TOPtCS OF THE DAY. A BDICATION- the Art of .. 571 PAdriatic, the Mastery of the .. 100 Advocate, the Universal........343 Agrieultural Labourers, the Shortage of (" Food I...

B Y far the most important event of the week has been the announcement made on Wednesday unofficially, but, we take it, on ample warrant, that the Cabinet have come to the...

say a word as to the newspapers which played the better part and refused to encourage the attempt at crisis-mongering. Chief among these has been the Daily Telegraph. That is a...

the beginning of the New Year. Here we Will only say that Thursday's papers print a report from British Headquarters recording a successful enterprise by our men near...

regards the North, and actually mysterious in respect of the South. What apparently is happening in the North is this. The Germans have entirely abandoned any idea of a further...

gratulate the Government of the Emperor upon the successful opening of the railway route to the new Russian port of Alex- androvsk, in the extreme North of European Russia,...

day the position of the Allies at Salonika, and in the lines, fifty miles long, which now surround it, becomes firmer and better. Probably these lines, bristling as they do with...

in the centre, on their left wing—that is, the extreme Southern front— there comes through Austrian channels an account of a big battle. In the region of Bessarabia on the...

has done its very best to support the National Government, and to prevent that Government from breaking up, and thus exposing us to most serious dangers. Again, it has condemned...

over us is in the nature of the ground occupied. Owing largely to accident, their trenches tend to be a little above ours, and therefore are rather easier to drain and keep dry....

case.

attention to a letter addressed by Lord Stamfordham, the King's private secretary, to lord Derby, dated December 28th, . in which he conveys " His Majesty's hopes that. every...

announced that the Turks after heavy shelling had breached the fork.but were driven out, leaving two hundred dead inside. The enemy retired to trenches four to nine, hundred...

It swill be remembered that our advancedlposta were withdrawn lately to Mersa •Matru, which is,the western terminus of -the Khedivial- railway from. Alexandria. On Christmas...

a large audience a -series of cinematograph - - films entitled " Britain Prepared," taken with thapermiasionand-cooperation of the Admiralty and the War Office. • It was Mr....

the Russians. Two Russian columns_ converged on a point held.by Emir Khishmet, twenty-five miles south-west of -Teheran, and routed the .enemy: The Persian Cabinet has fallen,...

exactly this course has been urged 'by us for a year and four months—i.e., since the end of -August, 1914. No explanation has been given why the War Office have failed till...

must not be supposed, as our pessimists are now beginning to hint, that we are merely going to be " hungup" round Salonika-as inthe other theatres of the war. We shall be very...

Ferdinand, in a Speech from the Throne at the opening of the.Sobranje, has been boasting of his achievements. Ho gave orders to the Bulgarian Army to invade Serbia in order "•...

Every man, woman, and child in this country when they enjoys their daily meal and carry out their ordinary avocations, when they feel that their shores are protected 'from...

decided to issue -special armteta from December 12th to all men whb- have offered themselves for military service, but have been rejected on medical grounds. In some cases, and...

the German promises to America. The Austrian, flag is sometimes flown on submarines which are believed to be , German ; and if Austria should be pinned to a pledge of abstention...

Sir Charles Monro succeeds Sir Douglas Haig (now, of course, in supreme command of the British Forces in France and Flanders) as eommander of the First Army. Sir Charles Monro...

and before their departure a special message- of thanks from the King was delivered by the- Prince of Wales. The King said that the confidence he had expressed in their sense of...

Army. " In the officers and men-of my Navy . . . I repose, in common with all my subjects, a trust that is absolute." On the officers and men of the Armies the King relies with...

which was generally foreseen. Mr. Ford's health seems to have given way, and, leaving his party behind, he is returning to America. It is said that he has offered a large sum of...

articles, has described the failure , of the German echemea in Mor0000. Englishmen are apt to, blame their own diplomacy, but its failures are as• nothing compared with the...

in replying to complaints about the insufficiency of merchant shipping, said that the Admiralty and its Transport Department could not. interfere with the military authorities,...

hundred. Trade Union officials on the pressing- need for " diluting " labour in the munitions workshops. He wanted the Trade Unions to agree to a plan by which one skilled...

which General Botha, governs that be has, released General De. Wet on :payment of his fine. General De-Wet 111113,gieen his word to keep within a certain area. Ile said that the...

8th, 1914:

COMPULSION, THE CABINET, AND THE PRESS. " There can be no army without men. Men can be had only voluntarily or involuntarily. We have ceased to obtain them voluntarily, and to...

a time for taking stock of our situation. When we look back upon the beliefs and predictions of a year ago, we have to admit that there have been many disappointments and that...

- .publish elsewhere a letter irom'Mr. Robert J. _Patterson, the Presbyterian minister who was the originator of 'the " Catch-my-Pal " movement a 'few years ego whieh 'won se...

that German commerce the future- as in the past be directed. to securing political advantages for the .German. Empire. That being so, we are not. only justified,. we are in...

the contending armies confronting each other in more than a thousand miles of trenches, constructed with an elaboration of design unknown in the past, and provided with arma-...

I T chanced that I was engaged, in another connexion, with some criticisms, or, rather, with an appreciation, of The Two Ladies (as 'always think of Martin Ross and E. (E....

T HE strength of Germany has been her preparedness ; she has been formidable in the possession and use of everything which she had made ready by foresight. One would not say...

ONCE met, in an obscure corner of the world, a young .1 priest of the Roman Church who confessed to me quite openly that he was a complete sceptic. He thought, it seemed, that,...

AN IMPERIAL PLEDGE CAMPAIGN: A CALL TO • CHIVALRY. [TO THE EDITOR OF TES " SPEOTRTOR.1 Stn, —Economy and efficiency cry out for a " D.M.G " crusade. " Drink Must Go ! "...

SIE, — As an officer of the C.L.N.G.V. helping to pass our men on from Victoria to other great termini when they come home on leave, I can say that the blessing of the...

yesterday to a police constable, a native of my village, who is in the Force in one of our largest dockyard and military towns. His beat is just outside a slum which has been...

[TO THE EDITOR 07 THE " SPECTATOR "l Srn,—I have read with interest your articles in the last few numbers of the Spectator in which you advocate " Down Glasses during the...

[To THE EDITOR OP THE SFECTATOR.1 81 - R,—The question whether the clergy should enlist as com- batants is for some of them, especially the junior clergy, an anxious and...

to a letter on this subject in your last issue you disclaim the suggestion that the Spectator is pursuing a temperance crusade, and base your advocacy of prohibition during the...

THE " SPECTATOR. " ) SIR,—You will have noticed in the past ten weeks a marked change both of tone and temper on the part of President Wilson in his dealings with Germany. It...

" SPECTIT071.71 SIR,—Many persons who appreciate a good and fair newspaper would welcome the letter by " Left-Centre " on this subject, even if they had no knowledge of the...

[To THE DIDITOS. OF " SFXCIA102.1 S11:4 — I have been meditating over your article on Ministerial salaries in the Spectator of December I I th. The deeper my medi- tation,...

[TO THE 'EDITOR OF " SPECTATOE!'] Sm,—Though I have been a diligent reader of 'the "Spectator; fortliiitylears, I have never - felt impelled before- novr th become' one of...

[TO THE EDITOR OF THB SPECTATOR. "l ISIR, — The attacks which have recently been made against Mrs. Savile, giving the general impression that she is a German woman employed in...

[TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR:1 Sm,—I beg to bring before your readers the following simple scheme in operation here, in the belief that it is capable of widespread...

[TO THE EDITOR OT THE " SPECTATOR."' SIR,—In your last issue your correspondent " J. A. L. F." asks whether there are any other novels, besides those old and forgotten works...

WE suggest that those who agree with the policy of " Down Glasses during the War " should send us, not for publication, but only for registration and reference, their name* and...

[To THE EDITOR 07 TDB "SPECTATOR. "] Sit,—I am sending this to you (a poem by my father, Francis Turner Palgrave, out of print for many years) on the chance that you should...

[To nue EDITOR OP THE " SPECTATOR-1 Snt,—It appears from " Territorial's " letter in the Spectator of December 18th that the provisional battalions have not at present the...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR-1 Sns,—I enclose you an extract from Gneist's History of the British Constitution, published in 1886. The forecast has, been marvellously...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR-1 SIB,—On New Year's Day, in almost every daily newspaper in the country, the British Red Cross Society and the Order of St. John, by means...

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...

A SOLDIER'S WARNING TO THE UNITED STATES.t To judge by the signs, the next great political lame in the United States will be the question of military and naval prepara- tion....

PRESIDENT : LORD DESBOROUGH. HON. SECRETARY : PERCY A. HARRIS, Esq. HEAD OFFICES : Judges' Quadrangle, Royal Courts of Justice (Carey Street entrance). The aims and objects of...

We went to war a year ago. One thing alone to them is clear—. Nothing must ever interfere With Mr. Collins's glass of beer. T. F.

" WHEN THERE IS PEACE." " WHEN there is Peace, this land no more Will be the land we knew of yore." Thus do the facile seers foretell The truth that none can buy or sell And...

On August 28tb, 1864, Lord Palmerston wrote to the King of the Belgians a letter which has been recorded by his private secretary and biographer, Mr. Evelyn Ashley, and in which...

THERE are various ways of turning enforced inactivity in war time to good account, and the way chosen by Mr. Stephen Paget is very good indeed. It is hard for a man ordered to...

MR. GREEN 1123 gone out over ground which has been pretty thoroughly covered before him, and he has contrived to make a book of his own out of it. He does not attempt the whole...

ALL lovers of good verse joined to high courage, the joy of battle, and the fighting spirit in its happiest and most exalted mood will delight in Mr. Herbert Asquith's The...

DAVENPORT.t nos he emerged from a brief phase of literary discipleship, Mn Marriott has steadily advanced in his craft and earned • Sirglialt Coast Detentes. By George...

FORTGNATELY we have learnt the lesson inculcated over two thousand years ago by an eminent Greek statesman, that the true defence of a coastline should be found in a Navy. Mr....

Graham. (Headley Bros. Is. 6d. net.)—The views of honest Quakers command the respect of all Christians, and there are moments when one almost envies their sublime conviction...

(Mrs.) Dinbai A. F. Chinoy. (T. Werner Laurie. 6s.)—The authors of this novel may have a most accurate knowledge of life in Bombay, but they certainly cannot write good...

latest book would make a delightful short story ; or it might well serve as the foundation for a more complicated fantasy. But in forcing it to the fashion of a six- shilling...

Mr. Graham Horton-Smith, one of the founders of the Imperial Maritime League, in " The Refiner's Fire " deals with some correspondence he has had with a pacificist, and states...

[Notice in this column does not necessarily preclude subsequent review.] Just as a study of astronomy emphasizes the smallness of man as nothing else can, so, if any one feels...

6s.)—This is, we believe, Mrs. Dowdall's first attempt at fiction-writing. She has many of the qualities of a good novelist ; she can manage a fully crowded stage, and yet not...

shapes and sizes for the pocket or the desk and at different prices.—The Society also publishes The Churchman's Remembrancer (Is. 6d.) for 1916. This includes spaces for a...