Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 5.djvu/128

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [9" 8. v. FEB. 10, 1900.

it all, that we wish his article had been longer. The leisurely, witty, and fashionable life of the eighteenth century is becoming quite popular in latter-day literature, and is, it must be admitted, of considerable interest to us, if only by contrast with the hurry of to-day. 'A Glass of Fashion' is concerned with " Gilly " Williams, one of Walpole's and Selwyn's friends. The Cornhill enters on the same period with a notice of the splendid ' Syco- phant of the Last Century' who ultimately became Lord Melcombe. Mr. A. I. Shand writes trenchantly on him, and it really seems time for somebody to give him the usual modern benefit of " whitewash- ing" which has been applied to Judas, Tiberius, and others. The Rev. H. C. Beeching, taking up a controversy begun in the Athenceum, defends Walton's ' Life of Donne.' We agree with him that Walton has been unduly depreciated as a trades- man, and wish that educated men now wrote as well as he did in his day. The article is important, and should be read by all Donne lovers, a numerous class, we hope. Mr. Lang writes as brightly as ever on the authorship of the ballad of ' Lord Bateman,' concluding that it is a degraded Volks- lied. The occasional weakness of the rimes is an indication of this. The admirable and humorous

moving tale of South Africa, a region which he knew thoroughly, it may be well to add, before the war began. 'Manners and Customs of Yesterday and To-day' dwells, rightly, on the difference between the modern servant and his counterpart in older days. People are nowadays less courteous than they used to be ; but is it not because our women have changed as well as our men? We have seen a woman^s child saved by a passenger on a 'bus from falling down all the steps, and all he got was a grunt from the mother ! And the weak- ness which much of this courtesy implies is scouted by members of the fair sex, who now go unattended everywhere. 'At a Free State Toll-Bar' will com- mand attention at the present date. ' Humours of an Irish Country-Town' is attractive, and claims this merit for the distressful country, that it occu- pies much rain which would otherwise be at work in England. It may be so ; but it seems to us that we get quite a sufficient instalment. Cricketers, or rather bowlers, would not, however, mind a little more moisture ; it would certainly not prevent cricket from being the national game, as Mr. Ensor suggests. It might reduce the rage for mere batting averages, and that would be all for the better. The frontispiece to the Pall Mall consists of an excellent reproduction of Albert Moore's picture 'Yellow Marguerites.' Lady Fairlie-Cunrnngham gives a good account of ' St. John's Gate, Clerken- well,' a spot little known of the West-End public, but full of pleasant memories and associations to the antiquary, the explorer, and the treader in the steps of past celebrities. Mr. Raymond Blathwayt has an article 'Concerning Portraiture,' with many striking illustrations by Mr. Mortimer Menpes. Mr. E. T. Murray Smith continues his 'Military Heroes at Westminster Abbey,' and Mr. J. Holt Schooling his interesting account of 'Lotteries, Luck, Chance, and Gambling Systems.' Many of the illustrations to this are very odd. The general contents are, as was to be expected, tinged with war influences, but are well selected and agreeably varied. To the Gentleman'x Mr. James T. Foard

contributes a notable article on ' The Joint Authorship of Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare,' in which the author shows a closer connexion than is generally assumed between the two greatest of Elizabethan dramatists. Mr. John T. Curry has a thoughtful and important paper on his favourite subject, ' Robert Burton and his "Anatomy of Melancholy."' Mr. Norley Chester writes on ' Historical Influences of the " Divine Comedy." 'In Longman's Mr. Andrew Lang in 'At the Sign of the Ship' shows himself at his best in dealing with Poe and his biographer Rufus W. Griswold. He then turns to Mr. Hutchinson, upon whose views as to dreams he comments. On this subject, as, indeed, on most others, he is both interesting and edifying. Mrs. Lang writes on 'Two Centuries of American Women.' 'Humours of Organ-Blowers' opens up new ground. Scribner> is an interesting number, well illustrated as usual. "Ik Marvel," a pleasing portrait of whom forms the preface, seems to live in an attractive home from the account given. Mr. Meredith has a poem in much less elaborate language than usual on the manoeuvres of a spider. The able account of Oliver Cromwell is continued. Chopin is the subject of some rather impalpable rhapsodical prose. Here and elsewhere we note words like "chroma- ticize" and "devitalize," which we do not care about at all, but the school of Nietzsche is apt to find ordinary English unequal for its exposition. Mr. Barrie's ' Tommy and Grizel ' is clearly going to be notable, and there are some excellent short stories. ' The First Stage of the Boer War ' is treated by an able correspondent now on the Modder.


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CORRIGENDUM. P. 76, col. 1, 1. 37, for "cow" read bow.

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