Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 8.djvu/472

464 NOTES AND QUERIES. [u s. vn. JUNE u, ma. modest amount of it all comment were fruitless; only let it be used "decently and in order."

A closing thought. How is Dante's surprise at meeting Virgil to be accounted for? Whether i. 79 be "Or se' tu quel Virgilio" (Witte, Scartazzini, &c.) or "O se' tu quel Virgilio" (Bianchi and MSS. D and F), the expression is one of surprise. Yet why feign wonder at a prearranged appearance to himself? I take it to be simply a clever and successful ruse to heighten the poetic effects of both illusion and allusion with which the 'Comedy' abounds.

organized protest against the revival of the farce 'The Tailors: a Tragedy for Warm Weather,' is a well-known incident that later historians take too seriously. For example, Mr. H. Barton Baker ('History of the London Stage,' second edition, 1904, p. 226) completes his record with:—

It is possible some contemporary newspaper report was the source of this, but it reads unbelievably terrible. Imagine the "overwhelming odds" that would be contained in the "little theatre in the Haymarket"!

Here is a more sober account, provided by an eyewitness, occurring in 'A Tour in Wales and through Several Counties of England, Including Both The Universities, performed in the Summer of 1805' (p. 181). The publisher of this was Richard Phillips, of 6, New Bridge Street, and unless a more exact identification of authorship is on record, I suggest this vegetarian-philanthropist bookseller was himself the writer and observer. Arriving in London 15 Aug., 1805, with a friend,

The eyewitness then provides a moral, which fact assists my identification of him as Sir Richard Phillips.

contains far fewer tombstones than does that of many a country town of similar size and population, considering that it has been used as a burial-ground for so many generations. It is bounded on the north side by the Misbourne stream, which flows on through Chalfont, and empties itself into the River Colne. The church is a handsome edifice, chiefly in the Perpendicular style, and has an embattled tower containing six bells, inscribed as below:—

There was formerly an inscription, which has been taken off and filed smooth. The