Page:Notes by the Way.djvu/107

 The first number opened with an address by Dr. Maitland. This was followed by a note by John Bruce, 'On the Place of Capture of the Duke of Monmouth'; then 'Shakespeare and Deer Stealing,' by John Payne Collier; and 'Pray remember the Grotto,' by the Editor. Mr. Dilke and Mr. Albert Way also contributed, and Peter Cunningham gave some 'New Facts about Lady Arabella Stuart.' Strange to say, notwithstanding the variety and interesting character of the paper, only forty copies were sold on the day of publication. In the course of the next few weeks this forty was increased to six hundred, after which the sale gradually but steadily became larger, several of the first issues having to be reprinted. In these early numbers it is curious to note the phraseology of fifty years ago, the complimentary term for contributors being "respectable," while the title of esquire was then so limited that we actually find Mr. Murray in his advertisements adding "Esquire" to the names of most of his authors.

The third number contains some original letters addressed by Lord Nelson's brother to the Rev. A. J. Scott in reference to the arrangements for the removal of the body of the fallen hero from the Victory to Greenwich Hospital. The letters are signed "Nelson," and a postscript to one of them is as follows :—

"It will be of great importance that I am in possession of his last will and codicils as soon as possible—no one can say that it does not contain, among other things, many directions relative to his funeral."

The Rev. Alfred Gatty, who had kindly placed these letters at Mr. Thoms's disposal, adds :—

"The codicil referred to in these letters proved to be, or at least to include, that memorable document which the Earl suppressed, when he produced the will, lest it should curtail his own share of the amount of favour which a grateful country would be anxious to heap on the representatives of the departed hero. By this unworthy conduct the fortunes of Lady Hamilton and her still surviving daughter were at once blighted."

In the fourth number appears a query from Sir George Cornewall Lewis, who continued to be a constant contributor, his last paper appearing only two days before his death, which took place on the 13th of April, 1863. To enumerate all the chief contributors would be to give almost every known name in literature. Many, like Mr. Dilke, chose to remain anonymous, but among those whose names appear in the early numbers may be mentioned Mr. William Bernard MacCabe, the author of the 'Catholic History of England,' and the first to suggest the publication at stated intervals of those General Indexes of which Lord Brougham said that "they double the value and utility of Notes and Queries" John Wilson Croker, Lord Shaftesbury, Lord Strangford (whose translation of Camoens earned him a place in the 'English Bards and Scotch Reviewers'),