a life centred there the
antithesis
of subject
in the chapter on May Fair.
in the chapter on May Fair.
Athenaeum - London - 1912a
But [adds Mr.
Corbett]
its power of preventing a particular opera- called a pamphlet—has been put into our at Oxford was remembered as a bruiser,
tion, such as oversea invasion, is another hands. A measured criticism of the with the most perfect of arms. His degree
matter which will always depend upon the conduct and policy of the Admiralty was the now obsolete“ honorary fourth. ”
local conditions. If the fleet in being might be fairly thought to have a direct Not on scholarship, but on character, his
can be contained in such a way that it is bearing on major strategy ; but this pub-
impossible for it to reach the invading, line lication seems to consist of condemnation he married at twenty-three and lost his
success was founded. Bereavement (for
of passage, it will be no bar to invasion. ”
rather than criticism, assertion rather than wife a few years later), the influence of
But of course, if "contained,” it is no argument, invective rather than reason. Dr. Woodford, later Bishop of Ely, and
longer in tactical" being. ” Even stronger Its aims, so far as we understand them, are
some years in a small Oxfordshire parish,
on this point, and possibly more practical, somewhat personal and political, and, in where he developed his specific gift of
is Capt. Mahan, who says :
either case, lie outside the field which we forcible, straight talk, conjoined to form
“The extreme school has gone so far as
try to cultivate.
him. His other great faculty of organiza-
to argue that [a Fleet in Being) will stop an
tion was developed at Seaforth, Liverpool,
expedition, or should do so if the enemy, bel
to which Gladstone (in his private capacity)
wise, I have for years contended against
presented him in 1873. He was naturally
pa
er
IN
0
>
66
1
1
>
)
## p. 155 (#131) ############################################
No. 4398, FEB. 10, 1912
THE ATHENÆUM
155
as
diffident, and probably opposition was affirming that he re-created the Church local legislation, drawn up for the guidance
of the ruling authority, soon after its power
needed to bring the best out of him. At of England in Northumberland.
was fully established. Besides this, 'The Oak
Seaforth, as Gladstone warned him, not
He paid for that privilege with over. Book' contains a large number of miscel-
poverty, but inertness and want of educa- strain, and Chichester, whither he was sent laneous documents concerning Southampton,
tion among people who were well off, were
in 1896, did not materially mend things. its disputes with neighbouring lords, churches
the difficulties. He roused the people by A man who-among many other duties and corporations, its privileges obtained
imposing a decent standard of worship, answers sixty-one letters a day, should from the Crown, and a copy of the well-
daily
services
, regular celebration of Holy economize his physical strength, and known Customs of Oléron, presented in a
Communion, and by putting new life into plainly Wilberforce overtaxed his muscular lished in The Black Book of the Admiralty.
earlier and
the Church schools.
system. Then there were the Ritual. All these documents Prof. Studer has tran-
There was endless opposition, but he ists of Brighton, Worthing, and the rest scribed and edited with elaborate care. If
faced and overthrew it. His reputation who demanded all his patience and charity. he has taken sometimes almost unnecessary
a very great parish priest began Briefly, the Bishop, while no friend to pains to set forth in type the nature of the
at Seaforth, and he went thence to win the performance of extremists, was for abbreviations of the manuscript, the labour
chester in 1878, amid general expressions of letting good men go on doing good works involved in this represents a praiseworthy
regret, drawn by Bishop Harold Browne's so long as they did not make themselves
ideal of scholarship. He has also supplied
a translation of a text which is sometimes
offer of a large missionary field in the
“impossible. ”
excessively difficult to make sense of, and
south-west. A resident canonry was to be
Mr. Atlay's absorbing chapters on if his methods of cutting the knot are
combined with the Wardenship of Wilber-
force House, and the work assigned to quench a layman's envy of episcopal coherent and intelligible version of the
Wilberforce at Chichester are of a kind
now and then rather heroic, he has at
least succeeded in making a much more
to the short-lived Wilberforce Mission to
be transferred from South London. Mr. glory, and prepare the reader for the whole than has hitherto been given of the
be transferred from South London. Mr. last scene of all at Bembridge in Septem- various parts which different scholars have
Atlay has an interesting passage on the ber, 1907. He quotes as testimony to here and there striven to turn into English,
Mission, and the reason why it fell
through. But, when Wilberforce desired of a friend who travelled with the Bishop German at Southampton, modestly disclaims
Wilberforce's personal charm the verdict Mr. Studer, who is professor of French and
to resign his canonry, the special oppor- to the Cape in April, 1904, and who tells
any special historical qualifications, and in-
tunity designed for him being no longer
forms us that he approached his task at the
open, the Bishop wisely insisted on its “how charming a companion he made him outset from a purely philological point of
retention.
self to all on board, and how completely he view. Finding, however, that the subject
The experience acquired at Aldershot, revolutionized the notions of those who had to be dealt with historically also, he was
and more notably at Portsmouth, was of associated the English Episcopate exclusively bold enough to equip himself with the know-
with lawn-sleeves and gaiters. ”
ledge that was necessary for this task.
great service to the first Bishop of New-
Occasionally an odd statement shows that
castle. The offer of that new See came More sophisticated people than the mixed he still has weak points, but in most substan-
in 1882. Wilberforce had lately returned company of a Cape liner may profitably tial matters he has done his subject full
from a successful missionary visit to revise here their notions about the episco- justice.
Quebec, made at the request of the pate. Laborious days, strain, anxiety, and Perhaps the most important part of
Canadian bishops and clergy. His name courage are among the impressions of his work is, however, the Supplement which
was already linked with the cause of episcopal palaces which one receives from is substantially the third volume, and in-
temperance, and he and his young wife-Bishop Wilberforce's biographer.
cludes, with ample glossary and indexes, a
his felicitous second marriage with Miss
highly interesting study of the French dialect
Emily Connor had taken place in 1874
in which the greater part of 'The Oak Book :
is written. Prof. Studer rightly believes
took the pledge, in the presence of his
that the composition of a work like 'The
parishioners, at the first meeting of the
LOCAL HISTORY.
Oak Book' in French is proof that in the
Church of England Temperance Society in
first half of the fourteenth century French
Seaforth. He had seen what harm drink
The Oak Book of Southampton, of c. A. D.
1300.
was a familiar vernacular to the trading
Transcribed and edited from the classes in Southampton. As this speech was
worked
among the
poor in Liverpool, and
Unique MS. in the Audit House, with Trans-
he warmed to temperançe advocacy as if lation, Introduction, Notes, &c. , by P.
the natural language of an active community,
it was a boxing match.
he thinks it worthy of serious study, and
Studer. 2 vols. With Supplement. (South-
To the North he returned, but with ampton Record Society). - The Hartley
accordingly gives a very careful and elabo-
rate account of the phonology and inflexional
genuine misgivings.
“ Badly furnished. | University
University College at Southampton
system of the French spoken in Southampton
ill-endowed, under-manned, the Church in leges of England, but its staff and students however, seem to be aware that Maitland had
one of the youngest among the newer col-
in the fourteenth century.
He does not,
Northumberland," says the biographer well take legitimate pride in the bold- already written a similar study of the French
truly, was a bare and inchoate eccle- ness which inspired them to start the South-
of the ‘Year-Books' of the same period.
siastical territory rather than a diocese. ” ampton Record Society, and the skill with Happily they largely cover different ground,
“ The best appointment of Gladstone's which they have published and edited nearly for Maitland did not concern himself with
life," as the Bishop of St. Albans told the
a dozen volumes of important local records. phonology, while Mr. Studer, who is a pro-
Duke of Argyll, "meant trouble enough They are indeed, as the preface of these fessed philologist, devotes the longest section
volumes says, an “instance of the many of his study to an examination of the sounds
for the preferred. To many Churchmen sided and stimulating influence of the Uni- and spelling of Anglo-French speech. So
he seemed a Puseyite, and Joseph Cowen's versity College in our midst. ” Prof. Hearn- little has been written with authority on
powerful influence was opposed to the shaw, the source of this inspiration, has now the grammatical peculiarities of the French
bishopric and the Bishop. Self-effacement moved far from Southampton, but he con-
used in England in the later Middle Ages that
and reticence were required of Churchmen tinues as general editor of the series, which is
a fresh contribution to our knowledge of it
by militant Dissenters, and these were enlarged by the publication for the first should receive a general welcome.
not Wilberforce's qualities as an eccle- time of the noteworthy fourteenth-century
collection called 'The Oak Book,' the printing
siastic. Mr. Atlay decorously admits that of which has long been demanded by all The 350 pages of The Story of Coventry,
the Bishop was sometimes betrayed into interested in municipal antiquities. The by Mary Dormer Harris (Dent), brightened
rashness of speech. ” It answered its very miscellaneous contents of The Oak by Mr. Chandler's illustrations, form &
purpose, for he championed the claims Book' are duly explained by the editor, pleasantly written and attractive guide to
of the Church sucoessfully in many a
Prof. Studer.
the history and topography of the ancient
controversy.
The newspapers at first The special peculiarity of Southampton city. The last chapter, entitled 'Old Coven-
abused him, but the men of the North among English" municipalities is due to try at the Present Day, will be helpful to
liked and respected his methods, and the fact that the merchant guild absorbed visitors whose time is limited.
The sections that deal with the beginnings
he ended thirteen years at Newcastle in itself the inchoate municipal organiz-
with Cowen and Dr. Spence Watson as
ation, and became the governing body of municipal government, the corporation
of the town. The greater part of “The and the guilds, and especially with the
his allies in all good work. A cloud Oak Book' consists of the guild ordinances, mayor, bailiffs, and community, show that
of witnesses, clerical and lay, unite in embodying many fragments of much earlier the author has closely studied the intricacies
is
may
irst
6
CUTII
## p. 156 (#132) ############################################
156
THE ATHENÆUM
No. 4398, FEB. 10, 1912
-
was
а
PE
of mediæval town life and administration ; and the subject seems to have been a Henry landed with his forces in the South-
and in no other English town is there such lad of almost supernatural piety, and West of England in 1153, when the earls of
a wealth of available information. The learning. Burman's visit to Cambridge that district rose in his cause ; the evidence
whole question of local government was is the merest fragment; but it is most of the coinage closely corroborates that of
unusually complicated at Coventry by the interesting, and his allusion to University the chronicles and charters. Henry's own
rule of two rival forces, and this made the ceremonies of creating. Doctors by giving money was minted at Wareham, Sherborne,
struggle for municipal freedom all the them a cap, book, and ring is illustrated Malmesbury, and possibly Taunton, as well
harder. Coventry was divided into two by Prof. Mayor by extracts from Bentley as at Wiveliscombe ; · whilst other mints
lordships : one part was the property of which well repay perusal. At a feast of the West, including Dunster, struck
the Earls of Chester, and was termed the at Trinity they dined off square wooden the coinage of the several earls who sup-
Earl's-half ; whilst the other part pertained platters. Von Uffenbach visited all the ported him in his action against Stephen.
to the great Benedictine foundation, and libraries, and grumbled at everything-
was known as the Prior's-half. The diffi- somewhat unreasonably it would appear.
culties of tenure, custom, and privilege But the chief interest lies in Mayor's notes,
A History of the Manor and Township of
within the walls were considerable, and which reveal his erudition and remarkable Allerton in the County of Lancaster. By
frequently led to disputes between the powers of illustration. The Professor was
Ronald Stewart - Brown. (Liverpool, E.
Earl's men and the Prior's tenants.
an omnivorous man of learning a true
Howell. )-For centuries Allerton
To those who have made a study of successor of the giants of the seventeenth purely agricultural township, and during
the last hundred years it has been the home
Coventry, or have known it at first hand for century–who spent his life amid books,
of Liverpool's most
and whose diversions were more arduous
eminent citizens ;
some years, there are certain disappoint-
Such
than the labours of many scholars.
ments in this book, notwithstanding the
now its glory is rapidly fading before the
amount of trustworthy information gathered men as these have, however, seldom given onslaught of villadom and electric tramways.
within its covers.
The absorption of Allerton into the ever-
The town walls, for
the result of their toils in ordered form to
instance, were well worth more than the
the world.
spreading City of Liverpool is only a question
of a few years, so it is especially fitting that
brief allusions made to them, for in this
a chronicler should arise before its indi-
respect Coventry was of primary importance. Wifela's Combe: a History of the Parish viduality is finally lost.
The walls, as constructed in the middle of
of Wiveliscombe. By F. Hancock. (Taunton,
the fourteenth century, enclosed an area
Mr. Stewart-Brown deals in an interesting
Barnicott & Pearce. )—Prebendary Hancock
that was without a rival in the Midlands. is well known in the West of England as the ficing accuracy, to picturesqueness, and he
way with the manorial history without sacri-
Their circuit was about three miles; they writer of two good books dealing with the knows where to turn for his facts and how
were nine feet thick, of considerable height, histories of the adjacent towns of Minehead
provided with thirty-two towers, and pierced and Dunster.
to use those facts when they have been
He has now produced a found The story of the manor during the
by twelve gates. Again, the information as
volume on the history of the small Somer- last 150 years reads more like a romance
to the two friaries and the four hospitals
setshire town and parish of Wiveliscombe.
of the town is too scanty.
than sober history, and the great “ Hardman
The name is odd, and more than one
case” inevitably suggests Jarndyce v.
attempt has been made to supply its deriva- Jarndyce. Mr. Stewart-Brown gives also
The Royal Charters of the City of Lincoln : tion. Collinson, the county historian, men-
a very readable account of many of the
Henry II. to William III. , transcribed and tions two explanations which were current present-day landowners, though his frank-
translated, with an Introduction, by Walter
in his day, but both of them are obviously
ness will perhaps be more entertaining to
de Gray Birch (Cambridge University Press),
impossible. The one derived the name from those readers who are not directly con-
is a well-printed, handsome, and useful the prevalence there in early times of the cerned; it is a question how far some of
book, and the more to be welcomed as it grub called the weevil, whilst the other sup- the well-known families in the neighbour-
seems to be one result of recent efforts on posed that it had its origin in the presence hood of Liverpool will appreciate being told
the part of the Corporation of Lincoln to of weasels in the district. Mr. Hancock's that their ancestor of a little more than a
set in order their fine collection of records theory, however, is most probably correct, hundred years ago was an illiterate old man
and make them accessible to scholars. To namely, that it means the Combe which was
in poor circumstances, who could not sign
have had the series printed, arranged, and the possession of one Wifela, or Wyvel. his own name.
translated is a great thing. It is a pity,
The local pronunciation has long ago been
To the general reader the most attractive
however, that the editing shows some lack
simplified as Wilscombe.
section will be that dealing with the group
of order and method, and is not always The story of the parish goes back to early of prehistoric stones known as the Calder-
critical enough. The Introduction and Glos- days, for prehistoric folk established a great stones, a subject handled in a careful and
sary leave something to be desired, and the earthwork at Castle, a fortress which was discriminating way. The gillustrations are
transctiption of the texts has in different held in succession by Romans, Saxons, and well chosen, and, with the exception of two
parts of the book been carried out on some- Danes. Edward the Confessor bestowed early plans, well reproduced ; and the Index
what varying principles. There is a fair the manor on the bishopric of Wells, and is good.
translation, but a little more explanation here for centuries bishops occasionally
of difficulties would have been an improve- resided. The prebendaries of Wells also
London North of the Thames (A. & C.
ment. The facsimiles are attractive, though held a large estate about the town, exer-
some are on too small a scale for ordinary cising manorial rights and using an official volume, as the previous one describing the
Black) should have been styled the second
eyes.
seal; but the ecclesiastical affairs of the City is equally “ London North of the
parish were left almost entirely, to the Thames. " It is stated on the title-page to
Cambridge under Queen Anne, illustrated
care of the vicars. The story of the fabric be by Sir Walter Besant, but in the Preface
by Memoir of Ambrose Bonwicke and Diaries
of the church is sad ; it is now a tasteless
we are informed that he edited it and
of Francis Burman and Zacharias Conrad
building, erected in 1829, with a debased "wrote a good deal of it,” the remainder
von Uffenbach, and edited with notes by
semi-Italian interior.
being by Miss G. E. Mitton. The editing,
J. E. B. Mayor (Cambridge, Deighton, Bell Mr. Hancock has dealt carefully, and for however arranged, cannot be called satis.
& Co. ), consists partly of a reprint and partly the most part in an interesting fashion, factory. The plan is said to be a peram-
of the unpublished papers of the late Prof.
with the manor, the prebend, the vicarage, bulation of London formed from the con-
Mayor. The latter have been secured by the charities, and the industries ; he also tributions of those whom Besant called
the Cambridge Antiquarian Society, and draws successfully on the registers, which "perambulators,” with the design that their
the result is the delightful little volume begin in 1558, and the churchwardens' ac- accounts should all be welded into the
before us. The Provost of King's, in his counts, which date from 1681. The book Great Survey. "
preface, calls Mayor's notes “a mine of concludes with a few traditions and ghost If the contributors perambulated London
information about scholars at Cambridge- stories. Its 300 pages bear witness to Mr. on the plan described in this volume, we feel
nay, of Europe-two hundred years ago,' Hancock's industry as a gleaner from public certain that few will follow them in their
and those who dig in the book before us and local records, but there are several other route. Its impracticability may be seen
will find treasure enough. The three narra- sources unexplored from which further in- by a reference to the table of contents.
tives, which were intended to form part of formation might have been gained. In one The “perambulator” sets out by visiting
a much larger work, are the life of Ambrose place the information given is insufficient and what, by a slight stretch of language, may
Bonwicke by his father, and accounts of the to some extent incorrect. We are told that still be called the suburbs, viz. , Hammer-
visits to Cambridge of Francis Burman, a Wiveliscombe possessed a mint at which smith, Fulham, Chelsea, Kensington, and
Dutch minister and professor of theology, coins were struck in the reign of Stephen, Paddington; he then writes a chapter on
and of Zacharias Conrad von Uffenbach, the probably by some great baron. " The ‘May Fair and Belgravia,' in which occurs
indefatigable book - collector, a native of extant coins of this mint are those of the first part of the description of Piccadilly;
Frankfort. The life of Ambrose Bonwicke Duke Henry, afterwards Henry II. This then one on Westminster, followed by
is called 'A Pattern for Young Students,'' is a matter of historic moment. Duke the curious division - The Strand District
a Sud
D
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1
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## p. 157 (#133) ############################################
No. 4398, FEB. 10, 1912
THE ATHENÆUM
157
6
66
survey
or
The latter is divided into three parts:- by its realism alone is it essentially unfruitful--parasitic, in the end, on the life
Part I. , “West and North of Charing Cross,' different. Precisely on this point we con- and work of others.
begins with Hyde Park Corner, because sider the criticism of Brunetière inadequate. In his main thesis Prof. Eucken urges
there is a small outlying portion of St. Classicism, by its adherence to rules,
us to accept the reality of the spiritual-
Martin's parish there. Part II. , ' Piccadilly its limitations of models, its definition of as of an independent sphere of being into
and St. James's Square, contains a literary genres,” and its exclusion of the
which man has grown beyond Nature. By
continuation of what is said of Piccadilly particular, failed to represent nature entire.
a life centred there the antithesis of subject
in the chapter on May Fair. Part III. is Ît portrayed a nature corrected according and object is transcended. The illustration
devoted to the Strand proper. After the
to reason.
It is, therefore, in dealing with nearest to us of such a transcending is found
Strand district we pass on to Marylebone, the particular to the exclusion of all method in work “as a spiritual occurrence, for
Hampstead, St. Pancras, Holborn, Blooms- that the Romantic School, freed from its “ in work the object loses its alien nature,
bury, Clerkenwell, and then start off to extravagances and faults, most clearly de- and is taken up into our own life. ” Since
St. Luke's, Islington, Hackney, Stoke parts from tradition.
so he argues-man is not a spiritual being,
Newington, Shoreditch, and East London. We note a valuable chapter on language not a personality, from the beginning, but
A more suitable arrangement might have and metre, and an extremely interesting only possesses the power to become one,
been attained by gathering the various analysis of George Sand. In his treatment it is by work that, in the first instance, he
places under the now recognized headings of of the later developments of the nineteenth develops into spirituality. For this de.
the borough councils, but this opportunity century M. Pellissier is, we think, par- velopment neither a continuance of existence
has been lost. There certainly is no street- ticularly illuminating. Naturalist theorists, in the “ merely human,” nor mere reflection
to-street survey, as one is led to expect by Zola in particular, somewhat disdainfully and reasoning, can prove effective : for by
the Preface. The use of the term
dismissed the Romantics as merely clearing neither does man relate himself to and appro-
is dangerous, as it challenges comparison the ground for its successors, and regarded priate the independent spiritual life which
with Stow's great work.
their period as chaotic and necessary.
is the basis of his own. This appropriation,
In the Appendix are two lists: (1) of
this development, is the common inward
distinguished people and the streets they M. Victor Giraud, who considers the task which deepens the life of peoples as of
lived in, (2) streets and distinguished in subject of his volume, Nouvelles Études sur individuals, dignifies failure, gives signifi-
habitants. Such lists would be of great Chateaubriand (Hachette), the most powerful cance to what otherwise is meaningless, and
utility if they were carefully verified and literary influence of the nineteenth century imparts the firmness and tranquillity which
fairly complete, but these hardly fulfil these in out of France, may be said to come from confidence in ultimate victory,
conditions, and in some instances names represent the bulk of French academic The means to this conduct, activity, and
are merely given under districts such as opinion, and particularly that of the Revue one section of the book deals with. Activism :
Hammersmith and Hampstead.
des Deux Mondes, as opposed to those who a Profession of Faith. '
think, with M. Jules Lemaître and M. Paul This--as his readers would expect—is
Bourget, that Chateaubriand will live only fundamentally religious. Indeed, in describ-
in his Mémoires d'Outre-Tombe. ' A course ing how religion--which, for his present
of lectures by M. Lemaître, which were purpose, he practically identifies with Chris.
expected to present his decapitated head tianity-has, in his opinion, failed to satisfy
FRENCH BOOKS
surrounded by garlands of flowers, have man, he dwells chiefly on the disturbing
AND GERMAN TRANSLATIONS. stimulated the cult of Chateaubriand. Re- effect of intellectualism and other reactionary
newed interest in his works has already been tendencies, and finds little or no fault with
Le Réalisme du Romantisme By Georges signalized by the advent of M. de Cassagne's the Christian theory itself. Yet, if funda-
Pellissier. (Hachette & Cie. That a book La Vie Politique de Chateaubriand. ' Like mentally religious, "his view of life is not
)-
by M. Pellissier should fail to be interesting it, the Correspondance,' shortly to be completely so. Exactly all that he under-
and illuminating is difficult to imagine. This published by M. Thomas, will probably stands by the spiritual he leaves the reader
volume, particularly important to students subvert accepted ideas and surprise many, to discover for himself ; and, if on one page
of the Romantic movement, should, by for the study of Chateaubriand has re- we seem near to the acknowledgment of a
reason of its clarity and simplicity, its mained till now where the facile, but scarcely Self behind all phenomena, on another the
ordered presentation, and its charm of unbiased pen of Sainte-Beuve left it. Independent Spiritual Life which our en-
style, appeal to a large public. Few
M. Giraud foresees that Chateau-deavours are to appropriate looks impersonal.
literary contests have equalled in intensity briand will once more become the fashion, The author's attitude towards Chris-
and duration that which heralded the Ro- and to this new recognition contributes tianity is known to be highly sympathetic
mantic movement in France. Victor Hugo, five essays: (1) on the origin of 'Le Génie if a little patronizing. Yet, thoroughly as he
in the famous preface to ‘Cromwell,' claimed du Christianisme’; (2) on little-known must understand Christian history and
Romanticism as liberalism in literature ; episodes in the youth of Chateaubriand ; doctrine, we come upon passages which seem
while in the second half of the nineteenth (3) on the remains of the MS. of the to imply some rather deep-going misappre-
century realists and naturalists, fighting in • Martyrs’; (4) on two sets of unpublished hensions. Thus, to take one example, he
the name of reality and nature, saw in the letters; and (5) on the influence of Chateau- reproaches Christianity with the annulling
movement only a transitory disease or an briand throughout the nineteenth century. of all differences, even of spiritual capacity;
extravagant fantasy. M. Pellissier's book
and the displacement of justice through
is welcome, not only for itself, but also because Life's Basis and Life's Ideal. By Rudolf pity. ” The New Testament surely furnishes
modern criticism to have been Eucken. (A. & C. Black. )-This is a trans- plenty of disproof to the second charge ;
inspired unduly by the spirit of reaction. lation, by Mr. Alban Widgery, of Prof. and, as an illustration of later Christian
M. Faguet finds in Romanticism a horror Eucken's book 'Die Grundlinien einer neuen tradition with regard to the first, we would
of reality,” while Brunetière is alternately Lebensanschauung,' the latest and best suggest to Prof. Eucken a re-reading of
luminous and grotesque.
Essentially sub- statement of his philosophy--though, as the third canto of the ‘Paradiso. Again,
jective, literature of the Romantic period Mr. Widgery truly remarks in his Introduc. his account of Christianity as, at the outset,
has been accused of an inability to picture tory Note, Prof. Eucken is rather an ethical an anodyne, or consolation, to a world grown
the truth, and in order better to prove the teacher than a philosopher in the strict mortally weary, and his call to her to throw
thesis criticism has been directed mainly technical sense of that term. We have, off this character, which still lingers, and
against lyric expression. Subjectivity, as first, a statement and criticism of individual become joyful and energetic, is-merely
M. Pellissier ably points out, though the systems of life; whereof the author recog- from the historical point of view—so one-
capital feature of Romanticism, is neverthe- nizes five : Religion and Immanent Idealism sided a presentment of the facts as to be
less but one of many qualities. Alfred de on the one hand, Naturalism, Socialism, and almost untrue.
Vigny, who the greatest idealist Individualism the other. Each has We would not, however, end on any
among the Romanticists, affirms that art much to say for itself ; each, in his opinion, carping note. If this work fails to give us
should be “ semblable à la vie. " Indeed, has failed, in the long run, to satisfy man any ultimate rationale of life and the world
it is the element of realism, which, as M. -Idealism, because of its aristocratic trend ; in which thought can find repose, it is
Pellissier shows, was the leaven' which Naturalism, because it fails to appropriate admirable both negatively, in its exposure
transformed the romantic conception of art the experiences and results of man's his. of the unsatisfactoriness of the “ merely
by virtue of a principle essentially naturalist, torical development; Socialism, because it human,” and positively, in its vindication
and infused new vigour into all forms of ignores the spiritual life of the individual, of the spiritual, and in a certain power and
artistic expression, including lyricism. This and, moreover, ignores, or arbitrarily wrests persuasiveness tending to incite the inquirer
is the heart of M. Pellissier's book, and the into accordance with its own theory, the at least to make trial of the spiritual life.
vigour and breadth of his treatment carry darker facts of human life ; and, finally, It must assuredly meet the needs of many
the reader along unresistingly.
Individualism, because the æsthetic con- minds, and by means of it English readers
By its very realism romanticism stands ception of life not only surrenders morality, may come to understand better than ever
out most clearly against classicism, and 'but also at the same time itself proves the influence which Prof. Eucken wields.
2
seems
was
on
## p. 158 (#134) ############################################
158
THE ATHENÆUM
No. 4398, FEB. 10, 1912
on
66
are
The Lay of the Nibelung Men. Trans-
which is good, is imaginary, These facts
OUR LIBRARY TABLE.
lated from the Old German Text by Arthur
may astonish a public which knows nothing
S. Way. (Cambridge University Press. )
In Dickens Street, by W. R. Thomson about the imagination of an artist.
The Fair Maid of Perth' has not been
To the task of rendering the 'Nibelungen-(Chapman & Hall), is a pleasant little volume
lied’into English verse Dr. Way brings an
of meditations on some of the better-known included, but contains, says Mr. Lang, in
extraordinarily extensive practice in the art
characters in Dickens. Mr. Thomson is Connacher a reminiscence of a brother of
of translation, the result being that he has zestful and appreciative, but we fancy that Scott's. It has also in Father Clement a
at his disposal an excellent command of the elaborate mosaic of familiar quotations, ribute to open-mindedness in religion which
language, great facility in versification, which is a feature of most of the papers, might have been mentioned in the chapter
and a trained sense as to how the innumer will appeal less to the Dickens veteran (whom Scott's Clerical Characters. '
The volume should serve its purpose
able stumbling-blocks that beset the path they are apt to worry) than to the raw
of the inexperienced translator may best be recruit. The lecture on Mrs. Gamp is, well, though the present reviewer does not
circumvented. We think that his version perhaps, Mr. Thomson's happiest achieve- regard it as putting out of court his copy of
of the epic will prove more enjoyable ment, though we may point out that that 'Waverley Anecdotes,' for which he paid
to the general reader than any of its pre- lady was by her sister's marriage with a precisely fourpence.
decessors. For its form he has wisely chosen master sawyer” related to a railway guard
the splendid and admirably flexible metre-not, as Mr. Thomson asserts, to an engine- The Rise of the Novel of Manners : a Study
of William Morris's 'Story of Sigurd the driver. In view of the Northern origin of of English Prose Fiction between 1600 and
Volsung'—a metre which is very closely the book some of the sketches have ap- 1740. By Charlotte E. Morgan. “ Colum-
akin to that of the Nibelungenlied itself, peared in The Glasgow Herald—it is curious bia University Studies in English. " (Colum-
while it escapes the monotony and awkward to find its author, in his “Micawber? essay, bia University Press, London, Frowde.
nesses that seem to be inherent in any reproducing without comment Dickens's Miss Morgan's formidable list of authorities
exact reproduction of the latter into English. misquotation ("* frere” for fere) from the shows how much has been written in the
His lines run vigorously and rapidly, and last stanza of Auld Lang Syne. '
form of articles and monographs in the
carry the reader successfully over the duller In dealing with the puzzle of Edwin Drood, last few years on this subject; and her
stretches of the poem.
Mr. Thomson inclines to the somewhat text shows that she has used them. She
On the other hand, the spirit of the arbitrarily discredited Bazzard theory, and gives, moreover, a chronological list, more
original—the simplicity and directness that states his reasons with conciseness. We than a hundred pages long, of English fiction,
so characteristic of it—is not always note a few small slips : the Kenwigses did or work bordering on fiction, published
preserved. The rendering of such a line as
not live in Golden Square, but in a dilapi. between 1600 and the appearance of Richard-
dated street near by ; it was
den wirt bi sînen gesten vil harte sêre verdrôz
“the baronet's son in 1740. But her account of this litera-
by
nephew,” not son, after dancing with whom ture would have been greatly improved by
at Exeter Mrs. Wititterly
But amidst of his guests for the host-king time traileth a
collapsed the exclusion of the period 1600-60, which she
broken wing,
while the allusion (p. 80) to“ Mr. Bob Allen sketches in the most perfunctory way, only
shows a sophistication of expression which
will surprise Pickwickians.
warming into a show of original knowledge
is extremely frequent and to which some
In the case of Mr. Swiveller, too, an and freshness of manner when she passes the
critics may take exception. It is, however, opportunity has certainly been missed. No Restoration. This restricted period would
only fair to add that the embellishments of
one, as yet, seems to have realized that the have given scope enough ; for, though not
this kind have generally been made with sublime Richard, at the beginning of the ten novels of any importance were published
considerable taste and literary skill. " A story, adopts the Weller mode of speech, in the last forty years of the century, the
good many minor inaccuracies in the inter-
discoursing of "wiolence," "conwiviality,
conwiviality,” jejune fiction of the time was nevertheless
pretation of the Middle High German text
'the old min,” “ jine hands,” and the like ; full of experiment and growth in literary
also occur, but they need not seriously inter whereas, as the narrative progresses, he form ; while its very meanness and poverty
fere with the enjoyment of the reader. We
speaks like an educated man. This is of content have preserved it from being
quote, as a sample of Dr. Way's quality, a
another example of the continual change of worked upon. The historian of the English
couple of stanzas :-
plan engendered by the method of publica novel in this its period of incubation will
tion which Dickens favoured, and a further have plenty to do. Even leaving out of
Flashedemany a priceless gemstone from the folds of her proof, if any were needed, of the futility consideration the romance in its several
And the roses flushed through the lilies, a snare of heart's of any attempt at the solution of the Drood kinds, the anti-romance, and the picaresque
mystery.
story, which by this time were faits accom-
Howsoe'er 'gainst the spell of her beauty one strove, he
needs must own
plis, he must read as much as he can endure
That nothing so passing lovely in the wide world yet had he For the expert the best part of the Rev. of the 500 or more vulgar “polite" novels
known.
W. S. Crockett's Scott Originals (T. N. Foulis) which were the favourite reading, and often
As the full moon in her glory swims on before the stars,
And the brightness of her splendour floats forth of the
will be the admirable illustrations, which purported to be the work, of
persons of
cloudy bars,
include facsimiles of the manuscript of the honour,” in order to disentangle the various
So before all other women shone out that Queen of Love.
Well hmight the hearts of the heroes be uplifted for joy volume is attractively produced, and shows into the new art. Perhaps Prof. Brie will
novels, and several rare portraits. The threads which were being woven together
This is by no means a faultless rendering: a wide knowledge of facts and possibilities prove in his forthcoming book to be this
in accuracy it is surpassed by the versions concerning Scott's prototypes. It is, how- historian; certainly Miss Morgan is not.
of Lettsom and Miss Horton, and, we might ever, filled out with a good deal of quotation Her essay is brief, and does not make up
add, Prof. Needler, and the love of decora- from the novels which ought to be familiar, for brevity by brilliance. But she has made
tion is too much in evidence ; but it has life and some criticism of no particular distinc- a useful first guide to the material, sorting
and movement.
tion. What Jeffrey said does not much a great deal of it into separate rubbish
* Other notices of French books will strikes us as occasionally verbose.
matter to-day, and Mr. Crockett himself heaps, each with a label neatly stuck into
the top of it. Had she confined herself to
be found under Fine Art, Music, and the
We find abundant entertainment and native English works, her task would have
Drama.
human interest in the Scottish characters been lighter ; but this would have been to
here portrayed, and the average reader will evade the real problem, for the great bulk
SALE.
not regret any more than we do that Mr. of English fiction till the eighteenth century
MESSRS. SOTHEBY sold on Tuesday, January
Crockett has gone beyond his intention of was translated or slavishly imitated from
30th, and the following day, the remaining portion keeping generally to Scott and Lockhart as the Continental novelists. Miss Morgan
of the library of the late Dr. Joseph Frank Payne. witnesses, and referred to such later sources distinguishes well between French and
Among the most important books were the follow- as Mrs. Hughes of Uffington, Mr. Andrew Spanish influences, a distinction not so
ing :-
Herbals, &c. : Herbarium Apulei Platonici, of Sir Walter Scott. '
Lang, and James Skene's vivid 'Memories apparent in the short stories as in the
Rome, 1484-8, 961. Latin Herbal, Passau, 1485,
The last might have romances which preceded them. Nor has
691. Hortus Sanitatis, Maintz, 1491,' 461. ; supplied some more details. Thus we learn she treated the novel as a watertight com.
another, Cologne, c. 1496, 311. ; another, in that Skene himself had the original combat partment of literature, but illustrates the
French, 1539, 351.
with the seals which was made into excellent connexion between it and comedy, as well
Miscellaneous Books : Bacon, Instauratio chaff in 'The Antiquary. A chapter on
Magna, 1620, 401. Spenser, Faerie Queene, first Scott's humour would have been pleasant, voyages, memoirs, character-sketches, and
the contemporary native genres of
three books, 1590, 431.
Milton Collection : Areopagitica, 1644,331. 108. ; and might have taken the space occupied the like, which helped to bridge the gulf
Brief Notes upon a late Sermon, titled “The by familiar verdicts and quotations.
between the novel and life.
Fear of God and the King,' 1660 ; and No Blinde Of the pictures, the most striking are those Perhaps the best part of Miss Morgan's
Guides (an answer to the previous pamphlet), of the Black Dwarf. That strange being volume is the long chronological list of
1660, 321.
Of Education, to Master
Samuel Hartlib, 1644, 1721. ; Paradise Lost, first
was more faithfully reproduced than any novels printed at the end ; but both this
edition, third title, 1888, 441. ;
other character in Scott, but the story was a and the text have many misprints and
The total of the sale was 2,0551. 178.
failure. On the other hand, its background, other slips.
desire.
as
108. ;
## p. 159 (#135) ############################################
No. 4398, FEB. 10, 1912
159
THE ATHENÆUM
LIST OF NEW BOOKS.
(Notice in these columns does not preclude longer
review).
its power of preventing a particular opera- called a pamphlet—has been put into our at Oxford was remembered as a bruiser,
tion, such as oversea invasion, is another hands. A measured criticism of the with the most perfect of arms. His degree
matter which will always depend upon the conduct and policy of the Admiralty was the now obsolete“ honorary fourth. ”
local conditions. If the fleet in being might be fairly thought to have a direct Not on scholarship, but on character, his
can be contained in such a way that it is bearing on major strategy ; but this pub-
impossible for it to reach the invading, line lication seems to consist of condemnation he married at twenty-three and lost his
success was founded. Bereavement (for
of passage, it will be no bar to invasion. ”
rather than criticism, assertion rather than wife a few years later), the influence of
But of course, if "contained,” it is no argument, invective rather than reason. Dr. Woodford, later Bishop of Ely, and
longer in tactical" being. ” Even stronger Its aims, so far as we understand them, are
some years in a small Oxfordshire parish,
on this point, and possibly more practical, somewhat personal and political, and, in where he developed his specific gift of
is Capt. Mahan, who says :
either case, lie outside the field which we forcible, straight talk, conjoined to form
“The extreme school has gone so far as
try to cultivate.
him. His other great faculty of organiza-
to argue that [a Fleet in Being) will stop an
tion was developed at Seaforth, Liverpool,
expedition, or should do so if the enemy, bel
to which Gladstone (in his private capacity)
wise, I have for years contended against
presented him in 1873. He was naturally
pa
er
IN
0
>
66
1
1
>
)
## p. 155 (#131) ############################################
No. 4398, FEB. 10, 1912
THE ATHENÆUM
155
as
diffident, and probably opposition was affirming that he re-created the Church local legislation, drawn up for the guidance
of the ruling authority, soon after its power
needed to bring the best out of him. At of England in Northumberland.
was fully established. Besides this, 'The Oak
Seaforth, as Gladstone warned him, not
He paid for that privilege with over. Book' contains a large number of miscel-
poverty, but inertness and want of educa- strain, and Chichester, whither he was sent laneous documents concerning Southampton,
tion among people who were well off, were
in 1896, did not materially mend things. its disputes with neighbouring lords, churches
the difficulties. He roused the people by A man who-among many other duties and corporations, its privileges obtained
imposing a decent standard of worship, answers sixty-one letters a day, should from the Crown, and a copy of the well-
daily
services
, regular celebration of Holy economize his physical strength, and known Customs of Oléron, presented in a
Communion, and by putting new life into plainly Wilberforce overtaxed his muscular lished in The Black Book of the Admiralty.
earlier and
the Church schools.
system. Then there were the Ritual. All these documents Prof. Studer has tran-
There was endless opposition, but he ists of Brighton, Worthing, and the rest scribed and edited with elaborate care. If
faced and overthrew it. His reputation who demanded all his patience and charity. he has taken sometimes almost unnecessary
a very great parish priest began Briefly, the Bishop, while no friend to pains to set forth in type the nature of the
at Seaforth, and he went thence to win the performance of extremists, was for abbreviations of the manuscript, the labour
chester in 1878, amid general expressions of letting good men go on doing good works involved in this represents a praiseworthy
regret, drawn by Bishop Harold Browne's so long as they did not make themselves
ideal of scholarship. He has also supplied
a translation of a text which is sometimes
offer of a large missionary field in the
“impossible. ”
excessively difficult to make sense of, and
south-west. A resident canonry was to be
Mr. Atlay's absorbing chapters on if his methods of cutting the knot are
combined with the Wardenship of Wilber-
force House, and the work assigned to quench a layman's envy of episcopal coherent and intelligible version of the
Wilberforce at Chichester are of a kind
now and then rather heroic, he has at
least succeeded in making a much more
to the short-lived Wilberforce Mission to
be transferred from South London. Mr. glory, and prepare the reader for the whole than has hitherto been given of the
be transferred from South London. Mr. last scene of all at Bembridge in Septem- various parts which different scholars have
Atlay has an interesting passage on the ber, 1907. He quotes as testimony to here and there striven to turn into English,
Mission, and the reason why it fell
through. But, when Wilberforce desired of a friend who travelled with the Bishop German at Southampton, modestly disclaims
Wilberforce's personal charm the verdict Mr. Studer, who is professor of French and
to resign his canonry, the special oppor- to the Cape in April, 1904, and who tells
any special historical qualifications, and in-
tunity designed for him being no longer
forms us that he approached his task at the
open, the Bishop wisely insisted on its “how charming a companion he made him outset from a purely philological point of
retention.
self to all on board, and how completely he view. Finding, however, that the subject
The experience acquired at Aldershot, revolutionized the notions of those who had to be dealt with historically also, he was
and more notably at Portsmouth, was of associated the English Episcopate exclusively bold enough to equip himself with the know-
with lawn-sleeves and gaiters. ”
ledge that was necessary for this task.
great service to the first Bishop of New-
Occasionally an odd statement shows that
castle. The offer of that new See came More sophisticated people than the mixed he still has weak points, but in most substan-
in 1882. Wilberforce had lately returned company of a Cape liner may profitably tial matters he has done his subject full
from a successful missionary visit to revise here their notions about the episco- justice.
Quebec, made at the request of the pate. Laborious days, strain, anxiety, and Perhaps the most important part of
Canadian bishops and clergy. His name courage are among the impressions of his work is, however, the Supplement which
was already linked with the cause of episcopal palaces which one receives from is substantially the third volume, and in-
temperance, and he and his young wife-Bishop Wilberforce's biographer.
cludes, with ample glossary and indexes, a
his felicitous second marriage with Miss
highly interesting study of the French dialect
Emily Connor had taken place in 1874
in which the greater part of 'The Oak Book :
is written. Prof. Studer rightly believes
took the pledge, in the presence of his
that the composition of a work like 'The
parishioners, at the first meeting of the
LOCAL HISTORY.
Oak Book' in French is proof that in the
Church of England Temperance Society in
first half of the fourteenth century French
Seaforth. He had seen what harm drink
The Oak Book of Southampton, of c. A. D.
1300.
was a familiar vernacular to the trading
Transcribed and edited from the classes in Southampton. As this speech was
worked
among the
poor in Liverpool, and
Unique MS. in the Audit House, with Trans-
he warmed to temperançe advocacy as if lation, Introduction, Notes, &c. , by P.
the natural language of an active community,
it was a boxing match.
he thinks it worthy of serious study, and
Studer. 2 vols. With Supplement. (South-
To the North he returned, but with ampton Record Society). - The Hartley
accordingly gives a very careful and elabo-
rate account of the phonology and inflexional
genuine misgivings.
“ Badly furnished. | University
University College at Southampton
system of the French spoken in Southampton
ill-endowed, under-manned, the Church in leges of England, but its staff and students however, seem to be aware that Maitland had
one of the youngest among the newer col-
in the fourteenth century.
He does not,
Northumberland," says the biographer well take legitimate pride in the bold- already written a similar study of the French
truly, was a bare and inchoate eccle- ness which inspired them to start the South-
of the ‘Year-Books' of the same period.
siastical territory rather than a diocese. ” ampton Record Society, and the skill with Happily they largely cover different ground,
“ The best appointment of Gladstone's which they have published and edited nearly for Maitland did not concern himself with
life," as the Bishop of St. Albans told the
a dozen volumes of important local records. phonology, while Mr. Studer, who is a pro-
Duke of Argyll, "meant trouble enough They are indeed, as the preface of these fessed philologist, devotes the longest section
volumes says, an “instance of the many of his study to an examination of the sounds
for the preferred. To many Churchmen sided and stimulating influence of the Uni- and spelling of Anglo-French speech. So
he seemed a Puseyite, and Joseph Cowen's versity College in our midst. ” Prof. Hearn- little has been written with authority on
powerful influence was opposed to the shaw, the source of this inspiration, has now the grammatical peculiarities of the French
bishopric and the Bishop. Self-effacement moved far from Southampton, but he con-
used in England in the later Middle Ages that
and reticence were required of Churchmen tinues as general editor of the series, which is
a fresh contribution to our knowledge of it
by militant Dissenters, and these were enlarged by the publication for the first should receive a general welcome.
not Wilberforce's qualities as an eccle- time of the noteworthy fourteenth-century
collection called 'The Oak Book,' the printing
siastic. Mr. Atlay decorously admits that of which has long been demanded by all The 350 pages of The Story of Coventry,
the Bishop was sometimes betrayed into interested in municipal antiquities. The by Mary Dormer Harris (Dent), brightened
rashness of speech. ” It answered its very miscellaneous contents of The Oak by Mr. Chandler's illustrations, form &
purpose, for he championed the claims Book' are duly explained by the editor, pleasantly written and attractive guide to
of the Church sucoessfully in many a
Prof. Studer.
the history and topography of the ancient
controversy.
The newspapers at first The special peculiarity of Southampton city. The last chapter, entitled 'Old Coven-
abused him, but the men of the North among English" municipalities is due to try at the Present Day, will be helpful to
liked and respected his methods, and the fact that the merchant guild absorbed visitors whose time is limited.
The sections that deal with the beginnings
he ended thirteen years at Newcastle in itself the inchoate municipal organiz-
with Cowen and Dr. Spence Watson as
ation, and became the governing body of municipal government, the corporation
of the town. The greater part of “The and the guilds, and especially with the
his allies in all good work. A cloud Oak Book' consists of the guild ordinances, mayor, bailiffs, and community, show that
of witnesses, clerical and lay, unite in embodying many fragments of much earlier the author has closely studied the intricacies
is
may
irst
6
CUTII
## p. 156 (#132) ############################################
156
THE ATHENÆUM
No. 4398, FEB. 10, 1912
-
was
а
PE
of mediæval town life and administration ; and the subject seems to have been a Henry landed with his forces in the South-
and in no other English town is there such lad of almost supernatural piety, and West of England in 1153, when the earls of
a wealth of available information. The learning. Burman's visit to Cambridge that district rose in his cause ; the evidence
whole question of local government was is the merest fragment; but it is most of the coinage closely corroborates that of
unusually complicated at Coventry by the interesting, and his allusion to University the chronicles and charters. Henry's own
rule of two rival forces, and this made the ceremonies of creating. Doctors by giving money was minted at Wareham, Sherborne,
struggle for municipal freedom all the them a cap, book, and ring is illustrated Malmesbury, and possibly Taunton, as well
harder. Coventry was divided into two by Prof. Mayor by extracts from Bentley as at Wiveliscombe ; · whilst other mints
lordships : one part was the property of which well repay perusal. At a feast of the West, including Dunster, struck
the Earls of Chester, and was termed the at Trinity they dined off square wooden the coinage of the several earls who sup-
Earl's-half ; whilst the other part pertained platters. Von Uffenbach visited all the ported him in his action against Stephen.
to the great Benedictine foundation, and libraries, and grumbled at everything-
was known as the Prior's-half. The diffi- somewhat unreasonably it would appear.
culties of tenure, custom, and privilege But the chief interest lies in Mayor's notes,
A History of the Manor and Township of
within the walls were considerable, and which reveal his erudition and remarkable Allerton in the County of Lancaster. By
frequently led to disputes between the powers of illustration. The Professor was
Ronald Stewart - Brown. (Liverpool, E.
Earl's men and the Prior's tenants.
an omnivorous man of learning a true
Howell. )-For centuries Allerton
To those who have made a study of successor of the giants of the seventeenth purely agricultural township, and during
the last hundred years it has been the home
Coventry, or have known it at first hand for century–who spent his life amid books,
of Liverpool's most
and whose diversions were more arduous
eminent citizens ;
some years, there are certain disappoint-
Such
than the labours of many scholars.
ments in this book, notwithstanding the
now its glory is rapidly fading before the
amount of trustworthy information gathered men as these have, however, seldom given onslaught of villadom and electric tramways.
within its covers.
The absorption of Allerton into the ever-
The town walls, for
the result of their toils in ordered form to
instance, were well worth more than the
the world.
spreading City of Liverpool is only a question
of a few years, so it is especially fitting that
brief allusions made to them, for in this
a chronicler should arise before its indi-
respect Coventry was of primary importance. Wifela's Combe: a History of the Parish viduality is finally lost.
The walls, as constructed in the middle of
of Wiveliscombe. By F. Hancock. (Taunton,
the fourteenth century, enclosed an area
Mr. Stewart-Brown deals in an interesting
Barnicott & Pearce. )—Prebendary Hancock
that was without a rival in the Midlands. is well known in the West of England as the ficing accuracy, to picturesqueness, and he
way with the manorial history without sacri-
Their circuit was about three miles; they writer of two good books dealing with the knows where to turn for his facts and how
were nine feet thick, of considerable height, histories of the adjacent towns of Minehead
provided with thirty-two towers, and pierced and Dunster.
to use those facts when they have been
He has now produced a found The story of the manor during the
by twelve gates. Again, the information as
volume on the history of the small Somer- last 150 years reads more like a romance
to the two friaries and the four hospitals
setshire town and parish of Wiveliscombe.
of the town is too scanty.
than sober history, and the great “ Hardman
The name is odd, and more than one
case” inevitably suggests Jarndyce v.
attempt has been made to supply its deriva- Jarndyce. Mr. Stewart-Brown gives also
The Royal Charters of the City of Lincoln : tion. Collinson, the county historian, men-
a very readable account of many of the
Henry II. to William III. , transcribed and tions two explanations which were current present-day landowners, though his frank-
translated, with an Introduction, by Walter
in his day, but both of them are obviously
ness will perhaps be more entertaining to
de Gray Birch (Cambridge University Press),
impossible. The one derived the name from those readers who are not directly con-
is a well-printed, handsome, and useful the prevalence there in early times of the cerned; it is a question how far some of
book, and the more to be welcomed as it grub called the weevil, whilst the other sup- the well-known families in the neighbour-
seems to be one result of recent efforts on posed that it had its origin in the presence hood of Liverpool will appreciate being told
the part of the Corporation of Lincoln to of weasels in the district. Mr. Hancock's that their ancestor of a little more than a
set in order their fine collection of records theory, however, is most probably correct, hundred years ago was an illiterate old man
and make them accessible to scholars. To namely, that it means the Combe which was
in poor circumstances, who could not sign
have had the series printed, arranged, and the possession of one Wifela, or Wyvel. his own name.
translated is a great thing. It is a pity,
The local pronunciation has long ago been
To the general reader the most attractive
however, that the editing shows some lack
simplified as Wilscombe.
section will be that dealing with the group
of order and method, and is not always The story of the parish goes back to early of prehistoric stones known as the Calder-
critical enough. The Introduction and Glos- days, for prehistoric folk established a great stones, a subject handled in a careful and
sary leave something to be desired, and the earthwork at Castle, a fortress which was discriminating way. The gillustrations are
transctiption of the texts has in different held in succession by Romans, Saxons, and well chosen, and, with the exception of two
parts of the book been carried out on some- Danes. Edward the Confessor bestowed early plans, well reproduced ; and the Index
what varying principles. There is a fair the manor on the bishopric of Wells, and is good.
translation, but a little more explanation here for centuries bishops occasionally
of difficulties would have been an improve- resided. The prebendaries of Wells also
London North of the Thames (A. & C.
ment. The facsimiles are attractive, though held a large estate about the town, exer-
some are on too small a scale for ordinary cising manorial rights and using an official volume, as the previous one describing the
Black) should have been styled the second
eyes.
seal; but the ecclesiastical affairs of the City is equally “ London North of the
parish were left almost entirely, to the Thames. " It is stated on the title-page to
Cambridge under Queen Anne, illustrated
care of the vicars. The story of the fabric be by Sir Walter Besant, but in the Preface
by Memoir of Ambrose Bonwicke and Diaries
of the church is sad ; it is now a tasteless
we are informed that he edited it and
of Francis Burman and Zacharias Conrad
building, erected in 1829, with a debased "wrote a good deal of it,” the remainder
von Uffenbach, and edited with notes by
semi-Italian interior.
being by Miss G. E. Mitton. The editing,
J. E. B. Mayor (Cambridge, Deighton, Bell Mr. Hancock has dealt carefully, and for however arranged, cannot be called satis.
& Co. ), consists partly of a reprint and partly the most part in an interesting fashion, factory. The plan is said to be a peram-
of the unpublished papers of the late Prof.
with the manor, the prebend, the vicarage, bulation of London formed from the con-
Mayor. The latter have been secured by the charities, and the industries ; he also tributions of those whom Besant called
the Cambridge Antiquarian Society, and draws successfully on the registers, which "perambulators,” with the design that their
the result is the delightful little volume begin in 1558, and the churchwardens' ac- accounts should all be welded into the
before us. The Provost of King's, in his counts, which date from 1681. The book Great Survey. "
preface, calls Mayor's notes “a mine of concludes with a few traditions and ghost If the contributors perambulated London
information about scholars at Cambridge- stories. Its 300 pages bear witness to Mr. on the plan described in this volume, we feel
nay, of Europe-two hundred years ago,' Hancock's industry as a gleaner from public certain that few will follow them in their
and those who dig in the book before us and local records, but there are several other route. Its impracticability may be seen
will find treasure enough. The three narra- sources unexplored from which further in- by a reference to the table of contents.
tives, which were intended to form part of formation might have been gained. In one The “perambulator” sets out by visiting
a much larger work, are the life of Ambrose place the information given is insufficient and what, by a slight stretch of language, may
Bonwicke by his father, and accounts of the to some extent incorrect. We are told that still be called the suburbs, viz. , Hammer-
visits to Cambridge of Francis Burman, a Wiveliscombe possessed a mint at which smith, Fulham, Chelsea, Kensington, and
Dutch minister and professor of theology, coins were struck in the reign of Stephen, Paddington; he then writes a chapter on
and of Zacharias Conrad von Uffenbach, the probably by some great baron. " The ‘May Fair and Belgravia,' in which occurs
indefatigable book - collector, a native of extant coins of this mint are those of the first part of the description of Piccadilly;
Frankfort. The life of Ambrose Bonwicke Duke Henry, afterwards Henry II. This then one on Westminster, followed by
is called 'A Pattern for Young Students,'' is a matter of historic moment. Duke the curious division - The Strand District
a Sud
D
1
7
1
1
66
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157
6
66
survey
or
The latter is divided into three parts:- by its realism alone is it essentially unfruitful--parasitic, in the end, on the life
Part I. , “West and North of Charing Cross,' different. Precisely on this point we con- and work of others.
begins with Hyde Park Corner, because sider the criticism of Brunetière inadequate. In his main thesis Prof. Eucken urges
there is a small outlying portion of St. Classicism, by its adherence to rules,
us to accept the reality of the spiritual-
Martin's parish there. Part II. , ' Piccadilly its limitations of models, its definition of as of an independent sphere of being into
and St. James's Square, contains a literary genres,” and its exclusion of the
which man has grown beyond Nature. By
continuation of what is said of Piccadilly particular, failed to represent nature entire.
a life centred there the antithesis of subject
in the chapter on May Fair. Part III. is Ît portrayed a nature corrected according and object is transcended. The illustration
devoted to the Strand proper. After the
to reason.
It is, therefore, in dealing with nearest to us of such a transcending is found
Strand district we pass on to Marylebone, the particular to the exclusion of all method in work “as a spiritual occurrence, for
Hampstead, St. Pancras, Holborn, Blooms- that the Romantic School, freed from its “ in work the object loses its alien nature,
bury, Clerkenwell, and then start off to extravagances and faults, most clearly de- and is taken up into our own life. ” Since
St. Luke's, Islington, Hackney, Stoke parts from tradition.
so he argues-man is not a spiritual being,
Newington, Shoreditch, and East London. We note a valuable chapter on language not a personality, from the beginning, but
A more suitable arrangement might have and metre, and an extremely interesting only possesses the power to become one,
been attained by gathering the various analysis of George Sand. In his treatment it is by work that, in the first instance, he
places under the now recognized headings of of the later developments of the nineteenth develops into spirituality. For this de.
the borough councils, but this opportunity century M. Pellissier is, we think, par- velopment neither a continuance of existence
has been lost. There certainly is no street- ticularly illuminating. Naturalist theorists, in the “ merely human,” nor mere reflection
to-street survey, as one is led to expect by Zola in particular, somewhat disdainfully and reasoning, can prove effective : for by
the Preface. The use of the term
dismissed the Romantics as merely clearing neither does man relate himself to and appro-
is dangerous, as it challenges comparison the ground for its successors, and regarded priate the independent spiritual life which
with Stow's great work.
their period as chaotic and necessary.
is the basis of his own. This appropriation,
In the Appendix are two lists: (1) of
this development, is the common inward
distinguished people and the streets they M. Victor Giraud, who considers the task which deepens the life of peoples as of
lived in, (2) streets and distinguished in subject of his volume, Nouvelles Études sur individuals, dignifies failure, gives signifi-
habitants. Such lists would be of great Chateaubriand (Hachette), the most powerful cance to what otherwise is meaningless, and
utility if they were carefully verified and literary influence of the nineteenth century imparts the firmness and tranquillity which
fairly complete, but these hardly fulfil these in out of France, may be said to come from confidence in ultimate victory,
conditions, and in some instances names represent the bulk of French academic The means to this conduct, activity, and
are merely given under districts such as opinion, and particularly that of the Revue one section of the book deals with. Activism :
Hammersmith and Hampstead.
des Deux Mondes, as opposed to those who a Profession of Faith. '
think, with M. Jules Lemaître and M. Paul This--as his readers would expect—is
Bourget, that Chateaubriand will live only fundamentally religious. Indeed, in describ-
in his Mémoires d'Outre-Tombe. ' A course ing how religion--which, for his present
of lectures by M. Lemaître, which were purpose, he practically identifies with Chris.
expected to present his decapitated head tianity-has, in his opinion, failed to satisfy
FRENCH BOOKS
surrounded by garlands of flowers, have man, he dwells chiefly on the disturbing
AND GERMAN TRANSLATIONS. stimulated the cult of Chateaubriand. Re- effect of intellectualism and other reactionary
newed interest in his works has already been tendencies, and finds little or no fault with
Le Réalisme du Romantisme By Georges signalized by the advent of M. de Cassagne's the Christian theory itself. Yet, if funda-
Pellissier. (Hachette & Cie. That a book La Vie Politique de Chateaubriand. ' Like mentally religious, "his view of life is not
)-
by M. Pellissier should fail to be interesting it, the Correspondance,' shortly to be completely so. Exactly all that he under-
and illuminating is difficult to imagine. This published by M. Thomas, will probably stands by the spiritual he leaves the reader
volume, particularly important to students subvert accepted ideas and surprise many, to discover for himself ; and, if on one page
of the Romantic movement, should, by for the study of Chateaubriand has re- we seem near to the acknowledgment of a
reason of its clarity and simplicity, its mained till now where the facile, but scarcely Self behind all phenomena, on another the
ordered presentation, and its charm of unbiased pen of Sainte-Beuve left it. Independent Spiritual Life which our en-
style, appeal to a large public. Few
M. Giraud foresees that Chateau-deavours are to appropriate looks impersonal.
literary contests have equalled in intensity briand will once more become the fashion, The author's attitude towards Chris-
and duration that which heralded the Ro- and to this new recognition contributes tianity is known to be highly sympathetic
mantic movement in France. Victor Hugo, five essays: (1) on the origin of 'Le Génie if a little patronizing. Yet, thoroughly as he
in the famous preface to ‘Cromwell,' claimed du Christianisme’; (2) on little-known must understand Christian history and
Romanticism as liberalism in literature ; episodes in the youth of Chateaubriand ; doctrine, we come upon passages which seem
while in the second half of the nineteenth (3) on the remains of the MS. of the to imply some rather deep-going misappre-
century realists and naturalists, fighting in • Martyrs’; (4) on two sets of unpublished hensions. Thus, to take one example, he
the name of reality and nature, saw in the letters; and (5) on the influence of Chateau- reproaches Christianity with the annulling
movement only a transitory disease or an briand throughout the nineteenth century. of all differences, even of spiritual capacity;
extravagant fantasy. M. Pellissier's book
and the displacement of justice through
is welcome, not only for itself, but also because Life's Basis and Life's Ideal. By Rudolf pity. ” The New Testament surely furnishes
modern criticism to have been Eucken. (A. & C. Black. )-This is a trans- plenty of disproof to the second charge ;
inspired unduly by the spirit of reaction. lation, by Mr. Alban Widgery, of Prof. and, as an illustration of later Christian
M. Faguet finds in Romanticism a horror Eucken's book 'Die Grundlinien einer neuen tradition with regard to the first, we would
of reality,” while Brunetière is alternately Lebensanschauung,' the latest and best suggest to Prof. Eucken a re-reading of
luminous and grotesque.
Essentially sub- statement of his philosophy--though, as the third canto of the ‘Paradiso. Again,
jective, literature of the Romantic period Mr. Widgery truly remarks in his Introduc. his account of Christianity as, at the outset,
has been accused of an inability to picture tory Note, Prof. Eucken is rather an ethical an anodyne, or consolation, to a world grown
the truth, and in order better to prove the teacher than a philosopher in the strict mortally weary, and his call to her to throw
thesis criticism has been directed mainly technical sense of that term. We have, off this character, which still lingers, and
against lyric expression. Subjectivity, as first, a statement and criticism of individual become joyful and energetic, is-merely
M. Pellissier ably points out, though the systems of life; whereof the author recog- from the historical point of view—so one-
capital feature of Romanticism, is neverthe- nizes five : Religion and Immanent Idealism sided a presentment of the facts as to be
less but one of many qualities. Alfred de on the one hand, Naturalism, Socialism, and almost untrue.
Vigny, who the greatest idealist Individualism the other. Each has We would not, however, end on any
among the Romanticists, affirms that art much to say for itself ; each, in his opinion, carping note. If this work fails to give us
should be “ semblable à la vie. " Indeed, has failed, in the long run, to satisfy man any ultimate rationale of life and the world
it is the element of realism, which, as M. -Idealism, because of its aristocratic trend ; in which thought can find repose, it is
Pellissier shows, was the leaven' which Naturalism, because it fails to appropriate admirable both negatively, in its exposure
transformed the romantic conception of art the experiences and results of man's his. of the unsatisfactoriness of the “ merely
by virtue of a principle essentially naturalist, torical development; Socialism, because it human,” and positively, in its vindication
and infused new vigour into all forms of ignores the spiritual life of the individual, of the spiritual, and in a certain power and
artistic expression, including lyricism. This and, moreover, ignores, or arbitrarily wrests persuasiveness tending to incite the inquirer
is the heart of M. Pellissier's book, and the into accordance with its own theory, the at least to make trial of the spiritual life.
vigour and breadth of his treatment carry darker facts of human life ; and, finally, It must assuredly meet the needs of many
the reader along unresistingly.
Individualism, because the æsthetic con- minds, and by means of it English readers
By its very realism romanticism stands ception of life not only surrenders morality, may come to understand better than ever
out most clearly against classicism, and 'but also at the same time itself proves the influence which Prof. Eucken wields.
2
seems
was
on
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No. 4398, FEB. 10, 1912
on
66
are
The Lay of the Nibelung Men. Trans-
which is good, is imaginary, These facts
OUR LIBRARY TABLE.
lated from the Old German Text by Arthur
may astonish a public which knows nothing
S. Way. (Cambridge University Press. )
In Dickens Street, by W. R. Thomson about the imagination of an artist.
The Fair Maid of Perth' has not been
To the task of rendering the 'Nibelungen-(Chapman & Hall), is a pleasant little volume
lied’into English verse Dr. Way brings an
of meditations on some of the better-known included, but contains, says Mr. Lang, in
extraordinarily extensive practice in the art
characters in Dickens. Mr. Thomson is Connacher a reminiscence of a brother of
of translation, the result being that he has zestful and appreciative, but we fancy that Scott's. It has also in Father Clement a
at his disposal an excellent command of the elaborate mosaic of familiar quotations, ribute to open-mindedness in religion which
language, great facility in versification, which is a feature of most of the papers, might have been mentioned in the chapter
and a trained sense as to how the innumer will appeal less to the Dickens veteran (whom Scott's Clerical Characters. '
The volume should serve its purpose
able stumbling-blocks that beset the path they are apt to worry) than to the raw
of the inexperienced translator may best be recruit. The lecture on Mrs. Gamp is, well, though the present reviewer does not
circumvented. We think that his version perhaps, Mr. Thomson's happiest achieve- regard it as putting out of court his copy of
of the epic will prove more enjoyable ment, though we may point out that that 'Waverley Anecdotes,' for which he paid
to the general reader than any of its pre- lady was by her sister's marriage with a precisely fourpence.
decessors. For its form he has wisely chosen master sawyer” related to a railway guard
the splendid and admirably flexible metre-not, as Mr. Thomson asserts, to an engine- The Rise of the Novel of Manners : a Study
of William Morris's 'Story of Sigurd the driver. In view of the Northern origin of of English Prose Fiction between 1600 and
Volsung'—a metre which is very closely the book some of the sketches have ap- 1740. By Charlotte E. Morgan. “ Colum-
akin to that of the Nibelungenlied itself, peared in The Glasgow Herald—it is curious bia University Studies in English. " (Colum-
while it escapes the monotony and awkward to find its author, in his “Micawber? essay, bia University Press, London, Frowde.
nesses that seem to be inherent in any reproducing without comment Dickens's Miss Morgan's formidable list of authorities
exact reproduction of the latter into English. misquotation ("* frere” for fere) from the shows how much has been written in the
His lines run vigorously and rapidly, and last stanza of Auld Lang Syne. '
form of articles and monographs in the
carry the reader successfully over the duller In dealing with the puzzle of Edwin Drood, last few years on this subject; and her
stretches of the poem.
Mr. Thomson inclines to the somewhat text shows that she has used them. She
On the other hand, the spirit of the arbitrarily discredited Bazzard theory, and gives, moreover, a chronological list, more
original—the simplicity and directness that states his reasons with conciseness. We than a hundred pages long, of English fiction,
so characteristic of it—is not always note a few small slips : the Kenwigses did or work bordering on fiction, published
preserved. The rendering of such a line as
not live in Golden Square, but in a dilapi. between 1600 and the appearance of Richard-
dated street near by ; it was
den wirt bi sînen gesten vil harte sêre verdrôz
“the baronet's son in 1740. But her account of this litera-
by
nephew,” not son, after dancing with whom ture would have been greatly improved by
at Exeter Mrs. Wititterly
But amidst of his guests for the host-king time traileth a
collapsed the exclusion of the period 1600-60, which she
broken wing,
while the allusion (p. 80) to“ Mr. Bob Allen sketches in the most perfunctory way, only
shows a sophistication of expression which
will surprise Pickwickians.
warming into a show of original knowledge
is extremely frequent and to which some
In the case of Mr. Swiveller, too, an and freshness of manner when she passes the
critics may take exception. It is, however, opportunity has certainly been missed. No Restoration. This restricted period would
only fair to add that the embellishments of
one, as yet, seems to have realized that the have given scope enough ; for, though not
this kind have generally been made with sublime Richard, at the beginning of the ten novels of any importance were published
considerable taste and literary skill. " A story, adopts the Weller mode of speech, in the last forty years of the century, the
good many minor inaccuracies in the inter-
discoursing of "wiolence," "conwiviality,
conwiviality,” jejune fiction of the time was nevertheless
pretation of the Middle High German text
'the old min,” “ jine hands,” and the like ; full of experiment and growth in literary
also occur, but they need not seriously inter whereas, as the narrative progresses, he form ; while its very meanness and poverty
fere with the enjoyment of the reader. We
speaks like an educated man. This is of content have preserved it from being
quote, as a sample of Dr. Way's quality, a
another example of the continual change of worked upon. The historian of the English
couple of stanzas :-
plan engendered by the method of publica novel in this its period of incubation will
tion which Dickens favoured, and a further have plenty to do. Even leaving out of
Flashedemany a priceless gemstone from the folds of her proof, if any were needed, of the futility consideration the romance in its several
And the roses flushed through the lilies, a snare of heart's of any attempt at the solution of the Drood kinds, the anti-romance, and the picaresque
mystery.
story, which by this time were faits accom-
Howsoe'er 'gainst the spell of her beauty one strove, he
needs must own
plis, he must read as much as he can endure
That nothing so passing lovely in the wide world yet had he For the expert the best part of the Rev. of the 500 or more vulgar “polite" novels
known.
W. S. Crockett's Scott Originals (T. N. Foulis) which were the favourite reading, and often
As the full moon in her glory swims on before the stars,
And the brightness of her splendour floats forth of the
will be the admirable illustrations, which purported to be the work, of
persons of
cloudy bars,
include facsimiles of the manuscript of the honour,” in order to disentangle the various
So before all other women shone out that Queen of Love.
Well hmight the hearts of the heroes be uplifted for joy volume is attractively produced, and shows into the new art. Perhaps Prof. Brie will
novels, and several rare portraits. The threads which were being woven together
This is by no means a faultless rendering: a wide knowledge of facts and possibilities prove in his forthcoming book to be this
in accuracy it is surpassed by the versions concerning Scott's prototypes. It is, how- historian; certainly Miss Morgan is not.
of Lettsom and Miss Horton, and, we might ever, filled out with a good deal of quotation Her essay is brief, and does not make up
add, Prof. Needler, and the love of decora- from the novels which ought to be familiar, for brevity by brilliance. But she has made
tion is too much in evidence ; but it has life and some criticism of no particular distinc- a useful first guide to the material, sorting
and movement.
tion. What Jeffrey said does not much a great deal of it into separate rubbish
* Other notices of French books will strikes us as occasionally verbose.
matter to-day, and Mr. Crockett himself heaps, each with a label neatly stuck into
the top of it. Had she confined herself to
be found under Fine Art, Music, and the
We find abundant entertainment and native English works, her task would have
Drama.
human interest in the Scottish characters been lighter ; but this would have been to
here portrayed, and the average reader will evade the real problem, for the great bulk
SALE.
not regret any more than we do that Mr. of English fiction till the eighteenth century
MESSRS. SOTHEBY sold on Tuesday, January
Crockett has gone beyond his intention of was translated or slavishly imitated from
30th, and the following day, the remaining portion keeping generally to Scott and Lockhart as the Continental novelists. Miss Morgan
of the library of the late Dr. Joseph Frank Payne. witnesses, and referred to such later sources distinguishes well between French and
Among the most important books were the follow- as Mrs. Hughes of Uffington, Mr. Andrew Spanish influences, a distinction not so
ing :-
Herbals, &c. : Herbarium Apulei Platonici, of Sir Walter Scott. '
Lang, and James Skene's vivid 'Memories apparent in the short stories as in the
Rome, 1484-8, 961. Latin Herbal, Passau, 1485,
The last might have romances which preceded them. Nor has
691. Hortus Sanitatis, Maintz, 1491,' 461. ; supplied some more details. Thus we learn she treated the novel as a watertight com.
another, Cologne, c. 1496, 311. ; another, in that Skene himself had the original combat partment of literature, but illustrates the
French, 1539, 351.
with the seals which was made into excellent connexion between it and comedy, as well
Miscellaneous Books : Bacon, Instauratio chaff in 'The Antiquary. A chapter on
Magna, 1620, 401. Spenser, Faerie Queene, first Scott's humour would have been pleasant, voyages, memoirs, character-sketches, and
the contemporary native genres of
three books, 1590, 431.
Milton Collection : Areopagitica, 1644,331. 108. ; and might have taken the space occupied the like, which helped to bridge the gulf
Brief Notes upon a late Sermon, titled “The by familiar verdicts and quotations.
between the novel and life.
Fear of God and the King,' 1660 ; and No Blinde Of the pictures, the most striking are those Perhaps the best part of Miss Morgan's
Guides (an answer to the previous pamphlet), of the Black Dwarf. That strange being volume is the long chronological list of
1660, 321.
Of Education, to Master
Samuel Hartlib, 1644, 1721. ; Paradise Lost, first
was more faithfully reproduced than any novels printed at the end ; but both this
edition, third title, 1888, 441. ;
other character in Scott, but the story was a and the text have many misprints and
The total of the sale was 2,0551. 178.
failure. On the other hand, its background, other slips.
desire.
as
108. ;
## p. 159 (#135) ############################################
No. 4398, FEB. 10, 1912
159
THE ATHENÆUM
LIST OF NEW BOOKS.
(Notice in these columns does not preclude longer
review).
