io- s.v. JUKE so, 1906.] NOTES AND QUERIES.
519
There is a portrait of Mr. Wm. Bennet
prefixed to this edition.
The pseudonym " Lee Gibbons, Student of Law," appearing on the title-page of 'The Cavalier,' was assumed on account of its having been his mother's maiden name. In addition to the novels ' The King of the Peak,' 1 The Cavalier,' * Malpas,' and ' Owain Goch,' Mr. W. Bennet also wrote frequently in The Reliquary. No mention is made either of his real name or pseudonym in Allibone's 'Dictionary.' JOHN PICKFORD, M.A.
Newbourne Rectory, Woodbridge.
NOTES ON BOOKS, &o,
The History of England from Addingtoris Adminis- tration to the Close of William IV.'s Reign. By the Hon. George C. Brodrick, D.C.L. Completed and revised by J. K. Fotheringham, M.A. (Long- mans & Co.)
AFTER the first volume of ' The Political History of England,' which saw the light during the present year, and dealt with pre-Norman times, a wide leap is made to vol. xi., covering the period between 1801 and 1837, thus ending at the accession of Victoria. The task of composition was in this case entrusted to the late Warden of Merton, by whom it was in great part accomplished. At the time of his lamented death in 1903 three chapters were unwritten, and one, the last, was incomplete. The whole required also to be recast in order to meet the plan of the series. In this emergency recourse was had to Mr. Fotheringham, whose assistance in the portion dealing with foreign affairs had from the outset been invited. Under his charge the necessary alterations and additions have been reverently and competently made, the expression of Dr. Brodrick's views, and, where possible, his words, having been scrupulously retained.
The early chapters of the work are necessarily a history of Europe rather than of England. Napoleon, by his personality no less than by his actions, dominated the whole period until, if not after, his confinement at St. Helena. One of the first and most important actions of the Addingtpn Ministry (a bequest from that of Pitt) was the dispatch of a naval expedition to Copenhagen, 12 March, 1801, and the consequent fighting of the battle of the Baltic, for the sake of breaking up the Northern Confederacy, already dissolved, though the fact was not generally known, by the assassination of the Tzar Paul, its life and soul. This murder, by depriving Napoleon of a trusted ally, prepared him to accept the treaty of Amiens, the rupture of which was followed on 16 May, 1803, by the an- nouncement to both Houses of Parliament of a declaration of war. Ireland was a disturbing element, and the movement for Catholic emancipa- tion was passing into new hands, when it was "no longer led by Catholic lords and bishops, but was a peasant movement, headed by the unscrupulous demagogue O'Connell." In the summer of 1803 a rebellion, instigated by French agents and headed by Robert Emmet, broke out in Ireland, and after
leading to the brutal murder of the Chief Justice,
Lord Kilwarden, fizzled out in presence of the
opposition of " a handful of troops." The battle of
Austerlitz was followed by the death of Pitt, and
later in the same year by that of Fox. A long
chapter is devoted to the Peninsular War, from its
origin to the battle of Toulouse, while one less
long depicts ' The Downfall of Napoleon.' Chap. vii.
deals with Vienna and Waterloo, and includes the
surrender of Napoleon and his imprisonment at
St. Helena. A troublous time succeeded, marked
by the Spa Fields Riot, the Manchester Massacres,
the prosecution of William Hone, the death of
George III. and of the Princess Charlotte, the
murder of Kotzebue, the Cato Street Conspiracy,
and the suicide of Castlereagh. Catholic Emanci-
pation and the Reform movement were the great
domestic questions, followed sed longo intervallo by
religious movements and Poor Law reforms. An
important chapter, the penultimate, is occupied
with British India ; and a concluding one to
portions of which it is possible to take exception
with literature and social progress.
It is, of course, difficult to follow our authors over so wide a field. A good account is given of the conditions of maritime warfare in the war of 1812 between England and America. Among note- worthy features in an admirable volume are the estimates of character. That formed of Castlereagh is high : " When he met with his tragical end, the brutal shouts of exultation raised by a portion of the crowd at his funeral were the expression of sheer ignorance, and not of intelligent public opinion. He was a Tory, in days when most patriots were Tories, and he was a Tory of the best type ; and we of a later generation can see that few statesmen of George III.'s reign have left a purer reputation or rendered greater services to their country." In striking contrast with these utterances are those against Daniel O'Connell, a sample of which we have already given. Some- thing is said in favour of George IV., who, it is stated, possessed many royal gifts : " He was a man of no ordinary ability, with a fine presence, courtly manners, various accomplishments, and clear-sighted intelligence on every subject within the sphere of his duties. But all these kingly quali- ties were marred by a heartlessness which rendered him incapable of true love or friendship, and a duplicity which made it impossible for him to retain the respect of his ministers."
This is an enlightened and illuminatorv work. Excellent features in it are maps of Great Britain, Spain and Portugal, and India. The first shows the parliamentary representation after the Reform Bill. Four volumes of the work have now appeared.
The Old Testament in Greek. Part I. Genesis. Edited by A. E. Brooke, B.D., and N. McLean, M.A. (Cambridge, University Press.) THE first instalment of the long-expected edition of the Septuagint, which was projected at Cam- bridge nearly a quarter of a century ago, now lies before us. When we examine it we can understand why its appearance has been so long delayed. It consists of the text of Genesis with an extra- ordinarily copious apparatus of readings, for which all the extant uncials have been consulted, the Vatican MS. being taken as a basis. The distinc- tive feature of the present work is a collation of a large number of cursive MSS. more than thirty not hitherto properly utilized, together with read-
