23 FEBRUARY 1884

Page 1

General Gordon, before arriving at Khartoum, ordered a pro- clamation

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to be affixed to the doors, in which, according to the correspondent of the Times, he promised that he would no longer interfere with slavery or the traffic in slaves. We have...

The proclamation immediately did much good. General Gordon, on arrival

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at Khartoum, was hailed as a deliverer, and. reports the place to be now as safe as Cairo. He dismissed the Egyptian Governor, who has been flogging people to death, and...

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

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H ALF of the British Expedition had on Thursday arrived at Trinkitat, and the remainder were expected before Satur- day. It was arranged that the march of the expedition-5,000...

The Debate on the Vote of Censure might easily have

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been ended on Friday week, but it lingered on in a dull way, broken by one or two powerful speeches, till early on Wednesday morning, when the division was taken. The result was...

Very little was said by the rank and file in

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this debate worth hearing, no new man made a mark, and we must confine our- selves to the leading speeches. Sir Charles Dilke, Mr. Childers, and Lord Hartington, as we have...

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

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case.

Page 2

In the resumed debate of Wednesday, on Mr. Parnell's amendment

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to the Address, Mr. O'Connor Power made a very remarkable speech, in which he insisted on the anomaly of Land Leaguers denouncing the intimidation practised by Orangemen, and...

A letter from Mr. Bradlaugh was read by the Speaker

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on Thursday, declaring his intention not to present himself to take the oath until after the Law Courts had decided the question of his liability to the penalty incurred for...

Mr. Henry H. Howorth, writing in the name of the

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Man- chester Conservative Association to last Saturday's Times, urges the abolition of the dual control, and the choice of Lord Salisbury as the head of the party. We have...

Lord Dunraven, on Monday, had the incredible folly to , attempt

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to weaken Lord Spencer's authority in Ireland, by moving in the House of Lords a resolution which condemned the Government (including, of course, the Irish Lord Chancellor, Sir...

On the other side, the strongest speeches were made by

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Sir R. Cross, who avowed openly that he advocated a Protectorate ; by Mr. Gibson, who believed that the instructions of Government to General Gordon were framed to avoid...

The best by far of the critical but not hostile

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speeches of the debate were Mr. Forster's, mentioned last week, and Mr. Goschen's, delivered on Tuesday night. He dwelt on the " stupendous " difficulties which had environed...

Mr. Marriott, who voted with the Tories on Wednesday morn-

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ing, has applied for the Stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds, and a new writ for Brighton was moved for on Thursday. The Liberals of Brighton are putting forward Mr. Robert...

The so-called religious party in the House of Commons are

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gradually raising Mr. Bradlaugh into the position of a sort of standard-bearer of the right of constituencies to elect whom they please, and are so overcoming the effects of the...

Page 3

We see with some surprise no mention of Miss Octavia

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Hill's name among those of the Commissioners to be appointed on the question of the housing of the poor. The truth is that Miss Octavia Hill knows as much about the matter as...

Lord Randolph Churchill almost outdid himself in the scur- rilousness

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of his speech this day week, at the Prince's Hall, Piccadilly, on the Egyptian policy of the Government. The Liberals, he said, "had wallowed in a stifling morass of the most...

In the Assizes held at Swansea, Mr. Justice Stephen deter-

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mined yesterday week that cremation, if properly carried out, is not illegal,—the question being raised by the attempt of Dr. Price, the Welsh Druid, to burn the dead body of...

It appears to be certain that the Torcoman clans who

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hold the oasis of Mery have voluntarily offered their submission to the Czar. Its acceptance is not so certain, but is probable ; and as Mery is only 230 miles from Herat—that...

Prince Bismarck is greatly amusing the Americans by getting savagely

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cross with them. The House of Representatives recently voted a message of condolence to the German Parlia- ment on the death of Herr Lasker, the great Jewish orator on the...

,Catharine Flanagan and Margaret Higgins, the Liverpool :poisoners, who had

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insured for small sums the lives of several persons, who subsequently died from arsenical poisoning, were 'found guilty at Liverpool on Saturday of the murder of Thomas...

West Somerset returned on Saturday the Tory candidate, Mr. Elton,

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by a majority of 762,—Mr. Elton gaining 3,757 votes, and Lord Kilcoursie, the Liberal candidate, only 2,995. This is a Tory gain on the poll of the last contest, when Mr. Acland...

Bank Rate, 3 per cent. Consols were on Friday 101i

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to 101t,

The finance departments of all the Courts amalgamated into the

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High Court have been consolidated, and Mr. Gladstone has appointed Sir George Kellner Assistant-Paymaster-General, with instructions to organise and manage the huge mass of...

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TOPICS OF THE DAY.

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THE VOTE OF CENSURE. present, Mr. Marriott, Mr. Cowen, Mr. Guest, and Mr. Charles Fitzwilliam, did go over to the opposite side ; while with them went the entire body of...

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TIME.

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T HE Prime Minister did not attempt to express adequately on Thursday the dismay which, in our opinion, the Constituencies really feel at the Obstruction which is again going on...

THE CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP.

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W HEN the Conservative Party in the country cry out for more violent and more exciting leaders, are they really aware what the genius of their party is? Of course, they can...

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GENERAL GORDON IN KHARTOUM.

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E have said enough elsewhere of General Gordon's V V extraordinary personality ; but it is necessary to con- sider resolutely and quietly, as we should consider any other...

Page 8

THE MONOPOLY OF THE BAR.

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now more courteously called, the Other Branch of the Legal profession. If it were only attacked from outside by solicitors eager to break down the barriers for themselves, the...

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THE POWER . OF THE INDIVIDUAL.

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J ORD TENNYSON, if he attends at all to such mundane J subjects, mast have derived some gratification from the events of the past month. Perhaps no incident ever occurred better...

THE COMMISSION ON THE HOUSING OF THE POOR.

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T HE Housing of the Poor is exactly the subject for a Royal Commission. It bristles with difficulties, but for the most part they are not difficulties which involve principles....

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MR. JUSTICE BUTT ON THE ALLEVIATION OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.

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T HE very solemn sentence of death which Mr. Justice Butt passed on the Liverpool prisoners, Mrs. Flanagan and Mrs. Higgins, whom he justly enough addressed in terms hardly...

Page 11

MORE VANDALISM.

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T HERE can be little doubt but that England is slowly awaking to the fact that she has only a limited domain of beautiful scenery, to give rest and refreshment to her wearied...

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

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THE DUKE OF ARGYLL ON DRAINAGE LOANS. [To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,-I have been much struck by the comments you have made and the questions you have asked as to the...

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AN ENGLISH CATHOLIC ON IRELAND.

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(TO THE EDITOR OF THE " BPECTATOR.1 SIR,—Your correspondent, "A Tory Catholic," is mistaken in supposing I "have recently resigned" my place in the Catholic Union. I never even...

[To THE ED/TOR OF THE " SVECTATOR."3

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SIR,—Will you allow me to say a few words, partly in reply to "D. G.'s " letter of last week, partly, I am sorry to have to acknowledge, in corroboration of his indictment. Most...

THE CLERGY AND VIVISECTION.

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(TO THB EDITOR OF THE " SPECTAT011;11 SIR,—The charitable supposition of your correspondent, "J. P. Wright," that it is conscientious, though mistaken, self-sacrifice which...

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BOOKS.

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PETER THE GREAT.* THESE two immense volumes, more than 1,300 pages octavo,. contain invaluable materials for the future biographer, but they hardly constitute a biography. Mr....

THE PROPOSED BRITISH SCHOOL OF CLASSICAL STUDIES AT ATHENS.

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[TO THE EDITOR OF THE " $PECTATOR."] Sin,—While thanking you for your kindly mention of the pro- posed English School of Classical Studies and Art at Athens,. I shall be glad...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SFECTATOR."] SIR,—This morning, when

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the Spectator arrived, I was engaged in putting some thoughts together for the evening's sermon. On opening your journal, my eyes chanced to rest for the moment on "D. G.'s "...

THE MINORS' PROTECTION BILL.

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[To THE EDITOR OF TEE " SPECTILTOR.") SIR, — Will you let me state through your columns that those' who are able to take part in the endeavour to obtain better legal protection...

THE ASSOCIATION FOR PROMOTING THE REFORM OF CONVOCATION.

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[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR." j STE, — The discussion in the Upper House of Convocation on the 13th inst. on the creation of a House of Laymen, and in par. ticnlar the...

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ELEPH.A_NT-DRIVING AND TIGER-SHOOTING.* If this book dealt with tiger-shooting merely

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from the ordinary point of view, describing one deadly encounter after another, and dwelling with a sort of ferocious joy upon the large "bags" of big game it had been the...

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WRAXA.LL'S MEMOIRS.*

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[SECOND NOTICIL—POSTHITMOUS MEMOIRS.] THE interest of the second half of these Memoirs differs somewhat in character from that of the first. It is almost entirely con- centrated...

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THE DUKE OF ARGYLL ON THE UNITY OF NATURE.* ALL

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who are acquainted with the other writings of the Duke of Argyll will expect from the present volume no small amount of pleasure and instruction. It is a bold and ambitious...

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VE STIGIA.*

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Veetigia nulla retrorsum would be a good remark to begin a criticism of this book, for it is beyond doubt that in the art of novel-writing the authoress has advanced, not...

PUBLIC-SCHOOL SERMONS.*

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THESE sermons are models of what the addresses to public- school boys ought to be. They are short in every sense. The sermons are short, the sentences are short, and the words...

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CHRONICLES OF NEWGATE.* MAJOR ARTHUR GRIFFITHS had, before he began

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to write the history of Newgate, approved himself a painstaking investi- gator, and deserving of the description of "honest chronicler" which his name inevitably recalls. He...

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CURRENT LITERATURE.

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Enf rgy in Nature. By W. Lant Carpenter, B.A., B.Sc. (Cassell and Co.)—These eight lectures, delivered under the auspices of the Gilchrist Educational Fund in 1881, have, by...

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A Late Remorse. By Frank Lee Benedict. 3 vols. (F.

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V. White and Co.)—This is announced, we see, as an "American story?' It has, however, little that is distinctly American about it (we presume that the spelling " occnlist " is...

The Golden Decade of a Favoured Town, 1843 1853. By

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"Contain Ignotes." (Elliot Stock.)—The writer of this book is controversial, not to say pugnacious. The chief of the "celebrated characters who have been connected with...

Humour, Wit, and Satire of the Seventeenth Century. Collected and

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illustrated by John Ashton. (Chatto and Windus.)—One is inclined to doubt whether it is quite worth while to resuscitate bygone jokes, when they are not connected with any...

Ceylon in 1883. By John Ferguson. (Sampson Low and Co.)—

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This is a thoroughly business-like book. Mr. Ferguson spends no more time than is necessary in dealing with the past of the island. It is his business to describe it as it is,...

Dr. Heidenhofs Process. By Edward Bellamy. (David Douglas.) —There is

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something very strange and, we are bound to say, mi- l:dossing about this work, though it certainly shows power. It might have been written by Edgar Poe, after study of the...

The Right Sort. By Mrs. Edward Kennard. 3 vols. (Remington

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and Co.)—A more tedious novel than this we have seldom read. It is a dreary record of hunting experiences, written without any kind of vigour, fall of slang, and showing no...

James Skinner : a Memoir. By the Author of "Charles

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Lowder." (Kegan Paul, Trench, and Co.)—That this memoir is good of its kind might be concluded from the fact that it is written by the author of "Charles Lowder," who brings to...

Aileen Aroon : a Memoir. By Gordon Stables, M.D. (Partridge

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and Co.)—It is always pleasant to read what a genuine lover of animals has to tell of his experiences. Aileen and Nero, a pair of Newfoundland, are the hero and heroine of Dr....

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The Executor. By Mrs. Alexander. 3 vols. (Bentley and Son.)

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—We can recommend this novel only to the young, who have pre- sumably a long life before them ; or to the unfortunate few whose time is of no value, either to themselves or to...

The History and Principles of the Civil Law of Rome.

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By Sheldon Amoco, MA. (Kagan Paul, Trench, and Co.)—Mr. Amos, we imagine, has been at the trouble of compiling this book not because there is any crying need of it, but just by...

BOOBS RECEIVED :—Flow is the Divinity of Jesus Christ Depicted

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in the Epistles and Gospels ? By Thomas Whitelaw, M.A. (Hodder and Stoughton.)—Outlines of Church Teaching. By C. C. G. With a preface by the Rev. F. Paget. (Masters.)—Thoughts...

Tropical Trials. By Major S. Leigh Hunt and Alexander S.

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Kenny. (W. H. Allen and Co.)—Messrs. Hunt and Kenny (Mr. Kenny follows the profession of medicine) are the joint authors of a book entitled "Duty under a Tropical Sun," and they...

DIRECTORIES, Erc.—We have received the City of London Directory (Collingridge),

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which has now reached its fourteenth annual issue, and contains several new features that facilitate reference. The coloured map has been corrected up to date, and shows all the...