Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-09-04

the Almighty, out GOu anu nun ats oihy
introduced into the drama by hearsay.
The dramatis personae are Lucifer
and Belzebub, Belyae and Apollion (his
rebelious chiefs, and Gabriel. Michael.
Rafael, and Uriel, leaders OF the loyal
angels. The translator 'calls attention
TO the curious coincidence that so many
poets OF so many different nations, most
of them doubtless without knowledge or
tho others, should about the same time
have chosen the subject OF such historical
and symbolical Importance" and cites
Andrieni in the "Adamo," Grotius In the
"Adamus Exul," Father Cats in The
First Marriage" and the Scotchman
Ramsay: the Spania-d, De Azevedo; the
Portuguese. Camoens; the Frenchman,
Du Bartas, and two Engllshmen, Phi
meas Fletcher and John Milton, adding
that "a more remarkable instance Of
telepathy, are not, we believe. on re-
cord. OF all the works OF these many
| authors only two. however, have with
stood the critical test of time; only two
have been awarded the palm Of immor-
| tally. These two are Miltons Paradise
Lost and VondePs Lucifer; the form
| err the grandest of English epics the
latter the noblest OF Dutch dramas"
The 'Lucifer' was published thirteen
years before Paradise Lost. 1t is not
| luaL lIeTe SnOuiU De many
parallelisms of thought and Of language
| in the two poems. and we have some half
dozen pages of these parallelisms in this
volume. These condolences have been
sufficient TO to incite in the enthusiastic
| admirers Of Vondel an imputation to Mil
| ton OF plagiarism Ii is the common
fate of successful merit to encounter
| with such an imputation the gibes and
| cayls OF friends Of less fortunate rivals
in the same literary field and of penny
| a-liner critics. "the vigor OF whose shaft
Is sadly unequal 70 the malice OF the
| bow" Upon this point the translator
well says I'VE believe that a critical and
impartial comparison Of the two MASTER
pieces viii neither detract from the glory
Of Milton nor dim the grandeur of Vondel
That the English poet occasionally
borrowed n thought or sentence cannot
be doubted Besides, he had a wonderful
memory. long and tenacious. which in
voluntarily emptied its gatherings into
the flow of his thought and into the
stream of his discourse. That this was
not always done unconsciously is known
from Milton's own confession, where he
says: TO borrow and to better in the
borrowing is no plagiarie" and that he
bettered in the borrowing. who can
doubt? All that he touched turned to
figured. In the alembc of his genius
truth became beauty; the mortal, the i'm
mortal"
We have made sufficient quotations
from the translators PREDATORY work to
prepare our readers 10 accept the testi-
mony of DR.. Kalf as TO his literary quail
fcations for the task he has as
sumed and the success with which he has
accomplished it, and we are quite sure,
abundantly enough, to whet the appetite
Of American scholars and literary men
for the feast of good things he invites
them to partake of in the careful and
thoughtful perusal of this masterpiece of
the Dutch Shakespeare and Milton.
THE VEsTRY BOOK AND REGISTER
OF BRISTOL PARISH, VIRGINIA. |
172O-17S9. Transcribed and Published by |
Churchill Gibson Chamberlayne, Rich |
mond, Va. Privately printed, 1898. Svo., |
cloth, uncut pages, viii. and 4l9. Price, |
s..
This is an exceedingly valuable con-
tribution to the materials for the His
tory Of Virginia, and for its preserva-
ton in this form the discriminating stu |
dent will recognize a lasting obliga-
ton TO the energy and intelligence OF
young gentleman who has performed this
most creditable work in his 21st year.
The original manuscript volume to which
Dr. Slaughter had access, and doubtless
Bishop Meade, also, was preserved for
forty years by the late Rev.
Churchill J. Gibson, OF Petersburg. His
grandson. Churchill Gibson Chamber
layne, eldest son Of the late Captain
John Hampden Chamberlayne, deter
mined, something ovec year ago. to en-
deavor 10 secure its permanent preserva-
ton by reproducing it In an edition of
100 copies. His leisure hours, after ex-
acting daily tasks, were devoted for
4 period of seven months to the prepara-
lion of faithful transcript TO serve as
printers copy. About the 1st Of March
asst, he announced his purpose 10 print
provided a sufficient number OF sub
icribers could be secured, at So per copy,
% pay the printers bill. That he was
successful, the excellent list of sub
cribers printed in the volume before us (
proves, and his finished work was form
lily published on August 20. 1898. the price |
or copies then remaining not subscribed |
or being advanced to s.. The Vestry |
Cook contains the minutes of all meet
ngs from October 30, l720, to April Is, |
7s9, complete. except for the period from
October g. 1922 to November H. 1723 | ,
where two leaves had been torn from
he original. covers pa pages, and the
eglster OF births. baptisms. and deaths e
arliest entry April Il. 1855; latest March c
1898, covers III pages. The index of | ;
ames, which is full and complete, bear
ne every evidence Of intelligence and
deity in its preparation, covers the re- !
naming twenty-three pages. There is a J
iodest and sensible preface, in which
re given some titles of other printed
ources for information respecting that
action of Virginia covered in Bristol j
arish, which was organized in 1913, and
. some period in its history embraced
18th it's bounds the present city of Pc a
srsburg and portions OF what are now o
hesterfield, POwhatan Prince George a
nwiddie, Amelia and NOttoway cOun- a
es. We congratulate Mr. Chamber Z
yne and his printer on the good taste s
splayed in this publication. mechani- p
lily. And in the fidelity TO the original. | q
zen "in every eccentrcity of spelling II
nd abbreviation and in all mistakes" s.
.sulting in "as accurate a reproduction | n
the manuscript as types VIII make 81
the fullness and accuracy of the index Ia
so-this work may we'll be taken as a "
odel for others who may be stimulated | n
further effort for the proper preserva- ri
On OF the materials for the History OF If
irginia. n
HE ATLANTIC MONTHLY. September g
1898. Contents, Unpublished Letters OF
Carlisle l., by Charles Townsend Cope s.
and. Fifty Years Of American Science a
W. j. Melee; New Opportunities for u
American Commerce by Worthington c. CT
Ford: The Vivisection of China, by n
Elisee Riches: Prince Kropotkin, by Ro- q
pert Erskine Ely; The Autobiography of n
Revolutionist l., by z. Kropotkin; To II
Those who Know, by Henrietta Chris "a