Minor Notes.
"Miserrimus."
—I have an extraordinary little volume, which, I am told, was written by Frederic Mansell Reynolds, who died in June, 1850, entitled, "Miserrimus. On a gravestone in Worcester Cathedral is this inscription, 'Miserrimus,' with neither name, date, nor comment. NOT PUBLISHED. Printed by Davison, Simmons, & Co., 1832," 12mo.
The work purports to be a sort of autobiography of a most miserable wretch, and we are left to suppose that his remains lie under the stone in question, for we are not furnished with any preface or introduction. Whether the author was aware of the name of the person over whom so singular an inscription was placed does not appear; but there is no reason to believe that the repulsive and painful aberrations he details had any relation to the individual buried under the memorial of "Miserrimus," whose name is recorded in Chambers's Biographical Illustrations of Worcestershire, p. 310., as the Rev. Thomas Morris, who was deprived of all ecclesiastical preferment for refusing to acknowledge the king's supremacy at the Revolution, and died, it is stated, in 1748, silvered over with the weight and infirmities of eighty-eight years—"Miserrimus."
F. R. A.
The Dog and Duck, St. George's Fields.
—It is not generally known, that the old stone sign of that celebrated place of public resort is still in existence, and is preserved by being imbedded in the brick wall of the garden of Bedlam Hospital (visible from the road), representing a dog squatting on his haunches with a duck in his mouth; and the date 1617. It was placed here on removal of the old house which stood on, or very close to, the spot; and in the superintendent's (Mr. Nicholl's) room is a very pretty drawing of that ancient place of amusement. I have had a sketch made of it in large.
Any information respecting the Dog and Duck, its guests, visitors, or landlords, would be most acceptable to
G. CREED.
The Habit of Profane Swearing by the English.
—The revolting habit of swearing—which, of late years, has happily diminished—has been a marked characteristic of the English for many centuries; and the national adjuration which has given us a nick-name on the continent, appears to have prevailed at an earlier period than is generally supposed.
"The English," observes Henry, "were remarkable in this period (between 1399 and 1485) among the nations of Europe, for the absurd and impious practice of profane swearing in conversation."
The Count of Luxemburg, accompanied by the Earls of Warwick and Stafford, visited the Maid of Orleans in her prison at Rouen, where she was chained to the floor and loaded with irons. The Count, who had sold her to the English, pretended that he had come to treat with her about her ransom. After addressing him with contempt and disdain, she turned her eyes towards the two Earls, and said,—"I know that you English are determined to put me to death, and imagine that, after I am dead, you will conquer France: but, though there were a hundred thousand G—— dammees more in France than there are, they will never conquer that kingdom." So early had the English got this odious nick-name by their frequent and common use of that horrid and disgusting imprecation.
T. WE.
Tennyson's Use of the Word "Cycle."
—A Moiety.—There is a line in Locksley Hall which has always appeared to me a sad blemish in a fine poem, and which may, perhaps, puzzle posterity as much as any of those which have been illustrated by G. P. (Vol. iii., p. 319.) I allude to that in stanza 92.:
"Better fifty years of Europe than a cycle of Cathay."
Posterity will easily learn that the Chinese cycle was just "sixty years," and will have some difficulty in believing that Tennyson should have rated the disparity between life in Europe and in China no higher than as six to five. It is evident that the poet used a "cycle" in the signification of a long period of years; but will posterity be able to find any authority for this use of the word? Can any one refer to a dictionary which explains it in that sense, or to any other good author who has so used it?
This use of the word "cycle" is associated in my mind with a use (or rather abuse) of the word "moiety," which prevails in the north of Ireland, and perhaps elsewhere. It properly signifies "one half," but many employ it in the sense of a very small portion. I hope no one will introduce it into poetry with this signification.
MATTER OF FACT.