.. THE. MAGAZINES. - . : THE first, and in

a literary sense much the best, articlein the Contemporary Review is Canon Gore's on " The- English ChUrch Union Declaration." It should be-read by everyone who cares to understand thoroughly the' controversy now inging-in the Church of England. - Exceedingly moderate -in -tone, and tolerant of all difference of views even when - they take thi form of active dissent, Canon Gore is, nevertheless, 'essentially an unhesitating High Churchman. That is to say,-he belieVes that Christ founded a visible Church on earth, that the powei of settling doctrine and discipline resides of right --in the Church only, and that this power can be .rightfully exercised only through ecclesiastics. He would, -therefore, enable.theta to make laws for themselves, -would transfer to the Bishop§ the jurisdiction of the Judicial Committee in Church-cages, and would leave to the State—that. is, to the laity at la;rge.—n6 right of interference except through the threat or reality-of Disestablishment, to which he evidently looks forward without dread. That is a consistent policy stated with reat, temperance and lucidity, but it is not the one, as we think, ivhich* the English laity intend to adopt. They mean, unless. we are gravely mistaken, to retain *the Establishment, but to reject sacerdotalism as a theory, and to prevent the clergy' from wandering so far from their dominant ideas as to'seein to 'be introducing those of a faith which rejects the RefOrmation. They will pardon almost everything in a good clergy fol. the sake of their goodness; but not quite everything. We shall see; and, meanwhile, in this essay Canon Gore has issued a pamphlet which will help his own side, and clarify the thoughts. of disputants on all sides.—Mr. A.'J. Wilson. sends a posierfUl denunciation of the "Government waste" to which he says much of our apparent Oosperity, and especially the high price of all securities, is in great part due. He believes that our great trades, especially agriculture and the mineral indnstries, are positively declining, that we are redUcing out foteign securities, and that we are, in short, living mein-flit:on our capital. The result by and by will be a period Of disaster, and intermediately one of retrograde financial legislation, including taxation upon food. The warning is needed, but we suspect Mr. Wilson underrates the profits diaWn from our foreign undertakings, our gains from the cheapneis of food, and our increased industrial energy from the cheapness of money. and the abundant supply of gold, now estimated at £28,000,000 a year. What. does it matter if we are " spending " our capital if the expenditure means investment at greater profit That the outlay on armaments is uipiofit- able may be fully admitted, but, then, so is all outlay on insurance until the danger arrives. There is, however, no doubt that a disposition towardS extravagance . exists, and requires a check, and if Mr. Wilson can check it even by over-gloomy forebodings he will do good service.---Mr. Clement K. Shorter's account of the progress of illustrated journalism will be attractive to all- interested in the 'sub- ject ; and Mr. Vaughan Nash's plea for :old-age pen- sions would weigh more heavily if he were a little more definite and detailed. What pension does *he . Want given, at what age, to whom, and low much will it cost?. Every' fresh writer on - this subject should now begin by answering those four • questions clearly, and then will come the crucial one. who is to pay the money e real interest of Mr. H. Dunning Xa,cleod'S vt40- WM. aw t "Indian Cur- realer consists in tliaiiktfribel-he gives that India once had a gold currency, and that although, the Court of Directors made silver' he Standard, an enormous amount of gold reniained'in Circulation, until Lord DalhouSie in 1852 forbade the Trea- stries to receive it. That decree Mr. Maeleod thinks so com- pletely denicinetised gold that 2120,000,000 of the metal at once disappeared from circulation. !. We distrust large figures of, that kind, which must be based upon insufficient data, but we believe it to be true that a great amount of gold does exist in India; that it passes from hand to hand slowly'as prOperty, and that a new law making gold once more the standard might bring it back into circulation ' as .coin. : We'en= tirely agree, moreover, that there is no prejudice in Iadie against gold, the prejudide, if any, being the other way, owing to the greater ease with which the metal can be transported and hidden. Our doubt is whether this prejudice will not prevent its circtilation;but we believe that this difficulty has not been found to exist in native States —Sir John Jardine's paper in praise of the North Borneo Company needs expansion to be fully- intelligible, but we agree with him in believing that the policy of the North Borneo Company in avoiding Monopoly, and trusting to the prosperity of their State for dividends, is most wise. Only we do not quite see why, if the Company governs instead of trading, • a Lieutenant-Governor under the Colonial Office could not do the -work as well. What differentiates .Borneo from, say, Ceylon?----Dr. G. Saltaon states the case against`' the proposed Catholic University in Ireland with great clear- ness and some wit, but he does • not convince us. It really comes only to this, that Protestants ought not to establish a Roman Catholic :University, which would be final if Ireland did not 'happen to be a Roman Catholic country. That' a Catholic:University, if successful, will have a'Catholic atmo- sphere we admit. That is what it is intended to have, or else where-is-the:concession. to Roman Catholic feeling?

The .N'ineteenth Century is a little heaVythia• month.. It contains no article of a striking kind, and its lighter papers— one on "Ladies' Clubi," by the Hon. Mrs. Anstruther, one on "Yoman as an Athlete," by Miss A. Kenealy, and one on "Winged Carriers of Disease," by Lady Briestley—have failed" to interest us. The first, however, Contains 'a' valuable Hit 'of the ladies' clubs of London, with the object sought 'by each ; the' second is a protest said to be required against female athletics as ,diminiShing feminine' " charm "; and the third seems to the lay-mind' to contain convincing. evidenee that MoSquitoes really convey malaria and 'some ,other 'diseases. As we cannot -Prevent: mosquitoes from biting us, the know- ledge is not of much Value, but still, it is *ell' to .know the fact.-Perhaps the best article'in the number is a very warm defenee'of Germany;and specially of its"paternal government,. its militarism, and education; by Mr. C. CePland- Perry.. Mr. Perry thinks that the power of the Sovereign has. helped to make the German, that militarism has disciplined him; and that his education has made that militarism possible, with its result, "a spirit of obedience, docility, reverence, and laborious- ness." That there is a great deal of 'truth in this view is clear from history, but is it not also clear that the German has sacrificed much to discipline, losing the power of self=govern- ment, of rapid initiative, and the ability to act without leadership I Certainly his failure to utilise his colonies, while he is one of the best colonist4 in the world, suggests that doubt. My. Perry's article is, however, worth reading as an antidote to the rather unreasonable depreciation of Germany which is popular just now.—Mr. Greenwood in " The Cry for New Markets " argues that English merchants do not make the best of the old ones. They do not take trouble enough to suit their customers,—that is the gist of the • lecture. • Mr. Greenwood *ants Chinese assiduity, or the well-known Gferthan style. We suppose it is true, or all Consuls would not repeat the same story, but we cannot get over the convic- tion that traders know their own busineas beat, and are most unwilling to lose' any chance of profit when it is worth the trouble. Is not the truth very like this,-that the British trader seeks pounds and the German trader shillings, and that some- times, but only sometimes, the German's shillingsmount up to pounds? It is. quite. true, however, arid very timely, tb suggest that the limits of expansion have nearly been reached, that the time of strenuous competition is close at hand, and that we olaghtto be prepared for it.—Sir. George Arthur urges the-High Chureh view of the Church–question fwith Canon Gore's energy, hut without his moderation of statement. He does. not, that we see, say anything new, but he presses the idea that the claim of the State to set up Church Courts was never intended at the Reformation, and is therefore a "usurpation," with unusual distinctness.

We fancy that , Henry or, even Queen Elizabeth, would have made remarks upon Sir George Arthur's view of their intentions of a rather biting kind. Does Sir George really believe that the legal right of the Crown to a supremacy over the Church depends upon the godliness of its wearer He certainly seems to say so.—Mr. A. Sutherland argues that war has through many ages become more merciful, and must, therefore, " naturally decline," even though it should be four hundred years before it becomes finally ex- tinct ; but he does not explain why the increased merciful- ness of war should render it less frequent. It might increase the tendency to resort to it. The Italian States were always fighting at a period when their hired armies, from a fellow- feeling as mercenaries, fought in a most "merciful" manner, never destroying one another.—Mr. H. W. Wilson, author of " IioncladS in Action," discusses the navies of the world with a result that the following table shows the truth, not as to numbers, but as to numbers modified by effective strength :—

— . Battleships. Cruisers. Total Points.

Ready.

Building.

England ... ... 151 90 ' 151 895 France ... .... 85 35 76.5 — 195'5

Russia ... ...

67 68 31 148

Our predominance seems sufficient, though' we could hardly fight a coalition of all the European Powers. Mr. Wilson dis- misses the stories of the immense power of French submarine boats, but repeats that we are ten thousand men (including officers), short of the reserves that we should require in war. How many are the other Powers short ? Mr. Wilson is in- clined to think that we could do a good deal with Navy Volunteers. • Mr. Maxse has secured no specially sensational article for the April National -Review, and we cannot help regretting his temporary abandonment of literature. .But the number is certainly not lacking in variety—the subjects ranging from King Alfred to anfair bowling-,--or in interest. Lord' Hugh Cecil -writes with. ability, eloquence, and, on occasion, with satire on the Church crisis, his conclusion being that " if the Evangelicals will co-operate, courts whose authority will be generally respected may be set up: 'If they refuse, the present anarchy will continue. . The jurisdiction of the Archbishops and the influence of the Bishops may make that anarchy tolerable. But the Courts can only check .Ritualism if they can speak with the authority of the Church."—" A Conserva- tive M.P." has no difficulty in demolishing what he calls " The Balfour Legend,"—viz., that Mr. Balfour is an elegant idler, an accomplished dilettante who will not take his duties seriously. He complains that not only is this legend sedulously propagated by the Radical Press, but that even the Unionist Press has not been anxious to dissipate it.—Mr. Maurice Low in.." The Month in America" states that during a residence of more than twenty years in the States he can only recall two other instances when national interest was so much aroused over the illness of any man as in the case of Mr. Kipling,- viz., the last days of Garfield and Grant. He finds the reason in the fact.that Mr. Kipling, "of all writers of the day, is the expounder of Empire, and that strikes a responsive chord in the average American just now." He adds the following curious piece of information :— " Mr. Kipling and his family were largely the victims of New York's,corrupt and inefficient Tammany administration. February is usually -the worst time of the year in which to visit New York, and the Kiplings were unfortUnate enough to arrive in the worst February in many years, a tremendous •snow-storm being followed by a remarkable thaw, exactly the conditions to produce pneumonia, especially to persons not accustomed to such rapid climatic changes. Instead of removing the snow and slush, Tammany's street-cleaning commissioner allowed it to encumber the streets, each pile a focus for aiscase-breeding. germs. Figures issued by the New York -Eoard of Health show the frightful cost of this neglect. The deaths for January this year were 2,800 more than for the same month the year before. The record for February is not yet available, but the statis- tics are likely to be even worse."

Mr. E. H. Thruston vigorously impeaches the present administration of Uganda, on the grounds of general incom- petence and ill-treatment of natives and Moslem troops, calls for an impartial and searching inquiry, and urges that the East African and Uganda Protectorates should be at once transferred to the Colonial Office.—Mr. Conybeare in his article, "General do Boisdeffre ?" rejects Esterhazy's conten- tion that he was a contre-espon, asserts that the documents he sold to Colonel Schwarzkoppen were genuine, and brings against General de Boisdeffre charges of the most terrible kind.—The number also contains Sir Frederick PoIlock's discourse on King Alfred, delivered last month at the Royal Institution ; and " Some Hints to Young Bowlers," by Mr. Gilbert Jessop, who congratulates the authorities on their efforts to suppress the unfair bowler or thrower—jaculatcrr audax in Horatian phrase — but defends, as legitimate stratagems of war, the very short ball and the fast full-pitch. —The editor's " Episodes of the Month " are as illuminative and incisive as usual.

No fewer than four articles in the current Fortnightly treat of religion, while a fifth is devoted to a hostile criticism of Sir William Richmond's decorations in St. Paul's. The anonymous article on "Lawlessness in the Church " resolves itself chiefly into "a plea for little mortals who cannot help themselves," the author "deprecating impartially all State interference with older ones who can." He continues : "For the children we must make laws in public and in private ; but beyond them, liberty and equality must surely dominate all religious beliefs."—Mr. Oswald John Simon, continuing his missionary campaign on behalf of a universal Jewish Theistic Church, discusses the attitude of that Church towards the personality of Jesus, St. Paul, and the question of mixed marriages.

Mr. V. Tchertkoff denounces the Peace demonstrations as an obstacle in the way of peace in Russia and elsewhere, on the ground that it " will postpone for a more or less prolonged period the definite recognition by mankind of the truth, now ripening in their consciousness, of the absolute and uncon- ditional lawlessness of military service." Mr. Tchertkoff, who apparently holds that half a loaf is not better than no bread, surely exaggerates the facts of the case when he asserts that the " prodigious barbarity" of the Russification of Finland is taking place "to the accompaniment of enthusiastic English ovations to the very individual who is allowing it to be per- petrated." Against his charges of our " stupefying adulation" of the Czar must be set the accusation, so widely circulated, of England's callous and cynical indifference to the Rescript.

" Diplomaticus " is now constrained to admit that there is hope of Lord Salisbury in regard to the Far East, and extends the boon of his anonymous approval to the Premier's " new policy" of " Salvage and Reconstruction," especially applauding his efforts to establish a friendly understanding with Russia.—Mr. F. A. Channing, in a eulogy of Sir Robert Peel, defends him from the charge of a mere shifting opportunism, and thus analyses the secret of his triumphs :- " The swing of the pendulum, the blunders, dissensions, and above all, the negligent and shortsighted finance of the Whigs did much. But the greatest of the forces at work was Peel's instinct to think things out, and to guide, not follow, those about him. His grasp of principles was tempered by a correct appreciation of the relative importance of groups of facts to which the principles were to be applied. His successive conversions were not mere surrenders to big battalions ; they were the sign-posts of a social and economic evolution, of which he himself was an intelligent and regulating factor. The most striking feature of his leadership was his consist- ency to his own ideal. He decided each issue on its merits, and when convinced as to what was right, ignored even majorities of his own side."

—Mr. Charles G. Harper, writing on "The Great Central Railway," recalls a curious fact in connection with the de- velopment of railway traffic :- "All this huge expenditure of energy and capital [seven to ten millions] has been incurred for the sake of a branch of railway business once despised by General Managers. When the 'London and Birmingham' (as the London and North-Western was styled in its early years) was first approached on the subject of conveying coals, the officials of that line were indignant that they should be thought ' common carriers,' and refused to transport such plebeian stuff. It was then the cherished notion of every railway manager that a railway was a kind of superior mail coach route, and to be used only for passenger traffic. The idea seems, at this lapse of time, absurd, but it was once quite seriously entertained, while it was contended that the carriage of: eo*la and goods might still fitly be made on the roads. Circumstances„ however, were too strong for- the 'London and Birminghain,' which"iiiii obliged to take up the • coal traffic. The damning fact that the railway soiled its hands by conveying coals was at first hidden from the eyes of passengers by the trucks being carefully covered with tarpaulins, which were first made for this especial purpose. The irony of circumstances has, after the passing of sixty years, decreed that it is in its coal-traffic that the wealth of a great railway company lies, more than in the multitude of its passengers. The passenger of to-day must be studied and provided with luxurious and costly accommodation, while coals require neither spring buffers, cushioned seats, foot- warmers, nor easy-running carriages."

Blackwood opens with a hopeful article on the possibility of . turning the Thames into a game-fish river. Pollution has been diminished by one-third since 1894, and though along course of assisting Nature must be entered on as an indispensable preliminary, and the financial aspect of the question is serious, the writer has little doubt of the ultimate 'feasibility of the project, holding, further, that the Metropolitan anglers would accommodate themselves very easily to the new order.— Under the heading of " 'Christian' Quackery," we have a search- ing analysis of thetext-bookof thesystemof "Christian Science," the Rev. Mary Baker G. Eddy's work on "Science and Health." The writer holds that, although the system will produce much misery within the sphere which it influences, there is little fear of that sphere enlarging, and concludes by remarking : " He v-as a shrewd and sagacious dental surgeon who remarked the other day, ' Find me the Christian Scientist's tooth, and I'll find you the Christian Scientist's nerve.' "—Miss Louise Lorimer's paper, " At the Back of Beyond," is a charming impressionist sketch of East Galicia. The temperament of the natives is well summed up in their saying : " Wring a clod of earth in your hands, anywhere in our land, and blood drips out.' The Poles," continues the writer, "are homesick exiles who yet dwell in their own country, passionate nationalists who are no longer a nation, and the re- membrance and the humiliation of it are never far away." The account of the journey on rafts which concludes the paper is a singularly vivid piece of word-painting.—Another excellent descriptive paper is that on "The Nevada Silver Boom," which culminated in 1863, with its romantic account of the boring of the Sutro Tunnel, the lawlessness of the Washoe camps, and the coming of the Bonanza kings. The writer, in alluding to Virginia City might have quoted Artemus Ward's famous description of the "wild yOung. metropolis of the new Silver State. Fortunes," observed the showman, " are made there in a day. There are instances on record of young men going to this place without a shilling— poor and friendless—yet by energy, intelligence, and a careful disregard to business, they have been enabled to leave there owing hundreds of pounds."—Dr. Knapp's elaborate bio- graphy of George Borrow is very roughly handled, but not without reason. Still, the writer might have spared the unworthy sneer : " Truly he [Borrow] deserved a better fate than an American biographer."—Mr. Joseph Conrad con- cludes his sombre, but striking, Nigerian idyll, " The Heart of Darkness," and the readers of Naga are to be congratulated on their release from the lurid " Autobiography of a Child' —A short contemporary account of. the Retreat from Leipsic by a " French officer, and a poem by Moira O'Neill, add to the interea of the number.