Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 4.djvu/199

 ii s. iv. SEPT. 2, ion.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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longest biography. Robson's 'Memoirs' are of little account, but they contain the only sketch of Edwards' s personal appearance (vide supra}. Watt gives the fullest list of Edwards' s miscellaneous papers, and avoids the error of attributing to him the ' Elements of Fossilology.' The new edition of ' The Encyclopaedia Britannica ' has a few lines upon Edwards, but they are in- accurate in some particulars.

A. L. HUMPHREYS. 187, Piccadilly, W.

The drawings referred to by MB. PENRY LEWIS are evidently the productions of George Edwards, F.R.S., who has been called " the father of ornithologists." He was born at Stratford, Essex (then a hamlet of West Ham), and died at West Ham. His remains were interred in West Ham Church- yard, and when resident in the locality some 20 years ago I made an exhaustive search for his grave. Although I believe I exam- ined every one of the numerous memorial stones, I failed to discover that of George Edwards. I recorded my failure in the local press, and an interesting letter from Dr. Pagenstecher followed. He stated that the registers of West Ham contained entries of the baptism and burial of Edwards, and added

" That his grave was marked by a tombstone is confirmed by the fact that several of his con- temporary antiquaries allude to it in their works. It is unfortunate that there are no persons living who remember this interesting monument, but tradition says that it stood in the south-east corner of the churchyard. Many professed anti- quaries and others have of late years endeavoured to find it, but their efforts have proved un- availing."

In The Universal Magazine for May, 1776, appeared a short sketch of the life of George Edwards. -It is there stated that his executors erected a stone over his grave " to perpetuate to posterity his skill as an artist," and the inscription upon it follows. JOHN T. PAGE.

Long Itchington, Warwickshire.

[The inscription is that printed by MR. HUM- PHREYS from Robson.]

The curucui is described in the ' N.E.D.' as "a bird (Trogon curucui} found in Brazil and other parts of South America," and quotations are given dating from 1678.

" Marcgrave " is not the name of a place, biit that of George Marggraf (1610-44), a German naturalist who wrote an illustrated account of the plants and animals of Brazil. An account of him may be found in the ' Nouvelle Biographic Generate.'

W. R. B. PBIDEAUX.

MlLITABY AND NAVAL EXECUTIONS (US,

iv. 8, 57, 98, 157). Two seamen of the French navy were shot the other day (9 August) on the polygon of Mourillon at Toulon, in the presence of 3,000 soldiers and sailors, for the murder of a comrade at Ajaccio last January. No precautions seem to have been taken, such as those mentioned by your correspondents, of loading half of the rifles of the firing party with ball, and the other half with blank, in order to relieve the mental responsibility of the executioners, as the sailors of the fleet appeared to be anxious to be chosen to avenge their mur- dered comrade. On the eve of the execu- tion the Toulon correspondent of The Figaro wrote :

" Le Mare"chal et Gueguen seront fusilles ver trois heures du matin par un peloton de douze matelots qui se sont offerts volontairement parmi les trente qui avaient ete designes en bloc. Ce sont des matelots de la flottille de la defense fixe qui ont 6t6 designed, parce que les coupables et leur victime appartenaient a la defense d' Ajaccio."

A somewhat different arrangement wa& followed (perhaps to give a larger number of sailors the opportunity of taking part in the execution), as will be seen in the follow- ing account :

" II est cinq heures exactement lorsque Le Marechal et Gueguen sont attaches au poteau d'execution. Le greffier lit la sentence. Le Marechal, les yeux bande"s, s'est mis a genoux. Gueguen, rest6 debout, envoie encore des bounces de fumee. Enfin, la lecture du jugement est termin^e et Gueguen se laisse bander les yeux.

" Sur un signe du premier maitre Madi, les deux pelotons d'execution, comptant douze hommes chacun, prennent la position du garde a vous. A ce moment, Gueguen arrache son bandeau. On veut le lui remettre. II s'y refuse et regarde fixement devant lui.

" Le greffier s'est retired Un silence effrayant regne. Les secondes semblent horriblement longues. Le premier maitre abaisse son sabre. Un cr^pitement d^chire 1'air. Les tetes des deux condamns s'inclinent. Le Marshal a encore dans les doigts sa cigarette qu'il a fum6e jusqu'au dernier instant."

An edifying conversation took place, on the subject of this cigarette, between the smoker and the priest who attended him, during the long progress (which occupied nearly an hour) from the Maritime Prison to the place of execution including a row across the harbour : "II n'y aura peut-etre pas de bureau de tabac la-haut ? " said Le Marechal. "II y aura quelque chose de mieux," replied the Abbe Bruno. 3

As the bandaging the eyes of persons condemned to be shot seems to interest some of your correspondents, it may be added, in connexion with an incident