Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 7.djvu/527

 10 s. VH. JUNE i, 1907.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

435

the evening of the victory of Vittoria, along th Pampeluna road, that the Fourteenth earned title to that elegant and historical piece of silve plate known as ' The Emperor,' which has so Ion adorned the officers' mess. It was the property o His Majesty Joseph Bonaparte, King of Spain, an< the royal arms are still discernible upon it. ' Th Emperor' in the piping times of peace is seldon seen except when tilled to the brim with th choicest brands of champagne, and in this conditior it has passed through successive generations of th regiment, and done duty as a loving cup in th officers' mess on many festive occasions." ' His torical Records of the 14th (King's) Hussars fron A.D. 1715 to A.D. 1900,' by Col. Henry Blackburm Hamilton, M. A. Christ Church, Oxford ; late com manding the Regiment (Longmans & Co., 1901).

Both regiments were at Vittoria : the 14th has "The Emperor"; the 13th, a long mess table which also belonged to Josepl Bonaparte. There is a " yarn " that th( piece of silver fell originally to the 13th, and the table to the 14th, but that the latter being ordered to India, found the table too cumbersome (in those days) for transport and exchanged it for the silver " article.' This " yarn " I have from a friend, who has it from an ex-officer of the 13th.

The following I quote from a letter from Col. Brookfield, Consul at Danzig :

"There is a traditional friendship between the 13th and 14th Hussars, based on their long and amicable service together in the Peninsular War. The two regiments were for a long time brigaded together, and enjoyed the nickname of the ' Ragged Brigade,' the phrase being a playful, but at the same time honourable reference to the war-worn state of their (Light Dragoon) dress and equip- ments. The friendship existed still when I was in the 13th in 1873-1880 though we unfortunately never ' lay ' together. (If we had done so, scenes would no doubt have been witnessed such as when the 8th Hussars and the 17th Lancers lie together, on which occasions they sometimes give the two regiments the joint name of the ' 25th. ) As it was, we invariably dined off a table presented to us by the officers of the 14th, and we carried this table about with us everywhere, including India, and always took the cloth off after dinner, so as to see it.

"I am not, however, aware that the friendship ever reached the pitch of our having ' all things in common ' ; and with regard to the piece of plate now used as a drinking vessel, but formerly de- voted to a directly opposite purpose, the verbal tradition in the 13th was that its possession had at one time been a subject of dispute between the two corps.

" The story went that in the cavalry pursuit after King Joseph Bonaparte, a small party of the 13th came up with his travelling carriage, arid looted the precious contents ; but that a party of the 14th coming up afterwards under an officer, the latter severely rebuked the marauders, and then by a process very familiar to all versed in military affairs proceeded to appropriate the booty himself.

"Your introduction of a Capt. Doherty into the story, however, makes me for the first time think

that my version given above is inaccurate ; for the name of Doherty was a regular 13th name for two

generations I would suggest that it was the 14th

without an officer who first seized the precious object; that Capt. Doherty (undoubtedly a 13th officer) came up next, with a party of the 13th, and made the men of the 14th give up what they had taken; and that afterwards when the two regi- ments came to talk over the matter they decided, or some higher authority to whom they appealed decided, that the loot properly belonged to the 14th. It is just possible that the handsome table given to the 13th by the 14th was a solatium for the smaller and more interesting article ; but that is a mere suggestion."

According to 'Historical Records of the 13th,' quoted above, the commanding officer of the regiment, Major Patrick Doherty, received a gold medal for the battle of Vittoria. There were, therefore, two of the name at least in the regiment at the time. ROBERT PIERPOINT.

AUTHORS OF QUOTATIONS WANTED (10 S. vii. 208). An account of Cromwell's saying is given in Gardiner's ' Civil War,' chap. lii. Referring to a visit of Bellievre, the French ambassador, to Fairfax and CromweU on 11 July, 1647, Gardiner says :

' It was doubtless on this occasion that Bellievre, apparently after sounding Cromwell as to his am- bitious aims, received the memorable reply : ' No one rises so high as he who knows not whither he is going.'"

In a note Gardiner gives as his authority De Retz ('Memoires,' ed. 1859, iii. 242), who heard this from Bellievre " ; he also discusses the date, and concludes that the date of the visit is by far the most likely events it cannot have taken place earlier
 * ime for the occurrence, and that at all
 * han 9 July or later than October in 1647.

WERDER.

BACON'S APOPHTHEGMS (10 S. vii. 328). L,ord Byron makes several references to Bacon's errors, as in his diary, 6 Jan., 1821,

Corrected blunders in nine apophthegms

)f Bacon all historical " ; 8 Jan., "letter

,o Murray, with corrections of Bacon's

apophthegms " ; and ' Life and Works of

Byron,' by Moore, v. 59, 64. In a note to

anto v. of Don ' Juan,' st. cxhii., after

iving a citation from Bacon on the subject

f Solyman, he adds :

"But Bacon in his historical authorities is often naccurate. I could give half a dozen instances rom his apophthegms only." n the Appendix to the above canto Byron ives the apophthegms in question, with bservations upon them ; and in a note .e says :

"Ordered Fletcher to copy out seven or eight pophthegms of Bacon, in which I have detected