336 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 206. 



his request I delivered (by order) six Morocco skins to 

 be used in ray Lord's service. He desires to have 

 them at a cheap price, and to bind as before. I say 

 that my Lord will not turn leather-seller, and there- 

 fore he must bring hither his proposals for binding with 

 my Lord's Morocco skins ; otherwise his Lordship will 

 appoint some other binder to do so. 



" 17th September, 1725. Mr. Elliot brought the 

 parcel I last delivered unto him, but took one back to 

 amend a blunder in the lettering. He said that he 

 has used my Lord's doe-skin upon six books, and that 

 they may serve instead of calf; only the grain is 

 coarser, like that of sheep, and this skin was tanned 

 too much. 



« 23rd December, 1725. Mr. Chapman came, but I 

 gave him no work ; chiding him for being so slow in 

 my Lord's former business, wliich he had frequently 

 postponed, that he might serve the booksellers the 

 sooner." 



FRENCH VERSE. 



In the Biarij of T. Moore I lately read, with 

 some surprise, the following passages : 



" Attended watchfully to her [Mdlle Ducliesnois] 

 recitative, and find that in nine verses out of ten ' A 

 cobbler there was, and he lived in a stall ' is the tune 

 of the French heroics."— April 24, 1821. 



" Two lines I met in Athalie ; how else than accord- 

 ing to the ' Cobbler there was,' &c., can they be re- 

 peated ? 



' N'a pour servir sa cause et venger ses injures, 

 Ni le coeur assez droit, ni les mains assez pares.' " 



May SO, 1821. 



Now, If this be the mode of reading these lines, 

 I confess all my ideas are erroneous with respect 

 to French poetry. I have always considered that 

 though liemistichs and occasionally whole lines 

 occur in it, -which bear a resemblance to the 

 Spanish Versos de Arte Mayor, the anapaestic 

 measure of "A Cobbler" is quite foreign to It. 

 I may, however, be mistaken ; and It is In the 

 hope of eliciting Information on the subject that I 

 send these few remarks to " N. & Q." Should It 

 appear that I am not wrong, I will on a future 

 occasion endeavour to develop my Ideas of the 

 French rhythm ; a subject that I cannot recollect 

 to have seen treated In a satisfactory manner In 

 any French work. 



Bishop Tegner, the poet of Sweden, seems also 

 to have differed In opinion with Moore respecting 

 the rhythm of French poetry, for he compares it 

 to the dancing of a deaf man, who forms his steps 

 accurately, but who does not keep time. Both 

 are alike mistaken, In my opinion ; and their error 

 arises from their judging French poetry by rules 

 that are foreign to it. The rhythm of French 

 verse Is peculiar, and differs from that of any other 

 language. . Tiios. KEiGHXLEr. 



A SPANISH PLAT-BILIi. 



Though not much a frequenter of theati-es of 

 late, I was recently Induced, by the flourishing 

 public announcements, to go to Drury Lane 

 Theatre; with the chance, but scarcely in the 

 hope, of seeing what I never yet have seen, a per- 

 fect Othello. Alas ! echo still answers never yet. 

 But yours are not the pages for dramatic criticism. 



As my bill lay before me, I could not help 

 thinking what an execrably bad taste our modern 

 managers show In the extravagant and ridiculous 

 announcement of the splendour of the star you 

 come to contemplate ! If Mr. Brooke have great 

 merit, he needs not all this sound of trumpets ; if 

 he have it not, he is only rendered the more con- 

 temptible by It. I have some of the play-bills of 

 John Kemble's last performances before me, and 

 there Is none of this fustian : the fact, the per- 

 formance, and the name are simply announced. 

 If our taste improves In some respects, It does not 

 In this; it Is a retrogression — a royal theatre 

 sinking back Into the booth of a fair. Shak- 

 speare's and Byron's texts have been converted 

 into the showman's explanations of panoramas : to 

 what vile uses they may be next applied, there is 

 no guessing. Poor Shakspeare ! how I have pitied 

 him, and you too, Mr. Editor, as I have seen him 

 for so many months undergoing the operation of 

 the teazle in " N. & Q. !" I hope there will be 

 soon an end of this " sklmble stuff," " signifying 

 nothing." 



But my observation upon the Drury Lane play- 

 bill reminded me of one I have In my common- 

 place book ; and, as a correspondent and reader of 

 " N. & Q.," I think it my duty to send It : 



A Spanish Plaij-hill, exhibited at Seville, 1762. 

 " To the Sovereign of Heaven — to the Mother of the 

 Eternal World — to the Polar Star of Spain — to the 

 Comforter of all Spain — to the faithful Protectress of 

 the Spanish Nation — to the Honour and Glory of the 

 Most Holy Virgin Mary — for her benefit, and for the 

 Propagation of her Worship — the company of Come- 

 dians will this day give a representation of the Comic 

 Piece called — 



Nanine, 

 The celebrated Italian will also dance the Fandango, 

 and the Theatre will be respectably illuminated." 



William Rocson. 

 Stockwell. 



SHAKSPEARE CORRESPONDENCE. 



The MeteorologTj of Shdlispea7'e. — A treatise 

 might be written on meteorology, and might 

 be Illustrated entirely by passages taken from 

 the Avritings of " the world's greatest poet." 

 " JST. & Q." may not be the fitting medium for a 

 lengthened treatise, but It Is the most proper de- 

 pository of a few loose Notes on the subject. 



