13 AUGUST 1870

Page 1

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

The Spectator

T HE German Army is before Metz. Napoleon, shut up in Metz with two-thirds of his forces, the other third having been destroyed, demoralized, or driven to the rear, awaits with...

The news of disaster was wholly unexpected in Paris, and

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drove Parisians almost frantic. It arrived on Saturday, was generally known on Sunday, and being believed to be much less than the truth, excited a sort of frenzy of rage. The...

On the 6th inst., also, the Army of the Centre,

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or King's Army, at first under General Goben, but afterwards under General Steinmetz, advanced to recover Saarbriick, and enter France by a second route. General Frossard, with...

A telegram has been received from Carlsruhe, dated 10th August,

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according to which Strasburg has been invested by the Baden division of the German Army, under General Beyer, an army which must have crossed by Breiaach. Strasburg has only one...

The grand attack began, as recorded last week, at Weissem-

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burg. After the destruction of General A. Douay's division, the Crown Prince pushed on towards Saverne, on his road to Nancy ; but was encountered on the 6th inst., at Worth, by...

The first point to be noted in the calculation of

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chances is the apparent collapse in the numerical strength of the French Army. We have from the first maintained that the Emperor was out- numbered, but the accounts now in...

This address alone would damn any Ministry, and must have

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driven the Emperor wild. After an eloquent address to French- men, who see " behind them centuries of glory, before them a future which their heroism will render free and...

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The expedition to the Baltic has been given up, for

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two reasons. The corps d'armee of 35,000 men, soldiers and marines, collected at Cherbourg, under General Trochu, was wanted to repress Paris, and all chance of aid from Denmark...

On the whole, the Treaty has been received with universal

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satisfaction in England, and in Belgium it has created a real enthusiasm. The Common Council of Brussels have voted an address of cordial thanks to Queen Victoria ; ten thousand...

Lord Cairns in the House of Lords, and Mr. Bernal

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Osborne in the House of Commons, criticized the Treaty, the latter in very warm language, calling it "a childish perpetration of diplomatic folly." But the grounds both of the...

The Empress has formed a Ministry of "Arcadians," the most

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important being General Montauban, Comte de Palikao, as Premier and War Minister ; M. Chevreau, Prefect of the Seine, as Minister of the Interior ; Baron Jerome David, natural...

The Treaty between England and Prussia for the defence of

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Belgium has been signed by Lord Granville and the North- German Minister, Count Bernstorff ; and Lord Granville has re- ceived the assurance of the French Ambassador that it is...

The Chamber met on Tuesday, and M. 011ivier read a

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dull speech, saying the greater part of the Army had never been engaged, and General Dejean asked for laws enabling him to send the Garde Mobile to the front, to enroll all men...

Parliament was prorogued on Wednesday, to Thursday, the 27th October,

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in a Queen's Speech (read by the Lord Chancellor) of better English and better sense than usual. The Queen "con- tinues to receive from all foreign Powers expressions of...

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A curious blunder in translating the King of Prussia's despatch,

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recounting the Crown Prince's great success at Worth, has laid the King, who is a profoundly religious man, open to the charge of heartless flippancy. He telegraphed to the...

The Times of Friday has a curious article on the

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necessity of mediation between the belligerents, the pith of which is that the Germans, if they win, will have a right to claim the expenses of the war, a recognition of Germany...

The accounts from Paris are evidently modified by a fear

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that letters are opened ; but it would seem clear that the Empress is not equal to so grave a situation ; that the great officials are scarcely loyal to the Empire, omitting...

Consols were on Friday evening 90t to 911.

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The Due de Gramont has replied to Count Bismarck's last

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charges by what virtually comes to saying, "We didn't do it, but if we did, you are as bad." And that seems to be very near the mark. The Due de Gramont explicitly asserts that...

The Archbishop of Canterbury has just put out a prayer

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to be 'used during this war, which has the merit of being strictly neutral and heartily pacific, but there will be difficulties felt by some in the use of it, nevertheless....

Mr. Gladstone's speech on the Treaty, explaining the motives 'which

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had actuated the Government even more powerfully than the merely formal guarantee,—for guarantees must often be inter- preted with a certain allowance for changing...

Lord Derby made a speech on Wednesday at Liverpool that

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was not very remarkable in itself, but was so as coming from an eminent Conservative statesman, for it not only gave a hearty support to the Government, and exonerated it from...

Mr. Odo Russell, so long our Charg6 d'Affaires at Rome,

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has returned to England, and accepted the post of Assistant-Under Secretary of the Foreign Office, in the place of the late Hon. Charles Spring Rice. It will be a matter of no...

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TOPICS OF TT - TE DAY.

The Spectator

THE WAR. G ERMANY stands at the head of the world. The "policy of magnificent audacity" which for the past four weeks we have predicted to unwilling ears has been pursued, and...

Page 5

IN PARIS.

The Spectator

F RANCE will survive all this ; but nothing but victory in the field, victory immediate, complete, and dramatic, can now save the Empire. For eighteen years Napoleon has made a...

Page 6

THE BELGIAN TREATY.

The Spectator

T HE country has received the announcement of the Ministerial policy with respect to Belgium with a con- tent which has in it something of surprise. It had believed that the...

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THE EMPEROR IN FAILURE.

The Spectator

O NE would give a good deal for a single hour's insight into the dreams of the dejected ruler and commander who, whatever his nominal position at Metz, is well known to be in no...

Page 8

CLERICAL DISABILITIES.

The Spectator

VOW that the Clerical Disabilities' Bill has become law, it is 11 well that what has been doubtless a conscientious opposi- tion should reconcile itself to it. It may easily do...

DISAPPEARANCE OF THE COMMERCIAL RADICALS.

The Spectator

MHE "Seven Wise Men" who voted last week against furnishing the Government with means for 20,000 addi- tional land forces, and on whose behalf Mr. Jacob Bright has "liberated...

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INTELLECTUAL DISSIPATION.

The Spectator

T HE War, and the revolution it is generating, are providing for a good many of us a very violent kind of intellectual dissipa- tion, in the truest meaning of the term,—a source...

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LEGISLATIVE DECORUMS.

The Spectator

O N what does the decorum of a Legislative Assembly really depend? What is it, for example, which makes us all believe that a scene like that in the Corps Legislatif on Tuesday—...

Page 11

GUN-FLINTS.

The Spectator

W HILE we are discussing the relative merits of the Chassep8t and the Needle Gun, to speak only of the two great rivals which are now being tried on the battle-field, it seems...

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

The Spectator

[TO THE EDITOR OF "THE SPECTATOR."] Berne, August 4, 1870: Siu,—While the war gives to all English journals, and to yours even more than to most others, a monotone of somewhat...

Page 14

PRESENT-DAY PAPERS.

The Spectator

[TO TEE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR:1 SIR,—I have been from home, and did not see the Spectator until now, otherwise I should have explained, as I think I ought, that the sketch...

PREVOST-P.ARADOL AND THE WAR.

The Spectator

[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPROTATOR.1 Sis,—Your correspondent "H. R. N." argues that the suicide of M. Prevost-Paradol could not have been caused by his dis- covery that the man...

BOOKS.

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ART AND MORALITY.* [SECOND NOTICE.] La a former article we pointed out some of the eccentricities of criticism into which Mr. Ruskin has been betrayed by his contempt for that...

Page 16

MR. GOUGH'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY.*

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NOTWITHSTANDING US prolixity, this is an interesting and entertaining volume. Mr. Gough is known to the public as a powerful advocate of total abstinence, or as he prefers to...

Page 17

BISHOP ELLICOTT ON THE REVISION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.*

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IF the Established Church is to undergo the fate which many of her friends as well as of her enemies believe to be already imminent, she will have the credit of having done in...

Page 19

THE VOLSUNGA SAGA.*

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A DEBT of gratitude is owing to Messrs. Magmisson and W. Morris for this translation of what they term "the most complete and dramatic form of the great lyric of the...

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BOKERS' KCENIGSMARK AND OTHER POEMS.* Ma. BOKER has found a

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tragic theme to work out in the annals of a dull and neglected territory and period, and has elsev/here made good use of familiar contemporary events, though without renouncing...

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A Dangerous Guest. By the author of "Gilbert Rugge." (Chapman

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and Hall.)—A mild sketch of French country and English town life, drawn very much in favour of the former. There is little incident, and, in fact, we were at first at a loss to...

CURRENT LITERATURE.

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Lectures on the History of Ireland down to A.D. 1534. By A. G. Richey, Esq. (Dublin, Ponsonby ; London, Simpkin and Marshall.)— These lectures have impressed us with a very high...

The Cambridge Paragraph Bible. Vol. I., Genesis — Solomon's Song. Edited by

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the Rev. F. H. Scrivener, M.A. (Rivingtous ; Deighton and Bell.)—The arrangement of the text in paragraphs, the division into chapters and verses being indicated in the margin,...

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Analytical Commentarg on the Epistle to the Romans. By the

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Rev. J. Forbes, LL.D. (T. and T. Clark.)—Dr. Forbes is a great believer in what is called "Parallelism," as some of our readers, who may have seen his work, published about...

Porrar. — We have before us a quantity more than

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usually large, and of a quality, we are bound to say, less than usually tolerable, of the verse to which we are accustomed to give this courtesy title. Mr. Kenelm Digby will...

The Cultivation of the Speaking Voice. By John Hollah. (Clarendon

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Press.)—Mr. Hash is quite right when he says that Englishmen tiller their words, a matter quite apart, of course, from the choice of words and the fluency of speech, worse than...

History and Revelation. By James H. Braund. 2 vols. (Seeleys.)—

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The author thus describes his book, "The Correspondence of the Predic- tions of the Apocalypse, with the marked events of the Christian era," and we see at once that he has...

The Baronet's Sunbeam. By A. C. W. 3 vols. (Tinsley.)—Surely,

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if we may judge from this book, not only plots, but titles must be hard to find now-a-days. To call a man's favourite daughter his " sunbeam " is, doubtless, a pretty fancy in...

Page 28

LONDON: Printed by JOHN CAMPBELL, of No. 1 Wellin g ton street,

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in the Precinct of the Savoy, Strand, in the County of Middlesex. at 18 Exeter Street, Strand ; and Published by him at the "SPECTATOR" Office, No. 1 Wellington Street, Strand,...