Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 2.djvu/282

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NOTES AND QUERIES.

[9 th S. II. OCT. 1, '98.

time, and that Queen Victoria has reigned over "patched subjects." When Tennyson wrote <The Talking Oak' (published 1842) one would suppose that he was not aware of this. He speaks of it as belonging to the " teacup times of hood and hoop," and con- nected with " the modish Cupid," presumably of Queen Anne's days. I conclude that patching has finally ceased now. Can any one besides my correspondent speak of Vic- torian patches from personal knowledge?

English ladies clearly wore patches before the Commonwealth days, because, as I stated in my former note, Suckling, who died in 1641, mentions them. Prof. Henry Morley, in a note to the fiftieth Spectator, quotes a passage from verses by Suckling ' Upon the Black Spots worn by my Lady D. E.,' in which he calls them

Mourning weeds for hearts forlorn, Which, though you must not love, you could not scorn.

JONATHAN BOUCHIEE. Ropley, Hampshire.

Let me refer your readers to the ' Miser's Daughter,' by W. Harrison Ainsworth, which contains some of George Cruikshank s best work, representing the patch worn in the days of George II. by males as well as females. There are also many illustrations depicting the female attire of the period, as the sacque, hooped petticoat, and mask. The gentlemen appear to have vied with the ladies in expensive dress of silk and velvet. JOHN PICKFORD, M.A.

Newbourne Rectory, Woodbridge.

SHERIDAN AND DUNDAS (9 th S. ii. 28, 118). It is most unfortunate that the author of ' Sheridaniana ' (London, 1826) did not state the precise occasion upon which Sheridan is reputed to have uttered the famous mot against Dundas. And herein lies a hint to all future biographers or compilers of the " ana " of celebrated men. MR. G. MARSHALL, I observe, looks upon the inclusion of the words in 'Sheridaniana' as being not in their favour, but omits to say why. Probably many others, like myself, may be asking the " inevitable." The pith of the remark is, we learn, contained among some loose sketches for a comedy of affectation. But surely MR. MARSHALL cannot have failed to note that this same fact is admitted by the author of 'Sheridaniana'; in fact, he quotes the very words with a slight exception which MR. MARSHALL quoted in 8 th S. x. 199. As I have not seen any extract from the work in ques- tion, I venture to transcribe the part wherein reference is made to Sheridan's use of the

words. Under the headline " Sheridan's Repetition of Himself " we read :

"A curious instance of the care with which he treasured up the felicities of his wit appears in the use he made of one of those epigrammatic passages, which the reader may remember among the memo- randums for his Comedy of Affectation, and which, in its first form, ran thus : ' He certainly has a great deal of fancy, and a very good memory ; but, with a perverse ingenuity, he employs these quali- ties as no other person does for he employs his fancy in his narratives, and keeps his recollec- tion for his wit when he makes his jokes, you applaud the accuracy of his memory, and 'tis only when he states his facts that you admire the flights of his imagination.' After many efforts to express this thought more concisely, and to reduce the language of it to that condensed and elastic state in which alone it gives force to the projectiles of wit, he kept the passage by him patiently some years, till he at length found an opportunity of turning it to account, in a reply to Mr. Dundas, in the House of Commons, when, with the most extemporaneous air, he brought it forth, in the following compact and pointed form : ' The Right Honourable Gentle- man is indebted to his memory for his jests, and to his imagination for his facts.' " ' Sheridaniana,' pp. 252, 253.

It is a pity, as I have already remarked, that our author has given no date, but it would be enough to make that good man turn in his grave could he but learn that the fact of the words being "of 'Sheridaniana' origin is not in their favour." Even if we put the mildest of interpretations on the meaning of this expression of opinion, it can mean out one thing, easily guessed. Now I do not know how all this may strike others, but to me it savours very much of an attempt by MR. MARSHALL to play off the "reputed" Sheridan bon-mot on the author of ' Sheridaniana '; in other words, while he is disputing the fact of the words having ever been uttered, and thereby impugning the account of the author of the " ana," he is, in a manner of speaking, gently insinuating that the latter is indebted to his memory for the form of the jest, and to his imagination for his fact. Of course, I pro- bably misunderstand MR. MARSHALL ; but this is how it strikes me. C. P. HALE.

In Lord Brougham's ' Statesmen of the Time of George III./ vol. i. p. 294 (Griffin & Co.), I find the following foot-note to a statement the purport of which is to show that Sheri- dan's witty sayings were not the inspiration of the moment, but very carefully prepared :

"Take an instance from this author [Moore], giving extracts from the commonplace book of the wit : ' He employs his fancy in his narrative, and keeps his recollections for his wit.' Again, the same idea is expanded into : ' When he makes his jokes you applaud the accuracy of his memory, and 'tis only when he states his facts that you admire the flights of his imagination.' But the thought was