Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 12.djvu/52

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. xn. JULY 10, 1900.

Revision of the Prayer Book Psalter.' Mr. George B. Wilson makes a reply in ' " True Temperance " and the Public-House ' to Mr. Edwyn Barclay's statements as an eminent brewer.

IN The Cornhitt Mr. Binyon has an ambitious and not wholly successful poem, ' Mother and Child.' It is, however, far preferable to the smooth cleverness which generally is accounted good verse nowadays. Miss Cholmondeley's ' Vicarious Charities : a Dialogue,' is admirably witty and sensible, and will be read with pleasure by many people in society who are bored and wearied by unsuitable applicants for help in various forms. Dr. Fitchett retells a vivid chapter of Australian history in ' The Tale of the Eureka Stockade ' ; and E. V. B. has an impressive short story of ghostly possession in ' An Unseen Terror.' Katharine Tynan sketches a very gracious figure with old ideas and a young heart in ' The Lady of the Manor.' ' The Seven Thirty ' is a delightful story of a London landlady by Dorothea Deakin. and ' Babies of the State,' by Mrs. H. O. Barnett, both treat in an informing way subjects of importance to every Englishman. The mortality among the babies dependent on the State is more shocking than the tale of any foreign war.
 * Briton and Boer in South Africa,' by a Cape M.A.,

IN The National Review Mr. Austin Dobson's account of 'Mr. Cradock of Gumley' is the most interesting article to any one with literary tastes. Cradock was not a great figure, but he has left memorable notes of great figures, such as Johnson and Garrick, which Mr. Dobson has woven into a charming article. 'The late Lord Glenesk and The. Morning Post' by M. T. Ferguson, dwells justly on the honourable part the paper and its modern maker have played in journalism ; but its progressive character in social reform is possibly exaggerated. It is said that the first regular War Correspondent was C. L. Gruneisen, who repre- sented The Morning Post, in the Carlist War of 1837. Miss Black-Hawkins has a curious short paper on ' Wasps as Pets.' Mr. A. Maurice Low, in dealing with 'American Affairs,' rebukes The Spectator for its tone of condescension towards the United States ; and Mr. Benson Hayes, in 'Hypnotism and Character,' tells of the suc- cesses of a French doctor, B^rillon, in curing diseases and unpleasant habits. The writer says ^that at the dispensary in the Rue St. Andre des Arts "the fee is a nominal one, within the means of the poorest ; and a glance at the number of patients present belonging to the working classes convinced me that faith in the healing power of hypnotism must be very widely spread in Paris." 'Episodes of the Month' is, as usual, a pungent summary of politics. The Imperial Press Conference is described as " a con- spicuous and unclouded success." Unfortunately, it was somewhat of a party character. Much is made of Lord Rosebery s famous letter concerning the Budget, and he is asked to take a " clear, strong lead," as both the dominant party in the Commons and the House of Lords are too apprehensive concerning their respective fortunes to look after the country.

STUDENTS of history and biography are seriously indebted to L' Intermediate, which continues to afford valuable assistance in eluci- dating many doubtful details connected with the social development of the French nation

and the growth of its literature. Among the families who have lately been discussed in its pages may be mentioned those who are con- nected by blood or alliance with the kindred of Jeanne d'Arc. The man who assassinated the Duke of Guise at Orleans in 1563 comes under notice ; and several famous, or infamous, actors in the great drama of the Revolution and the First Empire are also discussed. One query draws attention to the fact that under the ancien regime many people wore swords who had no legal right to do so. According to the police reports of the eighteenth century, Jews, actors, lettres, and others broke the formal rules in this respect. It does not appear, however, that they were prosecuted for infringing the law.

A somewhat quaint account of the physical relics of St. Francis of Sales such as his heart and tongue is given in another note. His remains seem to abound. It appears that the ' Hagiologie nivernaise,' by Monseigneur Grosnier, explains the existence of numerous examples of his hair and blood in the monasteries of the Visitandines by referring to " le inanuscrit des Visitandines," which shows that the saint's valet de chambre had an elevated conception of his employer's sanctity, and accordingly pre- served everything of which St. Francis had made use. His old clothes, the cuttings of his hair, and the blood taken from his veins when, following the fashion of the time, he was bled, were carefully hoarded. " I foresaw that one day all these would become relics," the servitor explained when questioned on the subject after the holy man's death. In this instance a man did prove a hero to his valet, and the latter had the acumen not only to recognize that he was living with a man of unusual type, but also to conclude that at some future date anything which had formed part of him, or been in contact with him, would have a value for the collectors of religious keepsakes.

ON all communications must be written the name and address of the sender, not necessarily for pub- lication, but as a guarantee of good faith.

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.

To secure insertion of communications corre- spondents must observe the following rules. Let each note, query, or reply be written on a separate slip of paper, with the signature of the writer and such address as he wishes to appear. When answer- ing queries, or making notes with regard to previous entries in the paper, contributors are requested to put in parentheses, immediately after the exact heading, the series, volume, and page or pages to which they refer. Correspondents who repeat queries are requested to head the second com- munication " Duplicate."

DELTA. See the extensive literature of the subject. "First-hand knowledge" is in any case difficult to prove.

V. H. C. ("Suppression of Duelling in England"). r See 10 S. ii. 367, 435 ; iii. 16, 475 ; iv. 333 f v. 112,

W. J. S. Forwarded.