Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 7.djvu/370

 362 NOTES AND QUERIES. fn s. vn. m*v 10, mx ii ladders i of xiii ronges the other of x v ranges. i pic-axe i shovell i spade i Iron barre i trouell i rammer of wood. ii beares & i case for the topp [coffins were not used]. ii sconces at the end of the church to hold tenne candells. v posts in the belfrye to hoyste the bells. ii joyned stooles. mem bought this yeare 1611 on large Byble of the New Translation cost lis. Item one bible of the old Translacion Mr. Eeirs saith it is at Mr. Recorders. Then on p. 1 is a Table of Fees. The prises of the stones in all places of the church to burye under at the least rates. Imprimis, below the font xiiix. iiii'i. Above the font almost to the pulpit xx«. From the pulpit to the quier Dore xxvio. 8rf. In bothe lies & above the quier xxx«. In the quier xl«. For all the bells ... ... vii». For 5 bells ... ... ... v». For 4 bells ... ... ... iii*. iiiid. For 3 bells ... ... ... xxd. Whosoever is buried in the church yard being above the age of xii yeares being chested must pay to the church for bis grave xiirf. If such one be buryed and not chested price 4d. If a child be buried and chested ye price is viiirf. If a child be buried unchested ii'/. Amen, per me Georgium Coombe. E. R. Nevhx, F.S.A. West Hanney Vicarage, Wantage. 'EDWIN DROOD.' Youb notice (ante, p. 80) of Dr. Fennell's " mite towards the clearer appreciation of a masterpiece " tempts me to offer another " mite. ' To understand ' Drood ' we must consider Dickens's methods in ' Great Expectations.' In ' Great Expectations ' Dickens through about half the tale bluffed gloriously and successfully. Had it been truncated in the middle of its appearance, as was ' Drood,' every one would still believe that Pip's income came from the strange old lady in the curious big house. Dickens built up a scheme of things for the sheer joy of shatter- ing it. He was legitimately and splendidly a gigantic bluffer of his readers. He took the same course in ' Drood,' with every like- lihood of making an even more triumphant effect. In ' Great Expectations ' what till then had. been the controlling idea of the tale was smashed in the middle of the book. In ' Drood' up to the middle we are all constrained to the belief that Jasper hated Drood and intended to murder him. Jasper's love for Drood was real. He might, or might not, have killed him, possibly in self-defence, later on, but, up to the end of the record, his love was real though exag- gerated. Jasper was a drug-taker, son of the Puffer, an Armenian female drug- taker ; a highly sensitive, over-wrought man, but not necessarily and elementally a villain. Had he been an out-and-out villain, the Dean and other Cathedral authorities would have ceased, to believe in him sooner. They never had done so to the recorded finish. Take this point of view, and we see daylight. Neville was also Jasper's nephew. The uncle's hatred of Neville was a drug-taker's hatred, as un- natural and uncalled-for as was his love for Drood and his infatuation for Rosa. Realiz- ing his own weakness. Jasper discovered a place of retreat in the tower of the cathedral, a small chamber down a few steps from the leads. He got a key to the stairs and another to the chamber from Durdles on a memorable night in the cloisters. The quick-lime, scarf. &c, are properties of pure bluff. It is known that Drood knew of Jasper's attacks (chap. ii.). Jasper told Drood of the chamber in the tower, and possibly took him there on the night of the storm, stopping on alone there, puffing in private, after Drood had left. Drood went away of his own accord, going on board a barge at Cloisterham provided by friends of the Puffer for reasons transpiring later. It may be he was himself also slightly under the influence of opium. A thoughtless youth at a convivial time might well yield to temp- tation proffered by an adoring and adored, uncle. He left an indiscreet note for Helena, the beautiful Eurasian, with Deputy. Deputy tells Durdles, who steals the note. It does not reach Helena, but turns up after- wards as an important piece of evidence. Drood thought it had got to her, lost heart, visited his great-aunt near Limehouse to worm out family secrets from her, was robbed of watch and ring, again decoyed by lascars on to a vessel, and taken out to sea. On his return he makes his way to the chamber in the tower. Jasper arrives (vide bottom picture of cover), loses his head (he had come from catching a distant sight of Datchery in London, and has just perceived. two more Datcherys in Cloisterham), and, dropping his lantern, rushes back into a dangerous position. Drood tries to save him. They are seen from below struggling on the leads. Neville arrives at the top first, breathless (the " three meet again "), to be hurled to his death ("a nephew killed