g> s. vm. DEC. 28, 1901.] NOTES AND QUERIES.
535
following his retirement in 1747, associated with all
that was best in French thought. One of the most
humane of men, he wrote to Voltaire after the
battle of Fontenoy, the close of which he witnessed,
a letter such as, said Voltaire, Madame de Se"vign6
might have written had she found herself similarly
situated. He derided French notions of glory based
on bloodshed, and he rebuked Voltaire himself for
the levity with which he treated religious subjects.
Yet he himself tried to impress on the little Duke
of Burgundy to love God and mistrust priests. Two
of his political mottoes which Mr. Rankin quotes
were, like many of his utterances, far in advance
of his time: "Pour mieux gouverner il faudroit
gouverner moins," and " Eh ! morbleu : laissons
faire," the latter with a good Rabelaisian ring.
The study of Richard " the Redeles " is interesting but inadequate, adding little to the knowledge we already possess of that unwise monarch. At a period when the literary "output" was less large than at present it might receive closer attention. Neither essay has an index.
Florentine Heraldry. By Howel Wills. (Dean &
Son.)
A RESIDENT during many years in Florence, the author of this work has set before himself the modest task of supplying "a supplement to the guide- books." It is, however, this and much more. It furnishes descriptions of the coats or arms to be found in the churches and private houses of Florence, with notes of the residences of the most distinguished families and their most illustrious members, and so appeals not only to the herald, but to all travellers interested in the life, historical and social, of the city. Ranking long as independent states, the great cities of Northern and Central Italy, Florence, Venice, Milan, Genoa, have all their separate heraldic usages. By confining himself to one state, and that, through its associations with Dante and Boccaccio, in some respects the most interesting of all, the writer has succeeded in bringing together a mass of information, and rendering his work not only a manual for the student of Italian heraldry, but also a com- panion volume to recent works concerning Dante. In addition to authorities old and new Gaspero Bombaci, the seventeenth-century historian, the ' Annuario della Nobiltk Italiana,' and the recently published ' Vocabolario Araldico' of the Count Guelfi Mr. Wills acknowledges his indebtedness to the ' Dante Dictionary ' of Mr. Toynbee, a work the authority and utility of which are not easily overpraised. While observing generally the heraldic rules that prevail in other countries, Italian heraldry is lax in observance just where English heraldry is most strict e.g., in such matters as placing meta upon metal or colour upon colour. The beginnings of Italian heraldry differ little from those in other countries, and though there are families which claim heraldic devices earlier than the twelfth century, not much satisfactory evidence concerning them is forthcoming. With such matters as the origin, totemistic or other, of heraldry Mr. Wills does not greatly concern himself He has, however, much that is interesting to tel us concerning the idea of an innate quality o: nobility dwelling in a man by right of descent, an idea derived from ancient Rome, and involving the full dominion of property and free birth from a free born house. An emancipated serf, however wealth} he might grow, could thus never become nobilis
The influences that worked to break down this "wall
of exclusiveness " deserve, however, to be closely
tudied. In the divisions of the shield, and in other
matters of the kind, heraldic customs in Italy con-
orm to those in more northern countries.
The second part of the work, giving the glossary )f principal terms, will be the most serviceable to he traveller, and is also the longest portion. Many )f the Italian words most of them, indeed are Known to the Italian student, though the special heraldic equivalent, as fascia=fess, is rarely given n dictionaries. Neither Dante nor Boccaccio occupies himself much with heraldry, though )ante in the * Paradise,' xyi., gives, through the mouth of his ancestor Cacciaguido, an account of some of the twelfth-century families. The book is
- o be commended to the intending traveller. Those
nterested in its subject will need no introduction.
The Oriental Club and Hanover Square. By Alex- ander F. Baillie, F.R.G.S. (Longmans & Co.)
Mr. Dasent's excellent * History of St. James's Square ' (see 8 th S. ix. 79), with which it is natural bo compare the present volume, consideration of the clubs is subordinated to that of illustrious resi- dents and historical associations. Mr. Baillie, on the other hand, occupies himself principally with the Oriental Club, and incidentally with Hanover Square and its neighbourhood. An opening chapter is devoted to questions such as the site of Tyburn (now being discussed in our columns), to the resi- dents in the square (one of the earliest of whom was Lord Cowper, sometime Lord High Chancellor), and to other matter of historical, antiquarian, and social interest. The remainder of the volume is occupied with the club itself, its foundation, its history (if such a term can be applied), its mem- bers, and its portraits. In appendices are supplied the original prospectus of the club, a catalogue of the pictures, and the committee and members of the staff, even to the upper servants for the coming year. The whole constitutes pleasant and readable gossip, and is not without value to the student of social development. It is edifying also, in a sense, and offers permanent interest. Owing to many causes not the least important of which is its situation, which, without being remote, is, as the writer owns, out of club- land the Oriental has had a large, perhaps the largest, experience of the changes which the last quarter or naif century has wrought in the constitu- tion of what are called old-fashioned clubs not directly associated with established institutions, such as the universities or the military, naval, or diplomatic services. It is a secret de Polichinelle, if it is a secret at all, that many of the best, and at one time the most popular, clubs in London tind a difficulty in keeping up the number and the status of their members. Into the cause of this state of affairs it is needless here to enter. The Oriental has had, however, to face exceptional difficulties. The East India Company, for the servants of which it was especially intended, ceased to exist. Before that time, in 1847, the East India United Service Club, in St. James's Square, irreverently known as " The Jungle," had been established, and offered a rivalry so direct and formidable that unavailing attempts were more than once made to amal- gamate the two, in order to save both. Emi- nently conservative at first, the Oriental relaxed gradually unavailing restrictions. Members were no longer confined to those who had served
