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The Review of Reviews. 



THE SPANISH REVIEWS. 



Nuestro Tiempo opens with an article on 

 Chateaubriand and the Independence of the 

 South American Colonies of Spain, in which the 

 writer gives some interesting details of the diplo- 

 matic events of 1824. Great Britain opposed the 

 suggested conference in Paris ; there was an 

 attempt to induce Russia to make trouble for 

 Great Britain in Asia, and there was also a sug- 

 gestion that the King of Spain should assent to 

 the independence of his colonies to the extent of 

 sending an Infante to be the South American 

 Monarch. Chateaubriand thought that this 

 would serve to retain the South American throne 

 for Spain, which would be better than having 

 Republics set up, but the French Minister in 

 Madrid said that the King was not likely to 

 agree. In an article on the Renaissance of Art 

 in Spain we learn that engraving was known in 

 Spain in the fifteenth century, but the first 

 engraving done in Madrid was in the year 1524. 



Ciudad de Dios publishes a translation of a 

 lecture on " Modern Spanish Music " delivered 

 at the Sorbonne. The lecturer pays a high 

 tribute to Spanish music; it has none of the 

 noise and romanticism of the productions of cer- 

 tain other European countries, and it does not 

 show the subtleties of Asiatic music ; its joy is 

 gaiety itself and its melancholy lacks the bitter- 

 ness apparent in some works of modern com- 

 posers. It is good, healthy music. Another 

 writer deals with the protest of the Catholic 

 Church in connection with the proposed law 

 against associations, in which the Prime Minis- 

 ter was warned that, if he carried the measure, 

 he would have to reckon with the Holy See. 



A writer in La Lectura tells the readers all 

 about the 40,000th number of The Times and 

 the history of that newspaper; the recital forms 

 a story which must be of groat interest to them. 

 He concludes his article with the remark that 

 the only fact which the great London newspaper 

 does not disclose is the scale of remuneration to 

 its staff; he savs that he can assure them that it 

 is a splendid one ! Another contribution deals 

 with what is termed a new kind of philology, 

 logometry, or the measurement (of the value) of 

 words. 



The letters of a Spanish soldier in the troubled 

 times of 1813 and 18x4 are published in Espafia 

 Moderna and they give varied information con- 

 cerning the army and the people. Napoleon 

 and Wellington are mentioned many times, while 

 Soult is represented as not being very popular 

 with his soldiers. In an article on " Religion 

 and Science, Faith and Reason," the writer 

 quotes the Italian proverb, " Rome seen, faith 

 lost," in conjunction with " No man is a hero to 

 his valet." 



THE DUTCH REVIEWS. 



Adolphe Willette, the French artist, 

 occupies the premier position in Elsevier. His 

 quaint pictures of Parisian Mife will provoke 

 smiles and, in those who study the illustrations, 

 a trace of sadness also. Humorous hieroglyphic 

 address cards and scenes in the career of Pierrot, 

 including the funeral in a snowstorm, are 

 among the collection shown in these pages. 

 "Japanese Colour Printing" is an article that 

 also affords opportunity for quaint illustrations, 

 while " Dutchmen in London," dealing with the 

 Ideal Home Exhibition, presents some familiar 

 exhibits. The steeple of Hoogstraeten, a village 

 just over the border (vid Breda) in Belgium, and 

 the village itself, are described in an interesting 

 contribution. The steeple is about 320 feet high. 



In a long article in De Tijdspiegel attention is 

 drawn to our love for the ancient and for imita- 

 tions of bygone things. In furniture and dress 

 we have imitations of what prevailed in the times 

 of Louis This and Henri That of France ; in 

 architecture we have Gothic style in modern 

 buildings; in literature we are fond of the his- 

 torical romance and the poem on a mythological 

 subject. 



Vragen des Tijds has an essay on the Bill for 

 altering the conditions under which dockers 

 work in Holland. Rotterdam is the chief port ; 

 it has 13,000 workers, whereas Amsterdam has 

 only 4,000, and all the others have only 2,000 

 between them. Fifty years ago the number of 

 ships arriving at Rotterdam was less than 2,000, 

 but it is now more than 9,500. Legislation 

 appears to be much needed. Drenthe, a frontier 

 province of Holland, mainly devoted to agricul- 

 ture and pasturage, is awakening to the advan- 

 tage of modern conditions, as we are informed 

 in another contribution. The young Drenthers 

 know that the world is not limited to the con- 

 fines of their province, they have realised that 

 the laws are sometimes harsh, and they intend to 

 have them altered and brought into agreement 

 with modern ideas, making life more worth 

 li\ing. Drenthe is developing socially and 

 economically. 



There is a very interesting article in De Gids 

 on a Norwegian Elementary School. According 

 to law, there must not be more than 35 children 

 in a class, and each one must have (about) 150 

 cubic feet of space ; the school years are from 

 7 to 14. In the school described by the writer, 

 which was to accommodate 940 pupils, there 

 were 28 class-rooms and 18 rooms for other pur- 

 poses ; the size of the rooms is about 30 feet 

 long, 20 feet wude, and 11 feet 6 inches high. 

 The number of children in each class averaged 

 33"7. The system of technical instruction known 

 as slojd is described. 



