Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 7.djvu/436

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 s. vn. OCT. so, 1920.

our author found French pronunciation taught with the best results by an elderly American gentleman " whose own accent, though carefully acquired, was not that of a Parisian."

An address delivered in 1912, printed here under the title of ' The Dark Ages,' is a scathing indictment of modern educational ideals and practices, comparing them, not to their advan- tage, with the intellectual outlook and the capacity and achievement of the Middle Ages. Certainly Alfred and Charlemagne practical men both had a sense for learning which the Anglo- Saxon countries of to-day do not show conspicu- ously. If American education remains as it is here pictured and a good deal of the picture would be true of ourselves also the outlook is sombre. The instances of ignorance here given are too gross to be amusing, and it is with a just dismay that the Professor speaks of this ignorance as " vast and growing." He says of the present time : " Ours is, I think, the first period in human history to belie Aristotle's saying, ' All men naturally desire to know,'" and he has some sharp, wholesome sentences about that senselesi criticism of education (the education of the present time) as a " stuffing of children with facts.' Very good, too, we found his pages on the im portance of memory even " mere memory."

The book as a whole is a plea for the revival o what was most solid, reasonable and true to experience in that older view of learning, which "took the acquirement of knowledge, as such seriously and considered that acquaintance witl facts had some relation to acquaintance witl truth. Pleasing features of the book are the (noi too frequent) occurrence of epigrams and a touch of vehemence.

H. L. Mencken. Fanfare. By Burton Eoscoe The American Critic. By Vincent O'Sullivan Bibliography. By F. C. Henderson. (New York, Alfred A. "Knopp.)

WE have glanced through this brochure with interest, and not without amusement. The work of Mr. H. L. Mencken is not less deserving of corsideration than that of many another vigorous writer who, to quote the first essay, " has been patronized as not exactly nice." These pages, however, are to be recommended principally tc thos-> of our readers, if there are any, who study the development of the art and the psychological nspf'cts of advertisement. They constitute a tolerably good document for a collector who likes examples of the more blatant sort of personal advertisement, done cleverly and with a literary t >ut h.

THE October Quarterly is principally devoted to military and political topics the articles being of high interest. Three papers may be mentioned here as falling within the scope of ' N. Q.' There is a very remarkable account of England in 1848 from the pen of Prof. Dicey an account founded to a large extent, upon fbe writer's own memories, a circumstance which gives it something of a unique character.

"Prof. Sir William Ashley contributes an essay on the I ilgrim Fathers \vhicb contains several illuminating suggestions besides an able discussion of the main topic. As an example we may refer to his remarks on the relation of

dissenting bodies in the reformed Church of England to the monastic orders in the pre-reforma- tion Church. Mr. Collins Baker's ' Lay Criticism of Art ' which would have gained in effectiveness if it had been less diffuse is worth careful atten- tion. The layman's function in the pursuit of Art considered broadly as one of the great human pursuits tends constantly to be obscured ; yet it is no less important than that of the artist himself. Mr. Collins Baker discusses the prin- ciples underlying it freshly and vigorously. Mention may also be made of a weighty article, unsigned, on Lord Kitchener's life and work.

GENERAL INDEX ELEVENTH SERIES.

WE print this week, in our column of Notices, the announcement that the General Index to the Eleventh Series is now all but complete and will very shortly be available. The Eleventh Series came to an end in December, 1915. i There is no need to explain the delay in producing the Index- belonging to it ; the cause is well-known to all friends of ' N. & Q.' A Series without its Index being of little more than half its proper use we are confident that our correspondents will receive this announcement with as much satisfaction as we have in making it.

AUBREY BEARDSLEY.

MR. RAINFORTH A. WALKER (34 Oakley Crescent, Chelsea. S W 3) writes: "As I am shortly going to press with a book on Aubrey Beardsley, which will contain a revised and enlarged catalogue of his works, and a bibliography, I shall be much obliged if any of your readers will communicate with me if they are in possession of any drawings by this artist, or know of any one who owns any of his works."

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