

M.A. (Nutt.)—The obscure and intricate question as to the interpretation of Shakespeare's Sonnets is treated with much minuteness by Mr. Tyler. His arguments, however, are far...