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NOTES AND QUERIES, cio.s. XL MAR. 13, im

preface Mr. Burke completely refutes the assertion made by a prominent Cabinet Minister that " the peerages of half the members of the House of Lords," who rejected at that time an important Government Bill, " were created in his lifetime."

We find some important and useful innova- tions in this year's Peerage. The names of suc- cessive holders of titles are printed in black type, and a mark is affixed to those who are contingent, presumptive, or apparent heirs to hereditary titles.

A perusal of this year's obituary page gives ground for reflection, and should encourage those who believe in the supremacy of the female sex. Lord Glenesk leaves a daughter only. Three of the late Lord Petre's most ancient "baronies, viz., Furnivall, Strange de Blackmore, and Talbot, created respectirely in 1295, 1308, and 1331, are now vested in abeyance in females. Lord Amherst of Hackney leaves a daughter only. The ancient barony of Herries is now vested in the Duchess of Norfolk ; and it seems likely that in the next generation Lord Blythswood's in- heritance will vest in a little lady.

The death of Lord Kelvin is another example in favour of Sir Bernard Burke 's dictum that "it is a fact no less strange than remarkable that the more conspicuous a man is for his brains, the more rarely does he leave an heir to per- petuate his name " ; and so our great man of science now joins in the ranks with Shakespeare, Milton, Napoleon, Burke, Pitt, Macaulay, and many another of the greatest intellects the world has produced.

We note with interest that Lord Alverstone's supporters are two seals, and wonder if they will ever produce the Great Seal. There is every chance in the present volume to compare the lately introduced woodcuts of the coats of arms with the old steel engravings, and to our mind the latter are incomparably superior. They occur together on almost every other page. We are glad to see that the crest of a certain noble "baronet to which we called attention last year is now correctly delineated. We doubt whether Mr. Burke is right in attributing the Earldom of 'Selkirk to the present Duke of Hamilton. In the course of this lineage on p. 862 he sets out the limitations of the patent creating the Earldom of Selkirk, and it appears to our uninformed mind that pursuant to that patent the Earldom of Selkirk must always be vested in the younger branch of a Duke of Hamilton's family. This patent, dated 6 October, 1688, settles the Selkirk title on his Grace's second and younger sons and their respective issue male, whom failing, to his other heirs male, with a proviso that if any of the sons named or their issue shall succeed to the Dukedom of Hamilton, the Selkirk honours -shall descend to the next younger brother and his issue male. We do not know the exact facts of this case, but think it is a matter worth con- sideration by the parties interested.

In fine, we congratulate Mr. Ashworth Burke -on his most interesting volume, and on the great care which he has bestowed upon it to bring it up to date, shown by the inclusion of the King's last Birthday Honours.

Tudor Facsimile Texia, (T. C. and E. C. Jack.) WE have received four more volumes of this series : Bale's ' Three Laws,' Redford's ' Wit and Science,' ' Gentleness and Nobility,' attributed to

Heywood, and his ' Wit and Folly,' the second and fourth being reproductions of manuscripts in the British Museum. Mr. Farmer, who edits them, should read his texts through : in that case he would not have been misled by the ambiguous colophon of ' The Three Laws.' A book which speaks of the Protector, Queen Katherine, and Edward VI. must have been written between 1547 and 1549, and could not have been printed in 1538. Moreover, the British Museum Catalogue dates the copy from which the reproduction was made at about 1550. ' God's Promises ' uses the same type in its colo- phon, and must date from the same period. It is needless to repeat our remarks as to the value of these reproductions to all student* of Tudor literature.

The National Review is as trenchant as ever in its survey of politics. Mr. F. S. Oliver supplies a " Special Supplement " entitled ' From Empire to Union,' hi which he dwells on " the impossi- bility that we can have more than one treaty- making authority in the same empire." Mr. A. Maurice Low deals, as usual, with 'American Affairs.' Ladies have the most interesting articles, Miss Fell Smith writing on ' John Dee and the Spirits,' and Miss Helen Zimmern on the ever-attractive subject of ' Fakes and Frauds,' which, she shows, have a very wide range. Paris has a school of imitators of the finest violin makers of Cremona. Mrs. Somervell in 'Suffragist Ideals ' is severe on an able but unconventional book, the ' Women and Economics ' of Charlotte P. Gilman, now Mrs. Stetson. Major F. B. Baden-Powell's ' Law in the Air ' is somewhat premature, as it deals with the " registration and policy of aerial traffic." We have heard it main- tained as likely that the flying machine, by rendering walls and other safeguards of property useless, will lead to a great outburst of crime and disregard of private property. The essayist is sanguine as to the amount of aerial traffic to be expected soon. He believes that " about the third year from now .... aerial racing will have become an established sport, and cross-country journeys will be common. There would probably be thirty or forty machines in England, and they would then be much commoner than balloons are to-day."

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We must call special attention to the following notice* :

We beg leave to state that we decline to return communications which, for any reason, we do not print, and to this rule we can make no exception.

Editorial communications should be addressed to " The Editor of ' Notes and Queries ' " Adver- tisements and Business Letters to " The Pub- lishers " at the Office, Bream's Buildings, Chancery Lane, E.G.

M. L. R. BRESLAK, G. W. E. R., and C. WELLS. Forwarded.

L. SIGEA. All forwarded to querist.

H. DU Bois ( " I shall pass through this world but once"). There is a long note on this in 'Cassell's Book of Quotations,' p. 448. See also 8 S. xi. 118.