arly so as possible; and although it consists of
only eight leaves, it contains no fewer than forty variations from the
original, all more or less important, and one of them the total omission
of a line, so that the preceding line is left without its corresponding
rhyme, and the sense materially injured.

Unfortunately, Mr. Child reprinted in America from this defective
reprint in England; but his sagacity prevented him from falling into
some of the blunders, although it could not supply him with the wanting
line; and his notes are extremely clear and pertinent. I shall not go
over the thirty-nine other errors; but I shall just quote the passage as
it stands in the (as far as I know) unique copy, now deposited at
Devonshire House, and supply in italics the necessary line. It occurs in
a speech by the Pardoner, near the end, where he is praising one of his
relics:-- {210}

"I wyll edefy more, with the syght of it
Than wyll all the pratynge of holy wryt;
For that except that the precher, hym selfe lyue well,
His predycacyon wyll helpe neuer a dell,
And I know well, that thy lyuynge is nought:
_Thou art an apostata, yf it were well sought_,
An homycyde thou art I know well inoughe," &c.

The line omitted is the more remarkable, because it contains an instance
of the employment of a word very old in our language, and in use in the
best periods of our prose and poetry: "apostata" is explained in the
_Promptorium_, is found in Skelton and Heywood, and so down to the time
of Massinger, who was especially fond of it.

How many copies were issued of Smeeton's reprint of _The Pardoner and
the Frere_, I know not; but any of your readers, who chance to possess
it, will do well to add the absent line in the margin, so that the
mistake may be both rectified and recorded. I was not aware of Mr.
Child's intention to re-publish the interlude in the United States, or I
would long ago have sent him the correction, as indeed I did, a day or
two after I received his volume. It was, nevertheless, somewhat
ungracious to thank him for his book, and at the same time to point out
an important error in it, for which, however, he was in no way
responsible.

J. PAYNE COLLIER.

Kensington, Jan. 28. 1850.

* * * * *

CATACOMBS AND BONE-HOUSES.

Without attempting to answer the queries of MR. GATTY, (No. 11. p. 171.)
I venture to send a note on the subject. I believe it will generally be
found