TOPICS OF THE DAY. A BERDEEN'S, Lord. Appointment as Lord- _ti. Lieutenant of Ireland._ 2.81 Actors, the, Mr. Irving's Claims for 543 Aggressive Irreligion in France 507...

T HE doubt which, whatever its origin, certainly reigned in official circles about the destiny of Burmah, has been solved. It is officially announced that on New Year's Day Lord...

speech at Ryde, in which he spoke of any concession of an Irish Parliament as wholly out of the question as an item of Conservative policy. "Whatever might be the programme...

Dafferin, detailing his reasons for annexation. The Minute it publishes by Colonel Sladen, lately Resident in Mandelay, is very poor indeed. That officer has great local...

Irish demands, said Mr. Trevelyan, we ought to be no less explicit on the con- cessions which we are prepared to make. And he confessed that he was very much disposed indeed to...

Stratford-on-Avon, on Wednesday, in which he spoke out his own mind very frankly on the subject of Ireland. "17nless we intend to keep the care of law and order in all its...

case.

who has been seriously ill for months, has this week suffered a dangerous relapse. Even should he recover, as we must all still hope, there is now no prospect that he will take...

that the neutral zone between Servia and Bulgaria has been quitted by both armies. The terms of peace are as little settled as before, and the belief that the Powers are wiling...

he is defeated, and that, although by the vote of Thursday the Chamber by 273 to 267 granted the credits for Tonquin, no Government can venture to expend them. The victory waa...

these invalidations of Reactionary elections only, are extremely oppres- sive. One hardly sees why, if they are justifiable; the majority should not always condemn the minority...

the second time on Monday, December 28th. His second term of office commences on January 31st, 1886, and con- tinues for seven more years. Should he resign or die in the...

from which it appears that he is still anxious to support the present Government if they will only bring in any measures that he approves, as he thinks they may,do, and will not...

of great political force on the danger that the cry for a reform in Local Government may, through the intervention of the Irish question, be transformed into a cry for something...

Budget. The revenue from Customs, Excise, and Stamps continues to fall; and, unless a great improvement occurs in the last quarter of the financial year, will be more than a...

means. The followers of Khalif Abdullah have now massed themselves in front of the British frontier garrison in such numbers that General 'Stephenson has felt it necessary to...

nesday's Times on the subject, in which he asserts that Irish- men really care a great deal more about the Land Question than they care about political questions of any kind;...

in the Cathedral during December as a substitute for Canon Liddon, are sermons which all Churchmen should read with the utmost care before they throw themselves into the Church...

British Museum who dismissed the labourer, Brightwell, and dismissed him, as it was inferred, for the evidence he gave as to the poisoning of the pigeons, is not under the...

issue put to Ireland by Mr. Parnell was this,—National self-govern- ment or not ? and-contends that the Land Question was not even nominally before the people. That is...

Consols were on Thursday 9 Ito Vdtitcd.

Harrison, already dead, and Mr. Childers has been asked to stand for South Edinburgh in his place. We heartily hope that he will be returned by much the same majority as that...

THE ANNEXATION OF BURMAH. T HERE is something almost bewildering in the present position of the British Empire. Here at home we seem to be incapable of governing a little...

M R. TREVELYAN has spoken out in his speech in Warwickshire with good effect. He has told us how far he thinks it safe to go in granting self-government to Ireland, and where we...

M R. LABOUCHERE'S scheme of Home-rule, described in his letter published in the Times of December 28th, is the worst we have yet seen. It is worth attentive study, because Mr....

rr HE Duke of Argyll and Lord Cowper have clearly shown, what too many of our hasty reformers appear to forget, that the dangers on the side of what is called Constitutional...

T HE re-election of M. Grevy may not be of much advan- tage to the Republic, but it is, in one way at least, a good omen for the future of France. There must be a con- siderable...

P RINCE BISMARCK is not exempt from the universal want. He has not as much money as he would like to have. But the Prince has the rare merit of not wanting money for himself. It...

T ELE lady who writes to Tuesday's Times under the signature of "Fair Wages and No Tips" has evidently a very healthy conception of what moral independence ought to be, but...

T4 ORD IDDESLEIGH has thought his speech to the undergraduates of Glasgow upon "Desultory Reading" worthy of reproduction as one of Messrs. Kegan Paul and Co.'s "Parchment...

W E almost envy the happy person who first steps into supply a real lack, and who lives to see that lack to some extent supplied. To Mrs. Jebb the "Home Arts-Association" owes...

HOME-RULE, OR SEPARATION? [To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECT•TOR.1 SIR,—Objectionable as you may consider the views expressed in this letter, I hope you will not refuse it a...

of the Liberal Party to whom your articles on "Home-rule" and on " Separation " seem to be addressed, I wish to thank you heartily for the courage with which you have faced the...

the House of Commons, varies from day to day in judgment and estimate of men and measures. It is curious to trace the rise and progress of the Fourth Party, the varying...

of Scripture which Archdeacon Farrar has collected in his Bampton Lectures recalls the remark of Erasmus, that he understood the New Testament until he read the commentators....

[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPEOTATOE.' . ] SIR,—Thank you for your protest against Dr. Dale's idea of injustice. Assuming Dr. Dale's premisses, he is strictly logical. Few...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—You ask, "Where is the proof that the Crusaders [of the fourth Crusade] stole objects of art ?" and "if so, what did they do with them...

or the future County Board for the exertions of the individual, regulate the distribution of out-door relief on a grand scale, and everywhere trust to compulsion rather than...

LTO THE EDITOR OF THE " $PECTIT011.”] SIR,-It will be readily conceded that the movement for making the University of London something less of a Government 'Office and...

CHRISTMAS. CHRIST'S star is bright, and yet our hearts are holden With dim forebodings, ghosts of gathering fear ; It is not as in days of childhood olden, When Christmas...

SIR JOHN MILLAIS. NOTICE.]* BEFORE we criticise any of the works in this collection in detail, which we hope to do with some minuteness at a later period, let us first express...

ITALY AND HER INVADERS.* AFTER a lapse of five years, Mr. Hodgkin here presents us with two more volumes of his great work on the invaders of Italy ; and they can hardly fail,...

MOSE poems in this little volume which were written, as we are told, by a child of less than eight years old, are unquestionably very marvellous specimens of poetical power in...

ingenious apology for Tory Prime Ministers ; but it is hardly a history of Toryism. The first charaCteristic of history, as its name is commonly understood, is that of a...

elaborate second edition of the large illustrated first edition of the same name. But it is more than this, for Mr. Tuer has taken the opportunity of a fresh start to omit much...

Tins is a story constructed on the old foundation of a "tryst." In the good old days whose chroniclers, untrammelled by the restraints of a pedantic accuracy, define them with...

AMONG the things, new and old, of which Lady Verney dis- courses in the essays she has contributed to Fraser and the Contemporary Review, and has now collected into two volumes,...

and Son.)—" I never pretended to be anything but a sportsman," says the " Tender-foot " (a term which means a " newcomer ") in his Preface, when he would excuse himself for...

Sladen. (Griffith, Ferran, Okeden, and Welsh.)—Mr. Sladen has not been kind to .his poems in the choice of the garment with which he has clothed them. In the covers of books,...

Voices Crying in, the Wilderness. (Macmillan.)—The idea of this tale is not a new one. Arthur Vane, brought up by a father whom it would be flattery to call eccentric on an...

and Co.)— An amusing novel, which, seeing how dull now-a-days most novels are, is high praise. But In a London Suburb is mere than' amusing. In many mopeds decidedly original,...

together :—Familiar Garden Flowers. Figured by F. Edward Hulme and described by Shirley Hibberd. (Cassell and Co.) —This is a good- looking volume, with forty beautifully...

(Hurst and Blackett.) —We have no great liking for the class of fiction which the author who styles herself "Violet Face" is in the habit of writing, or for the class of...

Unwin.)—With the exception of "Riley, M.P.," which is, we suppose, meant for fun, and which appears to us unmitigated rubbish, this Annual is a collection of very clever...

the happy faculty of writing well for children. It is a gift quite apart from that of writing well of children, as, for instance Miss Montgomery can do. The two gifts are,...

who have been losing steadily ever since. On that day a net balance of 7 seats was gained by the Unionists over the number gained by the Gladstonians, the Unionist gains...

week, as we reported in our last issue, the first borough election, in Colchester, showed an increased Conservative majority for the Conservative candidate. On Friday week, the...

T HE struggle is not finished ; but five hundred Members have been elected, and it is clear that the Unionists have triumphed. Broadly speaking, Mr. Gladstone's policy has been...

was not known here till Tuesday afternoon, it appeared on Wednesday morning that the net gain of the Unionists had risen from 15 to 21, including two gains in Glasgow, and one...

has won 8 seats from the Unionists, to 3 which they have won from him, giving him a net gain of 5. In Wales, too, be had won 2 seats, and lost only 1, or has a gain of 1. But in...

England, has run steadily against Mr. Gladstone's policy, is the magic influence exerted by the Prime Minister in the capital of Scotland, where Mr. Goschen, who was elected by...

FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, JULY 10, 1886. [ EllOISTERED AS • Pates 8d. NEWSPAPER. (Br PORT, 8}d.

The Elections 900 The First Step 901 Mr. Goschen 902 The Conservatism of London 902 Batoum 903 English Commerce and English Education 904 The Indo-Colonis1 Exhibition 905 The...

been, perhaps, Mr. Sexton's election for West Belfast by a majority of 103 over Mr. J. H. Haslett, the Conservative, the poll showing for Mr. Sexton 3,832, and for Mr. Haslett...