Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 6.djvu/436

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360


NOTES AND QUERIES. in s. vi. NOV. 2, 1912.


with unusual charm and rapidity. ' A Projectec Jacobite Invasion,' by Mr. Hussey- Walsh, is a valuable resume of the projected French invasioi of 1745, an affair concerning the details of which comparatively little has been made clear, adequate original material not being easily accessible ' Spinoza ' has in Mr. Kaufmann an able anc sympathetic interpreter, and Mr. W. 8. Lilly'; paper on ' Fouche",' while it does not palliate th< atrocities in that extraordinary career, shows up what there is of a finer side to it clearly enough to make the portrait live.

The Edinburgh Review for October also contains an article on Mr. Harris's recent biography of Sandwich, and applies to it detailed and somewhal severe criticism both as to the treatmen t of facts and as to the literary workmanship, which the critic of The Quarterly -Review found praiseworthy. We were somewhat disappointed in Mr. Walter De la Mare's ' Current Literature,' which consists of a string of rather obvious remarks attached to the names of more than a dozen volumes of this year's literary history and criticism. Mr. Hinks's 'Sir William Herschel' is a pleasantly written and satisfactory piece of work, whose raison d'etre is, of course, the recent publication of Herschel's scientific papers, and whose aim is the promotion of that study of cosmical astronomy in which Herschel's work still remains supreme. Mr. Victor G. Plarr gives us the first instalment of a series of some twenty letters written by Scott to Joanna Baillie which have hitherto escaped pub- lication. Those before us showing all Scott's kindliness and eagerness in the cause of a friend are for the most part concerned with Joanna Baillie's 'Family Legend.' Mr. Hugh S. Elliot writes a paper which should prove of practical utility on ' Secret Remedies,' and Mr. Cyril Jack- son's 'Apprenticeship and the Training of the Workman' should also attract the attention of those who are actively interested in public welfare. Mr. Harry Graham in 'The First of the Fenians' does, one may think, full justice to the complexity and charm of the character of Wolfe Tone. Mr. Sidney Low, at the close of a lucid and vigorous if somewhat lengthy explication of what he con- ceives to be Mr. Balfour's position in philosophy, considers that the critical portion of Mr. Balfour's work is of genuine importance such that it must needs be reckoned with in any estimate of the intellectual life of England during the past few decades.

POLITICS and the Balkan War shoulder literature a little aside in this month's Fortnightly Review. Mr. Herbert Vivian's little article on Montenegro, peppery though it is, may be mentioned as taking a point of view of more permanent interest than most. Mr. Ellis's paper on 'George Meredith's Childhood ' is an example of what may be called a literary etiquette that is spreading more and more widely. So carefully must every circumstance con- nected with a great man be treasured that, when nothing in the least interesting is known about a given period in his career, it has become necessary tediously to demonstrate the negative at length. ' Une Rencontre au Salon,' by Mr. George Moore, carries one along expectantly, but, we confess, dis- appointed our expectations. The point it makes could have been better made without so much paraphernalia. Mr. John Drinkwater's poem, ' In


Lady Street,' has sweetness and grace even though it is not perfectly convincing. Mr. Beresford Chan- cellor on ' The Guildhall ' is instructive and enter- taining, and all readers of 'N. & Q.' must feel grateful to him for again setting the treasures of old London before the public mind. ' The Romance of the Sale-Room,' by Mr. Raymond Blathwayt, is another paper which should interest the curious. It deals with Sotheby's, and gives abundant de- tails of the interesting things which have passed through the hands of that famous firm ; but we could wish some parts of the article had been written less in the style of a commercial advertise- ment. The number winds up with the beginning of a story by Mr. St. John Lucas, which has all his wonted liveliness, good-humour, and charm of style, and promises well.

THE outstanding article in the new number of The Cornhill Magazine is decidedly ' Andrew Lang and "X," a Working-Man,' contributed by "X" himself. It gives extracts from Lang's letters to the writer, showing with what generosity and tact Lang applied himself to help a fellow lover of literature in untoward circumstances. The letters may well be the more treasured because a note by the Editor informs us that Mrs. Lang is anxious that no letters of her husband's should be pub- lished, and these have only appeared because her wishes were made known too late to withdraw them. We trust that, since they tell nothing of the more intimate side of the writer's life, Mrs. Lang will forgive his admirers for reading and prizing them. Mr. A. C. Benson can always make a pleasant causerie with an old house For topic, and does so here on Somerton Castle. Major MacMunn can hardly be called successful in lis attempt to persuade us that to his many high qualities Sir Alfred Lyall added ability to write poetry. Mr. William Watson's poem ' Dublin Bay ' s a tolerable essay in rhyming worked about an undistinguished idea. Mr. Marmaduke Pickthall's is the best of the stories a grimly humorous tale of Oriental life called 'His Honour's Pleasure.' VI r. Hesketh Prichard's ' Capercaillie ' is not only nteresting from the sportsman's point of view, but delightful to read as a series of nature pictures a striking example being the description of three cock-caper rising in sudden flight against a frosty Norwegian sunset, all the better because on that iccasion the gun was not called into play.


to


WE beg leave to state that we decline to return Jommunications which, for any reason, we do not >rint, and to this rule we can make no exception.

EDITORIAL communications should be addressed

a "The Editor of ' Notes and Queries'" Adver-

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ishers " at the Office, Bream's Buildings, Chancery

Lane, E.G.

RICHARD BAGOT ("Our Lady of Hate"). At 5 S. ix. 8, 138, will be found quotations referring o Souvestre's ' Derniers Bretons,' in which it is lleged that this " cult " existed in Brittany. leference to Brittany will also be found at 5 S. 7\. 249.

A. C. C. and J. C. H. Forwarded.