Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 6.djvu/314

 258

NOTES AND QUERIES. [II.B.VL. SEPT. as, 1912.

and the picture was taken away, the work naturally stopped until its return. More- over, the copy would be a trifling expense compared with that of the engraving.

RALPH THOMAS.

PLAY FOUNDED ON THE EXPLOITS OF TEKELI (US. vi. 210). The play in question was a melodrama written by Theodore Hook, and entitled ' Tekeli.' It was produced at Drury Lane Theatre, 24 Nov., 1806 ; the overture and incidental music were com- posed by the author's father, and the piece which became popular in town and country was supported by H. Siddons, Dowton, Mathews, De Camp, Wroughton, Mrs. Powell, and Mrs. Bland. It was afterwards pub- lished in Cumberland's ' British Theatre.'

WM. DOUGLAS.

125, Helix Road, Brixton Hill.

MURDER OF LORD WILLIAM RUSSELL (11 S. vi. 170). Francois Benjamin Cour- voisier, a valet, murdered Lord William Russell, his master, on 6 May, 1840, at 14, Norfolk Street, Park Lane. Narratives of the murder and of the trial, Courvoisier's several confessions, and the account of the execution are given in ' The Chronicles of Crime,' by Camden Pelham, 1886, ii. 563.

See also ' The Life and Times of James Catnach,' by Charles Hindley, 1878, p. 416, where, inter alia, are some strong comments on the speech for the defence made by Mr. Charles Phillips, commonly known as " Charley Phillips," and the greatest " Thieves' Counsel." It is reported that in the evening of the first day of the trial, evidence of the discovery of a parcel, con- taining things belonging to Lord William Russell and the prisoner, having been un- expectedly produced, the latter confessed his guilt to Phillips, and that, having re- ceived this confession, Phillips, in the course of his address to the jury, said : " The God above alone knows who is guilty of the terrible act of which the prisoner stands accused." Two paragraphs of the address are given in the Catnach book. They are an extraordinary example of the lengths to which counsel went in appealing for an acquittal.

The result of discussions which arose afterwards about this speech was that Phillips never appeared again in a criminal court. He was appointed a Commissioner in the Court of Bankruptcy.

On p. 419 of the book is a facsimile of the ' Execution Paper,' from the press of

Paul & Co., 2, 3, Monmouth Court, Seven, Dials. After ' The Verdict,' ' Sentence/ ' The Confession of the Convict,' and ' The Execution ' is an ' Affecting Copy of Verses ' :

Attention give, both old and young,

Of high and low degree, Think while this mournful tale is sung,

Of my sad misery. I 've slain a master good and kind,

To me has been a friend, For which I must my life resign,

My time, is near an end.

Then follow four other stanzas. There is just one point which is a little interesting, viz., the " poet's " pronunciation of " Cour- voisier," which appears to have been " Cour- voi-seer' " (accent on the last syllable) :

Think of the wretched Courvoisier,

Who thus dies on a tree, A death of shame, I 've nought to blame,

But my own dishonesty,,

There is an account of Phillips in the ' Dictionary of National Biography.'

A friend of mine, the Rev. James Fletcher, who died, I think, about the year 1900. aged about 75, had No. 14, Norfolk Street, on a long lease, which came to an end about 1890. He had it at a low rental because of what had happened in it. When he first lived there I do not know, but probably it was a good many years after the murder. ROBERT PIERPOINT.

DAVID NAPIER (10 S. xii. 345). I have only just seen this query, but I hope that my answer may still be of use to your corre- spondent.

James Murdoch Napier's letter, claiming on behalf of his father the invention of the printing machine patented in America by Col. Hoe, appeared in The Mechanic's Magazine for 2 Sept., 1848, vol. xlix. p. 237, and was called forth by a description of Hoe'& machine on p. 193 of the same volume.

I endeavoured some years ago to obtain particulars of David Napier, who was an inventor of great ingenuity, and I wrote to his successors, D. Napier & Son, York Road, Lambeth, but without result.

David Napier took out patents in 1828 (5113), 1830 (6010), 1831 (6090), 1837 (7343), 1840 (8385), 1843 (9852), 1848 (12,220), and 1850 (13098). I have given the numbers and dates because there was another David Napier, engineer, perhaps of greater celebrity, who was taking out patents at the same time. The patents mentioned above mostly related to printing machinery ; but 8385