MEREDITH'S POEMS.* CRITICISM of Meredith's poetry turns upon the question whether his mind found a freer and more complete expression in poetry or in prose. Qualities necessary...

LONDON: DECEMBER 7th, 1912.

be welcomed by sportsmen. Good books on sport are deplorably rare, probably because those who shoot cannot write. Mr. James Sutherland is a professional ivory-hunter who, during...

IT is not given to many men to save a country. A decisive battle may, but a battle can hardly be considered the work of one man Single-handed heroism like that of Micca or...

of another planet were to be curious as to the doings of a typical, public-spirited, active-minded woman of the most modern views, living in London in the early twentieth...

undistinguished from a literary point of view, will be found pleasant company by many of our readers. It consists of a series of delicate, sympathetic studies of varying length...

just what photography is, this book is a real help. The subject is dealt with in language that is not technical ; and the reader will find him- self carried along so deftly from...

SOME ILLUSTRATED EDITIONS.* Wito can state with any confidence the real causes which lead to a particular book being included among those which renew their youth in these fine...

Through ShOn-San. By R. S. Clark and A. de C. Sowerby. (T. Fisher Unwin. 25s. net.)—The expedition undertaken by Mr. Clark, of New York, in 1908-9 has an interesting record in...

IN any collection of stories for boys and girls it is noticeable that in the boys' hooks, other than school stories, the adventure is generally found abroad. The writers and...

H. Koebel. (Same publishers. 20s. net.)-It was bold to attempt to include the whole of South America in one volume of Messrs. Black's series of descriptive books. Naturally the...

a good example of that school, of which Mr. Kipling is the master, whose writers make history a pleasure to their readers. Beginning with Alexander at "The Rock of Narsinga," we...

Pioneers in Australasia. By Sir Harry Johnston. (Blackie and Sons. 6s.)—Sir Harry Johnston is continuing his series which deals with the pioneer work of the Empire. In this...

Mr. Cyril Hall has written a comprehensive and very attractive book under the title of Wood and What We Make of It (Mackie and Son. 3s. (3d.). The final chapters are not much...

White-Ear and Peter. By Neils Heiberg. Illustrated by Cecil Aldin. (Macmillan and Co. 6s. net.)—An imaginative chronicle of the lives of a fox and a fox-terrier, which ends with...

OxFonn has lacked any work to correspond with Willis and Clark's Architectural History of Cambridge which Mr. Valiance Las had in his mind in producing this splendid volume. The...

tails. In each case he gives the scientific reason for this or that property or capability, as, for instance, the power of directing hearing in the elephant's huge ears, the...

A Book of Beggars. By W. Dacres Adams. (W. Heinemann. 5s. net.)—Mr. Adams has drawn some capital black-and-white dogs engaged in barking at his full-page coloured illustrations...

trations by C. F. Newell. (T. Nelson and Sons. 63. net.)-Dr. Westell takes his readers for rambles through country places and by the sea-shore, and points out the different...

The Little One's Own Wood Block (S.P.C.H., 2s. 6d. net) is per- haps more of a toy than a book, but whether its proper home is a cupboard or a shelf it will be a welcome...

by Iris Eardley-Wilmot. (E. Arnold. 7s. 6d. net.) -The charm of Sir S. Eardley-Wilmot's narrative of the typical life of an elephant is reinforced by Miss Iris Eardley-Wilmot's...

(Duck- worth and Co. is. 6d. net.)-A shipwreck results in the introduction of a eat, a dog, and other domestic animals among African jungle people : pleasantly written nonsense...

net.)-Mr. Miles has given to his book the appearance of a most suitable Christmas present. At the same time it i3 full of learned research, as may be gathered at once from the...

(A. and C. Black. 3s. 6d.)-Adventures of a child among forest animals, particularly a bear who tells the story of his life in a circus menagerie. As a gift-book it is a little...

G. Aflalo. (Partridge and Co. 6a. net.)-Mr. Aflalo has collected from various sources, including his own reminiscences, the files of sporting newspapers, and tales and anecdotes...

Our Nursery Rhyme Book. (Herbert and Daniel. 55. net.)-The preface tells us that Lotty and Frank Littlewood, aged three and six respectively, chose their favourite rhymes for...

photographs by Cherry and Grace Hearten. (Cassell and Co. 6s. net.)-Mr. Kearton's name sufficiently indicates the contents. The letterpress is intended for children, and is...

time of Augustus. It is intended to be a first introduction to Roman history, and is composed of incidents picked out for their picturesque effect. The result is that an undue...

(Gresham Publishing Co. 7s. 6d. net.)—The opening portion, about one-third, of this book gives us a sketch of the history of romance as it grew in prose and verse until it gave...

S. 4s. 6d net.) —Children's pets as well as their owners should be the happier if the first part of this stout volume is well studied, for it gives useful hints as to how many...

a hansom cab has found a place in a London museum it is time for comprehensive literature to grow up around horse-drawn vehicles. Mr. Straus begins with the solid, rounded trunk...

(The Pilgrim Press. 3s. 6d.)—The London Fire Brigade, the older Metropolitan Fire Brigade under its latest name, is naturally the chief of all brigades, and fills the principal...

and Co. 21s, net.)—The title of this stout volume and the frontis- piece give the impression that it is a gift-book for boys. As a matter of fact it is a comprehensive "popular"...

and E. C. Jack. 7s. 6d. net.)—What might be called a history of the world from one point of view is set out here in simple language. The early ideas of the geography of the...

and Hodder and Stoughton. 7s. 6d. net.)—Miss Marshall gives pic- turesque incidents which will catch the attention of a child, but she also has an historical sense. She binds...

5s.)—This venerable children's magazine keeps up its old traditions without lagging behind the times in such matters as coloured illustrations. There is a serial schoolboy story...

6d. net.) —The Rev. E. J. B. Kirtlan has taken this Arthurian legend from the Cotton MS. of 1360 in the British Museum, and has transcribed it in dignified modern English with a...

annual volume of this periodical runs to nearly a thousand copiously Illustrated pages. There is plenty of fiction and articles chiefly of a religious tendency. The latter...

Frowde and Hodder and Stoughton. 6s. net.)—There is no original work in these stories, which are a very good selection, including some of the best-known favourites. Several are...

series of "The Engravers of England" the publisher gives us nineteen reproductions of stipple engravings by Bartolozzi with some more by J. R. Smith and others, making...

short stories at 1s. each net. They are excellently got up and well illustrated, and will probably be new to the younger generation of readers, for they were originally...

Brothers. 12s. 6d. net.)—A finely and profusely lllustrated volume, with coloured plates from paintings and photo- graphs. It is mainly intended for amateurs, so far as the...

WILLI A TX THE SILENT. William the Silent. By J. C. Squire. (Methuen and Co. 10s. 6d. net.)—It is a pleasure in these days when historical hackwork is one of the staples of the...

curious illusion of thinking in French and speaking in English which this writer has the faculty of conveying to her readers, is here carried out with much vivacity. "Le PIA...

Sons. as. &L)—This book begins with an account of a prize dis- tribution party at a London high school for girls, but it is chiefly concerned with the busy life led by a...

net.)—This is another of the popular collections of exciting stories and instructive articles on such subjects as, for example, lightships and torpedoes. It has a large number...

6s. net.)—The hunters of big game write books for their friends and for one another; extracts from their works, describing particularly exciting adventures are here collected...

and Hancock. 15s. net.)—Mrs. Wilcox has, we believe, a great vogue among feminine readers on both sides of the Atlantic, and there will be many purchasers to welcome this...

Curtis. (Vinton and Co. 3s. 6d. net.)-This is a thoroughly practical little book, which should be of service to landowners and agents who want details of cost and construction...

In the Courts of Memory. By Mine. De Hegermann-Linden- crone. (Harper and Brothers. 12s. 6d. net.)-There will always be a certain indefinable pleasure in reading gossip, more or...

B Y far the most important event of the week is the announcement made in the Canadian House of Commons on Thursday by Mr. Borden that the Dominion Parliament will be asked to...

the Memorandum on Naval Defence Requirements which was prepared by the Admiralty for the Government of Canada. This remarkable document sets forth in plain language but with...

FOR i"...4;406.k c 1 , 7 191V2,EEK EN [ REGISTERED AS A } PRICE Si. POSTAGE LEROAD Nswsrarsa., DT PORT...6tD. ING SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1912.

be treating Canada not on an equality and not as "one of the family" to indulge in any elaborate language of gratitude for thus taking up her share of the Imperial burden. For...

that the native rulers of India were about to offer a con- tribution to the Navy of three Dreadnoughts and nine cruisers. Such a contribution would, of course, be impos- sible,...

the Great Powers to act as a Conference will also be held in London remains to be seen, but it certainly would be convenient if London should be the place selected.. What the...

war. An armistice was signed on Tuesday evening between the delegates of Turkey and Bulgaria, Servia, and Montenegro, but although Greece is thus left out, it seems likely that...

of its very great importance, an article in the Toronto News which was summarized in the Times of November 27th. The Toronto News, which is a strong advocate of Imperial...

returns are also remarkable. The Daily Mail on Thursday quoted a well-known financier as saying "Pro- sperity has outstripped. capital. There is not enough money to go round."...

scheme for increased pay in the Navy. Roughly, it may be said that the pay of the men is increased by about 3d. a day, and the pay of the petty officers by about 4d. a day....

Govern- ment not to drop the Mental Deficiency Bill have been continued this week. The appeal of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of Birmingham. Sir Clifford Allbutt,...

Commons was engaged in debating the intricacies of the Home Rule Bill. We do not propose, however, to attempt any summary of pro- ceedings so unreal and so futile. The knowledge...

what sensational manner. Resenting the Clerioo-bureaucratic intervention at the elections which had secured the apparent triumph of the Right, the Octobrists joined forces with...

on the extraordinary prosperity of trade. In almost every industry the accounts are extremely good, and in many of them quite enthusiastic. Retail trade is very brisk, and bears...

why Labour objects to National Service. He says that working men have an inherited tradition of individual freedom which is so strong that any political party that put...

Colonel Seely estimated the numbers of the National Reserve as "more than 170,000 men." The information which we have been able to arrive at, owing to the appeal by the Editor...

our feudal land system, and said that the people had been driven off the land in Scotland to make room for deer and grouse. After observing that this was the hour of "the great...

quite in his Limehouse manner. The Opposition, he observed, had shown an indecent haste to turn the Government out, not that they were anxious for office or wished to alter the...

October 17th , Consols (20 were on Friday 75t—Friday week 75i.

the National Trust of Blakeney Point. The property, which extends for three and a half miles along the North Sea from Cley to Blakeney and covers an area of about a thousand...

small importance on the occasion of the presentation of prizes to the London Scottish Regiment. With regard to that part of the speech which dealt with National Service and, as...

last Saturday, when he discoursed on the iniquities of the Lords, the tragical waste of time in Parliament, and the noble efforts of the Government to save the Parliamentary...

offering some small anneal payment to the individual men which could not but be inadequate, the War Office will give the Territorial Associations a sum of money per man...

UNIONIST POLICY. W HEN we wrote of the speeches of Lord Lansdowne and Mr. Boner Law at the Albert Hall we expressed the earnest hope that we should be able to leave the fiscal...

I N spite of the menacing news that is pouring in from many quarters of mobilization, or rather pre- parations for mobilization, on the French and German frontier, on the...

TIET public is slowly waking up to the full importance f the Trade Disputes A,ct, as recently revealed by the judgment of the House of Lords in the case of Vacher and Son v. The...

Freese has published an article of peculiar interest by Field-Marshal von der Goltz on the Turkish defeats. The name of no foreigner is con- nected more closely with the modern...

only dealt with Disraeli's main object in life, and with the methods by which he endeavoured to attain that object. The important question remains to be considered of whether,...

F ROM every part of the country cornea the same story of prosperous trade and money circulating as quickly as blood through the veins. The reaction from the labour unrest and...

" I :RAVE never really oared for the very good ones," said a woman who had been for many years at the head of a well-known girls' school. The present writer, to whom the...

A SPECIAL interest is attached to the work of the pioneer, whether in the exploration of antarctic ice- fields or the more accessible study of social science. It is with a due...

CLUB PRACTICE: AN AVERAGE DAY. [To VIZ EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR...] SIR,—The following is founded on actual incidents in my club practice. Will it interest your readers P—I...

leaders of our party to jettison the Referendum is more than a puzzle to me, unless it comes of the ill-feeling still nourished against Mr. Balfour. He made a definite promise...

UNIONIST POLICY. MO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR:] Sin,—Lancashire and Yorkshire are not the only districts in the kingdom where Lord Lansdowne's Albert Hall pronouncement...

Sun,—Possibly Tariff Reform did not increase the Unionist vote at the Bolton election by reason of the way in which the suggested tax on foreign corn was dealt with by opponents...

Sin,—There is no doubt a tendency to make far too much fuss about the results of by-elections, but the recent election at Bolton is of real significance. The result came as a...

Stn,—With reference to your comments on Sir Graham Bower's letter might I remark that the man in the street is apt to overlook the seriousness of the Ulster question when the...

SIR,—As one who took an active part in the Bolton election, may I ask the indulgence of your columns to explain why I differ entirely from Mr. Taylor as regards the effect which...

old-fashioned Conservative to express his entire disapproval of (what he thinks) the most ill-advised letter from Mr. Oliver, which appeared in your issue of November 23rd P It...

do in the City of London it is often borne in on me with the sadness of tragic iteration how much young male life would be spared to the Empire if only there were (to use the...

SIR,—I read in the Daily .Mail of Monday last a letter by Lord Roberts, in which he says that "what he asks" is that "all able-bodied young men should be passed through the...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SDECTATOR."] SIR,—May I, as a Territorial officer and a supporter of the National Service League, express my gratitude to you for your powerful article...

pro TEE EDITOR OF THB "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—A correspondent repeats in your last issue the old argument that if we were defeated at sea a land force would be of no use to us, &c.,...

SIR,—The following passage in Henry Drummond's "Natural Law in the Spiritual World" may be of interest to those who are now discussing whether able-bodied male citizens should...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] Siu,—In the event of such dire emergencies as raid or invasion, or even imminence of either, would it not be of immense service if each town...

[To THE EDITOR 07 THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—Every patent now in force contains the following proviso :— "Provided . . . also if the said patentee shall not supply or cause to be...

[To TER EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—You may have observed that the Chancellor of the Exchequer made a speech last night in Aberdeen. He told a sympathetic audience that...

[To THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."] ,Slae.4 see that in the Spectator and elsewhere it continues to be suggested that Sir Felix Schuster, as Governor of the :Union of London and...

[TO MI EDITOR OP TER " SPECTATOR."] SIR,—The patriotic offer of the Ruling Princes of India, even if it falls below the exaggerated estimate of the press, accentuates the need...

[TO THR EDITOR OP TIM "EPEOTATOR.1 Sin, — Your readers will doubtless like to learn the result of the Model Election in which they were invited to take part last week. Nearly...

[To TILE EDITOR OF MR "Sracraion."] Sin,—The moderate Churchman has so little opportunity nowadays of making his voice beard that I venture to ask you to give publicity to the...

[TO VIZ EDITOR OF TIM "SraoraTorul SIR,—I think you will be interested to know of a scheme recently initiated by the Victoria League to secure for fellow subjects in the...

[To THIS EDITOR OF Tar “Erroreroe..”1 Sru,—I have read with much interest Lord Cromer's criticism of Disraeli. What I oannot understand is why Lord Cromer should call him "This...

think that it would have added a pang to the early death which all lovers of good biography are deploring, if Mr. Monypenny bad been spared to read Lord Cromer's first article...

"SPECTATOR.") SIR,—May I crave the hospitality of your columns for the follow- ing appeal ? At a meeting of friends of the late General Sir Henry Scobell, held in Capetown...

[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR, — While I was living at Kirkcaldy, Fifeshire, during the early spring of 1911, a pair of partridges were to be seen almost every...

[TO THE EDITOE OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—The name of the poem may be forgotten, but the poet is not. He was Richard Monckton Milnes. I venture to think, however, that the...

[TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] Sin,—The subjoined lines will suffice to show that Sir Charles Hanbury Williams was a master of the art of invective. The balanced...

[To Tax EDITOR OF THE "Srrortrop.."] SIR,—In the article on "A Latin Farmer" in the Spectator of November 16th it is stated that "on an estate kept by Varro himself there were...

[To THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—At this juncture it may be of some public interest to record the fact that the recommendations of the majority of the members of the...

had in my possession the head of a partridge which was sent me by a former coachman of my father's (my ally in the shooting and fishing expeditions of my youth), with the...

above heading in your issue of November 30th recalls an incident which I heard related by my late father-in-law. He and his brother-in-law were snipe- shooting on Sedgmoor. They...

[To THE EDITOR OF TIM "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—In view of the legislation regarding the White Slave Traffic at present so prominently before the country, I should be glad, with your...

A CYCLE. OLD men weave memories, sitting in the sun, Of a world grown vain, whose one-time vaunted scars The soft moss covers, and whose rare bazaars— That sold them Truth—new,...

or initials, or with a pseudonym, or are marked "Communicated," the Editor must not necessarily be held to be in agreement with the views therein expressed or with the mode of...

RECENT EVENTS AND PRESENT POLICIES IN CHINA.* Ka. J. 0. P. BLAND, joint author with Mr. E. Backhouse of that memorable book, China under the Empress Dowager, gives us here out...

ATTENTIVE students of Mr. Punch—not those who content themselves with a hasty inspection of the pictures—can hardly have failed to detect of late a somewhat unfamiliar note in...

very stiff and very Ill-tempered before Mr. Gilfrid Hartley's sketches cease to attract him. Many people attempt the genre, and though an incredible number of readers are...

the Cross Roads, does not contain a dull page. It is full of fire; fall also, as it seems to us, of exaggeration. His subjects may be summed up under two heads. First, a...

"a retrospect of sixty years," but be might have increased the number to eighty. His pleasant pages carry us back to the days of William the Fourth, when it was possible for a...

Two articles in the Nineteenth Century deal with the outlook in the Near East. The first, by Mr. Marmaduke Pickthall, the author of that remarkable novel Said the Fisherman, is...

Mary's Hospital is of great interest. Thanks to wise and generous benefactors, this department is now well established, with wards, laboratories, and about a thousand patients...

Sybil Grant's book of short stories contains some extremely clever work, and if it is written from a rather cynical point of view no one can say that this is not the fashion....

Elder and Co. 6s.)—The difference between the Victorian novel in three volumes and the modern six-shilling story is that when an author wishes to write a long book it has to be...

PIKE AND CABKONADE, * Melon MACMUNN belongs to that class of soldiers who have not only moved in the mid-current of action, but are also fortunately possessed of the gift of...

Reid. (Macmillan and Co. Is. not.)—In his inaugural address of the autumn session of the new University College of Wales at Aberystwyth, Mr. Whitelaw Reid gave a deeply...

[Under this heading we notice such Books of the week es have not been reserved for review in other forms.] The Note-Books of Samuel Butler, Author of " Erewhon." Selec- tions...

D.D., D.C.L., D.Litt. (Cassell and Co. is. net.)—If a man is old, able, and an optimist it is always worth while to listen to what he has got to say; probably we may hear...

amusing story of two girls, one engaged, the other entirely fancy free, who go to spend a summer in America.—Bunch Grass. By Horace Annesley Vachon. (John Murray. 63.)---A...

—This, although not a story for children, is a story entirely about them. It is concerned with the adventures of some naughty little English girls who go over the river into a...

(Constable and Co. Is. net.)—The Jaques-Dalcroze system of "rhy - thmische Gymnastik" has already attracted much attention among Continental educationists, and the...

Arnold. 15s. net.)—Mr. Kent tells the story of the recent Revolution as it appeared to a well-informo 4 resident in China. His narrative is interesting on its own account, and...