Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 4.djvu/266

 220 NOTES AND QUERIES. [io» s. iv. SEPT. 9,1905. has spread, or is spreading, from the sea coast inland. Mr. Butler Burke supplies a very important essay on ' The Origin of Life,' and Mrs. John Lane has a thoughtful and important paper on the great question of ' Taking Oneself Seriously.' ' The Letters of Ernest Renan' may be read with interest. ' The Financial Outlook,' of which a second part is given, has apparently come to stay.—In the Nine- teenth Century Mrs. W. Kemp-Welch undertakes a species of rehabilitation of Agnes Sorel, be- tween whom and Joan of Arc a comparison not wholly dishonouring to the former is drawn. If the estimate now formed of the mistress of Charles VII. is correct, she was in her time the subject of very unjust prejudice on the part of the French people. It is interesting to find an article on ' The Defence of India' by His Highness the Aga Khan, who strongly advocates the system of buffer states. Mr. Spiel- man puts in 'A Plea for a Ministry of Fine Arts.' Miss Edith Sellers shows us 'How Poor-Law Guardians spend their Money,' a subject of enor- mous importance, though wholly outside our pro- vince. It is very interesting to read ' The Story of a Japanese Heroine,' by Yei Theodora Ozaki. Some of the forms of heroism that are, at least, obliquely commended are scarcely likely to approve them- selves to English thinkers, but the whole is instruc- tive as well as interesting. Mr. Crombie's ' A Fiscal Reformer of Cervantes' Time' is edifying and curious. ' The Traffic of London' is valuable, but fails to convey an idea of the blank incom- potency of London street management. — Miss Edith Balfour's ' A Week in Western Ireland,' con- tributed to The National Review, is exeuiplarily pleasing and interesting, and contains, among other matters, some curious folk-lore. In their desire for human children, fairies, it seems, prefer boys to girls. As they grow big, accordingly, boys are dressed in skirts so as to pass for girls with the good folk, who, it appears, are a less "sprightly" race than Gay has maintained. The Rev. Archi- bald Fleming answers with much vigour and more acerbity some recent observations of " Mala- frowther " on the question 'Is Scotland Decadent ?' Ir. St. Loe Strachey, writing on 'Sea-Power and the Poets,' gives some singular instances of per- ception on the part of our early poets of the need for Britain of the command of the sea. ' Cricket Worship' and 'American Affairs' both deal with regrettable developments of our late civiliza- tion. An article by Lady Susan Townley de- scribes the weekly procession of the Sultan to the Mosque. — Admiral Sir Cyprian Bridge celebrates, in the Cornhill, 'The Centenary of Trafalgar,' and defends Nelson from charges which, it seems, are sometimes brought against him. His article was read as an address before the Navy Records Society in July last. Mr. Yoxalj's 'Consule Planco' deals with the conditions of social life in London and Paris in the time of Thackeray and of Dickens. ' An English Poet,' by Mr. Frank Sidgwick, is pleasantly inspired. Part v. of 'From a College Window" is on conversation, and is very just in comment. Mr. Stephen Gwynn gives an account^ chiefly taken from Byrne, of the doings of 'The Irish Regiment under Napoleon.' ' The Diseases of the Eighteenth Century' is very pleasant and gossiping. It is to be wondered if in time any satire equally effective will be written on the diseases of the twentieth century. An epigram on Lettsom is so printed as to lone its point. —la the Gentleman's Mr. Herbert W. Tompkins writes on Robert Louis Stevenson. Mr. John T. Curry has an important article on * Roger Ascham's Italian Proverb. The proverb in question is that concerning an Englishman Italianate being an in- carnate devil. Mr. Curry deals harshly with some Tudor writers, and is generally vehement in utterance. Mr. MacMichael sends part ix. of his ' < 'Imriic Cross and its Immediate Neighbourhood.' The series will, it is pleasant to hear, be republished. The executioner of Charles I. is held, on the whole, to have been Brandon.—Mr. Aflalo demands, in the /""•"' .'/•"'•', whether any animal is greedier than man. Before answering, we seek a full definition of greed. Sir Frank Burnand continues his account of the Punch Pocket-books. ' Midst Snow and Ice in the High Alps' gives a thrilling idea of the perils of Alpine climbing. For 'The Armada Ship at Tobermory Bay' the Duke of Argyll is responsible. —In 'At the Sign of the Ship,' in Longmans, Mr. Andrew Lang devotes himself wholly to the con- sideration of ' The Mystery of Edwin Drood,' sum- moning to the elucidation the shade of Sherlock Holmes. The whole treatment is highly ingenious. ' Walking as Education' is a valuable contribution of the Rev. A. N. Cooper. Sir Lewis Morris gives an account of 'The Sherborne Pageant.'—In The Idler is a good illustrated account of a little-known Austrian health resort. 'The Idler in Arcad;' once more merits attention. JJotkrs to Comsponbruts. We miut call special attention to the foUowmg notice*:— ON all communications must he written the name and address of the sender, not necessarily for pub- lication, but as a guarantee of good faith. WE cannot undertake to answer queries privately. 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." E. H. ("Books on Curious Epitaphs"). —Petti- grew's 'Chronicles of the Tombs' is published by Messrs. Bell £ Sons. Any bookseller would obtain this for you, or many of the books mentioned in the first three volumes of the present .Series under ' Epitaphs : their Bibliography.' A. B. ("Unanswered yet? the prayer your lips have pleaded").—At 9th S. vi. 239 it was stated that the verses appeared in a maga/ine (possibly The Banner of Faith) of May, 1896, with Robert Browning's name attached. fin TICK. Editorial communications should be addressed to "The Editor of 'Notes and Queries'"—Adver- tisements and Business Letters to "The I'ub- lisher"—at the Office, Bream's Buildings, Chancery Lane, E.G. We beg leave to state that we decline to returr communications which, for any reason, we do not print; and to this rule we can make no exception.