Haven, where JAYDEE will do well to dedicate a Madison, Wis., U.S. Miscellaneous. NOTES ON BOOKS, &c. Captain Cook's Journal during his First Voyage Round IN most readers the information that they have not The Poetical Works of John Gay. Edited by John Underhill. (Lawrence & Bullen.) Notes on the Oxfordshire Domesday. (Oxford, 116, High THE author of this interesting pamphlet withholds his mentioned in the Oxfordshire Domesday." The more the Conqueror's great survey is studied the more knowledge is evolved therefrom. As time goes on we feel that there is no single work which has come down to us from the Middle Ages which is so replete with knowledge. The author has given a catalogue of Domesday places and their holders. This is succeeded by a list of pre-Conquest landowners which is of singular interest for those who wish to ascertain all that is knowable regarding the English landowners during the last days of the old national monarchy. Two Alnods appear in this catalogue; can either of them be that Elnoth who is the first recorded ancestor of the great house of Berkeley? The list of Domesday sub-tenants is a short one; there were far fewer of these in Oxfordshire than in Cambridge, York, or Lincoln. We trust that this little tract may pave the way to an exhaustive analysis of the great Norman survey. Scottish Ballad Poetry. (Glasgow, Hodge & Co.) The Descent of Charlotte Compton, Baroness Ferrers de THERE are a few books relating to genealogy wherein, have a running stream of personal details-gossip, if you will-which renders them simply charming. We have never understood why the ordinary writers of family history make their pages somewhat duller than the Introduction to Algebra' of the late Mr. Bonnycastle. That the fact is so admits of no doubt, and the result has been that a most absurd prejudice has grown up in certain quarters against all genealogical pursuits whatsoever. There are a few exceptions to a rule but too general. Smyth's Lives of the Berkeleys' is far more pleasant reading than many a modern romance, and we know no volumes we more love to linger over than Earl Craw ford's Lives of the Lindsays.' The volume before us is another and a most favourable example of this very limited class. Charlotte Compton, Baroness Ferrers of Chartley, was one of the most highly descended women in England. It is very pleasant, in these dull, prosaic days, to find her great-granddaughterrecurring lovingly to the memory of her charming ancestress. We have but one fault to find, but that is a grave one. The book is much too short. The authoress has the faculty of literary expression; why, therefore, has she confined her self within limits so very narrow? Spencer Compton, Earl of Northampton, who fell at Hopton Heath, is well worthy of an extended biography. We do not think that his descendant mentions the letter he wrote to his countess from York in 1642. At the time of writing he was in attendance on the king and evidently in good spirits, little anticipating the years of misery and bloodshed that were to follow. The light-hearted postscript is very touching: "My blessing to the children. I will not be unmindful of James's business. Kiss my wenches, and take care your cock-horses be not appointed for the militia," Epochs of Indian History.-Ancient India. By Romesh Chunder Dutt. (Longmans & Co.) THIS is the first of a series of "Epochs of Indian History." It is a summary of the history of ancient India, of the Hindu sovereignties which eventually were conquered by the Mohammedans. It is a remarkable little volume, and contains a store of information. A thing worthy of note is that the author is himself a Hindu, well known to all who take an interest in the progress of our Indian Empire and in that branch of its administration which, in the education of the people, is building up the most enduring and beneficial monument of Imperial government. Considering how important it is that everything connected with the history of the millions who have come under our sway should be known, we can heartily commend this valuable volume to the notice of our readers. If the following histories of each epoch prove as excellent as the first, they will form a treasure of concentrated information and most useful guides to students of Indian history. Poland. By W. R. Morfill, M.A. (Fisher Unwin.) IT was fitting that the same hand which dealt with Russia in "The Story of the Nations" should also undertake the history of Poland. Slavonic scholars, indeed, are not so numerous amongst us as to admit of much choice in the matter. Mr. Morfill gives a careful and impartial sketch of this unfortunate country, the true "Niobe of the nations," eschewing political bias, but basing his account on native authorities. In addi tion to the historic review of the Polish nationality from its rise under Mieczyslaw I. in 963 to its final dismemberment in 1795, he supplies an able résumé of Polish literature and a chapter on the social conditions of the people, past and present. Amongst the causes which led to the downfall of this ancient nationality he enumerates the want of patriotism among its nobility, the intoler ance of the clergy, the absence of any real middle class, and the degradation of the serfs. Its sovereigns, more over, for the most part were wanting in capacity and energy. The Princely Chandos. By J. R. Robinson. (Sampson Low & Co.) "THE PRINCELY CHANDOS" was John Brydges, the first duke, who is now best remembered as having been satirized-maligned, some say-by Pope in his Moral Essays' under the character of Timon, though the poet himself never admitted the truth of the impeachment. The "Timon's Villa" there referred to as a monument of tasteless extravagance was the famous country-house at Canons, which was the marvel of the time. Its shortlived magnificence came to an end in 1747, when the house was pulled down and its treasures dispersed by charge, which has often been levelled at him, that he auction. Mr. Robinson champions his hero against the rose to fortune through his peculations in the office of Paymaster-General under Marlborough. Any laches he may have been guilty of, it is maintained, was part of s recognized system, and the fault of the age. Mr. Robinson's style is disfigured by some faults of taste, e. g., in speaking of Pope more than once as "the note of interOn p. 168 "minimus" is a misreading of rogation." novimus; and that" Custos Rostolorum" is to be found on the duke's tomb (p. 208) we more than doubt. Moreover, the illustration at p. 228 which purports to be the Railing in New College, Oxford" (said to have been removed from Canons), labours under the defect of showing no railing whatever. THE Handbook to Hastings' was published in 1845, and was one of the earliest attempts to improve upon the meagre and misleading "guides" with which most watering-places were content. Several editions were published at intervals, and the author (Miss M. M. Howard, the accomplished writer of 'Brampton Rectory' and other books) prepared an abridged edition, which was still in MS, at the time of her death, in January last. The work has been revised for the press by Mr. E. H. Marshall, and will be published shortly by Mr. E. Stanford. Notices to Correspondents. We must call special attention to the following notices: ON all communications must be written the name and address of the sender, not necessarily for publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. WE cannot undertake to answer queries privately. To secure insertion of communications correspondents must observe the following rule. Let each note, query, or reply be written on a separate slip of paper, with the signature of the writer and such address as he wishes to appear. Correspondents who repeat queries are requested to head the second communication "Duplicate." W. M. H. ("Dealer in Odd Volumes ").-George, second-hand bookseller, Whitechapel Road, E. ERRATA.-P. 229, col. 1, 1. 39, for "gibbosus" read gibbus; p. 370, col. 1, foot-note, for “twelve-foot" read twelve-inch. NOTICE. Editorial Communications should be addressed to " The Editor of 'Notes and Queries ""-Advertisements and Business Letters to "The Publisher"-at the Office, Bream's Buildings, Chancery Lane, E.C. We beg leave to state that we decline to return communications which, for any reason, we do not print; and to this rule we can make no exception. THE ATHENÆUM JOURNAL OF ENGLISH AND FOREIGN LITERATURE, SCIENCE, THE DRAMA. This Day's ATHENÆUM contains Articles on WHERE THREE EMPIRES MEET. CANON BELL'S POEMS. The LAW of LIBEL and 8LANDER. RECORDS of the CORPORATION of KENDAL. ROBERT LOWE, VISCOUNT SHERBROOKE. NEW NOVELS-Under the Great Seal; His Wife's Soul; Disinherited; BIBLIOGRAPHICAL LITERATURE. OUR LIBRARY TABLE-LIST of NEW BOOKS. FROM "STRATFORD-ON-AVON," Sonnet by Theodore Watts-MR. LITERARY GOSSIP. ALSO SCIENCE-The Iron and Steel Maker; Geographical Literature; FINE ARTS-The Fayum and Lake Maris; The Royal Academy; The MUSIC-The Week; Concerts and Recitals; Gossip; Performances DRAMA-Sir John Vanbrugh and Matthew Henry; Gossip. The ATHENÆUM for May 6 contains Articles on BALFOUR'S ESSAYS and ADDRESSES. MONTEFIORE on the HEBREW RELIGION. ROPES on the WATERLOO CAMPAIGN. SANDYS on the CONSTITUTION of ATHENS. The ATHENÆUM for May 13 contains Articles on The CORONATION of CHARLES I. SCOTTISH LITERATURE. NEW NOVELS-Witness to the Deed; Utterly Mistaken; From Prison to Power; The Keal Thing; A Living Statue; Rose, Shamrock, and Thistle; A Pair of Lovers. RECENT VERSE. THEOLOGICAL LITERATURE. OUR LIBRARY TABLE-LIST of NEW BOOKS. LITERARY GOSSIP. SCIENCE-Current Science; Geographical Notes; Societies; Meetings. MUSIC-The Week; Concerts and Recitals; Gossip; Performances DRAMA-The Week; Gossip. The ATHENEUM for April 29 contains Articles on WHEATLEY'S EDITION of PEPYS. 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Edited, with Introduction and Notes, by BRINSLEY NICHOLSON and C. H. HERFORD, and containing an Engraved Frontispiece. Vol. I. NOW READY; Vols. II. and III. will be ready shortly. I. THE VOLUMES ALREADY ISSUED COMPRISE— With full-length Portrait of ALLEYN, the Actor (from the Picture at Dulwich College). VIII. With a Portrait of NATHANIEL FIELD The BEST PLAYS of CHRISTOPHER NERO, and other Plays. Edited, with MARLOWE. Edited, with Critical Memoir and Notes, II. With a portrait of OTWAY (from a Picture by Riley). The BEST PLAYS of THOMAS OTWAY. Introduction and Notes by the Hon. RODEN NOEL. III. With a View of Old London, showing the Bankside The BEST PLAYS of JOHN FORD. IV. and V. IN TWO VOLUMES. With Portraits of MASSINGER, and LOWIN, the Actor. VI. With a View of the Red Bull Theatre. The BEST PLAYS of THOMAS HEYWOOD. Edited by A. W. VERITY. With Introduction by J. A. SYMONDS. VII. With a Portrait of WILLIAM WYCHERLEY (from the Picture by Sir Peter Lely). The COMPLETE PLAYS of WILLIAM WYCHERLEY. Edited, with Introduction and Notes, by W. C. WARD. In Half-Crown Volumes, Post 8vo., each Volume bound in cloth, and containing about 500 pp. and an etched Frontispiece. London: T. FISHER UNWIN, Paternoster-square, E.C. |