220
NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. xn. SEPT. n, im
founded to extend the idea. Mrs. Barran asks if
England could not follow suit. The rest of the
articles are mainly concerned with politics, though
4 The Story of Halley's Comet,' by Mr. E. V.
Heward, may interest the general reader.
IN The Fortnightly Mr. J. L. Garvin continues his able summary of ' Imperial and Foreign Affairs.' Mr. P. V. Rao, an aged Hindu, explains ' Why I am not a Christian,' and Dr. Fairbairn replies in
- Why I am a Christian.' In technical knowledge
of theology the latter easily wins, but it does not seem to us that he has faced at least one main point satisfactorily. Such discussions are, however, be- yond our scope. ' The Master Hoaxer, James de la Cloche,' by Mr. Andrew Lang, revives interest in a supposed son of Charles II. With the aid of Monsignor Barnes, Mr. Lang has altogether dis- credited this James as an arrant humbug who forged letters from the English king. ' From the Dead or the Living,' by Mr. Frank Podmore, is a very striking account of automatic correspondence and suggestion as carried on by Mrs. Piper, Mrs. Verrall, and Mrs. Holland. It is notorious that those who have left behind sealed letters and de- clared their intention of communicating after death the contents to some of their circle have so far failed in doing so, if, indeed, they can be fairly said to have attempted it. But the supernormal enters remarkably into the coincidences laid before us by Mr. Podmore. He points out that "no random association of ideas could work with such mechanical precision as to move three persons, in Cambridge, London, and India respectively, to write on the same day of light in the East and West, or to play on successive days with variations on the theme of death." The distances involved prevent the theory of collusion, which in any case no person acquainted with the parties can think of. In 'Darwinism and Polities' Mr. Sidney Low corrects Mr. Iwan- Mtiller's views on the subject, which were sufficiently vague and biased to call for some recti- fication. Mr. Low writes admirably, as usual. Mr. Norman Pearson makes an entertaining article out of * Some Neglected Aspects of Horace Walpole ' ; but no real student of that ingenious and de- lightful writer supposes that he was a mere fribble. Leslie Stephen's article alone in 'Hours in a Library ' is sufficient to disprove it.
IN The, Cornhill Col. Algernon Durand has an account of ' Tiger-Shooting in Central India,' which is not devoid of excitement. It seems to us that the modern sportsman takes very few risks for himself, and is too eager to "make a record." ' The Strange Patient,' by Mr. Perceval Gibbon, is a striking short story, in which suggestion is well used. Mr. Kenneth Bell has another of his able and illuminating articles on 'Architecture in English History.' The late J. E. Vincent, an admirable writer, looks back on 'Winchester College in the Seventies' in a mood of candour and affection which is very taking. Mr. Marcus Dimsdale in his ' English Village Names ' deals skilfully with the suggestions of beauty and dullness conveyed by a host of varying names. He has selected admirably for the most part the romance of the subject, though, of course, his paper could be easily enlarged. He does npt know well, we gather, all the places he names, or else his pen runs wild. We should add to his list Lostwithiel and Marazion, Dancer's End in Buckinghamshire, and Great Snoring in Norfolk, a name happier than any dramatist's invention.
Novelists have of late been making place-names
into persons, arid we recall, for instance, two Mr.
Wendovers and a Mr. Rudgwick. Mr. Bernard
Capes has an admirable article on ' Clipping the
Currency,' a protest against the restless haste of
to-day which does not allow us even time to speak
our own language, so that we must say " Padge "
and "bike."
THE editorial article in The Burlington Magazine is entitled ' The Racial Aspect of Collecting,' and deals faithfully with the conditions of present life, which are so discouraging to the artist. England and the United States are, it is pointed out, falling behind in the matter of tasteful collecting, which is practised to a growing extent in Germany. ' The Symbolism of Indian Sculpture and Painting,' by Mr. E. B. Ha veil, opens up a large subject in a very interesting way. India and Egypt in their early ideal types are said to support tight-lacing in men as well as women. The present feminine ideal is not so much for the wasp-waist, apparently, for the last demand for beauty on the stage advertised a waist of 30 inches as one of the conditions. Mr. Tavenor - Perry writes on 'The Campanili of St. Peter's, Rome,' and there are excellent illus- trations of beautiful work in the shape of some Kentish chests and furniture by Ducerceau. ' Art in Germany ' deserves notice, for it deals with the results of the secession of Berlin.
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THE HAKIM ("Charles I.'s execution on 30 Jan., 1648"). This was the date under the Old Style. See articles at 8 S. v. 385 ; vi. 256 ; x. 275, 365. '
A. H. S. ("Over-sea Visitors to London "). Out- side our province.
J. J. C. Forwarded.
