North Westiew of the Published as y Act directs Ang. 1.1819 by Nichols, Red Lyon Court Fleet Street London. signed Paleophilus, is most probably correct in deducing this nick-name of the devil from a malevolent sea Deity, worshipped by the antient Germans and Danes under the name of Nocca or Nicken, styled in the Edda, which contains the Pagan creed of Scandinavia, Niken, which Keysler derives from the German nugen, answering to the Latin necare. Another vulgar name, Old Scratch, has probably been given from the common pictorial representations of him with enormous crooked talons or claws and a third appellation sometimes applied to him, of Old Harry, appears to be derived from the verb to harrie, to lay waste, to destroy. (To be continued.), THE city of Bayeux, in Normandy, Ause, about a league and a half from the sea, is old and very indifferently built. Previous to the Revolution it contained seventeen parish Churches, including the suburbs, and seven convents. The Cathedral (see Plate II.) which was built in 1159 by Bp. Philip de Harcourt, and dedicated to the Virgin, is large, in form of a cross, with pointed arches. In the centre of the transepts is a handsome square tower, surmounted by a light and elegant spire. The portal at the West end is flanked by two square towers, each of which terminates in a very lofty spire; and the lower part of the whole is formed by five porches, That in the middle has a pointed arch formed by five ogives, the reins and mouldings whereof are enriched with carvings, representing the figures of the principal persons in the Old and New Testament. The mouldings of the sweeps of all the other porches are plain. In the centre pier of the portal stands a statue of the Virgin ; and each side are six apostles as large as life. This portal, with the statues thereon, appears to be coeval with the Cathedral. **At Bayeux is preserved the famous -embroidered tapestry of Matilda, consort of William the Conqueror, representing the histories of Harold king of England and William duke of Normandy: a particular account of which (compiled chiefly from Montfaucon) GENT. MAG. July, 1819. may be seen in your vol. LXXIII. pp. 1156, 1226; vol. LXXIV, p. 18, with farther remarks on it by Mr. Gough, in p. 313 of the latter volume. Very accurate drawings of this tapestry have lately been made for the Society of Antiquaries by Mr. Stodart; and it is to be farther illustrated by Mr. Dibdin, in his "Bibliographical Tour," now preparing for the press. Yours, &c. Mr. URBAN, LA D. June 10. ATELY taking up my Horace, and accidentally turning to the third Ode of the first book, my eye was caught by the passage, "Qui siccis oculis monstra nafantia, Qui vidit mare turgidum," &c. This reading displeased Bentley, who wished to substitute lis," but for this reading rectis ocnot appear sufficient authority to justhe present reading is, that the sight tify the alteration.-The objection to of the dangers or the horrors of the sea was not likely to produce tears, however it might scare or terrify him other classical authors, where the who contemplated them. But if, in lection was never disputed, we have the same idea, it seems unreasonable to refuse to Horace that which is conceded to another. Let us consider the text. Horace is not speaking of one who, from a situation of per fect safety, should view an object so horrid in itself as to tempt him to turn his eyes aside; and that, therefore, he who had magnanimity enough to look at it with unaverted eyes, robur et æs triplex," &c. But he must have an heart of brass. "Illi supposes him who looks at these horthem, as being in the midst of them, rors to be in a state of danger from and exposed to them in the navigating those seas. The sense of his own danger, therefore, might excite his tears: and the sorrows which even the greatest heroes of antiquity feel, are, by the poets, represented as venting themselves in tears. Thus in the Odyssey, Book E. verse 151, speaking of Ulysses, Homer says, εδε πολ' όσσε Δακρυόφιν τερσόνιο, καλειβεῖο δὲ γλυκυς αίων same kind might be adduced. Here it was grief that made Ulysses weep. La the Iliad, Achilles is represented weeping, as the question Texλoses plainly shews, Book 2. v. 73. In Horace, we are not to consider simply the "Vidit monstra natantia," &c. but the "commisit pelago ratem," which connects the destiny of him that weeps with the evil which he contemplates. Thus,in the 137th Psalm, the captive Jews are represented as weeping at the recollection of Sion, from the circumstance of their destiny being involved in the calamities of Sion. If this interpretation of the text be correct, there seems not the smallest reason for any alteration; it stands on the same foundation as numberless other passages, and, consequently, ought to be left undisturbed. H. H. Mr. URBAN, Kilkenny, May 12. AM induced to hopeing consider the following observations not unworthy of insertion in the pages of your valuable Magazine, which, from its commencement, has greatly contributed to the advancement and diffusion of English Literature. Some of the ensuing remarks: may prove not wholly uninteresting to those who are critically skilled in the writings of our antient Dramatic Authors: and some, although explapatory of passages, which to well-informed persons are neither difficult or obscure, may yet be acceptable to readers less conversant with such productions, and superficially acquainted with the language and customs of our ancestors. In volume IX. page 58, of Mr. Gifford's excellent edition of Ben Jonson's Works, we meet with a Note explanatory of a difficult pas sage in Shakspeare's Henry V. Act i. Scene 2: "Either our History shall, with full mouth, [grave, Speak freely of our acts; or else, our Like Turkish mute, shall have a tongue less mouth, Not worshipp'd with a waxen epitaph." The verses quoted from John Eliot and the Bishop of Chichester support the correctness of Mr. Gifford's interpretation, which is strongly determined by Izaak Walton's exquisite poem on the death of Wil*- liam Cartwright. It is the last of the 55 commendatory poems prefixed to the octavo edition of Cartwright's Works, 1651. As this book is scarce, and the verses beautiful, many of your readers may be pleased to theet a transcript of them: "I cannot keep my purpose, but must e give [grieve Sorrow and Verse their way; nor will I Longer in silence; no, that poor, poor part Of Nature's legacy, verse void of art, And undissembled teares, Cartwright shall have (grave. Muses, I need you not; for Grief and I Firt on his hearse, and wept into his Can in your absence weave an Elegy: Which we will do; and often interweave Sad looks and sighs; the ground-work must receive Such characters, or be adjudg'd unfit Learning, and language fitly; for these be grave, Thy loss, and court a holy discontent, The 4th, 5th, and 6th lines (especially the words in Italic letters) are quite decisive of the truth of Mr. Gif ford's assertion, that the custom of affixing short poems to the hearse or grave of eminent persons was once prevalent in England. In page 202 of the same volume, a passage in Jonson's "Discoveries' thus printed: "Have I not seen the pomp of a whole Kingdom, and what a foreign King could bring hither? Also to make himself gazed and wondered at, laid forth as it were to the slew, and vanish all away in a day." A gross error has plainly, crept in here; no stop whatever should inter vene vene between the words "hither" and also" by this arrangement of the *text, Jonson's allusion to the vain and fleeting splendour of two great Monarchs becomes intelligible. In volume VIII. page 29, of the same work, Mr. Weber is justly ridiculed for presenting us with these lines in his late edition of Beaumont and Fletcher; see vol. 11. p. 55: monger "May't rain above all almanacks, till The carriers sail, and the King's fish [London." Ride like Bike Arion upon a trout to .. Mr. Weber unquestionably conceived that Bike was the prænomen of Arion; but it is (as Mr. Gifford observes) merely an accidental repetition of the preceding word "like" in the old copies. I suspect that Mr. Weber was actually ignorant of the correct pronunciation of Arion's name, as be has given it with a false prosody in this passage, and also in another occurring at page 151 of vol. VII. in "The Bloody Brother," where the Cook humourously boasts to his companions, "For fish, I'll make you a standing lake of white broth, And pikes come ploughing up the plums before them; [chrymæ." Arion-like on a dolphin, playing LaThe very rare first quarto copy of this play, printed at London in 1639, is in my possession; it reads, "Arion, like a dolphin, playing Lachrymæ;" but the second quarto, printed at Oxford in 1640, gives us, "Arion on a dolphin, playing Lachrymæ." The latter is plainly the correct text; for the figure of Arion upon the dolphin's back was a favourite in the spectacles exhibited upon the water in Eliza beth's time; and the Cook, with ludicrous pomposity, assures bis friends that his skill can furnish this capital embellishment, As the lines now stand in Mr. Weber's edition they are destitute of meaning; the semicolon at the end of the second line alone prevents us from concluding that Mr. Weber had supposed that "the pikes" were to sit "Arion-like on a dolphin," playing popular tunes! In The Knight of the Burning Pestle," Act iii. Sc. 2, the Host of the Bell-ion says to Ralph, "Therefore, gentle Knight, twelve shillings you must pay, or I must cap you," The concluding words have sorely puzzled Mr. Weber, who declares himself utterly ignorant of the nature of the punishment (as he terms it) threatened against Ralph. The phrase "lo cap" is still in general use throughout Ireland, amongst the keepers of publichouses and those persons who sell goods at standings in the streets, by whom the punishment is frequently inflicted upon fraudulent customers. when attempting to retire without making a fair payment: it consists in forcibly taking off the hat from the insolvent's head, and detaining it as a pledge for the money. Of this practice, which is also common amongst schoolboys, I have witnessed many instances. On examination of the context, it will be found that this interpretation correctly and fully explains the term: the Host proceeds to seize Ralph's cap, when the Citizen interferes to prevent his apprentice from suffering so foul a disgrace, and exclaims, "Cap Ralph ? no; hold your hand, Sir Knight of the Bell! there's your money," &c. The word " 'capping," which occurs in Mr. Weber's quotation from "Ward's London Spy." is used in precisely the same sense. In Shakspeare's " Antony and Cleopatra," Act iv. Sc. 10, Antony thus launts the Queen of Egypt: --"Let him (i. e. Cæsar) take thee, And hoist thee up to the shouting Ple beians: Follow his chariot, like the greatest spot Of all thy sex; most monster-like be shown For poor'st diminutives, to dolts! The closing words of this extract are very obscure, and have, in my opinion, baffled the acumen of Warburton and Tyrwhitt; Steevens (who in fact perceived not their great difficulty) agrees with Tyrwhitt; but Malone candidly avows that none of the comments afford a satisfactory explanation. I regret that no notice of this obscure passage occurs amongst the many admirable remarks explanatory of Shakspeare's language, which Mr. Gifford has introduced in his notes upon Massinger and Jonson, in which he has evinced such sound judgment and masterly knowledge of our antient language and customs, as prove him fully competent to give to his native country an edition of her favourite Poet, surpassing in solid worth Isaac Reed's celebrated variorum edition of 1803. But I much fear, from Mr. Gifford's |