476
NOTES- AND QUERIES. [9 th s. VIIL DEC. 7, IDOL
ever, to talk about a " Sybil " (sic). ' Tchelkache,'
with which the number concludes, is a translation
from Maxinie Gorki and is inexpressibly grim and
terrible. The most remarkable article in the
Nineteenth Century is that by Mr. W. H. Mallock,
called 'A New Light on the Bacon-Shakespeare
Cypher.' We own to not having time to work out
the theory Mr. Mallock advances, or to comprehend
what is called the bi-literal cypher excogitated by
Bacon. No doubt this might be done by the
expenditure of a moderate amount of labour.
We cannot all of us do all things, however, and
in days when claims upon attention are so
numerous and so urgent, one is compelled to
limit one's interest. When we say, accordingly,
that what commends itself to Mr. Mallock, and
is declared to be " of pathetic and dignified
beauty," does not similarly impress us, we own
that our negative utterance is of little value or
interest. At the same time, we are Mailing to grant
that a mystery which so warmly commends itself
to a mind so logical as that of Mr. Mallock deserves
to be studied, even though the result, if we accept
the deduction, would be to beget a species of
infidelity, the result of which who shall foresee?
The mystery of Mary Stuart, on which Mr. Lang
has tried to throw light, would be pale and insig-
nificant indeed beside that of Shakespeare, Queen
Elizabeth, Bacon, and Margaret of Navarre. We
cannot avoid a little dubiety whether Mr. Mallock
is quite serious. A comparatively small portion of
the review is occupied with questions concerning
the war. In ' Marriage and Modern Civilization '
Mr. W. S. Lilly finds that Roman Catholic views as
to marriage and divorce are preferable to those
accepted by other ecclesiastical communities. Sir
Robert Anderson's views as to the way in which to
treat professional criminals commend themselves
to us, but we despair of seeing their adoption. Sir
Wemyss Reid has been in America, and his monthly
communication gains in interest from what he has
seen and heard. Mr. Justice Grantham's ' Plea for
the Circuit System' is a novelty in its way. Earl
Nelson's article on 'Back to the Land' may be read
in connexion with Mr. Trevelyan's ' The White
Peril.' Mr. John Coleman advocates ' A National
Theatre.' ' Sketches in a Northern Town,' Part II.,
'Child-Settlers for South Africa,' and other con-
tents repay perusal. Attention in the case of the
Pall Mall is almost monopolized by the article
of Mr. W. E. Henley on Robert Louis Stevenson,
simply headed ' R. L. S.' This has been the sub-
ject of attack or defence in nearly every literary
periodical. We will contribute nothing to a con-
troversy which concerns us not, but will only protest
against the growing habit of using initials for
persons or things. It is a time rather to make
names more precise. Everybody will know, per-
haps, who is intended by P. B. S. or E. B. B., but
surely M. F. T. is beginning to be forgotten, and we
do not wish under C. M. to be perplexed between
Christopher Marlowe and, say, Cosmo Monkhouse.
Under the heading 'A Literary Friendship' Mr.
William Sharp describes the sustained intimacy
between Mr. Swinburne and Mr. Theodore Watts-
Dunton. Col. Newnham Davis writes on 'Good
Form ' at school and university, in barracks, and
elsewhere. 'A Popular Illustrator' deals with
Steinlen. ' The Rebuilding of London,' with Lon-
don as it is, is capital. Mr. Sime's illustration
to 'Hey-diddle-diddle' is very comic. General
James Grant Wilson gives in the Oomhill
a most readable account of ' Thackeray in the
United States,' and, besides supplying many in-
teresting anecdotes, reproduces two water-colour
sketches of the novelist. Mr. Austin Dobson gives
in his ' Ombres Chinoises ' a characteristically good
picture of last-century life. An exceedingly in-
teresting paper on the ' Reading Public' is the joint
production of Mr. Andrew Lang and a working
man. The statements advanced are discouraging
enough, but a few genuine readers are to be found.
We can point to a working man who knows more
about the Tudor dramatists than ever a professor
at either or any university. Mrs. Henry Clarence
Paget describes a daring visit to ' The Ruby Mines
of Upper Burma.' A ' Londoner's Log-Book ' re-
mains very amusing, and ' The Tale of the Great
Mutiny ' is finished. In the Gentleman' 1 s M r.Brether-
ton scolds Defoe for his narrative of ' The Apparition
of Mrs. Veal.' Miss Amy Tasker answers in the
negative her inquiry ' Did Mary Stuart love Both-
well?' and raiher airily dismisses the Casket
Letters as forgeries. The questions concerning Mary
Stuart are not to be settled just yet. Surely the
Camille Domet mentioned in M. Maurice Daumart's
'Censorship of Plays in France' should be Camille
Doucet. Another article is on ' Marriage and Music
in China.' The most interesting paper in Longman's
is that by the Rev. John Vaughan on ' Some Additions
to our Native Flora,' showing what new plants have
spread from cultivation into wild growth and are
doing something to compensate for the destruction
of our native species. Miss C. Fell Smith writes on
' The Love Affairs of Frances Cromwell,' Miss
Dempster on the ' Letters of Lady Louisa Stewart
to Miss Louisa Clinton,' and George Paston on
' The Eighteenth-Century Felon.'
We must call special attention to the following
notices :
ON all communications must be written the name and address of the sender, not necessarily for pub- lication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
WE cannot undertake to answer queries privately.
To secure insertion of communications corre- spondents must observe the following rules. Let each note, query, or reply be written on a separate slip of paper, with the signature of the writer and such address as he wishes to appear. When answer- ing queries, or making notes with regard to previous entries in the paper, contributors are requested to put in parentheses, immediately after the exact heading, the series, volume, and page or pages to which they refer. Correspondents who repeat queries are requested to head the second com- munication " Duplicate."
DEVONIAN ('Pomeroy Family of Devon,' ante, p. 424). Send address. We have a letter for you.
CORRIGENDUM. P. 423, col. 2, 1. 2, for " Howard" read Havard.
NOTICE.
Editorial communications should be addressed to " The Editor of ' Notes and Queries'" Advertise- ments and Business Letters to "The Publisher" at the Office, Bream's Buildings, Chancery Lane, E.G.
We beg leave to state that we decline to return communications which, for any reason, we do not print ; and to this rule we can make no exception.
