sent with the bearer of a despatch to Lord Rawdon. On their way they were attacked and both severely wounded. The bearer died on the road, and the corporal, taking the paper, rode on until he fell from loss of blood; in order to conceal the important secret contained in the despatch should he be taken by the enemy, he thrust the paper into his wound, which, although not mortal in itself, proved so by this act. When found, on the following day, sufficient life was left for him to point to the fatal depository of the secret. He was a native of the county of Down, where a monument there records his fame, and the gratitude of his commander, Lord Rawdon.

THIRTY-FIRST REGIMENT.

While the Thirty-first were stationed at Pensacola, in 1765, the regiment suffered so severely from yellow fever, that sufficient men could not be found to carry their comrades to the grave. The men who attended the funerals of their brother soldiers in the morning, when the regiment was strong enough to preserve some ceremony, were, in several instances, consigned to the tomb in the evening. It is recorded that, at one period of its illness, only a corporal and six privates could be mustered as fit for duty. When the regiment arrived at Gravesend in July, 1797, it mustered only eighty-five non-commissioned officers and men.

It was a brigade of the grenadiers of this and other regiments that His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent (father of the Queen) commanded in the сарture of Martinique, St. Lucia, and Guadaloupe, in 1794. During the attack on the former island, both his

aides-de-camp, Captain the late General Sir Frederick
Wetherall, whose son is the present Adjutant-General,
and Lieutenant (afterwards Major-General) Vesey, were
severely wounded, close to His Royal Highness. When
the Prince was ordered to storm Morné Tartisson and
Fort Royal, on the 17th March, 1794, he placed himself
at the head of his brigade of grenadiers, and thus ad-
dressed them :-
--
"Grenadiers! this is St. Patrick's Day;
the English will do their duty in compliment to the Irish,
and the Irish in compliment to the Saint! Forward,
Grenadiers!" This important capture was annually
commemorated by an anniversary dinner at the United
Service Club on each succeeding St. Patrick's Day.

A CHRISTIAN'S TOMBSTONE IN A MAHOMEDAN
CEMETERY.

With what strange feelings must the troops employed in the first expedition to Affghanistan, in 1838-39, have read the following inscription on a tombstone in a Mahomedan burying-ground at Cabool, dated as far back as the time of Aurungzebe :-"Here lyeth the body of John Hicks, son of Thomas and Edith Hicks, who departed this life the eleventh of October, 1666.”

SIR THOMAS PICTON AND THE DUKE OF

MARLBOROUGH.

In the Times of Thursday, May 5th, 1859, appeared the following letter relating to the remains of the late Sir Thomas Picton :—

"To the Editor of the Times.

"SIR,-In the vaults of our burying-ground on the Bayswater-road may be seen the thick chest or oak

1

box, in which lie the remains of Sir Thomas Picton, as they were packed up in the village of Waterloo and sent to England. It seems obvious that the body was only to have found a temporary resting-place in these vaults, as the character of the receptacle is rather that of a rude packing-case than a suitable coffin.

"These vaults are just closed by order of the Privy Council, and in a few days the brickwork, which is entirely to close in the coffins, will be commenced. Are there no old companions in arms of General Picton who would be glad to do for him what the medical profession did lately for John Hunter? It would be easy to apply to the Secretary of State for an order to have these remains removed, or, if it be thought that the bodies of our great heroes are the property of the nation, surely if a representation were made to the Government they would not be unwilling to transfer so illustrious a warrior to some more distinguished mausoleum.-Your obedient servant, "W. BREWER.

"21, George Street, Hanover Square, May 4."

The result of this appeal was that the remains of this gallant general were removed on the 8th of June, 1859, to St. Paul's, and the following account of the ceremony appeared in the Morning Post of Thursday, June 9th:

"Yesterday morning, according to arrangement, the remains of the late Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Picton were removed from the cemetery belonging to the parish of St. George, Hanover Square, to St. Paul's Cathedral.

Р

"The coffin was placed on a gun-carriage, drawn by eight horses. It was covered with a rich silk Genoa velvet pall with richly emblazoned armorial bearings of the late general, and with the union-jack. The procession was under the direction of the Royal Artillery. The first carriage contained Mr. J. Picton, the Hon. Colonel Vereker, Colonel Bagot, and General Wood. The second contained the Rev. Henry Howarth, rector of St. George's, Hanover Square, Mr. Stanley, and Dr. Brewer. In the third were Mr. Cooper, Mr. Westerton, and Mr. Treherne. Then followed the carriages of Lord Strafford, the Right Hon. Mr. Estcourt, the Home Secretary, Lord Gough, General Sir F. Stovin, Sir John Burgoyne, Sir Hew Ross, Sir Robert Gardiner, and Sir James Coleman.

Amongst the others who appeared as mourners was the Rev. Dr. Macnab, of Canada, representing his uncle, Captain Alexander Macnab, of the Thirtieth Regiment of Foot, who was aide-de-camp to General Picton, and who fell at the battle of Waterloo.

"The procession moved slowly through the principal streets to St. Paul's Cathedral. When the body reached St. Paul's Cathedral, some time was taken up in removing the ponderous mass from the gun-carriage, and bearing it up the steps on the south side into the cathedral. It was there met by the Very Rev. the Dean Milman, Archdeacon Hale, the Rev. W. Murray, and several other prebendaries and minor canons, who preceded the body to the crypt, where a vault had been constructed not far from the tomb of Wellington, the illustrious chief of the noble hero. At that moment the organ began to play the 'Dead March in Saul.' Followed by the old comrades of the illus

trious general, the body was conveyed, in the most solemn silence, to the tomb, where it was received and lowered into the grave in the presence of Colonel Vereker, Mr. J. Picton, and a large number of private mourners. This having been done, the body was covered up and the cavalcade reformed."

The remains of the illustrious Duke of Marlborough did not continue in their first resting-place. The Chaplain-General, the Rev. G. R. Gleig, M.A., in his "British Military Commanders," observes:-"His body, after undergoing the process of embalming, and lying in state at Marlborough House, was conveyed in a sort of triumphal car to Westminster Abbey, long lines of carriages following, and all the parade of troops, heralds, and mourners preceding and surrounding the senseless clay. * * * And the cavalcade was received by the light of blazing torches at the door of the abbey by all the dignitaries and ministers of the church, in full canonicals. Yet was the solemn ceremony performed for no other purpose than to render due honours to the remains of England's most illustrious commander. The body was not permitted for any length of time to rest where, amid such splendour, it had been entombed; but, being removed to the chapel at Blenheim, it was finally deposited in a mausoleum erected by Rysbrack, under the superintendence of the duchess." In the London Magazine for 1744 it was stated-"On the 30th October, 1744, the remains of the late Duke of Marlborough, having been taken out of a vault in Henry VII.'s chapel, were carried out of town to be interred at Blenheim ; and the next day the corpse of the late Duchess was carried to the same place."