Various

“ THE CAXTON MEMORIAL AND CHAUCER'S MONUMENT. The result of the appeals which have recently been made to the sympathies of the present age for the purpose of erecting a Memorial to our first Printer, and of restoring the crumbling tomb of one of our earliest and greatest Poets, has gone near to prove that the admirers of Caxton and Chaucer are disposed to yield to the objects of their hero-worship little more than lip service. In short, the plan for the Caxton Memorial, and that for the restoration of Chaucer's Monument, have well nigh failed. ”

“ It is this quality which irritates Hamlet, who is otherwise in the whole of this scene in a particularly moralising and philosophic mood, and is by no means "splenetic and rash." Hamlet, a prince, is openly cursed by Laertes: he is even seized by him, and he still only remonstrates. There is anything but rant in what he (Hamlet) says; he uses the most homely phrases; so homely that there is something very like scorn in them ”

“ Is it common amongst the uneducated classes of society?
COWGILL.
95. Cockroach (Vol. i., p. 194.) .
—Having seen in "NOTES AND QUERIES" some interesting particulars on the subject of beetle mythology, I am induced to put a Query as to the derivation of the word "cockroach." The common appellation for this insect in the French islands is ravet, but [152] the more correct one is kakerlaque. Does the affinity in sound between this latter term and "cockroach," slight though it be, warrant the supposition that the one may be derived from the other? ”

“ Many of your readers no doubt feel much indebted to your correspondent for his able summary of the eisell controversy; an example which it is to be hoped will be followed in other cases. It has induced me to collect a few passages for the purpose of showing that Shakspeare was accustomed to make use of what may be termed localisms, which were frequently as occult as in the instance of the eisell; and that he was especially fond of establishing himself with the children of his brain in the particular country by means of allusion to the neighbouring seas and rivers. ”

“ We thus see that there is no real rant in Hamlet; he is not outbragging Laertes; but institutes the possible, in contradiction to swagger and mouthing. The interpretation of eisell thus becomes a matter of character, and to a great degree would determine an actor's mode of rendering the whole scene. This result I do not see that any of your correspondents have taken notice of; and yet it really is the main thing worth discussing.
This interpretation too has the advantage of coinciding with Shakspeare's perpetual love of contrast ”

“ Your correspondent J. S. W. well deserves the thanks of all those of your readers who have taken an interest in the discussion on the meaning of eisell in Hamlet, for the able manner in which he has summed up the evidence put forward by the counsel on both sides. Perhaps he is correct in his conclusion, that, of twelve good men and true, nine would give their verdict for eisell being "a river;" while but three would favour the "bitter potion." ”

“ Nash had little difficulty in persuading the king that the space occupied by so large a library could not be spared for that purpose, if the house was to be arranged as a palace both for private residence and for purposes of state; and as there was a very great jealousy in Parliament of the expense of Buckingham House, he was afraid to propose the erection of an additional building to receive the books. It was then that the scheme was hit on, I know not exactly by whom (but I believe by Mr. Nash) , of giving the books to the British Museum. ”

“ What are the best standard works on the study of the language of ancient Egypt, as preserved in its monuments? What are the best works on its chronology? What translations exist of its "Ritual of the Dead?" I am acquainted with Lepsius Todtenbuch. What MSS. of it, if any, are preserved in British museums or libraries? have they been collated? I am acquainted with that in the library of Trinity College, Dublin, formerly in possession of the late Lord Kingsborough, which, I believe, has never been even lithographed; though among the members of that university are a Hincks, a Wall, and a Butcher. ”

“ Theobald, a most admirable annotator, has narrowed the controversy very properly, to the consideration whether Hamlet was here proposing possibilities or impossibilities. J. S. W. dwells on the whole of the dialogue between Hamlet and Laertes as a rant; and sinks all the lines and passages that would bring it down to sanity. But this seems to line singularly unjust. Imprimis, Hamlet is not enraged like Laertes, "who hath a dear sister lost," and is a very choleric, impetuous, and arrogant young gentleman. ”

“ MR. CORNEY'S proposal, of giving an impression of Caxton's original compositions, would unquestionably be his most enduring and glorious monument. These reprints would be dear, not only to the bibliographer, but to the philologist and men of letters generally. But the work would be an expensive one, and the editors should be far more liberally recompensed than by merely receiving a limited number of copies. As the subscription would probably be very limited, the work should be undertaken by the nation, and not by individuals ”

“ He never rants at all, but rides over his antagonist by his cool reasoning and his own magnificent imagination. The adoption of Theobald and Hickson's interpretation of the word eisell becomes therefore of great importance as indicating the character of Hamlet. ”

“ There is no objection whatever, even in the judgment of its enemies, against eisell meaning "a bitter potion," except that they prefer the river as more to their taste; for the objection of MR. CAUSTON I conceive to have no weight at all, that "to drink up" can only be applied "to a definite quantity;" surely it may also mean, and very naturally, to drink "without stint." And eisell need not be taken as meaning nothing more than "vinegar;" ”

“ In another place he tells us that on one occasion Themistocles declared in the Athenian assembly, that he had a plan to propose which would be of great advantage to the state, but ought not to be made public. He was willing, however, to communicate it to any one person whom they might select. Aristides, rightly named the Just, being the person selected, Themistocles disclosed his plan to him: which was, secretly to set fire to the Lacedæmonian fleet in the dockyard of Gytheum, by which means they would effectually crush the power of the Lacedæmonians. ”

“ It has been surmised, however, that an impediment to Swift's marriage of an entirely different nature from consanguinity may have existed; or that, feeling himself to be labouring under an hereditary disease, he may have been unwilling to propagate it. I am much inclined to think that the objection to the marriage of Swift and Stella, which certainly must have existed, was of this last description; and that [161] it would have been equally strong the case of any other female. ”

“ I now add that he never has on any occasion entered the council chamber, that he has never taken the oath nor performed any act of a privy councillor, and that in short there is not the [158] smallest doubt with any one who knows anything about the Privy Council, that the Lord Mayor of London no more belongs to it than the Lord Mayors of York or Dublin, or the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, all of whom are equally styled Right Honorable, which title, I repeat, is the sole and silly pretence of this new-fangled hypothesis. ”

“ The custom of placing a plate of salt on the body of the dead is very general in Wales. I remember, when a child, inquiring the reason of the practice, and being told by an old woman that it was to prevent the body from swelling. My remark, that any weight might answer the same purpose, was met by the reply; "there's no weight so heavy as salt gets when it is on the dead." ”

“ Aristides returned to the assembly, and at once declared that Themistocles' plan was certainly very advantageous, but by no means honourable; whereupon the Athenians, rightly considering that what was not attended with honour, could not be attended even with advantage in reality, without hearing another word, "repudiated the whole affair;" that is, utterly rejected the proposal. ”

“ In heraldry, the arms of sovereigns and royal personages are blazoned by the names of the sun, moon, and planets, for colours, as those of noblemen are by precious stones. If this is what is asked after, the following table will explain it:—
C.
Baronets of Ireland (Vol. iv., p. 44.) .
—The two following extracts may throw some light upon the origin of the title of baronet. James I. probably adopted this title, which he found to have been so long existing in Ireland, for the new order of nobility he was about to establish. ”

“ The names and subsequent history of those families who remained loyal during the American Revolution, are worthy of record; most of whom have, I believe, prospered in the world since the confiscation of their property. ”

“ Cicero, in his Offices, in opposition to the opinion of the peripatetic school, that anger is implanted in us by nature for useful ends, lays it down as a principle, that "on all occasions anger ought to be repudiated;" ”

“ Were I to form any judgment when this work was commenced, I should say about 1738, and that all the engravings for it were done by Toms; and the first edition was printed in 1742, without any printer's name, and that some copies were so bound up. The other copies remained in sheets until the next year, when Faber was employed to engrave the portraits, and till 1744 or 1747; 1747 being the latest date of Faber's plates. There is some curious information in these volumes, and I would recommend your readers to observe how much the conduct of the Catholics of Ireland, recorded in vol. ii. p. ”

“ Turn all to serpents!"
In the last two passages it may be observed, that the hyperbolical treatment of the two rivers [157] bears some analogy to that of the eisell; and it may also be pointed out, that although one of your correspondents has rashly maintained that the word cannot mean a river because the definite article is omitted before it, Thames, Tiber, and Nile here occur without. Upon the whole it must appear that there is some reason for adopting the motto:
"Flow on, thou shining river." ”

“ The Tomb of Geoffrey Chaucer in Westminster Abbey is fast mouldering into irretrievable decay. A sum on One Hundred pounds will effect a perfect repair. The Committee have not thought it right to fix any limit to the contribution; they themselves have opened the list with a subscription from each of them of Five Shillings; but they will be ready to receive any amount, more or less, which those who value poetry and honour Chaucer may be kind enough to remit to them.
Subscriptions have been received from the Earls of Carlisle, Ellesmere, and Shaftesbury, Viscounts Strangford and Mahon, Pres. ”

“ In favour of the former, we have Geoffrey of Monmouth, Carte the English historian, and modern Welsh authors; for the latter, Gibbon and his authorities. The object of the present Query is threefold: 1. Will some one having access to Geoffrey be kind enough to favour me (in the original or a translation) with the exact statement of the chronicler to which Gibbon refers? 2. Are writers of intelligence and credit quite agreed that the tradition which assigns to the wife of Constantius a royal British parentage was "invented in the darkness of monasteries?" 3. ”

“ Here we leave the matter for the present not, however, without the hope that the present age will do [147] honour to the memories of two of our Illustrious Dead, and that few months will witness both a Caxton Memorial in the shape of a collective edition of his original writings, and the Restoration of the Monument of the Father of English Poetry.
Notes. COLLAR OF SS.
(Vol. ii., pp. 89. 475.) ”

“ Query, was F. Egmont a printer as well as a bookseller? Granting that officina means a shop, how can a mere bookseller sell none but correctly printed works? The writer of the above was himself a bookseller (Joh. Ant. Venetus) .
Of Peter above-mentioned, or rather of his name, the following is the history:—The colophon of the promptorius, of which there is a copy in the Grenville Library, runs as follows "... ”

“ The duplicate pages 453 to 460 are peculiar to the second edition only. One of my copies contains two additional plates, one of Wardour Castle, the other of Acton Burnell, evidently engraved for the work. The map of the baronies of Duhallow, &c., is only in one copy, viz. the original edition. Unfortunately, this original edition wants all the portraits of Faber, but it has the tomb of Richard Percival of 1190, beginning "Orate," as in Lowndes. It contains also a duplicate portrait of Sir Philip Percival, engraved by Toms in 1738 (who also engraved the Wardour and Acton Burnell Castles) ”

“ Your Cambridge correspondent has shown that the Metrical Sermons contain interesting passages also illustrative of manners and as the extracts he has made have given occasion to some glossarial Queries from an Oxford correspondent, J. E., should they not be more satisfactorily answered by C. H., to whom they are addressed, perhaps the following attempt to resolve them may not be unacceptable. ”

“ Eriswell, pronounced Asel; Wymondham (in Norfolk) Wyndham, &c. Among those names of places in which the ve is left out, your correspondent has omitted Elveden (commonly, though erroneously, Elvedon) , which is always called and often spelled Elden.
A. N.
"The Worm in the Bud," &c. (Vol. iv., p. 86.) .
—This quotation is from Cowper's lines appended to the Bill of Mortality for the parish of All Saints, Northampton, for 1787:
"Read, ye that run, the awful truth
With which I charge my page;
A worm is in the bud of youth,
And at the root of age." ”