Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 3.djvu/425

 us. m. MAY 27. MIL] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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The Correspondence of Jonathan Sioift, D.D. Edited by F. Elrington Ball. With an Intro- duction by the Very Rev. J. H. Bernard. Vol. I. (Bell & Sons.)

THE fine scholar who was to have edited these volumes, Mr. Litton Falkiner, died within a year of taking up the task, and his friend Mr. Elrington Ball hi publishing this first instalment pays a tribute to his qualities. No one else could have carried on the work better than Mr. Ball, and the edition is sure to take a permanent place as a piece of careful and thorough work on which no zeal has been spared. The most trustworthy versions have been followed, and the text has been so far modernized as to be easily read. This seems to us a sensible proceeding,- and far pre- ferable to the pedantry which preserves even obvious misprints and miswritings as if they had something sacred about them.

Further, from several sources, as Dean Ber- nard's Introduction explains, there is " a wealth of fresh material " which putsi this edition far ahead of its predecessors. Letters to, as well as from, Swift, e.g., correspondence between him and Archbishop King now first printed in full clear up points that were obscure, and the abundant and learned annotation puts the reader hi the way to understand Swift, as far as that great and dark man can be understood, and to follow him through the vicissitudes of his career, which began for writing purposes with elaborate and generally lifeless verse.

Dean Bernard deals once again with Swift's relations to Stella and Vanessa, but the new scraps of evidence and inference seem to us to come to very little. He gives a judicious sum- mary of the contents, of the letters, and says in defence of Swift all that can be urged, admitting that sometimes his behaviour was beyond excuse.

Swift, he adds, knew himself early as a master of prose ; consequently he wrote in a studied rather than a careless style ; but he cannot, we think, be numbered among the really great letter- writers. He did not love his fellow man enough for that, though he appears at his best in his correspondence with that kindly friend Dr. John Arbuthnot. At his worst he is coarse and scurri- lous almost to the extent of mania. His raillery seems rather heavy as a rule, and is nowhere equal to the ' Journal to Stella.' Literary allusions are not so numerous as might be expected, though Swift loves his tag of Latin. Questions of money and preferment are prominent, and there is, of course, abundant comment on the politics of the day. Swift's style differs when he addresses different correspondents ; but this is so constant a feature hi the letters of any man of talent that it can hardly be regarded as remarkable.

There are some illustrations, all to the point, and the general get-up of the volume is excellent. It should be added to many libraries, for it will supersede all other editions as the standard collection. We congratulate Mr. Ball, if we, too, may use a Latin tag in this present age, on justi-

r' .g Virgil's maxim, " Primo avulso, non deficit r."

A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. By the Rev. Walter W. Skeat. New and Corrected Impression. (Oxford, Clarendon Press.)

i THIS admirable work is of a convenient size, and

I will occupy no more space in the shelf than the

j average single volume of poetical works. It is

the concentrated essence of years of study and

research in the English language, and we need

say no more, since Prof. Skeat's reputation is

worldwide, except that he is continually revising

1 and improving this and his larger Dictionary

with a zeal which is, perhaps, more Teutonic than

English.

Every one who is fond of reading, and, we may add, of writing, ought to add to his pleasure by- keeping this little work at least, if he cannot afford the bigger Dictionary, for constant con- sultation. The ordinary man remains hopelessly ignorant of the elements of English philology, and the average journalist is not much better, repeating false notions long since disproved through mere laziness or reliance on the facetious and rejoicing ignorance of careless predecessors. We hope for a higher standard of English in days when a book like this can be had for five shillings.

Comparative Studies in Nursery Rhymes. By

Lina Eckenstein. (Duckworth & Co.) THIS reissue appears in " The Readers' Library," an excellent series of copyright volumes, and is well worth its place. The contents of the book cover a much wider range than the nursery rimes of the title, including such themes as ' The Game of " Sally Waters," ' ' Custom Rhymes,' ' Cumu- lative Pieces,' ' Sa.crificial Hunting,' and * Bird Sacrifice.'

The whole subject is one of special interest to ourselves, and the references to ' N. & Q/ might easily be increased. The author, however, gives enough attention to sources to stimulate further inquiry, and her collection should be very suggestive in that way. Thus the game of ' Sally Waters ' may hold a far-off reminiscence of Sul, the goddess of the waters of Bath.

At the end is a ' List of Foreign Collections. ' in which it is somewhat odd to find ' N. & Q.' included. If there is another edition, the author should add a list of native works worth con- sulting, such as Dr. Tylor's great book on ' Primi- tive Culture.'

MR. ALBERT MATTHEWS has sent us an interest ing pamphlet on Sir Mattheio and Lady Hoi- worthy, reprinted from the publications of The Colonial Society of Massachusetts. This paper came out of a correspondence in ' N. & 'Q.,' and is a pleasant evidence of the ties which bring: scholars together.

Sir Matthew was a benefactor of Harvard College, giving 1,OOOZ. by his will in 1677, and there are reproductions here of attractive por- traits of him and his wife by Lely, now preserved at Harvard. Incidentally we read of lotteries ,. allowed as being for the benefit of Harvard ; an English pirate who did good business on the coasts of Ireland and the West of England ; and two neighbours of Pepys. The whole account is a good specimen of the careful erudition of Mr. Matthews, which adds so much of value to our columns.