"The Inner Temple Gate, London, being lately repaired, and curiously decorated, the following inscription, in honour of both the Temples, is _intended_ to be put over it." A MS. note, in a cotemporary hand, in my copy of _The Foundling Hospital for Wit_, states the author of the original lines to have been the "Rev. William Dunkin, D.D." The answer which follows it, is said to be by "Sir Charles Hanbury Williams." EDWARD F. RIMBAULT. _Henry Headley, B.A._ (Vol. iii., p. 280.).--E. B. PRICE styles "Henry Headley, B.A., of Norwich, a _now forgotten critic_." He might have added, "but who deserved to be remembered, as one whose _Select Beauties of Ancient English Poetry, with Remarks, &c._, in 2 vols., 1787, contributed something towards the revival of a taste for that species of literature which Percy's _Reliques_ exalted into a fashion, if not a passion, never to be discountenanced again." The work of course is become scarce, and not the less valuable, though that recommendation constitutes its least value. J. M. G. Hallamshire. _Cycle of Cathay_ (Vol. iv., p. 37.).--Without reflecting much on the matter, I have always supposed the "cycle" in Tennyson's line-- "Better fifty years of Europe than a cycle of Cathay"-- to be the Platonic cycle, or great year, the space of time in which all the stars and constellations return to their former places in respect of the equinoxes; which space of time is calculated by Tycho Brahe at 25,816 years, and by Riccioli at 25,920: and I understood the passage (whether rightly or wrongly I shall be glad to be informed) to mean, that fifty years of life in Europe were better than any amount of existence, however extended, in the Celestial Empire. W. FRASER. _Proof of Sword Blades_ (Vol. iv., pp. 39. 109.).--Without wishing to detract from the merits of an invention, which probably is superior in its effects to old modes of testing sword blades, I object to the term _efficient_ being applied to _machine_-proved swords. Because, after such proof, they frequently break by ordinary cutting; even those which have been made doubly strong and heavy--and hence unfit and useless for actual engagement--have so failed. And because machine-tried swords are liable to, and do, break in the handle. For many reasons I should condemn the machine in question as inapplicable to its purposes. By analogous reasoning, it would not be wrong to call a candle a good thrusting instrument, because a machine may be made to force it through a deal plank. The subject of testing sword blades is a very important one, although it has not received that degree of attention from those whom it more nearly concerns which it seems to demand. The writer's experience has been only _en amateur_; but it has satisfied him how much yet remains to be effected before swords proved by a machine are to be relied upon. E. M. M. Thornhill Square, August 16. 1851.