NEWS OF THE WEEK.

MR. GLADSTONE, at the reassembling of the House of Commons on Wednesday, informed the Members present that negotiations with Russia were still proceeding, and that he bad nothing further to communicate. It is evident that these negotiations are more difficult than was supposed, and that there is a disposition in St. Petersburg to keep them dragging. The Russian Foreign Office does not exactly oppose a settlement, and does not make "demands," but keeps on asking questions of some magnitude. One of them, it is stated, is whether the Ameer is a vassal or an independent Prince, and whether, therefore, Russia, when injured by Afghans, should ask redress from London or from Cabal. Of course, the answer must be "ultimately from London ;" but it is a difficult answer to give, for the Ameer does not regard himself as a vassal, and as regards internal affairs is not one. The position most like his is that of the King of Bavaria in Germany. Germany is answerable for King Ludwig, but, as he is still allowed representatives at foreign Courts, remonstrances would be addressed to Munich first. Unfortunately, Lord Granville cannot quote that example, because, if he did, Russia would at once send a representative to Cabal.

Sir Peter Lumsden, it is stated, entirely disapproves the Government policy. He told a representative of the Times, who met him at -Vienna, that General Komaroff's action was entirely unprovoked, and that he suspected the Government of preferring the Russian's statement to his own. The Government was held in India to have disgraced itself, and the Afghans were told by Colonel Alikhanoff that Russia would speedily take Herat. He believes that the Russians were not prepared for war, and would have yielded if war had been seriously threatened. He also cornplained to the representative of the Telegraph that from the first his Mission had received no support, and that be had therefore asked to be recalled. There will be serious discussion about these statements, which are, however, chiefly important as to the matter of fact—the character of General Komaroff's attack. As to policy and the chances of Russia yielding, Sir Peter Lumsden's opinions are only those of any good Indian officer. Lord Dufferin knows more of the impulses which move St. Petersburg than his whole frontier Staff; and Mr. Gladstone states that Lord Dufferin entirely approves his policy.

Mr. Chamberlain, in accepting on Wednesday the proposal made to him to become the candidate for the Western Division of Birmingham after the Dissolution, made an admirable speech, far the most statesmanlike, both in substance and in temper, which be has delivered outside the House of Commons during the last year. He declined to recant anything he had said as to the " ransom " of property, and the aid to be given to the poor; but even in declining to recant, he re-stated his real drift in

unobjectionable and statesmanlike terms which, we may hope, express his truer meaning. "I do not believe that any Liberal policy," he said, "mine, or any other, will ever take away the security which property rightly enjoys, that it will ever destroy the certainty that industry and thrift will meet with their due reward; but I do think that something may be done to enlarge the obligation and responsibility of the whole community towards its poorer and less fortunate members." No sensible man will object to that moderate mode of stating the matter. Only let men remember that this something must not be done, either in the manner in which the old Poor Law did it,—thereby demoralising the poor, and immensely augmenting their poverty and misery,—or in the manner in which various wild and dangerous Socialist enterprises have attempted to do it; and this last was a manner to which Mr. Chamberlain, in his address to the Eighty Club, unfortunately did not seem to be averse.

On the general party questions of the day, Mr. Chamberlain spoke with great force and vigour. He recited the great measures which this much-despised Government had effected in its five years of office, and compared them with the barren fruits of the six years of Conservative office, between 1874 and 1880. He spoke with enthusiasm and reverence of Mr. Gladstone himself, and of his vast superiority to all his rivals. He declared that he attributed the pacification of Ireland to the Land Act, and not to the Crimes Act; and he intimated that, in his opinion, the emergency which necessitated what is called " coercion " in Ireland is over. He insisted that the extension of a liberal Local Government system to Ireland is still needful, and perhaps as important as a sound Land Act itself. He declared that the medical-relief clause would disfranchise, in England, at least one-fourth of those whom the new Franchise Act would otherwise enfranchise, and expressed his wonder that the Lords should desire to bring on a new Franchise agitation. And then he launched into foreign policy, defending the Government, first, for its policy towards Russia; next, for its Policy in Egypt and its attitude towards France, with great energy and effect.

Mr. Trevelyau has delivered two admirable speeches to his constituents of the Border boroughs this week, one in Selkirk on Tuesday, and one in Galashiels on Wednesday. He dwelt on the desire of the Parnellites to gain the command of the situation, which they would gain if they should have it in their power, after the General Election, by a combination with the weaker party, to turn it into the stronger ; and he declared his belief and hope that the Liberals would carry at least 380 seats out of the 570, so that they could defeat with ease even a union of eighty Parnellites with the Conservatives. He expressed his strong confidence in the moderation of the true working-classes, and in their cordial dislike of such vulgar personalities as those which Lord Randolph Churchill conceives to be in keeping with the temper of a Democracy. And he attacked with much ability the reckless Jingoism of the Conservative Party, expressing his belief that the constituencies at large care very little for questions of foreign policy, which they do not understand and hardly care to understand, until they find themselves burdened with the responsibility of a war. That may be too true. But is there not a very unpleasant side to the admission ?

Lord Randolph Churchill delivered a long speech in the Tower Hamlets on Tuesday. After commending himself and his party for neglecting the Derby Day in terms which might have called the "Rupert of Debate" from his grave, he described the Liberal Government as inventing a new policy every few months or days. It had had since 1880 tea policies in Ireland, eighteen policies in Egypt, and nine in Russia—thirty-seven policies in ail. He declared that it was impossible to believe the Irish masses fit for citizenship, and yet unfit to be governed without exceptional laws, and maintained that Government in granting the suffrage, yet renewing the Crimes Act, held them to be

both. He ridiculed the compromise which will extend the Crimes Act for one year more ; and after denouncing the conduct of the Government in Egypt and on the Afghan frontier, and calling on all Conservatives to repeat his charges with endless reiteration, lie proceeded to state the policy which, although only a humble individual in the ranks, he believed to be that of the Tory Party, that party which was "the real party of reform and retrenchment," and which was undivided both as to persons and to principles.

The Tories, according to Lord Randolph Churchill, would accept the Liberal arrangement with Russia, but would prevent her from advancing further, and make the frontier of India impregnable. They would accept the position in Egypt, though we ought never to have gone there, and would confirm British predominance there by alliance with the Turks. In Ireland they would maintain the Union, and grant more money for public works and education ; and in England they would make the House of Commons begin and end earlier in the day, would create county representative governments strong enough to relieve Parliament of much of its labour, would create a representative body for London, would inquire into the unparalleled depression of trade and revise our fiscal policy, and would institute a strict investigation into the expenditure of every department ; "for we," said Lord Randolph, "are the real party of retrenchment." He offered, in fact, to fight Russia, take Egypt, and reverse the Tory policy in domestic affairs, and still retrench, if only the country would trust itself to Tories. The speech was as clever, vulgar, and catchpenny as that of any professional American politician, and one wonders why it did not end in the old way,—" These air my sentiments, gentlemen; but if they do not suit, gentlemen, they can be changed." What matters one's own conviction, such as that Egyptian independence ought to be fostered, if the voters demand that Egyptian independence shall be taken away, and British predominance substituted for it ?

Sir Stafford Northcote is working away in good earnest at the Barnstaple division of North Devon, and hardly seems as confident as he would wish to be of his success. His speeches are lively so long as he keeps off politics, and suggests, as he did on Tuesday at Bideford, that the Corrupt Practices Act would get most of them into prison, though he hoped it might operate so equally that there would always be an imprisoned Liberal to pair off with an imprisoned Conservative ; and while he expresses his regrets for the lively hustings experiences of the old days, remarking that someone had said to him of one of the new elections, "Do you call this an election ? After all, it's more like a funeral." But when he came to politics he was wearisome, both at Bideford and at Appledore. He was very anxious that the labourers should not be led astray, as very ignorant people so often are, to expect a golden age, in which they would be bitterly disappointed. And in the speech at Appledore he was very eloquent against England's adopting an "insular policy," though he dilated at great length on our magnificently insular position. As far as we can judge, Sir Stafford Northcote wishes us to ccunbine all the advantages of an insular position with all the advantages of a Continental Power which keeps four or five hundred thousand men always under arms. We fear those aspirations are not quite compatible, and that no policy will combine the advantages of safely dispensing with a great army, with the advantages of wielding all the influence which a great army bestows.

The Austrian Parliament has passed a severe law abolishing Sunday labour, and fixing eleven hours as the limit of a legal day. The law apparently follows a similar law in Switzerland, and will, we presume, be similarly worked through numerous Inspectors. The Government are allowed to make exemptions, and these exemptions are so numerous, that the law in practice only regulates labour in factories, mines, shops, and printing establishments. It has been passed mainly in obedience to medical advice, and is approved of by the workmen ; but its practical effect will be to increase the agitation for State interference with labour. If it is right to fix for grown men a maximum of toil, why is it wrong to fix a minimum of wages ? If health is to be protected against over-work, surely it ought to be protected against under-feeding. The Government had only to relax its rules against Trade Unions, and the workmen would have settled the question of hours by refusing to work too many without pay for overtime. The funeral of Victor Hugo on Monday was the occasion of an immense demonstration, which was, however, perfectly orderly. The entire population of Paris was in the streets, and the procession was swelled by men of all parties and all grades, while the populace turned out as to a great fête: Immense bodies of troops were under arms, and the chill booming of cannon from the fortresses at once increased the solemnity of the scene and warned the people of the force kept in reserve. There was, however, little occasion for military display. The workmen were not inclined for a riot, and theAnarchists were lost in the indifferent multitude. Wherever the red flags appeared the police seized them, and no resistance 1788 attempted at any point. The city, in fact, is held by the Republic as strongly as by the Empire, and the Republic cannot be assassinated.

The German papers are getting up a new quarrel with England. A German Association has obtained some territorial. cessions on the East coast of Africa, and the German protection has been extended to a chief called the Sultan of Vita. The Sultan of Zanzibar, however, considers part of the land of the Association his, and is coercing or threatening the Sultan of Vitn. The German journalists therefore declare that the British areprompting the island sovereign, and insist that we shall make him surrender his claims. They even threaten that an exhibition of "material strength" may be necessary to their Colonial policy. We have no doubt it will be; but what have the British to do with the matter ? Whatever their relations to Zanzibar, they certainly have no right to compel the Sultan to surrender dominions he considers his, or to abstain from fighting a man whom he thinks his vassal. We suppose, however, Prince Bismarck will insist, and when we refuse, will instruct his agents to hamper us in Egypt, to oppose 118 on the Canal Commission, and to encourage Russia in protracting the Afghan negotiations. There is nothing for it but patience ; but Germany makes the duty of patience very hard.

Mr. W. P. Sinclair, the new Liberal Member for Antrim, made a speech at Liverpool on Wednesday, in which he explained the reasons for his return in a Tory county. He found, he said, a definite increase of Liberal feeling in Ulster, due in part to increased enlightenment, in part to the new faith that Liberals, as well as Tories, will preserve the Union, and in part to the effect of land legislation. The Northern farmers are delighted with their new security of tenure,though they think the Act should be extended to cover leaseholders. They are, however, still more anxious for County Reform, being utterly weary of government through Grand Juries. These juries are composed only of freeholders to the amount of 250 a year, and leaseholders to the amount of 2100, and they control all local affairs. They meet only twice a year, and if any man shows himself a Liberal, he is left out. Mr. Sinclair was exceedingly strong against all exceptional legislation of any kind for Ireland, declaring that even when required it deeply wounded the national amour propre. He held it to be indispensable to the maintenance of the Union that any law which suggested the idea that Irishmen were in any way inferior to Englishmen should be at once repealed. The hint is worth noting, though for ourselves we do not see why difference should be held to. mark inferiority. The Scotch hold in their hearts that it marks superiority, and hug their variety of the Roman law, though it is less favourable to liberty than English law, as a proof of their higher civilisation.

The Liberals of Birmingham have now to fight seven seats, and with their usual capacity for organisation have merged all local Associations into a single body, to be called "the Two Thousand." The first meeting of the new body, which is a microcosm of the whole Liberal party in the town, was most harmonious, and it is worthy of note that the two first resolutions passed were a hope that the Government would see its way to suspend "exceptional legislation" in Ireland, and a demand that the new voters should be relieved of the disabilities caused by their acceptance of medical relief. The latter question is rapidly rising into one of first-class importance, and we trust that the Government will take an early opportunity of declaring itself. Mr. Jesse Collings, who has introduced a Bill on the subject, cannot pass it through the Lords ; and, moreover, a suspensory measure is all that is required. The principle need not be interfered with, but the accidental injustice arising from the ignorance of the labourers

ought to be remedied at once. Of course, if the Lords delay the Bill, the remedy will come too late for the Revising Barristers ; but then the people will know clearly that the Upper House was in fault.

We have received the following from a trustworthy source in Denmark :—" Our internal crisis does not seem to be near its end. The war between the Landsthing and the Government on the one side, and the Folksthing on the other side, is as vehement as ever. The ill-feeling between the two parties, and what follows from it, the ill-feeling entertained by the large majority of the people against the King, is constantly growing. Lately some of the popular party hit upon the rather unhappy device of organising so-called rifle unions, with the professed object of defending the Constitution against illegal acts expected from the Government. The Government then issued a provisional law, making illegal the buying of rifles and the practice of military training without license from the authorities. They have also instituted criminal proceedings against several persons for promoting the organising of rifle unions. The provisional law is sure to be rejected by the Folksthing on its reassembling. Another kind of prosecutions which are now flourishing are those for Majestatsbeleidigung, to use a German expression. Proceedings were lately instituted against a man in Jutland for having, at an auction-room, trampled on a portrait of the King which he had bought for a penny ; another person is to be indicted for having smashed a bust of the King, the property of some private club. Then there are private actions brought by the Prime Minister for libels in newspapers or slander in public speeches. Criticism must be clothed in very cautious words !"

The General Assembly of the Free Church last week showed how deep is its prejudice against any kind of State endowment by carrying Professor Lindsay's motion that " Disestablishment and Disendowment are urgently required," by 365 votes against 91 given for a more moderate motion of Principal Rainy's, which committed the Assembly only to Disestablishment and not to Disendowment. In other words, the party which regards State endowment as a kind of sin is gaining rapidly on. the party which only regards State interference with spiritual matters as such a sin. For our own parts, we can see no sin in the case; but we do see very clearly that if the great majority of the Scotch people are with the Free Church and not with the Established Church in this matter, both Disestablishment and Disendowment are very near at hand. How far the Established Church still commands a majority in Scotland we do not know. It is surely a very curious phenomenon, this growth, almost in vacuo, of a bitter jealousy of State endowments, even when the State interferes so little as it does among the Scotch Presbyterians.

The same Assembly last Saturday considered overtures from the Synod of Ross and Presbytery of Tain calling for the reversal of the decision of the last two Assemblies allowing

• instrumental music. Mr. Anderson (Partick) moved that the General Assembly, having regard to the honour of the great Head of the Church and the Scriptural principles which ought to regulate the worship of the sanctuary, and farther considering that the declaration of the Assembly of 1883, to the effect that "there was nothing in the Word of God or in the constitution and laws of this Church to preclude the use of instrumental music as an aid to vocal praise," had greatly grieved and offended multitudes of our people who held it to be "virtually a disowning of Christ's Headship over his own House and dishonouring to the Holy Spirit," should recall the said declaration and enjoin all congregations to adhere to what has been the Scriptural practice of the Presbyterian Church for three hundred years. Major M‘Leod, elder (Dalkeith), in seconding the motion, said "the organ was an idol, and to adopt it in God's worship was to make themselves partial idolaters. If he voted for an organ he should deem himself a perjurer. They were told in the Bible that the dead could not praise God ; was an organ living ? The Tartars, who had no religion, had got hold of an idea that they should pray without ceasing, and fixed on a windmill that would make a great noise and always pray for them. What was the difference between praying to God with a windmill and praising him with an organ P" For that matter, is the voice living P Frank Buckland frightened his cook very much by eliciting vocal sounds from the wind-box of a dead bird. It. is not the life which makes the sound, though it uses it; and Major M`Leod ought

really to denounce the mechanism of the lungs, when they roar out their stentorian praise, as idolatrous. The Free Church Assembly, however, were not affected by Major M'Leod's eloquence ; though as many as 66 actually voted for this absurd motion, 166 voted against it.

The Archbishop of Canterbury made a striking and extremely thoughtful speech on Wednesday, at the an niversary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, remarking on the three eras of missionary enterprise,—the era of individual missionaries, the era of Government propagandism, and the era of missions organised by voluntary societies. Ho treated the second era, that of the propagation of the gospel by Governments, as a "strange, very great, and, in some respects, sad era," remarking on the fifty years' invasion of Prussia by the Teutonic knights, that if it had not been redeemed by the lives of such men as the St. John of the Middle Ages, it would have had little advantage over the propagation of Mahommedanism. He regarded the rise of the Reformation as in effect the commencement of missicnary enterprise by voluntary societies, for it was a voluntary association of Reformers which began the work; and even in resisting the Reformation, the Jesuits found it necessary to bring such a society to the aid of the Church. The era of societies was still in its full vigour ; but the Archbishop thought that there were some symptoms that another stage in the development of missionary work might be at hand,—a stage in which voluntary societies might be succeeded by the collective efforts of the Churches themselves. The Church of the United States had no missionary societies ; that Church itself was the society. Many native Churches were escaping from the control of the missionaries. Societies could not touch the Church of Egypt, —the Coptic Church,—the people of which are very much in the condition of the people of England before the Reformation. With "the nations just ready to be born," would come great changes in the agencies by which the Christian faith would be propagated amongst them.

Mr. Spencer has confessed that he had been betrayed into a mistake by his American publishers, and greatly to his credit has telegraphed to the Messrs. Appleton to cancel the little volume containing Mr. Harrison's criticism on him as annotated by himself. Mr. Spencer has also promised his American publishers an indemnification for their loss at his own expense. But in spite of this generous reparation of his mistake, he expresses an anger at what he terms Mr. Harrison's "insult," which is, we think, hardly justified. For Mr. Harrison, before he had beard of this just and candid decision of Mr. Spencer's, had accepted Mr. Spencer's apologetic letter to the Times of Tuesday, and had treated his offer to refer the question at issue to the decision of two or three impartial friends, as in itself an adequate reparation. On the whole, we must say that the rather sharp controversy between the Agnostic and the Positivist has ended with a good deal of credit to both the disputants, though we could have wished to see Mr. Spencer less disposed to resent Mr. Harrison's first letter, which, though it may have been overcoloured, was written under a sense of grievance, and was so soon replaced by generous expressions of confidence and esteem.

M. Edmond Scherer sends to Tuesday's Times a very curious and interesting letter of the late Mark Pattison's to him, in which Mr. Pattison thanks him for editing and giving to the world the journal of Amiel, and declares that be himself had lived through the mental and moral struggles of Amiel. "In your pathetic description," says Mr. Pattison, "of the Volont6 qui voudrait vouloir, mais impuissante it, se fournir b, elle-memo des motifs,'—of the repugnance for all action—the soul petrified by the sentiment of the infinite,—in all this I recognise myself.

Celni qui a d6chiffr6 le secret de la vie fioie, qui en a In le mot, eat sorti du monde des vivants, il est mort de fait.' I can feel forcibly the truth of this as it applies to myself." Surely there must have been something very morbid in any life which could deliberately declare to itself—at least without an implied selfcondemnation—that it would like to put forth volition, but that it could not find for itself any sufficient motives for doing so, and that it had decyphered the secret of finite life so as to be virtually dead, even while still living. We should say that any man who really felt that must have lost his hold on motives which ought to command his devotion, instead of having exhausted their significance. But is not the whole state of mind here depicted, a sick man's dream ?