Baron Suyematsu to Sir John Macdonell's gentle hint that in

the preliminaries of war the offences against international etiquette may not have been wholly on the side of Russia. He maintains that Japan, so far from attacking Russia with- out warning, showed exemplary patience, and gave her enemy the fullest notice of her intentions in the event of a satis- factory answer being refused. Further, the Russians had long been preparing for war. " At the moment when Admiral Togo actually made his attack the Russian ships lay outside the harbour in a perfect battle array The Russian ships had lain under a full head of steam for days off the Port Arthur entrance, had been continually using their searchlights as though they apprehended an attack, the battle- ships had their decks cleared for action, and the instant that the first torpedo was launched the Russians opened fire on the Japanese boats." The secret of Russia's unpreparedness must be sought in her foolish contempt for her opponents as " monkeys with the brain of birds."—In an interesting study of "The Liberal Press and the Liberal Party" Mr. W. J. Fisher comes to the conclusion that his party has of late years been poorly served by its Press. While doing full justice to the merits of papers like the Westminster Gazette and the Manchester Guardian, he considers that as a whole the Liberal Press has been too sectional in its interests and too intemperate in its tone fairly to represent the party, and that this particularism has reacted upon its readers and tended to weaken party loyalty. The decline of Liberalism in the provincial Press, he holds, is largely owing to the refusal to leave old stereotyped traditions of journalism. In order to recover their authority Liberal papers must refrain from " ridiculous bickering over non-essentials," and " serve as something more than a subsidised vehicle for the dissemination of particular and peculiar views." Mr. Fisher seems, however, to make one slip, for it is news to us that the Glasgow Herald is, or

ever has been, a Liberal paper.—In "The Pope and Church Music" Mr. Richard Bagot replies to Mr. Taunton's attack

upon him last month. In his main contention, that it is a pity for the head of the Church to limit church music to certain forms, since the appreciation of music must necessarily vary with the nature of the worshippers, we think he makes out a very good case. He does not attack the Papal motu proprio on aesthetic grounds—on this side there may be much to be said for it—but on the ground that the aids to devotion should stand upon as broad a basis as human nature itself.

With Mr. Bagot's personal vindication of his position it is scarcely for us to deal.—Among other articles, we may notice Lord Graham's " British Shipping and Fiscal Reform," which is an attempt to make out a case for Fiscal Reform by arguments drawn from the shipping industry. His most effective points are quotations from Alexander Hamilton, which to our mind have small application to the present con- troversy.—It would not become us to say anything of Mr.

St. Loe Strachey's paper on " The Unionist Free Traders," but we may quote his final summary of their policy :— " We are both Unionists and Free Traders, and mean that both the Union and Free Trade shall prevail. But with us Free Trade is no mere counsel of perfection, no academic opinion. We mean to make our Free Trade views effective by voting and working for Free Traders irrespective of party wherever they are opposed by Protectionists. That is our immediate object. Our ultimate object is equally clear and equally dictated by our determination to maintain Free Trade. We realise that unless Free Trade is held by both parties in the State to be, like the Monarchy, beyond political dispute, Free Trade cannot be absolutely safe. Therefore we mean to remain Unionists and to use every endeavour to reunite and reconstruct the Unionist party on a Free Trade basis. This, we believe, we shall be able to accomplish after Mr. Cham- berlain has led the Unionist party to the ruin which, unhappily, is inevitable at the next General Election. The position of the Unionisli party resembles one of those surgical cases in which a bone which has been broken and badly set has to be broken again before it can be properly rejoined and healed. To adopt another metaphor, only after it has been purged in the fires of a General Election can the Unionist party be reunited. The more complete is that process of purgation by fire the stronger will the reunited party prove. Therefore the Unionist Free Traders can adopt no half-measures and no timorous courses, but both in the interests of Free Trade and of their party must strike with all their might against the evils of Protection.'

The National Review is making a manful effort to ,revive the old methods of eighteenth-century political controversy.

In the current number there is an article entitled " Shall Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman become British Foreign Minister ? " which in declamatory vigour recalls the days of Wilkes and "Junius." "At once flabby and obstinate, senti- mental in instinct and stereotyped in idea, untouched by imagination, inveterate in commonplace, incapable of strong and trenchant action yet incredibly tenacious of weak and petty courses,"—this is, we humbly submit, pretty good for these degenerate times. " Molluscous " is perhaps the most moderate of " Compatriot's " terms of abuse. We are far from denying that there is some truth in the protest, and the con- tingency is certainly not one that we should care to face; but the whole argument is vitiated by the tag of uncompromising Chamberlainism at the end, and by the rancour of tone throughout. The author is less a patriot than a partisan, and bad temper and bad manners never yet did lasting good to a cause.—Much the most interesting contribution is the paper on "The Policy of France in Morocco" by M. Etienne, the President of the Colonial Group in the French Chamber of Deputies. M. Etienne is the best type of Imperialist, and has always shown a very correct appreciation of the true interests of his country, both in her own colonial development and her relations with other Powers. He praises England for loyally attempting to carry out her part of the bargain in Morocco, and warning her former friends, as Lord Cromer did in the case of El-Menehbi, that they must look to France in future for support and advice. He maintains that there is no reason for friction with Spain, since the French policy, "the maintenance of the status quo, ameliorated by progressive and prudent reforms," is precisely the formula extolled by the President of the Spanish Senate. At the same time, he is convinced that France must take the responsibility single-handed, " since any partition of power with other nations would merely substitute a new anarchy for the anarchy which is already the very essence of Moorish government." He very wisely argues that France must not treat with the rebels, but must work through the Sultan, the power in possession, since the existing Government is the only effective authority through which reform can be attained. The most urgent needs of the country, he thinks, are an efficient police force at the ports to ensure the safety of Europeans ; a control of the finances similar to our Egyptian system ; the building of railways and other public works ; and the organisation of education. The whole problem has a close analogy to our work in Egypt, and if the French experiment proceeds on the sane lines laid down by M. Etienne, Morocco may furnish as signal an instance as Egypt of the capacity of the Oriental for development under the guidance of the West.—Among other papers in a very interesting number, we may mention Lord Lytton's appreciative review of Sir Horace Plunkett's work, Lord William Cecil's " Plea for the Tramp," and Dr. Miller Maguire's slashing attack upon the education of our Army. With much of Dr. Maguire's criticism we agree, though there is considerable overstatement on certain points. No doubt the cult of games has been pushed to a length which threatens our national efficiency. " The toils of our soldiers in the tremendous defiles of Thibet are forgotten in admiration for the paltry performances of childish cricketers, and the fateful drama which is being enacted by the banks of the Yalu palls in interest before the question of the triumph of a French or English racehorse."

The Contemporary Review opens with an unsigned article on " The Next Government " which may be taken as a Liberal League confession of faith. Though the writer dis- claims the right to speak for any besides himself, preliminary announcements in the newspapers have prepared us to believe that the article is inspired from an authoritative source. It is an eminently sound and rational piece of composition, but whether it will commend itself to the wilder bloods of the Opposition is a more doubtful matter. We would especially approve its views on the future of South Africa, and on the need for a true constructive Imperialism to defeat the false. It is a pity, however, that the writer should have indulged, even moderately, in Cabinet forecasts and mentioned names, for such a course inevitably raises a discussion, not on principles, but on personalities.—The bulk of the other articles deal with questions of foreign policy, and are sufficiently varied in character to present most possible points of view. The writer who calls himself " Ivanovich " con- tributes a somewhat confused dissertation on " The Russo- Japanese War and the Yellow Peril." It is difficult to make out what he seeks to prove, but he provides inter alia an in- teresting account of the peasant of Western Siberia, and a narrative of Besobrasoff's timber concession on the Yalu,

which was undoubtedly one of the proximate causes of the war.—Captain Crouch, a Member of the Commonwealth Parliament of Australia, gives the reason for the Australian dread of a Mongol invasion. Australia, he thinks, furnishes the natural outlet for the surplus population of China and Japan, and her exclusiveness is simply the instinct of self- preservation.— The writer of the paper " England in Leading-Strings" complains that England is not showing perfect loyalty to her alliance with Japan, but is coquetting with both Russia and Germany in the vain hope of alliances —Finally, Dr. E. J. Dillon writes an elaborate survey of the whole foreign situation, and reaches the conclusion that both the Dual and Triple Alliances are dead, and that the Great Powers must set about a fresh " stocktaking."

The Fortnightly Review contains a poem by Mr. Thomas Hardy called " Time's Laughingstocks." A man, remember-

ing his old love of many years back, goes out of the little town at night and finds his way on to the downs. There he meets this old love at the " dateless " Sarsen stone, but sunrise brings the knowledge that she has grown old. The woman, divining the man's thought, leaves him, Mr. Hardy thus achieving his conventional unhappy ending. The poem con- tains some fine imagery of the downs, and the final portion is dramatic. At the same time, Mr. Hardy does not seem to handle his medium with certainty.—" A Child's Diary," we are told in an editorial note, is an authentic docu- ment, in which the names only have been changed. The little girl of eleven years old who wrote these pages seems to have been a nervous child with a strong musical tendency, and her observations are independent and original. The following is the entry on October 1st, 1893 :— " In the afternoon I read aloud to her `Mon frere Yves,' by Pierre Loti, and played her the 'Bee Song' of Mendelssohn, which I know by heart now. Pierre Loti's books are sodden rot, only mother says I mustn't use all Guy's words." The writer's pet bird dies, and a schoolboy comes home from Winchester and writes its epitaph : —" Hic jacet Bobbins ; mortuus edendi. 0 si sic omnis.' He won't translate it to me, but he says it will jolt Edie up like anything if she sees

it. I don't think I ought to have told him about Edie eating sweets." — Mr. R. A. Johnson's article on " The Auxiliary

Forces and the Committee of Three " is a most convincing and ably written paper. The writer shows clearly the evils which must follow from the persistence in the policy of putting the whole of the Auxiliary Forces under the Adjutant- General, together with the exaction of impossible sacrifices from the Volunteers. Mr. Johnson attributes a great many of the unsatisfactory features of the situation to the hankering after conscription by the military experts. While they are longing for compulsion they will not give their energies to working the present system properly. Mr. Johnson frankly points out many deficiencies in the Volunteers, but truly says that if we are to have compulsion, we might at any rate begin by putting the screw on employers of labour and owners of land. In this last respect the Crown might set a good example, and not, as it did last year, refuse facilities of movement in the New Forest to Volunteers training them- selves for war which are granted to those who hunt for amusement. On the double impediment placed upon the Volunteers Mr. Johnson says :-

"While, then, some of the acknowledged defects are surely traceable to a want of public spirit—or, at least, of imagination— in the rich and privileged classes of the community, it is no exaggeration to say that the most serious of them lie at the door of a central administration which either will not or cannot organise for war, and are due also to professionalism amongst Regular soldiers, which, while finally hoping for compulsory service, not merely does not care, but rather does not wish to make Volunteering in the Auxiliary Forces possible, and so deliberately puts the telescope to the blind eye."

" Musings Without Method " in Blackwood provide us with a wonderful example of antediluvian Toryism. The subject is physical degeneracy and education. First we are given a gloomy picture of the Englishman of to-day which is, un- happily, in many ways true. Then comes a lament for the good old times in which, " before trade and education both were free, men were content to live in the country and work

in the fields. Wages were low, no doubt, and the days monotonous ; but it was a monotony of well-being, not of anxiety " ; and so on. Btit was this the case ? Do we not

remember the grim description of the country worker's life in Kingsley's Yeast, or the far grimmer statements of that " in- quiry into the condition of women and children employed in agriculture" during the halcyon days of the Corn-laws. Education has many charges laid to its door ; and newspapers, we are told, " inculcate in the foolish a habit of reading which of itself is little better than a habit of gin-drinking." It is, indeed, with surprise that we find the writer in a further section of the " Musings " objecting to the character of Paul Kruger. It would seem that the President of the late South African Republic was brought up under the very conditions that the writer extols. Early work in the fields and practically no education should, according to the views of the writer of " Musings Without Method," have produced a better result

"A Memory and a Study of the Indian Mutiny," by Major- General W. Tweedie, is one of those documents of history which have so often made the pages of this magazine of deep interest. The writer of this study was present at Benares when an outbreak was quelled by Olpherts's guns. The descrip- tions of the scenes of confusion and of the catastrophe are powerful as well as clear. As so often happened, the 'commander was useless, but when the order to the native troops to disarm had produced open revolt, "in the midst of it all was heard the voice of Olpherts calling out: Three cheers for General Neill,' the explanation being that Ponsonby had collapsed both in mind and body and the command had passed to Neill." General Tweedie tells a curious story of Scindhia visiting Calcutta before the Mutiny, and sending his Prime Minister to see a well-informed missionary with whom General Tweedie was staying :—

" What passed did not transpire. But twenty years later, when the same Scindhik still held sway in Gwalior, it fell to my lot to be appointed Political Agent at his capital, and one day, in a moment of confidence, his Highness introduced the subject of his visit to Calcutta in the Mutiny year. The rumour, he said, was at the time running like wildfire over his territory that Queen Victoria had issued an order for tricking her Indian soldiers out of their caste and their religion."

Scindhil came and made inquiries, and returned satisfied of the absurdity of the rumour.

The Monthly Review contains an article by Mr. W. C.

Jameson Reid on a journey in Tibet of great interest. The writer travelled up the Yangtsze River and reached the eastern borders of Tibet. The journey was largely by river through the wildest scenery. With one exception, the inhabitants seem to have been friendly ; but the writer gives a very poor account of their civilisation. Their clothes, we are told, are made of leather, last for years, are never changed, and water

touches them only by accident. Gluttony seems to be the ruling passion of these people. Mr. Reid says : " I never in

a single instance noticed temperance or frugality, except from necessity, for in their nature they are gluttons, and will eat at any and all times till they are gorged of whatever they can get, and then lie down and sleep like brutes." The villages are few and miserable, for the people are mostly nomads. Of social institutions we hear little ; indeed, the only remarkable quality they possess seems to be their power of keeping in- truders out of their country. In marriage and religious customs these Tibetans seem to be very low down in the social scale. The whole article is well worth reading, and gives a striking picture of a desolate and savage region.—" The New Japan" is the title of a short paper by Count Okuma, the founder of one of the great Japanese political parties, which is translated into excellent English by Count Soyeshima. Absolute confidence in the national destiny runs through the writing, as the following quotation shows :—

" Our national character had always within itself the germs of liberalism, and was therefore never governed by a set of narrow national ideals, condemning the customs, laws, religion, and literature of other nations, which, if they were good, we soon adopted and assimilated with our own."

After such sentiments the writer thinks it necessary to explain the reason for the expulsion of the Portuguese missionaries and the massacre of all the native Christians.

The explanation given is that although the object of St. Francis Xavier was to preach the Gospel, those who followed him wished to absorb the country. Count Okuma boasts of the proud history of his land which has never known defeat, tells us of the conquests of the Emperor Jingo, whose name means " Divine Success," and concludes in the following strain :-

" Not even towards the Russians shall we cease to possess the feeling of amity, which comes from confidence in our own strength, and from the fact that through 2,500 years of our history we have never known a defeat ; and as in the past so in the future, it will be our sole guide in our efforts to attain a high stage of Western civilisation."

In the Independent Review Sefior Tarrida Del Marmol gives a curious account of the developments of Spanish Socialism.

Perhaps Anarchism would describe the movement more truly, though, according to the writer, the Spanish Socialists disapprove of outrages. Those that have occurred are attributed by the writer to the police, who afterwards tor- ture innocent people to make them confess crimes they had not committed. The following is the account given of a recent event :-

"Lieutenant Morales, of the Gendarmerie of Barcelona, is now under arrest for having, a few weeks ago, supplied money and the necessary articles for the manufacture of six bombs, which he afterwards reported having discovered. He was asking special licence for the repression of Anarchism, based on that supposed discovery, when a Press reporter found out the whole plot and published details."

Another peculiarity of this organisation of Spanish Socialists is their determination to keep clear of all political sections, even of Socialists who become Parliamentary candidates. One of the party's activities, we are told, is the promotion of education. Large numbers of schools have been set up to meet the great demand of the peasantry and working population of the towns.—" An Old Unionist" prophesies that Scotland is about to return to nearly the pre-Home-rule state of things. " It will be surprising if the Scottish followers of Mr. Balfour and Mr. Chamberlain in the next Parliament, all told—and duly differentiated—number more than 20; it will not be at all surprising if they fall below 15." The writer thinks that many of the Liberal Unionists in Scotland, though persuaded of the impossibility of the old Home-rule, consider that Scotch affairs in Parliament are neglected. These people are likely to take into consideration ideas of devolution of Parliamentary work now that they have been separated from the Unionist party by Mr. Chamberlain.

Again, a certain number of Unionists have gradually become Tory, but many of these, thanks to Lord Balfour of Burleigh

and Sir John Stirling Maxwell, have been detached from their support of Mr. Balfour.—Mr. Lionel Strachey writes a thoughtful article on " Shakespeare's Last Mood." The con- tention of the paper is that the critics who talk of the peace, serenity, and reconciliation of the last plays have overlooked such portions of the dramas as the violent denunciations of Paulina, the brutal cursings of Caliban, and the fiendish wickedness of Iachimo. There is no doubt a certain truth in this ; but it is to the general effect we must look. The storm in The Tempest clears in quite a different way from that in King Lear.