20
NOTES AND QUERIES. [9 s. v. J AN . 6 , im
the Modern Stage,' by Sidney Lee. The chief aim
of the contribution is to protest against the
idea that Shakespeare in representation is to
be sacrificed to pageantry. Lovers of Shake-
speare should urge simplicity in the production
of his plays. The instance is advanced of the
splendid series of revivals undertaken by Phelps
and Greenwood at Sadler's Wells. If modern
managers would be content with scenic accessories
that are adequate and illuminatory instead of
burdensome, they might give three or four plays
where now they give one. No one is better entitled
to be heard than Mr. Lee, and it is to be hoped
that the seed he sows will not fall on desert ground.
Under the title, which we scarcely like, of 'The
Prince of Journalists,' Mr. Herbert Paul has an
excellent article on Swift, with most of the conclu-
sions of which we agree. In common, however,
with most modern writers, Mr. Paul overpraises
the style of Swift, which, admirable as it is in
lucidity perhaps the best of gifts and in sim-
plicity, has "the defects of its qualities," and is
open to attack. This, we know, is an unpopular
view. With the remaining praise and the general
estimate of Swift we concur, and we recall
no modern apophthegm so exquisite as Swift's
" The reason wny so few marriages are happy is
because young ladies spend their time in making
nets, not in making cages." Supposing the curious
ghost-story of Nathaniel Hawthorne to be, as it
professes to be, true, that admirable writer was
the most unutterable donkey that ever drew
breath. Mr. J. Cuthbert Hadden has a valuable
paper on * The Tinkering of Hymns.' We agree
with every word that he says in condemnation of
such processes, but think that in most cases he is
far too indulgent. In this review, also, Dr. St.
George Mivart is issuing a challenge to the Roman
Catholic Church, the result of which we want to
see. * The Jews in France,' ' The Common Mule,'
'Climate and Atmosphere,' and 'Can Sen-
tences be Standardized ?' are all worth reading.
The frontispiece to the Pall Mall is a tine repro-
duction of Holbein's ' Anne of Cleves,' the illustra-
tions generally being of high merit. Mr. William
Archer concludes his account of 'The American
Stage,' which is regarded in a favourable light.
A good description is furnished of the younger
American dramatists, with whom we are beginning
to form an acquaintance. In the second part of
'Lotteries, Luck, Chance, and Gambling Systems'
Mr. J. Holt Schooling establishes to his own satis-
faction that there is such a thing as luck. On the
whole, though we pretend to no special knowledge,
his statistics impress us less favourably than do his
reproductions of the quaint designs of our ancestors
intended to beguile people into the purchase of
lottery tickets. 'Morocco, the Imperial City,'
by Mr. F. G. Aflalo, tells us little that is new,
but has some capital sketches of spots of in-
terest. ' Military Heroes at Westminster,' by Mr.
Murray Smith, of which the first part appears,
appeals strongly to us at the present moment.
' Elizabethan London,' by the Bishop of London,
with which the new volume of the Cornhill begins,
is a lecture delivered a couple of months ago at the
Queen's Hall before the London Reform Union.
It gives many particulars with which the average
student of past London is likely to be unfamiliar,
and draws together many proofs of the mistrust
with which Londoners regarded foreigners* Lady
Broome's 'Natal Memories' have painful interest
when read by the light of to-day. Urbanus Sylvan
deals whimsically, but flippantly with Dr. Dowden,
Dr. Gosse, and other modern critics or writers
One is surprised to find him speaking of the
1671 edition of 'Paradise Regained ' and 'Samson
Agomstes as a "large and well-printed octavo."
Mr. Stephen Gwynn gives a study of Sir Charles
^ a P ie r- -there are som e amusing 'Humours of
Irish Life, and an unappetizing account of 'A
Boer Interior. The Poetry of Windmills,' which
appears in lempleBar, expresses sentiments we have
often felt. Next to a ship a windmill is to us one
of the most fascinating of human inventions. The
author holds that "it is sacrilege to approach them
too nearly. She holds that Cervantes saw aright
when Don Quixote entered into conflict with them
as giants. k On the Banks of the Dove ' is a fantasy
concerning Walton and Cotton. 'A Calculating
" Philosopher "' deals with Babbage, the sanguine
inventor of the calculating machine, and next to
John Leech the most distinguished victim of street
noises. ' Sir Anthony Van Dyck ' may be read with
pleasure. Much of the fiction is excellent. Not
much of a dilemma to a collector is that in which
in the Gentleman's the hero of 'A Bookman's
Dilemma ' finds himself. It is, however, amusing
to hear of a Kilmarnock Burns and a first
Walton's ' Angler ' being sold all but uncatalogued
m a country sale. Mr. Walters describes ' French
London in 1793,' the London of priestly and aris-
tocratic refugees. Miss Lily Wolffsohn depicts
'Low Life in Naples as Pictured by Nea-
politans,' and Mr. Percy Fitzgerald describes a
residence of two days in Walcheren Island. In
Longman's Mr. Lang, 'At the Sign of the Ship,'
expresses a not too favourable estimate of the
" Man in the Street," and gives an amusing account
of his sufferings from notoriety - hunters. Mr.
H. G. Hutchinson, in ' A First Essay in Dreams,'
speaks of flying as a common experience in dream-
ing. Our own observation is that it is not flying of
which we dream, but a sort of levitation, with some-
times a consciousness of danger. 'Kauri Gum'
and ' Summer in the Forest ' are both readable.
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