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NOTES AND QUERIES. [9* s. v. JAN. 27, 1900.

Mann of 20 April, 1757, is the last of that month in Cunningham's edition, it seems obvious that the letter to Conway which has been discussed should follow it, and should be inserted (regardless of its present date) between Nos. 500 and 501 in vol. iii.

It may appear a somewhat bold proceeding to discard the printed date of this letter, but experience shows that the printed dates at present borne by certain of Walpole's letters are wrong. For instance, letter 441 in Cun- ningham's edition is dated by Cunningham " March 21, 1755," and Mann is given as the addressee, whereas its correct date is 31 Oct.,

1755, and it is addressed to Bentley.

Letter 536 is dated " Dec. 23, 1757," whereas it has been proved to belong to December,

1756, with which date it was printed over again by Cunningham in his appendix. Letter 1436 is dated "June 12, 1772," but belongs to June, 1775. Letter 2292 is dated "Jan. 13, 1784," but belongs to January, 1785. It is evident, therefore, that the printed dates of Horace Walpole's letters are not always to be relied upon. HELEN TOYNBEE.

P.S. Since the above was written I find that letter 522, as printed by Wright and Cunningham, is incomplete. As printed in Miss Berry's 'Journals ' (vol. ii. p. 28) it con- tains a paragraph which has been omitted by Wright and Cunningham. In this paragraph reference is made to the will of " Lord Fitz- williams," i. e., the first Earl Fitzwilliam, who died on 10 Aug., 1756. This, again, points rather to April, 1757, than to September of that year.

SHAKESPEARIAN A.

iv. 453). MR. THISELTON'S note is a very valuable one. He has done students of Shakespeare good service in directing atten- tion to the fact that the comma is made to serve purposes other than that of punctua- tion. But I do not think that the passage which he takes as his text affords a case in point. Here the comma, for which a colon might very well be substituted, seems to mo to mark punctuation, and nothing else. Antony in nis languid laziness is too indolent to utter a single word more than necessary. To the announcement of the messenger,
 * ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA,' I. i. 18 (9 th S.

News, my good lord, from Rome, he replies, with a curtness which could not be made more brief,

Grates me, the sum.

Four monosyllables are made as best they may to express the thoughts, " No news from Rome can be other than disagreeable to me,

therefore enter on no details, but give the sum as briefly as you can." What falls from Cleopatra convinces me that this is the meaning. She says, " Nay, hear them "-the

news m full not it, the mere " sum." That "news" should be the subject of a verb in the singular, and yet be referred to bv a pronoun in the plural, is not unexampled. We hnd the same anomaly in * Richard III ' IV. iv. 534-6. R. M. SPENCE, D D ''

Manse of Arbuthnott, N.B.

' TEMPEST,' II. i. 278-80 (9 th S. iii 63 iv. 221). To be brief, it is when these con- sciences are candied that they do not baulk Antonio m his ambitious plans ; it is only when melted (active) that they would become dangerous. Antonio does not answer quite as MR. PALMER states. He first disposes of the question as to his own conscience, and then turns to that of consciences in general that is, disclaims any such inconvenient possession, and offers his success in wholesale corruption as proof that he is not singular m this respect. Antonio's remark, " Twenty consciences that stand 'twixt me and Milan " (fee., looks strangely like the language of fact a simple statement regarding a cold- blooded act ot usurpation.

E. MERTON DEY.

ot. Louis.

'TEMPEST,' III. i. 9-15 (9 th S. iv. 303).-! cannot ask you to lumber your pages with a repetition of my notes, more especially as my imal O ne on this passage, to which I still adhere, occupies nearly two columns nor do I wish anew to enter into a contro- versy with MR. E. MERTON DEY, for whom I have great esteem. I must therefore content myself with asking all interested in this famous "crux " to have the kindness to read my note (7 th S. vii. 403), with its brief supple- ment (7 th S. viii. 402), and, comparing it with MR. DEY'S, to judge between us.

R. M. SPENCE, D.D. Manse of Arbuthnott, N.B.

' MACBETH,' I. ii. 14 (9 th S. iii. 223 ; iv. 222). MR. E. MERTON DEY finds the context defi- cient in support of the word " quarry." Yet I venture to think this word is in admirable keeping with the epithet " mercilesse," which has just been applied to Macdonwald. Besides the ''damned quarry" of the "mercilesse Macdonwald" is balanced by Macbeth's " brandisht steele, which smoak'd with bloody execution." The use of the word "quarell" by Holinshed is no reason why we should restrict Shakespeare's liberty of choice.

ALFRED E. THISELTON.