iencies in the letters of the first
word, viz. in the first 'E;' also in the 'N,' the second part being
short; and a slight defect in the letter 'A.' With respect to the
second word, the first six letters were very perfect: the others, with
the exception of the 'M,' mere strokes; but in number sufficient to
make up the word: and they had the appearance of having been perfect. I
can assure you they were anything but obscure, and required very little
stretch of the imagination. In the first word the letters were
equidistant and beautifully uniform. The second word was not quite
straight, being curved towards its termination. This appeared to me to
arise from the change of position which the letters were undergoing, as
before stated."

My other extract is from a letter written in 1851. The scene to which it
refers is a sick chamber occupied by an octogenarian grandmother, who is
_in extremis_. Her daughter, who writes the account, is present, together
with a grandchild, who is nearly eleven years old. The nurse has left the
room.

"We afterwards stood by poor grandmamma's fire, and then we sat at her
window to see the moon rise. There were many clouds about it, and
directly under it was the most marked figure of our Saviour on the
cross. The head was concealed in light, but the arms were outstretched,
and the body quite distinct. M. saw it too, and said, 'How appropriate,
aunt, for the beginning of Lent!' She has never alluded to it since,
nor, of course, have I; nor do I think any more of it, than that _there
it was_: and there is something happy in the fancy, at all events, for
it shone on her dying bed."

As you admit folk lore into "NOTES AND QUERIES," also well-attested
anecdotes, although these may not absolutely conduce to the advancement of
learning or art, perhaps you will receive this paper for the amusement of
those who, like myself, feel an interest in anything which takes us a
little out of the _hardware facts_ of "the age we live in."

ALFRED GATTY.

Ecclesfield.

* * * * *

"AFTER ME THE DELUGE."

If stolen wisdom could be returned to its rightful authors, great, indeed,
would be the transfer of property. Prince Metternich is said to be the
sayer of "After me the Deluge." And yet the Prince took the saying from the
mouth of Madame Pompadour; and she took it--from whom? It may be reasonably