n s. vi. OCT. 12, 1912.] NOTES AND QUERIES.
287
It appears that in the early part of
the last century an Indian Civil servant,
Edward A. Reade, brother of Charles
Reade the novelist, became closely asso-
ciated with Ishree Pershad, Maharajah of
Benares, and on Reade' s retirement from
the service his Indian friend desired to
mark in some way their long official and
social intercourse. Accordingly he asked
Reade to suggest some method of per-
petuating this friendship. Reade, mindful
of his native village and its frequent scarcity
of water, suggested that the Maharajah
should defray the cost of providing it with
an efficient water supply. This suggestion
was adopted. Ishree Pershad agreed -to
defray the entire cost, and, moreover, to
make provision for the upkeep of the installa-
tion. On Readers return to England he
made arrangements for the sinking of an
artesian well. Water was reached at a
depth of about 350 ft., and a very ample
supply has since been forthcoming. Over
this well was constructed a dome of purely
Oriental design, and a small freehold in
the neighbourhood was purchased, which
provides an endowment that enables the
structure to be perpetually maintained
in efficient repair. The Maharajah never
visited England, and so never saw his
generous gift, but it stands for all time as
a reminder to Englishmen of the kindly
relationship that exists between this country
and some of the great Indian princes.
P. J. MICHELU.
A RELIC OF JOHN BRITTON. The original of the following melancholy and pathetic letter from John Britton, the antiquary, to J. W. Southgate, the literary auctioneer, is attached to the Sale Catalogue of his library in the set of Messrs. Southgate's Catalogues in the British Museum :
Feb. 20, 1839. DEAR SIR,
Finding age creep on and old friends die off, and feeling it to be a matter of worldly prudence to " put the house in order," I intend to part with a large number of Books, Prints, and other objects of interest and curiosity, which have afforded me much amusement and information in col- lecting together. These will be consigned to your custody to submit for public competition through the medium of your well organized establishment. To part with many of these old literary friends with whom I have communed for forty years, from whose councils I have derived both useful and entertaining information, and whose sub- serviency to every demand, either of reason or whim, has been uniform, is a painful struggle to Yours very sincerely
J. BRITTOK
J. W. Southgate Esq : 17 Burton S'.
This letter is hidden away among the many
thousand auction sale catalogues which are
uncatalogued, unindexed, and unannotated
in the vaults of the British Museum. Brit-
ton's Catalogue is dated 29 May, 1839, and
the sale, which consisted of 1,440 lots, lasted
six days, realizing 1,0291. 14s.
EDWARD B. HARRIS. 5, Sussex Place, N.W.
SEASON POSTS FOR POPTJLAR RESORTS. It is generally understood that the postal authorities grant an extension of facilities to various popular seaside resorts and water- ing-places during their season ; and the practice seems to be long-established. In The London Gazette for 23-6 June, 1679, it was advertised with special prominence,
" These are to give Notice, that there will go a Post from the Letter-Office in London, to Tunbridge, every day in the Week (except Sunday) and make Returns accordingly, during the Season for drinking the Waters there."
A like advertisement is to be found very close upon half a century later, for in The Daily Courant of 12 July, 1726, it was announced :
" These are to give Notice, that the Post will go every Night (Sundays excepted) from London to Tunbridge, and from Tunbridge Wells to London, from Wednesday the 13th of this Instant July, during the Summer Season, as usual."
ALFRED F. ROBBINS.
DUGDALE'S SUMMONSES. An important warning, which is given in the Introduc- tion to vol. ii. of ' The Complete Peerage,' edited by the Hon. Vicary Gibbs, 1912, should, I think, find a place in ' N. & Q.' :
" In the course of preparing this volume for the press the Editor had occasion to test the statements made in Dugdale's 'Summonses,' with the result that he found that work to be not only inaccurate but quite untrustworthy.
" This is the more unfortunate as it is the only printed book that genealogists have on which to rely for the dates and particulars of writs of summons after the reign of Edward IV, at which point the ' Report on the Dignity of a Peer' stops giving the list of summonses to Parliament.
" On various occasions the Editor, being led to suspect Dugdale's accuracy, asked the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records to compare his statements with the original documents, and found therefrom in every case that Dugdale was wrong. In the end so many mistakes and mis- statements were discovered that the Deputy Keeper thought it worth while systematically to collate Dugdale's account of the reign of Henry VIII with the dorse of the Close Rolls and the Parliamentary Pawns ; it then appeared that not only has Dugdale frequently given wrong Christian names, omitted peers that were sum- moned, and added peers who were not summoned,
