327 
StephensiaTKL. — No. II. 
182 ].] 
effects of winter, it suffers decay: this 
decay proceeding downwards produces 
a hole in the trunk, and it frequently 
occurs, that from some injury sustained 
decay also takes place in the outer bark, 
by which a hole is formed, at times 
large enough to admit the head of an 
animal. A hole being thus produced, 
we may infer that a sheep, a goat, or a 
fawn, whose tender horns might, have 
been then jutting, forced its head into 
the aperture—the horns yielding to 
pressure, were again raised within the 
hole, rendering it impossible for the 
animal to extricate itself: but when 
discovered, no doubt the farmer took 
off the body by cutting the reck close 
to the tree. To support this position, 
we must suppose the hole not to have 
been above four or five feet at most 
from the ground, whereas it is asserted 
to have been nine feet. (Query.) 
Was the measurement taken from the 
top of the bank on which the tree 
grew, or from the general surface 
of the field, or was there a hedge or 
any piece of elevated ground, so near 
that the animal could command the 
tree? If the animal could not reach 
her hole, it is more difficult to account 
for the circumstance; we may, however, 
1 presume, uniavel this mysterious and 
singular case from one of the following 
causes; first, at the time the animal 
became entangled, the hole was a few 
feet lower in the stock of the tree than 
at present, and that the tree in progress 
of growth, carried up with it the skull; 
or, that the head of a stolen and 
slaughtered animal had been forced 
into the hole by some depredator, in 
order to avoid detection; whilst Nature, 
recovering her tone in the tree, the 
annual bark closed the opening, and 
forming around the skull, produced 
wood of a dark colour, as represented 
in the engraving accompanying the ac¬ 
count. 
The present explanation, with in¬ 
stances of interesting and similar phe¬ 
nomena, is just published in a work, 
entitled, Religiosa Philosophia , or,a 
new theory of the earth. 
Stonehouse , Sept ♦ 15. W. Welch. 
STEPHENSIANA. 
No. II. 
The late Alexander Stephens, Esq. of Park House, Chelsea , devoted an active 
and well-spent life in the collection of Anecdotes of his contemporaries, and generally 
entered in a book the collections oj the passing day ;—these collections we have purchased, 
and propose to present a selection from them to our readers. As Editor of the Annual 
Obituary, and many other biographical works, he may probably have incorporated 
many of these scraps ; but the greater part are unpublished, and all stand alone as cabi¬ 
net pictures of men and manners, worthy of a place in a literary miscellany. 
LETTER from. LORD NELSON to MR. 
STEPHENS. 
23, Piccadilly, Feb. 10, 1803. 
Sir,—By your letter 1 believe that 
you wish to be correct in your history,* 
and therefore desire to be informed of 
a transaction relative to Naples. I 
cannot at this moment enter at large 
on the subject to which you allude, but 
1 shall briefly say, that neither Cardl. 
Ruffo, Capt. Foote, or any other person 
had any power vested in them to enter 
into any treaty with the rebels; that 
even the paper which they so improperly 
signed, was not acted upon, as I very 
happily arrived at Naples, and prevent¬ 
ed such an infamous transaction from 
taking place. / put aside the disho¬ 
nourable treaty, and sent the rebels 
* The History of the? War^ written by 
Mr, Stephens. 
notice of it; therefore when the rebels 
surrendered they came out of the cas¬ 
tles as they ought, without any honours 
of war, and trusting to the judgment 
of their sovereign. 
If you allude to Mrs. Williams’s 
book, 1 can assure you that nearly all 
she writes relative to Naples, is either 
entirely destitute of foundation, or 
falsely represented. If you wish to 
have any conversation with me on this 
subject, I am at home every morning at 
ten o’clock, an 1 am, Sir, 
Your most obedient servant. 
Nelson Sc Bronte. 
LORD nelson’s Observations on Miss 
Williams's History of the Neapolitan 
Revolution. 
Pages in which are lies.—128, not 
true—129, not true—130, not true— 
139, Gozzo was part of the territory of 
the King of Naples—142, not true— 
143 , 
