The Guardian from London, Greater London, England • 16

THE MANCHESTER GUARDIAN, THURSBAT, DECEMBER 11, 1913. TO-DAY'S" ARRANGEMENTS. OFFENSIVE WEAPONS. SECOND EDITION. EDUCATION REFORM.

limit. Irwincr force. The novel on which he was engaged might or might not have brought him nearer to his kingdom, but certainly liis plavs had not given the. measure of his spirit. 'Some of the sketches that have in Manchester uuareuan inofnbK- Hawthorn Lodge" and "Other n.r admirable nieces of art, and they have a humane beauty that we cannot find in the plays.

It would have come, and his friends may see him in imagination IVU IIOA iiiuvuH as greater than the fragment ot worK wnicn they will yet regara witn priue. WOMEN MAY NOT BE SOLICITORS. COURT OF APPEAL DECISION. In the Court Appeal yesterday tho Master of the Rolls delivered a judgment which answers the question whether women jifo oKirlhlo ns solicitors in the "As has been already reported, Miss Gwyneth i -r i the examination of the Law society, 1 rr i 1 t-lj. brought a test action against the Society Mr.

Justice Joyce decided against her, and she appealed. The Master of the Rolls, in giving judgment, said that 300 years ago Lord Coke had expressed view that -women could not be attomeys-at law. So far as the present ease was concerned, he decided it on the ground that at the date of the passing of the Solicitors Act, 1843, there was disability on the partof women to he attorneys, That Act and the amending Acts had not destroyed the disability imposed hy the common law, and he disclaimed any rU'ht legislate in the matter. No doubt many women, and in particular the jresent plaintiff. were in education, intelligence, and competency superior to many candidates who would go up for the Law Society's examinations, but with that, of course, the Court had nothing to do.

Lords Justices delivered judgment- to the same effect, and the appeal was dismissed with costs. THE FREE CHURCHES. The Village Chapel. One of the secondary effects of Mr. Lloyd George's land campaign has been to raise both the hopes and the prospects of village Non conformity.

The village chapel, whatever its denomination, is the local citadel of civic and religious freedom. But it is generally an out post in an enemy's country. For years the complaint has come from villages on every countryside that their life-blood is being drained away by the exodus to the towns and emigration. Economic causes com bined with social boycotting, religioue exclu siveness, and political influences to make the struggle of the village Nonconformist a losing battle. Tied cottages and those too few.

for the people give the landlord an almost absolute, over his tenant, and the labourer has often found himself compelled to choose between his convictions and his livelihood. There are countrysides hi England wdiere the villages yield to none in septhetic charm. But their attractiveness endj with their appearance. No one will stay who can get out of them. would ojren a new chapter in the religious life of England if such conditions of rural life were established as would keep country-born families in the country, and provide them with reasonable chance of livelihood in the place where they were born.

The success of the land campaign would mean the revival of the village chapel, and that would bring stronger and more vigorous religious type, and perhaps 60me distant day restoration of the Puritan yeoman, who once at least proved the backbone of Euglish life. Meanwhile the villager discusses with bated breath and incredulous hope the possibilities which Mr. Lloyd George's campaign is opening before him. P0TUMATO. The manifesto on the l'utumayo horrors issued jointly by the- Free Church Council end other Church loaders is both timely and weighty.

It is an essential jart of the programme of all Christian Chore lies to throw their weight on the scale on the side of humanity against Mammon. A few Putu-mayo cases do much to undo all the Christianity abroad which ndssio.iary societies can effect in a generation. The blood lust, the "-old lust, and the flesh lust are understood all the world over, a ieligion which allows these to go uncheck.xl- may talk till doomsday of righteousness mercy, and peace without making much impression. A suggestion has been made that a register of capital invested abroad should be kept, and that this would check abuses. But why not deal with men first? Mr.

Chamberlain was called "a missionary of Empire" in a political sense; it equally true tliat every man who goes to an uncivilised or half-civilised country is a missionary of Empire in th more modest sense that he -carries in his hand the good name of country and his religion and the reputation of his countrymen. Such men at least be required to register their names with nearest British consul. A home-Lorn laymen's missionary movement would have this characteristic cs-distinguished from the American-born movement it would recognise that an increasing number of joung Englishmen naturally spend some years cf life earning a living- abroad, and it would aim at making those years a positive asset in building the Kingdom of God. At present their influence is negative where it is not actively hostile to missions, because the Englishman abroad often adopts the moral standpoint, if the religious outlook, of tho country in which he is living. A register of names would least help such men to fesl their responsibility and to get rid of the fatal notion that somewhere east of Suez or south of the Amazon there are lands where there jren't Ten Commandments." A Free Church Manual.

This is the day of small manuals on treat subjects. It is encouraging to rind a kood manual on the Free Churches among the Sixpenny People's Books. "The Hope and Mission of the Free Churches" iT. C. and Jack) is wisely pitched on the note of expectation and hope.

It is historical, but does not attempt to live on the past. It is free from dogmatism, and recognises the rl churches in the commonwealth of Christendom place in that commonwealth for rv. Churches. It represents the standpoint from which young Free Churchmen are co-operatine-in the Christian Student movement. Th torical than Dr.

Selbie's. and less doctrinal than oi tne manuals oi tne oiaer generation. licit: jo liki ueiyier iruu. iaj pub ill me uandS of young Free Churchmen who want to understand what to aim at in their own churches. M.

THE 48-HOUR WEEK CAMPAIGN. A Blyth message states that a demand for a 48-hour week, without any reduction of wages, is be pressed forward by thirty unions in the engineering and shipbuilding trades. In the event of the employers desiring to confer with men's representatives on the subject a com- f1? EnSinecrs, V. Mosses limited Pattern 'Boilermakers), Alexander 1 ie' P- Shipwrights). H.

A. Rose nfeer'DJohJ? dronmoulders). W. Paterson.fCarpenters Joiners), Frank Smith (Cabinetmakers) J. Bowan Demonstrations of the men are to be or8nMed 811 the large industrial centres.

MR. STANLEY HOUGHTON. We deeply regret to announce the death of Mr. Stanley Houghton, the dramatist. He' died early this morning at the house of his father in Alexandra Park, Manchester.

Stanley Houghton was born in 1881. and was educated at Bowdon College and the Manchester Grammar His father is a well-known Manchester merchant, and Houghton's experience on the Exchange doubtless helped him to the types so 6trik-ingly presented in his plays. Like other young men, he had interests that proved too strong for the limitations of a commercial career. He was an amateur actor, and appeared sometimes in the Athenasum Society, which produced a play called "The Intriguers," in which he collaborated with Mr. Frank Xasmith.

Among other early ventures mi, asimwi jiaa a. snare, aim xuis was dul on by Mr. Flanagan at the Queen's Theatre and had some little vogue in the halls. These were trifles and may be dismissed with tho comic operas which were boyhood's contri bution to the gaiety of his companions. Houghton's interest in the drama took another direction; he began to write theatre notices, which were published in the "Man chester1 City News." Later he became one of the critics of the Manchester Guardian," to which of late vears he has contributed many notices, reviews, and sketches.

When Miss Hornimun enteral on her Manchester enterprise in tho autumn of 1907, it was natural that Houghton, who knew more about plays than most people, should ask himself why he should not write one. In November, 1908. Miss Horniman produced his one-act comedy "The Dear Departed," which owed something to a story ot jlaupassant nut nau a skill ot construction and a wit ot dialogue that were Houghton's own. There was something near ferocity in its satire and certainly no kindliness ot observation, but it was a remarkable first plav and stimulatc-d interest in its successors. Successes at the Gaiety.

"Independent Means." produced by MNs Horniman in 1909. is milder, more diffuse, an exercise in social problem and theatrical situation that could hardly have interested Houghton and did not stimulate him. There was yet some brusqueness in his treatment of human nature and he was far enough from working through his sympathies. A kindlier stage was reached with "The Younger Generation," which is probably the best of his longer plavs, with the exception of Hindle Wakes." It will not quite stand the literary test, by which it is meant that its diction is not of the finest dramatic duality, but within its limits it, is a irood nhlv and it is a highly entertaining one. It shows almost better than anv other Houghton extraordinary aptitude for the with -the faintest of moral interest, conven tional characters, a note of revolt that might almost be translated into cynical acquiescence, and without any meretricious paraphernalia, it arrests, amuses, succeeds.

was followed bv one or two trifles, among them The Master of the House," a brilliant piece of rather arid and sensational and 1 ancy tree, an adroit triviality. It was with "Hindle akes that Hough ton achieved a well-deserved recognition and popularity, and was able to cut himself free from the commercial career that must have been irksome to him. Miss Horniman had been invited by the Stage Society to supply i piece, and its performance and her choice. was greeted with immediate success and a chorus of praise. Those who most admire Hindle Hakes will not contend that it is a perfect play, and, indeed, tit hardly lives up to its fine first act.

Boldness of attack did not entirely atone for a theoretical and rather cold treatment of certain, moral and. social issues, and it might, perhaps, be described as a- play of ideas in which the ideas do not matter. But its characters and the force and truth of its dialogue projected something of the real Lancashire upon a world which found it extraordinarily interesting. Disputes over its tendency certain I served to advertise it. but it suc ceeded on its high and distinguished merits.

the charmed more than the relations of the old friends, separated into employer and workman, in which Houghton at once presented to an admiring public a typical trait of Lancashire, and indicated tho line ot his own ideal development. We do not find this in either of the new plavs, pro duced in London, which possibly owed their induction to tne nasty demands ot alert managers. "Trust the was written for Mr. Bourchier perhaps even moulded hv him and it had not even a success of the theatre; it soon became for Houghton a bitter memory. "The Perfect Cure, though perhaps a better play, had even less success, lor Mr.

Hawtrev withdrew it after a run ol four nights. The platitudes of depreciation were inevitable, but nobodv who knew Houghton had anv fear that he was at the end of the tether or near He was neither overcome nor soured, and. if his prospects were momentarily overclouded, he had vet an abundance of present accomplishment and fine prospects. Lite in London. When he gave up business devoto himself entirely to literature Houghton left Manchester and wont to live in London, taking up his quarters in a flat in Charing Cross Road, and soon gathered round him a circle of interesting men and women engaged, like himself, in the business of the theatre.

He was pitch interviewed and written about in the press Mr. Max Beerbohm set a seal upon his fame by caricaturing him. and he rapidly became a well-known figure in literary and dramatic London. Managers viqd with each other in booking plays still unwritten his pen. and he had contracts with some of the best-known theatres in London.

Besides these he did much work for the music-halls. After the success of "Fancy Free" at the Tivoli and the Pavilion, Mr. Bourchier and Miss Vanbrugh produced his sketch "Pearls" at the Coliseum, and it is still being played by them on tour. Though, as has been said, his two last plays. "Trust the People" and "The Perfect not have runs of any length, the experience (which conies to every dramatist without exception at one time or another) did not in the least affect the substantial solidity of his success.

"The Dear Departed" has been for many months, and is still, running in a London theatre; of Hindle akes no less than six companies have been touring, and The Younger Generation enjoyed a long run in New Yolk. It was, perhaps, as a result of this that Houghton made the sound resolve, before his illness, to write no more playa to contract, but to do his own work. ahe had done it in Manchester, in his own way. With this purpose and with the intention of writing a. novel he went to Paris where ho had an upartrmcnt in the calm and pleasant atmosphere.

of the southern outskirts health there he varied his life with jour, evs i toother parte of France and further afield 011 the Continent. He was at Venice when ill ness struck him down, and though he became well enough to be brought home, he never recovered sufficiently to leave Jus bed. Of no man could rt be said more certainly that success did not spoil him. Nor did it even, as it does more commonly, stop him in the development of his ideas and his art. He had, eveji to his friends, the virtue of tinexpectedwssj.

he was growing mellow-' 0, to a to by It a in of is his the up not at no any to the and and THE WEATHER. FORECASTS FOB TO-DAY. The following forecasts of to-day's weather were issued by the Meteorological Office last night Lancashire avd-thh Nobth-West (No. 7), Westerly and north-westerly breezes, occasionally fresh in places fair to dull, local passing showers and mist; mild, The M1DIAND3 and Webe Riding (No. 4).

Same as No. 7. The Sea. A rough sea is running on the Donegal coast, and it is rather rough off the Southern Hebrides, moderate to smooth elsewhere. GENERAL CONDITIONS.

A deep depression near Iceland is travelling north-eastward to the Arctic Sea, and it is not expected to affect our northern districts to any great extent, the weather over the country generally being more under the influence of a south-western anticyclone. YESTERDAY IN MANCHESTER. Manchester University Meteorological Obskrva-Tory. Whttworth Park, Dec, 10, 1913, 9 p.m. Fair eenerallv wru Hull ihnuanin Barometer changing little.

Temperature (ishadc). a TtwJjy, I'tyoar. Past 24 hours. Lajtvaar 2 a'm 47-8 39 0 48-5 49-4 9 P-m 48-0 37-0 Lowest 46 0 3S-8 Highest on black bulb, 51 Sunshine Nil Rainfall Trace Last Nil Last Trace Humidity (per cent of saturation) 9 89' .....9 90' Barometer (corrected; Wednesday. Tuesday.

30 162 298a7 At79D.ni sn-iafi n-nt Wind. A gentle breeze, direction westnrlv average velocity miles au hour. Citn Sets. Moon rises. 3 60 1 56 p.m.

Sets. 6 9 a.m a lb To-morrow Id io cj a p.ra. 7 2g a-m or evprv ton mlfa t. i en Buusob is earner LAMP-TIME FOR CYCLISTS TO-DAY: 4 0 p.m. A COUNTRY DIARY.

December 10. The mild weather of yesterday continued dur ing ine night, and this morning if we had had a lew leaves on the trees we could have. imagined it still October. In a warden in South Manchester I saw yesterday a number of prim rose Mowers, and flies aud other insects are again numerous. There was a verv strom? wind blowing last night.

Perhaps this, in con junction with the high temperature, has given me grass an even brighter tinge of green Certainly I noticed in passing through the country this morning that the pastures were singularly beautiful, their fresh tint beimr on. hanced in many cases by contrast with the deep colour of the ploughed land. The long spell of- fine autumn weather has enabled gardeners to get tlie necessary work ot the fall done at an early elate, and in many places the outdoor work of the farm is advanced in these early December clays to a point that is a record. I would like to call the attention of those who bud roses, and for that purpose buv briars at tuis season, to the fact that ten days ago three men were prosecuted and convicted for uprooting briars. Great damage is done to farmers by these people, who, entering the fields with- mil laqi'A .1...

r-. irawa, ana oiien leave gaps that may take hours to mend temporarily and oiten two seasons or more to restore. In this, as in tho case of ferns, there would be few dug up if there were no buyers, and I earnestly ask rose-growers not to make a market. N. IRISH ATTORNEY GENERAL AT BELFAST.

Our Belfast correspondent telegraphed last night: The Irish Attorney General arrived in Belfast to-night for the purpose of prosecuting 111 a murder case to be tried at the assizes. Although that is the chief object of liis rare Visit to the city, I believe he will during the next couple of days make himself acquainted by personal investigation with the political situation here, especially of recent developments in the Unionist ranks. THE AKABIAN NIGHTS BALL. A FANTASTIC INTERLUDE. The' craze in London for fancy dress balls has not yet subsided, and the Arabian Nights Ball at the Covent Garden Theatre to-night is likely.

to be as gorgeous an anair as any of its predecessors. Unlike the recent Picture Ball. it. will lie strongly supported by the stage, and consequently the dancing is expected to be better and the dancers to behave more in char acter with their costumes. It is to be hoped that to-night even the Futurists will be able to invent appropriate behaviour and act up to it.

The interlude this time is to be particularly magnificent. The- idea of these interludes is seven or eight years old, and probably arose hrough the large 'number of people who take boxes aud either from age or choice prefer to sit in them through the night rather than The spectator, indeed, has been so much considered in this way that the dancers are beginning to rebel. The "circus" at the Three Arts Ball the other year was thought to be rather long, but the "living pictures" at the Albert Hall last week almost provoked a re bellion. The dancers protested that the lenethv intervals took the spirit out of the dancing. It was even complained that it was not a ball.

The interlude, however, cannot be done away with, for it is a necessary corollary of fancy dress, as the costumes are often too stiff one remembers a gentleman whose favourite cos tume was the Tower of London or too heavy or too fragile for much dancing. The fierce revival of dancing, however, that has come with the two-step and the tango has brought out too many keen dancers for the spectacle to do more than hold Its own. To-night the interlude is to be "The Pearl of the Dream. The Caliph arrives with his Court and his jewels, and dreams about Wonder ful Pearl (Miss Nancy Danversi, who dances before him but eludes him. Mr.

Belcher as a magician summons Mr. James Welch as a genie out of brase bottle, and lie in turn summons all the jewels of the earth to pass before the Caliph. First come the topazes, arranged by the ladies of the French colony in London then emeralds, sapphires, and green jade, repre sented by Mr. Matheson Lang, Miss Lilian and some of the performers in Mr. Wu." Then the ruby enters dancing and bearing the Ruby Spirit, Miss Ruby Millar (of Oh, I say and they are followed by Miss Alice Crawford as a great white diamond with; six little black nigger-boy diamonds and Men of the Sea in seaweed (Mr.

Kenneth Douglas and Mr. Leveaux) hauling an enormous oyster shell, from out of which dances the missing' pearl, Miss Nancy Danvers; She dances and lutes the Caliph on until he grasps her, throws' her over his shoulder, and runs off, followed by- all the jewels and all his people, and the hall is clear for dancing again. A feature of the pearl procession will be Mr. Godfrey Tearle and another actor carrying Miss Gladys Cooper ad a mermaid enmeshed in a fiahimi.net. SWItATlO AK MIBSI50 OTRED.

L.wvusyp.M rvporwa oy mim Colt itbMkMatoi, WOf. Enaland. Bmml on 'i ud loneheaa. wMnh Inflemmition lunerveiMd. Mm tmA wifi jm UmdtMa.

rmn-tinr nf "nrlmn Plntiun Of POttcum Boo? cuxM Mb tyWTJ Bach had its use the Bow and Arrow, the Catapult, the Pea-shooter, the Squirt, and each its period of exclusive -popularity The Catapult perhaps hardly deserves to be regarded as an effective member of the group. We approached it with awe and looked forward to it with hope, as being rather the proper weapon of the schoolboy Uo ns it was more magnificent possession, treasure than a practical implement a tiling to husband closely in the pocket, where the hand any moment might grip it lovingly, to he taken out on fitting occasions and flicked nonchalantly about by way of Showing off; whose handle could be bound ond rebound at short intervals with whip cord, whose elasticity was the subject of frequent test and trial. One would have been very to have been without a. catapult, but, if thf whole truth must be divulged, one was more than a little chary of actually letting it off. One had hit one's thumb more than once at that game.

The Bow and Arrow had a considerable vogue. Wo were all Kobin Hoods then. cry soon we threw over the accepted types, which could he bought in shops, as lacking true romance. A how was one of the many things (like walking-sticks, stilts, and, of course, catapults) that no shopkeeper could ver understand. We cut our own of trusty yew.

Nor had we anv opinion at all of smooth, hlook, befeath'ered arrows. Wo nmrst make mn- own always with the aid of Old John Ciirdeiier, securely tipped with lead and hiboriously scrubbed with sandpaper. We would rejnico greatly ns would not, lisive het-n possible in the case of a mere, fhop arrow--iii the exploits of the champion shaft, of the hour, till such tinm ns he was lost tr us in sonic prodigious flight. Yet we nevi-r had the fullest satisfaction from bows and fur they were to confining reuulatimi anil restriction. Ever since day when Archie (who was only trying the effect of a new bow-string in the nursery) lot fly an arrow inadvertently across th room, narrowly escaping homicide and transfixing the picture of tienernl Gordon which hung upon the wall, ever since that imlinkv day liows and arrows were accounted too dangerou for promiscuous use.

They had their allot ted seasons their fixed occasions, even their preserihod lines of flight. There ivik, in a word, altogether too much red tape about (lie How and Arrow. In striking contrast u.is the position of the which was essentially without trace of oluVial recognition. It was never allotted to Ix-coiii- conspicuous enough (by reason ot its to lie subject to any such hampering fictions. It was preeminently the weapon of stealth, tin1 weapon of iho sharpshooter taking pot-shots (which vas the term then in vogue) from a point ot safe lusioii.

It was responsible for n. vast amount of fine lnierilla warfare. Its office was to "pepper" and annoy; to plant a well-directed pea in the heart of a loup of callers from the hidden branches of a neighbouring tree, or rake the serried ranks ot the girls' school next door when they walked out to take the air. Naturally it was subject to frequent confiscation. Hut a new one ttas not far to seek.

It could be cut. at any time Iroin the elderberry bush in the shrubbery the pith ejected with a knitting-needle; the finished weapon dried and seasoned and readv lor Work within the day. Hut, while 1 would not for a moment be ungrateful to the memory of these others, it tta.s Squirt that really counted. For ill offensive tactics a jet of water is better than a pea in the thrilling act, or nervous pressure with which it is driven forth, hissing on its wav, in a certain untailing humour, not easv to explain, which belongs to it. and in' the fact that it leaves its mark behind and tin- victim cannot dent that he was struck.

Oh. ves. squirt were the great Thev wore seldom altogether idle for a ihiv, for one earned one's wpiirt (Uite a matter of course, as a man may carry a penknife or a watch. And. indeed, ji squirt of the true urthmlnx type (for this was one of the things that the mops understand i.

with its long, cylindrical barrel and shnrnlv tanoreil of smooth unbattered lead, is trulv a delidit- Iiil object. Iv on the garden svrine I. 1. i.m nmie tremendous in iU effects (and additionally desirable because it was proiiihitedi, could not seriously compete with the niassivo ami effective tonponnv squirt or even with the slender little threepenny model, handy for quiet and unobtrusive attack. The Squirt, in to a thousand other obvious activities, was the chosen weapon of the Duel.

Heboid the two combatants face to face, at a distance of perhaps four feet, each kneeling in (rent of his basin of water! each Wely enwrapped in a macintosh, each ocmciiiig ai uie word ot command from the leloive destructive streams at his opponent's it was onen nam to pule when the ammunition wa exhausted who had piotcl the victor. Hut both had shared in the sheer intoxication of the frav. Huth were blinded, saturated, and bedraggled and need no more than that. And one day a wicked whisper came to me the outcome of that restless desire with which we were so often possessed to trv to improve upon a good thing. Ji.st jt be u-titeri Why should it be water? It was dianoiicai suggestion that I owe the treasured memory of an evening on which I leally tasted power.

Open rebellion was not new to nu nor occasions of reckless defiance. One had defied authority by ninninn- awav one had even defied authoritv, faeeto face trom the is.anct in the lake having first to oety authoritv in hand-to-hand conflict it was h- all odds a grander moment. Our true parents and guardians were away from home and an uncle and aunt were in charge on the evening when suddenly stampeded, threw off all restraint and with my now tenpenny charged with ink oolilh- faced the world. i high end of the sofa with my back to the. wall I blankly refused to go to bed.

meeting all advances with the blackened end of mv lethal weapon Another step and I fire Gradually it dawned upon me what an overwhelmingly strong position was mine oui as good in it way as any anarchist who turns jvv uie expenditure ot a tew drops tvhuh left their mark in a dotted line upon the carpet for vears to come-1 made it clear to all that I meant what I said. Ami they cowered before me and drew back. It was one of those occi sions when "they could do nothing with me" the uncle and aunt must bo sent for-and it was a most fortunate circumstance that they were on the point of going out to dine, and therefore quite exceptionally vulnerable to a point-blank jet of ink. Mv blood was up words were of no avail I was not going to bed: as a matter of fact ors; was eimjJij iw iinero 1 was. 4mi one step forward Thus I held them through some heady moments of dizzv triumph vhfle my allies looked on admiring, almost worshipping.

I was oven about to formulate further terms when the frav ended ore-maturely as it seemed to me, in 'a sudden rush behind cover of an umbrella, in which I was home down, captured, and disarmed. But my weapon was empty ere I relinquished it. I had left my mark. Bertram Smith. THE CABINET.

Jhara will be at least one further meeting of the Cabinet before he Ministers disperse for the Christmas holidays, it is understood that Ministers have been summoned to confer with Mr. Asqukh at Downing Street during the JfcunBnttswek, SPECIAL MORNING EXPRESS. DISORDERS IN INDIA. MAHOMETAN AND HINDU CONFLICTS. (Reuteb's Correspondent.) Bo SIB AT, WEDNESDAT.

Serious disturbances have occurred in Agra in connecteion with the Mohurrum (Maho metan) festival. They arose out of collisions between Mohurrum processions and mnau A number of persons were infured, and one man has died. A party cf Mahometans yesterday attacKeo a muuu curiont. ot Anm rviiiwiTr. Dr.

Jones, the Prinr-injil intorronnrl fllul received a blow on the left eye. The iniurv was so serious that tho eye lias since been removed in The Mohurrum festival has passed off quietly elsewhere. BOMB THROWN AT A PROCESSION (Reuter's Correspondent.) Calcutta, Wednesday. A bomb was thrown yesterday at Mahometan procession at Midnapul. It is believed to have been aimed at Abdur Rah man a police informer whose house was wrecked last vear with a similar bomb.

In tho. present instance the bomb missed 'ts mark, an dfailed to explode. Several towns in Eastern Bengal were posted simultaneously yesterday with placards calling on the people to exterminate the white dacoits." THE CLERGY AND PHILOSOPHIC TEACHING. BY ARTIFEX. If I may judge from the letters which I have received, the training of candidates for the ministry, of which I wrote last week, is one of much wider interest than I had supposed.

All sorts of pamphlets, open letters to distinguished people, articles in religious and secular papers and magazines, and addresses to Church Con gresses and societies generally, have been sent for my perusal, and I have been invited to en dorse the contentions of each and all. Unfor tunately, the authors all seem to have some par ticular axe to grind. Everyone who has a fad (E really cannot find any other word) seems to regard the training of the clergy as a suitable opportunity for its exploitation. But.that is not at all what I was thinking of when I wrote last week. My desire is not that the clergy should be jacks-of -all-trades, but tliat they should be equipped for being masters of one, and that their own.

The duty of the clergy seems to me to be to preach the Gospel, and one of the things necessary for that is that they should hi able to meet attacks on the truth of tianity. No doubt the particular nature of the training. required will vary from time to time the. nature of the attacks directed against religion varies. Just at present I am sure that the clergy should have some general outline acquaintance with the conclusions of physical science, aud a fuller and more detailed training in psychology and ethics.

When ardent reformers claim that no candidate should be accepted who does not show a competent knowledge of bookkeeping, architecture, the laws' of health, the history of the co-operative movement, rural banks, the dangers of adopting (or failing to adopt) compulsory military training, and so on indefinitely, I am compelled to part company with my' How necessary some training in science and philosophy, is will be recognised when we' remember that all kinds of false teaching are being poured into the ears of our young men and women as the established conclusions of science. Mr. Ronald Knox, in his most interest ing and suggestive book Some Loose Stones," complains with reason of the way in which, in theological discussions, things are claimed as which are really no more than hypotheses. Some daring German professor sug gests that some difficulty may be met by regard, ing a particular passage of a particular Gospel as an interpolation. It may well happen that the difficulty in question is subsequently fund to be no difficulty at all, but to be capable of explanation by quite otliee- means.

But long after the original difficulty, for the' sake of which the hypothesis was advanced, has dis appeared we are stiii dogmatically, informed that modern criticism has proved that such and such verses are an interpolation." As Mr. Knox points out, no one would object to anyone saying So-and-so conjectures this or that." We do object to being told that "criti eisn has proved it. Very much the same phenomena may be ob served in physical science. Thus, Mr. Hugh S.

Elliot, the author of a remazkably poor book on M. Bergson, writes in the R.P. Annual lor 1914, Physiology has proved beyond any power ot uouDt mat ail our acts, an our thoughts, and all our emotions are dependent purely and exclusively on material events proceeding in tlie brain, and that these material events aTe set going by the ordinary laws of matter and motion. A human being, like all other animals, is an excessively complex machine, of which every movement is a neces sary consequence of some previous arrange ment of material particles. The whole is sus ceptible of complete explanation in terms of physics and chemistry; there is unquestion ably no such thing as a vital force, nor is there the leapt rag of evidence in favour of the exist ence of a soul." All this will pass for a pronouncement of science with uneducated lads, but it is, of course, Great nonsense.

If Mr. Elliot means that mental process may some day be susceptible of explanation in terms of chemistry and physics lie should say so. If he means that it is so to-da-y he simply states what is not true. We are no nearer to-day to an explanation of how a series of chemical changes and molecular movements inthe brain issue in a sensation than we were a century ago- The statement that molecular change in the brain is, produces, generates, or secretes (whichever phrase you like to use) thoughts is perfectly meaningless. As 'Sir Oliver "-Lodge told us at Birmingham, physical science knows of nothing but of atoms in motion and ether under stress.

Quite so. And therefore physical science, apart from the conception of spirit, is quite unable to give any account of thought or sensation. To pretend that particles in motion can give any explanation of thought is meaningless. I might as well aay that one chair on the floor of the Free Trade Hall is one piece of matter, and two chairs 'are two pieces of matter, but if I arrange enough chairs in a sufficiently complicated pattern they may be expected to develop among themselves an enthusiasm for Tariff Reform." "Psychology without a soul" is simply cne ol many hypotheses of modern mental science. It has its convenience as a method of Takeq as sufficient statement of the whote truth it lands lis in many ridiculous conclusions.

And Mr. William McDonealVa and Mind should' alone be. enough to prevent any iuan imu uwumug dogmatically that "there is not tne least rag of evidence'" for a sou 1. ins wauwi may ceem oi merely academic importance. It has real practical importance for the parish priest when sixpenny magazines print such sentences as I have quoted as the unquestioned teaching of '-'science." NONCONFORMIST DESIRES.

THE NORTHERN COUNTIES LEAGUE. Some concern was expressed at the annual meeting of the Northern Counties Eduea tion League at Sheffield yesterday lest the promised new education legislation should fail to meet the desires of Nonconformists on tho question of religious instruction in schools. Dr. Clifford, who was unable to attend the meeting owing to illness, sent a letter, in which he stated his fears in characteristic ally vigorous fashion. He wrote of im minent peril of compromise with the clerical reactionaries," and submitted that they would be better without legislation if the price to be paid for it was an extension of the sectarian elements of the Act of 1902.

He referred to the Church of England claim for right of entry into all schools. Several speakers at the meeting followed him in call ing for resistance to this policy at all costs. Mr. A. E.

Hutton, who presided, criticised the Government for' having made so many fruitless efforts to deal with the education problem, but accepted the proposals recently outlined as admirable, apart from the state ment of Mr. Pease that voluntary schools would be allowed to remain as they are at present. This, he said, would not be satisfactory to Nonconformists unless the buildi ng grants which had been promised were adequate enough to induce local authorities to provide a large number of new public schools in all parts of the country. were passed thanking the Government for the promise of new education legislation, urging that a bill should be passed next year, and expressing a hope that in redressing old grievances new ones would not bo created hy countenancing the claims to a sectarian rinht of entry into schools during the period of compulsory education. DR.

CLIFFORD AND SECTARIAN CLAIMS. Dr. Clifford, who was prevented by illness from attending the meeting, wrote as follows: It will. I trust, be felt that the work of our League is more urgent than ever. We are in imminent i-eril of ebinpromise.

with the clerical reactionaries in anv legislation that is under taken in 1914. We art; in the trrin. alas, of the House of Peers aeain. and we liave a sectarian majority in" the Commons. These are fateful factors.

We may le sure that nothing will be allowed to pass that loes not strengthen and extend the sectarian elements of the Education Act of 1932, and in my judgment we are better without any legislation than to pay that price for it. Every care must lie taken that our position is not worsened. Every attempt-to override the decision of the voters by the 60-called wishes of the parent must lie resisted, for all who are acquainted with the rural districts know that the real "wishes" are those of the clerically-minded rulers of the villit.ee. The "right of entry'' of the ecclesiastics into council schools must be prevented at all costs. EDUCATION AND SOCIAL REFORM.

The Chairman (Mr. A. E. Hutton) said that he could not speak entirely as an optimist, so far as the immediate future was concerned. There was something a little bit comical in the way the Government had from time to time attempted to deal with the education question 011)3- to withdraw from it as frequently.

They had been assured that they' would have a bill in the present year to relieve the situation from the point of view of Nonconformists and national education, but hey had had to be content with listening to a speech ana seeing a one clause bill which did not find its way t' the Statute-book. The bill was withdrawn, and he wondered whether the speech still stood. It was an ao'mirahle one, it promised well, and it would be a matter of satisfaction to them if all that it promised. was finally incorporated in an Act of Parliament. But it was no use hiding from themselves the faet that the question had gone on so long that the House of Lords was once more their greatest difficulty.

Unless another general election resulted in their favour the Parliament Act was powerless now to do them any good. Mr. Hutton went on to express the opinion, while agreeing that social reforms were urgently needed, that the education question should not be X'Ut in the background. He did not" think that the country realised sufficiently that the biggest social question they had to consider was the education question. But for the Education Act of 1870 no Government would have been forced to deal with these other matters.

That Act. had led to the demands fur reform which were being made to-day. and he regarded educational improvement as essential to safeguard the welfare of the general public and of individual citizens. A great difficulty was, of course, the provision of an adequate amount of money, but Mr. Asquith's speech at Oldham was very encouraging.

His references to the income tax pointed to an intention to increase the elasticity of the revenue of the nation, and it was hardly likely that the proposals which the speech of. Mr. Pease contained would have been put forward if the Government did not see its way to provide for the additional expenditure of several millions. Mr. Pease had declared that the scheme was to leave voluntary schools as they were.

That was ratlier a striking declaration, end if it were to stand by itself it would not give much satisfaction to those who had always held to the principle of public control over all schools and over the administration of all public money. But Mr. Pease spoke also of provision for building grants to extend the number of publicly provided schools all over the country. All he would say to the Government in reference to this was that if voluntary schools were to be left as they were it would only be tolerable on eoudition that the building grants were adequate enough to enable a large number of publicly provided schools to be built. (Cheers A grant ot per cent, cr even 50 per cent would not be enough, in ills ODinion fnr h.

backward counties. Danger of New Grievances. Mr. Alderman P. H.

Booth (West Riding) moved a resolution thanking the Government for Uie promise of new education legislation. uTging that such a place should be given to the bill as would ensure its passage through both houses in 1914. and noting with special approval the promises to establish a new grant in aid of loan charges and to redress the grievances of Nonconformists by dealing with the sectarian difficulty. The Liberal Government, Mr. Booth said, Iwd been in power for nearly eight years, and Nonconformists were still crying in the wilderness "Make the education path straight." Thev would all agree with him that it was time thev entered the promised land.

Mr. J. Calvert, of Middlesbrough, seconded the resolution, which was carried unanimously. Mr. A.

C. Wilson, of Birkenhead, moved a resolution urging that redressing old STiev ances care be taken not to create new and wore ones by giving any countenance anywhere to the claims to a sectarian right of entry into tb schools during the period of compulsory at tendance, and that the reform of local adminis tratiou by securing dfree-. election for educa tiona-l purposes only, and in the counties th further devolution of education functions on to elected bodies in smaller areas, is an indispensable condition of efficiency and progress and should be secured in the new bill. Mr. J.

of Choriey, seconded the resolution, and it carried unanimously. Heroes of Cadeby Pit, Denabv Main, win receive life-saving medals of the Order of the Hospital of St. John from the King at Buckingham- Palace oa Tueadayi The Queen at Lyme Park, Disley. Mr. Bonar Law at Carnarvon, 6.

Sir John Simon at Cheetham Public Hall, 8. Mr. A. G. C.

Harvey at Liscard. Market Drayton Cheese Fair- Mr. P. M. Oliver at Woodford Division), 7 30.

Chartered Accountants, Midland Mr. A. Smith, M.P.i and Mr. tioldstone, at BrieTfield. Prince Arthirr of Connaught Opens the Bazaar, Royal Horticultural Hall, 2 3C.

M. Anatole France at Meeting of the Royal Society of British Arabian Nights Ball, Covent Garden. Sir Gilbert Parker on "Books and the "Times" Book Club, 4 5. Peasant Arts Fellowship: Dr. (irevill" donald on "William Thoin, the W.

Poet," 17, Duke Street, London, 7 Lancashire County Sessions, Manchtf r. Lord Rosebery at Glasgow Royal College. Mr. A. Acland at Spalding.

Chancery of Lancashire, before the 1 cellor. at Manchester, 10 45 trial Openshaw v. Irwin. FIXING AND STEAM IXt; WEAVING HEI)S. MR.

HARCOURT EXPLAINS His POSITION. Dissatisfaction having been expressed the reply of Mr. Lewis Harcourt, M.P., 10 deputation which waited upon him a mr.rj-v ago on the questfon of the projected flniiur -and steaming in weaving- Secretary has forwarded to Alderman J. Farron. secretarv of th- dale Weavers' Association, as Dear Farron, Your publication to you of November 18 seems led to some misunderstanding of mv p- owing to the absence of any simult.v!,-,.

publication of the conversation which I with you and the deputation when I Rossendale on November. 8. i i-remember that I told the that I was warmly in favour nf tlx- .1 abolition of fines, though vou admitted that some penalties would be sary for unpunctualitv, I told you that it was difficult for ,1 1 Minister to pledge himself as to his private bills until the text and natmv had been considered bv the Cabinet. so far as I was free to do so, I should i the abolition of fines, and I saw ni L' to think that I should not be free t. But at the same time -I -nointeii members' bills have little more than a second reading in these rl congestion of public business, and tho-was likely that the matter would be dealt -with: by its inclusion in a Gover -w.

Truck Bill. You will -remember tin-. recommendations of the Truck nct So far as the total aH.ii-i, of all fines, but I was- glad to hear wi that in many parts of Rossendale thev already ceased to be or I understand from vou also that hunuciifi-cation has been abandoned in many parts and I sincerely hope that U1.3 beneficial action may be extended. --of course, a matter of. technical kinm as to how far some amount of ficaticn is necessary in special process--, or under certain conditions "of weather, lu: 1 understood from you that the principal turn-plaint made was that humidiflcation was ployed principally in order to get larger tities of size or filling into the cloth, certainly seems to me undesirable that fr-such purposes, anything should be dor? which is detrimental to the health r.f tie workers.

You will perhaps' think it right '0 publish this letter in order to make clea-my position in the matter, as it seems 'o have been misunderstood. Yours very trufv, L. Alderman Farron expressed th Otymitvn there must have been some misunderftan for Mr. Harcourt to get the idea the admitted some penalties would be unpunctuality, He (Alderman Farron. did n6t admit that a penalty in the way 0 a fine would be necessary.

The weaver lost much more proportionately when late than did the as the weaver was paid a piece rate. Mr. Harcourt intimated, that he hopes to deal nubliclv with the wlip.n ho visiti the division in January 17-ESTMACOTT'S PECTORAL BALSAM will ciirn vour fToncrh nr rtaM Is 17 i a hi; vr cr AXENDALE'S for FURNITURE. BL A IN HANKINSO.N, PffiTtuinpnTrnir. nnvuteTa 69.

MAI1KET 81.. MANCHESTER. Telephone Kn. 4040 WOOLI.EY-S RELIABLE MEDICINAL PREPARATION'S Announcements of Births, Marriages, and Deaths and Ii cmuruiin aoiicea are cnargea at Toe touoiting ratei. Two I.IXBS 1b.

66, and 6d. each Additional Lina. Kotices ol Thanks are charged Is. Line. AU auch announcements must -be authenticated thi uaiuo onu aaurrss oi ine sender.

Postage stamps cr postal orcleis may be sent in payment. BIRTHS. On December 6, at The Dinvfli-. j.uau, acocKport, 10 Jir. ana Mrs.

ARTHUR KUHI-SOX, a daughter. SHAWCnOSS. On (he 9th at Tlie Crosby, to' Mr. and Mrs. EDWAliD F.

SHAWCil'iS-. a daughter. TAYLOR the 10th at 11. M.r Hrnvc, I'restwicli, to Mr. and Mrs.

JOXKs), a eon. MARRIAGE. TOMUXSOX HOWABD. On Decemt.er 10, Church, Halifax, by tlip H-v. in "Arthur tomlixsox, or' Manrii-M Moscow, to KMII.Y, younger daughter of Walker HOWARD.

IeedR. and of tlie late James Walker Howard, surgeon, DEATHS. BRADLEY. On the 9th WILLIAM beloved husband ot Jennie Bradley, of 5, Bai'--'1' Jfoad, Old Traflord, in his 63rd year. DORAX.

On December 10, at 10, Summcreastle, dale, after much suffering, most patiently KM MA SARAH, the beloved wife of C. A. nm.AV and only daughter of the late' Mr. Robert. Oliver, of Chelsea and Macclesfield.

Friends kindly accept this (the only) intimation. FAH-vvrvn a Shanghai. ALhJXDER, infant son ot Mons. and Madam KA (nee Ellingcr). December 10, at Milton Grove, suddenly, JOSEPH HUDSON, in his December 1 Cemetery JOHXSOX.

On the 8th at his Residence PVl6 'OsWSgafTM-fitVa year. Interment at Colwyn Bav Cwneterv tin; (Thursday), at 2 30 p.m. AH inquiries i to -to Messrs. Kendal, Milne and Co. ROGF.RS.-On the 10th at '63, Clarendon V- 1 WhaUey Range.

JAMES ROGERS (late nt 1 i Y. Rjv Offices, Hunt's Bank; and 2nd I. aged 66 years. ROSE. On the 8th at Bollin 6ide n.tt, Wilmslow.

Telephone 6. T- SMITH. On the 9th at his residence R.1, Road Cheadle Hulme, AMRsM I SOuTJew. ClTeland CVutnpsaU), i W1LHOX. On the 8th at 21 r.

Barnsley. HAXXAH MARIA, widow of She l-t. i willing, wiT.snv oA-j 01 ine te service William niLau.i. in nt.t- non-i Blpe. BrnSiey, (Thursday), at 12; interment mTikl.

at 18 45. Please accept this oiC WOBSLEY-TATLOR. On the 8th December -Whalley. HARRIETTE SAYER, ThT'ov-ed wHe H. W.

WOUSLEY-TAYLOB, K.C. Funeral at Vh3 Church this day. 12 U. by her own special request. In Memoriam.

In loving memory of JAMES SAVAGE, who r.avd way December 11, 1907. no ra PATEESONS MONUMENTAL WORKS, BO. Oxford Bd. opp. goaOuro Owtary.

TaL 12010a. The Pianola Piano. Edvard Grieg says with the Mitro- tyaM eonddw it most admirable aad In- BPfflS" ABBUfM. 197, DS4H96A.TX. MAKCHWTBB.

BataX MuL Mated ad Published far JOHV RirssEi.r. Krrvrr. for Crow fitxeet, Manchester. -December II, 1913..