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 9 8. XL JAK. 3, 1903.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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have their biographies in the same volume. Leigh - ton's 'Procession of Cimabue's Madonna' and 'Cymon and Iphigenia' are given with his life by the late Cosmo Monkhouse. ' Christ in the House of His Parents ' supplies a specimen of Millais, whose life is from the same source. 'Libraries' are dis- cussed by Mr. H. R. Tedder, a recognized autho- rity. Most interesting particulars concerning public libraries are advanced. The Hon. D. Herbert Put- nam gives full information concerning the libraries of the United States. A well-illustrated account of 'Lifeboats' is by Mr. Charles Dibdin, and one of ' Lighthouses,' which is very instructive, is by the builder of the new Eddystone lighthouse. ' Light ' itself is treated by Dr. C. G. Knoll. Prof. Dewar naturally supplies the account of 4 Liquid Gases,' on which subject he is the greatest authority. This is an article of deepest interest and is fully illus- trated. ' Local Government,' which also is outside our ken, is dealt with by Mr. Macmorran. Prof. Case writes on 'Logic,' and Mr. H. B. Wheatley has an all-important share in the account of ' Lon- don.' Major Barlow writes on ' Machine Guns,' and the Rev. James Sibree upon ' Madagascar,' the latter, a difficult subject, being judiciously treated. Mr. Maskelyne is part author of the portion of the work dealing with ' Magic,' by which, of course, is meant illusion. ' Magnetism,' by L)r. Bidwell, also an article of the utmost importance, describes the experi- mental work which has been carried out since the appearance of the ninth edition of the ' Encyclo- paedia/ With it must be compared ' Terrestrial Magnetism,' two subjects which demand very special knowledge in the critic. ' Malaria ' has at the pre- sent moment profound interest, on account of the investigations into the mosquito parasitic theory. The rules to be observed by dwellers in India or in the tropics generally are extremely important. No European house should be less than half a mile from a native village. ' Malay Archipelago,' 'Malay Peninsula,' and 'Malay States' (federated) are a leash of articles all of extra importance. 'Mam- malia ' comes next, and contains, among other illus- trations, the superb coloured design of the Okapi. Very great additions to previous knowledge are chronicled. Mr. Lyddeker, F.R.S., is responsible for the account. Jacob Maris's life is accompanied by a reproduction of 'A Village Scene.' ' Marriage Laws ' have seen a great change since 1883. These are described by Mr. Barclay tor Europe, and Mr. Wilcox for America. ' Martial Law ' is in the hands of the Deputy-Judge-Advocate-General, Sir John Scott. The sad life of Maupassant is told, and a startling opinion is expressed upon his work. ' Measuring Instruments ' is quite a new subject. ' Medicine ' is in the hands of Dr. Clifford Allbutt. Many will turn to the exposition of the Monroe doctrine given by Prof. Woolsey. Pictorial illustra- tions to Claude Monet and Albert Moore attract attention in an admirable volume.

Historical Introductions to the Rolls Series. By Wm. Stubbs, D.D. Edited by Arthur Hassall, M.A. (Longmans & Co.)

THE introductions contributed by the late Bishop of Oxford to the Rolls Series constitute some of the most valuable of his historical work. It may not, of course, be said that they are buried in the series in which they appear. It is, however, at least certain that they have with the majority of scholars to be looked for or come upon there, and have not hitherto been counted with the author's recognized historical

labours, of which they form an important and, in fact, essential portion. To earnest students^ the value of the introductions is well known. Such are aware that they are an absolutely priceless guide to the times of Henry II., Richard I., John, Edward I., and Edward II. Libraries in which the Rolls Series are comprised are, however, fewer than might have been hoped, considering the conditions of their issue, and there are very many workers in remote districts to whom access to them is denied. These remarks may seem to be advanced as a plea for a publication that stands in need of no advocacy or defence. Sooner or later, when the complete works of Dr. Stubbs are published, these must neces- sarily have been included among them, and when the consent of the Controller of the Stationery Office to their collection and reissue had once been obtained, the sooner they were given to the world the greater the boon. The works are not reprinted in their entirety. The preliminary portions are epitomized by Mr. Hassall, and a few hiatuses, presumably pardonable, are found in the course or at the end of each introduction, the effect being to compress into a volume of five to six hundred pages all that is indispensable to the historian. Very few and so far as we can judge, since we have not compared the text with that of the original series unim- portant are the omissions, detracting no wise from the delight and advantage of the reader. Eleven essays are there in all, dealing virtually with six or, it may be said, seven works. These are ' The Memorials of St. Dunstan, Archbishop of Canter- bury ' ; ' The Historical Works of Ralph de Diceto, Dean of London'; Benedict of Peterborough's ' Chronicle of the Reigns of Henry II. and Richard I.,' vols. i. and ii. ; ' The Chronicle of Roger of Hoveden,' vols. ii., iii., iy. ; ' Chronicles and Memorials of the Reign of Richard I.,' vols. i. and ii. ; and Walter of Coventry's ' Historical Collec- tions and Chronicles of the Reigns of Edward I. and II.,' vols. i. and ii.

It is obviously impossible to deal in extenso with what, after all, is not a new work. It may perhaps be said that the preface to ' The Chronicle of the Reigns of Henry II. and Richard I.,' known com- monly under the name of Benedict of Peterborough, is the boon for which the student will be most grateful. In the previous articles on Ralph de Diceto we have deeply interesting comment on the importance of the position of the Dean of St. Paul's, St. Paul's itself being at the head of the secular clergy of Southern England, a great educational centre, and the mother church of one hundred and twenty churches. Very interesting is the account of the quasi-collegiate establishment of the cathe- dral and of the hospitality of its residents, by whom illustrious strangers were entertained at great cost. In the later chronicle we have more of those brilliant characterizations which are a special feature in Dr. Stubbs's work. What is said concerning the character of the Angevin kings two only of whom, Edward I. and Henry VI., " the noblest and the unhappiest of the race," are exempt from the cen- sureis absolutely stirring : "All the Plantagenet kings were high-hearted men, rather rebellious against circumstances than subservient to them. But the long pageant shows us uniformly, under so great a variety of individual character, such signs of great gifts and opportunities thrown away, such unscrupulousness in action, such uncontrolled pas- sion, such vast energy and strength wasted on unworthy aims, such constant failure and final