E ARLY in the morning of May let the Spanish fleet defending the Philippines was destroyed in the harbour of Manilla. It consisted of the cruisers Reina Cristina,' 3,500 tons,...

" OUR HELPLESS GOVERNMENT." " O UR helpless Government,"—so runs the phrase of the Daily Chronicle, and the Daily Mail is hardly less condemnatory when it talks about the...

repeatedly spoken as the note of modern Spain comes out to the full in the accounts of the defence of Manilla. Though the Spaniards had months of warning, nothing except the...

W E take it to be certain, in spite of interruptions in the telegraphic service, that Manilla has sur- rendered ; that the Tagal population will hold the larger Philippine...

Continental State is always nearly incalculable. So many factors enter into the problem—national character, military tone, the hold of the dynasty on public regard, besides a...

talking as if Lord Salisbury's speech presaged an immediate crisis or some nearly impending trouble and perplexity. They are abundantly justified, however, in attributing the...

W E have noticed, we think, before now the change that has come over the Anglican—or at all events the English—Episcopate in the matter of frequency of speech. It is not, to our...

young servant, Jane Popejoy, by her employer, Camilla Nicholls, which was punished this week by a sentence of seven years' penal servitude, creates in the minds of most...

T HE reader of modern newspapers is a spectator who surveys the revolving kaleidoscope of the world; and latterly he has been entertained by a series of war- scenes. When this...

A CORRESPONDENT of the Morning Post revives a discussion which has for some time engaged the attention of correspondents of American newspapers deal- ing with sport and natural...

[To THE EDITOR Or TUE " SPECTATOR?' Sin,—The highly interesting article in the Spectator of April 30th on the Westminster Improvement Scheme in- duces me to draw your attention...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SDECTATOR:1 Sin,—The suggestion of your correspondent, J. M. Ludlow, in the Spectator of April 9th is an excellent one, and meets with a hearty response...

THE BIOGRAPHICAL THACKERA.Y. [To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR:] SIR,—Your reference to the "two pages and three fanny Cittle woodcuts" at the beginning of chap. 6 of the first...

(To TEL EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR.'] SIR,—The following is not a "bull," but something better. It comes from the northern part of the island. Walkiug with a friend to a hill in...

[To THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR, — In reference to the " record " deputation of Members of Parliament who waited on Mr. Balfour on Thursday, April 28th, you remark how...

DAWN. OVER the chilly sea The Dawn comes shiveringly, Pearl white, the night dreams clinging to her eyes j . Forlorn alone she waits By the world's open gates, A timid...

[To THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."1 SIR,—Being one of the eighteen surviving contributors to Dr. Smith's "Dictionary of the Bible," permit me to say that articles did appear in...

THE ACADEMY.—I. THE honours of the present exhibition are undoubtedly with. the Academicians and Associates; but so are the dishonours. The works of Messrs. Watts, Sargent,...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR:1 SIE,—In behalf of the Florida alligators, I wish to offer a word of explanation in reply to imputations seemingly east upon them by the...

CAMPAIGNING WITH GRANT.* ALTHOUGH the military achievements of the American Civil conflict of the sixties were of unsurpassed magnitude and grandeur, they cannot be said to...

IT is proper to suppose that the famous Danish critic, Dr. George Brands, has written this book primarily for his countrymen. His business has been to put before Danes the...

WE own to a pleasant surprise on reading through the first volume of The Encyclopedia of Sport. Its compilers have achieved a success of an unusual kind. They have produced a...

of one of the most interesting of our old English worthies, Mr. Ward remarks :— " Although the name of Sir Henry Wotton is a fairly familiar one to the ears of Englishmen, there...

which explicitly and im- plicitly warn the reader that Mr. Bickford-Smith's book is not a complete history either of the island of Crete or of the troubles that have recently...

NONE of the larger magazines is very exciting this month.. We do not care particularly, for instance, about Mr. H. W. Wilson's diagrams in the Nineteenth Century showing the...

THB MINOS MI■GAZINEB. Almost all the articles in the new number of the Economic Review are on subjects which are popular as well as politico. 'economical Of this character are...

Digby." (Longmans and Co. 10a. 6d.)—To the scholarly loiterer along the by - ways of English history this is a delightful little book. The clever, well-read author almost...

Cambridge.)—This is the reprint of an interesting lecture, put together from Spitta's biography of the musician, on Bach in relation to his work as a church musician and...

Alexander White, M.A. , Ph.D., D.D. (G. P. Putnam's Sons.)— This book, with its excellent series of portraits and maps, con- tains a full and interesting account of the American...

A. Sutherland. (Longmans and Co.)—Under this rather ambitious title Messrs. Turner and Sutherland have collected their stray essays on a number of Colonial writers, with...

M. Hocken. (Sampson Low, Marston, and Co. 113.) — This jumble of undigested memoranda on the early settlers of Dunedin by a local doctor is, we fear, likely to prove of very...

by E. Piper. With Descriptive Articles by J. L. W. Page (Frost and Reed, Bristol.)—The church towers of Somerset have been long recognised as of exceptional beauty. Often,...

The half-yearly volume of the Architectural Review (Effingham House, Arundel Street) is a pleasant collection of well-illustrated articles. The account of the great Abbey Church...

H. Dent and Co.)—The artist has travelled over Greece, and painted many places. The result of his pictures, reproduced in black and white, is not very pleasant. A same- ness of...

Bell and Sons. 30e.)—Mr. Law has done a very useful work in making a critical survey of this collection of pictures. The Hampton -Court pictures, eight hundred and eighty-five...

By the Rev. F. B. Smith. (Skeffington and Son.)—Much of this volume is of general application. Good sense, the resolution to do every- thing as well as you can—as, e.g., to...

Five and-twenty actors and actresses—the list is headed by Sir Henry Irving and Mr. J. L. Toole—give us their views on their own art, Mr. Hammertozt leading them on, so to...

Allen (W. 0. B.) and Another, Two Hundred Years : History of S.P.C.K.. 8vo (S.P.O.K.) 10/6 Ashley (T.), Sir Tristram, or 8vo (Ward & Lock) 3/6 Auden (H. W.), Greek Unseens for...