THE MAGAZINES.

SIR HENRY BLARE, discussing the problem of Ulster, in the Nineteenth Century, is mainly concerned to stir the British public out of its apathy in regard to what he considers to be a very grave peril. In a striking passage he dwells on the • Ravenna: a Study. By Edward Hutton. Illustrated in colour and lino by Itarald Sand, Louden: J. N. Dent and Seas. Lies, ed, nets4 dominating influence exerted under the Birrell-Aberdeen regime by the Ancient Order of Hibernians. He points out that its acceptance as an " approved society "--a most iniquitous concession—has enormously increased its member. ship. With such a power for good or evil it ought to have a clean record, but there is no reason to assume that there has been any breach in its continuity with the old society, and it is admittedly exclusively and aggressively Roman Catholic. The ;paper is in the main highly serious, but, as becomes the author of Pictures from Ireland, he has enlivened it with some humorous passages :— " The reasons given for the desire for Home Rule, not in the get speeches of the platform but in the conversations by the wayside, are sometimes curious. There is a widespread belief that under Home Rule the Irish Government will, without delay, open mines in every direction. The belief is quite independent of the existence of minerals. It is there, and one might as well argue on the non-existence of fairies, who are, all the world knows, potent for good or evil. What good do you expect to get from Home Rule ? ' was a question put to an intelligent peasant. The answer was prompt : ' We will pay no more rent or taxes, and if we want money we'll send up a petition to the Parliament in Dublin and get a grant.' That man is an ardent Home Ruler, and is rightly so according to the faith that is in him. His political views were free from sentiment, as were those of a Dublin carman equally anxious for the Bill. What will you do when Home Rule comes ? ' was asked. 'What will we do ? Faith, we'll tear up them tram- lines,' was the reply. Again a non-sentimental but highly practical appreciation of advantageous possibilities from his point of view. There are many thousands whose hopes are as strong and as visionary, and we must not judge too harshly of the play of their Celtic imagination ; nor can we ignore the fact that sentiment plays a large part in the agitation. But behind the sentiment is the knowledge that the creation of an Irish Parliament and Ministry would create a large number of small offices for aspirants of the proper way of thinking."

Sir Henry Blake, we may add, does not hesitate to express the opinion that the present Ulster movement has deliberately adopted sectarian lines, and that the Ulster Protestants are absolutely convinced that while they are at present members of a Protestant United Kingdom in which every man enjoys complete civil and religious liberty, an autonomous Ireland would mean a country practically under the domination of the Roman Catholic Church.—Mr. Ellis Barker's article on "The Changing of the Balance of Power" contains some disputable propositions—e.g., the Bulgarians cannot strictly be called " Slays " pure and simple. But with his broad dis- tinction between the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente we find ourselves in:strong agreement:— "Policy should be intelligent, and not mechanical. It is not an empty phrase, but a fact subject to proof, that peace is the greatest interest of Great Britain and of the British Empire. Those who do not wish well to Great Britain frequently assert that this country tries unceasingly to involve the nations of the Continent in war, and especially to break up the Triple Alliance so as to weaken Germany. That these assertions are untrue is shown by the fact that during the entire duration of the Balkan war Great Britain took probably the leading part in preventing dissension and war among the Great Powers. Had this country desired to break up the Triple Alliance it could easily have done so. It need only have caused King Nicholas to remain at Scutari either by encouraging, or by merely not discouraging, him. That event would have led to the joint occupation of Albania by Austria-Hungary and Italy, to their quarrel over its division, and to the break-up of the Triple Alliance. Therefore, Great Britain should not withdraw herself from the Triple Entente in order to produce a mechanical equilibrium between the two groups of European Powers. She should strengthen the peace group by her adherence, and should endeavour to convert the Triple Entente into a Multiple Entente, fOr an entente for the preservation of peace cannot possibly be too strong. Moreover, as long as Great Britain is a leading member of the Entente, she can more easily restrain that group if some of its members should feel tempted to attack the Central European Powers.

—Lord Grey ably defends Proportional Representation from the criticisms of, Major Morrison-Bell, while generously admitting the admirable services which his opponent has rendered by exposing the inequalities of representation under the present system. Lord Grey contends that in face of the new dangers brought into being by the passage of the Parlia- ment Act, there is a supreme obligation incumbent on our statesmen to provide security against the possible weaknesses and excesses of an unbalanced House of Commons by sub- stituting proportional for majority representation.—Miss Anna Martin continues her exposition' of the grievances of the married women of the poor under the heading of " The Mother and Social Reform." She does not deny that married life in England on the whole is happy, but her attitude is best reflected in such statements as this. that the kw standard of truth and honour among large sections

• zif the rising generation is only to be expected " when the children grow up with the knowledge that the home is only held together by the lies and shifts of the mother."—Mr. J. A. R. Marriott replies to the Socialistic arguments in Canon Barnett's paper on "Our Present Discontents," in the February number, arriving at the conclusion that of all possible prescriptions for the extinction of poverty the most preposterous and the least efficacious is an attack upon accumulated wealth.—Miss Edith Sellers, in "Sober by Act of Parliament," descr?bes her experiences in Scandinavia. Nowhere have so many Acts of Parliament been passed to keep men sober, and nowhere, save in Greece, Portugal, and Scotland, has she seen so much drunkenness, although the amount of alcohol consumed has been greatly reduced. But whereas, when free trade in spirit prevailed, the average Scandinavian " took seven days in which to drink his week's supply, he now often drinks it all at one sitting, with the result that he becomes very drunk." She sums up by declaring that it is useless to legislate people into sobriety " unless people's kitchens be provided, people's theatres, and, even in little villages, something in the way of pleasure resorts as rivals to inn-parlours." These countervailing attractions are found in Finland, where also the Finnish temperance reformers have conducted a highly effective propaganda on the lines that drunkenness is treason to the Fatherland.---We may also note Professor Leinhaas's vindication of the Empress Frederick from the spiteful calumnies of Freytag ; Dr. Macdonald's interesting account of the last romance of agriculture—the raising of " rainless " wheat at the Dry-land Experimental Station at Lichtenburg, in the Western Transvaal; and the first instal- ment of Mrs. Bennett's reminiscences of Cawnpore—a most harrowing recital.

By far the most striking article in the new National Review is Lord Percy's on " The Voluntary System in History," in which he tests Colonel Seely's saying that " one Volunteer is worth ten pressed men," by the lessons of the growth of our Empire, and with special reference to the great French war from 1793 to 1815. Lord Percy's conclusions do not minister to national complacency. He frankly declares that our military history for three hundred years has been insignificant, almost contemptible ; "We have never fought except as a small contingent of an Allied army a single battle which a Continental nation would dignify by the name of a general action." He does not deny the extraordinary .qualities of our officers or men, but impeaches the system as hopelessly inadequate, and eked out by the lavish em- ployment of foreign mercenaries. We owe our Empire, according to him, first to the fact that for two hundred years Continental nations, fighting desperately with one another, left us comparatively free to indulge in our policy of grabbing possessions all over the world, and second to the fact that when compelled to intervene on the Continent, we paid foreigners to fight our battles. Again, " Never once in our history has the manhood of our nation undergone any collective sacrifice for the country "—a sacrifice, that is, comparable to that made by France, Prussia, Austria, Russia, or the United States. The pressed men of the War of the Spanish Succession " were worth ten of the volunteers of 1901, because the former had discipline and the latter had not." Lord Percy proves too much, but it is impossible not to be impressed by the sincerity and passion with which be assails and demolishes the sophistries of the extreme supporters of voluntaryism.—" Bulgarian' writes gloomily of the future of the Balkan Alliance. Nominally the quarrel turns on the interpretation of treaties, but the question at stake is nothing less than the future balance of power in the Balkans. The antagonism between

Servians and Bulgarians and between Bulgarians and Greeks is a legacy of the past. The wiser statesmen, like M. Venezelos, are being overborne by the military hotheads. As for Bulgaria, her national self-control hides a whole ocean of resentments, and what makes danger from this quarter ,particularly serious is that " the Bulgarians are persistent in purpose, and neither forget nor forgive." In conclusion, the

writer maintains that the League was from the first foredoomed to a brief career, and that a fresh Balkan war may prove a bless- in in disguise by settling the problem of Balkan hegemony +which is at the bottom of Balkan unrest. It is curious that " Bulgarian," who exhibits a remarkable command of the English tongue, never once mentions the name of King Ferdinand throughout the whole of his article.—The Editor, in "The End of the Asquith Legend," maintains that Mr Asquith, as head of the Government, and being already

aware of the investments made by his colleagues in the American Marconi Company, was as responsible for the misleading declarations made by Mr. Samuel, Mr. Lloyd George, and Sir Rufus Isaacs in October 1912 as the actual spokesmen themselves.—Mr. Austin Dobson has a

charming paper on Prior's "Peggy," the elicitelaine of

Bulstrode, and wife of the second Duke of Portland, "a shadowy but beneficent presence with a genius for friendship and a taste for collecting." From the letters of the practised and accomplished confidants "whom she had the good sense to attract and retain," he has furnished us with a delightful picture of the life at Bulstrode in the middle of the eighteenth century.—Mr. Maurice Low gives a vivid picture of the opening stages of Mr. Woodrow Wilson's Presidency, in which "he has already violated more traditions and ignored more precedents than any of his predecessors in their full term, but no apprehension has been caused."

Sir Edwin Pears, who deals with " Turkey, Present and Future" in the Contemporary, finds one of the causes of her

defeat in the decline of religious fanaticism, and quotes from a remarkable report issued by the " Official Preachers " who were sent on a religious mission to the troops at the Tchatalja lines. They declare that the religious sentiment of the

soldiers has been much enfeebled owing to the neglect of ceremonial duties under the new regime. " The Moslem soldier

from time immemorial went into battle with the determination to die victorious or to attain Paradise. The new idea of ' dying for the country' is not understood by him." They go on to say that the result of travel or education abroad is a general indifference to all religion. Islam was the one bond of union in the Turkish army. Now, as the Preachers report, not only are there Christians in the army, but "our own men, when they have to lie on the ground and wait until the cannonading has prepared for their movement, commence to fall back." Sir Edwin Pears dismisses the charges of atrocities brought against the Allies as grossly exaggerated. The Turkish newspapers were constantly untrustworthy in regard to the war, especially in reference to the conduct of the Allies. Turning to the future, while admitting the treachery and blundering of the Committee, he maintains that it is the only organized party

in the country. The Powers will therefore have to deal with

the men in office—not the best men in Turkey, though the best to be had. The reduction of her territory may prove a blessing in disguise, since the European provinces were economically profitless. Perhaps the hardest saying in this temperate and illuminating article is this : that well-wishers of Turkey have become hopeless of her progress because of her inability to make any race whom she has conquered really loyal. He deprecates the attempt to Turkify Syria as bound to invite failure, and urges that Russia should be given a mandate by Europe to superintend the execution of reforms in Armenia. As regards Albania, be gives reasons for his belief that the inhabitants would prefer a Christian prince and a.

Protestant rather than a Roman Catholic.—In this context we may note an interesting plea for Armenia by M. G. Thoumaian,

in which he explains the disillusionment of his compatriots

with the Young Turks, and points out how the Balkan war has greatly worsened their position. They are now the only Christian subjects of Turkey [How about the Maronites p], and they are in danger of being dislodged by Mohammedan refugees, while Asiatic Turkey, and the Armenians in

particular, will have to make up the deficit in the Budget caused by the loss of European Turkey. He appeals therefore to England, as the country in his opinion most responsible for Armenia's present condition, to use all her endeavours to carry out the 61st Article of the Treaty of Berlin—which provided for the introduction of reforms and security of life in Armenia—without confiding its execution to Turkey. Any scheme "must be put under the direct and effective supervision and control of the Powers, and be carried out by European officers." At the same time he declares in the most positive way that "the unique desire of the Armenians is to remain part and parcel of the Turkish' Empire," provided they are granted real reforms.— Mr. J. Fischer Williams advocates the nationalization of

the armament industry, on the ground that the elimina- tion of the element of private profit would be a great advance in the natural development of international law,

render the duties of a neutral far more easy to observe, and generally clear and purify the international atmosphere.—

Mr. W. M. J. Williams's paper on the Budget of 1913-1914 is an uncritical eulogy of Lloyd-Georgian finance tempered by a faint plea in the last paragraph for subjecting public expenditure to a stricter scrutiny.—Mr. George Cormack has an interesting paper on "Heathen Messiahs," showing how, in early societies, political myth-making came into play to canonize successful usurpation and provide that religious sanction which was indispensable to a conqueror. His examples range from the legends of Greek and Roman heroes to Augustus, and while he notes a correspondence in the cases reviewed with the Gospel story, he observes that the resem- blance is formal rather than material, and contrasts the absolute position of the Gospel with the inconsistent com- promise of Caesarism.

In the Fortnightly Mr. Archibald Hurd directs our attention to the false principles of naval defence which find favour in some

parts of the Empire. Sir Wilfrid Laurier is responsible for the desperate saying that " defence, like charity, should begin at home." Mr. Hurd truly answers, " Maritime defence should not begin at home, but on the probable enemies' frontier."

He proceeds to inquire into the reasons which are causing the Dominions to look for defence from local forces rather than from an Imperial Navy.- The answer to the question, we are told, is the rise of race enmity in the Pacific. The people of Australia and British Columbia are obsessed by the fear of Asiatic encroachment; to them the danger threatens from the yellow races and not from the North Sea. The overseas statesmen have no long tradition of naval principles such as we have in England, and they regard the concentration of the British fleet on a particular sea frontier as a dangerous proceeding, leaving them open to attack. In fact, they want to see their ships, so that they may feel secure. They have not realized that the sea is one. This is the reason of Sir Wilfrid Lanrier's false doctrine. Mr. Hurd urges that England should beware of too great preoccupation in European affairs, and says :—

" Unless British statesmanship makes some move, the next stage in Imperial development may prove to be the consolidation of an Empire within the greater Empire. Already leading politicians in New Zealand, Australia, and Canada are in consultation with a view to yet closer trade relations and joint naval defence measures in the Pacific. There is no idea of disloyalty to the Imperial idea in these local navies ; there is no recognition of the waste of men and money which the attainment of the measures proposed repre- sents ; there is no understanding of the negation of true strategic principles involved. There is, however, a growing appreciation of danger, and these scattered peoples are therefore co-operating for their own safety, thrusting on one side all the strategical lore which history has concentrated, and which British naval officers to-day hold as fundamental to Imperial safety. It is no long step from an Empire within an Empire to a cleavage into two Empires ; this might well be the work of a moment—the result of some sudden ebullition of feeling. It is not a development which we need fear to-day when the white peoples of the Pacific are few and scattered and dependent upon us for the money required for development purposes, but the time is not far distant when they will be many and united by powerful mutual interests."

Clout des ley. Brereton writes of "Vocational" education, and urges that reforms should be in the direction of differen- tiation rather than in that of uniformity. Manual work should be taught not mechanically and by rule of thumb, but need as a means of culture. As an instance of the effect of manual work upon the ordinary literary education, the London Indus-

trial Truant Schools are cited. In these schools half the time is devoted to work, such as boot-making or tailoring, yet, according to the inspectors, the non-technical work is pro- bably as good as that done in the average Board school.—Mr. Courtney continues his study of the realistic drama : he traces

the growth of idealism in Ibsen's plays, which gradually became more and more symbolical. The realists find that their view of life is after all only a limited one. Mr. Courtney considers that even Russian realistic pessimism is wearing itself out, and that a new school is arising which, without closing its eyes to the evil of the world, will "discover how the idealism of simple things can, as though by magic, make us healthful and sane."

The first article in Blackwood deals in a very temperate manner with the Marconi business, and points out how

terribly demoralizing is the Jesuitical attitude of the Liberal Party. So possessed are numbers of earnest people by the.

belief that the salvation of the country depends on the Liberal. Party_ that they are willing to say, "If we weaken in our loyalty to our leaders we weaken our party, and put the great principles of Liberalism in danger, and if Liberalism falls it is all up with Britain. Therefore to secure a. great cause we discard minor scruples. La petite 'morale. c'est l'ennemi de la grande." This Jesuitical attitude is. seen in other places besides the Marconi affair. Some such words as the above must represent the feelings of the Quaker. millionaire when he justifies the payment of " Captain Coe's salary.—From the outposts comes a story of murder which shows by flashlight how difficult the administration of justice is made by Hindu caste. A Brahman-murdered his daughter in a fit of wild rage; be was in prison awaiting trial. There he. learnt that the report which had caused his murderous fury was false, and in his remorse told the warder, who happened to be a caste fellow, that he wished to confess his.crime and die. The warder pointed out that the Brahman would be executed by an outcast. This the criminal regarded as a greater act of cruelty than even the killing of a daughter,. for it entailed eternal pollution. So the trial proceeded and,. of course, the witnesses perjured themselves, and the two% assessors—Brahmans—declared the accused not guilty. The murderer after his release called together a council of five oi his own caste, in which were included the two assessors ; this tribunal appointed the penance for the crime. The great pilgrimage was to be undertaken on foot, which meant.. journeys from one end of India to the other, from tropical heat to the mountain snows. At the end of this- pilgrimage the writer of the paper meets the pilgrim and hears the true story of the case in which years before he had been - interested as a police official.—Miss Doman gives a graphics_ account of mountaineering- adventures in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, where she and a lady friend nearly met with disaster owing to the faulty guiding of a local lady who, because her brother was a guide, was sup- posed to know the mountains. Had it not been for the energy of the search parties of the neighbourhood it is difficult to see how a tragedy could have been averted; every precaution possible was neglected.—Sir Hugh. Clifford tells us that a book written by one who was his junior in the service has revealed to him the secret of the puzzle of the Malay character. Sir Hugh had always been struck by the inconsistency of the Malays, who would . face the dangers of war with joy, and who fear neither the perils of the sea nor the rapids of their rivers, but yet refuse absolutely to combat the jungle, and give up as hopeless the contest with its primeval growth. The book which gave the key to the problem was Mr. Woolf's "The Village in the Jungle," taken with a sentence in Buckle's "History or, Civilization in England," which speaks of the conditions af civilization being determined by the manageability of nature:, Sir. Hugh gives various instances of the utterly hopeless task of stemming the tide of the jungle. For a little time maw may seem to conquer, but the end is always the same. Hence, the Malay, so warlike and so energetic in some directions, has. an inherited instinct that to fight the jungle is useless, and cannot be induced to make the attempt.

An interesting paper in the United Service Magazine for- June is General Harrison's " A Soldier's View of the Defence of England." His words in regard to the National Reserve naturally find approval in these columns. They are as follows :- "I should think hardly any event in our history shows a finer- spirit than the response made to those who started in this country what is called the National Reserve.' From every quarter, from the back streets of our great manufacturing cities, as well as from the small country villages, and even from the lonely hamlets, the answer came back, Here I am, take me.' Not a word was said about conditions. With a sublime faith, with a loyalty and a patriotism hard to beat, our soldiers and sailors forgot the hard- ships they had endured, the sickness and danger they had faced,. the grievances that many of them had suffered ; and expressed- their willingness to do what they could in the time (as they thought) of their country's peril. Surely a spirit like this should- be taken advantage of, and a scheme worked out which, while, dealing fairly with the men themselves, would at the same time make use of their trained experience in forming a reliable defensive army to guard the shores of the British Isles.'

One of the strange things about the National Reserve is thak

though it has always won approval and support from the best Officers when they are not in high office, it has for some reason or other never attracted the serious attention of soldiers in office or of our leading statesmen. We do not mean by this that War Office officials and politicians have not often been exceedingly friendly and sympathetic, or, as far as words go, helpful, but they have always been curiously shy of getting to close quarters with the Reserve. The Reserve has from the beginning been kept strangely isolated from the central .finilitary organization of the country.