Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 5.djvu/67

 9* s. V.JAN. so, 1900.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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apparently, to perceive how closely the origins of Sin and Death resemble those assigned them by Milton. Sin (Pecche) springs ready born from the " deble," or devil, and is by him indoctrinated " de sa plus tricherousse guile." With her he took such joy in secret as resulted in the birth of Death, by whom, again, she was the mother of Pride, Envy, Avarice, Anger, Sloth, Gluttony, and Lechery. It is difficult to believe that Milton was not acquainted with the work of his predecessor, though it is, of course, possible that the same source supplied both. The pictures of the daughters and grandchildren of Sin recall to some extent the method of Spenser. Anticipations of Milton are to be found, 11. 10730-50, where Gower speaks of the " Griffoun " and the " Arimaspi[an]," and elsewhere. That the ' Mirour de rOmme' will repay sustained perusal we dare not say. A glance through it, accompanied by a study of such passages as arrest attention, is, however, a not unpleasant task. It is otherwise with the ' Cinkante Balades,' which follow, and are taken from the MS. at Trentham Hall. These repay serious attention. Warton doubts whether French poets of the time, circa 1350, are responsible for anything superior. Mr. Macaulay would assign them a decidedly later date. A large and service- able glossary facilitates the reading of these poems, which also have been printed for the Roxburghe Club. Philologically the entire work is of exceeding interest. One is struck by the large number of French words used precisely as they are in modern English e.g., carpenter, claret, draper, noise, treacle, truant, &c. Mr. Macaulay's task is, so far as we are able to judge, admirably executed, and his com- ments and notes have great value. It will add to the attractions of the book for pur readers when we say that in appearance it is similar to the ' Chaucer ' of Prof. Skeat, and in intention it is com}>lementary.

The Early Married Life of Maria Joseplia, Lady Stanley. With Extracts from Sir John Stanley's ' Prseterita.' Edited by Jane H. Adeane. (Long- mans & Co.)

' THE GIRLHOOD OF MARIA JOSEPHA HOLROYD, LADY STANLEY or ALDERLEY,' edited by her grand- child Jane H. Adeane, drew attention to a pleasant and attractive individuality. Three years after its appearance it has been followed by what may be regarded as a companion volume or supple- ment, which is in no respect inferior in value or interest. The daughter of John Baker Holroyd, the first Earl of Sheffield, the friend of Gibbon, Maria Josepha married, 11 October, 1796, John Thomas Stanley, of Alderley Park, Cheshire, who, on the death of his father, became Sir John Stanley, and was ultimately created the first Lord Stanley of Alderley. We know that she was a brunette, and, on the authority of Gibbon, that she was "an accomplished and elegant young woman" and "a pure diamond," with some asperities that might with advantage be softened. She appears to have been a loyal and, in the main, an excellent wife, who discharged worthily her duties, including those of niaternity, made her husband fairly happy, and assisted in his advancement. Her correspondence with her relatives and intimate associates is prin- cipally domestic, but furnishes occasional glimpses into a world of literature and art. Gibbon's name naturally presents itself in the course of the volume, and there are references also to Cowper, the poet, and Hannah More, who seems to have been regarded as a person of very great importance. Sidelight is

also thrown upon the stage upon Mrs. Nesbitt, Betty (the Infant Roscius), Mrs. Siddons, and Edmund Kean. Some of the opinions expressed are a little startling, but are useful, if only as a corrective for those who have listened to a chorus of unmixed eulogy. Here is a sufficiently pregnant paragraph, administering castigation all round, which we quote in full. It is dated 6 May, [1816] : " I was much disappointed with Miss O'Neill in ' The Grecian Daughter.' She wants expression of countenance sadly for such characters, and I remembered Mrs. Siddons too well in Fiddle- stick ! it was not Miss O'Neill, but Kean I have to talk about. Euphrasia's failings have been recorded : but it is ditto for him. Kemble acts and looks Penruddock in a much superior manner, and Kean's shocking voice and mean appearance are horrible defects, and the rest of the actors are so bad that altogether I was tired of the performance. Lucy was much interested in watching Lord Byron's countenance and envying the lady who sat next him every time he spoke to her, and the lady, whoever she was (not Lady B.), laughed a great deal and proved Conrad was not in a gloomy fit." It may help those unfamiliar with the stage in the time of the Georges to say that Euphrasia is the heroine of ' The Grecian Daughter ' and Penruddock the hero of ' The Wheel of Fortune, 3 a part played by Kemble three days previously, 3 May, 1816. Many pleasant references are made to Miss Cathe- rine Maria Fanshawe, the poetess. With regard to the famous enigma on the letter H, which was attributed to Lord Byron, and is quoted, p. 406, in this volume, we have the following explicit state- ment, setting the matter at rest: "Apropos of Venice and of my Lord Byron and of the letter H, I do give it under my hand and seal this 12th day of February, 1819, that to the best of my belief the enigma of the letter H was composed, not by the Right Honble. George Lord Byron, but by me [signed] Cath. Maria Fanshawe.'' An interesting conversation between Mr. Davenport and Napoleon Bonaparte at Elba is given pp. 347-53. An epigram on Napoleon, sent by Theresa Villiers, is amusing, but obvious : "Somebody wrote on an inri window ' Tutti questi Francesi sono Ladri, sono Ladri,' to which another person added underneath : ' Non tutti, lion tutti, Buona-parte, Buona-parte.' " A curious, if familiar light on manners in 1803 is furnished by Lady Stanley, who tells of a serious and dangerous fall of her husband. She continues : " A most severe headache followed next day, though he saved himself at dinner as much as possible. All his guests, however, were as drunk as ever I had the pleasure of seeing anybody." How the all is to be taken we know not. The guests, twenty- six in number, included Lord and Lady Bulkeley, Mr. and Mrs. Glegg, Mr. and Mrs. Atherton, Mr. Bell, the curate, and others. Lord Stanley's ' Prseterita,' as he called them half a century before Mr. Ruskin used the term are very read- able. A number of family portraits, admirably reproduced, add greatly to the attractions of a delightful volume.

By Moor and Fell : Landscapes and Lang-settle Lore from West Yorkshire. By Halliwell Sutcliffe. (Fisher Unwin.)

OF those West Riding dales which enshrine the upper waters of the Aire and the Wharf e Mr. Sutcliffe has constituted himself the historian and the painter. Among his qualifications for his self-