RANDOM READINGS FROM THE REVIEWS. 



American Praise of English Beauty. 

 The American novelist, W. D. Howells, describes 

 in the North American Review for May the pageants at 

 Chester in 1910 and in Stroud in 191 1. In sketching 

 the first, he says : — 



The art in tlie colour scheme was, if not the last word, at 

 least the next to the last. It had strongly the support of 

 nalure in that beauty of the English race which I think grows 

 upon the observer. In former visits I had been, in my modest 

 American way, impressed by the handsomeness of the men, 

 and I still think them the handsomest men in Europe, 

 if somewhat unnecessarily long-legged and narrow-shouldered ; 

 but at present I am lost in a far readier and more unenvious 

 wonder at the women's and children's loveliness, especially 

 the children's. It does not always follow that a lovely 

 little girl will grow up a lovely young girl ; the angelic 

 features sometimes turn out humanly lumpy, but generally they 

 do not ; the young girls are mostly more beautiful than the 

 little girls, if not more delicately beautiful, and the women 

 keep their beauty of face and figure longer ; there are not so 

 many lean ones, nor so many fat ones among the matrons as 

 with us. In them all— little girls, young girls, and wives and 

 mothers — the beauty is not beauty of colouring alone, but 

 beauty of feature and a universal kindness of expression. In 

 England everybody seems kind ; and they perhaps must be kind, 

 or, packed so densely together as they are, they would kill one 

 another. 



Mr. Howells was also impressed with another 

 characteristic of the race — its all but universal single- 

 mindedness. He seems to have been entirely captivated 

 by the children. He says : — • 



It was the children, those lovely English children, who 

 supremely took the eye in their silken blues and reds and 

 yellows. They came pouring over the scene literally in thou- 

 sands ; they danced, ihey seemed to fly ; nothing more exquisite, 

 more innocently dear was ever seen. Whatever the historic 

 incident was, they were appropriate to it ; they graced, they 

 ■hallowed it. 



'• N'EARER, My God, to Thee ! " 

 .\ centenary sketch of Browning, by Mr. J. Cuthbert 

 Hadden, which appears in the jlay number of the 

 Choir, is devoted to Browning's relations with the 

 sisters Flower. Eliza Flower is known as the composer 

 of a once popular chorus, " Now Pray We for Our 

 Country," a set of " Musical Illustrations of the 

 Waverley Novels," and a number of hymns and 

 anthems, including the original musical setting of 

 " Nearer, My God. to Thee." Sarah Flower, afterwards 

 Afrs. William Urydges Adams, is world-famous as the 

 author of ' Nearer, My God, to Thee." Browning is 

 said to have had nothing but a feeling of admiration 

 for Eliza Flower's music; but .Mr. Hadden, who has 

 been able to examine some of her compositions, .says 

 the setting of her sister's hymn is quite impossible, 

 whether from an artistic or an emotional point of 

 view. When .Mr. Flower died. William J. Fox, the 

 Unitarian minister at South Place, Ijecame the guardian 

 of his two daughters. They both sang in the choir, 

 and the well-known hymn was first heard in the 

 Fin.sbury Chapel. Objections have been raised against 

 its implication of Unitarian doctrine, but it neverthe- 

 less continues to hold a place in the front rank of our 

 sacred lyrics. 



Old Kirk Feuds in Skye. 



Miss .\da Macleod in the Canadian Magazine fo 

 May sketches a Sabbath in Skye. Yet she says that — 



There is no doubt that a more tolerant spirit is abroad ii 

 Skye. Not many years ago if a Free Church boy were conv 

 pelled to pass a building belonging to the Established Churcj 

 he would run as fast as possible, not knowing the momeni 

 when something with tail and cloven hoof might emerge, anc 

 no sorer insult could be hurled at a man than to call him i 

 " Mo<lerate." Now there is talk of the two churches uniting. 

 And although the Highlander is a born combatant and is evei 

 ready to kick up a dust over a matter of doctrine, the spirit ol 

 union is abroad, and all signs point to the time when tht 

 barriers between Frees and Wee Frees, Established and Sece- 

 ders, U. P.'s, U. F.'s, and all other hair-splitling sects shall b« 

 broken down, and one united church shall stand ready to dc 

 her share in the bringing of the Kingdom to the beautiful Isle 

 of Skye. 



The Pope Sending His Blessing by a Jew. 



In a paper elsewhere noticed in the North American 

 Review for .May, Mr. Isidore Singer tells this story : — 



When Pius X. became Pope one of his old friends, a rich 

 Jew from Venice, went to Rome and had a long audience with 

 him. The Pope asked for news of all his friends, and when he 

 heard that a certain priest was seriously ill he asked the Jew tfj 

 give him his blessing when he returned to Venice. The few 

 was taken aback at the Pope's request, and he hinted that, not 

 being a Christian, he was not a fit person to convey the apostolic 

 blessing. 



" Vou need not worry about that," the Pope said ; "it does 

 not matter in the least, provided the goods are all right, whether 

 the wrapper is bad. Vou are merely the wrapper," he added, 

 smiling, and the Jew conveyed the apostolic blessing to the 

 dying priest. 



" Exceedingly Drunk " — by JIiracle ! 



In the Church Quarterly Review Mr. E. J. Gwvnn 

 discusses the stories of some saints of Ireland. He 

 says : — 



Cronan of Roscrea was a free-handed and hospitable saint, 

 largits et cariliUivus. Receiving a surprise visit from Mochoe- 

 mog, he blesses his small slock of beer and butter, and so 

 provides a plentiful supper for his visitor .ind all his following, 

 a hundred and twenty in number. As they were feasting far 

 into the night, a certain convert said in a loud voice (converts 

 arc apt to be over-zealous), " I see that no malins will be cele- 

 brated here this night." St. Cronan answered him : "Brother, 

 Christ is received in the person of a guest, therefore we ought 

 to feast and rejoice at the coming of Christ. Hut hadst lliou 

 not spoken, the angels of God would have said our prayers for 

 us this night." Another more questionable example of Cronan's 

 hospitality is related In honour of other guests he blesses 

 a newly brewed barrel of beer, and immediately, by divine 

 interposition, a great quantity of liquor w.as fermented. Ami 

 the guests who drank this same beer became exceedingly drunk, 

 vtjiile iiitbriali. 



The biographer naively adds : — " Those who knew 

 this gave praise to Christ." 



Jt;sT as Ehzabethanisms, obsolete in old England, 

 have survived in New England, so Mr. F. A. \\'ightman, 

 in an interesting paper in the Canadian Mai;a:ine for 

 Afay, on maritime provincialisms and contrasts, shows 

 how certain usages of words imported from the 

 Highlands flourish in the maritime provinces 0/ 

 Canada. 



