is a fascinating if not a very useful pursuit. If we may be allowed the luxury for a moment, we should say that Lord Roberts's chief aim and desire at present (after freeing...

T HE chief military event of the week has been Lord Roberts's successful flank attack—delivered early Wednesday morning—on the Boer army which had collected in front of him in...

steady and continuous advance by our troops. Norval& Pont has been occupied by us, the Boers, as they naively put it in their official telegram, having taken up positions "which...

full credit for the admirable sense she has displayed through her long reign, and certainly her Majesty is displaying it now. The people are delighted to hear that the Sovereign...

ovation she received on Thursday from the Lords and Commons assembled in the quadrangle of Buckingham Palace was of a very striking kind, and is said to have beer, very movinp...

much earlier date than usual, owing to the fact that in anticipation of increased taxation vast quantities of dutiable articles were being removed from bond at the old rates....

case.

expenditure for the coming year are RECEIPTS. Ordinary Revenue £116,900,000 Sew Taxes: Income-tax, 4d 6,500,000 Tea, 2d. per lb 1,800,000 Beer, la a barrel 1,752,000 Spirits,...

of about 25,000,000, and we may, in fact, in spite of the war, congratu- late ourselves on a year of unexampled prosperity. The yield of the Death-duties has been most...

quarrel with America. The Agrarian party, which has dis- liked the Navy Bill from the first, as a Bill essentially in the interest of commerce, are threatening to oppose it, and...

on Monday night was for the most part either perfunctory or irrelevant. On Tuesday, however, Sir William Harcourt made a speech in which the criticisms were of real value. We do...

as leader of the Irish party, made a speech in regard to the wearing of the shamrock and the Queen's visit to Ireland which, given his point of view, must be pronounced to have...

in consequence of Lord Roberts's victories appears to be nearly complete. The Russian newspapers are still almost hysterical with anger, but the German and French writers...

The Government report that in spite of the strictest precautions against needless demands the number of persons in actual receipt of relief approaches five millions, and the...

occurrences in the Balkan Peninsula, but we may record the fact that. according to the Vienna correspondent of the Times, a surprise is expected there. The Prince of Bulgaria,...

past week of his practical interest in the problem of housing the poor. Yesterday week he visited the tenements of the Guinness Trust in Bermondsey and the Rowton House at...

whom the world knows nothing. Experienced bankers say there are, and the receipts from the Death-duties look like it, while every now and then one hears of extraordinary incomes...

shall not be exchanged just yet, the men taken being too valuable to the Boer armies, and there is some difficulty in disposing of all we capture. They cannot be interned in...

of the relief of Ladysmith and the condition of the beleaguered town. An advance squadron, appropriately headed by the Natal Carbineers, entered the town on the Wednesday...

New Consols (2i) were on Friday 104

THE QUEEN AND IRELAND. T Queen has once again shown statesmanship of a high order, for we may take it that the regulation as to the wearing of the Green on St. Patrick's Day by...

I T is very difficult just now to address a soothing word to the French. France, always feminine except on the battlefield, is for the moment almost mad with jealousy because...

Sir Michael Hicks-Beach has our warmest and most sincere con- gratulations upon his handling of a very difficult problem. He had so many and such pressing reasons urged upon him...

Europe will not be so easy a business as the diplomatists who arranged the Conference of Brussels probably imagined. They were preoccupied with plans for soothing away or pre-...

a great opportunity before him for conferring a signal benefit upon the nation, and it looks as if he were going to seize it. We are all agreed at this moment that the reform...

A MONG the number of interesting papers in the Pilot, Mr. Lathbury's new and excellent journal, the impres- sion of which is to that of other weeklies what the impression of a...

T HE interesting volume on "Modern Italy" in the "Story of the Nations Series" (London : T. Fisher Unwin) suggests to the reader the relation which Italy bears to the modern...

I T is now twelve years since the Ladies' Committee of the Peace Society voted that the toy soldier should be cashiered, and that in view of the fact that the unit of the nation...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR.'] SIR,—In the Spectator of February 24th you were good enough to publish a letter of mine advocating the adoption of com- pulsory drill...

Spectator of February 24th on this subject has pointed out to the schools that it is their duty to teach all their boys the elements of drill and the use of the rifle. May a...

A COLONIAL MONUMENT- LTO THE EDITOR OF THE "SpEorATon."] SIR.—Yon have struck a right note in advocating the erection of a monument to those of our Colonial fellow-countrymen...

R. F. Cholmeley's suggestion in the Spectator of February 24th that drill and shooting should be made part of the school curriculum, I should like to be allowed to state in your...

(To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR.") SIE, — I think it can hardly fail to interest those of your readers who have been, like myself, in the habit of thinking the natives of Malta...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR.'] feel sure that all good citizens will hail with satis- faction the establishment of an Army League with the aims and objects set forth in...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SFECTATJP. '] SIE, — Probably in common with all those readers of the Spectator who have taken part in efforts to improve the physical and moral condition...

(To THE EDITOR OF THE SPECTATOR.") Sin,—If the generous and friendly treatment of Boer prisoners, which you suggest in the Spectator of March 3rd, were accompanied by the...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] Si,—No advocate of compulsory service could have more ruthlessly exposed the inherent faults of our present military system than the Prime...

[TO THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."] SIE,—Recent events in South Africa have proved the im- mense value of well-mounted forces in modern warfare. Never before has the lesson been...

[To TRE EDITOR Or TUE "SPECTATOR."] Sr, — In your issue of February 24th there is an article on "The Choice of Generals," in which occurs the following passage :—" Until...

[To THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."] Si,—In the "News of the Week" in the Spectator of March 3rd you speak of "the exceeding smallness of the sum collected for the clergy," which...

[To THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR.") SIR,—Surely the moment has come for the realisation of your wise and generous wish—so often eloquently expressed —to see a regiment of Irish...

[To THE EDITOR OP THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR,—In the Spectator of March 3rd you give an interesting extract from Mr. J. H. Symon's letter, "Appeals to the Judicial Committee," and...

(To THE EDITOR OP THE 'SPECTATOR."] SIE, — Your correspondent, "Dutchman," writes that he is "not aware that Holland has ever asked England's assistance or protection for the...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—Not long ago I quoted in the Times letters from an English and from a German officer serving in the opposed forces anent the bad...

AND have you heard the joyful word that's fiyin' round full blast, That Buller and the boys are through to Ladysmith at last ? And how to march in first of all the soldiers of...

LORD ROBERTS. THY country called thee; from the grave Of her dead child and thine: The single warrior Fortune gave To close a hero line. O'er land and sea, from that far field...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR:) SIR —The enclosed appeal and report may interest you in connection with the paragraph on p. 363 in the Spectator of February 24th, as showing...

DEAN MILMAN.* "SCHOLAR, poet, critic, historian, but above all these a per- fect Christian gentleman," Dean Milman was also a man of the world, and a most agreeable member of...

was written to furnish amusement as well as instruction, one is bound to say that it fulfils its object to admiration. It sets out in the compass of some three hundred and fifty...

Mass MOULTON has won an assured place among the lesser poets of the day, and this volume will, we take it, neither raise nor lower it. Her verses may be described as variations,...

THE two little books before us—the late Lord Selborne's Letters to his Son defining the constitution and significance of the Catholic and Apostolic Church, and Mr. Eliot's new...

THE fascination of The Reds of the Midi and The Terror is exerted with equal force and charm in their brilliant sequel, The White Terror, of which Mine. Janvier has given as an...

THE Nineteenth Century is strongly in favour of compulsory military training. Three of the first five articles in the March number are directed in different ways to that as an...

Planke, Bruges. 4s.)—The town of Bruges seems to be very careful of its records, and very much interested in its history. Thanks to this care and interest, and his own industry,...

J. M. Dent and Co., 3s. 6d.) is a great improvement on the opening volume of the series. Within the brief compass of two hundred and fifty pages it is obviously impossible for a...

all books a hymn-book is, perhaps, the most difficult to review. Even a single hymn can scarcely be appreciated, either as to the words or as to the music, till we have heard it...

C. E. Russell. (W. Thacker and Co. 10s. 6d.)—It would seem as if the sportsmen of to-day are more inclined than the older genera- tion to enable others to participate in their...

Son. 2s. 6d4—Mr. Gorst's plea for Lord Beaconsfield is able and persua- sive, all the more so because it leaves an impression of candour on the reader. Mr. Gorst concedes that...

[Under this heading we notice such Books of the week as have not been reserved for review in other forms.] From Capetourn to Ladysmith. By G. W. Steevens. (Blackwood and Sons....

(Longmans and Co. 10s. 6d.)—Not many years ago the Bishops Of Durham used to keep a pack of hounds. They are still addressed by the style of "Divina Providentia Episcopus,"...

Classes (Kelly's Directories) appears for the twenty-sixth time. It is a very comprehensive and, con- sequently, very useful volume, a directory to the "Upper Ten," or, it would...

Thomas Stokes. (Hodder and Stoughton. Os.)—This volume, edited by Dr. H. J. Lawlor, contains some lectures delivered by Professor Stokes in the Divinity School of the University...

(J. M. Dent and Co.) is Oliver Goldsmith's "She Stoops to Conquer," edited, with Preface and Notes, by J. M. Dent (1s. net).—In "The Larger Temple Shakespeare," edited by Israel...

by C. R. D. Biggs, B.D. (Methuen and Co. Is. net.) —This is a volume in the series of "The Churchman's Bible," in- tended to help in "the practical and devotional study of Holy...