For Napoleon came to him in a vision, with a broken sword and an
arrow in his side, beseeching help: Finleyson pulled out the arrow, but
refused to give a new sword; whereby poor Napoleon, though he got off with
life, lost the battle of Waterloo. This story was written to the Duke of
Wellington, ending with "I pulled out the arrow, but left the broken sword.
Your Grace can supply the rest, and what followed is amply recorded in
history." The book contains a long account of applications to Government to
do three things: to pay 2,000l. for care taken of Brothers, to pay 10,000l.
for discovery of the longitude, and to prohibit the teaching of the
Newtonian system, which makes God a liar. The successive administrations
were threatened that they would have to turn out if they refused, which, it
is remarked, came to pass in every case. I have heard of a joke of Lord
Macaulay, that the House of Commons must be the Beast of the Revelations,
since 658 members, with the officers necessary for the action of the House,
make 666. Macaulay read most things, and the greater part of the rest: so
that he might be suspected of having appropriated as a joke one of
Finleyson's serious points--"I wrote Earl Grey[686] upon the 13th of July,
1831, informing him that his Reform {316} Bill could not be carried, as it
reduced the members below the present amount of 658, which, with the eight
principal clerks or officers of the House, make the number 666." But a
witness has informed me that Macaulay's joke was made in his hearing a
great many years before the Reform Bill was proposed; in fact, when both
were students at Cambridge. Earl Grey was, according to Finleyson, a
descendant of Uriah the Hittite. For a specimen of Lieut. Brothers, this
book would be worth picking up. Perhaps a specimen of the Lieutenant's
poetry may be acceptable: Brothers _loquitur_, remember:

"Jerusalem ! Jerusalem! shall be built again!
More rich, more grand then ever;
And through it shall Jordan flow!(!)
My people's favourite river.
There I'll erect a splendid throne,
And build on the wasted place;
To fulfil my ancient covenant
To King David and his race.
* * * * * *
"Euphrates' stream shall flow with ships,
And also my wedded Nile;
And on my coast shall cities rise,
Each one distant but a mile.
* * * * * *
"My friends the Russians on the north
With Persees and Arabs round,
Do sho