SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.
[Under this heading we notice such Books of the week as have not been reserved for review in other forms.] Dublin. By Samuel A. Ossory Fitzpatrick. (Methuen and Co. 4s. 6d. net.)—This is one of the " Ancient Cities" Series. Dublin, which looks back to nearly eleven centuries, may fairly claim inclusion in the class, though it is not ancient in the sense that Damascus, Athens, and Rome may be so styled. Scandinavian Dublin lasted over three hundred years ; after this came Anglo- Norman Dublin ; after this again the Tudor and Stuart period. Irish Dublin may be said to have existed for a few months in 1089. Let us hope that if it ever comes again into being it may conduct itself better. Six of Mr. Fitzpatrick's eleven chapters are given to the different periods of the city's life; another deals with Trinity College. The social life of the city from the time when records of the subject begin to be available, the municipal 'history, the theatre, which has achieved no small distinction, are successively treated, and there is a separate account of "Historic Houses and Distinguished Dubliners." The Cathedrals of Christ Church and St. Patrick are duly described. Altogether, we have in this volume a carefully written and interesting book.— ' Another Tub/in will be found in the "Mediaeval Towns" Series (J. M. Dent and Co., 4s. 6d. net). The writer is Mr. D. A. Chart, M.A. We do not propose to make any comparison between the two books. In a certain sense one will be found supplementary to the other, and subjects common to both, as most of the matters dealt with must necessarily be, are somewhat differently handled. Mr. Chart tells some excellent stories, and has the advantage of some specially good illustrations, the work of Mr. Henry J. Howard. One story which is new to us, though doubtless well known in Dublin, is that of the "Ouzel Galley." This vessel left Dublin on a trading voyage, and was not heard of for many years. The underwriters paid the insurance. At last it returned, laden with a rich cargo. An Algerian corsair had captured it and used it for its own purpose. Then the Irish crew rose upon its captors and recovered it with all its accumulated spoils. To whom did these belong, to the owners or the underwriters ? The question was fiercely contested in the Courts, and at last settled by arbitration. An"Ouzel Galley Society" was founded to perpetuate the arbitration method in such cases. It became a convivial club, and was finally dissolved.
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