30 NOVEMBER 1889

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The King of Italy opened his Parliament on the 25th

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inst. in a long speech, marked by the unusual prominence given to his personal authority. We have remarked upon this feature of the speech elsewhere, and need only add here that...

Lord Salisbury had a great reception at Nottingham on Tuesday,

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where a conference of Conservative and Unionist Associations was held, with Sir A. Rollit in the chair, and a resolution passed in favour of the formation of a great " National...

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

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T HE Mahdists are naturally elated with their conquest of the Equatorial Provinces, and are determined to conquer Abyssinia, and drive the English, if not out of Egypt, at least...

In the evening, Lord Salisbury addressed a great mass meeting

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of twelve thousand persons, when he laid down what he held to be the sound Conservative view of certain social questions, such as the means by which the rate of wages could best...

No authentic news appears as yet to have arrived from

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Brazil,—that is, no news not sent through a cable which the Provisional Government controls. Private telegrams contain nothing except that the provinces "adhere," which is, of...

NOTICE TO ADVERTISERS.

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With the" SPECTATOR" of Saturday, December 7th, will be issued, gratis, a SPECIAL LITERARY SUPPLEMENT.

IV The Editors cannot undertake to return Manuscript, in any

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ease.

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The troubles with Portugal never end. No sooner had her

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Majesty's Government granted the charter to the South African Company which is to administer Zambesia, than the King of Portugal issued a decree announcing that Mashonaland and...

On Wednesday, Lord Salisbury made a considerable number of small

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speeches at Nottingham, some of them of singular ability. He spoke of the conduct of the Liberal Unionists with the utmost warmth, OS conduct that had been historically almost...

Lord Rosebery, for instance, sighs for a Cromwell who might

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deal austerely with the House of Lords. But Cromwells, when we do get them, are not very manageable persons, and perhaps a new Cromwell, if he took to revolution, might think it...

• Lord Salisbury's most novel declaration at Nottingham was understood

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to be in favour of remitting the school-fees of the very poor, and substituting a central grant, so soon at least as the Chancellor of the Exchequer could afford such an...

Long letters have been received from Stanley, dated August 17th,—that

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is, before he had left Uzinja for Mpwapwa, where he is now known to have arrived. They recount the method of his relief of Emin Pasha, who arrived on the Albert Nyanza with only...

The Germans have broken out of the European combination under

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which all semi-civilised Powers, Turkey included, are compelled to allow Europeans to be tried in Consular Courts. They have agreed that this privilege shall in Japan be limited...

Sir Albert Rollit, who took the chair at the Nottingham

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Con- ference of Conservative Associations, made a good speech in favour of the more progressive action of the party to which he belonged; but it is rather a pity, we think, at...

The French Chamber has repented of its vote for free-trade-

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in matches. The Deputies were provoked by the extraordinary badness and dearness of the monopoly matches, and voted therefore for free manufacture, forgetting that they thereby...

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The Times made a revelation on Wednesday of some literary

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interest. The elder among our readers will probably remember a series of letters, signed "An Englishman," which began to appear on December 20th, 1851, and attracted unusual...

The discussion in the London School Board on Thursday, on

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the condition of the School Board buildings, is not alto- gether pleasant reading. The chairman of the Works Com- mittee, Mr. Helby, seems to be doing his duty fearlessly ; but...

Professor Wrightson sends a good letter to Thursday's Times on

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the tendency of agriculturists to regard the price of grain as the main element in their failure or success. He thinks, on the contrary, that in times when grain is so cheap,...

Some interesting details of the reform in plumbers' work were

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given at the annual dinner of the Plumbers' Company on Tuesday. The Master, Mr. Bishop, told the guests that the plan of giving certificates to all plumbers who would register...

Mr. W. H. Flower writes an interesting letter to the

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Times of yesterday, on the pygmy races of Central Africa, whose stature, he says, probably averages about four feet in height, if he may judge by a skeleton of one of the Akka...

Lord Blachford, who died last week, was a contemporary of

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Mr. Gladstone's at Eton and Oxford. He retired from official life nearly twenty years ago, and was always better known to a few friends than to the world outside. But he was one...

Bank Rate, 5 per cent.

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New Consols (2!) were on Friday 97i to 97i.

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TOPICS OF THE DAY.

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KING HUMBERT. T HERE is quite a new ring in the long speech which the King of Italy on Monday, November 25th, delivered to his Parliament. It has long been known to those who...

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LORD SALISBURY ON THE CONSERVATIVE PRINCIPLE.

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T ORD SALISBURY'S chief speech at Nottingham was perhaps the wisest piece of general political advice which he has ever delivered. It was a speech not only worthy of the leader...

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HOW TO FRITTER AWAY POLITICAL STRENGTH. T HERE was nothing better

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in Lord Salisbury's speeches at Nottingham than his criticism on Lord Rosebery's hint as to the ease with which a Cromwell would purge the House of Lords. Considering that our...

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STANLEY'S RETURN. T HAT development of Henry Stanley from an adven-

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turer into a hero which we noticed on April 6th, when describing his marvellous march through the cannibal and dwarf-haunted forest on the Aruwhimi, remains the grand feature of...

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THE GREAT CONTRACTORS.

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M R. THOMAS ANDREW WALKER, who died on Monday, was perhaps the greatest contractor left in Britain, certainly was executing the most striking work, the Manchester Ship Canal,...

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GERMANY AND JAPAN.

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I T looks as if the new German policy under which the Imperial Government strives to develop the trade of the Fatherland with all the ingenuity and. eagerness of a pushing...

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THE PESSIMIST VIEW OF WORK.

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FriHE extraordinary pessimism of the French about all that • relates to labour has been a subject of remark for the last thirty years. They appear unable to conceive of toil as...

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THE "PALE CAST OF THOUGHT."

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A CORRESPONDENT, writing in reference to what we said last week of "Scepticism about Oneself," asserts that, so far as it referred to the reverie which Shakespeare puts into...

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A SUNNY SIDE OF IRISH LIFE.

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r ERE is an impression upon the minds of many people who have never visited it, that Ireland must be a very dangerous and disagreeable country to live in. Without minimising the...

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MR. JOHN MORLE Y'S IDE A USN

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[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIB,—In the Spectator of November 23rd, you rebuke Mr. John Morley for defending the efforts of the London County Council to throw a portion...

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

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THE EBB OF THE POWER OF RESISTANCE. [TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."1 'SIR,—In your article on "Scepticism about Oneself," you -touch a sickness of the time for which, I...

IRISH CATHOLIC INTOLERANCE.

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] have read with attention, and some sense of amuse- ment, the correspondence in your columns under this heading, and have admired the zeal of...

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A VILLAGE LIBRARY.

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.1 SIR,—Will you allow me to ask your readers if they have any- books suitable for a village library to spare, and if so, whether they will send...

" QUARENDON " APPLES.

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] Six.,—The above-named apples, to which Mr. Baring Goula refers in his new volume of "Historic Oddities" (side Spectator, p. 724, about the...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."' Sin,—Before conceding to the

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great authority of Mr. Lecky that the Act of Attainder forced on James II. by his Irish Parliament was no worse than the abortive Bills which passed the English Houses, or one...

WHITES AND BLACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.

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[To Tag EDITOR OP THE "SplicTsTos..-] SIR,—Will you kindly permit a constant reader of the Spectator to correct at least one statement in your article on "Whites and Blacks in...

POETRY.

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A GOLFER'S RHYME ON "THE NAMING OF PLACES." WHAT sentiment is gathered round That coloured rag in front of war : The only weapon without sound Fights best of all in battle's...

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BOOKS.

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LORD MELBOURNE'S PAPERS.§ LORD MELBOURNE occupies a peculiar position among British Prime Ministers,—his is, to a great extent, an undefined political personality. In his...

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THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MARY HOWITT.*

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THESE volumes recall very pleasantly two estimable pioneers of the wholesome popular literature of our time. They like- wise throw light upon the euthanasia of the Society of...

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PASSAGES FROM F. D. M_AURICE.* LLEWELYN DAVIES admits that this

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delightful volume of selections from the writings of Frederick Denison Maurice has not been named Lessons of Hope in consequence of any deliberate intention of confining the...

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FROTEUS UNBOUND.*

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IT was the special characteristic of the ancient Proteus, if we remember aright, only to speak sooth when he was bound. Now, it is very far from our purpose to cast any...

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RECENT NOVELS.* IT is more than probable, it is almost

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certain, that ninety- nine out of every hundred people who enter upon the perusal of Mr. F. Anstey's new story will read the first half-dozen chapters with a vague but...

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MR. MALLOCK'S "CYPRUS."*

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THIS is a charming book, revealing in Mr. Mallock most unusual power for that kind of description which suggests much more than it actually describes. Mr. Mallock deals in no...

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Highways and High Seas. By F. Frankfort Moore. (Blackie and

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Son.)—This is one of the best stories Mr. Moore has written, perhaps the very beat. The exciting adventures among highway- men and privateers are sure to attract boys. The tale...

The Sunday at Home. (Religious Tract Sooiety.)—The bio- graphical chapters

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are up to the usual standard in the Sunday at Home, and include some twenty-five names. There are three good. serial stories as well by Agnes Giberne, Crona Temple, and Leslie...

Afloat at Last. By J. C. Hutcheson. (Blackie and Son.)—

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This is not such a good story as "The Wreck of the Nancy Bell,' " but there is a strong and healthy flavour of the sea in it, as there is in most of Mr. Hutcheson's stories. The...

Russian Pictures. By Thomas Michell, B.A. (Religious Tract Society.)—This volume

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carries on a series of " Pictures " of various countries, to which we have several times given a well-deserved praise. The author approaches Russia by way of Berlin, after...

CURRENT LITERATURE.

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GIFT-BOOKS. Maid of the Golden Age. By H. E. McLean. (Sampson Low and Co.)—This is a very pleasant description of life on board a Man-o'-war. It is not exciting, but boys will...

The Leisure Hour. (Religious Tract Society.)—The tendency of our magazines

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to include subjects of wider variety is very noticeable in the Leisure Hour. Fiction is represented by Mr. -Tighe Hopkins's thoroughly Irish tale of " Carriconna." Genera/...

Knight Asrael, and other Stories. By U. Ashworth Taylor. (Swan

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Sonnenschein and Co.)—We fancy that most of these stories are of a kind that will be appreciated by the elders rather than the younger folk. Certainly that which gives a title...

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Lost in Africa. By Frederick Horatio Winder. (Sampson Low and

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Co.)—This is a story of a well-approved kind. The hero is robbed of his patrimonial estate by a villainous claimant, and goes to South Africa in company with a sturdy...

Tales of Daring and Danger. By G. A. Henty. (Blackie

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and Son.)—Here we have five short stories, all of them of excellent -quality. The first, the adventures of a young subaltern who goes -out bear-hunting, and has the good luck to...

Practical Education. By Charles G. Leland. (Whittaker and Co.)—Mr. Leland,

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who was at one time Director of the Public Industrial Art School at Philadelphia, United States, has a good right to speak. His subject is one of difficulty, not so much how to...

Captain. By Madame P. de Manteuil. Translated by Laura Ensor.

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(Routledge and Sons.)—This is a capital story of a Breton sailor and his dog; perhaps it might be said, of a dog and a 'Breton sailor of whom he takes charge. The Breton,...

The Rouse of Surprises. By L. T. Meade. (Hatchards.)—Mrs. Meade

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tells, in the charming way that is familiar to her readers, the story of four children. There is Christabel, a very good girl, and Phil, one of those naughty boys whom we are...

Strcvyding Castle. By Ellen Louisa Davis. (Religious Tract Society.)—M. Victor

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Lesage takes the place of valet to the Earl -of Strayding, vice the unprincipled Merritt, discharged. It is easy to see that he is no ordinary servant. In the hunting-field—for...

We Three. By" Yvonne." (W. Isbister.)—There is really very little

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to be said about this book, except that it answers sufficiently -well to its second title, "A Bit of Our Lives." There is no par- ticular story in it—" our lives seldom, happily...

TALES.—The Master of Rylands. By Mrs. G. Lewis Leeds. (Ward

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and Downey.)—It would be difficult to say of what folly a woman—or, for the matter of that, a man—is not capable. Still, that any one should have been silly enough to become the...