14 DECEMBER 1895

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The attitude of Germany in the Turkish question, which greatly

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perplexes some observers, is, we imagine, mainly governed by a desire to maintain the status quo. The Ger- mans do not care whether the Armenians, or any other Asiatic people,...

Herr Bebel's speech, which, as condensed in the Times, is

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not immoderate, was preceded and provoked on the previous day by another from Prince Hohenlohe. The German Chancellor declared that the removal of the Minister of the Interior,...

The Italians have suffered a considerable defeat in Abyssinia. General

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Arimondi had ordered an advance from Makalah in a southern direction, when on Sunday Major Toselli, who was in advance with two thousand five hundred native soldiers, found...

It is quite evident that although the French intend to

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use the name of the Queen of Madagascar in all transactions, they regard the island as annexed. M. Laroehe, the Resident- General, is " invested with all the powers of the...

Prospects are not improving in Germany. On Wednesday Herr Bebel,

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the Social Democrat, made a most able though lengthy speech in the Reichstag. in which he defended the loyalty of his party to the Empire. The Government, he said, when the hour...

*** The Editors cannot undertake to return Manuscript, in any

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case.

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

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T HE incident of the week has been the return of Said Pasha from the British Embassy to his own house. The Sultan sent about twenty messengers to him, usually great officials,...

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The Ashantee Expedition began to advance on the 9th inst.

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The troops to be employed have all arrived at Cape Coast Castle, and the despatch of stores to Prahsu, eighty miles to the front, has been at once commenced. The sub- ordinate...

At Cork last Sunday, Mr. William Redmond, addressing an open-air

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meeting, said the people were getting tired of Parliamentary action, and that "if they could not bring back some sort of legislative reform, then he should say the time had come...

At a meeting of the members of the South branches

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of the Irish National League of Great Britain, held on Tuesday at Walworth, Mr. Justin McCarthy made a rather elaborate speech on the political situation. He remarked that...

Wednesday was a day of financial deputations. A great deputation

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waited on Lord George Hamilton to explain that the countervailing Excise-duties levied on cotton goods in India are not at all equivalent to the Import-duties levied on the...

Mr. McCarthy then explained his great prescription for the restoration

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of harmony. It was, in short, to summon to Dublin a sort of CEcumenical Council, a few months hence, of representatives of the Irish race, in Ireland, Great Britain, the United...

Sir William Harcourt is overjoyed at the rise of the

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educa- tional controversy. He sees in that controversy, we imagine, the first glimpse of light on the best mode of rallying the dis- heartened Gladstonians whom he is to lead in...

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The Republican majority in the American House of Representatives is

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so angry with Mr. Bayard for denouncing Protection as State Socialism, that it has only been prevented by the Speaker from voting his impeachment ; and has actually appointed a...

Bank Rate, 2 per cent.

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New Consols (21) were on Friday, 1061.

Mr. Justice Wright delivered judgment yesterday week on the petition

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against the return of Mr. Chamberlayne and Sir Barrington Simeon, the sitting (Conservative) Members for Southampton, after a long investigation of seven days. The result was to...

Certainly we do not spare money on education. The new

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Municipal Technical School opened yesterday at Birmingham contains one hundred and thirty-four rooms, of which one hundred and sixteen are devoted to teaching, occupies an area...

Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman made a speech at Blair- gowrie on

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Thursday, which will certainly not have the effect of breathing new spirit into the Radical party. He said that the majority of 152 was a formidable majority, but that looking...

The United Club held an " At home" on Tuesday

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night, at which Mr. Goschen made a speech, and declared that he should be very glad when the time came for explaining to Parliament what the intentions of the Government are in...

A great deputation also waited on Lord Salisbury, the Chancellor

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of the Exchequer, and Mr. Long (the Minister of Agriculture), on the same day to complain of the depression of the growers of barley. The Earl of Winchilsea, as the chief...

The Rev. W. Weston, in the course of a paper

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on " The Geography of Japan," read before the Geographical Society on Monday, stated some facts which, so far as we know, are new in the history of hygiene. In the mountains...

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TOPICS OF THE DAY.

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OUR FAILURE IN TURKEY. T HE success of the Sultan in the affair of Said Pasha will be a great triumph for him in his own people's eyes, so great that his concession in the...

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MR. JUSTIN McCARTHY'S PROPOSED (ECUMENICAL COUNCIL.

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M R. .T17STIN McCARTHY'S speech at Walworth on Tuesday evening seems to us a profoundly pathetic one. We understand the policy which a great leader sometimes adopts of summoning...

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THE ITALIAN ISANDLANA. T HE Italians have suffered their Isandlana. They

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are trying to conquer Abyssinia province by province, and having established their authority to a certain extent ever the coast and over Tigre, the northernmost province, are...

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THE DEPUTATIONS ON DISTRESS. T HERE was one advantage in the

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old doctrine of laissez-faire. It was hard-hearted, it was aggra- vating, it was almost insulting to tell people who came to the Government in anxiety, in the mood in which...

LATEST PHASES OF THE SCHOOL QUESTION.

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I N a letter to the Rev. John Hallam , secretary of the Civil Rights Joint Committee of the Congregational- ists and Baptists of Yorkshire, Sir William Harcourt flings himself...

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THE INVESTORS' GRIEVANCE. T HE Investors' .Review,an able and honest though

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perhaps rather sensational financial magazine, publishes this month a suggestion, signed by Mr. D. L. B. Schloss, which, in a time when home politics are nearly dead, deserves a...

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M. FAURE'S OPPONENTS. T HERE are criminals in the world with

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whom one would positively like to make acquaintance. The reasons indeed which suggest the wish are quite unlike those upon which acquaintanceship is usually founded. The...

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DEAN CHURCH ON THE MELANCHOLY SIDE OF RELIGION.

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T HE late Dean of St. Paul's is the last preacher whom we should be disposed to accuse of preaching a gloomy religion. Nowhere else is there one by whom we could find fuller...

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FEMALE EXTRAVAGANCE IN NEW YORK.

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W E so often find ourselves on the side of the rich, and opposed to those who rate them for existing, that we are a little pleased to discover a subject upon which we can join...

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NESTS AND NESTLINGS.

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T HE winter publishing season has produced two books of special interest to outdoor-naturalists.* These are Mr. Kearton's photographs of the nests and young of birds, and Mrs....

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

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AN AMERICAN DIPLOMATIST'S REMINISCENCES. [To TIM EDITOR OP THZ " SPECTATOR."] Sia,—I notice in your review of the above work, in the Spectator of December 7th, the statement...

DENOMINATIONAL EDUCATION.

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[TO THZ EDITOR OF THE " SPRCTATOR:] have been greatly interested in your articles on the question of elementary schools and religions instruction, and the grievances of...

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[To THE EDITOR ON THE " SPECTATOR."]

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Sra,—As a former member of a School Board, and a present manager of voluntary schools, I wish to see a fair adjustment of the difficulties that arise from their unequal rivalry....

[To TEE EDITOR OP THE " SPECTATOR. " ] SIE. -- HOTT would Mr.

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W. Watson's plan work ? Suppose a parish like this,—four miles long; that little b, son of Baptist B, and B 2 , lives at the N. end, the only school a National school at the...

DOG-STORIES.

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[TO THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."] Silt,—May I add my testimony to the intelligence of dogs in the matter of understanding what is said in their hearing ? Several years ago I...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR." 1 SIE,—As I

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know your columns are always open to well- authenticated stories of the wonderful gifts of our four-footed friends, I venture to think that you will be interested in the...

POETRY.

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A VISION OF PEACE. IT was a noise of al;awma and tuned flutes That swell'd and rang and floated in the air, With myriad interchangeable salutes Of note with note in...

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BOOKS.

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THE VALLEY OF KASHMIR.* " WRITTEN at odd hours in the midst of much interruption," this is " a report " of the entire condition of Kashmir by the man who knows most about it...

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ETCHINGS, DRAWINGS, AND ILLUSTRATIONS.*

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MR. STRANG . S mind, like that of his master, Legros, is always bent on a bare and grand expression of essentials, and pursues its way detached from local circumstances or...

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GREAT ASTRONOMERS.*

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THE study of astronomy, in spite of the fascination which it naturally exercises upon the mind of the youthful inquirer, is one from which the young will too often turn away in...

MR. BINYON'S NEW POEMS.*

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MR. BINYON'S new book disappoints in one respect the expectations raised by some of the best work in the two volumes of Lyric Poetry he published nearly two years ago. The...

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THE CHEVALIER D'EON.*

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IT is probable that most of the remaining few who can still interest themselves in the history of the unfortunate and most uncomfortable hero-heroine of Mr. Vizetelly's book are...

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JOSEPH WOLF, ANIMAL PAINTER.*

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THE first feeling experienced after reading Mr. Palmer's admirably written book is a feeling of pity for the public to whom Joseph Wolf is unknown, the man whose motto is on the...

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Celebrated Mechanics and their Achievements, by F. M. Holmes (S.

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W. Partridge), tells again the more or less familiar stories of how lighthouses were built, harbours made, canals excavated, the steam-hammer invented, and other things,...

Dorothy's Stepmother. By Penelope Leslie. (National Society.) —This is a

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simple and pleasant little story of how a little girl cherishes great hopes, and finds them fulfilled in a quite unex- pected way. The " stepmother " of modern fiction is quite...

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CURRENT LITERATURE.

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GIFT-BOOKS. Girls, New and Old. By Mrs. L. T. Meade. (W. and R. Chambers )—This is an animated and attractive story of life in a girls' school. Interesting circumstances lead...

Scotland, Picturesque and Traditional. By George Eyre-Todd. (Cassell and Co.)

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—Mr. Eyre-Todd tells us that he has actually visited, " with staff and knapsack," all the region which he de- scribes. Melrose and Inverness are the limits which he gives ; but...

The Cat and the Cake. By M. Bramston. (National Society.)

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—This is a story of the siege of Nuremberg, told with the skill which Miss Bramston always shows in her presentations of life whether past or present. The prominent figure is...

The Rightful Daughter. By Maude M. Butler. (Jarrold and Sons.)—Miss

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Butler must really be a little more sparing in her use of coincidences and surprises. We are prepared to discover that the beautiful Marion is a kinswoman of the family, that...

is the arrangement. The animals are classified in orders and

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sub- orders ; this gives to the anecdotes a significance which they would not otherwise possess. The idea is worthy of all praise, and the result is a book which may be...

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the whole is vivid and distinct. Co.)—Professor Seeley begins with

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discussing the internal condi- Cormorant Crag. By G. Manville Fenn. (S. W. Partridge and tion of the earth, so far as science has ventured to form Co.)—We really get out of...

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from the favourites of earlier generations,—Jane Austen, Sheridan, Oliver Goldsmith,

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Le Sage, and others. The selection seemsto be a good one, and it is set off with some fairly effective illustra- tions. Open the volume where we will, we are pretty sure to...

amuse

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You feel rather like a grampus Horrid pains in every scale,

is somewhat overburdened with detail. Miss Pollard has, it is

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If you have to consent evident, carefully studied the complications of the subject, for When a negative's meant, there are the relations of three parties, the Home Government,

she knows how to create with some simple touches. Captain

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The World of Wit and Humour. (Cassell and Co.)—Here we Carbonell comes home with his wife, herself a Carbonell, and her have a stout and handsomely equipped volume in which are...

accomplish. Girlie listens to the pitiful tale of Mandarin, and

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is warned against The Green Mountain. Boys. By Eliza F. Pollard. (S. W, nodding. The first verse indicates the pith of the story:- And your head on a pivot is fixed, Your...

is particularly good. way, "My friend said it was a

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most delicious baby." Later on

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of about three centuries, from Donne to writers who are

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still with W. Among these are the well-known Christmas hymn Katawampus : its Treatment and Cure. By His Honour Judge beginning as Wesley begun it, "Hark ! how all the welkin...

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The Red Terror. By Edward King. (Cassell and Co.)—In The

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Red Terror two boys, with their grandfather, an American " General," go to Paris to hunt for the father of the boys, but they do not find the prodigal till they have gone...

The Spanish Maiden. By Mrs. E. E. Hornibrook. (S. W.

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Partridge and Co.)—The heroine of Mrs. Hornibrook's story is rescued from the Foundling Hospital of Seville by a kindly English lady, who adopts her. The scene changes from...

The Romance of a Picture, and other Stories. By Trude

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Marsh. (Bemrose and Sons.)—This is a collection of pleasant stories, which, if not quite written with a "religious purpose," have a sort of cathedral-close air about them. " The...

Captain Antifer. By Jules Verne. (Sampson Low, Marston, and Co.)—Once

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more, but probably not for the last time, we have the ever-fascinating subject of a treasure, hidden, and sought for by rival claimants, made the subject of a story. " Monte...

His First Kangaroo. By Arthur Ferris. (Blackie and Son.)— This

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is a bright and interesting account of a visit which two boys pay to a station not far from Sydney, and the fun they had riding after cattle and kangaroos and emus, and being in...

The Boy Skipper. By W. C. Metcalfe. (Jerrold and Sons.)—

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Some of our readers have not perhaps forgotten the young sailor Shotton, who navigated the four-masted ship, the Trafalgar,' when she was stricken by Java fever at Batavia, all...

Two Little Pilgrims' Progress. By Frances Hodgson Burnett. (Frederick Warne

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and Co.)—Robin and Meg are twin children, orphans, who have come into the hands, rather than into the charge, of an aunt who thinks her duty fulfilled if they have from her...

Alexandria, Carthage, and Antioch, and about the time of the

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First Council of NiCa3a. It relates the vicissitudes of a certain Placid* who is carried away during a riot at Alexandria, con- sequent on the Arian disturbances, and travels to...

The New House - Master. By Charles Edwardes. (Sampson Low and Co.)—Here

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we have undoubtedly a new and humorous development in the way of books for boys. It is a combination of crime, detection, and school life. Three thieves sitting in the...

Leaves from a Middy's Log. By A. Lee Knight. (T.

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Nelson and Sons.)—A decidedly fresh and stirring story is the relation of Jack Darcy's adventures in Cuba after being kidnapped by pirates. There is plenty of incident and...

A Fallen Star : a Tale of the Seven Years'

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War. By Charles Lowe. (Downey and Co.)—Mr. Lowe's story is mainly concerned with the Scottish adventurers at the Court of Frederick the Great. We hear a great deal of these...

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The Growth of the Brain. By H. H. Donaldson. "

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Contem- porary Science" Series. (Walter Scott.)—Technical as is Professor Donaldson's study of the brain in relation to education, it has a great fascination. He gives us...

The Bank - Clerk's Secret, and other Tales. Edited by J. Erskine

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Clarke, M.A. (Wells Gardner, Darton, and Co.)—This is a collection of short stories,—most of them with a purpose, and an essentially pathetic one, and all more than fairly well...

A Bid for Fortune. By Guy Boothby. (Ward, Lock, and

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Bowden.)—Mr. Boothby has certainly given us a marvellously lively story ; ani in Dr. Nikola, the portentous hero of it, a man who, for resource and diablerie, can only be...

The Two D.annores. By Blake Lamond. (Remington and Co.) —If

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stories of this type are to be known as " sporting love-stories of the day," we have indeed fallen on bad times. " Blake Lamond" takes the opportunity of airing her own views on...

Messrs. Seeley and Co. have published a beautiful edition, with

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illustrations by Mr. George Morrow, that are actually worthy of the text, of Mary Russell Mitford's delicious Country Stories. It is quite possible that to appreciate these...

George Morland. By R. Richardson. Illustrated. (Elliot Stock.)—This is a

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very appreciative and affectionate sketch of Morland's life and his extraordinary gift of rapid drawing. Mr. Richardson does not attempt to gloss over Morland's faults and the...

Faith Cotlerill. Selected and edited by J. Erskine Clarke, M.A.

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(Wells Gardner, Darton, and Co.)—This is a pleasing little col- lection of short and simple stories intended mainly to teach the immortal lessons of love and self-sacrifice....

The Shuttle of Fate. By Caroline Masters. (Frederick Warne and

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Co.)—This is a good story of English North-country life of the sort which recalls Mrs. Gaskell, however, more than Char- lotte Brontë. The quasi-hero, Stephen Cronshaw, alias "...

Princess and Priest. By A. S. F. Hardy. (Downey and

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Co.)— Any attempt to reproduce for the readers of the nineteenth century the social life and civilisation of Ancient Egypt deserves consideration. That that civilisation was a...

Joe Ford, by Sydney Newton (T. Fisher Unwin), is a

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clever story of a rather gruesome practical joke which is also a psycho- logical experiment. Sir James Keith, a millionaire, has brought up Christine and Leslie Dalton, the...

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The Mountain Lovers. By Fiona Macleod. (John Lane.)— This breathes

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the very air of the Highlands, with its superstitions and its freedom from restraint. Fiona Macleod, however, has wrapped-up the history of her characters in such an abundance...

The Trail of the Sword. By Gilbert Parker. (Methrien.)— There

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can be no doubt that in The Trail of the Sword we get a very real picture of the military life of the period, particularly of the quick, eager, quarrelsome, self-reliant...

The Ancient Baotians. By W. Rhys Roberts. (Cambridge University Press.)—Pindar,

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the greatest of Bceotians (if we leave Epaminondas out of account), leaves on record the com- mon reproach addressed to his countrymen, Botorr;a Ls. Professor Roberts examines...

In the Autumn number of The Cheltenham Ladies' College Magazine

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(T. Hailing, Cheltenham) we observe an interesting account of Dr. Lillias Hamilton. We mentioned, in noticing an earlier number of this excellent periodical, an account of this...

Messrs. Raphael Tuck and Co. send us a selection from

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their Christmas and New Year Cards. " Cards," as our readers are probably aware, is an exceedingly elastic term, and includes a great variety of very pretty and tasteful...

Among the Water-Lilies. By Cecilia M. Blake. (Simpkin, Marshall, and

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Co.)—There is more tragedy than water-lilies in this story, which has many fanciful, highly coloured characters, and a plot which languishes through a great deal of unnecessary...

NEW EDITIONS AND REPRINTS.—We have received two more volumes cf

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the " People's Edition of the Poetical Works of Lord Tennyson" (Macmillan and Co.) These are Locksley Hall, and other Poems, including " St. Simeon Stylites," " The Talking...

Admirers of the genius of Randolph Caldecott—and who that knows

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his work will not be found among them ?—will be glad to see the First and Second Collection of Pictures and Songs (Frederick Warne and Co.) A more delightful mingling of the...

Five Lectures on Shakespeare. By Bernhard Ten Brink. Trans- lated

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by Julia Franklin. (Bell and Sons.)—We are always glad to hear what Professor Ten Brink has to say about the master- pieces of our literature. This volume increases the...

Kaffir Stories. By W. S. Scully. " The Autonym Library." (T.

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Fisher Unwin.) - These stories are instinct with an intimate knowledge of the Kaffir peoples, and their very tragedy adds to their interest and their truthful colouring. We do...

We have received :—The British Almanac and Companion, 1895 (Stationers'

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Company), being the sixty-ninth annual issue. It contains the usual information, academical, political, commercial, &c., an almanac with the matters that the word implies, a...

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From Messrs. Marcus Ward and Co. we have also received

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a handsome collection of the same kind. Here the humorous element is especially well represented. Calendars with mottoes and texts are also numerous. Dickens and other popular...