Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 2.djvu/126

 120

NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 s. n. AUG. 5, me.

descriptions, and translated by M. A. T. de Mattos, who is an uncommonly good translator. A more graceful tribute has seldom been paid by a younger to an elder writer than that of Mr. John Drinkwater's two sonnets to Mr. Edmund Gosse. They are authentic, too, as poetry though, as thought, the first one is youthfully superficial. 'The Dusk of the Gods,' by Mr. "John Lloyd Balderston, is a lively record of a conversation on Art with Mr. George Moore. We cannot believe it to be the ultimate word on the subject : ob- jections occur at every turn : but having said that these are the opinions of Mr. George Moore, we have as good as said that they have the magic power of a change of light which brings appear- ances into different and instructive relations and proportions. Mr. William Archer's paper on ' The Music-Hail : Past and" Future ' will probably win the sorrowful agreement of most readers, together with some scepticism as to the efficacy of the measures he suggests for arresting the disin- tegrating process now at work in popular enter- tainment. Mr. S. R. Littlewood is also something of a reformer ; his study of ' The Dramatic Synthesis ' a clever bit of work and largely convincing goes to correct the late tendency to emphasize the importance of the theatrical mise- en-scenc to the depreciation of the actor. Mr. Edward Clodd's reminiscences of Holman Hunt including a few welcome letters are worth having. We suppose it is but just to say as much for Mr. P. P. Howe's elaborate clearing away of the mistakes which have been perpetuated on the subject of the second Mrs. Hazlitt. The articles on problems of the day Sir Clement Kinloch- Cooke's ' Reconstruction of the British Empire ' ; Auditor Tantum on ' Ireland and the Ministerial Changes ' ; Mr. J. Davenport Whelpley on -de Chassaigne's ' The Future of Poland ' need no recommendation on our part. Excubitor contributes a vigorous and capable description of the Battle of Jutland ; and Mr. Archibald Hurd in ' Germany Besieged : Memories of 1870-1871 ' is equally competent and worthy of careful con- sideration.
 * American Perplexities ' ; and Mr. J. Coudurier

THE August Nineteenth Century contains no paper that does not, at least indirectly, deal with the present state of the world. Th'e most remote are Mr. W. S. Lilly's summary of Mme. Huzard's recent and successful book, ' Le Mystere des Beatitudes ' a novel illustrating the fundamental opposition between the service of Mammon and the service of God ; Mr. Walter Sichel's ' Disraeli and To-day ' ; and the con- cluding instalment of Mr. W. H. Mallock's ' Current Theories of Democracy,' hi which he works his study out to a demonstration of the error contained in the assumption that democracy is a system of government' whereas he would have us regard it as a " principle," and one which has the principle of oligarchy as its necessary complement. A good historical study is Major Sir John Hall's paper on Tilsit. Colonel Willoughby Verner's description of the Gordon Relief Expedition, in which he served with Kitchener, is a good piece of writing, though it does not often bring Kitchener out very clearly before us. Miss Edith Sellers writes with great good sense on the education of working-class girls. The rest of the number is composed of articles on military and political topics.

THE most important article of the August Corn- hill is a study, by a neutivi 1 diplomat. Tinder the title ' The Imperial Junker.' of the opinions of the Kaiser and his Welt-politik current before the war amon '. the leaders of German diplomatic and industrial activity. The writer, on. the basis of these opinions, looks forward to a great internal upheaval in Germany. It may come before, it may come after the war ; his expectation of it is more decided than any we have observed in well- informed quarters before. An unpublishfd poem by Charlotte Bronte is necessarily a thing of interest, but it can hardly be said that without a distinguished signature these particular verses would attract attention. Mr. Boyd Cable's war- sketch ' The Old Contemptibles ' is one of his best, of very meritorious workmanship, with a fine last word. We very much enjoyed Sir James Yoxall's ' Rambler's Lichen ' a clever bit of word-mosaic, the matter being of the order of things large and peaceful, the manner rather minutely, sometimes wittily, pointed. We could not pretend to be impressed by the occurrences which Sir Laurence Gomme's paper on ' Coinci- dences ' narrates, but we agree in wishing that others, to whom perhaps more significant experi- ences of the same kind have happened, would follow his example. 'Children's Children' is good a sketch of the Boers at the present moment by Major-General MacMunn and so is Mr. John Travers's ' Call of the West,' an account of the spirit and the ways in which our Indian troops set out for the Great War. We must also mention Mr. E. S. P. Haynes's genial tribute to the memory of ' Master George Pollock,' whose appearance, being ninety-four years of age, in the same number with Major-General MacMunn's old Boer of ninety-two is itself a sort of " coinci- dence." Nor must we forget Lieut. R.N.'s vigorous and unaffected story of an episode in the North Sea.

The Athenceum now appearing monthly, arrange- ments have been made whereby advertisements of posts vacant and wanted, which it is desired to publish weekly, may appear in the intervening weeks in 'N. & Q.'

to

OK all communications must be written the name ind address of the sender, not necessarily for pub- lication, but as a guarantee of eood faith.

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

CORRESPONDENTS who send letters to be forwarded to other contributors should put on the top left- hand corner of their envelopes the number of the page of ' N. & Q.' to which their letters refer, so that the contributor may be readily identified.

EDITORIAL communications should be addressed to " The Editor of ' Notes and Queries ' "Adver- tisements and Business Letters to "The Pub- lishers "at the Office, Bream's Buildings, Chancery Lane. E.C.

MR. W. H. PINCHBECK. Many thanks. Afraid we have no room.