Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 6.djvu/49

 9«>s. vi. JULY 14. i9oo.] NOTES AND QUERIES. whether a drama might ultimately be engendered dealing with man the master pi circumstance. Mr. Courtney finds involved in the idea of tragedy three elements, including popular pes- simism and melancholia. We have never ima- gined these to be inherent in Greek thought, though we are willing to grant that they are involved in most forms ot primitive worship. These things, Mr. Courtney holds, find artistic voice when the people become conscious of themselves and of an exalted national task. In the third element he rinds what is uncontested, "the clash of two powers —necessity without, freedom within." Very remu- nerative to the thoughtful reader is what is said about the irony of Sophocles and Thirlwall'a famous essay thereupon. In this so-called irony Mr. Court- ney finds no more than the modern device of not keeping secrets from your audience. No less note- worthy is the explanation of tatiafau;, or pur- gation, in Aristotle's definition of tragedy. Many other utterances claim attention or invite discussion had we space for either. In speaking of " purple pall" a weak—or, at least, an inferior—phrase is substituted for a fine original, " sceptred pall." The lectures supply in a condensed and an eminently readable form much sound and instructive scholar- ship. Gossiping Guide to Wales. Whole Edition. By Askew Roberts and Edward Woodall. 2 vols. (Simpkin, Marshall & Co.) THE two parts of this edition, called " The Tra- veller's Kdition," are wholly occupied with North ValesandAberystwyth. Theyconstituteapractical, convenient, and complete guide-book, full in infor- mation and scientific as well as "gossiping" in treatment. They are, moreover, of just the right shape, are profusely illustrated with views, maps, and plans, and form exactly the companion that should be chosen for a trip to one of the most picturesque portions of the United Kingdom. We are personally more familiar with South than with North Wales, but we have examined carefully these books, and are convinced of their excellence and utility. Almost the only thing we crave is a little more information as to the quality of the hotels. We know, of course, that hotels change their proprietors and their character, and the mention of them in a guide-book is apt to beget suspicion of favouritism or the like. It is, none the less, always satisfactory for the traveller to know that there is a chance of his finding com- fortable quarters. The binding of the volumes is both artistic and serviceable. Catalogue of Books in the Free Public. Library of the Corporation of Wiyaii. By H. T. Folkard, F.S.A. (Wigan, Platt.) WHIN we find some three hundred quarto pages devoted by Mr. Kolkard to the letter L in the Keference Department of the 1'ree Public Library of Wigan we begin to wonder what may be the total number of books in that institution, and are prepared to find it extending to hundreds of thousands. Investigation shows, however, the system of cataloguing to be so complete, that various articles in known compilations are in- dexed as separate works. Under ' Landor, Walter Savage,' we find thus a complete list of the things aijjwaring in the eight volumes of his works, together with books written concerning him, the hie by Mr, Leslie Stephen contributed to the 'Dictionary of National Biography' and that by Mr. Swinburne sent to the ' Encyclopaedia Britan- nica.' Under ' Lancaster,' ' Lancashire Law Lists,' ' Liverpool,' &c., a very large number of books are given which will doubtless appear under other headings. Rarely, indeed, do we see so thorough and comprehensive a piece of work. THB first four articles in the Fortniyhtly are all controversial and outside our scope. We will only so far discuss the first—by Mr. Edward Dicey, C.B., on 'The Policy of Peace'—as to ask what is the authority of the writer for describing as an Ame- ricanism the dictum " You have only to tickle the prairie with a hoe, and it smiles back with a harvest." We have always heard it, with a slight difference, ascribed to Douglas Jerrold. Mr. Beer- bohm Tree prints his lecture on ' The Staging of Shakespeare,' to which we had the pleasure ot listening when it was delivered a few weeks ago before the Oxford Union. Another dramatic paper of great value is that by Prof. Lewis Campbell, ' On Climax in Tragedy." There are, Prof. Campbell holds, five stages in an Attic tragedy, " correspond- ing roughly to the five acts of a Shakespearian tragedy. These are (1) the Opening; ('-) the Climax (or gradual ascent); (3) the Acme (or chief crisis): (4) the Sequel; (.">) the Close. " The catastrophe of a tragedy, he holds, " should properly signify the close of the action, which is compared to the ' turning down' of the end of a thread in weaving." Very much in this essay is well said ; but there are illustrations which are not wholly convincing. Under the title ' Concerning Hosts and Hostesses' Mr. T. H. S. Escott explains why, during the season, " so many political houses have been closed." Mr. W. L. Orman Cooper sends ' With Lancet and Rifle on the Beira Railway,' a description by a young surgeon, now dead, of strange and painful expe- riences in tropical Africa. In ' Poets as Legis- lators,' Mr. Albert D. Vandam deals severely with Chateaubriand, Lamartine, Victor Hugo, Deroulede, and others. Poets, however, though they are, as a rule, poor legislators, not seldom serve as pioneers of legislation.—Mr. Knowles, in the Nineteenth Century, appeals for members of a proposed association, wholly non-political, for the purpose of turning to account the lessons taught by the South African war. His opening list in- cludes Lord Rosebery, Viscount Peel, the Bishop of London, Cardinal Vaughan, and many other celebrities. Mr. M. H. Spielmanu writes on • The National Gallery in 1900.' His ]>aper is valuable from the historical standpoint, and still more so from that of suggestion. It is accompanied by a plan. Mr. Michael MacDonagh gives some pleasant gossip concerning what he elects to call In the Bye-ways [sic] of Rural Ireland.' "Bye- law," though now abandoned by the County Council, has the sanction of the railway com- panies, and, indeed, of Parliament; but "bye- ways " and " byepatha " are detestable innovations. Mrs. Barnett gives a painful account of ' Town Children in the Country.' We could parallel with many others the stories she tells. The Rev. Andrew A. W. Drew discourses on ' Hooliganism and Juvenile Crime.' Dr. Francis Gallon writes on 1 Identification Offices in India and Egypt,' which, it appears, deal with matters of much difficulty. Many identification offices are in existence in these two countries, and the result of their establish- ment has been to secure the escape of many un-