5 MAY 1866

Page 1

The war seems coming upon us fast. There must be

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a secret at the bottom which is still preserved, but towards the end of April the Kaiser, whether irritated, as we think, by what he deemed a challenge, or suddenly seized with...

Both Mr. Disraeli and Mr. Gladstone made speeches of great

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power at the close of the great Reform debate. Mr. Disraeli kept• close to his argument, and showed with unanswerable force that in a redistribution of power between class and...

It had been known for some time that the Budget

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would not show so flourishing a prospect as we have been accustomed to for the last few years, but the result was far from unfavourable. Mr. Gladstone showed that the...

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

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T HE House was thronged on Monday to hear Mr. Gladstone make his promised statement as to the course the Cabinet would pursue. He announced that the Government accepted the vote...

There were one or two amusing points in the statement.

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Mr. Gladstone's commiseration for the fate of pepper in having been so long subject to a duty of 200 per cent., and having always been hustled out of the field by some more...

The estimates of expenditure and revenue will, then, if Mr.

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Gladstone's proposed changes are adopted, stand as follows :— EXPENDITURE. Interest and Repay- REVENUE. Customs, diminished as £ ment of Debt 26,642,000 proposed...

Page 2

Thecholera has appeared here and there, chiefly in ships. A.

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man at Bristol, who had just come from Rotterdam, has died of it, and it has appeared iu a bad form—two deaths had occurred—on an emigrant ship at Queenstown, which ship has...

The division, the result of which we published in the

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larger part of our impression of Saturday, showed 318 votes for the Govern- ment to 313 against, tellers of course not counted. One Conser- vative, Mr. R. J. Harvey, the member...

The French Government on Thundayinadn'througli M. Rouher a declaration of

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its policy to the Chamber. It does not amount to much. Italy, it is stated t makerWar at her own risk, and France, while reserving full liberty of aJtion, will: maintain a...

In the North of Germany the principal facts appear to

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be these. The Prussians have called on Saxony to disarm, and have refused to disarm themselves, unless Austria desists from her armaments in Venetia. They have also purchased...

Mr. Chichester Forteacue on Monday introduced a new Tenant Right

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Bill for Ireland, which promises to be a great improvement upon the Act of 1860. Hitherto, in order to obtain compensation for improvements, the tenant has been compelled to...

The special correspondent of the Times at Washington has had

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an interview of two hours with Mr. Johnson, during which the President explained his views. He called. the Liberals of the Union throughout his conversation " these men,"...

One of the non-voting Conservatives was Mr. C. H. Mills,

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the member for Northallerton, who had been declared unseated by a committee on the day of the division, Friday, but the decision had not been reported to the House, so that in...

Lord Amberley and Mr. Bernal Osborne appear to be both.

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likely to stand for Nottingham. Lord Amberley has been asked to stand by a requisition with 1,800 signatures. As 2,100 votes frequently carry a member for Nottingham, if Lord...

A day or two afterwards Mr. Johnson addressed a deputation

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of soldiers and sailors to nearly the same effect, but with much more ferocity of expression. The " train of calumniators, slan- derers, and traducers were always snapping at...

Page 3

The farm labourers are beginning to strike. They have struck

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in Scotland and part of Kent, and last week struck in Peasmore, Berks. The demand everywhere is for a simple increase of wages, in cash, not perquisites, the.amount demanded at...

Yesterday and on Friday week the leading British Railways left

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off .at the. annexed qpotations:— Friday, April 27. VetdaY,Maril. Great Eastern .. .• .. Great Northern .. .• .. Great Western.. .. .. .. : . De. West Midland, Oxford...

The Working Men's Club and. Institute Union held a third

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dis- cussion last Wednesday, at Exeter Hall, on the subject of houses for the working classes, when Mr. Torrens, the member for Finsbury, made an excellent speech, advocating...

The closing prices of the leading Foreign Securities yesterday and

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on Friday week were z..- The closing prices of the leading Foreign Securities yesterday and on Friday week were z..- Mexican .. .41 . Spanish-Passive .. • 41" Do....

A declaratory Bill, to replace the Legitimacy Declaration Act, which

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is brought in by Mr. Chambers, the Common Serjeant, -comes on for its second reading on Tuesday. Its object is very saimple, namely, to declare, in Mr. Chambers's own words, "...

On Saturday last Consols left off at 86* I for

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money, and 861 * for account. Yesterday the closing prices were as under :— For money,. 86# ; for the.June account, 87* *.

A German labourer in Philadelphia, whose name is not known,

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has attained a singular eminence in crime. He was employed by a grazier named Deering, and formed the design of seizing a little money, about 701., which happened to be in the...

The cattle-plague returns last week again showed a slight increase,

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there having been 2,823 new seizures in the week ended 21st April, against 2,582 in the previous week.

Captain Mayne Reid has published a letter complaining strongly of

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the conduct of the Royal Elthorne Militia, now billeted in Uxbridge. They get drunk, beat respectable citizens, defy the police, assault respectable women, and generally make...

The Capital Punishment Bill, intended to limit the punishment of

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death to deliberate murder, and to make executions public, was introduced into the Lords on Tuesday, after a debate of some interest, as showing the general feeling of the...

Considerable supplies of bullion have been - withdrawn from the Bank

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this week for export, and the Directors of the establishment have in consequence raised their minimum rate of discount to 7 per cent. The Bank statement is unfavourable, the...

Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY

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THE COURSE OF THE CABINET. T HE Government is perfectly justified in retaining office, JL but its justification does not prove that we shall have a good Reform Bill. Small as...

THE BUDGET.

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M R. GLADSTONE'S financial statement had not the in- terest of some of his former speeches on like occasions, simply because the surplus at his disposal was so small, and the...

Page 6

THE COMING WAR " W HEN the Sovereigns ask for treasure,"

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says Mr. Disraeli, through Sidonia, "then I begin to believe that matters are getting serious." Judging by the light of that epigram, which contains just such a half-truth as...

Page 7

Mil CHICHESTER FORTESCUE'S BTU,.

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T HE shifty and illogical course adopted by the Government in the late debate upon the Irish Church had given rise to a natural suspicion that the statesmanlike policy,...

MARRIAGE WITH A DECEASED W1re,'S SISTER.

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- NATE are an odd people. Nothing has happened since 185 9 Y i make it more immoral to marry a deceased wife s sister, or more offensive to public sentiment, or more need-...

Page 9

THE RIGHT TO FLY.

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NADAR, the hero of the Geant balloon, who appears to be • an enthusiast in his way, has written a little work• on the newest of the rights of man, one of which neither Tom...

Page 10

WHAT ENGLISHMEN BEST LIKE TO BE.

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W HAT is really the best external position, the position securing the largest amount of enjoyment and possible usefulness attainable by an Englishman in the present age ? The...

Page 11

BERESFORDS.

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THE Beresfords spring from the midland counties of England. Erdeswick, in his Survey of Staffordshire, speaking of the vivers, says, " Dove, then, takes his beginning at the...

Page 12

TROUBLE 1N WASHINGTON.

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FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.] Washington, April 13, 1866. IMMEDIATELY after writing my letter of the 6th April, I started for the capital, and therefore did not mention in...

Page 14

OUR COAL AND THE NATIONAL DEBT.

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] Owen's College, Manchester, May 3, 1866. SIR,—The suggestion of your correspondent " H. R." is both ingenious and interesting. He...

REFORM OF COINAGE AND WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.—[THIRD LETTER.]

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR. " 9 April 20, 1866. stated in my last letter that the advantages of the Metric system are inadequate to compensate for the losses and...

Page 15

RELIGIOUS POETRY.

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ITo THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR,—The notices of Mr. Keble's works recently appearing in your columns, have led me to meditate upon a question which appears to me of...

Page 16

BOOKS.

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• LES APOTRES.• THE book which M. Renan calls The Apostles,—but which is only concerned with the Apostles as a point of departure for a criti- cism on the great empire...

Page 18

ALL ALONE IN THE FOREST.*

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"THE spirit of adventure, so strong in the breast of most English- men, and which has made them, as Heine calls it, "put a stout strap round the globe," is driven into strange...

Page 19

STATE PAPERS OF CHARLES H.'s REIGN.*

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A PECULIAR interest attaches to these two volumes at the present moment. They embrace the period within which the Great Plague and the Great Fire of London first decimated and...

Page 20

THE MAGAZINES.

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THE Magazines present nothing this month of any remarkable in- terest. The most notable single paper perhaps is the new version of the " Fairy Tale" of the Sleeping Beauty,...

Page 21

CURRENT LITERAT URE.

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Fischer on Kant's Critick. Translated, with an introduction, expla- natory notes, and appendices, by J. P. Mahaffy, A.M., Fellow and Tutor of Trinity College, Dublin....

Page 22

Greek Verbs, Irregular and Defective. By W. Veitch. (Macmillan :

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the Clarendon Press.)—The Delegates of the Oxford Press understand that there is still a great need of good echool-books and manuals, and believe that the University may with...

to the memory of a worthy citizen of Glasgow, who

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by honourable _ dustry amassed great wealth, and devoted a fair share of his ace-amnia., tions to charitable uses in connection with his native city.. On this account the Rev....

theology is the realization of the humanity of Christ, coupled. r

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with a firm hold on the miracle of the Resurrection; and admirably if arranged as is the matte•. and forcible as is the manner of M. de. Pressense's work, it will lack in this...

A Class - Book of New Testament History. By Rev. G. F.

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Maclear, M.A. With maps. (Macmillan.) — The present volume forms a sequel to the author's Class - Book of Old Testament Hi story, continuing the narrative from the death of...

The Angels' Song. By Thomas Guthrie, D.D. (Strahan.)—The ad-

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mirers of Dr. Guthrie will be pleased. to hear that the Doctor and his publisher have united their efforts to produce a perfect religions "sweetie " in this little volume....

The Bookworm. An Illustrated Literary and Biographical Review. Nos. 1

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and 2. At the office (4 Brydges Street, Covent Garden.)—We- scarcely know whether this is in joke or earnest. Each number con- taine just sixteen pages of large type and a few...

British Army and Navy Review. April and May. (Bentley). There

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seems a pleasing variety of smart story and useful information in this periodical. The April number contains some serviceable hints on study in the barrack-room, and that for...

English Literature and Composition. By the Rev. Robert Demans, M.A.

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(Longmans.)—The candidates for appointments in the Indian Civil Service and their "crammers " too are rather at sea, we fancy, in these departments of the examinations. The...

A Commentary on the Revelation of St. John. By S.

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Garrett, M.A. (Seeley, Jackson, and Halallay.)—The author of this work has made two discoveries which distinguish it from other productions:of the same school. The first...

Catalogue of Early Newspapers. Hope Collection. (Macmillan : the

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Clarendon Press.)—The collection described in this catalogue was formed by the late John Thomas Hope, Esq., and presented by his son to the Bodleian Library, It begins with...

Page 23

Ovid's Metamorphoses. By John Benson Rose. (Whittaker.)--Mr. Rose does not

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" translate critically," and be does not write English verse. What is the pleasure or profit to be derived from such linos as. these from Book la "Theba and Tenedos I took...

The Contemporary Review. No V., May. (Strahan.)—This Review pursues.its grove

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course, to the satisfaction, we believe, of serious man- kind. Professor Mansell throws off with one of those metaphysical webs in which he delights to entangle freethinkers,...