THE MAGAZINES.

THE Nineteenth Century publishes two articles on the Czar's manifesto in favour of peace, both decidedly favourable. We cannot Ray that the one signed by the Rev. Guinness

Rogers greatly impresses us, but that of Colonel Sir G. S. Clarke brings forward a fact to which sufficient importance has not yet been attached. The peoples of Europe have ceased to like war as a business. The masses of the popula- tion have become nnwarlike, and can only be made soldiers by severe compulsion :—

" To-day the military caste in Europe is practically confined to the officer class, that is to an insignificant fraction of the popula- tion. In all European States the masses, whose sentiments are usually left out of consideration, are unwarlike. Civil occupations and the comforts of home life are more attractive than a, military career. Commerce and the immense development of industrial enterprise are working a silent revolution. In military Germany and in France the cost of inducing non-commissioned officers to remain with the colours is now excessive. The working classes dislike and dread even a short period of enforced military service, and would evade it wholesale but for the stringent laws to which they at present submit. They strongly desire peace, and they tend less and less to respond to the crude impulses of race anti- pathy. They have even shown signs of mutual sympathy which will grow apace as they attain to a fuller understanding of their common interests. The Normandy peasant has not the smallest desire to shoot the Lincolnshire labourer, or to embark in a war which would close his market. The German, on the flood tide of industrial activity, regards peace as the greatest of

objects. Italians relieved from crushing taxation might be the

happiest people in Europe. Russia, we are constantly told, is a peculiarly aggressive State ; but the Russian mudjik is the least enterprising, the least ambitious, and probably the most unwar.

like of all the varied types of European peasantry. As a soldier, his natural qualities show to advantage. 'It is with him as with the whole nation. Without his chiefs he would be in the most mortal difficulty. Who would think for him ? Who would lead him ? Who would punish him ? ' Nevertheless, an order from his

superior suffices to make of the most peaceable Russian—against his tastes, it is true, and against his wishes—a soldier the most trustworthy, the most faithful to his duty.' The huge muster roll of the Russian army is no evidence of the existence of a war- like nation."

That is a true picture, and it contains at least a possibility that the Czar in denouncing further armaments may have the support of a mass of feeling which cannot be disregarded.

It is true this feeling has hardly found expression, except

in the vote of the Municipal Council of Paris against war with Great Britain ; but still it must exist, or voluntary

armies could be raised much more easily. They can hardly be raised at all, except in England, and every other nation in Europe has now given up the attempt. If, therefore, war has lost its attractiveness, except for a limited class of officers, is it not possible that the custom of war may de- crease, and that the recent expression of feeling by the head of a great military Empire may accelerate the process We must not attribute too much importance to this view, for the masses of mankind have rarely thought for them- selves, and those who lead are scarcely yet nnwarlike ; but there is something in it.—We do not care about several of the articles in this number, but there is a charming one from Lady Gregory, a talk about Ireland, rather discursive, with one eye on earthly prosperity and another on heaven, but for all that as full of humour and pathos as it will hold. We wish she had said more of a fact she intimates, that the common Irish have the most absolute conviction of a future state, not wholly derived from Christianity, and therefore take a very gentle view of death. They are not quite sure sometimes that it is not a pleasant gift. "A

woman from a Meath farmhouse tells me: There was a girl I knew sent to the hospital for an operation. And when she was going, she cried when she was saying good-bye to her

cousin, that was a friend of mine, for she felt that she would never come back out of the hospital alive. And she put her arms about her going away and said "If the dead can do any good thing for the living, I'll do it for you." And she never recovered, but died in the hospital. And within a week some- thing came on her cousin my friend, and they said it was her side that was paralysed, and she died. But many said it was no common illness, but that it was the dead woman that had kept to her word.'" Is that feeling the result of pessimism, or is it the product of a strong and certain hope that the next world will at least be better than this P—Another and equally

charming little paper records the experiences of Mr. H. II. Stephen while on a short trip to the Gambia, whither he had been despatched to supply the place of a chief Magistrate absent on leave. He found the little Colony, with only four. •

teen white men in it, to be practically governed by the native headmen under the general control of the Administrator and the aforesaid chief Magistrate. The duties of the latter are greatly simplified by the entire inability of the people to tea lies artistically, but are made interesting by the extraordinary nature of the facts sometimes brought before him. Mr.

Stephen, for example, had to sentence to death for murder two men who he was quite convinced killed their victim from an honest belief that they should thereby save the life of a man whom she had bewitched, and who, with the perversity often witnessed in such cases, did actually recover. The murderers' belief had some foundation other than mere super- stition, for the wife of the sick man testified in Court that she had bewitched her husband :—

"The confessing witch is, in fact, a person calculated to give a good deal of trouble to a conscientious official. What, for example, is to be done with a man who admits that he turns himself into a white bird, and goes about the country pecking out people's souls ? The particular man whose vanity led him to make this compro- mising avowal fortunately fled the country before English justice was called upon to deal with his case. An offence of pretended witchcraft' has now been added to the criminal law of the colony, which it is hoped to be will give the authorities power to treat such a man as he deserves, however that may be."

—Mr. C. S. Loch, with his immense experience, utterly con- demns the proposal to grant State pensions to aged workmen,

as a proposal which would cost £12,000,000 a year to be raised from the Income-tax payer, and lower both the inducement

to thrift and the normal rate of wages :—

" It would give an assurance, both to masters and men, that in the settlement of wages they would be entitled, especially after middle life or as old age approached, to disregard any but limited and more immediate wants. The pension guaranteed at a certain age would justify a smaller wage, diminished foresight, and less exertion."

That argument is accepted by the recent Commission of Inquiry, and is, if true, final; but it applies only to the pen- sion as a dole. It does not in the least affect our argument in favour of a recourse to the principle of insurance to raise the necessary funds. Thrift would not be affected, because the pension would be bought, not given, and the rate of wages

would probably be slightly increased from the necessity felt of earning more money.—Mr. Laurie Magnus gives an interesting picture of the present effort in Germany, greatly fostered by the Emperor, to introduce technical studies into

the German Universities. He is succeeding, in a way, in his effort, but at the cost of irritating the whole professional class of Germany, who prefer teaching abstract things, and dislike the excessive State control which, as they see, accompanies the new endeavour :—" The constant clash of opinions between the professorate and the State cannot be watched without

anxiety ; and the preference of the realists to the humanists, materially—even ideally—defensible though it be, should be displayed in a manner less galling to the natural suscepti- bilities of the latter. Every German professor who is treated as a potential source of danger to his country becomes a means for the communication of discontent."—We cannot

discuss Mr. W. B. Paley's sketch of the Roman road system of Britain, which he declares to have been perfect for both military and trading purposes, but we are grateful to him for the following paragraph, with its condensed knowledge :— "The Roman roads varied somewhat in mode of construction according to their importance and the nature of the materials obtainable. In the main they consisted of layers of concrete made by pouring slaked lime upon small clean stones, mixed often with broken tiles. Two furrows were first made, at the proper distance apart, the earth between was dug out for a foot or two, and the bottom rammed and beaten down tightly. Upon this the first stratum of material was laid and the lime poured over it; then larger stones were placed upon that, and the interstices filled in with mortar ; after which sometimes came another layer similar to the bottom one. The whole was often three feet thick, or more, and was rounded in the centre to prevent wet lodging Upon it. The most usual width was only about fifteen feet, although sometimes twenty-four or twenty-five feet. As a rule, these works were raised somewhat above the surface of the ground, even where no question of keeping them clear of floods could arise. It must have been very difficult for the enemy to inflict serious damage upon such roads, practically solid masses of stone ; a fact which no doubt was not lost sight of by their clever constructors. There is every reason to think they were built almost entirely by the soldiery, under the direction of Skilled engineers from Italy." Dr. Dillon's paper in the Contemporary Review on "The Tear's Eirenicon " will provoke much thinking. The essayist draws a terrible picture of the evils which modern war among Arst-class States will produce, and thinks the Czar thoroughly sincere and high-minded in his effort to prevent them. He believes his Ministers also to be sincere, though not for the same reason. They want a truce in order that Russia, which for the moment overburdened, should gain time to corn- "lets her preparations, more especially the Trans-Siberian Railway. Dr. Dillon believes, however, that the practical result of the manifesto will be little more than a check in the aggrandisement of armaments; the only real preventive, a European League of Peace as recommended by M. Bliokh, Polish publicist, is outside hope. If effective, it would inter- fere with national independence, and if ineffective, it would only provoke war. This thesis is worked out with great detail and much eloquence, and should be carefully read by every one who believes in or disbelieves in the possibility of any arti- ficial arrest of the constant preparations for war.—The Right Rev. Bishop Barry sends a moderate and exceedingly well- written essay on "What is Ritualism ?" the spread of which he believes to arise, first, from the general desire for more ceremonial in everything, and therefore in religious worship.; secondly, from an increasing appreciation of symbolism ; and thirdly, from the new feeling that "individualism" must give way to "Socialism," the person to the Church. A section of the Church desires to exalt "Catholicism," that is, the action of the whole body, by teaching sacerdotalism and the con- centration of religious life on the Sacraments which require the ministry of the Church. The Bishop thinks that this desire is specially shown in the teaching of a theory indis- tinguishable from transubstantiation, in the inculcating of confession, and in various departures from the spirit as well as the letter of the Prayer-book. He deals with each of these subjects in turn and pronounces a judgment which, though written before the Primate's charge had appeared, is in sub- stantial accord with it, and finally seeks a remedy in the "moral force of authority, firmly and temperately used, and backed by public opinion." We fear be is a little tee' sanguine, but he has the experience of the past fifty years in his favour. The " Romanising " instinct has appeared twice, and each time has failed.—Mr. D. Boulger advises that to avert a struggle between France and England the province of the Bahr-el-Ghazel should be handed over on lease to King Leopold of Belgium. We think Mr. Boulger will find that opinion in this country has gone beyond the point at which this mode of postponing the struggle was feasible or desirable.—Antonio Gonzalo Perez maintains that the native Culans can govern Cuba well, and ought tc> be allowed to try. That is a reasonable request in itself, but we cannot say that the argument by which Senor Perez supports his demand is very convincing. It is briefly that the Romans were a great and the French are a great people, and therefore a, Latin race is not in itself die- qualified for governing. But is not every Cuban asserting every day that the Latin race he knows best, the Spanish, is disqualified for governing ? And if the Spanish people, why not the Cuban ? Senor Perez would be more unanswerable if he pleaded that the Cubans from history and race were really "a people," and that every people, so long as it does. justice to the foreigner, has a right to misgovern itself if it likes. As a matter of fact, the Americans, who have liberated the island, insist upon a kind of order which Cubans prob- ably will not secure, and will therefore hesitate, perhaps refuse, to make the Cubans self-governing.—Nothing else in this number of the Contemporary much interests us, unless it be a sketch by Mr. Phil Robinson of a rising, apparently quite recent, among the Maroons of Annotto Bay, in Jamaica, who, according to the story, are trying to drive away the neigh- bouring planters. It is a most picturesque sketch, but hardly leaves on tie the impression of imminent danger to the white men which Mr. Robinson means to convey. The Maroons seem to be under some sort of leadership, and the leaders to be unwilling to provoke a final quarrel. Law, how- ever, must be pretty weak if the account is true. The liveliest reading in the National Review for November is furnished by the editor's racy treatment of " Epieodee the Month." .2 propos of Fashoda, be ask c :--" Jan anything be more bewildering than the prvject of France to embark on a war in order to keep Fashoda when (1) the first incident in the war must be the loss of Fashoda, and (2) that the French party is still alive at Fashoda is owing to the succour of the nation they go to war with ? Yet the French claim to be intelligent and chivalrous. The explanation of the problem is that they are never told the truth." The real traitors to France, he continues, are the popular daily newspapers- " There are good newspapers which struggle obscurely : but they have none of the absinthe of the popular journals." Treating of the growth and collapse of the military plot, he discovers symptoms of a weakening of the solidarity of the

Army, due to the resentment caused by the persecution of Colonel Picquart. After dealing Sir Michael Hicks-Beach some hard knocks for his attitude on old-age pensions,

applauding the appointment of Mr. Dawkins and the courageous conduct of the Pall Mall Gazette in their campaign

against the London and Globe Finance Corporation, Mr.

Masse congratulates Admiral Noel on his resolute behaviour in Crete, and suggests that Lord Salisbury should pro-

pose Major Marchand as Governor of that island.— ?&r. F. C. Conybeare, writing on "French Military Justice," endorses the views of the writer in the Fortnightly as to the affiance between militarism and Jesuitry. "In a good French regiment," he declares, "it is to-day impossible to be an officer without professing rigid Catholic and Royalist opinions. Most French officers are pupils of Jesuit crammers; and the system of promotion par choix instead of by seniority, intended to reward efficiency by those who a few years ago introduced it, has been simply used as an engine of favouritism, and for the advancement of good Catholics. At the same time, Catholic clubs for soldiers have been started in all the barracks, and the enforcement of military service on semin- arists instead of laicising the priests, as was hoped, has elericalised the Army."—Mr. Maxse also contributes an in- teresting article on "Russia and Captain Dreyfus," in which he quotes the scathing denunciation of the procedure at the trials of Dreyfus and Zola which appeared in the Law Journal of St. Petersburg from the pen of M. Zakrewski, President of the Russian Court of Appeal.—The Rev. H. Hensley Henson bolds that "an unregulated Confessional administered by an untrained clergy on unknown and unrecognised principles is an anomaly, a menace, and a scandal ; and this is what at present the Church of England pro- vides for her members. Instead, therefore, of raising an irrational and useless clamour against the practice of private confession, it would seem the duty of the prudent citizen to insist upon such securities against abuse as efficient regula- tion by authority might provide." He accordingly urges that the confessional in the English Church should be cleansed from the taint of furtiveness, that the manuals in use should represent a sound morality, in other words, that "the public should receive assurance that confessions are only heard by those who are authoritatively certified to be qualified for the task, that they are heard under suitable and recognised condi- tions, and that the moral principles which govern the confes- sion are sound."—Mr. A. Maurice Low, in his review of 4' The Month in America," holds that the Republicans have regained ground, congratulates America on her intelligent appreciation of the enormous interests which she has at stake in the Far East, and eulogises Mr. Bryan for his heroism amid the fever-stricken camps of Florida. — Mr. John Foreman, a whole-hearted advocate of the American annexation of the Philippines, paints a glowing picture of the immense natural resources of the islands, which only need a strong Government and religions freedom to be rapidly developed. —The gist of Mr. W. R. Lawson's paper on "The Financial Strain on France" is contained in the following sentence :— 4' A new war would have to be financed on the same lines as that of 1870,—by means of gigantic borrowing;" but, he con- tinues:—" The brilliant loan operations by means of which the German indemnity was paid and French soil emancipated affold no criterion of how a second series might succeed. Borrowing now would be on a very different basis from what it was in 1871! The starting point then was an existing debt of twelve and a half milliards; and now it would be an existing debt of over twenty-six milliards,-1,040 millions sterling. A State handicapped with such a burden, and hampered at the same time by an inelastic revenue, should not lightly plunge into adventures likely to cost it milliards more."—Lastly, we must not omit to mention Mr. F. T. Millen's paper, "Concerning Sharks," in which historical research is happily united to intimate and extensive personal experience.

There is no political article of first-rate importance in the Fortnightly, though "An Anglo-Parisian Journalist" con- tributes an interesting paper on "France of To-day." Reviewing the history of the Republic since the war of 1870, he contends that the present situation is in great measure the outcome of Gambetta's indiscreet challenge to Rome—" Clericalism is the enemy "—and of his Hebraicising of the public services ; or, to be more precise, that the Jesuits are mainly responsible for the present crisis. Effective Anti. Semitism only dates from the Panama scandal. The chairman o the board of direction of the Wire Parole, which first appearec about that time, was, according to the writer, the principal ad ministrator of the Jesuit establishments in Paris. The author'f bias against the Jews is thinly veiled ; he holds that the3 have taken their punishment "lying down," and disparage4 the militant Dreyfusards.—M. Lionel Decle, writing frankly as a British Imperialist, urges the necessity of otu negotiating with Germany to secure control of that strip of land from Lake Tanganyika which he declares to be the only link missing: in the chain of our new Trans. African Empire, and suggests that we should offer Walfish Bay in exchange. Since the appearance of the article, it has been rumoured that this exchange has actually taken place. M. Dade denounces the French Colonial party, declares that his compatriots lack the capacity for colonising, condemns the narrow-minded. ness of French manufacturers, and eulogises Mr. Rhodes, pre. dieting that in half a dozen years we shall be able to travel from', Cairo to Cape Town in forty-three days, the present minimum being eighty-one. In short, it is the kind of article that Mr. Leonard Courtney would write if he were a Frenchman.—Vamadeo Shastri's paper on "The Theo. logical Situation in India" is eloquent and dispassionate. What he seeks to impress on his readers is that" we [Hindoos] are still wandering in the metaphysic wilderness," that in India at this moment "you may behold an immense and intelligent society much given to dreamy meditation over insoluble problems, and practically unanimous in rejecting any solution that stops short of Pantheism." He admits that these habits have their obvious practical drawbacks, but values them as a strong antidote against the fatal disease of materialism. According to him, it is only the "half-taught youths whom your colleges send out into our antique society"

who stiffer in this way : "to the higher minds among in physical science is entirely inconclusive."—The very inter- esting diary of the late British Consul at Santiago (Kr.

Frederick Ramsden), which is concluded in this number, makes it quite clear that this courageous public servant sacrificed health, and even life, in his unflinching devotion to his duty. The English ladies of his household appear to have behaved with great fortitude ; as for the Spaniards,

Mr. Ramsden says "their defence has been really heroic,

the more so when you consider they are half-starved and sick."—Mr. Arthur Symons writes on the late Stepbane Mallarme, who, he says, had an "elliptical mind," who felt it due to his own dignity, as well as that of his readers, to invite them to a labyrinth illuminated by flowers; and for whom it was reserved to complete Wagner. Mr.

Symons incidentally affirms that "it is not natural to be what is called 'natural' any longer."—Mr. T. C. Down traces the

fortunes of several adventurers from Manitoba at the Klon.

dike (including an Archdeacon !), and arrives at the conclusion that "there is not one of them who positively and unequiva cally advises any one to follow their example." In other

words, Mr. Down holds that "Mr. Punch's" historical advice is applicable to goldmining as well as matrimony.—Not much

that is new is to be found in Mr. H. L. W. Lawson's paper on

"Cape Polities and Colonial Policy," in which, however, he rebuts with generous indignation the charges of dishonourable

conduct brought against Messrs. J. F. X. Merriman and Rose-Innes.—There is a pleasant literary flavour in Mr. George Wyndham's paper on "Elizabethan Adventure su Elizabethan Literature."