Sketches and Studies : Descriptive and Historical. By Richard John
King, B.A. (John Murray.)—This volume contains the occasional contributions made to some of our best periodical literature through a period of about eighteen years (1856-64). The rare efforts of a learned and accomplished man, they have all the fullness and finish which in our day haste and over-production so commonly prohibit. Among a number of essays, all abounding in valuable matter, and all pic- turesquely and even brilliantly written, all, too, dealing with subjects to which the author has given special attention, it is not easy to single out any for special praise. "The Great Shrines of England" is, perhaps, the most striking of all, with its description of such famous places as the last resting-places of St. Cuthbert at Durham and St. Thomas at Canterbury. "Sacred Trees and Flowers" and "The Dogs of Folklore, History, and Romance" will please different classes of readers. The golden age of dogs, as this present time may be called, does not date far back. Mr. King points out that
the evil report which the Oriental associations of Scripture gave to the animal clung to him far into medieval and even beyond mediasval times. Among some nations of antiquity, indeed, be enjoyed favour, if not dignity. He appears on Egyptian monu- ments ; Greek fashionables, like Alcibiades, affect a taste for curious varieties of him ; he was found among the paraphernalia of Roman luxury. But he has never been honoured as he is now among Christian nations, who, in this respect at least, if not in weightier matters, are agreed to disregard their most authoritative traditions. The nearer, certainly, we come to our own times, the more frequent do we find notable individuals of the race. Here, indeed, Mr. King's article becomes very entertaining, nothing being better than the advertisement which he quotes from the Mercurius Rusticus of 1660, and which, it has been suggested, may have come from the sacred hand of King Charles him- self. If it did, we can only say that we wish that more of his writings had been preserved. It runs thus :—" Whosoever finds him may acquaint any at Whitehall, for the dog was better knowil at Court than those who stole him. Will they never leave robbing his Majesty ? Must he not keep a dog ? This dog's place, though better than some imagine, is the only place which nobody offers to buy. Doubtless it was stolen, for it was not born nor bred in England, and would never forsake its master." This sarcasm is pretty strong, coming so soon after May 29, 1660. "Travelling in England" is another excellent article, this time of the descriptive sort. It is in fact, for its title may be misunderstood, mainly a recommendation to travel in England, and it should be a very effective one. Of the same kind is a very charming article on "Robert Herrick and his Vicarage," containing withal some discriminative criticism on the poet. It is a curious thing that a writer in the Quarterly in 1810 should have found traditions of Herrick in his Devonshire parish of Dean Prior, and that these should have entirely disappeared, although more than forty years afterwards. Why should not what had lasted one hundred and forty years last one hundred and eighty ? Sometimes traditions have a tendency to increase.
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