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NOTES AND QUERIES. [10 S. X. Aug. 1908.
"the real bad relation, good people, is—as you might have known long ago if you had not wilfully courted your own obsession—the uncle." In 'England's Neglect of Mathematics' Prof. G. H. Bryan refers to applications of mathematics which usually go by other names. He talks of the Cambridge Wranglers; but when he suggests that the success of Kelvin shows the efficiency of the old Tripos, he must know that he is overstating things in a way which will not deceive the expert. 'Old Deeside: its Songs and Stories,' is an admirable last article by the late A. I. Shand, the notice of whom by the editor of The Cornhill might have been longer. Mr. C. S. Buxton tells the story of 'Ruskin College' at Oxford, an institution which would be more attractive if it produced less of the priggish element.
The Nineteenth Century this month is an exceptionally interesting number, and has several articles well worth perusal. Sir Edward Sullivan has an ingenious defence of Shakespeare's mistakes in geography, showing that the waterways of Lombardy were much used, and that Bohemia had a seacoast. Miss Rose Bradley has a pretty travel article on 'The Month of Mary,' as the Basques, like other Roman Catholics, call May. Mr. H. H. Statham, one of the most accomplished critics of our day, has an outspoken paper on 'Art at the Franco-British Exhibition.' 'The Chase of the Wild Red Deer on Exmoor,' which begins this week, is the subject of an ingenious apologia by Mr. R. A. Sanders. Mrs. Frederic Harrison is just beginning to be interesting on the Bastille when the article stops. What can be said in six pages or so on such a subject? 'Wordsworth, Coleridge, and the Spy,' by Mr. A. J. Eagleston, is an amusing piece of literary history. When the two poets were in Somerset, they spoke of a spy, whose existence has been doubted. His existence is now proved by official documents in the Home Office records. It was not the presence of Thelwall, a notorious democrat, that led to suspicion, but it was actually supposed that the Wordsworths were French, and spies. Sir F. C. Burnand has in 'Un Peu de Pickwick à la Française' an amusing and instructive account of a truncated portion of 'Pickwick' as rendered in the Journal pour Tonus.
In The Fortnightly the best article is one on 'David Masson' by Mr. R. S. Rait, a well-informed personal tribute. 'Sweated Industries,' by Mr. G. R. Askwith, is important, as coming from a most competent authority. He considers that as minimum wages exist on all sides, and in some measure in nearly every trade, the difficulties alleged concerning their establishment are overrated. Prof. Churton Collins's address on 'The Literary Indebtedness of England to France' is a counterpart to M. Yves Guyot's address published last month. We notice that the Professor uses without inverted commas the phrase "the White City," invented, we believe, by the Daily Mail for the Franco-British Exhibition. Mrs. Billington-Greig writes an able article on 'The Sex-disability and Adult Suffrage.' Mr. T. H. S. Escott gossips agreeably on 'Court and Crowd at Exeter Hall,' incidentally suggesting that "Brooks of Sheffield" in 'David Copperfield' was a reminiscence of a Brooks who in 1822 promoted the idea of "an unsectarian building for religious and scientific societies." A striking short story by Tourguénieff, 'The Dog,' concludes the number, and reads well in the version of Margaret Gough.
The Burlington Magazine opens with an important editorial article on 'The Preservation of Ancient Buildings.' We hope that the Royal Commission announced to report on the subject will suggest something definite. It is absurd that a Government grant in aid of inspectors should be denied when public money is freely spent on less desirable objects. A Chief Inspector ought to be appointed at a reasonable salary, who would give his time and talents to the care of ancient monuments, and come down heavily on owners and local authorities who neglected their duties. Mr. Cecil H. Smith has an interesting article on a supposed 'Bronze Bust of Commodus,' found in the Tiber, and now belonging to Mr. George Salting. Not many people will recognize, unless they know history, Marcus Aurelius as "the author of the 'Reflections.'" The original title is awkward for English, but surely it would be best to adopt that in common use, viz., 'Meditations.' The article is admirable alike in its connoisseurship and historical setting. Mr. Roger Fry has an amply illustrated article on 'English Illuminated Manuscripts at the Burlington Fine-Arts Club,' a splendid show which deserves the best of critical recognition. Mr. G. F. Hill has a good article, also illustrated, on the medallist Lysippus; while Prof. Holmes writes on 'Some Constable Puzzles' which have been illuminated by Mr. Algernon Graves's invaluable work on the British Institution. The Notes this month include the newly discovered name of Pisariello, which is Antonio Pisano—not Vittore, as was gathered from Vasari. The cracks in the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel were, it is pointed out by Sir Hubert von Herkomer in 'My School and My Gospel,' in some cases painted by Michelangelo! It is suggested that he did this to persuade the Pope that he was blundering with his material. Mr. A. H. Maude is not satisfied with this explanation, and thinks the trick was a mere caprice on Michelangelo's part. Under 'Art in America' Prof. Holmes notices Rembrandt's portrait of himself (1658) and three pictures by Van Dyck. These four pictures are reproduced, and, being all splendid examples of two masters, are acquisitions calculated to make any collector envious.
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W. G. Richards.—Forwarded.
R. Hemming.—("Ticknor and Yankee"). You summarized this at 10 S. v. III, in the discussion on "Jan Kees."
Corrigenda.—P. 87, col. 1, l. 5, for "Pheilippides" read Philippides.—P. 91, col. 1, l. 19, for "casuality" read causality.
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