THE first four articles in the Nineteenth Century are devoted'

to Russia and Japan, but in none of them is the war touched upon save indirectly. Mr. Hagberg Wright in " Russia's-- View of her Mission " is chiefly concerned to vindicate the-- means which the Russian Government employs to enlighten the populace as to the growth of her Asiatic Empire. To-. this end he analyses the contents of several of the pamphlets issued by the Permanent Commission for popular reading, an institution founded in 1872 under control of the Minister of the Interior and Imperial patronage, subsidised by the Govern.- ment, and approved by General Trepoff. In particular, he insists on the impartiality of the tracts dealing with the course of the war, the chivalrous tone adopted towards the Japanese, and the genuinely Christian and humanitarian, spirit by which they are informed. The extracts which Mr- Hagberg Wright gives are interesting, and even touching, but it is no use preaching civic virtues under conditions which do not give free play for their expansion. The papers of Thursday record the publication of a memorial signed by three hundred and forty-two savants declaring that primary instruction has been deplorably neglected, and that the police spirit which animates the Government policy in educational matters is a check on its development. —Baron Suyematsta follows with a paper on the methods of teaching morality practised in the schools of Japan. The principles inculcated are based on two Imperial Rescripts, and though dissociated from religious dogma, they "seem to become per se a kind of undefined but none the less potent and serviceable religion?! The cardinal points of the system are loyalty and filial piety,. greater stress being laid in Japan (as compared with China) on the former, which is indistinguishable from patriotism and love of the Emperor.—Mr. H. A. Giles throws further light on this subject in his interesting paper on " Japan's Debt to China." From the Christian era down to the sixteenth century Mr. Giles quotes a number of illustrations in support of the statement that what Greece and Rome have been to Europe, . China has been to the nations of the Far East. The only independent Japanese product, we may remark incidentally, appears to have been the novel, which is said to have been • created by a woman in A.D. 1004, " when the novel proper was still unknown to the Chinese." But the greatest debt of all, in Mr. Giles's opinion, was Confucianism, with its - corollary of ancestor-worship,—the root and core of Japanese patriotism and loyalty. In this as in so many other cases, they bettered their instructors, putting into practice the precepts which the Chinese themselves never succeeded in carrying out.—Professor Varabery in " The Awakening of the Tartars " adduces the evidence furnished by the journals and petitions of the educated Moslem subjects of the Czar in South Russia, Central Asia, and Eastern Turkestan in support of his contention that the Tartars may in time become less manageable than the - rnoujik, " for with the latter strict and unconditional sub. mission to the autocracy of the Czar is an emanation of the Orthodox Church, whereas the ties binding the Moslem to a tyrannic rule do not receive any strength and sanction from the tenets of the Soran."—Lord Methuen writes, with the conviction born of experience, of the good work done by the Lads' Drill Association and the Church Lads' Brigade, while the Rev. W. Carlile describes the work done by the Church, . Army through its missions and labour homes in reclaiming criminals,—the efficacy of which is cordially acknowledged. by the Prison Commissioners.—Other articles of interest are Professor Westlake's temperate argument against com- pulsory Greek, Mr. Fuller Maitland's study of the English madrigal, and Mr. Lathbury's admirable review of the recently published Life of Canon Liddon, in which he very effectively rebuts the charge that Liddon's sense of respon- sibility was defective.

With the most sensational article in the National Review, " An Autocracy at Work," a study of the Czar by the- writer of the Quarterly article which attracted so much notice last summer, we deal in another column. Other-- wise the number is hardly as entertaining as usual, the- temporary anbaidence of the Fiscal controversy having induced

of fiscal controversy. The lack of constructive capacity dis- played by Opposition speakers " may be due to the unfortunate fact that the party is largely dominated by busy lawyers who have no time to think,"—Imperially or otherwise. But "the fact is that the country, though despising his Majesty's Opposition, is heartily sick of his Majesty's Government, and the Unionist Party will gain nothing except an accumulation of ignominy by the somewhat contemptible policy of clinging to office." The editor reviews at considerable length the working of the Anglo- Japanese Agreement, with a view to educating the British people as to its immense value, and encourages the Cabinet to challenge the Opposition as to their future policy. The present anti-British intrigue at Tokio is, in his view, part of Germany's prodigious scheme of establishing an understanding between Russia and Japan on the ruins of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. His observations are summed up in the hope that Lord Lansdowne on the meeting of Parliament will make it plain that the British Government " will resolutely abide by the spirit as well as the letter of the Japanese agreement, and will place the British navy at the service of Japan in the event of any attempt by any combination to repeat the performance of ten years ago." The probable revival of the Baghdad Railway project prompts the editor to comment strongly on the folly of our granting any official or political support to this scheme.—Though the tone of the National is in the main somewhat gloomy, there is one article which breathes a spirit of full-blooded optimism. Mr. F. Drummond Chaplin (joint manager at Johannesburg of the Consolidated Goldfields of South Africa, Limited) utters a veritable paean over the results of the introduction of Chinese labour in the Transvaal. The era of stagnation is at an end, thanks to the patriotic action of the leaders of the mining industry, who have faced greater expense in importing Chinese than that incurred in recruiting African labour. As for the cry of slavery, Mr. Chaplin retorts by the reassuring statement that on some of the mines arrangements are being made for the establishment of Chinese theatres. Mr. Chaplin, we may add, says nothing about the contemplated wholesale adoption of hand-drills, but be admits that there is so far no reason to suppose that the average Chinese labourer is a more efficient worker than the Kaffir with the same experience of mine-work.-----Mr. Walter Harris, the Times correspondent in Morocco, gives it as his deliberate opinion that "pacific penetration," though excellent in theory, is impossible in practice; that the need for stamping out anarchy in the coast towns, where Europeans reside, is immediate ; and that France having given her word to the Powers to restore order, it will "for her own sake be enormously more satisfactory to restore it before things become more serious than it would be to leave it till later on." France, however, has not only the chaotic condition of Morocco to face, but the resolute opposition of a large anti- expansionist party at home.—We may note that in his long and interesting account of the siege of Port Arthur Colonel de la Poer Beresford, late Military Attache at St. Petersburg, holds that no man of honour can impute any blame to General Stossel for a premature surrender.

M. Alexander Ular contributes an interesting paper to the Contemporary Review on " The Prospects of Russian Revolu- tion." The gist of his article, which is fortified by a mass of circumstantial details, is that the bureaucratic tyranny which has its centre in the Moscow oligarchic group is corrupt from top to bottom ; that it spares no rank or class ; that in consequence all classes are now united in a general anti-bureaucratic movement; and that the Czar, " if he were given an opportunity to get a clear insight into the real part he is obliged to play, would strongly support those revolutionary parties which propose a constitu- tional monarchy and the destruction of the bureaucratic caste." M. Ular looks to M. Witte as the one man able to furnish the Czar with this opportunity, and so to turn the political defeat of Czarism into a social victory for the Czar.—Mr. Eltz- bacher's paper on " The Railways of Germany" combines a glowing panegyric of Bismarcles economic policy with a wholesale denunciation of our blundering, amateurish, and nnbusinesslike methods of administration. He adduces facts and figures to prove the immense superiority of the German State-owned railways over the British private railways, but

administrative organisation is rudimentary and centuries behind the times," and British railways " would no doubt be worse managed by the State than they are by the companies?'

Still, he holds that the State could do much by a vigorous policy of interference, and sketches out a number of reforms, including

the restriction of further capital issues for improvements, renewals, and repairs ; the enforcement of a clear tariff for the conveyance of goods and passengers based on uniform charges

per line; interchangeable tickets between the different lines; the compulsory publication of statistics ; and the creation of a Government Department for the supreme control of traffic, &c. Mr. Eltzbacher's contempt for British intelligence is so over- whelming that it must be a great consolation to him, though apparently a British subject, to be at least the bearer of a German name.—Mr. Birrell writes with his wonted wit and charm on " Patriotism and Christianity." His point of view is best shown by a few of his incisive sayings :—

" For my own part, wide as the British Empire is, I decline to be bound by it, for it does not yet contain Rome, Athens, or Jerusalem." " If Patriotism involves, as happily it need not, the enthronement of country or Empire as the conscience of man, the touchstone of right and wrong, the lodestar of politics, Patriotism would be un-Christian, and an Empire founded on any such notion would not be undeserving of the once dread name of anti-Christ The Brotherhood of Man is a long way off ; it may never be reached ; but as an ideal it is better worth having than that of half-a-dozen sullen Empires; trading only within their boundaries, shut up behind high tariff walls, over which they peer suspiciously, scanning one another's exports and imports with jealous eyes, and making from time to time fawning alliances with one rival, whilst cultivating enmity with another, main- taining millions of men under arms and spending billions of pounds in armaments, and all the time waiting, waiting, waiting for an affrighted sun to rise upon the day of Armageddon."

—The most suggestive article in the number is undoubtedly Dr. Emil Reich's brilliant onslaught on the Higher Criticism as applied to the origins of Biblical history. Dr. Reich charges its exponents with relying exclusively on a barren and pedantic philological process, instead of giving due weight to considerations of geography or " geo-politics." His use of the recently discovered legends of the Masai as a means of exploding the Babylonian theory is most interesting. After all, as he puts it, personalities, not legends, are the distinctive feature of Hebrew history. — Dr. Macnamara, under the heading "In. Corpore Sano," urges the need of systematic physical training for working-class children, and advocates two years' compulsory evening drill under State auspices for every male youth between fourteen and twenty.

The place of honour in the new Fortnightly Review is very deservedly given to M. Maeterlinck's essay on "Sing Lear in Paris." Foreign criticism on Shakespeare has not been so remarkable that we can afford to overlook so sound and illuminating a study Like Professor Bradley, he considers Lear the greatest of Shakespeare's dramas : nay, he calls it " the vastest, the most stirring, the most intense dramatic poem that has ever been written." On Lear's madness he has an interesting note. " As it seems to be accepted that a hero who expresses his inner life in all its magnificence cannot remain probable and human on the stage except under the condition that he be represented as mad in real life (for it is understood that here fools alone express that hidden life), Shakespeare systematically unsettles the reason of his protagonists, and then opens the dyke that held captive the swollen lyrical flood." Perhaps it is a comment scarcely applicable to Shakespeare, but it is very applicable to M.

Maeterlinck.—The supplementary article by Dr. A. S. Rappoport deals with the question of a probable revolution in the near future in Russia. The answer given is in the nega- tive. No revolutionary spirit inspires all the strata of the nation. The moujiks do not want self-government ; they

would only accept it " by order of the Tsar." " The tempera- ment of the vast majority is one of profound apathy and resignation: their chief characteristics are inertia and a horrible fear or moral cowardice, and, above all, a profound ignorance coupled with a religious respect for the Tsar." Dr. Rappo- port considers that a day of liberty will never dawn for Russia until it is forced upon her by the Western nations. His view may be the correct one, but it seems to us that revolution is a thing which spreads like fire, and permeates classes to-day who were utterly opposed to it yesterday. Comments similar to his might have been made—actually

were made—on the French peasantry on the eve of the Revolution.—There are many other interesting papers in a very good number. Chief among them we would mention Dr. Beattie Crozier's suggestion for a new party which should be built up within existing parties, based on the evolutionary view of politics, dealing in no abstract ideals, looking always to practical needs, and working on existing material. "It would, wherever possible, substitute a wider administrative dis- crimination for fresh legislation." We are not in agreement with all his arguments, but it is a thoughtful and informing study. Dr. Louis Elkind contributes an account of the reasons for the revolt in German South-West Africa, and the blunders of German colonial policy; and Mr. John F. Mac- donald has a delightful paper on some recent productions on the French stage.

Blackwood is as full as usual of illuminating articles on the war in the Far East. " 0." continues his sketches with a gruesome account of the experience of a Russian Torpedo- Lieutenant at the sortie of the fleet in August, and a description of an incident in the attack upon Port Arthur from the point of view of the besiegers. The writer's capacity for realising the mental condition of very diverse combatants gives his work an extraordinary realism and power.—" Chasseur's " studies of the campaign deal this month with the war on land down to the passage of the Yalu. He maintains the interest- ing view that " Kuroki put into force a far more elaborate design than the strength and condition of his enemy war- ranted, and, as a consequence, he was unable) to pursue." The Russians had hoped to bluff their opponents, but they had never intended seriously to bold the position.—Among the other articles, we may notice an interesting account of the scene in the French Chamber at the fall of M. Combes's Ministry by Mr. Ian Malcolm, who writes as an eyewitness ; and a brilliant paper called " The Renascence of Sycophancy," in which Mr. Douglas's Life of Mr. Watts-Dunton is faithfully dealt with. This last paper is indeed a noteworthy contribu- tion, for it is a specimen of an almost lost art, the use of the cudgel in criticism.

The Monthly Review opens with a long article on Port Arthur by Mr. Barry, an American correspondent with the Japanese forces. His account of incidents in the attack, such as the almost total annihilation of the 9th Regiment at the assault of Kee-kwan Fort on August 21st, is most graphic and impressive. He considers that Nogi has revolutionised the art of siege, and has proved conclusively that the Japanese possess not only elan, but abnormal staying-power. He is an admirer of General Stossel, and his evidence is in direct conflict on many points with the accounts recently published by the Times correspondent.—A very seasonable article is that on " The Hungarian Crisis," by the leader of the Opposition, Count Albert Apponyi. He denies Count Tisza's contention that obstruction is the chief danger to Parliamentary government in Hungary, and finds the root of all evil in the inadequate popular representation. He tells the story of recent events from the Opposition point of view, and endeavours to enlist British sympathy by showing that he and his party are the true constitutionalists in the British sense. " Of course everybody knows that the Government will have a majority in the next Parliament" ; but everybody now knows that they have not, which proves how unexpected was the recent victory of the Opposition.—Of the other papers, we may notice a defence of Nihilism, on the ground that it is an orderly and philosophical creed, which advocates assassination in certain cases only because it is the sole remedy; an interesting sketch by Mr. Monroe Royce of Mr. Whitelaw Reid, the American Ambassador-elect ; and a pleasant paper by Lady Gregory on "Living Legends of the Fianna," which she has obtained from the lips of old people in Ireland.

The Independent Review is a good number, but this magazine seems to us to err in being too much the organ of one section. The most interesting paper is one by Mr. Ramsay Macdonald on " The Second Ballot in Party Government." His conclusion is that the system would be a mistake in England, since it would tend to perpetuate moribund parties as political organisations instead of allowing them to merge " in one or other of the two great opposing camps, into which for the time being national opinion is divided." The English system is based on the assumption

that politics represents an opposition of fundamental ideas, and it would be wiser to get back to this state of affairs than change the system.—Mr. J. A. Hobson has an elaborate study of the evils which flow from the depend- ence of the higher education upon millionaire endowments. Such endowments now amount in the United States to an annual donation of one hundred million dollars. The danger of the system is that the donor will exercise some control over the independence of the professors, and, even if he does not, College authorities, in the hope of future gifts, will shrink from offending the richer classes. Only " safe " men will be selected for posts, and only "sound" doctrine allowed to be taught. The same danger applies in a lesser degree to the new Colleges in our own industrial towns. With much of this we agree, but the application of the criticism to the new Imperial History School at Oxford is wholly irrelevant, and reveals an obvious political bias.—Of the other papers, we may mention a clear exposure by Mr. L. T. Hobhouse of the economic errors of the "five-per-cent.-all-round" proposal; and "The Poetic Quality in Liberalism," which contains one view of politics set forth in Mr. Chesterton's usual mixture of sentiment and epigram.