Death of Pitt (Vol. iv., p. 232.).
—MR. NATHANIEL ELLISON will find in the Memoirs of Lady Hester Stanhope, vol. iii. p. 141., a passage which pretty nearly confirms the account of the desertion of Pitt's death-bed. She said that James, a servant, was the only person present with Pitt when he died, and that she herself was the last person who saw him alive except James. She also stated that Dr. Pretyman, who seems to have been in the house, was fast asleep at the time; and that Sir Walter Farquhar, the physician, was absent. The account of Pitt's last moments in Gifford's life of him, where a prayer for forgiveness, &c. is put into his mouth, she pronounced to be all a lie.
J. S. W.
Stockwell.
History of Hawick (Vol iv., p. 233.).
—In reply to the Query of your correspondent H. L., I have to inform him that there have been published two histories of Hawick, viz.,—
1. Robert Wilson's Sketch of the History of Hawick, a small 8vo. printed in 1825. It contains a notice of the altercations between the Abbot of Melrose and Langlands the Baron of Wilton, relative to the arrear of tithes due to the abbacy of Melrose. A copy of this work can be procured for about 5s.
2. James Wilson's Annals of Hawick, 1214-1814, a small 8vo. printed in 1850. This work, under date 1494-5, has a notice of the murder of the chaplain by Langlands. This book can be had for 6s. 6d.
A notice of the trial of Langlands for the murder will also be found in Pitcairn's Criminal Trials, vol. i. p. 20.
T. G. S.