Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 11.djvu/88

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NOTES AND QUERIES.

. XL JAN. M, MM.

poem of Thomas Moore of no conspicuous merit, a poem of Ben Jonson's not included in his collected works, some interesting MS. sonnets of the Eliza- bethan age by Lawrence Anderton, S. J., and innu- merable other works of exemplary piety or merit. The aim of the series being devotional, we ma Y not protest against seeing only in a modernized shape that marvellous poem of the Middle Ages, " Quia amore langueo." It moves admiration, however, to see the manner in which Mr. Swinburne's ' Madonna Mia' is fitted to pious aspirations. Among the modern poems with which we were previously un- acquainted we are disposed to assign the place of honour to the 'Magnificat Anima Mia' of Mr. Frederick W. H. Myers. Several compositions of the Laureate, who comes of a Roman Catholic family, are given. Quite worthy of association with the first series is the second. Like that, it contains much piety and much poetry, the former predominating. It can be read with constant edifi- cation and delight. Even now the subject is not exhausted, a third volume being in contemplation. On its arrival it will be welcome.

Manchester Al Hondo: a Contemplation of Death and Immortality. By Sir Henry Montagu, First Earl of Manchester. (Frowde.) FROM the Clarendon Press appears a careful re- impression of the fourth edition (1638-9) of the learned and edifying little treatise known as ' Man- chester Al Mondo.' Not the first reprint is this, but it is the most satisfactory. Witn its strange mass of quotations, classical and patristic, and its curious mixture of common sense and what may be called didactic exaltation, it may be read with interest and possible profit, though a comparison between it and Montaigne's chapters on death will not be to the credit of the English writer. Here is a short passage worthy of being extracted : " It was a sweet speech, and might well have become an elder body, which a young innocent childe of my owne used in extremity of sicknesse. ' Mother, what shall I doe ? I shall die before I know what Death is. I beseech you tell mee what is Death, and how I should dye.' "

The Smith Family. By Compton Reade, M.A.

(Stock.)

A RESPECTABLE attempt the most successful on record has been made by Mr. Compton Reade in the present volume to deal with the greatest of genea- logical problems. The book is to some extent ex- plained by its title. It contains a popular account of many branches of the great Smith family, how- ever spelt, from the fourteenth century until to-day, and numerous pedigrees published for the first time. Success in such a scheme must necessarily be rela- tive. Full as is the list of recent Smiths, we could point to several men of distinction in literature and affairs whose names do not appear. It must in justice to the writer be owned that the list of celebrated Smiths does not claim to be exhaustive, but seeks only to be helpful which, of course, it is. Indebtedness is owned to the 'Dictionary of National Biography,' to which a high and deserved tribute is paid, though one or two articles are singled out for severe censure. What is best in the work consists in the pedigrees, to which all bearers of the name will naturally turn. It was, perhaps, to be expected that Faber pedigrees would be included. So far as a cursory observa- tion extends, no living member of this numerous

class finds mention. A complete Smith record is never to be hoped.

MS. IN ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE LIBRARY, CAM- BRIDGE. The College Library has recently been enriched by the gift of a MS. of great value from Dr. Alexander Peckover. It formerly belonged to the foundress of the College, the Lady Margaret, mother of King Henry VII., and was given by her to Lady Shyrley with the following inscription in her autograph :

My good Lady Shyrley pray for Me that gevythe you thys booke And hertely pray you (Margaret) Modyr to the Kynge.

The MS. is of the fifteenth century, and is written on exceptionally fine vellum and contains 176 leaves. It is entitled 'Horse Beatae Marise Virginis, cum Galen dario,' the calendar being written in blue and gold letters, and the first page of each month having a delicate border of leaves in gold. The miniatures, which are extremely beautiful and surrounded with delicate borders composed of leaves and flowers, are thirteen in number. The compiler of the cata- logue of the Fountaine Collection, at the sale of which the MS. was purchased, supposes the volume to have been written and illuminated by the Lady Margaret's command in the reign of King Henry VII.

MRS. PHILIPPA A. F. STEPHENSON, of 43, Bryan- ston Square, W., is printing ' The Parish Registers of Great and Little Wigborough, Essex.' Each copy will include notes, history of the parishes, lists of incumbents, patrons, &c. Thirty copies, one or two of which are not yet subscribed for, will be issued at 12s. 6d. each. Early application for them is counselled.

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H. C. H. You should give references. There is much on the point in ' N. & Q.'

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