ter, Esq., as Auditor. A vote of thanks was adopted to the
Council of the National Sunday League for the use of its rooms
during 1888, and it was resolved to hold future meetings at the
Somerville Club. The play of Marina was then read. The
order of proceedings for the current year, 1889, is as follows:
February 17, Love's Labour Lost; March 17, Comedy of
Errors; April 14, Two Gentlemen of Verona; May 19,
Romeo and Juliet; June 16, Richard II.; July 21, As You
Like It (Epping Forest); August 18, Out-door Meeting;
October 20, King John; November 17, Merchant of Venice;
December 15, Taming of the Shrew; January 19, 1890, Annual
Meeting.
MISS E. PHIPSON, Hon. Sec.

THE PARIS SHAKESPEARE SOCIETY.-At the first meeting of the Shakespeare Society of Paris it was "Resolved, That the Society be called 'The Shakespeare Society of Paris.' That the meetings take place on the 2d and 4th Fridays of each month, at 8.30 P.M. (For the present, at least, the meetings are held in the rooms of the Church Institute, 106 Faubourg St. Honoré.) That steps be taken to find out the cost of printing a quarterly journal of transactions, before discussing the amount of subscription. That the subjects of study for the present term be the historical plays; that the work of each member be fixed by the organizer elected for that purpose. The first play studied was King John. There was an older play, The Troublesome Raine of King John, in existence in 1591, which was written by Marlowe, or Peele, or Greene, or somebody else, perhaps Shakespeare. Our play was probably written about 1596. Neither this play nor Richard II. has any comedy. Errors and Omissions.-1. No mention is made of Magna Charta, though Langton is introduced. 2. Count Limoges is doubled with the Duke of Austria, who is thus made to kill Richard I. Mr. Virolleaud criticised the character of the Bastard. Shakespeare seems to have wished to show that in spite of the slur upon his name and birth he was brave, honorable, and above all, patriotic. He is the only good character in the piece. He represents the middle-class feeling of the nation. His soliloquy in

Act I. shows the disdain felt for the upstart aristocracy: "Now I can make any Joan a lady." "New-made honor doth forget men's names. His father's spirit appears in his desire for fighting and in his treatment of Austria. The openness of his mind is shown in the freedom with which he confesses his worship of "Commodity." He is a patriot to the last and ill supports John's abject submission to the Pope and the French. Mr. Kitchen considered the character of Constance, the widowed mother whose son is wronged by his uncle. Mr. Jones drew attention to some parallels between this play and Macbeth. In both, a near relation kills the rightful King. The spiritual powers are victorious (the witches and the Roman Church). Both usurpers lose their position through the very means they take to retain it, and both are brought to confusion by a foreign power (Macbeth by the English and John by the French). Mr. Maxton remarked that it has been supposed that the play of King John contains an undercurrent of allusion to the reign of Elizabeth, in which the rightful heir is Mary Stuart, who is supported by a King of France in the same wavering fashion as Arthur was. The feeling of the nation about the Papal excommunication of the sovereign and the defeat of the foreign invasion, would be well expressed in the jubilant words with which the play closes

Naught shall make us rue,

If England to itself do rest but true.

THE MELBOURNE SHAKESPEARE SOCIETY has one hundred and thirty-eight regular, eleven honorary members, and a library. It prints annually a list of the papers read during the session, the Shakespeare examination papers during the year, the rules of the Society, and Treasurer's balance-sheet. It institutes prizes for essays, and the names of those to whom they are awarded also appear in these annual reports of proceedings. Melbourne, Australia. Rev. JOHN REED, Hon. Sec.

MRS. VINCENT'S SHAKESPEARE CLASS, OF AKRON, OHIO, meets at the residence of its President, Mrs. B. T. Vincent, on Satur

day evenings. The class is at present reading Lear, using the Furniss Variorum and the Friendly edition of the play. A spirited debate on the question, "Was Shylock more sinned against than sinning?" was lately a part of the exercises. Akron, Feb. 13, 1889. H. S. PHILLIPS, Secretary.

MONTREAL SHAKESPEARE CLUB.-21st Meeting.-Essays on Antony and Cleopatra. Mr. Stirling commenced with a paper on "Cæsar Augustus" which was mainly historical; the principal points were: His early history; the circumstances leading to the formation of the triumvirate; its history; Cæsar's ambition; his treatment of Antony and Lepidus; his war with Antony; his capture of Cleopatra; the death of Antony and Cleopatra; his good rule after Antony's death; measures taken to please the people, and finally his death in Illyria. The essay concluded with a sketch of his character and of the views taken of him by the historians. The next paper was by Mr. Watson on "Antony." After stating that the interest of the play was more personal than historical, the essayist gave a résumé of the history of Antony; his early life; his advancement by Cæsar; his meeting with Cleopatra, and her influence on his character. His great natural talents were ruined by his passion for pleasure and his lust. Shakespeare has not given us a true picture of Antony, having neglected to show us some of his greatest faults; but the poet has subordinated everything to the love of Antony and Cleopatra. After contrasting their love with the love of Romeo and Juliet-the love of passion and appetite with the love of affection and instinct-the paper closed with an account of his gradual fall and his death. Mr. Bell then read a paper on "Cleopatra." After showing her early life up to the meeting with Antony, the writer described her character and her great personal charms, discussing her infatuation with Antony and their attraction for each other. His love for her was so great that he deserted his wife, while she was willing to do anything to possess him body and soul. A description of her feelings at the death of Antony, and of her own death scene, brought the paper to a close.

F. T. SHORT, Hon. Sec.

THE LADIES' SHAKESPEARE CLUB OF CADIZ, OHIO, which has been in existence for fourteen years, held a jubilee on March 29th. A banquet whose menu was elaborately and appropriately garnished with Shakespearian quotations cleverly selected was spread, and the Ladies, the Lawyers, the Doctors, and the Press all appropriately toasted. Miss Lizzie McFadden, the President of the Club, wound up the feast with an eloquent address.

THE LADIES' SHAKESPEARE CLUB OF DECATUR, INDIANA, sends SHAKESPEARIANA its dainty programme of exercises of its seventh anniversary. A "Club Song" pledging its members "All Baconites to eschew" and to Shakespeare "to be true," appears to have held a prominent part in the exercises. The essays read were as follows: Alexander, Achilles-Greek Battles-Agamemnon, Timon, Mrs. M. Bailey; Pericles. Ajax, Maggie Dorwin; Priam, Aristides, Athens, Mrs. D. Studabaker; Priam's Sons, Greek Costumes, Themistocles, Philip of Macedon, Hattie Studabaker; Siege of Troy, Appomantus, Ancient Greece, Mrs. C. E. Hooper; Miltiades Ventidius, Ida Mann; Greek Mythology, Alcibiades, Eschylus: Three Greek Poets, Mrs. Nachtrieb; Xenophon, Herodotus, Flavius, Mrs. A. Stoops; Socrates, The Women of Troilus and Cressida, Mrs. N. H. Mann; Lucius and Lucullus, Mrs. Dick Morrison.

THE SHAKESPEARIAN SECTION OF THE UNITY CLUB of Sioux City, Iowa, held on January 26 its first meeting in the parlors of the Unitarian church, and completed the reading of King Lear. A paper was read by Mrs. G. W. Oberholtzer on a "Comparison of the Plays of Hamlet and King Lear." At the next meeting of the Shakespeare Section the Club will commence the reading of Midsummer Night's Dream, and the Leader will give a short introductory address to the reading of the play.

WILL Clubs please send SHAKESPEARIANA lists of their officers ?

BOOKS RECEIVED.

*Editions of Shakespeare sent to us are reviewed in leading articles under the title, "WHAT EDITION OF SHAKESPEARE SHALL I BUY?" Other volumes are noticed in numerical order on their receipt.

(25) THE SHAKESPEARIAN MYTH. By Appleton Morgan. Third Edition. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co. Cloth, pp. 342, xviii.

(26) THE MERMAID SERIES. Edited by Havelock Ellis. John Ford. Edited by Havelock Ellis. London: Vizetelly & Co. Cloth, pp. 401.

(27) THE MERMAID SERIES. Edited by Havelock Ellis. Thomas Otway. Edited by the Hon. Roden Noel. London: Vizetelly & Co. Cloth, pp. 391.

(28) THE MERMAID SERIES. Phillip Massinger. Edited by Arthur Symonds. London: Vizetelly & Co. Cloth, pp.

390-384.

(29) SHAKESPEAREAN EXTRACTS FROM EDWARD PUDSEY'S BOOKE. Temp. Q. Elizabeth and K. James I., which Include some from an unknown Play by William Shakespeare. Also a few unpublished Records of the Shakespeares of Snitterfield and Wroxall. Preserved in the Public Record Office. Edited by Richard Savage. Stratford-on-Avon: John Sinith. London: Simpkin & Marshall. Vellum cloth, pp. 83. (30) THE BANKSIDE SHAKESPEARE. Vol. IV., Troilus and Cressida. New York. The Shakespeare Society of New York, pp. 237.

(31) THE MEMORIAL THEATRE EDITION. First Part of King Henry VI. An Historical Play by William Shakespeare. Edited by C. E. Flower. London: Samuel French, 89 Strand. Paper, pp. 77.

(32) SHAKESPEARE UND SHAKSPERE: Zur Genesis der Shakespeare-Dramen: von K. F. Graf von Vitzthum_von Eckstadt. Stuttgart: Verlag der J. G. Cotta'schen. Buchhandlung. Cloth, 8vo, pp. 264.

(33) AN EXPLANATORY AND PRONOUNCING DICTIONARY OF THE NOTED NAMES of FICTION: Including also the familiar Pseudonyms, Surnames bestowed on eminent men, and analogous