Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 10.djvu/434

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [9 s. x. NOV. 29, 1902.

had a like epistle which he believed to be the original. He forwarded it to Bath, and when compared with the one at the Institution it was found to be identical in the subjects referred to, the handwriting, date, address, and paper. Here then were three letters represented to have been written by Nelson on the same day to the same friend. As the great admiral had just lost his right arm and was only beginning to write laboriously with his left hand, he certainly could not have indulged in this superfluous and sense- less epistolary correspondence. The three letters, it is obvious, must have been forged by the same person, whether as a mere joke or to gratify some ulterior object it is impossible to say. It is well to make the fact of their existence known to the readers of ' N. & Q.' to prevent like " finds " in future.

W. T. Bath.

P.S. Nelson was undoubtedly in Bath at the date given, for the benefit of his health.

REV. H. R. HAWEIS. (See ante, p. 324.) MR. J. HOLDEN MAcMiCHAEL, in the course of his last interesting paper, in referring to Dr. Thomas Haweis, the founder of the London Missionary Society, speaks of him as the " grandfather of the present Mr. H. R. Haweis, incumbent of St. James's, Westmore- land Street." Unhappily this statement is no longer correct. The Rev. H. R. Haweis, with whom I had the pleasure of a slight acquaintance, died on 29 January, 1901.

W. F. PRIDEAUX.

JULY : ITS PRONUNCIATION. Every one knows that in old poets July rimes with newly. This was no mere poetic licence, but must have been the original pronunciation, since the Latin Julius has the same stress as Junius. Dr. Murray states in the ' N. E. D.' that the name is still stressed on the first syllable in Southern Scotch ; he adds that " the modern English pronunciation is ab- normal and unexplained." I venture to suggest a possible explanation. May not the change of stress have been deliberately made to avoid confusion 1 June and July wereso alike in sound that it became necessary, I take it, artificially to increase the distinc- tion between them. There is a parallel to this in the existing commercial practice of accenting upon their finals the numbers of the series thirty, forty, &c. (thus, thir-tie, ior-tie, &c., riming with Ju-fo'e), to avoid all chance of their being misheard as thirteen, fourteen, &c. I do not know how old this practice is, but it is well known to all clerks, and works admirably in any circumstances

in which numbers have to be dictated. As further support to my argument, I may point out that several of the Romance languages have evidently felt the same need which I have assumed our English ancestors to have felt, and have decreased the fatal similarity between Latin Junius and Julius by adding a termination to the latter which by its presence caused accentual shift. Thus French has Juin (i.e., Junius), but Juillet(i.e., Juliettus). Catalan has Juny for Junius, but Juli6l instead of Julius. I should like to have the criticism of Prof. Skeat anent this idea of mine, which I advance with all due diffidence where others would seem to have failed. JAS. PLATT, Jun.

Qtttfits*

WE must request correspondents desiring infor- mation on family matters of only private interest to affix their names and addresses to their queries, in order that the answers may be addressed to them direct.

ENGLISH RESIDENTS IN BENGAL. As Record Officer of the Government of India, I have been ordered to compile a selection of documents of historical interest referring to the events which occurred in Bengal between the accession of Siraj-ud-daula in April, 1756, and his defeat at Plassey and subsequent death in June, 1757.

In June, 1756, Siraj-ud-daula captured Calcutta, the British capital in Bengal, many Englishmen and other Europeans perishing, the night following the capture, in the Black Hole (or prison) of old Fort William. In January, 1757, the British recaptured Calcutta, in March of the same year they captured the French settlement at Chandernagore, and in June they broke the power of the native Government at Plassey.

Public records referring to this period, though voluminous, are defective in many points, even when supplemented by the numerous private letters and papers belong- ing to variouscollectionsaccessible to students. It is believed that many more, which have not yet been published, may be found in the possession of private persons whose families have at some time been connected with India.

If any of your readers possess documents of the kind mentioned, and do not object to their publication, I shall be much obliged if they will communicate with me, care of Messrs. H. S. King & Co., 45, Pall Mall, S.W. I will, if they wish, send them, free of charge, a copy of ' A List of Europeans, &c.,