2 MAY 1903

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Friday's news as to the situation in the Balkans is

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most serious. On Wednesday night the Imperial Ottoman Bank and the Bank of Mytilene, in Salonica, were blown up with dynamite, and an attempt was also made to blow up a train...

If Lord Lansdowne has not been misinformed, which, con. sidering

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the wording of his answer, does not seem likely, a very considerable " mist of error " must have settled over Pekin. The next few days will, we suppose, show what has really...

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

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T HE King left Rome on Thursday on his way to Paris. His reception in Rome has not only been magnificent, but marked by a quite unusual cordiality, the different public bodies...

The King paid his promised visit to the Pope at

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the Vatican on the afternoon of Wednesday. He was received, of course, with all possible ceremony, and is said to have expressed himself as greatly struck with the magnificence...

During the past week the air has been full of

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rumours as to Russian action in Manchuria, it being alleged that the Russians were pressing the Chinese to agree to terms which would have turned Manchuria into a Russian...

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

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case.

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In the House of Commons on Thursday a debate on

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the situation in Somaliland was raised by Mr. Charles Hobhouse, in which the Opposition attacked the Government for their mismanagement, not only military, but political. Why...

The effort to " Russify " Finland still continues. The

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Governor-General, General Bobrikoff, has been entrusted with absolute powers, and is using them to banish all persons accused or suspected of influencing the people to resist....

It is with great regret that we record the death

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of Mr. Hanbury, the Minister for Agriculture, which took place on Tuesday morning after a very short illness, the cause of death being pneumonia. Mr. Hanbury was only a week...

The unauthorised convents in France are pushing their resistance to

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the new Law of Associations very far. The Carthusians, for example, on Wednesday barricaded the monastery against the agents of the law, and compelled the Government to employ...

The House of Commons during the past week has been

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occupied chiefly with the London Education BilL On Monday, however, Mr. Asquith moved a vote of censure on the Govern- ment because the President of the Board of Trade had not...

We do not, of course, know whether General Miles is

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a person whose judgment is to be completely trusted in the matter of accepting and rejecting evidence, though of his bona fides there can be no question. That a good deal of...

The Times of Tuesday gives a resume of the report

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made by General Miles on the subject of the misconduct of officers and soldiers in the Philippines. The report, says the Times, is a long one, but it gives the following example...

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In the Commons on Thursday Mr. Austen Chamberlain made some

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interesting announcements in regard to his Depart- ment,—the Post Office. In future there will be a complete new set of postal orders, forty in number, ranging from six- pence...

Mr. E. B. Sargant, Director of Education in the Transvaal

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and Orange River Colonies, lately contributed a remarkable letter to the Times under the heading of " Public School and College Extension throughout the Empire." In view of the...

Captain J. K. Cochrane, who has been exploring with forty

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followers towards Lake Chad, has related some of his dis- coveries to an agent of Reuter. He found a river which runs from the lake to Kano, and which is 900 ft. broad in...

The Times on April 23rd contained a letter from General

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Wilkinson in which he pleaded with great eloquence against the abolition of the lance. No doubt the lance under certain conditions is a most formidable weapon, and cavalry armed...

Mr. Balfour made a pleasant speech on Saturday last at

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the Sundridge Golf Club. After humorously commenting on the disastrous effects of a divided allegiance to golf and politics, Mr. Balfour said he was sure that the growth of...

Last Saturday afternoon the Prince of Wales unveiled a memorial

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to the officers and men of the Royal Marines who lost their lives in the South African and Chinese Campaigns. The monument, which stands opposite the new Admiralty buildings in...

The further details of the attack on Colonel Plunkett's detachment

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at Gumburru show that he and his two hundred men fought with determined courage against two thousand mounted men and ten thousand spearmen, and killed nearly two thousand of the...

Bank Rate, 4 per cent.

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Consols (21 per cent.) were on Thursday M.

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THE ABDICATION OF THE OPPOSITION. T HE strangest feature of the

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very strange political situation which exists at the present moment is the abdication of its true functions by the Opposition. At a time when the country is finely touched and...

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

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KING EDWARD IN FRANCE. T HE visit of King Er ward to Paris, which is considered on the Continent a most important event, and which, history being considered, is certainly a...

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THE LONDON EDUCATION BILL.

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A. CHANCERY Judge of a past generation once de- clared that too much attention must not be paid to " the babble of the auction-room." The principle is certainly a sound one in...

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SOMALILAND. T HE news from Somaliland is vexatious, and this not

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only because we have suffered reverses, and have lost valuable officers, and men who bad just been trained into efficient soldiers. Those are ordinary incidents of warfare, and...

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THE PENRHYN DEBATE. T ""move "—if we may be allowed to

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give so vulgar a name to a piece of Parliamentary tactic—which prompted Mr. Asquith's Resolution of censure was un- doubtedly clever. The Labour party has become promi- nent in...

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CONTEMPORARIES.

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-, ‘ATHEN we say of some one that he is a contemporary of ours we ought, of course, merely to mean that he was born about the same time as ourselves, and when we are com- paring...

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THE INDESTRUCTIBILITY OF THE HUMAN BODY.

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T HE case which has come to be known as the Moat Farm Mystery is in some respects one of the most remarkable of modern times. We have no intention here, of course, of making any...

THE MOSS WOOD.

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I T is not easy to explain the difference, quite apparent to the senses, between the scenery of North and South, but it is fairly certain that there is nothing like the Moss...

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

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ARMY REFORM SINCE THE WAR. [To THS EDITOR Or vex " SPECTATOR." I SIR,—Your correspondent " Miles " (Spectator, April 25th) gives a list of so-called reforms with which he...

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THE PROBLEM OF OFFICERS FOR THE AUXILIARY FORCES.

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[TO THE EDITOR 07 THE " SPECTATOR.1 SIR,—In your issue of April 18th you made a proposal for increasing the supply of officers in the Auxiliary Forces. A correspondent signing...

THE SHOOTING OF THE MEDITERRANEAN FLEET.

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[To THE EDITOR or THE " SPECTATOR." . 1 SIR,—The interest taken by the public in the shooting of the Fleet emboldens me to send you some particulars of the gunnery efficiency in...

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THE BAGHDAD RAILWAY. [To THE Burros OP THE "SPECTATOR. "] SID,—Every

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Englishman must endorse the views in your powerful article in the Spectator of April 25th in reference to the German proposals. On the other hand, you would, I think, be the...

[To THE EDIT= OP THE "SPECTAT011.1 Sin,—Your correspondent, " Volunteer

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Officer," in the Spectator of April 25th, asks that the Volunteer Force may be taken seriously, and I presume he wishes his own remarks to be taken equally seriously. I do not...

[TO THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR.")

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Sma,—I have read with deep interest the leader in the Spectator of April 11th on the Baghdad Railway. With some of your statements I venture to disagree. I concede that even...

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THE EXAGGERATION OF THE MACEDONIAN OUTRAGES.

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[To nut EDITOR OF THE "SFROTATOR.1 SIR,—According to American usage, I should berallowed the closing remarks in my controversy with Dr. Dillon (Spectator, April 18th). If you...

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[TO THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR-1 SIR,—Your interesting article in

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the Spectator of April 18th on the potentialities of an Irish Sir Walter concludes by quoting the famous saying of Fletcher of Saltoun about ballads, and in that connection...

WANTED—AN IRISH SIB, WALTER.

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[TO TER EDITOR OP Till "SPROTILTOR.1 SIR,—As the writer of the lines, "To the Coming Irish Poet" (Spectator. April 18th), which served as a text for your article, "Wanted—an...

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ART.

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THE NEW GALLERY. THE best pictures in the present Exhibition are the land- scapes. This is an unusual circumstance, and also one for congratulation. Too often the landscapes to...

A CORPS OF COUNTY GUIDES.

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[To Tax EDITOR OF THY “SPECTATOR."1 have watched with much interest the useful corre- spondence which has been going on in your columns on the subject of National Scouts and...

PTO THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR:1

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SIR, —I think your correspondents have not quite bit the mark as to what is required of an Irish Sir Walter. It is not a guide-book as attractive as " The Lady of the Lake " or...

POETRY.

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TO THE WALLFLOWER. Thou halt no pensive charm to show Like those frail children of the snow, Who lift their heads awhile to sigh Their little hour away—and die. Not thine to...

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BOOKS.

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MR. ZANGWILL'S POEMS.* THERE is so much poetry in Mr. Zangwill's prose that we might readily put up with some admixture of prose in his poetry. Yet though he may not always...

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THE CONGO FREE STATE.*

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Ms. Fox Bouabis has made difficulties for himself. He would have done better to leave Sir H. M. Stanley alone. He will urge, of course, that the foundations of the Congo Free...

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LIFE AND LETTERS OF THOMAS CROMWELL.*

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Ma. Josex RICHARD GREEN remarked in his History of the English People that in the whole line of English statesmen there is no one of whom we would willingly know so much, and of...

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THREE BOOKS ON RUSSIA.* Rums has always been a fascinating

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country to the political student, and nowadays more interest is taken in her affairs than ever. Opportunely, then, do we call attention to three excellent books which lie before...

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NOVELS.

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IN THE GARDEN OF CHARITY.* Ma. Beath KING, who made his first appeal to readers on this side of the Atlantic with a novel dealing with a society problem, now furnishes evidence...

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C URRENT LITERAT URE.

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THE QUARTERLIES. The Edinburgh Review. — " English Agriculture " is perhaps the most interesting article in an exceptionally good number of the Edinburgh. The Reviewer deals...

The Book of Months. By E. F. Benson. (W. Heinemann.

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6s.) — The Book of Months is not, properly speaking, a novel at all; if we may coin an expression to fit this style of novel, we should call it "fictional autobiography." At the...

The Star Dreamer. By Agnes and Egerton Castle. (Constable and

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Co. 6s.)—The best thing in this novel is the description of the old house of Bindon-Cheveral. In it the authors have brought before the eyes of their readers a picture full of...

Near the Tsar, near Death. By Fred. Whishaw. (Chatto and

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Windns. 6a. )—There is no indication of language in Mr. Whis- haw's new book to show that it is not concerned with the present day , and most people will be surprised when...

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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 resins in other forms.] The Land of the Boxers. By Captain Gordon Casserly. (Long- mans and...

TWO BOOKS ON DANTE.

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Dante and his Time. By Karl Federn. With an Introduction by A. J. Butler, and Illustrations. (W. Heinemann. 6s.)—So many books have been written about Dante from one point of...

Dante and the Animal Kingdom. By Richard Thayer Hol- brook,

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Ph.D. (Macmillan and Co. Ss. 6d. net.)—It was an ingenious idea on the part of Dr. Holbrook to search out all the passages in Dante that refer to animals and put them together...

Basuto Land. By Minnie Martin. (Nichols and Co. 3s. 6d.

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net.)— Mrs. Martin is the wife of an official in Basutoland, and writes from the experience of ten years. Basuto jealousy on the subject of their customs is well known; the...

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Nsw Enrnows.—In the fourth volume of the "Stuart Series," edited

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by Edward Almack (F. E. Robinson and Co., 12s. 6d. net), we have Memoirs of Viscount Dundee (first published in its entirety in 1714); Gallienus Itedininus, an account of the...