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NOTES AND QUERIES. [io 8. XL MAR. 6, 1000.
NOTES ON BOOKS, &o.
Studies in English Official Historical Documents. By Hubert Hall, F.S.A. (Cambridge, Uni- versity Press.) Formula Book of Diplomatic Documents. Edited
by the same. (Same publishers.) THESE two books, which represent the work of years, are the product of a pioneer in Diplomatics, a necessarily unpopular subject, in which the author has done invaluable service as a teacher and inspirer of research. In the eighteenth century so open-minded and adventurous a spirit as Johnson was responsible for a remark about useless folios of State Papers which would never be read. The nineteenth century has opened up to us whole stores of official sources for history and social life, and it is the right way to study these sources and their value which Mr. Hall lays before us.
The first volume opens with the general question of documents in archives, their relative value, neg- lect and use by historians. The history, classifica- tion, and analysis of archives are there considered; and a ' Bibliography of English Official Historical Documents ' follows, dealing largely with the Public Record Office, where Mr. Hall has worked for years. Part II. of the book treats of ' The Diplomatic of Official Historical Documents,' and Part III. of ' The PaLeography.' This last section offers some very interesting conclusions concerning mediaeval and later official writing.
We do not find Mr. Hall always easy to read. He is generally lucid, it is true, but he seems to us to adopt rather a full style an honorific style we may perhaps term it, in which various ex- pressions take on an unnecessary amplitude of words. But in view of the importance of his work, which undoubtedly deserves the praise due to filling a " hiatus valde deflendus," its appearance is very welcome. It opens up a whole world of research to a world which to judge from the publications of the day needs shaming into a juster idea of what is worth printing. Even those who have no special interest in records ought to read the book Avith admiration of its grasp and knowledge, while those who are fired with zeal for first-hand evi- dence may learn with advantage what they may and may not expect to find. The ideas on such subjects even of tolerable scholars are apt to be very vague.
The ' Formula Book ' is an admirable and practical Appendix to the ' Studies.' It presents various types of official instruments in a connected series, the text being fortified by a diplomatic description of their purport, provenance, and bibliographical relations. The work is due to a Seminar of the London School of Economics under Mr. Hall's direction, and embodies the best-known class of official instruments. It is interesting to note that the seven students who have transcribed the texts are all women, a fact which nowadays should cause no surprise. Those who are at all interested in advanced history will recall the first-rate record work of Mary Bateson. Of the 211 documents here laid before us, the first two deal with Suabred of Essex (704) and ' Offa of Mercia ' (779), the final ones being a Cartel for Prisoners of War (1800) and Lieutenant's
(R.N.) Passing Certificate. The editor's notes
require some knowledge of the subject to
be thoroughly appreciated, but on the whole
successfully combine brevity and adequacy.
Points of human as apart from expert interest are not forgotten. Thus as regards No. 10, ' Grant, of Lands to the King's Thegn and hia Heirs ' (947), it is noted that " a glacial curse " is laid on infringers of the arrangement by " Eadredus, rex Anglorum," and this comment follows :
" It has been suggested (by Sir F. Pollock) that this formula was invented by a dictator, who had been impressed with th^ terrors of the dangerous passage of the Alps, which have been so graphic- ally described by William of Malmesbury ('Gesta Pont.,' p. 26 ; cf. Stubbs, ' Oxford Lectures,' p. 128)."
The Navy Lieutenant seems to deserve his certificate, for it states that he " can splice, knot, reefe a saile, work a ship in sailing, keep reckoning of a ship's way by plaine sailing or Mercator,. observe by sun or star, find the variacion of ye compass, shift his tydes, and is qualified to do the duty of an able seaman and midshipman." This formula includes a phrase now in popular usage which has recently been discussed in our columns.
We offer Mr. Hall our warm congratulations on these solid fruits of a work which he has carried on with whole-hearted zeal. How urgent is the need for such work a glance at his intro- ductory article to the ' Studies ' will show.
SIR A. CONAN DOYLE'S blank verse, ' Shake- speare's Expostulation,' concerning the Baconians,, opens The Cornhill for March. It is not impres- sive as verse, and contains no new points. 'Pope and the Modern Woman,' by Mr. G. J. St. Loe Strachey, a lecture delivered in London, has no novelty either, dealing, in fact, with some of Pope's most familiar lines. ' The Pulling of the Strings ' is a capital story of a postman by M. E. Francis. Mr. Seccombe has some well-instructed ' Rejections on the Poe Centenary,' and E. C. Dauncey a bright ' Impression of Mr. Taft.' ' Charles Darwin : a Centenary Sketch,' by Mr. Leonard Huxley, is a very pleasant account by one who stayed at Down in childhood. Mr. Sidney Lee writes on ' Charlotte Bronte in London,' especially with regard to his friend Mr. George Smith, of the publishing firm to which we owe The Cornhill, the ' Dictionary of National Bio- graphy,' and other good things. He says that Smith stood for the portrait of Dr. John in ' Villctte,' and his mother for Mrs. Bretton. We cannot approve of the Bronte habit of putting recognizable portraits of friends and acquaintances into books, and Mr. Lee's half defence of the prac- tice is not convincing.
IN The Fortnightly Dr. A. R. Wallace has an excellent article on ' The World of Life, as Visualized and Interpreted by Darwinism.' Tolstoy's ' The Law of Force and the Law of Love ' gives his usual advice to everybody, and is not very satisfactory^ in its a.nalysis of causes. Mr. R. Lawson has an interesting article on ' The Psychology of Acting,' and Mr. Charles Bright an elaborate paper on ' Imperial Telegraphy at a Popular Tariff,' in which he throws cold water on the suggestions of Mr. Henniker Heaton. Mr. J. N. Raphael's appreciation of Coquelin is vivid, and good reading, like all his journalistic work. Mrs. Belloc Lowndes- concludes the number with
