288
NOTES AND QUERIES, no s. vii. APRIL is, 1907.
Philadelphia. " Halt ! 20 dollars fine. Street
closed for repairs." Pittsburg. " Do not handle."
Buffalo. "No loafing. Stay outside the railing."
Railway station, New Castle, Pa. "If you can't
pay, don't drink." In a saloon, Oil City, Pa.
HARRY HEMS. Fair Park, Exeter.
A FACE TJPON CONSCIENCE. When Bal- thazar, in ' Much Ado about Nothing,' II. iii. 47, has asked to be excused from repeating his song, Don Pedro handsomely observes :
It is the witness still of excellency
To put a strange face on his own perfection.
Manifestly in the spirit of this happy com- pliment, Sir Walter Scott, in a letter to Cadell of 12 Dec., 1830, refers to the gently depreciatory criticism of his friends on ' Count Robert of Paris.' After alluding to the unsatisfactory state of his health, and the difficulties under which he labours at his inevitable task, he proceeds thus :
" One night last month, when I had a friend with me, I had a slight vertigo when going to bed, and fell down in my dressing-room, though but for one instant. Upon this I wrote to Dr. Abercromby, and in consequence of his advice, I have restricted myself yet farther, arid have cut off the cigar, and almost half of the mountain-dew. Now, in the midst of all this, I began my work with as much attention as I could ; and having taken pains with my story, I find it is not relished, nor indeed tolerated by those who have no interest in con- demning it, but a strong interest in putting even a face upon their consciences."
Quoting this passage on p. 157 of his monograph on Scott, in " English Men of Letters," the late Mr. R. H. Hutton queries the use of " face " in the closing phrase, and suggests " force " as the word probably intended by the writer. When proposing this emendation, the critic may have been stimulated by the recollection of Milton's sonnet ' On the New Forcers of Conscience,' and if so he would naturally fail to detect the distinctive shade of meaning in the state- ment as it stands. There is no forcing in the attitude presented in Scott's metaphor ; it is rather a nimble and gracious imper- sonation that is suggested than an imperious compulsion. Like Rosalind's damsels, the critics of the new book might, presumably, decline to make full revelation of what they firmly believed. That, says the " saucy lackey," gathering the argument to a con- clusion, " is one of the points in the which women still give the lie to their consciences." Similarly, it is a feature in the generous treatment of a friend when failure within his special sphere comes up for consideration. THOMAS BAYNE.
( writs.
WE must request correspondents desiring in- formation on family matters of only private interest to affix their names and addresses to their queries, in order that answers may be sent to them direct.
" CEIBA." MR. JAS. PLATT gives, ante,.
p. 167, the etymology of the word " tobacco,"
and as this gentleman says he has been
engaged for many years in looking up
etymologies of American terms for the
' N.E.D.,' I should like his opinion as to
the orthography of the word ceiba, whether
with a c or an s, and the reason of either
spelling. E. FIGAROLA-CANEDA.
Compostela, 49 (altos), Habana, Cuba.
WILLIAM TALMAN, ARCHITECT : HAMPTON COURT PALACE. MR. JOHN HEBB says (ante, p. 207) that "William Talman had charge of the buildings at Hampton Court under Wren, and is believed to have died about 1700."
I do not know if MR. HEBB means that William Talman was merely the keeper of the buildings, or was the clerk of the works during the extensive alterations made by William III. and Mary to the palace under W^ren in 1689-90. If the latter, will he or any others of your correspondents tell me if either Wren or Talman left any drawings, plans, or ground plans whatever of those parts of the palace as they were before they were then (1689-90) altered (i.e., as in the time of Charles I., 1647-8), and where they may now be seen ?
It cannot be supposed that a large part of an extensive building like this palace would be pulled down, and the new part be built on its site, without plans of the old as well as of the new parts having been made- by architects of the eminence of Wren and William Talman. I am aware that Mr. Ernest Law in his ' History of Hampton Court Palace,' vol. iii., says that he had not discovered any such plans ; but neverthe- less such ground plans or drawings may yet be in existence in some unknown place, as has not unfrequently been the case in regard to those of other buildings.
While on this subject I would ask if any plans of those parts of the palace gardens next the Thames as they were in 1647-8 are in existence ; and, if so, where they are,, and if they can be seen. C. MASON.
29, Emperor's Gate, S.W.
BROWNE'S ' RELIGIO MEDICI,' 1707. If the possessor of a copy of this work dated 1707, and purchased of Messrs. Pickering
