Notes On Literature, Science, And Art.

NOTES ON LITERATURE , SCIENCE , AND ART .

Viscount Gage has issued a second edition of his able pamphlet on The Question of Marriage with a Deceased Wiftfs Sister , in Avhich he contends that both Scripture ancl human reason are rather in favour of than opposed to such unions . It is nofc our province to enter into the merits of this question , but Ave give one

short extract as a sample of the pamphlet . " We have , " says the noble Viscount , " the very best comment that ifc is possible to have upon the JeAvish laAv , as regards the main point in question , marriage Avith the sister of a deceased ivife ; and thafc is in the practice of the Jews themselves . They have neA'er amalgamated with any other nation , but have kept their OAvn traditions ; and if

they have altered iiA aught , it has been on the side of restriction , not of relaxation , of any IcnoAvn or supposed laAv . Now , how clo tbey interpret their OAVU laws upon this subject ? So far from this marriage being forbidden among them , ifc is encouraged , especially Avhere the first Avife has left children ; the sister is considered the most desirable of step-mothers . Thus Ave have no direct

prohibition , but a A'ery strongly implied permission , in the eighteenth verse [ of Leviticus xviii . ] , and tbe practice of the people to Avhose ancestors the law Avas given , and Avho still profess to be guided by ifc , and no proof that their customs or opinions Avere ever different . " Men like a peep into the studios of painters and sculptors , the library of the author , and the laboratory of the chemist . In The

Life ofM . W . Turner , M . A ., by Mr . Walter Thornbury , just published , Ave are told that : — " Turner painted in Queen Anne Street , in Avhat he called his drawing-room , in Avhich there Avas a good north lighfc . Here he ivould be surrounded by Avater-colour drawings in all states of progress . * * The sordid and unhappy-looking room in Queen Anne Street AA'as remarkable for a dusty and dirty buffetbought at some second-hand Jeiv broker's . In this Turner

, kept the immemorial sherry bottle Avith the broken cork that served him for a decanter , and ivhich no joking of friends could get him to change . This Avas the identical bottle and buffet of Avhich the old story Avas current at the clubs . A friend came to see Turner , and Avas treated AA'ith a glass of sherry from the old bottle ancl the old buffet—one glass . About the same time next year the artist cameagainhad another glassand praised the wine .

, , , ' It ought to be good , ' said Turner , 'it's the same bottle yon tasted before . ' * * And here , I may as Avell introduce a vivid picture of the house in general , communicated to me by Dr . ShaAA ' , a relation of Turner ' s on the mother's side . My informant went to claim relationship Avith the great man , a mode of introduction that Turner regarded with peculiar abhorrence . His other relations , no doubt , had ignored , him Avhen in poverty , and UOAV that he Avas rich

they buzzed round his door , like Hesh-iiies round a carcase . The narrator was not one of these . Dr . Shaiv says : — ' I once hacl an interview with the great artist , ancl once only , Avith a view to claim the relationship . A time Avas duly appointed for an intervieAA * . Accordingly 1 went to his residence in Queen Anne Street , AA'hen I Avas ushered into a dark-room , Avhere the mantelpiece Avas so covered ivith dust that I hacl great difficulty in ascertaining whether it ivas wood or marble , in the testing of Avhich a large finger-murk remained as an evidence of careless and bad management in housekeeninsr . The door outside was ns shaliliv ns if ifc

hacl formed part of a ruin ; a circular space surrounding the knocker shoived the original grain of the Avood , all the paint having disappeared for many years past . This circular space Avas a remarkable feature of the door , being nearly white , ancl this vividly contrasted Avith the dingy accumulated paint and dirt Avhich Avas visible OAA every other part of the door . The iron chain communicating ivith the kitchen-bell outside ivas as thorough

, ' rusted as if it had lain twenty years in a desert , ivithout shelter from the oxidizing influences of rain and CIOAV . It could not have been painted for twenty years at least , perhaps not for forty . As I had to Avait some ten minutes before Mr . Turner made his appearance , I had leisure , to examine the room and its contents . I have noiv forgotten the kind of furniture , but I Avell remember the dark , dirty , murky-looking AvindoAA's . They appeared to me as

though they had been cleaned but once and that must have been when they first came from the hands of the glazier . The room appeared to be less under the influence of the beautiful lighfc of heaven thaa any other apartment I ever remember to have seen . It Avas a comparative dungeon Avith tAvo dark-lanterns for Avindows . In the midst of various cogitations Avhich necessarily occupied my mind while alone in this dirty dungeon , of a sudden the great artist made his appearance , " And he says of Turner ' s strange Avay

of absconding , as it were , to Chelsea , ' ivithout his poor old housekeeper even knowing Avhere he AA'as : — " Many legends Avere after . ivards told of Turner ' s reasons for thus hiding himself at Chelsea , like a runaAvay bankrupt . The most generally believed story is the following . Turner , requiring change of air for his health , Avent to Chelsea in search of lodgings , aud found at last a little cottage very cheap , not far from the present Cremorne pier . The cottagelooked on the riverand had a railed-in rooffrom whence he

, , coulcl observe sky effects . The landlady , seeing a little thick-set , shabby man , asked him for ' reference . ' Turner replied , angrily , ' My good Avoman , I'll buy the house outright . ' Then the landlady Avanted to draw up an agreement . Turner again parried this by shOAving a roll of bank-notes , and offering to pay in advance . There ivas still a difficulty—fche landlady wanted her neAV lodger ' s name . * In casesirany gentleman should callyou knoAV . '—

, , , ' Name , name , ' the legend goes on to report Turner as groAvIing — ' Avhat is your name ? '— ' My name is Mrs . Booth . '— ' Then , I ' m Mr . Booth ; ' and by thafc name Turner Avent . But , unfortuntely for the story , Turner did not carry about rolls of bank-notes which he could flourish . All that was found in his pockets after his death was a solitary black half-croAvn— black from long seclusion in a grimy unvisited pockefc . In the streets of Chelsea ,

and all along the shore of the Thames , Turner was knoAvn to the street-boys , as * Puggy Booth , ' ancl by the small tradesmen he Avas designated ' Admiral Booth ' ; for the story ran that he Avas an old admiral in reduced circumstances . I am told that up to the period of his very last illness Turner would often rise at daybreak , leave his bed , Avith some blanket or dressing-gOAvn carelessly thrOAvn over him , and go up on the railed-in roof to see the sun rise and to observe the colour floAvflushing back into the pale morning sky .

, To me , there is in this tenacity of the dying man to his old love something very touching , something very sublime . " The fiendish doings of an infuriated soldiery let loose to sack a city may be judged of from the deeds of our OAvn troops at Badaioz , ivhich are thus described in the recently-issued Antohi

oyraphy and Services of Sir James M'Griyor , Part : — " In a little time the Avhole of the soldiers appeared to be in a state of mad drunkenness . In eA'ery street and in every corner Ave met them forcing their way like furies into houses , firing through the keyholes of the doors so as to force the locks , or at any person they saw at a windoiv imploring mercy . In passing some houses ivhich they had entered , we heai'd the shrieks of females , awcl sovaefcimes the groans of those Avhom they Avere no doubt butchering . All

Avas disorder and dire confusion . Soldiers , Avhom Ave met in the streets , having lost all respect for the uniform of an officer , looked at him Avith a threatening aspect if addressed ; and if threatened , they Avould sometimes point their muskets afc him . In one street , I met General Philippon , the governor , AA'ith his tAvo daughters , holding each by the hand ; all three with their hair dishevelled , and with them were tAvo British officers , each holding one of the

ladies by the arm , and with their draAvn SAVords making thrusts occasionally at soldiers who attempted to drag the ladies away . I am glad to say that these tivo British officers succeeded in conveying the governor and his daughters safely through the breach to the camp . With the exception of these ladies , I was told thafc very feiv females , olcl or young , escaped violation by our brutal soldiery , mad with brandy and Avith passion . At any other time ,

the rank ancl age of General Philippon , bare-headed , Avith his grey hair streaming in the wind , Avould have protected him from any soldiers . When I saAv them pulling at these tiA'o ladies , and endeavouring to drag them away from their father , and the two young officers AVIIO SO gallantly defended them at the peril of their lives , I coulcl not forbear going up , and endeavouring Avith threats to bring to the recollections of tAvo soldiers of my old regiment ,

the 88 th , IIOAV much they tarnished the glory which the Connaught Hangers hacl ever earned in the field , by such coAvardly conduct . But it AA'as only by my reminding them that I Avas an old Connaught Hanger , who felt for the glory of the corps , that 1 disarmed their rage towards to me , and that their raised muskets Avere lowered . Going towards the cathedral and castle , or wherever I ivenfc , I encountered nothing but a scene of savage riot and wild drunkenness , in which at length some of the wives even of our soldiers were active participators . "

The inauguration of Mr . Bacon ' s statue of the brave bat ill-fated Sir John Franklin took place afc Spilsby , in Lincolnshire , on Tuesday , Nov . 26 th . The Arctic hero is represented in a naval uniform , Avith a telescope in his right hand , and his left hand resting on an anchor . The statue is said to be very creditable to the sculptor . It stands in the market-place , and Avas uncovered by Sir John's companion in tivo voyages , Sir John Richardson . S pilsby has the high honour of being Sir John Franklin ' s native place , and we are glad that the inhabitants have had the public spirit to raise a monument to their truly noble townsman .