THE WISE MEN OF GOTHAM

An ill-starred town in England seems to have enjoyed so unenviable a reputation for some centuries for the folly and stupidity of its inhabitants, that I am induced to send you the following Query (with the reasons on which it is founded) in the hope that some of your readers may be able to help one to a solution. Query: Why have the men of *Gotham* been long famous for their extreme folly? My authorities are,— 1. The Nursery Rhyme,— "Three wise men of *Gotham* Went to sea in a bowl; If the bowl had been stronger, My story would have been longer." 2. *Drunken Barnaby's Journal* (edit. London,…