_Britannicus._--I gather the following anecdote from the chapter "Paper
Wars of the Civil Wars" in Disraeli's _Quarrels of Authors_. Sir John
(Birkenhead) is the representative of the _Mercurius Aulicus_, the Court
Gazette; Needham, of a Parliamentary _Diurnal_.
"Sir John never condescends formally to reply to Needham, for which he
gives this singular reason: 'As for this libeller, we are still
resolved to take no notice, till we find him able to spell his own
name, which to this hour BRITANNICUS never did.' In the next number of
Needham, who had always written it _Brittanicus_, the correction was
silently adopted."
A similar error occurs on the shilling and six-penny pieces of George III.,
circa 1817 (those {276} most frequently met with in the present
circulation), whilst the cotemporary crowns and half-crowns have the
correct orthography.