Replies to Minor Queries.
"Crowns have their Compass," &c. (Vol. iv., p. 294.).
—The lines alluded to by your correspondent MR. ABSALON form a inscription on a portrait of King James I. in the Cracherode Collection. (Vide Beloe's Anecdotes, vol. i. p. 210.)
"Crownes have their compasse, length of dayes their date,
Triumphes their tombes, felicitie her fate;
Of more than earth can earth make none partaker,
But knowledge makes the king most like his Maker."
I am aware that this reference does not go to the "root of the matter," if MR. ABSALON wishes to ascertain the author's name; but it may serve as a clue to further discovery.
MARGARET GATTY.
Ecclesfield.
It is quite obvious what lines your correspondent alludes to, though the above quotation which he gives as the commencement of them is not quite correct, nor were they written with the object he supposes.
I send a correct copy of them below, taken from Mr. Payne Collier's very interesting Life of Shakspeare, to whom they have always been attributed; and, it is said, with every show of reason. It is supposed they were written by him in the shape of a complimentary allusion to King James I., in grateful acknowledgment of the patronage bestowed by that monarch upon the stage. The subject is fully discussed at pp. 202, 203. of Mr. Knight's volume, whence, indeed, the above information is derived; and he publishes the lines, as follows, stating then to be copied from a coeval manuscript in his possession:—
"SHAKSPEARE ON THE KING.
"Crowns have their compass—length of days their date—
Triumphs their tomb—felicity, her fate—
Of nought but earth can earth make us partaker,
But knowledge makes a king most like his Maker."
Some one, to make the allusion more complete, that is, to over-do it, changed "a king" into "the king" in a subsequent publication of the lines. But this, as Mr. Payne Collier very justly feels, completely spoils the whole complexion of the epigram, and perverts a fine allusion into a raw personality.
J. J. A.
The Rev. Richard Farmer (Vol. iv., pp. 379.[4] 407.).
—The observations of BOLTON CORNEY upon my incidental mention of Dr. Farmer, are, I think, wholly unwarranted, both in substance and manner, especially as he himself furnishes ample confirmation of its truth.
[4] At page 379., second column, fifth line from bottom, for "thrice" read "twice."
Taking his quotations in due order—
1. The certificate of Dr. Farmer's character for learning and ability is unnecessary, because neither was impugned; nor does an allegation of atrocity in taste and judgment necessarily imply deficiency in mere book-learning.
2. As for Isaac Reed's opinion in favour of Farmer's Essay, it might be met by many of directly opposite tendency, and of at least equal weight.
3. In the only point really in question, BOLTON CORNEY "cannot deny that Farmer related the anecdote of the wool-man" (that being the reputed trade of Shakspeare's father); but to what end was it related, if not to suggest an application of which Steevens was only the interpreter?
But BOLTON CORNEY thinks the character of the witness suspicious; he forgets that only just before he had stated that the anecdote and its application had been repeated in three editions, extending over thirteen years, all within the lifetime of Dr. Farmer!
A. E. B.
Leeds.
Earwig (Vol. iv., pp. 274. 411.).
—The correspondent who asserts the curious fact that Johnson, Richardson, and Webster do not notice the word earwig must have consulted some expurgated editions of the works of those celebrated lexicographers—or else we must consider his assertion as a curious fact in the history of literary oversights.
BOLTON CORNEY.