12 DECEMBER 1908

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Germany's position, added Prince Billow, would become really bad, and

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peace would be seriously endangered, if she reduced her armaments below the level which her position in Europe required. Lastly, the measure and extent of her naval armaments...

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

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F RIDAY'S news from the Near East is distinctly better. In the first place, the reply of the Austro-Hungarian Government to Russia's Note concerning the terms of a Conference,...

On Friday week Signor Tittoni made an important speech in

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the Italian Chamber on foreign policy. He was apologetic and explanatory throughout, and showed how great had been the effect on the Government of the recent damaging...

In the Reichstag on Monday Prince Billow reviewed the European

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situation in a carefully prepared speech, of which a considerable part was written. First he denied the assertion that Germany was opposed to the reform movement in Turkey. ....

On Thursday Prince Billow, who had an audience of two

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hours with the Emperor on the Wednesday—the first since the issue of the Imperial Rescript of November 7th—made a statement of Germany's attitude towards the question of the...

The New York correspondent of the Times describes in Monday's

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paper some revelations made before the Tariff Committee at Washington, showing that the schedules of the Dingley Tariff Act and of the Tariff Law of 1883 were largely framed by...

• * The Editors cannot undertake to return Manuscript, in

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any case.

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If we were to judge by some of the Liberal

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papers, we might imagine that the country was in a state of ferment against the House of Lords. Truth, however, compels us to say that we see no signs whatever of that...

On Wednesday, at a general meeting of the Education . Settlement

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Committee, Lord Cromer, who presided, won very hearty approval from his very distinguished audience by declaring that a noble attempt had recently been made to settle the...

The House of Commons during the week has been chiefly

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occupied with the Miners' Eight Hours Bill. We have expressed elsewhere the very grave objections which we have to this Protectionist measure, a measure which, in truth, is...

Mr. Roosevelt's seventh and last Message to Congress was read

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to both Houses on Tuesday. Dealing with Labour questions, he advocates the prohibition of child labour, the diminution of woman labour, and the shortening of hours of all...

In the House of Commons on Wednesday Mr. Asquith. made

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a statement as to the remaining business of the Session. The Children Bill, the Scottish Education Bill, the Preven- tion of Crime Bill, the Housing of the Working Classes...

Discussing the position of the Judges, the President recom- mends

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the doubling of their existing and wholly inadequate salaries. After condemning the greed and recklessness shown in the exhaustion of the natural resources of the country, and...

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In the debate on the first reading of the Imperial

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Budget in the Reichstag on Saturday last Herr Sydow, Secretary for the Imperial Treasury, stated that the sum which the Imperial Government had set itself to raise by new...

No doubt by reducing the Sinking Fund by £6,000,000 or

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so, and by staving off payments rightly due next year to the year after, it is just possible that it may be made to appear that only £6,000,000 is required to be raised by new...

The meeting, though disfigured and degraded by the scenes we

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have described, was undoubtedly a great personal triumph for Mr. Lloyd George, who stood his ground throughout, never lost his temper, and, though it took him two hours to...

Lord Rosebery made an interesting speech on national defence in

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Edinburgh yesterday week at the prize-giving of the 7th (Leith) Battalion of the Royal Scots. He could not believe in an unprovoked attempt by Germany to invade our shores ;...

The tercentenaryof Milton's birth was celebrated on Tuesday, Wednesday, and

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Thursday. On Tuesday, the eve of the birth- day, Dr. A. W. Ward delivered an address before the British Academy, which organised the celebrations, and Professor Gollancz recited...

The great meeting in support of woman suffrage organised by

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the Women's Liberal Federation was held in the Albert Hall last Saturday afternoon. As it was known beforehand that the National Women's Social and Political Union were resolved...

A Suffrage Bill, like any great Franchise Bill, could not

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be brought in except on the eve of a dissolution, and the time for that was not yet ripe. In his view, the only chance of these proposals being defeated was the possibility of a...

Bank Rate, 21 per cent., changed from 8 per cent.

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May 28th. Console (2i) were on Friday 88F—on Friday week 83f.

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TOPICS OF THE DAY.

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A CANKER IN IMPERIAL ADMINISTRATION. I T is with reluctance that we return to the questions raised by Mr. Scoresby Routledge in his letter to the Times of December 3rd, a...

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THE POLICY OF AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. T HE chasms which yawn ahead of

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Austria-Hungary seem deeper and more numerous the more one contemplates the line of country she has picked out for herself. The full madness of a mad act in foreign policy can...

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THE MINERS' EIGHT HOURS BILL. T HE House of Commons has

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this week been discussing the final stages of the Miners' Eight Hours Bill, and though its progress through the Commons is endangered by considerations of time, the ultimate...

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THE ATTACK ON THE GRAZING INDUSTRY. T HOUGH the Irish Land

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Bill will not be proceeded with this Session, it will be reintroduced early next year. We may therefore fitly discuss it as still a Bill in being, and in the hope that during...

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SLAVERY IN PORTUGUESE WEST AFRICA. T HE meeting held at Caxton

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Hall on Friday week, and the resolutions passed thereat, will, we trust, draw public attention to the state of slavery, real if not avowed, which exists in Portuguese West...

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THE COMMENDATIONS OF CHRIST.

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O UR Lord's denunciations are more often enlarged upon by commentators than are His words of praise, partly, no doubt, because they are set down in the Gospels at greater...

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THE BOOK OF WAR.

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MIRE true book of war is experience, and it is, or may be, the property of all nations. However often the principles of war may be written down, they must always be written in...

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THE BABBLE OF THE HOUSE-AGENT.

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N OBODY knows quite how many castles are built in Spain until he has decided to buy a house in the country and has consulted a house-agent. Then be makes his discoveries. He...

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CORRESPONDENCE.

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THE FRENCH NAVY IN 1909. (TO TR! EDITOR Or THE " SPICCTATOR..] SIR,—The French Navy Estimates for 1909 were published last May as part of the Projet de Loi for the Budget....

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

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UNEMPLOYMENT AND ITS " CURE." [To THE EDITOR Of THE "SPECTATOR." _ 1 SIB,—The question of unemployment has received so much attention that there is a risk of our falling into...

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CATHOLICISM, NOT PAPACY.

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[TO THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR. ") SIR,—In your issue of December 5th appears an interesting letter from Professor Goldwin Smith on the temporal power of the Papacy. He says...

PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION.

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[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SpiciLios."1 SIR,—Mr. W. W. Carlile writes in your issue of last week that proportional representation bad been tried in South Australia before 1874...

LIBERAL WOMEN.

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[To Tag EDITOR OF THE "SP ICCIPATOR."1 SIR,—As a Liberal woman, I should like to enter an emphatic protest against the claim put forward by the Women's Liberal Federation last...

THE IRISH LAND BILL.

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.1 SIR,—I cannot allow some of your remarks in the Spectator of November 28th on Irish land affairs to pass without comment. With regard to the...

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR. " ]

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SIR,—In your last issue " Wull o' Glesca " shifts his position. In his first letter (Spectator, November 21st) he defended the " ca' canny " policy ; now he denies that the...

THE RIGHT TO "CA' CANNY."

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[TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR,—" Lancastrian" admits not having seen the Ironfounders' rules, but produces a Press version of an assault charge wherein the prisoner...

SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL ON SEA POWER. [To THE EDITOR OF

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THE "SPECTATOR.'] SIR,—We have had very brave words about the Fleet from members of the present Government, but when asked to translate words into ironclads, they reply that no...

THE HEAD-MASTER OF ETON AND THE GERMAN SCHOOLBOY.

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[TO THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR " ] SIR,—My attention has been called to a letter from Mr. Gustav Hein in your issue of last week. It seems to me rather singular that an editor...

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THE BYZANTINE RESEARCH AND PUBLICATION FUND.

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] you allow me to enlist the sympathy of your readers in behalf of the Byzantine Research and Publication Fund, the subscribers to which held...

[TO TIM EDITOR OP TIER "EPROrATOR."]

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Silk—The discussion called forth by Canon Lyttelton's remarks on schoolboy life in Germany reminds me of a con- versation which I recently had with a man whose opinion carries...

" LOLLARDY AND THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND."

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[To TEM EDITOR OP THE "BrzerreoR."] Sin,—May I be allowed to say just a word in reference to your review in the Spectator of November 28th of my book on Lollardy and the...

[TO THR EDITOR OF THE" SPECTATOR. - ] Sra,—Permit me to relate an

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experience of my own which may throw some light on the German and English schoolboy (see Spectator, December 5th). I have been nearly entirely educated in Germany, going over...

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"LEAVEN."

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[To TES EDITOR 01 TES " Eirgarnos."1 Sxa,—At the conclusion of the review of Mr. Douglas Black- burn's latest novel, " Leaven," which appeared in your issue of September 26th,...

THE MORALITY OF BRIDGE.

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[To THR EDITOR OP TnS . EPRCTATOR.1 consider it very wrong and not at all wise of "Senex" to suppose and impute motives where he does not know the facts (see Spectator, December...

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"THE IRISH DAMES OF YPRES."

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[To THE EDITOR 01 TEl "SPECTATOR. " ] Sts,—A friend has drawn my attention to your review of my book, "The Irish Dames of Ypres," in your issue of Novem- ber 28th, in which your...

THE LATE BISHOP GOTT.

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[To THE EDITOR OF TUB "SPECTATOR. " ] is proposed to issue a volume of the letters of the late Bishop of Truro, together with a short biographical sketch from the pen of...

THE EAST LONDON NEEDLEWORK CLUB. [TO THE EDITOR OF Till"Se

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IcarAToR.1 SIR,—At this time of year, when people are buying garments as Christmas presents for their servants and for poor people, perhaps they might be glad to know of the...

UNEMPLOYMENT AND THE GARDEN CITY.

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[TO Tila EDITOR Or TII "SPEoraTon.' ] SIR,—Thoughtful writers on the unemployment question have recently pointed out that the only really hopeful way to give immediate relief to...

MARCH CUCKOOS.

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[To TEl EDITOR Or TEl "SPECTATOR. "] Sin,—Since you sometimes like to print letters on natural history, I may perhaps be allowed to mention the appearance of the Bulletin of the...

FLOWERS IN THE SHETLANDS.

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[TO TRH EDITOR OP TILE "SP ECTPATOR:] SIR,—On Sunday, November 29th, while looking over flower- bed and border for the last lingering blooms of the past season, I was astonished...

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POETRY.

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I'll tell it you, dear toys :- The path was kept for motor-cars, The road was left for boys. Of course, you had to cross the path To get back home for tea; But motors seemed...

BOOKS.

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MAN AND THE UNIVERS4.* THIS is a collection of essays dealing with religious subjects which Sir Oliver Lodge has published more or less recently in various periodicals. Taken...

A CORRECTION.

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[TO THE EDITOE OF THE " SPEOTATOE.".1 &a, — DI your review in the issue of the Spectator of the 5th inst. you quote the oft-repeated and oft-corrected statement that Wellington...

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

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

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THE CONQUEST OF RUVVENZORI.* AT last we have the full

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official account of the wonderful expedition to Ruwenzori which the Duke of the Abruzzi led in the summer of 1906. The bare results have long been published, and the world heard...

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SOME NEW PLAYS IN VERSE.*

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ONE of the most curious indications of the changed spirit which, with modern civilisation, has come over our conceptions of literature, and in fact of the whole of art, is to be...

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WITH GENERAL D'AMADE IN MOROCCO.* THE evidence which has reached

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us in the last three years as to the spirit and training of the French Army has been almost uniformly favourable. Observers at the Grand Manoeuvres, and those who have watched...

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"IAN MACLAREN."f

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THE world certainly has reason to be thankful for the com- bination of antecedents and surroundings which made John Watson what he was. Sometimes the contradictions which...

TOYS OF OTHER DAYS.*

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THERE is such a wealth of material in this book that it is almost as difficult to choose a toy or a period for special notice as it is to bay a present in a shop at...

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MILITARY CYCLIST TRAINING.* Tins text-book just issued from the War

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Office resembles most productions of that great State Department in recent times; it is, in fact," provisional," which, being interpreted, means that its authors have little or...

NOVELS.

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THE WAR IN THE AIR.* THE prophetic romances of Mr. Wells differ widely from those of his competitors in this field of fiction. Not only is his method more circumstantial, but...

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Greek Dress. By Ethel B. Abrahams, M.A. (John Murray. 9s.

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net.)—Miss Abrahams begins with a consideration of the dress of men and women as seen in the Mycenaean remains, con- cluding that it argues strongly for the non-Hellenic...

The Magician. By W. Somerset Maugham. (W. Heinemann. 6s.)—It is

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very seldom that the writers of modern fiction an succeed in giving a real thrill of horror to their readers. They usually adopt the subterfuge of alluding vaguely to horrible...

Sunday. (Wells Gardner, Darton, and Co. 3s. and 5s.)— "

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Sunday Reading for the Young" is the full title of this magazine, and it is a title which is well justified by its contents. The limits which the word " Sunday " implies are, as...

SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.

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[Under this heading we notice such Books of the week as have not been reserved for review in other forms.] De Libris: Prose and Verse. By Austin Dobson. (Macmillan and Co. 5s....

READABLE Novsts.—Mad Barbara. By Warwick Deeping. (Cassell and Co. 6s.)—This

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is a spirited story of the days of Charles II. and the "Popish Plot." The Gores, father and son, and the heroine are effective studies.—The Bed City. By S. Weir Mitchell....

The Ghost Kings. By H. Rider Haggard. (Cassell and Co.

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6s.) —This story of Zululand and its borders is full of Mr. Rider Haggard's usual mysteries and adventures. The magic sayings of Rachel Dove, the "Inkosazana" of the story, are,...

Astronomy of To - day. By Cecil G. Dolmage, LL.D. (Seeley and

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Co. 5s.)—Dr. Dolmage's "Popular Introduction in Non- Technical Language" is a most useful and interesting volume. He begins with a brief account of the ancient view. In that the...

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who kills him, the autumn equinox ; Achilles sulking in

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his tent is the mid-winter sun; Memnon and Achilles contending " may refer to the rival claims of the stars Sirius and Formalhaut to calendrical honour." In another aspect...

The House Dignified. By Lillie Hamilton French. (G. P. Putnam's

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Sons. 21s. net.)—Miss French writes from America, where they are accumulating many treasures of the Old World and successfully imitating what they cannot transport. She tells...

Who's Who, 1909 (A. and C. Black, 10s. net) appears

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without any change, except, indeed, increased bulk. The publishers speak of the growing number of biographies, and as the pages are reckoned up to two thousand one hundred and...

NEW EDITIONS. —In the "Oxford Library of Translations ^ (The Clarendon

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Press, 7s. net) we have The Republic of Plato, Translated by B. Jewett, 2 vols. The reprint is substantially with- out change, except that the marginal analyses have been...

Letters of a Remittance Man to his Mother. By W.

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H. P. Jarvis. (John Murray. 35. 6d. net.)—It is no uncommon thing, we under- stand, in Canada to see under an advertisement for labour, "No Englishman need apply." If any one...

Golfers, a numerous and, we need hardly say, influential company,

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will find Rules of Golf (Royal Insurance Company, Liverpool) a useful little manuaL It gives the rules as they have been finally settled by the "Royal and Ancient." They come in...

Foundations of Reform. By the Military Correspondent of the (Simpkin,

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Marshall, and Co. 10s. 6d. net.)—In this volume are republished a number of papers read before societies, articles contributed to various periodicals, letters addressed to the...

Choosing a Career. By Duncan Cross. (Cassell and Co. 2s.

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6d. net.)—Mr. Cross furnishes guidance for all the professions and occupations, and adds information about some handicrafts. As far as we have been able to examine and check his...

Sport and Athletics in 1908. (Chapman and Hall. 5s. net.)—

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We cannot do better than quote the description of contents which is given on the title-page : "An Annual Register, including the Results for the year 1908 (to November), of all...

We have received from Messrs. De la Rue and Co.

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an assort- ment of Pocket-Books, Diaries, Memo-Books, ctc., of all sorts and sizes. Some are meant for the pocket, even if the pocket is of the smallest capacity, and some for...

In the "English Churchman's Library" (A. R. Mowbray and Co.,

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ls. net each) we have The Practical Religion, by Vernon Staley, Fourth Edition ; Letters to a Godson : Second Series, by M. Cyril Bickersteth, M.A. ; The Christian Use of the...