Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 12.djvu/433

 10 s. XIL OCT. 30, 1909.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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GENERAL WOLFE'S DEATH (10 S. xii. 308). The latest biographer of Wolfe, in his account of the general's death, states that when he received the last wound (having already been struck twice) he asked Lieut. Brown of the Grenadiers to support him. Before, however, Brown's arm " could encircle his general's waist," he sank down. A young volunteer named Henderson, and a private soldier, rushed forward and, along with an Artillery officer (Col. Williamson), carried him a short distance to the rear. See ' The Life and Letters of James Wolfe,' by Beckles Willson (Heinemann, 1909). No mention is made of any one having held the dying hero in his arms during his last moments. T. F. D.

The officer in whose arms Wolfe died was Lieut. Henry Browne, of the 22nd Foot and Louisbourg Grenadiers ; see 8 S. xii. 363, where I gave extracts from his letter de- scribing the event. See also 10 S. vi. 154.

W. S.

'SHOBT WHIST,' BY MAJOR A. (10 S. xii. 264, 318). COL. PRIDE AUX (ante, p. 204) asks me whether the appellation of Major A. on the title-page of " Short Whist : its Rise, Progress, and Laws, together with Maxims for Beginners, by Major A*****," was intended to convey the impression that the volume was written by Major Aubrey, or whether it stood for George Anson.

I think that the former was intended. He was in his day the embodiment, in the popular mind, of the gambler at cards, and was much better known about 1830 to the world at large than Anson. Some notes on Aubrey are set out in my volume on
 * English Whist and Whist Players.'

General Windham (of the Redan), himself a fine card-player, used to describe Anson as the most careful performer that the world had ever produced. He had played with Anson hundreds of times, but never once had he seen him misdeal, lead out of turn, play two cards at the same time, or commit any of the numerous faults which are of hourly occurrence at the card-table. He estimated that Anson' s gains at his favourite pleasure amounted to 2,OOOZ. per annum. W. P. COURTNEY.

I can confirm Mr. PEET'S statement (ante, p. 264). Mr. Coles, who had been in the Army, lived in Paris, and died there at an advanced age some time about 1890. I never saw him, but I heard much about him from my brother, who also lived in Paris and had known him for many years.

He left his library to my brother, and on the death of the latter, the books passed mostly to another friend. But on my book- shelves, at present in Paris, are a few of Mr. Coles's books, and among them are two which he wrote himself. One is a short history of Russia, published at the beginning of the Crimean War. The other is ' Short Whist ' ; and on the title-page, under the pseudonym, is "by C. B. Coles," in his handwriting. He more than once told my brother that he was the author of this book, and that for many years he had a small income from it. EDWARD NICHOLSON. Guernsey.

CONSTITUTION HILL (GREEN PARK, S.W.) : PARLIAMENT HILL (N.W.) OR PARLIAMENT FIELDS (10 S. xii. 110, 173). Your corre- spondent might do well to consult the volumes of The Athenceum for 1883 and 1884. There will be found a correspondence on ' Traitors' alias Parliament Hill, Hampstead.' I possess only one of the communications. This is a notable letter from Prof. John Wesley Hales which appeared in the issue of 26 Jan., 1884.

In October and November, 1894, The Times and other London newspapers pub- lished much interesting information re- specting the opening of the mound on Parliament Hill. JOHN T. PAGE.

[The discussion was opened by Prof. Hales in a long letter in The Athenc&um of 17 Nov., 1883, and was continued by Mr. G. L. Gomme and others in the issues for 1 and 8 Dec.]

ST. MARGARET'S, WESTMINSTER : THE EAST WINDOW (10 S. xii. 269). I have had in my possession since 1897 a copy of the pamphlet alluded to in the notice of John Rickman in the ' D.N.B.,' vol. xlviii. p. 264, which may perhaps interest MR. ABRAHAMS, as he does not say that he knows it, although he may not call him an " acknowledged authority." When I got it, it was bound Up with six or seven other pamphlets in which I was not interested, so I stripped them away. It consists of ten pages, 6 in. by 9 in. (the last being blank), excluding the title-page, the back of which is also blank. The wording of the title is :

"Historical Curiosities | relating to | St. Mar- garet's | Church | Westminster. | For private circu- lation only | London | Printed at H. Sutherland's private press | MDCCCXXXVII." There are also three full-page engravings, separate from the text.

The three curiosities dealt with are : (1) the beadle's staves, of which there are four in the Church ; (2) the alto-rilievo,