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NOTES AND QUERIES.

[2a S. NO 9., MAR. 1. '56.

for his great commander, to whom he sent the coffin with the following letter :

" Sir, I have taken the liberty of presenting you a coffin, made from the mainmast of ' L'Orient ; ' that when you have finished your military career in this world, you may be buried in one of your trophies. But that that period may be far distant, is the earnest wish of your sincere friend, BENJAMIN HALLOWELL." Southey's Life of Nelson.

Nelson showed how fully he appreciated the spirit and feeling of the gallant donor, by making that coffin his constant cabin companion ; and it was only at the earnest entreaty of a favourite servant, that the great hero would consent to its removal. The subjoined extract, from The De- spatches and Letters of Lord Nelson (a work which I had no opportunity of previously consulting) may be interesting to some of your readers, who may not have immediate access to that valuable collection :

" No present sent to Nelson, after the battle of the Nile, was so extraordinary as that which he received from his gallant friend Captain Hallowell, of the ' Swift- sure ; ' and the idea could have occurred only to a very original mind. After 'L'Orient' blew up, part of her mainmast was taken on board of the ' Swiftsure ; ' and in May, 1799, Captain Hallowell, fearing the effect of all the praise and flattery lavished on his chief, determined tOo remind him that he was mortal. * He therefore ordered a coffin to be made out of part of ' L'Orient's ' mast ; and was so careful that nothing whatever should he used in its construction that was not taken from it, that the staples were formed of the spikes drawn from the cheeks of the mast, which were driven into the- edge of the coffin ; and when the lid was put on, toggles were put into the staples to keep it down, so as to prevent the necessity of using nails or screws for that purpose. The nails in the coffin were likewise made from the spikes taken from the mast. A paper was pasted on the bottom, containing the following certificate : ' I do hereby cer- tify, that every part of this coffin is made of the wood and iron of ' L'Orient,' most of which was picked up by His Majesty's ship under my command, in the Bay of Aboukir. ' Swiftsure,' May 23, 1799.

' BEN. HALLOWELL.' f

" This singular present was accompanied by the fol- lowing letter, which is taken from the original in the Nelson Papers; a fact, it is necessarj 7 to state, because both Charnock and Harrison, not contented with destroy- ing its simplicity, altered the address to ' Sir," and changed the date to ' August, 1798,' to make it appear that the coffin was seit immediately after the battle of the Nile. Though printed correctly by Clarke and M'Arthur, Southey followed the copy given by Charnock and Harrison. It is greatly to be regretted that Nelson's reply has not been found :

"'The Right Hon. Lord Nelson, K.B.] " ' My Lord,

" ' Herewith I send you a coffin made of part of 'L'Orient's ' mainmast ; that when you are tired of this life, you may be buried in one of your own trophies : but

C.B., brother-in-law of Admiral Sir Benjamin Hallowell. t Marshall's Naval Biography, vol. i. p. 474."
 * From the information of Rear-Admiral Inglefield,

may that period be far distant, is the sincere wish of your obedient and much obliged servant,

" ' BEN. HALLOWELL * " ' " Swiftsure," May 23rd, 1799.'

" The astonishment that prevailed among the crew of the ' Vanguard,' Lord Nelson's flag-ship, when they were convinced it was a coffin which had been brought on board, will be long remembered by their officers. 'We shall have hot work of it, indeed ! ' said one of the sea- men; 'you see the Admiral intends to tight till he is killed, and there he is to be buried.' Lord Nelson highly appreciated the present, and for some time had it placed upright, with the lid on, against the bulk-head of his cabin behind the chair on which he sat at dinner. At length, by the entreaties of an old servant, he was pre- vailed on to allow it to be carried below. When his lordship left the ' Vanguard,' the coffin was removed into the ' Foudroyant,' where it remained for many days on the gratings "of the quarter-deck. While his officers were one day looking at it, he came out of the cabin : ' You may look at it, gentlemen,' said he, ' as long as you please ; but, depend on it, none of you shall have it.' It is satisfactory to state, that Nelson was actually buried in this coffin." Nelson's Despatches, Letters, <:., with Notes by Sir N. H. Nicolas, vol. iii. pp. 88-9.

F. PHILLOTT.

DESCENDANTS OF JOHN BUNYAN.

I beg to forward for " N. & Q." the following information of the descendants of John Bunyan, which I have taken from the lips of Mrs. Jackson, a grand-niece of the late Robert Bunyan, and the oldest daughter of the late Mrs. Seward, whose name will appear among the others.

The late Robert Bunyan had one daughter, the present Mrs. Keyworth of Lincoln : she has two sons and one daughter living. These are the direct descendants of John Bunyan, in the female line. Robert Bunyan had also three nephews and three nieces : one of the former died young, the second was the late Mr. Charles Robinson of Wilford, near Nottingham (where Kirke White, the poet, lies interred) ; and the third is Mr. Robert Robinson, solicitor, Huddersfield, now living. Of the nieces, two are living, and one dead. The oldest is the present Mrs. Sarah Owen, of Carrington, near Boston ; the second is Miss E. V. Robinson, of Lincoln ; and the third was Mrs. Susannah Seward, who died a few years back at Grantham. (Several of these have had families, most of whom are now living.)

At the sale of some of the effects of the late Mr. Charles Robinson, of Wilford, who possessed several relics of Bunyan ; one of these, a gold snuff-box, was stolen from one of the rooms, and never recovered. The others were passed to Mr. Robert Bunyan, or Miss Robinson, in whose hands they now are. They in part consisted of an arm- chair, and a silver tankard. It is to be hoped, these relics will be religiously preserved and noted.


 * Autograph, in the Nelson Papers.