11 DECEMBER 1920

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The new Greek Ministry held a farcical plebiscite on Sunday,

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to determine whether the ex-King should be recalled. The supporters of M. Venizelos abstained from voting. The ex- King's agents were left to secure a formal victory. When the...

The rumours of Thursday flatly contradicted one another. The Morning

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Post said that the Cabinet had sent no answer to Father O'Flanagan's message. "As a matter of fact, negotia- tions of any kind are at an end . . . the Labour leaders have...

Argentina, the first neutral to join the League of Nations

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withdrew from the Assembly on Saturday last because her piroposal to amend the Covenant was not accepted. Argentina demanded (1) that all large States should be admitted...

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

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rpHE air is full of rumours of a truce in Ireland, where all except a few maniacs and criminals are sick of violence and of treading the road to ruin. When we write on Thursday...

The seriousness of the Sinn Fein conspiracy in Great Britain,

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as well as in Ireland, has been shown by the arrest of a number of persons in Scotland. On Thursday, December 2nd, the Glasgow police captured three Irishmen whose houses were...

All that it is safe to say is that Sinn

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Fein has received a serious check in Ireland. It is not surprising that attempts are being made from the Irish side to bring about a truce. Indeed, it would be surprising if...

The Prime Minister, the French Premier, and the Italian Foreign

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Minister, at a conference in Downing Street on Thursday, December 2nd, agreed to dispatch a warning to Greece. The Allies had, they said, no wish to interfere with the internal...

TO OUR READERS.

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Should our readers experience any difficulty in obtaining the SpEoraxon during their absence from home at Newsagents or Railway Bookstalls, will they please communicate at once...

The Editor cannot accept responsibility for any articles or letters

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submitted to him, but when stamped and addressed envelopes are sent he will do his best to return contributions in case of rejection.

NOTICE.

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Owing to the Government having taken over our old premises, we have removed to new offices, 13 York Street, Covent Garden, W.O. 2, where all communications should be addressed.

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Mr. Lloyd George, speaking on Friday, December 3rd, at the

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Constitutional Club—as a "Daniel in the lion's den "—expressed a just contempt for the "little imitation Gladstones " who were trying to arouse hostility to the Government by...

Lord Macdonnell raised the question of finance. The Bill, he

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said, was unfair to Ireland. Lord Buckmaster suggested that, instead of paying £18,000,000 a year for Imperial purposes, Ireland should pay nothing at all. Lord Peel in reply...

The independence of Armenia—that is, the Erivan district of the

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Caucasus—has been short-lived. The Armenian forces were overwhelmed by Mustapha Kemal's Turkish troops in November. Last week, according to Moscow reports, Armenia declared...

But the real question is : In what spirit is

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France trying to work the new principle of the co-operation of nations which is embodied in the Treaty. of Versailles? In our opinion safety cannot be secured for any nation on...

aeneral Smuts defined his policy in an important speech at

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Pretoria on Friday, December 3rd. At the coming General Election etouth Africa must decide between freedom within the Empire and secession from the Ereeire, involving a split in...

The Italian Government last week declared a blockade of Fiume

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in order to compel Signor d'Annunzio to recognize the Treaty of Rapallo, by which Italy and the Southern Slays have regulated their Adriatic frontiers. Signor d'Annunzio...

On Monday Lord Balfour carried an amendment depriving the Irish

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Parliaments of the power to impose a surtax on OA , incomes of pc.rsonri residua ani donrctled in Ireland. The Irish peers urged that tho surtax windd complote tile ruin ot the...

Lord Derby, speaking to the Manchester Chamber of Com- merce

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on Thursday, December 2nd, advocated a Franco-British Alliance as the best safeguard for the peace of the world. "I am going to advocate it through thick and thin," he said,...

On Tuesday the Prince of Wales paid a ceremonial visit

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to the City of London and received an address of welcome from the Corporation on his return from his tour in Australia and New Zealand. We have written elsewhere about the...

The House of Lords continued the Committee stage of the

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Government of Ireland Bill on Thursday, December 2nd, Lord Oranmore and Browne carried several new clauses to complete his scheme for setting up Senates in the Northern and...

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At Cambridge on Wednesday the demand of women to be

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received as full members of the University was rejected by a majority of 192. The figures were non-plata 904, placet 712. Thus Cambridge has for the present, at all events,...

The House of Commons on Tuesday gave the Dyestuffs (Import

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Regulation) Bill a second reading by 277 votes to 72. The extreme Free Traders had intended to denounce the Bill as the thin end of the wedge of Protection, but when Mr. Asquith...

In our judgment the e rgument that women ought to

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create their own university is irrelevant.. Such a thing could not be done ; the expense would be prohibitive, and the women are entitled to remind their opponents that...

The House of Lords on Tuesday debated the Agriculture Bill

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on second reading. Lord Lincolnshire moved its rejection on the ground that it would harass the industry and would introduce Protection. Lord Selbome admitted the importance of...

The papers have published a remark, ble correspondence between Colonel

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Lionel James and Mi. W. A. Appleton. Colcnel James writes to Mr. Appleton, the well-known secretary of the General Federation of Trade Unions and editor of the Democrat, to...

Lord Askwith then proposed that the Act should not come

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i n t o hiroe unless within a year a majority of the Irish members, returned at a special election, had accepted it. Lord Salisbury s upported this form of referendum, but the...

Undoubtedly some people would like to screw up the standard

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cf intellectual attainment and ultimately to crowd out the Pass Man altogether. Personally, we should regard such a development as deplorable. The Pass Man builds up his charac-...

Bank rate, 7 per cent., changed awn 6 per cent.

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Apr. 15, 1920; 5 per cent. War Lean was on Thursday, 821; Thursday week, r3/ ; a year ago, LOI.

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TOPICS OF THE DAY.

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THE CHRISTMAS PEACE. W E by no means agree with those who would refuse any negotiations with the Irish leaders, provided always that such negotiations are not to be a signal or...

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THE NAVAL SKIN GAME.

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T HE Admiralty, it is said, are demanding that new capital ships shall be laid down. Other reports Say that there is a party of opposition in the Cabinet. Evidently the matter...

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THE INDEX FIGURE.

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E are glad to see that several questions have been asked in the House of Commons about the Index Figure of the Cost of Living and about the system under which Civil Servants...

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THE PRINCE OF WALES.

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T HE PRINCE OF WALES always says the right thing and says it in the right way. His manner is as good as are his manners, and his smile is becoming as famous, as infectious, and...

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THE MIND BEHIND THE PLOUGH. - 1 - 1NGLISH village life is very

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dull ; that, at any rate, is the A 1 1 verdict of those young men and women who crowd into the towns and who are willing to put up with almost any degree of squalor in their...

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THE CHILD AND THE TOY.

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A T this time of year a great many people are buying toys who do so at no other. Parents, of course, do not come into this class, for who having a nursery does not occasionally...

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FINANCE—PUBLIC AND PRIVATE.

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THE ECONOMY CAMPAIGN. [TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.") SnA,—I am writing this letter before the much-discussed Economy Debate has taken place in the House of Commons, and...

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

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[Letters of the length of one of our leading paragraphs are Often more read, and therefore more effective, than those which fill treble the space.] THE INDEPENDENT LIBERAL...

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GOVERNMENT OF IRELAND BILL. (To me EDITOR semi " SPECTATOR.")

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Slit—Let us pass the Government el Ireland Bill, which appears to me to grant to Ireland all that Great Britain can reasonably be expected to give her. Supposing those who...

CONSPIRACIES AND COMMON SENSE.

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Ito THE EDITOR OF TEM " SPECTATOR.") Sin.—You have rendered good service by your wise articles dealing with the grave dangers which threaten us at home and abroad. There is, of...

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NONCONFORMITY AND "REPRISALS."

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LTo THE EDITOR OP THE " SPECTATOR.") SIE,—Permit me to thank you for your chivalrous defence of Nonconformity against the attack made upon it so gratuitously by "A Wayfarer" in...

THE NEW EDUCATION ACT.

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[To sin EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.") Sia,—In my last year of office as chairman of the now super- seded School Board of my parish my Board requisitioned the Parish Council for...

CHRISTIAN REUNION.

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[To THE EDITO3 OF THE " SPECTATOR.") SIR,—It has not, I think, been noticed in your columns that the National Assembly of the Church of England at its recent meeting carried...

IS THE NOVEL A SIGN OF SOCIAL DECAY? (To sin

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EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] Sta,—Your interesting article, "A Literary Glove-Fight," in the issue of December 4th, dealing with the debate of Mr. G. K. Chesterton and Mr. Hugh...

THE LEAGUE AND THE ORIGINS OF THE ENGLISH PARLIAMENT.

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[To THE EDITOR OF TEE "SPECTATOR.") Sist,—On reading the critique on Venice Preserv'd one felt that there was indeed an uncanny appositeness in this work being brought before...

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(To est Entree or me " Seecrerent."1

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Saa,—I was much interested in the letter of your corre- spondent on thie subject. A few years ago, when staying with friends in the neighbourhood of Tintagei, we were all much...

THE CHILDREN'S LIBRARIES MOVEMENT.

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(To rue EDITOR Or THE "SPECTATOR"] SIR,—The following resolution was proposed recently at a public meeting at South Lodge, Rutland Gate, by Mr. Edmund Geese. seconded by the...

HISTORY OF THE 15re (SCOTTISH) DIVISION. [To THE EDITOR OP

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THE "SPECTATOR.") Sie,—The history of the 15th (Scottish) Division is being compiled and written by Lieut.-Colonel John Buchan and Lieut.-Colonel John Stewart, D.S.O. (late...

THE VICTORIA LEAGUE.

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR:] HIR,—The Victoria League, which is under the patronage of their Majesties the King and Queen, H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, and other members...

LUSTRE POTTERY.

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(To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.") SIR,—Mr. Moorcroft, of Burelem, should have reviewed his beliefs before he penned his ideas of the "lustre" process of pottery decoration....

THE HEDGEHOG.

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[To THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."] Sia,—The letter which appears in the issue of December ith on the "heavy breathing" of the hedgehog throws light on an experience which...

PATTERNS OF SOUND.

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[To THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."] Sia,—A passage in your notice of Mr. Vachel Lindsay's poems in your issue of November 6th to the effect that a good actor creates for any...

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE •• EPECTATOR-"1 Si,—The writer on

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the breathing of hedgehogs in last week's Spectator might like to hear my experience, as I had so many hedgehogs in my garden in Hants. My daughter called one one summer night,...

TORTOISE-SHELL.

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[To TEE EDITOR OF THE " SPEcrrroa."] So,—I shall be much obliged if any of your readers can inform me whether it is true that in procuring tortoise-shell any cruelty is...

POETRY.

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UP! SINN FEIN! BEHIND a hedge, behind a wall. With gun and cartridge handy, The Sinn Fein heroes, shrinking small Behind a hedge, behind a wall, Are prompter to the Trotsky...

ART.

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CHILDREN'S DRAWINGS AT THE KNICIHTSBRIDCH GALLERY. [Oman TILL DECEMBER NTH.] TROUGH painters and educationists vie with each other in their admiration for the work of Professor...

(To TEE EDITOR or THE " Stmerrroa."1 Sia,—Referring to the

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letter from " A. H. S. D." in your issue of December 4th, I have several times heard and traced to its source the curious puffing noise referred to which hedgehogs make when on...

NOTICE.—When "Correspondence" or Articles are signal with the writer's name

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or initials, or with a pseudonym, or ars marked Communicated," the Editor must not necessarily be held to be in agreement with the views therein expressed or with the mode 0...

1yt (*ptrtatar

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TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. Including postage to any part of the Yearly. United Yougdom £2 3 4 OVERSEAS POSTAGE. Including postage to any of the British Dominions and Colonies and...

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BOOKS.

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SIR CHARLES CALLWELL'S REMINISCENCES OF THE WAR.* SIR CIIARDIS Cemarem.'s unfailing jocularity does not, or at least should not, disguise the fact that he is one of the soundest...

THE THEATRE.

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THE KNIGHT OF THE BURNING PESTLE," BY FRANCIS BEAUMONT AND JOIN FLETCHER, AT THE KLNGSWAY THEATRE. Soan; members of the audiences at the Kingsway Theatre go to see a play...

SOME PLAYS WORTH SEEING.

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AMBASSADOBS.—The White-headed Boy .. 8.30-2.30 (Comedy of the Abbey Theatre school, very funny and trenchant.] COURT.—A Midsummer Night's Dream 13.0— an ill i r io r i...

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REPARATION IN 111/1 PEACE TREATY.*

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THE Treaty of Versailles, being the work of human hands, is open to criticism in detail. It has been bitterly attacked by the Pacifists, by the Socialists with pro-German...

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THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH AND CHRISTIAN REUNION.* pus author

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of these important Lectures, when he has occasion to refer to writers of distinction from whom he differs, does so with a freedom of speech characteristic of a past age. In...

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THE SCIENCE OF EATING.*

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Tens book with its alluring title is not written to guide the steps of the gourmet into fresh and unexplored regions of the culinary art, but rather would it strive to entice...

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FICTION.

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TWO NOVELS.* Mu. DOUGLAS GOLDETNG with Mr. Hubert Nepean, and Miss Tsr. Bryher, have presented to the world two novels whose principal feature will probably seem to the reader...

BARBELLION'S LAST DIARY.*

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Tma author of The Journal of a Disappointed Man and Enjoying Life, who chose to call himself "Barbellion," is dead, and his last diary records the final stage of his strange...

READABLE NOVELS.—Unreality. By " Bartimeus." (Cassell. Ss. 6d. net.)—The title

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might be applied to the story, for the book opens in the middle of the war when the heroine is eleven, and therefore the events of the concluding chapters, when she is quite...

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Foams WORTHY CIF CONSIDERATION.--Ship3 and Polka, By C. Fox Smith.

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(Elkin Mathews. 6s. net.)—Many of these verses and 'shanties might have been written by Maaefield. Miss Fox Smith has a feeling for the sea and mastery of its language unusual...

POETS AND POETRY.

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SIR CECIL SPRING RICE'S POEMS.• NOBODY who came into contact with Sir Cecil Spring Rice ever failed to fall under the spell of an extraordinarily engaging personality. His...

GIFT - BOOKS.

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BOOKS FOR LITTLE CHILDREN,* Peggy's Giant' is an original and quite delightful story-book. Miss Hillyard evidently knows the sort of things that children like, and Peggy's...

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The Adventures of Dolly Dingle, by May Wynne, illustrated by

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Florence H. Anderson (Jarrolds, is. 6d. net), is a capital fairy tale, in which we follow a little girl's adventures with a friendly squirrel. It is charmingly illustrated in...

Ameliaranne and The Green Umbrella. By Constance Heward. Pictured by

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Susan Beatrice Pewee. (G. Harrap. 2s. 6d. net.)— The green umbrella was filled with cakes at the Squire's tea- party by an unselfish little girl who wanted to take them home to...

A Story of Santa Claus. By Margaret I. Cole. (Cl.

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Bell and Son. 2s. net.)—This is an attractive little Christmas story, very simply told, but with plenty of interest and movement about it. Miss Woodward's illustrations are pretty.

The Tiny Folks Annual. Edited by Mrs. Herbert Strang. (Milford.

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is. net.)—This is a particularly pleasing nursery book. From its attractively coloured, embossed cover to its amusing tailpiece it is lull of good things, and is sure to give...

The Peek-a-Boo Christmas. Drawn by Chloe Preston. Told by May

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Byron. (Milford. 65. net.)—It is impossible to find anything new to say in praise of these priceless creatures ; but though our imagination may fail, that of their author and...

Three Old Favourites. With 36 full-page coloured illustra- tions by

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Frank Adams. (Blackie. 6s. net.)—Mr. Adams's pictures are always clever, and this year he has given as some very amusing examples of his delightful art. Each Page is full of...

ILLUSTRATED BOOKS.

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MR. A. Tnonsognsr's fine work on British Mammals (Longmans, £10 10s. net), the first volume of which has appeared, while the second is to be published in the New Year, would be...

A Child's Book of Hours. By Constance and No61 Irving.

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(Milford. 12s. (Id. net.)—This is written in pleasant rhythmical verse, beginning with a description of the old ways of marking time, such as that of King Alfred, who "...

Llumpty Dumpty, and Other Songs. By Joseph Moerat. Pictured by

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Paul Woodroffe. (Basil Blackwell. 7s. (Id. net.)— The mimic to these old nursery rhymes is written with taste, but as the composer has generally adhered closely to the rhythm of...

Tales of Happy Common. By Agnes C. Herbertson. Illus- trated

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by Lilian A. Covey. (Dean and Son. is. 6d. net.)—This is a story of a meddlesome little creature called Bc-Wee, told with the rhythmical reiteration liked by children and...

Btackies Children's Annual ((Is. net) is as excellent as usual,

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and contains good short stories, large print and pretty pictures.-.---- The same publisher's Little One's Book (3s. 6d. net), for rather younger children, is another collection...

This is a little book of verses about children and

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such homely things as cooking dinner, or daddy's return from the City every evening. They are prettily written, and show plenty of fun and good spirits, though the sentiment, of...

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Nero : an African Mongrel. By Jane Spettigue. Illustrated by

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D. E. Seymour Hayden. (John Lane. 60. net.)—This is the story of a dog of character, told by a lady who loved and appreciated him. The Johannesburg background of these...

The Enchanted Forest. By Violet Bmdby. Illustrated by Gordon Browne,

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R.I. (Milford. 3s.. 6d. net.)—This is an excellent story, told with Miss Bradby's accustomed cleverness and charm. She knows well how to draw distinct and interest. log...

Awakening. By John Galsworthy. Illustrated by R. H. Sauter. (Heinemann.

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7s. 6d. net.)—Here we have a few episodes in the life of a little boy of eight years old, vividly realized, and described with great charm. The setting is a pre-war country...

Sun Babies. By Cornelia Sorabji. Studies in colour by G.

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H. (Mackie. 7s. Od. net.)—In these beautifully written sketches of Indian life Miss Sorabji brings the curious charm of her "baby friends," as she calls them, very vividly...

SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.

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(Haim in this column does not necessarily pracluds shhirMmal trriricl Year Books of Edward II. VoL XVIIL Edited by W. C. Bolland. (Quaritch for the Selden Society. 52s....

Irish Fairy Tales, by James Stephens (Macmillan, 15s. net), is

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a most entertaining collection. "The Boyhoed of Fionn " and "The Birth of Bran," for example, are drawn from familiar folk-tales, but the treatment here as elsewhere is peculiar...

Wonders of Animal Life. By F. Martin Duncan, F.R.M.S., F.R.P.S.,

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and S. T. Duncan. (Milford.)—Under this general title there is a series of capital little books of which we have before us : Animal Life in Africa, Animal Life in the East,...

Fair Folk of Many Lands. Told by Agnes M. Papa.

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Illus- trated by Frank C. Papa. (S.P.C.K. 6s. 6d. net.)—This is a collection of folk-tales, beginning with the story of a knight of Brittany and ending with a modern English...

Our Glorious Empire. By Donald A. Mackensie. (Blaclde- 103. 6d.

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nct.)—This is an interesting book, and the task of com- pressing such a subject into one volume, without being foolishly vague or terribly dry, has been successfully faced by...

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Mr. James Baker has written a striking biography of his

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son, Major Sydney Harold Baker, under the apposite title of A Leader of Men (Lane, 21s. net). Major Baker was one of the numerous civilians who joined the Army early in the war...

With the Indiana in France. By General Sir James Willcocks.

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(Constable. 24s. net.)—Sir James Willcocks gives us a very readable supplement to the official history of the Indian Corps in France which has already been published. He brought...

Arles Etruria Renascuntur. Told by Harry Barnard. Drawn by James

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Hodgkiss. (Etruria: Josiah Wedgwood and Sons.)— This attractive pamphlet will interest students of the history of English pottery. It is a description of the older portion of...

The London Mercury for December contains several interesting articles, notably

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Mr. J. C. Squire's appreciation of D'Annunzio, Mr. I. A. Williams's memoir of John Gay, Vernon Lee's paper on "The Narthex of Vezelay," and Mr. Geese's account of Swinburne's...

The Annual of the American SchOol of Oriental Research in

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Jerusalem. VoL L Edited by C. C. Torrey. (Yale University Press.)—The American School at Jerusalem was founded twenty years ago and has done some good archaeological ivork. It...

Delphi. By Frederik Poulsen. Translated by G. C. Richards. (Gyldendal.

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21s. net.)—This is a scholarly and attractive account of Delphi, as revealed by the excavations directed for years past by M. flomolle. Mr. Poulsen, the Keeper of the Ny...

The Anglo-French Review for December has three notable articles. The

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first is an instructive sketch of M. Millerand by M. Henry Davray, who illustrates the new President's character by quotations from his speeches. The next is an ingenious...

Friendship. By Jeremy Taylor. (Chapman and Hall. 5s. net.)—It must

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be long since this "Discourse of the Nature, Offices, and Measures of Friendship with Rules of Conducting it, in a Letter to the Most Ingenious and Excellent Mrs. Katharine...

Modern Men of Mark. By Mrs. Stuart Menzies. (Jenkins. 21s.

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net.)—This book contains memoirs of the late Lord Arm- strong, Sir Joseph Pease, Lord Rhondda, Sir Joseph Lyons, and Sir Richard Burbidge, and biographies of Lord Leverhulme,...

Income Tax Acts as They Affect the Public. By G.

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F. Emery. (Effingham Wilson ; and Stevens. 21s. net.)--This is a well- written and useful treatise on a subject which is still difficult, although the innumerable Acts were...

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Worms op RBFERENCE.—Who'a Who, 1921 (Black, 42s. net), appears in

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its seventy-third edition, bulkier than ever, with some three thousand pages. It is interesting, accurate, and inaspensable.—The Writers' and Artists' Year Book, 1921, edited by...