Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 10.djvu/220

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. x. AUG. 29,


remonstrance as none but he could ever have com- riianded. We took a few, and left him. In a week or two, if I am not much mistaken, the remaining copies were sold at a guinea; I have since as I dare say you have seen copies offered for still more absurd prices. I have kept my pennyworth (the tidiest copy of the lot), and have it still."

The Edinburgh Review. July. (Longmans & Co.)

  • HYMNOLOGY, CLASSIC AND ROMANTIC,' is an excel-

lent paper. During the last century several collections of mediaeval Latin hymns were com- piled, but, as was to be expected, they have not obtained the attention of the general reader. Kim ing Latin verse does not win appreciation in this country. It should also be remembered that Missals, or indeed church service books of any sort, are not the only places where such verses occur. We do not think the grand hymn in honour of Charlemagne beginning

Urbs Aquensis, urbs regalis, in which the great emperor is invoked as

rex, mundi triumphator,

Jesu Christi conregnator,

Sis pro nobis exorator,

Sancte pater Karole,

though it is in several modern collections, is to be found in the approved service books. At the end of Rishanger's ' Chronicle ' (published by the Camden Society) occurs a hymn to Simon de Montfort, who was popularly regarded as a saint. These verses are, we may be sure, outside Church authority, but of great interest. Much more might have been said with advantage of these mediaeval hymns, though all we have is excel- lent. The hymns of more recent days are also very well treated. Protestant hymns differ widely from those of the Middle Ages, not only because they are of a later type, but also because the individual- istic element enters into them much more fully. Religious poetry of every degree of merit was not uncommon in England from the Reformation down- wards, but the hymn, properly so called, was rare before the time of Dr. Watts, many of whose hymns are still regarded as classic, and we think it highly probable that Charles Wesley was stimulated by them to write those pieces which have found their way into many modern hymn-books. The writer dwells also on the hymns of the Moravian Brethren, which seem to have little relation to those that went before them, and never to have had much influence beyond the members of their own body.

The paper on Liverpool shows how a few houses, little more than huts, were the origin of one of the greatest of the world's seaports. When the Domes- day survey was made, Liverpool was a hamlet in the hundred of West Derby. The Fitzwarrens seem to have been the first who held it in post- Norman times. In the reign of King John, Henry Fitzwarren handed it over to the King, who created it aborough, and invited settlers to establish themselves in his new port. Such was the beginning of the city's commercial life. Throughout the Middle Ages the families of Molyneux, Ferrers, and Stanley bore sway there. The Stanleys had what was called the Liverpool Tower, while the fortress of the Ferrers wag dignified by the name of castle. Neither of these interesting buildings now exists, both being unhappily swept away in the early years of the last century. The history of Liver- pool is, however, for most of its inhabitants,


mainly commercial. They have a right to be proud of their sailors. They were a class of men who remind us of the sea-dogs of Elizabeth's days. Their virtues and vices were much the same as those of their predecessors. Of this class William Hutchinson was the hero. It is perhaps no ex- aggeration to call him the master privateer of England during the Seven Years' War. The plunder he brought home was immense.

' Port Royal ' is a paper conspicuous for its fair- ness. This is commendable, for there linger even yet in the minds of some the unhappy remains of old prejudices.

  • The Question of Life on Mars ' is not the less

valuable because no decision is forthcoming. Even- tually we may know all, but the time has not yet arrived. We are in agreement with those who hold it to be extremely probabl* that there is no animal life on Mars, and that, if there be, it is widely different from that on our own planet.

FREDERIC NORGATE. Mr. Norgate died on the 10th inst. in his ninetieth year. The Times in an obituary notice on the 13th said : " Mr. Norgate for many years made a special study of the bibliography of Caxton's press, and contributed to The Library of 1889 two long and important papers under the title of ' Caxtoniana,'in which he made considerable additions to the bibliography of the subject as com-

Eiled by the late William Blades, obtaining most of is facts from an exhaustive examination of the old auction sale catalogues. Of these latter he also made a special study, contributing to The Library of 1891 two excellent articles in the form of alpha- betical lists of the sales respectively held at Sotheby's and at Evans's. He also wrote much on recondite matters for Notes and Queries." Several contributions will be found under his name in the General Index to the Ninth Series.


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, nor can we advise correspondents as to the value of old books and other objects or as to the means of disposing of them.

T. HOLMES (" Christening a Vessel with Wine "). See 9 S. i. 317, 373.

JAPANESE ("'Maru' in name of Japanese Vessels "). See the articles by MR. JAMES TLATT and MR. KUMAGUSU MINAKATA at 10 S. vii. 318 ; viii. 131, 376.

M. L. R. BRESLAR (" Thomas Poole of Nether

Stowey "). There is an account of him in the

D.N.B.,' vol. xlvi. For fuller information see

Thomas Poole and his Friends,' by Mrs. Henry

Sandford, 2 vols., 1888.

NOTICE.

Editorial communications should be addressed to "The Editor of 'Notes and Queries ' "Adver- tisements and Business Letters t9 "The Pub- lishers "at the Office, Bream's Buildings, Chancery Lane, E.C.