Demerary.
[Mr. Ellis, in his edition of Brande's _Popular Antiquities_, vol.
ii. p. 155. 4to. has given a curious passage from the Lansdowne
MSS. concerning a sin-eater who lived in Herefordshire, which has
been quoted in the _Gentleman's Magazine_, vol. xcii. pt. i. p.
222.]
"_A Posie of other Men's Flowers_" (Vol. iv., pp. 58. 125.).--If D. Q.
should succeed in finding this saying in Montaigne's Works, I hope he
will be kind enough to send an "Eureka!" to "NOTES AND QUERIES," as by
referring to pp. 278. 451. of your second volume he will see that I am
interested in the question.
I am still inclined to think that the metaphor, _in its present concise
form_ at all events, does _not_ belong to Montaigne, though it may owe
its origin to some passage in the _Essays_. See, for example, one in
book i. chap. 24.; another in book ii. chap. 10., in Hazlitt's second
edition, 1845, pp. 54. 186.
But I have not forgotten Montaigne's motto, "Que sçais-je?" The chances
are that I am wrong. I should certainly like to see his right to the
saying satisfactorily proved by reference to book, chapter, and page.