5 APRIL 1913

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While events are thus being precipitated by the refusal of

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the Montenegrins to abandon the siege, preparations are being rapidly pushed forward for a naval demonstration off Monte- negro's port on the Adriatic, and as we write the ships...

On Monday in the Commons the Naval debate was continued,

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when Mr. Churchill answered the criticisms of his recent statements. It was untrue to say that the Navy was short of its proper complement by twenty thousand men. Such...

As to the methods of raising money, the Government con-

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fesses that the yield of the levy on incomes "cannot be even approximately estimated "; and the yield of the more important levy on capital is hardly more definitely predicted,...

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

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case.

-The most menacing feature of the whole situation is the

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proof given by the stubbornness of Montenegro that she intends ultimately to defy the Powers and, if she can, to negative their determination that Scutari shall go to the new...

Mr. Walter Hines Page, who has been appointed American Ambassador

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at St. James's, is a Southerner by birth and education, a Democrat in polities, but first and foremost a man of academic and literary distinction. He is a Fellow of Johns...

Last Saturday the new German Army Bill and the proposals

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for extraordinary taxation to meet the huge increase of expenditure were laid before the Reichstag. The addition to the numbers of the army, and the various changes involved,...

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

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T HOUGH the Turks are stated to have agreed to the terms proposed by the Powers, the war is not ended nor has the European tension been relaxed. Indeed it may be said, as we go...

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After a discussion on the same day on the administration

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of the law in Ireland—Mr. Birrell's critics showing that the administration was virtually in the hands of the Nationalist members, and that the present state of affairs was a...

Mr Lloyd George, in the course of his speech and

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during his examination, dwelt upon his poverty. Such poverty is, of course, nothing but honourable to him, and no one, we venture to say, has ever made any suggestion that it...

On Wednesday in the Commons Mn McKenna moved the second

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reading of his Bill for preventing successful hunger strikes by allowing prisoners to be released temporarily on licence. A released prisoner would be liable to rearrest if the...

The Marconi inquiry has been continued throughout the week. On

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Friday, March 28th, the examination of Mr. Lloyd George was begun. He prefaced it with a long and eloquent speech defining his position. We have dealt at length elsewhere with...

One might have thought that the chairman of the Com-

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mittee would at once have sharply reproved Mr. Lloyd George for what was so obvious a threat, and have reminded him that the business of the Committee was to conduct their...

One more fact remains to be noted. The Chancellor of

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the Exchequer chose, very inadvisedly we should have thought, to insist that his double transaction in Marconi shares—it will be remembered that he first bought a thousand...

On the same day in the Commons Sir F. Low,

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the Liberal member for Norwich, moved a resolution to the effect that to impose duties on manufactured goods while admitting agricultural products free would be indefensible....

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The naval correspondent of the Pall Mall Gazelle has some

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interesting comments in Monday's issue on the report of the Custance Committee. The report, it is understood, is sub- stantially favourable to the system of education pursued at...

On Wednesday Mr. Falconer and Mr. Booth made state- ments

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in regard to this letter, but those statements, though they sought to justify the action of the two members, did not contain a denial of the specific allegation. It may be as...

The papers of last Saturday published a correspondence on the

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subject of Stafford House, the lease of which was offered last November to the nation by Sir William Lever. Sir William Lever said that questions in Parliament during his...

Bank Rate, 5 per cent., changed from 4 per cent.

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October 17th. Consols (21) were on Thursday 74:—Friday week 74,1.

On Thursday at the Old Bailey Mrs. Pankhunt was sentenced

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to a term of three years' penal servitude for inciting persons unknown to commit felony at the house at Walton Heath which was to have been occupied by the Chancellor of the...

Rumours were current last week that the Government had yielded

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to Nationalist pressure and had determined to revoke its decision to sanction the grant to the Irish Agricultural Organization Society. These rumours, circulated in the Radical...

Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan, the American financier, died in Rome

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last Monday after a short illness at the age of seventy-six. On two separate occasions when the national credit was seriously threatened—at the time of the gold scare in 1895...

Mr. Austen Chamberlain, who entered the House of Commons in

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1892, has received general congratulations on attaining his Parliamentary majority. That his political associates should appreciate his abilities, his industry, and his...

A disagreeable incident in the Marconi inquiry was the resignation

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of one of the Unionist members of the Committee, Mr. Harold Smith. On Wednesday a letter was published addressed by him to the Chairman, resigning his seat owing to what took...

On Wednesday Mr. Herbert Samuel was under examination. It is

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a pleasure to record that he had no revelations of any kind to make in regard to the purchase of Marconi shares either in America, in England, or in any other part of the world....

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THE DUTY OF MINISTERS.

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ITHE description of a Minister's duties in regard to his investments which Mr. Lloyd George gave to the Marconi Committee on Friday week must be pronounced as altogether...

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

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AN ORGANIZED HYPOCRISY. W E said last week that we hoped to take an early opportunity of pointing out what in our opinion is the proper course for the Opposition to adopt in...

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A JOURNALIST'S DUTY.

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I T is necessary to consider carefully a special point raised by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his evidence. In effect he told the Committee that he was now being judged by...

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THE COMMAND OF THE AIR.

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T HE time has come for Englishmen to recognize that, whether they like it or not, they must seriously apply themselves to the creation of an air Navy strong enough to repel the...

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THE COMING BUDGET. B EFORE dealing with the prospects of the

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coming Budget, it is desirable to say a word about the rather violent attack made upon the Spectator by the Westminster Gazette. Our contemporary is very much annoyed because we...

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PUBLIC MEN AND SUSPICION.

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I T is the characteristic of the greatest works of literature and of the thoughts of the greatest men that they remain continuously fresh. Different though the world of Homer is...

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CHILDREN AND ACTING.

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W E have before us at the present moment the Annual Report of the Village Children's Historical Play Society. The Society is about two years old. It claims already to have...

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THE INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF ZOOLOGY. [ComaturrtcaTED.]

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T HE ninth International Congress of Zoology, which met at Monaco, has just completed its labours. The last congress assembled three years before at Graz. Never was the sunburnt...

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

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THE MARCONI CASE. I.To TER EDITOR 07 TILE " SPECTATOR."1 Ssu,—Most of your readers will agree with you in refusing to entertain any suspicion of corrupt intention on the...

[TO TER EDITOR Or TER "SPECTATOR."]

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SIR,—There is an aspect of the transactions in the Marconi gamble which thus far appears to have escaped public notice. Purchases on the Stock Exchange are of two classes :...

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THE FIRST BUSINESS OF AN OPPOSITION.

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[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SpNcrAToa. - ] Sfu,—The truth of the principle which you lay down, that it is the first business of an Opposition to oppose, finds con- firmation not...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR, — Sir Rufus Isaacs pleads

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that he lost by his purchase of Marconi shares, and in so pleading in effect condemns Mr. Lloyd George, who admits having made a profit. The latter pleads that he has not...

[TO THY EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR.") SIR., — In America there have

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been passed and in Britain there have been proposed regulations requiring all passenger and many cargo steamers to be fitted with "wireless" telegraphy. These regulations have...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."' Sra,—May an appreciative reader

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of your paper be permitted to thank you for your lucid explanation of the Marconi case ? So far as I have been able to fathom Mr. Lloyd George's voluntary statement, I am...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."]

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Sfa,—You do not charge Sir Rufus Isaacs or Mr. Lloyd George with corruption, but apparently hold that they deserve censure because there was in their transactions in American...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—The strictures of the

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Unionist press in regard to the Marconi disclosure seem to err on the side of leniency and to miss its real significance. When it was vehemently asserted by irresponsible...

[TO THE EDITOR 07 THE "SPECTATOR:]

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SIR, — In maintaining that when the market value of his investments rises it is quite legitimate for him to sell out and take his profit, Mr. Lloyd George misses the real...

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PORTUGUESE SLAVERY IN WEST AFRICA. [To THE EDITOR OF THE

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" SPECTATOR."] SIR,—When Mr. Cadbury again wrote on the supposed Portuguese slavery in the Nineteenth Century, I also wrote to him showing the falsity of his accusations, and...

THE INCIDENCE OF RATES.

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[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,-1 have read, as one who has tried to study the matter care- fully, your illuminating article on "Rates" with the greatest interest Your...

INTERNATIONAL FRIENDSHIP.

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[To THE EDITOR OE THE " Srscrwrop..-3 SIR,—In these days few things are more important than international friendship and the intimate knowledge of and respect for people of...

INTERVENTION IN THE BALKAN WAR.

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[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—It is admitted by writers on international law, and it is obvious, that intervention in the relations of two other States by a third...

A TWO-HUNDRED-MILLION BUDGET.

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[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—In your article entitled "A Two-Hundred-Million Budget" in last week's issue I notice the following statement: "In spite of the...

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HISTORY AND PESSIMISM. [To THE EDITOR OF THE "SFECTATOR.”1 Sin,—It

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was Bishop Lightfoot who said that the best antidote to desponding spirits was the study of history. Some of your readers who are apt to despond may find refreshment in these...

LYNCHING IN AMERICA.

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE " S7ECTATOR."] Sre.,—The suggested change in the Federal Constitution with the object of empowering the President to deal with lynching (Spectator, March...

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"THE RED LEGS OF BARBADOS."

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1 TO THE EDITOR 07 THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR, — We, the white colonists of West India, cannot but feel gratified that, even at this eleventh hour, some tardy interest is being at...

ESSAT PASHA.

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[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR, — The recent great victory at Janina, by the Greek Crown Prince, which makes him more than ever the central figure in the Balkan...

SERVICE AND NATIONAL TRAINING.

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(TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR.'] SIR,—Your efforts on behalf of what is badly termed con- scription are well timed, and I rejoice with you at Colonel Weston's victory in...

WINDHAM'S TRAINING ACT.

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I.TO THE EDITOR OP THE "BrEcrAroit.1 Sin,—I have looked in vain for Windham's Training Act referred to in the Spectator of March 15th, 1913, and again in last week's number,...

THE WINDHAM PAPERS.

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[To THE EDITOR OF TEE " SPECTATOR.") SIR, — It is a truism that "the heart of a gentleman" beats to the same tunes in all races, but the following example of the fact may be...

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THE GYPSY PROBLEM.

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[TO THE EDITOR or THE "SPECTATOR...] SIR,—I have just heard that there have lately been letters in the Spectator about gypsies and that some of your corre- spondents wrote in...

THE COUNTRY TEMPER.

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[To THZ EDITOR 01 TH1 "SPECTATOR."] Sin,—I have read Miss Loane's article in this week's Spectator with much astonishment and great regret. Miss Loane's previous articles and...

"MY RUSSIAN YEAR."

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[TO THR EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—I have to thank you for the compliment you have paid me by noticing a book of mine, "My Russian Year," in your issue of March 29th....

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[To THE EDITOR OF TEE " Spzentrors."] SIR,—Your correspondent who

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writes concerning the late Mr. Max A. Macauliffe mentions Dr. Trumpp and his inefficient translation of the " Grauth Sahib." It may not be generally known that the chief cause...

COBBETT'S "ADVICE TO YOUNG MEN."

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pre THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."1 Sru,—The writer of a review in last week's Spectator speaks of Cobbett's "Advice to Young Men" as "a book which has every ingredient of...

THE PRIZE POEM STYLE.

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r To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."1 Sru,—On reading some of the "absurd lines" which have been lately quoted anent Nebuchadnezzar in connexion with Arnold's " Belshazzar's...

"TRICK."

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[To TEE EDITOR OF THE "BrserAros.") SIR,—With reference to an incident in the House of Commons reported in the Times of the 27th ultimo, I think it might interest some of your...

MR. MACAULIFFE'S WORK.

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR." J Sr,—With reference to the interesting letter on the late Mr. Max A. Macauliffe in your issue of the 22nd inst., one would be glad to know...

WAR IN THE GARDEN.

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(To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR:1 SIE,—Your article "War in the Garden," though it does not touch upon insect pests, probably because few, if any, gardeners have much...

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APPEAL FOR A PETE - MAYO FUND.

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."' SIR,—This Society has for nearly four years laboured in order to 'expose the terrible conditions of oppression and slavery in the Putuma.yo...

"AlAIR WAS LOST AT SHERRAMUIR."

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR...] StR,—The locus classic= of the saying about Sheriffmuir is in Ensign Maccombich's observation on the death of the Laird of Balmawhapple,...

THE WHALE'S BELLOW.

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[To THE EDITOR Or TIER "SPECTATOR...3 SIR,—Mr. Frank Bullen is an authority whose veto one hesitates to contradict, but will you permit me to say in answer to his comment on...

CANNES

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[To THE EDITOR Or THE "SPECTATOR."1 SIR, — Apropos of this correspondence, it may interest your readers to have the following description of Cannes, written by Madame de Dino...

NOTICE.—When "Correspondence" or Articles are signed with the writer's name

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or initials, or with a pseudonym, or are 'narked " Communicated," the Editor must not necessarily be held to be in agreement with the views therein expressed or with the mode of...

THE BRITISH WOMEN'S PATRIOTIC LEAGUE.

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR...3 SIR,—As a Vice-President of the British Women's Patriotic League, I should like to enlist the aid of your paper in making this Society,...

"THE COMMON TASK."

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] Sin,—With your permission I should like to thank, through the medium of the Spectator, all those editors and article. writers of both sexes...

AN APPEAL FOR THE CAT.

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[To TTIE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—As Chairman of the Committee of the Receiving Shelters for Stray Cats Branch of "Our Dumb Friends' League," may I ask your readers to...

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POETRY.

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MAGDALEN. SILENT amid the clashing years she stands, Time-mellowed sentinel of the drowsy hours, Girt with her sleeping stream, and sweet with flowers, Fairer than all the...

BOOKS.

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tinction of its own and yet be fully representative is a hard and perhaps impossible task. The material has all been ransacked again and again; scores of passages claim a right...

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subject in a speech he will introduce the misstatement with

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the question "What are the facts!'" Remembering that assertion is not necessarily the equivalent of truth, we are not prepared to admit that Sir Harry Johnston's opinions on...

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the troubled reign of Mary of Scots from its extreme

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unlike , not in his methods, and though he was tenacious and firm ness to any contemporary. Motives on which we have no beyond any man of his age, he showed his quality in...

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GREAT TRIALS.* IN this volume (the last completed by its

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author before his death) Mr. Childers has abandoned the method adopted by Mr. H. L. Stephen in his selection from the State trials, and aims at making each case a story and an...

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EAST ANGLIAN VILLAGES.*

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&MI6 Blr Basil Oliver,/..B.I.B.L. London : B. T. Batsford. 1 18. net.] Bulloch. Aberdeen The New Spalding Club. OLD cottages come in for a great deal of admiration nowadays ,...

GORDONS UNDER ARMS.*

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THE New Spalding Club was founded in 1886 as the lineal descendant of the Spalding Club, a society which, between 1839 and 1871, published a long series of important works...

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BOTANY: SERIOUS AND POPULAR.*

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THE sixteen chapters from the pens of living botanists which compose this interesting volume on Makers of British Botany are mainly founded on lectures delivered at University...

THE GALLANT WAY.* IN Mr. Frank Taylor we have a

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laureate of the British Army, who dces for the great feats of our soldiers what Mr. Newbolt has done for our admirals. A_ new writer of battle-songs is not so frequent an...

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THE MAGAZINES.

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TITE Nineteenth, Century opens with an excellent article— qua inininte reris—on the best way to prepare England against possible attack. The author is none other than...

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FICTIO N.

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NEW LEAF MILLS.* Mn. HOWELLS might have taken for his sub-title that of Waverley—" 'Tie Sixty Years Since." It is a story of the Middle West in the ante-bellum period, based...

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SOME BOOKS OF TIIE WEEK.

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[Under this heading Are +miles such Books of the week as hare not teen resertecl for retire) in other forms.] Imperial Defence and Closer Union. By Howard d'Egville. With a...

READABLE NOVELS.—The Call of the Siren. By Harold Spender. (Mills

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and Boon. 6s.).—A most interesting first novel. The parents who appear in the first chapters seem to be disappoint- ingly forgotten by the author and their own children : the...

Monte Carlo. By Margaret Staepoole (Mrs. II. de Vere Stacpoole).

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(Hutchinson and Co. 6s.)—This is an extremely clever sketch of the adventures of an English artist and his wife at Monte Carlo, and, surprising to note, the interest of the...

The Red Cross Girl. By Richard Harding Davis. (Duckworth and

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Co. 6s.)—This is a collection of not very noteworthy stories, redeemed by a most spirited and moving sketch called " Tho Invasion of England." In this two Oxford...

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The Cathedrals and Churches of Rome and Southern Italy. By

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T. Francis Bumpus. (T. Werner Laurie. 16s.)—Mr. Bumpus begins with an interesting classification of the churches of Rome, which will be a help to people who wish to increase...

The Lost Language of Symbolism. By Harold Bayley. 2 vols.

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(Williams and Norgate. 253. net.)—Basing his inferences on the study of medieval water-marks, Mr. Harold Bayley has elaborated in his present work the suggestions originally...

We are glad to welcome the issue in a cheaper

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form of some of the volumes of the famous Bohn's Library. The new edition is described under the name of " Bohn's Popular Library." (G. Bell and Sons. is. net each...

The Autobiography of a Working Woman. By Adelheid Popp. (T.

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Fisher Unwin. 3s. ent net.)—Before we come to the translation of Frau Popp's Life we haves touching introduction by Mr. Ramsay MacDonald, whose wife n-as instiumental in...