Morning journal and courier., 1889-02-19
P0PULAR ERRORS.
Anomalies in Westna1nsser Abbey and
 Anachronislns In Shakespeare.

Anomalies 1n "09S601nBSeF ADDeF AA0
 Anachronisms tn Shakespeare.
 From the Epoch.l
 The blunders that have been committed are surprising; the erroneous impressions that still prevail are scarcely less so. Ob- servations have been perverted, facts have been ignored, proprieties of time, place and distance have been violated. Legends su- perstitions and misnomers are largely re- sponsible for the popular and palpable CT TOTS that exist, and the old engravers, paint CTS, sculptors and alohenists contributed their share of the absurdities. In evidence of this truth the subjoined are offered:
 In Westminster Abbey there are some absurd anomalies. The statue of Sir Cloudsley Shovel, British admira. who was drowned in 1707 in a shipwreck off the coast of Corn wall, is clad in Roman cuirass and sandals and an 18th century wig! The statute of the favorite minister of Charles l., George Villiers. Duke of Buckingham, is clad in the costume of a Roman Emperor, while that of his wife, also in stone, is sr- rayed in the court dress of the time of George I.
 Anachronisms are numerous. In Shakes pere's 'Coriolanus," one of the characters, Cominius, alludes to Roman plays, which were unknown until 250 years after the death of Coninius. h the same play al lussion is made to Marcian waters brought to Rome by Censorimus, which should bear date 800 years later than the action of the play Reference is made in "Julius Cesar" to striking clocks, which were not invented until the 18th or 18th century. In "Ham- let" the young prince is represented as educated at Wistenberg school. which was to turkeys in ''Henry w." is an anachronism. Turkeys are natives of this country, and were not introduced into England before the beginning of the 16th century. In the drama of Elizabeth" :" founded on 8 tragic play by Schiller, and in which Madame Ristori appeared with so much effect, an acrimonious interview oc- CUTS between Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary. The scene is violation of history, l for, though the royal ladies were cousins, l they never met each other. The reference calls to mind an anachronism of Thacke- | rays In "The Newcomes" (edition of 1854. Give Newcome writes 8 letter dat ed 'Msy 1, 1S2-," to which Mr. Pendennis replies, inclosing an extract from an art critic, in which it is asked why there was | no picture, by Since, 3tof Victoria and her ! august consortr" The reason there was ! no picture of Victoria and Albert, painted by Since or any other pal inter. was because | they were not married until 1840. Thack- ! cray also commits blunder in ''The Virgil ! nians." The singing of slaves is borne to | the homstead, which was not possible, as he located the former at least 20 miles away.
 Not 8 few reasonably we'll people have a mistaken idea of the locality and character of the Cave of Adullam. They have an impression that mention is made of it in the Arabian Nights" In 1865 MT.
 Bright made happy allusion. by way of | The next day the reporters of one of the London dailies blundered in speaking of | the reference to the Scriptures, and the editor in-chief took them to task. "1 sus- pect," he said "that none of you know what the Cave of Adullam meant" II beg their number, "but we have all read the Arabian Nights"
 l A wide spread error is the supposition ! that the mama of commerce is the same as that which fell from heaven during the wanderings of the Children of Israel in the desert. The mama of pharmacy is of a ! yellowish- white hue, sweet to the taste and sticky to the touch, and is obtained mainly in Italy and Sicily from tree of the | ash family. The fact that mama is also ob- l tained from a species of tamarish tree in the peninsula of Sinai has probably led to the ! impression that it is the sane mama spoken of in the Book of Exodus. The latter was
 miraculously supplied, could be ground in a mortar and baked or boiled like corn, and l as stated in the Scriptures, "was like corian-
 der seed, white, and the taste of it was like
 waters made with honey"
 Misnomers are responsible for many ot our erroneous impressions. Prussian blue
 does not come from Prussia; Burgundy
 pitch does not come from Burgundy, and il
 is not a pitch; Brazilian grass does not
 come from Brazil, and it is not grass
 black lead has no lead in it; sealing wax
 has no wax iE it; kid gloves are not made
 out of kid; whalebone is no bone at all, and
 salt is not salt, for it has been long ago ex
 cluded from the class of bodies denominsted | salts.