Tae remarks of the London papers upon the Tonquin affair continue to be exceedingly pointed. 'The Spectator condemns the pamphlet issued by the French Mi try, giving a history of the negotiation most unsatisfactory reading, and speaks of the proposal made by: France on the Gtk September as almost impudent.' 'This proposal was that the Chinese should open the town of Man Hao in Yiinman as a spot for trade, declare Tonquin from that point down to Sautay nentaal,' leave the rest of Tonquin including the Delta of the Songkoi tu Hrance, and agree to the neutral zone being governed by Annamite mandarins, French troops having the right of entry into it at will to repress any disorder." As we know, this offer was rejected by the Chinese, who proposed evacuation of Tonquin ani the opening of the Songkoi as far as Sontay to the commerce of the world, This offer was in turn rejected by the French. The Saturday makes the following remarks upon the situation, which coincide almost exactly with what we hare ourselves written So from showing the Chinese Go raising its demands.
Bouréo Treaty which F drawn up China seemed disp great deal, It was realy to be ce purely formal suzerainty over Ai to recognize the establishments of the in Tonquin, provided tory wns leit to cover nan, The French Mi thie treaty, partly bec:
show of reason be in occupying for trade to Yui a of the treaty all of the negotiator did not, howe prove the Kreuo position." Al. Ts threats obtained rat diplomacy, and at last th eae Govern. ment has come forward with a statement of the bases on which it thinks a satisfactory treaty may be concluded, Unless this docu.
is meant merely to raise discussion and in out negotiations, it commits ti ment to a position which will li table, The recently-celebrated centenary of Sir Moses Montefiore, the great Jewish pli thrapist, is mach spoken of in the papers. It is a curious fact, however, that his so-called centenary was no centenary at all, Moses has only entered upon his hundredth year—uot completed it. For a man to bea hundred years old, remarks the Spectator, is go rare an event that men can hardly help noticing it; but there is no poetry about ninety-nine, A curious story is told in this connection about an old pauper, who, on being asked what present he would like to celebrate his attainment of a century, replied, To go up in a balloon." He went up, and was charmed with his expedition, Oz couray there is still a rush of articles about Mr. Trollope. The Spectator me sheewd remarks upon the great novelist as critic. Here he is generally considered to have failed. His own creations were lifelike, and he had so lively a sence of their personality that he may be said to have lived surrounded by, them, to have loved and hated them, quarrelled with them, forgiven them, and even submitted to them. But he was not the best judge of theut, particularly when he pared them with those of other novel-'The following sentences will show what is meant Nor could Mr, Trollope give us as a better roof of this than his very unhappy remark in relation to Luly Eustace of he Eustace Diamonds." As 1 wrote the book, the dea constantly presented itself. to mo' that Lizzie Eustace was but a second Becky Sharpe; but in planning the character had not thought of this, and I believe that Lizzie would have been just us she is, though Becky Sharpe had never been described." Mr.
ollope need not have given us this assur: ance. He might almost as well have warned us that Archdeacon Grantley was not talon from Shakespeare's "Wolsey." Becky Shary,—he spells her wrongly, as be does also Colonel Newcome, whom he repeatedly calls Colonel Newcombe,—is a type of the infinite resource and unscrupulous genius of feminine intrigue,—a type of audacious craft as rich and humorous, all as full of the buoyant energy of selfishness, as Iago is rich and unscrupulous and full of buoyautmalignity and evil, Lizzie Eustace is a treacherous, cunning little deawing-room woman, of no humour, no great power, and far, indeed, from the dimousioua of Becky Sharp. If Mr. Teollopo, had compared Lizzie Eustace to Thackeray's Blanche Amery, lie would have been nearer the mark, Sharp is one of the greatest creations of Thackeray's ge Lizzie Eustace is not oven one of the best creations of Mr, Trol-
We are somewhat surprised to find the Spectator pri though praising with sume reserve, Miss Broughton's coarse and fippaut novel ' Belinda." The whole book pears to usin the worst possible taste, certainly leaves an unpleasant flavour in the mouth. We look forward with much pleasure to seeing the posthumous novels of Mr. Trollope, one of which la complete, the other nearly so. The Saturday has a clever descriptive article on Doctors unpresented at any Medical Congress, A 1 the Far East is expected to know matter with his patient without of symptoms, and if he cannot.
scribe the patient's 33 feeling his pulse, he i clumsy practitioner. 1 why the Chinese, for instance, distrust foreign ductors, Successful treatment by a foreign doctor is a poor sort of triumph at best, for how can he help being success. ful if everything is told him beforehand 7 cannot find out where the malady is ted, how long it has lasted, and what uffered since ho fell ill, it, soams extremely unlikely i ious will be of any value. ital story, vouched for as aut!
int in the Rangoon General Hospital ight knowledge of English, Phe civil surgeon on hie morning round while feeling. asked, How a your confus coupled with remiui alphabet, re] and sometimes w and y."
The Saturday has a laudatory review of Mr. Austin Dobson's uew book—'Old-World Taslis.' Me. Dobson is a poet who scarcely ever palls. His equi ment of thought, and the foul of his verse, give him a charm which many more classical writers wholly lack, The Pall Mall contains a well written article on Rabelais by Mr. Burnand, Editor of Punch, called forth by the Saturday's criticisms to which we referred the other
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.