ully accepted. To the rest of the company the
crimson or the sheepskin hood might be assigned _honoris causa_ to the
eternal confusion of the Philistine, and the rage of the industrious and
the dull. Thus would Oxford confer honour on herself, and the artist be
placed in his proper position. However, whether or not Convocation
recognizes the claims of culture, I hope that the Oxford Dramatic Society
will produce every summer for us some noble play like _Henry IV_. For,
in plays of this kind, plays which deal with bygone times, there is
always this peculiar charm, that they combine in one exquisite
presentation the passions that are living with the picturesqueness that
is dead. And when we have the modern spirit given to us in an antique
form, the very remoteness of that form can be made a method of increased
realism. This was Shakespeare's own attitude towards the ancient world,
this is the attitude we in this century should adopt towards his plays,
and with a feeling akin to this it seemed to me that these brilliant
young Oxonians were working. If it was so, their aim is the right one.
For while we look to the dramatist to give romance to realism, we ask of
the actor to give realism to romance.

A HANDBOOK TO MARRIAGE
(_Pall Mall Gazette_, November 18, 1885.)

In spite of its somewhat alarming title this book may be highly
recommended to every one. As for the authorities the author quotes, they
are almost numberless, and range from Socrates down to Artemus Ward. He
tells us of the wicked bachelor who spoke of marriage as 'a very harmless
amusement' and advised a young friend of his to 'marry early and marry
often'; of Dr. Johnson who proposed that marriage should be arranged by
the Lord Chancellor, without the parties concerned having any choice in
the matter; of the Sussex labourer who asked, 'Why should I give a woman
half my victuals for cooking the other half?' and of Lord Verulam who
thought that unmarried men did the best public work. And, indeed,
marriage is the one subject on which all women agree and all men
disagree. Our author, however, is clearly of the same opinion as the
Scotch lassie who, on her father warning her what a solemn thing it was
to get married, answered, 'I ken that, father, but it's a great deal
solemner to be single.' He may be regarded as the champion of the
married life. Indeed, he has a most interesting chapter on marriage-made
men, and though he dissents, and we th