Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 4.djvu/295

 9"- S. IV. Oct. 28, '99.] 359 NOTES AND QUERIES. to a class of work much of which has little pretence to seriousness, and is not averse, under princely and aristocratic patronage, from lending its'subtle and occasionally perverse grace to things worthy of reprehension. Those—they are now a minority— who will not forgive the eighteenth century will not accept its work. To what in it is unworthy or unattractive Lady Dilke is alive, but she lias also a keen perception of what in it is beautiful and even great. After supplying, in an introductory chapter, "The Story of the Royal [French] Academy" from the beginning of the eighteenth century—ten years after the death of its principal founder, Lebrun— to the Revolution, Lady Dilke deals with "The Great Decorative Painters"—Le Moine and De Troy, Boucher and Fragonard; with " The Painters of Fetes Galantes" — Watteau, Pater, Lancret; those of "Familiar Scenes" — Chardin, Baudouin, Greuze; with portrait painters and painters of landscaiio. Of the works of the prin- cipal artists reproductions are given. There are, in addition to others, ten plates of Boucher, five of Chardin, eight of Fragonard, three of Greuze, three of Pater, six of Lancret, and eleven of Watteau. One or two of these are given only in the large- paper edition, a veritable objel de luxe, likely before long to be not too easily accessible. One of them is the delicious ' Baiser Jete'of Greuze, from the collection of Mr. Alfred de Rothschild. It is, how- ever, with Lady Dilke's utterances that we are most concerned. She hits off precisely, at the outset, the subject of what is perhaps the most delightful—certainly one of the most delightful- chapters when she speaks of "those joys of the senses which found their most graceful and most complete expression in the adorable mirage of the 'Fete Galante.'" Specially deserving of attention is what is said about the progress of Watteau, from ' La Vraie Gaiete,' the earliest known picture- reproduced from the collection of Sir Charles Tennant—to the ' Rendezvous de Chasse,' one of the latest. Watteau's work is thought to be rare. It will prove to lie rarer than was thought, since, according to our latest authority, much exists at Berlin and at Potsdam, "as in many English col- lections, which has no title to bear his name." " I do not think," continues Lady Dilke, " that we are within an appreciable distance of deciding the share of Jacques Mercier and others in works now attributed to Watteau." To this important subject Lady Dilke recurs A propos of ' L'Escamoteur,' a work in the Louvre, which was long attributed to Watteau, though the print bore the words " Mercier pinxit." Of Chardin a characteristic story is told. " ' Qui vous a dit qu'on peignit avec les couleurs?' asked Chardin gravely of a brother artist 'Avec quoi done, monsieur?' returned the other, in astonishment. ' On se sert de couleurs,] replied Chardin; ' on peint avec le sentiment.' " On the merits of Greuze Lady Dilke is eloquent, saying justly that his treatment of his subject, though tainted with the same artificiality and self - consciousness that spoiled the dramas of Diderot, " was commended to the public by a vein of wanton suggestion, which found an echo in the dainty disorder in which his heroines are dressed," a disorder observable even in his first picture, ' Le Pere de Famille expliquant la Bible,' wherein he gives prominence to a girl whoso kerchief is torn just where it should best conceal her physical charms. We can deal no further with this attractive volume. If it achieves the success it should com- mand, it will be followed by another work or other works, dealing with the sculpture, architecture, engraving, and furniture of the epoch now treated. For a similar work on eighteenth-century French engraving we should be very grateful. Alexander Hume, an. Early Poet-Pastor of Loyie, and his Intimate/s. By R. Menzies Fergussou, M.A. (Paisley, Gardner.) Mr. Ferousson, at the present moment minister of Logic, in Stirlingshire, deals in an interesting volume with three previous residents in the parish, all of them contemporaries, and connected by ties, of intimacy. These are Alexander Hume (1560-1609), Sir William Alexander, Karl of Stirling (1567-1640), and John Shearer, Provost of Stirling (r. 1565-1647). Of these far away the most distinguished is Sir Wil- liam Alexander, whose place in history and litera- ture is distinct—it may almost be said conspicuous. Alexander Hume belonged to the family of the Humes of Polwarth, some of them known in England as Earls of Marchmont, and was also connected with Lady (jrizel Baillie, the author of " Wer'na my heart licht I wad dee." Like his biographer, Alexander Hume was minister of Logie. He was also a poet whose ' Hymnes or Sacred Songs,' published in 1599, have been reprinted by the Bannatyne Club. His ' Day Estivall, a descrip- tion, as its title indicates, of a summer day, was included in Leyden's 'Scottish Descriptive Poems' and in Campbell's ' Specimens of British Poets,' but does not appear to have found its way into most English collections. Prof. Veitch gives it in his 'Feeling for Nature in Scottish Poetry.' It is a pleasing work by a thoughtful, observant, and well- endowed man, but scarcely justifies Mr. F'ergusson in calling it "a fine example of the poet-preacher's genius." A want of the sense of proportion is the chief defect in Mr. Fergusson, leading him to quote seriously the jocose comparison instituted by Masson between themeeting of Sir W.Alexander and Drummond of Hawthorntten and that of Goethe and Schiller : and again, to liken to ' Lycidas' the ' Pastorall Elegie' of Drummond, with the mere statement that Drummond's poem "locks that directness [!] which Milton's monody possesses." Fancy anybody praising ' Lycidas' for directness ! A good account is given of the Earl of Stirling, or Sterline, as it appears in ' The Recreations with the Muses,' 1637, and of the untoward fate that doomed him, after one of the most promising careers at the outset that poet has often known, to die under circumstances that justify Masson in calling him " the most unfortunate Scot of his time. In Scotland, thoroughly roused on the matter of the Covenant, on which gentle and simple felt alike, Alexander was associated with the misdirected and fatal efforts of Charles to impose prelacy. Stirling was at least fortunate in this, that he died before the Scottish troops under Leven invaded England, to turn the fate of the day at Marstou Moor, or had surrendered their king to the tender mercies of Cromwell. In- terest in John Shearer is scarcely more than, local. The ninth chapter, which deals with local customs, witchcraft, 4c, has great value. We are a little puzzled to understand how "Bailies Blakwodc and Morisone" could, on account of their share in the prosecution as a warlock of Walter Bryce, be "hanged at the 'gallowlee' of Dunblane. Here is a turning of the tables " with, a vengeance " upon the persecutors of witches. Du