THE PUZZLE.
Reproduced from a picture published in 1796.
It is an easy matter to arrange words forming a simple sentence in English to appear like Latin. This was successfully done in 1796, when a print was published under the title of “The Puzzle.” “This curious inscription is humbly dedicated,” says the author, “to the penetrating geniuses of Oxford, Cambridge, Eton, and the learned Society of Antiquaries.” The words have every appearance of a Latin inscription, but if the stops and capital letters or division of the words are disregarded, the epitaph may easily be read as follows:—
Beneath
this stone reposeth
Claud Coster,
tripe-seller, of Impington,
as doth his consort Jane.
Index.