Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 3.djvu/68

 NOTES AND QUERIES, cio* s. m. JA*. 21, 1905.

" with scarcely a shirt on his back," "the con- quest by Pizzaro of Peru." I agree with him also in not believing in French influence in the making of this form. " II ne peut pas entrer dans notre intention de seulement effleurer ici les differentes faces de cette ques- tion," owes its origin to the same tendency towards clearness and succinctness as " I am bound to fully admit that I was mistaken."

G. KRUEGER.

COL. PRIDEAUX congratulates MR. EDWARD SMITH on having "introduced the split in- finitive to these columns, because we may now hope to have an authoritative pronounce- ment on _ the subject." But the first such introduction was just forty-three years ago, when, in 3 rd S. i. 88, that long-valued corre- spondent HERMENTRUDE, under the heading 'Wrong Position of the Adverb,' protested against " the placing of the adverb between the preposition and the verb : e.g., * We are anxious to entirely get rid of it.'" It was added, " Will no influential grammarian arrest this Transatlantic intruder into the Queen's English, and banish it from good society and correct diction, for the term of its natural life ? " But, alas ! the split in- finitivewho gave it that name, and when ? is with us still. ALFRED F. BOBBINS.

The subject was discussed some time ago in 'N. & Q.' The late DR. FITZEDWARD HALL found many instances of the split infinitive in the works of excellent authors, but none, I think, in the works of Shak- speare or Milton. I am of opinion that it is best to avoid the split infinitive ; but it seems to me absurd to call it ungrammatical.

E. YARDLEY.

With some trepidation, and at the risk, I am afraid, of being accused of frivolity, I venture to introduce the following story. It is taken from an article on ' The Provincial Humour of America ' in Chambers' s Journal for March, 1904 :

"The prisoner, a faded, battered specimen of mankind, on whose haggard face, deeply lined with the marks of dissipation, there still lingered faint reminders of better days long past, stood dejectedly before the judge. ' Where are you from?' 'From Boston.' ' Indeed,' said the judge; 'indeed, yours is a sad fall ; and yet you don't seem to thoroughly realize how low you have sunk.' The man started as if struck. ' Your honour does me an injustice,' he said, bitterly; ' the disgrace of arrest for drunken- ness, the mortification of being thrown into a noisome dungeon, the publicity and humiliation of trial in a crowded and dingy court -room, I can bear ; but to be sentenced by a police magistrate who splits his infinitives that is indeed the last blow."

JOHN T. PAGE.

COLISEUMS OLD AND NEW (10 th S. ii. 485, 529). A very interesting subject for discus- sion has been introduced by MR. CECIL, CLARKE, for there is frequently much difficulty in gaining any trustworthy information about London buildings after they have been de- molished. Especially is this so in the case of the Coliseum, or Colosseum, which was situated in Regent's Park. I have in my possession one of the catalogues or book of description, issued in 1845, when it had changed proprie- tors after its attractiveness had declined, and there appeared " every probability that this truly magnificent edifice would be razed to the ground." It may not be undesirable to give the title-page of this brochure, which is as follows :

" A | Description | of The Colosseum | as | Re- opened in M.DCCC.XLV. | under the Patronage [ of Her Majesty the Queen, and H.R.H. Prince Albert. I With numerous illustrations and eight coloured Sections | of | The Panorama of London, | Embossed by Mess" Dobbs, Bailey. & Co. | This Catalogue has been prepared for the Proprietor by Mess" Kronheim and Skirring, Engravers, and | Designers, and the Illustrations and Letter-press are printed from Stereotype plates cast by the Patent Process of Mess" Kronheim & Co., 3, Earl Street, Black- friars. | London : Printed by J. Wertheimer and Co., Finsbury Circus. | M.DCCC.XLV."

Most of the documents issued by showmen are couched in grandiloquent language, and this catalogue is rather worse than such things ordinarily are. The proprietor, whose name does not figure in this book, says he "consulted Mr. William Bradwell, of whose taste, skill, and judgment in decorative and scenic effects he had often witnessed the admirable results," and under his advice the property was purchased, and he prepared the plans for the work to be done. We are told that the "outlay was enormous," and that the visitors would feel that a higher desire than " the object of mere gain must have prompted so lavish an expenditure." There were two entrances : that on the west, under the portico facing the Regent's Park, was originally the only one ; that on the east, in Albany Street, was formed when the alterations were being made. There was an apartment newly constructed by Mr. Brad- well, and dignified by the fine - sounding name "The Glyptotheca, or Museum of Sculpture," which took the place of a room formerly known as the "Saloon of Arts." This chamber had a frieze modelled from the Elgin marbles, above which were "twenty fresco paintings of allegorical subjects on panels," for which Mr. Absolom was answer- able. There were shown many works of art from the studios of some of the "most eminent British and Foreign Sculptors."