Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 8.djvu/146

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [11 s. vn. F EB. is, 1913.

^is as one of the most satisfactory ; and beside it we would place those from Emerson and from Land or.

Sir Arthur tells us that he rose from his task with admiration, not only at the mass of poetry written within the last three-quarters of a century (the first line of the book is " Tanagra ! think not I forget "), but at its frequent excellence. Indeed, no complaint could well be more fatuous than that heard, perhaps, less often the last year or

t w o that poetry is dead. Living and, we believe,

rgathering strength, in what direction is it tend- ing ? We think a following of the current, as it is shown to us here, will reveal, first, a steady rise in the general level of technical skill, brought .about not so much by stress of inspiration as by conscious endeavour after beauty and a jealously purified perception of values ; and, next,
 * a considerable deepening of melancholy a

desirous, almost a hopeful, melancholy the mood, perhaps, of an orchestra that has exercised itself to a pitch not far from perfection, and now waits for something new and great enough to play.

Prayers for Little Men and Women, by " John Martin " (Bell & Sons), is an " endeavour to put into the simplest language such thoughts 'but are unable to express." The illustrations .and decorations are by Mr. John Rae. The author in his dedication to children shows such earnest- ness that the little book commends itself to us at once :
 * and aspirations as almost all children feel,

Love only made it mine to give ; And love alone can make it theirs.

The DicTcensian without the name of Matz on its cover as editor is like ' Hamlet ' without Hamlet, and we wondered what had happened -when, on the cover of the February number, we found the name of another well - known Dickensian Mr. A. E. Brookes - Cross in its place. The first article, ' When Found,' explains the matter. Mr. Matz " peremptorily " (we are amused to know that the good-natured Mr. Matz can be " peremptory ") refused to allow .any reference to be made in the publication to the recent presentation to him, so he was " forcibly ejected " from his chair for the month, and Mr. Walter Dexter was deputed by Mr. Brookes-Cross to give an account of the proceedings. Mrs. Perugini, in making the presentation on behalf of the subscribers, stated that it was given " as a mark of their appreciation and sincere gratitude for the valuable services he has rendered to the Dickens Fellowship." There is an excellent portrait of Mr. Matz.

Among the other contents are letters on the Problem of Edwin Drood. One from Mr. J. C. L. Clark of Lancaster, Mass., says : " Perhaps the most important effects of Sir Robertson Nicoll's fascinating book ' The Problem of Edwin Drood ' will be, first, to re-establish Forster in the minds of hesitating students of the problem as the final authority on the course the novel was to take ; and second, in one important matter about which Forster evidently possessed no information, to convince these same doubtful ones of the truth of Mr. Cuming Walters's identification of Datchery as Helena all the more because Sir Robertson is able to argue the case more dispassionately than was Mr. Walters in the first flush of his brilliant -discovery."

MESSRS. JACK have sent us another dozen or so of their "People's Books," which, on the whole, main- tain the standard established. Canon Masterman contributes to the series that on The Church of England. It is directed towards those " that are without," whose ignorance as to the Church is presumed to be virtually total, whence all the more interesting and complicated matters have had to be lightly passed over in favour of the elements. As the writer says at the beginning, no one could so write of the Church of England as to be acceptable to every school of thought and he will certainly meet with criticism yet we think he has carried out his task, from that point of view, as successfully as it could be done.

We confess that we opened Dr. Compton- Rickett's History of English Literature, in some- thing over 100 pages, with some prejudice against it, and that we closed it not without admiration. Without being able to agree with every word, and deprecating a quasi-journalistic tendency to sacrifice the more to the less important if this

it may be said there are no dull pages in the book.

Mr. Aaron Watson's Tennyson seemed to us an only partially satisfactory performance.

Mr. Clayton's Co-operation is a compilation rather than a book, but he has used his scissors and paste with discretion, and succeeded in putting together a very fair presentation of the movement.

WE cannot andertake to answer queries privately, nor can we advise correspondents as to the value of old books and other objects or as to the means of disposing of them.

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L. A. M. For a discussion of the supposed "frogs" in the early arms of France see 11 S. iv. 450.

R. CHICK. Forwarded to MR. M. L. R. BRESLAR.

The Editor thanks Miss E. LEGA- WEEKES for her interesting monograph on the Hospitium de.le Egle.