82
NOTES AND QUERIES. [9* s. IIL Fm *,
the new edition of Chalmers's * Biographical
Dictionary ' is announced, 32 vols. 8vo.
' Morte d' Arthur,' reprinted from Caxton's edition of 1485, "with an introduction and notes by Robert Southey, Esq., price 81. 8s.," is announced in July. The stirring times of 1817 are brought to view in the ' Political Record.' We have the account of the attack on the Prince Regent on his way to open the Houses of Parliament; the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act; the trial of Mr. T. J. Wooler, of the Black Dwarf, for libelling Lord Castlereagh and Mr. Canning ; also the
Thistlewood, Hooper, and Preston should not
be proceeded with) ; mention is made of the
coinage of sovereigns in place of the old
guineas ; the crossing of the Irish Channel
in a balloon ; the report from St. Helena that
Bonaparte is in good health and looking well
"less bloated than ordinary" but com-
plaining much of Sir Hudson Lowe and of his
being detained a prisoner, for which he knows
no law; and that Russia is cultivating
peace with all her neighbours and making
extensive reductions of her army, but still
with an eye to the Dardanelles. We have
the Pacha of Egypt preparing to dispute the
sovereignty of that province with the Otto-
man Porte. We are also informed that the
Paris census, taken in June, shows that the
population exceeds 860,000, being 20,000 more
than that of London ; and it is recorded
that Dr. Esquirql has read a paper to the
Academy on a kind of mental derangement
to which he gives a new term, "hallucina-
tion." A presentation to the Duke of
Wellington of plate of the value of
200,000/. by the Prince Regent of Por-
tugal is also noticed, as is the first survey
of the wreck of the R-oyal George by means
of the diving bell. Even a fire at Bankside
is reported, at which, the water being low
in the Thames, a tank of lime water was
emptied into the engines, and it was remarked
that the material thus wetted did not again
take fire. It is also announced that the
medals of the Royal Society have been pre-
sented to Sir Humphry Davy, and that a
Committee of the House of Commons reports
that steam engines of some construction may
be applied with perfect safety, even to pas-
senger vessels. In Germany animal magnet-
ism is in favour as a remedy for disease. All
these, and many other things, are recorded in
the ' Chronicle of Events.' Many of the ages
among the deaths are indeed startling, six-
teen during the six months being stated as over
one hundred years, one being given at 130,
and another at 117 ; but this was before the
careful investigations of Mr. Dilke, Mr.
Thorns, and Sir Cornewall Lewis. Those
who seek for information as to the founding
and progress of Blackwoods will find full
details given in Mrs. Oliphant's ' William
Blackwood and his Sons'; in the notices of
William and John Blackwood, ' Dictionary of
National Biography 5 (vol. y.) ; the memoir
of Christopher North, by his daughter Mrs.
Gordon ; the obituary notice of William
Blackwood, by Lockhart, in the Magazine for
October, 1834; or in Curwen's 'History of
Booksellers.' Christopher North, in the
'Noctes ' (vol. iii. p. 70), said that "my chief,
if not sole object in writing for 'Maga' is the
diffusion of knowledge, virtue, and happiness
all over the world." If a like spirit be main-
tained, we may expect " Maga " to live to add
another "M." to its title-page ; and in such a
hope we may join heartily in the toast " To
' Maga': her history is a glorious one. Long
may she flourish, and may she ever be true
to her old traditions !"
JOHN C. FKANCIS.
UNWRITTEN HISTORY.
DOES any one take the modern picture-
book magazine seriously? The Quarterly
Review noticed an "article" on the Shake-
speare-Bacon "controversy" in the Christ-
mas " extra " of a popular monthly for
1897. In the 1898 Christmas number of the
same periodical there is a contribution which
merits similar treatment. A writer has been
hunting up the traditions of our fights with
France, and displays his results, in the latest
fashion, on a pair of flags. England, we find,
has won thirty-two battles on land Crecy,
Poictiers, Agincourt, Crevant, Roverai,
Namur, Malaga, Blenheim, Ramillies, Ouden-
arde, Almanza, Malplaquet, Dettingen, Min-
den, Quebec, Acre, Vimiera, Corunna, Tala-
vera, Busaco, Barossa, Fuentes d'Onoro,
Albuera, Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajos, Sala-
manca, Madrid, Vittoria, Orthes, Toulouse,
Quatre Bras, and Waterloo ; and twenty on
sea Daunne, Dover, Channel, Sluys, Har-
fleur, North Foreland, La Hogue, Lagos,
Quiberon Bay, Finisterre, Grenada, Ushant,
L'Orient, St. Vincent, Nile, Alexandria, San
Domingo, Dominica, Basque Roads, and
Trafalgar. France has won nine on land
Bruges, Bou vines, Beauje, Verneuil, Landen
Steenkirk. Fontenoy, Bergen-op-Zoom, and
Duquesne ; and six on sea Beachy Head
St. Dennis, Minorca, Boulogne, La Rochelle
and Lakes.
