Leeds, Nov. 1. 1851.
_Merlin and the Electric Telegraph._--The following extract from the
prophecy of Merlin in Geoffrey of Monmouth's _British History_, book
vii. ch. 4., reads rather curiously in these days of railways and of
electric telegraph communication between France and England:--
"Eric shall hide his apples within it, and _shall make
subterraneous passages_. At that time _shall the stones speak_,
and the sea towards the Gallic Coast be contracted into a narrow
space. _On each bank shall one man hear another_, and the soil of
the isle shall be enlarged. The secrets of the deep shall be
revealed, and Gaul shall tremble for fear."
I should like to be informed if there have ever been any detailed and
systematic attempts made at interpreting the whole of this curious
prophecy of Merlin's.