178
NOTES AND QUERIES. [io< s. i. F*B. 27, loo*.
In either case Corporal John, who made
so much history on his own account, must
have learnt more of his country's past
achievements than many English boys do
to-day. Sir Winston Churchill's book,
referred to above, which Ayas published in
1675, and dedicated to the king, purported to
g've some account of " the Lives of all the ings of this Isle, from the year of the World 2855 until the year of Grace 1660." It moreover contained the arms of all the kings of England, which, Wood somewhat unkindly says, " made it sell among novices."
A. E. BAYLEY.
NOTES ON BOOKS, &c.
Great Masters. With Introduction and Notes by
Sir Martin Conway. Parts V., VI., VII., VIII. ,
IX. (Heinemann.)
SINCE our last notice of this most brilliant and artistic series of reproductions of the masterpieces in the great public and private collections (see 9 th S. xii. 479) five further parts, maintaining the same standard of artistic eminence, have been issued. It has already been said that each plate is in itself a gem, and worthy of the place to be assigned it in a portfolio or a frame, while the set will form, when complete, a noteworthy feature in any collection of works of art. So marvellous is the advance in art that process reproductions, at which the connoisseur was wont to look askance, are now gratefully accepted. By no other agency would it be possible for the man of moderate means to possess a collection of illustra- tions that enables him at his leisure virtually to saunter through a great and priceless gallery.
Part V. opens with Reynolds's often-engraved portrait of Lady Ann Bingham, from Lord Spencer's collection, exhibited in 1786, a half-length com- panion to that of her sister Lady Spencer. In the same number are Rembrandt's ' Shepherds Reposing,' from the National Gallery, Dublin ; Van Dyck's Lords George Digby and William Russell, also from the Spencer Gallery ; and Raphael's ' Madonna in the Meadow,' from Vienna. Of these the most interesting, though not the greatest, is the "parade picture" by Van Dyck, a triumph of aristocratic swagger and artistic beauty. Another Van Dyck of exquisite beauty is the portrait of Maria Luigia de Tassis, from Prince Liechtenstein's gallery, Vienna, which Sir Martin calls " one of the loveliest as well as the most convincingly human" of the master's portraits. Like other works of the Flemish period, it is painted wholly by himself without the aid of assistants. From the same gallery, and also in Part VI., appear 'The Man with the Sword' of Frans Hals ; Gainsborough's ' Miss Haverfield,' from the Wallace Collection ; and a ' Fete Champetre ' of Watteaii, from the National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, the last a superb specimen of the great eighteenth-century master.
From the Prado, Madrid, comes Titian's equestrian portrait of Charles V.,oneof the world'sgreat master- pieces, which, however, has had to undergo restora- tion. Included with it in Part VII. are ' The Cannon Shot' of Willem van de Velde the younger (Rijks
Museum, Amsterdam), Mabuse's 'Adoration of
the Magi ' (Lord Carlisle's collection), and Rubens' s
'Albert and Nicholas Rubens' (Prince Liechten-
stein). The Hermitage Gallery, St. Petersburg,
supplies Rembrandt's ' Portrait of a Polish Noble'
(PartVIlL), and the Berlin Museum 'The Duet r
of Gerard Terborch and ' The Vision of St. Anthony
of Padua ' of Murillo. Morland's ' At the Door of
the Dolphin ' is from a picture in the possession of
Mr. Arthur Sanderson. ' The Artist in his Studio,'
by Vermeer, in Part IX., comes from a private collec-
tion in Vienna, and Carpaccio's ' St. Ursula's Dream '
from the Accademia, Venice. The Haarlem Museum
supplies a remarkable specimen of Jan de Bray,
and the Prado, Madrid, the equestrian portrait by
Velasquez of the Infante Don Balthazar Carlos,
originally in the royal palace of Buen Retiro. These
various works, constituting a collection in them-
selves, are all produced in a style which has never
been surpassed never, indeed, in its line equalled.
It will be satisfactory to many subscribers to learn
that a specially designed frame, called the Great
Masters' frame, which will present a continuous
change of pictures, is issued by the publisher, with
hinged and dust-proof back. This meets the only
difficulty that confronts the possessor, that of ex-
hibiting them in a convenient form without running
the risk of damage. With the utmost care there
is always some danger of designs of the dimensions-
of those supplied undergoing injury. A strong
binding, even, scarcely meets the difficulty, as-
several volumes would necessarily be required.
Hierurgia Anglicana. Edited by Vernon Staley.
Part II. (De La More Press. ) THE second part of the new edition of this litur- gical work, now issued with revisions and con- siderable enlargements by Provost Staley, will have more interest than the first for the antiquarian and general reader, inasmuch as it treats of sundry church customs, which border on the region of popular antiquities and folk - lore. Processions, postures of worship, funeral customs, and church decorations are among the subjects which are illustrated by a multifarious gathering of quota- tions from old authors, whether friendly or (more generally) hostile to the observances discussed. More than half the extracts are additional matter now provided by the editor, and even these might be indefinitely increased by further research.
It appears from the churchwardens' accounts- here cited that incense, when used in churches in- post-Reformation times, was almost always for the purpose of fumigation and disinfecting, or, as the phrase went, "to air the chapel." It is significant that it was frequently employed at funerals and in times of pestilence. The materials used for the purpose of censing were curiously miscellaneous, juniper, pack-thread (!), and tobacco among the number. Thus at Houghton le Spring, 1636, the churchwardens paid "For picke and tare [pitch and tar] to smoke the church, I* 1 ." (p. 178) ; and at Loughborough, 1644, "for dressing the church after the souldiers and for frankincense to sweeten it, 2s. 4r/." (p. 180). A little later Dr. Sherlock " found such an insufferable stench in the church from the dogs and swine that had frequented it that he was obliged to order frankincense to be burned the day before the solemnity that his congregation might nob be discomposed by such an unexpected nuisance " (p. 181) ; but his sanitary zeal only won for him the title of Papist. The editor points out that even
