Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 2.djvu/243

. ii. SKI-T. 3,1901.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

In the earliest he aimed principally at exhibiting the encyclopaedic character of the erudition of the great Florentine, and the use he made of Scripture and of the classics; in the second he dealt with the question of Dante s orthodoxy, with his classifica- tion of sins in the 'Inferno' and ' Purgatorio,' and with his general influence as a religious teacher. He now casts light upon such difficult matters as the astronomy of Dante and his geography, and such disputed points as the date assumed for the * yision of the Divina Commedia' and the ' (Genuineness of the Dedicatory Epistle to Can Grande.' These things belong to the ordinary task of the commentator. In ' Symbolism and Prophecy in the " Purgatorio," xxviii. to xxxiii.,' he gets on points which are less abstract and more contro- versial. Part ii. in this chapter is concerned with the * Reproaches of Beatrice.' Here once more our author shows himself a stickler for the purity and nobility of Dante's life. In the 'Purgatorio,' xxx. 55, Beatrice begins an arraignment of Dante, whom, it is worth observing, she addresses for the first and only time by his name, rebuking him ' for his shortcomings. This episode, by which what is called the Apocalyptic Vision of the Earthly Paradise was interrupted, has, as is well known, been much discussed. An accepted theory is that after the death of Beatrice, and the consequent loss of her sweet restraining and elevating influence, Dante abandoned himself to sensual indulgence, to the pursuit of the pargoletta or silly girl, and other vanities. Canon Moore will not accept this reading, which is supported by Boccaccio. Dante, who pleads guilty to the indictment brought against him, is at least entitled to a verdict of non-proven as regards any definite charge of sensual passion or immoral life. No claim is, however, put in for spot- less and saintly self-control. On the contrary, his admirers, it is held, "do him an ill service when they insist on his being treated as either intellec- tually infallible or morally impeccable." We are so far in accord with our author as to hold that "the self-accusations of a sensitive and contrite spirit" and sometimes a spirit that is neither sensitive nor contrite " with a lofty standard of duty are not to be interpreted by the measure of dull average humanity." Soniething like this view Canon Moore maintains in the second series of studies. Dante's experience finds, it is said, a parallel in that of Goethe and Shelley in their youth. We are content, however, to take that of Hamlet, whose self-arraignment is kindred with that of Dante. Dr. Moore lays down as the start- ing-point of all his explanations " the real personal existence of Beatrice." He feels scarcely more assured of the existence of Dante himself; and though he does not absolutely affirm after Boccaccio .that she was necessarily Beatrice Portinari, he sees no sufficient reason for denying it. As to the date of the ' Divine Comedy,' Dr. Moore holds to 1300, the Good Friday of which occurred on 8 April. This date, which is not wholly an unimportant matter, has been generally accepted until recent days, when some advocates of 1301 have made themselves heard. As regards the Epistle to Can Grande, the evidence, both external and internal, seems, accord- ing to our commentator, to be favourable to its authenticity. Two of the articles included in the present volume have already seen the light in the Quartt rhi 1!( ri<w. These have, however, under- gone modification and enlargement. The general contents of the work are inferior to those in

neither of the previous volumes, and the whole- constitutes a mass of valuable and illuminatory criticism and comment.

Acts of the Privy Council of England. New Series. Vol. XXVIII. AD. 1597-8. Edited by John Roche Dasent, C.B. (Kyre <fc Spottiswoode.) UNDER the careful and competent editorship of Mr. Dasent, one more volume of the 'Acts of the Privy Council' sees the light. This volume con- tains the whole of the MS. known in the Council Office Collection as Elizabeth, Vol. XIV., and is, says Mr. Dasent, a fine volume in good preserva- tion. Not particularly eventful is the year chronicled. A large percentage of the entries deal with Irish affairs. There are many memoranda concerning crippled soldiers, who are always spoken o! in commendably sympathetic terms. A good deal is said about Don Francisco d'Aquila Averado, the Spanish Governor of Dunkirk, who was taken prisoner by the garrison of Ostend. On his delivery into her hands Queen Elizabeth insists. He proves, however, a white elephant, and in July- is dispatched back to Sir Edward Norreys at Ostend. An attempted Spanish invasion proves no- more successful than that of the Invincible Armada, and the vessels are compelled to fly in confusion back to Spain from the buffeting they receive in the Channel. There is still much ado about recusants, though less than in previous years, and an order is made that part of the contents of a bark which belongs to certain merchants of Wexford is to be burnt as Popish "trumpery "in the open market- place of the town of Perin. The Lord Bishop- of Dursmej (sic) is told of "a very lewde facte lately comitted by one Barnaby Barnes, son to your Lordships predicessor, the late Bishop of Dursme, in attempting to ppyson John Browne, the Recorder of Barwick." This can be none other than Barnabe Barnes the poet, who was the son of a bishop of Durham, and was spoken of by his playhouse con- temporaries as a coward and a braggart. Torture was often resorted to in the case of a suspected, murderer. A murder of a certain Richard Anger,, "double reader" of Gray's Inn, is sufficiently melodramatic, the son of the deceased man, also- called Richard Anger, and Edward Ingram, a porter of Gray's Inn, being suspected of the crime. The- fact is duly qualified as " horrible " that an- "auncyent gentleman should be murthered in his- chamber." There are allusions to Lord Hunsdon's and the Earl of Nottingham's players, and there is- an order on 19 February to the Master of the " Revelles," and Justices of Peace of Middlesex and' Surrey, to suppress an unlicensed company that is used to play, "having neither prepared any plaie for her Majestic, nor are bound to you, the- Masters [*ic] of the Revelles."

Poems by John Keats. (Henry Frowde.) THE " Oxford Miniature Edition of Poets" includes a delightful edition of Keats. It may be comfort- ably carried in the waistcoat pocket. Experto rede. It now rests, and will rest, in our own.

THE paper on ' Sir John Davis' in the Edinbim/h Review for July is of special interest. It is not only valuable as an historical sketch, but will do something, if only a very little, to lift " the cloud of unknowing" which still hangs over the history of Ireland. Davis was a lawyer of considerable ability, though, perhaps, not among our greatest. He was, moreover, regarded in his own time as a