Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 3.djvu/26

 NOTES AND QUERIES. [9 th s. m. JAN. 7, m

Major Stuart Wortley, called 'With the Sirdar. - Mr Clark Russell continues, in the Pall Mall, his capital series of papers on ' The Ship : her Story,' and deals with the ships of Columbus, which he describes as " the most interesting vessels that were ever built, that were ever afloat, that are to be read of in ancient or modern literature." A picture of the ship of Columbus is given. Large and important ships were not built in England until the time of Henry VIII. We are then shown some Spanish galleons and ships belonging to the Armada, and, again, English and Dutch ships of the time of Van Tromp. Some fine pictures are reproduced in an account of the recent Rembrandt Exhibition in Amsterdam. Part i. appears of ' Naval Heroes at Westminster Abbey,' showing the tombs of Blake, Monck, Sir Cloude'sley Shovel, and others. Very beautiful are the views of Cambridge illustrating 4 Lines written in the Court of a College Library/ 'Suppressed Plates: No. 1, Thackeray,' will appeal to collectors. 'The Fall of Khartoum' will, by letterpress and illustrations, appeal to all. 'Humours of Bird Life,' sent to the Cornhill by Lady Broome, describes very pleasantly the charm of bird-keeping under circumstances more propitious than can often attend the proprietorship of an aviary. Some of her revelations are startling. Once, when she received a consignment of tiny parra- keets, and put them into a cage with canaries, she discovered that these birds, apparently so gentle, were in the habit of sidling up to a canary and suddenly biting off a leg. Another bird, a member of the shrike family, used to twist off, occasionally, the head of a finch. Miss Edith Sichel descants very agreeably on ' Women as Letter- Writers,' and does not forget dear Dorothy Osborne, in some respects the best. Mr. Duffield's study of ' Daniel O'Connell ' is full of amusing anecdote. ' Hovelling,' by Frank T. Bullen, is a record of heroism. ' The Etchingham Letters 'are continued. In Temple Bar Mr. F. C. Hodgson begins, in ' Optimists and Pessimists,' with Sophocles and ^Eschylus, to end with Daudet and Nietzsche, bringing in by the way Schopenhauer and Ibsen, the latter of whom is not regarded wholly as a pessimist. The paper is both thought- ful and erudite, and if it is not conclusive, there is no cause for astonishment or complaint. An esti- mate of ' Christopher North ' deals with the curious fact that Wilson, once a great power in letters, is now practically dead. An attempt is made to account for what is really a somewhat startling fact. Daudet attracts much attention at present, and a narrative of the sad experiences of his early life is readable, if not particularly novel. 'The Man- chester of Portugal' is a description of Covelha. In the Gentleman's Mr. M. Q. Holyoake criticizes the last writings of Landor. in this some curiously characteristic correspondence of the ebullient poet is given. Mr. J. Ellard Gore, F.R.A.S., writes on thoughtful paper on ' Oaths and the Law,' and Miss Pauline W. Roose shows a wide range of reading in dealing with 'The Poets' Heaven/ The English Illustrated has made recently a new departure with its coloured printing, which is very successfully accomplished. It has, in addition to its striking cover, many coloured designs of remarkable beauty. The letterpress consists principally of fiction, though a portion of it deals with sport, and another portion will prove very tempting to the fair sex. Anthony Hope tells the story of his comedy of ' Lady Ursula.' ' The Devil's Own' is occupied not
 * The Names of the Stars.' Mr. W. H. Olding has a

with the legal volunteers, but with picturesque spots dedicated to his Satanic Majesty. ' M.P.s and their Fads' is amusing. In Longman's Mr. Rider Haggard continues his 'Farmer's Year.' Under the title 'A Paladin of Philanthropy,' Mr. Austin Dobson depicts General James Edward Oglethorpe, whom Hannah More called a Preux Chevalier. Mr. Lang appears to have inconvenient doubles or trebles, who under his name incur for him suspicions which are groundless and attacks which are unmerited. These he answers ' At the Sign of the Ship.' In the United Service Magazine the short biographies of our naval heroes are con- tinued, the Hon. A. N. Hood supplying that of King Edward III. Naturally, the claim of this illustrious sovereign to be a naval hero is not so fully supported as is his right to be considered as one of the foremost military leaders of his time. In his own person he gained two signal naval victories, and established a Board of Admiralty. The articles on Cuba and Turenne are continued. The latter is well written, and possesses great interest for the military student. Lieut. -Col. de la Poer Beresford furnishes a graphic description of Krasnoe-Selo, the Russian Aldershot. We think that he errs in stating that, in the magnificent regiments of the Chevaliers Gardes and Gardes k Cheval, men are posted to squadrons according to their "complexion and type." In the Pavlofsky regiment of Foot Guards the men were till very recently only selected who had turned-up noses, and the men still retain the quaint old sugar-loaf caps. Altogether, this magazine presents much to attract readers belonging to the Navy, Army, and Volunteers.

WHAT may be regarded as the first of a projected series of reproductions of prints and drawings in the University Galleries at Oxford is announced for immediate publication by the Clarendon Press, This is ' The Master E. S. and the Ars Moriendi, a Chapter in the History of Engraving during the Fifteenth Century,' by Lionel Cust, Director of the National Portrait Gallery. It will be illustrated with forty-six collotype facsimiles.

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