Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 12.djvu/148

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [o> s. xn. AUG. 15, 1903.

which compelled dull uniformity in thought as wel as minor things lasted well into the time of ou grandfathers. It arose from the reaction agains originality of thought, or, as it would be more accurate to say, against all thinking, the seeds o which were sown by the sensualism which floodec the country after the Restoration. The ostentation displayed at funerals was something repulsive to the modern mind, in earlier ages this display though often abused, had a meaning from its con nexion with religion ; but in the eighteenth century it had shrivelled up into mere meaningless display a manner in which people might show forth their wealth and social importance. 1 his was, we imagine the true reason why the funerals of "great folk' so often took place at night, when any number of torches could be used, without the charge oi " Popery" being incurred. The paper on 'English Deer Parks' is interesting. The writer combines the qualifications of a sportsman, a naturalist, and an antiquary. We were not aware that the number of old deer parks that have survived to the present day was so great. The writer points out a thing not often realized that in the Middle Ages the

i>ark was often far away from the hall or castle, n those days parks were not so much regarded as ornamental adjuncts as enclosures for sport and a ready means of winter food supply. Some of these old parks yet remain. The one at Berkeley is not adjoining the castle. 'The New Astronomy' has been called forth mainly by Miss Agnes Mary Cierke's brilliant volume on ' Astrophysics,' a book which has made a deep impression on those who are able to grasp the nature of the subjects on which it throws so brilliant a light. The paper is by no means of a popular character. This we do not by any means consider to be a defect ; on the contrary, the attention required to follow some of the arguments has a distinct use in stimulating the minds of thoughtful people, and turning their attention to subjects unfamiliar to ordinary readers and the men of letters who provide the mental food such people consume. The paper on Crabbe is the production of one who holds the scales evenly and with a steady hand. Most of us are hardly able to do this when we try to appreciate this poet of the commonplace. Crabbe took interest in aspects of things which poets of an earlier generation failed to see, and would, we may be sure, have rejected had their eyes been opened ; but he never eman- cipated himself from the fetters of eighteenth- century diction, and his admirers must confess that his mind was sluggish probably, indeed, wil- fully prosaic, so far as style is concerned. He has, however, tilled a useful place by supplying entertainment and, it may be, thought- food for some of those who suffer from mental distraction when they come in contact with poets of a more brilliant order. ' The Siege of Quebec ' is somewhat dull ; but students of American history will find it useful. There are several articles on politics, and one of a theological nature not suited for notice in our columns.

To the " Fireside Dickens" of Mr. Henry Frowde and Messrs. Chapman & Hall have been added David Copperjield and JJombey and Son., each with forty illustrations by Phi/, and Reprinted Pieces-, with three designs by F. Walker. Rereading in this convenient shape the pages, close on a thousand, of the first-named book, we recognize the work as justifying Dickeus's estimate of it

as his favourite novel. We feel, however, that the close is spun out, and wonder whether that is due to the method of publication in monthly parts. We did not on its first appearance find it long, and recall, as though it were but yesterday, the im- patience with which each of the green-clad parts was attended.

FROM the Transactions of the Devonshire Asso- ciation Miss Ethel Lega-Weekes has reissued the second part of her interesting and valuable Neigh- bours of North Wyke, being" a paper read a year ago before the Association atBideford. Dr. T. N. Brush- field republishes from the same Transactions the Financial Diary of a Citizen of Exeter, 1631-1643. Both works are of exceptional interest to the anti- quary, and we regret that conditions of space pro- hibit us from giving an idea of their contents.

MR. I. CIIALKLEY GOULD, Chairman of the Com- mittee for preparing a Provisional Scheme for recording Ancient Defensive Earthworks and Forti- fied Enclosures, issues an explanation, illustrated by maps, of the manner in which the work is to be carried out. The interest of this extends beyond the workers for whose special use it is produced. The scheme enlists the support of many eminent archaeologists.

THE Rev. John Gerard, S.J., in a pamphlet en- titled The Popish Plot and its Newest Historian (Longmans & Co.), answers the assertions of 'The Popish Plot ' of Mr. John Pollock. The subject is, of course, connected with the murder of Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey, one of the apparently insoluble problems of history. The work is destructive rather than constructive, and arraigns the new methods of history. It must needs be consulted by all seeking to arrive at the truth in the matter.

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