Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 1.djvu/127

 9 th S. I. FEB. 5, '98.]

NOTES AND QUERIES.

119

] arallels in Masuccio, Boccaccio, Straparola, Ban- i ello, Sacchetti, the * Heptameron,' the Gesta Lomanorum,' and elsewhere. The first novel ot 1 be fourth day tells the story of ' The Merchant of " r enice,' and is a most interesting variant. Portia, c widow, lives at Belmont, and promises herself t nd her fortune to any gallant who shall avail him- teU of the chances she liberally affords him to have 1 is will of her, on the condition that in case t f failure she takes possession of his property. One and all accept her challenge. None, how- t ver, is discourteous enough to refuse the cup of wine she proffers. This is highly narcotized ; t nd the bold lover, awaking in the morning {iter his fair mistress has quitted her place by Ids side, is bound to leave behind him his entire possessions. On the profits of this form of rapine- understood, in another shape, to be still practised on unwary travellers in the neighbourhood of the London Docks our heroine dwells in luxury, wait- ing her final subjugation by the hero. In the second novel of the first day we have scenes almost identical with those in ' The Merry Wives of Wind- sor ' between Sir John and Mrs. Ford. As Shak- speare did not get these scenes from Painter, he is assumed to have taken them by a circuitous route from Ser Giovanni. The stories one and all are pleasantly told. It is difficult, moreover, to speak too highly in praise of Mr. Hughes's illustrations. Except as regards the element of coarseness, which is altogether absent, he seems to have caught the very spirit of the epoch, and his designs are often exquisite. As designs we prefer them to many of those illustrations which are the special glory of the last century. Take the picture opposite p. 91 to the second novel of the seventh day, telling how Messer Galeotto Malatesta de Arimino causes Costanza, his niece, to be slain barbarously, a story bearing some resemblance to ' Count Alarcos ' and also to ' The Duchess of Malfi.' The attitude of the victim and that of her executioner are equally admirable. Very dramatic is the illustration to the second story of the twenty-third day, while that to the ' Flight of Petruccia ' (first story of the third day) is idyllic. All have, indeed, their separate beauties. We do not know precisely how many of the Italian novelists are capable of being pub- lished in a similar form. Some, as Bandello, are doubtless too prolific. This, however, is certain that the series issued by Messrs. Lawrence & Bullen is richer than any that any other country of whicl we are aware can boast.

France. By J. E. C. Bodley. 2 vols. (Macmillan

&Co.)

IN this remarkably interesting history of the de velopment of the French institutions of our day Mr. Bodley alludes to a subject which has been dis cussed in our columns. Referring to Louis XVIII. he says that he " made Wellington Due de Brunoj in the kingdom of France as recompense for the victory of Waterloo. The formal granting of this title by Louis XVIII. to the Duke of Wellington is difficult to verify. In the Illustrated News o: 25 September, 1852, a letter was published from t witness of the entry of the allies into Paris whc repeated the story that Louis XVIII. made Wei lington ' Duke of Brunoy,' and also a ' knight of tht Holy Ghost and a Marshal of France'; but at his funeral the Dukedom of Brunoy was not includec in the list of foreign titles proclaimed at the grave side by the Heralds. Louis XVIII, before the

devolution, when Comte de Provence, purchased he Seigneurie of Brunoy from the heirs of Mar- nontel, who, early in the century, had bought from n 1775, was erected into a Duche"-Pairie. It was
 * he La Rochefoucauld family the Marquisate, which,
 * hus the private appanage of the restored King,

md if he conferred a title on the Duke of Welling- ton it is likely to have been selected by him as a personal gift. Living near Brunoy, I found that Chough the tradition lingered there, nothing au- thentic was known about it. Messrs. Hachette version of it in the 1878 edition of their ' Environs de Paris Illustres.' It was, I imagine, copied from Hilaire,' where the fact is stated without the citation of decree or letters patent. The Duchess of Wellington kindly made some inquiries at my request at the Heralds' College in 1895, without result. In the 'Bulletins des Lois' of the years succeeding the Restoration I can find no decree conferring this title among the patents of honours conferred on Talleyrand and other makers of the Restoration ; but if Louis XVIII. conferred French honours on the victor of Waterloo he would not have given excessive publicity to them. A learned resident of Brunoy, M. Ch. Mottheau, who does not think that the story was a mere invention of Bona- partist enemies of the Bourbons, informs me that a relative of M. de Courcel is investigating the inter- esting point."
 * old me that they not been able to corroborate the
 * he ' Itineraire de Paris a Sens par Jeannest St.

Tourgueneff and his French Circle. Edited by E. Halpe>ine - Kaminsky. Translated by Ethel M. Arnold. (Fisher Unwin.)

FEW foreigners since Heine have been admitted so freely into French literary circles as Ivan Ser- gueivitch Tourgueneff, and no writer, probably, has made himself so much a Frenchman. The robust, impressive figure of the Russian "a gentle giant, with bleached hair" his winning and caressing manners, and his profoundly affectionate dispo- sition commended him warmly to the literary circles of Paris, to which his intimacy with Madame Viardot introduced him, and won him the close friendship of Flaubert, George Sand, the Goncourts, Zola, About, and others of equal repute. It is rather sad to think that in the end the intimacy with some of these distinguished men was clouded over, and that Tourgueneff incurred a charge of ingratitude and something not far removed from treachery. This stigma his editor strives, with a certain amount of success, to remove, asserting that the accusations which were directed against him rested on worthless evidence, and failed in veri- similitude. With his friends, while they remained such, Tourgueneff maintained an active correspond- ence. A portion only of this is at present access- ible ; but more, it is to be hoped, will ultimately be obtained. What is already issued forms a pleasing and valuable supplement to recently pub- fished memoirs and recollections, and throws a strong light upon the Paris of the middle of the century. Even more precious is it to .admirers of Tourgueneff himself. No claim to rank as a great letter- writer is advanced in favour of the Russian His letters are, however, all the more agreeable in consequence of their tender and familiar strain. To Madame Viardot he writes in terms of close and intimate friendship; his letters to Flaubert brim over with affection, while those to George Sand convey an impression of artistic adoration blended