THE MAGAZINES.

THE magazines for April are not very interesting. The supply of interesting matter is, we fancy, too much scattered, awing to the severity of competition ; but upon points there is something like mismanagement. The magazines, for example, ought to give us valuable information upon the war in the Far East, which the newspapers cannot deal with fully enough, but we have not discovered one thoroughly instructive article. The best by far is the one in Blackwood, called " China's•Extremity," which accounts well enough for the defeat of the Great' Empire ; but even this adds to general information little 'beyond its author's view of the Manchu dynasty, which we admit is peculiar to himself. He

declares this dynasty to be the best which ever reigned in China, to be inclined towards humanity and mercy, and to be baffled in its efforts mainly by the inherent corrup- tion of the ' Chinese. He &molders the hanchns' power, on the whole, the best factor in China, and cannot even think of a subOtitute for it that would not be far less enlightened than itself. That is a new view, and one which it would be very difficult to support in the face of the facts which the writer in Blackwood himself frankly admits. The dynasty has reigned, he says, for two hundred and seventy years, and if it is competent and hostile to corruption, how does it happen that the service of the Empire is corrupt throughout, and that even its military organisation, which is usually the last to perish, has so dis- gracefully broken down ?. The authority of the dynasty has not been assailed, and the condition of the Empire is of itself proof either that "the Princes" are corrupt, or that they have been powerless to prevent the spread of a paralysing corruption. To speak of ability in rulers who have in a vast Empire failed even to create a fighting army, or to develop the slightest loyalty towards themselves, or to purchase mercenaries worth having, is surely a misuse of words. The Manchus may be deserving of pity, as the later Emperors of the West or the Merovingian@ were deserving of pity ; but to extol them as an able dynasty or as introducers of civilisation is absurd. If they have been able, why are they powerless P if they have inclined towards humanity and mercy, whY is the judicial and police system of China the worst that the world has ever known P—The only other article on the subject is that in the Fortnightly Review, by Mr. E. T. C. Werner, and it seems to us but dreamy stuff. The writer desires to withdraw all religious missions, to pro.

hibit miscegenation "absolutely and unrelentingly," and to divide China into three, giving one division to each of three

great occupying Powers :—

"The other alternative, and the only really satisfactory solution, is an occupation by two or more European Powers, preferably those most interested, in shares proportionate to their interests. A division of the country into, say, three horizontal belts, each having its sea-coast from which to ship abroad the produce of its hinterland, would, perhaps, also give rise to a flourishing internal trade between the occupying Powers, the one governing best drawing to itself the larger population and deservedly becoming the most prosperous, By the steady pressure of a vigorous and enlightened government, never relaxed, the character of the people will gradually become changed. They want leading, both in their intellectual and moral life. By being continually "kept going," the "do-nothingness," which is now the sole object of their existence, will eventually give place to a spontaneous activity and love of achievement, which will react to the benefit of those who have been the means of bringing about the trans_ formation. We must make the Chinese work for us before they begin to work against us. If we do not make them our hewers of wood and drawers of water now, they will certainly try and make us theirs hereafter. By the war undertaken by Japan against China, a wedge has been driven into the huge rigid mass, which, if action be taken in time, will render its further disintegration an easy matter."

Russia, Britain, and Germany or France have enough to :do surely without undertaking the government of, say, a hundred millions of Chinese apiece, in order to civilise them by making them "hewers of wood and drawers of water." They have not the strength to waste, and even if they had, what would be their inspiring motive? They cannot colonise so thickly populated a country, they cannot make the Chinese better by reducing them to serfage, and they cannot directly govern in China without a despotism, which would soon produee deterioration in their own tempers. There is nothing to be

gained from. that plan, which, we believe, even the Russians would reject. China may conceivably gain much from E. oror-, as the Japanese have done; but it must be in the Japanese way, by the steady assimilation of western knowledge and ideas.—For the rest, the Fortnightly gives us little that is read- able, except Sir W. T. Marriott's attack upon Lord Crorner for being too weakly good-natured in Egypt, when we ought, he thinks, to assume direct power and direct responsibility ; and Miss (or Mrs.) Janet E. Hogarth's paper on "Literary Degenerates." She thinks the women who write on sex, half redeemed by their new literary skill, and looks forward to a time not far off when the offensive phase of femininity through which we are now passing, shall have passed away like any other mere fashion :— " But, perhaps, women ought to be forgiven much of their want of balance for the sake of what they have suffered from over rapid emancipation. If the century as a whole has progressed by leaps and bounds, women have advanced at an almost immeasurable speed. Small wonder, therefore, that their self-control has not kept pace with the demands upon their nervous energy. When half education has given way to a completer training, and when the independent woman attains the years which bring the philo- sophic mind, perhaps she mayclise,over new objects upon which to expend her emotions, and may be content, therefore, to forego the psyuhological.analysis of passion. After all, sex mania in art and Pterature can be but a passing phase, and possibly the modern heroine's admirable manner of expressing herself may outlast her repulsive qualities, to the exceeding great benefit of literature and of society. In a generation more the degenerate may be a mere sporadic survival, little likely to persist amid a race endowed with sound minds and healthy nerves. By that time probably even theatrical managers will recognise that of all things there cometh satiety, and that the woman with a past is no exception to this golden rule."

Let us hope that Miss Hogarth prophesies truly.—Mr. W. H. Mallock's novel "The Heart of Life," contains some brilliant bits, not the least brilliant being a sketch of a Member of the House of Commons, which seems to us written by one who has closely watched the manner in the House of Mr. A. Balfour :— " The great sensation of the evening was contributed by Mr. Pole, whose voice for the first time was heard by his brother members. Anything less sensational than his language, his matter and his demeanour, it is hardly possible to imagine. And it was partly to these very causes that the sensation, undeniably produced by him, was due. The evident apathy, almost amount- ing to boredom, which has, hitherto, been suggested alike by his face and his attitude, has been a source of considerable satisfac- tion to many enthusiastic Radicals, who had hoped to discover in his appointment one more folly of the Government. One of the principal points of interest in his speech of last night was the suddenness and the completeness with which it dissipated this impression. The House at once perceived that it was listening to a man whose perfect and minute knowledge and keen reasoning powers were made only the more remarkable by the sluggish self-possession of his manners; whilst his refined and fastidious accents gave a similar prominence to the hard and businesslike way in which he approached and gripped his subjects. In addition to all this, Mr. Pole's first appearance owed something of its success to a fact which was commented on by certain critics in the ladies' gallery—that he had, when speaking, a certain air of abstraction, as though his deepest thoughts were engaged with distant and more serious matters—a criticism which, we presume, if translated into bald masculine language would mean that he was interesting because he seemed to be so little interested."

• The Nineteenth Century has many readable papers, the ablest perhaps being the first, in which Colonel Sir George Clarke discusses, and contemptuously dismisses, the policy of scuttling out of the Mediterranean, now so frequently advocated :—

"In conclusion, I will attempt briefly to sum up the situation which Mr. Laird Clowes proposes to create. The Mediterranean from end to end is a French lake. Our naval officers, who once knew its waters better than their rivals, have lost all their experience. The whole shore of Africa from Algiers to the Southern mouth of the Red Sea is French territory. Egypt is a province of France, which extends far down the western shore of the Red Sea and embraces the vast basin of the Nile. France holds the Suez Canal, and can use it for her own purposes, while denying it to an enemy. The fleet which might have controlled that of Toulon, covered Port Said, Malta, and Gibraltar, and at the same time cut the important line of communications between France and Algiers, is split into two parts, and relegated to the ignominious task of watching the outlets of the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. France can strike in force at either part at pleasure, and may surprise one part at least. The short route to the East, and to the Great French dependency and naval base of Madagascar, is in French hands. Malta, with its splendid defensive advantages and marvellous harbours, bisecting the distance between Toulon and Port Said, is ruled by the Pope. (Is Mr. Laird Clcrwes really serious in this part of his programme ?) Four fortified positions, one of them (Tangier) being peculiarly vulnerable, are open to land attack, in any force the French may choose to employ. Great Britain has on her hands Morocco, with a large and intensely fanatical population, and a long land frontier which sooner or later will march with that of France. Finally, when war breaks out, ideal training waters are at the disposal of France in which to perfect the manceuvering power of her fleets, and work up her raw reserves into full fighting efficiency."

That reads unanswerable, except indeed by the answer that we have no alternative.—Mr. Sidney Low's paper on the House of Commons also deserves study. His idea is that the slow growth of the Cabinet has undermined the control of the House of Commons, and that the remedy is the French one,— the creation of special committees which will control the De- partments. That, he says, is the system which has grown up of itself in the great municipalities, and may therefore grow up in the National Government :—

" This system would have the effect of giving a certain share in the control of the administration to others besides the members of the dominant party. At present the minority of the House can do little more to influence the action of Ministers than the members of a Parliamentary debating society. 'The business of an Oppo- sition is to oppose,' and that, of course, the Opposition can always do, but only with the certainty that it must inevitably be beaten as long as the majority holds together. It is, at the best, a hostile critic of the government of the Empire rather than a partner in it. But in the proposed committees the Opposition would be strongly represented ; its members would be able to criticise, suggest, and advise, in these weighty little conclaves, as well as their colleagues from the opposite benches ; as there would be no division lists pub- lished, there would be no Caucus to fear, and consequently the strict ties of party obligation would be loosened inside the walls of the committee-room; members would be able to vote and talk on the questions before them without reference to the Whips or the local wire-pullers; and an influential and well-informed Opposition speaker would often be able to carry the committee with him, even against the opinion of the Minister, who, in the open Session of the House, could overwhelm him by the sheer voting strength of his heavier battalions."

That seems to us a proposal to administer the Empire through secret little mobs, incoherent as to party, irresponsible to

opinion, and without the motive for energy which must always

be felt by a single Minister autocratic within his Department. It is government by a series of Aulic Councils, probably selected by ballot. We agree with Mr. Sidney Low that we are rapidly advancing towards Cabinet government; but even if that system is bad, of which we are by no means convinced, this remedy would surely be worse.—The Nineteenth Cen- tury has of course its article on "Sex in Modern Literature," this time by Mrs. Crackanthorpe ; but after careful reading, we can form no definite opinion as to what Mrs. Cra,ckan- thorpe really wants. Like any other right-minded person, she dislikes the present burst of sex-mania, but she apparently feels that, without much about sex, literature is but spoon-meat, like Trollope's stories. Only she wishes the sex-problem to be treated by the giants of literature, who, she says, now usually retreat from it. Is not that a sign that the sex-problem is not either the only or the best subject for literary thought ? Mrs. Crackanthorpe says it will be the subject, whatever any- body may argue, because it is the only one which fills the theatres ; but are theatre-goers and the people identical? We should say that theatre-goers in all ages and countries have been marked by temporary spasms of salaciousness, but that none of the great plays which have survived the ages have had that for distinctive note. From ./Eschylus to Shakespeare, the great playwrights have dealt with passions not so easily exhaustible, and it seems possible that Hamlet may survive even Mr. Pinero.—Miss E. L. Banks's essay, called "American Impressions and Comparisons" is bright but

hin, and she assumes one point in a rather curious way. She is very fair to England, but holds that America is more just to women :—

"There is one particular difference that I have noticed in the matter of educating the sons and the daughters in American and English families where economy must necessarily be practised. An English father in such circumstances would exhibit a tender solicitude in seeing his daughters well married, instead of sending them to the higher educational institutions, while whatever educational advantages could be afforded would be given to the sons. In an American family, these advantages would be given to the daughters in preference to the sons. This is particularly the case among the BOW and daughters of our farmers, where the father's income is only such as will allow him to give one or two members of the family a higher education. At the age of seventeen or eighteen, the boys are taken from school, and told that if they want a college education, they must 'work their way' through,—that is, earn money by teaching or clerking during one half the year to pay their own expenses for the other half. The daughters, on the other hand, are sent away to boarding-school, and the strictest economy is practised

in the household in order to educate them This disposi.

tion on the part of the American men to 'give the women the first chance' in education, as in every other advantage, is one of their chief and most admirable characteristics, and one that I ti,irik is always observed and remarked upon by foreigners visiting America."

Why is the characteristic so " admirable " The positive claim of each sex must be equal, and surely the men need the educa- tion most, if only because they are rougher beings; while it is most injurious to the world that the sex which governs, and will continue to govern, should be left uninstructed. The real

reason for the difference is that the American finds educating his daughters cheaper, as he can then get rid of the expense of his sons while they are still boys.—The remaining papers in the Nineteenth Century, except the reviews, are more or less padding, though Mr. C. S. Loch's paper on "Manu- facturing a New Pauperism," is a very thoughtful and detailed account of the failure of all efforts in London to meet exceptional distress by offering municipal employment. Very few take it, and the work done by those few costs, speaking broadly, just double what the work would cost if done by ordinary contractors. Mr. Loch would adhere in the main to the principles of the Poor-law, would refuse aid, except in the workhouse, but would "organise charity" so as to meet any accidental increase of distress. That is sense; but will Mr. Loch just show the world how to do it, especially at a moment like the present, when a new source of un- deserved distress is coming to the front ? There can be no doubt that the rapid rise of wages is compelling employers to pick their men, and that the three-quarters skilled, and those over fifty, are thrown out of work in thousands. They are not exactly dismissed, but if an employer dies, or retires, or goes bankrupt, they are "left out" of the reorganised work, and suffer cruelly. We are writing of what we know, when we say that in the poorer distributing trades, a man over fifty who gets thrown out of his groove, rarely, if ever, gets a place again, and the con- sequent suffering is terrible. The employers in the face of relentless competition cannot help themselves, but the hard- ship is undeniable.

The two best papers in the National Review are "Twelve Hundred Miles in a Waggon," and "Recent Finance," which gives investors rather a pessimist account of their existing

position. To make gilt-edged securities a little cheaper, which is what they want, trade must revive, and the writer points out the many obstacles to its probable revival. It is a useful survey, but we wish the writer, who has evidently wide

knowledge, had given two or three pages to the most im- portant "financial" incident of the past month,—the wild speculation in South African and Australian mining shares.

Is that movement a mania, or is it based on reasonable evidence ? The public would have liked an answer to that question, from a well-informed source, exceedingly.—Miss Balfour's account of her journey in an ox-waggon from Cape Town to Matabeleland, is a remarkable piece of realistic writing, and certainly brings out the discom- forts of travelling in ox-waggons in a dry land. The ladies could never keep themselves clean. They kept their tempers however, and did not apparently get ill with the jolting, which this reviewer, who once did fifteen hundred miles in a pony palanquin-carriage, found by far the worst hardship in his journey. Miss Balfour, by the way, mentions a fact to us entirely new. The Boers will not let anybody enter their territory without evidence, usually a certificate, that he or she has been vaccinated; a precaution not taken by any European Government.

The place of honour in the Contemporary Review is given of course, to a criticism of "The Foundations of Belief," by Dr. A. M. Fairbairn; but with that exception none of the papers are very interesting.—We turned with great hopes to M. Gabriel Monod on France, for much has occurred during the quarter ; but he is not so per- suasive as usual. He defends M. Casimir-Perier for his

indefensible step in resigning, by the argument that the Chamber needed a shock in order to compel the Moderates to accept power. But have they accepted power ? It seems to

us that though M. Ribot is a Moderate, the party which supports him is one still guided by the policy of "concentra- tion." M. Monod himself admits that the Colonial Minister is a genuine Radical, and mourns over the weakness and want of continuity in French Colonial administration. He is, we Lear, a little too optimist in the following pregnant sentence : —" I do not think the strength of the Socialists in th. Chamber, or the spread of Socialistic ideas in the country presents as yet any real danger. On the contrary, I am con- vinced that the exaggeration and violence of most of the Socialist Deputies, their ignorance, their childish proposals the profound schisms which divide their party, the habits which its members have of suspecting and attacking one another, and finishing nearly all their meetings with fisticuffs, will for a long time to come exclude the Socialist party from direct influence in politics."—Mr. J. A. Noble sends a most sensible paper on the effort to make the sex- problem predominant in literature, coming to the conclusion that, in the present state of opinion, anything can be said which it is worth while to say, and that "the only extension of our present freedom which he is able to conceive, is a toleration of crude, vulgar indecency," for which he thinks nobody pleads. That is a very generous view of many of the pleas now frequently put forward.—Mr. C. E. D. Black sends an article of some value on "The Railway to India," defending a line from Port Said across North Arabia and round the Persian Gulf. The physical difficulties are few, and the tribes, he says, could be bought. We should prefer a line from Constantinople to the Gulf on Turkish territory, and then through Beloochistan, but the engineers and poli- ticians will, within the next five years, have to make up their minds. If they do not, the first unbroken line from Europe into India will be a branch of the Rnsso-Siberian Railway striking south to meet the Indian system of lines at Can- dahar.

We repeat, the difficulty which the managers of the half- crown magazines now have to meet is a want of interestingness in their monthly issues. We greatly prefer grave papers to flippant papers, and both to serial novels ; but there should be a little more effort to meet the necessities of the hour. The magazines ought this month to have cast a flood of light upon the war in the Far East and the French policy of expansion; and they do not.