118
NOTES AND QUERIES. [io< s. m. F M . n, 1905.
power. Christian leagues were .indeed formec
against the Turks. How half-hearted and diplo
matic to use no word of stronger condemnation
these were, is shown by Dr. Moritz Brosch, who
writes the chapter on ' The Height of the Ottoman
Power.' What is most obvious, and also mosi
expected, in the volume is the proof furnished how
inextricably interwoven are political and dynastic
ambitions with theological differences. Whether
we are dealing with the strife in France between
Huguenot and Leaguer, the contests of which
Mary, Queen of Scots, was the perpetual centre, or
the " spiritual ardour of the Catholic reaction,'
with which the volume is largely concerned, the
truth is equally manifest. Of the writers who took
part in the previous volume, and whose names
appear in the present, the most conspicuous i
Mr. Stanley Leathes, one of the editors, who remains
a constant and valuable support. Other contributors
include the late Samuel Rawson Gardiner, Dr.
Sidney Lee, the Master of Peterhouse, Major Martin
Hume, and Prof. J. K. Laughton. Among the
articles of most interest are those on the literary
aspects of epochs. Such are Mr. Tilley's chapter
on 'French Humanism and Montaigne,' which
includes compendious notices of the ' Pleiade ' and of
French poets generally to Malherbe, together with
a very short account of the ' Satyre Menippee ' ;
' The Elizabethan Age of English Literature,' by
Dr. Sidney Lee, whose contribution is all too brief,
but whose verdicts are fortunately accessible else-
where ; and Mr. A. J. Butler's ' Close of the Italian
Renaissance.' With these may be associated the
Rev. Neville Figgis's ' Political Thought in the Six-
teenth Century.' The account by the late Thomas
(j raves Law, sometime Librarian of the Signet
Library, Edinburgh, of Mary Stewart, as he elects to
call the Queen of Scots, is interesting in spite of its
brevity. Of the period between Mary's marriage
to Bothwell and her surrender after crossing the
Splway a good account is given, the despair and
disgust of the Catholic powers being vividly painted.
An excellent description of the Casket Letters emits
no very distinct utterance concerning their genuine-
ness, but declares them to have had no effect upon
international politics. If genuine they would show
Mary as something "far worse than an ill used wife
conniving at the murder of a worthless husband
who threatened to be her ruin." Prof. Laughton's
account of the Elizabethan naval war with Spain is
equally vigorous and striking. It shovys, however,
how vacillating was the policy of Elizabeth. To
Medina Sidonia is attributed the disastrous to the
Spaniards result of the first encounter of the two
fleets on 21 July, the fighting on which day "gave
the key-note to all that followed." From the charge
of niggardliness in the supply of powder, frequently
brought against her, Elizabeth is defended. The
allowance had been great beyond precedent, but so
also was the expenditure. Another error that is
dispelled is that England was saved from a very
great danger by the providential interference of
storms. Full credit is allowed by Dr. Sidney Lee to
the patriotic action of the Roman Catholics in the
chapter on the closing years of Elizabeth. Of the
queen it is said that "her political creed, even
more avowedly than that of her father, brother,
and sister, was the creed of despotism." Here we
draw breath. It is obviously impossible to do
justice to, or indeed give the slightest account of.
the various interesting and important chapters
which constitute the volume. No pretence is made
to supply an account of one of the most important
volumes of the series. In every case in which we
have tested the accounts we have found them
condensed and lucid. All that we miss are the
illustrative pictures of historical characters for
which the scheme, with its limitations, seems
hardly to provide space.
A Guide to the Best Historical Novels and Tales
By Jonathan Nield. (Elkin Ma thews.) How welcome and useful is Mr. Nield's guide to the best historical novels is proven by the fact that the work, which first saw the light in May, 190 has already been twice reissued. So much has been added to it since its appearance that the third edition is almost twice the size of the first. In the second edition were introduced eminently desirable features, including perhaps the most indispensable of all complete indexes to authors and titles ; while the third constitutes in some respects a new book. Detailed descriptions, with special references to localities and personages have been substituted for vague generalitfes ; original dates of publication have been supplied ; novels of special value have been indicated ; a new arrangement, in three columns, of the separate items has been made ; and various modifications and alterations have been accomplished. Thus rear- ranged, and in part reconstituted, the book is not only a valuable work of reference, but, what it claims to be. a pleasant and an edifying guide to the lover and the student of historical fiction. Our own attention was drawn to it in connexion with a recent suggestion in our columns that, in connexion with the centenary of the Battle of Trafalgar, a list of the tales connected with Nelson should be pub- lished. Such a list as was pointed out already existed in Mr. Nield's work, which will hence- forward be always at our elbow. Our own leisure if the use of such a word is not ironical has not been largely occupied with the perusal of fiction. With the great works of Scott, Thackeray, Balzac, Defoe, Dumas, Hugo, Flaubert, and others we are, of course, familiar, and we have distant recollections- of Cooper, Ainsworth, Lytton, and James, and others more recent of Stevenson. Such knowledge as we possess fails, however, to suggest an omission, except it be a novel of Leatham's, the name and subject of which we alike forget. How far fiction is to be trusted as a basis of historical information we know not. It must, however, be conceded that
- he historical views of most of us concerning the
Wars of the Roses and other epochs are coloured by the Chronicle-plays of Shakespeare, which, for the sake of the argument, may be treated as novels ;: t is known that ' Quentin Durward ' has been employed as a text-book in French Lycees ; it is
- lt that the light cast by works such as ' The
loister and the Hearth ' and ' Esmond ' is clearer than can be obtained from history, and that a work such, even, as 'La Chartreuse de Parme ' deserves the- recognition it has won. We are delighted to have made acquaintance with Mr. Nield's valuable book, and are content to think we shall have it at hand' or future suggestion and reference.
At Shakespeare's Shrine : a Poetical Antholor/v. Edited by Chas. F. Forshaw, LL.D. (Stock.) OT the first attempt is this of Dr. Forshaw to ollect rimed homages to Shakespeare. It is, how- - ver, the most elaborate and the most ambitious. evious works of the class, including Dr. Ingleby's-
