Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 6.djvu/504

 420 NOTES AND QUERIES. [v» s. VL NOV. 24,1900. and had the signs of being intended for oral delivery been removed. They show, however, a wide know- ledge, and may be perused with pleasure and gain. Much Ado about Nothing ; Antony and Cleopatra ; CorManns. Introductions and Notes by John Dennis. Illustrations by Byam Shaw. (Bell & Sons.) THREK volumes more have been added to the "Chiswick Shakespeare" of Messrs. Bell & Sons, which must now number some fifteen or more plays. To the merits, artistic and literary, of this ideal pocket edition we have drawn frequent attention. The new volumes are, of course, in all respects equal to the old. There is the same im- peccable text, the same helpful notes, and the game suggestive and impressionist designs. At the period now at hand the "Chiswick Shakespeare" should commend itself as an ideal gift-book. The illus- trations to 'Antony and Cleopatra' are specially attractive. ' MOROCCO PAST AND PRESENT,' in the Quarterly Revimn for October, is a sound and thoughtful paper on a kingdom perhaps less known to the modern Englishman than any other state in the world, if we except certain parts of Borneo. The few who have explored it give accounts which greatly vary in de- tail, but all agree that its present condition is cruel and barbarous. Though the inhabitants are devout Moslem, the moral teaching of the Koran seems to have very little influence on their lives. The writer suggests that the cruelty of those who have the power to be so is shocking to the European con- science, and his rapid sketch of past times shows that it has been so almost from the beginning of the kingdom. Of the Moorish corsairs and the Christians whom they reduced to slavery he gives a heartrending picture, and draws attention to the devotion of those monastic orders which worked so nobly for the relief of their sufferings. Venice and Holland paid a yearly tribute that these detest- able ruffians should spare their people. England did much the same thing, though, so far as wo remember, there was no hard-and-fast bargain. Collections were made in the churches on behalf of the Christian slaves in Morocco. The sums given we have often met with in churchwardens' accounts and parish registers. "In 1725 Thomas Betton, a Turkey merchant, loft a large sum to the Ironmongers' Company for the redemption of British slaves"; and it will hardly be believed that at least a cen- tury after this payments were made from his fund. The paper on ' Longinus and the Treatise on the Sublime' shows a very wide knowledge not only of the special subject on which it treats, but of Greek literature in general. Who really produced the work has long been a subject of controversy. The present writer believes that it was written by the author to whom it is commonly attributed—that is, Longinus tho Palmyrene. ' Early Scottish History' merits careful study. It is by some one who must have long worked independently on the subject. Here and there we may differ from his conclusions, but we are constrained to say that, on the whole, he possesses a wide outlook, and, what is even more important, clear vision—qualities by no means so common as they ought to have been in some who have undertaken to interpret the complex affairs of the Northern kingdom. New knowledge of an important kind is given in ' Malaria and the Mos- quito.' We call it new because we feel assured that many of the facts here given have hitherto remained unknown except to a few experts. Evi- dence is now before us which we think amounts to demonstration that malaria — including, we need not say, the English ague—is communicated to man solely by the bite of gnats. The history is as won- derful as any tale in folk-lore, and indicates a method by which we may hope to stamp out, or at least to mitigate greatly, a disease which is here spoken of as one of the most deadly sicknesses from which the human race suffers. ' English Patriotic Poetry' is hardly worth a place in the Quarterly. Our great patriotic poems are well known, and surely, even in war time, it. is hardly worth while to reprint extracts from the trash of which so many dull wits have delivered themselves during the last twelvemonth. That such things should be preserved in our great libraries is obvious; but it is by no means so clear that there is a necessity to draw immediate attention to them. Tho papers on ' Elizabethan Sport' and ' Charles Lamb' are pleasant reading, out by no means striking or original. WITH much regret we chronicle the loss of Florence, the elder daughter of Mr. Edward Pea- cock, who was born 11 January, 1855, and died 17 November. Her keen interest and knowledge in antiquarian matters and folk-lore—which might fairly be described as her birthright—have often been exhibited to the advantage of our readers in reviews as well as notes. Sorry are we that a connexion which we had hoped would last for many years has been thus abruptly severed. Mr. Peacock, whose loss we are in a position rightly to estimate, has our full sympathy. fjtaiim la We must call special attention to the following notices :— ON all communications must be written the name and address of the sender, not necessarily for pub- lication, but as a guarantee of good faith. WE cannot undertake to answer queries privately. To secure insertion of communications corre- spondents must observe the following rules. Let each note, query, or reply be written on a separate slip of paper, with the signature of the writer and such address as he wishes to appear. When answer- ing queries, or making notes with regard to previous entries in the paper, contributors are requested to put in parentheses, immediately after the exact heading, the series, volume, and page or pages to which they refer. Correspondents who repeat queries are requested to head the second com- munication " Duplicate." H. G. K. H.—You ought to read the rules, and give the references at the head of your reply. CORRIGENDA.—P. 366, col. 1,1. 28, for "sigge" and " is " read sr-je and iz. NOTICE. Editorial Communications should be addressed to " The Editor of ' Notes and Queries' "—Advertise- ments and Business Letters to "The Publisher"— at the Office, Bream's Buildings, Chancery Lane, E.G. We beg leave to state that we decline to return communications which, for any reason, we do not print; and to this rule we can make no exception.