280
NOTES AND QUERIES. [9 th s. xii. OCT. 3, 1903.
to fathom their significance. Men of learning hav
said, we are told, that the cabala of the Bible
deserves more study than it has received. It has
also, Mr. Begley says, " been dismissed almosi
universally as the vainest and most unproductive
of literary follies. A portion of Mr. Begley's
belief is that the earliest Christianity was an
initiation, and that the " acceptance of the womar
virgin, wife, and widow on almost equal terms
to the rites and ceremonies and religious privileges
of the new religion had more to do with the rapic
progress and final triumph of early Christianity
than is generally supposed." Those who see in the
Bible " cryptic statement of an esoteric character '
will find their way to a work the significance of
which soars to regions beyond our reach.
The Silent Trade. By J. Hamilton Grierson.
(Edinburgh, Green & Sons.) UNDKK the title 'The Silent Trade' ("Stammer Handel) Mr. Grierson has supplied a short, but important contribution to our knowledge of primi tive custom. In certain districts of the four quarters of the world it has been the custom at times for the merchant to deposit wares, and, coming back, find placed opposite them by unseen hands the money which is proffered for them. A practice of the kind is described by Hero- dotus, though the parties were not necessarily unseen of each other. Mr. Grierson advances the legend of Wayland Smith, as narrated in ' Kenil- worth,' as furnishing the instance of this kind of traffic likely to be most familiar to Englishmen. We might point out, however, that in the case of the plague a somewhat similar state of affairs was presented at a much later period, the villagers placing in a given position, sometimes on a stone, eggs and other country produce, and coming after these were removed to take the money ot those whom they might have seen, but with whom, for fear of contagion, they had no other communi- cation. In earlier times and in remote countries, however, the hands by which the goods were removed were unseen. Paulus Jovius says that the Lapps "fiye the syght and companie of all merchantes" with whom they traded. On this subject, which has not before been fully treated, Mr. Grierson writes an admirable book, dealing with many curious matters connected with forms of primitive social organization, acquisition of pro- perty, the position of women, the force of tribal customs, &c. Among the tribes south of the Yukon river a man, in his desire to obtain a reputation for liberality, will beggar himself, giving away the accumulations of years without looking for a return. Certain tribes regard every stranger as an enemy, a thing not wholly unknown a couple of generations ago in remote portions of Britain. At a more dis- tant date superstitions prevailed in this country not unlike those which made the Yahgans kill shipwrecked crews. The book deserves to be closely studied, and is full of matters of interest to our readers.
The Poem* of Anne, Canute.** of \Viiwhil*ta. By Myra Reynolds. (Chicago, University Press.) ' A.MOM; the decennial publications of the Chicago University a place of honour may be accorded the fine edition of the poems of the Countess of Win- chilsea given to the world by Miss Myra Reynolds In herself the fair " Ardelia" as Anne Kinsmill' by marriage Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea'
was wont to call herself is less interesting than
her surroundings. In more than one respect she
resembles the great Duchess of Newcastle, especially
in her provision that none of her sublime ideas
should be lost, and in her readiness so talk about
herself ; but is neither so romantic a figure as her
predecessor nor so good a poetess. Some of the
fairy poems of the duchess are worthy of being
associated with those of Mennis, if not with those
of Drayton or Herrick. ' The Spleen,' however, by
which Lady Winchilsea is best known, is dull and
uninspired, and she begets in the present day
little more than curiosity. Her observation of
natural phenomena seems to have commended her
to Wordsworth. She describes herself as the victim
to melancholy, and, though she tries a thousand
arts to banish her discontent, she seems, like
Wither, to have found her only consolation in
poetry. Among the works reprinted is a tragedy,
' Aristomenes ; or, the Royal Shepherd, 5 never
acted, and founded, say Baker, Reed, and Jones,
on Lacedaemonian history. This, still after the
example of the Duchess of Newcastle, she dedicates,
in a rimed prologue, to her husband. Another play,
now first published, is ' The Triumphs of Love and
Innocence.' This Miss Reynolds assumes to be the
play which she read to Pope after inviting him to
dinner, and sending him home, as he writes, " in
great disorder, with sickness at my head and
stomach." An introduction to the book, extending
over a hundred and thirty odd pages, supplies an
admirable account of the life at Eastwell and of
the relations of Lady Winchilsea with Pope and
Gay. This constitutes the chief attraction of the
book, and gives it a claim to serious recognition.
Jo Mr. Gosse, who calls the author his "beloved
Anne Finch,' 3 is due the recovery of the poems now
first printed. These, before coming into his hands,
remained for one hundred and forty years in the
possession of the Creyk or Creake family, a member
of which was vicar of Eastwell from 1742 to 1745.
gatittt ia &0m*$onltmt*.
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