426
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.,
