Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 1.djvu/227

. I. MAR. 12, >98.j

NOTES AND QUERIES.

219

b illiantly told ghost stories. A pleasanter com- p. ,nion for a leisure hour is scarcely to be hoped.

1 hree Sonnets, and other Poems. By Lewis Carroll.

(Macmillan & Co.)

T IE death of Lewis Carroll has been followed by an a 1 tempt to establish his claim as a serious and si ntimental poet. The present volume consists of a reprint of the serious portions of ' Phantasma- gcria' and other poems which have long been out of print. Still further poems are taken from ' Sylvie and Bruno' and similar sources, and a few are p -inted for the first time. They are musical and pleasing, but show neither very plenary inspiration nor very remarkable lyrical faculty. The fairy illus- trations by Miss E. Gertrude Thomson by which they are accompanied are tasteful and fantastic, and constitute the principal charm of a volume which is sure of a warm welcome. It is well known that Dodgson took little note of the works he wrote under the pseudonym of Lewis Carroll. We would only draw from that fact the lesson that it is well to leave him to his reputation, which in its line is the highest, and not be too persistent in the endea- vour to win for him a fame other than that to which he is entitled.

The Stamp Collector. By W. J. Hardy and E. D.

Bacon. (Redway.)

ANOTHER useful volume has been added by Mr.

Redway to his valuable " Collector Series." Besides

supplying all information the philatelist can desire,

the volume has an interesting introduction, show-

1 ing the growth and the utility of collections, and

' twelve plates, reproducing nearly two hundred and

I fifty stamps. The account of the stamp-market will

be frequently consulted, as will the descriptions oi

j famous collections and individual stamps. The

i writers are able to chronicle the recent sale of two

i Mauritius stamps for 1,920J.

The Clergy Directory and Parish Guide, 1898,

(Phillips.)

THIS cheapest of clerical directories contains ar alphabetical list of the clergy of the Church o: England (including the 1897 Advent ordinations ir leir proper alphabetical place), with qualification rder, and appointment, with dates ; a list of the arishes and parochial districts, giving diocese )0pulation, incumbent, annual value, and patron Patrons' List, showing the distribution of the

chaplains (i

aval, military, and auxiliary forces, and of th

evived Order of St. John of Jerusalem; the dio

esan and cathedral establishments, with tin

members of the two Convocations ; a list of societie

charitable, educational, and missionary con

ected with the National Church, showing addres

nd name of secretary ; and the graveyards closec

uring 1897 or shortly to be closed. It maintain

worthily its old character and repute.

OCCUPIED with "wars and rumours of wars," th English reviews have but little space for question of literary, social, or artistic importance. Th Fortnightly has, however, one literary article, wit which we are in thorough accord. Writing o Tragedy and Mr. Stephen Phillips,' Mr. William Watson, while rating highly the work of Mr Phillips, protests against the inclusion with ' Chris n Hades ' and ' Marpessa ' of ' The Woman wit

le Dead Soul.' Not having yet read the poems in uestion, we cannot pronounce on the value of the rotest. We share, however, the opinion of Mr. Watson, that no element of genuine tragedy informs he lives of insignificant and immemorable human eings, who "grow up and perish as the summer y." If ''a palace or a fortress fall" we are im- ressed, but not by the collapse of a mud hut. lilton was quite right when he spoke of

gorgeous tragedy With sceptred pall,

nd his views were shared not only by the Greek ragedians, but by the great dramatists of the dor age. Let the realist form what notion he ill, the true tragedy is in the fall of spirits kingly >y position or endowment. Madame Sarah Grand writes on ' Marriage Questions in Fiction,' and ex- ,ols highly and quotes from Miss Elizabeth Rachel Chapman's recently published book with a title not widely divergent. The questions raised cannot >e dealt with in an article nor discussed at all in a ew lines. M. Augustin Filon supplies the sixth nstalment of his ' Modern French Drama,' and deals with what is called the new comedy, and especially with the recent plays of M. Paul Hervieu and those (including ' La Douloureuse ') of M. Vtaurice Dounay. M. Ch. Bastide supplies a clever Elysian Conversation,' the participators in which are Renan, Me'rime'e, and, in the close, Maupassant. To the Nineteenth Century Mr. W. S. Lilly sends a paper on ' The Methods of the Inquisition,' which, as the work of a Roman Catholic, is not without interest and importance. In place of the Inqui- sition in Spain under Philip V., which is said to iiave burnt 1,500 people, or the same institution in earlier times, he deals with the Inquisition in Venice, concerning the functions of which we have more light from without. He supplies an account of the proceedings with a real or supposed Beltramo Agosti, who, in the rage inspired by losses at cards, is guilty of a form of ribaldry and blasphemy too common still in Italian cities. Mr. Lilly, though he uses conventional and to us rather shocking terms concerning the "Holy Office," does not approve of the " learned " inquisitor. He pits against him, how- ever, as equally callous and more cowardly, the vivi- sector. Mr. Claude Phillips writes on 'Millais's Works at Burlington House,' and expresses the opinion that in his middle time it is as a painter of men, and especially of men still vigorous in late maturity or old age, that Millais "can be called great." The portraits of Grote, Gladstone, and Tennyson are singled out for special eulogy. Lord Burghclere sends a specimen of a blank - verse translation of the ' Georgics.' The most striking portion consists, perhaps, of the description of the portents on the death of Caesar.

And sculptured ivory shed grievous tears recalls Milton's

And the chill marble seemed to sweat. Mr. Frederick Wedmore deals with ' The Short Story,' the cultivation of which in France has been assiduous of late. Under the title ' White Slaves ' the Countess of Jersey records some horrible suffer- ings in Haiti in the beginning of the century. Dr. Jessopp concludes his 'Parish Life in England before the Great Pillage,' and the Bishop of South- wark deals with ' The Reconstruction of the Diocese of Rochester.' The frontispiece to the Century con- sists of a portrait of Verdi. ' The Mammoth Cave