P.S.--I am not disposed to quarrel with H. C. K.'s derivation of _awkward_
(Vol. viii., p. 310.), but I must observe that the more exact correlative
of _toward_ seems to be _wayward_. The Anglo-Saxons appear to have
pronounced their [gh] as _g_; but after the Conquest it was pronounced hard
in some cases, and so _wayward_ and _awkward_ may have the same origin.
_Shakspeare Portrait._--Can any of your correspondents state whether the
sign of Shakspeare, said to have been painted at a cost of 150l., and which
in 1764 graced a tavern then in Drury Lane, called "The Shakspeare," and in
that year was taken down and removed into the country, and used for a
similar purpose, still exists, add where? and is the artist who painted
such known?