T HE curtain has again descended in the theatre of war, and though we hear behind it confused tramplings and knockings, it is impossible to tell what great scene of arms is in...

but the news from St. Petersburg mostly consists of speculations about peace. We have given elsewhere our reasons for believing that the men who really govern Russia are by no...

have found well informed, that the situation there is growing very serious. It is stated that the Sultan is suffering from disease of the kidneys, and is so ill that it may be...

the heat and tension produced by the German Emperor's injudicious action, and by the clamours and menaces of the German Press. We may, however, without offence remind the German...

impressing by his presence and his oratory, a strange con- course which includes the Mohammedan rabble of Tangier, the emissaries of the Sultan, Spaniards, Porbuguese, Jews, and...

and State in France has commenced, but will not reach the crucial points for some time. All parties are aware that the Bill as a Bill will be carried, the majority against...

the Swedish-Norwegian conflict appeared in last Saturday's Times. We have not space to go into details, but may briefly summarise Dr. Nansen's contentions. They are that while...

the past week has been most humiliating to the Government, and the Prime Minister has suffered a loss of personal dignity which is without precedent in our Parliamentary annals....

grave injury would be done to the shipping interest by the adoption of Mr. Chamberlain's policy—was moved by Mr. Osmond Williams and seconded by Colonel Denny, a Conservative...

has secured an agreement with the Amir, and left Kabul on March 29th. The terms are as yet unknown in detail, but it seems to be understood that Afghanistan will not obtain a...

the situation in South-Eastern Europe in the Lords. The report that the British Government had put forward a scheme -of their own in January was probably due to the unauthorised...

to his Treaty with Santo Domingo which it is imagined the Senate may aecept. He has made a temporary agreement with the President of the Dominican Republic, under which the...

a vigorous defence of the value in emergencies of the Volunteer Force for service oversea. The real reduction should be in the Regulars, since the most expensive parts of the...

made his annual statement preparatory to the Committee of Supply on the Army Estimates. He dealt chiefly with generalities, explaining why reforms took time to accomplish, how...

been given due notice, as "his sole knowledge of what appeared to have taken place last night was derived from the question." While Mr. Balfottr was studying the order-book Sir...

privy to the negotiations with the Colonial Premiers up to the date of his resignation in 1902, be plainly approved of both retaliation and Colonial pre- ference up to that...

over public opinion in regard to the present political situation is to be found in the fact that the Daily Mail, which is an avowed supporter both of the Ministry and of Tariff...

a supporter of his Fiscal policy, his eldest son wrote to the Times on Monday stating that though his father was for many years inclined to favour a policy of retaliation, he...

• • PERSONAL DIGNITY AND PUBLIC LIFE. " I COULD not continue in office without a loss of personal dignity." That is a phrase to be found in one of Macaulay's letters,—a letter...

W HAT is the real meaning of the German Emperor's action in Morocco ? We do not profess to be able to offer a complete answer to this question, but a little reflection will...

W E remain, in spite of all rumours and assertions, unconvinced of immediate peace. Certain Depart- ments of the Russian Government, and especially the Department of Finance,...

which occupied the later part of the after- noon sitting of the House of Commons on Monday brought out a number of useful suggestions. Sir John Gorst, for example, instituted a...

a "Public Trustee and Executor" does not pass. It has been before the House of Commons every Session for nineteen years, it has received the approval of Borne of the greatest...

tenary of Hans Christian Andersen will send the thoughts of men and women all the world over, first gratefully and affectionately to the land of his birth, and then to that...

stories for boys that his death brings with it a sense of personal loss to those who have read him. When a great course, have possessed the faculty of creating friendship...

is to hold them up by their tails and see whether they squeak. Unfortunately, no such simple way of settling the question of the best boys for what in hunting parlance would be...

ITo TR/I EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—As your journal has always evinced a particular interest in foreign policy, and a laudable readiness to set national interests above...

SIR,—In reply to your comment on my letter in the Spectator of March 25th, may I be allowed to observe that the "con- stitutional functions" of an Opposition, and the recognised...

"SPECTATOR.") SIR,—In your issue of March 4th the Bishop of Marlborough, taking exception to your reviewer's remark that the Recur- rection of Christ "is a question for the...

in your columns on Army matters can fail to see that all your correspondents are agreed on at least one point, that being the absolute necessity of great changes in our military...

of soience will share your optimistic view that "the man of science and the sceptic work together with the Christian to strengthen those very foundations which the new knowledge...

hard fact for the Tariff Reformers who are proclaiming the ruin of the tinplate trade. Last week some shares in a tinplate works at Llanelly were offered for sale by public...

War Office. Such a revolution as he advo- cates might have a Nihilistic effect on discipline. Could the country afford to await the Phoenix new-birth? The ordinary officer's...

SIE,—I am much obliged for the kindly review of "Church Work" in your issue of March llth. I would point out/. however, that your reviewer has quite misunderstood my meaning in...

of an animal "passive resister" may possibly interest some of your readers. Nearly thirty years ago I was out with a small shooting party in a district of Northern Oudh. We had...

Sm,—Referring to your note on this subject in the Spectator of March 25th, I think the two-Power-standard theory can claim a greater length of life, even officially, than you...

Spectator, the stray pigeon picked up on the outward-bound Chile mail steamer off Bardsey Island on Christmas Eve has been restored to its home. The letter in your issue of...

SIR,—The letter which under the heading " Eton " is questioned by your correspondents of March 25th was written by me not without inquiry and reasonable evi- dence. If any...

Exhibition up to March 30th amount to .t1,080, besides a further £100 promised to the Prize Fund by the Garden City Company. It is confidently hoped that when the entries close...

Victorian Age seem to us, looking back, to have had a largeness and firmness of grasp possessed by few of their successors. They were sane, masculine people, dealing...

lambs shall fold In deep pastures starred with gold. On green carpets they shall tread. Gold and purple be their bed, Honeyed clover make their food In a watered solitude....

SIR,—You refer in the Spectator of March 25th to a "defiance like that of the immortal Mr. Jefferson Brick, which defied everybody and yet hurt nobody." Surely Mr. Brick's fame...

gossips of the Press have taken advantage of his centenary to belittle his character, and to divulge the weaknesses which impaired' his dignity. Not only have we been told for...

has become merely a curiosity, the pilgrim remains—as zealous as ever. The only difference is his motive, which, piety no longer, has changed to hero-worship. Possibly an...

man" lies at the root of three-quarters of our social problems. There are scores of proverbs which show that the common- sense of mankind has always recognised that the only way...

again deserved well of his "delectable duchy," but he has seldom, if ever, given more convincing proof of his loyalty than in his new and delightfully named romance. " Q " has...

6s.)—Mrs. Galer, the heroine of Mr. Pett Ridge's new volume, conducts an exceedingly successful laundry business. She is very early in the story freed from the burden of...

Gs.) — The optimist who reads this book will have his faith in the well-being of the world most rudely shaken. The mills in which Amanda works in the second part of the novel...

SilberracL (A. Constable and Co. 6s.)—Miss Silberrad in this series of short stories writes of a period and place both of which she keeps romantically vague. We know that the...

The Poems of John Seats. Edited, with an Introduction and Notes, by E. de Selincourt. (Methuen and Co. 7s. 6d. net.)—Mr. de Selincourt's introduction is an instructive piece of...

Stock. Is. 6(1. net.)—Mr. Monks's sub-title, "Secrets of Success in Sacred Oratory," is less happy than the name given to his book. Young preachers have much to learn, and,...

8s.)—Readers of the "Letters from a Self-Made Merchant" will be glad to welcome another instalment of shrewd, practical, and sagacious advice from the same father to the same...

net.) —This is a "popular edition" of a very amusing book. Some of the stories are very curious. Who would have thought that Mr. Gladstone would have made Daniel walk in the...

net.)—Imperialism seems, according to Dr. Reich, to be answer- able for a great many evil things; and this is all the harder for Imperial nations, because Empire comes to them...

Co. 12s.) —It will be sufficient to quote by way of notice of this work, now in its fifty-seventh year, the description of its contents given on the title-page. It contains "the...

Secretary of the Share and Loan Department. (Spottis- woode and Co. 50s.)—The special articles in this volume are "Company Law in 1904," "National Debts of the World," "Colonial...

6d. net.)—There is much to be learntfrom this book. Doctors, of course, disagree about bridge as about everything else; but "Cut Cavendish's" counsels appear to be well...

Lagrange. Translated by Edward Myers. (Catholic Truth Society. 2s. 6d.)—The utterances of this book, which appears, it should be said, with the imprimatur of ecclesiastical...

his Life and his Ideals, by H. S. Salt (A. C. Fifield, is. 6c1. not), the author writes : "The complaint made by the Spectator that I have obtruded my own views about Jefferies,...

Bishop). (John Murray. 2s. 6d. net.)--English Wayfaring Life in the Middle Ages. By J. J. Jusserand. (T. Fisher Unwia. 2s. 6d. net.)—The Will of God, and other Devotional...

(S.P.C.K. 21.) —There is sound sense with the practical know- ledge acquired by experience in every page of Mr. Chadwick's pamphlet. We may give as an example the analogy which...