Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 11.djvu/127

 QW S. XI. FEB. 7, 1903.]

NOTES AND QUERIES.

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his own hands placed the crown on the head of Charles II. at his Scottish coronation, should be one of the first victims of the Restoration. At p. 301 our readers may peruse some curious super- stitions such as the death of Argyll might well beget. We quit Mr. Willcock's book with regret. Its get-up is most creditable to the publishers, and the illustrations are of signal value and interest. In the early portraits Argyll looks admirably " fair and false." In the later the strabismus which won him the name of " the gley'd Argyll," or " the gleyed marquess," is conspicuous. The volume, which presents many valuable features, is dedi- cated, by special permission, to Her Royal High- ness Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll.

Commercial German. By Gustav Hein and Michel

Becker. Parti. (Murray.)

THIS is a useful manual by competent authorities, which we are glad to see, since it may help to diminish English ignorance of trading terms used on the Continent, an ignorance which has surprised us in those who boast of their powers of business and despise mere literature. A good German scholar might well be floored by the request to translate a commercial letter properly, since some of the important words used, such as Giro, are more Italian than Teutonic. The manual covers the field well, and includes a vocabulary at the end. We are not sure that we approve of this. It may save time for the occasion, but does away with the discipline of looking out words in a dictionary, of which we are old-fashioned enough to approve. It should be added that the first section of the book is written in German, though "the rigour of this rule " is relaxed later in the book. If students will tolerate this " rigour," well and good, but we doubt it. Still the book is for those who have mastered the elements of the language. Should not the German for Geneva be included in the list of towns ?

AN "offprint" has been sent us of Hamlet and the Recorders, by Christopher Welch, a paper con- tributed to the Proceeding* of the Musical Associa- tion on 8 April, 1902. The paper gives the views of a flute-player and we should add an erudite anti- quary in musical matters on the scene in ' Hamlet,' III. ii., which is full of allusions to the flute-player's craft. Future editors of Shakespeare should not fail to acquaint themselves with Mr. Welch's inter- esting notes, which we are glad to have in this form, and which were certainly well worth re- printing.

THE January number of the English Historical Review contains little that is of especial interest save to experts. Miss Tucker begins a study of the datary of Clement III., Gian Matteo Giberti, which is of considerable value. Mr. Firth con- tinues his investigations on 'Cromwell and the Crown,' but tells us not much that is new. There is a very interesting letter of Lord Palmerston on the Egyptian question of 1840, and the reviews, as usual, are thorough. Some of the short notices are a little too short for their subjects.

WE are disposed to regard Mr. A. J. Dawson's ' Morocco, the Moors, and the Powers,' which appears in the Fortnightly, not only as the best article in that review, but as the most interesting in all the February periodicals. With the political opinions it expresses we cannot deal, though we regard them as of high importance and worthy of closest study, but the charm of " the Land of

Sunset" is felt throughout, and the pictures of life are the most animated we can recall. M. Maurice Maeterlinck has an essay on 'Field Flowers,' in which he dwells upon the loveliness of the names of flowers, "which flow from the lips like a caress, a kiss, a murmur of love." We have all of us felt ihis. He instances the Easter daisy, the violet, the oluebell, the poppy (or rather the coquelicot), the primrose, cowslip, periwinkle, anemone, hyacinth, speedwell, forget-me-not, bindweed, iris, harebell, and many others, to which we would fain add the daffodil, meadow-sweet, and a hundred more. Col. W. Hughes Hallett writes sensibly, in the main, on ' Honest, Honest lago,' but his contribution is marred by some uncomfortable instances of the split infinitive. He is not the only offender in this respect. On the second page of the Revieio we have " It is first necessary to clearly understand," which would be much stronger in the phrase " necessary clearly to understand." Mrs. Stopes writes to show that Justice Shallow is not intended for Sir Thomas Lucy. Mrs. Anstruther sends a rather mystical " little miracle play," and Mr. George Gissing con- cludes his interesting ' An Author at Grass.' Mr. Herbert Paul prophesies in the Nineteenth Century the speedy end of the compulsory study of Greek at the universities, and is not dismayed, since volun- tary study of Greek is not likely to fail. If left to itself, Greek would " still lead to posts of honour and emolument." "There would still be classical scholarships and fellowships." Continuing, Mr. Paul says, "Latin, like French, is a necessity; Greek, like German, is a luxury." The entire article is scholarly, readable, entertaining, valuable. Lady Ponsonby's paper on ' Port Royal and Pascal ' is much more solid, accurate, and edifying than many recent articles of feminine provenance which have appeared in the same periodical. It shows complete familiarity with its subject. Mr. Henniker Heaton advocates once more the establishment of 'An Agricultural Parcel Post.' Mr. R. Bosworth Smith essays, in the first of two papers, to do for the raven what he has recently done for the owl. An excellent authority on everything ornithological, he seems disposed to break a lance with Prof. Skeat on a philological subject, but is wise enough not to let his velleity lead him too far. The curious fact is pointed out that Shakespeare, who mentions the nightingale and the swan but ten times, the swallow and the owl twice that number of times, and other birds with increasing frequency, assigns the raven the unique distinction of being mentioned over fifty times. Ravens are still found in Dorset and in seaside places, but are disappearing from the Mid- lands. The Hon. Maud Pauncefote gives an accurate account of Washington and the life therein. A profoundly interesting document is supplied in ' The Political Testament of Fuad Pasha.' M. Maurice Maeterlinck contributes to the Pall Mall, under the title of 'The Battle of the Spurs,' an account of the Belgian victory thus named, which is accompanied by a dramatic but rather confused illustration by Mr. Byam Shaw. The six-hundredth anniversary of the French defeat was celebrated in July last in what is called a useless commemoration by a sort of Nationalist party, which has the sup- port of "the Flemish clergy the most ignorant of all," but is derided by intelligent Flanders. Not to be called a French defeat was this, but it was the first great defeat of inedieeval chivalry by "that strange harmony of spiritual and moral forces which is called mankind." Viscount Wolseley contributes