Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 3.djvu/555

 io*B.in.Jr>"Bio,i9c&] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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notices of all the descendants of their name, the record thus supplied extending in many cases over five generations. The arms of which illustrations are furnished are in all cases on view at Ulster's Office. The Heralds' Visitations of which a record is given are those of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Under Molony of Cragg, co. Clare, we meet with the curious female Christian name Dil- liana, which we do not remember to have previously encountered. It is apparently a family name, since Jane Dilliana subsequently occurs. Everina, which is also met with, is likewise unconimon. A long list of additions and corrections brings up to date the information in the previous volumes, and gives particulars, amidst other matters, of the recent and lamented deaths of Viscount Powers- court and Lord Rowton. Iti all typographical and other respects the volume is admirable. It is encouraging to subscribers to know that the earlier volumes are now scarce and only obtainable at enhanced prices.

The Bernards of Abington and Nether Winchen'Ion. By Mrs. Napier Higgius. Vols. III. and IV. (Longmans <fe Co.)

A YEAR and a half's time has sufficed Mrs. Napier Higgius to bring to a conclusion the important family history she has undertaken. To the opening instalment of her account of the Bernards of i Abington and Nether Wincheudon we drew atten- ; tipn (9 th 8. xii. 239), stating at the time that the historian is the last scion of the last branch of the distinguished family the deeds of which she has i undertaken to chronicle. The later volumes are less stirring than the earlier, which have keen i historic interest, and throw a bright light upon the > relations between England and America in the i period of revolt. With the death in 1779 of Sir ' Francis Bernard, whilom Governor of Massa- i chusetts Bay, the most distinguished member of the family, the second volume broke off. In the two following and concluding volumes we hear little concerning America, but are still in the ; domain of politics. These are, however, domestic j and peaceful, the later members of the house being principally conspicuous for the share they took in movements intended to alleviate human sufferings, ', and in work generally of the most humane and i enlightened character. Apart from the pleasing pictures now furnished upon the state of society in the early portion of the last century, some light is cast upon literary subjects Fanny Burney's 'Diary' among others. We cannot but believe, though we may be wrong, that the Col. Gwynne in whose behalf George III. interferes (vol. iii. p. 115), to the annoyance of the Marquess of Buckingham, is the Col. Gwyn whose name is of frequent occurrence in Fanny's pages during her life at Court. Coleridge is come across as a lecturer, and also as a conversationalist. In the former respect he does not seem to have been wholly trustworthy, indisposition and "habitual indolence' 1 rendering his appearance uncertain. As a conversationalist it is said of him : "I shall never forget the effect his conversation made upon me at the iirst meeting. It struck me as something not only quite out of the ordinary course of things, but as an intellectual exhibition altogether match- less The orator rolled himself up, as it were,

in his chair, and gave the most unrestrained indulgence to his speech and how fraught with acuteness and originality was that speech, and in

what copious and elegant periods did it flow ! The- auditors seemed to be rapt in wonder and delight." Among things established by Sir Thomas Bernard were the Alfred Club and the Alfred Theatre. More information concerning both seems desirable.. Of the Alfred Theatre, which had apparently but a short existence, we have not previously heard. In an appendix is an animated account from Francis Bernard, an eyewitness, of the first O.P- riots at Covent Garden. An anonymous corre- spondent from Paris of Scrope Bernard furnishes a. striking picture of the state of France during the early days of the Revolution, and of the "general infatuation" prevailing in 1791 from Calais to- Paris. Sir Thomas Bernard, after whom Bernard> Street is named, was treasurer of the Foundling Hospital, and aided largely in the augmentation of its funds. It is sad to hear of the infant mortality caused by the early arrangements. At the close of 1757 it was found that out of 5,618 infants re- ceived 2,311 had died. Children were committed for delivery to the common carrier, with the result that out of eight children brought from the country at the same time seven died, the eighth being saved* by its mother, who followed the waggon on foot and administered to it occasional nourishment.. Infants were brought from Yorkshire in paniers- by men on horseback. A travelling tinker, paid a. guinea to carry up a child, tied a stone round its- neck and drowned it. Of no special significance- in themselves, these narrations serve to show the kind of matter with which Mrs. Higgins's book overflows. We congratulate her heartily on its completion, and commend it to all who seek side- lights on history and social life and customs.

THE frontispiece to the June number of The Bur- lington Magazine consists of a superb reproduction of Jan van Meer's ' The Soldier and the Laughing Girl.' The art of Constantin Meunier, the painter par excellence, of labour, is the subject of two essays,. one by Prof. Petrucci, dealing with the man,, the second by Mr. Charles Ricketts, on his place in. art. Reproductions are given of his 'Interior of a Colliery,' ' Furnaces ' (supremely vigorous), 'Puddler- Resting ' (in bronze), 'Miners '(in water colours), ' The Soil,' and the ' Marteleur,' all of them having singular interest. Sir Henry Maunde Thompson describes the precious Rothschild MS. in the British Museum of 'LesCasdes Mai heureux Nobles Homines et Femmes,' a work the indirect source of Lydgate's 'Falls of Princes.' The period of the MS. is sup- posedly 1470-80. The miniatures are the work of French artists, and six of the most striking are reproduced. They are profoundly interesting and curious, and the description of them may be read- with much pleasure and advantage.

THERE is a decided " boom " in Trollope's novels, which have been much discussed of late. An article in praise of them appears from the pen of Mr. F. G. Bettany in The Fortnightly. Dr. Garnett and Prof. Saintsbury have decried Trollope, while Mr. Henry James and Mr. G. S. Street are among his eulogists. We are personally on the side of the latter. Another interesting literary article is that by Mr. F. S. A. Lowndes on 'The Literary Associations of the American Embassy.' These, beginning with Wash- ington Irving, comprise, of course, Russell Lowell, John Hay, Motley, Bancroft, Hawthorne, Bret Harte, and others. Rooted in old-world tradition, and ranking social position before literature, our own Government, of whatever party, will be long.