248
NOTES AND QUERIES. m s. iv. SEPT. 23, 1911.
' LOUD MACATJLAY'S LAST LINES : A
RIDDLE.' A friend of mine has found
in an old MS. commonplace-book, kept
apparently about 1860, the following set
of verses. They are entitled or headed,
LORD MACAULAY'S LAST LINES. A RIDDLE.
Come, let's look at it closely, Tis a very ugly word, And one that makes one shudder Whenever it is heard. It may'nt be always wicked, It must be always bad, And speaks of sin and suffering Enough to make one mad. They say it is a compound word, And that is very true, And then they decompose it, Which of course they're free to do. If of the dozen letters We take off the h'rst three, We leave the nine remaining As sad as they can be ; For though it seems to make it less, In fact it makes it more, For it takes the brute creation in, Which was left out before. Let's try if we can't mend it ; It's possible we may, If only we divide it In some new-fashioned way. Instead of three and nine, Let's make it four and eight. You'll say that makes no difference, At least not very great. But only see the consequence : That 's all that need be done To change this mass of sadness To unmitigated fun. It clears off swords and pistols, Revolvers, bowie knives, And all the horrid weapons By which men lose their lives. It wakens holier feelings, And how joyfully is heard The native sound of gladness Compressed into one word. Yes ! four and eight, my friends, Let that be yours and mine, Though all the host of demons Rejoice in three and nine.
Can any reader say if it is possible to test their authenticity, or if anything is known of them ? EDWARD ERASER.
[The answer is " Manslaughter." The lines have been attributed to Dr. Maitland as well as to Alacaulay. See 7 S. xii. 372.]
- PICKWICK PAPERS ' : PRINTERS' ER-
RORS IN FIRST EDITION My copy of ' Pick- wick,' which is a bound volume of the original issue taken by my father in numbers, contains a list of errata, the first item of which, " Page 1, line 9, for 1817, read 1827 "
is itself an error, as the line referred to
actually has " 1827." On p. 5 there is an
error in the second line, " segun " for "be-
gun," which is not in the list of errata.
Have these errors been noticed before ? How is the former to be explained ?
C. C. B.
" OUR INCOMPARABLE LlTURGY." Can
any reader kindly say who first used this phrase as descriptive of the Book of Common Prayer ? F. S.
MlCHELET ON " IGNOBLE TOBAGIE." In
Stevenson's ' Virginibus Puerisque' we read :
" Lastly, no woman should marry a teetotaller, or a man who does not smoke. It is not for nothing that this ' ignoble tobagie,' as Michelet calls it, spreads all over the world."
Where does Michelet say so ? P. C. G.
PIRATES ON STEALING. In ' Virginibus Puerisque ' we also read :
"Or perhaps better still, the inward resolution of the two pirates, that ' so long as they remained in that business, their piracies should not again be sullied with the crime of stealing.' "
What is the allusion contained in this
passage
P. C. G.
GOLD RING FOUND AT VERULAM. In a
scrapbook I have come upon the following
newspaper cutting. I do not know its
date, but think, from the person to whom
the volume once belonged, that it must be
at least sixty years of age, and may be
considerably older. Unhappily, neither
name of the paper nor date is given ; the
passage is, however, as follows :
" A few days since two gentlemen, whilst ex- ploring the ruins of ancient Verulam, near St. Albans, discovered under a mass of stones a large ring of pure gold, weighing about three ounces, on the extensive surface of which was [sic] emblematic- ally embossed the four seasons."
Is it known what has become of this treasure, which, if not lost once more, mast be very valuable ? EDWARD PEACOCK, F.S.A.
NOBLE FAMILIES IN SHAKESPEARE. I have long wished to know how many noble families or gentry of the present day can claim ancestors who are mentioned in the works of Shakespeare, including his poems and the dedications attached. Somebody Kas probably made such a list before now. If so, I should be glad to see it. I do not imagine that the list would be very long, even with due allowance for the liberal views concerning ancestors which prevail in the peerage. POURQUOI PAS.
