On the very first page is made the extraordinary blunder of turning the Cambrian Arch<ae>ological Association into a Cambridge Society; while the Parker Society, whose publications were printed at the University Press, is entered under Canterbury. It is possible that the Latin name Cantabrigia has originated this mistake. The Roxburgh Society, although its foundation after the sale of the magnificent library of the Duke of Roxburgh is cor<p 191>rectly described, is here placed under the county of Roxburgh. The most amusing blunder, however, in the whole book is contained in the following charmingly na<i:>ve piece of etymology <a!> propos of the Geological and Polytechnic Society of the West Riding of Yorkshire: ``On sait qu'en Anglais le mot Ride se traduit par voyage <a!> cheval ou en voiture; on pourrait peut-<e^>tre penser, d<e!>s le d<e'>but, qu'il s'agit d'une Soci<e'>t<e'> hippique. II n'en est rien; <a!> l'exemple de l'Association Britannique, dont elle,'' etc. This pairs off well with the translation of Walker, London, given on a previous page.
The Germans find the same difficulty with English titles that the French do, and confuse the Sir at the commencement of our letters with Herr or Monsieur. Thus, they frequently address Englishmen as Sir, instead of mister or esquire. We have an instance of this in a publication of no less a learned body than the Royal Academy of Sciences of Munich, who issued in 1860 a ``Rede auf Sir Thomas Babington Macaulay.''
An hotel-keeper at Bale translated <p 192>``limonade gazeuse'' as ``gauze lemonads"; and the following delightful entry is from the Travellers' Book of the Drei Mohren Hotel at Augsburg, under date Jan. 28th, 1815: ``His Grace Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, &c., &c., &c. Great honour arrived at the beginning of this year to the three Moors. This illustrious warrior, whose glorious atchievements which cradled in Asia have filled Europe with his renown, descended in it.'' It may be thought that, as this is not printed, but only written, it is scarcely fair to preserve it here; but it really is too good to leave out.
The keepers of hotels are great sinners in respect to the manner in which they murder the English language. The following are a few samples of this form of literature, and most readers will recall others that they have come across in their travels.
The first is from Salzburg:—
``George Nelb<o:>ck begs leave to recommand his hotel to the Three Allied, situated vis-<a!>-vis of the birth house of Mozart, which offers all comforts to the meanest charges. <p 193>
The next notice comes from Rastadt:—
``ADVICE OF AN HOTEL.
``The underwritten has the honour of informing the publick that he has made the acquisition of the hotel to the Savage, well situated in the middle of this city. He shall endeavour to do all duties which gentlemen travellers can justly expect; and invites them to please to convince themselves of it by their kind lodgings at his house.