6 AUGUST 1921

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Japan has accepted President Harding's invitation to a conference on

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disarmament. When Japan received the invi- tation she, not unnaturally, replied at first that before she accepted she would like to know to what she would be com- mitted. In...

notes that the chief object of the conference is disarmament.

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In order, therefore, to assure the success of the conference, the Japanese Government deem it advisable That the agenda thereof should be arranged in accordance with the main...

The murder of Mrs. Lindsay in the South of Ireland

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and the callous explanation made by one of the Sinn Fein leaders who calls himself Minister of Defence have been much before the public this week. The murder seems to have been...

Once more the difficulties between France and Britain have been

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patched up, and we are told that the Entente is quite -restored- We cannot feel, however, that the settlement goes to the root of the matter, which is the fundamental conflict...

In a speech at Theme last Saturday Mr. Lloyd George

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said it was inconceivable that two countries which had made such tremendous sacrifices for a common cause as had been made by France and Britain should quarrel over a question...

The papers on Monday brought relief from this unpleasant tension.

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It was then announced that it had been arranged that the British, French, and Italian Ambassadors should inform the German Government that Allied troops must be allowed to pass...

With complete candour, Lord Curzon reminded M. Briand that after

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the French entry into Frankfort M. Millerand had promised that in future France would not again act alone. Finally, surprise was expressed at the "unusual and apparently...

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

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( INCE more we have to record the fact that the Irish negotia- tions are still proceeding, but that nothing definite has been announced. It would seem, indeed, that no...

TO OUR READERS.

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Readers experiencing difficulty in obtaining the " Spectator " regularly and promptly through the aboli- tion of the Sunday post or other causes should become yearly...

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The incident of the interview with the editor of the

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London Times published by the New York Times, though absurd and unimportant in itself, deserves notice as one of the curiosities of politics. On Friday, July 29th, the later...

No one can possibly defend Lord Northcliffe's original ill- deed

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in allowing the Times to hold up the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary to personal obloquy and by asserting that they were not fit persons to -send to Washington. That...

A sound warning was addressed to the Government in the

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House of Lords on Thursday, July 28th. Lord Gainford called attention to the excessive staffing of Departments. Since he criticized the Government last November the number of...

Replying for the Government, Lord Crawford argued that no Government

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of whatever complexion could have dispensed at once with all-the-officials of the Ministries of Food and Shipping. He admitted that the increase was alarming, but it was mainly...

Inthe House of Commons on•Friday, July 29th, the Chancellor of

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the Exchequer spoke on the financial situation. Mr. Mosley moved for a fresh statement of the financial positiOn, 'pointing out that the surplus of £80,000,000 estimated by Mr....

It turns out that the. interview was not only a

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Snark, but a Boojum. Everybody •who has had•anything to do with it has vanished. Lord Northcliffe on the evening of Friday, July 29th, cabled .to the King's private secretary...

In the early hours of Wednesday morning the Licensing Bill

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passed its final stages in the House of Commons. It went to the Lords as virtually an agreed measure, since the alterations were slight. The chief change is that outside London...

Sir. Robert Home said that undoubtedly recent events would alter

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thefigures of the Budget statement, but he was not at all sure that there would be very much to withdraw or correct. The Excise receipts for the June quarter were. £6,000,000...

Further details of the Spanish disaster in Morocco do nothing

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to diminish its appearance of gravity. The Spaniards .are now said to hold exactly the same amount Of territory as they did twelve years ago in 1909 when they began the...

In the Chancery Division of Dublin writs of attachment were

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issued on Friday, July 29th, against Sir Nevil Macready, General Strickland, General Cameron, and the Governor of the Limerick Detention Barracks. The Master of the Rolls...

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We do not to-day publish our usual communication from Mr.

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A. W. Kiddy on " Finance—Public and Private," as he is away from London for two weeks. Ilia articles will begin again in the Spectator of August 20th.

On Wednesday Sir Robert Horne announced that the Cabinet bad

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decided to appoint a Committee of Business Men to advise the Government on reducing expenditure and improving our financial position. Sir Eric Geddes, who is leaving the...

Mr. Amery, speaking for the Government, in effect acknow- ledged

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this when he dwelt upon the fact that Japan was building eight post-Jutland capital vessels and contemplating eight more. In view of this fact the Government demand for four new...

Signor Caruso, the great singer, died on Tuesday at Naples.

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He had been ill for some months past, but was recovering when he had a severe relapse, and died at nine o'clock in the morning. Caruso was the premier singer of his ago...

But though preparation for war with America must be ruled

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out, we are fully in agreement with Mr. Churchill and other speakers who denounced the idea of our abandoning our present naval position, or of doing anything which might leave...

A letter from Mr. Robert Witt in the papers of

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Monday announced the gratifying news that Euilicient money had been raised to secure Millais' great work " The Carpenter's Shop " for tho National Collections. Although the...

We trust that no one will be misled into thinking

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that this new committee will in any way satisfy the demand which we have so often made for temporarily placing the country's finances in the hands of National Trustees, just as...

But in truth the whole of our naval policy depends

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upon our coming to a complete agreement with America in regard to the Pacific. The fate of the Empire and the peace of the world hinge upon that understanding being not...

Once more, cordiality with America must be our guiding principle,

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and must be applied in every line and in every word of the negotiations over the Washington conference. We are not going to throw ourselves at the feet of America, but we shall...

On Wednesday the House of Commons discussed the Naval Estimates,

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the principal item being a sum of £11,000,000 for the dockyards. The debate brought out in strong relief the absolute necessity for a complete, friendly, and permanent...

The incident reminds the present writer of certain financial overtures

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once made by Abdul Hamid, the Sultan of Turkey, to Lord Cromer. The Sultan, always in money difficulties, was greatly impressed by what he heard of the miraculous results of...

The debate, as a whole, need not be regarded as

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in the least unsatisfactory by those who think as we do, and as we are sure the majority of the British people do. We can all agree cordially with Mr. Churchill's statement that...

If Japan is wise, she will take warning by Prussia

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and elect to win her place in the sun by peaceful penetration and through her wonderful capacity for trade, and not by a vast naval programme. That way lie madness and ruin. So...

Bank Rate, 5i per cent., changed from 6 per cent.

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July 21, 1921; 6 per cent. War Loan was on Thursday, 88k; Thursday week, 881 ; a year ago, 841.

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TOPICS OF THE DAY.

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THE FINANCIAL SITUATION. T HE past fortnight has been marked by great public perturbation in regard to finance. Not only were there the debates in the House of Lords and in the...

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THE POSITION OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS. T HE Lords are

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suffering from the grievance which has become customary at this time of year. The Govern- ment programme in the House of Commons has taken much longer than was anticipated—as of...

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POPLAR AND THE RATES.

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A GREAT deal more is bound to be heard of the grievances of the ratepayers. Rates are taxes,, and though the heaviest burden lies upon the Income Tax payer, and though that...

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SOME ELEMENTARY ECONOMICS.

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W E have dwelt elsewhere upon the paramount need of reducing taxation and stopping that secondary haemorrhage which, if not stopped, must prove fatal to the nation. But though...

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SEX AND THE STATE. T HE National Council of Public Morals

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have just issued a booklet entitled To Save the British Race, in which an account is given of their many activities. They are concerned with such subjects as the birth-rate,...

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A CASE OF POETICAL AFFILIATION : BEN JONSON AND ROBERT

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BROWNLNG. I T is neither difficult nor fantastic, provided we do not overpress the point, to trace the poetical parentage of many of our poets, to recognize and indicate their...

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HEARSAY PORTRAITS.

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T HE friends of our friends—" friends-in-law," as they are called—are often known to us only by hearsay. Yet we feel that we know a great deal about them, because we constantly...

BADGER WAYS. T HE title will suggest nothing to most people,

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for scarcely one in a thousand has set eyes on the badger in its wild state. To some it might recall a lonely wooded coombe or steep hillside, riddled with holts whose...

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PALESTINE AND THE ZIONISTS.

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ITo THE EDITOR or THE " SPECTATOR.") SIR, — The letter of Lord Sydenham in your issue of July 23rd, in which he invokes the aid of Mr. Henry Morgenthau in his anti-Zionist...

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

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[Letters of the length of one of our leading paragraphs are often more read, and therefore more effective, than those which fill treble the space.] A LEAGUE OF GOOD CITIZENS....

THE PRIME MINISTER AND THE CONSTITUTION. [To THE EDITOR OP

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THE " SPECTATOR."] have read your excellent article on the " altered posi- tion of the Prime Minister " with the greatest interest. You have clearly shown the difference between...

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THE SILESIAN QUESTION AND THE ENTENTE. [To THE EDITOR OF

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THE " Sezerszoa."1 Sm,—In your article on Silesia and the Entente the con- cluding sentence carries its own refutation. You say : " Safety for France is to be found in giving...

PRESIDENT WILSON'S FAILURE.

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[To THE EDITOR or THE " SPECTATOR."] SIE,—" In the cause of historic truth," in the words of your able review of Colonel House's book (Spectator, July 30th), there must be...

" THE LAW OF BIRTHS AND DEATHS." (To THE EDITOR

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OF THE " SPECTATOR."' Sta,—I regret that your reviewer should support the theory of Mr. Pell on the above subject, for it seems to me that there could not be a more glaring case...

THE ANGLO-JAPANESE ALLIANCE.

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[To THE EDITOR Or THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR, —I had hoped some Colonial of standing would have inter- vened in favour of a renewal of the Anglo-Japanese Treaty that you have no...

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[To THE EDITOR Or THE " SPECTATOR."] Sre,—Permit me to

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offer a remark on Mr. Pe11's statement, characterized by your reviewer as an effective quotation from Exodus to the effect that "Pharaoh found the Israelites multiplying all the...

THE SITUATION IN INDIA.

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[To THE EDITOR or THE " SPECTATOR.") Sia,—The situation in. India is very grave, as Lord .Lytton has reminded us, and, it must be sorrowfully acknowledged, largely of our own...

GEMS AND PRECIOUS STONES.

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[To 2TIE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] am sure many of your readers must have highly appreciated Sir Evelyn Grant-Duff's contribution, which appeared in your last week's issue,...

Ttfel LAHORE RIOTS.

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[To THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."] you grant me a little space to correct an accidental error in your reviewer's notice of my new book, Far to Seek? From a glance at my...

THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND MIDWIVES. [To THE EDITOR OF

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THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR,—Your interesting article on " Health Visitors" encourages me to hope that you will lend your columns to another side of the question—namely, that the...

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HOW TO DESCRIBE THE PRESENT PARLIAMENT (To ens EDITOR or

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ma " Stescrivoe."1 Sie,—Your correspondent Mr. Middleton asks: "One wonders by what adjective the Parliament sitting in the eleventh year of King George V. will be...

POPE AS A PAINTER.

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ITo THE EDITOR or Tar " SPECT/MOR.") SIR, —The gentleman whose letter you published last week cannot have read all the correspondence in your columns upon this subject, or he...

"BURKE AND HARE."

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(TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] Sra,—In the interesting review of Burke and Hare in your issue of July 23rd, I note that the reviewer states that it had been produced for...

THE RAWNSLEY MEMORIAL. ITo THE EDITOR or THE " SPECTATOR."]

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Snt.,—Yoti were good enough to insert in your columns some months ago a letter from us appealing for funds to enable the National Trust to. carry through the purchase of certain...

(To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR...I SIR,—I cannot tell

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your correspondent Frances H. Meares where to find the words of the old song she heard years ago, but I can tell her that they were sung to me by my nursemaid, who was a...

(To THE EDITOR or THE " SPF.CTATOR."]

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Sia,—My father taught me the following " old song " a little less than seventy years ago :— " Shrim shram pamadiddle arra bona ring clang; Ring clang bullyingy koima....

(To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] ark— The nonsense

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words quoted by your correspondents are evidently versions of the chorus of an old song, of which the first verse used to be sung to us as children. The verse runs as follows...

AN OLD CHILDREN'S SONG.

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fro ERE &mots or THE " teeecveroa."1 SIR,— Referring to the words of an old children's song and the refrain which comes-at the end of each verse as quoted by your correspondent....

THE IRISH NEGOTIATIONS.

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(To THE EDITOR OP THE " SPECTATOR."] Srn,—The following quotation from Burke's speech on con- ciliation with America seems appropriate to the present negotiations between the...

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POETRY.

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JUNE FLIGHT. THERE is no swifter thing in light Than the twin birds' flight. When with such airy grace They cleave th' ethereal space, Sudden as meteors dropping thro' the...

HOUSE MARTINS.

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[To THE EDITOR OP THE " SPECTATOR.") SIR,—The following may interest lovers of bird life. Some months ago, under the eaves of a mountain farmhouse in Carmarthenshire, six pairs...

NECESSITOUS LADIES' HOLIDAY AND GENERAL FUND. [To THE EDITOR OP

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THE " SPECTATOR.") SIR,—In your kindness you have allowed me to appeal for years past for contributions towards the Necessitous Ladies' Holiday and General Fund, and I venture...

MUSIC.

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THE PROMENADES. MR. G. K. CIIRSTERTON says somewhere that the most exciting passage Defoe ever wrote was the list of things recovered from the wreck in Robinson Cruage,...

A FAMILY OF NUTHATCHES.

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[To THE EDITOR or THE " SPECTATOR.") do not know whether the following account of a family of nuthatches may be of interest to bird-loving readers of your paper. On a large pine...

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

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

The Editor cannot accept responsibility for any article, poems, or

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letters submitted to him, but when stamped and addressed envelopes are sent he will do his best to return contributions in owe of rejection. Poems should be addressed to the...

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BOOKS.

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ASTARTE.* LORD Lovment, in our opinion, did right in putting on record the facts about the Byron separation in his original Astark • deatts. By Ralph Bart of LoVelaaa. :...

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THE SALVAGING OF CIVILIZATION.*

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Timm is a famous type of very clever man with whom ordinary people can never be on real terms of understanding because this very clever man, though his writing is brilliant, his...

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CICERO.*

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WE seem to be always recording American contributions to scholarship and belles-lettres. Only a few months ago we deal t with a fascinating study of Dryden turned out, if we...

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1.lit LIFE OF CHRLST.•

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THIS book would have been more effective if it had been pub- lished in its original sermon shape. The writer tells us that, as we should have gathered, it " has been preached...

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SIX PAPERS BY LORD LISTER,*

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Sot RICKMAN GODLEE, whose Life of Lord Lister was highly praised in the Spectator, has in this little book of barely two hundred pages made an excellent selection from the great...

FICTION.

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travellers in life's pilgrimage, not voyagers in any physical sense. We make most of their acquaintances when they are in the Doubting Castle of the years 1919 and 1920: • Six...

The Wolves of God, and other Fey Stories. By Algernon

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Blackwood and Wilfred Wilson. (Cassell. 8s. 6d. net.)—It would be easy to quarrel with Mr. Blackwood and Mr. Wilson for having forestalled us in the use of the word " fey." It...

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Ouse's Silent Tide. By the Rev. C. F. Farrar. (Bedford

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: The Sidney Press. 15s. net.)—This is a capital book, pleasantly written and well illustrated, about the River Ouse, which rises in Western Bucks, close to the Oxfordshire...

We have received the first number of the Labour Monthly

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(Labour Publishing Company, Is.), which is produced in a handsome style for the purpose of " reporting and explaining to British workers the developments of the Labour movement...

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George Calderon. By Percy Lubbock. (Grant Richards. 14s. net.)—George Calderon

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is fortunate in his memorialist. Or rather, we are fortunate in being allowed to gaze upon such a monument, for he to whom it has been erected has " outsoared the shadow of our...

Rupert Brooke and Skyros. By Stanley Casson. With woodcut illustrations

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by Phyllis Gardner. (Elkin Mathews. 6s. net.)—This account of the island of Skyros, where Rupert Brooke is buried, first appeared in the La/Jon Mercury. The lightness of touch,...

The Sonnets of Milton, with Introduction and Notes. By John

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S. Smart, MA., D.Litt. (Glasgow : Maclehose, Jackson, and Co. 7s. 6d. net.)—Mr. Smart will have the gratitude of every student of Milton for this edition of the sonnets. He has...

BOOKS WORTHY OF ATTENTION.

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TER following books just published, but not already reviewed, are worthy of the attention of our readers :— Tahiti. By Tihoti (George Calderon). (Grant Richards. 25s....

Picturesque Godalming (Godalming Chamber of Trade, 6d. net) is an

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attractive little guide-book to the town and its neighbourhood. It is well illustrated with reproductions of pictures by Mr. Burnand and with photographs, and corAtfina two...

PRINCIPAL NEW AND FORTHCOMING PUBLICATIONS.

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Aggs (G. H.), Chitty's Statutes of Practical Utility, Vol. XX., Pt. IL, 1920, roy 8vo (Sweet & Maxwell) net 21/0 Bowley (A. L.), Prices and Wages in the United Kingdom,...

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SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.

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[Nolise Ng this column doss sot nocessorily pmcluds submgse 1 resins.) THE Avousu MAesznres.—The Nineteenth Century opens with a lively article by Captain Walter Elliot on " The...

By A. J. Young. (Same publisher. 2s.)—Two pleasant, mild books

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of veme.—Poems. By Marianne Moore. (The Egoist Press. 2s. 6d.)—It is possible that if Miss Moore were to write poems they might be good ones. She has a clever and properly...

POETS AND POETRY.

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SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERN POETRY.—I. IN reviewing Mr. Squire's anthology of the work of modern poets we remarked how difficult it was to say what were...