31 OCTOBER 1891

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Mr. Balfour was very amusing, also, in his criticism on

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Mr. Gladstone's Newcastle speech :—" It reminded me more than anything else of what I believe is called in theatrical, or perhaps I ought to say, music-hall phraseology, a...

Mr. Balfour is signalising his new position as leader of

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the Unionist Party in the Commons by studying not only greater moderation, but also greater brevity and compression in his political speeches,—a change which, we think, may have...

NOTICE TO ADVERTISERS.

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With the " SPECTATOR" of Saturday, November 7th, will be issued, gratis, a SPECIAL LITERARY SUPPLEMENT, the outside pages of which will be devoted to Advertisements. To secure...

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

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T HERE is a possibility of war between the United States and Chili. Captain Schley, commanding the United States steamer Baltimore,' now at Valparaiso, has reported that the...

lyt The Editors cannot undertake to return Manuscript, in any

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case.

The Chilians, it is asserted, think their Navy as strong

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as the American, and figures are published to show that this is so. Those who attack the Union must, however, consider not its actual but its potential strength. Its money is...

Cork is preparing for the election rendered necessary by Mr.

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Parnell's death, and the factions which are contending for the seat are at open war. The priesthood, and probably a majority of voters, are with the Clericals, but the populace—...

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Mr. Morley delivered a speech to the Manchester Reform Club

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on Monday, in which he attacked Mr. Chamberlain very sharply for his speech at Sunderland ; but before addressing himself to that subject, he gave his testimonial to Mr....

Mr. F. Smith was returned for the Strand on Tuesday

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by a majority of 3,006 votes over Dr. Gutteridge. Mr. Smith polled 4,952 votes, against 1,946 for Dr. Gutteridge. The poll was a rather light one,-6,898 in all. In 1885, the...

Sir William Harcourt's reply, addressed to " My dear Fuller,"

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published in yesterday's Times, is a very uncandid affair. While carefully disclaiming (though without men- tioning) Mr. Fuller's direct imputations of Mr. Goschen's intention...

Mr. G. P. Fuller, M.P. for the Westbury Division of

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Wilt- shire, has given the Chancellor of the Exchequer the oppor- tunity he wanted for exposing the attacks made upon his finance by Sir W. Harcourt and a fair number of Sir W....

Mr. Fuller's reply showed that he really knew nothing in

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detail about the matter, but was relying on the vague asser- tions of Mr. Goschen's Parliamentary critics,—whereupon Mr. Goschen exhibited Mr. Fuller's blunders in all their...

To this very strong language Mr. Chamberlain replied in Thursday's

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Times, by remarking that he never denied his own share of responsibility for the blunders of the Government between 1880-1885, but that he did not see how that precluded him...

We hardly see why this country should subscribe to relieve

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Russian famine. The Empire is quite rich enough to tak e care of its own people, and the authorities, to do them jus- tice, are quite ready to do it. No subscription would clear...

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The new Premier of New South Wales, Mr. Dibbs, has

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formed a Ministry without the Labour Party, but proposes to borrow and spend large sums on remunerative public works, which conciliates the labourers. He also intends to carry...

The King of Roumania, who is a Hohenzollern, though of

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the Catholic branch, has been received in Berlin with unusual honour, especially by the people, who are firmly convinced that he has joined the Triple Alliance. It is stated...

M. Ribot on Monday delivered a long and exceedingly cautious

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speech on foreign affairs. Having been questioned by M. Deloncle, he denied the existence of any strained rela- tions with Italy, affirming that the Italian Government regretted...

Mr. Courtney is very independent, and by no means dis-

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inclined that the world should know it. In a speech at Liskeard on Wednesday, he conveyed the impression that he was entirely impartial on the Disestablishment question ; and at...

The correspondent of the Times at Vienna thinks, from the

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information before him, that he can vouch for the rebellion in Yemen not being suppressed. The insurgents now include twenty regiments of two thousand men each, who, under the...

The German Emperor evidently takes himself very seriously indeed. A

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recent murder case in Berlin has revealed the fact, or rather, has called attention to the fact, for it was well known before, that part of the population of that city is ex-...

Cambridge was full of country graduates on Thursday to vote

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against the proposal for an inquiry whether or not Greek ought to be compulsory at the "Little-Go " on all candidates for Cambridge degrees. The inquiry was rejected by no less...

Bank Rate, 4 per cent.

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New Consols (2t) were on Friday 95k.

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TOPICS OF THE DAY.

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POLITICAL RECRIMINATIONS AND POLITICAL CONTROVE RSY. M R. BALFOUR'S speech at Accrington last week, and Mr. Morley's this week at Manchester, are nearly perfect specimens, the...

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THE GERMAN EMPEROR AS SUPREME CONSCIENCE.

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W E do not suppose that any one, either in Germany or Europe, will seriously blame the German Emperor for his Rescript of the 26th inst. It is so fresh and spontaneous, so...

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THE POLITICAL POWER OF ASSERTION.

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I T is impossible to watch contemporary politics and not feel uneasy at the political power of mere assertion. The majority of the voters, rich and poor, have little inclination...

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AN IRISH OBJECT-LESSON.

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W E wish every elector in Britain could and would read and study the proceedings in the election contest now going on in Cork. There would not be much fear of the result of the...

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THE REVOLT IN YEMEN.

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W E rather wonder at the absence of intelligence from Aden as to the progress of the revolt in Yemen. The officials there ought to know all about it, and Aden itself, as the...

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THE GREEK FIGHT AT CAMBRIDGE.

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T HE Senate of the University of Cambridge have re- jected by an immense majority the proposal to inquire whether a knowledge of two ancient languages ought to be insisted on in...

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WHY MR. RTJSKIN FAILED AS A POET.

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M ISS THACKERAY gave one of her charming books the very unpromising title of " Miss Williams's Diva- gations." We can assign no better general reason why Mr. Ruskin failed as a...

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TALL GIRLS.

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T HE assertion that the fancy of the day flows towards tall girls, about which so many essays have already been written, and that girls are manifestly taller than they were, is,...

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THE PETRELS AND THE STORM.

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I F any evidence of the fury of the equinoctial storms that have lately raged in the Atlantic were needed, in addition to the lengthening list of " Disasters at Sea " which has...

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

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IRISH STORIES. go THE EDITOR OP THE " SPECTLTOR."1 Sra,—May I take the liberty of correcting the writer of the article on Irish humour in the Spectator of October 24th, as to...

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POETRY.

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THE EMPTY NEST. I SAUNTER all about the pleasant place You made thrice pleasant, 0 my friends, to me ; But you have gone where laughs in radiant grace That thousand-memoried...

BOOKS.

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DR. MARTINEAU'S ECCLESIASTICAL AND HISTORICAL ESSAYS.* Tuts second volume of Dr. Martineau's Essays takes us back some fifty years, beyond the days when the Church of Rome...

THE MESSENGER.

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WEARIED, I flung my work away from me. All my soul's labour, all my toil, life-long, My hopes, and my ambitions, and my song, And closed my eyes, too dim with tears to see....

FUSTEL DE COULANGES.

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR:'] SIR,—The reviewer of Mr. Ashley's translation from Con- langes, in the Spectator of October 24th, writes as if he were under the impression...

CAMPBELL'S POETRY.

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'TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."1 Sin,—Mr. R. F. Jupp quotes from " Gertrude of Wyoming" a line— "The torrent's smoothness, ere it dash below," as being in every one's month...

SCOTCH HUMOUR.

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[To THE EDITOR OP THE " SPECTATOR."3 SIR,—That is a good story in your " Sensational Reformation " article in the Spectator of October 24th. As to the effort to terrorise a...

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RECENT NOVELS.* IT cannot, we think, be said that Mrs.

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Walford's latest book is also her best, but The _Mischief of Monica is certain to be enjoyed, because the kind and quality of its author's work are always enjoyable. There are...

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LORD WOLSELEY ON THE TRANSLATION OF VON MOLTKE.*

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THE Standard of last Monday called upon the weekly newspapers to defend themselves as best they might from the charge which, in the United Service Magazine of the present month,...

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MESSRS. MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE.* Trim handsome volume—the first, we think, of

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its kind ever brought out—contains the history of nearly half-a-century of publishing enterprise. In 1843, Daniel and Alexander Macmillan, who were then in business in...

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THE FRENCH IN WEST AFRICA.*

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DOES one Englishman in ten thousand know that the French port of Dakar, by Cape Verd, is regularly visited by steamers belonging to eight different lines ? That it has " many...

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A SUMMER IN KIEFF.* THIS book is likely to be

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popular. It is quite the fashion for a lady to set off alone on an adventurous journey, contrary to the advice of all her friends and relations. Each con- tinent has met with...

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Marjorie and her Papa. By Robert Home Fletcher. (T. Fisher

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Unwin.)—A very pretty book, with child-talk and capital pictures, and an extravagant little story of the " Alice in Wonderland " type, and other pleasant and entertaining...

Reynolds and Children's Portraiture in England. By W. J. Lof

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tie. (Blackie and Son.)—This is a volume intended both for ornament and for utility. It is one of " Vere Foster's Water-Colour Series," and Mr. Loftie's descriptions are...

The Illustrated Book of Patience Games. Translated and edited by

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Professor Hoffmann. (Routledge and Sons.)—" Patience," which certainly has the unique recommendation that it can be played by one person, has a continuously increasing...

Various gaily illustrated books intended for younger children may be

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mentioned together :—Routiedge's Book of Birds. Beasts, and Fishes (G. Routledge and Sons), given in another form in the Panorama of Birds, Beasts, and Fishes. From the same...

The Parachute, and other Bad Shots. Written by J. R.

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Johnson ; pictured by C. E. Brock. (Routledge and Sons.)—This is one of the cleverest books of the kind that we have seen for some time. The verse is fairly good, the drawing...

We do not know whether we have already noticed The

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Nursery Alice, by " Lewis Carroll " (Macmillan)—it bears, we see, the date of 1889—but we may anyhow commend it as a very pretty book. It is meant, the author tells us, for the...

Harper's Young People, 1891. (Sampson Low, Marston, and Co.) —This

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volume is full of things that will please its readers. Pos- sibly one might say that it is too full, for the close printing and thin paper, needed if so much is to be given for...

Book of Nonsuch. By H. C. Finlay. (D Bryce and

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Son, Glas- gow )—Nonsense may be either good or bad. We can hardly include this new invention of Nonsuch in the first kind.

CURRENT LITERATURE.

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GIFT-BOOKS. 'The Century Magazine. May, 1891—October, 1891. (T. Fisher Unwin.)—The half-yearly volume of this well-known magazine scarcely needs any recommendation. The very...

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Idle Hours with Nature. By Charles Dixon. (Chapman and Hall.)—Mr.

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Dixon always writes so pleasantly, and yet with so much thoroughness and attention to details, that we look forward to his books, confident that he will teach us something and...

The Heroes of the Telegraph. By J. Munro. (Religious Tract

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Society.)—" This work," we learn from a prefatory note, " is in some respects a sequel to `Pioneers of Electricity,' " concerning, as it does, what is doubtless the most...

Poachers and Poaching. By John Watson. (Chapman and Hall.)—Under this

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heading Mr. Watson has collected miscel- laneous articles on birds and country rambles. There is really very little about poachers and poaching in the articles, and all that...

The Way She Won Him. By Mrs. Houstoun. (F. V.

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White and Co.)—Mrs. Houstoun is one of those writers who think that the best way to bring a pure character into relief is to paint others black in as strong language, not to say...

Stimson's Reef. By C. J. Hyne. (Blackie and Son.) —Treasure-

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trove supplies the main interest to this story. Two cousins find themselves suddenly reduced to poverty by a relative's unlucky speculation in a South American gold-mine. They...

The Picture of Dorian Gray. By Oscar Wilde. (Ward, Lock,

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and Co.)—In a number of sentences which somehow remind us of Walt Whitman, Mr. Oscar Wilde enunciates his favourite maxim that art has nothing to do with morality. But his tale...

Cornered. By Norman Porritt. (Leadenhall Press.)—This is the story of

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a bank-manager who speculates with his employer's money, of a villainous jobber who aids and abets him, of another rascal who has a part to play in their wicked schemes, and of...

A Selection from the Sonnets of William Wordsworth. With Illus-

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trations by Alfred Parsons. (Osgood, Mcllvaine, and Co.)—We have here nearly ninety sonnets, beginning with two in which the poet aiiologises for the limitations of the sonnet...

The Warwickshire Avon. Notes by A. T. Quiller-Couch. Illus- trations

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by Alfred Parsons. (Osgood, Mcllvaine, and Co.)—The author begins his Avon pilgrimage at Naseby Field, one of the English watersheds, seeing that from close to the monument...

McFadden. (H. M. Gilbert, Southampton.)—We are quite in accord with

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the emphatic commendation bestowed by Mr. G. D. Leslie in his preface on Mr. McFadden's loyal enterprise, as it is not extravagant to call it. Mr. McFadden is, as we under-...

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The Double Event : a Tale of the Melbourne Cup.

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By Nat. Gould (" Verax "). (G. Routledge and Sons.)—The general character of this brisk and interesting story may be most easily indicated by saying that its author is an...

Thoughts on Religious History. By the Hon. Albert S. G.

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Canning. (Remington and Co.)—Mr. Canning assumes, it seems to us, a somewhat patronising air to the religions a which ho speaks ; nor has he anything particularly novel to say ;...

Through Russia on a Mustang. By Thomas Stevens. (Cassell and

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Co.)—Mr. Stevens is a keen and practised observer, and in his ride from Moscow to Sebastopol has had as dreary a field for his observations as we can well conceive of. Riding...

Thomas Sopu'ith, M.A., C.E., P.R.S. With Excerpts from his Diary

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of Fifty-seven Years. By Benjamin Ward Richardson, M.D., LL.D., F R.S. (Longmans.)—As a surveyor of mines and railways, Mr. Sopwith lived an active and successful life. He...

The Poetical Works of Edmund Spenser. Edited by J. Payne

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Collier. 5 vols. (George Bell and Sons.)—The new "Aldine " edition of the poets will contain no volumes dearer than these five to the lover of poetry. It is easy to point out...

Marie Louise, the Island of Elba, and the Hundred Days.

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By Imbert de Saint-Amend. Translated by Elizabeth Gilbert Martin. (Hutchinson and Co.)—The story of the Hundred Days will always be read with interest, and M. de Saint-Amand has...

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DIvrNITT.—Critical Studies in St. Luke's Gospel. By Colin Camp- bell,

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B.D. (Blackwood and Sons.)—The special objects to which Mr. Campbell devotes his attention in these volumes are a little startling. He discusses, first, the Demonology of the...