284 



NOTES AND QUEKIES. 



[No. 258. 



Earl of Essex, at Casslobury, in tlie co. of Herts, 

 which was pronounced by Walpole as " an un- 

 doubted original : " 



" The King " (Heniy IV.) " having laid the first stone 

 <jf the mansion of Hampton Court, in Herefordshire, left 

 this picture there when he gave the estate to Lenthall, who 

 sold it to Cornwall of Burford, who again disposed of it 

 to the ancestors of the I^ord Coningsby, in the reign of 

 Henry V." 



The Cornwalls at one period appear to have 

 possessed very considerable estates in the counties 

 of Salop, Hereford, and Worcester ; the family seat 

 for many generations was at Burford, of which 

 there is no remains left ; the modern mansion, 

 with the beautiful rows of elm-trees in front, is 

 the residence of Captain George Rusbout, M. P. 

 for East Worcestershire. 



There are many other monuments worthy of 

 notice, ancient as well as modern ; but my paper 

 is already of considerable length ; I will therefore 

 conclude. J. B. Whitborne. 



Leamington. 



A BEMABKABLE AND AUTHENTIC PROPHECY. 



The public journals' having lately announced 

 the religious exactness with which the Emperor 

 of the French, Napoleon III., is dispensing the be- 

 quests of Napoleon I. to his old soldiers, and other 

 legatees, this seems a suitable occasion for record- 

 ing in " N. & Q." a passage which I met with 

 lately, containing a prophecy which, standing 

 above all suspicion of having been made for the 

 occasion, appears to me to be perhaps as singular 

 a coincidence of anticipation with event, as history 

 furnishes. 



The London Magazine for January 1823, in 

 the " Abstract of Foreign and Domestic Occur- 

 i*ences," records the death of Letitia Bonaparte, 

 commonly called "Madame Mere," with the re- 

 }nark that — 



" Her last words were singular, and, as it is not impossible 

 that they may one day turn out prophetic, we give them a 

 place in our record for more purposes than mere amusement." 



The narrative then goes on to state that the 

 evening befoi*e her death she called together her 

 household, and, one after another, gave them her 

 hand to kiss ; and among the rest — 



" To Maria Belgrade, her waiting maid, she said : ' Go 

 to Jerome, he will take care of thee ; when my grandson is 

 Emperor of France, he will make thee a great woman.' " 



She then called Colonel Darley to her bedside. 

 He had attended her in all her fortunes, and in 

 Napoleon's will was assigned to have a donation 

 of 14,000Z. : 



" ' You,' said she, ' have been a good friend to me and 

 my family. I have left you what will make you happy. 

 Never forget my grandson. And what he and you may 

 arrive at, is bevond my discerning — but yoti will both be 

 great: " 



When she had dismissed her servants, she then, 

 declared that she had done with this world, and 

 demanded some water, in which she washed her 

 hands : 



" Her attendants fomid her dead, with her hand under 

 her head, and a prayer-book on her breast." 



So far a narrative to which events have given a 

 character of mysterious significance. It would be 

 desirable to ascertain if any of the parties indi- 

 cated in it, besides Napoleon III., still survive ; 

 and one would like to know if their faith in the 

 prediction stood the shocks of the last thirty 

 years : for Louis Napoleon himself, it is weli 

 known that, through all the improbabilities of the 

 case — through the ludicrous failure at Boulogne — 

 tlie desperate attempt at Strasburg — and the 

 dreary captivity of Ham — he always held, and 

 avowed his own belief, that he had a yet unful- 

 filled mission to accomplish. A. B. R. 

 Belmont. 



:^ttior ^aiti. 



The Crimea. — The extreme importance of pass- 

 ing events must be my apology for requesting 

 the insertion of the following short notes, the due 

 application of which may be made without the 

 aid of comment : — 



(1.) " Une des plus grandes fautes qu'aient commises 

 la France et I'Europe a ete de permettre a la Russie 

 d'approcher de Constantinople." — Charles Magnin, 1831. 



(2.) " II est trfes-rare de nos jours qu'il soit avantageux 

 de se retrancher. — Quand on se retranche, ce n'est que 

 sur quelques points de sa ligne ; souvent Ton n'a eu le 

 terns que d'ebaucher les retranchemens, et ils ne sont 

 susceptibles d'aucune resistance notable. Mais que cela 

 soit ainsi ou autrement, ils peuvent toujours etre tournes 

 de pres ou de loin, et Ton se voit alors force de les aban- 

 donner. Souvent on le fait trop tard — et ordinairement 

 avec precipitation. — Quoi qu'il en soit, toutes les fois que 

 Ton abandonne de la sorte des retranchemens, il doit en 

 rS suiter un fdcheux effet sur le moral du soldat." — Le 

 marquis de Chambeay, 1823. 



(3.) " II est tres-rare qu'on vienne a I'arme blanche. 

 Si un bataillon en charge un autre qui soit en position, et 

 que ce dernier ne commence le feu qu'^ petite portee et 

 fasse bonne contenance, il est probable que le premier 

 perdra beaucoup de monde et fuira ; mais si, au contraire, 

 celui qui e.st en position commence le feu trop tot, et que 

 le bataillon qui le charge continue a marclier avec reso- 

 lution, ce sera celui qui est en po.sitiou qui fuira." — Le 

 marquis de Chambray, 1823. 



The first note is transcribed from the Causeries 

 et meditations historiques et litteraires ; the second 

 and third notes, from the Histoire de Vexpedition 

 de Ritssie. Boltoic Corset. 



Errors in Dates of Post- Office Stamps. — Have 

 any of your correspondents ever noticed the curi- 

 ous mistake of placing a wrong figure in the stamp 

 of the Post Office ? I inclose two examples, 

 which I received myself, each " Se. 5Q, 1854," for 



