Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 1.djvu/447

 s. i. MAY 7, loot.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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At Portsmouth in May, 1693, the sentence of a court-martial on three deserters was that one of them should suffer death by being shot : " All three shall lot whose chance it shall be to die." In August, 1693, a few weeks after the battle of Neerwinden, thirty English linesmen and six Guardsmen were returned from Holland by the authorities, and, tried for desertion, were condemned to death. The number to suffer was commuted to six linesmen and three Guardsmen, and the whole number of prisoners cast dice to settle upon whom the lot of death should fall.

The selection of officers to command troops on trying occasions was sometimes made by "casting lots." The brave and pious Col. Blackader, of the Cameronian Regiment, thus writes of the siege of Douay, under date 20 May, 1710 :

" We marched straight into the trenches. I was detached upon command into the sap, to command the grenadiers and those who were to fire all night. I was surprised at this, because I was not near command ; but it was the pure decision of Provi- dence, being done by lot ; so I went cheerfully, being assured that it was not blind chance, but God who sent me there."

w. s.

TOWER BRIDGE ANTICIPATED. That foolish libel on architectural art, the most unfortu- nate of all the inartistic bridges on the Thames, the Tower Bridge, a structure which puts the Tower itself to shame, seems to have been anticipated just about a century ago in its functions, if not in its falseness. I find in the Catalogue of the Royal Academy Exhibition for 1802 the following descrip- tion of a drawing which was then on view at Somerset House :

"6. View of London, and some improvements of its Port, submitted to the Select Committee of the Honourable House of Commons, by Mr. Dance, exhibiting the proposed Double Bridge intended for the passage of Ships by the alternate elevation of a draw-bridge in either of the two bridges, whilst an uninterrupted way over the other is afforded at all times for carriages and foot-passengers, without impeding the navigation, and without the neces- sity of such elevated arches as the height of ships' masts require ; also the proposed Embankment and enlargement of the Legal Quays, and the new j Custom-House in the centre of a line of Ware- houses extending to the Tower, to and from which goods may be conveyed by carts on the level of the area round the Monument, without encumbering the Quays. The Monument, that noble column, erected by the immortal Sir Christopher Wren, is seen in the focus of an extensive amphi- theatrical area on the north side of the Thames, and the proposed Naval Trophy is placed in the centre of a semicircular range of buildings on the south side of the river. W. DANIELL."

The artistof the drawing thus described was

a distinguished architect and draughtsman, whose 'Views of London,' 1812, possess great interest for topographers, to say nothing of his architectural aquatints from monuments of all kinds in India, as well as his drawings in colours. Born in 1769, he became a student in the Royal Academy in 1799, an A.R.A. in 1807, and a R.A. in 1822. He died in 1837. The "Mr. Dance" whose design W. Daniell drew for the exhibition was, of course, George of that name, son of another George who built the Mansion House in 1739. The second G. Dance was the famous R.A., City Architect, designer of the now destroyed Newgate Prison, and brother of Nathaniel Dance, who took the name of Holland, became a R.A., a baronet and M.P., and died in 1811. O.

WE must request correspondents desiring in- formation on family matters of only private interest to affix their names and addresses to their queries, in order that the answers may be addressed to them direct.

' ANCIENT ORDERS OF GRAY'S INN.' Referring to the earlier records of Graj 7 's Inn, Mr. Douthwaite, in his book on the Inn, at p. 24, after stating that a manuscript order- book, not now to be found, existed in Dug- dale's time and was largely quoted by him, says :

"By the 'Catalogi Librorum Manuscriptorum Angliae et Hibernise, published in 1697, it appears that Francis Bernard, M.D., had amongst his col- lection of- manuscripts a folio volume entitled ' Ancient Orders of Gray's Inn...' This afterwards belonged to Charles Bernard, Esq., Serjeant-Surgeon to Queen Anne, and was sold at the sale of his library, March, 1710."

Could any of your readers kindly inform me who was the purchaser, or furnish me with any particulars respecting the subsequent history of the manuscript 1

JAMES MULLIGAN, Master of the Library.

COMMEMORATIVE TABLETS. The East Herts Archaeological Society propose from time to time to affix small commemorative tablets to houses in the county which have been the residences of notable persons. As hon. secretary I should be very grateful for any information as to the size and material for these memorials, also the probable cost, and whether any firm of masons especially under- take this class of work. W. B. GERISH.

Bishop's Stortford.

JOHN MOTTLEY, DRAMATIST. I shall be greatly obliged if any one will give me information regarding John Mottley, author