reverence; but what was my delight, at beholding on its cover the identical painting of which I was in quest! There was displayed the outside of the Boar's Head tavern, and before the door was to be seen the whole convivial group, at table, in full revel; pictured with that wonderful fidelity and force, with which the portraits of renowned generals and commodores are illustrated on tobacco-boxes, for the benefit of posterity. Lest, however, there should be any mistake, the cunning limner had warily incribed the names of Prince Hal and Falstaff on the bottom of their chairs.

On the inside of the cover was an inscription, nearly obliterated, recording that this box was the gift of Sir Richard Gore, for the use of the vestry meetings at the Boar's Head tavern, and that it was,,repaired and beautified by his successor, Mr. John Packard, 1767." Such is a faithful description of this august 68 and venerable relic; and I question whether the learned Scriblerius 69 contemplated his Roman shield, or the Knights of the Round Table the long-sought san-greal 70, with more exultation.

It

While I was meditating on it with enraptured gaze, Dame Honeyball, who was highly gratified by the interest it excited, put in my hands a drinking cup or goblet, which also belonged to the vestry, and was descended from the old Boar's Head. bore the inscription of having been the gift of Francis Wythers, Knight, and was held, she told me, in exceeding11 great value, being considered very,,antyke 72." This last opinion was

68) åugúst ehrwürdig hat den Ton auf der letzten, August August auf der ersten Silbe.

89) Scriblerius (v. to scribble kritzela, zusammenschmieren) = fingierter Name eines schreiblustigen Alterthumsforschers.

70) Gewöhnlicher The Holy Grail, dtsch. d. heilige Gral, der Sage nach die Schüssel, aus der Christus mit seinen Jüngern das Abendmahl genoss; nach Diez vermittelst eines mlat. gradalis, cratalis von d. mlat. cratus Becher, Kelch für lat. gr. crater, xoατng.

71) Man beachte den Ausdruck exceeding great, wofür man exceedingly great erwartet. Doch ist diese Zusammenstellung des Partic. auf ing mit dem Adjectiv sehr häufig; vergl. Dickens, Christmas Carol I: piercing, searching, biting cold. Vergl. hierzu Mätzner, Engl. Gr. III, p. 96: „Eine Berührung des Adverb mit dem Adjectiv findet namentlich auch da statt, wo zwei Adjectivformen neben einander stehen, von denen die erstere eine Bestimmung der anderen enthält, wenn das Verhältniss beider entweder mehr additionell oder als das einer lockeren Zusammensetzung von Adjectiven erscheint".

72) Die Wirthin spricht das aus dem Franz. entlehnte und mit franz. i gesprochene Wort in englischer Weise (y ei) aus.

=

strengthened by the shabby gentleman in the red nose and oilcloth hat, and whom I strongly suspected of being a lineal descendant from the valiant Bardolph 73. He suddenly aroused from his meditation on the pot of porter, and casting a knowing look at the goblet, exclaimed,,,Ay, ay! the head don't ache now that made that there article 74166

The great importance attached to this memento of ancient revelry by modern churchwardens at first puzzled me: but there is nothing75 sharpens the apprehension so much as antiquarian research; for I immediately perceived that this could be no other than the identical,,parcel-gilt goblet" on which Falstaff made his loving but faithless vow to Dame Quickly; and which would, of course, be treasured up with care among the regalia of her domains, as a testimony of that solemn contract

76

Mine hostess, indeed, gave me a long history how the goblet had been handed down from generation to generation. She also entertained me with many particulars concerning the worthy vestrymen who have seated themselves thus quietly on the stools of the ancient roysters of Eastcheap, and, like so many commentators, utter clouds of smoke" in honour of Shakspeare. These I forbear to relate, lest my readers should not be as curious in these matters as myself. Suffice it to say, the neighbours, one and all, about Eastcheap, believe that Falstaff and

78) Einer der lustigen Cumpane in Shaksperes Henry IV., Part I u. Part II.

74) don't vulgär für does not, doesn't; ebenso gehört der ungebildeten Volkssprache die unmittelbare Verbindung eines Adverbs des Orts (there) mit einem adjectivischen Demonstrativum (that) an.

75) Ueber diese in der literarischen wie in der Umgangssprache verbreitete elliptische Ausdrucksweise, wobei das relative Subject (so hier), wie das Object unbezeichnet bleiben kann, vergl. Mätzner, Engl. Gr. III, p. 550, 3.

76) Thou didst swear to me upon a parcel-gilt (zum Theil vergoldet) goblet, sitting in my Dolphin* chamber, at the round table, by a sea-coal fire, on Wednesday in Whitsun-week, when the prince broke thy head for likening his father to a singing man of Windsor; thou didst swear to me then, as I was washing thy wound, to marry me, and make me my lady, thy wife. Canst thou deny it? PART II. (Note of W. Irving.)

HENRY IV.

*) Die Zimmer in dem Wirthshause wurden nicht nach Nummern, sondern nach verschiedenen Abzeichen unterschieden; so ist hier ein Zimmer mit dem Bilde eines Delphin gemeint, wie im 1. Theile von Heinrich IV. eins Pome-granate, ein anderes Half-moon genannt wird.

77) In Anspielung auf die im Anfange der Skizze erwähnte und zur Vergleichung herangezogene Verehrung der Heiligen durch brennende Lampen.

his merry crew actually lived and revelled there. Nay, there are several legendary anecdotes concerning him still extant among the oldest frequenters of the Mason's Arms, which they give as transmitted down from their forefathers; and Mr. M'Kash 78, an Irish hair-dresser, whose shop stands on the site of the old Boar's Head, has several dry jokes of Fat Jack's, not laid down in the books, with which he makes his customers ready to die of laughter.

I now turned to my friend the sexton to make some further inquiries, but I found him sunk in pensive meditation. His head had declined a little on one side; a deep sigh heaved from the very bottom of his stomach; and though I could not see a tear trembling in his eye, yet a moisture was evidently stealing from a corner of his mouth. I followed the direction of his eye through the door which stood open, and found it fixed wistfully on the savoury breast of lamb, roasting in dripping richness before the fire.

I now called to mind, that, in the eagerness of my recondite 79 investigation, I was keeping the poor man from his dinner. My bowels yearned with sympathy, and putting in his hand a small token of my gratitude and good-will, 1 departed, with a hearty benediction on him, Dame Honeyball, and the Parish Club of Crooked Lane; not forgetting my shabby, but sententious friend, in the oil-cloth hat and copper nose.

--

Thus have I given a,,tedious brief" 80 account of this interesting research, for which, if it prove too short and unsatisfactory, I can only plead my inexperience in this branch of literature, so deservedly popular at the present day. I am aware that a more skilful illustrator 81 of the immortal bard would have swelled the materials I have touched upon to a good merchantable bulk; comprising the biographies of William Walworth, Jack Straw, and Robert Preston; some notice of the eminent fishmongers of St. Michael's; the history of Eastcheap, great and little; private anecdotes of Dame Honeyball and her pretty daughter, whom I have not even mentioned; to say

78) M' spr. Mac; in schottischen Eigennamen als Vorsilbe, die Abstammung bezeichnend; gaelisch mac Sohn.

79) récondite (lat. reconditus) tief, eingehend.

80) Aus Shaksperes Midsummer-Night's Dream, Act V, Scene 1: a tedious brief scene of young Pyramus, wobei die Handwerker, welche diesen Titel ihres Stückes aufgesetzt haben, tedious missverständlich in dem Sinne von kurzweilig gebrauchen.

81) spr. illustrator.

nothing of a damsel tending the breast of lamb (and whom, by the way, I remarked to be a comely lass, with a neat foot and ankle); the whole enlivened by the riots of Wat Tyler, and illuminated by the great fire of London.

All this I leave as a rich mine, to be worked by future commentators; nor do I despair of seeing the tobacco-box, and the parcel-gilt goblet", which I have thus brought to light, the subjects of future engravings, and almost as fruitful of voluminous dissertations and disputes as the shield of Achilles, or the far-famed Portland vase

82.

82) Die Portlandvase, früher Barberinivase genannt, ward mit Asche gefüllt in einem Sarkophag von ausgezeichneter Arbeit in einem unterirdischen römischen Grabgewölbe in der ersten Hälfte des 17. Jahrhunderts aufgefunden. Der Sarkophag (des Kaisers Alexander Severus?) wurde im Museum des Campidoglio aufgestellt, wo er sich noch jetzt befindet; die Vase kam in die Barberinische Bibliothek zu Rom. Später brachte sie der Engländer William Hamilton käuflich an sich; von ihm erwarb sie der Herzog von Portland für 1000 Guineen; später wurde sie im British Museum aufgestellt. Sie besteht aus dunkelblauem Glas mit weissen Reliefs aus Glasguss von wundervoller Zeichnung, ist 10 Zoll hoch und hat da, wo sie am breitesten ist, 6 Zoll im Durchmesser. Der Gegenstand der Reliefs ist noch nicht ergründet: nach Winckelmann stellen sie die Verwandlung der Thetis in eine Schlange dar, nach Veltheim den Mythus, wie Hercules dem Admet die Alcestis aus dem Schattenreich zurückbringt, nach anderen anderes. Im Jahre 1845 wurde die Vase böswilliger Weise von einem Besucher des Museums zertrümmert. Nachdem sie in höchst kunstvoller Weise wieder zusammengesetzt worden, wird sie in einem verschlossenen Nebengemach unter einer Glasglocke aufbewahrt.

THE

MUTABILITY OF LITERATURE.

A COLLOQUY IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY'.

5

I know that all beneath the moon decays,
And what by mortals in this world is brought,
In time's great periods shall return to nought.
I know that all the muse's heavenly layes,
With toil of sprite which are so dearly bought,
As idle sounds, of few or none are sought9,
That there is nothing lighter than mere praise.
DRUMMOND OF HAWTHORNDEN".

THERE are certain half-dreaming moods of mind, in which we naturally steal away from noise and glare, and seek some quiet haunt, where we may indulge our reveries and build our air castles undisturbed. In such a mood I was loitering about the old grey cloisters of Westminster Abbey, enjoying that luxury of wandering thought' which one is apt to dignify with the name of reflection; when suddenly an irruption of madcap

8

1) vergl. in Bezug auf die Oertlichkeit die Skizze,,Westminster Abbey".

2) layes lays; in der vierten Zeile Inversion — which are so dearly bought with toil of sprite (= spirit; im neueren Englisch bedeutet sprite oder spright einen Geist, ein Gespenst); statt of few or none are sought verlangt das moderne Englisch by few etc.

8) William Drummond of Hawthornden (am Esk in Schottland) (1585-1649), ein schottischer Dichter, Freund Ben Jonsons, Verfasser von Tears on the Death of Moeliades (Henry, Prince of Wales); Poems; Forth Feasting, a Panegyric to the King's Most Excellent Majesty (zur Begrüssung Jacobs I. bei seinem Besuch in Schottland); in Prosa: The History of the Five Jameses u. A Cypress Grove. Die von Irving citierten Verse sind aus einem Sonett, dessen vierte, von Irving ausgelassene Zeile lautet: The fairest states have fatal nights and days. Statt mere praise in der letzten Zeile hat Chambers's Cyclopaedia I, p. 123 vain praise.

4) moods of mind
5) naturally

Gemüthsstimmungen.

spontaneously, of one's own internal or native feeling unwillkürlich, eigentl. von Natur.

6) cloister hier in seiner vorwiegenden speciellen Bedeutung = Kreuzgang, Klostergang.

7) enjoying that luxury of thought which one is apt etc., dtsch. etwa: indem ich mich dem Genuss hingab, meine Gedanken umberschweifen zu lassen, was etc.

8) Zu when vergl. S. 117, Anm. 19.