Feb. 25. 1854.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



177 



This is the place where Hon. Major F. Howard was 



killed, 

 That grieved my mind sorely and my poor heart 



thrilled."— P. 19. 



Then follow some reflections which I abstain 

 from quoting, as the way in which they are ex- 

 pressed would produce an effect quite contrary 

 to the author's intentions. The burial is thus 

 described : 



" I ordered the party to mount their horses, 



And proceed to carry off and bury all our losses. 



The party assemble here, now instantly move for- 

 ward : 



Serjeant, take care where you bury Major Howard. 



Take two objects in view, or three if you can, 



Then you will be sure to find him again ! 



He lies in the hollow, not far from the French 

 guns. 



Bury him by their side, but not where water runs." 



P. 21. 



The criticism of the note quoted by G. D. is 

 sound : " Hardman was no poet, but he could 

 describe graphically what he saw and did." The 

 poem seems to have been the result of a sudden 

 thought. In the dedication he says it was not 

 begun till May 18, and "A Letter to the Right 

 Hon. George Canning," appended to it, is dated 

 June 4. In the letter he says, that if he " can get 

 into the printing-house again without loss," he 

 will answer Mr. Canning effectually on the Ca- 

 tholic question. He also hopes " to get before 

 the public every week," and "to show that all 

 gentlemen professing the law are the most abused, 

 and at the same time more honest than any other 

 class in this kingdom." Had the last-mentioned 

 hope been fulfilled, I think I should have heard 

 of it. I have not met with any other work bear- 

 ing Captain Hardman's name ; and probably his 

 printer's bill (he was his own publisher) put an 

 end to his literary career. 



I subjoin two specimens of the poem which, 

 though not relating to the subject of G. D.'s 

 Query, may be interesting if you have room for 

 them, as such poetry is not published every day. 

 An exhortation to good conduct ends thus : 



" Therefore let us prepare, the call may be very soon ; 

 Then we shall not despair, if the call be made before 



noon : 

 But if our sins weigh us down, what misery and 



woe ! 

 Ah ! devils all slily squinting, and to them we must 



8.°* 



Their eyes are flames of fire, their tongues are fright- 

 ful darts, 



Their looks a venomous ire, ready to pierce our feeble 

 hearts, 



Their cloven feet of enmity, their tally stings so 

 long, 



Their poisonous hearts of calomel, daily forming vi- 

 cious songs." — P. 12. 



The other describes his own narrow escape, and 

 the death of an artilleryman : 



" A ball from their infantry went through my jacket, 

 Took the skin off my side, and made me racket. 

 My sword-belt turned it, otherwise through it must 



have gone. 

 The stroke was very severe, compare it to a sharp 



gore. 

 Captain Fitzroy said, ' Harding is severely wounded ; 

 A ball has gone through his side : here it comes, 



rounded ! ' 

 'Stop,' said I, 'a minute; I shall be ready for ano- 

 ther shot, 

 I have now gotten my breath again, I will make them 



rot.' 

 I then said to a gunner who was alleviating a gun, 

 'Which of those columns do you mean to mako 



run ? ' 

 •That,' said he, pointing with his finger to a very 



large mass. 

 A ball came that instant and turned him into brass. 

 It cut him in two ; he then turned as yellow as that 



metal. 

 He was a strange sight to see, and appeared quite 



brittle."— P. 16. 



H. B. C. 

 U. U. C. 



DATES OF BIRTHS AND DEATHS OP THE PRE- 

 TENDERS. 



(Vol. viii., p. 565.) 



Though it is much to be regretted that the 

 dates in question are not recorded on the Stuart 

 monument in St. Peter's, yet the deficiency is in 

 part supplied by the cenotaph raised to the me- 

 mory of his elder brother by Cardinal York, in 

 his cathedral church at Frascati. From it we 

 find that Charles Edward deceased on 31st Ja- 

 nuary, 1788, at the age of sixty-seven years and 

 one month. This date also fixes the year of his 

 birth at 1720, and the month December; most 

 probably the 28th, though often given as the 31st. 

 We give a copy of the inscription below. 



The date of the birth and decease of James III. 

 is correctly given in " N. & Q.," Vol. viii., p. 565. 



An account of the sepulchral monument of the 

 last of the Stuarts may interest the readers of 

 " N". & Q." In the south aisle of St. Peter's, and 

 against the first pier of the nave, is the monument 

 of the Stuarts. It was sculptured by Canova to 

 the memory of James, the old Pretender ; Charles 

 Edward, the young Pretender ; and Henry Bene- 

 dict, the Cardinal, who was known in Rome as 

 Cardinal York. Part of the expense of the mo- 

 nument was defrayed by George IV., who sent a 

 donation of fifty pounds for the purpose to 

 Pius VII. The monument is built on to the ma- 

 sonry of the pier, of white marble, about fifteen 

 feet high, and is in the form of the frustruni of a 



