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NOTES AND QUERIES. [9 s. v. J AN. 6, im

the Modern Stage,' by Sidney Lee. The chief aim of the contribution is to protest against the idea that Shakespeare in representation is to be sacrificed to pageantry. Lovers of Shake- speare should urge simplicity in the production of his plays. The instance is advanced of the splendid series of revivals undertaken by Phelps and Greenwood at Sadler's Wells. If modern managers would be content with scenic accessories that are adequate and illuminatory instead of burdensome, they might give three or four plays where now they give one. No one is better entitled to be heard than Mr. Lee, and it is to be hoped that the seed he sows will not fall on desert ground. Under the title, which we scarcely like, of 'The Prince of Journalists,' Mr. Herbert Paul has an excellent article on Swift, with most of the conclu- sions of which we agree. In common, however, with most modern writers, Mr. Paul overpraises the style of Swift, which, admirable as it is in lucidity perhaps the best of gifts and in sim- plicity, has "the defects of its qualities," and is open to attack. This, we know, is an unpopular view. With the remaining praise and the general estimate of Swift we concur, and we recall no modern apophthegm so exquisite as Swift's " The reason wny so few marriages are happy is because young ladies spend their time in making nets, not in making cages." Supposing the curious ghost-story of Nathaniel Hawthorne to be, as it professes to be, true, that admirable writer was the most unutterable donkey that ever drew breath. Mr. J. Cuthbert Hadden has a valuable paper on * The Tinkering of Hymns.' We agree with every word that he says in condemnation of such processes, but think that in most cases he is far too indulgent. In this review, also, Dr. St. George Mivart is issuing a challenge to the Roman Catholic Church, the result of which we want to see. * The Jews in France,' ' The Common Mule,' 'Climate and Atmosphere,' and 'Can Sen- tences be Standardized ?' are all worth reading. The frontispiece to the Pall Mall is a tine repro- duction of Holbein's ' Anne of Cleves,' the illustra- tions generally being of high merit. Mr. William Archer concludes his account of 'The American Stage,' which is regarded in a favourable light. A good description is furnished of the younger American dramatists, with whom we are beginning to form an acquaintance. In the second part of 'Lotteries, Luck, Chance, and Gambling Systems' Mr. J. Holt Schooling establishes to his own satis- faction that there is such a thing as luck. On the whole, though we pretend to no special knowledge, his statistics impress us less favourably than do his reproductions of the quaint designs of our ancestors intended to beguile people into the purchase of lottery tickets. 'Morocco, the Imperial City,' by Mr. F. G. Aflalo, tells us little that is new, but has some capital sketches of spots of in- terest. ' Military Heroes at Westminster,' by Mr. Murray Smith, of which the first part appears, appeals strongly to us at the present moment. ' Elizabethan London,' by the Bishop of London, with which the new volume of the Cornhill begins, is a lecture delivered a couple of months ago at the Queen's Hall before the London Reform Union. It gives many particulars with which the average student of past London is likely to be unfamiliar, and draws together many proofs of the mistrust with which Londoners regarded foreigners* Lady Broome's 'Natal Memories' have painful interest

when read by the light of to-day. Urbanus Sylvan deals whimsically, but flippantly with Dr. Dowden, Dr. Gosse, and other modern critics or writers One is surprised to find him speaking of the 1671 edition of 'Paradise Regained ' and 'Samson Agomstes as a "large and well-printed octavo." Mr. Stephen Gwynn gives a study of Sir Charles ^ a P ie r- -there are som e amusing 'Humours of Irish Life, and an unappetizing account of 'A Boer Interior. ''The Poetry of Windmills,' which appears in lempleBar, expresses sentiments we have often felt. Next to a ship a windmill is to us one of the most fascinating of human inventions. The author holds that "it is sacrilege to approach them too nearly. She holds that Cervantes saw aright when Don Quixote entered into conflict with them as giants. k On the Banks of the Dove ' is a fantasy concerning Walton and Cotton. 'A Calculating " Philosopher "' deals with Babbage, the sanguine inventor of the calculating machine, and next to John Leech the most distinguished victim of street noises. ' Sir Anthony Van Dyck ' may be read with pleasure. Much of the fiction is excellent. Not much of a dilemma to a collector is that in which in the Gentleman's the hero of 'A Bookman's Dilemma ' finds himself. It is, however, amusing to hear of a Kilmarnock Burns and a first Walton's ' Angler ' being sold all but uncatalogued m a country sale. Mr. Walters describes ' French London in 1793,' the London of priestly and aris- tocratic refugees. Miss Lily Wolffsohn depicts 'Low Life in Naples as Pictured by Nea- politans,' and Mr. Percy Fitzgerald describes a residence of two days in Walcheren Island. In Longman's Mr. Lang, 'At the Sign of the Ship,' expresses a not too favourable estimate of the " Man in the Street," and gives an amusing account of his sufferings from notoriety - hunters. Mr. H. G. Hutchinson, in ' A First Essay in Dreams,' speaks of flying as a common experience in dream- ing. Our own observation is that it is not flying of which we dream, but a sort of levitation, with some- times a consciousness of danger. 'Kauri Gum' and ' Summer in the Forest ' are both readable.

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