the government whenever soldiers are needed.

Our standing army is very small. We have only about thirty thousand men in it; but our National Guard, the reserves that would be called out in case of war, number over ten millions.

In Greece there is a penalty of $200 for any man belonging to the reserve who does not answer the call of the country, and, moreover, neither distance nor citizenship in another country excuses him. If he does not answer the call, he will be arrested and imprisoned whenever he sets foot again in Greece.

The United States Consul-General from Greece has been notified to call for all the Greeks in this country. They have answered willingly, and are arranging their affairs so that they may be ready to leave the moment war is declared. They are endeavoring to charter a ship to take them back. Over a thousand of the Greeks in this country answered the call the first day it was made.

It seems almost sure that war between Turkey and Greece must come, and to this end Greece is hurrying troops, arms, and provisions to the Turkish frontier, every available steamship being chartered to aid in the work.

A number of the warships of Great Britain and the other Powers have appeared near the Piræus, and it seems likely that some sort of a blockade may be maintained.

In Crete itself, fighting is still going on. The allied Powers are making a very determined effort to subdue the Greeks.

The Italians have forcibly put the Greek consul out of Canea. They took him into custody, and put him on board a Greek war-vessel, with a warning against trying to re-enter Canea.

The correspondents of the Greek papers have also been ordered to leave the city, and they, too, will be forced to leave, if they do not go quietly.

The British went to the town of Selino, which was being besieged by the Cretans, forced the insurgents to desist, and rescued the Moslems who were besieged, bringing them away from Selino under a strong escort of British soldiers.

The Cretans were so enraged at the rescue, that in spite of the fact that they had promised the British commander that they would allow the Moslems in Selino to go free, they gathered at the gates and waited for the Moslems to come out, dashed through the soldiers who were guarding them, and tried to wound and rob them.

A Russian warship made a cruise round the island a few days ago, and brought back word to the allies at Canea that fighting was going on near all the coast towns, and that the whole island seemed ablaze with war.

Colonel Vassos has received orders from the King of Greece that he is to hold all the positions in the island now occupied by Greek troops, and to resist all attempts on the part of Turkey or the Powers to dislodge him.

A report from Crete states that there has been trouble between Germany and Greece.

A German vessel, the Kaiserin Augusta, ordered a Greek vessel, the Hydra, to come to a standstill, and fired a blank shot at her to make her obey. The Hydra immediately replied by firing a whole broadside at the German vessel, and went on her way.

This report has not been fully verified, so after all it may not be true.

Turkey, in the mean while, is following her usual method of saying nothing at all, simply waiting to see what happens.

The various Sultans who have been ruling Turkey ever since the affairs of that country first began to scandalize Europe, have always maintained this same attitude, in the hope that the Powers which insisted on interfering in the affairs of Turkey might at last get into a serious quarrel among themselves, and so be obliged to leave Turkey alone.

The Turkish troubles have been going on for years and years. The Armenian massacres, and the misrule in Crete, are only the last two of a long series of crimes which have made Turkey the horror and the despair of Europe.

If the various Powers could only have agreed how to divide up the Turkish Empire between them, the Sultan would have been expelled from Europe long ago. But they never have agreed, and so the Sultan of Turkey has kept his throne.

The Powers sent a note to Turkey at the same time that the one was despatched to Greece, telling him that they wished Crete to have Home Rule under the control of a Turkish prince.

The Sultan's reply was most amiable; he agreed to the wishes of the Powers so willingly, that it is said that he is glad to have an opportunity of ridding himself of Crete, which has long been an annoyance and expense to his Empire.

At the same time he, too, is massing troops on the frontier, ready to fly at the Greeks the moment war is declared.

Affairs in Cuba are beginning to look a little brighter for the Cubans, but very dark and dismal for Spain.

The last news from Madrid says that a Carlist rising is feared, and that Spain dares not send any more of her soldiers out of the country to help in the Cuban war. Her money is also exhausted. The enormous sums that were raised last year have been spent, and she has no means of raising any fresh loans. If she can send neither money nor men to further the Cuban war, it is likely that the Cubans will soon be victorious, for General Weyler says that he has not enough men to pacify the island; the funds are so low, that the Spanish soldiers can neither be paid nor fed properly and are deserting to the Cuban ranks from sheer want.

The Carlist rising, that is so much feared, concerns the pretensions of a certain Don Carlos to the throne of Spain.

From the time of Philip V., in 1713, the succession to the Spanish throne had been according to the Salic law, from father to son; or to the nearest male relative.

The Salic law is a very old law, which provides that no woman can inherit lands, or occupy the throne. According to this law, if a king dies leaving several daughters, but no son, the throne passes away from the daughters, and goes to the nearest male relative, be he nephew, uncle, or cousin.

In 1829 Ferdinand III. of Spain, having no sons, rendered the Salic law of no effect in Spain by a decree granting the right of succession to the daughters and granddaughters of the king.

When Ferdinand died in 1833, his daughter Isabella Maria II. was declared queen, and the brother of Ferdinand, who under the old law should have been king, was passed over. This brother was named Don Carlos.

Don Carlos refused to recognize his brother's decree, and declared himself King of Spain. Many of the nobles, who did not like the idea of being ruled by a woman, flocked to his standard, and war was declared against the party of the Queen by the people of Don Carlos' party, or Carlists, as they were called.

For six years a cruel civil war raged, then Don Carlos was forced to give in. This first war was from 1833 to 1839.

In 1860 Don Carlos II., the son of Don Carlos I. (Ferdinand's brother), declared himself King of Spain, and headed a new Carlist rising, which was again unsuccessful.

There have been several unsuccessful uprisings since then.

From 1873 to 1876 Don Carlos III. headed a rising which bid fair to be successful.

Don Carlos III. is the direct descendant of Don Carlos I., and is the present pretender to the Spanish throne, to which, according to the Salic law, he is the rightful heir.

In January, 1876, he was forced to give up the fight, and nothing more has been heard of him till the present time.

There have been murmurs of new Carlist risings, but no actual trouble has been feared.

Now, with the whole country enraged and dissatisfied at the mismanagement of the wars both in Cuba and the Philippines, Don Carlos is once more gathering his followers together.

He has agents working for his cause in Cuba, as well as in Spain.

In the Spanish army, there are at the present time a number of officers who fought for Don Carlos in the last