carrying a musket in the ranks of the Republican army. Never attaining any higher grade, nor known by any other title, than that of "Premier Grenadier de la France," conferred upon him by the great Napoleon himself, he lived among his comrades the life of a simple soldier, fell fighting, and was buried on the field of battle with his face to the enemy. The following particulars of the recent burial of the heart of the hero, from the Daily Telegraph, 30 March, deserve, I venture to think, preservation in 'N. & Q.':—
"To-day the heart of a hero of the Army of the Revolution, namely, Théophile Malo Corret de la Tour d'Auvergne, called the First Grenadier of France, was deposited with great military pomp and ceremony in the Hôtel des Invalides. The heart, long in the possession of the warrior's family, has been presented to the nation by one of De la Tour d'Auvergne's descendants, Col. du Pontavice de Heussey, formerly French military attaché in London, and now commanding the Fourth Regiment of Artillery at Grenoble. The colonel and his brother came up from Grenoble this morning, having with them the heart enclosed in an urn. They were received at the Gare de Lyon by various officers, and towards nine o'clock the urn was placed on a sort of stretcher, with it being the sabre of the famous soldier and a facsimile of the flag of his regiment, which had been made and embroidered by the wives of the officers of the 46th Infantry Corps, called that of La Tour d'Auvergne. The stretcher was borne by non-commissioned officers, and outside the station an old-fashioned ceremony was carried out. Troops presented arms, and then the colonel of the 46th called aloud, in muster parade style, La Tour d'Auvergne.' The traditional reply was given by the senior sergeant, who, stepping out of the ranks, saluted, and said: 'Mort au champ d'honneur,' whereupon martial and patriotic bosoms vibrated with emotion. This ceremony was repeated twice at the Invalides, whither the urn was carried along the quays. Around and inside the Hôtel des Invalides an imposing force was drawn up. Waiting there were President Loubet, General André, War Minister, the Military Governor of Paris, the Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honour, and a brilliant staff of officers. On the arrival of the urn and the escort a procession was formed. This, headed by the President of the Republic, went slowly through the Church of the Invalides, where there was a guard of pensioners, the organ pealing forth a solemn march. Finally the urn was placed by a non-commissioned officer near the tomb of Turenne. The War Minister made a short speech about the First Grenadier, who was killed at Oberhausen, in Bavaria, in June, 1800, while in the army of the Rhine. Then President Loubet thanked Col. du Pontavice de Heussey, and the ceremony concluded. The Hôtel des Invalides possesses, besides the remains of Napoleon I. and of several great soldiers of France, the hearts of some other historic celebrities. These are Vauban, the military engineer and marshal, famous for his fortifications; General Kléber, who was killed in Egypt in June, 1800; and Mlle. de Sombreuil, who saved her father, a Governor of the Invalides, from the fury of the Terrorists. To the enshrined hearts of these is now added that of De la Tour d'Auvergne, 'who died on the field of honour.'"
The Morning Post of Maundy Thursday gave an account of the presentation to the French nation of the urn containing the heart of La Tour d'Auvergne. It is probable that there are not many of your younger readers who ever read a poem relating to him, called 'Le Premier Grenadier des Armées de la République.' It was written by J. E. Inman, author of 'Sir Orfeo,' but not published until after his death, when it appeared in La Belle Assemblée for September, 1844. Inman's verse, I have understood, was highly thought of by Rogers. The poem I mention would, I have no doubt, be appreciated in France—if, indeed, it has not been made known there already.
Hockey.—Writing to John Newton on 5 November, 1785, Cowper speaks thus, inter alia, of what must have been an unchastened form of a game that has recently become exceedingly popular:—
"The boys at Olney have likewise a very entertaining sport, which commences annually upon this day; they call it Hockey, and it consists in dashing each other with mud, and the windows also, so that I am forced to rise now and then, and to threaten them with a horsewhip, to preserve our own."
Apparently actual mud-slinging had been a feature of the amusement, for the poet continues:—
"We know that the Roman boys whipped tops, trundled the hoop, and played at tennis; but I believe we nowhere read that they delighted in these filthy aspersions: I am inclined, therefore, to give to the slovenly but ingenious youths of Olney full credit for the invention."
The whole description may, of course, simply be a satirical way of saying that the game was played in the public streets when they were in a very sloppy condition; but it was hardly worth the writer's while to elaborate such a little jest as he does in this passage, especially when his correspondent was Newton. Thomas Bayne.
Russian Men-of-War.—It may perhaps be worth recording and explaining several distinguishing names given to those torpedo-boats which, among others, accompanied the Russian cruiser Petro-Pavlovsky on its terribly fatal excursion off Port Arthur (13 April); for instance, Strásny=Fearful, Bezstrásny=Fearless, Smêly=Bold, Bezúmny =Inconsiderate or Rash. We may readily
