I could supply A. A. D. with several examples in English, from my commonplace-book, of the "bold figure of speech not uncommon in the vivid language of Greece;" and among the rest, one from Tennyson himself, to wit:
"Now, scarce three paces measured from the mound,
We stumbled on a stationary voice," &c.
But I doubt whether the poet had those passages in his thought, when he penned the opening of his noble poem "Locksley Hall." Of course I do not know, any more than A. A. D., and the rest; and I suppose we shall none of us get any enlightenment "by authority."
Harry Leroy Temple.
Lake of Geneva (Vol. vii. p. 406.).—The account given in the Chronicle of Marius of what is called "an earthquake or landslip in the valley of the
Upper Rhone," is evidently that of a sudden débâcle destructive of life and property, but not such as to effect any permanent change in the configuration of the country. That an antiquary like Montfaucon should have fallen into the blunder of supposing that the Lacus Lemanus was then formed, may well excite surprise. The breadth of the new-formed lake, as given by Marius, is impossible, as the mountains in the valley are scarcely anywhere more than a mile apart. The valley of the Upper Rhone is liable to such débâcles, and one which would fill it might be called a lake, although of short duration. Having witnessed the effects of the débâcle of 1818 a few weeks after it happened, I can easily understand how such a one as that described by Marius should have produced the effects attributed to it, and yet have left no traces of its action after the lapse of centuries.
J. S.
Athenæum.
"Inter cuncta micans," &c. (Vol. vi., p. 413.).—In a small work, Lives of Eminent Saxons, part i. p. 104., the above lines are ascribed to Aldhelm, and a translation by Mr. Boyd is subjoined.