9*s. vm. AUG. 10, 1901.] NOTES AND QUERIES.
129
upon the Chicago side of the World's Fair
grounds. Upon heavy wood piles was a
superstructure of brick brought up to within
five feet of the water-line. Above, in every
respect, it was practically, and to all appear-
ance, an actual ironclad. This costly model
was an exact replica of a 10,300 ton coast
liner battleship, complete in every depart-
ment, from sleeping quarters to gun-deck,
and was steel armour-plated below the berth
deck, whilst above decks were steel turrets
and redoubts, through whose portals pro-
jected 8 in. and 13 in. guns. She also carried
an imposing armament of usual heavy
ordnance. Her total length was 248 ft., ana
her beam 65 ft. 3 in. Throughout the whole
period of the exhibition (six months) she was
manned and officered with a crew of two
hundred men, who went through daily drills,
and in many respects performed the actual
duties required when at service on the high
seas. During the time of the exhibition I
visited her many times, and the illusion was
simply perfect.
The reverse side of the picture of ships of war on land is that of the Dutch fleet frozen up on the river Y before Amsterdam nearly one hundred years ago, charged over the ice and captured by invading French troopers. It is difficult to realize the Dutch admiral, anchored half a mile or so from shore, flying the signal " Prepare to receive cavalry."
HARRY HEMS.
Carrara.
ROYAL BOROUGH OF KENSINGTON (9 th S. viii. 82, 107). Kensington Palace was formerly situated in the parish of St. Mar- garet's, Westminster, but under the scheme made for the revision of boundaries under the London Government Act, 1899, the palace and grounds have been included within the borough of Kensington. Kensington was a district which was situated partly in the parish of St. Mary Abbots, partly in that of St. Margaret, and partly in that of Pad- dington. The King seems to have accurately described the place of Queen Victoria's birth as Kensington, if it is regarded in its ordinary signification of a district. It may be worth while to record in these columns the letter which the Home Secretary addressed to the Mayor of Kensington, Sir Henry Seymour King, K.C.I.E., M.P., communicating the conferment on the borough of Kensington of the title of "Royal " :
Home Office, Whitehall, July 13.
SIR, In reply to your letter of the 26th ult., with
regard to the address forwarded by the council of
the borough of Kensington in December last, for
presentation to her late Majesty, praying that she
night be graciously pleased to confer upon the
jorough the title of the " Royal Borough of Ken-
sington," I have to inform you that I have had the
ic-nour to lay the request of the council before the
King, and I am commanded by His Majesty to
inform you that, in accordance with the expressed
wish of her late Majesty that her birth at Kensing-
ton Palace should be so commemorated, His Majesty
las been graciously pleased to command that the
aorough should in future be designated "The Royal
Borough of Kensington." I am, Sir, your obedient
servant, CHARLES T. RITCHIE.
W. F. PEIDEAUX.
WILLIAM HONE (9 th S. vii. 408, 498). I have already sent to MR. ANDREWS direct a copy of the inscription on Hone's gravestone ; but in view of MR. CLARK'S failure to find the spot in Abney Park cemetery where he lies interred, perhaps I may be allowed to say a few words in ' N. & Q.' I am somewhat sur- prised that MR. CLARK should fail to find the grave if (as I suppose) he possesses a copy of the Rev. James Bran white French's 'Walks in Abney Park.' On the plan which accom- panies this valuable little book its exact position is marked. I should roughly describe it as being on the left-hand side of the way, a few paces down the outermost path branch- ing north from the main road leading from the entrance gates to the church The head- stone bears the following inscription :
The family grave
of
William Hone,
who was born at Bath
the 3rd of June, A.D. 1780,
and
died at Tottenham the 6th of November,
A.D. 1842. And of his wife
Sarah Hone,
who was born in Southwark the 30th of November, 1781,
and
died at Stoke-Newington
the 26th of September, 1864.
Here lie also two infant grandchildren,
Alice Romola Lovati, aged 3 years and 8 mos.
Arthur Frankly n Hemsley, aged 1 year and 10 mos.
Also, Matilda,
third daughter of the above,
born on the 26th of July, 1805,
died on the 10th of September, 1884.
With respect to the Dickens episode at Hone's funeral, may I be allowed to ask a question 1 ? I have an article dealing fully with this subject, which was published in the Evangelical Magazine for January, 1873. It appears under the heading ' Short Essays by J. S. E.,' and the writer states that he was one of those present in the room whenBinney denounced the writer of a recently published
