20
NOTES AND QUERIES.
. XL JAN. 3, UK.
disappointment, in spite of constant successes and
brilliant achievements, as remind us of the conduct
and luck of those unhappy spirits who, throughout
the Middle Ages, were continually spending super-
human strength in building in a night inaccessible
bridges and uninhabitable castles, or purchasing
with untold treasures souls that might have been
had for nothing." Little in Clarendon or Gibbon
is better than the account of Henry II. It is un-
fortunately forbidden us to quote further, but our
readers will be wise to turn again to these passages,
pp. 92-3. The controversion, p. 168, of the views
of Sir F. Palgrave should be restudied, as should the
expression, p. 181, concerningthe effect of the Norman
Conquest in introducing England into the family of
European nations. Very striking is the picture,
p. 316, of the first Richard, and the comparison
which follows between Richard and Saladin is
admirable. In the account of the historical collec-
tions of Walter of Coventry the character supplied
of King John cannot fail to arrest attention. It is
the best account we possess of that vilest of Angevin
kings, and disposes summarily and finally of the
heresies that have been heard concerning that
monarch's reputed statesmanship. Few contri-
butions to historical knowledge are more important
or more welcome than this volume, which fills up
what is virtually a gap in our knowledge.
A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage, the Privy Council, Knightage, and Gompanionage. By Sir Bernard Burke, C.B. Edited by Ashworth P. Burke. (Harrison & Sons.)
AMONG the works of reference for the year 1903 the place of honour is once more assigned to Burke's 'Peerage,' a book the authority of which is some- times challenged without being much disparaged, and the popularity and utility of which remain virtually unassailed. The present is announced as the sixty-fifth edition. As will readily be believed, the bestowal of honours in a year so crowded with events of historic dignity and importance as that just past involves numerous changes in the annals of titled families. Rewards for distinguished service in connexion with the victories both of war %nd peace have been liberally accorded, and the volume which chronicles these will have signal and enduring interest. We mark personally in the list of those who have died during the year many close and constant friends, including one or two such as Sir George F. Duckett, whose title is extinct. Such consolation as can be reaped is found in the fact that the list of new-created honours is almost equally full. "Burke" complains that the succession to baronetcies is often a matter of much difficulty to determine, and suggests, in order to purge the order of the usurpers of styles and titles for which there is no warrant, an official roll of baronets, to contain the names of those who have proved their right to the satisfaction of the law officers of the Crown and, in complex cases, before a judge of the High Court. The foundation of two new orders the Order of Merit and the Imperial Service Order, the latter open to both sexes is reported. In the lists that are given almost every phase of public life and every kind of success which the country delights to honour are, as the editor asserts, represented. Once more Mr. Ashworth Burke counts among those who have assisted him Garter, Ulster, Lyon, and all the officers of the Heralds' College, London. In addition to other
claims, then, which genealogists and antiquaries are
used to recognize, the work has all the sanction
which authority can confer. As to the changes
which have been wrought in cases such as that of
the earldom of Perth and Melfort the former of
which passes to Viscount Strathallan, while the
latter becomes extinct or dormant the reader
must be referred to the book itself. So far as we
are aware, no other country possesses a guide at
once so full, so picturesque, and so trustworthy as
this to its aristocracy and ennobled classes. The
miscellaneous information for which we have been
accustomed to look at the close of the volume is
to be found in its place. For over two generations
the conduct of "Burke" has been in admirably
competent hands.
The Englishwoman's Year-Book and Directory, 1903.
Edited by Emily Janes. (A. C. Black.) THE editor of ' The Englishwoman's Year-Book ' claims that the work, which now appears for the twenty-third year and the fifth year of the new issue, covers ground occupied by no other book. She has been assisted in different sections by many recognized female authorities, and the compilation gives the best idea obtainable of women's work and interests. It supplies much curious information which may be looked for in vain elsewhere.
THE Library Journal, which is issued by the American Library Association, contains information of practical utility to every one occupied in pro- viding England with public book-rooms ; and the Publishers' Weekly, which is the American book- trade journal, may be consulted for information relating to the literature now appearing in the United States.
to
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H. ("Poem by Swinburne"). 'The Triumph of Time,' ' Poems and Ballads,' stanzas xli.-xliii. pp. 52-3.
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