4 MAY 1889

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Yesterday week there was a great Liberal Unionist demon- stration

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in Bingley Hall, Birmingham. There were about thirteen thousand persons present, and as the doors had to be opened two hours before the meeting commenced, a military band was...

The Vienna correspondent of the Standard has spread some alarm

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this week by affirming that Russia is again actively intriguing in the Balkans; that she recently offered to guarantee the Sultan, if he would place the Bosphorus in her hands ;...

A telegram was received in London on Monday from Cairo,

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which is apparently believed there, announcing the end of the Malidi movement. A General responsible to El Senoussi, the head of the network of military monasteries, now...

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

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p A_RIS on Sunday celebrates the centenary of the Revolu- tion. President Carnot will visit the building in Versailles where the States-General met in 1789, and will deliver a...

Mr. Gogchen's Budget resolutions were under discussion and were carried

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on Thursday ; but Mr. Gladstone, Mr. Childers, and Sir William Harcourt took occasion to stimu- late the fears of the Conservatives on the subject of the new Death-duty on...

Before the Special Commission on Parnellism and Crime, Mr. Parnell

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has been under examination by Mr. Asquith, and cross- examination by Sir R. Webster, all the week. The intention of the cross-examination has been to show that he was perfectly...

s a ft The Editors cannot undertake to return Manuscript, in any

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case.

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Mr. Balfour further asserted that wherever any hardship has been

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inflicted by recent evictions, the hardship is due entirely to the "Plan of Campaign" and the terrorism it exercises over tenants who have no interest, —indeed, the very reverse...

Mr. Morley also made a speech at Bedford on Wednesday

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on the Irish Question, and a very hackneyed speech it was. He accused Lord Selborne and Mr. Chamberlain of having made speeches at Birmingham which showed that they were...

There is something in this Samoa affair not yet quite

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clear. The Conference is far too big a council for its subject-matter, and the German Government is treating it as of almost first-rate importance, insisting on secrecy, sending...

Lord Hartington referred to the great Gladstonian demon- stration of

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last November, of which Mr. Morley had spoken so eloquently as one the significance of which could never be over-estimated, and asked whether the recent election for Birmingham,...

Yesterday week, Sir William Harcourt, speaking at Southampton, rallied Mr.

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Chamberlain on having transformed the Radical Union into the National Liberal Union, and asked why he did not take the bull by the horns, and call it the National Tory Union at...

Mr. Balfour, speaking in the Free-Trade Hall at Manchester on

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Wednesday, expressed the gratitude with which he regarded the invariable energy exhibited by the Parnellites in finding him subjects for the various speeches which he is...

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We always dread a vote by the House of Commons

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upon an Indian question, believing that the House, in its pro- found ignorance, will some day pass a " philanthropic " resolution, perhaps against polygamy, perhaps against...

A post-card was issued last Saturday in Edinburgh to every

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one of the 42,971 male and female voters on the five different registers for the City of Edinburgh, with the question,—" Do you wish Mr. Parnell to receive the honour of the...

The liquor question in India differs from the liquor ques-

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tion in Europe on two fundamental points. All evidence shows that owing to some peculiarity, either of race or climate or temperament, concentrated alcohol is to most Indians...

Mr. Lawson on Wednesday moved the second reading of the

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Leaseholds Enfranchisement Bill. Under this Bill, any leaseholder of any building may demand to become freeholder, and if there is a dispute as to the price, the County-Court...

Three of the Zulu chiefs, including Dinizulu, Cetewayo's heir, have

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been tried at Ekowe before a British Court for high treason. They were found guilty, and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment, the shortest, that inflicted on Dinizulu,...

A meeting of the Liberation Society was held on Wednesday,

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at which Mr. Stansfeld took the chair, and intimated that we are on the eve of grappling with the subject of Disestablish- ment. That is a very singular judgment of his. We...

Bank Rate, 2i per cent.

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New Consols (2i) were on Friday 98t, to 98f.

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TOPICS OF THE DAY.

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THE FETE OF THE REVOLUTION. T HE Great Powers of Europe have, it is said, decided not to swell the pomp of the French Fete of the Revolution by sending their representatives to...

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CONSERVAMES AND LIBERAL UNIONISTS. T HERE is nothing more difficult than

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to form a sure judgment on the political influences which sway con- stituencies, or even to determine whether party leaders have or have not made a grave mistake after their...

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MR. GLADSTONE AND THE " IMPOT PROGRESSIF."

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M R GLADSTONE'S self-examinations must some- times, we think, take the form of asking himself whether he has or has not played more adroitly than he ought to have done the part...

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MR. GLADSTONE ON ITALY.

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M UCH of Mr. Gladstone's article in this month's Nineteenth Century is in his happiest vein,— brimming over with buoyant optimism, and full of noble and generous sentiments. But...

THE PARALYSIS OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.

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T F there is an atom of evidence for the Gla,dstonians' con- tention that the country is with them, it is to be found in the dull quiescence with which the constituencies watch...

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THE LEASEHOLD ENFRANCHISEMENT BILL.

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I T may, we suppose, be conceded without much debate that cities built on a freehold tenure will be better built than cities built on long leaseholds, and much better built than...

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THE CHILDREN'S BILL. T HE Cruelty to Children Prevention Bill is

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very strongly backed. Sir Stafford Northcote, Mr. John Morley, and Sir Henry James represent the three chief political parties, and Mr. Samuel Smith may fairly stand for the...

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LORD WOLSELEY ON SOLDIERLY SUICIDE.

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T ORD WOLSELEY sends a paper to the Fortnightly 4 Review this month, containing an obiter dictum which is odd, or at all events looks so odd when coldly expressed in...

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EERINESS.

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E ERINESS we take to be the name for the shiver which runs through us when the veil of the physical seems to be thinned away or lifted without the unveiling of any of those...

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POLYGLOT OPERA.

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B Y the premature and lamented death of Mr. Carl Rosa, Mr. Augustus Harris is left, like Atlas, with the whole burden of the operatic world upon his shoulders. That "amal-...

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

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SMUGGLING AND THE "PLAN OF CAMPAIGN." rTo THE EDITOR OP THE " SPECTATOR:1 Sin,—Your note in the Spectator of April 27th on Lord Salisbury's illustration of the "Plan of...

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A LAWLESS OFFICIAL.

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR.") STE, - *Will you allow me to challenge your view that the democracy do not care for beautiful things P I should have said that they are very...

THE CONSERVATISM OF THE IRISH PEASANTRY. [To THE EDITOR OF

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THE " SPECTATOR.") Sra,—The Irish Roman Catholic peasantry, though Radical in politics, are exceedingly conservative in other respects. I have just been struck by an instance...

THE POSITION OF ELEMENTARY TEACHERS. [To THE EDITOR OF THE

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" SPECTATOR."] SIR,—In your article on "The Position of Elementary Teachers," you have, I think, pointed out the source of most of our present difficulties. We have changed our...

THE "LIBERAL ASSOCIATION" OF THE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON.

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] Sra,—There is a good deal in the complaint of your corre- spondent, Mr. Alfred W. Bennett, that an old Home-ruler can sympathise with. No...

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WINTER IN CALIFORNIA.

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[TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] STE, — I read with interest in the Spectator of March 9th a letter signed "J. W. Morgan" on the above subject, and am able to confirm his...

MR. FURNEAUX'S "ANIMAL PHYSIOLOGY."

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIB, — There appeared in the Spectator of April 20th a notice of this book, a volume which has lately been the cause of some anxiety to the...

THE BAHAMAS.

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[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] regret that my letter to you, sent last week in answer to an attack upon me signed "Robert Whittleton," was too long for insertion, as I am,...

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AN ORPHANAGE IN STRAITS.

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—Will you kindly allow me to thank an unknown friend, "M.," for a generous donation of £5 for the Upper Clapton Orphanage ? I have...

ART.

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ROYAL SOCIETY OF PAINTERS IN WATER- COLOURS. THE present exhibition strikes us as being neither better not- worse than the many that we have seen in former years. When one...

THE NEW ENGLISH ART CLUB.

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOB."1 SIR,—The notice of the New English Art Club opens thus :— " Candidates for election to membership of the New Reglish Art Club will not be...

POETRY.

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LONDON, APRIL, 1889. THE earth awakes even here ; 'Mid the town's din and strife, The music of the year Touches the heart of life. The earth even here is blest 'Neath the...

"BULLS."

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[TO THE EDITOR Or THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR,—The so-called Irish " bulls " exhibited by your recent contributors are mostly spurious, or at best of a mixed breed. The genuine...

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BOOKS.

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THE ROLL OF BATTLE ABBEY.* 1if giving to the world these three large and handsome volumes devoted to the descendants of those who fought with William the Norman at Hastings,...

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MR. GOSSE ON CONGREVE.* A GOOD biography of Congreve has

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long been a desideratum. The main facts of his life have, indeed, been recorded for us by Johnson, Leigh Hunt, and Macaulay; but none of these excellent and sympathetic critics...

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THE ROMANIST CONTROVERSY.* THESE are two books of considerable ability

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on the Roman Controversy, the first of which is injured by a title that suggests the purpose of the author to set up a man of straw, only that the man of straw may be turned...

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TRE USSHER FAMTLIF.S.*

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FAMILY histories, especially when they consist largely of genealogical tables, though not attractive reading, are and always will be interesting to a considerable section of...

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CAMBRIDGE HISTORICAL ESSAYS.* An extract from the regulations for the

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Prince Consort Prize informs us that these essays have been declared by the adjudi- cators of that prize for 1888 "to be deserving of publication." The public, we have little...

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THE MAGAZINES.

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Mn. KNOWLES has been very successful this month, and has filled the Nineteenth Century with good papers. Two of them, Mr. E. Dicey's on "The Lesson of Birmingham," and Mr....

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The Coming of the Friars. By the Bev. Augustus Jessopp,

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D.D. (T. Fisher Ifnvvin.)—This volume contains seven essays, which nave appeared at various times in the Nineteenth Century, and have, we think, been noticed on the occasion of...

CURRENT LITERATURE.

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A Wanderer. By H. Ogram Matuce. (Kegan Paul, Trench, and Co.)—The author begins with a poTan in honour of freedom, i.e., freedom from work. He has just got free from the desk,...

The Spectre of the Camera I or, the Professor's Sister.

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By Julian Hawthorne. (Chatto and Windus.)—We are strongly of opinion that when Mr. Julian Hawthorne takes us into the world of fantastic invention, the interest and charm of the...

The Land of the Hibiscus Blossom. By Hume Nisbet. (Ward

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and Downey.)—This "yarn of the Papuan Gulf" (for "the land of the hibiscus blossom" is New Guinea) reeks terribly of blood. There is, too, a certain sense of reality about it...

Agatha Page. By Isaac Henderson. 2 vols. (Chatto and Windus.)—The

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heroine of this story is the daughter of an American father and an Italian mother, and is certainly a very happy specimen of a mixed race. Indeed, one way of looking at the book...

A Sportsman's Eden. By Clive Phillipps-Wolley. (Bentley and Son.)—The "

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Eden " is briefly the Dominion of Canada, through which the author, with his wife (who contributes some very entertaining letters), travelled in search of sport, finding what...

Uncle's Dream ; and The Permanent Husband. By Fedor Dos-

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toieffsky. (Vizetelly and Co.)—Dostoieffsky was undoubtedly a great novelist ; but greatness is not always sufficiently great to understand its own limitations, and of this...

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The Apostle of the Indians. By the Rev. F. P.

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L. Som.. (Wells Gardner and Co.)—The missionary to whom this title is given, not, we think, without good reason, was William Henry Brett, whose missionary life, spent wholly in...

We have received a new edition (sixteenth thousand) of Principal

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Tulloch's Beginning Life (C. Burnes), and now that considerably more than a decade has passed away since its first publication, may commend its admirable good sense in matters...