of his youth. The 'Supper of Beaucaire' is a con- of an ape because the ape was an emblem versation-imaginary, of course-between citizens of wisdom "from its serious expression and human ways." The lizard or crocodile was similarly an emblem of wisdom, and the lizard was identified with Minerva, the Goddess of Wisdom. The reasons for the crocodile's elevation into this symbol are given in Plutarch's Isis and Osiris.'

JOHN TILL, RECTOR OF HAYES (11 S. vii. 89). The short notice of John Till in The Gentleman's Magazine, vol. xevii. pt. i. p. 375, states that he was of Caius Coll., Cambridge, LL.B. 1768, and was presented to Hayes in 1777 by the then Rector of Orpington. He was also presented to Orpington in 1821 by the Archbishop of Canterbury, then Manners Sutton. He died 13 Feb., 1827. Allibone gives a "Rev. John Till as the author of a Syllabic Guide to the True Pronuncia tion of the French Language,' 1820, but I cannot say whether this was by John Till of Hayes. ROLAND AUSTIN.

Public Library, Gloucester.

27

66 MORRYE-HOUSE" Though the meaning is not given, an example of the use of the word in the form mory -in which it appears in the Offenham Baptismal Register in 1559-will be found on p. 584 of vol. ii. of Nares's 'Glossary (ed. 1901).

A. C. C.

Notes on Books.

The Pageant of English Prose. Edited by R. M.
Leonard. (Frowde.)

THIS is one of the most delightful of recent
anthologies. From 325 writers the editor has
made a collection of 500 pieces, which, for greater
convenience of reference, he arranges alphabetic-
ally, furnishing a list in chronological order, with
dates, at the beginning of the book. At the end
is a series of notes, compiled chiefly from remarks
made on the several writers by modern critics.
Of necessity the majority of the 325 names are
represented by no more than one extract apiece,
and it is interesting to observe to which names
and to which period, the favour of greater
expansion is allotted. Burke, in this, comes
(11 S. vii. 67). first, with no fewer than seven passages from
his works; Macaulay, next after him, has six;
and Bacon, Jeremy Taylor, Addison, Swift, and
Lamb have five each. It is natural enough.
even desirable perhaps, that the emphasis should
be thus disposed, but we could have wished that
room had been made for some half-dozen other
writers, both of earlier and later date. The
curious and characteristically English charm of
the fourteenth-century mystics is hinted at
rather than conveyed by a single meagre, and
not specially happy, quotation from Mother
Rolle suffering entire neglect. This we regretted,
Julian of Norwich, Walter Hilton and Richard
but without astonishment. We were, however,
astonished, and that not a little, when, turning
to see which page had been chosen from Wuther-
ing Heights,' we found that Emily Brontë was
ignored. Here are Aphra Behn, Mrs. Rad-
Mitford-and
Emily Bronte is left out!
cliffe, Mrs. Inchbald, and Miss
Heights
as a mere matter of fine and pure
prose is surely the best thing any Englishwoman
has yet done, and equals, if it does not surpass,
in our opinion, any of the fiction, whether by
men or women, which appears in this volume.
'Wuthering Heights' being omitted, it was,
perhaps, natural that Charlotte Brontë's Preface
to it-in our opinion the most perfectly beautiful
and touching thing she ever wrote-should have
been omitted also, in favour of a scene from
Shirley,' which, with all its vigour and charm,
is too far-fetched to render the authentic classic

WRECK OF THE ROYAL GEORGE (11 S. vi. 110, 176, 374, 436, 496; vii. 36, 77, 113).-A block of oak which formed a portion of the above vessel is preserved in the Guildhall Museum of London Antiquities.

JOHN ARDAGH. 10, Richmond Road, Drum condra, Dublin.

DOLLS BURIED IN A SCOTTISH CAVE (11 S. vii. 89). In 1836 several small dolls, fully dressed and enclosed in beautifully made miniature coffins, were discovered in a hole in Arthur's Seat, near Edinburgh. A description of them, with illustrations, will be found in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, vol. xxxvi. p. 460. No satisfactory solution of the history of these extraordinary figures has ever been given. They seem to be a unique find and of most obscure origin. J. B. P.

note.

Yet 'Wuthering

To complain but a little more, why, if Blackmore, with his somewhat too crudely metrical Shorthouse and John Inglesant?? Lorna Doone,' finds admission, is this denied to And why is there no word from the wizard pen of Lafcadio Hearn?

One or two more such questions-in particular with regard to the choice of the morsels offeredcome down to the tip of our pen, but to indulge them would not only be ungracious, but also create a false impression. We have found this book a mine of pleasures- -now rejoicing in the pleasant juxtaposition of familiar passages and names, and now glad to meet a writer whose work is less familiar. We liked the pithy passage from Asgill; the illuminating criticism of Gibbon's style from Bagehot; the witty passage from an article by Sydney Smith in The Edinburgh Review, here headed Travellers' Tales'; the strong and eloquent paragraphs

from Washington's Farewell Address'; the gravity and magisterial rhythms of Sir Matthew Hale's Letter of Counsel to his children; the ever delectably uttered wisdom of Fuller; and the sonorous and persuasive sentences in which Bishop Fisher contrasts the energies of hunters and of professed Christians. The choice of letters-Gray, Southey, Fitzgerald, Cowper, and others-is particularly happy; perhaps the most perfect is that well-known one of Gay's relating the death of two lovers by lightning, in that, with a complete setting forth of the matter, there is absent from it the redundancy of words which is, perhaps, the most common failing throughout the whole domain of prose-a failing which, only recently, writers deriving more or less from the school of Stevenson try, it appears, to correct by reducing the length and sonority of rhythms, and attending closely to the visual images they mean to evoke.

Not the least fascinating use of this anthology might be to serve as basis for comparisons between verse and prose, especially in regard to the exactness and brevity with which ideas are rendered in each. The perusal, even of these passages of majestic and disciplined composition, rather inclines one anew to suspect that, for a severe exactness, the palm must go to verse.

treasury of the cathedral, was found in the maw of an enormous fish. This bell must resemble the oldest Irish specimens. It is quadrangular, and not cast, but beaten out by the hammer, the metal being described as "red copper mixed with much silver." The story that deer, or cattle, have been known to dig up bells with their horns, or boars to root them up with their tusks, seems to be unknown in the British Islands, or at least to be unrecorded.

When a second edition of the Church Bells of England' appears, the modern bells at Carltonin-Cleveland might be mentioned. That village is happy in possessing, among others, a Strangers' Bell, a Children's Bell, a Village Bell, and a Wheat Bell, all with appropriate inscriptions, that on the Wheat Bell being "A thank-offering for good wheat years, 1905-06."

BOOKSELLERS' CATALOGUES.-FEBRUARY.

MR. BLACKWELL of Oxford has sent us a Catalogue of Books of Antiquarian, Historical, and Literary Interest, which come chiefly from the library of the late Miss Toulmin Smith. We noticed a considerable number of useful works, among which we may mention the following: S. G. Morton's Crania Americana, or a Comparative View of the

Church Bells of England. By H. B. Walters. Skulls of Various Aboriginal Nations of North (Frowde.)

and South America, with an Essay on the Varieties IT would be well if a copy of this manual had its of the Human Species,' illustrated, 1839, 37. 158. ; place with the registers in every parish church a first edition of Bacon's Advancement of Learnof the country. As a book of reference it will ing,' "At London, printed for Henrie Tomes certainly be welcomed by many people inclined and are to be Sold at his Shop at Graies Inne Gate to study the gradual evolution of campanology in Holborne," 1605, 157. 158. ; a Collection of in England. The Bibliography printed imme- Acts of Parliament, Petitions, Proclamations, &c., diately after the Table of Contents fortunately mostly in black-letter, and not without specimens includes many foreign works of authority, among that are now rare, 21. 28. ; a collection, offered them F. Uldall's excellent account of the medieval for 21. 158., of 45 rare folio tracts dealing with church bells of Denmark, Danmarks Middel- historical events from 1624 to 1696; a Scrapalderlige Kirkeklokker.' The body of the book book containing hundreds of views, portraits, itself contains, among other chapters, a descrip-water-colour and pencil drawings, and other tion of the earliest bells known, and a treatise like objects, some of them of great interest, on the processes relating to the founding and 71. 78. ; a collection of papers and treatises hanging of bells, great and small. The dedica- by or connected with Prynne; a collection tions, inscriptions, and decorations stamped on of papers connected with the trial of the them also receive due attention, while the special Seven Bishops, 41. 48.; and an original MS. of uses of sanctus and sacring bells are clearly "The Laws, Ordinances, and Constitutions of the described. Mediæval, post-Reformation, and Burrough Town of St. Albans, in the County of quite modern foundries are all considered in Hartford, with a translation into English of the turn, the fine work produced by the bell-casters Town's Charters." On the first page is written who make the best use of the scientific and "The first part of this book was written some artistic knowledge now available receiving its years passed by my uncle, and finished by me, right meed of praise. A chapter might, perhaps, June 25, 1801. T. Baskerfeild, Mayor, Sept., have been advantageously devoted to the folk- 1803." lore of bells. Although it must be confessed that Great Britain seems far poorer in ancient legends and bell-customs than the Continent, an interesting collection of traditions illustrated by foreign parallels could yet be gathered. Bells which have sunk underground, where they may be heard ringing, are known in England, Germany, and France. Another widely spread storywhich needs studying-tells of church bells hidden in water to preserve them from an approaching enemy, or lost in it by mishap while being carried to a church. Sometimes bells are believed to have taken refuge in a lake by their own miraculous action. According to Lobineau's Vie des Saints de Bretagne,' the miraculous bell of St. Pol of Léon, which is preserved in the

MESSRS. MAGGS's Catalogue 303 is devoted to Autograph Letters and MSS. But little short of 800 items are here set out, many of them, as usual, of the first interest. In the way of MSS. other than letters we noticed an unpublished poem of Charlotte Brontë's running to 78 lines, entitled. apparently, My,' and written in the minute handwriting of her earlier work. The date is 17 Nov., 1837, the price 301. A MS. by Stevenson of A Mile and a Bittock,' a poem included in 'Underwoods,' which here differs somewhat from the published version, is offered for 681.; and there is an unpublished autograph poem by Swinburne, addressed to John Nichol, and dated 1881, for which 457. is asked. There are several

JOHN TILL, RECTOR OF HAYES (11 S. vii. 89). The short notice of John Till in The Gentleman's Magazine, vol. xevii. pt. i. p. 375, states that he was of Caius Coll., Cambridge, LL.B. 1768, and was presented to Hayes in 1777 by the then Rector of Orpington. He was also presented to Orpington in 1821 by the Archbishop of Canterbury, then Manners Sutton. He died 13 Feb., 1827. Allibone gives a "Rev. John Till" as the author of a Syllabic Guide to the True Pronunciation of the French Language,' 1820, but I cannot say whether this was by John Till of Hayes. ROLAND AUSTIN.

Public Library, Gloucester.

"MORRYE-HOUSE (11 S. vii. 67). Though the meaning is not given, an example of the use of the word in the form " mory -in which it appears in the Offenham Baptismal Register in 1559-will be found on p. 584 of vol. ii. of Nares's Glossary' (ed. 1901).

A. C. C.

WRECK OF THE ROYAL GEORGE (11 S. vi. 110, 176, 374, 436, 496; vii. 36, 77, 113).—A block of oak which formed a portion of the above vessel is preserved in the Guildhall Museum of London Antiquities.

JOHN ARDAGH. 10, Richmond Road, Drum condra, Dublin.

Notes on Books.

The Pageant of English Prose. Edited by R. M.
Leonard. (Frowde.)

THIS is one of the most delightful of recent
anthologies. From 325 writers the editor has
made a collection of 500 pieces, which, for greater
convenience of reference, he arranges alphabetic-
ally, furnishing a list in chronological order, with
dates, at the beginning of the book. At the end
is a series of notes, compiled chiefly from remarks
made on the several writers by modern critics.
Of necessity the majority of the 325 names are
represented by no more than one extract apiece,
and it is interesting to observe to which names
and to which period, the favour of greater
expansion is allotted. Burke, in this, comes
his works; Macaulay, next after him, has six;
first, with no fewer than seven passages from
and Bacon, Jeremy Taylor, Addison, Swift, and
Lamb have five each. It is natural enough,
even desirable perhaps, that the emphasis should
be thus disposed, but we could have wished that
room had been made for some half-dozen other
writers, both of earlier and later date. The
curious and characteristically English charm of
the fourteenth-century mystics is hinted at
rather than conveyed by a single meagre, and
not specially happy, quotation from Mother
Rolle suffering entire neglect. This we regretted,
Julian of Norwich, Walter Hilton and Richard
but without astonishment. We were, however,
astonished, and that not a little, when, turning
to see which page had been chosen from Wuther-
ing Heights, we found that Emily Brontë was
ignored. Here are Aphra Behn, Mrs. Rad-

Yet

Wuthering

cliffe, Mrs. Inchbald, and Miss Mitford-and
Emily Bronte is left out!
Heights as a mere matter of fine and pure
prose is surely the best thing any Englishwoman
has yet done, and equals, if it does not surpass,
in our opinion, any of the fiction, whether by
'Wuthering Heights being omitted, it was,
perhaps, natural that Charlotte Brontë's Preface
to it-in our opinion the most perfectly beautiful
and touching thing she ever wrote-should have
been omitted also, in favour of a scene from
Shirley,' which, with all its vigour and charm,
is too far-fetched to render the authentic classic

DOLLS BURIED IN A SCOTTISH CAVE (11 S. vii. 89).-In 1836 several small dolls, fully dressed and enclosed in beautifully made miniature coffins, were discovered in a hole in Arthur's Seat, near Edinburgh. A description of them, with illustrations, willen or women, which appears in this volume. be found in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries. Scotland, vol. xxxvi. p. 460. No satisfactory solution of the history of these extraordinary figures has ever been given. They seem to be a unique find and of most obscure origin. J. B. P.

THE SEVEN OARS AT HENLEY (11 S. vii. 108). Fletcher Norton Menzies was captain of the Oxford University crew 1841-2; he rowed stroke-oar in the last race rowed over the old course from Westminster Bridge to Putney, 1842. He was born 8 March, 1819; was Secretary of Highland and Agricultural Society at Edinburgh 1866 to 1892; and died at Edinburgh, 25 March, 1905. There is a letter from him to the author in J. E. Morgan's University Oars (1873).

FREDERIC BOASE.

FG. F. R. B. (who refers to Mr. C. M. Pitman's revised edition of the Record of the University Boat-Race'), and F. de H. L. also thanked for replies.]

note.

To complain but a little more, why, if Blackmore, with his somewhat too crudely metrical Shorthouse and John Inglesant'? 'Lorna Doone,' finds admission, is this denied to And why is there no word from the wizard pen of Lafcadio Hearn?

One or two more such questions-in particular with regard to the choice of the morsels offeredthem would not only be ungracious, but also come down to the tip of our pen, but to indulge create a false impression. We have found this book a mine of pleasures-now rejoicing in the pleasant juxtaposition of familiar passages and names, and now glad to meet a writer whose work is less familiar. We liked the pithy passage from Asgill; the illuminating criticism of Gibbon's style from Bagehot; the witty passage from an article by Sydney Smith in The Edinburgh Review, here headed Travellers' Tales'; the strong and eloquent paragraphs

Church Bells of England. By H. B. Walters. Skulls of Various Aboriginal Nations of North (Frowde.)