The similarity of the two poems has been noticed long ago, e.g. by Sir F. Palgrave in The Archæologia, xxiv. I know not whether he was the first; I think Conybeare was beforehand with him.
J. E.
Oxford, Aug. 2. 1851.
57. Tale of a Tub.
—What is the origin of this popular phrase? It dates anterior to the time of Sir Thomas More, an anecdote in whose chancellorship thus illustrates it. An attorney in his court, named Tubb, gave an account in court of a cause in which he was concerned, which the Chancellor (who, with all his gentleness, loved a joke) thought so rambling and incoherent, that he said at the end of Tubb's speech, "This is a tale of a Tubb;" plainly showing that the phrase was then familiarly known.
EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.
58. Cleopatra's Needle.
—When was the obelisk in Egypt first so called? Why was it so called? What is the most popular work on Egypt for a full description of it?
J. B. J.
Liverpool, July 28. 1851.