460
NOTES AND QUERIES. to* s. ix. JUNE 7, 1002.
but was "apt to write it as a good classical scholar
writes Latin prose." We quote these opinions as
Mr. Paul's, and reserve our judgment as to their
truth and justice. No one else having under-
taken the defence of Thackeray against the
attack of Mr. Frewen Lord, Mrs. Leche enters the
field and vindicates the novelist from the charge
that he loves to portray only the ludicrous and the
discreditable, instancing, as any defender was bound
to do, Henry Esmond, Col. Newcome, J. J., and
the Warrington brothers. Thackeray is credited
with "a lofty ideal of public duty, 3 ' a "chivalrous
enthusiasm for patriotism and self-devotion," and
" an almost passionate appreciation of heroism,
fortitude, and tenacity of purpose." Capt. L. Oppen-
heim gives a terribly realistic and striking picture
of ' The Fight at Roival' and the recapture of lost
guns and pompoms. Mr. E. S. Hope describes
- Some Bygone Coronation Progresses. Mr. Laird
Clowes deals with the tempestuous career of Admiral Edward V ernon, generally known as " Old Grog." Mr. Archibald Little praises the Chinese drama. Under the title * The New Agriculture' Mr. W. IS. Harwood gives in Scribner's a highly interest- ing account of the work carried on at the fifty-six stations attached to or connected with the agri- cultural colleges of the United States. To the support of these the Government appropriates 15,000 dollars annually, an example we might do well to follow. Thanks to the work of these colleges, millions of acres supposed to be desert will be compelled to yield food for human or other consumption. One result of their labour appears to be that the spectre of the desolation which has hitherto followed the failure of the wheat crop seems to be laid for ever. Problems of irrigation, a subject in which India and Australia are deeply concerned, are among the subjects studied. ' The Camera in a Country Lane' gives pleasant pictures of wild flowers and other natural objects. In * The Gulf Stream Myth and the Anticyclone ' Mr. Watts says that " the Gulf Stream as an ocean current has no more influence on the climate of Western Europe than the weather-vane has on the winds that turn it." The establishment of the myth was greatly due to the ' Physical Geography of the Sea ' of Lieut. Maury. At present the anticyclone is the bene- factor. How long it will remain so some may see. The Pall Mall Magazine is largely occupied with matter relevant to the approaching Coronation. Among articles dealing with this are one on ' The Crown as a Symbol,' by the Duke of Argyll ; a second on ' The Coronation,' by Lord Esher ; a third on 'India and the Coronation,' &c. Sir H. Max- well Lyte has an interesting and well-illustrated account of Domesday Book. A notable paper is that of Mr. Ian Malcolm, M.P., on ' The Maharajah of Jaipur,' one of the most illustrious of our guests, and his vast dominions. Mr. William Archer inter- views Mr. George Alexander on the conditions of theatrical art and management and on the need for a subventioned theatre. On the latter point the two dialogists are not wholly in accord. ' Domestic Service in the Middle Ages' has some excellent illustrations from the Bayeux tapestry and other sources. ' The Hidden Secrets of Creation,' by Mr. Marcus Reed, fosters the idea that flowers feel. Mr. Sidney Low writes in the Gornhill on ' The Plethora of Poets.' His purpose is largely satirical, and he holds up to ridicule very much of what by the writers them- selves is qualified as poetry. In vain has the lesson been preached that mediocrity in poetry is not to
be tolerated. Miss Elizabeth Lee deals with the
German drama of to-day, and makes the statement
that " not the hardest and most prosaic facts of
every-day life, not all the misery of all the world,
can crush the romance that lurks in every German
heart." 'A Londoner's Log-Book' is concluded,
and we are sorry for it. Prof. H. C. Beeching in
- Alaric Watts and Wordsworth ' gives some mar-
vellous instances of inane criticism by the former upon the latter. * In the Editorial Chair ' describes some aspects of the life of the editor of a daily paper. The fiction generally is excellent. A notice in the Gentleman's of the recent life of Napoleon by Mr. Rose, reviewed in our columns, is eulogistic, but bears a title which may be regarded as pre- sumptuous. The title is ' Napoleon : The Last Word.' Most surely the last word concerning Napoleon has not been spoken, and will not soon be given to the world. ' The Romance of Genealogy,' by Mr. Dominick Browne, shows the pleasure of pedigree tracing. In his paper ' On the Education of the Upper Classes in France and England' Mr. Yorke holds that neither country has any manifest superiority over the other. 'A Forgotten Art Critic' describes the infamous John Williams, or Anthony Pasquin. Mr. Lang in 'At the Sign of the Ship ' in Longman's returns to the charge as to the Bacon-Shakespeare controversy, and is, after his wont, sufficiently outspoken. Among those whom he encounters in his career is Judge Webb, whose work on the subject we reviewed a week or two ago. He is always readable and delightful. Of a Swinburne myth he makes short work. Mrs. Lecky has an excellent article on ' Sports and Games of Ancient France,' founded upon a recent work of M. Jules Jusserand. The contents of an amusing number of the Idler are principally fiction.
gotius to
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