Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 9.djvu/32

 NOTES AND QUERIES. [9 th s. ix. JAN. 11, im

the arch-rebel is embedded in ice, suffering terribly, and incidentally inflicting hideous torture on others. Judas Iscariot, Brutus, and Cassius are crushed in his triple jaws, while the incessant flapping of his wings raises the blast which congeals Cocytus, where lie the traitors :

Con sei occhi piangeva, e per tre menti Gocciava '1 pianto e sangumosa bava.

' Inferno, xxxiv.

Lucifer's mental agony is too profound to admit of his rejoicing over those whom he has led to their doom (and note that Dante punishes the Titans as enemies of Jehovah). Singing of the Egyptian plagues, Asaph says (Psalm Ixxviii. 49) that Jehovah "sent evil angels among them " (immissiones per angelos malos). It is not clear to my mind whether these are ministers of Divine wrath, as St. Michael, or malignant spirits allowed to work their pleasure on Pharaoh and his subjects. In the Apocalypse commissions of dire severity are assigned to celestial beings. I do not know whether this point has been satisfactorily dealt with, but it seems re- pulsive that a being whose set purpose is "evil, be thou my good," and who seeks to pervert and wreck the lives of men, should be regarded as their remorseless tormentor hereafter. The assumption is clearly implied in the juron of the French king, which has its expression in most languages. The question of bargaining with Satan for tem- porary advantage, as in the case of Marlowe's and Goethe's hero, I do not discuss.

FRANCIS P. MARCHANT.

Brixton Hill.

THE JUBILEE OF THE 'LEISURE HOUR,'

(Concluded from p. 4-) MR. WILLIAM CHAMBERS had formed high expectations as to the success of the Journal, but these were far exceeded. In a few days there was, for Scotland, the unprecedented sale of thirty thousand copies. An agency was established in London, and the circula- tion rose to fifty thousand, which in after years increased to eighty thousand. It has been the custom of the Journal from time to time to take its readers into its confi- dence and to give articles on its progress Mr. Robert Cochrane has called my atten- tion to these. On January 19th, 1895, 'Some Notable Beginners mChambers's Journal' men tions that on July 7th, 1849, George Meredith'; first contribution, ' Chillianwallah,' appeared This memorializes the bloody fight which took place at the village of that name in the Punjab during the second Sikh war, on the 13th of January, 1849. Mr. Payn also contri-

buted his first novel, 'The Family Scape- grace.' He was editor from 1858 to 1871.

On November 6th, 1897, another contribu- .ion to the history of the Journal was made, and again on the 17th of November, 1900.

Its contributors have included, among many other well - known names, Robert William Jamieson, the father of " Dr. Jim," who contributed 'Who Wrote Shakespeare?' August 7th, 1852 ; Mr. Stanley J. Weyman on Oxford life ; Thomas Hardy, ' How I built myself a House,' March 18th, 1865 ; Dr. A. Conan Doyle, whose first short story appeared in 1879, 'The Mystery of Sasassa Valley,' a South African story ; Mr. D. Christie Murray; Sir Wemyss Reid ; and Mr. Leslie Stephen.

Dr. A. K. H. Boyd was wont to say that "the Journal was read in Scotland by .very body who read anything at all." There can be no doubt that its early success was largely due to the fact that at that time the price of newspapers was usually sevenpence, owing to the heavy stamp and advertisement duties ; Chambers s Journal, being free from these exactions, sold at three- halfpence, and in point of size was nearly as large as a newspaper. But while the publications of the Chamberses were free from the stamp arid advertisement taxes, they had to bear a heavy burden in the shape of the paper duty ; and when my father founded the Press Association for its abolition the three brothers William, Robert, and David took an active part in the movement until repeal was secured. On the occasion of the presentation made to my father on the 19th of January, 1863, to commemorate his services in pro- moting the repeal of the taxes upon literature and the Press, Mr. David Chambers stated that during the twenty years previous to the tax being abolished it had cost the firm 160,0002., while on their "Tracts for the People" alone they paid 10,OOOJ. These had to be abandoned on account of the heavy duty 7.

It is pleasing to know that all the useful publications issued by the firm are pro- spering. The new edition of 'Chambers's Encyclopaedia ' is selling well ; the first large impression of 'Chambers's Twentieth Cen- tury Dictionary,' edited by the Rev. T. Davidson, is almost exhausted ; and the new edition of the 'Cyclopedia of Literature,' edited by D. Patrick, LL.D., the first volume of which has just been published, has met with a good reception. The present editor of the Journal is Mr. Charles E. S. Chambers, grandson to its distinguished founder.

John Cassell came into the field of cheap 1 the Working Man's Friend and Family In-
 * literature much later than the Chamberses,