2"d S. VIII. Oct. 8. '69.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



289 



lying in length, parallel with the passage which 

 goes . by the west wall of the churchyard out of 

 Houndsditch, and turns again into Whitechapel,* 

 coming out near the Three Nuns Inn." J. Y. 



Curious Rent-Charge and Service in Yorkshire, 

 — The following curious custom formerly attached 

 to a Yorkshire manor, at all events in respect of 

 the freehold lands of one Edward Cooper : — 



« And also All that free Rent of S^ of lawful Money of 

 Great Britain formerly payable by Edward Cooper for 

 his freehold lands and tenements in Brereton, held of the 

 said Manor of South Stainley, otherwise Kirk Stainley, 

 which rent is payable on the feast day of the birth of our 

 Lord Christ yearly, and of the service to be performed on 

 the same day yearly by the said Edward Cooper, his 

 heirs and ass', of making the fire in the Hall of the 

 Manor-house of South Stainley, and the paym* of 1"^ to 

 be p^ to him or her that shall make the fire for him if he, 

 his heirs or assigns shall fail to perform the same service 

 in his or their proper person or persons, and of the ser- 

 vice also to be performed by the said Edward Cooper, his 

 heirs and assigns, to wit, of sitting yearly on the same 

 Feast Day at the same Hall Table at Dinner time, with 

 a dish of Water before him or them, and a stone in it." 



Query, Does this custom still exist ? 



Geobge Ttas. 

 Times Office, Leeds. 



WASHINGTON LETTER. 



In the year 1834 I became acquainted with the 

 late Edward S. Abdy, Esq., Fellow of Christ Col- 

 lege, Cambridge, then on a visit to my country, 

 the United States of America. I had the pleasure 

 of his company repeatedly at my house, and be- 

 came deeply interested in him as a gentleman, a 

 scholar, and a philanthropist. Just as he was 

 about to take his leave of me and of our country, 

 in the earnestness of my desire to give him some 

 token of my great regard, I presented him with 

 an autograph letter of our immortal Washington. 



It was not only an article of great value, as the 

 production of the pen of the Father of our coun- 

 try, but it was especially precious as illustrative 

 of some of the admirable peculiarities of his pri- 

 vate character. I ought not to have given it to 

 anyone, to be taken out of our country. And I 

 have been severely and justly rebuked by a 

 number of my countrymen for having done so. 



Now, therefore, that my friend Mr. Abdy is 

 dead, I am anxious, if possible, to recover the 

 possession of that " Washington's letter," or at 

 least an exact and certified copy of it. 



I have been assured that it is not in the posses- 

 sion of any of his heirs, and have been led to sup- 

 pose that he gave it to some public institution, 

 or to some individual curious in such matters. 

 Several friends have advised me to institute an 

 inquiry in the columns of your unique and valu- 

 able paper. 



Do me the favour, Mr. Editor, to make my 

 wishes known to your readers in the manner you 

 may think best. 



The letter can easily be identified. It was 

 written by George Washington from Philadel- 

 phia, in 1794, to Mr. John Custis, who I suppose 

 was, left in charge of Washington's estates at 

 Mount Vernon during the President's absence 

 from home. The letter covers nearly seven pages, 

 ending a little below the middle of the seventh 

 page. It relates wholly to the management of his 

 plantations ; and there is a brief note, on the left- 

 hand side of the last page, showing his kind re- 

 membrance of his Dutch gardener. 



If any individual who may possess the valuable 

 letter, or may have the charge of it, in the library 

 of any public institution, will do me the favour to 

 inform me where it may be found, I shall be very 

 grateful to him. 



I intend to be in London until the morning of 

 the 10th of October ; and from the 15th until the 

 22nd in Liverpool. 



Between the present and the last-named day 

 (Oct. 22.), any communication addressed to me, 

 care of Messrs. Baring Brothers and Co., will 

 speedily reach me, wherever I may be in Eng- 

 land. And after that date my address will be 

 Syracuse, New York, U. S. A. Samuel J. Mat. 



SEALS OF OFFICERS WHO PERISHED IN 

 AFFGHANISTAN. 



The seals described below are believed to 

 have belonged to officers who perished in Afighan- 

 istan in 1841-42. The seals themselves are de- 

 posited with the Editor of " N. & Q.," and will be 

 restored by him to any relative of their former 

 owners. Heraldic correspondents are invited to 

 identify them. E. C. B. 



No. 1. On a wreath, a lion passant, over the initials 



iT. m. ^. 



No. 2. On a wreath, a stag's head erased, pierced in the 

 neck with a javelin stringed ; over the initials (^^^ ^^ 



in an oval. 



No. 3. On a wreath, a tiger's head affronte', charged on 

 the neck a chain (or rosarv) and cross, over the initial 



J. 



[We have had great pleasure in thus complying with 

 the request contained in the following letter, which we 

 have thought it right to print at length in justice to the 

 good feelings of the writer. Impressions of the engraved 

 stones (for the settings have of course been broken away) 

 are left at the Office of " N. & Q." for the inspection of 

 parties who may desire to see them, and we shall be 

 extremely gratified if this notice should be the means of 

 restoring these small, but interesting, relics to the families 

 of their former owners.] 



The accompanying three seals formed part of a 

 batch recently sent to me from the north of India 

 for sale with some antique gems. 



