6 APRIL 1878

Page 1

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

The Spectator

T HE event of the week has been the publication on Monday of Lord Salisbury's brilliantly written but most dangerous circular on the Eastern Question, which we have discussed at...

The military fact of the week is the calling-out of

The Spectator

the Reserves. On Monday a Message from the Queen, announcing the intention, was read in both Houses, and on Tuesday the Proclamation was formally issued. In the M essage it is...

For the coming year, Sir Stafford Northcote's -Estimates,— supposing taxation

The Spectator

to remain unchanged, and no " extraordinary" votes to be sanctioned,—were as follows :— ESTIMATED REVENUE FOR 1878 - 9. ESTIMATED EXPENDITURE FOR 1878 - 9. Customs £19,750,000...

To meet this rather formidable sum, Sir Stafford Northcote's proposals

The Spectator

are simple. He adds 2d. to the Income-tax, which ought, he says, to produce about £3,000,000 within the year, and £600,000 more in the next financial year ; and puts 4d. extra...

It is a curious feature of the published correspondence con-

The Spectator

cerning the Congress, that there is about a month's blank in the story of the negotiations,—between the end of the first week in February, and the end of the first week in...

The Chancellor of the Exchequer introduced his Budget on Thursday

The Spectator

night. In relation to the past year, had it not been for the expenditure on the vote of credit, it would not have been un- favourable. Deducting that expenditure, there would...

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

The Spectator

case.

Page 2

A very large deputation of 350 Liberals, representing 117 associations

The Spectator

and more than 100 towns, waited on Wednesday on Lord Granville and Lord Hartington, to impress on them the- necessity of action in the present crisis. Their views were em-...

A great crime has been committed in Ireland. Lord Leitrim,

The Spectator

a wealthy Peer, noted for the sternness with which he governed his tenantry—who sat, however, at low rents—and for his hatred of the Irish Land Act, was on Tuesday morn- ing...

The new moderation of the French Chamber of Deputies should ,

The Spectator

be some consolation to the •Constitutionalists in the Senate for the sacrifices which they have made to bring about practical harmony between the two Chambers. The three...

Lord Salisbury has accepted the Foreign Office, Mr. Hardy takes

The Spectator

the India Office and a Peerage before the end of the Ses- sion, and Mr. F. Stanley accepts the Secretaryship for War. There is, therefore, only one new member of the Cabinet,...

One of the most important points of the Budget speech

The Spectator

was Sir Stafford Northcote's complaint of the rapid growth of the system of borrowing from the Government for local purposes at a low rate of interest, a system which has...

The answers to the deputation were not very encouraging._ Lord

The Spectator

Granville, in a speech we have described elsewhere, showed how impossible it was for an Opposition to stop a Government resolved on war ; and Lord Harlington, though he...

The war has not altered the Turks. The Times of

The Spectator

Thursday publishes a shocking account of the atrocities perpetrated on some insurgents near Volo, in Thessaly, on the slopes of Mount Pelion, written by its own correspondent,...

Page 3

Mr. Fawcett on Tuesday raised a considerable discussion on Sir

The Spectator

J. Strachey's last Budget, condemning the increase in the duties on salt in Bombay and Madras, in order to equalise them over India, when they might have been equalised by...

The House of Commons have made one complete night of

The Spectator

it, and one half-night of it this week, over the Irish Sunday Closing Act ; and the " Obstructives " in this case were by no means exclusively Irishmen, many English Members...

It seems impossible just now to ascertain the truth about

The Spectator

anything. The whole of that story about Lady Rosebery's jewels, though minutely given in the Times of Friday week and other papers, was untrue. Burglars, between one and three...

It should be noted that while the Press of the

The Spectator

Continent is almost unanimous in praising England for threatening Russia, no Continental Power has as yet shown any willingness to take serious part in a war with that country....

A Colorado beetle, it is said, has made good his

The Spectator

landing on the coast of Glamorganshire. A Cardiff house-decorator, Alfred John, took one last Sunday, which had been observed by his wife on a potato, to the police-station, and...

The discussion in the House of Lords on Tuesday night

The Spectator

con- cerning the opening of certain popular places of amusement—like parts of the British Museum and the Zoological Gardens—to the people on Sunday, was more liberal and...

Consols were on Friday 941 to 941.

The Spectator

The recent accounts from India as to the state of

The Spectator

the crops excite very little interest, but they are by no means pleasant reading. The Madras correspondent of the Times, writing on March 2, says there are still 280,000 people...

Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

The Spectator

THE BUDGET. T HE Budget is a timid affair. If the Government really expect war,—which, however, we must do Sir Stafford Northcote the justice of saying that he himself does not...

LORD SALISBURY'S DESPATCH.

The Spectator

T HE Pall Mall Gazette of Tuesday adopted Lord Salisbury's Despatch as one of its own leading articles, whence we may infer that in the opinion of that journal the Government...

Page 6

THE MINISTERIAL CHANGES.

The Spectator

L ORD BEACONSFIELD has displayed his usual tact in re- organising his Ministry. It was essential to him, when Lord Derby seceded—avowedly because the measures accepted by the...

Page 7

LORD GRANVILLE ON THE WEAKNESS OF OPPOSITIONS.

The Spectator

T HE meeting at the Westminster Palace Hotel on Wednes- day between 330 representative Liberals and the Liberal leaders will not, we fear, greatly strengthen the Opposition. The...

Page 8

THE VACANCY FOR OXFORD UNIVERSITY.

The Spectator

T HE first thought probably of every one on hearing that Mr. Hardy is to go to the House of Lords was,—What will the Oxford electors do to fill his place ? The Conservative...

Page 9

TROLLOPE'S VIEW OF SOUTH AFRICA.

The Spectator

M R. ANTHONY TROLLOPE is not a statesman, and does not profess, that we know of, to have mastered politics, but he occasionally gives the world valuable political infor- mation....

Page 10

THE VALUE OF WEALTH IN POLITICS. MONG the younger Peers

The Spectator

who will probably push to the front, as the older men drop off, is the Earl of Rosebery. A Radical, though not of a very Red colour, active to feverish- ness, and a very fair...

THE DONEGAL MURDERS.

The Spectator

T HE three murders in Donegal are most disastrous events for Ireland, for one of them was prompted by agrarian hatred, and they rouse once more the fierce animosities of caste,...

Page 11

MR. LYALL ON MORALITY AND THEOLOGY.

The Spectator

TILE most remarkable paper in the new number of the n ht ly is that of Mr. Lyall,—that most vigilant and sardonic critic of Oriental religions, and indirectly of all...

Page 13

THE LOGIC OF DISESTABLISHMENT. [To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."]

The Spectator

SIR,—I would not seek to trespass upon the Spectator's great, I have sometimes ventured to think excessive, readiness to allow its own conclusions to be controverted in its own...

THE PROPOSED INCREASE OF THE EPISCOPATE. [To THE EDITOR OF

The Spectator

THE "SPECTATOR.") SIRS I must confess that it is to me a matter of surprise that Lord Houghton should not have been more widely supported in his opposition to the Bill for the...

LIBERAL PROGRAMMES.

The Spectator

[TO THE FD1TOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR,—I should like to make a few remarks, suggested by what you said on Saturday week about " crotcbetty " Liberals. 'Whenever I read a...

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

The Spectator

THE CI-11NA FAMINE. [To THD EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR, In connection with your recent and admirable article on the awful famine in China, the following extract from a...

Page 14

A CAT IN LOVE.

The Spectator

ITO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR.") Srn,—Your interesting article on Cats in last week's issue prompts me to send you the following entertaining instance of affection between a...

POETRY.

The Spectator

EURYDICE. STILL lives on earth the weird Hellenic myth, How Orpheus sought the dwellings of the dead, And moved to ruth the stony kings of Hell, And won the freedom of...

BOOKS.

The Spectator

FINLAY'S HISTORY OF GREECE.* NOTHING can be more opportune than the republication of Mr.. Finlay's works by the Delegates of the Clarendon Press. Those who take an interest in...

LIGHT READING AND AMUSING BOOKS FOR THE PATIENTS IN TILE

The Spectator

LONDON HOSPITALS. THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.") Stn, —If you will permit it, I would fain open up a fresh vein of the obliging contributors towards the stock of amusing...

Page 16

MR. MERRY'S ODYSSEY.*

The Spectator

MR. MERRY modestly says in his preface that he has " not ventured to increase the bulk of the present volume by any Pro- legomena." Of course, we know nothing of any...

Page 17

" CELTIC SCOTLAND :" ITS CHURCH AND CULTURE.* IN Germany,

The Spectator

as at home, the first volume of this ]tanned and satisfying book drew much regard from competent judges of its value, and was welcomed by them with great cordiality. Its suc-...

Page 18

AMONG THE SPANISH PEOPLE.* Rose. has given us a book

The Spectator

which answers most fairly to its title, but which, being in a great measure a record of the personal experience of its author, and owing a good deal of its value to this very...

Page 20

JAMES HINTON.* JAMES HINTON'S biography has fallen into good bands.

The Spectator

Miss Ellice Hopkins was Hinton's personal friend, and was able, by virtue of thorough congeniality of disposition, to know what he knew, to feel what he felt, to get exactly...

Page 21

A Knight of To-Day. By L. T. Meade. (John F.

The Spectator

Shaw.)—There is no little evidence of power in this book, interest in the story, and vigour in the delineation of character. The " Knight " is no common-place philanthropist....

South Africa. By Anthony Trollope. 2 vols. (Chapman and Hall.)

The Spectator

—Mr. Trollope is, for what he attempts, one of the most observant and valuable of travellers. Ho is a traveller emphatically of the modern kind. The great discoverers belong to...

CURRENT LITERATURE.

The Spectator

History of the Indian Navy, 1613-1643. By Charles Rathbone Low. 2 vols. (Bontley.)—Lientenant Low deserves well of his country for collecting in these two volumes the records of...

Strafford: a Romance. By W. Barton Baker. 3 vols. (Tinsley

The Spectator

Brothers.)—Success is not easy in the department of the historical romance. A writer has to risk comparison with great masters who have gone before him, and is tried by a...

Page 22

Notes on Genesis. By the late Frederick W. Robertson, M.A.,

The Spectator

of Brighton. (Henry S. King and Co.)—These Notes on Genesis— sketches, more or less full, of lectures on Genesis delivered by Mr. Robertson—will bo welcomed by the many who have...

Aunt Deborah's Whim. By Mary E. Shipley. 3 vols. (Samuel

The Spectator

Tinsley.)—Aunt Deborah's whim is to adopt an orphan girl, whom chance has thrown in her way. She has herself been an orphan, the unhappy charge of selfish relatives. The memory...

Events in the Life of an Octogenarian. By George Washington

The Spectator

Abbott. (Remington and Co.)—Mr. Abbott's title-page is misleading. The events he chronicles do not, except in a very few instances, concern himself at all ; they are events of a...

Deceivers Ever. By Mrs. H. Lovett-Cameron. (Chatto and Windus.)• —"

The Spectator

In that pleasantest of all pleasant bachelor retreats—the Albany— a young man, in a sumptuous blue-satin smoking suit, reclined in the soft depths of a luxurious arm-chair. The...

The Letters of Pliny the Younger. The Translation of Melmoth.

The Spectator

Revised and Corrected by the Rev. F. C. T. Bosanquet. (Bell and Sons.) —This is a useful addition to " Behn's Classical Library." Melmoth's translation is spirited and vigorous,...

The Folkestone Ritual Case. (Kegan Paul.)—Here, in a full-sized octavo

The Spectator

volume of nearly eight hundred pages, we have a complete account of the great Ritual case. Tho volume begins with the articles of accusation brought by the three parishioners of...

Page 23

Christopher Columbus. From the French of N. lo Marquis do

The Spectator

Belloy. With fifty-one drawings on wood and six etchings by Lriopold Flamong. (Marcus Ward and Co.)—The narrative is bright and readable. It has nothing now to tell us about...

The Moor and the Loch. By John Colquhonn. 2 vols.

The Spectator

(Murray.)—This edition, published after an interval of nearly 30 years, is so much enlarged that it may almost be called a now book. Mr. Colquhoun has, indeed, incorporated with...

A Match in the Dart. By (George Rose, M.A.) Arthur

The Spectator

Sketchley. 2 vols. (Tinsley Brothers.)—Hero wo have a story, in no way remark- able, of two young people who fall in love with each other, marry in haste, and repent at leisure....

The Pentateuch and Hebrews Analysed and Illustrated. By the Rev.

The Spectator

J. Davidson. (Simpkin and Marshall.)—This little volume is meant to be a sort of guide-book to a portion of the Bible, and a very useful one it will be found. It analyses and...

A Chaperon's Cares. By Mary Catharine Jackson. 2 vols. (Smith,

The Spectator

Elder, and Co.)—The plan of the book is a not uningeuious method of introducing three love-stories, wo may even say four, for the chaperon does a little business on her own...

Honour's Worth ; or, the Cost of a Vow. By

The Spectator

Meta Orrod. (Chap- man and Hall.)—This is a bewildering book. The heroine has a month "that gave one a curious feeling of quietude and self-control," which seems an impossible...

An Every-Day Heroine. By Albert D. Vandam. 3 vols. (Bentley.)

The Spectator

—This story is founded, wo learn from the title-page, on " Anne Rose, a Domestic Story, from the Dutch of J. J. Cremes." We did not find it at all easy to read this novel,...

The Lawyer's Nose. By Edmoni About. Translated by J. E.

The Spectator

Mait- land. (Remington and Co.)—This is an unfortunately selected sample of N. About's works for translation into English. In the original, it is a heavy and laboured jeu...