THE INSURANCE ACT. [TO THo EDITOR 01 THE "SPECTATOR."] SiR,-In your article called " Unionist Policy " of Saturday, March 1st, you speak of the working man paying fourpence a...

CIVIL SERVANTS IN INDIA [TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOLR] SiR,-A correspondent writing in the Spectator for December 14th, 1912, says: " The best of our civil servants there...

THE EUROPEAN SITUATION. [To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR.'] SiR,-It is quite meaningless to speak of majorities or the view of the majority in Germany where such a thing simply...

OMEN-MONGERING EXTRAORDINARY. [To THE EDITOR OF THEC " SrECTATOR."] SiR,-It is too tempting for me not to draw your attention to the latest ominous occurrence, which will no...

THE CAMBRIDGE SPIRIT. FTO TEVR EDITOR O TIL "SPECTATOt.'1 SIR,-The vaunting challenge of the Cambridge cockerel in "Cambridge fromn Within " has received no reply. That is as...

As we write the threatened national railway strike over the dispute in regard to the dismissal of the guard Richardson on the Midland railway remains undecided. We have dealt...

I The House of Commons reassembled on Thursday to finish up the Session by receiving certain Bills back from the Lords. The Scottish Temperance Bill was lost, as the Government...

Last Saturday at Allababad the verdict was given in the notorious trial of Lieutenant Clark, of the Indian Medical Service, and Mrs. Fulham, who were charged with the murder of...

The London County Council elections which took place on I Thursday have, we are glad to say, resulted in a great victory for the Municipal Reformers. They have obtained a net...

Monday's papers contained an interesting memorandum, I issued by the Board of Trade, summarizing the results of an investigation into the rise of the cost of living and...

We are delighted to hear that the Free Church Congress is I giving a strong lead to the country upon the question of Portuguese slavery. At Newcastle next week Mr. William...

I We can hardly believe that the Company will refuse to agree to the demand in regard to written instructions, for it seems to us thoroughly reasonable and eminently calculated...

IENPLY - THE THIRD.,* [ M1 Noaa^qm has given us several interesting booksa which deal with the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Her England Under the 4ngetin Zings enables us...

A GREAT PRESBYTERIAN.* AT this moment, when the Scottish Churches are at last in sight of union, Mr. Gordoi's Life-of one of the chief apostles of Presbyterian unity is of...

UNIVERSITY DEGREES AND MILITARY SERVICE. , [To So EDITOR OP THU " SPECrATOR."] Six/,-At the meeting held in Cambridge last Saturday, with a view to making military training one...

" FIRST CONVICTION FROM BLOODHOUND EVIDENCE." [TO To EDITOR OF THE "SF'CTATOR."I SiR,-Major Richardson is no doubt right in saying that his hounds brought about the first...

WAPPING IN THE WOSE. [TO THE EDITOR 0O THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR,-The Elizabethan navigators, Frobisher, Willoughby, and others, well deserve some memorial to be set up in their...

HOW TO HIT AN AIRSHIP. [To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] SiR,-Getting at an airship in action will be as hard as getting at a bird in full flight. In the latter case a...

FIERCE JUMPING HEDGEHOGS. [T TEo B EDITOR Or THE "SPECTATOR."] SiR,-While staying by the sea in North Northumberland in early summer one year, we had for us a new experience...

[TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SrECTATOR.'] SIR,-I am not a scientific naturalist, but I have noticed the difference between the note of the true cuckoo and the boy's imitation. The...

" WINTER CUCKOOS." rTo THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOU.'1 SiR,-In an article on "Winter Cuckoos " in the Spectator of March 1st my inquiries relating to the Harpenden cuckoo are...

GOLD-MINING IN RUSSIA. rTO THE EDITOR OF TUE "SPECTATO 1 ] SIR,-I read, with very great horror, an article by Mr. Stephen I 1 Graham in your issue of January 25th, in which he...

THE GODLESS GOOD. [TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPpECTATOR.-] SIR,-In view of the correspondence on this subject I should like to draw the attention of your readers to the very...

CYPRUS. [To THE EDITOR OF TUE " SPECTATOR."] SIR,-At the present time the British people and the British Government are probably of one mind in desiring that the Greek-speaking...

THE LATE DR. THOMAS HODGKIN. [To TEn EDITOR OF TUE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,-It was with profound regret that 1, in common with many of your readers, saw in Monday's papers the...

The accounts of what happened before the surrender of the city are at present somewhat meagre, but the Crown Prince appears to have concentrated very heavy artillery fire upon...

The question of the boundaries of the new Albania bas been I somewwhat complicated by the fact that the fortress of Janina fell this week into the bands of the Greeks. The...

The Berlin correspondent of the Times says that the Emperor decided in January that this great increase of expenditure was necessary and that the departments have been working...

I Germany has been resounding during the week with discussions of the surprising proposals for new expenditure on the army. The German scheme foreshadows the raising of a "...

NEWS OF THE WVEEK. TN a despatch from Vienna published in Friday's Daily .LTelegraph Dr. Dillon describes Europe as "limping I along towards peace on crutches." He adds that...

It is difficult to follow the exact course of the peace I negotiations, but as far as we can understand the Turks have placed themselves in the hands of the Powers, and will be...

Speaking generally. it is all a question of frontiers. and as I we point out in our leading article, we have Shakespeare's warrant that men will "I go to their graves like beds...

THE NEW GUINEA EXPEDITION.* Now that the world is growing too well known and horizons are shrinking, the New Guinea snow mountains remain one of the chief lures left to the...

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. THE ROYALIST PRISONERS IN PORTUGA-L [To THE EDITOR OF TE "SPrECTATOL"J Sin,-At about the same time as an important letter on this subject appeared in...

POETRY. ASH-TREE AND HAZEL. "PRAY that your flight be not in wintry weather." So has He warned us, tender for all other; Yet it was winter when they fled together, He and His...

" VERIFY YOUR REFERENCES." [TO TEH EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOB "j SIB,-One of your correspondents writes in the issue of March 1st: "Believers . . . rejoice with St. Paul that...

A MEMORIAL TO GEORGE GISSING. [To ToHE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,-It has been thought by some among the large and increasing number of those who honour George Gissing and...

BOO KS. FOUR STAGES OF GREEK RELIGION.* - GREEK religion, Professor Murray observes in his preface, used-save for mythology-to be " a deserted territory; now it is at least a...

MORE DOG STORIES. [To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR.-] SIB,-I can vouch for the truth of the following stories of a young fox-terrier. 'Billy,' who is a Devonshire dog, has a...

AN IMPERIAL COVENT GARDES. I LE last meeting of the outgoing London County Council, i held on Tuesday, was signalized by a decision which may be the beginning of a very wide...

THE BUMP OF DESTRUCTION. PHRENOLOGY is out of date. It is no longer seriously P discussed even in the drawing-room. We should regard it as ridiculous nowadays to feel the heads...

THE FOREIGN OFFICE AND PORTUGUESE SLAVERY. IF seven or eight years ago the present writer had been told by a political prophet that he would live to see an apology, or rather a...

THE MAGAZINES. NATIONAL DEFENCE is treated at some length in the Nineteenth Century, which devotes three articles to the subject. In the first of these Major-General H. B....

]Adow of 'Shaws. By Theo Douglas. (Methuen and Co. 6s.) -This is a pleasant little story of the very end of the eighteenth century, and is chiefly concerned with the device...

The Violet Crown. By Sir Rennell Rodd. (Edward Arnold 3s. 6d. net.)-It is now twenty years since Sir Rennell todd first published this collection of poems and showed that he...

The Beacon Watches. By Violet A. Simpson. (Chapman and Hall. 6s.)-A little disappointment awaits those readers who delight in Miss Violet Simpson's historical romances. The...

SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK. [Under this heading wce notice suoh Books of the w.eek as have not bey reerved for revcicw is other forms.] The Round Table: March 1913. (Macmillan...

READABLE NoVELS.-The Finger of Mr. BMee. By Peter Blundell. (J. Lane. 6s.)-A novel which is concerned with the Malay States under British rule. The hero is an Eurasian, and...

A SOLDIER OF FORTUNE.* COLONEL LONG has a grievance, a theory, and several prejudices, all of which have survived a life full of exploit and adventure without any diminution of...

In Praise of Winchester: an Anthology in Prose and Verse. Compiled by A. Audrey Locke. (Constable and Co. 5s. net.)-| The quantity of material at Miss Locke's disposal for...

The Russian Ballet. By Ellen Terry. With Drawings by - Pamela Colman Smith. (Sidgwick and Jackson. 3s. 6d. net.)-| Readers of Miss Ellen Terry's autobiography discovered some...

BOOKS OF REFERENCE.-ThC Clergy List, 1913. (Kelly's I Directories. 12s 6d.)-The seventy-first issue of this wellknown directory has just .been published. It requires no new...

I On Tuesday the Home Office issued Orders for putting into effect the Aerial Navigation Act. Any person navigating an aircraft in contravention of the Orders is liable to...

I An important circular was issued by the Admiralty on Wednesday night explaining the new scheme adopted to meet the shortage of officers caused by the increase of keels, the...

The Paris correspondent of the Times sent to Monday's issue a most interesting analysis of the present temper of. France under the Presidency of M. Poincar6. M. Poincar4 is...

On Wednesday Dr. Wilson announced the composition of I his Cabinet. Much the most interesting appointment is that of Mr. Bryan, well known as a former Democratic candidate on...

The circular opens with the observation that " in adiusting2 the supply of naval officers to the requirements of the fleet the fundamental condition is that, while it takes...

On Tuesday Dr. Woodrow Wilson, the new President of i the United States, delivered his Inaugural Address. The unbeautiful word "inaugural" has beautiful and noble associations...

The address was highly eloquent, but dealt only with I broad principles, and was much shorter than the addresses of recent years. The success of the Democrats, said Dr. Wilson,...

DIVINITY DEGREES AND THEOLOGICAL STUDIES AT OXFORD. [TO TiEz EDITOR 0 THE "SPECTATOR."] Sin.,-I am requested by a committee here, acting under the chairmanship of the President...

THEOLOGICAL TESTS AT OXFORD. [To THE EDITOR 01 THB "SPECTAIOR."] SIR,-Will you allow me, as one who has taken the Honour School of Theology at Oxford, to protest as strongly as...

THE ROYAL CRUISING CLUB JOURNAL.* ONE is told sometimes that there is a decline in the pastime of yachting-that yachting is "not what it used to be." In certain senses it would...

THE RAILWAYS AND THE NATION. THE railway strike now threatened is one of the most T puzzling of the recent manifestations of labour unrest. It is puzzling not only because the...

F I C TI O N. TRENT'S LAST CASE.* MR. BENTLEY, whose name is unfamiliar to us in connexion with fiction though there is nothing of the novice in his style of writing, is to be...

THE FUTURE OF ALBANIA. T HE demeanour of the Albanian representatives who T are met in conference at Trieste should be enough in itself, one would think, to forewarn any...

SIR NATHAN BODINGTON.* THE rise of the new Universities will be the subject of one of the most interesting chapters of a social history, some day to be written, of England and...

DR. WOODROW WILSON AND POLITICAL COURAGE. A NEW and deeply interesting epoch opens in the ljnited A States with the Presidency of Dr. Woodrow Wilson. For more than twenty years...

TOPICS OF THE DAY. I FRANCE AND NAVAL POWER. rulHOIJGIE very little has been said about it in the J newspapers, there can be no doubt that there is at the present moment a...

THE NEW WHITE BOOK AND PORTUGUESE SLAVERY. [To HE EDITOR OF THE SPECTATOR."] SIR,-I anticipate the Spectator will be dealing this week with the White Book just published upon...