The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1875-02-27

rosy-cheeked plump, active and gleeiul, and
the men, who are rs stalwart muscular and
handsome race as ever breathed sea.air,
James Parton continues his illustrated pa
pers on carcaturc the present one treating Of
carcature in the middle ages, when all learn
| ing as well as art was confined to The religion:
orders. What must have been the peculiar
style of piety among those who made it their
whole business may be gathered from revea
tons like these;
! One of the most curious relics of those re-
Hgious centuries is French prayerbook pre-
served in the British Museum, where 1t was
discovered and described by MIR. Malcolm
one of the first persons who ever attempted TO
lclucidate the subject of caricaturc. Besides
! the Hours of the Blessed Virgin" Il con.
tains various prayers and collects, the office
for the dead, aud some psalms, all in Latin.
1t is illustrated by several brilliantly colored,
well drawn, bat most grotesque and lnconi.
prehensible figures, designed as has been
conjectured, to "eypose the wicked and inor-
dlnatc lives of the clergy, who were hated by
the manuscript writers rs taking away much
of their business" This was the explanation
given of these remarkable pictures to the
trustees of the Museum by the collector ef
whom they bought the volume.
In the British Museum-that unequaled re-
pository of all that is curious and rare-there
is the famous and splendid psalter OF Richard
H., containing many strange pictures in the
taste OF the period On the second page for
example, along with two pictures Of the kind
usual in Catholic works of devotion, there is
a third which represents an absurd combat
within lists between the court fool and the
court giant The fool, who is also dwarf,
is belaboring The giant with an instrument
like those hollow clubs used in our panto-
mines when the clown is TO be whacked with
great violence The giant shrinks from the
blows, and the king pointing at the dwarf
seems to say, "Go it, little one; bet upon
y0u" ..N
Mr.. Malcolm, who copied this picture from
the original, where, he says, 1t is most su
perbly finished, interprets it to be a carica-
ture of the famous combat between David
and Goliath in the presence of King Saul and
his court In the same mass. book there is a
highly ridiculous representation of Jonah on
board ship, with blue Boreas with cheeks
pulled out raising the tempest and black
devil clawing the sail from the yard. In sc.
lecting few OF the more innocent pictures
from the prayer book of Queen Mary, daugh.
ter of Henry VIII, of England, Mr.. Malcolm
gives expression 10 HIS amaZeucnt AT tne
character Of the drawings, which he dared
not exhibit TO British public Was this
book, he asks, made on purpose for the
queen? Was 1t a gift or q purchase? But
whether she bought or whether she accepted
it, he thinks she must have delighted in lu-
dicrous anu improper IDEAS or else cher in,
clination for absurdity and caricature con-
qxered even her religion in defense of which
she spread ruin and dcsolation through her
kingdom
Eugene Lawrence gives series of pen,and-
ink skethcesof the Remains of Lost Empires,
accompanied by magnificent engravings. Con-
ant tells the story of David Llvingstone's re-
searches IN Africa, with illustrations The
fifth paper of the Centennial Series concludes
that very interesting review John Bigelow
his very remarkable paper on De
Witt Clinton Miss Thackeray's serial Is con.
tinued; there are two excellent short stories,
with poetry, and the usual editorial depart
ment