20 MAY 1871

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Mr. Disraeli delivered his grand assault against Mr. Lowe onThurs-

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day, but without any effect. Indeed, as he kept the button on his foil the whole time, his intention cannot have been very murderous, and Mr. Lowe does not care for chalk-marks...

M. Thiers is not in Paris. He has made a

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breach in the enceinte , and has been hoping to enter every dat this week, but he does not go in. It is believed that he expects a rising from -within, but it is more than...

Mr. Lowe replied in a speech defined very happily by

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a con- temporary as an " oratorical shrug." He thought his opponent was going to be monitory and minatory, but he had only pelted him with little technicalities. As to the tea...

The latest rumours about the situation are that the Germans

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are concentrating to march on Paris and storm it, that is, to lose `20,000 men in doing M. Thiers' work ; that the Assembly is dis- contented with M. Thiers, which is probable ;...

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

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T HE event of the week has been the destruction of the column in the Place VendOme. The Commune at last screwed their -courage up to perform that act of noble childishness—noble...

4 ',„* The Editors cannot undertake to return Manuscript in any

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case.

The latest accounts received, dated 19th inst., report a repulse

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of the Versailles troops before the Muette gate, and indicate that the Commune is becoming more and more determined. It has seized the Revue Des Deux Mondes, spared even by the...

It seems to be nearly impossible in New York to

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punish any- body if he belongs to the ruling fraternity of roughs. The omnibus-conductors are now said to be in league with desperadoes who enter the cars, insult women, steal...

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Peers, living lives of perpetual holiday, have, it would seem,

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a special interest in the holidays of other people. Their House was quite interested on Tuesday in a new holiday Bill, which was passed, and which discharges everyboly in...

The French Assembly has ratified the Treaty of Frankfort after

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a debate which turned mainly on the exchange of some cantons near Luxemburg for some cantons near Belfort. Bismarck wished the exchange because the new territory contains coal,...

On Thursday night Colonel Anson opened the ball with a

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still more plausible case. Rich officers do not like India,—dancing there is so hot. So when a regiment is ordered to India, rich officers pay poor officers as substitutes, and...

The Times makes a serious statement about the new plan

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of enlisting men for short terms. The men are now offered enlist- ment for twelve years, six to be passed in the Line and six in the Reserve, that is, they are released at 24 to...

The Treaty as now voted provides that within thirty days

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of the capture of Paris France shall pay £20,000,000 to Germany and Germany shall evacuate Normandy. By 1st May, 1872, £40,000,000 more must be paid, and Germany, if she...

Mr. Wren-Hoskyns on Thursday asked Mr. Bruce for a pro-

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mised return of the acreage owned by public corporate bodies in England and Wales, and Mr. Bruce confessed himself very nearly in despair how to get it. Everybody is always...

Sir Wilfrid Lawson, moved the Permissive Bill on Wednesday in

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an amusing speech, in which after producing all the stock arguments about the costliness and immorality of drunkenness, he offered the House a new inducement to accept his...

Mr. A. Guest, during this debate, put a favourite Army

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objec- tion to the abolition of Purchase in a very neat form. He said that" every purchasing ensign paid the Government £450, the yearly interest upon which, at five per cent.,...

The Army Debate drags on, the Colonels being resolved to

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talk the abolition of Purchase out. OnlIonday, Mr. Muntz moved an amendment in Committee, providing that officers should be paid the regulation value of their commissions at...

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A meeting of the Land Tenure Reform League was held

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at the Freemasons' Hall, Great Queen Street, on Monday, and was addressed by Mr. Mill in a long speech, the first object of which was that the State should survey, claim, and...

The Westmeath Bill moves slowly through the House, the Irish

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Members resisting the clause which continues the Peace Preserva- tion Act for two years more. The ground of their opposition was 'usually the assertion that Ireland did not...

Mr. Macfie on Friday week brought up the Colonial question

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by moving for a Committee to inquire whether " ameliorations " were /hot possible in the relations between them and the mother country. He supported the plan of Federation, the...

A rough remark in our last issue has brought down

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on our heads a storm of objurgations. We said that vaccination was decried by two or three scoundrels and a good many fools, where- upon we are asked whether we class Mr. Newman...

Last week, Friday excepted, has been much more like November

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than the May about which poets are accustomed to write such fibs. Heavy snow fell at Wick on Tuesday for twelve consecu- tive hours, there was a fall of snow at Matlock on...

The Queen has conferred a peerage on Miss Burdett-Coutts, who

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will henceforward be styled the Baroness Burdett-Coutts. As far as we can remember, no other woman throughout English history has received a peerage for her own services to the...

It was not of much use for Lord Stratheden on

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Monday to "call attention" to the results of the Black Sea Confer.. ence. The dispute is old, the nation is indifferent, and the speaker had neither oratory nor weight. The...

The great Tichborne case has been advancing all through the

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week, but as yet only part of the evidence for one side has been heard, and it would be folly to form, much more express, any opinion. The mass of evidence as yet adduced tends...

The London School Board is going to inquire whether it

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cannot help to teach the children of Belgravia. It is about to take an educational census of London, but Canon Cromwell on Wednesday moved that the inquiry should not extend to...

Consols were on Friday 93+ to 93 j.

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Page 4

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TOPICS OF THE DAY THE COLONELS ON THE RAMPAGE. T HE simple and the sufficient explanation of the absurd fiasco of Thursday is, that the rich men in the House of Commons cannot...

EARL RUSSELL ON THE AMERICAN TREATY.

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O N Monday next, we are pleased to see, Earl Russell is to. move a humble address to Her Majesty praying that. she will refuse her assent to any agreement with the Unite States...

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THE CHANCES OF THE COMTE DE CHAMBORD.

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O F all the problems—and they are endless—presented by the condition of France, no one is so perplexing to Englishmen as the extent of the strength or weakness of the Legitimist...

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PROFESSOR HUXLEY ON THE CHARITIES OF LONDON.

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P ROFESSOR HUXLEY is doing high service to the London School Board, by giving free rein to that passion for completeness of logical sequence which is as clearly the distinctive...

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THE PERMISSIVE BILL.

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W E question if a measure with a good motive was ever quite so bad as Sir Wilfrid Lawson's Permissive Bill. It is bad morally, bad socially, bad politically. It is bad morally,...

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THE NEWEST MURDER IN NEW YORK.

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T HE newspapers of New York are just now fighting out the old battle of capital punishment, over a story which is in some respects unique. A man named Ruloff or Rulloff, either...

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THE PROTESTANTS OF IRELAND ON CONFESSION.

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W E cannot but wonder a little at the comparatively slight interest taken in this country in the proceedings of the Irish Protestant Synod. That body realizes the idea so warmly...

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THE OOMEDIE FRANOAISE.

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[SECOND NOTICE.] TA AST week we attempted to give a summary account of the Theatre Francais, of the constitution of the society, and of the artistic excellence of its...

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ESTIMATES OF THE ENGLISH KINGS.

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XXVI.—RICHARD, LORD PROTECTOR. W E have had occasion to notice more than once how un- favourable to greatness, or at least the recognition of greatness, is the position of the...

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A CLERGYMAN IN PARIS.

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[Facia a CORRESPONDINT.] tE AM told that the British public pretty generally believes that Paris has been under a reign of terror ; that the Commune and their supporters are...

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LETTER TO THE EDITOR.

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MR. HUGHES ON THE STATE CHURCH. [TO THE EDITOR OD THE " SPEOTATOR.1 SIR, —Three of the speakers in the debate on Mr. Miall's motions quoted the case of the United States as that...

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BOOKS.

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M. DELEPIERRE ON PARODY.* Tars is one of the books of pure luxury which have no com- mercial reason for their existence. There is probably no real danger- of their becoming...

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MR. BOYD'S REMINISCENCES.*

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WRITTEN wholly without system, and published without a table of contents, these anecdotes will afford some amusement to the reader who dips into them casually, but they hardly...

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TRANSLATIONS OF DANTE.*

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DANTE must be classed among those poets who seem to exercise upon translators the same sort of fascination which the great. writers of antiquity have exercised upon...

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TALES OF THE NORTH RIDING.• •

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Tales of the North Riding ! Ah, there will be something real in these,—something of the rude grandeur of the bleak wild country, and the rough, outspoken, but hospitable natives...

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THE IRISH BRIGADES IN FRANCE.* IF Mr. O'Callaghan desired when

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compiling this bulky work to prove the truth of the saying, Show an Irishman a head and he'll hit it, and further to demonstrate the remarkable ubiquity of the Irish as a race,...

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CURRENT LITERATURE.

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Friendship's Garland. By Matthew Arnold. (Smith and Elder.)— What is this book, with its appearance of elegant sorrow, recalling to such readers as may be old enough to...

The Companions of St. Paul. By J. S. Howson, D.D.,

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Dean of Chester. (Stmhan.)—Whatever Dr. Howson, whose learning and practical wisdom are always welcome, writes about a subject so familiar to him as the life and labours of St....

The William Henry Letters. By A. M. Daz. (Warne and

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Co.)— This pleasant little book—the title of which quite misled us by its important political sound—comes from America, and consists of the letters passing between a school-boy...

Influence. By Mrs. Brookfield. 2 vols. (Chapman and Hall).— Comparing

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the novel before us with the only one of Mrs. Brookfield's which we can remember, "Only George," itself a work of some merit, we note a considerable advance. Influence at once...

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English and Scotch Historical Ballads. Edited with notes, introduc- tion,

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and glossary, for the use of schools, by Arthur Milman, M.A. (Longmans.)--Here are twenty-five of the most famous of our historical ballads, from King Arthur down to Prince...

A Student's Manual of the History of India. By Meadows

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Taylor, C.S.I. (Longmans.)—This is a very valuable work of a man who is singularly well qualified for the task which he has undertaken. Many years ago, Mr. Meadows Taylor...

Peeps at the Etr East. By Norman Macleod, D.D. (Strahan.)—We

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have here a very attractive volume, pleasantly written, well illustrated, sad handsome of aspect. Dr. Macleod was, with a colleague, sent out to report upon the conditions of...