Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 8.djvu/202

 198

NOTES AND QUERIES. [ii s. VIL MA*, s,

ST. ALBAN'S ABBEY (11 S. vii. 105). I need make no remark on MB. RALPH THOMAS'S suggestion at the above reference that St. Alban's was passed over lightly in my ' History of Architecture ' because it was Lord Grimthorpe who restored it. But his statement of the case ought not to be left without correction. Lord Grimthorpe found money for the repair of the Abbey on condi- tion that he might be allowed an entirely free hand with a building which is a national property. The front which he caused to be erected was designed for him by a man whose qualifications for so great an undertaking the result sufficiently shows to have been inade- quate. The Chancellor of the diocese, with whom the decision rested, was of opinion that the man who found the money had the right to do what he liked with the building.

With the operation of pushing up the south wall Lord Grimthorpe had nothing to do whatever ; it was before the historic building had been handed over to him to experiment with. It was planned by Sir G. Scott, as architect for the restoration, but he died shortly before the operation was carried out. I was on the scaffolding (by invitation) during the whole of the opera- tion, which had been prepared for in the most admirable and practical manner by the contractor, though it nearly came to grief through the reckless haste and want of proper control with which it was carried out resulting in one of the piers being dangerously cracked and twisted.

I thought the English public were begin- ning to understand these matters a little better by now. MB. THOMAS'S letter shows that the ideas of a generation back still have a sporadic survival.

H. HEATHCOTE STATHAM.

The Cambridge History of English Literature. Edited by A. W. Ward and A. R. Waller. Vol. IX. From Steele and Addison to Pope and Swift. (Cambridge University Press.) PACKED with learning, cognizant of the latest research, and fortified by wonderful Bibliographies, this volume should, like its predecessors, be invalu- able to students. The choice of writers is such as to create confidence, and the survey has a thoroughness far beyond that of the average History of the sort. Thus we notice with pleasure chapters on ' Scholars and Antiquaries,' by Mr. J. D. Duff and Mr. H. G. Aldis ; on ' Education,' by Prof. Adamson ; and on ' Berkeley and Con- temporary Philosophy,' by Prof. Sorley. Dr. A. W. Ward's two chapters on ' Historical and Political Writers ' are both sound and agreeable reading. In ' Steeie and Addison ' Mr. H. V.

Routh brings the rise and influence of the coffee- house before us with unusual vividness. He might, however, have given us more biographical details concerning both writers. One would not gather that Steele had been in the army or had ever been knighted. Addison's chief dates are relegated to a foot-note. Surely it would have been worth while to say that both writers were born in 1672, and that Steele was twice married,, in 1705 and 1707 ; while his more cautious collaborator did not secure his Countess till 1716".

Neither in this chapter nor in that on ' Pope,' by Prof. Bensly, do we find an account of Addison's- relations with the little poet which led to the famous " Atticus " passage. Prof. Bensly men- tions it, of course, and calls it " essentially unjust " as well as " a masterpiece of plausible misrepresentation." Pope had a genius for over- stating his wrongs, but we think that he had con- siderable justification for his outburst in this case.

As might be expected, the Professor fully appreciates the special qualities of Pope's verse, while he does not conceal the fact that he was tortuous and dishonest. Dilke's ' Papers of a Critic ' are revealing on this side of Pope's character. Among later criticisms we think Minto's chapters on Pope in his posthumous ' Literature of the Georgian Era,' 1894, are good enough to deserve special mention.

Swift is the other great figure of this volume, a man of mystery still, and the problems of his life and character are so interesting that we expected Mr. G. A. Aitken to tell us a little more concerning his habits his parsimony, for instance, and his personal cleanliness. The judgments of this chapter are the result of wide knowledge and mastery of the period, and seem to us very satis- factory. Perhaps Swift's zeal for Latin might have been noted when the lack of ornament in his style is explained, and Mr. Aitken is reticent about a prevailing and disagreeable feature of ' Gulliver.' " Most readers find only amuse- ment," we are told, " in the first half of it." We answer, Yes, in an expurgated edition. But that process is necessary throughout the book, for it has a horrible taint which is more a subject for the pathologist than the critic.

The source used for the description of the storm on the way to Brobdingnag was first, we believe, pointed out in our own columns. See 6 S. iv. 404. Is the writer at that reference wrong in speaking of Sturmy's ' Compleat Mariner,' 1669 ? Mr. Aitken speaks of " Surmy's Mariners' Magazine."

Roman Life and Manners under the Early Empire.

By Ludwig Friedlander. Vol. IV. Appendices-

and Notes. Translated by A. B. Gough.

(Rout ledge & Sons.)

OUR gratitude to the publishers for this translation of the work of a master of later Latin is much enhanced by the issue of this fourth volume. Already two translators have been employed, and now we have a third, who is, we are glad to say, fully competent.

Besides the usual notes by which every scholar of repute fortifies his conclusions, this section of the work has no fewer than sixty special articles, many of them carefully documented monographs which throw most interesting light on the manners and customs of the period. This sort of informa- tion, capably arranged, is always hard to get, and the reader would be dull indeed who could