THE MAGAZINES.

Ecoaroarrear, problems dominate a solid number of the Nineteenth Century. Mr. Edmund Robertson discusses the Atlantic Shipping " Combine " with special reference to the anomalies of registry. He finds no consolation—but Mr. Robertson is never consoling—in what he calls the "technical survival" of the flag. His main conclusion is that " the power given by the Merchant Shipping Act to all cor- porations under British law to own British shipping, no matter who may be the constituent members of such corpora- tions, is in contradiction to the general principle of the Act., and ought to be restricted." As regards subsidies, he is strongly of opinion that they should be conditional on bond- fide British control,—a condition which has ceased to be fulfilled in the case of the White Star Line.—Much the same con- clusion is arrived at by Mr. Hugh Childers in his historical survey of the Navigation Laws. The epoch-making ordi- nances of the Commonwealth, as he shows, were foreshadowed in the petition of the Commons rejected in 1439, and these survived in their essentials until 1849 :— " Nothing now remains of the Navigation Laws," Mr. Childers continues, " except the necessity for registration and the qualifica- tion for ownership, and the latter should be preserved in the spirit as well as the letter In general our modern policy has been not to interfere with ownership on the ground of nationality. But the position of a ship is exceptional; a ship carrying the British flag in neutral or foreign waters may bring about complications for which the Empire as a whole would be answerable, and such ship may have been heavily subsidised by our Government, while entirely navigated by foreigners. Therefore we must keep the British ownership intact. It seems to me undesirable to revert to restrictive laws, but the flag of England ought not to be dis- honestly used, nor the primary provision of the modern Merchant Shipping Act furtively overridden."

—Mr. Sidney Webb supports the appeal for funds in en- dowment of London University in an eloquent article, in which he lays especial stress on the value of post-graduate courses as an equipment for the highest grades of brain- workers, and the special opportunities afforded by London as compared with other University towns. Incidentally he notes that with far smaller local populations, and exposed to the competition of a score of other Universities in their own countries, Paris and Berlin have each actually twelve thousand University students. At this rate "an equally effective London University might easily number twenty thousand." But to make London University equal to its great opportunity Mr. Webb asks not for one but five millions sterling, reminding us that it is only half what has been given by a single benefactor to a single University in the United States —Mr. Herbert Paul's paper on George Eliot, based ou Mr. Leslie Stephen's recent contribution to the " English Men of Letters " Series, makes excellent reading, and is marked by more geniality and enthusiasm than we usually associate with Mr. Paul's criti- cisms. The succession of staccato epigrams is occasionally fatiguing, but many things are so well said that we are glad to think that Mr. Paul is increasingly giving up to literature the talents that were, as we think, less profitably employed on party politics.

By far the most readable article in the Contemporary is Dir. F. E. Garrett's character sketch of Mr. Rhodes, a sketch richly illustrated by anecdotes and obiter dicta, and, while written in a spirit of genuine devotion to his friend, by no means ex- tenuating his faults. Such faults, Mr. Garrett remarks, were intelligible, perhaps, in a character "eager, masterful, and so possessed by a great purpose as to leave no time to be nice about means or squeamish about individual people's feelings." And we can cordially endorse what Mr. Garrett says in another place, by way of rebutting the charge that Mr. Rhodes was a soulless materialist :— "Of all Rhodes has left to South Africa—including his version of in carriOrs ouverte ens talens, and his consistent application of it in treatiim. individuals, Dutch or English, with perfect equality—he has treating nething better, in precept and example, than

his scorn of the `make-my-pile-and-quit' ideal, whether held by Rand artisan or Park Lane millionaire, and his lifelong upholding of the counter-ideal that private means imply a public trust, and no man may shirk civic duties. No lesson needed more teaching in South Africa: and it is bearing fruit."

—The sensation of the number is Prince Reaper Ukhtomski's wonderful rhapsody on "The Genius of China" and (let us add) China's good genius. To establish the inherent affinity between Russia and China Prince Ukhtomski lays immense stress on the fact that Russia is at heart Eastern :—" Every- thing beneath the surface and in the vitals of our people's life, is penetrated and deeply saturated with Oriental inspira- tions and beliefs." Russia alone by her splendid example, her mystical ideals, her " secret powers of emotional sympathy," is capable of regenerating the " politically decrepit but economi- cally youthful Celestial Empire." After a brief digression designed to point out the instability of England's hold on Hong-kong, and the purely materialistic and selfish motives that animate our relationship with theFar East, Prince Ukhtomski passes to a glowing panegyric of the Chinese themselves.

Apparently "petrified in an unintelligible stagnation," they have really been living a "rich inner life." The case of Japan affords presumptive evidence of similar progress on a far larger scale. For the rest, he eulogises their " marvellous religious toleration," their unrivalled reverence for learning, and even finds a good word to say for the Mandarins. By the side of Prince Ukhtomski's Sinophil rhapsodies the tribute of Sir Robert Hart is tame indeed. But " Western Europe has broken a terrible breach in the Great Wall of Chin; spiritually considered," and Russia alone can save China from falling entirely under a foreign yoke. How this is to be done the Prince refrains from indicating. But the true inward- ness of the article is revealed in the following significant sentences :—

" If the Europeans, and I refer especially to the English, firmly plant their power over the politically decrepit but economically youthful Celestial Empire, they can easily divert [sic] it into a second India, far more suited for exploitation, and with quite unlimited resources our chief problem in the `yellow' East is to guard against such possibilities, lest precious Russian blood should be spilt, and enormous sums should be spent in the struggle with on- coming disasters which we must always look forward to and prepare for."

The italics are the writer's.—By way of counterblast to Prince Ukhtomaki's picture of Russia as the regenerator and rescuer of China, the editor, with ironical impartiality,

prints a striking paper by M. Felix Volkhovsky on "The Russian Awakening." M. Volkhovsky describes in detail the recent outbreaks in Kharkov and other cities, and notes as the differentia of the present movement from its predecessors (1) the alliance of the students and the

factory workers ; (2) the progress of the revolutionary propa- ganda among the troops, even the Cossack officers showing a disinclination to take part in suppressing street riots ; (3) the awakening of the moujiks, with as its result (4) the decay of

the old childlike faith in the benevolence of "the little father, the White Czar." Russia under the Czar, according to Prince Uklitomski, is to heal and save China. "Physician, heal thyself," is the comment irresistibly suggested by IL

Volkhovsky's companion picture.—Quite the best of the non-alarmist articles that have yet appeared on the Atlantic Shipping " Combine " and other kindred operations is Mr. Walter Ford's paper on " The Limits of the American Invasion." The main object of the paper is to show the automatic checks which must eventually tend to restrict

" Morganeering." Mr. Ford's analysis of the statistics of the American export trade, and his remarks on " invisible im-

ports," are extremely interesting, while the whole article is written with a lucidity which places a number of complicated economic problems well within the comprehension of the lay reader.

" Calchas" writes in the Fortnightly with his usual vigour and epigrammatic cut-and-thrust. The subject is "The Ocean Trust and National Policy." The writer examines the argu- , merit advanced by the defenders of the Trust that the

American railways can starve English shipping because they control four-fifths of the freights. This fact, " Oalchas " points out, gives us great power if we determine upon counter- action, as America, will not wish to quarrel with her largest customer.—The American lady—Mrs. John Lane—who writes of the woes of "American Wives and Englisli House- keeping" seems to consider herself in a most pitiable condition. She bewails the awful expense of living in England, where comfort costs so much more than in Boston. She says that the great cheapness of London cabs acts as a snare, and that she spends so much on them because they are cheap. The coldness of English houses raises her wrath, and we are advised universally to adopt the "heater." If this engine of might produces the intolerably stuffy atmosphere of some London hotels frequented by Americans, the heavens defend us from it.—It is impossible to summarise Mr. Carl Snyder's article on "Dr. Loeb's Researches and Discoveries," for the paper is already a condensation of larger works. Dr. Loeb's theories of the origin and nature of life are extraordinarily interesting, and the account of his experiments wonderful. When, how- ever, this physiologist seeks to prove that life depends on electricity supplied by chemical action we are tempted to add, with Euclid, " which is absurd."

Sir Rowland Blennerhassett sends a very interesting paper to the National Review on the genesis and development of the Pan-Germanic idea. In its inception and as advocated by the Nationalverein half a century back—a society which aimed at

German unity under Prussian hegemony—it was void of racial antipathy. Now its dominant note is a fierce and un- compromising Anglophobia, of which the chief hierophant was Treitschke, now followed by Delbruck. The account of the extra- ordinary activity of the Pan-German propaganda in Switzer- land is especially interesting, and a special feature of the article is a map, showing the future frontiers of the German Empire, published under the auspices of the Pan-Germanic League, which was started in 1895, and now numbers nearly two hundred centres. — " Ignotus," under the title of "Another Graceful Concession,' " condemns the facilities extended to Prince Henry and his squadron to visit and explore our fortified naval bases as an enormous error. The comparison between Prince Henry's and our own Channel Squadron is instructive, but the tone of the article as a whole seems to us unduly alarmist. The writer concludes with an ingenious and entirely legitimate suggestion :— " German diplomatists, with their usual astuteness, are repre- senting the visit abroad as a counterblast to President Loubet's journey to St. Petersburg, and as a proof that they still have only to speak the word to obtain the British alliance. The day when such a thing was possible is for ever past. To remove all miscon- ceptions in Paris, and to indicate to the French that our quarrels with them are over, it might be well to invite the French Northern Squadron to pay our naval bases a visit. It is certain that at this moment Germany is at her old game of using the bugbear of an imaginary British menace to smooth her own relations with France and Russia and obtain from them fresh concessions, of which we shall ultimately have to pay the cost."

—In this context we may note an interesting remark made by Mr. Maurice Low in his usual monthly survey of

American affairs. It appears that the standard by which the American Navy is tested by American experts is never that of Great Britain, France, or Russia, but invariably that of Germany, for the " probable reason," as the Boston Herald pointed out recently, "that it is believed that the ships of

that nation, more than any other in Europe, are the ones with which it is possible our Navy may on some future occasion have to contend." Only a few weeks ago, when the Naval Estimates were adopted, the Chairman of the Naval Com- mittee pointed out, ship by ship, the relative strength of the American and German Navies, and gave as one reason for advocating an increase of construction that " unless the United States strengthened its Fleet, it would in the next five or six years be hopelessly outclassed by Germany."—A further instalment of Sir Horace Rumbold's genial and gossipy " Recollections of a Diplomatist" is remarkable for the highly eulogistic appreciation of Sir James Hudson, of whom Sir Horace declares that in a measure he shares with Cavour the glory of Italian redemption. The portraits of Charles Lever,

Lord Hertford, and a host of other notable and notorious per- sonages are brightly touched off, and Sir Horace Rumbold gives a vivid picture of the proclamation of the Second Empire.—No one should miss the editor's highly enter- taining account of the circumstances in which Lord Halsbury came into contact with a cheque for less than £2.

As usual, the instalment of " On the Heels of De Wet " in Blackwood is excellent. We cannot resist quoting an inci- dental kiassage about soldiers' clothe; Stop dressing a man

like a stage super and teaching him to act as one, and inevitably you will get the temper and quality that can only come from a freer life:-

" You who have only seen the British soldier at his worst, that is, when he is buttoned into a tunic little removed in design from a strait-waistcoat, or when the freedom of the man has been sub- ordinated to the lick-and-spittle polish of the dummy,—you who glory in tin-casing for your Horse Guards, and would hoot the Guardsman bold enough to affect a woollen muffier,—would have opened your eyes with amazement if you could have sat on the slopes of the Houwater drift with the staff of the New Cavalry Brigade and watched the arrival of the co-operating columns to their comm 2n camping-ground. First came two squadrons of Scarlet Lanlers, forming the nucleus of somebody's mobile column. No one would have accused them of being Lancers if they had met them suddenly on the veldt. Helmets they had none. How much time and money and thought has been spent over the service headgear for our men! We have seen it adapted for this climate ; altered to suit that ; a peak here, a bandage there. But Thomas is the best judge of the helmet in which ho prefers to campaign, and you may rest assured that ho will choose the most comfortable, if not the most suitable. The Scarlet Lancers had been separated from their helmets for many months. In fact, the manner in which the gay cavalry man rids himself of his legitimate headgear and provides himself with a substitute rather smacks of the supernatural : for instance, our own 20th Dragoon Guards had not been in the country more than six days, yet there was barely a helmet to be seen amongst them. Substi- tutes had been found somewhere. The more worn and disreputable the substitute the happier the owner, despite the fact that all his past glories centred round a shining helmet or jaunty lancer cap, irresistible in plume and polish. But it was a great spectacle to see the survival of the fittest squadrons of the Scarlet Lancers filing past. There are half a dozen Cavalry Regiments against whom no one could throw a stone—the 16th and 9th Lancers are of these. But it would be invidious to particularise too much. 'Who the h-11 aro these fellows?—are they tame Boers?' chirped a subaltern from the 20th, who for the day was galloper to the brigadier. A bearded ruffian, whose only costume was a flannel shirt and a pair of seedy check trousers, but whose eye was as keen as a hawk's, and whose shining 'matchlock' had seventeen notches along its stock, caught the subaltern's query. Yuss,' came the answer, we are tame Boers, the very tamest. My pal 'ere is President Kroojer, this 'ere's Better, and hi am De—e—Wet ' Cheery fellows ; after fifteen months of war thero was little about self-preservation that you could have taught them. Lean, sinewy, and bearded kind— they represented the English fighting man at his best."

—" Roman Reminiscences of Nearly Half a Century Ago " is a fascinating article. It is full of humour and keen observation and is the record by one who knew it of a unique society which has passed away. We are introduced to Cardinal Antonelli, the peasant boy, whose father may have been a brigand. The Cardinal ruled the policy of the Vatican and collected precious stones, but he did not forget to visit the old peasant mother in her village near Rome. Although Roman society was in a mediaeval condition, the music of Verdi was enjoyed, and the band on the Pincian would have to stop the drinking song in the " Traviata " at the appearance of the Pope, while the crowd went down on their knees. The reception at the palace of a newly made Cardinal must have been a picturesque affair. Nearly all the world went there uninvited, and as you were going upstairs you might hear the Archbishop of Babylon being announced. Mixed up with

Dukes and Cardinals and Princesses were the barefooted friars, —indeed a picturesque medley. There is a charming account of the Duke of Sermoneta. He was a Campagua noble and looked down with contempt on the Roman nobility, who were often merely the ennobled offscourings of Papal families. The Duke was enlightened and a Liberal, besides a scholar of Dante. It was he, too, who drew the designs of Castelani's gold-work. The Duke welcomed Victor Emanuel, and we believe said to an Englishman that many of the Roman nobles would have done the same but for fear of the Jesuits. He declared that the Jesuits kept dossiers of the youthful nobles they were educating, and used these later for political ends. On being asked how he had escaped, he exclaimed, "In my youth I read Dante." The paper is full of interest, and is written in such a way that the old-world society seems to live again.—There are other excellent articles; in fact, this number of Blackwood is a very good one.

The editorial article in the Monthly Review on "Profit and Loss on the Atlantic Deal " is a most able review of the situation. It is also written with a clearness of thought and lucidity of expression uncommon in political articles. The author points out that the English shipowners took advantage of the war of the North and South to get entire control of the carrying

trade of the North Atlantic. That such an arrangement could be final was not to be expected. The question remained in what manner the Americans would try to get a share of the trade. The writer considers that the present arrangement is one which will make it practically impossible for the Conti- nental Powers to starve us. If they attempt to do this by seizing food-supply ships nominally English but owned by Americans, they will create " a situation that covers a highly explosive point of international law." Are the Americans likely to look on while their ships are seized? If not, the Power attacking us must either leave us our food supply or fight America as well. As the writer puts it, "Is it after all a partnership that America is beginning to form—a partner- ship from which she will be unable or unwilling to escape ? Are we approaching the realisation of that ' Anglo-Saxon terror' which haunts the imagination of so many statesmen and dreamers in Europe The writer goes on to point out that if our carrying trade is attacked by great combinations of capital in other parts of the world we must be prepared for instant defence. The suggestion is that we should revive the old Navigation Laws, which "prohibited vessels of foreign countries carrying into British ports anything but their own national produce." It is as reasonable for us to control the carrying trade between the harbours of our Empire as it is for the Americans to expect to have a share in carrying the pro- duce of their own land out of their own ports.—" The True Story of Spion Kop: a Defence of Sir Charles Warren," by W. B. Worsfold, is the first of a series of articles. The present one only deals with the operations immediately pre- ceding the attack on Spion Kop. The writer seeks to prove that Sir Redvers Buller's criticism that Sir Charles Warren lost the advantage from delay is not true, General Buller's assumption that the enemy were weak on the left—the west— not being borne out by the facts. There is a justification of General Warren's attack on his right instead of on the left according to the plan made by General Buller. The matter is highly controversial, but on the face of it it would seem that Sir Charles Warren has much to say in answer to the criti- cisms of Sir Redvers Buller. The final judgment will not probably be arrived at for some time, and until all the facts have been considered by an impartial military historian.