Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 10.djvu/167

 9 tb S. X. AUG. 23, 1902.]

NOTES AND QUERIES.

159

It is impossible within reasonable space to sum- marize the correspondence. Those who wish to study Cromwell at his worst should read his letters to the Princess Mary and to Fisher. In these he was doubtless the mouthpiece of the king. He contrives, however, to show a good deal of innate vulgarity. His astuteness is best exhibited in his diplomatic correspondence with Wyatt and others. For the first time, so far as we recall, the letters he wrote on the eve of execution, with their indiscreet and indecent revelations of intimacies between Henry and Anne of Cleves, are printed in their .ntegrity. They are curious, as proving Henry's aversion from the proposed match. Cromwell's letters to Arthur Plantagenet, Viscount Lisle, Deputy of Calais, are in the main judicious. The entire correspondence, consisting of Cromwell's own letters, no replies being given, lowers him in our estimate. As historical document* the letters are important, and their publication is necessarily a boon to the historian. Among Cromwell's injunc- tions to the clergy, the most important are that they shall set up in every church an English Bible, to which the public has every facility of access, and keep registers of christenings, weddings, and burials. These orders bear date, of course, 5 Sept., 1538. The book is an important contribution to historical knowledge.

Charles Dickens: his Life, Writings, and Per- sonality. By Frederic G. Kitton. (T. C. & E. C. Jack.)

MR. KITTON, whose ' Charles Dickens by Pen and Pencil ' and ' Dickens and his Illustrators ' have \von deserved recognition, has now given us what may well be the accepted life of the novelist. Those who seek to know the man as he presented himself to his chosen intimates will always turn to what, at the time of its appearance, was ungraciously, if not altogether inaccurately, de- scribed as Dickens's 'Life of Forster.' What may be called domestic sketches from those who knew him best have their value, and the biographies and recollections of his associates and friends abound with interesting matter concerning him. At the time when our knowledge of London begins, Dickens was living at Gadshill or lecturing in America or in the country. This accounts for the fact that we never came under his personal spell. No great reader was he, and the pages of ' N. & Q.' do not seem to have known him as a contributor. To us, accordingly, he has always appealed as a writer rather than as an individual. Until the time, which cannot now be far distant, arrives when a calm and unprejudiced view can be taken of Dickeus's place in and influence upon literature, Mr. Kitten's book will suffice. Materials are wholly lacking for a biography such as Boswell's 'Life of Johnson' or Lockhart's 'Life of Scott.' Forster's life is, of course, the great source of information, and so much of the correspondence of Dickens as is preserved is also of high value. When he retreated to Gadshill Dickens made a holocaust of his correspondence, a proceeding regrettable in some respects, but almost coiidon- able when we think how vulgar and indecent is public curiosity concerning the private lives of celebrities. There is in Mr. Kitten's book a com- mendable absence of padding. We might, indeed, have been glad of a little more information, did Mr. Kitton or another possess it, concerning Dickens's associates in the establishment of Household Words

or the partners in his vari9us theatrical entertain- ments. Only the more distinguished among the latter find mention. It is now, perhaps, too late to obtain full particulars, but descendants of Dickens's associates are alive, and interesting information might be gleaned from them. It is painfully apparent in Mr. Kitton's book that the large sums given to Dickens for his readings not only arrested the flow of his invention, but were in part respon- sible for his premature demise. Nothing is more natural or more pardonable in a man with a large family than to seize upon the chance of making a secure and considerable fortune. The labour thus involved seems, however, to have proved too much for him. Thus in the end the actor, which during his career seems always to have contended with the writer, may almost be held to have won a calamitous victory. At p. 80 are quoted some lines sent to Maclise by Dickens :

My foot is in the house,

My bath is on the sea ; And before I take [? a] souse,

Here 's a "single line to thee.

These are, of course, a parody of Byron's lines to Thomas Moore, beginnfng :

My boat is on the shore, And my bark is on the sea;

But before I go, Tom Moore, Here 's a double health to thee !

We have read Mr. Kitton's book with sustained interest, and willingly accord it a place on our crowded shelves.

Congregational Hintorfcal Society Transactions.

No. 1, April, No. 2, December, 1901 ; No. 3, July,

1902. (Memorial Hall.)

HAVING regard to the important position occupied by the Congregationalisms among the Free Churches, it is a matter for surprise that until the spring of 1899 no systematic effort had been made in the way of research into the origin and history of Con- gregationalism. The Society originated in a sug- gestion made by the Rev. C. Silvester Home to the Rev. G. Currie Martin, who lost no time in its forma- tion. Work was started at once with a will, and a circular issued to all churches founded prior to 1750, asking for information as to original records. The result has been highly satisfactory, and in several cases existing histories have been presented. These first three numbers contain much matter of general interest, and if the Society fulfils its expecta- tions the Transactions should afford useful help to the future hisorian. The first article is on the ' Non-Parochial Registers in Yorkshire,' by the Rev. Bryan Dale. It contains an amusing extract from the diary of Oliver Hey wood (1678) in reference to the Act of Parliament for burying in woollen. The entry had to be made in the parisn register that the enactment had been fulfilled: "A Quaker named Abraham Hodgson, near Halifax, buried a daughter in linen, gave 50s. to the poor, according to the Act, and' then went to Justice Farrar, informed him of it, and claimed 50.s. for himself as the informer."

Until the passing of Lord Hardwicke's Act in 1753, by whicn all marriages except those of Jews and Quakers were made illegal unless solemnized in a church or chapel where banns had been usually published, the marriage ceremony was occasionally performed in a Nonconformist meeting-house, either because the parish clergyman refused to perform it