No More Learning

selves.
Brereton and Rothwell caught the spirit
That, perhaps, may be the
of their original, is incomparable as a work
“Here we perceive how easy it is for a
reason why, with us, duels have gone
'Don Quixote furnishes
of art. But is it sound, regarded simply garment to become ridiculous. It might out of fashion.
with the general type of comic
as an analysis of the meaning of laughter almost be said that every fashion is laugh-
Only, when we are absurdity,” says M. Bergson. If the
Indeed, on the principles upheld by the dealing with the fashion of the day, we are Anglo-Saxon laughs at Don Quixote, he
distinguished author, it is not easy to see so accustomed to it that the garment seems,
how analysis in the ordinary sense is to
likewise laughs with him, since his own
in our mind, to form one with the individual half-repressed, half-cherished foible is to
be carried on at all.
wearing it. We do not separate them in
tilt at windmills.
imagination. The idea no longer occurs to
Our excuse for attacking the problem to contrast the inert rigidity of the
of the meaning of laughter must lie in the covering with the living suppleness of the laughter. ' To be the handmaid of
Let us, then, refuse to formularize
a
fact that we shall not aim at imprisoning the
comic spirit within a definition. We regard here remains in a latent condition.
& latent condition. It philosophy, even of the Bergsonian philo-
it, above all, as a living thing. However will only succeed in emerging when the sophy which catches at the ripple of the
trivial it may be, we shall treat it with the natural incompatibility is so deep-seated stream of life, is no meet function for
respect due to life. We shall confine our- between the covering and the covered that the irrepressible goddess. We laugh be-
Selves to watching it grow and expand. an immemorial association fails to cause we overflow, not because some of
Passing by imperceptible gradations from cement this union : a case in point is our
those around us experience a difficulty
one form to another, it will be seen to achieve head and top hat. "
the strangest metamorphoses. We shall
in flowing at all. Merriment is the
disdain nothing we have seen. And maybe Without proceeding to study in detail grace which should accompany strength,
we may also find that we have made an the endless forms of the comic that with that strength may temper its own bru-
acquaintance that is useful. For the comic
more or less plausibility are reduced to tality, not that it may flick the feebler
spirit has a logic of its own, even in its wildest
eccentricities. It has a method in its mad-
cases of the stiff and starched, let us ask folk on the raw. The ancients said that
a lame man
whether this example of the top hat carries
satis bella materies
It dreams, I admit, but it conjures
up, in its dreams, visions that are at once
conviction with it. For society does not ad jocandum. ” So, apparently, says M.
accepted and understood by the whole of a laugh at the top hat. It laughs, on the Bergson in his loftier way, as he regards the
Can it then fail to throw contrary, at the man who joins the “ hat- lame efforts of humanity to advance grace-
light for us on the way that human imagina- less brigade. " We are asked by M. Berg: fully. But, rather than laugh at others'
tion works, and more particularly social, son to assume that
lameness, why not laugh at our own super-
collective, and popula: imagination ? Be-
abundant energy which bids us, instead
gotten of real life an, akin to art, should it “our laughter is always the laughter of of walking, seek to fly in the air ? And,
not also have some'ning of its own to tell us a group. . . . A man who was once asked why meanwhile, let us, as men and philosophers,
about art and life "
he did not weep at a sermon, when every-
body else was shedding tears, replied : I
These words would seem to foreshadow
none the less seek to fly. There is a light.
don't belong to the parish! What that
an historical treatment.
ness inherent in laughter of the purer kind
We expect an
man thought of tears would be still more true that may suffice to save us from serious
any
account ci the psychological springs of of laughter. "
fall.
us
us
even
was
ness.
social group.


## p. 6 (#18) ###############################################

6
THE ATHENÆUM
No. 4393, Jan. 6, 1912
66
arrived, a party of inhabitants of what is art of the turner was practised, and Mr.
The Glastonbury Lake Village : a Full now Somerset, large enough to require Bulleid refers to a wheel hub and a tub
Description of the Excavations and nearly 90 separate huts for their ac- as showing considerable skill and ingenuity;
the Relics Discovered, 1892–1907. By commodation, and probably numbering in fact, a reproduction of the tub by a firm
Arthur Bulleid and Harold St. George some 300 persons, established them- equipped with steam lathes and other
Gray. Vol. I. (Glastonbury Anti- selves upon a nearly triangular piece of modern contrivances was not made without
quarian Society. )
ground measuring about 400 ft. by 300 ft. , difficulty. It would have been satisfactory
In March, 1892, Mr. Arthur Bulleid, who soil they laid down a timber substructure, have been traced ; many of those found
well protected by water. Upon the peaty if a larger number of the tools used could
had been interested in lake dwellings, supporting layers and mounds of clay, on
persuaded himself that remains of that which their dwellings were erected. They A well-shaped ladder was among the
were of iron, and had perished from rust.
order were likely to exist in the marshy surrounded their village by a continuous wooden objects discovered.
country near Glastonbury, and began a
line of palisading, supported upon piles.
search for them. Walking along the road
One of the most interesting of the finds
from Glastonbury to Godney, he observed Of the people themselves some remains was a hammered bronze bowl, which is
some shallow mounds, and, with excellent were discovered, from which it appears figured as a frontispiece to the volume.
insight, concluded from certain indications that they were part of a long-headed race; The principal feature in its decoration is
that he had found what he wanted. With but the full description of their skulls and a number of rivets, some of which are
the support of the Glastonbury Anti- other bones by Prof. Boyd Dawkins is necessary for keeping the parts of the
quarian Society, and of the proprietor of reserved for the second volume. Their vessel together, while others are added
the land, Mr. Bath, who afterwards pre- huts were nearly circular, and varied in for purposes of mere ornament. At some
sented five acres of it to the Society, Mr. size from 20 to 38 ft. in diameter. Each time in the course of its use the rim had
Bulleid began digging. Among his early had a central hearth formed of slabs of been damaged, and had to be repaired;
discoveries was a splendid canoe, neatly stone or baked clay. As the clay floor fractures in the bottom also had been
formed out of the trunk of a single tree. ' of each hut pressed upon the yielding riveted and patched. That the work.
Prof. Boyd Dawkins and Dr. Munro soon foundations of brushwood and peat, and manship of these repairs was more clumsy
after visited the site, and were impressed so subsided, another floor and another than that of the artist who devised the
with the importance of the investiga- hearth were laid upon the top of it. This original bowl is not surprising.
tion. At the Nottingham meeting of operation appears in some cases to have
the British Association in 1893, where a
Outside the village itself the inhabi-
been several times repeated : thus Mound tants must have cultivated a considerable
large and varied selection of the village 29 had ten floors and eleven hearths, extent of ground and possessed pasture
relics was displayed, Dr. Munro, who was while in Mound 27 there were six hearths, lands. Grains of wheat, barley, and peas
president of the Anthropological Section, but only four floors. This of itself may have been found, with millstones to grind
succeeded in getting a grant from the serve to indicate that the inhabitants them. Bones of ox, sheep, goat, pig,
Association towards the prosecution of suffered conditions of much physical dis- horse, dog, and fowl among domestic
the work, and from that time until its comfort.
animals ; stag, beaver, and otter among
completion in 1907, the grant was fre- There is evidence that some of the huts wild animals ; and pelican, swan, and
quently renewed. The Association ap- were devoted to special forms of industry. duck among aquatic birds, also occur.
pointed as the Committee to administer Thus in Mound 3 were found a number Both authors are to be congratulated-
its grants Dr. Munro as chairman, Prof. of incomplete and broken bone needles, especially Mr. Bulleid-on the addition
Boyd Dawkins, General Pitt-Rivers, and together with quantities of chips and they have made to our knowledge of the
Sir John Evans, with Mr. Bulleid as splinters of bone, indicating that it had early inhabitants of the country and on
secretary, and their reports each year been the workshop of a needlemaker. the worthy record they have produced of
form an interesting record of progress ; Mound 6, while giving evidence of use their arduous but successful work. The
but it was evident that a series of reports for a considerable period, did not appear eleven large plans in which Mr. Bulleid
to be unearthed from the annual volumes to have been occupied as a dwelling, and has recorded the exact size and position
of the British Association could not con- the large quantity of fragments of pottery of every object found are in themselves
stitute an adequate record of an explor- found there may indicate that it was the a monument of care and industry, as are
ation of this character, and that the workshop of a potter. Mound 8 had no also the many other detailed plans which
undertaking was worthy of being com- hearth, but seventeen pieces of a wooden he has contributed. In the tabular
memorated in a more formal treatise. frame-work were found which probably scheme of lettered prefixes to the num-
The present fine volume, which is to be belonged to a loom. Mound 37 yielded bered relics at the beginning of the book,
followed by a second, well supplies this nine baked clay loom-weights, six spindle the most important of them, X. Worked
requirement.
whorls, five weaving combs, three needles, Wood,” is, by an oversight which is
Mr. Bulleid had sole charge of the ex- and several perforated bones, which all remarkable in so excellent a work, omitted.
plorations until he left the neighbourhood indicate a textile industry. Mound 5
in 1902, when Mr. H. St. George Gray, contained the remains of what might have
whose long association with General Pitt- been a blast-furnace-fragments of cru-
Rivers and fidelity to his methods especi- cibles, small pieces of bronze, a baked
ally qualified him for such work, was made clay funnel, supposed to have been used The Historical Record of the Coronation of
their Majesties King George V. and
joint director. Mr. Bulleid contributes for blowing air into the furnace, and other
Queen Mary, 1911. Prepared, with the
to the volume a general and a detailed evidences of smelting, which suggest a
Approval of His Majesty the King, by
account of the lake village and its metallurgical industry.
H. Farnham Burke, Norroy King of
environment, and a description of the That the community included a number
wood and worked timber objects found ; of expert carpenters appears from the
Arms. (McCorquodale & Co. )
Mr. Gray describes the objects of bronze, great extent of the pile-work, from the This handsomely bound volume is not
lead, tin, and Kimmeridge shale, the mortising of the timbers which formed quite accurately described on the title-
weaving combs, and the crucibles; and the flooring of the village, from the dug- page as an
historical record of the
Dr. Munro has written an introductory out boat that has been mentioned as an Coronation. ” Its contents consist merely
chapter opening with a classification of early discovery, and from the decorations of a word - for - word transcript of the
lake dwellings.
of the woodwork. Though timber is official documents relating to the Corona-
The story that these discoveries have a perishable material, many excellent tion, as they appeared in The London
to tell us, stated in broad and popular examples of decoration have been found, Gazette, with a list of the guests invited
language, is that at a time in the early Iron and a particularly graceful one is to the ceremony” and twenty original
age, which we may put at about 2,000 adopted as a border on the cover of the illustrations in colour. The documents
years ago, just before the Romans / volume. There is also evidence that the transcribed are the Orders in Council


## p. 7 (#19) ###############################################

No. 4393, JAN. 6, 1912
THE ATHENAEUM
7
6
and the Proclamations relating to the Three of King George's sons likewise If every provincial mayor has his dignity
Coronation ; the Judgments of the Court blotted out,
out, though the Prince of divulged, “ Alfred Austin, Esq. ," might
of Claims as to certain privileges claimed Wales, Prince John, and Princess Mary be described as Poet Laureate. The
by persons in the Coronation ceremony ; are placed in the alphabetical order of Chairman of the Stock Exchange is
the Earl Marshal's orders as to robes,
“invited guests. ”
anonymous ; so are the Ambassadors of
coronets, and costumes ; the lists of the Even greater is the confusion among France, Germany, and Austria, though it
persons composing the processions to and the spiritual peers and other bishops. would be interesting for future genera-
in Westminster Abbey on June 22nd, 1911; The Archbishop of Canterbury, the tions to be reminded that when George V.
a reprint of the official book of the cere- Bishops of Durham, Hereford, Chester,
was crowned there was a Cambon at
monies observed at the Abbey, including, Carlisle, Rochester, Chichester, and Peter Albert Gate, a Metternich on Carlton
in addition to the ceremonial peculiar borough are inscribed, accompanied by Terrace, and a Mensdorff in Belgrave
to Coronations, the full text of the Litany, their respective wives, Mesdames Davidson, Square. In “ Doctor C. B. Heberden,
the Communion Service, and the Te Moule, Percival, Jayne, Diggle, Harmer, D. C. L. ," the tautology should have been
Deum; and a list of the persons com- Ridgeway, and Lady Mary Glyn. But omitted, and the titles added of Principal
posing the procession to the City on the Mesdames Burge, Chase, Edwards, Gibson, of B. N. C. and Vice-Chancellor of the
day following the Coronation.
Hoskyns, Kennion, Owen, Robertson, and University of Oxford. Though nearly
Norroy King of Arms does not add a Stubbs, and others, though each is de- all the peeresses are barred from the list,
word of his own to the bare official record, scribed as the wife of a bishop, are bereft three or four of those noble ladies have
either of narrative, description, or com- of their husbands, who were certainly all strayed into it: "Lady Petre,”. “The
ment. He does not supply a preface, invited, while some of them were con- Lady Biddulph of Ledbury," and
or even a foot-note. Consequently the spicuous in the Sacrarium-for example, “Georgiana Countess of Dudley. Lady
account of the proceedings calls for Bishop Kennion of Bath and Wells, whose Archibald Campbell and Lady Moyra
no historical or literary appreciation. portrait is repeated three times in this Cavendish are deprived of their husbands;
Its purchasers will not acquire it for volume. The celibate bishops are left and Lady Acland-Hood of her prefix of
the purpose of reading, but for the out of the list, including the Archbishop
" Honourable,” which is given to Sir
sake of the pictures, and of the “ list of York (who preached the sermon) and the John Forrest, who has been Right Honour-
of guests invited to the ceremony at Bishop of London (who read the Gospel). able for years. “Monsieur P. May (Coun-
Westminster Abbey," which
which occupies The titles accorded to the bishops will cillor, Belgium)” is
is an undiplomatic
100 of the 264 pages of the book. The cause dire perplexity to historians in description to find in an official list of a
illustrations are, on the whole, interesting, the future who examine this official list State function. Among misspelt names
graphic, and attractive. But the “ list to ascertain the correct episcopal style are those of Lord Rocksavage, M. Daesch-
of guests invited ” is most unsatisfactory. at the Coronation of George V. The ner (French Minister), and the Prince de
Even its heading is inaccurate, as many Bishop of Winchester is called merely Ligne.
of the names included are not those of
“ The Right
Reverend Bishop E. S. All these questions of dignities, and
“invited ”guests, but of persons who were Talbot,” without even the name of his titles and prefixes, may be trifles to the
present by traditional right-witness the diocese; while a London suffragan is majority of people, face to face with the
decisions of the Court of Claims—and of promoted to the peerage as The Lord problems of the human race. But they
high officials without whose presence the Bishop of Stepney. ” This honour is also are not trifles to Norroy King of Arms.
Coronation could not have taken place; conferred on “The Lord Bishop of Lewes,”
The Lord Bishop of Lewes,” It is solely for their regulation that he
for example, the Archbishop of Canter- whose diocesan is the plain * Bishop of and the Heralds and Pursuivants are
bury. But while he and a few of the Chichester," not a Lord, or even Right appointed by the Earl Marshal of England,
spiritual peers are included in this im- Reverend. This also is the unadorned and it is as much their duty to be accurate
perfect list, the temporal peers, except the condition of the Bishops of Durham, in such matters as it is that of the Lord
minors, and most of the peeresses are Carlisle, and Chester, who are reduced to Chancellor to be familiar with the law of the
omitted.
the lordless level of “The Bishop of land. Moreover, the reason for the publi-
The omissions and insertions do not Keewatin. " On the other hand, prelates cation of the names of the people present
seem regulated by any principle. The list of the disestablished Irish Church are at a Coronation is not for the purpose of
would seem to have been drawn up not by “The Lord Bishop of Meath” and “The satisfying their vanity, but of providing
a King of Arms, but by some one un- Lord Bishop of Down ; yet their Primate an authentic document which in the future
acquainted with the business for which is not so honoured, and is simply “The may be of value to students interested
the Heralds' College and the Earl Marshal's Archbishop of Armagh. ” He can, how- in the subjects which are the raison
office exist. Let us take, for example, the ever, console himself, as “The Archbishop d'être of the Heralds' College.
Royal Family. Whether its members of Canterbury" is in the same case.
But The coloured pictures, from the signa-
ought or ought not to be counted as while the Primate of All England, who, ture, seem to be the work of Mr. A. Pearse,
“ invited guests” at a Coronation, they after their Majesties, played the chief though his name is not given on the title-
ought all to be in the same category part in the Coronation, is only“ the Arch- page. Their general effect is pleasing,
But of Queen Victoria's children, the Ďuke bishop of Canterbury,” two dignitaries and their grouping is animated-notably
of Connaught with his family and Princess of another Church are “ His Grace the in one which represents, not a
Henry of Battenberg are omitted, while Archbishop of Westminster” and “His within the Abbey, but the Proclamation of
Princess Christian with her family and Grace the Archbishop of St. Andrews the Coronation in the City. In our opinion
the Princess Louise (Duchess of Argyll) and Edinburgh. ” We know not if their the artist has caught the likeness and the
are included. Of Queen Victoria's daugh- Roman Graces were present in the Abbey; pose of the King and the Queen with
ters-in-law the Duchess of Albany is but we do know that the Earl Marshal, considerable success. Perhaps the most
omitted, while the Duchess of Saxe- who is a Roman Catholic, would dis- attractive portrait is that of Princess Mary
Coburg (Duchess of Edinburgh) is in- countenance a solecism such as this, a charming young figure. That of the
cluded. Some of the royal personages which might cause serious misunder- Prince of Wales is also one of the best.
are placed in family groups--those of standing, printed as it is in an official Some figures, however, are almost unrecog-
Schleswig-Holstein and Saxe-Coburg. But list issued by his department.
nizable, and as uncharacteristic as the
the Princess Royal (whose title of Duchess Among the Deans “The Very Rev. plates of a fashion book; such are the
of Fife is not given) is put by herself erend Bishop Ryle” suggests that the effigies of Lords Durham, Rosebery, and
under the letter R, her second daughter Dean of Westminster (whose title is Crewe, and the Duke of Argyll. Others
(Princess Maud) also standing, alone, ignored) lost some of his reverend quality are very good. Lord Cadogan, holding
between Mr. Maude, Mayor of New in resigning his see. “The Very Reverend the canopy, is excellent ; so is Lord
Romney, and Mr. Matthews, Mayor of the Dean of Wells ” has no name to iden- Roberts, and one of the portraits of the
Swansea ; while her elder daughter (Prin- tify him; and “ The Very Reverend Dr. late Bishop of Oxford, except for the
cess Alexandra) is suppressed altogether.
Eliot” (like Bishop Ryle) has no deanery. 'colour of his hair. The Duke of Norfolk
>>
scene


## p. 8 (#20) ###############################################

8
THE ATHENÆUM
No. 4393, Jax. 6, 1912
and Lord Lansdowne are also good. Of author has vivified again for us the days
the group of the Bishops of London, when
SHORT STORIES.
Ripon, and Winchester, the latter two are
very like, but all are too rubicund. The "the old régime were willing to admit that
If the mission of the ghost story be to
Duke of Fife, the Bishop of Durham, and the patriarchal life, with the negro as the
Lord Aberdeen are made too young, and worker and the master as the spender, had acquaint the reader with terror in a manner
seen its best days, but few of them, at the
more delicate and subtle than is possible
Lord Morley too venerable. The Lord
Chancellor is furnished with aquiline period of these chronicles, realized that the without supernatural machinery, Dr. Mon-
features. The artist
has failed to get the genius of Morse, Hoe, and McCormick, and tague Rhodes James, in More Ghost Stories
a dozen others, whose inventions were just of an Antiquary (Arnold), deserves high
likeness of the Archbishop of Canterbury beginning to be criticized, and often con-
praise. Intentionally avoiding theories, he
is content to be an anecdotist, and three
in either of his attempts. A pathetic demned, were really the chief factors in
of the seven stories presented in this volume
interest is attached to the portrait of Lord the making of a new and greater democracy ;
are triumphs of anecdote, so coherent and
Waterford ; interest of another kind to that the cog, the drill
, the grate-bar, and
artistic that merely to read them is to
that of the Gaekwar of Baroda. The the flying shuttle would ere long supplant memorize them sufficiently to tell them
Duke of Somerset, with the orb, is not a
full flood of this new era was reached their effectively without reference to the text.
faithful likeness ; he is also represented in old-time standards of family pride, reckless only the best anecdotes have the excellence
a scarlet tunic, though, unless we are hospitality, and even their old-fashioned which Dr. James commands when he is
inspired.
mistaken, he wore beneath his robe the courtesy would well-nigh be swept into
green jacket” of the 60th Rifles. An space.
One of the little masterpieces to which
other mistake in the colouring seems to
we have alluded concerns the revengefulness
be that of the bishops in the background
If we cannot entirely follow the author's of a magician whose literary style was, by
at the Homage. They are depicted in lead, and for a few short hours ignore the contempt which it excited, a source of
white lawn sleeves and black stoles, our
casting of
the fact that even in those days sordid vexation to his vanity, and his “
the runes upon a hostile critic jeopardizes
impression being that those who were poverty existed, so much the worse for us.
the latter's life. . In another masterly story
not in copes wore their scarlet Convoca- If we cannot give our whole sympathy to Judge Jeffreys flashes on a case of murder
tion robes. It is curious that in the the beautiful wayward girl whose in-
a facetiousness which irresistibly reminds.
Earl Marshal's minute Orders as to dress, consistency was after all the real making one of the judicial humorists of our day:
not a word is said about episcopal costume, of the hero, again so much the worse for The portrait of Jeffreys, in high good
which was a great feature of the pageant. us. If, in fact, we do not entirely sym- humour, dazzling in his frivolity, is clever
In these pictures the colour and patterns pathize with the kindly chevalier of the enough to impress even a mind made languid
of the copes worn by the bishops taking tale, and are not obliged, as he was, to by indulgence in thrills. Masterly, too, is
part in the ceremony are beautifully shake ourselves and square our shoulders "The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral.
reproduced. The frontispiece might have to prevent a too obviously sympathetic
Dr. James has the art of inventing weird
been dispensed with. It is a photograph appreciation of how love breaks down all
incidents. One of his characters, putting a
of the King and Queen which appeared barriers as we reach the last page, then, hand under his pillow to get his watch,
in the illustrated
indeed, it is in us that the fault lies-
last summer,
papers
encounters a hairy mouth. Another, look-
and does little justice to either of their probably commercialism has possessed ing clairvoyantly through his table into
the
Majesties.
us to the exclusion of the more abiding floor, and thence downwards infinitely, sees
truths.
a form with a “burnt human face" clarnber-
The printing of the volume is admirable,
and the paper good. The binding, is division of words, remind us (unhappily) | author's antiquarianism is used sparingly,
ing upwards with the “writhings of a wasp
The transatlantic spelling, and the
creeping out of a
rotten apple. ” Our
handsome, but so badly executed that of our cousins unfair copyright laws; but well.
the book will not open flat, and, more
and the illustrations also mar in some
than that, will not remain open unless degree our appreciation of the text.
the leaves are pressed down beneath a
It would be natural to say a good word
heavy weight. It would be a good thing
for a volume of essays provided with so
if the publishers would call in the edition,
much food for meditation and philosophical
to have the list of " guests” carefully The Last Stronghold. By Ellen Ada makers“ (Williams & Norgate), and by
mirth as is contained in Among the Idol-
revised and the binding readjusted.
Smith. (John Long. )
pouring his ideas into the mould of the short
story Mr. L. P. Jacks further increases our.
A SENSE of reality, which pervades all obligation ; for though (by choice) too uncon-
except the central incident, is the chief vincing wholly to subjugate healthy in-
charm of this story. We have seldom credulity, he amuses, excites, and awes
NEW NOVELS.
read a book with so little real plot; there- his reader at will. He is a philosopher in
Kennedy Square. By. F. Hopkinson who read merely for the pleasure of know. wish to reveal himself, or he would not have
fore it will have no attraction for those and actuality-a philosopher who does not
touch with the pith and core of human life
Smith. (Werner Laurie. )
ing“ what happens in the end ” ; but invented a mendacious worshipper of novelty
THOUGH the confirmed novel-reader may to those who like to see real men and to be the mouthpiece of his imagination.
carp somewhat at the frequent halting of women “strutting their little hour” it
it Even in an age prolific in handsome rhetoric,
the action, which prevents the story itself may be safely recommended. Character-
this character's account of himself—of his
from getting properly under way until drawing is undoubtedly Miss Smith's forte, longing for the poet's "silent sea" and the
half the pages have been turned, the and her men are better, on the whole, than islands untrodden by human foot-is im-
pressive :-
average reader will find compensation in her women: the doctor, the lawyer, and
the halts themselves. The memory of the Cockney consumptive (who strongly “ Desolate Islands, more than I could ever
several scenes will stand out vividly from objects to living in a dog-kennel” in explore. . . . . . I found in the men and women who
the background of the society of American the garden) are all very human.
“ The
press upon me every day. Nay, my own life
was full of them; the flying moment was one ;
beaux of the middle of the last century, Last Stronghold” is defined as being the they rose out of the deep with the ticking of the
long after the tale itself is forgotten. peace of mind which is the outcome of a
Notable among arresting incidents is the quiet conscience. As we have hinted
Hard on this ecstatic assertion comes,
one in which the failings of genius are above, the artificiality of the device which like a frisky scherzo after a sublime adagio,
sympathetically limned in the delineation is introduced apparently to justify the a vehement and brilliant satire on collecting
of Edgar Allan Poe, who arrives at a title mars the complete naturalness of the and the gullibility of collectors. In that
dinner-party held in his honour so drunk whole.
satirr and in “The Self-Deceivers,' a story
as to be incapable of recognizing his
in which the argument for and against
free will and determinism is, as it were,
friends, but capable of enunciating with
silenced by a screaming paradox, Mr. Jacks
infinite pathos the Lord's Prayer. The
shows, like other intellectual humorists
66
clock. "


## p. 9 (#21) ###############################################

No. 4393, Jan. 6, 1912
THE ATHENÆUM
9
а
(Lewis Carroll, for example), that there is
We cannot now follow Mr. Locko further;
something festive about reason, though
but we can fairly congratulate him upon
few seem able to offer it as a feast. Ad-
HISTORIC FAMILIES.
& very efficient performance of a difficult
mirable is our author's study of the effect of
task. "Ho has told the story of more than
shock and disappointment on the mind of
four centuries with discrimination and &
an apparently perfectly balanced academic
The Seymour Family. By A. Audrey Locke.
sense of proportion, and a good deal of crisp-
type, and it is followed by a clever descrip-
(Constable. )-The Seymours, or St. Maurs-
ness in narrative and portraiture. But to the
tion of a reformer's paradise, in which like the Cavendishes, the Russells, the general reader it is, by reason of one serious
those whom the world calls cranks make
rose upon the ruins of the old after the Although there is on almost every page a
omission, a difficult and exhausting book.
a bizarre display of their theories. Some-
Wars of the Roses. Wealth came to them reference to genealogy, there are no genea-
what tantalizing and misty at the climax
is a little spiritual biography, named 'A and honours from the caprice of a king and the
from the spoliation of Church lands, power
logical tables.
Psychologist among the Saints. This story
ambition of a woman.
Their fortunes were
and the last encourage the idea of a super-
human directing hand, or of fate.
secured when Jane Seymour, one of the The Cavendish Family. By Francis Bickley.
eight children of Sir John Seymour of Wolf (Same publishers. ) The Cavendishes form
Hall, in Monmouthshire, and maid of honour à still more attractive and inspiring theme
to Anne Boleyn, attracted the attention of than the Seymours. There does not seem
The belief that the popular magazine has Henry VIII. , and, in the interests of the to have been a drop of “black blood” in
secured the monopoly of the short story, Imperialist faction, supplanted the “ Con-
Con- | the race. There is no sign of the savage
driving the artist to the more“ legitimate cubine as his queen. Within two years and overmastering ambition of the Pro-
modes of expression, is largely fallacious. Jane was dead; but the birth of Edward VI. tector Somerset, the colossal egotism of the
The superstitious dread of being classed had still further confirmed her two brothers, Proud Duke,” the arrogance of Speaker
as “raconteurs, which assailed many Edward and Thomas, in prosperity. At Seymour, or the vices of “ Lord Steyne. ”
meritorious writers, has evaporated, and Henry's death the elder seized the tutelage It may be said that the Cavendishes have
miscellaneous short stories attract a wide of his nephew, established himself as Pro- produced no outstanding genius ; that their
democracy of talent. Mr. Barry Paintector, and, when his brother became his story lacks the tragic element, as it lacks
has for many years reaped just fruits rival, slew him without a scruple.
the aggressive spirit and the double-dealing
of commendation for his efforts. His latest
From the two marriages of this bad man,
from which tragedy springs; and that it
volume, Stories in Grey (Werner Laurie), with Kate Filliol and Anne Stanhope, sprang for more than three centuries they have
is therefore deficient in
colour. ”
But
is more ambitious venture, for he
discards the gay trappings of the farceur Locke.
the race whose story is written by Mr.
Each of his wives left a son Edward.
been a superior race of stately orderliness,
and attempts serious observation upon life. For reasons which remain obscure the Pro- doing great work in the great manner.
He is not entirely successful in this new rôle,
tector repudiated Kate Filliol. We are
Wealth has been theirs, piled higher and
because his irrepressible gaiety bursts its not sure what this term exactly implies ; have been the chief strength of the great
higher with each successive alliance; they
bonds, indifferent to congruity;
quiet facetiousness and irony cling round it entailed illegitimacy upon the children; exclusive oligarchy in history; they have
his but, apparently at Anne Stanhope's instance,
Whig connexion, the proudest and most
him, where the utmost artistic repression and so the elder Edward was supplanted by
is required.
the younger in the headship
of the family; of the kingdom, not from love of action,
taken an unceasing share in the governance
The majority of the stories are of tragic None the less, we owe to the former, not
intent, and many of them are highly inge-
but as an unavoidable duty imposed upon
nious in construction. They are told with not fall to his line until 1748, the illegiti- they have been, in Mr. Bickley's words,
merely the present Dukes—the title did
them by their station; and throughout
a sure instinct for a story's sequence and macy having meanwhile been removed
rhythm, the mechanism is well oiled, and but also tho gallant Conways, gallant on
“ immaculately honourable, modest beyond
the touch upon the levers is light and flexible. land and sea; Sir Edward Seymour, the measure,
courteous and dignified. "" If
Mr. Pain is an epicure in “ situations,” and famous Speaker under Charles II. and
ever their epitaph comes to be written,
he manæuvres them with much adroitness William III. , a man of the most dissolute it will be in the words of John Bright, with
and dexterity: His humour has intact all morals, who's dealt in corruption his whole which, Mr: Bickley closes his delightful
its sly;, elvish flavour. But somehow the lifetime, but who positively cowed the book, Think of what the Cavendishes have
cumulative effect fails. He lacks the in- House of Commons by his arrogance and done in days gone,, by. Think of their
evitability, the wizardry, of the true artist.
The common things of life he cannot touch
determination ; and the third Marquis of services to the State. ”
Hertford who left a notorious mark on One marked characteristic, a kind of
into life. He flounders in the more familiar fiction. To the half-brother of his son, the indolence, almost of boredom, has been
waters, and inconsequently relapses into his natural child of his wife Maria Fagniani, is strangely permanent. The Duke of New-
old capers, with a naive indiscretion, delight- due the Wallace Collection.
castle, who sat smoking his pipe in his
ful in itself, but fatal to the purpose of his
story. His shortcomings in tragedy are
To Anne Stanhope's son, the second carriage at Marston Moor; the Duke of
recreation "-in
obvious, in spite of some shrewd charac- Edward, who married Katharine Grey-both Devonshire, whose chief
terization.
the language of 'Who's Who'-was retire-
being of the blood-royal-belongs the life-
long tragedy of that unhappy woman,
ment, who preferred a “blue great-coat
to a “blue ribbon":
through the jealousy of Elizabeth, and to
these have been
his grandson the similar tragedy of Arabella Duke who, at the festivities of his coming of
followed in our own time by the safe
The Island of Enchantment. By Justus Stuart, through the jealousy of James I.
Miles Forman. (Ward & Lock. ) - The One of his descendants was the Earl of age, went in first in the cricket match and
romantic stories in this volume
Hertford who was for a time tutor to
carried his bat through the innings for five
worth more than a casual perusal. Mr. Charles II. , who fought so well for Charles I. ,
Forman selects as his themes death and and gave so generously, even to his own
Two of Mr. Bickley's best chapters are
passion, and in a good percentage of the financial ruin.
those which tell of Bess of Hardwicke, the
stories death triumphs. The author excels It was for the representative of this branch firmed the greatness of the family, and
ambitious and indomitable woman who con-
in reviving scenes of the past, and the that the Dukedom of Somerset, which had William Cavendish, the great Whig, who
procession of Ruritanian kings and princes, been in abeyance since the attainder of the fixed their political creed.
Iords and ladies, passes by in dazzling Protector, was revived in 1660 ; and it was
array. Where all are good it is difficult to held by his descendants until the male line
There is a sympathetic account of the
select the best, but perhaps the one which became extinct in 1748, when it reverted, one dashing soldier of the race, the splendid
gives its name to the book and Camilla
as has been said, to the Filliol family. young cavalier who was killed at Gains-
Cornaro' may be singled out. Wo find The figure of outstanding interest among borough fight; while the famous Duke of
no indication on either cover or title-page the holders of the title was Charles, the Newcastle, of Marston Moor, and his
that the book is other than a complete “Proud Duke," a ridiculous contemporary
learned Duchess,” are equally well
novel. The stories also possess headings of his cousin the Speaker. To the depicted.
like chapters of a novel. We think
credit of the Proud Duke," however, it There is also the strange figure of Henry
that more indication should have been must be recorded that, while he loyally Cavendish, the shy, silent recluse of science,
given of the real nature of the volume than supported James II. at the time of Mon- of whom, as of the young cavalier, there is
the above facts convey.
mouth's rebellion, he was one of those a charming portrait, and so we
who invited William of Orange, and that, with
fascinated by the
reign of
Argyll and Shrewsbury, he baffled Boling. Georgiana,” Queen of Beauty and Wit and
broke's designs at the moment of Anne's Fashion, who overthrow the hoop, who took
death, and thus helped to save the country to herself the power which her husband
from illimitable confusion.
did not care to exercise, and who brought
66
are
runs.
66
go on until
we
are
9


## p. 10 (#22) ##############################################

THE ATHENÆ UM
No. 4393, Jan. 6, 1912
>
E
1
2
66
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66
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7
So
8
New World in an American ship, only to certainly a more brutal, if not more sordid,
t find themselves forcibly taken from it, as time than our own, which he is so fond of
f subjects of a hostile power, by a frigate abusing.
belonging to their revered French Republic.
Our author is keenly alive to the close
Aboard her the conditions they had to endure parallels that exist between England and
could scarcely have been harder ; not owing Venice. Both of them were aristocracies
to intentional harshness, but because no
for one thing, a fact which may explain the
s provision was then made for the comfort
wonderful stability of their governments.
of prisoners of war. They lived for months The short accounts of the complicated history
at incredibly close quarters with all kinds and constitution of Venice, and the descrip-
of room-mates, not to say bedfellows, and
tions of her art-treasures according to
knew the gradations of hunger and disgust
“sestieri,” are admirably clear, and the
between insufficient food, rotten food, and
same may be said of those of Padua, Verona,
none at all. They were not landed when
&c.
3 brought into Brest, but transferred from Italy, which Mr. Hutton is slowly com-
The superiority of this survey of
f
ship to ship till hope deferred nearly pleting, over most other series of guide-
broke their hearts, whereby they saw a deal
books lies-apart from its literary merits-
of human nature, British and foreign, besides
to a large extent in the fact that it includes
a guillotine on shore (visible from the stern not merely the capitals, but all the principal
galley, here
misprinted “ gallery ”), which places of interest in the districts dealt with.
was alleged to have slain its hecatombs in
- the quickest time known.
Released at last, they proceeded (by order We opened Italian Castles and Country
of the Committee of Safety) to Paris--in Seats (Longmans) with high hopes, but they
Martha's dreams the centre and zenith
were doomed to disappointment. Modern
of the magnificence of the world. ” There Italy has its poor, says Mrs. Tryphosa
1
they made many interesting acquaintances Bates Batcheller in her preface,
(amongst them Mary Wollstonecraft and “ but it also has its rich and highly cultured class,
Rouget de Lisle), heard the thrilling tales and it is of this class more especially that I have
of those who had formed part of the huddled
written. It would take a more nimble pen than
prison communities in the days of Robes-
mine to do justice to the charm and simple
elegance of the high-class Italian men and women,
1
pierre, and saw with their own eyes some who live their lives luxuriously, but quietly,
stirring incidents typical of revolutionary quite indifferent as to whether the world knows
Paris. Notable is the description of the city of them or not. ”
under arms, on a rumour that the suppressed This sentence gives us the key-note to the
Mountain was preparing a supreme effort to
book. The author has mixed with all that
re-emerge : still more
that of the
is best in the great world of Italy to-day,
t
demeanour of Fouquier-Tinville on trial.
and in these letters to her mother we often
1 Entirely different again, as becomes the hear at least as much of her friends as
account of a New World, is the whole atmo- of their castles. In our opinion the letters
: sphere of the book when at last the family should have been revised and severely cur-
treach America. They travelled to and fro tailed.
a good deal before deciding to settle down
Unlike the Englishman, the wealthy
in the valley of Connecticut ; and
find, therefore, an abundance of landscape and it is in his palace there or in a villa
Italian prefers to make his home in town,
y effects, and of regional and social compari-
f sons, in the notes of Martha, as well as of just outside the walls that he keeps most of
his treasures. He does not, as a rule, spend
2,
some others less enthusiastic, but by no
more than a few weeks of the year at his
means more intelligent, who now become
country seats, of which he often possesses
contributors to the record. We cannot
several.
He rarely entertains there, except
trace the further troubles which presently for the shooting; and the accommodation,
drove William Russell from America, and especially in Calabria and the South gener-
kept him in old age an exile in Europe ally is often exceedingly primitive in con-
cut off from his family. We content our-
sequence. Hence Italian country life is a
t selves with heartily commending the book sealed book to most foreigners. Yet in
to all readers who have a taste for the
number and in historical interest Italian
1.
better and more solid things in biography.
castles yield to no others in Europe. Mrs.
e,
Batcheller often includes short notes on the
y
families whose houses she visited, and these
certainly abound in contrasts, the modern
h
and the mediæval being strangely blended.
of
BOOKS ON ITALY.
There are many wonderful surprises and
1.
experiences to be had in Italy, but a garage
Venice and Venetia. By Edward Hutton. with beautiful frescoes by Zuccaro is a
(Methuen.