Minor Notes.
"_They that touch pitch_," &c.--A few Sundays since the clergyman that I
"sit under," quoting in his discourse the words "they that touch pitch
will be defiled," ascribed them to "the wisest of men." A lady of his
congregation (who was, I fear, more critical than devout) pounced upon
her pastor's mistake, and asked me on the following Monday if I also had
noticed it. I denied that it was one; but she laughed at my ignorance,
produced a Shakspeare, and showed me the words in the mouth of Dogberry
(_Much Ado about Nothing_, Act III. Sc. 3.). However, by the help of a
"Cruden," I was able to find the same expression, not indeed in Solomon,
but in the son of Sirach (ch. xiii. v. 1.).
If Shakspeare's appropriation of this passage has not been noticed
before, may I request the insertion of this note? It may possibly
prevent other learned divines from falling into the common (?) mistake
of thus quoting Dogberry as "the wisest of men."