Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 2.djvu/11

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ii s. viii. JULY 5, IMS.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

two days' pay for the purpose. On the base is the following inscription:—

To the memory of
Lord Viscount Nelson,
by the zealous attachment
of those who fought at
Trafalgar,
to perpetuate his triumphs
and their regret
1805.
The British Fleet
consisted of
27 Sail of the Line,
of France and Spain 33,
19 of which were taken
or destroyed.

The old battleship Victory, moored in Portsmouth Harbour, is an object of never-dying interest to every British subject. On the deck is marked with an inscription the spot where Nelson fell, and in the cockpit the spot where he died. The Victory's anchor, mounted on a stone pedestal; is placed on the Esplanade, Southsea Beach. On the base is inscribed:—

Close to this spot embarked the
Hero of the Nile,
Alas, for the last time to take command of the
British Fleet
that fought and conquered
at Trafalgar, where our Nelson fell.
This tribute of respect is placed in humble
admiration of
the departed Hero
by
Lord Frederick Fitzclarence
Lieutenant-Governor of Portsmouth,
1852.

In an appropriate niche in the Town Hall is placed a white marble bust of Nelson. Below it, on a brass shield, is engraved the following inscription:—

England
expects every man to do his duty.
——
This Bust
of Admiral Lord Nelson, sculptured
by Sir Francis Chantrey, R.A.,
was presented to the Mayor and
Corporation by William Payne Esqre
Treasurer of the Borough, for the
Town Hall, Portsmouth
1st March, 1883.

Monuments of Wellington and Nelson, presented by Lord Frederick Fitzclarence in 1850, and "placed on Southsea Common, mysteriously disappeared some years after- wards. They had been adversely criticized as possessing little or no artistic merit, and it is said that their remains received decent burial at Spithead.

Edinburgh. The Nelson monument forms a conspicuous object on Calton Hill. It was founded soon after his death, but was not


completed until 1815. In shape it looks something like a drawn-out telescope, and comprises an octagonal battlemented base*- ment, containing several rooms, surmounted by a circular embattled tower of four storeys, over which again is a similar, but narrower turret of one storey."

The structure is 102 ft. high, and on the apex is fixed a Greenwich time-ball. Above^ the entrance is carved in stone a representa- tion of the stern of the San Josef. The interior of the basement is devoted to a collection of Nelson relics and objects of interest. The summit is gained by a circular staircase.

Dublin. The design of the Nelson column in Sackville Street is something of a cross between the Trafalgar Square memorial and the Great Fire Monument, London. It consists of a massive square pedestal, from which rises a fluted pillar 120ft. high. On- the summit is a colossal statue of Nelson. Above the entablature of the column is a caged platform, to which access is gained from the interior by a spiral staircase. On the four sides of the basement are depicted in relief scenes from the battles of the Nile,. Copenhagen, St. Vincent, and Trafalgar.

JOHN T. PAGE.

Long Itchington, Warwickshire.

(To be continued.)


CHARLES LAMB AND " DOG DAYS." In Hone's ' E very-Day Book,' No. 29, pub- lished on Saturday, July 16th, 1825, there appeared an article entitled ' Mad Dogs,' in which the Writer stated as an appalling; fact that there was no cure for hydrophobia* He went on :

" Preventive [sic] is better than cure, and in this case it is easy. Dogs, however useful in some- situations, are wholly useless in towns. Ex- terminate them."

This suggestion of bellum ad exterminationem called forth in the following number an amusing remonstratory reply in the shape of a letter purporting to be written by " Your faithful, though sad dog, Pompey,'^ which has been identified by Mr. J. A- Kutter as Charles Lamb's.

In his edition of the ' Works of Charles and Mary Lamb ' Mr. Lucas prints it in the

  • Appendix * to vol. i., among the ' Essays

and Notes not certain to be Lamb's but probably his,' and his comment is that " there certainly is no difficulty in con- ceiving it to be from Lamb's pen, although there is no overwhelming internal evidence.'* Mr. Macdonald, on the other hand, appears to be more confident and affirms that " w&