nam ae A ~ 3s ey ‘eae ; age ety Tg sl hte te ee One Lee coe > oy : er nae rf M4 : a : Fe ee 5 ee ea eee oe ee >, 4 4 <- im J = - .s : ri , 4 ¥ » A wt - > ri > o = t= Sey a “ > =< * ; <2, > “ s % : $ : * gs F ve a pp ays ,, > F : aes == = Eww BURNLEY LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC CLUB. TRANSACTIONS. VOLS. XX. and XXI. 1902 and 1903. Epitep By GEORGE GILL. MEMBER’S COPY. GEORGE ANDERSON & CO., ST, JAMES’S STREET, BURNLEY. MDOCCCY. i. a §_§__§_§———__—_————————_ BURNLEY LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC CLUB. OUR! PORTRAIT Is that of Frep. J. Grant, Esga., J.P., who, in April, 1888, followed J. Langfield Ward, Esq., M.A., as President of the Club, and was re-elected in each of the three following years. To him succeeded W. Angelo Waddington, Esq. (our first Secretary), who occupied the Chair for two years; and on his retirement—when he ceased to reside in Burnley— Mr. Grant was again chosen as President, a position which he continued to hold for six years— from April, 1894, to 1900. Thus did he preside over the Club for ten years, and fulfilled in a pleasant and most satisfac- tory manner the duties which devolved upon him. He was one of the Founders of the Club, and no member takes a more lively interest in its welfare. Crt. GEORGE ANDERSON & CO., ST. JAMES’S STREET, BURNLEY. MDCCCCY. BURNLEY LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC CLUB. TRANSACTIONS. RECTEAS. OR) Vand * 20% I. 1902 and 1903. EDITED BY GEORGE GILL. MEMBER’S COPY. GEORGE ANDERSON & CO., ST. JAMES’S STREET, BURNLEY. MDCCCCY. Burnley Literary and Scientific Club. EstapuisHeD 1873. President: 1902. JAMES KAY, J.P. 1903. W. LEWIS GRANT. Vice-Presidents: Frep. J. Grant, J.P. | ALFRED STRANGE, J.P. W. Lewis Grant. | Jas. LANCASTER. Frep. H. Hi. Rey. W. S. Marruews, B.A. Hon. Treasurer : Frep. J. Grant, J.P. AuFrReD Srrance, J.P. James Kay, J.P. Jas. LANCASTER. Rev. W. S. Marruews, B.A. J. H. Hupson, M.A. GEORGE GILL. Committee: Wma. Lancaster. T. G. Crump, B.A., M.B. W. T. FuLwatove. Wm. TxHompson. J. H. Hupson, M A. H. lL. Joseuanp, M.A. Wm. Lancaster. T. G. Crump, B.A., M.B. W. T. Fuuarove. Wma. Tompson. H. L. Josetanp, M.A. A. STEELE SHELDON. Hon. Secretary: T. E. RODGERS, LL.B. | THOS. CROSSLAND, B.Sc. ‘3 ity anh ¥ ey ; 4s Rule Rule Rule Rule Rule Rule Rule RULES. That the Society be named the ‘‘ Burnuey Literary AND Screntiric Cvs.” That the objects of the Club shall be the instruction and mental recreation of its members by means of original papers, discussions, and conversation of a Literary and Scientific character. Party Politics and Religious controversies to be excluded. That arrange- ments be made during the Summer for Excursigns to places of Historic and Natural interest. That the Club consist of Ordinary and Honorary members. That the Committee shall have power to accept the services of others than members. That the Club meet on Tuesday evenings at 7-45, the meetings being weekly from September to April. Any meetings held in the Summer months to be preparatory to the Excursions. That the Secretary shall commence the proceedings of each meeting by reading the minutes of the last meeting. Candidates for membership to be proposed and seconded at one meeting, and balloted for at the next, a majority of three-fourths of the members present being required to secure the election. Candi- dates for Honorary Membership shall be proposed only after a recommendation from the Committee. That the officers consist of a President, six Vice- Presidents, Treasurer, Secretary, and a Committee of six members, who shall manage the affairs of the Club; four to form a quorum. Such officers to be chosen by Ballot at the Annual Meeting, which shall be held on the first convenient Tuesday in April, Nominations to be received only at the three meetings next preceding the Annual Meeting. Rule 8. Rule 9. Rule 10. Rule 11. Rule 12. Rule 13. 6 That the reading of any paper shall not occupy more than one hour, the remaining portion of the time, up to ten o'clock, to be spent in conversation and discussion. No speaker to occupy more than five minutes, or to speak more than once, except by permission of the Chairman. That a Sessional Programme shall be prepared by the Secretary and printed, in which the business of each evening shall be stated. All subjects proposed to be brought before the Club to be approved by the Committee of Management. Each member shall have the privilege of introducing a friend.“ but no person so introduced, shall be allowed to take part in the proceedings, unless invited by the Chairman, to whom the said person’s name shall be communicated on his entrance into the room. The Committee shall have power to declare any meeting ‘‘ Special,’ and to make such arrangements as to admission of friends at such meeting as they shall think proper. That an annual Subscription of 10s. be paid by ordinary members, and any person whose subscription is in arrear for three months shall cease to be a member of the Club. The Accounts of the Club shall be made up by the Treasurer to the end of December in each year; and a Balance Sheet shall, after having been audited, and passed by the Committee, be printed and sent to the members before the Annual Meeting. That the Rules be altered only at the Annual Meeting in April, or at a Special Meeting; in both cases a fortnight’s Notice shall be given to the members, stating the nature of the proposed alteration. The Secretary shall be empowered to call a Special Meeting on receiving a requisition signed by six members. * No gentleman residing within the Parliamentary Borough, not being a member, will be eligible for admission. REPORT Presented at the Annual Meeting held April 8th, 1902. In presenting the Twenty-eighth Annual Report, the Committee of the Burnley Literary and Scientific Club are gratified at again being able to point to the continued usefulness of the Club. During the last two Sessions twenty-two ordinary meetings have been held, one evening being devoted to Music. The Winter Session was opened by Canon H. D. Rawnsley, M.A., who eloquently ex- pounded the objects of ‘The National Trust for the Preservation of Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty.” The Visit of Professor W. A. Flinders Petrie deserves special notice, when a lecture was delivered by him in the Church Institute before a large audience, on ‘“ The Rise of Civilisation in Egypt.” The last ordinary meeting of the year was exceptionally interesting, when four younger members of the Club read short Papers on what they considered the best book they had — in the year 1901. Twelve new members have been elected, and the Club now consists of 23 Honorary members and 201 Ordinary members. Throughout the year the average attendance at ordinary meetings has been 33 members and 22 friends, making a total average 8 attendance of 55, as against 73 the year previous. This decrease is, to a very large extent, due to the unusually severe weather during the Winter Session, and to the fact that for some months the service of trams in the town was stopped owing to the re-construction of the Tramways. The Committee wish to report that a new Lantern, with electric fittings and appliances, has been purchased for the Club, and has been successfully used in connection with several illustrated lectures. Since the last Annual Meeting, two volumes of the Transactions of the Club, for the years 1898 and 1899, have been published, and it is confi- dently expected that in a very short time those for the years 1900 and 1901 will be in the possession of the members. Finally, the Committee would again urge the claims of the Club to the hearty support of all in our community, who are interested in the welfare and maintenance of a society whose prime object is the intellectual advancement of its members. SYLLABUS. JANUARY TO APRIL, 1902. Jan, 14—‘‘ The Life of the Wave ’’ (illustrated by the Lantern). Captain W. N. Greenwood. » 21—“ The Registers of St. Peter’s Church, Burnley ”’ (Second Paper—prepared, for the most part, by the late James Grant) ... ... ... Fred J. Grant, J.P. », 28—‘ Contrasts in English Prose”... ... A. G. Gardiner Feb. 4—‘‘ An Ascent of Mont Blane from Italy” (Illustrated by the Lantern)... ... C. Pilkington (Ex-President Alpine Club). », 10 (Monday)—* King Arthur ”...Rev. W. S. Matthews, B.A. », 18—'* The Religion of Humanity in Wordsworth ” Rey. J. H. Wicksteed, M. i ,, 25—‘* My Visits to Some Notable Yorkshire Places ’’ (Illus- trated by the Lantern) ... Harry Speight (Author of «The Craven Highlands,” ‘“ Through Airedale,”’ &c.) Mar. 4—‘‘ Peter the Great”... ... .... H. L. Joseland, M.A. », 11—** The Bacterial Treatment of Sewage ” (Lllustrated by the Lantern)... ... ...... Raymond Ross, F.I.C. » 18—‘ Elizabethan Seamen” ... ... ... ... W. Race. », 25—* The Best Book I read in 1901, and Why I think so ”’ Four Members. April 8—Annual Meeting— Presentation of Reports and Accounts. Election of Officers. 10 SYLLABUS. OCTOBER TO DECEMBER, 1902. Oct. 7—‘‘ The Great Siberian Railroad ’’ (With Lantern Views) A. Montefiore Brice, F.G.S., F.R.G.S. », 14—‘* Thoughts suggested by a visit to the Italian Riviera ”’ Fred. J. Grant, J.P. »» 20— (Monday) — ‘‘ Westminster Abbey” (With Lantern Views) *s.. 2-9 se0 oe. ee Rey. TOR. ‘Pickering: », 28—* An Evening with Whittier’ (with Musical Accom- paniments and Illustrations) ... ... ... ss» «ss Rey. T. P. Brocklehurst, M.A. Noy. 4—‘ The Third Egyptian Dynasty ’’ John Garstang, B.A. ,, 11—‘ The Metric System for British Use’’ (With Lantern Slides) 25 -.., .:. « i Jackson, MiA., mom, », 17—(Monday)—** The Dolomites’ (With Lantern Views) Joseph Collier, F,.R.G.S. (Member of the Alpine Club). ,, 25—‘ Wireless Telegraphy ” (With Experiments and Lan- tern Views) ... ... ... Rev. J. R. Rendell, B.A. Dec. 2—‘‘ The Christmas Carol” (A Recital) | John Harwood. 5, 9—‘* Robert Browning’s Message” ... ... Fred H. Hill. ‘** Brownsholme” (With Lantern Views) ... os. ewe Alfred Strange, J.P. LO ‘“A Glimpse of Morocco and Algiers’’ (With Lantern ViOWS) .-s. ni | oe) ep wes), ‘soa UR CIRDOaBhees ,, 19—Annual Dinner. 11 THE LIFE OF THE WAVE. By CAPT. W. N. GREENWOOD. 14th January, 1902. (Wire Lantern ILLustrations.) The object of this interesting Paper was to trace the history of the Wave phenomenon of the Ocean from its cradle to its grave, i.e., from its earliest existence to its final issue. The lecturer began by asking his hearers to imagine them selves watching the incoming tide on the shore of any large river estuary—such as Morecambe Bay—to notice the broad expanse of waters, with its rolling ridges rushing shorewards, and to mark the beauty and magnificence of the scene; and also to observe the ebb of the tide and retreat of the waters, leaving the sands bare and the sea comparatively calm. This phenomenon is restrained by inflexible laws, and its semi-daily recurrence can be calculated with almost perfect accuracy years beforehand, both as to time and height, on any given day. The Wave had its birth when ‘the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters,’’ and must have been, in its infancy, stupendous as compared with that of to-day. The distance of the Moon from the Earth is assumed, at one time, to have been 60,000 miles, or about one-quarter her present position. To-day the tide-producing energy of the Moon, over the whole of the Earth’s surface, is taken to be six feet, z.e., three feet above and three feet below mean level of an ordinary spring tide. It is calculated that at 60,000 miles distance the Moon’s energy would be equal to 192 feet above and 192 feet below the mean level of water, or a power to raise a wave 384 feet from trough to crest; but taking into account the tide-producing power of both Sun and Moon, that energy would be much greater, and would produce, twice a day, a deluge over immense tracts of land. Again, taking Morecambe Bay as example, such a deluge would extend far into the hill districts of Cumberland and Westmorland ; while at low water the ocean channels would be almost dry. There is ample evidence of such a picture of the Wave’s early life, shown on the carboniferous‘limestone of the region in question; the lecturer giving various instances of the cae of waves on many stones and crags far up into the Lake istrict. 12 The primal duty of the Wave was to prepare this planet for man’s abode: here laying bare rocks; there depositing rich alluvial soil—wasting, yet building all the while. The energy of the Wave diminishing as the Moon receded from the Karth, yet still performing her beneficient work. Not only did the Wave prepare the ground, but it acted as fertiliser, providing the seed and transporting it from place to place with wonderful care. At the present day there are four great Ocean Waves: two direct, travelling westward, in the Southern Hemisphere ; and two derivative, passing northward through the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. ‘The lecturer discussed the effect and various heights of these waves, and those visiting different shores in the course of their journey. The Wave of the Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia, is said to reach a height equal to 120 feet. The Waves visiting the coast of Norway and our own shores, vary from 50 feet in the British Channel, 27 feet 6 inches in Morecambe Bay, to 20 feet in the White Sea. Other waves in the Pacific range from 27 feet at Portland Inlet, N.-W. America, to 45 feet and 50 feet in the Straits of Magellan. The Wave passing the South African promontory does not exceed six feet, while in the Calcutta River the Wave at Spring tides equals 17 feet. A free Wave is estimated to travel, in deep water, at from 800 to 1,000 miles per hour; the progress of the derived Wave is much less, its mean rate from 64° S. to 70° N. is about 885 miles per hour. In shallow water the rate is much diminished; the Wave making high water at Morecambe Bay taking six hours to travel the distance of 240 miles from the entrance of the channel. The Sun and Moon are in the most favourable position for exercising their tide-producing energies at the Vernal Equinox, the Moon then being in her nearest position to the Harth, but this does not occur in its entirety even once in a hundred years. Such a position would produce a tide on the Lancashire Coast that would flow twenty feet above mean sea level. The highest tide known and recorded in this neighbourhood occurred on 31st December, 1838 (not at the Vernal Equinox), it is recorded to have been 21 feet 8 inches above the datum line, and flooded the whole of the country round Lancaster. This tide was less than two feet above the highest predictions of to-day. What would have been the result if six feet had been added to the wave ? Among some of the remarkable phenomena connected with the Wave may be mentioned the Bore. This Wave appears to be due to the friction generated by a heavy tide forcing its way up a narrow channel, or over extended shallows. ‘I'he waters appear to be held back and form a steep wall, this loses its 13 balance as the tide rises, and forces its way landwards with great rapidity. Over sand-banks the Wave is usually one long wall of surf advancing in a curve; in a narrow channel the surf is on the margin, while the centre of the curve presents a smooth advancing billow. Places noted for the size of the Bore are the Bay of Fundy, the Rivers Severn, Seine, Amazon, Hoogly, and the Solway Frith and Morecambe Bay. Rollers are another phenomenon : but their origin cannot be satisfactorily explained. They prevail on the small islands of the South Atlantic and some parts of the North Atlantic, usually from October to April, while at other times of the year they occur in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. They come suddenly, beginning as far as three miles from the shore, and frequently break in from 12 to 14 feet of water. The rollers augment in violence as they approach the shore and beat with resistless- violence along the coast. Wave phenomena are also caused by earthquakes and volcanic action, and are often of great height and velocity. They are larger than rollers, and much dreaded in those countries liable to their visitation. In the earthquake of 1755, at Lisbon, such a wave rose to a height of 40 feet. The effect of this wave was also felt on the coast of Cornwall, where the sea rose from eight to ten feet. Another wave of the sea is the Storm Wave, which frequently obtains gigantic proportions; far exceeding the height of spring-tides, and bursting over low-lying land with immense power and devastating effect. Several instances of such Waves were given by the lecturer, showing their great height and terrible force. The theory of the Wave is well defined and may almost be termed a modern scientific fact. Explorers into Nature’s hidden secrets, such as Tyndall and others, have determined the truth of the wave theory, whether for motion, light, heat, or sound, as the only true and acceptable means by which many of the wonders of Nature can be accounted jor. This is a grand conception, but partakes more of the nature of undulation than of the wave of the sea, as the vibrations are usually distributed in all directions in equal proportions. We find it in Nature, animate and inanimate, in every living, breathing creation, in hill and valley, in tree and plant, in leaf and grass, in bud and tree. Look where we will, this master stroke ig omnipresent. The Wave is the great Archetype of Creation. The area of the water surface of the Globe is taken to be 127,000,000 square miles—or four times that of the land—and the depth of the sea ranges from a few feet in the Zuder 14 Zee, to five miles in parts of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The Wave’s mean rate of progress is something like 350 miles an hour, but not by any means uniform. Starting in the Pacific it occupies twelve hours in its journey to the South African coast, twelve hours more is required to reach the Azores, and in six hours more it reaches our coast—occupying thirty hours in its course—but high water at Morecambe Bay is not reached until seven hours later ; and it takes eighteen hours to circle the whole of our Island ; it therefore follows, that in some place at least, high water must be twelve hours later than Morecambe Bay. The Wave must have played an important part in connection with the changes of climate that took place in past ages. The temperature of its waters would affect the shores it visited. Other causes assigned for the change of climate, such as the changes in inclination of the Karth’s axis, &c., would also affect the height and temperature of the Wave. At what particular period of the Earth’s history our imaginary Wave existed is not important, but since the “ waters gathered together” the size of the combined Wave of the tide has been slowly but surely decreasing, and continues so to do. Although the Moon exercises more power over the tide than the Sun, her control is not supreme: the Sun exercises the mastery as to the time period of the Wave, and in course of time the solar tide will prevail. The Moon, by her excessive tidal action and retrograde motion, is slowly destroying her own power, while the combined Waves, by their friction, are lengthening the Earth’s rotation on her axis. Both Sun and Moon exercise their several forces as mighty engines of the wave, fitting the world for man’s abode and habitation. In time the lunar Wave will cease to exist. The solar tide, yet remaining, will for a while continue to per- form his part, until it too shall cease, and the earth be no longer fit for man’s abode. Thus we have traced the Wave from its cradle to its grave. Silently and steadily has the mighty ocean exercised his power, and will continue so to do until the Moon’s influence on the tide shall cease—until the day shall be as sixty of our present days, and the snow line shall descend to the sea, and the sea itself become ice—not till then shall we see the grave of our Wave. And until then the restless Wave will continue to per- form its allotted daily task at the Will of its Creator. And the countless ages of its existence shall be to that Creator ‘but as one day.” The discussion on the Paper was taken part in by Messrs. Clement, Osborne, Leather, Bradshaw, Holden, Preston, and A, Strange. 15 The Lecturer, in reply, stated that those who knew best dis- puted the theory of the Gulf Stream having any effect on our climate. This is a current and has nothing to do with the Wave. It is entirely due to heat. Hot and cold water will not mix, but will form a current. He attributed the difference of the tide in different parts of England to the fact that the Wave is an undulation, not a current. This is proved by the action of a cork thrown on the waters, which will remain stationary, rising and falling in the same place unless there is a tide. He also gave a fuller explanation of the effect of the Moon on the tides, and concluded with a reference to the action of the Wave on the glaciers; he did not dispute the glacial theory, but suggested that the Wave had played an important part in breaking up the glacier. A hearty vote of thanks was accorded to Captain Greenwood on the motion of Mr. Jas. Lancaster seconded by Mr. Alderman Mitchell. THE REGISTERS OF ST. PETER’S . CHURCH. By JAMES GRANT (the late). It is hoped that a full report of this most interesting Paper may be given in a subsequent volume of the “Transactions.”’ 16 CONTRASTS IN ENGLISH PROSE. By Mr. A. G. GARDINER. = 28th January, 1902. Not the least part of the Englishman’s heritage is the instru- ment of Speech. Our language is a part of our national life. It has grown with our growth, and strengthened with our strength, and is a living record of our struggles and trials, of our hopes and fears, and of our aspirations and despairs. To keep “the well of English undefiled’’ is an object of no small importance. It was to be feared that the ‘‘ Press” is not with- out blame in accepting questionable phrases imported from across the Atlantic, such as ‘‘ Jones goes the whole hog,” «« Brown goes one better,’ and ‘‘ Too previous.”’ More care and attention should be paid to the cultivation of the “ pride of language.” The lecturer declined to attempt any definition of so elusive a thing as “ style,’’ which he considered was a question dependent on the temperament of the writer. The Prose of the Nineteenth Century is fuller, richer and more varied than that of any preceding period; but what has been gained in variety and colour, has been lost in simplicity and strength. Nothing in our language can surpass the simple beauty of the English translation of the Scriptures. As an example of lofty English prose, the lecturer quoted passages from Milton’s ‘‘ Areopagitica,’’ beginning : ‘* Methinks I see in my mind a noble and puissant nation, rousing herself like a strong man after sleep, and shaking her invisible locks: methinks I see her as an eagle, renewing her mighty youth, and kindling her undazzled eyes at the full midday beam ; purging and unscaling her long-abused sight at the fountain itself of heavenly radiance; while the whole noise of timorous and flocking birds, with those also that love the twilight, flutter about, amazed at what she means, and in their envious gabble would prognosticate a year of sects and schisms.”’ The question of comparison is of a two-fold character: one of individuals and another of periods. As an example of the easy style of English prose, the early essays of Lord Bacon cannot be surpassed, but he became more diffusive with advancing years. Every sentence being full of meaning ; as John Morley said of Tacitus: ‘‘He seeks to com- press a volume into a chapter, a chapter into a sentence, a sentence into a phrase, and a phrase into a word.” 17 The lecturer considered John Ruskin to be the greatest master of English in the Nineteenth Century, a prophet whose writings were one of the chief glories of English prose, and sustained the claim of the English language to rank among the most musical and sonorous of ancient or modern times. — Illustrations of this were selected from the chapter on ‘“ Mountain Gloom” in «‘ Modern Painters,” and ‘“‘ The Harbours of England.” Addison was as great a master of English prose as Ruskin, but in how different a manner! His sentences flow like the musical murmur of a brook, a beautiful example of which is to be found in Essay No. 483, “ On attributing misfortune to judgment.” Of Lord Macaulay it has been said, that owing to his amazing knowledge, he was a kind of ‘“ Encyclopedia Britannica.” He writes with the air of the platform, and his eloquent style may be illustrated by the passage in Von Ranke’s ‘“ History of the Popes,” on the vitality of the Roman Catholic Church, coneclud- ing with the words, ‘‘ And she may still exist in undiminished vigour when some traveller from New Zealand shall, in the midst of a vast solitude, take his stand on a broken arch of London Bridge to sketch the ruins of St. Paul's.” This figure of the New Zealander, by the way, is also found in Volney’s ‘“ Ruins of Empire,” in Mrs. Barbauld’s writings, and in Shelley’s works. The lecturer briefly reviewed the peculiar styles of Lamb, Dr. Johnson, Carlyle, R. L. Stevenson, and Hazlett ; the latter of whom, he remarked; was insufficiently known as a critic of first rank, and was less metaphysical and far better to read than Coleridge. The lecturer cited several illustrations of style, among them Dr. Johnson’s famous letter to Lord Chesterfield. Of modern writers of English prose there are several entitled to take high rank, one of whom—John Morley, a Lancashire man—by sacrificing literature to politics, was not in agreement with Macaulay. The lecturer knew of no writer who had a better tonic effect on a reader than John Morley; no more just judge sat on the throne of criticism, and his judgments carry conviction by their sanity, sincerity, and truth. FAS 18 AN ASCENT OF MONT BLANC FROM ITALY. (InLustRatTeD BY THE LantTeEry). By C. PILKINGTON (Ea-President Alpine Club). 4th February, 1902. The Editor regrets that he has been unable to obtain a report of this very interesting lecture. KING ARTHUR. By Rev. W. S. MATTHEWS, B.A. 10th February, 1902. Mr. Matthews, as usual, delivered a most interesting lecture, and was listened to by the members with much profit and pleasure. The Editor regrets that he has been unable to obtain a report of Mr. Matthews’ lecture. 19 THE RELIGION OF HUMANITY IN WORDSWORTH. By Rev. J. H. WICKSTEED, M.A. 18th February, 1902. The lecturer did not claim to speak about Wordsworth as an expert, but simply as one who had an affection for a few of his Poems. He proposed to deal with the subject from an historical and autobiographical point. The lives of great men are inextric- ably involved in their thought, so that we cannot trace the thought except by tracing the life. There is a general, but an erroneous, opinion that Wordsworth was somewhat of an “old woman,” but such was not the fact ; his youth was full of fresh, vigorous boyishness and escapades. In one of his poems he sings of ‘‘A tempting playmate whom we dearly loved,” and we find him throwing himself with zest and spirit into the life of nature. «« Bird nesting, mean our object and inglorious !— Skating on on lake in the frosty season, Happy times for all of us: For me it was a time of rapture.— Shod with steel we hiss along the polished ice.’’ One of the first things which bring home to the mind motions of nature is fear. To this he refers again and again, as if it were a powerful agent awakening man’s soul. He dwells on this fact in his description of the hero in ‘‘ The Excursion,” as a factor awakening up the young lad’s life. This hero, in many respects, is modelled on Wordsworth’s own life. He describes the youth growing up among the hills, and becoming inspired with the sense of the mysterious powers in nature; a something which is vital and yet not himself—yet something which is akin to his own life—trying to speak to him from without himself. He describes these periods of fear, and how at times he became most conscious of an indescribable presence in nature apart from himself ; such feelings being impressed upon him, mostly in times of fear. Times of solemn silence are also productive of this same sense of a mighty presence in nature, as described in that beautiful poem in ‘‘ The Excursion,” — 20 ‘« There was a boy ; ye knew him well, ye cliffs And islands of Winander! Many a time, At evening, when the earliest stars began To move along the edges of the hills, Rising or setting, would he stand alone, Beneath the trees, or by the glimmering lake ; And there, with fingers interwoven, both hands Pressed closely palm to palm, and to his mouth Uplifted, he, as through an instrument, Blew mimic hootings to the silent owls, That they might answer him. ; And when it chanced That pauses of deep silence mock’d his skill, Then, sometimes, in that silence, while he hung Listening, a gentle shock of mild surprise Has carried far into his heart the voice Of mountain torrents ; or the visible scene Would enter unawares into his mind, With all its solemn imagery, its rocks, Its woods, and that uncertain heaven, received Into the bosom of the steady lake.’’ Most impressive of all is the account he gives of a personal adventure, when fear seemed to have aroused his whole being, and which, possibly, was the turning point in his psychological career. The lines commence— *« One sunny evening led by her (Fancy).” Wordsworth tells us elsewhere, it is not just that delight in Nature which certain type of artists take, picking and choosing, seeing beautiful effects and looking out for combinations and new forms; it is the living presence in nature which is to be found by the true devotee of Nature in all her moods and expressions. ‘‘ Whatever is, is best ’’—whatever scene one finds oneself in, is the perfect thing for the time. All this is love of Nature—pure nature unaffected by man. It is the nature found in solitude among the hills and rivers, amongst creatures—not amongst men. At last he comes to man: he comes across man in nature, and it is as a part of nature that he first begins to appreciate man. ‘* Shepherds were the men that pleased me first ’?— and so he describes the life of the shepherd. ‘« When the Spring looks out and all the pastures dance with lambs.’’ His feeling was that of delight and rejoicing in life, ‘Pursuits and animal activities, Like the worship of nature or of man.”’ ‘Worship’ was not merely to rejoice in nature with a keen joy: there must be something introspective. The rejoicing in nature must be rejoicing in ourselves also. There must be a kind 21 of union between the things enjoyed and the enjoyer—a sense of kinship between the seer and the great exactive Spirit which has fashioned these things in the universe. In the Poet’s description of the hero in ‘‘ The Excursion,” we get the well-known passage which describes the beginning of true religion of Nature. The lines are in Book I. of ‘‘ The Excursion,’ and commence :— ‘¢ Among the hills of Athol he was born,’’ And tell how, ‘‘ While yet a child, and long before his time Had he perceived the presence and the power Of greatness ; and deep feelings had impress’d Great objects on his mind. . His mind was a thanksgiving to the Power That made him ; it was blessedness and love! ”’ He thus reaches to worship and religion in his enjoyment of Nature, but not yet to the religion of humanity, though in some sense it be a true religion: it is the feeling of God in Nature, not God in Man. It was at Cambridge that Wordsworth got the conception that life was not made up of little disjointed pieces, but that all essences were together, and it was impossible to grasp an essence of one part of life witnout understanding the whole of life. He learnt more of the unity of life during his sojourn in London, and more particularly when he went abroad and associ- ated with the officers in the French Army. The French Revolu- tion stirred his very soul, and he returned to England “a bigot to a new idolatory.’’ His love of Nature returns in a true sense and with it the love of Man. Nature becomes to him a religion. ‘*T have felt A presence that disturbs me with joy Of elevated thoughts ; ; - Well pleased to recognise In Nature and the language of the sense The Anchor of my purest thoughts, the nurse, The guide, the guardian of my heart, and soul Of all my Moral being. . . Knowing that Nature never did betray The heart that loved her.’’—(Tintern Abbey.) On the completion of his poetic apprenticeship he embarks on a work of greater ambition. He writes to his friend Coleridge about his life and poetical developments, and then begins his great work, which unfortunately like many other things, was never finished. Had he been able to do so, he would have been the greatest poet that ever lived. At all events the greatest next to Shakespere. 22 MY VISITS TO SOME NOTABLE YORKSHIRE PLACES. (Wire Lantern Views.) By Mr. HARRY SPEIGHT (Author of “The Craven Highlands” dc.) 25th February, 1902. At the outset of his remarks the Lecturer claimed, on behalf of the County of York, the possession of many features in which she excelled other Counties, such as her Civil and Military enterprise, her rich woodland scenery, the famous breed of cattle, the Craven heifer and fine shorthorns, &c., and her Churches, with historic connection to the distant past. The Lecturer then proceeded to exhibit a fine series of views beginning with York Minster, the most magnificent building in the County. The Minster covers the largest area of any cathedral in England, and is reputed to contain more stained glass than in all the rest of England. The Great Tower 210 to 215 feet high is the highest in the land. The Choir Screen is of solid stone. In the earliest churches the Chancel was shut off from the rest of the church by a solid stone screen, being a survival of a primitive custom. The South aisle used to be gated off, not only with solid iron, but also with oaken doors. At present there is an iron screen. This Cathedral is the loftiest in England, being about 180 feet in height from floor to nave. Its stained glass window is the finest in the Universe, and was the work of an artist from Coventry, who, according to the records, received the munificent sum of 4/- per week for his work. The window consists of 117 compartments, and represents the history of the Creation. The artist was engaged three years on the work, which was completed in 1402, just 500 years ago. Following the course of the River Wharf to the head of the Dale, and then over into Wensleydale, the lecturer exhibited and described a goodly number of views, including the ruins of St. Mary’s Abbey, the foundation stone of which was laid by William II in 1089: Micklegate Bar, York,—still in wonderful preservation—an example to modern masons. On this Bar have been spiked the heads of kings and princes. 23 One of the most remarkable stones in the British Isles is to be seen at St. Mary’s Church, Castlegate: it was found in the wall, and is a relic of the old Priory Church, showing a survival of the ancient British form of monasticism in the Eighth or Ninth Century. In some churches the Cells and the Oratories were widely separated, and the stone shows that a monastery existed at York on the old Celtic principle. It was evidently founded after the death of the Venerable Bede, as he does not mention its exist- ence; the inscription on the stone is as under :— S_IMINSTER (eevee “AR SAG RATA SEE 2 &) * "MAN ORIGHTENE SHA, 7 —-CRISTESISCAMA<-:- ede Pre ds MARTINI I SCEC, a vexauat T fom, Near Bolton Abbey is a stone in a wall which is a relic of the “‘Tee-age,” and is of Shapfell granite, which is found as far South as Lincolnshire. Similar stone has been observed at Morecambe Bay, proving that Shapfell boulders have travelled in different directions—east and west. The Church itself is interesting, and is famous for its connection with the Fairfax family. Some six marriages of that family were solemnized within its walls walls, and several have been interred under its roof. Passing on we come to Tithebarn—curious and interesting-—— the oldest in Yorkshire; then we reach Long Marston, famous in the Civil Wars as the scene of the battle of Marston Moor, in 1644. Not far from Marston Moor we find the Hall, where the Fairfax family lived. At Tadcaster there are a large number of antiquities. Not long since a water-jug was found in the sand of the river, and the sum of £7 10s. was paid for it to insure its remaining in the district. It is a great mistake to allow relics to be carried away or dispersed, as by so doing they often lose historical value and identity. Every town and village of historical consequence ought to have a museum for the preservation of its own local relics. At Weatherby there is still preserved the largest living tree in the United Kingdom—eighteen yards in circumference and fifteen yards three feet in height. Decay, however, has been rapid during the last few years, and there is now a large cavity in the tree, in which ninety-five children not long since were assembled. 24 At Beverley there is a Norman cross with representations of the twelve Apostles, erected about 651, by the Queen in memory of her husband, King Oswald. The broken parts have been patched up by the late vicar, and it is believed to be one of the oldest authenticated Christian relics in the British Isles. Harewell Castle is often said to have been bombarded by Cromwell, but there is no evidence to support such a statement. In the Manor House of Harewood is the finest collection of oriental china ware ever produced. The late Earl was offered and refused ten thousand guineas for one single piece. At Westow there is a fine sample of St. Anthony’s Cross, and less than two miles away is the Mother Church of the Parish. At Otley, the centre of a wide ecclesiastic district, the Church has undergone many alterations, and but little of the original building remains to be seen. Inside is the tomb of Lord and Lady Fairfax. Ilkley Churchyard, situate on the site of a Roman Camp, possesses some fine crosses, due to St. Winifred, to whose Christian activity most of our erosses are due, and not to Paulinus, who did very little in the way of founding Churches, while St. Winifred was most active in this work. ‘The date of these crosses is surmised to be from 670 to 680 A.D. At Bingley Church there is a stone which has puzzled all European Archeologists. No one yet has been able to decipher the inscription, or to ascertain the use or purpose of the stone. It is essentially like a trough. Rev. Father Haig, an authority on such matters, maintains that it is a part of a memorial stone —a socket for a memorial cross. He and Professor Stevens, of Copenhagen, another eminent authority, both give different versions of the inscription, which it is impossible to make out. The Lecturer did not think that it was the socket of a cross, otherwise the outside would have been thicker ; it could hardly have been a font, as such only came into use in the Hleventh Century, and none were known of before that time; possibly it may have been a relic chest, which are known to have been in use. The Lecturer concluded by exhibiting a series of views of Bolton Woods, with the Priory and River Scenery; Grassington, Aisgarth, Wensley, Settle, aud Giggleswick. 25 PETER THE GREAT. By H. L. JOSELAND, M.A. 4th March, 1902. The Editor much regrets being unable to obtain a report of Mr. Joseland’s paper. THE BACTERIAL TREATMENT OF SEWAGE. (With Lantern Iniusrrations.) By Mr. RAYMOND ROSS, F.J.C. 11th March, 1902. The main object of the Lecturer was to explain and illustrate the scheme of Sewage disposal as carried out in Burnley, and to indicate some of the principal methods adopted elsewhere. The earliest authenticated reference to Sewage disposal is found in the history of Moses, who ordered all unclean matter to be carried outside the camp. In the old times the land was usually able to deal with the amount of Sewage produced, but in the present day, with large cities and congested centres, the volume of Sewage cannot be thus satisfactorily dealt with. The rivers, wells, and drinking supplies in the neighbourhood would all become polluted, and a source of danger to the population, for many microbes, such as those of typhoid fever and of cholera, are contained in the excreta of patients suffering from those diseases, and would cause an epidemic, if they found their way into the drinking supplies of the neighbourhood. The waste materials of the body contain masses of minute organisms, and as some of these were pathogenic, or disease producing microbes, the necessity for their treatment in some such manner as to render them innocuous was very evident. 26 The substances which had to be dealt with under the head of Sewage purification might be conveniently classified as follows :— First, solid faeces consisting of nitrogenous, partly digested matter, together with vegetable non-nitrogenous residues of food; second, urine, which was the main source of the ammonia found in sewage; thirdly, household waste, containing vegetable refuse, etc., fragments of animal food, soap water, etc.; fourth, rain and storm water, consisting of street washings ; fifth, grit and detritus ; and sixth, manufacturing waste products. The primitive method of disposal was either by burning or covering with earth, and a partial return to the latter was seen in the adoption of various systems of land irrigation. The Lecturer pointed out different modifications of this system, and mentioned that at Burnley the method practised, previous to the adoption of the present system, was that of having mixed systems, including previous sedimentation by chemical preparation. Dealing with the land at Wood End Sewage Works, belonging to the Corporation, he said the heavier portions of the land were eminently unsuitable for the treatment of Sewage or any sewage farm principle, but readily lent themselves to adaption for bacterial filters, the stiff clay forming an excellent material for banks and bottoms, thus saving the expense of brick and concrete. He explained how the Sewage was treated at the Duckpits Sewage Works, and speaking of the contact beds, said they all knew very well the offensive smell caused by stagnant Sewage or putrefying organic matter, and pointed out that one of the main objects of purification was to so purify the Sewage that an effluent incapable of putrefaction was obtained. This they had succeeded in doing at Burnley, and they were enabled to prove it by placing a small quantity of Sewage in a bottle and keeping it for several days in an incubator, when, if no sulphurretted hydrogen, or objectionable odours were given off, the Sewage might be considered non-putrescent. The works at Duckpits and Wood End dealt with the Sewage from an area populated by 80,000 people, and the dry weather flow was about 2,000,000 gallons per day. The other Corpora- tion works at Altham treated the Sewage from a population of about 20,000, with a dry weather flow of about 350,000 gallons per day. Whether any specific advantage was to be obtained by the use of a closed Septic tank as opposed to an open one was still some- what doubtful, opinions differing very much upon the subject, the composition of the particular Sewage under treatment being a very important factor. It must be remembered that the 27 expense of covering a tank in such a manner as to seal it hermetically was considerable. A given quantity of the Sewage from the tank was delivered automatically by turn on to one of a series of beds, of much the same description as those which are in use in Burnley, but in that case only one contact was given, and the effluent, instead of being held up for a given period of time, was allowed to flow slowly through the bed. The conse- quence was that as a rule the nitrification effected was not nearly as marked as in the case of a double contact. In that system it was necessary to have very considerable tank capacity. Altogether he was inclined to agree with the dictum of Professors Perkin and Frankland, that the key to efficiency in the bacterial treatment of Sewage was multiple as opposed to single contact. In conclusion, Mr. Ross said there were many modifications for bacterial Sewage disposal, and alluded to different trials made at Burnley, saying that what they had endeavoured to do was to obtain the greatest purity of effluent with the least possible expenditure. The Lecturer exhibited samples of the effluent recently obtained at different stages of the process of purification, that in the final stage being like clear water, and showed a series of views of the Duckpits Sewage Works and also of the closed Septic system at Exeter and other towns. The Lecturer concluded by paying a high tribute to the services of Alderman Burrows, Chairman, and Alderman Ferguson, Vice-Chairman, of the Sewage Department, and stated that Burnley was a place selected for observation by the Royal Commission on Sewage Disposal. ELIZABETHAN SEAMEN. By W. RACE. 18th March, 1902. The Editor regrets being unable to obtain a report of this paper. 28 THE BEST BOOK I READ IN 1901, AND WHY I THINK SO. By Four Members. 25th March, 1902. 1. Txsomas Crossuanp. B.Sc. MAETERLINCK’S ‘‘ WISDOM AND DESTINY.” . “Wisdom: Its Influence on Destiny,’ was the problem M. Maurice Maeterlinck, the Belgian Poet and Philosopher, set himself to solve in this book. But as he searched further and deeper into his subject, he was led on and on, until the book, that «‘ was to have been the work of a fortnight ’’ was only completed after two years’ labour. From his original project of finding out, by purely introspective effort, the control exercised by Wisdom over Destiny, he extended his investigation to every phase of human life. ‘“ Morality, conduct, life are surveyed,” says Mr. Sutro, his English translator, ‘‘ from every point of the compass, but from an eminence always.” The chief subjects around which his thoughts cluster are Wisdom, Destiny, Happiness, Justice, Love. But these words, to our author, mean very much more than they do to the ordinary man or woman. Feeling, as he does, the utter in- adequacy of speech for the conveyance of thought, and the many- sided aspect of truth, Maeterlinck never imprisons his thoughts within the compass of a few words, by attempting to give what we call definitions. Thus speaking of Wisdom he says, ‘‘ Let us not seek to define it too closely, that were but to enchain it. If a man were desirous to study the nature of light, and began by extinguishing all the lights that were near, would not a few cinders, a smouldering wick, be all that he would ever discover ? And so has it been with those who essayed definition.” “Destiny,” says the Dictionary, ‘is unavoidable fate ; necessity.” “Fate: Inevitable destiny ; ill fortune ; appointed doom.” 29 To Maeterlinck there is nothing unavoidable, inevitable about Destiny. He sees a great distinction between--what he calls— external and internal, or moral, Destiny. Thus he holds that ‘‘ real fatality exists only in certain external disasters, as disease, accident, and sudden death of those we love, but inner fatality, there is none.” ‘ if vale Ree, + Oe ‘ ty ' xh pra T, Bi vie ‘ 71) ue 4 - j : aa P ‘ ‘ +, © Wuen going to press we regret to have to record the death of Dr. Cotter, at the com- paratively early age of 50. His professional ability had gained for him a reputation as one of Manchester’s ablest surgeons, and his loss as such will be widely felt. But it was as a mountaineer that he came to Burnley to lecture, and as a mountaineer he stood in the front rank. One of our most brilliant rock-climbers, he added great technical skill to a real en- thusiasm for the pastime, and a wide knowledge of mountain districts in the Alps, the Caucasus, and Norway. He returned again and again to his favourite peaks in the Eastern Alps, and members will remember his fascinating lecture on ‘The Dolomites,’ cation of the sport of mountaineering with which he concluded his remarks. The Club will share the deep regret, felt by a wide circle ? and the eloquent vindi- of personal friends, that so useful and success- ful a career has been so abruptly terminated. H.UJ. 57 Denmarx.—British system mainly, but Metric system contem- plated. Unirep Srares or Amerrica.—-British system mainly, but Metric system contemplated. : While as regards Great Brittan.—We continue to ask: Is the Metric system contemplated ? Are we going to be strong enough to make the Government undertake this great reform ? THE DOLOMITES. (Wirs Lantern Views.) By JOSEPH COLLIER, F.R.G.S. (Member of the Alpine Club). 17th November, 1902. The Lecturer spoke for nearly an hour and a half on the « Dolomites,” from the climber’s point of view. There were, he said, Dolomites in Derbyshire, and the Houses of Parliament were built of Dolomite (a rock. composed of magnesia, stone). English scenery was, however, not in any way dominated by the Dolomite rock itself; but in the districts of the Dolomites—the Tyrol—the whole country seemed to be made up of nothing else. They were in the western portion of the Austrian Empire, pounded on the north by Bavaria, south by Italy, on the west by Switzerland, and on the east they went near Vienna. The Dolomite district was practically a square of about sixty miles. Beginning with Innsbruck, the capital of the Tyrol, the lecturer showed typical Tyrolese villages, and characters in the national 58 costume, the waterfalls at Krimmel, the highest in Kurope, having three leaps. ‘The beauty of these falls depended on bright sunny weather. Sultry weather did not dry up the water, as at the Falls of Lodore, but on the contrary, all the more water came down. Views of the Dolomite mountains were thrown on the screen, and the lecturer made special reference to the Reigatzspitze, the Elfer-kofel, Zwélfer-kofel, (so called because the sun shone on them at eleven and twelve o'clock), the Dreischusterspitze, the Drei Zirnen, and the Kliene Zinne, indicating the methods, and sometimes the difficulties and dangers of climbing. A traveller from the north side of the mountains, where the people speak nothing but German, could in eight hours be on the other side, where they speak nothing but Italian. Some of the Dolomites rise to a height of 12,000 feet, but they are mostly between 10,000 and 11,000 feet. The most difficult to climb are only 9,000 feet, The sides of the mountain are too steep to allow the snow to remain, and only when it has freshly fallen is snow found on them. The loneliness and the barrenness were most striking—not a speck of vegetation for miles. The prevailing colour of the Dolomites is fawn-colour of varying tints. The mountains in the Sextenthal were the finest specimens, a district of which he was fond and was rather glad it had not been found out by the general public. The valleys were mostly flat and the mountains seemed to rise in independent entities. The lecturer related an experience of a thunderstorm on the Schusterspitze, which he had no desire to happen again. The lightning was extremely vivid, and the stones on the mountain became loose, probably from the vibrations of the thunder. Rocks began to fall, and to escape them they had to keep to the ridges and leave their ice-axes. ‘The rocks were charged with electricity, and at one point he became partially paralyzed, and narrowly escaped serious accident. At the same time the wooden handle of his ice-axe was burnt. ‘The only dry part of his clothing were his stockings, and these were burnt, and it was a couple of days before he recovered the full use of his limbs. It was an exciting and a trying experience, but having gone through it he would not now part with it. They ascended one of the hills which they believed had never been climbed before, but found out their mistake—the summit was covered with sardine tins ! There were some “bad bits” to climb on the Kleine Zinne which he went up last year. The beautiful view on the Misurina See had been spoilt by the building of an hotel. The lake was an exquisite one, 6,000 feet above the level of the sea. They could see the bottom of the lake almost everywhere, and the 59 surface of the water was quite warm, while the deeper parts were cold. Getting on towards Cortina, they had the rock Serapiss, which is not unlike a Roman amphitheatre. In some parts of that mountain the stones were dislodged by chamois, causing considerable danger to man. The roads were well kept, of which some 120 miles are down hill, but bicycling through such a country was not to be recommended. The scenery was so beautiful that one ought not to travel at a greater pace than a walk. The Lecturer showed a large number of views of Cortina and district, and concluded his most interesting lecture by a series of climbing reminiscenses. WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY. Wir EXprrERIMENTS AND LANTERN VIEws. By Rev. J. R. RENDELL, B.A. 25th November, 1902. This was the second time the members had enjoyed an oppor- tunity of seeing experiments, illustrating the remarkable dis- covery of transmitting and receiving messages, without the use of wires. Elaborate preparations had been made by the Lecturer, who arranged a series of experiments, which were success- fully carried out. In one instance a small motor wheel was set spinning round, and in another an electric lamp was lighted by means of an invisible medium. The Lecturer traced in outline the history of the discovery of Wireless Telegraphy, and gave a résumé of the labours of scientific men who shared in the honour of the discovery, and the important part played in it by the use of the invisible medium, ether. By slides and experiments he showed how the electrical disturbances of ether were set up, and the instruments that were employed for detecting them. There were electrical, molecular, and Rontgen waves. The waves of ether were not disturbed in passing through houses, water, or a town, and their amplitude depended on the knobs of the apparatus. 60 Forty years ago Professor Maxwell, of Cambridge, a great physicist, said these waves existed. Hertz, a German Professor, proved their existence. Slides were shown of the instruments used by Signor Marconi, who said his latest instrument would work at a speed of about forty words a minute; but there was still a great gap between forty words and six hundred. The Cunard steamers are now fitted with wireless telegraphy apparatus, and were able to communicate with each other and the shore when hundreds of miles apart. It was impossible to exaggerate the importance of this fact. There were stations in America, two in Ireland, several in England, and on the coast of France. Rough weather and fog made no difference to the ease with which the messages could be sent, so that this was one of the greatest scientific achievements of the age. At present messages could be picked up by other than those to whom they may be sent. This would be an advantage in the case of a ship in distress. In time of war it would, of course, be undesirable that communications should be picked up by an enemy, and this problem is now in the process of being solved ; they were assured that in a very short time it would be completely solved, and the privacy of the message preserved. During the night there was more difficulty in passing messages than during the day Italy, France, Germany and England all had contributed in this work. They could now send messages, speak, and re-produce handwriting at great distances. One thing more was needed and that was to see others at a distance—to see the face of the speaker. And yet that is not so strange as wireless telephoning must have seemed to Volta a hundred years ago. If they did not know what electricity was they knew what it would do. There was no department of science where such accurate measurements could be made as in electrical science. The calculations were very easy to make and they were absolutely certain in their results. At the close of the lecture the apparatus which had been used in the performance of successful experiments were carefully examined by many of the members. 61 THE CHRISTMAS CAROL. (A Recrrat.) By Mr. JOEN HARWOOD, 2nd December, 1902. The Recital, which comprised the scenes of ‘‘ Marley’s Ghost,”’ and the visitations to Scrooge of the Ghosts of Christmas past and present, and of Christmas yet to come, was given entirely from memory and with much dramatic power and effect. ROBERT BROWNING’S MESSAGE. By FRED H. HILL. 9th December, 1902, What strikes the careful student of Browning is the bigness of his intellect. I can find no other word for it—the inexpressible comprehension of his grasp of things finite and infinite, his almost unlimited power, his piercing insight into the soul of man ; in fact a great man, who deals greatly with great subjects. He gives us the impression of being such a complete man, with sympathies stretching in so many different directions. All his senses were wide awake; all his instincts were quick and keen; he was a living soul, a soul that drank in music through the ear, beauty through the eye, truth through the intellect, and love through the heart. And this strenuous soul, in its entirety, is put into his poems; they pulsate with vitality, they vibrate to every faculty and emotion of human nature, and constitute a world of exhaustless interest ; and yet, with all their variety, we may de- scribe them as unfolding the book of life. The real life of man, behind the transient show, that is what they reveal. Popes and kings, saints and criminals, learned scholars and ignorant 62 beggars—all are dealt with in the same God-like fashion ; they are judged not by their outward condition, but by the inward condition of the heart. The great fact which obliterates the out- ward condition of these men and women is that they are human, and the poet’s only interest in their outward condition relates to its influence upon the development of their soul. Therefore, we may specially call him the poet of man, and still more correctly the poet of character. Browning, as a humanist, stands in the position of a great teacher, living truths blaze like fire beneath the jewelled lines, but they are the utterances of a man, and not a theologian. Browning’s strenuous character has no patience with a man who thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, and with splendid irony he says :— The soul doubtless is immortal, Where a soul can be discovered. To him a man should not only be good ; he should be good for something. He thinks there is more hope of a strong sinner than a flabby saint. The force of character which makes a great sinner, may fashion a great saint. The chivalry of God, says Browning, does not consist of those who have kept their garments unspotted by cowardly avoidance of the battle, a lazy renuncia- tion of the world. It is formed of— The soldier saints, who, row on row, Burn upward to His point of bliss. And the one sin that seems most effectually to frustrate the end of life, according to Browning, we find expressed in ‘‘ The Statue and the Bust: ” The sin I impute to each frustrate ghost, Is the unlit lamp and the ungirt loin. Therefore, a man must be of positive quality before any good can be made of him. Browning cannot endure lethargy and in- difference and torpid conventionalism in the conduct of life. Therefore, he says, ‘‘obey your highest impulse.’’ Whether your stake in the game be a wooden button or a gold coin, it matters not, risk everything to accomplish your purpose, never mind whether you succeed or fail; the very effort that never slacks its courage is success. The great matter is not what our work gets for us, not how much applause we receive from the gallery, or from admiring friends, but what it makes of us. This is the essence of Robert Browning’s teaching. The very striving is great, apart from any outward gain, for, as he says in *« Sordello :”’ They fail, and they alone, who have not striven. And again :— Let a man contend to the uttermost, For his life’s set prize, be what it will, 63 And this struggle to realise our best self is only the prelude to the state where we shall Reach the ultimate angel’s lair, There, where law, life, joy, impulse, are one thing. His message is against speculating upon what might have been, had other conditions prevailed; not to grumble at the facts, but look at them, accept them, and then strive to make the best of them. Hence we find him saying :— The common problem, yours, mine, everyone’s, Is not to fancy what were fair in life, Provided it could be—but, finding first What may be, then find out how to make it fair, Up to our means. Again he says :—‘’Tis not what a man does which exalts him, but what he would do.” Though we cannot bring the sum right, Browning gives us credit for the working. Do we fail, he encourages us in these words :— That low man seeks a little thing to do, Sees it, and does it; This high man, with a great thing to persue, Dies ere he knows it. The same thought is expressed in the ‘‘ Inn Album ”’ :— Better have failed in the high aim, as I, Than, vulgarly, in the low aim succeed, As, God be thanked, I do not. Surely, such a message is the most encouraging and exalting that has been uttered for the last two thousand years. In these days are we not accustomed to judge men by results—by the shows of things, by appearances—to approve when successful, without enquiry into the means by which success has been attained, and to condemn when they seem to fail, little dreaming that ‘‘ there shall never be one lost good.’”’ We ask, How much has a man made, what is he worth, or what has he done? Browning asks, What would that man do, to what did he aspire, has he striven? Then he knows he must have accomplished something. Mr. Hill entered into an examination of ‘ Paracelsus”? and ‘« Sordello,”’ and said : Here we have the continuity of Browning’s message, namely, hope and love. We have it on the greatest authority that ‘love is the fulfilling of the law,” and the summing up of the teaching of Tennyson is that “there is nothing we can call our own, but love.”” And Browning says :— All’s love, but all’s law. And again :— ' A loving worm, within its clod, Were diviner than a loveless God, Amidst His worlds, I dare to say. 64 Browning continually denies in his poems that physical science has explored the secret of existence ; he tells us that physical or material force is the lowest revelation that nature brings. He dethrones power, and makes love supreme. Accordingly, if the omnipotent Creator be incapable of love, then man is the diviner being, because he is capable of spiritual energy that transends mere power. And when Browning beholds the supreme love in a vision of divine sacrifice, he declares that, before God’s trans- cendant act of mercy, Even the creation fades Into a puny exercise of power. Some people may object to all this, and say this teaching is very beautiful and very poetic. It is hard to believe, in such a world as this, that love is the deepest, strongest force. It often looks as though strength, cleverness, and cunning ruled des- potically the course of history. And so to show us how love may be the secret of many of the crises that make history, Browning wrote his most perfect poem, called ‘‘ Pippa passes.”’ All service ranks the same with God, If now, as formerly, he trod Paradise. His presence fills Our earth. Each only as God wills Can work, God’s puppets, best and worst, Are we; there is no first and last. Browning was steeped to the lips with radiant hope. Indeed, to him immortality is not a hope, it is a certainty bound up with man’s progressive nature. We have to go on to perfection. As that goal cannot be reached here, it must be in another world. Mr. Hill dealt with this aspect of Browning’s poetry at consider- able length, and in conclusion said: His message was the most inspiring optimism to the men of his time, and for many gener- ations to come. He lived every hour of his life for good, and against wrong. He said, with justice, of himself : I looked beyond this world for truth and beauty, Sought, found, and did my duty. He kept, in the midst of a fretful, wailing world, the temper and spirit of his own teaching, where prophets like Carlyle and Ruskin were as impatient and bewildered, as lamenting and despondent as the decadents they despised. He left us that temper and teaching as his last legacy, and he could not have left us a better thing. Nor in the very grasp of death did his faith fail him, but he was One who never turned his back, but marched breast forward, Never doubted clouds would break, Never dreamed, though right were worsted, wrong would triumph ; Held, we fall to rise, are baffled to fight better, Sleep to wake, 65 BROWSHOLME. (Wirs Lantern Views.) By ALFRED STRANGE, J.P. 16th December, 1902. The subject matter of this Paper was given by Mr. Strange, at the request of the Committee, to commemorate, in some way, the visit paid by the Club to this ancient mansion in July, 1902. ‘‘ The published genealogy of the Parker family dates back to the Fifteenth Century, when one ‘ Robert Parker,’ described as of ‘ Browsholme, in the Forest of Bowland,’ appears as the founder of the Browsholme and Alkincoates families.”’ ‘This Robert Parker was appointed Parker of Radholme Park (one mile from Browsholme), by Royal letters patent, on Oct. 24th, 1434 ; and the Duchy of Lancaster records show that, long before that date, the family resided at Radholme, and farmed the vaccaries of Over and Nether Browsholme.” “ Klizabeth—a daughter of Robert Parker, but not his heiress as the pedigree states—married John Redmayne, lessee of the neighbouring vaccary of Neway—now called Hareclough—a younger son of Redmayne of Thornton-in-Eweross, and their only daughter and heiress, Elizabeth Redmayne, married her cousin, Edmund Parker, about the year 1507. They had no less than sixteen children, and from one of the younger sons, Robert Parker (who married Elizabeth Chatterton, sister of the Bishop of Chester and Lincoln, at Whalley, on January 8th, 1554), the present family descends.” «« Although the family name, ‘ Parker,’ and place of residence, a ‘ Forest,’ suggests that the founder held a position in connec- tion with park-keeping and the protection of game, yet the office would be subordinate to that of Bow-bearer, who was Deputy to the Master Forester, an office generally held by some eminent person, but who, being non-resident, left all the work to the Local Deputy. Robert Parker held the office in Queen Elizabeth’s reign, and was acting in 1591, exactly one hundred years before Edward Parker held the position.” “Tt is probable that upon the elevation of the head of the Clan to this post, the picturesque armorials of gold and green, now 66 borne, were granted to the family. This honourable achieve- ment, sculptured on the fagade in front of the Hall, is found to-day impaled with many well-known and illustrious alliances. In Heraldic language, the armorials themselves may thus be described : ‘ Vert, a Chevron, between three Stags caboched’ ‘or, ‘The crest displaying a Stag trippant prop.’ ” *¢ While handsome and appropriate, the design of the shield is unostentatious and simple, the tinctures brilliant, and the symbolism of the charges significant. It must not be forgotten that heraldry conveys some idea of the character of those to whom Arms were granted, and holds their record up to the light.” «Here we get a permanent reminder of the honourable office the family held in Forest service to their Sovereign, the sparkling colours of the blazon speaking of the verdure, the garments of the ‘verdurer,’ and the golden glittering brightness of stag and forest in the summer sheen. Where-ever or when-ever a ‘Chevron’ appears on the shield, it silently tells of faithful, loyal service. The bearer often received it also for having done kindly and benevolent deeds, and thus impaled they became the undying records of unselfish and self-sacrificing lives.” «The Chevron represents too, the roof-tree of a house, denotes a builder of cities, and founder of families. The motto breathes the inspiration of a stalwart mind, perfectly impervious to flattery, steadfast, immovable, always abounding in every good and perfect work. Such is the poetry of the blazon and the Heraldic story of the Parker family.” ‘‘ Tt has been affirmed by Dr. Whitaker that the earlier ‘ Bow- bearers’ lived at Over Browsholme, and that the family moved from there to Nether Browsholme in 1602. This, however, is not correct.” “« Over Browsholme, probably a quaint building of the Tudor style, stood farther up the hill leading to Whitewell, and not far from the Roman road, crossing the heights to Over borough, shown on the ordnance map. ‘The site can still be traced. The foundations shew it to have been a substantial dwelling, one fit to bear the fierce winds and gusts that blew over Bleasdale Moor. The error in ascribing Over Browsholme as the original residence of the Bow-bearers, probably arose from the fact that from the year 1507 to 1580 it was occupied by the ‘ Knott’ family, who intermarried with the ‘ Parkers.’ ”’ ‘‘ Nether Browsholme—the present house—has, since 1420, been the seat of the Parker family, and they were tenants under the Crown. In 1507 Edmund Parker had his Crown rent for Nether Browsholme increased, on account of the large 67 amount of building he had done, and it was his grandson— Thomas Parker—who, in 1602, purchased both Nether and Over Browsholme from the Crown.” ‘‘ Browsholme stands embowered in trees, a noble house of three storeys, built of red sandstone, of a style in accord with Elizabethan or Jacobean times, though we miss the central porch, usually found in such buildings, between the two projecting wings. Beyond the addition of three rooms, no alterations were made at Browsholme between 1591 and 1634. The myth that the house was rebuilt in 1602—according to some authorities— may therefore be discarded. Its restoration—probably by the same architect as that of Stoneyhurst—is believed by its present owner to have been toward the end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and he points out that the same facade, under slightly different treatment, is introduced in each case ; indeed, there are very few Elizabethan buildings of any size into which these columns are not introduced.” The Lecturer then proceeded to give particulars and details of the mansion, referring to its architectural features, and describing the rooms in the interior, with their numerous interesting relics and family portraits—not forgetting the library ; interspersing his remarks with many episodes and reminiscences of the *« Parker Family,’—truly a succinct history of a family in every way worthy of his subject. He concluded his lecture as follows :— “Though essentially in origin a Forest family, used to out- door life, officially in contact with rural pursuits and the pleasures of the chase, planting trees according to the true principles of Forestry, cultivating their broad acres, and winning over, here and there, from time to time, portions of unprofitable moorland (thus making useful additions to the arable and pasture meadows of their domain), yet, during all these years finding opportunity for that higher cultivation, born of the purest tastes, which seeks to develope the mind and enlighten the understanding. While taking their respective parts in the public duties of their generations, filling—as representatives of the family ever did— posts in the ‘Church,’ ‘ Army,’ and ‘ Law,’ the love of the Parkers for Literature, Science and Art has led them to make their ancestral seat at Browsholme a rich depository of intellectual treasure, and so it still remains in these opening years of the Twentieth Century.” 68 A GLIMPSE OF MOROCCO AND ALGIERS. (Wire Lantern Views.) By JAS. LANCASTER. “No greater contrast probably is to be found in the world in three hours’ sail, than that from Gibraltar to Tangier. In Gibraltar you have the life of a Kuropean city, its streets filled with English soldiers and sailors, its Knglish Cathedral domin- ated by the shining golden cross, and high up on the summit of the rock waves the British flag.” “Tn three hours you have exchanged the Cross for the Crescent, and every indication of the close proximity of EKurope has disappeared, though from Tangier the Kuropean coast can well be seen. From the bay the town of Tangier makes a very pretty picture, with its old world fortifications, with the citadel towering above the houses, and all under a sky of brightest blue. Going through the narrow streets, one is forcibly struck with the aspect of the population. Almost all wear a kind of long white cloak, with a large pointed hood standing upright on the head, giving the city the aspect of a vast Convent of Dominician Friars. Some are moving slowly and silently, as if they wished to pass unobserved, others are seated against the walls motionless, and with fixed gaze, the whole attitude revealing an order of sentiment and habit quite different from the European, and with another manner of considering time and life. Their faces wear a dreary expression as if thinking of Moses, and the Pyramids and the Sphinx. If they cast their eyes on you, they seem to say ‘We have a history, we are not children of yesterday; the world was young when our ancestors knew it.’ As we get farther into the city we perceive it to be a labyrinth of crooked lanes or passages, bordered by little square houses, without windows, and with little doors through which one person can pass with difficulty. In some of the streets there is nothing to be seen but the white walls and the blue sky.” ‘Suddenly there comes to view a wide extent of surpassing beanty—the town all glittering white under the sun’s rays. Here and there rises the tall minaret of a mosque, overtopping the houses, brilliant with its many coloured mosaics ; and the broad 69 waving leaves of a palm tree, or the dark foliage of a fig tree. Underneath is the bay of lovely blue, only to be matched by the hue of the sky overhead, and surrounded by the yellow belt of shining sand that borders the shore. Gibraltar is plainly visible, even to the houses clustering about the base of the rock.” «The most interesting object in Tangier is the great Mosque, but unfortunately no Christian is allowed to enter it. Nothing can bring home more forcibly to the English visitor the startling anomaly of the existence of a barbarous despotism, within a few hours of English territory, than a visit to the oriental prison in Tangier. The authorities are not bound to supply food to the prisoners, who depend for existence on the charity of friends, the sympathy of European residents and casual visitors. Beneath the picturesque, lovely outward appearance of Tangier, there is a mass of cruelty and suffering indescribable. Everything remains in the same state of primitive barbarism as it was centuries ago. Life seems to have stood still, it has grown older but not wiser or better. As in all Mohammedan countries the status of women in Morocco is low and degraded, and with their women in a state of slavery, it is no wonder the Moors are not more advanced than they were centuries ago. The houses of the poor are small, windowless, and prison-like. In the residental part, the Moorish dwellings are designed for the seclusion of the women, and wherever there is a small window it is closely barred. Many of the finest private residences are approached by filthy, dark, serpentine passages. At the top of the main street is the Soko, or Market Place ; and on a market day, there is no scene more picturesque in the whole of Morocco.” «Morocco is a country of great natnral resources, but there are no roads, and few bridges, most of them in bad condition, so that during the wet season trade is almost suspended. When we consider that Tangier, with its population of thirty thousand, has no light in its streets after nightfall, and no sanitary system, no water supply, except three old wells, and no regular postal system with any inland town, it cannot be wondered that no progress is made. No accurate idea can be gained of the popu- lation of Morocco, which is variously estimated at from two to fifteen millions. The largest city is Fez, with a population of 150,000. Morocco, like Turkey, suffers from the jealousy of European Powers. One nation is played off against the other. There are traits too, in the Moorish character, which prove a great barrier to progress—his self-love, self-satisfaction, and religious pride. A passage in the ‘ Koran’ reads: ‘God does not change the condition of a people till their minds are changed,’ which exactly applies to the Moors. Their supreme contempt 70 for the foreigner and feeling of superiority, hinders them from learning anything that would be to their benefit. They are fatalists, and the expression is always being introduced, *‘ What God wills, we must submit to.’ ”’ «There is a race of people in Morocco who have recently attracted the attention of Europe—the Berber Kabyles—a hardy race, dwelling secure in their mountain strongholds. It is said they remain to-day as unchanged as in the days of Pharoah, except that they have embraced the faith of Islam. The Kabyles pay little respect to the authority of the Sultan, whose chief power and influence are religious, and he finds it most difficult to collect his tithes from them. Were these hardy mountaineers thoroughly united, they would be able to set the Sultan at defiance, but inter-tribal rivalry has ever been their weakness, and the Moorish Government is always pitting one tribe against another ; the skill they gain in this way they em- ploy with great success in dealing with Kuropean Governments.” The Lecturer then proceeded to describe a visit to Algiers— thirty hours sail from Gibraltar or Marseilles. *« Aleiers, a new playground, is now almost as popular, and as largely patronised,as the resorts of the French or the Italian Riviera. Few towns on the Mediterranean have such a beautiful situation. There is a magnificent boulevard all along the shore. The Arab town in Algiers has nothing similar in the world. You cross the Rue de la Lyre—the boundary between the new and the old town —and you step back a thousand years. In no Eastern town is the transition so abrupt, and in few Hastern cities can you see oriental life in such perfection, for Damascus has its tramcars, and Jerusalem its railway station ; but here, in the home of the old pirates, you have nothing but dimly lighted lamps to break the spell cast over this Arabian-Nights atmosphere. The Kushbuk, the historic citadel of Algiers, is now occupied as a barracks, but it has a history dating back to the time of Barbarossa, 1516. There are several mosques, but only two of special interest—the Grand Mosque, on the quay, and the Mosque of Sidi Abder Rahman. Attached to the mosque is the scribe or letter writer, who is occupied in putting in letter form the desires of his unlettered clients. One of the most interesting sights is the arrival of a caravan from the desert, with fifty or more camels laden with merchandise of all kinds. There are no palms in Europe equal to those in the Jardin d’ Essai, at Algiers, and no more beauti- ful place could be found in which to spend a summer afternoon than under the shade of the trees in these beautiful gardens. 71 In almost every part of Algiers you are continually reminded that you are under French rule, by the number of soldiers, French cafés, &c. There is, however, a quarter that the Englishman has taken for hisown. In the beautiful suburb of Mustapha Superior he has built his English Church, and villa residences innumerable. The view from the summit of Mustapha Superior, overlooking the town and the bay, is scarcely to be equalled on the whole coast of the Mediterranean; and here, while we work and grumble under our cold, damp, cloudy skies, he smokes his pipe, sips his coffee, reads his ‘‘ Times,’”’ and laughs at ‘‘ Punch ”’ under the palms, over-arched by the deep blue sky of Algiers.” In reply to the points which had been raised in the discussion which followed these papers, Mr. Lancaster said, the reason why the mosques were open to the public in Algiers, and not at Tangier, was because there was a strong French influence at Algiers which did not prevail at Tangier. Algiers was filled with Europeans, and the European influence had broken down the barrier. It was the same at Cairo and Damascus. Mr. Strange, in replying, said his authority for daring to ‘attack the well known historian of Whalley, Dr. Whitaker, was from the fountain head, Col. Parker himself, with whose assist- ance he had been able to obtain much information in reference to the history of the Parker family, and to show that the pedigree went back to a much earlier period than that given in the history of Whalley or in Barnes’ History of Lancashire. He had also received valuable information from Col. Parker in regard to the particular way in which Browsholme came into the hands of the family, by purchase from the Crown, at the beginning of the Seventeenth Century. 72 ANNUAL DINNER. 19th December, 1902. The social gathering, which is held annually by the Literary and Scientific Club, took place at Cronkshaw’s Hotel, under the presidency of Mr. James Kay, J.P., president of the Club. After the loyal toasts, given from the chair, and accepted with musical honours, the President proposed ‘‘ Success to the Club,” associated with the name of the ‘‘silver-tongued”’ vice-president (Mr. Fred. J. Grant). The objects of the Club —Literary and Scientific—had been constantly kept before them and well maintained. The Society took them out of their different ruts, and brought them all together in one great path of science, litera- ture, and art, on which subjects the lectures of the last session had been of the highest quality. Mr. Fred. J. Grant, J.P., in reply, said the Club had passed through all the diseases incident to infancy, and childhood, and youth, and had reached the hey-day of life; or, in other words, they had long since passed the spring, and were now in the glorious summer, and if it should be that they reached the autumn, with its mellowed and golden grain, they would still expect the hoped for blossom of spring, and all the seasons of the year, in one perennial round of delight and usefulness. They were celebrating the twenty-ninth birthday of the Club, and next year, when they reached the thirtieth anniversary, he trusted they would have one of their old-fashioned conversaziones, which used to be a distinguishing feature of the Club. Few institutions, he imagined, fulfilled the intentions of their founders, but they might claim for their Club that it had done very good work. The Club was formed after Burnley became a Parliamentary borough, and when there was a great deal of political excitement, and he was certain it had done a great deal to soften political asperities, and moderate the rancour and the strife of tongues. If they could enlist into the service of the Club the younger members—to take the place of those who had grown old in the service—by giving papers, and taking an intelligent interest in ra discussions, they could then look hopefully forward to the uture. 73 «Art and Literature ’’ was entrusted to Mr. T. Preston, who read a humorous poem, ‘ De circonstance,” in which he ‘* worked in” the president, vice-presidents, committee, officers, and a large number of members. Rey. W. 8. Matthews, M.A., in reply, spoke pleasantly on the worship of the muses, which, once on a time, discoursed upon all things that could be known, and certain others. Philosophy, poetry, and history, and what they called scholarship, were all the work of one literary man. For their literature began with Homer, the father of all literature, poetry, philosophy, and_ religion (pagan), and since then there had been nine muses. Literature had now a different meaning from what it had then. Now it meant those who had the power of expression, and who gave them pictures of the imagination, and they had invented for themselves the grand old word of ‘‘ fiction.” They now meant by literature the labour of the imagination, the literature which led them towards “that light which never was on land or sea.’’ They loved to go with the old fairies which had made the charm of English literature, fairies, or ladies of the lake, that lived in the island-valley of Avilion, ‘‘ Where falls not hail, nor rain, nor any snow.” That had been the charm of English literature, and they loved to go into their society, and read the history of them, as they had been set before them in literature. Art and literature had their own ways of dealing with things. He was always struck with the picture of Napoleon crossing the Alps, the fore feet of the horse being in the air, and the hind feet on the earth. It was about as true as a picture of Napoleon crossing the Alps in an open boat. As a matter of fact, he crossed the Alps on a mule or donkey, carefully led at the head and the tail. The toast of “‘ Science”’ was proposed by Mr. Clement, who thought the subject of Science, in his opinion more important than Literature, had been too much neglected by the Club. Dr. Crump, who replied, took the same view. So rapid had been the progress of Science that they were scarcely able to keep pace with it. Who would have dreamt, ten years ago, they could see through a man ; or, twenty years ago, that they would be able to cable round the world on a single cable ; or who, fifty years ago, would have thought they could send a message from Britain to America without wire. The reason for this advance was that more attention was being paid to Science. Schools were now teaching Science in a way they had never done before. Mr. J. H. Hudson, B.A., in a pleasant speech, proposed the toast of ** The New Members.” 74 «The Officials ’””—the Hon. Secretary and Treasurer—were appropriately proposed by Mr. F. H. Hill, who recognised the useful services they had rendered to the Club. If there had been in the past session too little of Science, the fault was not with the Club, but rather with the scientific gentlemen, who had de- clined to bring those subjects before them. The Club had not neglected Science, but Science had neglected the Club. Mr. Gill—Hon. Treasurer—and Mr. T. Crossland—Hon. Secretary—suitably responded. The closing toasts were ‘‘ The Ladies,” proposed by Mr. George Ogden, responded to by Mr. T. Crook.—Mr. Fullalove proposed the health of the President, and made special reference to the hospitality the Committee had received from Mrs. Kay. During the evening the speeches were interspersed with harmony by Messrs. H. Ogden, Fleming, T. Bell, and others, and the proceedings, which realised the proverbial “ Feast of reason and flow of soul,” closed with the singing of the National Anthem. 75 8 II &8tF 8 IL &8lF 7, SS ye OL 0 GE ee) puvy uy souvleg ee Ke 9 F 0 ee) MOISSIMIMMON YUBA ee 0 OT Il Ce) quay ve 0 F O€ "'''*'** TOGT “XIX ‘1A ‘Suonousuety, ** 5 0 GS 62 **'***'*668T “IIAX ‘10A ‘SuoHovsuury, “ fe L Ole See e cee eeceeeerereeeecas ees reOBmsOT & bas @€ 99 eo) SUISIAOAPY 6 fe To Peel i Ar9u01y849 puz suyuitg “cr a 0 LI LF Cr ee) ‘ow ‘sTOquLoy fq sxodvg qth uoyoouu0s ur sesuedxg ‘‘ 9 FLO Cite terete e889 TOMONTTT AA pus STI[OYSMOIg OF UOISINoxW uo ssory *‘ “A 9 OL O Miave diate Ciel Sie e tase e o'e'e) seven Ve WOCLIBOU Cy - 6 CLO ene sie eee ep. SOLO eee ce pus omgsvoury jo Ayoroog o1mojxstpy 0 S196 “TTT ttttttt* suondrosqng stequreyy “ —Te ‘ood 02% “***hyo100g Jworydvisoay Jeysoqounyy “ ‘ZO6T GZ G tttttseseeses* coIssrarm0g s,tojyooTJog AG—TE ‘aq TLS GQ cloth tees seee sees enneY Ur sOURTeG OT—TEe ‘eq |) a “6061 te 3 “TO6T Le) ‘ZOGI ‘oquII09q ISIE SUIPUD AVIA OY) JO} SJUNODY S.AoINSvOIL, OL "aq 76 REPORT Presented at the Annual Meeting held 7th April, 1908. In presenting the Twenty-ninth Annual Report of the Burnley Literary and Scientific Club, the Committee are glad to be able to record that the reputation of the Club has been fully maintained. During the year twenty-three ordinary meetings have been held, the average number present being 82—members 45, friends 37. The Papers read before the Society have covered a wide field, and have reached a high standard of excellence. Whilst the majority have dealt with Literature, Science, and Travel, pleasant variations have been afforded by the charming exhibition of sketches gathered together by the President—Jas. Kay, Esq., J.P. —to illustrate his Paper, by the musical accompani- ments of the Whittier Evening, and by the masterly recital of the ‘“ Christmas Carol,” by Mr. Harwood. Twelve new members have been elected during the year—the Club now consisting of 196 Ordinary and 24 Honorary members. 77 In July, 1902, a very pleasant excursion took place, when fifty-two members and friends visited Browsholme, and were kindly entertained by Colonel and Mrs. Parker. An inspection of the many literary and artistic treasures in this famous old mansion was much enjoyed by the members present. Through the removal to Bournemouth of Mr. T. E. Rodgers, Lu.B., the Club has been deprived of a very able and energetic Secretary. The Committee take this opportunity of placing on record their appreciation of the services rendered to the Club by Mr. Rodgers during his four years’ secretaryship, and are glad to say that Mr. Thomas Crossland, B.sc, has consented to fill the vacancy. Mr. George Gill temporarily undertook the duties in the meantime, and prepared the very excellent Syllabus for the Autumn Session. 78 SYLLABUS. JANUARY TO APRIL, 1903. Jan. 18—“ Historical Study” ............ The Bishop of Burnley. ,, 20—‘ Recent Volcanic Eruptions ”’ (with Lantern Views)... J. A. Osborn. », 27—** Welsh Writers of Song and Fiction”’ (with Translated RESO GS) wissscnndes cnt sacearsets swat Rev. T. R. Davies. Feb. 2 (Monday)—“ A Trip Round the World” (with Lantern Views). LM. nttetn ceneweei Sir Bosdin T. Leach. ,, 10—* Plants and Insects as Marvels of Correlation” (with Lantern Views)...Rev. F. Ballard, M.A., B.Sc., F.G.8. » 17—‘ The Origin of Printing, and its Development—to the end of the Fifteenth Century” (with Lantern Views)...... Henry Guppy, M.A. (Ryland’s Library). ,, 24—* Edmund Spencer, the Poet’s Poet” .......-...00.....0-« Rev. A. W. Fox, M.A. Mar. 3—‘‘‘ Westward Ho’—My Glimpses of Canada and the States ’’ (with Lantern Views)...... Rey. A. Bishop. 10—** Evolution of a Local Poet” ............ Thos. Preston. 17—“ Liquid Air”’ (with Experiments and Lantern Views) A. R. Stevens, B.Sc. », 24— Water Colour Sketching” (with Exhibits by Amateurs) ............ The President (Jas. Kay, J.P.) » 81—‘ Examples of the New Astronomy” (with Lantern VAGWS) siy.kac.ceceagetnecense T. Steele Sheldon, M.D. April 7—Annual Meeting— Presentation of Report and Accounts, Election of Officers, 79 SYLLABUS. SEPTEMBER TO DECEMBER, 1903. Sep. 29—* Jamaica” (with Lantern Views) ............-..0:eese0ee Capt. Benson, F.R.G.S. Oct. 6— Winchester: the old Capital of England”’ ............ The President (W. Lewis Grant). 13—“ From Phidias to Flaxman : the Story of Sculpture” (with Lantern Views)...........s.sssesee Henry Rose. ” 19 (Monday)—* Cotton Growing within the Empire ” (with Lantern Views)...J. Howard Reed, ‘ Victorian,’ M.G.§S. ” », 27—** Shakespeare’s London”? ......... Col. Fishwick, F.S.A. Nov. 8—‘‘ Student Life in Germany ”’... Rev. A.J. Morris, M.A. », 10—‘‘ The Land of the Sikh”’ (with Lantern Views)......... E. EK, Lafond, ‘‘ Victorian,’’ M.G.S8. » 17—*‘ Socialism—Will it Work ?”’ ......... Martin Stanesby » 24—Reviews of Books: “The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft ’’ (Geo. Gissing )......... Chas. Hargreaves. ‘‘ Historical Studies of Educational Opinion, from the Renaissance”’ (Prof. 8S. S. Lawrie) .......seceeeseees Geo. A. Wood, B.A. Dec. 1—‘‘ Recent Work on Glacial Geology in Airedale, and its bearing on the Burnley Valley” (with Lantern Views)¢ -:accvemaee sacava,aspe saa J. Monckman, D. Se. 8—* The Evolution of English Caricature’ (with Lantern VOWS) cgaiss whens ssdagrepmensmdats H. D. Herald, B.Sc. ? 15—Recital: ‘‘ The Cricket on the Hearth ’’...John Harwood. 7” » 18—Annual Dinner. 80 HISTORICAL STUDY. By the Bishop of Burnley. 13th January, 1903. The President—James Kay, Esq., J P.—in opening the first meeting of the year, referred to the fact that the Club will reach its thirtieth year of existence in December next. But few mem- bers, now on the register, were present at its formation, yet the Club was still full of vitality. During that long period they had enjoyed many splendid papers, soireés and excursions. This was, however, the first time that they had been honoured with the presence of the Bishop of Burnley, whom they heartily welcomed, not only because of his high position, but more for his high qualities. He was a strong man—in every respect the right man in the right place—and his living among them would tend to the good of all societies whose objects were good. The Bishop said his reason for choosing this subject was that this was a day of rapid reading and tremendous publication. Was it also a day of study? The air was full of education. That Society had a distinct and corrective function—to teach the young that education did not cease at fourteen, but should always goon. Life became interesting when we retained the freshness of intellect and the power to absorb new ideas. Many would, no doubt, be more ignorant but for that Society. It also showed others that reading and study should be something apart from mere commercialism. Reading must not be narrowed to com- merce, but should have moral, mental, and physical effects. In the next place, such a Society prevented friendship being lost by trivialities. A wider intellectual and moral life produced more interest in social life. In all study he claimed first place for history. He himself found in history all the refreshment of fiction, and he also found clearer ideas of life, and the purpose of individual and national life. It was a great mistake to take fiction alone. History showed the drama of tragedy. Action came from the story of individual development, or the rise and fall of nations. The mind of man was influenced by history, and followed the wisdom it generated. A child was always intensely interested in history, if it was properly taught. The mind of man loved true history because it was human. It was its human side which was attractive, History should not be only an exact 81 science, but a story of the evolution of nations, and of the whole world. In former days historical study was a record of dates and dry facts. Now it had become more living and human. This had been largely brought about by Green’s ‘Short History.” Now old libraries were pouring out their treasures, and we were faced by a problem—What history should one read? History had gone beyond the powers of one man. What was needed was a history written by different men, and of different periods, but with one distinct purpose. The Bible was an example of the kind of history required. On what principle should it be done ? He had chosen this subject to introduce one book, the greatest issued last year—the ‘‘ Cambridge Modern History.” It had been written by many men, but was dominated by one purpose. It began with the Renaissance. His Lordship then proceeded to give examples of the human interest in certain events. He showed the influence which the discovery of America and the rounding of the Cape of Good Hope had exercised on Europe. He sketched the history of the influence of the Renaissance on English literature, and the way it developed in this country. He said he was particularly interested in Erasmus and Dean Colet, for he had been for ten years vicar of the same Church as Colet. He showed the influence of these men on learning. During the Middle Ages learning had become cramped, metaphysical and scholastic. The Revival of Learning introduced fresher elements. Hrasmus taught that learning must have a human interest, and was of value only as it affected human life. At the end he pointed out that history, to be useful, should make us feel responsible. It did not lead us to the patriotism that shouted ‘Rule Britannia.” It tempered judgment and prevented conceit. It enabled us to learn from all nations. Each had something to contribute to the common stock. He thought education was dangerous if it did not include history. SHS 82 RECENT VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS. (Wirs Lantern Views.) By J. A. OSBORN. 20th January, 1903. Having stated that it was not his intention to say much about the general theory of volcanic action, the Lecturer described the distribution of volcanoes over the earth’s surface with the help of a map. Those which had been active within the last thirty years were most fully noticed, and five groups were chosen as typical centres of volcanic action:—The Italian croup, consisting of Etna, Vesuvius, and the Lipari Islands ; the Sandwich Islands, consisting entirely of extinct craters, with the active ones of Mauna Loa and Kilauea in Hawaii; the Volcanoes of the Eastern Archipelago, in Sumatra, Java, and the Celebes, of which the eruption of Krakatoa, in August, 18838, afforded the best-known example; the New Zealand Volcanoes, with the eruption of Tarawera, in June, 1886; and the West Indian eruptions of last year. It would be difficult to do more than this, as to give a slight sketch of recent eruptions in Central America, Alaska, and Japan—all of which fully deserve mention--would require not one but a course of lectures. Of the Italian Volcanoes it may truly be said that they are the survivors of a much larger number than history records. Like the ‘‘ Maaro’”’ in the Eifel Mountains, the central Italian lakes are often only craters of extinct volcanoes filled with water. Vesuvius made its appearance as an active crater in A.D. 79, when it destroyed Herculaneum and Pompeii; it was quiet in the Middle Ages, but burst into renewed activity in 1681, and has been continually active—at sometimes with less violence than others—almost ever since. The great erup- tion of 1872 was more closely described. Mount Etna and the Lipari Islands had been known as centres of volcanic activity from the earliest ages. It seems as if the strength of Htna were dying away, as few recent eruptions take place from the great crater at the summit of the mountain, but mostly from parasitic cones on its flanks. Nine of these became active in July, 1892; the eruption lasting nearly three months, 88 during which earthquakes were experienced in Tunis, in Switzerland, in the Rhine Valley, and in Cornwall. Both Etna and Vesuvius have been very active during the last few years, especially in 1897 and 1898. The Island of Hawaii rises from the floor of the North Pacific Ocean, here some twelve thousand feet deep. It con- sists mainly of two extinct and two active volcanoes. The largest extinct voleano, Mauna Kea, is 13,805 feet high, and the largest active crater, Mauna Loa, 13,600 feet above sea level; so that the twin peaks attain the truly Himalayan altitude of over 25,000 feet. Mauna Kea has not been active within historic times, but during the century that has elapsed since the discovery of the island by Captain Cook, we have a tolerably complete history of the various eruptions of Mauna Loa and Kilauea; the earlier portion of which we owe to the zealous labours of an American Missionary, the Rev. Dr. Coan. The first great eruption on record was in 1789, and was attended by fearful earthquakes, terrific darkness, thunder and lightning. Others followed in 1823, 1840, 1848, 1851, and 1855; but the eruption of 1868 was, perhaps, the most terrible on record; though those of 1877 and 1880—which last continued for nine months—were not far behind in their destructive fury. Details were given of some of the most remarkable phenomena of these eruptions. Awful as these records are, it is to be feared they would have been much worse were not Mauna Loa provided with a safety valve in Kilauea, sixteen miles §.E., and only four thousand feet above the sea level. This crater, called Halé-mau-mau, or the “house of everlasting burning,’ by the natives, is nine miles in circum- ference, and is a lake of liquid fire. It is never the same for three months together, but exhibits an infinite variety of changes, some of which the lecturer described and illustrated. It does not often overflow, nevertheless it did so in 1888 and 1890, with most disastrous consequences. Both these craters were in violent eruption in 1902, but exact particulars are not yet to hand. After briefly describing the chain of volcanoes that runs through the Islands of the Eastern Archipelago, from Barren Island, in the Bay of Bengal, to Nitendi, in tha Solomon Islands, the Lecturer gave an account of the terrible eruption of Krakatoa in 1883. This enjoys the distinction of having been one of the best, if not the very best, studied erup- tions that have ever taken place. After lying quiet for 208 years, the region began to be shaken by violent earthquakes, and on May 20th, 1883, the first eruption took place. This subsided, but on the 23rd August was renewed with terrific 84 violence. Early on the 27th the first of the final eruptions took place, others followed at short intervals, the last occurring at 10-52 a.m. The atmospheric concussions and the tidal waves, which drowned about 36,380 people, were next explained, and an account was given of the wonderful sunsets which characterised the autumn of 1883. An exquisite series of slides illustrated this phenomenon. The volcanoes of New Zealand are a more than usually interesting study: firstly, on account of their number; secondly, because they appear to have a subterranean connexion from Whakari Island, in the Bay of Plenty, to Tongariro, on the S.W. of Lake Taupo. A short sketch of the extinct and active voleanoes having been given, Lake Rotomahana and the Pink and White Terraces—so well described by Mr. Froude in “Oceana ’’—- were mentioned. On Thursday, June 10th, 1886, these were destroyed by the eruption of Mount Tarawera, which buried them under torrents of mud. The neighbouring settle- ment of Wairoa was also destroyed, and many lives lost; the village of Mourea was swept bodily into the lake by an avalanche of mud, and Te Ariki was covered by some twenty feet of white dust. Since this memorable day, the activity of the volcanoes in the Northern Island of New Zealand appears to have increased considerably. The following years were noted by continuous and in- creasing activity of volcanoes in all parts of the world. In 1892, on June 7th, Guvona Awa, on Sangir Island, suddenly burst into eruption without any warning, desolating the Island and causing a loss of over three thousand lives. The autumn of this year was also remarkable for the most serious eruption of Mount Etna that has taken place for a century; and four years later Vesuvius began a series of eruptions which have not yet subsided. As volcanic action declined, earthquakes increased in all parts of the world, over one hundred having been recorded during the eighteen months ending December 31st, 1901. In 1902 there has been a general recrudescence of volcanic activity all over the world, from Alaska to New Zealand. ‘The principal centres of eruption have been in the Sandwich Islands, Central America, and the West Indies. In these the volcanoes of Mount Pelée, in Martinique, and La Souffriére, in Si. Vincent, became active, after a silence of fifty years in the former case, and over a century in the latter. The eruption of Mount Pelée took place on the morning of Thursday, May 8th, about ten minutes before eight o’clock. A blast of incandescent gas and fine ashes, suspended in clouds of steam, round which flashes of — 85 lightning played incessantly, swept down the mountain side, destroying the town of St. Pierre and setting fire to the shipping in the harbour, so that forty thousand people are computed to have perished in a few minutes. Of all the inhabitants only a dostor, who was out at Morne Rouge, and a negro, who lay in gaol under sentence of death, are known to have survived. In another terrible eruption on August 30th, the suburb of Morne Rouge was destroyed in a similar manner, when, though the loss of life was only about a thousand, many hundreds were injured. On the previous day the Souffriére of St. Vincent had begun a violent eruption which lasted for seventy days, but culminated on the the 7th. The whole of the northern portion of the island was devastated, though, as there were no large towns, the loss of life was small in comparison with that in Martinique—from 1,600 to 2,000 estimated. Both these volcanoes have been seri- ously active ever since, and it may be many months yet before the danger of fresh eruptions can be considered at an end. The lecture was illustrated by about eighty lantern slides, many of which were made expressly for the occasion from drawings and photographs sent by friends in the West Indies, as well as by specimens of lava and volcanic ashes from New Zealand, St. Vincent, Vesuvius, and other localities. 86 WELSH WRITERS OF SONG AND FICTION. By Rev. T. R. DAVIES. 27th January, 1903. *‘ John Jones and John Bull are the people Who know to a T what is what ; John Jones and John Bull are the people To rule this old world and all that.” “« That being so, it is well that these two Johns should know as much as possible about each other. John Jones should know the plans and purposes of John Bull, and John Bull should know the thoughts and aspirations of John Jones. Hach should know how and what the other thinks, since they have such a high and noble function to perform together in the world.” «The last line, according to the Welsh, really is—‘ To keep the old world in its place ’—1.e., they are the joint custodians of law and order. You will observe that with characteristic modesty, John Jones quietly takes the first place in this great undertaking. The second partner in the concern should therefore try to under- stand him. Well, John Jones has a language which he loves and cherishes with every mark of tenderness—perhaps some will think with a degree of prejudice as well. But he has an adage which says, ‘ Hateful is the man who loveth not the land of his birth,’ and to him the land and language go together. It is now more than six hundred years since the first Prince of Wales was born in Carnarvon Castle, and it was, doubtless, hoped then that in a few generations the Welsh language would disappear, and that of the new governing race be adopted in its place ; but so far is this from being the case, that in Carnarvon to-day, four Welsh newspapers, two or three monthlies, and the leading Welsh literary quarterly are published, while, so far as I know, there are only two English newspapers, and one of these has attached to its title the name of a neighbouring county to help its circulation. And Carnarvon is not the only, nor the chief, Welsh publishing centre. At least one Welsh newspaper is published in Lancashire. More Welsh books are published and read to-day than ever, which clearly proves the tenacity with which the Welsh people cling to their language. The Histeddfod flourishes to-day more than ever, and its purpose, as you know, is the cultivation of Welsh music, literature, and art, enlivened occasionally by a little Welsh literary jealousy.” 87 «In the language thus cherished and kept, John Jones has shown his political ideas. Next to preaching, poetry and music are his chief delight. Few nations, and none so small, have had so many poets. From Taliesin to the last chaired bard he has had a succession of poets of whom he is justly proud.” The Lecturer then proceeded to discuss the peculiarities of the Welsh language, and dwelt on the relative use of consonants and vowels in English and Welsh, pointing out the difficulty often experienced. in translating the masterpieces of Welsh poets into the English tongue, at the same time retaining the original metre and style of composition. Welsh poetry, however, is not all written in special or peculiar metre ; much of it is in what is styled ‘‘free metre,” and the same difficulty does not arise in translating such into English verse. « Recently the Rev. Edmund 0. Jones, Vicar of Llanidloes, himself a poet of no mean order, had done a great service to English readers by publishing two volumes of translations, under the title of ‘ Welsh Lyrics of the Nineteenth Century.’”’ Mr. Davies then read several extracts from this volume, giving in each case, a short account of the writers. The examples read being from the writings of John Blackwell, of Mold; Evan Evans, of Trefriw: Robert Williams, of Llanrwst (a poet of no mean order) ; Evan Jones, of Brithdir ; John Ceiriog Hughes, station- master, of Llanidloes, Towyn and Carsws, and William Thomas, of Flint. The selections gave an idea of the kind of poetry pre- valent in Wales, both in past times and also at the present day. «¢ We have a very old literature, as the mere mention of the ‘Triads of the Bards of Britain’ and the ‘Mabinogion’ alone will show. How old the triads are no one can tell. Some of them are, probably, comparatively modern, not more than five, six or seven hundred years old; but others date before the Christian 27 era. ‘Tn the best collections there are hundreds and even thousands of Apothegms, or proverbs, as the name suggests. They are not, of course, of equal merit, but let me give you two or three from the ‘ Triads of Song.’”’ 1. ‘The three chief essentials of the Muse: An eye to see nature; a heart to feel nature; and daring to follow nature.’’ 2. ‘The three purposes of poetry : The increase of good ; the increase of understanding ; and the increase of happiness.”’ 3. ‘The three purities of song: Pure truth; pure language; and pure form.” 4, ‘The three joys of the Bards of Britain: The increase of knowledge ; ee improvement of morality ; and victorious peace in place of plunder and pillage.” 88 «‘ There are hundreds of such sayings, dating from time im- memorial, and many of them quite familiar to the common people.” «The Mabinogion’ ought, of course to form a subject by itself. Tho old romances were first collected in the Thirteenth or Fourteenth Century, but many of them date from an earlier period. Arthur, of course, is not originally a Welsh hero, though he figures largely in these romances. But the oldest ‘Mabinogion ’ know nothing of Arthur. Readers of Tennyson know the charm there is in these ancient romances. It is now more than fifty years since Lady Guest gave the English public her beautiful translation of them, and there is now a cheap edition issued, edited by Professor O. M. Edwards, of Oxford. It seems strange that with these stories as a guide, the Welsh writers of the Centuries from the Fourteenth to the Highteenth, do not appear to have done much with fiction. Allegories there are in abund- ance—such books, for instance, as the ‘ Story of the Three Birds.’ I cannot understand how this beautiful book is not well known and much appreciated in England. There have been no more daring attempts to solve the mystery of the eternal and the unknown. ‘The Visions of the Sleeping Bard,’ for instance, is a grand old book in spite of its sectarian narrowness. The good old clergy- man, Ellis Wynne, who was born in the neighbourhood of Harlech, in 1671, could not deny himself the pleasure of picturing his Nonconformist neighbours in the terrors of perdition. He more than half destroyed his book by this, nevertheless, Dante himself would not have been ashamed of some parts of it. But beyond this class of work we have not much real fiction from the time of the ‘Mabinogion’ to the last century. During recent years we have had many capable writers. The ordinary fiction writer flourishes among us. Chief of them to-day is Mr. B. G. Evans ; but his work does not describe the Welsh character as contradistinguished from other nationalities. But writers like William Rees, William Ambrose, Daniel Owen, and Winnie Parry describe the Welsh character as it is.” At the conclusion of his Paper, Mr. Davies read several speci- mens of Welsh fiction translated by himself and others, including the following :— FIRST VISIT TO THE LODGING. By Daniel Owen. ‘The first place that I must take you to is your lodging,”’ said Mr. Pugh. “The woman’s name is Mrs. Jones; she is a widow woman—a very kind woman, only that she speaks rather too much about her departed husband ; but you’ll soon get used to that.”’ 89 Mr. Pugh knocked at the door with the knob of his stick, with such thunderous vigour, that I imagined I could see the good woman jumping a clear yard from the floor, and in a moment or two we could hear her coming along the lobby, loudly muttering, ‘‘In the name of everything good, what is there here now? ’”’ As soon, however, as Mrs. Jones saw that it was Mr. Pugh who had been guilty of knocking so unreasonabiy at the door and disturbing the whole neighbourhood, she changed the tone of her voice and said : ‘Well, Mr. Pugh bach, I thought it was you, and who have you got with you? Well, Mr. Rees our new minister, sure enough! Well, come in, I am glad to see you, yes, from my heart ; and Enoc Jones would have been glad to see you if he’d been alive, wouldn’t he, Mr. Pugh? Who knew Enoc Jones better than you, Mr. Pugh? ”’ ‘* Well, yes, we knew each other pretty well,’’ said Mr. Pugh, adding, ‘* What do you think of your lodger, Mrs. Jones? Do you promise to give him plenty to eat, and to look after him middling?” ‘* Well, you are a garw one, too, Mr. Pugh. Enoc Jones always used to say that he never saw the like of you, and who knew you better than Enoc Jones, isn’t it, Mr. Pugh? Are you warm, Mr. Rees? Shall I fetch slippers for you? Enoc Jones always used to say that a man rested better in his slippers.’’ ‘«Mr. Rees is not going to stay here to-night,’’ said Mr. Pugh. ‘Not going to stay here ? Where is he going to stay then, since I am so bold as to ask? There is nothing in chapel to-night, is there? Are you planned anywhere, Mr. Rees ?”’ ‘*No; he is coming to us to-night, and he will come to you to-morrow. I was only just bringing him round to show him,”’ said Mr. Pugh. ** Well, you are a garw one, Mr. Pugh, as Enoc Jones used to say. Will you take a cup of coffee, Mr. Rees? ”’ ‘*No, thank you, Mrs. Jones; I don’t take coffee at night.’’ I replied. ‘Enoc Jones didn’t either, He always said it was too heavy. Do you take coffee for brecwest, Mr. Rees? ”’ ‘* Not very often.’’ ‘Well, you are exactly like Enoc Jones; isn’t he, Mr. Pugh?”’ ‘* Yes, especially about the bend of the elbow,’’ said Mr. Pugh, playfully ; adding, ‘‘ You will get further opportunities to notice the likeness between Mr. Rees and Mr. Jones; and you must consider it a compliment to be compared to such a good man, Mr. Rees.’’ ‘Well, who knew Enoc Jones better than you Mr. Pugh? Good night, if you must go, but you would not have been allowed to go so quick if Enoc Jones was alive.’’ ‘‘ What do you think of Mrs. Jones and your lodging?’ asked Mr. Pugh. I answered that my impression was that it was a clean, comfortable place, and that Mrs. Jones was a neat, honest, kind body, easy to live with, but a little weak.”’ ‘Right, my boy,’’ he said. ‘‘ You will be perfectly happy after you have got used to the talk about Enoc Jones. Do you know the advice I got long ago? Hereit is: Not to marry a widow unless her first husband had been hanged or sent to transport ; because if the first husband had been hanged or transported, you’ll never hear a word about him ; but if he has been rather a good husband you’ll never hear the last word about him.”’ 90 A TRIP ROUND THE WORLD. (Wrrs Lantern Virws). By Sir BOSDIN T. LEACH. 2nd February, 1903. The Lecturer said he had lately made a trip round the world, and had that evening to crowd the experiences of five months and a half into an hour and a half’s talk. He proposed to deal chiefly with his experiences in China and Japan. He started on the journey with his wife and daughter on Feb. 21st, 1901, and they were joined by his son at Ceylon. They spent fourteen days in China. Hong Kong is on an island twelve miles long and three miles broad. The city is laid out in European style, with many fine public buildings. Through the courtesy of the P. & O. Co., a private launch was placed at their disposal and they had a pleasant trip round the harbour. It was only in this way that they could realise its size. They visited Canton where there were half-a-million of people. Canton was a sample of a thoroughly Chinese town. It was the last place where he would like to be alone with natives. They had with them twenty-seven bearers, and at the corner of one of the narrow streets a Chinaman was upset by one of the bearers, and in a moment a row threatened to break out. He was very glad to get out of the street. Nearly everybody seemed to keep a shop; all the shops had open fronts, and one of the difficul- ties of shopping was that the streets were crowded. The gambling centres in the Portuguese settlement were crowded with an excited audience. Some of the party tried their hands and were singularly successful. The sail to Shanghai was an uneventful one. The weather became hazy, and the captain remained on the bridge night and day. The old town was most interesting, but, without exception, it was the dirtiest place they were ever in. The stream which ran through it made them close their nostrils. They were driven away from the tea house, in the centre of the town, by the smell. But the city was well laid out with ornamental fountains and mirrors, and there were lovely views and extensive gardens. He preferred the ‘‘’Ricksha”’ to being carried by bearers. The ‘‘’Ricksha’”’ cost only one and sixpence a day, and they were very comfortable. The men are not by any means tall, but are well developed, and make excellent workmen. They will labour hard, and are well satisfied if they can get their daily bread. Patriotism they had none, and they firmly believed that theirs was the most in aye = 91 powerful nation in existence. They had no desire to be better than they were, and resisted all improvements. When a railway had been made they broke it up and threw the rails into the river. In every shop there was a board with some beads on a string, and when purchases were made the shop-keeper summed up the amount to be paid on the board. At Nagasaki they found the streets wide, substantial and European in character, the women were free to go about as they pleased, and there were general signs of a well governed country. English seemed to be spoken everywhere. In travelling in the East they are very much puzzled with the dollar, which varied so much, but in Japan it is worth two shillings. It cost millions to make the change, but they had now an admirable system of currency all over Japan. At Kobe, an old Japanese town, telephones were introduced in 1890, and there were ‘‘ Call’ offices all over the city. Since 1885, the streets and houses had been lighted with electricity, and their hotel was a most comfortable one, fitted with conveniences equal to those in London. English words were used everywhere, and it made one feel proud to note how the English tongue eclipsed all others. It was sometimes amusing to see how the King’s English was murdered, such as “‘ beefs and muttons,’’ and ‘“‘ shoes make here.”’ Japan was a wonder to the world—within forty-eight years she had transformed her customs, habits, laws, and style of government, and had made more progress than other nations in hundreds of years. Hngland had been copied as to her navy, and Germany as to her army. Japan still pressed to the front with unabated energy, and was destined to be the leading nation of the East. As education spreads, the Japanese begin to see the folly of falling down to gods of wood and stone, so that half the people had left the faith of their forefathers and had no creed at all. There never was a better scope for missionary effort than now in Japan. The Japanese had investigated the various religions of the world and discovered their weak points. Having described visits to the Gymnastic Clubs and to the Temples, which were disappearing gradually, the Lecturer gave an account of the interesting features of Tokio, Nikko, Yokohama and many other places which he visited. During the tour his son had taken a large number of photo- graphs of temples, gods, landscapes, modes of travelling, &c., all of which were shown on the screen, and gave an excellent idea of the country, and the customs and habits of the people. At the close appreciative remarks were made by the President, and in replying to a hearty vote of thanks, the Lecturer observed that during the whole of the time they were at sea, they had never had an hour’s illness, nor ever missed a meal. 92 PLANTS AND INSECTS AS MARVELS OF CORRELATION. (Wire Lanrern Views.) By Rev. F. BALLARD, M.A., B.Sc. F.G.8. 10th Feb., 1908, The Lecturer said that from time immemorial flowers had been objects of attraction to old and young, rich and poor alike, and it had been the custom, for long ages, to speculate on the use of plants, it being generally conceded that they were intended for food, medicine, or pleasure. During the past century great pro- gress had been made. Science had divided and sub-divided the subject so much, that it became more and more clear, that no one man was competent to grasp even one of those sub-divisions. If & man was to become acquainted with bacteriology, which was a minor sub-division of botany, he must start early in life and lay aside all other studies, and give himself wholly to it. If we face the facts we have to own, sooner or later, that there is a side of the universe and the creation around us that we can only call dark, mysterious, and inexplicabie. That we must be content to leave. The Twentieth Century began with this advantage, that the method of induction was perfectly established. They could never go back to the old simple deduction process. They must face the facts, whether they agreed with their previous notions or not. In this way they were brought to appreciate the correlation of plants and insects, in the double relation which proceeded equally from each member of the series, and were fraught with a meaning and an advantage to both, fitting one into the other, as convex and convave. It had been said that— ‘« Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, And waste its sweetness on the desert air.’ Why waste? And the answer was, because the genus homo was not there to sniff and appreciate it. As if it were reserved for the human species to be the only appreciator of the fragrance and the beautiful on the planet. That conceit had been taken out of man. They now knew perfectly well that it did not follow that their sweetness was ‘ wasted,” or that ‘they blushed unseen ’”’ because men were not there to look upon them. All the time they had been appreciated and enjoyed by creatures capable of enjoying themselves. 93 The general consensus of all investigation to-day was that on the whole they were warranted in saying, that the health, vigour, progress, and development of the flower-world depended on what is called cross fertilization. The vegetable world itself was an intermediate stage between the mineral and the animal world. They had no power without the intervention of the vegetable world to live on mineral food. Flowers were only a part of the vegetable world, and the correla- tion between them and insects was most distinct and specific. They found themselves face to face, not only with facts, but with mysteries as insoluble as they ever were, and they were likely to remain so. They had to check themselves with remembering that all their knowledge was of phenomena, but the little “nomena” that lay behind was as far beyond their grasp as they were beyond the ken of the Ancient Britons. Lord Avebury had given the case of the South African Acacia, which was in danger of being robbed of its leaves by a species of ants which had a desire to grow mushrooms, but could not do so without manure. The acacia wished to have a word in the matter, and said as it were, ‘* This will never do, I shall be robbed of all my leaves.” The acacia forthwith grows holly thorns with a little nectar cap. Another species of ant discovers it and finds ‘‘ This is exactly what we want: we want some food.” They set to work and became the defenders of the acacia, so that it was no longer in danger of losing its leaves. It was with facts like this that the vegetable world was full, so that they could only touch the fringe of the picture and think what the whole must be. Cross fertilization was the process by which the world of flowers was preserved and enabled most thoroughly to propa- gate its kind. It was not possible for a plant to fertilize itself. The pollen by which they are fertilized was brought in two ways, by wind, and by insects. Making use of the lantern, the Lecturer then proceeded to illustrate, by a series of coloured slides, the methods by which the pollen grain (the mystery of the vegetable world) was - conveyed to the stigmatic surfaces of plants, the influence of insects on the fecundity of flowers, the types of floral structures and pollen grains; the process of fertilization taking place as if by some strange hidden ‘hand of an artist,”’ as Huxley had said. The four large orders of insects which did most of the work of cross-fertilization were beetles, bees, butterflies, and flies. These types, with their respective apparatus for their special work, were shown on the screen, and the beautiful correlations between the flower and the insect were pointed out. The humming bird, with its long beak, also took a share in the work of fertilizing 94 the Marcgravia, which developed a pitcher for the honey. Somehow that plant—he had almost said had acquired a know- ledge—had found that it was necessary to adapt itself to the structure of the creature that came to it in order to bring about its cross-fertilization. When the humming bird went to sip the nectar, it was impossible to avoid its head being dusted with pollen. In some cases it appeared as if flowers were perfectly aware they would be visited by bees and insects that would bring them no pollen and render them no service; that they protected themselves by certain specialities of structure and development ; and so, many of the plants had a way of checkmating robber insects. Having given illustrations of this series, and of the process of fertilization in the orchid family, the Lecturer closed by observing that the more they thought of the great law of evolution, the more they saw that they were driven, not to agnosticism and atheism, but to a higher and nobler theism, and a larger conception of the great Creator than the childish conception of their former days, when everything was supposed to be made by special creation. The lesson on the whole was fairly summed up in the words that had been often quoted, but not too often : “Let knowledge grow from more to more, But more of reverence in us dwell ; That mind and soul, according well, May make one music as before, But vaster.”’ 95 THE ORIGIN OF PRINTING, AND ITS DEVELOPMENT—TO THE END OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. (Wirn Lantern Views.) By Mr. HENRY GUPPY, M.A., of the John Rylands’ Library. 17th February, 1903. Modern research and criticism had demonstrated that the same law of evolution applied to mentai as to physical phenomena, and that in both cases what is, follows by fixed law what was. Looked at in this light, Printing, as indeed all other Arts, never had a beginning: they were successive results, as harvest followed seed time, and the acorn the oak. Printing, in its broadest sense, was as old as creation’ When did books begin? Did they all know what a book was? Metal, wood, bark, stone, clay, brick, papyrus, &c., and even rocks had been used for conveying information, as well as the modern volumes of paper sheets. Our own popular term takes us back to the time when men made use of wood and bark for preserving and conveying information. As to why books began to be made, there were two material cravings which assert themselves in every man: the wish to learn what had been done by those who had lived before them, and the wish on the other hand, to transmit their names and the memories of their deeds to those who should come after them. That was a worthy ambition, and part of the craving after immortality, which had never been absent from any human soul. Mechanical printing was only about 450 years old, and paper was not known in the western world till the Thirteenth Century. Before man could record his thoughts, two things were necessary —languages and the art of writing. Picture writing was first practised by the Esquimaux, the Chinese, and the Mexicans. The pointing hand (K") was a pictorial symbol, saying as plainly as words, ‘‘look there.” It was when writing was in this state that books were produced. The next step was the symbolic—the taking of a symbol to illustrate an idea, such as the example given by the Roman figures. We now have many mechanical arts by which writing is multiplied. The telegraph annihilated space, and enabled us to speak to our contemporaries, but the art of writing can speak to ages unborn. As someone had expressed it, ‘ Writing is the light which, so to speak, photographs every step of human progress for the benefit of all future generations.” 96 The views which the Lecturer then exhibited illustrated the first stages (tablets) in the development of printing, and were followed by the pictorial representations on the Egyptian monu- ments, Cleopatra’s Needle, and the columns in the Central Hall at Karnac—columns seventy-three feet high and twelve feet in diameter. Those were the stone books of the Egyptians, and were really ‘‘sermons in stones,” chronicles of Egyptian history. There were other examples at the entrance to the temple of Luxor—two columns, the third having been carried away by Napoleon, and standing at present in the Place de la Concord, in Paris. The funeral rolls, on the papyrus, illustrated a develop- ment of the Egyptian hieroglyphic. The Rosetta stone is one of the most important documents in existence. Untll 1830 the history of Egypt was a closed book, and it was not until this stone had been discovered and deciphered that we were able to unlock the treasures of early Egyptian chronicles. Coming to our own country the Lecturer recognised the loving care of the monks in recording and transmitting their knowledge, and gave illustrations of the book blocks, dated 1428, preceding the use of the moveable types. There had been a great deal of controversy as to who first introduced moveable types into Europe, but there was little doubt that Gutenberg first made use of them. Printers wanted to use part of the block, and so they cut the text, took out the letters which would not stand the pressure of the ink, and thus it was that the moveable type was developed. As early as 1457 printing was being done in four colours. The early printers were not only printers but scholars. ‘The text was gradually improved and became easier and more restful for the eye to look upon. Gutenberg had many trials to contend with, but he persevered, and there were many existing examples of his work, and of that of his contemporaries—Fust, Peter Schoeffer, and others. The first dated Bible was printed in 1462. From 1448 to 1501, there were from eight and a half to nine million books produced. In 1467, two rival printing firms were at work in Rome, and for beauty of workmanship the specimens of the Italian type had neither been surpassed, nor equalled. Among the earliest productions in Italy were ‘‘ Cicero’s Letters.” Caxton produced one of the finest pieces of English work that it was possible to find at the time: ‘ Dicta; or, Sayings of the Philosophers.’ Many indulgences were printed at that time, and the Rylands’ Library had possession of rare copies of these docu- ments; the Lecturer said he would be pleased to show them, and other treasures, to the Club whenever they felt disposed to to pay him a visit. SS Se Oe eee ee . 97 EDMUND SPENSER, THE POET’S POET. By Rev. A. W. FOX, M.A, 24th February, 1903. The Lecturer said he hoped to make clear the rank in which he held this great poet, Edmund Spenser—a rank above that of John Milton, while in wealth and variety of his imagery, in his own line, he was as great a poet as Shakespeare was in his. In 1552, according to Aubrey, that genial, graceful, gossiping old writer, there was born into the house of the merchant tailor, John Spenser, Edmund, destined to be one of the greatest of poets. His mother was named Elizabeth ; his wife was named Elizabeth, and his Queen was named Elizabeth; and in various poems he alludes to this striking coincidence. The Educational National Biography makes no hesitation in stating that, although Spenser was educated in the Merchant Taylors’ School, in which Bishop Andrews, ‘‘ the saintliest man of the English Church ” was educated, and somewhere about the same time, it does not scruple to say that Spenser visited Hurstwood when he left the University, and spent a certain year there which he has described faithfully in ‘‘ The Shepherd’s Calendar.” At Hurstwood, there were in the old house a certain Edmund Spenser and a John Spenser, and they held up their heads with the Towneleys, whose house was hard by. The Spensers in the neighbourhood—Edmund, Lawrence, Robert, and John—all lived at Habergham Eaves. The theory is that _Jobn Spenser, who went to live in London, was the son of Edmund Spenser, who was at Hurstwood; if he was not the son he wasa nephew. Joln Spenser, of Downham and Whalley, and others, were related by marriage to Dean Howell. The poet at Cambridge received money from Robert Howell. When Spenser went to Cambridge he was a “ sizar’”’—he had to black boots and assist in clearing the table and wait on the rest of the students ; that was what being a ‘‘ sizar,” meant in those days. He was seventeen years of age when admitted as a sizar” at Pembroke College, ; 98 Young Spenser translated some of the Italian and Latin poems which appeared in the ‘Tears of the Muses.”’ He studied Latin, Greek, Italian, and French, and it was through reading * Ariosto”’ that his genius shaped itself in that remarkable poem, superior to ‘‘ Orlando Furioso ”—‘‘ The Faerie Queen.”’ In 1576, Spenser took his M.A. degree. His name is entered in the University register. ‘The date is of importance, because we can trace the resemblance in the handwriting in some of the books that had been in his possession. In 1577 there is a blank in his history. How was that filled up? When we come to read ‘‘ The Shepherd's Calendar’ we find that it contains two hundred words that were then in current use in the North; one hundred and fifty of these are still in use in the country round about Hurstwood. This is a very important point. ‘Those words in “ The Faerie Queen” had puzzled annotators and commentators. In 1577 Spenser was painted. Aubrey described him as a little man with a bare but beautiful head, wearing not a great, but a little ruff. In 1578 we find that in the Leicester household Spenser met his patron, Sir Philip Sydney, that Elizabethan nobleman, who inspired a poet greater than himself, a man no less holy and no less noble in his life, though it was not lived so much before the eye of the public. In 1579, two years after he had been in the North, appeared «The Shepherd’s Calendar.” It did not appear before, because there were traces of Edmund Spenser being sent on a mission to France, under Lord Leicester. As soon as the ‘ Shepherd’s Calendar’ appeared, with notes and a glossary by Edmund Kirk, it was realised that a new poet, of uncommon force, had broken the silence of the muses. Spenser was not out of Court favour, and he speaks in terms of praise of that very noble Archbishop, who fell into disgrace with Queen Elizabeth because he told her the truth. Spenser gave proof to Archbishop Grindall of his loyalty to truth, and it required no little courage in those days, when that good Queen used to speak her mind with oaths and curses, and would swear like a trooper, and yet was one of the best monarchs who had ruled over the land. For a while Spencer wasted his time, under the advice of Harvey, in writing limping, jingling, unmusical lines, to weld the fashion of the modern to the fashion of the old. At last he threw over this style of writing, and wrote in very good language, none the worse for a little Northern smack, and an occasional touch of the Lancashire dialect. Sugg 99 In 1580 he was made Secretary to Lord Grey de Wilton, Viceroy of Ireland. At that time Irishmen were looked upon as island enemies and savages, and they were treated with much harshness. In a book on the state of Ireland at that time, the method of extermination was advocated, if they did not behave themselves. Kingsley’s ‘‘ Westward Ho!” is a description of the idea of the Irish policy of that day. In 1581 Spenser was Clerk of the Irish Court of Chancery, in Dublin, and met some of the best men in Ireland to talk over literary matters. In 1586 there appeared that most exquisite of elegies, ‘* The Astrophel,’’ on the death of Sir Philip Sydney, who, in the words of Tennyson, a later thinker, ‘‘ wore the white flower of a blameless life.” In 1588 he was Clerk of Munster. During the rebellion, which broke out in Tyrone, he had to fly for his life, leaving behind his infant child, who was burnt to death during the riot which in- volved the destruction of Spenser’s house by fire. 1592-3 he fell in love again, this time with Elizabeth Boyle, daughter of a farmer or small squire, and it is from Alexander Grossart that we learn that this lady at first treated him rather roughly, and kept him at a distance until at last she yielded. In 15938 they were married. He wrote for her one of his most wonderful poems, called “ Kpithalamion,” in which the language is choice and the sentiment beautiful. A poet could not tell his wife what he thought of her without letting the world know it. Open the temple gates unto my Love, Open them wide that she may enter in ; And all the posts adorn as doth behove, And all the pillars deck with garlands trim, For to receive this saynt with honours due, That cometh in to you. With trembling steps and humble reverence, She cometh in, before th’ Almighty’s view ; Of her, ye virgins, learn obedience, When so ye come into those holy places, To humble your proud faces ; Bring her up to th’ high altar, that she may The sacred ceremonies there partake, The which do endless matrimony make ; And let the roaring organs loudly play The praises of the Lord in lively notes : The whiles, with hollow throates, The choristers the joyous antheme sing, That all the woods may answer, and their eccho ring, 100 Behold, while she before the altar stands, Hearing the holy priest to her speakes, And blesseth her with his two happy hands ; How the red roses flush up in her cheekes, And the pure snow, with goodly vermill stayne, Like crimson dyde in grayne : That even the angels, which continually About the sacred altar do remaine, Forget their service and about her fly, Oft peeping in her face, that seems more fayre, The more they on it stare. But her sad eyes, still fastened on the ground, Are governed with goodly modesty, That suffers not one look to glance awry, Which may let in a little thought unsound. Why blush ye, Love, to give to me your hand, The pledge of all our band ! Sing, ye sweet angels, Alleluja sing, That all the woods may answer, and your eccho ring. That poem will worthily repay careful perusal, the rhythm throughout is perfect, the sentiment noble, and it shows how devoted and true and tender was Edmund Spenser to his wife, Elizabeth Boyle. Before the ‘ Epithalamion”’ was published there were troubles for Spenser, who had to fight in the law courts for every inch of his land. In 1595 Spenser came to London with three more books. «‘The Faerie Queene’ brought him a royal. pension of £50 a year from the niggardly minister of Queen Elizabeth, Lord Burleigh, not a clever, but a cunning man. After having that pension voted (whether he ever received any payment is doubtful), he returned to Ireland, and wrote one of the most beautiful of his poems—‘* Colin Clouts Come Home Again ”—+telling all he had seen and done at Court. In 1598 he was Sheriff of the Court, a somewhat uncongenial office, for in Spenser’s day it was not unfrequent for the Sheriff to have to hang people. It was before March, 1599, that his house was burnt over his head, and we see him in London, with no ready money. The story generally told is that he died of starvation. This is, probably, not strictly true. It is generally said that Lord Leicester sent him “‘ twenty pieces ’’ when he was dying, but Spenser sent them back, saying they had come too late. It would seem that the horror of the scenes through which he had gone with his children (one child being burnt to death), and a storm at sea, had acted on the poet’s sensitive mind and had broken his heart. He was buried in Westminster Abbey, and great pomp attended his funeral. His ashes had to wait twenty years before a monument was set up. He was the poet’s poet. Milton confessed that he himself was greatly indebted to Spenser, and praised him in one of his 101 sonnets. ‘Cowley also, in the essay ‘‘ Of myself,” referred to «The Faerie Queene.” Herrick, Pope, and Wordsworth have also borne their tribute to him. In Tennyson can over and over again be traced the echo of Spenser. Byron, Shelley, and Keats have also imitated the stanza and shown their debt to Spenser, from whose ample quarry many of the later poets have dug much of the stone out of whish they have built their noble and beautiful poems. ‘The stanza of “The Faerie Queen” was Spenser’s own invention, and was most musical. After giving an analysis of the book, which represented the twelve cardinal virtues, the Lecturer referred to ‘‘ The Shepherd’s Calendar ” as a work in which was given a picture of the scenery about Hurstwood. There was no English poet who could describe scenery better. There was no other English poet who had not made allegory wearisome. ‘Spenser had a very high and noble ideal of a Christian gentleman. Had he not seen one in the life of Sir Philip Sydney? Had he not a deeply religious heart, which was as alien to the rigour of the Puritans as to the excesses of the Church? Between the two, he stood for a sound, sane, Protestant, English conception of a true gentleman. When you think of that little man with his soul full of wonderful fancies, ringing with the music of the nine muses, with his heart warm with a noble and dignified patriotism, with a spirit that suffered much from a certain sort of neglect, and yet was ever ready to suffer and be strong. When you think of that Godly, real man, do not merely think of him, but read him, and when you read him, you will find, perhaps, not exactly the ideal gentleman and gentlewoman of to-day, but the ideal picture of the gentleman and gentlewoman of a time more glorious even than ours, when manners were simpler, when truth was less veiled by what some people call modesty. If you can think of him as simple, truthful, noble in his devotion to his wife and children, faithful to friends, who were no longer friends at Court, when there was danger in such faithfulness, in his outspoken opposition to that greedy and coveteous Chancellor, Lord Burleigh, in his devotion to what was pure and true and holy, and his wide learning always used for the interests of truth and purity ; and above all else, in the crystal clearness of his own pure intellect, of his own just soul, then you, with me, will be able to lay a wreath of immortal love upon the grave of the poet’s poet, Edmund Spenser.” CORPO? ‘‘ WESTWARD HO!’’—MY GLIMPSES OF CANADA AND THE STATES. (With Lantern Views.) By Rev. A. BISHOP. 3rd March, 1903. The Lecturer gave an interesting review of the development of travelling, from 1819—when the first steamer crossed the atlantic, the voyage occupying twenty-six days—to the present time. His voyage out was made on the Teutonic, which at that time, after a race with the City of New York, was proclaimed as the Queen of the Ocean. He regretted these races, because when it was known that two such vessels were racing, much gambling was indulged in, and some thousands of pounds changed hands. Beginning at New York, the Lecturer explained the plan of the city, the hotel life, and the lion sights. His method of travelling was to stay a few days at each centre, and not to exhaust himself by long railway journeys. Among the places he visited and described were Albany and Saratoga, where he saw the social side of Society. What was the absolute attraction at Saratoga, he was unable exactly to say, but one man, a darkie, said ‘* They come to be seen.”’ Of one thing he was fully con- vinced, that the adoption of hotel life in America so largely by families, in winter and in summer, can not be a healthy contri- bution to the strength of the State in the long run. What of the home training? Children were nearly always away from their parents, and at the age of thirteen and fourteen were in public dining rooms and social gaiety. Illustrated by many Lantern views, the Lecturer gave a vivid description of the Niagara Falls, and, passing into Canada, descanted in a pleasant manner on views of Toronto—the garden of Canada, and sometimes called the city of churches— Montreal, Ottawa, Washington, Boston, and Harvard College, the alma mater of O. W. Holmes. 108 THE EVOLUTION OF A LOCAL POET. By THOMAS PRESTON. 10th March, 1903. «Tt is not my intention to-night to go into the merits or demerits of our local poets, known and unknown, departed or still with us. With regard to poets, it has been held by some critics that anyone with a keen appreciation for, and who delights in the works of Nature—in the productions of our great artists— or in the writings of the poets, comes within the hallowed grove. These are necessary elements in the equipment, but in addition, there must be an inherited gift of imagination and expression. Lord Bacon says that poetry has something divine in it, because it raises the mind and hurries it into sublimity. It gives to incidents a more heroic cast. Auburn tresses become locks of shining gold. The poet’s eye “* Glances from heaven to earth, From earth to heaven.” His ‘‘ Imagination bodies forth The form of things unknown.” Poetry is the outcome of a national spirit, and is no privilege of a select and polished few. Admittedly, only those who have stood with uncovered head before the grandeur of the Poetic Muse, are worthy to be enrolled among its votaries.. Bearing what is written in mind, I shall give you some account of his evolution. He modestly declines to be anything thought of poetically, except as the least of our many local poets. Our connection has been life long, he has always preserved a young and ardent mind. He has entrusted to me his literary and bio- graphical data. I have had full access to all the family papers and correspondence in his possession. I shall give his verse as he has left it, red hot from the forge, and, in many cases, lacking that sharpening and polishing which is absolutely necessary to be done if high expression, accurate rhythm and perfect cadence are to be attained. As to Evolution itself I found a curious solution among his trifles. It reads: ‘« Heredity comes in the first, To mould for right or wrong, Paternity, however nursed, By weak forbears or strong,— Must take full share, for weal or woe, And offspring chances give, As only those well schooled below Evolve and higher live.” 104 A good many years ago I found that he was on the highway to become a poet. ‘l’his was no surprise to me. Cowper began his poetry at an age later than that of our friend. Cowley’s poetical promenade was the result of the accident of finding Spenser’s ‘‘ Faeire Queene” in his mother’s room. And it was by a fortuitous attendance at an international gathering of crafts- men that the fountain of Castalia was visited by our friend, In the year 1894, there was published in the Journal of Decorative Art, a poetical description of what took place at the first annual gathering of the craft, held in Manchester. Our Poet had got to work, and was giving his impressions of things seen at this international meeting. He had found his happy pastime. Heredity having been stated to be contributory before personal evolution commences, I must refer briefly to his for- bears. On the paternal, side his ancestors were located at a charming, and romantically situated, old Manor House on the western slopes of Pendle, and what is almost unique about here, as far as I know, one line alone, with ne’er a break, for seven hundred years, has held the property. The view from the house is, perhaps, the finest in the district, embracing, as it does, the Fells of Longridge and Bowland, with the majestic forms of Stoneyhurst and Clitheroe Castle right in front, while far away to the right, couching in dignified isolation, Penyghent and Ingleboro’ can be seen. ‘Two streams, which are torrents in wet weather, join together just below the base of old Pendle, and on the lingular of land thus formed, Little Mearly Hall is situated. Henry Nutter sang— “The streamlets near Mearley dashed by in a flood, And Pendle’s proud summit was capped by a clud.” Our friend felt with the keenest appreciation his direct connec- with this house of ancient fame. After one of our visits there he produced— BONNY LITTLE MEARLEY. What visions rare the old house brings, Of story and romance, Through reigns of thirty queens and kings, As mind gives backward glance ; From John’s stern days in flawless line History shews quite clearly, One race has owned by right divine Bonny Little Mearley. Since that far time, when first grantee Held lands for service paid, But three surnames in pedigree, As owners are arrayed. 105 The Nowells first, from sire to son, Four centuries or nearly ; When fair girl-bride brought Appleton Bonny Little Mearley. Their grandchild Ann, failing male heirs, Answered suitor’s question By taking name the stock still bears, That from Malham—Preston. Kindred in mansions Pendle round, One family met yearly, When Gawthorpe, Royle, and Listers found Bonny Little Mearley. Forefathers of a noble race, Your loves and leisures sue, To contemplation’s sweet embrace ;— Your pastorai pleasures too,— Whene’er I visit the old scenes, Fancy woos so dearly, I would not change for home of queens, Bonny Little Mearley. On his maternal side he is descended from the ancient family of the Kayes of York. He has copies of wills and many interesting documents belonging to this family. His great aunt, Anne Kay, was quite a literary character, and is referred to in the ‘“ Life and Memoirs of Sydney Smith” the witty Dean of St. Paul's. She was apothecary, housekeeper and friend, so it is stated, waiting upon her master, until she closed her eyes in death. She soothed his long illness by often reading to him interesting novels and other books. Many letters, curios and mementos of this good lady and her master’s family, are held in great veneration. Some of them relate to Leonard Horner, Lord John Russell and other literati, who were great friends, and constantly calling at Mr. Smith’s London House. Our friend was born in what was, then, a highly respectable part of the town of Burnley. Old Mr. Hargreaves, benign, dignified, and lovingly looked up to, had a seminary close to, for the education of those, whose parents were of an inspiring turn or who were well to do. ‘This gave quite a literary savour to the locality, emphasised more so, from the fact of Mr. T. B. Spencer living within a few doors. He loomed largely in those days as a literary and poetic character. Like Mr. Hargreaves, he was a dominie, but of a lowlier kind. His seminary was reached by ascending a projecting flight of steps, in a court off Cliviger Street. He was our hero’s first schoolmaster, and to this small cause, possibly, this paper may be con- nected. He certainly was a unique, kindly, easy going, literary curiosity. He could teach, and he, like Coleridge, occasionally preached, but he hadn’t the knack of getting on in the world. I also sat under him, and remember how he used to flick us 106 with a long fishing rod or pointer, that he kept in hand to influence to obedience the restless ones entrusted to him. He soon removed to Enon School Room, and here he displayed much novelty and humour in work necessary to the maintenance of the pedadogue’s dignity and influence. But the bolt was preparing which was to do away with this genial evolution. ‘'T. B.,” as he was always called, gave up the school, and went altogether to the newspaper. For some time there had been whisperings iu our homes of a great scholarly magician at the Topo’ th’ Town. Much com- muning with friends in council, gave the master of St. Peter’s School the benefit of the doubt. For doubt there was, and tear and perturbation. None know now, except those who heard, fifty years ago, the anxious questionings of parents, who were in an atmosphere charged with solicitude and irresolution how the merits of the various schoolmasters of the town were discussed. The alternate attraction and repulsion, which Mr. Grant’s energy and stern learning had, both upon parents and boys, is something to be remembered. His unbounded generosity to those in need was a pleasing characteristic. Hssentially, his was a practical school, where boys with anything in them were pushed on, always under strict Scripture and disciplinarian rules. There was not much time for poetry, except the learning occasionally of recitative pieces. Patriotic songs were much to the fore, and seeing that the Indian Mutiny and the Crimean War happened during that time, this is not to be wondered at. The return of James Howarth, a Top-o’-th’-'Towner, from the Crimea, was the cause of great jubilation, and got the boys a half day’s holiday. General Searlett’s going into the Old Chureh Yard, while we boys were out at play, was a well- remembered occasion, when our feelings had full vent in excited cheers. Evolution was proceeding well and rapidly in those youthful days of life and light. The leaving school—the beginning work —the changing companions—the civilising and humanising contact with the great turmoil of life, and those silent times when nothing disturbed the soul’s introspection, must now be gathered up from his recollections, and my own. Here before me, as I open them out, are some of the leaves and blossoms lovingly collected and pressed in the far back days, which, he tells me, bring to him varied memories, These delicately tendrilled leaves were gathered on the inner fence line of the wood, near the meeting of the waters, above Heasandford. I well remember the occasion, for we were together, and I had my first close glimpse of a real poet. It was Mr. Henry Houlding out ruralising. We were introduced, and while my —— rl 107 friend and he spoke of some ordinary matter, I well remember almost rudely gazing at the wild eyes of this worshipper of the Muse. “His looks commencing with the skies; His rapt soul sitting in his eyes.” From that time. till near life’s close, he was a friend indeed to both of us. He taught us elocution, as well as giving us insight into botanical lore. With him we visited Howarth and all the spots about there, consecrated by the genius of the Bronté family. The Pendle Laureate will always have a niche in the Temple of Poesy. These artistically outlined leaves and blossoms are treasured as being gathered at a spot higher up than Hurstwood, on an occasion when Mr. Philip Gilbert Hamerton called our friend and his father to a pleasant consultation about the fitting up of a boat that he was about to float on Loch Awe, and which was completely equipped in Burnley, before being sent among the islands he has made so famous. The spot where the treasured sheaves grew is supposed to have been about that portion of the Brun where the poet Spenser was strolling, as he meditated on his ‘‘ Faerie Queene.”’ ‘© And fast beside their trickled softly downe A gentle streame, whose murmuring wave did play Emongst the pumy stones.” James McKay thought highly of our local poet, and the esteem held by the one for the other was emphasised on many occasions, and was often chaffingly referred to by mutual friends not so highly starred. McKay was an able contributer to the literature of our Club, and was made—after his removal from Burnley to Malvern—an honorary member, and very highly, we know, he valued this honour. Surely it is time his versatile writings were collected and edited, and some account given of his career. They would make a most interesting book, and would help towards the gaining of material, from which future historians of our town might draw. Reference should be made to some of the many minor evolutionary influences that were encountered during the happy time when youth was approaching manhood. Dr. Butler taught many of us the French language, at an evening class, in the Literary Institute. His refined bearing and classical scholarship had a great influence on our friend, and so had contact with Mr. T. 'T. Wilkinson, who, at theMechanics’ Institute, instructed us in Astronomy, Archeology and subjects of local interest. Then there was our connection with Mr. Leonard Clement, who taught us Chemistry and Physiology. His influence, during 108 nearly forty years sojourn in Burnley and neighbourhood, was one of a good evolutionary kind. Other influences were brought about through connection with the Literary Institute, and the Atheneum Club held there. The latter was promoted by our friend and many of the younger literati of our town. I have left but little time to go into the genesis of our local poet’s work. Suffice it to say that he was full of the subject and became enthusiastic to a fault. The upraising of his craft and the uplifting of the craftsmen sent him, with his ardent feelings and warm imagination, into passionate and almost temporaneous verse. For six years this went on, a Canto for each year; describing with the glamour given by writers who have seen ‘“‘ the vision,’’ the remarkable places visited, parti- cularly those scenes consecrated for ever as the homes and haunts of the poets. Hach Canto was made up of about four thousand five hundred words. Our friend’s work was called for in America, and he visited the great Convention of the Craft in Washington, spending a most delightful week there, and among other excitements being received by President McKinley, in the famous Hast Room of the White House.” [His evolution went on at a rapid rate, and is still progressing, so that more may yet be heard from him.—Ep.] ee 109 LIQUID AIR. (Wir Experiments anp Lantern Views.) By A. R. STEVENS, B.Sc. 17th March, 1903. *« The possibility of liquefying air is not an entirely modern idea, for Lucian, a celebrated Greek Poet, who died ap. 180, tells us in his ‘ Vera Historia ’ ‘ that the inhabitants of the moon drink air squeezed or compressed into goblets.’ Lucian’s speculation can hardly be regarded as a scientific forecast, but the possibility of liquefying air was clearly foreseen by the French physicist Amontons, in the early part of the Highteenth Century. He supposed that the air might be condensed, and even frozen into a solid matter, were it in our power to apply to it sufficient cold. The fulfilment of this prophecy is one of the scientific triumphs of the last twenty years. In 1883 two Russian chemists, Wroblewski and Olszewski, succeeded in lique- fying air, and shortly afterwards Professor Dewar, of the Royal Institution, independently succeeded in achieving the same end. How troublesome the task has been may, to some extent, be imagined, when it is stated that it is comparable to the produc- tion of ice when the steam from which it is to be formed, the atmosphere, and every surrounding object is at a temperature which is more than twice that of boiling water. I propose to give an account of the scientific researches which led to the production of liquid air, and then to exhibit some of its properties. In the first place I shall introduce you to a few scientific worthies who have, in some measure or other, aided in the solution of the problem.” ‘‘The Hon. Robert Boyle (1626), may be regarded as the pioneer of modern experimental science. He wrote two books on the subject we are dealing with: ‘A General History of the Air’ and ‘ An Experimental History of Cold.’ ”’ “John Mayow (1645—1679), a medical practitioner, who published a treatise in which, for the first time, he demonstrated that the air consisted of two parts, one which supported com- bustion and life, and the other incapable of doing either,” 110 “Joseph Black (1728—1799), a doctor of medicine and professor of natural philosophy at Glasgow and Edinburgh, discovered carbonic acid gas—fixed air, as he called it, and pointed out that it was altogether distinct from common air.” «Dr. Joseph Priestley (17833—1804), a Nonconformist minister, who in August, 1774, succeeded in obtaining a new air of exceptional goodness, which was afterwards named Oxygen.”’ «¢ Antoine Laurent Lavoisier (1743—1794), an eminent French chemist, who went a step further than Priestley, and showed that the Oxygen, discovered by the latter, was a constituent of the air, and was one-fifth of it by volume; the other four-fifths which would not support combustion (that part was discovered one hundred years earlier by Mayow) was called Nitrogen.” “The Hon. Henry Cavendish (1731—1810), aristocrat, millionaire, chemist, the most exact worker of his time, deter- mined most accurately the percentage of Oxygen and Nitrogen in air, and pointed out the possibility of the presence of another gas, which was discovered a century later by Rayleigh and Ramsay.” “Experience has taught us that to liquefy certain gases intense cold is absolutely necessary. The contemplation of the production of great cold dates back to the ancient history of Science.” ‘«« Fyancis Bacon, in ‘ Sylva Silvarum,’ says ‘ The production of cold is a thing very worthy of inquisition, both for the use and the disclosure of causes.’ ”’ ‘«‘ Fahrenheit, in 1714, thought that a mixture of ice and salt produced the lowest temperature obtainable, and this, on his scale, was marked zero, and the freezing point of water 32°; although Amontons, twelve years earlier, had contemplated almost the modern scientific view of zero temperature.” “The lowest temperatures obtained naturally, of which we have record, appear to be those in parts of Siberia, where 122 degrees of frost have been registered. It is not always convenient to go to Siberia when low temperatures are required, and this has led to considerable research in their artificial production. There are three well-known methods of doing this : (1) By mixture of chemicals, such as snow and nitric acid, ammonium nitrate and water; (2) By rapid evaporation of liquids, such as ether, eau de Cologne, ammonia, &c.; (3) By sudden expansion of compressed gases. The last method is only one example of the many cases in which a piece of pure scientific research, having apparently no practical use whatever, has turned 111 out eventually to be of the greatest possible service to mankind. The facts on which this method depend are as follows: When a gas is subjected to pressure and the pressure is suddenly diminished, two things occur simultaneously—(a) The gas expands, (6) The temperature of the gas is lowered.” The fall of tem- perature is proportional to the fall of pressure. Moreover, the lower the temperature originally is, the greater is the fall of temperature for the same change of pressure. Consequently the lower the original temperature the better the cooling result. ‘¢ The pressure to which gases can be submitted, by powerful engines, is almost unlimited, and thus a most powerful instru- ment is placed in the hands of the physicist for refrigerating purposes. At present the lowest temperature touched seems to be 10° Abs. i.e. —263° C. or about 478° of frost.” ‘‘Ts there any limit to the degree of cold that can be reached ? Is it possible to abstract all the heat from a body, to make it absolutely cold ? Scientists believe there is a limit, that limit being — 273° C., or in unscientific English, about 490° of frost.” ‘«In 1835 Thilorier succeeded in reaching a temperature of —110° C., and it is only during the last thirty years that lower temperatures have been obtained. Hydrogen has now been liquefied, and boiling under reduced pressure gives a temperature of 16 Abs. — —257° C. Only one known gas—Helium—has not succumbed to the recent efforts. It is calculated that it boils at 5° Absolute, or —268° C.” ‘In 1813 Sir Humphrey Davy engaged Michael Faraday as his laboratory assistant, who, although most renowned for his electrical researches, was one of the foremost chemists of his time. He succeeded in liquefying all known gases except six.” ‘*« December 24th, 1877, was a memorable day in the history of the French Academy, on that day Cailletet, a French ironmaster, and Pictet of Geneva, a manufacturer of ice-making apparatus, announced the liquefaction of oxygen.” “Tn 1883, Wroblewski and Olszewski, two Russian chemists, succeeded in liquefying air by methods similar to that adopted by Pictet.”’ “James Dewar, the Fullerian Professor at the Royal Institution, has spent the last twenty years of his life in low temperature investigation, in attempting to reach that final goal—the absolute _ zero. The work has been carried on chiefly at the Royal Institution, where Faraday was working on similar lines eighty years earlier.”’ “‘In 1884, Dewar first succeeded in liquefying air in very small quantities, and in larger quantities in 1886, ‘lhe method 112 adopted was not, however, sufficiently new to be worth consider- ing here. He succeeded in obtaining a temperature of —200° C. In 1887 he solidified air, a nitrogen jelly, containing liquid oxygen. The first ounce is said to have cost £600, afterwards decreased to £100 per pint. In Lancashire it appears to cost about £2 2s. a quart. Nothing has been of greater use in the manipulation of these liquid gases than the invention of the Dewar vacuum flask, in which liquid air can be kept for many hours. Although in 1886 Dewar had prepared a considerable quantity of liquid air, and one might have thought that perfection had been obtained as nearly as possible in this direction, ten years later the method of liquefaction was completely changed. A new method was discovered, which needed no preliminary cooling of the gases to be liquefied.” The Lecturer then entered into a description of Linde’s and Hampson’s apparatus for the manufacture of liquid air, which, by the utilisation of mechanical power, is capable of liquefying an unlimited amount of air without the use of auxiliary re- frigerants. He then proceeded— ‘But what is the use of liquefied gases? At the present time, tons of liquid carbon dioxide are used by the manufacturers of aerated waters ; liquid sulphur dioxide is an ordinary article of commerce, and is used for bleaching in certain cases. Liquid nitrovs oxide is used in small surgical operations. Refrigerating machines, which are to be found in most towns, are the outcome of researches in low temperatures. Possibly in the near future, liquid air will be the refrigerating ageut. Hach hotel and hospital will be able to have its own plant, so that it will be as easy to have a cold room in summer as a warm one in winter. Our American friends proposed to use liquid gases for working machinery, but nothing of a practical character has been done yet. The very low temperature obtained by the expansion of these liquids is objectionable. It is not impossible to use it, but it is not likely to be used where steam is available. Only a few days ago Dr. Macfadyen read a paper before the Royal Society, in which he described a method of attacking typhoid fever by means of liquid air. He has been able to separate the toxie juices developed by the typhoid bacterium when living, from the living bacterium itself. From this he had been able to pre- pare a serum which is said to be both preventtive and curative. « Although so much has been done in the last thirty years, there is as ample room for investigation as when Faraday com- menced his researches eighty years ago.” During the course of the lecture Mr. Stevens exhibited the properties of air in its gaseous and liquid forms, and was ably assisted in many interesting experiments by Mr. J. W, Bell, 118 WATER COLOUR SKETCHING. (Wirn Exutsits py AMATEURS. ) By the President, JAS. KAY, J.P. 24th March, 1903. ‘* Now-a-days we seem determined that everything that can must be done by machine. This pertains not only to manu- factory but pervades our whole life, work and recreation. We speak by machine, we write by machine, we walk—or rather rush along the road—by machine, and besides stitching and knitting, sowing and reaping, we even play the piano by machine, and, worst of all, we make pictures by machine, and some very good people lay waste their artistic talent by becoming mere machine tenters, peeping behind three wooden legs, focussing, time taking, and then finishing their pictures in solitary confinement, in a dungeon dark and smelly. But they cannot, with all their machine manipulations, copy the colours of nature, so that, even in this age of machinery, we have left to us the art of colouring, and water colour sketching will probably remain with us as a practical Art for ages to come. There are many methods of sketching : sharp outlines, descrip- tive in a few strokes, after the manner of Pennell; shaded drawings, with great beauty of light and shade, after the manner of Herbert Railton ; or dashing charcoal or crayon sketches, after the style of George Sheffield, besides the beautiful blending by working with pastil, or the more enduring painting in oil. But there is no medium so handy, so effective, so truthful, or so beautiful as water colour. Your wants are few—paper, pencil, brushes, colour-box and water—the entire outfit can be carried in your top-coat pockets. One great charm about water colour sketching, is that everyone has a style of his own, and you can readily tell even the work of masters in the art, by their peculiar methods of treatment. Sketching is natural to everyone, being simply the exercise of one of the three great passions which govern all our actions. I refer to the passion of imitation. In sketching, we copy the form and colour of the scene before us as well as we can, or in other words, imitate the natural picture on paper or canvas, 114 Most children practise sketching, and all observant fathers will have seen with pleasure their beginnings in the art, Sketching is one of the most useful of the Arts. In mechanics, the master mind, or the inventor who may be thoughtful and theoretical only, who can convey his thought to the practical workmen by means of accurate sketches, is at a great advantage as compared with him who has to depend on written descriptions only. In architecture it is a necessity, and members of this profession are amongst the greatest adepts in the Art. I need not remind you how valuable sketching is in supplying pictures for our illustrated papers. How the scenes described are brought most vividly before us by the talented artists who sketch for those papers. We have only to think for a moment what our many periodicals would be without their cartoons and sketches, to be assured of the immense value of sketching in connection with the literature of to-day. Take and examine the “Illustrated London News.’ What charming sketches of cathedrals S. Kead has furnished. What beautiful woodland and river scenes have come from the pencil of Montbard. How natural the sketches of animals, birds, &c., by Harrison Weir. And what a grand dash about the war pictures of Woodville, making the hideous horrors and the heroisms of war to appear before us as no written description could. In school teaching and in lecturing, sketches are often most useful. Many subjects can be made plain and much more interesting by a few happy strokes on the black board. In the army, sketching is used to make the officers acquainted with the country they intend conquering, its strongholds and bridges, its rivers and hills. Our scientists are, by sketching what the microscope reveals to them, enabled to convey the results of their long and patient investigations to the world, by means of these published sketches and the diagrams for lectures. Our astronomers, in like manner, by sketching, convey the appearance of the heavenly bodies as seen through their powerful telescopes. Summer is by far the best time for out-door sketching, as warmth is needed to enable one td sit comfortably outside. Furnished with paper and colours, ‘‘ the days of sweet leisure ”’ float pleasantly by, as we give rapt attention and close study to Nature in her varying moods, and visit scenes of various types of beauty and grandeur, 115 The sky and the clouds, with their ever varying shapes and colours, are always of great interest and sublimity. The ever- lasting hills, the moorlands and forests, the wild waves, the placid sea, the murmuring brook or the crashing waterfall, the sweet pastures, with browsing cattle, all demand careful study, and literally lead us into fresh scenes and pastures new. Abbeys and old churches, picturesque old manor houses, quaint cottages and comfortable looking farm houses, all of which abound in our district, are pleasant subjects for pencil and brush. And whilst copying their quaint beauties, you cannot but be carried by imagination to picture your own ideas of their past history. How very interesting it would be if we could see a good sketch, say, of Worsthorne Hall or Barcroft Hall in their former glory. Philip Gilbert Hamerton has pictured Worsthorne Hall as it was in his youth. Lt is a beautiful sketch, and illustrates his poem ‘© Moonrise ”’— ‘OQ look at that superb autumnal moon That rises from behind the manor house That crowns the knoll! I’ve watched the cloudy sky Grow brighter till the globes upon the the gables Stood round and clear against the fleecy clouds; And now I see one black against her disc, A transit as of Mercury ’cross the sun.” As a hobby sketching is bad to beat. It can be practised in company, or you can thoroughly enjoy it alone. It is a most economical hobby, for paper, pencil and colours do not cost much, and are all that is needed. This hobby can be ridden when we become old, too old to ride many of the hobbies of the day. If we mean to have pleasure and happiness in these pursuits when we are old, we must carefully practise them when young.” cS 116 EXAMPLES OF THE NEW ASTRONOMY. (Wire Lantern Views.) By T. STEELE SHELDON, M.D. 31st March, 1903. The Lecturer, beginning with the Lick Observatory, exhibited views and gave descriptions of the principal observatories and telescopes in the world, and referred to the use made of the camera, for astronomical purposes, in the present day The most striking triumphs in the new astronomy have been gained through the spectroscope. By the aid of photography, star- charting is a field in which the amateur can do good work. In views of the milky-way some of the details, invisible through the telescope, are distinctly shown by photography. It had been said that if we could solve the milky-way, we could solve the riddle of the universe, and a great deal of speculation had been made about it. The great stars are in proximity to the milky-way, which itself has a richness of stars of every degree of brightness. Views of sections of the milky-way showed that there were dark lanes branching from nebulous stars, and lanes of light, the meaning of whose appearance had led to much dis- cussion. ‘The milky-way was a vast cosmical workshop, full of much material, which, in obedience to law, was being shaped into stellar worlds and systems, which were being recognised through the magic medium of the spectroscope and the camera. There were differences in radiation and luminosity; there were old nebule and new nebule. Having pointed out the peculiar- ities in the nebula in Cygnis, Perseus, Orion, Argus, and other regions, the Lecturer explained the spectrum analysis and its immense use in the science of spectrum chemistry, and concluded a most interesting lecture by a detailed history of the new star in Perseus, discovered by Dr. Andrews, of Glasgow. GEER see . 117 SUMMER EXCURSIONS. During the Summer of 1903, two very pleasant excursions were arranged. The first was on 26th May, when a visit was paid to the John Ryland’s Library, in Manchester, by several members of the Club, who were conducted through the building by the genial and capable Librarian, Mr. Henry Guppy. The building itself is one of great interest ; while the literary treasures within its walls are of priceless value. Mr. Guppy took great pains to show the most interesting and valuable manuscripts, books, and specimens of old printing, which Mrs. Rylands had presented to the Institution; and he greatly pleased the visitors by a clear and concise description of the progress of the Arts of Printing, Illumination, and Book-binding, as shown in the volumes on the shelves in the Library. Special attention was also drawn to the large and unique collection of copies of the Bible. Many rare and valuable old tomes were placed in the hands of the party, who manifested deep interest in examining these ancient works—pioneers of the blessings which have followed the labours of the good and faithful men of years long past. The second excursion was on 20th June, when a party of some thirty members and friends visited Congleton, under the guid- ance of our esteemed Town Clerk, Mr. A. Steele Sheldon. On arrival at Congleton, they were met by Mr. and Mrs. Maskery and Mr. Pedley, who contributed no little to the pleasure and enjoyment of the visitors. Leaving Congleton, the party divided, some driving, others walking to Cloud Hill, a bold headland about 1,100 feet high, which, on a fine day, commands the view of nine counties. On the slopes of Cloud Hill are the Bridestones —the remains of an ancient burial place, probably of some Druid or British Chieftain. The party then proceeded to Biddulph, where the remains of an old Tudor Hall, demolished during the Civil Wars, were inspected. From thence the party drove to Moreton Hall, a wonderful specimen of a half-timbered mansion, formerly the home of the ancient Cheshire family of that name. Before leaving Congleton, Mr. and Mrs. Maskery, Mr. Pedley, and Mr. Sheldon were heartily thanked for their several parts in planning and carrying out one of the most enjoyable excursions tie Club has ever had. 118 JAMAICA. (Wire Lantern Views). By CAPT. BENSON, F.R.G.S. 29th September, 1903. The Lecturer, assuming the audience to be a personally con- ducted party, with himself as guide, in imagination started the journey to the ‘ Princess of the Antilles,” from Bristol, by the Imperial Direct Route. In twelve short days they would be transferred from the discomforts of winter to a land where an ideal English summer reigned over an island as beautiful as a midsummer’s night’s dream; these words failed to describe the beauty of the scenery and the wealth of vegetation. Starting at Kingston, the general outline of the itinerary followed the line to Montego Bay, then along the coast to Anatto Bay, Port Antonio, returning to Kingston, which had been called a city of small houses with verandahs attached. Excursions by “ bougey ”’ were made to Newcastle, Gordon Town, along the Hoop River, rich in tropical vegetation. At the latter place were cocoa and coffee plantations, at an elevation of 4,000 feet above the level of the sea, the buildings showing themselves tier above tier. Spanish Town boasted of a cathedral, and it was interesting to see the negroes carrying their boots on their heads before they entered the building. The road crossed the Irrigation Canal, and it was difficult to conceive anything prettier than the over- hanging palms, which made the place a veritable fairy land. The public buildings at Mandeville were on the verge of the Square, and the Market Place was a busy spot, and illustrated the great fertility of the island—yams, plantains, bananas, pimento, pumpkins, oranges, lemons, cocoa nuts, bread fruit, grape fruit, and a host of other articles. Where else in the world could they find clusters of oysters growing on a tree? (a sample of which was shown, and also of a lace-bark tree, looking like chiffon, in its natural shape.) At Mandeville there were sugar and coffee plantations. One of the prettiest excursions was along the Bamboo Avenue, or ‘* Lover’s Walk,’’ each tree looking like an ostrich feather. On the way they passed a logwood tree—the biggest tree in the island. Ten miles by rail brought them to Montego Bay, a thriving commercial centre. The roads in the island were generally well kept, and there were over 2,000 miles open. ———- - — 119 The Lecturer then proceeded to show, and describe, the typical sugar-cane estates, one view representing three distinct epochs (1) the old mill, (2) the cattle-driven mill, and (3) the up-to-date steam mill. The best way to see the coast of Jamaica was to take the little steamer ‘ Delta,” which started from Kingston every Tuesday morning and returned every Saturday. As they came back in the moonlight, near to the coast, all was quiet and still and poetical, and they occasionally heard the cooning of some planta- tion song by the natives. One of the healthiest spots in the island was Browntown. Twenty-five years ago a man went there to die, and now he weighed 22 stones! The sacred tree of the native was the silk tree. To cut one of these trees was almost akin to sacrilege, and no nigger in his right mind would wound the bark. The canoes of the natives were cut out of the trunk of a tree, and could be navigated in seas when a steamer would be in distress. Continuing along the north coast road, passing typical country residences and native homesteads, to Antonio Bay, the scenery, which was intersected by the railway, gave an excellent idea of what a tropical primeval forest was like. The Lecturer was able to show views of Port Antonio, (before and after the recent cyclone), a place which suffered more than any other in the island. These views were the first which had appeared in England. It had been reported that Port Antonio had been ‘‘ wiped out,’ but that was a gross exaggeration, as was shown by the views. Many places had suffered considerably, but the worse wreck of all was the Catholic Church. The total damage to public buildings did not exceed £25,000, but the most serious result was not to the buildings, but to the banana crops, which had, to all intents and purposes, been destroyed. Before the next crop was ready the island would suffer a loss of one million pounds. Cyclones were rare. It was one week short of 23 years since the last Visitation. One result of these visitations was, that the producing quality of the soil was invariably improved, not only were larger quantities of fruit produced, but also of better quality, so that after all, there was some good resulting from the cyclone. In conclusion the Lecturer said ; ‘‘ Do you want to escape an English winter? Do you suffer from lung complaints? Do you desire to take waters equal to those of any German Spa, but during a winter which is like an ideal English summer ? Are you anglers, botanists, or archzologists ? Then go to the land of per- petual summer, where the advent of night does not bring a dangerous chill, where the air is laden with the scent of fruit and flowers, where the fireflies light up the night, and all is “ dolce far niente ’’—in one word, Jamaica.” 120 WINCHESTER—THE OLD CAPITAL OF ENGLAND. By W. LEWIS GRANT, the President. 6th October, 1903. In opening his paper, Mr. Grant quoted from his address on Alfred the Great, delivered to the members of the club four years before. He then said ‘‘ On this ground,” that is in Wiuchester, ‘it is decided to raise a memorial statue to the only king whom Englishmen have named ‘ The Great,’ in the city where he lived, and where his dust has rested for a thousand years.” That statue had now been raised. It was the work of Hamo Thorney- croft, R.A., and was a magnificent statue, finely placed. It was the figure of an Alfred breathing life and radiating energy. The National Commemoration, when the statue was unveiled, took place in September, 1901, and the occasion was made a striking patriotic manifestation, marked by every circumstance and cere- mony that could impress the popular mind. It was appropriate to turn attention to the royal city—Alfred’s home, and the seat of his government—Winchester. It had been said that this famous old city ‘‘ yields to none in England for the monuments and memories of the past.” To Alfred, the nation was indebted for rescuing London from decay, and repeopleing it ; but his own capital was Winchester, so that there was a halo of ancient importance about Winchester which was even more splendid than that which belonged to London. The Lecturer described the situation of the city, and the plan upon which the Romans constructed it. In its general plan of the older streets (and this was illustrated by a diagram), Win- chester was to-day almost identical with what it was when the Roman cohorts were stationed there. Under Alfred, Winchester became the home of all the learning and the arts known in those times. It was within her walls that he compiled ‘The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle,” the first and greatest history-book of the English people. STATUE OF KING ALFRED THE GREAT, (By Hamo Thornycroft, R.A.) At Winchester. § : , Fa J = . f ’ 2 me ir - 4 ged ‘SHUSNOHSW1V SHL OGNV yaMOL s.LYO4nvaa —! YFISSHONIM ‘SSOHYO 3S 4O IWLIdSOH 121 Reference was then made to the earlier buildings—Wolvesey Castle, St. Swithun’s Church, St. Mary’s Abbey, Hyde Abbey, where Alfred was buried. Then followed the story of the rela- tionship between a long succession of monarchs and Winchester. The city passed through conflicts in which were struggling, royal lordship, Church authority, feudal customs, civic jurisdiction, the power of the Guild-merchant, English and foreign influences. She suffered from fire and sword, from famine and pestilence. Westminster followed Winchester as the scene of the Coronation of Kings, and the place where they found sepulture. It was in the time of William the Conqueror, who made Winchester his headquarters, that the present Cathedral was built. In vastness of scale and stern power, it must have been one of the most impressive Cathedrals of England. With the reign of Edward I., Winchester ceased to be the favourite abode of royalty. She became outdistanced by London, and other cities rapidly rose into prominence. ‘The effects of the Civil War of the Seventeenth Century were noted. Wolvesey Castle was laid in ruins. Great damage was done to the Cathedral and the houses in the Close. Church lands were confiscated, and insults offered to those attached to the ancient faith. Upon the site of the Norman and Plantagenet Castle, and where Charles II. had begun to build a magnificent palace, there are now extensive barracks. Adjacent is the ancient Castle Hall, a hall which, in historic interest, is second only to that at West- minster. In that splendid chamber, Parliaments of England sat for nearly 400 years; great banquets were held; justices sat to administer the law. It was in 1265 that King Henry III. summoned there the ‘ first Parliament of England,” as it has been called, because representatives of cities and boroughs appeared for the first time in conjunction with knights of the shires. For 600 years the Sovereigns’ Commissions had been held in the place. The interesting features of the Westgate—now utilized as a museum—and the Guildhall were pointed out, and then attention was directed to the Cathedral, which was built 800 years ago. There had, indeed, been a Christian church there from the second century. Perhaps the special glory of the Cathedral consisted in its magnificent series of Chantries. Inseparable from the Cathedral was the name of William of Wykeham, once its Bishop. He was great, whether regarded as a churchman or as a statesman, as architect or as administration reformer. He was the founder of Winchester College, which for over 500 years had been carrying out the purpose of its noble founder; and also of New College, Oxford. 122 After allusion to the Great Screen, which had in recent vears been restored, there followed a description of the Hospital of St. Cross, founded in the year 1186—‘‘ the almshouse of noble poverty "’—a place of old world beauty and repose, a place which alone would make a visit to Winchester profitable and attractive, Something was said about the city's trade in former times, and St. Giles’s Mair, which had even a Huropean reputation. It was stated that the Charter of the City was granted in 1184, though it possessed its ‘Town Reeve, the predecessor of our Mayor, so far back as 897—1000 years ago. The fascinating features of the venerable city were pictured, and the words of the late Dean of Winchester quoted, ‘ ‘lo have been the capital of Wessex, to have welcomed, in her early days, the arrival of every prince and prelate of great name, for a while to have been the cuief city of Kngland, the heme of the great Alfred, the refuge of letters, the mother of Knglish public school life—these are the titles on which the city rests her high renown, and these the memories amidst which she lives.” Many photographs were exhibited, and interesting speeches were subsequently delivered. = O cc = 7 O uJ = aa } cc LJ be n Ww = O Zz S se 6) fe) cc O 7 LL O and < S OW 2) O I River Itchen. the View from FROM PHIDIAS TO FLAXMAN: THE STORY OF SCULPTURE. (Wirs Lantern Views). By Mr. HENRY ROSE. 13th October, 1903. Mr. Rose gave a graphic, historical sketch of the art of sculpture, illustrating his subject with a large number of very beautiful lantern slides, which were viewed with unmistakable interest and pleasure by all present. Referring at the outset to Schegel’s description of architecture as frozen music, Mr. Rose claimed that sculpture might be said to be music and poetry combined. The sculptor was nothing—a mere craftsman—unless, figuratively speaking, he were musician and poet also. His chief office was to represent the higher qualities of life as shown in form. To this office he must bring the musician’s sense of glorious harmony and noble rhythm. ‘To this office he must bring also the poet’s power to analyse and express thought and feeling. For these reasons, the great sculptor had in all ages been given a foremost place among artists ; he had always been regarded as one of the chief interpreters of human ideals. Mr. Rose described how the earlier letters, so to speak, of the alphabet of sculpture might fitly be said to have been learnt in the Stone Age by the makers of wood, bone, and stone implements. Then by an easy transition he passed to the sculpture of Egypt and Assyria, pointing out how the art in those two countries was devoted very largely to the expression of kingly and priestly power. In this respect Egypt and Assyria stood in contrast with Greece. For a long time the most commonly accepted theory had been, that the representation of his ideal of beauty was the primary aim of the Greek sculptor. Mr. Rose questioned whether this was a sound theory. He agreed with Mr. Ruskin that as the Greek strove to teach only what was true, so in his sculptured symbol] he strove to carve only what was right. Truth and rightness, even more than beauty, were what he aimed at. This was the great secret of his power. In his teaching and in his art alike, the Greek expressed the struggle between light and darkness, between freedom and tyranny, between Europe and Asia—a struggle which, alas, was not yet ended, as recent events in the Kast and in the Far Hast only too forcibly reminded us. This struggle in the ancient days might not less truly be described as having been a struggle 124 between Europe and Asia, because on the adverse side there stood also the great tyranny of Egypt. ‘The civilisation of Egypt was essentially Asiatic in its genius, and probably also in its origin. The rise of sculpture in Greece was rapidly shown; sculpture from the Temple of Athena at Egina was illustrated, and then, after references to other works, magnificent sculptures of the Parthenon were viewed, and the connection of Phidias with these works indicated. Statues by Praxitetes and other masters were next tastefully dealt with, and the sketch of ancient sculpture was brought to a close with the Greco-Roman period. Mr. Rose then came to the medieval and modern sections of his lecture, this part of the subject being made doubly attractive by artistic- ally coloured views of cities which, like Venice, Pisa and Florence, are famous in the history of art. The influence of Christianity in broadening the mission of art was commented on. While pointing out that there had been no real technical advance in sculpture since the Greek days, Mr. Rose claimed that under the influence of Christianity, Art became more and more universal in its sympathies, and more and more humane in its appeal. He illustrated this from the works of Niccola Pigano, Lorenzo Ghiberti, Donatello, Michael Angelo, and other masters, finally dealing with Canova and Flaxman, and a few other sculptors of the early part of the last century. Having offered a few comments on the present position and prospects of the art, Mr. Rose con- cluded by saying that it was a high office of Art to reveal to man the beauty which was around him. But the highest office of Art was to reveal beauty of form in man himself, and beauty of character—beauty of body and beauty of soul. In all healthful conditions these two kinds of beauty were combined or associated with one another. Edmund Spenser has wisely said :— “For of the soul the body form doth take,’’ For soul is form and doth the body make.” It was on the recognition of the truth which Spenser thus declared, that ultimately our appreciation of the value of the sculptor’s art must rest. The soul made the body, and sculpture, in its highest forms, helped to portray the qualities of the soul, which the body was so well fitted to express. Dryden had spoken of that power of music which raised a mortal to the skies and brought an angel down. ‘Truly a miraculous achievement. The sculptor was not such a miracle worker. But at least he helped us to see the angel when it came, whether as noble warrior, martyred saint, tender mother, little child, or in any other shape. For these reasons we heid the great sculptor in honour. He was arevealer and a teacher to whom our admiration and our gratitude alike were due. Se ae Oe COTTON GROWING WITHIN THE EMPIRE. (Wirn Lantern Views). By J. HOWARD REED, “ Victorian,” M.G.S. 19th October, 1903. —_——— Before exhibiting a number of views, the Lecturer confessed that he knew nothing about cotton itself, and he proposed to deal with the subject rather from a geographical than a com- mercial aspect. The Lancashire cotton industry employed no less than 450,000 operatives, and, except for agriculture, it is perhaps the most important industry in the country. The exports of cotton goods from Great Britain amounted to £70,000,000 in 1902. It is estimated that there are 104,000,000 spindles in the world engaged in cotton spinning, out of this number 40,000,000 are in Great Britain. And out of the 1,350,000 looms in the world, 650,000 are found in England--that is practically in Lancashire. To supply this machinery, we import £35,000,000 worth of raw material, and we receive some £90,000,000 for the finished article, leaving the difference of £55,000,000 to meet expenses and profits. And for all the raw material used we are entirely dependent upon other countries, 80 per cent. of it coming from America. During the American Civil War, no less than 247,000 operatives were out of employment in Lancashire, of whom 234,000 were living on charity. At the present time the cotton industry appeared to be facing another disaster of terrible proportions, and the outlook seemed to forecast that unless something be done to secure a better supply of cotton, a similar disaster, possibly of a more permanent character, will have to be encountered. Already considerable distress had been caused by the shortage in cotton supply, due to several factors—first, the increased use of the raw material in 126 America; second, the small increase in the acreage cultivated, the increase being inadequate to keep pace with the demands ; and third, the process known as “ cornering,’ engaged in by commercial gamblers on the other side of the Atlantic. Yet another cause, likely to have more or less effect, was the ravages of the cotton weevil. Dealing with the present consumption of cotton as compared with 1892, the Lecturer quoted statistics showing that America now used 3,908,000 bales, as against 2,431,000, an increase of nearly 61 per cent. ; while during the same period Great Britain had only increased 2} per cent., and the Continent of Europe about 31 per cent. Out of the total American cotton crop of 10,701,000 bales, America consumed 3,908,000, England 8,041,000, and the Continent 3,563,000 bales. If the increase in the number of spindles on the Continent was significant, the increase in the Southern American States was enormous, being more than 40 per cent. in the period above stated. Evidently it was the aim and intention of America to consume more of her own raw material, and build up a gigantic cotton industry. They had both the population and the market, and it was only reasonable that if spinning and weaving paid them, they would increase both. At no distant date America would use all her own raw material ; a policy perfectly intelligible to the American, but it meant starvation to Lancashire, and a blow at British commerce. The only way to avert this, is for Lancashire to make herself independent of America. At present the world’s production of raw cotton is 14,000,000 bales, and during the last 30 years the increase had been at the rate of three per cent. per annum. Therefore in 10 years the world will require 19,000,000, and in 15 years 28,000,000 bales. Where is this additional supply to come from? This is the problem which the British Cotton Growing Association is trying to solve, and upon its successful solution the prosperity of Lancashire depends. New sources of supply must be looked for, and these are being found within the Empire. It is an Imperial policy of the highest interest to everyone directly or indirectly connected with the Cotton Industry, and of vital importance to the whole country. The Lecturer gave encouraging reports of the progress of cotton growing efforts in the West Indies, Barbadoes, British Guiana, West Africa, Rhodesia, Central Africa, and Egypt, and showed samples of unginned cotton from Lagos. He looked forward with great hope to the larger development of cotton growing in various parts of the Empire, and the opening up of rail- ways would be no small factor in this matter, The soil is already 127 there, and it only needs the capitalists to invest their money, in order to place the Association in a position to take steps to produce cotton, possibly at a less price and better quality than America. The natives of these countries, Australia, India, the East and West Indies, Egypt and West Africa, should also be made to understand the advantages of growing cotton for England, and that the money they earned would enable them to buy the finished cotton goods from us, thus making them both producers and purchasers—a valuable asset to the Empire— supplying their quota to the general good, and especially aiding in preserving the great cotton industry of Britain. SHAKESPEARE’S LONDON. By COLONEL FISHWICK, F.S.A. 27th October, 1903. Shakespeare was married in 1582, at the age of 18, and in less than four years went away from his native town, leaving behind his wife and three children. Various reasons have been assigned for this procedure, but none quite satisfactory. He is said to have been employed as a schoolmaster, and in search of scholastic em- ployment he may have drifted to London; or, having a natural love for the drama, and having at times been a spectator of the private companies of actors who visited Stratford, he became stage-struck, and set off to London. Be this as it may, we find Shakespeare in London about 1586. The city which attracted him was a very different place from the metropolis of to-day, but even then it was the centre of the kingdom, and of all that was best in Art, Science, and Literature, and amongst its inhabitants were numbered the leading men of the time, 128 A brief glance at the topography of London must suffice, In the East, the Tower of London stood almost alone, and a little further East was St. Catherine’s Church, surrounded by a few houses; to the North was Smithfield, separated by a few houses only from the open country. Following the Thames, from the Tower to Charing Cross, were clusters of detached buildings along the river side, some standing just above high-water line, while others stood well back, having sloping gardens down to the river ; and further on from the City were the more important buildings, such as the Temple, the Savoy, and Somerset House. Charing Cross stood in a large open space, and between it and Westminster Hall, the Abbey and the Houses of Parliament, were the Court of Whitehall and Queen’s Gardens. North of Charing Cross was the Mews, forming one side of St. Martin’s Lane, to the West of which were only green fields and parks, the chief being Hyde Park, to which the public were not admitted. The Strand was a well-defined street to the Temple, but with the exception of a few houses, its northern side was open to the country. The city boundary was marked by posts and chains: Temple Bar was not built until after the great fire in 1666. Along Fleet Street and Ludgate Hill, on to St. Panl’s, there were only few houses outside the street line. Along St. Martin’s-le-Grand, Cheapside, Cornhill, Leadenhall, to the Old Gate (Aldgate) in the city walls, was a wide thoroughfare, with houses here and there in the middle and on either side ; but on the South side the population was dense, with narrow streets and lanes running towards every point of the compass, premises being built regardless of uniformity, so long as the owner built on his own land. The only bridge across the Thames was London Bridge, with its draw-bridge and strong tower, and on it many buildings used as shops. As the river formed a ready means of passage, on both sides were wharves where boatmen plied for hire, and the numerous barges and ferry boats gave the river a lively aspect. On the Surrey side of the river, buildings were few and far between, and most of them with large gardens and orchards. The few ships which came up the river were loaded and discharged between the Tower and London Bridge, and on the site now used as docks, were villages and green fields. The population of London did not then exceed 150,000. At the time of the Reformation the number of Churches, &c., must have been out of all proportion to the population, and the suppression of Monasteries, &c., caused a puritanical re-action, by no means favourable to stage plays, but between then and Shakespeare’s advent in London, some of this feeling had died away. 129 It is probable that on his arrival in London, Shakespeare at once obtained employment at one of the theatres, and the tale of his gaining a living by holding play-goers’ horses at the doors of theatres may be dismissed as highly improbable. The time of his coming to London was opportune : Good Queen Bess loved to be amused, as is evident by the revels at Court and other costly entertainments, of which records have been preserved. The chief amusements of the populace consisted of bull-baiting, wrestling, boxing, and other out-door recreations; and the ap- pearance of a theatre, with regular plays, would be hailed by them with delight. The earliest London play-house was named ‘“ The Theatre,”’ and was built in 1576, at the cost of about £700, by John Burbage, a joiner, and also an actor amongst the Karl of Leicester’s players, Between the Lord Mayor and the Clerkenwell Sessions, the proprietor of this early theatre fared but badly, but the Queen and her Court stood by the players. ‘The Theatre’’ was pulled down in 1599. Another theatre built in close proximity to the first, was known as ‘‘ The Curtain,’ and remained in existence until 1642, when London theatres were suppressed. Before the end of the century other theatres were built, including the famous *‘ Globe,” on the Surrey side, and Blackfriars Theatre, which in 1597 was leased to William Shakespeare and others, for twenty- one years. This building would hold two thousand persons ; the prices of admission varied from twopence to two shillings and sixpence; the receipts would be about £25 a performance. Shakespeare’s share of the annual profits is said to have been £500—no small sum in those days. He also had a share in the “Globe.” Many of Shakespeare’s plays were, no doubt, performed in all the early London theatres, and he himself took one of the characters. In 1592, the first part of ‘‘ Henry VI.’ was performed, and called forth the jealousy of a contemporary dramatist, Robert Greene. The “‘ Comedy of Errors’’ was acted before the Queen _ at Greenwich, and it is believed Shakespeare performed in it. In 1598 he acted as one of the principal comedians in ‘‘ Every Man in His Humour.” In 1599, ‘‘ Henry V.’’ was performed at ‘‘ The Curtain” by the Burbage and Shakespeare Company. James I., like his predecessor, was a patron of the stage: and the players at the ‘‘Globe’’ and Blackfriars were appointed the King’s Company, while those at the ‘‘ Curtain ” were the Queen’s Company. In the account of the ‘Court Revels” of 1604-5, we find the King’s players performed several Shakespearian plays, before the King, in the Banqueting Hall at Whitehall, 130 After ten years absence, Shakespeare returned to his native town, and retired from the actor’s profession. In 1611 he sold his shares in the ‘‘ Globe”’ and Blackfriars Theatres, and in 1613 he purchased a house and shop near to Blackfriars Theatre. There are many references in Shakespeare’s plays to the sports and pastimes of London, but the places in which some of the scenes were laid have long since passed away and cannot be identified. Baynard’s Castle, the scene of the meeting of Gloster and Buckingham, in ‘ Richard III.,” stood on the banks of the Thames, where we now have Blackfriars Bridge. It was destroyed in the great fire. The historic places of London figure largely in Shakespeare’s plays, such as the Tower, Westminster Abbey, Westminster Hall, the Parliament House, &e. The famous London Stone, still to be seen in the wall in Cannon Street, is alluded to in ‘* Henry V.” Part II. Great as was the genius of Shakespeare, may it not be assumed that had he not left his native town and taken that journey to London, much of it would of necessity have been undeveloped ? The knowledge of humanity can only be learnt by contact with the world, and where in those days could this be obtained, but by living near the mighty throbbing heart of the great centre of the world—the City of London ? 131 STUDENT LIFE IN GERMANY. By Rev. A. J. MORRIS, M.A. 3rd November, 1903. The Lecturer, after explaining the circumstances under which he went to Germany and the procedure of admission to the University of Bonn, gave a very interesting account of student life, which was very different from that in England. He went there for twelve months to study German theology, of which he had, at the beginning, a certain amount of horror. He attended the theological school, obtained the list of lectures, and found, to his surprise, that they began at six o’clock in the morning. The Professor, whom he called upon, entered his name on the list. The students signed a small book, and their names were called out at the first lecture, and it was assumed that they attended all the other lectures, as the names were not called out again, nor the book signed, till the last lecture of the course. Every German professor he went to see said, ‘* Why come to Germany to study theology ?”’ and advised him and the two others who were with him, to return to England. The beginning of every lecture they went to on theology was, ‘‘ Gentlemen, unless you can read English it is no use you attending my lectures.”’ Then would follow a list of books they had to read, including *“« Westcott,”’ and the modern English theological writers. They attended also a superior class for studying a small portion of the Greek Testament. ‘They read the first eleven verses of the ** Sermon on the Mount,” and went through nearly every manu- script in existence bearing thereon. An enormous amount of time was spent on the words, ‘if the salt have lost his savour,” and in dealing with the chemical constituent properties of salt. It was a wonderful illustration of the enormous capacity of the Germans for taking pains. They had this delightful privilege in Germany, that attendance for a term at any University, counted for attendance at every University, so that students were allowed to go from University to University—Gottingen, Heidelberg, and others. When a student passed his examinatton sufficiently well, he had a license given him to be a “ privat-docent’’—one who coached pupils, and was on his way to be a professor. In their own Verein they had a ‘“ privat-docent’’ who had published a book that might gain him a professorship. Many of the German theologians began with very considerable subversive theories of Christianity, but as they grew older, with a more assured posi- tion, they relinquished their former position. 132 There was no such thing as the College system, as it is in England. There was no Proctor or Bulldog. The students were solely concerned with the police, like any other citizen. They lodged where they liked, and the most comfortable place, and by no means the dearest, was in an hotel. While the English student after his meal takes exercise, the German takes to his book. The enormous capacity of the German student for work he had never seen equalled. The evenings were spent at the Verein, or Club, partly in reading and partly in German conversation. Students usually joined a Wissenschafts Verein, or a Scientific Club, or a Fighting Corps. He and his friends jomed a Wissenschafts Verein. For one night a week they had solid work until about eleven o'clock ; after eleven o’clock they had what was called a Gemiitigabend— they sang songs, and learned all the intricacies of the beer law— the etiquette regarding beer. A queer custom obtained when anybody was making a noise, he was commanded by the chair- man to drink, so that, obviously, he could not make a noise and drink at the same time. The fighting corps were strict about drill and fencing. There was a great deal of nonsense talked in England about the fighting of the German students. There was in it an amount of folly, but the ugliest scar had nothing to do with the principle of the thing. There was no more danger in duels than in football. He had seen some hundreds of German duels, but had only seen two which could in any way be called serious. In Universities there are a great many Verein fighting corps. They fought one with another. The Emperor, from time to time, moved by old maids or other persons who thought the game was wrong, issued an edict forbidding duelling in the German Empire. Now and again a young man was caught and imprisoned in a fortress, which meant that he was removed from {the university town to a garrison town, where all the soldiers and smart people took him up with great éclat. There was enormous competition to lionise this wonderful man who was being punished by the Emperor for duelling. The duelling professor was State paid to teach them the proper method of fighting. In describing duelling scenes he had witnessed, the Lecturer explained the precautions which were taken, how the fighters were protected by being swaithed in silk and jute, with a metal protection over the eyes, so that the neck, head and arm, were absolutely ungetatable. The chest was also protected with leather. The sword, which was light, was cut square at the tip, but sharpened at both sides, literally like a razor. If in the encounter the foot was moved backward, the name of the fighter was removed from the list of the corps. The fight consisted of sixty rounds, and a point was gained every 133 time blood was drawn—however small or large the quantity. The doctors were present and could stop the fight any time they thought fit. The danger was very small. Between each round (three whacks) the sword was wiped with antiseptic carbolic. The doctors made an examination after each round, and if a man was injured he was neatly stitched up. Sometimes it was rather gruesome surgery. It was a game that required a good deal of bravery, and it was the only game which the Germans played. THE LAND OF THE SIKH. (Wits Lantern Views.) By Mr. E. E. LAFOND, “ Victorian,” M.G.S. 10th November, 1903. After describing the route to India by Aden, one of the sentinels of the British Empire, the Lecturer asked the audience to accompany him to the Sikh’s country, beginning at Bombay, overland to Jubalpur and to Cawnpore, with its memorials of the British victims of the mutiny, and from which the shadow of Nana Sahib had long since lifted. The palaces, mosques and mausoleums, marble baths and other historical associations of Agra were described. A hundred and fifty miles further north was Delhi, situated on a plateau 600 feet above the level of the sea, on the banks of the Jumna, surrounded by strong wall, access to the city being by gates. Delhi was to the Mahommedans what Jerusalem was to the Jews. Its downfall was completed with the mutinous outbreak of 1857, when Delhi threw in its lot with the mutineers, and was afterwards stormed and captured, and had ever since been under British rule. It is on the border of the Sikh country—the Punjab—where the temperature is very high, at times 200 degrees in the sun. The whole region was practically rainless, but irrigation had converted the desert into 134 a garden. The rainfall was on the increase. The tributaries of the Indus, coming down from the Himalayas, overflowed and inundated the country. The river entered the Punjab through a series of gorges, in some places cutting its way through the rocks, and after entering the Punjab it flowed south for four hundred miles, and then into the Arabian Sea. Armitsar was the favourite city of the Sikhs. There was a large reservoir in the centre of the city, and thousands of pilgrims went to do obeisance to it. In the temple was the book containing the teachings of their apostle ; and the Sikhs said of it that it was the only material object of their worship. They believed in a personal God, capable of being approached without the intermediary of priests, and the presence of a Christian stranger in their temple did not cause any con- sternation. Civility was shown to him and a passage cleared by the officials for him to see anything of interest. The pilgrims ;mmerse themselves in the pool, whose water was supposed to wash away their guilt. These religious places were the curse of India, but were not to be interfered with by the authorities. The Military and Literary Associations of Lahore were next described, the Lecturer paying a high compliment to the prowess of the Sikh army, and their faithfulness during the Mutiny. The rivers of the Punjab had made the conditions of life there very different from those in other parts of India. The rivers overflowed and the water sank into the sub-soil thirty or forty feet below the surface. The husbandman, by making canals and other devices, was able to utilize the water and obtain three crops a year. In the case of new settlers the Government made advances for the purchase of cattle and implements. Railways also ran through the prosperous districts. It was to be regretted that good harvests were not taken advantage of to provide stores, so that they might be useful in time of need. The happiness of the country meant its development, and not the least ripe for development was the vast land of the Sikhs with its fine rivers. There was a great future before the Punjab. The Government were taking an interest in the people, no doubt due to the influence of some of our wise rulers who had laid the foundations of our rule in India. SAX A. tn | 135 SOCIALISM—WILL IT WORK ? By Mr. MARTIN STANESBY. 17th November, 1903. Mr. Stanesby said Socialism was with us. Should we stamp it out? Before answering this, we must look at the various sides—what were the evils Socialism was intended to remove, to review as concisely as possible the various efforts which had been made for the removal of those evils, and to consider how far it was possible for a law-abiding citizen who wished the greatest good for the greatest number to obtain his object. No movement more than Socialism could say with truth, ‘‘Save me from my friends,” for the names of many of its agitators had, with good reason, become expressions of opprobrium and contempt. They rather should approach the subject as a scientific problem. What were the evils which Socialism was intended to remove? This was answered by the question: What was the aim of living? It was the experience in the greatest measure of the moral, mental, and physical happiness which earthly conditions would allow, subject to equal enjoyment of those advantages for the rest of the human race. Was the human race in a position to allow every member to attain those rights? The answer was in the negative. What, then, stood between the human race and the realisation of the ideal state and the opportunity of enjoying the full share of the conditions? It was not wholly intemperance, lack of knowledge, want of ability, and lack of thrift. The only answer was that the barrier was raised through the exploitation of the many by the few, which forced the majority to work, not for the good of the majority, but for the good of the minority— the competitive system, some chief effeets being cost of produc- tion greater, and uncertainty of continuity of employment. At the same time this system was the only one possible under present conditions, for to strike at the employer, who took the risks as to profits and losses, would only result in the worker having nothing to strike with. But it behoved them to see if a system could not be adopted to prevent waste of labour, the support of idleness, and starving labour. The law guaranteed sufficient food and clothing to everyone, but to get it a workman had to part with everything he possessed. After dealing with Socialistic efforts in the past, and stating that Socialism in such 136 countries as Russia was necessarily of a violent character, the Lecturer approved the action of the British Government in allow- ing all possible liberty to all, and even disorderly sections to air their views. Reform, however, must be gradual. As to the idea of sharing up everything equally, he agreed with the statement that everything would soon become unequal, but what he thought should be was, that all men and women should be given an equal chance of developing their abilities, and making the best use of them. He would give every man and woman a vote, and the first act of a reformed Parliament would be to get the land and its attendant rights. But even now a judicial system of land taxes would force from the land all that was the best init. If the Government chose to restrict the manufacture and sale of drink, as it did poisons, it could do so. ‘As to State labour, he said it would prevent waste, over-lapping, and competition, and would ensure work and fair wages for all workers. Altogether, however, Socialism was, under present conditions, far off. 137 REVIEWS OF BOOKS. ‘*THE PRIVATE PAPERS OF HENRY RYECROFT.”’ (Geo. Gissing.) By CHARLES HARGREAVES. 24th November, 1903. «The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft’’ were, after death, found in his desk by Geo. Gissing. At least so we are told in the introduction to the volume under consideration. But it may be accepted as a fact, that this particular form has been adopted by Mr. Gissing, that his own experiences might be presented in a somewhat impersonal fashion, with just sufficient local colouring to add a spice of romance to the somewhat prosaic work of Auto- biography. Of the details of work-a-day life there are none. Instead, one is admitted to the sanctuary of a good man’s thoughts : is allowed to see the quiet workings of a mind which, having been disciplined in the school of bitter disappointment and grinding poverty, has triumphed over all doubts, and at length emerged into a sunny eventide of thankfulness and tranquility. Remembering the sordid details of Gissing’s early life; his unfortunate marriage ; the consequent alienation of family and triends, and the bitter struggle for existence in the profession of literature, without training and with no influence whatever, it is a little difficult to keep out of one’s mind, whilst reading this book, the thought that here we have less the feelings of dead Henry Ryecroft than of living George Gissing ; but none the less the reader must agree that there is here that ‘ which, at least, for its sincerity’s sake, is not without value for those who read not with the eye alone, but with the mind.” The prevailing tone is less one of sombre bitterness than of thankfulness that life has afforded such fruits as it has, that a life may not have been mis-spent which has failed from a worldly 138 point of view, but rather that it is much to be content with a quiet seeking after knowledge, and contemplation of the beautiful things lying so near at hand. At the same time the reader is never allowed to forget that those conditions are only possible as the result of freedom from anxiety as to ways and means, and what this anxiety had meant to Ryecroft is made quite evident. Constitutionally he appears to have been a man of retiring habits and studious tastes. He thinks ‘he had in him the making of a scholar, and with leisure and tranquility of mind would have amassed learning.” For him there was but his own entity and that of the world, and between them was constant friction. So that it is not surprising to find with what keen relish, when fortune has at length grown kind, he tells of his quiet cottage home in Devonshire, and dilates greatly on the qualities of his excellent housekeeper, a woman of placid and cheerful mind, who ministered to his wants with such cordial and ordered method as was his constant wonder and delight. She helped him considerably in that shining moment of the day when, ‘a little weary from an afternoon walk, I exchange boots for slippers, out-of-doors coat for easy, familiar, shabby jacket, and in my deep, soft, elbowed-chair await the tea-tray. In days gone by I could but gulp down the refreshment, hurried, often harassed by the thought of the work I had before me. Now, how delicious is the soft, yet penetrating odour which floats into my study with the appearance of the tea-pot. What a solace is the first cup, what a delicious sipping of that which follows. What a glow does it bring after a walk in the chilly rain. The while, I look round at my books and pictures, tasting the happi- ness of their tranquil possession. I cast an eye towards my pipe ; perhaps I prepare it with seeming thoughtfulness for the reception of tobacco. And never, perhaps, is tobacco more soothing, more suggestive of human thoughts, than when it comes just after tea—itself a grand inspirer.” ‘¢T like to look at my housekeeper when she carries in the tray. Her mien is festal, yet in her smile there is a certain gravity, as though she performed an office which honoured her. She has dressed for the evening, that is to say, her clean and seemly attire of working hours is exchanged for garments suit- able for fireside leisure; her cheeks are warm, for she has been making fragrant toast. Quickly her eye glances about my room, but only to have the pleasure of noting that all is in order, in- conceivable that anything serious should need doing at this hour of the day. She brings the little table within the glow of the hearth, so that I can help myself without changing an easy position. If she speaks, it will only be a pleasant word or two, and should she have anything important to say, the moment will 139 be after tea, not before it, this she knows by instinct. Perchance she may just stoop to sweep back a cinder which has fallen since, in my absence, she looked after the fire; it is done quickly and silently. Then, still smiling, she withdraws, and I know that she is going to enjoy her own tea, her own toast, in the warm, comfortable, sweet-smelling kitchen.” * This is a picture which, for its suggestiveness, deserves to live. It precisely hits off the character of the excellent woman who played so large, though almost unconscious, a part in Ryecroft’s later life, and it serves fairly well to illume one side of Ryecroft's character. Ryecroft was certainly given to introspectiveness, a habit which the practical man may class as morbid, but to which the readers of these ‘‘ Private Papers’? must own some amount of pleasure, and, it may be, profit. For if I mistake not the moral of this book, it is that a quiet life is to be preferred to one filled in by an everlasting whirl, without time or inclination for thinking ; without regard for things other than those artificial: that it is wise to spend many hours with the books which bring no after- taste of bitterness—with the great poets, with the thinkers, with the gentle writers of papers that soothe and tranquilize. The thoughts of Ryecroft often range over the years which have passed by with all their lost opportunities, with all their thwackings of experience. He finds that in his own still house, with no intrusion to be dreaded, with no task or care to worry, he can fleet the time not unpleasantly, even without the help of books. Reverie, unknown in the time of bondage, has brought him solace. . I fear it must be admitted that the advantages of quiet and seclusion tended to make Ryecroft very sceptical of ordinary human harmony. I think I hardly agree that ‘‘ Man is not made for peaceful intercourse with his fellows ;’’ and when he says that the dominant note beneath the domestic roof of any town ‘‘is that of moods, tempers, opinions at jar,’’ one is tempted to think that he reduces the probable discord of his own early experience into rather too general terms. Perhaps one of the bitterest and most forceful chapters in the book is directed against the proposal to resort to Conscription. The idea affects him with a sickness of dread and disgust which is yet the same thing as saying that Englishmen will not fight if the safety of England is imperilled. ‘‘ But,” says he ‘‘ what a dreary change must come over our islanders if, without instant 140 danger, they bend beneath the curse of universal soldiering. I like to think that they will guard the Raid of their manhood even beyond the point of prudence.” rake Another chapter is given to the elaboration of a definition of Art. Here it is: ‘* Art is an expression, satisfying and abiding, of the zest of life.’ ‘That seems to me, if not all that can,be said on the matter, at least very true and to the point so far as it goes. Gissing goes on: ‘‘ This is applicable to every form of Art devised by man, for, in his creative moment, the artist is moved and inspired by supreme enjoyment of some aspect of the world around him; an enjoyment in itself keener than that experienced by another man, and intensified, prolonged by the power of recording in visible or audible form that emotion of rare vitality.” In another section he says: ‘‘ The characteristic motive of English poetry is love of nature, especially of nature as seen in the English rural landscape. From the ‘ Cuckoo Song’ of our language in its beginning, to the perfect loveliness of Tennyson’s best verse, this note is ever sounding. ‘The reign of the iambic couplet confined, but could not suppress this native music; Pope notwithstanding, there came the ‘ Ode to Evening,’ and that ‘ Elegy’ which, unsurpassed for beauty of thought and nobility of utterance in all the treasury of our lyrics, remains perhaps the most essentially English poem ever written.” This attribute of our national mind availed even to give rise to an English school of painting. It came late; that it came at all is remarkable enough. So profound is the English joy in meadow and stream and hill, that, unsatisfied at last with vocal expression, it took up the brush, the pencil, and tiie etching tool, and created a new form of Art. « Art,” he goes on, ‘‘in some degree, is within the scope of every human being, be he the ploughman who utters a few would-be melodious notes, the mere outcome of health and strength, or that other one, also at the plough, who sang of the daisy, of the field-mouse, and shaped the rhythmic tale of ‘ Tam O’Shanter’ in word and music such as go to the heart of mankind, and hold a magic power for ages.” By writing only the following ecstasy, Gissing would earn a place as an artist :—‘* All about my garden to-day the birds are loud. To say that the air is filled with their song, gives no idea of the ceaseless piping, trilling, and whistling, which at moments rings to heaven in a triumphant unison, a wild accord. Now and then I notice one of the smaller songsters, who seems to strain his throat in a madly joyous endeavour to out-carol all the 141 rest. It is a chorus of praise such as none other of earth’s children have the voice or the heart to utter. As I listen I am carried away by its glorious rapture ; my being melts in the tenderness of my impassioned joy ; my eyes are dim with I know not what profound humility.” Hamerton says, in one of his books, that French country people have a pretty belief that, in its crackling and singing, a log fire is but giving out the song of the birds which the living tree absorbed. Gissing hus one such happy thought of his own, and it is that after a happy evening among his books, when turning at the door to look back, he sees the warm glow reflecting on the shining wood, on his writing-table, and glinting from the gilt title of some stately volume—as it illumes this picture and half disperses the gloom on that. ‘‘I could,” he says, ‘‘ imagine that the books do but await my departure to begin talking among themselves.” As I have already said, his books were Ryecroft’s friends. How he gloats over the treasures for which he has pinched and saved ! With what satisfaction does he survey on his book-shelves the ‘‘ rageed veterans ” which typify for him so many glorious hours spent free from the pressing cares of the moment! He says: ‘I know men who say they had as lief read any book in a library copy as one from their own shelf. To me that is unintelligible. For one thing, I know every book of mine by its scent, and I have but to put my nose between the pages to be reminded of all sorts of things. My Gibbon, for instance, which I have read, and read, and read again for more than thirty years—never do I open it but the scent of the noble page restores to me all the exultant happiness of that moment when I received it as a prize. Or, my Shakespeare, which has an odour which carries me yet further back in life ; for the volumes belonged to my father, and before I was old enough to read them with understanding, it was often permitted me as a treat to take down one of them from the book-case and reverently to turn the leaves.” And so he goes on recalling incidents of his reading; regretting his lost opportunities, recording his satisfaction that his experience has meeueen More barren. . 6). 2 see ws It has often been remarked that Gissing’s writings bave a de- pressing effect. His atheism, perhaps, makes this inevitable. In one passage, having contrasted two philosophic theories, he says, ‘‘ What if I am incapable of either supposition? There remains but the dignity of a hopeless cause, and how can there sound the hymn of praise ?” «That is best for everyone which the common nature of all doth send unto everyone, and then is it best when she doth send 142 it.’ ‘Here is the optimism of necessity, and perhaps the highest wisdom man can attain to. Remember that unto reason- able creatures only is it granted that they may willingly and freely submit.” No one could be more sensible than I of the persuasiveness of this high theme. The words sing to me, and life is illumined with soft glory, like that of the autumn sunset yonder. ‘* Consider how man’s life is but for a very moment of time, and.so depart meek and contented: even as if a ripe olive falling should praise the ground that bare ber, and give thanks to the tree that begat her. So would I fain think when the moment comes. It is the mood of strenuous endeavour, but also the mood of rest. Better than the calm of achieved indifference (if that indeed is possible to man); better than the ecstasy which contemns the travail of earth, in contemplation of bliss to come, but by no effort attainable. An influence of the unknown powers: a peace that falleth upon the soul like dew at evening.”’ In the meaning conveyed by those few lines, may, I think, be found the source of Gissing’s inspiration. That the source is what it is, is not to say that his writing is without value. His aim is always a high one; his ideals pure. In this book, he has reached the highest water-mark of the style which may be seen in his earlier novels to be slowly coming to maturity. In them he savagely struck at many of the vices and hypocricies prevalent to-day, and he has usually made a story of interest. Many tricks of speech and habits of thought will be remembered in reading this book, which is, of course, written on a very different plan from his other works. If it be urged that ‘‘ The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft ” is not worthy of having special attention drawn to it, one can only reply that it is far above the average of much of the fiction produced to-day. It may possibly not take rank as a classic, but as a record of experiences and thoughts—not perhaps unique, but ‘ because old yet ever new ”—clothed in vigorous and often thrilling English, it deserves to be read at least once. If it find a permanent place on our book-shelves, it will always suggest some congenial thought to him who seeks ‘‘ not with the eye alone, but with the mind,’ and so earn its place among other, though perhaps more valued, friends. 1438 ‘“HISTORICAL STUDIES OF EDUCATIONAL OPINION FROM THE RENAISSANCE.” (Professor S. S. Lawrie.) By GEO. A. WOOD, B.A. This paper was an atiempt to trace back, by the aid of the book under review, some of the springs of educational theory which have contributed, or are contributing to the main body of our current educational notions. Before the discussion of each period in detail, reference was made to the closeness with which the changes in thought concerning education are parallelled by the great changes in philosophic outlook and temper which have, from time to time, taken place over England, and Europe in general. Professor Lawrie’s estimate of the strength and weakness of the educational ideals and practice of the ‘‘ Renaissance’ was first presented. Although in general the ‘‘ Renaissance’’ was essentially an epoch of humanizing influence, yet its legacy to education, apart from the many schools it called into being, and the recognition it secured for the desirability of education, was in the main the dull mechanical exercise of grammar and construing, and this held sole sway in many places, even as late as 1860. The fires of ‘‘ Renaissance ’’ enthusiasm for things of the mind, as fostered by the literature of Greece and Rome, gradually cooled, and in dying, left merely the ashes of grammar, and the mechanical rules of verse, as the main theme of education. The bookishness, brutality and incapacity, which this state of affairs fostered, came in for disparagement in the early critical contributious of Elyot, Ascham, and Mulcaster, in England, and by Rabelais and Montaigne, on the Continent. Even so tar back, Muleaster and Montaigne gave expression to ideas which the Nineteenth century but tardily recognised—the need of scientific method in instruction, and the fact that the younger the pupil the greater need is there of skill in the teacher. What Professor Lawrie marks as a second period, dates roughly from 1600, and one of the distinctive marks of the work of reformers coming under this period, is the demand they make for greater width and range ot subject,in short for ‘‘ Encyclopzdism,”’ This was the natural reaction against the narrow bookishness and ‘scholastic grossness”’ of the previous period. Such 144 demands were, to some extent, the natural educational corollary of the philosophy which Bacon, in this period, crystallized concerning “learning ” and its ‘‘ advancement.’’ Among those mentioned as first writing in this new spirit were the Moravian, Comenius, and the English poet, Milton. John Locke was next touched upon—lacking in idealism, yet with a wealth of shrewd common sense advice upon practical matters of school conduct— a fitting representative in education, of the strength and weakness of that age of prose, the Kighteenth century. It was pointed out, however, that this ‘‘ Encyclopedism” was, as a theory of education, vitiated by a wrong interpretation of that most fallacious of all doctrines, ‘‘ knowledge is power.’ This is singularly illustrated in the fact that Comenius’ demand for infant schools was based almost entirely on the idea that, since the world of knowledge was so large, it were well to begin early. To bridge the gulf of time between Locke and Herbert Spencer, which exists in Professor Lawrie’s book, the Reviewer spoke at some length on the great revolutionary influences in Educa- tion, emanating from Rousseau and the philosophy of Kant, and operating through such writers and teachers as Pestalozzi, Herbart, and Fréebel. After a reference to Professor Lawrie’s well-directed attack upon ‘‘ Complete Living,’ in the Spencerian sense, as an ideal in Education, the Reviewer concluded with a quotation from another living worker in the same sphere as Professor Lawrie, namely, Mr. Oscar Browning. ‘‘ The dead hand of Spiritual Ancestry lays no more sacred duty on posterity than that of realizing, under happier circumstances, ideas, which stress of age or shortness of life have deprived of their accom- plishment.”’ Sate eT Ne a) 145 RECENT WORK ON GLACIAL GEOLOGY IN AIREDALE, AND ITS BEARING ON THE BURNLEY VALLEY. (Wirs Lantern Views.) By J. MONCKMAN, D.Sc. Ist December, 1903. The Lecturer, who is one of the honorary members of the Club, spoke on the Geological work done by the Bradford Society, which had succeeded in getting some of its members ‘‘ enthused”’ with the subject. He said they might think that Manchester was more closely connected with Burnley than Bradford, but, Geologically, this was not the case. They were connected by a glacial river, which began near Burnley and went over Airedale into the Spen Valley, and his object in coming to Burnley was to get some of them to work out the course of the glacial river in the Burnley district. A very excellent Paper on the subject had beer read before their Society, and the work ought to be continued. In an interesting lesson on Glacial Geology, the Lecturer showed the method of glacial action, how the stones were’ seratched and polished and carried away as carefully as goods are carried on a railway—perhaps more carefully. At other times the glacial action would grind, or polish, or crush the stone to powder. Formerly it was supposed that a flood had done this, but no flood in creation ever carried stones along and ground them, and at the same time made grooves on them. Floods rounded the stones, but did not groove them. Dr. Monckman explained that glaciers were apt to crack, the stones would drop to the bottom, and then the glacier would close. The stone would thus be pushed on, and would become _ grooved with grinding over the foundation. Other stones, which did not go to the bottom, were not scratched. This had caused them to come to the conclusion that the greater part of the North of England had been at one time covered over with ice. A series of slides illustrated the formation of glaciers, murraines, how stones were carried, and terminai murraines, in some places forming a barrier across a valley. Some people thought the course of the boulder clay went over into the Spen Valley into Airedale, from near Colne. At one point it is 1,100 feet high. When the ice began to melt, the water would flow 146 down the side and fill up the little valleys, and find its way out. It would form little lakes and then try to get away. This had been proved, and there is evidence of lakes in all those little valleys, and of something more. There was a continuation, a valley without end, or a double-ended valley, that had not been cut by a river, and to which had been given the name of ‘ Col.” Evidence had been found of a number of lakes, and of ‘‘ Cols” at different heights, sueceeding each other to the Bradford valley, and over into the next valley. The ‘ Cols” at one end were highest, and decreased in height. As the ice fell further back he placed another series of ‘‘ Cols,” and marked on his map three series of these ‘‘ Cols.’’ By a series of drawings, the Lecturer illustrated the formation of those inter-glacial lakes, of which he had no doubt there were many in the Burnley Valley. Burnley was a most important place, as they would find out if they studied the ‘‘ Cols,’ and tried to fill up, in imagination, the ice, and make out how and where the water went. There was scope for work which, he thought, would be almost entrancing. When they had once begun the work they could not stop. It was easy work ; they had little to do but find a scratched stone or two, a bit of clay, and the height of the ‘‘ Cols.’’ They could, perhaps, get Mr. Wilmore to help them, and then he did not see why they should not solve the problem. Pointing to an outline map of Burnley with its ‘‘ Cols,” he said the water began to flow in the neighbourhood of Bouldsworth and Tum Hill, and no doubt helped to make some of these strange valleys. It went by “Cols” into the Spen Valley, Calder Vale, and then to Airedale. If they took a journey up the Todmorden Valley towards Yorkshire, they could not help being struck by the fact that it was a very deep and sharp valley. When they thought that the whole of the immense area of melting snow was being carried down that valley, they could imagine there was a cutting force which would produce something very peculiar. The Aire Valley was lifted up 100 feet by glacial material. The Todmorden Valley was cut down, and it could be explained in no other way than by these lakes cutting down and through in that way. Burnley abounded in glacial deposits. When the Grammar School foundations were dug, there was an immense quantity of limestone and boulders, and glacial material generally. The lakes he spoke of existed when paleolithic or neolithic men lived in this district. Many of the valleys were then lakes, approaching in beauty the Lake District. They had a beautiful district to go at, and plenty of work. Let one of their members lead them, then form a section, and begin the work. But they must do it directly, as he could tell them other people were going to do it if they did not, Pee ee " 147 THE EVOLUTION OF ENGLISH CARICATURE. By HARTLEY D. HERALD, B.Sc. 8th December, 1903. The word ‘caricature’’ is of Italian origin, being derived from caricare, to load. Dr. Johnson, in the first edition of his Dictionary, defines it as ‘‘ an exaggerated resemblance in draw- ings,’’ yet, in the broader sense, the word includes in its meaning the humour of intentions, as well as of forms. The Englishman has always had a penchant for the symbolism of poetry and caricature ; and in the struggle for religious and political liberty, caricature has played an important rdéle. Caricature, in its broader sense, dates back long before its name was given, and its English history may be divided into three periods :— 1. Before 1750 we have the age of symbolisms. 2. From 1750 to 1830, the age of caricature. 8. From 1830—the age of cartoon. The Middle Ages present caricature in the germ, and in no place was it more closely associated than with the Church, being frequently the only covered public building, and often used for public meetings, fairs, theatres, and schools. No wonder then that in the Church is to be found a veritable museum of carica- tures, in which the rivalry and jealousy of the clergy and the social life of the times are depicted. Many of these caricatures were destroyed during the Reformation, together with the relics of the elder faith. Satirists did not, however, confine themselves to cathedrals and churches, but often indulged their fancies in the illustration of manuscripts; among such may be named the marvellous Queen Mary Psalter. The general tendency of such drawings expressed ridicule rather than admiration, and the care taken in depicting feminine costume allows us to trace the fashions in England from the Norman Conquest through the Middle Ages. The Normans introduced corsets, tight sleeves, dresses laced at the back, &c. The Saxon ladies kept to voluminous robes and floating 148 sleeves. Then the sleeves became long, requiring to be tied at the wrist. The Church denounced first the short and then the floating sleeves, the long train and the short, and the penalties of purgatory were reserved first for one and then the other. The caricature of this period often took the form of allegory in animal types—being frequently carved on the backs of chair- stalls, panels of pulpits, &c. Foxes dressed as pilgrims, as preachers to a congregation of geese, and other fables, were not uncommon. These superstitions the Church found difficult to suppress ; and soon those beings, which were popularly supposed to inhabit the country, the bottom of wells, &c., such as the elves and fauns, goblins and vampires, became so many enemies of God, seeking man’s destruction; while ‘‘ the good people’”’ and other sprites were regarded as under the sway of the fallen Archangel. This antethesis of good and evil was very acceptable to the popular mind. Here the lecturer exhibited a hideous example of a print showing a dying man surrounded by demons. With the discovery of the art of engraving in the Fifteenth Century, caricature made progress, and caricature portraits of public men were often published. Political caricature was brought to England by William of Orange, aided by the Dutch artists in his employ; and party prejudice was promoted and fostered by the means of caricature and engravings on medallions, &c. William Hogarth, the father of English caricature, was born in 1697, and at the age of fifteen was apprenticed to a goldsmith and engraver on metals in London, whose premises were in an ideal position for observing all sorts and conditions of men. With Dickens the streets of London were his education ; and like Jacques Callot, the study of armorial bearings preceded his work as a historical satirist. On completing his apprenticeship, Hogarth started a small goldsmith’s shop, and continued his studies in painting under Sir James Thornhill, with whose daughter he eventually eloped. Hogarth’s works may be roughly classified into dramas, political sketches, and illustrations of the English society of his day. Several of Hogarth’s best known works were then shown on the screen—including ‘“ Marriage 4 la Modé,” ‘‘ The Cockpit Royal,” ‘*The Midnight Conversation,” ‘‘ Gin Lane,” ‘“ Beer Street,” ‘The Sleeping Congregation,” ‘The Laughing Audience,’’ and the inimitable series of sketches in the drama of ‘The Two Apprentices ’’ (Industry and Idleness), &c. eS a 149 After Hogarth there appeared two men—Thomas Rowlandson and James Gillray—who contributed no little to the art of caricature during the end of the Highteenth and the beginning of the Nineteenth Century. The caricature of that period was an object of art, and many artists were required to produce it, and after the artist came the engraver. The proofs of such engravings were delicately coloured, and were sold at from 15/- to 30/- each, and sometimes reached £5 to £6—many of Rowlandson’s proofs fetched fifty guineas, Only the wealthy could afford to buy these caricatures, the other classes had to be content with seeing the designs when exhibited in the print- seller’s windows. An enterprising London editor conceived the idea of letting out the prints on hire for an evening, thus preventing the crowd- ing at shop windows, and so enabling people of the middle classes to view the caricatures in private. Passing over Paul Sandby, Collet, Sayers, Woodward, and Isaac Cruikshanks, the Lecturer dwelt for a while on Rowlandson and Gillray, giving a short epitome of the career and works of each. Rowlandson acquired some of his qualities and many of his faults in Paris, where he spent many of his earlier years. Coming to England he followed the profession of portrait painting for seven or eight years, and then turned to pictures of the habits of the times, which he handled freely without distortion or parody. In his picture of ‘‘ Smithfield Sharpers,”’ he depicts himself as one of the sharpers—he was, in fact, a great gambler, and soon lost a fortune of some £7,000 left him by a French aunt. In a dozen years or so he lost his power of invention ; and then opened a print shop where he sustained himself by engraving the works of other artists, and finally became an illustrator of books, ‘‘ The Adventures of Dr. Syntax’’ being among the best known. James Gillray, though younger than Rowlandson, died several years before his contemporary. His first caricature was published when only twelve years of age. Pope, in one of his satires, invented the type of John Bull still found in modern caricature, but Gillray gave him his physiognomy and costume. Several of Gillray’s pictures were exhibited on the screen; ‘The King of Brobdingnag and Gulliver ’’—za series of sketches caricaturing George III. and Napoleon Bonaparte ; and many others relating to current politics and fashions. The French Revolution, the wars with France and America, were each in turn utilised by the caricaturist. 150 After Rowlandson came George aud Robert Cruickshank, Theodore Lane, Robert Seymour, and John Doyle, who chiefly caricatured the events of the day, with the comic history of the manners and customs of the times. In the evolution of caricature, it now became necessary to appeal to the middle classes rather than to the rich ; the artists, subscribers, instead of being a few at one or two guineas, largely increased in numbers, paying sixpence, or even less, and the artist had to descend from copper to wood, and from wood to stone, in the execution of his work. With such sacrifices carica- ture could not live alone, and required to be associated with the Novel and the Journal. Hogarth illustrated Butler’s ‘‘ Hudibras,” and Rowlandson the works of Fielding, Smoilet, and Sterne. But Rowlandson thought that the public would prefer something quite new, and, in conjunction with William Coombes, published the ‘‘ Adventures of Dr. Syntax,’’ referred to above : Coombes writing the descriptive verses, as the designs were sent to him month by month. Charles Dickens’ ‘“‘ Sketches by Boz’? and‘ Oliver Twist ”’ were illustrated by Cruickshank, and the ‘‘ Pickwick Papers” by Robert Seymour, who committed suicide after Dickens had sent back one of his designs which had not hit off Dickens’ idea. There were several competitors for Seymour’s post; amongst the unsuccessful being Thackeray, and John Leech, the famous illustrator of “Punch.” The post was secured by Hablot-Knight Browne, better known as ‘Phiz,” who illustrated ‘“ Nicholas Nickleby,’ ‘*‘ Dombey & Son,” and others of Dickens’ works, and also the works of Charles Lever. It appears that Cruikshank quarrelled with Dickens about the illustrations of ** Oliver Twist,” but he soon found another author in Harrison Ainsworth, whose ‘‘ Tower of London’’ and other works he illustrated. It will thus be seen that caricature had given up its independent existence and sought refuge in the novel and the journal. At first its aid was essential to the novelist, afterwards simply wseful, and finally it became superfluous and even dangerous, due to the rise of a more reflective spirit in literature, to moral problems and psychological analysis of character. About 1880, a new impulse was given to caricature by the parties of liberty and of privilege, but, as the customs and tastes of the people had changed, so a new school of caricature was required ; this was supplied by John Doyle, whose anonymous signature of HB for a while concealed his identity. His sketches owe their chief attraction to the excellence of their designer as a portrait painter, and constitute a veritable gallery of portraits of such men as Brougham, John Russell, Daniel O'Connell, Lords Grey, Liverpool, Melbourne and Eldon, Sir Robert Peel, 151 Wellington, Francis Burdett, Roebuck, and many others. One of Doyle’s most famous cartoons represented Wellington as Mrs. Partington, trying to keep back the sea with her umbrella. Another referred to Lord Brougham: Brougham had spoken of equality of race between black and white, Doyle produced a design in which a negro sat on the woolsack as Lord Chancellor, having the features of Lord Brougham. After Doyle’s real name became known, he appears to have lost popularity, and his place was taken by the famous Juhn Leech, one of the founders of, and leading contributors to ‘* Punch ;” during his twenty-three yeurs connection with that journal, he furnished no less than 3,000 designs, of which over 600 were full page cartoons. Thus the Lecturer ‘“ traced the essential features in the evolution of caricature, from the days preceding the invention of engraving, until it became incorporated in journal and newspaper, where it still continues to exercise an important rdle. Caricature has been one of the most important outlets of English genius, and has adapted itself to the temperament, politics and institu- tions of the race. It has satisfied the natural feeling for contrast and parody, has expresaed national hatred and patriotism, and has furnished succeeding generations with important information on ideas, sentiments, customs and costumes. More than a document—it is a confession, for it is in caricature that the national mind has most freely and most sincerely spoken.”’ RECITAL. “THE CRICKET ON THE HEARTH.”’ By Mr. JOHN HARWOOD. L5th December, 1903. Mr. Harwood, who had previously given recitals before the Club, received a very cordial welcome. With only two brief pauses, the recital was continuous, and occupied close on a couple of hours, and the close attention of the large audience was held throughout. The selection is as judicious a one as could be presented by a single person. It is not too compli- cated, and preserves its tone and effect better, perhaps, than any other of Dickens’ masterpieces. The characters are compara- tively few, and, by the histrionic power of the Reciter, they were never allowed to become confused, so that the thread of the story and the play of the leading features in the different réles were easily followed, and the whole of the performance was much appreciated. ANNUAL DINNER. The Annual Club Dinner was held on the 18th December, 1903, at the Empress Hotel, and was attended by akout thirty members and friends, the President, W. Lewis Grant, Esq., occupying the chair. After the usual loyal toast, which was given with musical honours, Mr. Thomas Preston proposed the toast of ‘* The Burnley Literary and Scientific Club,” introducing in his remarks one of his characteristic poetic effusions, dealing with the rise and progress of the Club, and referring to many of the members who had been most active and earnest in promoting its well-being. The President responded in suitable terms, and reviewed the work of the Club during its thirty years’ existence. Mr. G. C. Ogden gave the toast of ‘‘ Other Local Institutions,” which was responded to by Rev. W. H. Green, LL.B. Mr. James W. Thompson, J.P., proposed the toast of ‘* The Town and Trade of Burnley,” coupling with it the name of Mr. T. Crook, Secretary of the Burnley Chamber of Commerce, who responded, and gave a short epitome of his recent visit to Canada, in connection with the Associated Chambers of Commerce, Mr. G. H. H. Clement next proposed the toast of ‘‘ The Ladies,” which was appropriately responded to by Messrs. W. Thompson, W. Witham, J.P., and J. Stansfield Sutcliffe. The health of the ‘ Treasurer and Secretary’ was given by Mr. Jas. Kay, J.P., to which Mr. Gill and Mr. Crossland replied. The last toast of the evening was that of ‘“‘ The President,” proposed by Mr. Fullalove, and acknowledged by Mr. W. Lewis Grant. The musical part of the evening’s entertainment was ably sustained by Messrs. I’. Bell, A. Lewis and H. Ogden, Mr. J. E. Gaul presiding at the piano. caer Fae. FP. 158 Since the earlier parts of this volume went to press, the Editor has been favoured with notes of lectures delivered by Mr. Pilkington, in February, and by Mr. Joseland, in March, 1902, and he has much pleasure in finding a place for them here, although not in proper order of date. AN ASCENT OF MONT BLANC FROM ITALY. (Wirn Lantern Views.) By Mr. C. PILKINGTON (E 0060 0/00 80 *** Westward Ho.’ My Glimpses of Canada and the States.”........... 102 ‘¢ The Great Siberian Railroad.’’.,...- 38 *¢ An Evening with Whittier.’’........ 48 C8 WIBIOWULOS.)” sacs o> <6 50 es.g ete 57 ‘* Wisdom and Destiny.’’ Maeterlinck 28 ‘* Welsh Writers of Song and Fiction.’? 86 ‘‘ Shakespeare’s London.” .......... 127 ‘‘ Edmund Spenser, the Poet’s Poet.’? 97 ‘* Contrasts in English Prose.’”’........ 16 ‘¢ The Third Egyptian Dynasty.’’ 51 ‘* The Registers of St. Peter’s Church, Burnley.’’ (Second paper prepared by the late James Grant). ........ 15 ‘‘ Thoughts Suggested by a Visit to the ATEN EVLVIOLE) 7 a) a's wicldin\o.e'sieisye.e ale 42 ‘Winchester: the Old Capital of BET rYesLeuTNG neti aal eyo) otavicretel ayei ef siniey a= «ialatele 120 ‘¢ My Lady Nicotine.’”’ Barrie ...... 31 ‘¢ The Life of the Wave.’’............ il ‘¢ Carlyle’s ‘ French Revolution.’”’.... 33 “The Origin of Printing, and its Development to the end of the Fifteenth Century.”’.............. 95 * The Christmas Carol.’”? ............ 61 ‘* The Cricket on the Hearth.”’ ...... 151 ‘‘ Highways and Byways in the Lake MIs ETCH ar sue ce etareyavalsta cVeis) afore onanncenns a 36 ‘““The Private Papers of Henry RAO BaSedooonortoonern cece 137 ‘* The Evolution of English Caricature.”’ 147 ‘¢ Robert Browning’s Message.”’ ...... 61 ‘The Metric System for British Use.’’ 55 ‘6 Peter the Great,”? .cccevceecesreee L0G 168 Kay, James, J.P. ....-.e0.00- ‘‘ Water Colour Sketching.”.......... 113 Lafond, E. E., M.G.S......... ‘| The and of the:Sikh.?? essen 133 Lancaster, James ......++-+0. ‘* A Glimpse of Morocco and Algiers.’? 68 Leach, Sir Bosdin T.......... ‘¢ A Trip Round the World.” ........ 90 Matthews eve Wessels. clot) King PATE UN 4. \s1crc s vin sisi eu tpiclesialeretete 18 Monckman, J., D.Sc. ........ “* Recent Work on Glacial Geology in Aired alae ts icsc% fevers oat he are nee 145 Morris, Rev. A. J., M.A....... ‘* Student Life in Germany.”’ ........ 131 (Osan, Ws dSagecocaghooee stor ‘‘ Recent Volcanic Eruptions.” ...... 82 Pickering, Rev. T. R. ........ ‘¢ Westminster Abbey.”.............. 45 lahore ORB Ge ooo ocolooner ‘*¢ An Ascent of Mont Blane from Italy.’’? 153 Preston, Thomas 0... 5-16... ‘¢ Evolution of a Local Poet.’’........ 103 TRAOG,) Wier aictiwsarraitigysnaie « siesence ‘¢Wlizabethan Seamen.”’ ..........-. 27 Reed, J. Howard, M.G.S. .... ‘‘ Cotton Growing within the Empire.” 125 Rendell, Rev. J. R., B.A....... ‘¢ Wireless Telegraphy.” ............ 59 IG Gaogndoquosusuds ‘‘From Phidias to Flaxman.”’........ 123 Ross, Raymond, F.1.C......... ‘« The Bacterial Treatment of Sewage.’’? 25 Sheldon, T. Steele, M.D....... ‘‘ Examples of the New Astronomy.’’.. 116 Speight, Harry .............. ‘« My Visits to some Notable Yorkshire PISCE E 22 eicravelciefersiorai etetetes steve otatateians 22 Stanesby, Martin ............ ‘¢ Socialism —Will it Work?” ........ 135 Strange, Alfred, J.P.......... COTBLOWSNOLIMNES) 2 «siere taxeiars s 4b BOMARTe G3AAIA | GEORGE ANDERSON & CO, ST, JAMRA'S SPR, BreNLy. . _ ALFRED STRANGE, J.P. Vide page 56. BURNLEY LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC CLUB. TRANSACTIONS. 4 5 O Blt es 9S 1904. MEMBER’S COPY. GEORGE ANDERSON & CO., ST. JAMES’S STREET, BURNLEY. MDCCCCV, a a ® n - 7 Lae Poke ale Ee LasW* Ly = — 2 ita | { ; a — _ ry | WighE sik pers oStey t ' {+ a ten = bl ¢ et | oe ‘ % ‘ - — a we * 6 eo = se ai Burnley Literary and Scientific Club. EstaBLIsHED 1873. President: W, LEWIS GRANT. Vice-Presidents : Frep. J. Grant, J.P. Jas. LANCASTER. ALFRED STRANGE, J.P. J. H. Hupson, M.A. James Kay, J.P. Rev. W. S. Marrtuews, B.A. Hon Treasurer : GEORGE GILL. Committee : Wm. Lancaster. Wm. Txompson. T. G. Crump, B.A., M.B. H. L. Josenanp, M.A. Wm. T. Futwatove. A. STEELE SHELDON. Hon Secretary: THOS. CROSSLAND, B.Sce., Romford House, Ightenhill Park Lane, 1 4 c . ye | i c a #2 #4 . 2 oe ee, ee My ive ipa i ‘