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NOTES AND QUERIES. P- s. vn. FEB. 9, 1901.

tion." This supremely valuable paper is an out- come of Dr. Smythe Palmer's favourite Babylonian studies, to which readers of *N. & Q.' are more indebted than most of them are aware. Under ' Our Absurd System of punishing Crime,' Mr. Robert Anderson, C.B., pleads for more severe punishment of habitual criminals, and condemns the hysterical pseudo - sentimentalism to which we are subject. Prof. Fleming shows, in a paper humiliating to an Englishman to read, what are the official obstructions to electric progress. In the Pall Mall the late Charles Yriarte deals with 'The Rise of the Romantic School in France.' This is naturally illustrated from the works of Geri- cault, Delacroix, Diaz, Rousseau, Couture, Corot, Daubigny, and other eminent painters. An account is given of 'The Order of "the Onions,'" which would now be called a log-rolling society, and such matters as the dress of the rapins are treated. Mr. George A. Wade gives a full description and his- tory of 10, Downing Street, a place the mention of which is apt to produce a tingling sensation in the cheeks of Englishmen. ' The Dress I female] of the Nineteenth Century ' is illustrated from photo- graphs by Mrs. Lallie Charles. Mr. A. G. Hales depicts 'The Life of a War Correspondent.' Mr. Quiller-Couch, writing on ' The Novel in the Nine- teenth Century,' is bright, as he is bound to be, but indulges in those frivolous comparisons between things essentially unlike which are a vice of modern criticism. Mr. Alfred Kinnear, in 'The Ways of the World,' is amusing. 'Lawful Plea- sures ' is the title Mr. George M. Smith gives, in the Cornhill, to the legal trials he has undergone in his long experience of management or proprietorship of various periodicals. He has been singularly fortunate. We remember being present by sub- po2na at more than one of the legal cases he describes, and feel that the result in one case, at least, would have 'been different had not the conduct of the defence grossly and griev- ously miscarried. In none of the cases was Mr. Smith personally responsible for any offence. Sir Herbert Maxwell edits the second part of ' More Light on St. Helena,' by Miss Dorothy Mansel Pleydell. The present instalment is pleasanter reading than was the previous. Mrs. Richmond Ritchie continues her ' Blackstick Papers.' A vigorous and stirring account, by the Rev. W. H. Jbitchett, of 'The Great Mutiny' is occupied with the revolt at Delhi. ' On the Plea- sures of Texture,' by Mr. Oscar Eve, is occupied with the pleasures of touch. We can scarcely agree with the writer in his conclusion that " the employment of the touch sense as a means of artistic pleasure" involves in its pursuit no expense, but should hold, on the contrary, that indulgence in it is one of the costliest of enjoyments. Much that is of immediate and vital interest is involved in other papers, with which we may not deal. The contents of Scribntr'a are few, but important. 4 Russia of To-day : Central Asia,' is finished. It ends with a gratifying, if rather unexpected, tribute to the civilizing influence in Asia exercised by that power. That most picturesque of existing French mediieval cities, Carcassonne, is considered and someadmirable illustrations offered of a place which better than almost any other, preserves for us the features of feudal Europe. ' Punishment and Re- venge in China' deals satisfactorily with one of the most terrible proofs of man's inherent cruelty ' The Stage Reminiscences of Mrs. Gilbert' do not con-

cern us, but are of great general interest. The number is excellent, but reaches us too late for further comment. In the Gentleman's Mr. Clifford Cordley writes on ' Shakespeare's Dogs,' Miss Georgiana Hill on 'Diplomatic Etiquette in the Seventeenth Century,' Mr. H. M. Sanders on 'The Plays of John Ford,' and Mr. Keeton on Rubinstein. ' The Revolt of the Sisters,' by Camilla Jebb, presents the struggles of the nuns at Port Royal. ' Tales of the Mist ' consists of narratives of dangers and escapes on the Cumberland and Westmoreland hills. Madame de Stael is the sub- ject, in Longman's, of No. V. of Mr. Tallen tyre's 'Women of the Salons.' A vivacious account is given of this remarkable woman, so characteristic of her epoch, whose chance of recovering the position she once occupied depends upon a revival. Mr. John Isabell gives a very interesting and curious account of ' Fishes and their Ways.' In ' At the Sign of the Ship ' Mr. Lang deals briefly with Dr. Irazer's 'Golden Bough,' a subject he treats more fully in the Fortnightly. He also breaks out into narrative, and tells afresh the eminently melodramatic story of 'The Minister of Spot,' which should surely furnish some hints to a dramatist.

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5',?' ?A ("Disraeli").-' The Earl of Beacons- field, by 1 roude (seventh edition, Sampson Low), is probably as good as anything extant, but, of course, the real intimate biography is not yet published, though in the hands of Lord Rowton. We know of no edition of Disraeli's letters. NEMO.

Great is the crime in man or woman Who steals the goose from off the common ; But who shall plead that man's excuse Who steals the common from the goose ? Authorship unknown. See 7 th S. vii. 98 ; 8 th S. x.

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