Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-03-04
sEACOAST OF BOHEMIA.
Humorous Errors in Geography of
the Older Writers.

Frederick Boyle. in the London Pail Mall
Gazette.
In Shakespeare Bacon controversy
This droll error always turns up. But Is
it certain that the writer of Ihe YIN
ter's Tale could make no defense: Dr.
Thoms is not forgotten by caretnl stu.
dents. his "\otelets on Shakespeare
contained the germ of various discoveries
which have been worked out In Iater
time. And he stated positively tlal 30
hernia lad a seacoast once. SWalhihs
IN from Mount 1habor. the HussHes con
n,Iered Pomerana and the ports OF Stei-
tin and Rostock, which they held Tor
some wears Further. lie assorted that
Speeds map represents them as sun III
nossession: though published In TO-, AFTER
his death. it was certainty khoWn hLans
Years before, and Shakespeare might have
seen it. I never felt the curiosity TO look
nm this reference myself. but some OF
tie gentlemen who gre SO deeply inter-
ested in the matter ought TO do So
At anv rate. blunders as groteSque nave
been committed By persons infinitely more
than an actor-dramatist. ger
haps the description of Bombay ny the
great Lord C1aredon is the most pleasing
example When urging the advantages OF
marriage between Charles III and kath-
crime OF Braganza upon the prlvy coul-
ell he wrote that the alliance proposed
to give the English nation a free trade
with Brazel (sic) in the East Indies.
| England the island of Bombay, with the
| towns and castles thereon, which are
within a very little distance OF Brazil.
Apparently the privy council saw nothlng
wrong, for when Francis Gwyn. VINO m
herited the Claredon manuscripts. pub
lished them. some fifty years later. he
in cluded this document. without any COM
ment of his own or that august BODY
Probably Charles himself was not better
Informed when he granted the East lndia
-o,,oop,- nernetllal lease of the island
| for e1O yearly.
Among the archives at Simancas is a
confidential dispatch from some impor-
tant parsonage. recommending ,li; "A ,ha
Armada might disembark to conquer Eng
land Among other advantages it was
| 'only twelve miles from London" Philip
II was not more skilled in geography
than in other matters. but he suspected
an error here. and wrote on the margin,
IT don't understand about this Water
ford twelve miles from London. Make
INQUIRY" One of his successors. Charles
ii. had the vaguest ideas about the seog-
raphy of his own empire. 1t is reported
on excellent authority, that when the
French took Mons, the great town and
fortress of Flanders. he congratulated
the Marquis de Harcourt upon victory
over the English heretics Flanders was
Spanish territory at the date.
Funny stories are. current of high off,
Gals in this realm at the present day
Grant Duff answers for one. Schoolboys
ought to know that there is a town on
the Persian gulf called Bushire, once
great. and still of high importance stra-
logically. A parsonage was sent there
from India on diplomatic business. In
due time he forwarded the Items OF his
expenses at Bushire to the foreign office,
along with others incurred. The amount
was transmitted to him with these latter
deducted. On inquiry he was told that
the foreign Office could not recognize bus
hire.
Nav I dare to impute ignorance to
Charles Darwin?-certainly he was the
first to laugh if. in after years, he recol-
lected advising Sir Joseph Hooker to
write to Wien that unknown place
where they publish SO many books.
Where is It, by the by?" When his fame
was already worldwide Darwin did not
know that Wien is Vienna.