Admiralty statement that only four large merchant ships and two smaller ships were sunk last week by mine or submarine. In the previous week five large and six small vessels...

south of the Somme, as the result of which we advanced our lines again close to the river and took some prisoners. The French foiled the enemy's renewed attempts to climb the...

heavy bombard- ment, the enemy attacked the sector north of La, Bessie, which has been held for some time by the Portuguese Army in co-opera- tion with British troops. Under...

imperfectly known. At one time it was very critical. The enemy broke through between our Third and Fifth Armies, and there was a serious gap. The magnificent conduct of our...

stubborn front north of the Somme, as far as Bucquoy. They employed ten divisions, but were repulsed with immense losses. At two points on the Ancre south of Albert they got...

Amiens, the enemy made a great effort south of the Somme to improve his front between the river and Montdidier. By sheer weight of numbers he pressed back the British troops a...

T HE battle- front in France has been extended on both flanks during the week, and the fiercest fighting rages, as we write, on the sector north of La Bassee, while the critical...

new Military Service Bill. It would involve, be said, extreme sacrifices on the part of large classes, only to be Justified by the most extreme necessity. Before the battle the...

Armentieres, delivered a furious assault on our lines north of the ruined town, along the Lye and, west of Wameton, to the Ypres- Comities Canal at Hollebeke. The German masses...

will give definite orders to their newsagents for a copy of the " Spectator" to be reserved for them each week till countermanded.

of the Bill on Wednesday. In regard to Ireland, he pointed out that the Sinn Fein agitation—which his fellow-Kmisters have fostered by their apathy and neglect—compelled us to...

against the application of Conscription to Ireland. A Committee of the Con- vention, including three Unionists and two Nationalists, had reported that under Home Rule Irish...

been dissipated in subsidiary enterprises. No division had been sent from France to the East. The divisions in Italy were detaining Austrians who might have been sent to France....

the Nationalists, went on to say that he would introduce a new Home Rule Bill, to be taken on• its merits, apart from Conscription. The Report of the Irish Convention afforded...

necessary to put men of fifty and boys of eighteen into the Army to fight for the liberty and independence of small nationalities, it was no longer possible to justify the...

promptly and in exceptional numbers. Boys of eighteen and a half with six months' training had been sent to France, in view of the emergency. The enemy had grossly exaggerated...

age- limit, urging that the older men could not be spared from their businesses without injury to the nation. He objected also to leaving the Tribunals at the discretion of the...

over the Chief Appeal Tribunal, said that his experience led him to doubt the wisdom of raising the military age beyond forty-seven or forty- eight, both on commercial and on...

risk. Every man who would be useful was needed to secure victory and avert defeat in the battle, on which the enemy had staked his all. As for Ireland, Mr. Boner Law admitted...

would reserve judgment as to the details of the Bill until he saw it in print. The teat for every proposal made during the war was whether or not it would expedite victory. The...

would be obtained. From munition works one hundred thousand fit men had been taken. Fifty thousand miners had been called up, and as many more would be required. All healthy men...

in the battle, though exaggerated by the enemy, had been very great, and had made serious calls on our reserves, which must therefore be re- plenished. Germany clearly aimed at...

speech at Tullamore on Monday to our article of last week on Conscription for Ireland. Our argument that firmness in enforcing the Draft would quickly yield as good results in...

and some other districts, came into force last Sunday throughout Great Britain. London has found the restrictions lees grievous in operation than in anticipation : so, we...

lied in saying that the French Premier had recently asked whether, and on what terms, Austria would negotiate. The truth is that an Austrian official had conversed in...

Russia she would do in France ; and that if Germany ever proposed equitable terms for Belgium, France, and Italy, it would be only to secure a free hand in Russia and the East...

Wilson delivered his first speech since his " utter disillusionment," following the disclosure of the peace terms exacted by Germany from Russia, Finland, the Ukraine, and...

the German expedition which landed in Finland last week. The German force of twelve thousand men had to cross the Gulf of Finland from Revel to Hango, a distance of about fifty...

only that Dominion statesmen are steadfastly opposed to hereditary titles for Canadians, but also that a strong party " has no use for " titles of honour of any kind. Mr. Nickle...

week. The town was at the mercy of armed robbers, who, in accordance with Bolshevik principles, were murdering and looting. Japanese warehouses had been attacked and three...

the right thing at the right time and in the right way when at the end of last week he telegraphed the friendly greetings of the entire British nation to President Wilson, on...

Service, under the Military Service Act, 1918, had made an Order withdrawing exemptions held wholly or partly on occupational grounds by certain men of various ages, in a large...

April 5,1917.

TRIFIiiNG WITH THE NATION. T HE supreme duty before the House of Commons at the present moment is to see to it that Mr. Lloyd George does not- once again trifle with the country...

W E have described the chief features of Mr. Lloyd George's speech elsewhere. Here we will deal with certain special aspects of Mr. Lloyd George's proposals. In the first place,...

this week, directed once more against the British lines. It would be rash to infer that his attack in great force north of La Bassee, which began on Tuesday, is a tacit...

at. Vladivostok is apparently regarded in Washington as a purely local measure for the restoration of order. Temporarily that view may be sound enough, but it is impossible to...

T ORD WARWICK, in his recent book of Memories, tells a I story of how the retort emphatic was given to Queen Victoria. She was paying a visit with her Consort to Warwick Castle,...

LIVERY man has his own method of computing time. We have all in our own breasts a sort of secondary conscience which ticks instead of pricking. Our outward life is lived under...

[To THE EDITOR Or THE " SPECTATOR.") Snc,—We know that in dealing with Germany before the war the united wisdom of the British Cabinet was only equal to going quite wrong. Let...

[To THE EDITOR or THE " SPECTATOR."] Sia,—The Spectator is the only paper that has allowed attention to be called in its columns to the wanton extravagance that now goes on...

[Letters of the length of one of our leading paragraphs are often more read, and therefore more effective, than those which fin treble the space.] IRELAND AND MAN-POWER. [TO...

hope Major Stuart Love has found en answer to his query are this. If he has not, he may be glad to see that others are interested in the same point. The sunken roe& are...

(To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."' Sin,—It may possibly assist Major Stuart Love in his endeavour to solve the mystery of the sunken roads of the Somme if I point out that...

SIR,—In a letter appearing in your issue of April Gth " Soldier," who states that he "recently was in many of the Jewish colonies in Palestine," informs us (1) that "all the...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."' SIR, —Mr. Lewis's letter in your issue of the 30th ult. in no way "proves a few errors" in mine of March 16th, and is, in fact, beside the...

" SPECTATOR."' SIR, — In a pause during our recent retreat it is refreshing to get the Spectator of March 23rd, and to read the article on "The Sanctity of International...

correspondent Mr. A. C. Dowding, writing on farm tenancies, may be doing some landowners an injustice. He seems to overlook the fact that owners of land receive such an...

[To THE EDITOR or THE " SPECTATOR."] Sia,—Before you close this correspondence on Angdria, may I quote the classic story of "Neer ed-din Hoja," the Turk of Anadalou ? The Hoja...

THE " SPECTATOR."] Sm—Your reference to Typhoon in the Spectator of March 30th reminds me of a remark of an old captain whom I knew well. Running, near the Pentland Firth,...

[TO THE EDITOR OP THE " SPECTATOR."] Sta,—Within the past few days repatriated prisoners of war have called to deliver personally to me, by word of mouth, messages from the...

Soldier " somewhat mistaken regarding the colonies he visited when he was in Palestine recently ? From his description they would be the German colonies, not the Jewish. When I...

[To THE EDITOR OP THE " SPECTATOR.") Sin,—Referring to Mr. Dowding's letter, will you allow me to point out that the hardship of which he complains is largely, if not wholly,...

[To THE EDITOR or THE " SPECTATOR.") Eni,—A "leader " in the Times emphasizes the urgency of tithe redemption. There appear to me to be three important factors : (1) A clerical...

SIR,—Is it too late for me to add to the tale of " howlers "? These have just relieved the tedium of marking terminal examination papers. Vacuus viator — " The absent-minded...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.") SIR,—May I add a " translation ` howler " to those given by your correspondents "J." and " F. A. A."? At a large school in the South-West...

THE BOOKMAN'S TREASURE. flowers° before his shelves with pensive look; " How oft," he mused, " his glances o'er them strayed, He who'd forget his dinner for a book, My son,...

may care to publish it, I send you the following "howler," perpetrated in my own family—a decidedly free trans- lation. "Hes souliers me blessent " was translated " My soldiers

WAR ACCORDING TO CLATJSEWITZ.* MAJOR-GENERAL PILCUER has been well inspired in preparing his very readable summary of the first volume of Clausewitz, On War, for the benefit of...

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

of its source, and the range and character of its testimony, this is by far the most impressive defence of the classics that we have yet seen. The movement in favour of the...

admirably interesting book. It is intended to help the ordinary man or woman. Unlike too many writers of text-books on health, the author really keeps in view the needs of...

possibility of groat diversity of aim. It is constantly fluctuating between ideals of creation and representation. Painters are obliged to express themselves in terms of the...

IT was only natural that the late President of the Pepys Club, to whom all lovers of literature are so much indebted, should view the subject of his labours in a more serious...

Adapted from the Popular Play by Walter Hackett.) (Jarrolds. 6s. net.)—Like all novels adapted from plays, this smells a little of the footlights, though the writer of the story...

by the late Colonel Prideaux appears in a new .and much revised edition uniform with the " Pentland " Stevenson (F. Hollings, 12s. 6d. net). It is the work of Mrs. Luther S....

MARY OF THE WINDS.• Tax materials for these stories and sketches, the author tells us, have been mostly gathered from old people living in the remote parts of Kerry. Therein...

[Notice in this column does not necessarily preclude subsequent reviser.] The Megalithic Culture of Indonesia. By W. J. Perry. (Manchester University Press and Longmans and Co....

2s. 6d. net.)—The Central Control Board in November, 1916, appointed an expert Advisory Committee to consider the physio- logical action of alcohol. The provisional conclusions...

Dent and Sons. Is. net.)—In this spirited and stimulating pamphlet the authors urge that as a million new houses will be required in the five years after peace returns, mainly...

W. Pitman. (H. Milford. 10s. 6d. net.)—This valuable book, based on original research, is specially interesting in regard to the trade between the West Indies and the American...

University Press. 2s. 3d. net.)—Canon Cooke has revised his scholarly edition of Joshua, incorporating notes on the latest discoveries of the Palestine Exploration Fund. His...

Dialogist. The Greek Text with a rendering in English. (Williams and Norgate. 3s. 6d. net.)—This finely printed little book, the latest addition to a series of service-books...

24s. net.)—It is very convenient to have so promptly this record of the past year, with its many great events. The course of the war is outlined briefly but clearly in the first...

him- self on The Just Claims of Italy (50 cents), in which the questions of the Trentino, Trieste, and the Adriatic are clearly explained with the help of some very instructive...

Haskins of Harvard has at last collected, in a revised form, his patient studies of the Constitutional history of Normandy, from the reign of William the Conqueror to that of...

Fawcett. (Clarendon Press. 3s. net.)—This able and suggestive little book is a good introduction to the study of a most difficult subject. The author inclines to the view that...

Son, ls. 3d.) is a useful little pamphlet, containing thirty-two small coloured maps of the many areas in which there is or has been fighting. The Western Front is given as it...

Europe, Africa, and Western Asia (2s. ad net), showing the areas embraced by Mittel-Europa and Mittel-Afrika. Probably the Pan-German dreams are by now more ambitious still.

excellent and timely paper by Dr. E. W. G. Masterman on " The Jordan -Valley and its Lakes," dealing with country in which General Allenby is now operating. There is also an...