Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 8.djvu/458

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. vm. NOV. 9, 1907.

men we know a perpetual grasp on youth. We 'do not usually notice faction in these summaries, but we may say that ' Wroth ' is attracting unusual attention as it appears, and making readers wish that a month was a day.

IN The Fortnightly Mr. A. E. Zimmern, who re- presents, we imagine, the young and reforming Oxford tutor, has some effective comments on 'A College Head on University Reform.' Unlike some writers on the question, Mr. Zimmern comes to the point at once, and his article is one of the best we have seen. Evelyn Underbill, known to us as a clever novelist with a mystical tinge, has a curious paper, ' A Defence of Magic,' which is not the "magic" of the anthropologist, but of Eliphas LeVi. The subject is obscure, but it seems that there is nothing supernatural about it. We read of " uprushes of thought" and "abrupt intuitions," "from the subliminal region." Mr. Lewis Melville has little in the way of criticism to offer on ' Thackeray's Ballads.' This paper is not up to the literary level we expect from The Fortnightly. The next one, ' Jewish Philosophy and the Hellenic Spirit,' by Mr. W. L. Courtney, is, as might be ex- pected, both well written and full of ideas. Mr. Courtney should not, however, take Omar Khayyam as a mere Epicurean. Competent Orientalists will tell him that Omar was a philosopher of a very different sort who chose to masquerade as a pleasure-lover. ' How to Run an Art Theatre for London,' by Mr. St. John Hankin, a dramatist himself of great promise, deserves attention. Mr. Keighley Siiowden in ' The Human Factor in Rail- way Accidents ' advocates the addition of a third man to the engines of railway expresses a view which will meet, we think, with strong support from careful reasoners. Mr. E. H. D. Sewell writes well on ' Rugby Football and the Colonial Tours ' ; and there is an elaborately felicitous poem, ' Minima Bella,' by the late Eugene Lee-Hamilton. We have not mentioned the usual political articles, and will merely add that The Fortnightly maintains its position as equal to any of the reviews in variety and quality, if not superior.

The National Review attracts us, as usual, by its outspokenness and ability. The most remarkable article is devoted to ' The Secret History of the Papal Encyclical,' in which "Junius Romanus" exhibits the Pope as the tool of rival and spiteful Jesuits, Dominicans, and Franciscans. While some of the writer's sarcasm is unmerited, his article needs answering, and shows a sad state of things in Roman Catholic circles. The writer states that the society which distributes Italian translations of the Bible has been reduced to inaction by papal censure managed by intrigue. The Bishop of Car- lisle in ' The Church and the Nation ' has a sensible article on our own defects, particularly on the unfair treatment of Nonconformists. The Head Master of Eton protests vigorously against the not very lucid attacks of Mr. A. C. Benson on Public Schools. Lady Robert Cecil in ' The Cant of Un- conventionality ' submits to searching analysis the claims of Miss Sinclair's recent clever book ' The Helpmate.' Mr. A. D. Godley in ' Oxford and a Commission' lectures would-be reformers; and Prof. Pelham Edgar writes on the nature worship in 'The Poetry of George Meredith.' Liberal poli- ticians are severely treated in ' Episodes of the Month' : Mr. Birrell is guilty of " Dan Lenoism " ; the Prime Minister is abominably slack ; and

Sir John Fisher is bullying everybody at th Admiralty.

The Burlington Magazine has as frontispieei 'Dedham Vale, 1811,' by Constable, a typical piec< of English scenery. There is an important editoria article suggesting that the Palace of Westminstei should profit by the 2,000^. annually derived fron the Chantrey Fund, which could be applied to th( purchase of decorative paintings for the Houses o Parliament. In considering the Report of th< Select Committee the idea that no artists can b< found in Great Britain to do good decorative worl is the subject of a protest similar to that already made by The Athenmvm. The whole article is sc sensible and helpful a contribution to the House o Lords' Report that it might well be reprinted anc laid before members of the House of Commons Mr. Lawrence Weaver shows with illustrations th( beauty of ' Lead Vases ' ; and ' A Chinese Figun of Kuan Yin,' which is pictured, proves that th( Goddess of Mercy at any rate did not encourage the fashion of contracting the feet, for her visible toes are large and well developed. Mr. Herberl Cook deals with a fascinating ' Portrait of i Musician ' by Leonardo ; and some striking pic tures are given by an American artist, Mr. Winslow Homez. The Magazine deals, as usual, with manj interesting questions of attributions.

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CORRIGENDUM. P. 332, col. 2, 1. 17 from foot, for vol. i. read vol. iv.

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