29 DECEMBER 1877

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Very little news has arrived from the seat of war,

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either in Europe or Asia. In Armenia, General Melikoff is completing his preparations for the investment of Erzeroum, but the grand assault is still delayed, partly by the bad...

The accounts of the weather in Bulgaria vary exceedingly, but

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according to the most moderate, the thermometer has fallen below zero, sentries are occasionally frozen, as in St. Petersburg, and the snowstorms are extremely severe. The state...

The now Ministry in France is apparently acting very wisely

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in giving as its watchwords moderation and comprehension. M. Bardoux, the Minister of Public Instruction, in addressing the Council-General of Clermont-Ferrand, of which he was...

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

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ARLIAMENT has been officially summoned for January 17th, • and the rumours of the week have been endless, but few of them are deserving of attention. There are men who will...

It is certainly high time that Parliament should meet. The

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Times' correspondent at Constantinople intimates that the British Ambassador resists the opening of the Dardanelles, which Turkey is willing to concede, and assures the Porte...

* The Editors cannot undertake to return Manuscript in any

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case.

But this moderation of the Republicans has not prevented the

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new Minister for Foreign Affairs, M. Waddington, from giving a salutary warning to those subordinate intriguers who never will regard any solution of the Constitutional question...

The correspondent of the Daily News now with General Gourko

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completes the story of the horrors of Plevna by a ghastly narra- tive, which, as he says, is not to be paralleled out of Dante, and which reflects equal discredit on Turks and...

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The Principal and two of the Professors of Owens College,

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Manchester, have put out this week a brief answer to the various criticisms which their petition for a University charter with power to grant degrees, has provoked, and to the...

Sir Henry Sumner Maine, K.C.S.I.; has been elected Master of

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Trinity Hall, in the place of the late Dr. Geldart. This appoint- ment will rob the India Council of one of its most thoughtful mem- bers, but ensure to the University of...

A great deal of interest has been created in France

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by what is called the Limoges mystery,—in other words, the recent protest of an officer of the troops in Limoges,—Major Labordere,- against instructions addressed to the troops...

Sir Henry Havelock on Thursday week gave his constituents in

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Sunderland an account of his visit to the theatre of war, and the conclusions at which he had arrived. He was satisfied that no British interests were involved in the war...

The Turkish Fleet has no doubt been of use to

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Turkey, because it has prevented the Russians from transporting armies to the coasts of Bulgaria and Armenia, but it has done very little active service. No Russian port has...

The Eastern Question Association, with the Duke of West- minster

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at their head, have issued a very sensible circular, calling upon the country to strengthen the hands of the Govern- ment at the present crisis, if it adheres to the policy of...

A correspondent of the Times, relating the story of a

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defaloa tion in St. Helena, draws a painful picture of the gradual decay of the island. It bas been ruined by the Suez Canal, by the use of steam condensers, and by the...

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Sir James Stephen writes a long and singularly forcible letter

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to the Times against Mr. Bright's argument for the commence of vast irrigation works in India. He says that English capital is not forthcoming for Indian irrigation, because...

At a mooting of Merchant Taylors' school at Ashwell last

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week, the Rev. W. H. Hodgson, the Rector, complained justly of the extravagant cost of charitable dinners. No charitable dinner, he said, should cost more than is. a-head, and...

We note with interest a telegram announcing that Prince Metternich's

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memoirs and letters are about to be published by his son. If the present Prince is only a little indiscreet, these letters will prove of rare historical interest. The Prince was...

Mr. Welby-G-regory, writing to Wednesday's Times from Denton Hall, Grantham,

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proposes a new and somewhat original solution .of the vexed question of Burials in Churchyards. He would have that part of the service which is conducted at the grave con-...

Mr. Walpole, in speaking on Wednesday at a Volunteer corps'

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dinner at Ealing,remarked that this year is the fortieth of the Queen's reign, and that only three other English monarchs,—of course Henry III., Elizabeth, and George III.,—had...

A great chemical feat was achieved on Saturday last.

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Oxygen, which had hitherto defied all attempts to reduce it by compression to the liquid form, was liquefied by M. Raoul Pictet at Geneva, under a pressure which did not exceed...

Lord Shaftesbury is an excellent man, but his excellence is

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cer- tainly not of a kind to serve as a breakwater against the intel- lectual scepticism of the day on matters affecting revelation. He has intimated his intention to withdraw...

Consols were on Friday 94i to 94i x.d.

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TOPICS OF THE DAY.

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THE QUEEN AND THE CRISIS. S OME of the various discussions which have been going on in relation to the Queen's share in the political crisis of the moment, seem to us to imply...

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THE POSITION OF THE GOVERNMENT IN PARLIAMENT.

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TT is necessary to remember that the policy of the Govern- .1. ment, whatever it may be,—and if the Ministers have any policy at all, they are keeping their secret well--will...

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SIR G. WOLSELEY ON THE FRENCH ARMY.

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S IR GARNET WOLSELEY has contributed to the Nineteenth Century a paper which is at this moment of exceptional value. One of the many reasons which the friends of the Turks...

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MR. GLADSTONE verses MR. LOWE.

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M R. GLADSTONE'S rejoinder to Mr. Lowe on the County Suffrage is of wider scope, and more wise and thought- ful as a political essay, than any which we have had from his pen. In...

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THE NEW INDIAN POOR LAW. T HE Indian Government has resolved

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upon a policy which is very bold, very philanthropic, and we 'trust very wise. It has decided that it is the duty of the State to prevent or ameliorate famine, and has to that...

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THE CASE OF THE AMERICAN RAILWAY WORKMEN.

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T HE Reports from the British Consuls in the United States on the Railroad Strikes of last July give the Workmen's case more in detail than the accounts which appeared from day...

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GOLD AND SILVER PLATE.

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frIIIE fates and the laws are alike just now against the manufacturers of Plate. The trade is declining, partly from a change in manners and partly from the diminution in the...

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CHARLES DICKENS'S VERSE.

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1 N the January number of the Gentleman's Magazine there is a paper of some interest by Mr. Percy Fitzgerald, in which the principal specimens of Charles Dickens's verse are...

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CORRESPONDENCE.

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THE END OF THE REVOLT IN JAPAN. [nom A CORUESPONDESIT.] Tokio, November 17, 1877. 'TOltio is at present occupied in celebrating the final suppres- sion of the great rising in...

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

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SHORT-SIGHT. [To THE EDITOR OF THE SPECTATOR:1 Sin,—As the question mooted in one of your recent annotations; is certain, under our present system of compulsory education, to...

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ROBIN TRIMMINGS.

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[TO THE EDITOR OE THE " SPEOTATOE.1 Sin,—Clearly David was wrong when he said, " Thou fashionest our hearts alike," for while the "fashioning" of my heart made it so tender for...

OMENS.

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[TO THE HONOR OF THE " SPEOTATOR.1 Sin,—In reference to your article on "Omens," and the mystic importance attached to the innocent juxtaposition of the letters N.E.V.A.," did...

WIFE-BEATING.

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[TO TER EDITOR OF THE "SPROTATOR.I SRI, —In the Spectator of December 22, Miss Cobbe very properly 'calls attention to a single paragraph taken from the Times of the 18th, in...

ART.

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MR. KEMEYS'S ANIMAL GROUPS. THESE works are exhibited at No. 29 Argyle Street, W. America has long been twitted on her lack of a national and original school of art, but these...

THE RUSSIAN PRISONERS.

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[TO TES EDITOR or THE "SPECTATOR."] 'Silt,—The note in your last number on the absence of Russian prisoners in Plevna set me thinking on a question that has often been asked,...

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BOOKS.

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FRIEDRICH VON GENTZ.* [MST NOTIOE.1 THERE have been few characters offering such strange psycho- logical phenomena as Friedrich von Gentz. In him was to be found a union of...

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NEW IRELAND.*

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Mn. SussivaN's New Ireland is only the Old Ireland of other writers. It is not a description of an utopian scheme as to what that country will or ought to be, after the style of...

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A UGUSTIN C 0 C HIN.*

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IT is annoying, when we have to review so interesting a book as this, to be compelled to notice little blemishes which attention on the part of the translator, printer, and...

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" ETCHINGS FROM BLAKE."*

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Tna exhibition of Blake's works at the Burlington Street Fine-Arts Club has evidently so far increased the public interest in his extraordinary productions, as to deserve to be...

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THE LETTERS OF THOMAS ERSKINE.*

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THE second and concluding volume of the Letters of Thomas Erskine has now been published, and according to our judgment, the world is greatly enriched by the possession of it....

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THE BLACK-BOOK OF THE ADMIRALTY.*

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Tens recent publication of the fourth and last volume of the col- lection of mediaeval sea laws which have been issued under the title of the Black-Book of the Admiralty should...

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CURRENT LITERATURE.

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NEW YEAR'S BOOKS. Science and Literature in the Middle Ages, and at the Period of tire Renaissance. By Paul Lacroix. (Bickers.) This handsome volume. (the reader will notice...

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Venice. From Lord tyron's "Childs Harold." Illustrated with 'Thirty Drawings

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made in Vbnioe by Linley Sambourne. (Bradbury, Agnew, and Co.)—This is a most gorgeous volume, a perfect specimen of printing, binding, and paper. A. great poet to describe the...