Leading Articles in the Reviews. 



375 



(2) That, could an enUnle «ilh C.ermany be concluded, it 

 would clear tip the whole inlernalional position ; the tension in 

 Europe would be slackened, the construction of armaments 

 would be nioderaied, and we should have our hands free to pro- 

 tect onr interests elsewhere. 



(3) This does not involve a violent reversal of our friendly 

 policy with Kux-^ia, but it carries the consequence that Russia 

 u ould have more respect for our expressed desires. 



In Other words, let us make up to Germany in order 

 lu have a freer hand to quarrel with Russia in Persia. 

 A strange policy for friends of peace ! 



NORWEGIAN DIVORCE. 



In the Ladys Realm Frau Ella Anker declares that 

 Norway has ;;olved the divorce evil by the law of 1910, 

 which her brother-in-law. Castberg, jiinister of Justice, 

 passed into law. The Norwegian law contains the 

 following provisions : — 



If there is agreement between husband and wife, the law- 

 grants a divorce without inquiring into the reasons, but as 

 security that the step has been well thought over before action, 

 it provides tluit n year of sepanUion must inlcrvciie belwioi Ihc 

 application aiiJ Ihc actual graitlhii; of the Jivoice. If the tLi|uest 

 is made by only one party, two years of separation must precede 

 the actual divorce. 



Ihe machinery is largely in the hands of 

 Iministrative officials, and the proceedings are 

 \ery simple and cheap, the cost running from 

 a little le.-:s than 5s. to {5. When a husband 

 and wife agree that they want a divorce, they 

 apply to a magistrate for an order. He sends them 

 to the Conciliation Board, and if the Conciliation 

 IJoard cannot reconcile them, they arc granted a sep;.- 

 ration order. At the end of one year the Ministry of 

 justice is compelled to make the divorce final, if 

 demanded by either party. Separation is granted for 

 continued neglect of support, continued alcoholism, 

 bodily ill-treatment, grave discordance. Immediate 

 divorce is given for separation lasting two years, 

 incurable insanity lasting two years. Divorce is pro- 

 nounced at once if either party before marriage has, 

 without the knowledge of the other, suffered from 

 insanity, dis'iuulifying bodily faults, crimes, desertion 

 for two years. Infidelity by either husband or wife has 

 been a ground for divorce in Norway since 1680. It is 

 interesting to know that — 



with the easiest and chcapist divorce law in Europe, Norway 

 has one of the lo«csl divorce pcrcenlagts. In 1910 there were 

 390 divorces out of 400,000 existing marriages, ol which I4,6cx) 

 had taken place ilial year. Thus the percenLage is about Iwo- 

 ii 1-a-half per )e.ir. 



The Occult Review for .April is an interesting number 

 full of varielw The editor reviews Mrs. Campbell 

 I'raed's " The Body of His Desire "—the " most 

 occult novel I have ever read." Mr. H. Carrington 

 gossips about scientific truths contained in " Fairy 

 Stories." Mr. .\. E. Waite describes, in an illustrated 

 paf)cr, " The .Shrine of the Thousand Buddhas," taking 

 l)is material fmrn Ur. Stern's " Ruins of Desert Cathay." 

 There is a stor\ i)f a haunted house in a village watering- 

 place close to Dublin, which ought to be investigated. 

 The ghosts were in full and horrible possession of the 

 place as recently as lyoC, 



MR. GEORGE WYNDHAM AND LORD MACDONNELL, 

 Sir Henry Lucy, in the " Si.xty Years in the 

 Wilderness " which he contributes to Corn/nil for 

 April, treats of the mystery of Lord MacDonnell, whose 

 influence led to the Unionist Government being almost 

 committed to the policy of devolution. The mystery 

 was why the Chief Secretary, Mr. George Wyndham, 

 was sacrificed to the outcry of the Ulster members, 

 while Sir Antony remained undisturbed at his post. 

 Sir Henry has heard, from a source whose authority 

 commands respect, an interesting explanation of this 

 mystery : — 



His late Majesty King Edward VII., so the story ran, 

 earnestly desirous of putting an end to discontent in Ireland, 

 having during his visit to India whilst yet Prince of Wales 

 gained personal knowledge of .Sir Antony's successful admini- 

 stration in that country, nominated him for the post at the Irish 

 Office. At an earlier date the King's prescience and shrewd 

 insight into character h.nd, on something the same lines, been 

 amply justified. It was on his Majesty's suggestion that Sir 

 Edward Bradford, with whose work in India he was also 

 personally familiar, was appointed to the command of the 

 Metropolitan police, an experiment crowned with success. 

 A-ccording to my informant, it encouraged effort in another 

 direction, with the result that Sir .\ntony, resigning his high 

 position as member of the Council of India, returned to his 

 native country as Under-Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant. If 

 this story be true — I assume no responsibility beyond that of 

 raccmtcur — it will explain the extraordinary fact, incompre- 

 hensible and irritating to the Ulster members, that a powerful 

 Ministry, created and maintained on L'nionist principles, should, 

 after what took place in the House of Commons, have dismissed 

 Mr. Wyndham with ignominy, whilst they retained Sir Antony 

 Mntlionnell in office under the Chief Secretaryship of that stern, 

 unbending anti-Home Ruler, .Mr. Walter Long. 



<_)ne was under high protection, the other stood alone. 



A TAME WOLF AS PET. 



Mrs. M. I. Ll(ivu tells in Badminton lor April very 

 prettily the true life-story of a tame wolf. She bought 

 it as a cub from a man who had caught it on a jungle 

 path. It soon became her favourite pet, and fast 

 friends with her pet cat. After eight months' absence 

 she returned to Lucknow and sent for the pet she 

 had been without so long : — 



On going out in a dressing-gown I saw a creature like a 

 beautiful little collie with a large nilT, a thick bru^h, and 

 gloriou-^ lawny eyes, held on the chain by a wild-looking 

 pahari (hillman). She glared at me a moment, ami when I spoke 

 to her made a dash towards me and threw herself at my feet, 

 whining like a puppy, then sprang up and fawned, licking my 

 hands and feet, and finally lay down and rolled with sheer joy. 

 No doubt about the recognition and the delight at being at 

 home again I She was let off the chain, and after dancing 

 round me for some minutes suddenly made a bolt for my 

 bedroom, the Erench windows of which opened on to the 

 verandah, through it to the bathroom, and with one bound into 

 my tub— as In old days. 



Her appetite for meals was always small, but she loved 

 sweets, sugar, and all sorts of cake. I kept a bag of large 

 brown bull's-eyes in my room wherewith to appease her when 

 she look it into her he.id to howl at the moon. After two or 

 three she would be quite comforted and lie down quietly to 

 sleep. 



" Grannie," as the wolf was called, had a particular 

 dislike to black clothes. The sight of a clergyman 

 made her lay her nose to the ground and howl. The 

 poor beaslie died at the Zoo in London. 



