THE MAGAZINES.

THE most important paper in the Nineteenth Century for May is the first, Mr. Robertson's, on submarine boats. Its substance is that the British public confuses submarine boats, which are "blind" and difficult to work, with submer- sible boats, which can be directed, are invisible at the moment of attack, and may deliver a blow with an exploding pro- jectile strong enough to blow up a man-of-war. In these boats both French and American engineers have confidence, and the British Admiralty is unwise in not building them, unless, indeed, it knows of some way of certainly preventing their attack. It is useless to say they are only defensive, for we need defence as much as the rest of the world, and any scheme which renders blockade difficult or dangerous deprives us of much of our offensive power.—Colonel Stopford sends some carefully reasoned considerations on the Volunteers, the sum of which is that if they are to be efficient a new War Office must organise them like an army, with artillery, cavalry, transport, and commissariat, and a sufficiency of trained officers, who could be obtained without unendurable expense from among officers in retirement. A moderate addition to their pensions would draw them out in shoals, and for work at home middle-aged men are quite strong enough.—" The British Sphere in Asia" is a plea for trunk railways through Asia as a means of strengthening our hold on India and China. The principal line would be from Alexandria across Arabia and India to Shanghai, and must, we fear, be rele- gated to those plans for the future which are so attractive, and for the present so impracticable. Who is to grant us the necessary permission to cross Arabia without being black- mailed by the tribes, which would be sure to think their liberty threatened, if not their faith also P—Mr. Alexander Sutherland proves almost to demonstration that women all over the world have about 10 per cent. less brain than men. That is a valuable fact in anatomy, but its social value can- not be settled till we know why a poodle is twice as clever as a bloodhound. Physiologists know much, but what produces difference of quality in brains they do not know. An ant is cleverer than a crow.—The Baronne A. Tan Amstel sends a most amusing biography of the "Prisoner of Chillon," Francois Bonivard, Prior of St. Victor, who appears to have been a learned and humorous blackguard without fear, gratitude, or morals. Byron probably did not know his history, or, knowing it, sympathised with his character. He was, however, unjustly imprisoned by Amadeus, the then Duke of Savoy (1330), who hated him for his impertinences and his zeal in defence of Geneva, which the Duke wished to make his own.—There is another most amusing paper by Dr. Jessopp, called "The Elders of Arcady." It is a study of the very old men of a Norfolk parish, one of whom had lost his memory in a very odd way. He could remember nothing that happened to him before he was fifty. It was "too long

ago "; but after that his memory was pellucid. Dr. Jessopp tells a story of what he calls "cumulative longevity," which is, we suppose, true, but which rather taxes the reader's credulity. The Freestones of Norwich, highly respectable solicitors, had a habit of marrying late in life. "John Freestone the grandfather lived as a bachelor till his seventy-second year, and then he married and had a son, John the Second. This gentleman did as his father did; he lived a jovial life till he was seventy-two, and then It, married and had a son, John the Third, my friend, who, living till seventy-five, died 218 years after his grandfather was born, and some 205 after that grandfather was held up to stare at Charles the Second. That is, the grandfather must then have been a boy of eleven or twelve." Dr. Jessopp himself knew the grandson who told the story.

The Contemporary Review for May is not an exciting number. Cynics will perhaps be amused by the visible struggle in the mind of Dr. Guinness Rogers between a Christian abhorrence of war, except for the noblest purposes, and an instinctive wish that Great Britain should succeed; but we do not perceive that there is much light to be obtained from his reflections, though these are penetrated with a good spirit.—The best paper is, perhaps, that by Dr. Theodor Barth, who denies that Germans are hostile to Great Britain for trade reasons, but admits that public sympathy in Germany is against us in the Boer War. We are, be says, a great Power attacking a little one—which, considering the history of the war, is hardly true—and we went into the war in a spirit of adventure so new that Germans apprehend further developments which Germany might not be able to tolerate. It is this feeling which will secure the increase of the Navy. That increase is not directed against England, but it is directed to defence against England should England attack Germany or affront her. We must not, therefore, is our deduction, altogether believe the Emperor when he makes love to us. He may be seeking to gain time.—There is a fine paper by Fiona Macleod on the Celtic spirit, which she appreciates, but which, she warns all Celts, tends to unprac- tical dreaminess; and a delightful essay on crabs by Mr. Matthias Dunn, from which it appears, among other things, that rats on the coast fish for them, using their own tails as bait, and that they use "mimicry" as a defence, as butterflies do, by growing like other things, covering themselves, for instance, with seaweed.

No article in the National—an excellent number this month—will be read with deeper or more painful interest

than that on "Ladysmith after the Siege," by Mr. H. Babington Smith. Of the hardships endured by the garrison he writes: "Sir George White, splendide mendax, allowed none but the most cheerful accounts to reach the outside world, and, though it was impossible not to suspect an inten- tion to discourage the enemy, it was not till after the relief that we knew to what straits they had been reduced." The reticence of Sir George White was indeed heroic. Here, again, is a most interesting picture of siege life :—

"At the Gordon's Camp an Indian was permanently on the watch with his eye glued to a telescope. Long Tom was fired with black powder, and when the watchman saw the puff of smoke which showed that the gun had been discharged, he called out in a high drawling voice, Bulwa-a-ana La-ang T-a-a-a-m.' Twenty-three seconds elapsed between the firing of the shot and arrival of the shell, and this gave plenty of time for everyone within hearing to reach shelter. The Indian, with the composure of his race, sat unmoved at his look-out, and was never hit."

" Ignotus" returns to the charge in a much more temperate article on "Great Britain's Debt to Japan." He is quite right to insist on the fact that the Emperor of Japan was the only Sovereign who telegraphed to Queen

Victoria congratulations upon the victory of Paardeberg, the relief of Ladysmith, and the occupation of Bloemfontein; but is he correct in ascribing to Japan a deep-seated desire to fight Russia in order to obtain satisfaction for the affront to her national honour involved in the intervention of the Triple Alliance at the close of the war with China? It practically comes to this, according to "Ignotus," that we must either make an effort to reconcile Russia and Japan, or

feel it our duty, in the face of any hostile combination, to play the same part to Japan that we performed for the benefit of the United States in 1898. We cannot admit the cogency of the

arguments on which" Ignotus" bases this contention.—Mr. C. A. Whitmore, M.P., replies to Mr. Massingham's indictment of national incapacity by blaming the system rather than the materials, and asks, amongst other pertinent questions, "Has the abolition of purchase stopped the excessive influence of

wealth in an officer's career ? "—Mr. Richard Bagot's paper on "Anglophobia at the Vatican" is not pleasant reading. Speaking of the weapons of mediwval Catholicism, he makes a notable remark. "The Roman Curia and its monastic up- holders are too well versed in human nature not to be aware that, so long as the fear of death remains in the human heart, appeals to the superstitions of mankind will be productive of greater results in this world than appeals to its reason. The Keys of Hell will always be a more profitable commercial asset than those of Heaven."—Mr. Maurice Low's monthly American article bears very hardly on Mr. McKinley for his volte-face in regard to free trade with Puerto Rico. He con- siders that Mr. McKinley's excellent chance of re-election has been seriously impaired in consequence of this vacillation, and that Mr. Bryan's candidature is not to be sneered at. As for Admiral Dewey, "the prevailing impression throughout the country is one of amusement and regret, rather than of serious consideration of the Admiral as a Presidential possibility?' Lack of space prevents us from bestowing detailed comment on Mr. Moreton Frewen's vivacious and instructive article on ',Our Relations to Westward," and Miss Findlater's judicious paper on "Slum Fiction."

The first place in the FoPtitiyhtl y is given to a temperate and well-reasoned appeal from the Baron Pierre de Coubertin to English journalists and publicists to abstain from worry- ing France into war. Writing as a sincere lover of England, he asserts that there are no genuine grounds for quarrel between the two countries. The mischief is all in the news- papers, and here he draws a curious contrast between the methods of invective adopted by French and English journalists. "The attacks in the French press are like fireworks sent up haphazard, which explode in every direction and leave no trace behind, at any rate in the memory of the senders. They are less insulting, but much more irritating than the attacks made in the English press.' The Baron stigmatises as an "indescribable indiscretion" the decoration of the caricaturist of Le Rire, but declares— not, we fear, without reason—that the English Press affected complete ignorance of the more numerous and serious attacks issuing from Germany. To sum up, there is, in Baron Pierre de Conbertin's view, no real ground for war, nor does the newspaper abuse on either side reflect the true sentiments of the two nations. Nevertheless, he attaches very grave import- ance to this gradual getting used to the idea of war, and recog- nises an even more serious danger in England's misconception of the strength of her neighbour. France, he declares, has never been stronger than at this moment, and "England is the victim of the strangest and most unfortunate illusion if she believes in the decay of her neighbour," though he hastens to add that France, while ignorant of her own strength, is equally ignorant of the might of England.

As against Baron de Conbertin's belief that "nothing will so surely sap the strength of the British Empire as any attempt to build it up upon a military basis," we have M. Theodor de Sosnosky peremptorily declaring in his paper on "The Future of the British Army" that universal conscrip- tion must be introduced, and that our Army must be immensely increased. The writer gives some interesting figures from the Gotha Statistical Aaltual for 1900 as to the relative cost of European armies :—

"Cosi' MAINTENTANOE pen

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That we do not get the best value for our money is con- clusively shown by the fact, already mentioned in these columns, that the " Rowtonising " of our barracks would be a great economy as well as an enhancement of the comfort of the private soldier.—Lieutenant-General Sir Edward Newdegate reproduces a paper privately circulated fifteen years ago, in which he argues for the reform of our infantry drill and tactics on the lines adopted by all European armies save our own,— viz., the "Company Column" system.—" Diplo- Russia Germany Prance Austria Italy England

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0 mations," discussing the principles of settlement in South Africa, rightly insists on the elimination of the Rhodes factor as an essential condition, and, while advocating the adoption of a bold and sagacious agricultural policy, has a good word to say for the Spectator's scheme of utilising the Reservists as settlers.

Blackwood has a paper of remarkable interest in the shape of a diary kept by a Boer before Ladysmith, the entries com- mencing about a week after the battle of Colenso and ending soon after the Spion Kop disaster. It was found in the Pretoria laager on Surprise Hill after the flight of the Boers, and is remarkable for the dispassionate tone of the writer, who, as a schoolboy would say, seems an "awfully decent sort of chap." The most interesting entry relates to the attack on January GUI, in which the writer says the Boers lost fifty-five killed and one hundred and five wounded. Of the destructive effect of lyddite he has a poor opinion.—Mr. David G. Chnrcher, who was an indigo-planter in India at the outbreak of the Mutiny, gives a most thrilling account of his escape from and return to Fatehgarh. The narrative of the terrible disaster in the boats is of painful interest; Mr. Churcher owed his life ten times over to the devotion and resourcefulness of a low- caste native servant.—The weak points of our railway system are assailed with great ability in an article on "Some Problems of Railway Management." It is somewhat morti- fying to our national pride to know that in regard to speed not only America but France beats us with consummate ease. The article is full of curious facts and acute observations, notably that on the secret of the magnificent simplicity of the combined North-Western and Caledonian system,—" the golden rule that a main line should never run through a big city."—" C. S. I.," writing on the "Value of the Water of the Great Rivers of India," advocates the storage of water in all parts of the country on the native system adopted on the river Viga by some nameless engineer of former ages.—In the monthly "Musings without Method" we have a trenchant analysis of the character of the Anarchist in literature as well as in politics. The literary Anarchist "tramples under foot both reverence and good taste," and instances of his lawbreaking tendency are found in the excesses of recent biographies and literary dining clubs.—Major-General Frank Russell, M.P., pleads for the strengthening, enlarging, and subsidising of the Intelligence Department; and the author of the war article has some painfully true remarks on the smashing up of popular and newspaper idols in South Africa.