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Notes and Queries, Number 01, November 3, 1849 By: Various |
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A MEDIUM OF INTER COMMUNICATION FOR LITERARY MEN, ARTISTS, ANTIQUARIES,
GENEALOGISTS, ETC. "When found, make a note of." CAPTAIN CUTTLE No. 1
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1849.
Price Threepence. Stamped Edition, 6d. NOTES AND QUERIES. The nature and design of the present work have been so fully stated in
the Prospectus, and are indeed so far explained by its very Title, that
it is unnecessary to occupy any great portion of its first number with
details on the subject. We are under no temptation to fill its columns
with an account of what we hope future numbers will be. Indeed, we would
rather give a specimen than a description; and only regret that, from
the wide range of subjects which it is intended to embrace, and the
correspondence and contributions of various kinds which we are led to
expect, even this can only be done gradually. A few words of
introduction and explanation may, however, be allowed; and indeed, ought
to be prefixed, that we may be understood by those readers who have not
seen our Prospectus. "WHEN FOUND, MAKE A NOTE OF," is a most admirable rule; and if the
excellent Captain had never uttered another word, he might have passed
for a profound philosopher. It is a rule which should shine in gilt
letters on the gingerbread of youth, and the spectacle case of age.
Every man who reads with any view beyond mere pastime, knows the value
of it. Every one, more or less, acts upon it. Every one regrets and
suffers who neglects it. There is some trouble in it, to be sure; but in
what good thing is there not? and what trouble does it save! Nay, what
mischief! Half the lies that are current in the world owe their origin
to a misplaced confidence in memory, rather than to intentional
falsehood. We have never known more than one man who could deliberately
and conscientiously say that his memory had never deceived him; and he
(when he saw that he had excited the surprise of his hearers, especially
those who knew how many years he had spent in the management of
important commercial affairs) used to add, because he had never trusted
it; but had uniformly written down what he was anxious to remember. But, on the other hand, it cannot be denied that reading and writing
men, of moderate industry, who act on this rule for any considerable
length of time, will accumulate a good deal of matter in various forms,
shapes, and sizes some more, some less legible and intelligible some
unposted in old pocket books some on whole or half sheets, or mere
scraps of paper, and backs of letters some lost sight of and forgotten,
stuffing out old portfolios, or getting smoky edges in bundles tied up
with faded tape. There are, we are quite sure, countless boxes and
drawers, and pigeon holes of such things, which want looking over, and
would well repay the trouble. Nay, we are sure that the proprietors would find themselves much
benefited even if we were to do nothing more than to induce them to look
over their own collections. How much good might we have done (as well as
got, for we do not pretend to speak quite disinterestedly), if we had
had the looking over and methodizing of the chaos in which Mr. Oldbuck
found himself just at the moment, so agonizing to an author, when he
knows that the patience of his victim is oozing away, and fears it will
be quite gone before he can lay his hand on the charm which is to fix
him a hopeless listener: "So saying, the Antiquary opened a drawer, and
began rummaging among a quantity of miscellaneous papers ancient and
modern. But it was the misfortune of this learned gentleman, as it may
be that of many learned and unlearned, that he frequently experienced on
such occasions, what Harlequin calls " l'embarras des richesses " in
other words, the abundance of his collection often prevented him from
finding the article he sought for." We need not add that this
unsuccessful search for Professor Mac Cribb's epistle, and the scroll of
the Antiquary's answer, was the unfortunate turning point on which the
very existence of the documents depended, and that from that day to this
nobody has seen them, or known where to look for them... Continue reading book >>
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