NEWS OF THE WEEK.
RE has been a lull of a week in English politics, Mem- bers of Parliament having allowed themselves for a few days to keep silence even from good words. It is a short respite, speedily to be broken ; but even a week of reflection may benefit the talkers, and in any case, a week without them is a relief to humanity. The only person of mark, except the Duke of Rutland, who has broken silence is Mr. Michael Davitt, with a complaint that the Gladstonians are half- hearted because they do not denounce landowners furiously enough. No news, either, has arrived from the Continent, where the makers of bulletins are entirely occupied with two subjects,—the movements of Royal personages, especially those of the Emperor of Germany, whose personal activity is phenomenal ; and military manoeuvres. In Russia, Germany, Austria, and Italy, the Sovereigns are reviewing collections of troops as large as great armies used to be, trying new weapons, and sanctioning the introduction of new modes of drill intended to make soldiers less of machines. Perhaps they will some day cease altogether to be machines ; and then what will happen ? To those who remember 1851, and the hopes then entertained of the furling of the battle-flags, it is not an encouraging spectacle ; but it seems to attract a great audience, as also does any gorgeous ceremonial, like the wedding of Prince Amadeo of Italy. His marriage to his niece Letitia, daughter of Prince Jerome Bonaparte, is an event of no im- portance, but every incident of the display, and the name of every Royal and semi-Royal guest, with a description of the ladies' dresses, was telegraphed to London. As politics grow more grey in predominant tint, the public appetite for vulgar and " glarious " colour seems to increase.
