La Mer des Histoires.—I find I have a note on that handsome old French work, La Mer des Histoires, which is commonly attributed to Johannes de Columna, Archbishop of Messina; but upon which Francis Douce, while taking notice of its being a translation of the Rudimentum Noviciorum ascribed to Mochartus, observes that it is a different work from the Mare Historiarum of Johannes de Columna. Douce also informs us, that there were several works passing under this title. Columna is mentioned by Genebrard as the author of a book, Cujus titulus est Mater Historiarum. Query? What is known of the work, which is really Columna's?
John Sansom.
On Passages in Milton
"And every shepherd tells his tale
Under the hawthorn in the dale."
Milton's L'Allegro.
I used to suppose the tale told was a love tale. Now I take it to mean that each shepherd tells the tale, that is, counts the number of his sheep. Is there any doubt on this point?
Milton (Paradise Lost, b. v.), speaks of "silent night with this her solemn bird;" that is, the nightingale. Most readers take "solemn" to mean "pensive;" but I cannot doubt that Milton (who carries Latinism to excess) used it to express habitual, customary, familiar, as in its Latin form sollemnis.
B.H.K.