500
NOTES AND QUERIES, [n s. VIH. DEC. 20,1913.
Canterbury, and find themselves sauntering in the Precincts. It was "a cloudless morning in April, with the sunshine flooding the Cathedral and the lordly demesne in which it stands." Mr. Fairfield with enthusiasm exclaims, "A little heaven on earth!" and bares his head; "there is nothing like it in the whole world, so far as my knowledge of the world extends."
On returning to London the Pilgrim spends much time in the vicinity of the office of 'N. & Q.' and Fleet Street, and visits the little houses with front gardens in Bartlett's Passage, on the right hand as you proceed up Fetter Lane from Fleet Street. One of these is associated with Bird's Academy, where Charles and Mary Lamb went to school. The sight of the Record Office makes Mr. Fairfield indignant with the authorities for covering up the open space of the Rolls Gardens, and his companion, as he recalls the familiar objects of his youth, says: "I think the pulling down of the House and Chapel to extend the Record Office to Chancery Lane was even worse."
'Three Nibbles at the Temple' leads to a talk about Johnson's "Mitre," and Mr. Fairfield states in a foot-note that, "since the chapter was written," he has "recanted his belief that Johnson's 'Mitre' was in Mitre Court," now that "Dr. Philip Norman has satisfied himself that the 'Mitre' of Johnson was No. 39, Fleet Street, some sixty feet west of Mitre Court; and he has converted Mr. Wheatley to his opinion."
The progress of the Pilgrim is slow. From Pope's No. 5, King's Bench Walk, "the house embosomed in the Grove," Mr. Fairfield could hardly be torn away. Then the house where Lamb was born is described, and so great is Mr. Fairfield's delight that his companion begs him "not to dance until we get out of sight." "There's a policeman over yonder." Of course the Temple churchyard is visited, and as Mr. Fairfield looks at the coffin-shaped stone with the inscription "Here lies Oliver Goldsmith," he remarks: "A legal body oughtn't to put up an inscription that isn't true."
Mr. Bell in his 'Fleet Street in Seven Centuries,' reviewed in 'N. & Q.,' says, "I am afraid that Inner Temple Hall attracts little attention"; but our "unlearned" Pilgrims delight to wander in paths little known, and "to draw attention to such things as are not of common knowledge." Therefore they spend some time about the Hall, and give "much study to the inscription which appears above the north entrance." "We were unable to penetrate its exact meaning, and Mr. Fairfield bore away a copy, to submit to Dr. Parkin," who was asked for an "elegant" translation of
Antiquæ Templariorum Aulæ
Hæc et amplior et ornatior
Jam situ quam usu memoriam conservat.
The expert remarked that "the Latin savoured of Tacitus, but he would wrestle with it," and produced the following:—
Although
Larger and more handsome than
The old hall of the Templars,
This building,
By the position which it occupies
And the purposes which it serves,
Keeps the memory of that Hall
Alive.
The next place visited was 2, Brick Court, on the second floor north of which is a bronze tablet, containing a medallion of Goldsmith, with the inscription, "In these chambers died Oliver Goldsmith on April 4, 1774." His last recorded utterance, in reply to Dr. Turton's question "Is your mind at ease?" was, "No; it is not." "The saddest death," says the Pilgrim, "I know of in all literature. And so lonely—none of his friends seem to have known that he was ill."
Limits of space compel us to bring our notice of this delightful book to a close, or we should have liked to join our friends in their visits to Johnson's house in Gough Square, and to Lichfield; but we part from them, hoping soon to have the pleasure of meeting them again. The many excellent illustrations add charm to the book.
A Great Mystery Solved. By Gillan Vase. (Sampson Low & Co.)
'A Great Mystery Solved' is another and most interesting contribution to the literature we already possess relating to the puzzle as to what happened to Edwin Drood. The present volume, edited by Mr. Shirley Byron Jevons, is "a continuation of, and conclusion to, 'The Mystery of Edwin Drood.'" The editor tells us that Gillan Vase's "luxuriant imagination led her not only to follow up the destinies of the characters which we owe in their inception to Dickens, but also to create several others. As rather detracting from the value of a sequel in which it seemed desirable that only known Dickensian characters should appear, these new ones have been eliminated." By the permission of Messrs. Chapman & Hall, Mr. Jevons gives a summary of 'The Mystery of Edwin Drood.' We will leave to our readers the pleasure of discovering the author's solution, and will only hint that it is the popular one. They will doubtless be glad to find that in the home of the pompous Sapsea there is only one master, and that is not Mr. Sapsea, and that the genial Crisparkle and Helena Landless plight their troth in the old Cathedral. We commend the author's style, which in some parts approaches that of Dickens.
Notices to Correspondents.
On all communications must be written the name and address of the sender, not necessarily for publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
We cannot undertake to answer queries privately, nor can we advise correspondents as to the value of old books and other objects or as to the means of disposing of them.
To secure insertion of communications correspondents must observe the following rules. Let each note, query, or reply be written on a separate slip of paper, with the signature of the writer and such address as he wishes to appear. When answering queries, or making notes with regard to previous entries in the paper, contributors are requested to put in parentheses, immediately after the exact heading, the series, volume, and page or pages to which they refer. Correspondents who repeat queries are requested to head the second communication "Duplicate."
Mr. F. R. Marvin.—See 11 S. vii. 49, 370, and also 9 S. iii. 69. 152, 271. Benedict Arnold was buried at Brompton on 21 June, 1801; but the grave cannot be identified.
