12 S. IV. DEC., 1918.]
NOTES AND QUERIES.
319
"the usual answer in explaining the critical
maxim " Difficilior lectio potior " :
" Because the existence of a prima facie difficulty would account for the origin of the easier or more obvious readings, whereas if the easier or more obvious readings had been original "there would be no temptation or inducement to substitute one that was more difficult or leas straightforward . ' '
This answer, however, is not (to me) con- clusive or final, for, after all, the " critical maxim ' Difficilior lectio potior ' " is but a canon formed to overcome difficulties or -explain variants away. Even Dr. Moore admits it to be " very capable of being abused or misunderstood," though " most valuable when rightly understood." I believe it to be misapplied in the instance under discussion, and the reasoning defective. 'The line
Che in Cologna per li monaci fassi is accepted as the " Difficilior lectio potior " on the ground of its presenting " a prima Jade [metrical] difficulty," and thereby offering a more probable approach to, if not in itself, the original reading ; and yet it is curiously rejected by reason of this very metrical difficulty, as is also the " lectio facilior,"
Che per li monaci in Cologna fassi, though "found in two of Witte's four test MSS.," and adopted by Scartazzini, Bianchi, and Lombardi. This is simply to burn one's boats an& effectually bar any return upon the evidence pro or con. My verdict is, therefore, that the lectio facilior should be admitted as the lectio .verior because the more obvious, and this in respectful despite of Drs. Moore and Witte's attitude towards it. In both readings prima facie difficulties are alleged, but, in my view, Dante is hardly likely to have perpetrated the one (metrical), and the other is founded on a misapplica- tion here of the " critical maxim ' Difficilior lectio potior.' " J. B. McGovEBN.
_ St. Stephen's Rectory. C.-on-M., Manchester.
STATUES AND MEMORIALS IN THE
BRITISH ISLES.
(See 10 S. xi., xii. ; 11 S. i.-xii., passim; 12 S. i. 65, 243, 406; ii. 45, 168, 263, 345 ; iii. 125, 380, 468 ; iv. 69, 207, 294.)
LOCAL WORTHIES (continued). MBS. HENRIETTA B. SAYERS.
- Southampton. In the High Street, oppo-
site the almshouses known as Thorner's -Charity, stands a clock-tower in which is
incorporated a drinking-fountain. It bears
the following inscription :
" Bequeathed to the town of Southampton by the late Mrs. Henrietta Bellenden Sayers, in evidence of her care for both man and beast. Inaugurated by the Mayor, James Bishop, Esq., 9th December, 1889."
HANNAH M. THOM.
Liverpool. At the junction of Marybone and Standish Streets is placed a drinking- fountain surmounted by a woman in - Grecian garb, holding a jug. It is in- scribed :
Hannah Mary
Thorn.
Born 24th Nov. 1816. Died 31st Dec. 1872.
This fountain has been placed here by many friends in this neighbourhood whom she visited in sickness and sorrow. Her fellow-workers and her brothers and sisters joined them in erecting this memorial.
LORD BURTON.
Burton-on-Trent. On May 13, 1911, a statue erected to the memory of the first Lord Burton was unveiled by the Earl of Dartmouth, Lord Lieutenant of Stafford- shire. It stands in the centre of King Edward Place, nearly opposite the principal entrance to the Town Hall. The statue is executed in bronze, the work of Mr. F. W. Pomeroy, A.R.A., at a cost of 1,800Z. The statue is 10 ft. high, and represents Lord Burton in the costume of the Burton Battalion of the Staffordshire Volunteers, partly enveloped by the robe of the peers of England. It stands on a grey Scotch granite pedestal 14 ft. high, on which is inscribed : (Front) Michael Arthur
First Baron Burton. Born 1837. Died 1909.
(Back) Erected by upwards of 6,000 of his friends
and fellow-townsmen in remembrance
of one whose life was devoted to
the good of others.
The pedestal is also enriched with the following arms : Burton ; Burton impaling ThornewiH ; and Bass.
SIR JAMES SHAW.
Kilmarnock. On Aug. 4, 1848, a statue of Sir James Shaw, Lord Mayor of London 1805-6, was inaugurated at the Cross near the end of King Street. It is the work of James Fillans, a Scottish sculptor, and represents the baronet standing bare- headed, clad in his civic robes, and holding in his right hand the Warrant of Pre- cedence. Both the statue and pedestal are
