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MISCELLANIES
Gray's Elegy.—Your correspondent, "A. GRAYAN" (No. 10., p. 150.), in writing on the Elegy in a Country Church-yard, suggests the existence of error or obscurity in the last stanza of the epitaph; and that, if the reading, as it now stand, be faulty, "some amendment" should be suggested.
At the sale of Mason's collection of Gray's books and MSS., in December, 1845, I purchased Gray's copy of Dodsley's collection (2nd edition, 1758), with corrections, names of authors, &c., in his own hand. The Elegy is the first poem in vol. iv. In the 2nd stanza, the beetle's "drony flight" is printed and corrected in the margin into "droning." In the 25th stanza, an obvious misprint of "the upland land" is corrected into "upland lawn;" and, in the 27th stanza, "he would rove" is altered into "would he rove." These are the only emendations in the Elegy. The care displayed in marking them seems to me indicate that the author had no others to insert, and that the common reading is as he finally left it.
To say that a man's merits and frailties repose in trembling hope before God, is surely not irreverent; and this is, I think, all that Gray intended to convey in the words to which your correspondent objects.
W.L.M.
[The latter emendation "would he rove," which is neither in the Aldine edition of the Rev. J. Mitford, nor in Mr. Van Voorst's beautifully illustrated Polyglot edition, should clearly be introduced, in future, as harmonising more perfectly with the "would he stretch" of the preceding stanza.]
Gray's Elegy.—To the list of German translations of Gray's Elegy should be added the version by Kosegarten, which is said by Mr. Thimm, in his View of German Literature, to be "very spirited." The edition of Kosegarten i have now before me was printed at Greifswald, in 12 vols. in 1824, and contains numerous translations from English poets.
J.M.
Oxford, Jan. 16.
Gregori's Italian Version of "Gray's Elegy."—In answer to the query of "J.F.M.," respecting the translations of Gray's Elegy, I beg to mention that, besides those already possessed by your correspondent, and those in Torri's polyglot edition, there is one in Italian by Domenico Gregori, published in the first volume of his Scelta di Poesie di più celebri Autori Inglesi, recati in Versi Italiani, and printed at Rome in 1821, in 2 vols. small 8vo.
M.
Oxford, Jan. 17. 1850.
Name of Shylock.—When Mr. Knight says that Scialac was "the name of a Marionite (Maronite?) of mount Libanus," he appears to consider the term peculiar, or nearly so, to that personage; but Upton, as long ago as 1748, in his Critical Observations, 2nd ed. p. 299., remarked, that Scialac was the generic name, and Shylock merely a corruption. I may also remark, that Mr. Knight dismisses Dr. Farmer's theory as worthless, without sufficient consideration. It by no means follows that 1607 is the date of the first edition of Caleb Shillocke, merely because Boswell saw a copy bearing that date.
J.O. HALLIWELL.
SONNET
Written on the close of the Session, 1849.
"The tyme cam that resoun was to ryse."—CHAUCER.
"Corin. And how like you this shepherd's life, Master Touchstone?
"Touchstone. Truly, shepherd, in respect of itself it is a good life.... In respect it is in the Fields, it pleaseth me well."—SHAKSPEARE.
Ho! for the shady grove and silvery stream!
Now that yclosed is the Fane, where I
Am doomed, by no unhappy destiny,
To tend those Mighty Ones who find a theme
For their lives' labour in the nation's weal.
Now am I free, or book or rod in hand,
Alone, or compassed by a cherub band
Of laughing children, by the brook to steal,
Seeking repose in sport which WALTON loved—
Sport meet alike for Youth or thoughtful
Age—
Free, an I wish to go a pilgrimage
With CHAUCER, my companion long approved,
Or thee, thou Greater One, who lovedst to sing,
"Of books in brooks, and good in every thing."
WILLIAM J. THOMS.
THE DEVOTEE
(From the Latin.)
Balbus, in vain you urge the notion
That Ignorance begets Devotion—
We can't believe it till we see
Yourself a fervent devotee.
RUFUS.
By Hook or by Crook.—It is said that Strongbow, when debating with his followers on the best mode of capturing Ireland, said, that it must be taken "by Hook or by Crook." "The Hook" is the name of a well-known promontory, forming the N.E. boundary of Waterford Harbour; and Crook-haven is an equally well-known harbour, on the south coast. Could this have any thing to do with the proverb?
J.G.
Kilkenny.
Macaulay's Young Levite.—I send you an advertisement, from a local paper of 1767, which shows what stipend was offered to a curate at that period. The population of Burton Bradstich and Shepton Gorge, in 1821, was respectively 854 and 311. I do not know what it was in 1767.
The value of the rectory of Burton, with the chapelry of Shepton, was returned, in 1650, as 201l. In 1826 it was computed to be 500l.
A.D.M.
From "Cruthwell's Sherborne, Shaftesbury, and Dorchester Journal; or Yeovil, Taunton, and Bridgewater Chronicle of 10th July, 1767."
"A Curate is wanted, at Old Michaelmas next, to serve the Churches of Burton and Shipton, in Dorsetshire; Salary 36l. per annum, Easter Offerings, and Surplice Fees; together with a good House, pleasant Gardens, and a Pigeon House well stock'd. The Churches are within a mile and a half of each other, served once a Day, and alternately. The Village of Burton is sweetly situated, within half a mile of the Sea, about a mile and a half from Bridport Harbour, and is noted in the Summer for its fine Mackarel Fishery. Application to be made to the Rev. Mr. Richards, Rector.
"A married gentleman will be most agreeable."
Praise undeserved.—Does any one know where the oft-quoted line,
"Praise undeserved in censure in disguise,"
is to be found? A long search for it has hitherto proved ineffectual.
D.S.
[This line, which is so often quoted, with the variation—
"Praise undeserved is Satire in disguise,"
is to be found in Pope's First Epistle of the Second Book of Horace; where, however, we find that neither Censure nor Satire is the correct reading. It is moreover, both in Warton's edition and in the Aldine Poets, edited by the Rev. A. Dyce, marked as a quotation, as will be seen in the following extract; so that Pope, it appears, is not the author of it. Perhaps some of our correspondents can trace the source from which he derived it:—
"Besides, a fate attends on all I write,
That when i aim at praise they say I bite.
A vile encomium doubly ridicules;
There's nothing blackens like the ink of fools.
If true, a woeful likeness; and, if lies,
'Praise undeserved is Scandal in disguise.'"]
Passage in Cowper's "Task."—In all early editions of Cowper's Task the opening lines of the 4th book are punctuated as follows:—
"Hark! 'tis the twanging horn! O'er yonder bridge,
(That with its wearisome but needful length
Bestrides the wintry flood, in which the moon
Sees her unwrinkled face reflected bright,)
He comes, the herald of a noisy world," &c.
In modern editions, I believe universally, we find the following corruption of the passage:—
"Hark! 'tis the twanging horn o'er yonder bridge,
That with," &c.
closing with a colon or period at "bright," and beginning a new sentence with "He comes;" and thus making the poet use the vulgar colloquialism "'tis the horn over the bridge," instead of the remark, that the postman is coming over it.
W.P.P.
NOTES ON BOOKS, SALES, CATALOGUES, ETC
All who have placed on their shelves—and who that desires to know thoroughly the history of this country during the period which it illustrates has not done so—the last edition of The Diary and Correspondence of Samuel Pepys, so ably edited by Lord Braybrooke, have felt the want of a corresponding edition of Evelyn's Diary. To meet this want, Mr. Coulburn has announced a new edition of it, "rendered as complete as possible by a careful revision," and accompanied by illustrative notes, to be completed in four monthly volumes.
Mr. Parker, of Oxford, has just issued a new edition of The History of the Church of England, by J.B.S. Carwithen, B.D. This work was very highly spoken of, at the time of its first appearance, for fidelity of narrative, accuracy of judgement, and soundness of principle; and its author was pronounced, by one well qualified to give an opinion, "a well-read historian, a sound divine, a charitable Christian." As the original edition, in three volumes, has long been out of print, we think Mr. Parker has shown great judgment in bringing it out, in a cheaper form, for the use of students in divinity; and we do not doubt but that he will find a ready sale for the two closely but clearly and handsomely printed volumes, in which this History of the Church of England is now completed.
Those of our readers who take an interest in the writings of our early dramatists will be glad to learn that the Rev. Alexander Dyce has at length completed, in three volumes, his long-looked-for edition of The Dramatic Works of Kit Marlowe.
Such of our clerical friends as have in their churches a peal of bells which, at the will of the ringers,
"Speak the loud language of a mighty knell,"
and who must, therefore, sometimes be painfully convinced of the ill practices which occasionally grow up in the belfry, will thank us for calling their attention to the Practical Remarks on Belfries and Ringers, lately published, by the Rev. H.T. Ellacombe, in which they will find some useful hints for the correction of such abuses.
We have received the following Catalogues:—
D. Nutt (270. Strand), Select Catalogue of Classical and Philological Works.
Williams and Norgate (14. Henrietta Street, Covent Garden), Verzeichniss der Bücher, Landkarten etc welche vom Juli bis zum December neu erschienen oder neu aufgelegt worden sind. (Catalogue of Books, Maps, &c. published in German between July and December 1849.)
