The inclosed inscription was brought over for me from Karlsbad by the
late Lord Chief Justice Tindal. Can any one throw light upon the capital
letters? I give it copied exactly from Sir Nicholas Tindal's writing,
with his observation beneath, and may safely venture to warrant _his_
accuracy. It might be supposed to be a chronogram, but for the
introduction of the letter "E."
"_Motto from a Dial formed on the two Sides of the Angle of a
House at Karlsbad._
"'Hora Hor[I]s [CE]d[I]t, pere[V]nt s[IC] Te[M]pora nob[I]s,
[V]t t[I]b[I] f[I]nal[I]s s[I]t bona, [VIV]e bene.'
"The letters which are written in capitals were so in the original
inscription, and were coloured red: probably the anagram of some
one's name is concealed under them."
Having been a collector of existing dial mottoes for many years, I shall
feel greatly obliged to any of your correspondents who will inform me
of remarkable ones in their own neighborhood.
There are four--one in English, one in Latin, one in Greek, and one in
Hebrew--on the keep of Carlisle Castle; but though I possess the three
former, I have not the last, and should be very glad to obtain it, if
possible.
There is a motto at Bonneville in Switzerland, as I have been told:
"Soli Soli Soli."
What can be the interpretation thereof?
Of course I am acquainted with Leadbetter's _Art of Dialling_, and the
curious list of mottoes he gives, together with the still more curious
translations of the same; as _e.g._
"Aut Caesar, aut nullus."
(I shine, or shroud!)