W.P.

[Another copy is in the valuable collection of the Rev. T. Corser. See
that gentleman's communication on Nicholas Breton, in our First Vol.,
p. 409.]

* * * * *


QUERIES.

THE WISE MEN OF GOTHAM.

An ill-starred town in England seems to have enjoyed so unenviable a
reputation for some centuries for the folly and stupidity of its
inhabitants, that I am induced to send you the following Query (with the
reasons on which it is founded) in the hope that some of your readers may
be able to help one to a solution.

Query: Why have the men of _Gotham_ been long famous for their extreme
folly?

My authorities are,--

1. The Nursery Rhyme,--

"Three wise men of _Gotham_
Went to sea in a bowl;
If the bowl had been stronger,