able control of the Central Government, and I would certainly endeavour to render this more popular than it is now, and to make it representative in this province of something besides the bureaucratic Castle. As in the case of the Board of Public Works, I would give seats on the Local Government Board, on the Education Board, and on boards of the kind, to members chosen by the County Councils, and in this way I would infuse an element racy of the soil' into the agencies of the State. A grave, practical question remains: how the Central Government is to make its power felt, and to enforce control over Irish local bodies. The machinery to effect this is cumbrous, and, in part, obsolete, at least in a great number of possible instances. I would not interfere in this matter with the functions of the Local Government Board, or with those of the Irish Privy Council, for these have been very well exercised. But legal questions, within a certain limit, relating to the powers of the County Councils, of the municipal towns, and of the Boards of Guardians, should be made referable to the County Court Judges, subject to the ordinary right of appeal; and, beyond this limit, they should be dealt with, in a summary way, by the Superior Courts. This reform would keep local bodies within their spheres, and would effectually check all kinds of abuses, and it would greatly strengthen the Central Government. I incline, too, to think that, in the present state of Ireland, the State ought to possess a right to suspend or abolish any local body persistently violating its trust, or the law; but the decision as to forfeiture or suspension, should not belong to the Executive Government; it should be committed to the highest court in Ireland, and with an appeal to the House of Lords.

It will be observed that, in these suggestions, I leave parts of the existing system of Irish Local Government and Administration untouched. I do not profess to make a change in the old organisation of County Government, the Lord-Lieutenant, the Sheriff, and the local justices; and the stipendiary magistrates and county court judges would continue to be appointed by the Central Government. In the first place, every one of these offices ought, under a well-planned order of things, be at the disposal of the Executive; and in the next, though the ancient

powers of the local gentry of Ireland are little more than names, they are still prized as badges of honour, and it is very important to retain them as they are, in order to encourage local residence, and not further to disparage an order of men unjustly treated for a series of years. Above all, I would leave the constabulary force of Ireland as it is now established, that is, in the hands of the Central Government, and in this matter a broad line of distinction must be drawn between England or Scotland and Ireland owing to the condition of Irish society. In a land torn by a strife of class and faith, the State must have a strong, armed body at its bidding to keep the public peace; it is all very well for National League members to pretend that the police in Ireland exist to uphold the 'extortions of landlords;' they are maintained to prevent riotous outrage, and, at this moment, their chief duty is to protect the followers of Mr. Parnell and of Mr. Healy when they fly at each other at patriotic meetings. The reason which is the best argument for the Union and the complete supremacy of the Imperial Parliament in Irish affairs, is that for keeping the Irish Constabulary as it is; and Mr. Balfour, I rejoice to see, has spoken on this subject with no uncertain voice. I have thus endeavoured briefly to describe Local Government and Administration as it exists in Ireland, and to point out all that is defective in it; and I have proposed, in general terms, a scheme of reform which I believe would meet the requirements of the case. My suggestions, no doubt, will not receive the approbation of Mr. Gladstone's party, and they will be ridiculed by the hostile factions of Mr. Parnell and Mr. Dillon, which, if they agree in nothing else, mean by Irish Nationalism' an independent Ireland, completely disenthralled from the Imperial Parliament, and really a separate Sovereign State. But within the limits I have laid down for myself, they remove all that is bad and obsolete in Local Government and Administration in Ireland; they place the whole system on a popular basis, representative of all classes and interests; they give large powers to the Central Government, but deprive its regime, in local matters, of an exclusive and bureaucratic character; and I am convinced they satisfy the demands of justice. Under the scheme which I have briefly set forth, I should hope to see County Government much

improved; municipal life become less feeble; the administration of towns much better than it is, especially in the interests of the poor; the Poor Law system, that of Public Works, and that of Primary Education, on a sounder footing; more co-operation between divided classes; and, though too much is not to be expected here, a gradual drawing together of the sundered elements of Irish society under the influence of common work, and widely extended franchises. The plan I propose may seem too narrow even to those who only seek to reform Local Government and Administration in Ireland; it may be thought to betray mistrust of the Irish people; but it is impossible to forget the present state of the country, and not to take account of the Jacobin spirit, wild, socialistic, lawless, destructive, which pervades large parts of the Irish community. To such critics I shall only reply: Read the profound chapter in which De Tocqueville shows how sudden concessions, unwisely made, trained the French people to revolution, when the state of society that prevailed in France resembled that of Ireland at the present moment.

WILLIAM O'CONNOR MORRIS.

ART. IX.-SUMMARIES OF FOREIGN REVIEWS.
GERMANY.

DEUTSCHE RUNDSCHAU (July, August, September).—Going back to the first of these three numbers, the contribution most likely to interest the general reader is the anonymous letter on Saint-Just. It shows but little sympathy with him, as may be gathered from the following passage: Complete indifference with regard to the life or death of others presents itself as the most conspicuous feature of his "heroism." That, indeed, is its characteristic. The capacity ruthlessly to carry out what is considered necessary must be acquired, if it is to be looked upon as the quality of a statesman; he who possesses it already is a Barbarian, be he who he may. What Saint-Just's contemporaries looked upon as a proof of his "antique greatness," has been recognised and condemned by history as mere cruelty.'-In a communication which runs through two numbers, Dr. Walther Vulpius edits the album of August von Goethe; that is to say,

6

he gives a number of more or less interesting entries in it, and strings them together with a few words of commentary.—Herr Otto Seeck continues through two further numbers the paper entitled Zeitphrasen,' which was begun last quarter. It is a rather mixed medley of dissertations on the subject of art, specialism, and museums, and, altogether, rather heavy reading. -In the August part a conspicuous place is given to the address delivered at Leipzig, by Professor Wundt, on the occasion of the anniversary of the birth of King Albert of Saxony. The subject is The Relation of the Individual to the Community.'-An article of some importance is that entitled: Die Et appenstasse von England nach Indien über Canada.' In summing up the result of his study the author says, Very quietly England has constructed the great Canadian railway, connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific, set up the electric wires by the side of it, and thus opened up a new high road (Weltlinie), which is to help her to begin a new epoch in her commercial supremacy, to form and to defend a greater Britain. .. As regards time—an important military factor-the advantage secured by the construction of the Canadian line is as follows: Whilst Hong-Kong can be reached just as quickly via Canada as by the Suez Canal route, the journey to Japan and China is considerably shortened, a circumstance which, in the event of complications in the East, might produce decisive results. Neither the route by way of San Francisco nor that across the American isthmus can compete with the Canadian line.'-Not including continuations of articles begun in former numbers-such as Zeitphrasen,' and the extracts from August Goethe's Album, or the usual political and literary reviews, the only other contributions are a paper by Herr Frey: Ursprung und Entwickelung Staufischer Kunst in Süditalien,' and a charming little story-A Rainy Day'-by Herr Adalbert Meinhardt.-As a sequel to his pictures of Berlin life, Herr Julius Rodenberg contributes an interesting sketch, for which the capital again supplies him with materials. It is entitled Klostermann's Grundstück.-The practical arrangement of museums is dealt with in a most instructive paper by one well entitled to be heard on the subject, Herr Möbius, the director of the great Museum of Natural History in Berlin.From Herr Anton Schönbach there is an excellent sketch of the life and times of Walfran von Eschenbach.-An important question is discussed by Herr Heinrich Albucht in his paper Kraftmaschinen für das Kleingewerbe,' which indicates the advantages which would acrue to the smaller industries if it were put within their power to use machine power. A paper which appeals to educationists is Prof. Grimm's

'Geschictsantevischt in aufsteigender Linie,' of which the practical conclusion is that only such as have gone through a thorough course of German history in the University should be allowed to teach it in schools. An interesting contribution is 'The Flora of Heligoland,' by Prof. Reinke.

WESTERMANNS MONATS-HEFTE (July, September). — The first of these numbers consists almost exclusively of fiction and of those descriptive articles which this magazine has long made its speciality. To the former the contributions are a further instalment of the serial 'Gräfin Erika's Lehr-und Wanderjahre,' and the first part of a translation by Spielhagen of Julien Gordon's 'Mademoiselle Reseda.' The latter are represented by 'T. Castelli Romani,' 'Palerno,' and 'A Fortnight in Kalymno-an island in the Archipelago noted for its sponge fisheries,' and 'Ottobeuren,' the Suabian Escurial. All these papers are profusely and excellently illustrated.-The only contribution not belonging to one or other of these two classes is a short essay in which Otto Brahm deals with the question of Naturalism and the Theatre.'-There is a little more variety in the September part. In the first place, archæology is represented by two interesting and instructive articles. One of these—which is accompanied by a series of 17 illustrations-deals with mediæval tournaments, the other gives a great deal of information concerning the inns of antiquity.-In addition to this, Herr Arthur Kleinschmidt contributes a paper which is at once historical, artistic, and archæological, and in which he sets forth all that has been done by the Count Borromei in the service of the Church and of Art.-This time, the only traveller is a writer who signs himself M. A., and who gives a sketch of his travels through the East of Algeria and a part of the Sahara.

THEOLOGISCHE STUDIEN UND KRITIKEN (Erstes Heft, 1892). -As this number has just come to hand as we are going to press, we must content ourselves with merely calling our readers attention to the somewhat varied and attractive list of its contents. Dr. T. C. Achelis writes on the origin of 'Practical Theology.'Professor Kittel of Breslau treats of the Pentateuch documents in the Books of Judges and Samuel.-Dr. H. K. Hugo Delff gives a further contribution to the question of the Fourth Gospel and its authority, which he has treated elaborately already in several of his published works.-Herr Oberpfarrer Wandel has a lengthy article on the Roman governor, C. Sentius Saturninus, and Professor Retschl of Kiel writes on Christian Apologetic in the Past, and its Mission in the Present.'