2nd s. No 49., Dec. G. '56.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



443 



Notes ever meet his eye, may now think that 

 Curll has had scant justice at his hands. 



In 1723 we find Curll, in conjunction with 

 Henley (who afterwards, in 1730, started the 

 Hyp Doctor, in support of Sir Robert Walpole), 

 in correspondence with the Government, and 

 giving information to Walpole as to a projected 

 attack from Mrs. Manley in the form of a " fifth " 

 volume of The Atalantis. It would seem from the 

 letters, which were originally published in the 

 Gent. Mag., Ixviii., pt. i. p. 1 90., that this was not 

 the first time that Curll had offered his services 

 to the Government : but his hopes of " something 

 in the Post Office," or of " being serviceable in 

 the Stamp Office," do not appear to have been 

 realised. 



"Strand, March 2, 1723-4, 

 " Hon. Sir, 



"Yesterday Mr. Henley and myself were eye-witnesses 

 of a letter, under Mrs. Manley's own hand, intimating 

 that a lifth volume of The Atalantis had been for some 

 time printed off, and lies ready for publication ; the de- 

 sign of which, in her own words, is, ' to give an account 

 of a sovereign and his ministers who are endeavouring to 

 overturn that Constitution which their pretence is to 

 protect ; to examine the defects and vices of some men 

 who take a delight to impose upon the world by the pre- 

 tence of public good ; whilst their true design is only to 

 gratifj' and advance themselves.' 



" This, Sir, is the laudable tenour of this libel, which 

 is (but shall be in your power onlj' to suppress) ready for 

 the intended mischief upon the rising of the parliament. 



" Mr. Henley called upon me this morning to acquaint 

 me that your Honour had appointed Wednesday morning 

 next for your final determination relating to "these kind 

 of services. 



" As your Honour was formerly pleased to promise me 

 your friendship, I now hope to feel the effect of it for 

 what I can, without vanity, call my unwearied diligence 

 to serve the Government, having in a manner left off my 

 business for that purpose. 



" Mr. Goode told me, that I might depend upon having 

 some provision made for me, and that he had named 

 something in the Post Office to your Honour for my pur- 

 pose. And I hope that, either in that or some of the 

 many others over which your Honour presides, I shall be 

 thought on. 



" Just upon Lord Townshend's going to Hanover, I re- 

 ceived his Lordship's instructions, at any rate to get out 

 of the custody of Mr. Layer's clerk, Stewart, some papers 

 then intended to be privately dispersed. This I effected, 

 and am ready to deliver them up to your Honour. Mr. 

 Cracherode and Mr. Buckley called on me to see them, 

 but had not their end ; my design being strictly to ob- 

 serve the trust reposed by his Lordship in me, who 

 ordered me, when he gave me the above instructions, to 

 attend your Honour for whatever money I should have 

 occasion for. 



" Now, Sir, as I have not intruded upon your important 

 minutes, neither can I pester your levy with an Irish as- 

 surance, I humbly hope for j'our present favour for my 

 past expenses, and what Mr. Henley and myself have 

 now under your consideration, since we shall either desist 

 or proceed according to your determination. 



" I am, honoured Sir, your ever devoted and most 

 obliged liumble servant, 



« E. Curll. 



"P.S. Lord Townshend assured me he would recom- 



mend me to your H(mour for some provision in the Civil 

 List. In the Stamp Office I can be serviceable." 



"To the Right Hon. Eobert Walpole, Esq. 



" Wednesday, March 4, 1723. 

 "Hon. Sir, 



" I will attend you on Friday for your final determina- 

 tion. My intentions are both honourable and sincere; 

 and I doubt not but from you they will meet with a 

 suitable return. This affair has been very expensive, 

 which I hope will be considered when I wait upon you, 

 and, as to any former matters, Mr. Curll tells me he has 

 always made good what he proposed ; and the reason of 

 his not attending upon you oftener was from your own 

 commands to him to go to Lord Townshend when he had 

 anj' thing to offer. 



" As you please to determine on Friday, I shall either 

 desist from, or pursue my inquiries of this kind. It not 

 being at all proper for Mr. Curll to appear in person on 

 these occasions, all will be transacted by me only. 



" As I expect your Honour's favour, believe me to be, 

 upon all occasions, your Honour's most devoted Servant, 



" J. Henley. 



" P.S. As to Mr. Higgons's and Mrs. Manley's affair, I 

 have seen original letters under both their hands." 



Whether Mrs. Manley's fifth volume ever made 

 its appearance, and whether Curll ever got from 

 Walpole any return for these services, we must 

 leave to others to discover. All we know is that 

 Curll's services to the Government did not save 

 him from a Government prosecution a few years 

 afterwards ; but that will form a chapter by itself. 



S. N. M. 



NOTES ON TBAFALGAB. 



NelsorCs Signal. — As some interesting state- 

 ments connected with the history of this signal 

 have reached us from various sources, a notice of 

 it, with its circumstantial and verbal variations, 

 may still possess some charm for the readers of 

 " N. & Q." The several versions appear thus 

 collated in Sir H. Nicolas's Dispatches and 

 Letters, S^c, the first given by the editor being 

 from the pen of Captain Blackwood, who com- 

 manded the Euryalus : 



" I was walking with him (Lord Nelson) on the poop, 

 when he said, ' I'll now amuse the fleet with a signal ; ' 

 and he asked me 'if I did not think there was one yet 

 wanting ? ' I answered, that I thought the fleet seemed 

 very clearly to understand what they were about, and to 

 vie with each other who should first get nearest to the 

 Victory or Royal Sovereign (Vice-Admiral CoUing- 

 wood). These words were scarcely uttered when his last 

 well-known signal was made, ' England expects every 

 man will do his duty.' The shout with which it was re- 

 ceived throughout the fleet was truly sublime. ' Now,' 

 said Lord Nelson, ' I can do no more. We must trust to 

 the great Disposer of all events, and the justice of our 

 cause. I thank God for this great opportunity of doing 

 my duty.' " 



The next account is from James's Naval His- 

 tory. The writer says : 



" This done [the signal to prepare for anchor had been 

 already given, at llh. 30 m.] no other signal seemed 

 wanting, when Lord Nelson remarked that he must give 



