In the House of Commons on Friday week the Criminal Law Amendment Bill made substantial progress in the report stage. On the motion of Mr. Rawlinson, supported by Mr. Lee, the...

We have dealt at length elsewhere with the settlement and I -with what, in our opinion, is the line of wisdom and safety for Austria-Hungary. Friday's papers are full of...

Dr. Woodrow Wilson bas been elected President of the I United States. By Wednesday it was clear that he had secured an overwhelming majority of electoral votes, and the figures...

Servia will make a very great mistake if she stands out I for an Adriatic port, and this her statesmen, we venture to say, will in the end recognize. Again, if Austria-Hungary,...

On Wednesday the thirteenth clause was discussed. It .. provides for the election of forty-two Irish members to the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The amendment considered...

Mr. Philip Snowden's amendment, bestowing the Parlia- mentary franchise on some 100,(OO women in Ireland under the Home Rule Bill, was rejected on Tuesday night by 314 to 141,...

Lord Robert Cecil, who supported the amendment, deplored the fact that members professed themselves in favour of votes for women when it was a mere debating question, but...

That the Bulgarians will be in Constantinople within the| next few days now seems almost certain, but we should doubt whether it is possible that, as the Bulgarians hope, Mass...

Bubbles of the Foam. Translated from the Original Manuscript by F. W. Bain. (Methuen and Co. 3s. Gd. net.)-Tlio latest of Mr. Bain's "translations " is, like many of its...

Winter's Pie. Edited by W. Hugh Spottiswoode. (is. net.)- "Printer's Pie" having proved such a success, a Christmas Number of it has just been issued under a new title. The...

Castles of England and Wales. By Herbert A. Evans. (Methuen and Co. 12s. 6d. net.)-Selecting thirty-three of the most important English and Welsh castles, Mr. Evans has given...

Charles the Great. By Mrs. H. H. Penrose. (Methuen and Co. - - 6s.)-In spite of the fact that a greater writer than Mrs. Penrose has long ago made a supreme study of an...

Fleet Street in Seven Centuries. By Walter George Bcll. (Sir I. Pitman and Sons. 15s. net.)-The history of Fleet Street gives the opportunity for an almost unlimited number of...

The Newo Spirit in Drama and Art. By Huntly Carter. (Frank I Palmer. 12s. 6d. net.)-The new developments in the art of the theatre in England and abroad form Mr. Carter's main...

SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK. [Under this heading we notice such Books of the week as have not been #esrvwd for review in other fornm.] TMe Political Prophecy in England. By Rupert...

Werwolves. By Eliot O'Donnell. (Methuen and Co. 5s. net.)- Anyone who wishes to become a werwolf (or werewolf) will find full instructions in this volume, and the process, we...

BISHOP WELLDON AND LORD ROBERTS'S SPEECH. [TO THB ;EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.-] SIR,-It seems to me from your editorial note upon Professor Herford's letter that you scarcely...

NATIONAL SERVICE. [To TnB EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,-With reference to your reply to "F. G.'s " letter in your issue of November 2nd, may I inform you that there " is a...

LORD ROBERTS'S MANCHESTER SPEECH. [To TEE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,-In your note on Professor Herford's letter in last week's issue you say:"We regard war with Germany...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR." SIR,-Tbe swiftness of a modern war between regularly organized, prepared, and effectively equipped armies, though in keeping with the...

The Memorial representing these views, quoted in Friday's I papers, is a very important and very ably argued document. It shows that at the election of 1910 there was a general...

The Memorial continues as follows:- I "The Irish electors are very much like others, and the very natural cry at elections for the Irish Parliament will be reduction of taxes...

The Memorial ends by the respectful request to the Govern- I ment that they "should leave this question to the unfettered decision of the House, and not drive Members either...

On Thursday Mr. Samuel endeavoured to make out that I the Irish Parliament would not be able to use its powers over the Customs duties to create a system of protection, but his...

Mr. F. E. Smith reminded the Committee of the difficulty I which Lord Morley bad defined in his "Life of Gladstone," and in which the Government were now placed. The exclusion...

The want of delicacy, nay, of ordinary care, shown in the transactions by which the firm of Messrs. Samuel, Montagt and Co. have been employed to purchase silver for the Indian...

I Sir Sidney Colvin was entertained by a large and dis- tinguished gathering of his friends on Friday week. We have not space to dwell on the well-earned tributes to his...

I A disastrous fire broke out early on Sunday morning on the premises of Messrs. John Barker in Kensington. The outbreak occurred in the quarters of the servants who attend to...

INTERPRETATION IN SONG.* IT is at once a new sensation and a relief to open a volume on the art of singing and to find no frontispiece representing the human head bisected,...

TWO BOOKS ON THE DURBAR.' THESE two volumes deal with the same subject seen from two different points of view. Mr. Fortescue writes the official history of the visit of the...

F I CTI O N.| PROMISE OF ARDEN.* Wz have waited many years for a successor to The Sinner and the Problem, that charming fantasy of modern Arcady with which Mr. Eric Parker...

I Three Women. By Netta Syrett. (Chatto and Windus. Os.)- Though fastidious readers may complain, and with justice, that Miss Netta Syrett's new book is by no means virginibus...

ORANG-UTANS. HE new apehouse at the Zoo presented on Tuesday Tmorning a somewhat unusual appearance. Astranger visiting the house for the first time might not have detected...

MR. BOWLES'S TRIUMPH. HllE decision of Mr. Justice Parker in the Chancerv 1 Division is not only a personal triumph for Mir. Gibson Bowles, on which we heartily congratulate...

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. THE SITUATION IN THE NEAR EAST. [TO TuE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR,-Your correspondent "J. R. F." refers to a possible co-operation of Great...

RELIGION AND THOUGHT IN ANCIENT EGYPT.* I THIS book will prove intensely interesting to all those who care to trace the origin of the religious idea. "The moral mandate,"...

THE FOX AND THE LAW. S URELY we may call fox-hunting the earliest and chief of e English pastimes. At least its predecessors in our land have almost died to memory with the...

MYSTICISM. [TO THE EDITOR OF TllE " SrECTATOR.'I SIR,-Surely there are many things which " cannot be communicated by the ordinary methods of proof," but which are communicable?...

RECONSTITUTED FRIENDSHIP. [TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SiR,-I have read with interest the letter on "lReconsLitlted Friendship," and agree with " R. B." (Slpctator,...

PRAYER. LTo To E EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR.'J SiR,-Your reference to the speedy response to prayer recalls to mind the following lines, quoted in " Camden's Remaines" (1636), p....

UNEMPLOYMIENT IN THE CHURCH. [TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.] Sir.,-In every Church newspaper, chiefly in the Guardiani and the Church Times, there are advertisements for...

[TO THE EDITOR OF TIIE "SrECTATOR. ] SiR,-The argument of your correspondent, "A Praying Agnostic," amounts to this: It does not matter whether or not there is really anybody...

HUNGER-STRIKING IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. [TO THEZ EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR.'] SiB,-May we consider that we have a precedent for "Hungerstriking " in the following passage ?...

LEEK V. DAFFODIL. [To TRE EDIroR o7r s "SPECTAlOu.."] SIR,-My name is Welsh, I Ive in Wales, and though my country is Pembrokeshire it is that part of it which is thoroughly...

WHITE SLAVE TRAFFIC. [To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] I SIR,-Nobody can do otherwise than condemn this abominable traffic, but are those who write and speak so severely...

T THE " LOCO" WEED. [To To EDTrOR OF Toz " SrECrATOa."] SIR,-Throughout Western Canada and the western states of Ant:wica there is a widespread belief that a certain weed...

STUDIES IN BIRD MIGRATION. [TO SUE EDITOR OF T " SPECTATOR.'] SIR,-I Yead your review of Mr. W. Eagle 1arke's book on this subject with great interest, and send you the...

NEWS OF THE WEEK. A S we write on Friday the position in Thrace appears A to be as follows. During the week the Bulgarians, like a pack of stag-hounds, have been chasing their...

Lieutenant Wagner further lifts the veil for a moment by telling us that the columns of the Third Bulgarian Army are advancing south of Lake Derkos, at the northern end of the...

I The news from the rest of the thbetrc of wvar is niagre. It I was announced on Thursday that Salowilka had fallen, or rather that the Turkish army, after the...

News of what the Times describes as the Bulgarian Mukden, that is, the series of battles which took place between October 29th and November 2nd, is now coming to hand. A Sofia...

On the third day the Bulgarian centre took the initiative, their infantry storming the fortified positions of the Turks at the point of the bayonet and then scourging their...

I After " the Bulgarian Mukden " there was an interval of some twenty-four hours in which the combatants on both sides were too weary to fight. Then began another battle, or...

A great deal has been said about the badness of the Turkish infantry fire and of the inability or a great many o0 tne Turkish reservists to handle their rifles. But even if we...

HELL FOR LEATHER. [To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] Sirz,-I suggest the possibility of this expression being a corruption of the German "Heil fur Leder," referring to the run...

A BRITISH "RED CRESCE'N'T" HOSPITAL IN CON STAINTINOPLE.-APPEAL FOR FUNDS. f TO THE EDITOR oF TUE " SPECTATOR."] Snz,-Will you allow me space in your columns for the follow i!...

V. A. D. INSPECTION. [TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] SiPS,- Knowing the interest you take in all matters of training the young to serve their country, I wish to put before...

A TAME JACKAL. [To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.,] SIR,-I do not like jackals. Your Nilghiri correspondent seems lucky with her pets, but it is as well to be cautious. The...

AN APPEAL FOR TURKISH SOLDIERS. [TO THE EDITOP OF THE "SPECTATOR."| SIR,-It is perhaps scarcely yet realized what a terrible amount of misery and suffering xvill be experienced...

POETRY. A BUGLE SONG. A CLIN-KING of steel, a trample of feet Rang loud in the street; a trumpeters call Blared forth, and the wall re-echoed the peal; "1 Tarantarara!...

" POINTS FOR THE WIRELESS COMMITTEE." TrO ordinary people nothing can be simpler than the 'T conditions under which a Government negotiation for the purchase of a patent should...

" THE LAW'S DELAY." [TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,-The layman cites the above trite condemnation of legal procedure. Yet the lawyer could reply, if the layman would...

MAJOR MORRISON BELL AND PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION. [To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."'1 SiR,-The acceptance of the principle of proportional representation for the Irish...

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. [TO TIHE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."1 Sir.,-Your thesis is that "every Federal Government in the world represents an amalgamation of governments previously...

GERMANY AND THE MONROE DOCTRINE. [To THr: EDITOR OF TilEl SPECTATOR.'] SIR,-Great Britain undoubtedly has the power of easinq the international situation now upon us by giving...

THE MAGAZINES. THE unexpectedness of the war in the Balkans and the rapidity with which it has been waged are curiously illustrated by the absence of any up-to-date treatment...

ROBERT KETT AND THE NORFOLK RISING.* I Mn. CLAYToN has written his " Robert Kett" from the standpoint of modern controversy. " The old cry for social justice uttered by Robert...

THE THREE SISTERS OF LORD RUSSELL.* THis book tells the story of three quiet, useful, and holy lives, with an occasional sidelight upon one more worldly and more famous, which...

LORD MORLEY AND MR. BALFOUR. [TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR,-Is there not something of a parallel between the passage you quote in last week's Spectator from Mr....

A LESSON FROM FRANCE. [To TEE EDITOR OF THE J "SPECTATOR."] SiB,-A quotation from Kinglake's "Invasion of the Crimea" may prove, in present circumstances, of some interest to...

THE IDLE RICH. [TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,-Your able correspondent " Bank Clerk " is apparently under the mental impression that men who work at suitable...

FABLES FOR THE TIMES. THE ASS, THE PHCENIX, AND THE PHILANTHROPIST. I (Dedicated to Lord Roberts.) I APHCENIX once visited an Ass at his house, situated on -1 an island and...

THE NATIONAL RESERVE. THE following letter has been sent by the Editor of the Spectator to the press for publication to-day:- THE TURKISH DEBACLE AND THE NATIONAL RESERVE....

A MATTER OF PROPORTION. IT was the neighbourhood of the churchyard that brought Mrs. William's position home to her so acutely. The churchyard flanked her cottage on the land...

CORRESPONDENCE. A TALE OF COINCIDENCE. [TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,-As the Spectator is the only Unionist Free Trade paper that I know of, I ask you to strain a...

A DRAMATIC COINCIDENCE. I(This story is dedicated to sensible patriots, Liberal and Tory alike.) Mr. William Banger, of the "Banger and Busco Circuit," had brought tears to...

THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. D R. WOODROW WILSON, the Democratic candidate, 11) bhas been elected President of the United States by an overwhelming majority. It is not for...

BOO KS. LADY LYTTELTON'S LETTERS.* THE Emperor Marcus Aurelius, in the opening of his "Meditations," thanks the Gods for the various blessings of his life, enumerating a good...

TOPICS OF THE DAY. AUSTRIA-HUNGAIRY AND THE SETTLEMENT. I VVENTS are moving as swiftly as ever in the Balkans. Ei The Bulgarians, as we write, are chasing the remains of...

TALES OF AUTOLYCUS.* Some Old English Worthies, a selection of popular romances or histories, edited with notes and an introduction by Miss Dorothy Senior, has a peculiar charm...