120
NOTES AND QUERIES. [9" 8. v. FEB. 10, 1900.
it all, that we wish his article had been longer.
The leisurely, witty, and fashionable life of the
eighteenth century is becoming quite popular in
latter-day literature, and is, it must be admitted,
of considerable interest to us, if only by contrast
with the hurry of to-day. 'A Glass of Fashion' is
concerned with " Gilly " Williams, one of Walpole's
and Selwyn's friends. The Cornhill enters on the
same period with a notice of the splendid ' Syco-
phant of the Last Century' who ultimately became
Lord Melcombe. Mr. A. I. Shand writes trenchantly
on him, and it really seems time for somebody to
give him the usual modern benefit of " whitewash-
ing" which has been applied to Judas, Tiberius,
and others. The Rev. H. C. Beeching, taking up
a controversy begun in the Athenceum, defends
Walton's ' Life of Donne.' We agree with him that
Walton has been unduly depreciated as a trades-
man, and wish that educated men now wrote as
well as he did in his day. The article is important,
and should be read by all Donne lovers, a numerous
class, we hope. Mr. Lang writes as brightly as
ever on the authorship of the ballad of ' Lord
Bateman,' concluding that it is a degraded Volks-
lied. The occasional weakness of the rimes is an
indication of this. The admirable and humorous
moving tale of South Africa, a region which he
knew thoroughly, it may be well to add, before the
war began. 'Manners and Customs of Yesterday
and To-day' dwells, rightly, on the difference
between the modern servant and his counterpart
in older days. People are nowadays less courteous
than they used to be ; but is it not because our
women have changed as well as our men? We
have seen a woman^s child saved by a passenger on
a 'bus from falling down all the steps, and all he
got was a grunt from the mother ! And the weak-
ness which much of this courtesy implies is scouted
by members of the fair sex, who now go unattended
everywhere. 'At a Free State Toll-Bar' will com-
mand attention at the present date. ' Humours of
an Irish Country-Town' is attractive, and claims
this merit for the distressful country, that it occu-
pies much rain which would otherwise be at work
in England. It may be so ; but it seems to us that
we get quite a sufficient instalment. Cricketers, or
rather bowlers, would not, however, mind a little
more moisture ; it would certainly not prevent
cricket from being the national game, as Mr. Ensor
suggests. It might reduce the rage for mere batting
averages, and that would be all for the better.
The frontispiece to the Pall Mall consists of an
excellent reproduction of Albert Moore's picture
'Yellow Marguerites.' Lady Fairlie-Cunrnngham
gives a good account of ' St. John's Gate, Clerken-
well,' a spot little known of the West-End public,
but full of pleasant memories and associations to
the antiquary, the explorer, and the treader in the
steps of past celebrities. Mr. Raymond Blathwayt
has an article 'Concerning Portraiture,' with many
striking illustrations by Mr. Mortimer Menpes.
Mr. E. T. Murray Smith continues his 'Military
Heroes at Westminster Abbey,' and Mr. J. Holt
Schooling his interesting account of 'Lotteries,
Luck, Chance, and Gambling Systems.' Many of
the illustrations to this are very odd. The general
contents are, as was to be expected, tinged with
war influences, but are well selected and agreeably
varied. To the Gentleman'x Mr. James T. Foard
contributes a notable article on ' The Joint
Authorship of Christopher Marlowe and William
Shakespeare,' in which the author shows a closer
connexion than is generally assumed between
the two greatest of Elizabethan dramatists. Mr.
John T. Curry has a thoughtful and important
paper on his favourite subject, ' Robert Burton and
his "Anatomy of Melancholy."' Mr. Norley Chester
writes on ' Historical Influences of the " Divine
Comedy." 'In Longman's Mr. Andrew Lang in
'At the Sign of the Ship' shows himself at his
best in dealing with Poe and his biographer Rufus
W. Griswold. He then turns to Mr. Hutchinson,
upon whose views as to dreams he comments. On
this subject, as, indeed, on most others, he is both
interesting and edifying. Mrs. Lang writes on 'Two
Centuries of American Women.' 'Humours of
Organ-Blowers' opens up new ground. Scribner>
is an interesting number, well illustrated as
usual. "Ik Marvel," a pleasing portrait of whom
forms the preface, seems to live in an attractive
home from the account given. Mr. Meredith has a
poem in much less elaborate language than usual on
the manoeuvres of a spider. The able account
of Oliver Cromwell is continued. Chopin is the
subject of some rather impalpable rhapsodical prose.
Here and elsewhere we note words like "chroma-
ticize" and "devitalize," which we do not care
about at all, but the school of Nietzsche is apt to
find ordinary English unequal for its exposition.
Mr. Barrie's ' Tommy and Grizel ' is clearly going
to be notable, and there are some excellent short
stories. ' The First Stage of the Boer War ' is
treated by an able correspondent now on the
Modder.
|t0tJes to (&0xu%$ott'bttti%
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