A CURIOUS RELIC OF THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 49, 26 February 1880, Page 1

A CURIOUS RELIC OF THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO.

, , A correspondent of: tbe Boston fimvuller writes: ''Fjjkr '^9, of the incident related helovr rl. have .the ibest possible proof. George Shaw, . a jbrave Englishman, when surrounded on ;the field of Waterloo, by a 'number of the enomy, made a gallant. struggle ibr , .existence, <&?d \*?uglit ;hw ; r was wek l to Ihis comrades, over Tnedend bo^es of a dozen Frenchmen, whom he had' slain. As a reward for his bravery, We.lling§o,n , aent for the soldier, and in itboAiCgunje of his conversation with him, gar© him permission to take home with him whatever relic he choose from the battlefield. ' . Shaw's choice was the skeleton of a French General killed in the action. (The ghastly trophy wsi safely transported to England,, and hsng in 'tfie soldier's closet at Hanley, in Staffordshire, England, till he came to regard it as a nuisance and disposed of it to Samuel Bullock, a manufacturer of china. As boqes form a large proportion of the ingredients from which English china is made, it occurred to the manufacturer that the remains of the poor general would look much better made up into some handsome ornament than dangling from a peg in an obscure closet; and in accordance with this inspiration, the French General was ground down, and, in due time, was metamorphosed into teacups and saucer*, in which condition he adorns to this day the museum at Hawley, appropriately inscribed with the history of his transformation. It happened one day that Marshal Soult visited the museum, and his attention was attracted by the china, which has a bright pink tint, and i§ ornamented with flowers. But when his, eye rested on the label, which enabled him to recognise in the collection the remains of one ofjiis former, generals, the Marshal was deeply shocked, and wrapping "his martial cloak around him," walked indignantly away. He did not forget to inform napoleon, then at St. Helena, of.the indignjfcy, which had been offered to the memory. of their countryman. "It is no indignity/, quofch $$Dplej>n >. " what more ;' pleasing disposition ;.can; there be of one's bones &f|ter rleath, th*n to. be made inty'^ps^p & c '^Q^gljT'' in use^nd placed Jefew v een; e |he .^bay, lips of ladies ? The thought js dflightful." This was an aspect of th* cate _ which .^...ip^t^iprmd^i..^ pjrflsajcfliaiiihiil, l>ufc ( iie wjs fpjteMtl ", 'to. content, himself -with jfc., : „■ :