war. There are no new signs of it perceptible ; but there has been a perceptible increase in uneasiness, due, it is believed, first of all, to the Russian rejection of Prince...

T HE Government has suddenly collapsed, Lord Randolph Churchill at least having placed his resignation in the hands of Lord Salisbury, who, three weeks before the meeting of...

" Plan " has greatly exasperated English opinion ; the Liberal leaders will not justify it ; and Parliament meets in less than three weeks. Mr. Parnell desires to resume his...

would have much chance of coping with the new difficulties created in the House of Commons by this grave event, and that is the Home Secretary, Mr. Henry Matthews. But as he was...

paign" at last. He says that he never heard of it. In an official circular forwarded to all the leading papers, it is declared that Mr. Parnell, who has been missing for some...

case.

Knight, of St. Andrews, delivered an interesting lecture on "Idealism and Empiricism in Literature, Art,. and Life," in which he is reported as having endeavoured to show that...

in favour of the "Plan of Campaign." After stating that it was expedient that the next Session should be an "educational," "one of debate rather than of voting," which means...

direct threat has been addressed by Lord Salisbury to the Sultan, in consequence either of his action in Egypt, or of his disposition to throw in his lot with Russia, and close...

the Campbell suit was that contained by implication in Canon Liddon's fine sermon at St. Paul's Cathedral last Sunday, on Christ's words, "I am among you as he that serveth."...

before we can know the result of the polling of Thursday in the Brentford Division of Middlesex, where the death of Mr. Coope has left a vacancy. Mr. Haysman, who was the...

unsatisfactory muddle. The jury at first reported themselves unable to agree, the numbers, it was hinted, being six and six; but on the Judge imploring them not to leave the...

with all personal respect for Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg, it will not accept his candidature. It adheres to its nomination of Prince Nicholas of Mingrelia, and unless he is...

protest of Mr. W. H. Hills, of The Knoll, Ambleside, against the proposed railway from Windermere to Ambleside, along the eastern bank of the lake. It is certain that such a...

Austrian Consul at Yokohama, rather modifies English pre- conceptions of that Empire. He says the earthquakes destroy a city every seven years, and that, moreover, the period of...

the fanaticism of Home-rule would grow in force and volume. Among men of high standing, we have had this week speeches both from Mr. Stansfeld and from Professor Stuart, of...

Consols were on Thursday 99 U 3 1 to 9911xd.

College School, distributed the prizes to that school on Tuesday, and remarked in doing so, that "he came to that school as a very small boy of nine years of age. He supposed he...

delivered last week to the Leeds Junior Liberal Association by Mr. Albert Itutson, in answer to Mr. Albert Dicey's book on "England's Case Against Home-rule." Mr. Rntson had...

full courage of their opinions. They think they can foster schools of native art by placing an import duty of 30 per cent. upon all works of art imported from abroad,—a rate...

T HE worst sign of the many which at the present inspire fears of war is, we take it, this. The better-informed the politician, the more seriously does he expect a European war...

THE NEW CRISIS. T T is not easy to exaggerate the importance of the rupture of Lord Salisbury's Cabinet on the eve of the meeting of Parliament. Lord Randolph Churchill is not...

T HE most amazing thing about this anti-rent campaign in Ireland is that there should be Englishmen, and reputable Englishmen too, who do not see that it is morally wrong. Some...

in Tuesday's Times raises the question whether those of us who belong to the Unionist section of the Liberal Party, are doing all that we ought to do, to prepare the electors...

W E do not watch Mr. Labouchere's political progress so closely from any enjoyment of it. His speeches in Parliament, with their cool cynicism and occasional gleams of witty...

T WO special appeals for most deserving objects are now before the public,—an appeal for the widows and families of the lifeboat men who were lately drowned, and an appeal to...

S IR JOHN LUBBOCK divides with Lord Iddesleigh the special power which politicians have gained for them- selves in this generation of diverting attention from politics to those...

T HE Campbell case has ended in the worst way possible. After a trial protracted—wholly without necessity—for eighteen days, after the country had been deluged with a torrent of...

W ITHOUT localising the Babied of Irish wit to a particular county, as was done in a former article, we wish to discuss it somewhat more fully before taking leave of the sub-...

THE "PLAN OF CAMPAIGN." [TO THE EDITOR OP THE " SPECTATOR."] Sin,—You express curiosity how far the English Home-rulers will identify themselves with the action of Mr. Dillon...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR?'] you allow me to call attention to the growing habit among publishers of fastening the sheets of books by wiring, instead of stitching them ?...

[To TITS EDITOR OD THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR,—It might have been well had Mr. Stead mentioned the date of publication of the seventeenth volume of "Herzog." My copy reached me...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR." J SIR,—Many of your readers will, I believe, welcome an oppor- tunity of helping a work which was started by the Rev. Frederick Denison...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR.] Sin,—I know neither "Dean Maitland" nor "Judith Wynne," nor their respective authors ; but I do know that in" The Scarlet Letter," which was...

ITO TEE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR. "1 STa,—On behalf of the Dog-Owners' Protection Association, which, since police cruelty to dogs has ceased in the London streets, exists only...

Sin,—In the Spectator of December 18th, the author of "Judith Wynne" charges me with having "boldly imported" from that story to "The Silence of Dean Maitland," the incident of...

[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."' SIR,—Your article of' last week upon this subject hardly seems to deal sufficiently with the insuperable objection to Mr. T. Hughes ' s...

1 - To THE EDITOR OF TRH "SPECTATOR."] Sra,—Having just returned from a long journey through Northern Syria, I was amazed to see a letter on " progress " in that unhappy...

TENNYSON'S NEW POEMS.* IN writing last week on the most notable of these poems,— the sequel to " Locksley Hall,"—we said enough to show how fine a poem Tennyson has given us in...

to the remark of your correspondent, Mr. F. Kerslake, in your issue of December 18th, that the Society for the Prevention of Hydrophobia "numbers among its committee men who are...

Bathe the lone pillow of the mourner's bed, Who holds no hope of an immortal morrow With his beloved dead ; If he but pray for faith—the fervent prayer Shall like a vapour mount...

Ix former volumes of this work, Mr. Symonds narrated the history of the rise and progress of the Italian Renaissance. In - the concluding volumes, he describes its assassination...

Duffy addresses the. Parnellite rather than the general public. The book is not merely an apologia for a portion of the author's political life ; but it conveys a reproach,...

THE publication of these two volumes of some l t,200 pages— volumes in which Sydney Smith would have found mines of fun and knowledge during those really good old days when...

and publish a conscientious, if not particularly flowing translation of Dr. Hermann Dalton's valuable biography (as yet incomplete) of Johannes Laski, or John a Lasco, one of...

to English readers by her rendering of the capital little sketches of Berlin middle- class life which Dr. Stinde published under the title of Die Familie Buchholz. Of course it...

a most de- sirable addition to the treasures of every lover of songs. And when we say songs, we mean songs pare and simple. For almost every poem in the book is not a mere copy...

THERE is a certain kind of German art which, we must confess, has little attraction for us, though it is in its way capable, and, we must suppose, from its prevalence in its...

volumes, enclosed in a case of rough gilded cloth, which bear the title of Pearls, the volumes themselves being of a delicate sky-blue colour. They contain seleotions of...

This "child's romance" is ingeniously planned and well executed. Susan Arbuthnot and her brothers and sisters are sent into the country to undergo the experiment of...

of an old favourite, At the South Pole, by William H. G. Kingston (Cassell and Co.), embodying, we may remind our readers, the true adventures of "Richard Pengelley, Mariner."

Sons.)—Mr. Gibson has collected in this volume a number of essays —there are twenty-eight in all—contributed during some years past to the Sco'sman. He explains in the preface...

GIFT BOOKS, Exc. Jack and the Beanstalk. English Hexameters by Hallam Tennyson. Illustrated by Randolph Caldecott. (Macmillan and Co.)—Mr. Hallam Tennyson's hexameters are very...

(Chatto and Windas.)—This is one of the best illustrated books of the year, taking the word "illustration" in its strict sense. The drawings do help the reader to understand...

handsome volume, published both in large-paper and small-paper copies, contains what the editor calls the "gleanings," or " aftermath," of the Bewick workshop. The" Memorial...

told little story this, of how a wilful little girl was made by the dis- cipline of experience, enforced by kindness and firmness in those about her, to learn the lessons of...

Ascott Hope's stories deserve the appreciation from "more thoughtful youngsters" which, while modestly disclaiming competition with sen- sational fiction, he asks for them. His...

Stoughton).—Jennet Fowler is sent to a " finishing " school by a rich aunt ; and ultimately, after sundry experiences in her new life, comes in for the rich aunt's money. The...

(Hodder and Stoughton.)—Dr. Macaulay follows up his volume of last year, "Stirring Stories of Peace and War," by another of very similar character. We are still of opinion that...

and Co.)—The title-story is the best in the book, suggested, the writer informs us, by D'Assier's "Sur I'llumanitd Pos- thume," and relates the experiences of a missionary who...

trated stories and poems for little people "—and an excellent collec- tion it is—comes, we may conjecture, from the other side of the Atlantic. The engravings have an American...

and Sons.)—These are pleasant little tales, enforcing each an excellent moral of its own, each duty being made to find its sanction in the law of God.

Collier (Madame Galletti de Cadilhac). (T. Fisher Unwin.)—There is something in these stories of the spirit which made Keats speak of "fairyland forlorn." The fairies do not...

Co.) — Here is another of the religiously-minded love-stories which make one of the specialities of the season. One cannot help wondering for whom they are intended. Boys do not...

Co., Portsmouth.)—It is impossible for any person not technically acquainted with the subject to estimate the value of this book. It must be sufficient to state that its object,...

Allen and Co.) —Virtue has not itself only for a reward, but also, we gather from the story, the love of an eligible clergyman, the ideal of happiness according to some schemes...

(Mrs. Alexander). (Griffith, Ferran, and Co.)—There is nothing that we can see in this volume that makes it peculiarly suit- able to " Dames " of the Primrose League ; save only...

For those who want, with a view to examinations in English literature, to know what a mediwval romance is like sufficiently to pass muster with the examiners, this book will be...

very pretty tale very prettily illustrated. The author shows some humour and some poetical feeling, and she writes like an admirer of Hans Christian Andersen, with not a little...

Lore : a Magazine Devoted to Old-Time Literature (Elliot Stock), containing, as usual, plenty of curious information. The accounts of auctions are noticeable. At the salad the...

— " Gus," the young hero of Mr. Langbridge's tale, reminds us naturally of David Copperfield. But the cruel step-father goes beyond even Mr. Murdstone, for he turns Gus adrift...

Rontledge.)—These half-dozen books for small children are simply perfect of their kind. They consist of little stories, printed in big, clear type, with admirably executed...

(Nelson and Sons.) —We have seen better things than this from Mrs. Reaney:s pen. We may call it a love-story with a purpose, partly religious and more strongly teetotal. Marion...

not unlike the Industrious and Idle Apprentices. In fact, the old story is told over again, with the proper changes for changed times. Temple shows himself faithful and brave in...

knowable fact about the year is to be found in Whitaker's Almanack. That is hardly quite accurate, for there are facts stated in the Nautical Almanack, for example, which are...