OF the topical articles in the new Nineteenth Century, un-

doubtedly the most striking, if not the most convincing, is that by Mr. Carl Joubert on "The Coming Revolution in Russia." The writer declares that the revolutionary party is ubiquitous and well organised, that it has its hand upon the Army, "wherein lies the essence of success," and only awaits the word from the Executive Committee, a body of twelve men, headed by a doctor who holds a prominent post at one of the Universities, and including several Professors of Universi- ties in Germany near the Russian border. When the blow falls he predicts that the form of government which will emerge will be constitutional, that the power of the Church will be broken, that the bureaucracy will be abolished, and that education will be extended to the nation. Mr. Joubert's claim to be regarded as a guide and prophet is invalidated by two serious considerations. It may well be that the control of the Army is the key of the situation, but if there is any- thing in the teaching of history, it is that, where the Army is the instrument of upheaval, Generals, and not Professors, are likely to come to the top. Secondly, he entirely overlooks the possibility of a Palace revolution. One cannot place much reliance on a writer who declares that "nowhere are there men of greater brain capacity and physical powers than in the huge, inert masses of humanity which constitute the population of the Empire of the Czar." Nor, again, is there any independent evidence to warrant his assertion that the total lack of suc- cess of the Russian Army is due to the half-heartedness of soldiers "who are pledged to make no Japanese widows." That there are Russian soldiers who are pledged to make no Russian widows, by firing on rioters, is possible enough. Baron Suyematsu's first instalment of his" Complete History" of "How Russia Brought on War" is an able, and in the main temperately written, indictment of Russian diplomacy in the Far East since the conclusion of the war between China and Japan, based on the State papers of the Powers concerned. The present instalment carries events down to October, 1900, and we can only note its main contention, that after laying down certain unimpeachable "fundamental principles" by which the policy of the Powers should be actuated in the Far East, Russia was the first and the most consistent offender in frustrating their useful application.—Sir Charles Eliot con- tributes a very interesting paper on "The East Africa Protec- torate as a European Colony." Much of the paper is inevitably concerned with the personal aspects of the controversy between himself and Lord Lansdowne, but the specific suggestions for assisting and encouraging colonisation are worthy of attentive consideration. There is much force in Sir Charles Eliot's objection to the reserve system, as applied to the Masai, on the ground that our aim should be, not to isolate natives, but to civilise them by contact ; we welcome his cordial recognition of the good work done by the missionaries; and we admit that he makes out a good case for the development of local govern- ment by the establishment of a Council including officers of general Colonial experience. The practice by which the Com- missioner is forced to submit detailed estimates of expenditure many months in advance is shown to be ill-suited to an expanding and rapidly changing country.—Mr. Benjamin Taylor proposes that we should close our coasting and Colonial trades against the shipping of all countries which exclude our shipping from their equivalent trades, but only so long as they exclude us. "This portion of the Navigation Laws," he continues, "should be revived not for the purpose of Protection on our part, but to enable us by reservation to pro- mote a general policy of reciprocity in shipping."—We may also note Mr. Tom Mann's eulogy of the Labour party in Australia, and Mr. H. Kershaw Walker's interesting "Chapter on Opals." He points out that the superstition of opals being unlucky is not of long standing, tracing its origin to a passage in Anne of Geierstein. But is it not possible that the mysterious and almost uncanny lustre of the opal, and its alternations of " sleepiness " and brilliance, suggesting a living thing rather than a stone, may have something to say to its sinister reputation ?

The article signed " Quirinus " on "The King and Foreign Policy" in the National Review may be briefly summed up as follows. The writer endorses the view as to the control of foreign affairs by the Sovereign as laid down by Queen Victoria in her letter to Lord John Russell, and applauds the services rendered to his country since his accession by King Edward. But he believes that a determined attempt will be, nay, is actually being, made by Germany to undo the Anglo- French entente, and that our Foreign Office is not proof against the insidious attempts of the German Embassy to entangle us once more in an understanding which may lead to a repetition of the old humiliating and unfortunate concessions to Germany. As the action of the King has emancipated us from this tradition, the writer holds that the advisers of the Crown will be held responsible if the foreign policy of England be allowed to drift once more into the old channels. The editor dots the " i's " of the article in his "Episodes of the Month" in his most uncompromising fashion, attributing the Kaiser's rumoured visit to England to the desire "to broach Anglo-German business with ingenuous British states- men." But he makes a good point in contending that, inas- much as the French Parliament adjourned without ratifying the Anglo-French Convention, there would be no chance of such ratification if Lord Lansdowne once convinced France that the entente cordials was a mere stepping-stone to an Anglo-German understanding.—Mr. Maurice Low throws some instructive side-lights on the American Presidential campaign, and while admitting that the Republicans will probably win, anticipates a close struggle. Mr. Parker is a "growing candidate," and the sudden conversion to Re- publicanism of Mr. Morgan and the Sun—until recently Mr. Roosevelt's most hostile critics—is difficult to reconcile with the regulation attacks on the Trusts by Republican orators. — Mr. G. T. Hutchinson discusses the future relations of Rhodesia and the Chartered Company in a temperate article. Dismissing the entire elimination of the Chartered Company as involving either self-government, which is impracticable, Crown Colony government, which is unpopular, and union with the Transvaal, which Rhodesia will not have, he believes the only solution will be found in a compromise with the Company. He admits that there are faults on both sides, but is evidently inclined to hold the Company respon- sible for over-capitalisation, high cost of living, and amateurish administration.—Viscount Tumour contributes an interesting sketch of the strange little Sussex sect known as the " Cokelers," an association formed some fifty years ago for mutual assistance in religion, agriculture, and com- merce, and numbering some nine hundred all told. Though their religious views are of the narrowest and most bigoted kind, "a more honest, industrious, and clean-living set of people it would be hard to find."—The late Judge O'Connor Morris's "Reminiscences" has some interesting sketches of

the giants of the Irish Bar, but is disfigured by the complacent egotism with which the writer alludes to his own literary efforts.—Captain Mahan's interesting paper on the principles involved in the war in the Far East is chiefly concerned with the question of the retention of Port Arthur by the Russians. After a careful examination of the arguments " pro" and " con.," Captain Mahan concludes that they did well not to evacuate the fortress when evacuation was possible, and that its retention, by hampering Admiral Kamimura and assisting General Kuropatkin, has secured for the Russians the delay needed to enable them to gather their resources. " Port Arthur, as well as the control of the Far Eastern waters, has thus contributed to the demonstration of the in- fluence of sea-power Every day it holds out is a gain not perhaps for itself but for Russia." Captain Mahan admits that it yet remains to be seen whether Port Arthur has or has not obtained for General Kuropatkin all the time needed to organise his campaign of successful retreat while he continues to augment his resources, but he thinks that 'the verdict of history must be that such was the tendency of its resistance, and that failure, if it comes, must be attri- buted to insufficiency of means, not to error in strategic conception."

Mr. Spender's analysis of the relations of parties, under the heading of "The Survival of the Government," in the Con-

temporary Review, is both able and acute, and little exception can be taken to his remarks on the present position of the Unionist Free-traders :—

" The desire of the Free-fooders to remain within their own party, and, if possible, to save it from being committed to Mr. Chamberlain's campaign, is in itself lawful and praiseworthy. The formal adoption of Protection as a practical policy by one of the two parties in the State is an undoubted disaster, since Free Trade must remain under a threat until Protection is formally disavowed. The Free Trade Unionists are, therefore, not to be blamed, if in this respect they have kept their eyes on the future. But it may be suggested that a firm stand at the beginning would have been more likely to effect this object than the long wait which has given Mr. Chamberlain his opportunity of capturing the party. The strategy of the Free-fooders can only be justified by its success. If it fails, it leaves them cut off from their own party and without claim on the Liberal party, which has for a year and more found itself thwarted by their action in its endeavours to dislodge the Government, and which has been compelled in the meantime to proceed with its candidatures in the constituencies which they represent. Some of us had hoped much from a working arrangement between the Opposition and the group of Unionists which was opposed to Protection, but that has been prevented by their own choice. As things are, a large number of them, beginning with Mr. Ritchie and Sir Michael Hicks Beach, are either retiring altogether from the House of Commons or withdrawing for a time until politics are less con- fused. This means, however, that Mr. Chamberlain is too strong for them, and if that fact has to be recognised in the end, the temporising policy is self-condemned."

Mr. Chamberlain, as Mr. Spender points out, though he has had no success in converting the country, has had great success in capturing the Unionist party. Hence he argues that the chance of the Free-fooders and their sympathisers of effecting anything at a later date depends on a big Liberal majority being returned at the next Election. "Any other result would give Mr. Chamberlain his opportunity of winning a victory for his policy out of the confusion of Parties, and in that case we may be quite sure that he would yield no inch of his ground to any dissentient in his own Party."—Mr. John Foreman contributes a decidedly hostile review of the rule of the Americans in the Philippines, which, in spite of the introduction of certain salutary material changes, he denounces, in the main, as corrupt, vexatious, and marked by a disregard for America's national prestige. He admits that the Filipinos have been freed from the incubus of monastic tyranny, but is by no means certain that the price they have paid for this boon is not excessive.—The sketch of the late Dr. Theodor Herzl, the leader of the Zionist movement, by Mr. Sidney Whitman, is full of interesting facts and comments. Herzl was for the last nine years of his life one of the editors of the Neue Freie Presse, which published a glowing tribute to his chivalrous and disinterested efforts after his death ; but as long as he lived the very name of Zionism was never once allowed to be mentioned in that newspaper ! Although among Jews themselves the preponderant opinion is said to

be anti-Zionist, Herzl's influence on his co-religionists was stimulating and intense. Mr. Whitman notices that "whereas the only instances in which Jews have ever given their children non-Biblical names were 2,200 years ago, when many Jews were named ' Alexander ' after Alexander the Great, a number of Jewish children have already been named after Dr. Herzl."

In the Fortnightly " Calchas" warns us against a new German intrigue. We are given a brilliant, if somewhat sensational, summary of the aims of German diplomacy, showing how its sleepless purpose has been to keep England and Russia apart. A grave menace, from the German point of view, arose when this country became friendly with France. There then seemed a possibility that through the medium of Paris better relations with St. Petersburg might be established. According to " Calchas," an intrigue for driving in a wedge between us and France is likely to be set on foot. The Japanese, it seems, call the Germans the "fire thieves,"—that is, those who pretend to help to put out a burning house, but really carry off the portable property. Acting up to this character, Germany will propose to France, "in the interests of humanity," to intervene in the Russian war with Japan. France will find it impossible not to help in this benevolent scheme, as her ally, Russia, would wish that Europe should snatch from Japan some of the spoils of conquest. France secured, we shall be asked to take part; and then we shall have to choose between friendship with Japan or France. Besides the obvious advantage to Germany derived from the separation of France and England, the plan might prevent Russia from being completely turned back in the Far East. The last thing Germany wants is that Russia, repulsed in China, should concentrate upon Turkey. The German develop- ment of the Turkish Empire, with the possibility of the Baghdad Railway, would be interfered with fatally if Russia began a descent on Constantinople. Our Govern- ment having in the past been taken in by Germany on two occasions, it is difficult to feel confidence in their future wisdom. Germany led us into the Venezuelan swamp, and but for the outcry in the Press would have taken us into the deserts of Baghdad.—Miss Mary Sandars writes an interesting account of Balzac. Financial difficulties seem always to have oppressed the novelist, and his schemes for making money were endless—and fruitless. One plan was to resmelt the dross of the Roman lead mines in Sardinia. A Genoese merchant was employed to send specimens of the dross to Paris, but he did not do so till he had secured from the Government the right to work the mines himself. Balzac thus made no money by his idea. Nor was the proposal that he, Th6ophile Gautier, and another should dig up the hidden treasure of Toussaint L'Ouverture more successful. This plan failed through lack of money to pay the adventurers' passages out.

In Blackwood there is a third instalment of the striking set of papers on "The War in the Far East," by "0." These papers are in the form of word-pictures giving descriptions of typical men and things, and this time we have an allegory thrown in. This allegory relates the journey of the "seeker after truth," who returns unsatisfied from his quest. The last man who is appealed to answers :—

"You are a seeker after truth, and you have come to Japan Young man, I have spent sixteen years of my life in Japan, and I have not yet found the very shadow of truth. Take the advice of an old man, give up your quest and return, for truth is not to be found here.'

The writer, like others, seems to believe in the inscrutable nature of Japanese final aims. There is a striking description of a visit to the secret rendezvous of Admiral Togo. The visitor is taken at night on a destroyer, which steers its course in the darkness through a maze of islands, and finally reaches the bay where the fleet is anchored.—An unsigned article eulogises Mr. Chamberlain's agricultural programme, though its writer regrets that Mr. Chamberlain was led away early in his campaign to promise that food should not be dearer, thus limiting his taxes on corn. Free-traders are accused of uttering the parrot-cry of "Your food will cost you more !" and we are told that Mr. Chamberlain "countered it neatly and effectively" by saying that in China and India food was cheaper than it is here, and yet they were not desirable countries for emigration. Such a poverty of argu- ment reminds us of a speech Mr. Chamberlain once made, in which he described Mr. Gladstone's evasions in the Home- rule controversy. He likened the Liberal leader to the Scotch

minister who, when confronted by unpleasant facts, said : "Let us look them straight in the face and pass on." —In

"Musings without Method" the tendency of academies, whether artistic or literary, to become narrow and unen- lightened is discussed. This is in reference to the House of Lords' Committee's Report on the administration of the Chantrey Bequest. Although the criticisms of the Academy are severe even to harshness, there is little doubt of the justness of the following sentence :—" So long as the number of shillings taken at the doors shows no decrease, the Academicians will regard themselves and their works as above and beyond criticism."

The opening article of the Monthly Review, which passes with this issue from the editorial control of Mr. Henry Newbolt to that of Mr. C. Hanbury-Williams, contains a summary of the Fiscal controversy, with particular reference to the various important articles which have appeared in the pages of this Review. It is striking to see set out, not in detail but in mass, the inaccuracies and changes in Mr. Chamberlain's policy. The writer of the article truly says : "It is not to be wondered at that he begs us to look to the end rather than the means, the argument rather than the figures ; or that his satellites try to divert attention from his arithmetic by proclaiming him 'a man." The following is an excellent summary of the controversy

"The Chamberlain scheme is not a careful or considered one, based on exhaustive inquiry, and the outcome of long experience and conviction. It is a hastily devised proposal supported by a subsequent and very inadequate inquiry, and involves the denial of all the economic principles hitherto held by its author. It has been changed and mutilated to meet difficulties which ought to have been foreseen, and has throughout an unfortunate air of political opportunism."

—Mr. T. Andrea Cook writes on coins, and gives some good illustrations of ancient and modern work. Of these the finest are the Greek coins and guattrocento Italian medals. The contrast when we reach the head on our present coinage is appalling. What makes it worse is the beautiful head of the Republic on the French half-franc piece, by Dupuis. This artist has shown that it is not the exigence of modern machinery which necessitates bad work, but mere incapacity. The contrast between the medal of the Republic and of Queen Victoria, though not so glaring, is still instructive. Mr. Brook's head of the Queen is far batter than that of the King by De Saulles ; but in largeness of style it cannot compare with the Frenchman's work.—A paper by the late Rev. W. Elwin gives an account of " Tha,ckeray at Cambridge." Attention is drawn to the fact that although a certain amount of Pen-

dennis is autobiographical, the part relating to the hero's career at College has no likeness to that of the author. Thackeray's intimate friends at Cambridge seem to have been Tennyson, Brookfield, FitzGerald, and Allen. Allen was a remarkable character, whose portrait is recognisable in Dobbin. Thackeray seems to have displayed no particular aptitude for scholastic learning, and his early writings were not remarkable. In short, this part of his career was apparently spent in absorbing literature rather than in trying to produce it.

The Independent Review contains a striking article by Mr. J. B. Atkins called "Instead of Conscription," of which we will quote the final paragraph :—

" To sum up: a scientific and universal compulsory training in elementary schools, followed by a compulsory training of a more special kind in continuation schools, and the amplification of both trainings by manly games, for which the opportunities could be largely provided at first by patriotic and voluntary efforts, would turn the youth of the country into stronger, prouder, more elastic, and less costly material, whether for the army or for any other employment. It is the nearest thing to conscription the country is likely to accept. It would not provide an army, but would provide the material for an army. It would serve all purposes. It would not do violence to a single democratic principle."

Mr. Atkins does not rest his whole case on physical training, and, among other things, points out the enormous import- ance of teaching girls the elements of the care of children. There is no question of such teaching being forgotten before it is needed, as the children of the poor have to take charge of babies from a very early age. The whole article is one which should be read with attention.—

Mr. Roger Fry, writing of "Mere Technique," gives us a piece of art criticism of great value. His point is that the modern painter so far forgets and misunderstands his material that "it is only possible to enjoy modern painting by looking through the canvas, not at it; by considering only the objects whose image is placed before one, not the images themselves."

To realise this position it is only necessary to go straight from the Academy to the National Gallery, when the most striking of the many contrasts is the beauty of the paint surface of the old pictures apart from the ideas they convey. Mr. Fry instances the gilder's art to show that we have deadened the sense which discriminates between good and bad in sur- faces and the beautiful significance of matter. The difference between an early Italian gilt frame and a piece of modern work is enormous, and the true appreciation of the former is an index to the possession of an undulled sense. When a state of things existed under which the accessory arts were of this high order, it was impossible for painting to fall below them in qualities of beauty of material. Mr. Fry says :—

"At the time when painting also was a highly scientific craft, gilding was no less honoured, so that the gilt frame of an altar- piece by Botticelli cost more than the painting itself. One might indeed almost venture the paradox that the decay of painting begins when the picture costs more than the frame."