Replies to Minor Queries.
Countess of Pembroke's Epitaph (Vol. iii., p. 307.).
—Let me thank your correspondent MR. GATTY for his information. In order to complete the history of this inscription, it may be stated that though Gifford is silent as to Jonson having any claim to it, yet, by admitting it into his works (vol. viii. p. 337.), he concurs apparently with Whalley and others, in assigning this "delicate epitaph," as Whalley terms it, to Jonson, though it "hath never yet been printed with his works." Gifford considers that Jonson did not "cancel," as it has been alleged, the six lines, "Marble piles let no man raise," but that he possibly never saw them. They certainly contradict the preceding ones; admitting that such a character as the Countess might again appear. These last-mentioned verses, Gifford adds, were copied from the poems of William Herbert Earl of Pembroke, "a humble votary of the Muses." This nobleman, whose amiable character is beautifully drawn by Clarendon, deeply venerated his excellent mother; he, perhaps, could not feel satisfied in leaving her praises to be sung by another poet, and therefore added this well-intended but feeble supplement.
J. H. M.
Court Dress (Vol. iii., p. 407.).
—There are no orders of the Earl Marshal, printed or manuscript, upon the subject of court costume—it is not within his department. It is more likely that the Lord Chamberlain has notices upon the subject. In all cases of court mourning, his lordship specifies the dress, and notifies the changes, not always, however, strictly adopted or comprehended.
Ʒ.
Ex Pede Herculem (Vol. iii., p. 302.).
—The origin of this proverb is to be found, I think, in Plutarch, who is quoted by Aulus Gellius (i. 1.) as saying in substance as follows:
"Pythagoras ingeniously calculated the great stature of Hercules, by comparing the length of various stadia in Greece. All these courses were nominally 600 feet in length, but Hercules was said to have measured out the stadium at Olympia with his own feet, while the others followed a standard of later days. The philosopher argued that by how much the Olympic course exceeded all others in length, by the same proportion did the foot of Hercules exceed that of men of a subsequent age; and again, by the same proportion must the stature of Hercules have been pre-eminent."