388 



• KNOWLEDGE 



[Nov. 10, 1882. 



the expression '• a little al>ovo Dubastis " applies to the 

 luound of Tel Aboo-Soolevinan. 



Nor must we forgi't tlie important evidence of tliat great 

 topographiciil work which hears the name of the "Itinerary 

 of Antoninus." In this Itinerary, all the home and foreign 

 possessions of tlie Roman Empire towards the close of the 

 First Centurj- n f. are descril>ed. Every main - road, 

 cross road, city, town, and military station is accurately 

 set down ; oiul the distances from 'each to each are given 

 in Roman miles. Now, according to the Itinerary, we 

 find the town of " Thoum " (Pa-Tum) placed about half- 

 way Vietwceii " Vicus Juda-onini " and '' Sile," on the road 

 from the Roman fortress called " Babylon " (old Cairo) to 

 the city of Pelusium, on the Eastern coast of the Delta ; 

 the distance between Babylon and Thoum being given as 

 54 Roman miles. 



It would really be dithcult for the writer of a modern 

 guide-1>ook more exactly to describe the situation of Tel 

 AlK)o-Sooleyman. " Vicus Judieorum " is the Jewish city 

 founded by Onias in tlie reign of Ptolemy Philoineter, the 

 mounds of which are now called '■ Tel-el- Yahoodeh " ("the 

 mound of the Jew ") ; " .Sile " is Salaheeyeh, now an im- 

 portant town, with a station which for the present termi- 

 nate*; the railway-line about 22 miles beyond Aboo Kcbeer, 

 Taking these two points, Tel-el-Yahoodeh and Salaheeyeh, 

 on any good modem map of the Delta (say Jlap 1, in 

 Baedeker's '• Lower Egypt," which is a model of clearness 

 and accuracy) and measuring by a straight line from the 

 one to the other, the mound of Tel Aboo-Sooleyman falls 

 exactly halfway, as if put there for the purpose. Again, 

 the distance from Babylon to Thoum is stated in the 

 Itinerary at -il Roman miles. The Roman mile measured 

 1614 yards in length ; the English statute mile measures 

 1760 yards. Fifty-four Roman miles would therefore 

 equal forty-nine and a half English statute miles, jihi.i 36 

 yartlg. The precise line of the old Roman road is no 

 longer known ; b-.it the pre,sent cara\an-route from Cairo 

 to Aljoo Hanimad, which takes an unusually direct coui'se, 

 i-i more liki-ly to follow it tluin not By this route, the 

 distance Ix-tween Cairo and Aboo Hammad, rid Belbeis, i-i 

 nliout ll'i miles, while from Aboo Hammad to Tel Aboo- 

 Sooleyman is CI miles more — 19 miles in all ; which brings 

 us within one half-mile of the distance laid down in the 

 Itinerary of .rVjitoninus. 



I do not presume to affirm that these coincidences are 

 conclusive, nor that so important a question can be decided 

 by means of a pair of compa.<»ses and a map. Again, Tel 

 Aboo-Sooleyman and Tel-el-Kebeer are but a short distance 

 apart, and it might Ix- urged that the foregoing evidence is 

 as much — or very nearly as much — in favour of the one 

 rite as of the other. Yet, it it be; demonstrated that the 

 treasure<ity of Pithora can only lie under one or other of 

 thew- mounds, an important 8t«p is gained. Tlie positive 

 philosophy of pick and spade may be left to do the rest ; 

 and before the end of the first day's work, a couple of score 

 c4 Rtalwart fellaheen, told off, half to Tel Aboo-Sooleyman, 

 ar.d half toTeU.-l-Kebecr, would probably settle the <|uestion 

 for ever. 



Or «hall wo gay, instead of a couple of score of stalwart 

 fellahw-n, the same numlxr of stout British soldiers? A 

 detaclimeiil will 1,0 fKrnnanently stationed for some time to 

 come at TeU-l K<U-«!r : and with abundant leisure on their 

 hands, our men might find many worse ways of passing 

 their idle hours than in looking for the treasure-cities of 

 Phanu^h. 



Focspncci each will bo jmid for copies of Noii. 1 to 8 of 

 KaowLclMjK. Appl7 or niUlrcas, Wtmaw i 8oj(», 71 to 7C, Great 

 QaMB-ctrMt, London, W.C. 



" MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING." 



IN these d.iys of comic opera, of trashy sensational plays 

 (devised to pander to a depraved taste), and of 

 mawkish adaptations from the French, it is pleasant to 

 lind that overflowing autliences may still be attracted by 

 good renderings of Shakespearean dramas. Wo find that 

 though a play of Simkcspeare's may mean bankruptcy to 

 the manager, it may read triumphant success if the manager 

 has just ideas of the great dramatist's work. 



This is true, we take it, of all ^Ir. Irving's Shakesperean 

 revivals, even those in which he has attempted more than 

 he or his company could achieve, lie may fall short of 

 our conceptions of a Macbeth or a Hamlet, and still more 

 completely of a Romeo ; Miss Terry may not be Shake- 

 speare's Juliet ; otlier members of the Lyceum company 

 may fail in rendering eft'ectively the parts given them. But 

 in every case the reading given, oven when inadequate, has 

 been the result of thought and labour. The aim has not 

 been (as always where Shakespeare has failed to draw) to 

 simply please the groundlings ; wo have had always the 

 intelligent reading of a student and a lover of Shakespeare. 

 Even Mr. Irving's shortcomings have had their part in his 

 success. It may jiloase his detractors to notice peculiarities 

 of voice, or gait, or gesture, as if they were affectations. 

 Those who ha\e followed and watched his career regard 

 these as they might regard some slight traces of the per- 

 sonal defects which seemed to debar Demosthenes from the 

 career of an orator. That, despite; certain seeming dis- 

 (jualifications, Irving should have become a powerful actor, 

 makes hiin deservedly a far greater favourit(' than others 

 who seemed born for the sock and liuskiu. 



Tn Benedick, Mr. Irving has found a part which many 

 who understand his genius have long since regarded as 

 specially suited to his powers. It is a part in which actors 

 whose fame rests chielly on their efforts in tragedy, have 

 achieved noteworthy success. It was this, perhaps, which 

 led Charles K(!an to attempt the nVe, in which, however, 

 despite the able support of Mrs. Kean (his superior), he 

 failed egregiou-sly. But Kean was never successful outside 

 a certain limited range of characters, chiefly tragic ; 

 Irving's power was fii-st shown in comedy, and many hold 

 that high comedy is still, and will always be, his strongest 

 lini'. Benedick, ([uaint, witty, and humorous, now satur- 

 nine anon mercurial, but withal kindly and manful (witness 

 his plain speech with the Prince in the first scene of 

 Act II.), is a part admirably suited to Mr. Irving's 

 humour. 



The part of Beatrice is not quite so specially suited to 

 Miss Terry's powers, but indeed her range is wider than 

 Irving's, and Beatrice lies well within it. The secret of 

 Miss Terry's success lies, we take it, in the power she has 

 of putting herself in imagination in the position of the 

 person she represents. Some actors and actresses — it is 

 said the very greatest — possess a sort of intuition, teaching 

 them how a person would look and act in given circum- 

 stances. We arc told that Oarrick, after a scene in which 

 he had affected a whole audience to tears by Ids admirable 

 personation of profound sorrow, would turn to a friend 

 behind the scenes and laugh at the success ho had achieved. 

 It is not thus, we feel, with Kllen Terry. She seems to us 

 never at her best till she has imagined herself into her 

 part, so to speak, and simply looks and acts as her fecilings 

 dictat<;. It is thus, at any rate, she makes her f^arlier 

 reading of a part; later, of course, she may find it easy 

 to give equal force to her rendering without undergoing 

 afresh at each representation the feelings which first sug- 

 gested it. 



It does not follow we need hardly say, that because 



