498 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 186. 



In the passage I have quoted from Philemon 

 Holland, there may be observed two peculiarities 

 which are generally supposed to be exclusively 

 Shakspearian : one is the beautiful application of 

 the word "touch" — the other the phrase "discourse 

 of reason." Where this last expression occurs in 

 Hamlet, it narrowly es(;aped emendation at the hands 

 of Gifford ! (See Mr. Knight's note, in his illus- 

 trated edition of Shakspeare.') It is the true 

 Aristotelian Siwota. 



There is also a third peculiarity of expression in 

 the same quotation, in the use of the word delay 

 in the sense of diluere, to dilute, temper, allay. 

 There are at least two passages in Shakspeare's 

 plays where the word is used in this sense, but 

 which appear to have been overlooked by hisglos- 

 sarists. The first is in AlVs Well that Ends Well, ' 

 Act IV. Sc. 3., where the French lords are moral- 

 ising upon Bertram's profligate pursuit of Diana : 



" Now God delai/ our rebellion — as we are ourselves, 

 what are we ? " 



The second is in Cymbeline, Act Y. Sc. 4., where 

 Jupiter tempers his love with crosses, in order to 

 make his gifts — 



" The more delayed, delighted." 



A. E. B. 



iHinor §,aUi, 



Portrait of Luther. — A portrait of Luther, 

 perhaps original, certainly nearly cotemporary 

 with the Reformer, possessing many excellent 

 qualities, was some time since shown me. It is in 

 the possession of Mr. Home, of Morton in Marsh, 

 Gloucestershire : it was received by him from an 

 elderly gentleman still living in London, who pur- 

 chased it many years since at a sale of pictures. 

 The picture is very dark, on canvass, with a black 

 frame having a narrow gilt moulding. As the 

 existence of this portrait is perhaps not known, 

 mention of the fact might interest some of your 

 readers. The picture, including frame, is perhaps 

 in size thirty inches by twenty-four ; and the age 

 of the sitter, whose features are delineated with 

 remarkable effect, is probably under fifty years. 



B. H. C. 



Handle Wilhraham. — Randle Wilbraham, Esq., 

 the grandfather of Lord Skelmersdale, who died 

 upon the 3rd of April last, was a lawyer of great 

 eminence, and held the office of treasurer of Lin- 

 coln's Inn. The university of Oxford conferred, 

 by diploma, the degree of D.C.L. upon him in 

 these notable terms : 



" Placuit nobis in Convocatione die 14 mensis 

 Aprilis 1761, solenniter convocatis spectatissimura 

 Ranulphum Wilbraham, Arm. Coll. ^Enaei Nasi quon- 

 dam commensalem, in agendis causis pro diversis Tri- 

 bunalibus per multos retro annos hodieque versatissi- 



mum, Subsenescallum nostrum et Consiliarium fidis- 

 simum, Gradu Doctoris in Jure Civili insignire. Cujus 

 quidem h£ec prsecipua ac prope singularis laus et est, 

 et semper fuit, quod propriis ingenii et industriae suae 

 viribus innixus Aulici favoris nee appetens, nee parti- 

 ceps, sine alio magnatum patrocinio, sine turpi Adu- 

 lantium aucupio, ad summam tamen in Foro, in Aca- 

 demia, in Senatu, turn gloriam, turn etiam authoritaten* 

 facilem sibi et stabilem munivit viam, Fortunae suae si 

 quis alius Deo Favente vere Faber," &c. 



The above is copied from the original diploma, 

 which Mr. Handle Wilbraham gave to his nephew, 

 the late Dr. William Falconer of Bath. On the 

 death of Mr. R. Wilbraham, Chief Justice Wilmot 

 wrote : " I have lost my old friend Mr .Wilbraham : 

 he died in the seventy-seventh year of his age, and 

 has not left a better lawyer, or an honester man,, 

 behind him." Anon.. 



Unpublished Epigram by Sir W. Scott. — 



" Earth walks on Earth, 



Glittering in gold: 

 Earth goes to Earth, 



Sooner than it wold : 

 Earth builds on Earth, 



Palaces and towers : 

 Earth says to Earth, 



Soon, all shall be ours." 



The above, by Sir W. Scott, I believe, has never 

 appeared in print to my knowledge. It was re- 

 cited to me by a friend of Sir W. Scott. 



R. Vincent. 



Crassus^ Saying. — I find in the Diary of the- 

 poet Moore (in Lord John Russell's edition), 

 vol. ii. p. 148., a conversation recorded with Dr, 

 Parr, in which the Doctor quotes " the witticism 

 that made Crassus laugh (the only time in his life) : 

 ' Similes habent labra lactucas.'" 



It appears (see the quotations in Facciolati) 

 that this sage and laughter-moving remark of 

 Crassus was made on seeing an ass eating a thistle; 

 whereon he exclaimed, " Similes habent labra 

 lactucas." 



In Bailey's edition of Facciolati it is said, " Pro- 

 verbium habet locum ubi similia similibus contin- 

 gunt, . . . quo sensu Angli dicimus, ' Like lips like 

 lettuce : like priest like people.' " 



Out of this explanation it is difficult to elicit 

 any sense, much less any " witticism." 



I suggest that Crassus' saying meant, " His (the 

 ass's) lips hold thistles and lettuces to be both 

 alike;" wanting the discrimination to distinguish 

 between them. Or, if I may put it into a doggerel 

 rhyme : 



" About a donkey's taste why need we fret us ? 

 To lips like his a thistle is a lettuce." 



Wm. Ewaet. 



University Club. 



