Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 5.djvu/527

 ii S.V.JCXE 1,1912.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

435

the weapon. Therefore it was, and is, farcical to mix the cartridges of a firing party in the hope of easing any one's conscience by that means, because each soldier would know, even blindfolded, whether his rifle had sped a messenger of death to the condemned. WM. JAGGARD.

CARLYLE : EXPLANATION OF REFERENCES WANTED (US. v. 290). 3. Some editions of ' Sartor ' still print on the title - page Goethe's German couplet which had already done duty as a motto to Carlyle's translation of ' Wilhelm Meister's Travels ' : Mein Vermachtniss, wie herrlich weit und breit ! Die Zeit ist mein Vermachtniss, meiu Acker 1st die

Zeit.

Carlyle was very fond of the lines, and quoted them frequently, either thus :

My inheritance, how wide and fair !

Time is my estate ; to Time I 'm heir

(translation of ' Wilhelm Meister's Travels,' 1827 ; ' Richter Again,' 1830), or thus (' Characteristics,' 1831) :

My inheritance how wide and fair I

Time is my fair seed-field, of Time I 'm heir and finally thus (' Chartism,' 1839, chap, x.) :

My inheritance, how lordly wide and fair ;

Time is my fair seedfield, to Time I'm heir.

The exact fonn of the original ('West- ostliche Divan,' vi., ' Buch derSpriiche ') is : Mein Erbtheil wie herrlich, weit und breit ! Die Zeit ist mein Besitz, mein Acker ist die Zeit.

L. R. M. STRACHAN. Heidelberg.

DE VERB AT DRURY LANE (US. v. 349). Edward Stirling, in his book ; Old Drury Lane,' says that, prior to Mr. E. T. Smith becoming lessee of the theatre in 1852,

"three lessees in the same number of weeks had the reckless audacity to open Drury Lane without money or brains : Mr. Sheridan Smith one week lessee ; Mr. De Vere one week lessee ; Mr. Bolton one week lessee. These gentlemen fled without paying their actors or rent. Such was the pitiful state to which old Drury was at last reduced, when luckily a man of enterprise came to the rescue."

An examination of the files of The Times shows that Mr. Bolton had a brief lease of one week in 1852, viz., from 2 October to 9 October, during which period ' Richelieu,' 'Richard III.,' 'The Hunchback,' a 'Bal d'Ete, 1 and classical performances by the Brothers Buislay constituted the produc- tions. Then E. T. Smith took over the theatre, producing Jullien's Concerts in November and 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' on Boxing Xight.

I see no mention of Mr. De Vere's tenure of office at all about this time, and it was some weeks prior to Mr. Bolton's venture that Mr. Sheridan Smith came to grief, so that Mr. Stirling's statement can hardly be strictly accurate.

With the exception of Mr. Bolton's week, I greatly doubt if any record exists of the performances or players in these remarkably brief terms of management. Very few details of the history of the house exist in the theatre itself, and, though it seems incredible, a valuable minute - book of the old renters was given to Dan Leno to tear pages out of in the schoolroom scene of ' The Babes in the Wood,' the pantomime of 1897. Small wonder, therefore, -that more than one enterprising litterateur has abandoned in despair all attempts to compile a reliable history of this theatre.

WILLOUGHBY MAYCOCK. [MR. FREDERIC BO.ASE also thanked for reply.]

TRANSLATIONS FROM POLISH POETS (11 S. v. 308, 377). JohnBowring printed for him- self in 1827 a small book which he called ' Specimens of the Polish Poets ' ; in the book were notes and some observations on the literature of Poland. The book is now obtained with difficulty, but an order given to a dealer in old books might bring it. In the book are specimens of the work of Kochanowski, Szymonowicz, Zimorowicz, Sarbiewski, Gawinski, Krasicki, Niemcewicz, and Brodzinski. The translations are, all of them, into the English language.

FREDERIC ROWLAND MARVIN. 537, Western Avenue, Albany, N.Y.

PROVERBvS AND PHRASES: DUTCHMAN'S

ANCHOR (US. v. 330). I have been told the story of the Dutchman's anchor in the following way, though I cannot vouch for its authenticity, and am ignorant of its origin.

A ship in a storm of course in the Zuyder Zee was in danger of being blown ashore, owing to her anchors dragging and finally breaking their cables. A Dutch passenger, as he went about the decks, was heard to enlarge on the excellent qualities, and in particular the strength, of an anchor in his possession ; but on being requested to produce this anchor, demonstrate the truth of his claims, and so save the ship, he was obliged to confess that it was at home in his garden. A Dutchman is evidently made the butt of the story, owing to the poor opinion of that nation's brain-power which was so long current in England after the Dutch wars. C. H. R. PEACH.