Aug. 5. 1854.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



115 



able billets to the women belonj^ing to the 28th, and some 

 of them having perished in consequence of the inclemency 

 of the weather, so great was the resentment of the corps, 

 that some officers dres8ed,themselves like savages, entered 

 his house whilst he was sitting with his family, danced 

 round the table, and suddenly pulling him back upon his 

 chair, cut oflf both his ears. They instantly disappeared ; 

 nor was the deed discovered until after their departure. 

 From this circumstance, and in consequence of various 

 intrepid actions which the 28th performed during the 

 course of the war, the men obtained the name of ' Slashers.' 

 Their conduct in Egypt, &c., has confirmed this -character 

 for intrepidity ; so that a recruit no sooner joins the 28th, 

 or ' Slashers,' than he instantly feels himself equal to the 

 most desperate enterprise, daring to do what some scarce 

 dare to think." — Vide James's Military Dictionary, 

 4th ed., London, 1816. 



w.w. 



La Valetta, Malta. 



« Heroic Epistle " (Vol. x., p. 66.). — Th? fol- 

 lowing is the title of the piece inquired after by 

 E. H. T. : 



"An Heroic Epistle to the Eev. Richard Watson, 

 D. D., F.R.S., Archdeacon of Ely, late Professor of Che- 

 mistry, now Regius Professor of Divinity in the University 

 of Cambridge. Enriched with elaborate Notes, and very 

 learned References. London . printed for T. Becket, 

 Adelphi, Strand, 1780." 



There is a copy in the British Museum, press-mark 

 643. k. 10. J. Yeowell. 



Epigram on Two Contractors (Vol. x., p. 61.). 

 — I would answer your correspondent A. by 

 giving another epigram. The celebrated pirate 

 and most notorious renegade, Paul Jones, having 

 tyrannised over and brutally treated one of his 

 officers, a lieutenant under his command, of the 

 name of Sullivan, the latter no sooner got on 

 shore than he challenged Jones to fight a duel, 

 which the oppressor had not the resolution to 

 accept. 



London Courant (daily paper) of Friday, 

 8th December, 1780; epigram on Paul Jones's 

 refusing the challenge of Lieut. Sullivan : 



" Ibit eo, quo vis, qui zonam perdidit." 



Hor. JEpist, lib. ii. ii. 40. 



" Great Jones now free, from future reprobation, 

 A chiel elect, secured his own salvation ; 

 This son of Calvin, rich with plunder'd ore. 

 Fought the good fight, and now will fight no more. 

 What dread of foul disgrace can e'er confound 

 The conscious worth of eighty thousand pound ? 

 Let Harley, Mure, and Atkinson be dumb, 

 He clears his conscience who has clear'd a plum." 



Mr. Harley was a wine merchant, and a con- 

 tractor for remittances, provisions, and clothing. 



Messrs. Mure and Atkinson were contractors 

 for rum, and probably the latter for corn also. 



Sir Philip Gierke, M. P. for Totness, said, 

 4th May, 1778, in the House, that Messrs. Mure 

 and Atkinson received to the tune of 250,000^. 

 clear profit on their contracts. It was said Mr. 

 Eobinson, Secretary of the Treasury, introduced 



these great contractors to Lord North about 

 1775. r. 



Obtains (Vol. ix., p. 589.). — The verb ohtinere 

 is employed intransitively, in the sense of " to 

 prevail, or reign," in the best Latin authors. The 

 dictionaries quote the Pandects in support of this 

 meaning: "Consuetudo quae retro obtinuit" (a 

 custom which hath of old prevailed). "Webster 

 gives an English authority (Sir Richard Baker) of 

 two centuries back. Other modern tongues have 

 not, I believe, preserved this meaning in their 

 words derived from ohtinere ; and it is most pro- 

 bable that it was once, like the verb " to ignore" 

 (in the sense of " to treat as non-existent"), con- 

 fined to our lawyers. W. M. T. 



The use of this word, impersonally and intransi- 

 tively, in reference to a custom, law, &c., is clearly 

 traceable to the Latin, as may be learned from any 

 dictionary of that language. Thus Ainsworth : 

 " Obtinet. Impers., it obtains ; Hodie obtinuit in- 

 differenter quaestores creari, Ulp." B. H. C. 



Thomas Chester, Bishop of Elphin — Wills in 

 Ireland (Vol. viii., p. 340.). — Mr. Tewars makes 

 inquiry as to Thomas Chester, Bishop of Elphin 

 in 1580, and as to offices for wills in Ireland. In 

 each diocese there is a registry for wills, and a 

 copy of the will of the above-mentioned Bishop 

 of Elphin may have been entered in one of the 

 books of the registry of Elphin diocese. A search 

 would be made for this will if a letter were ad- 

 dressed to " Mr. Kenney, Registrar of Elphin, at 

 Elphin, Ireland," and postage stamps to the 

 amount of 2s. Qd. inclosed in the letter. 



There is a general registry for wills in Dublin, 

 called the Prerogative Office, situate in Henrietta 

 Street; and if the will above mentioned be not 

 entered amongst the records of Elphin diocese, it 

 may be found perhaps in this office. A letter 

 addressed to Mr. Hawkins, the registrar, would, I 

 think, receive attention and a reply. The charge 

 for a search in this office also is half-a-crown. 



James F. Fergusoit. 



Saltcellar (Vol. ix., p. 10.). — 



" To sit at the table above or below the salt was a mark 

 of distinction in opulent families. The salt was contained 

 in a massive silver utensil, called a saler, now corrupted 

 into cellar, which was placed in the middle of the table ; 

 persons of distinction sat nearest the head of the table, or 

 above the salt, and inferior relations or dependants below 

 it." — Toone's Glossary, p. 400. 



B. H. C. 



Cann Family (Vol. vii., p. 330.). — There has 

 long been a family of that name residing in Wy- 

 mondham, with many branches in the adjacent 

 villages. They believe themselves to come from - 

 the " far west." They are in the commission of 

 the peace, and possess a good estate at Wram- 

 plingham, Norfolk. Henbt Daveket. 



