T EE air is full of rumours about action to be taken to compel the Sultan to behave himself, and reform his administration. We have discussed them at length elsewhere, but may...

libel has produced a great scandal in Berlin. The real prosecutor is Baron von Marschall, Minister for Foreign Affairs, and his allegation is that Herr von Tansch, Chief...

week there are three of them. One is as yet unconfirmed, that the Boers of the Orange Free State expect to be attacked by the Basutos, the most powerful of the remaining Bantu...

which we have the best reason to believe accurate, of the circumstances which led to Lord Rosebery's resignation of the leadership of the party. It declared that Lord Rose- bcry...

to the Army ; and the St. James's Gazelle affirms that the War Office will ask for eight new battalions and seventy-two more field- guns, which latter are urgently required. We...

any ease.

most interesting paper on the sources of the Niger. Colonel Trotter, who was the principal officer in the Anglo- French Delimitation Commission of 1895, pointed oat that...

not so sensational as it was expected to be. He scarcely alludes to Venezuela, saying only that the provisions of the Treaty are so just that the assent of Venezuela may be...

in Bombay. On December 9th Reuter reported a total of 1,120• cases and 804 deaths, 75 per cent. of all cases proving fatal, while on the previous day there had been 55 cases and...

Treaty between China and Russia which Count Cassini carried with him to St. Petersburg, and which now only awaits the signatures of the two Emperors. The authenticity of this...

the latest massacre of Armenians at Eghin, a prosperous town about one hundred and twenty-five miles south of Trebizond. Early in September the chief Turkish official went away,...

on the history and greatness of London, and after the delivery of the lecture Lord Rosebery spoke, and spoke brilliantly, on the subject, disagreeing with Sir Walter Besant's...

for they may do so under the auspices of Mr. Birrell. and this means that the proportion of jam to powder is unusually large. Mr. Birrell, in. the course of his intro- .ductory...

Sheffield, this day week on " Reasonableness in Politics," in which he rather pleasantly exaggerated, perhaps, the unreasonableness of our political methods. You might say, for...

Mayor in state, took place in the City at the New Synagogue, Great St. Helens, that of the Jewish officers and privates in the naval and military service of the Queen. What made...

Polytechnic on Wednesday, after a distribution of prizes there, though he apologised for doing so on the ground Of the exceptional dullness of educational speeches for orator...

further the movement for a memorial to Mr. Stevenson. Mr. Arthur Balfour wrote that in his opinionStevenson was. "one of the greatest—if not the very greatest—of our writers...

festival has been held in her honour, and a'banquet given her attended by all that is distinguished in art or literature in France, and at which M. Sardou, while glorifying her...

New Consols (21) were on Friday, 1111.

THE GERMAN "PANAMA." T HE German Emperor must be terribly moved by the scene which his satirical subjects in Berlin are already calling "our German Panama." It has been his...

last Monday's Pall Mall of the shattering of the Radical party's Cabinet so soon as it had ceased to be held together by the responsibilities of office is evidently authentic,...

I T seems to be possible that Justice, leaden-footed though she has seemed, is at last approaching the Sultan. The Foreign Offices are naturally and wisely silent, but the...

W E can see no sound reason why this country, which needs Russian assistance in Turkey, should spend her strength in resisting the Treaty just concluded between St. Petersburg...

has been filled with rumours of wonderful forthcoming revelations as to the Jameson Raid. The advocates of Mr. Rhodes and the Chartered Company have again and again shaken their...

P ROFESSOR DICEY is always instructive and often very amusing as well. His lecture at Firth College this day week was full of humorous exaggeration. But for that very reason it...

A GREAT deal is heard nowadays of the grievances of curates. They fill a large space in the cor- respondence of the Guardian, they make their way occasionally into the august...

L ORD ROSEBERY said on Monday that he hoped London had been much more beautiful than it now is, when in the times of the Plantagenets and Tudors a great line of palaces along...

T HOSE who deny the mental equality of women and men might add a line to the four in which Ebenezer Elliott, himself a believer in the other sex, registered the more con-...

A MBER, once among the most prized of natural orna- ments, is again coming into fashion. Its praises are sung by the author of the " Tears of the Heliades," * in prose which...

[TO THE EDITOR 01 THE SPECTATOR7 SIR, —I have read, as I am sure' many West-Coasters will have read, with great interest your article in the Spectator of November 14th on...

THE ARMENIAN SERVICE IN LONDON. [To THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR. ") Slis,—I attended on Friday last the Armenian service for Holy Communion which is being held fortnightly at...

[To THE EDITOR Or THE "SPECTATOR.`] Sia,—As official shorthand writer for the Crown in East Fife, I took notes of evidence, under "The Fatal Accidents Inquiry (Scotland) Act,...

A DECEMBER RIDE. On that we two were riding this morning, you and I, Along the wind-swept Barham Down, beneath the pale blae sky ! How freshly, as we galloped, around us we...

[TO THE EDITOR OF TEE "SPECTATOR."] SIR, —A few days ago I took my setter to an inn in the country. Before going to my room I went out, leaving the dog and my traps in the...

[To THZ EDITOR 011 TEl " SPECTATOR. "] Sin,—In the Spectator of December 5th you naturally ask for information as to the extent and kind of assistance the Government of India...

[TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR,—In your notice of my article in the Nineteenth. Century, " On the Selling of Books," in the Spectator of December 5th, your reviewer...

CANON MACCOLL ON THE ARMENIAN QUESTION.* CANON MacCoLL's book is full of interesting reading from beginning to end. Undoubtedly he is often too confident, and takes very...

IN this delightful little book Mr. Rosen has performed a double task. He has collected for us out of the first-hand authorities anecdotes and sayings of Napoleon in regard to...

THE subject which Mr. Bussell proposes to himself is the speculative philosophy of the Imperial Age of Rome, this age being limited, it would appear from his introduction, to...

WE confess at once that we have never met a " mouse_ screeching " woman, nor are we sure what Miss H. Ellen Browning means when she applies that compound epithet to herself. It...

JOSEPH THOMSON has been aptly styled the Bayard of African travel, and the story of his life shows that he was a born ruler of men. His parents belonged originally to the best...

excellent book by a learned, fair, and clear-minded High Churchman. Within the compass of five hundred octavo pages, it presents a well-proportioned, connected, and vivid sketch...

an unusual and melancholy interest from the fact that it contains memorial notices of two Presidents of the Royal Academy—Lord Leighton and Sir John Millais—both from the pen of...

GIFT-BOOKS. Cassell's Saturday Journal. (Cassell and Co.)—We have three serials in this volume of the Saturday Journal by writers of such various styles as Mrs. Meade, Frank...

some score and more of heroes and heroines,—Sir Philip Sidney is the first in point of time ; Martin E. Sprague, of the Metro- politan Fire Brigade, who was mortally injured in...

Thomson. (Andrew Melrose.)—Mr. Thomson has naturally arranged his talks, as we may call them, in four parts, consisting of five chapters each. They are meant for young readers,...

Lambert went out as a missionary to China, but was soon transferred to Bhamo, in Upper Burmah. He then went to Mandalay, where he worked among the lepers. In the early part of...

Gordon. (R.T.S.) — Here we have a practical and instructive account of how sailors work and live. The first chapter is given to the pilot, whose occupation is hardly as well...

to the purposes of a reading-book of a lively descrip- tion, which has found much favour with the public, of bird-life in itself and in its relations with other creatures. It is...

Leighton takes what may almost be called a new departure in this story. He tells his " Story of the Spanish Armada" from the opposite point of view, so far at least as locality...

been pleased to disguise himself under this grotesque name has written an excellent story. The " Bickerton medal " is a medal given to the Tram Street School in Glasgow, to be...

is noticeably good, not only in respect of some excellent bits of work, but also for its variety of interest. There is a particularly beautiful etching by G. H. Manesse, after...

—The hero, one Frank Gowan, is a page in George l.'s Court, and Mr. Manville Fenn describes his experience in the rather troublous times that succeeded the coming of the...

Wilmshurst.) —This is an allegory, one of the numberless imitations of "The Pilgrim's Progress." Mr. Andress has the courage of his opinions. Music, singing, eloquence, and...

of Sir Thomas More." (J. C. Nimmo.)—Among the many readers who remember with pleasure "The Household of Sir Thomas More " and its equally delightful companion, " Mary Powell,"...

F. Shaw.)— The simple style, good type, and bold illustrations of this book should recommend it to boys, who will find in it their old friends of many an adventure and many a...

by Jenny Nystrom-Stoopendaal. (Cassell and Co.) —A brief preface gives us the main facts in Mrs. Beecher Stowe's life and literary work. It seems strange to read that in Uncle...

Joseph S._ Moorat. Illustrated by Paul Woodroffe. (George Allen.)—The success of the first book of nursery rhymes set to music by Mr. . Moorat and illustrated by Mr. Woodroffe,...

Sons.)—This is a delightful story, essentially of the- old-fashioned sort, and yet containing some modern inci- dents and characters. It presents us with the old favourites,....

of " The Children's Favourite Series," the reader is first intro- duced to "Giant Steam," a being who indeed deserves the precedence given to him. The special biography is that...

R. Chambers.)—The text, so to speak, of Mr. Oxley's volume is,— "There has been a romance of commerce no less than a romance of war." He illustrates it by telling the story of...

is an account of the founding of New England, based, we suppose, largely on Dr. Brown's recent work. The facts are given in a compendious and readable form. We cannot accept...

is plenty of spirit in this tale of the Border, and such chieftains as Johnstone, Lochinvar, Musgrave, and Grierne have quite the fiery Border temperament about them. Mr....

Colours by Mrs. Arthur Gaskin (Elkin Mathews), makes a pretty little volume. Dr. Watts gave stronger and plainer meat to his young friends than the present generation is...

are of varied interest, well chosen, and giving plenty both of instruction and entertainment. So much for the reading. The illustrations are of quite respectable merit, but is...

Brayley Hodgetts. (G. Newnes and Co.)—Mr. Hodgetts tells us that he has made his translation directly from the German, most other versions having come through the French, and...

Darton, and Co.)—Madelon sets a good example to heroines by frankly declaring that she thinks, and has always thought, herself pretty. She is equally honest in all her de-...

and C. Black.)—These are abbreviations from Sir Walter Scott, the present series containing three stories, viz., " Old Mortality," " The Fair Maid of Perth," and " The Pirate."—...

Collected by Zoe Dana Underhill. (Osgood, McIlvaine and Co.) —This is a very choice collection of twenty odd tales ; some of them may be familiar to well-read children, but all...

of Andre Laurie. (Sampson Low and Co.)—Andre Laurie has not a little of the fantastic imagination of Jules Verne, and there certainly could hardly be anything more wildly...

S. Virtue.)—If the motive of Mary Sain's story is somewhat weak, it is one that has taken place in real life,—i.e, the entrapping of a, woman into a marriage by means of a...

Furniss and Dorothy Furniss. (Hutchinson and Co.)—There are some capital songs in The Missing Prince, and now and then some capital ideas, but we do not think the book is nearly...