The Spectator

The Spectator at war: Preachers of sedition

From The Spectator, 28 November 1914: If the press is to be muzzled, why do not the muzzling laws hold good in Ireland? It is against all common-sense to place Ireland in a privileged position — to give roving licences to any Irishmen who care to kill recruiting. Men have been arrested in England for

From the archives | 27 November 2014

From ‘Sedition in Ireland’, The Spectator, 28 November 1914: If the press is to be muzzled, why do not the muzzling laws hold good in Ireland? It is against all common-sense to place Ireland in a privileged position — to give roving licences to any Irishmen who care to kill recruiting. Men have been arrested

The Spectator at war: Digging for victory

From The Spectator, 28 November 1914: After discipline and rifle shooting comes entrenching. We suggest, as a practical proposal, that every corps should practise its men at least once a week in trench digging. There ought to be no difficulty even in towns in inducing some patriotic man to lend them a piece of ground

The Spectator at war: In the event of invasion…

From The Spectator, 28 November 1914: In the Commons on Monday Mr. Wedgwood, who has served with the Naval Division in Belgium, asked for instructions as to what civilians were to do in the event of invasion. Were they to hand over their weapons to an appointed authority, or keep them and use them? The

The Spectator at war: Topsy-turvy

From The Spectator, 21 November 1914: Both at home and abroad this war has already caused us to wonder whether we wake or dream, so different in many respects are the events from the anticipations. To begin with, there is a matter in which the Spectator has a particular reason for being sensible of the

The Spectator at war: German lessons

From The Spectator, 21 November 1914: No English writer knows more of German ways than Mr. Dawson, and his large book upon public administration in towns is a mass of information. It is his misfortune to have produced it at a moment when Englishmen are not likely to be eagerly receptive of the German methods

The Spectator at war: Dispatches from the front

From The Spectator, 21 November 1914: The papers of Tuesday and Wednesday contained two exceptionally interesting despatches from an eyewitness at Sir John French’s headquarters. These descriptive narratives have improved remarkably in value since the beginning of the war—a fact which does not seem to be in the least appreciated by some newspapers. The despatch

Domestic

‘I’m sorry to hear about your domestic problems, Hartley, but I can’t allow you to take it home.’