r^ -*. ...'s ^%'t^ :' '"-'• '-#•. y t».1.'l l^A ^^ r*ey j^-, — -_ -sH ^ ^-a wife YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY WlI^IilAM AI.1I>1« IIJ) GK . PORTRAITS, MEMOIRS, REMARKABLE PERSONS, REVOLUTION in 1688 END OF THE REIGN OF GEORGE II. COLLECTED FROM THE MOST AUTHENTIC ACCOUNTS EXTANT. JAMES CAULFIELD. IN FOUR VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON: PUBLISHED BY H. R. YOUNG, 56, PATERNOSTER-ROW ; AND T. H. WHITELY, J 03, NEWGATE-STREET. 1819. v. LEWIS, PRINTER, FINCH-LANB, CORNHILL, LONDON. ADVERTISEMENT. 1 HERE are no description of persons who excite public curiosity more than those who have been ushered into notice by circum stances of peculiar notoriety, particularly such as have not been restrained by the laws of their country, or influenced by the common obligations of society. Men, whose daring enterprise and deep cunning might, properly cultivated, and differently directed, have ren dered them the brightest ornaments of the age in which they lived ; and Whitney, Jack Shep- pafd, or Turpin, (common thieves) instead of the ignominious fate which attended them, ihight have emulated the extolled deeds of a Marlborough or a Wellington; and, like thetii, have enjoyed similar honours. As might Bamfylde Moore Carew, in negociation and VOL. I. a vi ADVERTISEMENT. contrivance, have equalled or excelled Lord Castlereagh or Mr. George Canning ; and why not George Barrington, for ingenuity and ability, as a counsellor, have vied with any advocate or pleader who has distinguished himself at the bar. Of another description of persons, James Bick the mimic trumpeter, and Isaac the celebrated Oxford Grinner, might, if exhibited on a public stage, have been formidable rivals in repute with Mathews and Grimaldi. Very different are the multitude who are noticed only as instances of the deviation of nature, such as giants, dwarfs, strong men, personal deformity, &c. In like manner are distinguished those persons who have lived to an extraordinary age; others, as empirics and quacks, buffoons, prize-fighters, and ad venturers, serve but to' fill up the class of Remarkable Characters; and if eccentricity of manners characterises another description ADVERTISEMENT. VU of persons, that very eccentricity entitles them to a place in the present work. The period in which many of the persons lived who are commemorated in this under taking, is perhaps the most eventful in the annals of British history. England witnessed the ascent to its throne of two different families, in the short space of twenty-six years. The revolution of 1688 gave to the country, as its king, William Prince of Orange, after wards William IIL and, on the demise of Queen Anne, the succession was vested in the house of Brunswick, by the accessiou of George I. Party-strife ran so high on this event taking place, that it ultimately ended in open rebellion. And, men of the most exalted rank, and of the highest consideration in the country, were, with numbers of infe rior note, alike made examples of; and the axe and the gibbet became as much in re-. a2 viii ADVERTISEMENT. quest as when the strife for sovereignty, existed between the contending houses of York and Lancaster. It is an extraordinary circumstance, that among the many collected lives of highway men, and other notorious offenders, that what ever embellishments by plates, which have hitherto accompanied the accounts, they have invariably been given from the invention of the artist, without the least, regard to the personal resemblance of the party described iu the narrative. In Johnson's history qf highwaymen, &c. (now an uncommon book,) though embellished with numerous and. ex pensive plates, there is not. one through out the work that is a faithful representation of the person, even in the article of dress, much less of their physiognomy and general character. Mull'd Sack, the German Prin cess, Whitney, Jonathan Wild, Jack Sheppard, ADVERTISEMENT. ix and Sarah Malcolm's transactions, are delineated entirely by scenic views of their robberies and subsequent executions. The only cause that can be assigned for this palpable error, is the uncommon rarity of the true prints. That of MuU'd Sack, in particular, has been sold at a public auction for upwards of forty guineas ; Whitney, copied in this collection, is considered to be unique ; William Joy, the English samson; Jonathan Wild, with the ticket to his funeral ; Turpin in his cave ; Old Harry, with his raree-show ; Guy, founder of Guy's Hospital, writing his will ; and many others, interspersed throughout the work, are likewise taken from originals of the greatest scarcity and value ; and not a life or character is recorded, but is accompanied by a portrait of unquestioned authenticity. JAMES CAULFIELD CONTENTS. REIGX OF WILLIAM III. Pag* Aldridge, William, an aged Wheelwright . , 1 Atkins, William, an eccentric Gout-doctor . . 3 Baskerville, Thomas, a whimsical Enthusiast . 6 Bigg, John, the Dinton Hermit . . .9 Brown, Thomas, a Facetious Writer . . .12 D'Urfey, Thomas, a Humorous Poet . .16 Fenwick, Sir John, executed for High -treason . .19 Gale, John, a singular Deaf and Dumb Man . 25 Hermon, Philip, a visionary Quaker . . 28 Johnston, Sir John, executed for stealing an Heiress ¦ 31 Joy, William, the English Samson . . .37 Radcliffe, John, an extraordinary Physician . . 44 Rymer, Thomas, a Critic and Compiler . . .50 Tryon, Thomas, a singular Enthusiast . .54 Whitney, James, an extraordinary Highwayman 57 K£IGN OF QUEEN ANNE. JEsop of Eton, a rhyming Cobler . . .73 Biek, James, a Mimic Trumpeter . . .75 Britton, Thomas, a Musical Small Coal-man . 77 Burgess, Daniel,.a Pulpit Buffoon .82 Dennis, John, a sour and severe Critic . . .86 XU CONTENTS. Page Evans, Henry, an aged Welshman . . .91 Fletcher, Andrew, a turbulent Republican - . . .94 Defoe, Daniel, a Political Writer and Novelist . . 99 Granny, a drunken half-blind Woman . . 1 03 Hardman, John, a singular Corn-cutter . . .106 Harry, an Old Raree-show-man . . .109 Hart, Nicholas, a Great Sleeper .112 Isaac, the Oxford Grinner . . .116 Keiling, John, an extraordinary Street Musician . .118 King Edward, Abel Roper's Man . . .120 Poro, James, an extraordinary Twin . . .129 Yorkshire Nan, Prince George's Cap Woman .132 Read, Sir William, a Quack Oculist . . .134 Roper, Abel, a Political Bookseller . . . 1 37 Sacheverel, Henry, a Seditious Preacher . , 141 Scrimshaw, Jane, an aged Pauper . . .147 "futchin, John, a Seditious Writer . . . 149 Valerius, John, born without arms . . .153 White, Jeremiah, humorous chaplain to Oliver Cromwell . 163 MEMOIRS REMARKABLE PERSONS. WiilUum mtfvUfQt, [WILLIAM III. It very often happens that we are indebted to the casual circumstance of a person living to a great age, personal deformity, size, or other chances, for the perpetuity of their likenesses being handed down to posterity. Such was the case with 5f ilham Aldridge, in whose character there appears noithing more parti cular than of his living to the very advanced age of 1 14- years. He was by profession a wheelwright, and resided at Acton, in Middlesex, and was buried there November 21st, 1698. The portrait from which this print was engraved, was painted two years before his death, and was in the possession of his great grandson, Mr. Thomas VOL. I. B 2 MEMOIRS OF [william hi. Aldridge, vestry-clerk of Acton parish, where the family have been established upwards of a century. The portrait has the appearance of a hale man of sixty, rather than that of 112, which was his age at the period it was painted. He was buried under a tomb in the cemetery, the inscription upon which gives his age one year older. WILI.?^ A.T'KI]?^S, 'Gout Doctor. ) WILLIAM III.] REMArRKABLE PERSONS. ^Killtam nt^im, THE GOUT DOCTOR. Of all thej diseases incident to the, human frame the Gout, (to those who are afflicted ; with itj) is the most vexatious, painful, and tormenting in the cata logue of evils attendiant on man; and no complaint has created more quacks, fo tamper with, and poison the constitutiiQja with- sovereign remedies, than this. Among the, first-rate of .tjies^ eiliimrics . naay rank William Atki|!,s,. "whose renovating elixir restored pristine youth, and vigour to the patient, however old or decayed,^' and -whose vivifying drops inf^i/Uibly cured imbecility in men, and barrenness, in 'women ; he resided in the Qld Bailey, and was, (in his own conceit) the Solomon of the day ; his bills exceeded all others, in extravagant assertions and impudence ; he even had the audacity to, declare he had raised a woman from a fit of the dead palsy, and .rendered her capable of walking immediately. This wonderful great man was short in stature, fat, and waddled as he walked ; he always wore a white B 2 4 ll^EMdllft* OF [VfrtLLiA'»i ill. three-tailed wig, nicely combed and frizzed upon each cheek. He generally carried a cane, but a hat never. He was represented oh the top of his own bills sitting in an arm-chair, holding a bottle between his finger and thumb, surrounded with rotten teeth, nippers, pills, packets, and gally-pots. Atkins boasted of his humility in using a hackney- coach instead of keeping one of his own; but what would he have said, dr thought, had he lived in the pf^sent rimes, to see that carriages and eqliipaige ar6 as 'e'sseiritial in the tfade of a quack-doctb'r as the distribution of their hand-bills in every street ihrdughout the metropolis ; ri^y, most of these gentry that are successful, have their country-seats and parks; and, in 'tWir tables and company, vie with the first nobility, and people of rank and fashion ; Gilead House, the Seat of Dr. Soloinon, near Liver pool, has beefn dediiied important ehoilgh tb fa's 'ehgra\red ahd published, to adoi'h the Beauties bif Eriglahd. Somie of Atkihs's medicines %ere coihpbSed of thirty different ingrediehts! what hope retliaitied fbr an individual assailed by so many enettiies united? A fei^ years since flourished, near Leicester-sqUare, a German quack, Dr. Delalina, who prtjtended to WILLIAM III.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 5 eradicate the gout from any person, however aged or infirm, in six visits. — The well-known French remedy has been found, by sad experience, not only to eradi cate the gout, but likewise the lives of most persons who have been desperate enough to venture on that fatal remedy. MEMOIRS OF [WILLIAM iii. ' This whimsical enthusiast, who affected manners and habits peculiarly his own, was born and resided at a place called Bay worth, in the parish of Sunning- well,' near Abingdon. — In his younger days he was considered a person of learning and curious research, and was author of a journal of his own travels through a great part of England^ in the years 1677 and 1678, still existing in manuscript. — He was well known to the Oxford Students, who, from his dry, droll, and formal appearance, gave him tbe nickname of the King of Jerusalem, he being of a religious turn, and constantly speaking of that heavenly city ; a pretention to inherit which, he founded on what he Styled his regeneration or second birth, in the year 1666, as may be gathered from his own poetic lines, inserted under his portrait : — As shadows fly , so houres dye. And ddyes do span the age of man ; In Month o/ August twenty'nine, I first began my Mourning time, Thousand six hundred and ninety-nine. .\ THOMAS BASKERVILLE WILLIAM III.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 7 Yet I drudge on as said before, Ther's Time, when Time shall be no more, A second BiaiH / had I say, January Eleventh day. In that circle Fifty-two Weeks, . Thousand Six hundred Sixty-six A ray of Light I saw that day, Enter my heart with heat and joy, Saying these words unto me then King of Jerusalem. The number of Sectaries that sprung up at the period Baskerville lived, without question bewildered a brain naturally not very strong ; Fox the Quaker, Naylor the blasphemer, Venner the Fifth Monarchy- man, Muggleton, and a whole tribe of Schismatic pre tenders to new-born lights, had each their several followers ; to one party or other it may naturally be imagined Baskerville inclined ; or he might probably feel inspired ; similar with Swendenbourg of latter days, to convey disciples to the new Jerusalem, by a path unknown to any other than himself. His portrait, which exhibits a meagre, long, and mortified countenance, was engraved when he was in his 70th year. Over his monogram BM is inscribed two lines, doubtless of his own editing : — Once I was alive, and had flesh to thrive, But now I am a skellitan. at 70. 8 MEMOIRS OF [WILLIAM III. He affected most of the singularities which natu rally adhere to reclusive and habitual retirement, and lived to a very advanced age, dying aboi^t the year 1705. Many of his MSS. went with the Harleian collec tion to the Brirish Museum. WILLIAM in] REMARKABLE PERSONS. THE DINTON HERMIT. Many men from necessity, not choice, have as sumed singular habits, and manners, which have, from time immemorial, amused and instructed mankind: such a being was John Bigg. — Disappointed (no doubt) in his prospects through life, he became sulky^ and adopted a way of life he thought peculiarly his own ; in that, however,- he was mistaken ; as others, previous to his time, had taken the same course ; wit ness the hermits of La Trappe, Roger Crabb, of Uxbridge, who lived on three-farthings per day, and other singular humourists, among whom may be remembered, of late days, Simon Eady the pauper of St. Giles's, with Mathews the Dulwich Hermit, found some few years back murdered in his cave. All that is left as a memorial of Bigg; is the following: — John Bigg, the Dinton Hermit, baptized 22d of April, 1629, buried 4th of April, 1696. Brojvne Willis gives the particulars of this 'man out of a lette? written VOL. I. c 10 MEMOIRS OF [william ni. to him by Thomas Hearne, dated Oxon, Feb. 12, 1712. He was formerly clerk to Simon Mayne, of Dinton, one of the judges who passed sentence on King Charles I. He lived at' Dinton (county Bucks,) in a cave, had been, a man of tolerable wealth, was looked upon as a pretty good scholar, and of no con temptible parts. Upon the restoration he grew melan choly, betook . himself to a recluse life, and.lived by charity, but never asked for; any thing but leather, which he would immediately nail to his cloathes. He kept three bottles, that hung; to his girdle, viz. for strong and small beer, and milk: his, shoes are. still preserved ; they are very large, and made up of about a thousand patches of leather ; one of them is in the Bodlean Repository, the other in the collection of Sir John Vanhatten, of Dinton, who had his cave dug up some years since, in hopes of discovering something relative to him, but without success. . The print of him is done from a picture in the possession of Scroop Bernard, Esq. of Nether Winchendon, Bucks.< , Some time since it was reported the celebrated Margravine of Anspach proffered to any person who would lead a recluse life, five hundred pounds annuity for life ; if, after a period of seven years (during which rime they were to have no converse, or see mankind, and suffer WILLIAM ni.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 11 their hair and nails to grow untouched) they survived, but it does not appear any one was desperate enough in circumstances to undergo the ordeal. — It has befen said a man endured this kind of life four years, but gave it up in despair. c 2 12 MEMOIRS OF [william in. -Thomas (commonly called Tori, ),,B.kp,tv,N; was the son of a considerable farmer of Shiffnall, in Shrop shire, and educated at Newport-school; in that county ; frpm.s whence he was removed to Christ-church, in Oxford, where he soon distinguished himself by his uncommon- attainments in literature. He had great parts and quickness of apprehension, , nor does it appear that he was wanting in application^; for we are told, that he was very well skillfid in the Latin, Greek, French, Italian, and Spani^ languages, even before he was sent to Oxford. The irregularities of liis life did not suffer him, however^ tb continue long at the university, but when obliged to quit it, he took advantage of ^ remittance sent by his indulgent father, and thinking he had a sufficiency of wit and learning, left Oxford for the capital, in hopes of making his fortune some way or other there. This scheme did not answer, and he was very soon in danger of starving ; upon which he made interest to be school master of Kingston-upon-Thames, in which pursuit he succeeded. But this was a profession very unsuit- THOMAS BROITK^ . WILLIAM iii.J REMARKABLE PERSONS. 13 able to a man of his turn, and a situation that must needs have been extremely disagreeable to him ; and therefore we cannot wonder that he soon quitted this school, and returned again to London, where, finding his old companions more delighted with his humour than ready to relieve his necessities, he had recourse to his pen, and became an author, and partly a libel ler, by profession . He wrote a great variety of pieces, under the names of dialogues, letters, poems, &c. in all which he discovered no small erudition, and a vast and exuberant vein of humour ; for he was in his writings, as in his conversation, always lively and facetious. In the mean-time he made no other advan tage of these productions than what he derived from the booksellers ; for though they raised his reputation, and made his company sought after, yet, as he possessed less of the gentleman than wits usually do, and more of the scholar, so he was not apt to choose his acquaintance by interest, but was more solicitous to be recommended to the ingenious who might admire, than to the great who might relieve him. An anonymoifts author, who has given the world some account of Mr. Brown, says, that though a good- natured man, he had one pernicious quality, which was, rather to lose his friend than his joke. He had 14 MEMOIRS OF [william hi. a particular genius for satire, and dealt it but liberally whenever he could find occasion. He is famed for being the author of a libel, fixed one Sunday morning on the doors of Westminster-abbey ; and of many others, agaiiist the clergy and quality. He used to treat religion very lightly, and would often say, that he understood the world better than to have the impu tation of righteousness laid to his charge ; yet, upon the approach of death, his heart misgave him, and he began to express sentiments of remorse for his past life. Towards the latter end of Brown's life, we are informed by Mr. Jacob that he was in favor with the Earl of Dorset, who invited him to dinner on a Christmas-day, with Dryden, and some other men of genius ; when Brown, to his agreeable surprise, found a bank-note of 60l. under his plate ; and Dryden at the same time was presented with another of 100/. Brown died in 1704, and was interred in the clbister of Westminster-abbey, near the remains of Mrs. Behn, with whom he wae intimate in his life-time; His whole works were printed in 1707, consisting of dialogues, essays, declamations, satires, letters from the dead to the living, translations, amusements, &c; in 4, vols. ; there are several other editions of his works. WILLIAM III.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 15 but all have become scarce, and have not been re printed for many years ; indeed, the indelicacy of many of his pieces preclude the likelihood of their ever appearing collectively before the public in a new edition ; his remains, in 2 vols, are very rare to be met with, and abound with as much ribaldry and obscenity as his other productions. Tom Brown thought it the. pinnacle of excellence to be thought " a merry fellow," and therefore laid out his powers upon small jests or gross buffoonery, so that his per formances have little intrinsic value, and were read only while they were recommended by the novelty of the event that occasioned them. What sense or knowledge his works contain is disgraced by the garb in which it is exhibited. The Rev. Mr. Noble says, he died in great poverty. 16 MEMOIRS OF [william hi. ¦.J Thomas D'Urpey., E^q. was originally intended to have beeh-broaght up to the bar^ btit po^essing too much wit to confine himself to • that ; dfy stbdy, and too. little, to make a shining character in any other, experienced ail the varied- fortunes of men who have not great abilities, and whb trust entirely to their pens for theif support and appearance through life. Very little more is known of D'Urfey's origin and family than, that he was a native of Devonshire. His plays, which are numerous, were in their day 4cted with considerable applause, but the low wit and humour with which they abound, would not suit the taste of the present enlightened generation. He was, besides, author of many small Poems, the chief "of which are collected in his most celebrated work of " Wit and Mirth, or Pills to purge Melancholy," in 6 vols. 12mo. which have now become extremely scarce. He has been compared to Colley Cibber, but their wit^ and humour were widely different, Oibber's writings keeping their reputation to the THOMAS D'URFEY. WILLIAM III.J REMARKABLE PERSONS. 17 present day, and are as much read as ever. D'Urfey was admitted to great familiarity with King Charles the Second, and that merry monarch would often lean on his shoulder, and hum a tune with him ; he has frequently amused and entertained Queen Anne, by singing catches and glees ; yet, with all his gaiety and high acquaintance, poor Tom was always in straitened circumstances ; as a Tory he was very much caressed and beloved by his party, yet he was esteemed and respected by the Whigs. The Author of the prologue to D'Urfey's last play thus speaks of him : — " Though Tom the poet writ with ease and pleasure, " The comic Tom abounds in other treasure." Addison was well acquainted with him, and often pleaded successfully for his friend, when he became aged and in decayed circumstances ; — in one of his papers he remarks, " He has made the world merry, and I hope they will make him easy, as long as he stays among us. This," adds he, " I will take upon me to say, they cannot do a kindness to a more cheer ful, honest, good-natured man." D'Urfey died at a good old age, February ^6, 1723, and was buried in the cemetery of St. James's Church, Westminster. VOL. I. D 18 MEMOIRS OF [william iij. D'Urfey and Bello, a musician, had high words at Epsom, and swords were resorted to, but with great caution. A brother wit maliciously compared this rencounter with that mentioned in Sir Philip Sidney's Arcadia, between Clinias and Dametas. I sing of a duel in Epsom befel 'Twixt fa sol la D'Urfey and sol la mi Bell : But why do I mention the scribbling brother? For naming the one, you may guess at the other. Betwixt them there happened a terrible clutter. Bell set up the loud pipes, and D'Urfey did splutter. " Draw Bell, wert thou Dragon, I'd spoil thy soft notes :" " Thy squalling, said t'other, for I'll cut thy throat." With a scratch on the finger the duel's dispatch'd ; Thy Clinias (O Sidney) was never so match'd. WILLIAM III.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 19 Sir John Fenwick, of Fenwick Castle, in the county of Northumberland, Bart, a man of consider able abilities, but- of; a profligate and restless dispo sition, commanded a regiment in the service of William III. when Prince of Orange, in 1676. He was apprehended^ in. Kent, when on his way to France, upon suspicion of being engaged in a plot to assassinate the; king.' Oh his. being taken into cus tody, he (wrotea letter to his lady, setting forth his miatbrtune, andgiviing himself for dead, unless; power ful applications) could be made for him, or that some of ;the jury co«M be hired: to starve out the rest; and to that he ftdded, this or nothing can save my life. This letter was taken from the person to whom' he hadigi^ren it: at his first examination, before the lords- jtis,|iees, he denied every thing', till he was shewed thi$M>letter; and then he was confounded. In his private treaty with the Duke !of Devonshire, he desired an assurance of life, upon his promise to tell all he knew; but the king refused that, and would have it left to himself to judge of the truth and the D 2 20 MEMOIRS OF [william ni. importance of the discoveries he should make. So he, resolving to cast himself on the king's mercy, sent him a paper, in which, after a bare account of the consultations among the Jacobites (in which he took care to charge none of his own party,) he said, that King James, and those who were emplbyed by him, had assured them, that both the Earls of Shrewsbury and Marlborough, the Lord Godolphin, and Admiral Russell, were reconciled to him, and were now in his interests, and acting for him. This was a discovery that could signify nothing, but to give the king a jealousy of those persons ; for he did not offer the least shadow or circumstance, either of proof, or of presumption, to support this accusation. The king, not being satisfied herewith, sent an order for bringing him to a trial, unless he made other discoveries. He desired to be further examined by the lords-justices, to whom he, being upon oath, told some more parti culars, but he took care to name none of his own side, but those against whom evidence was already brought, or who were safe and beyond sea ; some few others he named, in matters of less consequence, that did not amount to high-treason ; he owned a thread of negociations that had passed between them and King James, or the court of France ; he said the Earl of WILLIAM III.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 21 Aylesbury had gone over to France, and had been admitted to a private audience with the French king, where he had proposed the sending over an army of 30,000 men ; and had undertaken that a great body of gentlemen and horses should be brought to join them; it appeared, by his discoveries, that the Jacobites in England were much divided. Some were called com pounders, and others non-compounders. The first sort desired securities from King James, for the pre servation of the religion and liberties of England ; whereas, the second sort were for trusting him upon discretion, without asking any terms, putting all in his power, and relying entirely on his honor and generosity. These seemed, indeed, to act more suitably to the great principle upon which they all insisted, that kings have their power from God, and are accountable only to him for the exercise of it. Dr. Lloyd, the deprived Bishop of Norwich, was the only eminent clergyman who joined in this; and, therefore, all that party had, upon Sancro/t's death, recommended him to King James, to have his nomina tion for Canterbury. Fenwick put all this in writing, upon assurance that he should not be forced to wit ness any part of it. When that was sent to the king, all appearing to be so trifling, and no^other proof being 22 MEMOIRS OF [william hi. offered for any part of it, except his own word, which he had stipulated should not be made use of, his majesty sent an order to bring him to his trial. But as the king was slow in sending this order, so the Duke of Devonshire, who had been in the secret management of the matter, was for some time in the country. The lords-justices delayed the matter till he came to town ; and then the king's coming was so near, that it was respited till he came over. By these delays Fenwick gained his main design, which was to practice upon the witnesses. His lady began with Porter ; he was offered, that if he would go beyond sea, he should have a good sum in hand, and an annuity secured to him for his life; he listened so far to the proposition, that he drew those who were in treaty with him, together with the lady herself, who carried the sum that he was to receive, to a meeting, where he had provided wit nesses who should over^hear all that passed, and should, upon a signal, come in and seize them with the money ; which was done, and a prosecution upon it was ordered. The fact was fully proved, and «be persons concerned in it were censured and punished : so Porter was no more to be dealt with. — Goodman was the other witness ; First, they gathered matter to WILLIAM III.J REMARKABLE PERSONS. 23 defame him, in which his wicked course of life fur nished them very copiously ; but they trusted not to this method, but betook themselves to another, in which they prevailed more effectually ; they per suaded him to go out of England ; and, by this means, when the last orders were given for Fenwick's trial, there were not two witnesses against him. So, by the course of law, he must have been acquitted ; the whole was upon this kept entire for the session of Par liament. The king sent to the House of Commons the two papers that Fenwick had sent him ; Fenwick was brought before the house ; but he refused to give any farther account of the matter contained in them, and they were rejected as false and scandalous, made only to create jealousies; and ordered a bill of attainder to be brought against him, which met with great opposition in both houses, in every step that was made. In conclusion, the bill passed by a small majority of only seven in the House of Lords: The royal assent was soon given to it, and Fenwick then made all possible applications to the king for a reprieve: and, as a main ground for that, and as an article of merit, related how he had saved the king's life, two years before ; but as this fact could not be proved, so it could confer no obligation on the king, since he had given him no warning of his danger ; 24 MEMOIRS OF [william hi. and, according to his own story, had trusted the con spirators' words very easily, when they promised to pursue their design no farther, which he had no reason to do. Fenwick, seeing no hope was left, prepared himself to die; he desired the assistance of one of the deprived bishops, which was not granted, but he was attended by Bishop Burnet. He was beheaded on Tower-hill, January 23, 1697, aged 52 ; and was buried near the altar, in the church of St. Martin's in the Fields, London, with his three sons. Sir John, though a very profligate character, and an indif ferent husband, was yet so tenderly beloved by his lady, that no stratagem was omitted by her to save him that love could invent, or duty practice. She even erected a monument, in York Cathedral, to per petuate his memory. She was Lady Mary, eldest daughter of Charles Howard, Earl of Carlisle. Hap pily their only daughter, Jane, as well as all their sons, died very young. He died very composed, and left a paper in writing, wherein he did not deny the facts that had been sworn against him, but com plained of the injustice of the procedure, and left his thanks to those who had voted against the bill. He owned his loyalty to King James, and to the Prince of Wales after him. But mentioned the design of assassinating King WiUiam in terms full of horror. lOHN.GALE las Z)uml' lack WILLIAM ivi.^ REMARKABLE PERSONS. <25 3>o1&n €fale, alias , ¦,i\''.' DUMB JACK. John Gale, otherwise Dumb Jack, noticed by the Rev. Mark Noble as an unfortunate person, appeiars rather to have been a ¦ felicitous character, enjoying life, while he lived, in a way pfeculiar to him self. Mr. Noble, who had the use of Granger's valuable papers, iiaraes him as an ideot^ and -deaf and dumb into the bargain, " so much foi; the leatned and Reverend Gentleman ;" but it does not always follow, that a deprivation of one faculty entails the party afflicted with lack of others ; on the contrary, we know the blind, in general, have a nicety in feeling greatly- beyond those blessed with sight* * I knewa gentleman, Mr. Francis Linley, bfga'riisi of 'l*en- tonvillS Chapel, Clerkenwell, from his birth blinds whose greatest amusement was to explore church-yards, and with his fingers trace out memorials of ^he dead from tomb-'Stones;, indeed, the fineness of his touch would lead him to know a book from the lettering at the back of a volume : and cpuld, without si guide, make his way throughout the bustling streets of London. ¦, VOL. I. E 26 MEMOIRS OF [william hi. John Gale had a something so remarkably uncouth in his physiognomy and manner, that he attracted general notice wherever he appeared. He lived prin cipally in the neighbourhood of Clare-market, where he picked up a maintenance among the butchers, and other tradesmen thereabouts, by helping to drive cattle and carrying heavy loads of meat, and other servile employments of that nature. Being perfectly harm less, he was rather under protection of the mob, than, as is too often the case with unhappy Objects of this description, exposed to their unfeeling scoffs and abuse. He always wore his hat in a particular direc tion ; so much on one side, as hardly to keep its place on his head, and was seldom seen without a pipe in his mouth. Tobacco and ale were his two grand animal gratifications ; and his highest mental enjoyment seemed to be that of witnessing the public execution of criminals, whom he constantly accom panied from the gaol to Tyburn, riding on the copse of the cart, and smoking his pipe with perfect decorum the whole way, unmoved at the passing scene, while Clever Tom Clinch as the rabble was bawling, Was riding up Holborn to die in his calling ; And the maids to the windows and balconies ran. And cry'd out. Alack ! he's a proper young man '. WILLIAM HI.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 27 From this circumstance Dumb Jack (his general and familiar appellation,) became universally known ; and from the many prints of him extant, it was not wished the remembrance of him should perish ; his form too existing on walking sticks, and on tobacco- stoppers, both of wood and metal, many of which still are to be found in the cabinets of the curious. Mr, Noble regrets the pen of the biographer was wanting to the fame of poor Jack, and very gravely remarks his ignorance, whether he died by violence from a ruffian, while sleeping on a bulk in the streets, or of disease in a garret, or hospital ; but, it is reasonable to conjecture, he came to his end in a similar way with other mortals, a gradual decay of nature. E 2 28 MEMOIRS OF [william iii. pl^iIip Hermon. PhilXp Hermon was one of those visionary enthusiasts amoiig the people called Quakers, that pretended to ppssess lights unknown to the rest of mankind ; and, through, holding forth this doctrine to othersi at Length brought, hinaself to imagine he was inspired;by a divine spirit, to, become a teacher and prophet, to guide and collect the stray-lambs that had M'ander^d from the fold of the rightepus. — The Qu^.- kers had been stigm^tiized during the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell, and the reign of Charles the Second, for their perverse spirit, false doctrine, and lying pro phets. In 1 653, one Hannah Trapnel, residing at an ordinary in Whitehall, set up tbe trade of inspiration, pray'mgipv the Lord Protector, and that God would keep him close, to himself, and delivet him from carnal councils. It was said she was in a trance while pray ing^ but, at the expiration of a fortnight, she recovered sufficienriy to take her journey homeward to Dunbar: and, in December, 165.1, the same woman went to St. Matvs, in Cornwall, to visit one Carew, a prisoner PHIJ.IP IlffiKMOM ()ii ;il urged by the whip to escape his powerful rein, is I '" T^srestrained and kept froffli escape solely by the check of his pull, aided by a strong rope, and this without any stay, or support; whatever. 2. Seated upon a stool, with his legs hPrizontally elevated, solely by muscular power, he jumps clearly from his seat. 38 MEMOIRS OF [william iii. 3. To prove the agility and flexibility of his joints, he places a glass of wine on the sole of his foot, and, in an erect posture, without the least bending of his head or body, raises the glass to his mouth, and drinks the contents, turning his foot with both hands, to accom modate his draught. 4. Aided by a strong leather girdle, or belt, and supporting himself by pressing his arms on a railing, he lifts from the ground a stone of the enormous weight bf 5240 lbs. 5. A rope fastened to a' wall, which had borne 3500 lbs. weight, without giving way, is broke asunder by his amazing strength. The celebrity of this man attracted the curiosity of King WiUiam III., befbre whom he exhibited at Kensington Palace ; likewise before George, Prince of Denmark, and his royal consort, the Princess, after wards Queen Ann, and their son William, Duke of Gloucester, called the hopes of England. — He also went through a regular course of performances at the Duke's Theatre, in Dorset-gardens, Salisbury-square, which was attended by the first nobility and gentry in the kingdom. The portrait of William Joy, which is presumed to be unique, is dated 1699, and printed on a whole sheet, and is noticed by Bromley in his catalogue of English Heads, but has escaped the notice of the Rev. Mark Noble, in his continuation of WILLIAM III.J REMARKABLE PERSONS. 39 Granger's Biographical History. The head is sur rounded with five vignettes, representing the manner in which he performed his various feats of strength. At all times, and in all ages, we hear and read of ex traordinary persons, celebrated for one thing or another. September 4th, 1818, was shown at Bar tholomew Fair, "The strongest woman in Europe, the celebrated French Female Hercules^ Madame Gobert, who will lift with her teeth a table five feet long and three feet wide, with several persons seated upon it ; also carry thirty-six weights, fifty-six pounds each, equal to 2016 lbs. and will disengage herself from them without any assistance ; will , carry a barrel containing 340 bottles ; also an anvil 400 lbs. weight, on which they will forge with four hammers at the same time she supports it on her stomach; she will also hft with her hair the same anvil, swing it from the ground, and suspend it in that position to the astonishment , of every beholder ; will take up a chair by the hind stave with her teeth, and throw it over her head, ten feet from her body. Her travelling caravan, (weighing two tons,) on its road from Har wich to Leominster, owing to the neglect of the driver, and badness of the road, sunk in the mud, nearly to the box of the wheels ; the two horses being 40 MEMOIRS OF [william iii. unable to extricate it she descended, and, with appa rent ease, disengaged the caravan from its situation, without any assistance whatever." Having the curiosity to see this wonderful Female, I went for the purpose of accurately observing her manner of performance, which was by laying ex tended at length on her back on three chairs, pillows were then placed over her legs, thighs, and stomach, over those two thick blankets, and then a moderately thick deal board, the thirty-six weights were then placed on the board, beginning at the bottom of the legs, and extending upwards above the knees and thighs, but none approaching towards the stomach. She held the board on each side with her hands, and when the last Weight was put on, she pushed the board upwards on one side, and tumbled the weights to the ground. On the whole, there appeared more of trick than personal strength in this feat. Her next performance was raising the anvil, (which might weigh nearly 200 lbs.,) from the ground with her hair, which is thick, black, and as strong as that in the tail of a horse; this is platted on each side, and fixed to two cords, which is attached to the anvil, then rising from a bending to an erect posture, she raises : and. swings the anvil several WILLIAM HI.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 41 times backwards and forwards through her legs. Her next feat was raising a table with her teeth, a slight rickety thing, made of deal, with a bar across the legs, which, upon her grasping it, is sustained against her thighs, and enables her more easily to swing it round several times, maintaining her hold only by her teeth. The chair she makes nothing of, but canters it over her head like a plaything. That she is a won derfully strong woman is evident, but that she can perform what is promised in her bills is a notorious untruth. She has an infant which now sucks at her breast, about eleven months old ; that lifts, with very little exertion, a quarter of a hundred weight. In the year 1794, the writer of this article saw at the Admiralty Coffee-house, Charing-cross, a man named Sheppard, a sergeant in the Coventry volun teers, commanded by Colonel Troughton ; he was then about five or six-and-twenty years of age, and was remarked by his comrades and friends for extra ordinary strength, many particulars of which were related, that aroused the curiosity of some officers of that regiment, and some gentlemen, their friends, to see the man and become witnesses of his power ; after being introduced, and requested to show a proof of strength, he desired to have a few oysters sent for, the VOL. I. G 42 MEMOIRS OF [william hi. largest which could be procured, unopened, which being produced, (and large ones they were) he took six, and devoured them shells and all, in a manner we generally see a person munch a biscuit ; a heavy mahogany qoffee-house-table, seven feet long and four wide, he fixed his teeth in, placing his arms behind him, and, by mere strength, elevated the end to touch the ceiling ; he likewise took two men, of moderate size, one in each hand, raised them from the ground, and held them at arms length ; but he acknowledged his superior strength to lay in his jaw and neck. He has been known to take a pewter pint pot, and tear it into pieces and shreds with his teeth, and what may appear extraordinary, he said he felt a visible decay of strength upon any time having his hair cut ; whether this was an affectation of imitating Samson of old or not, we cannot determine, but must entirely depend on the man's assertion ; — but all this does not come up to the feats of William Joy. Topham, Sheppard, and Madame Gobert, were but pigmies compared with the English Samson. The facetious Tom Brown, in a letter to George Moult, Esq. upon the breaking up of Bartholomew Fair, informs him, that '' a man may easily foretell, without pretending to the gift of prophecy, that the WILLIAM III.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 43 stage will be short-lived, and the strong Kentish-man will take possession of the two play-houses, as he has already done of that in Dorset-gardens." And, in a postscript to the same epistle, he adds, " The strong Kentish-man, (of whom you have heard so many stories) has, as I told you above, taken up his quarters in Dorset-gardens, and how they'll get him out again the Lord knows, for he threatens to thrash all the Poets, if they pretend to disturb him. Mr. Joseph Haines was his master of the ceremonies, and intro duced him in a prologue upon the stage ; and, indeed, who so fit to do it as this person, whose breath is as strong as the Kentish-man's back." g2 4efc MEMOIRS OF [william hi. mt.^ofitt u^mit^* ¦^.Dti'. JoJiiii Radcliffje, a man eqaally singular ih,his manJiers as he rendered! himself so.by his cures, was a native; of Wakefield, in Yorkshire, of respectable parentage, but burthened with the oh^i|;e of a numer ous family. The .neighbouring gentry observing in Radcliffe an ex^ell^'nt capacity iwhen a boy, induced them to educate him, at their own expence ; and, wiien he arrived at the age of fifteen, he was sent to University -College, Oxford, where his mother (then a widow) assisted him in obtaining a thorough know ledge of Botany, Chemistry, and Anatomy. He afterwards became a fellow of Lincoln College, and commenced physician, with a sovereign contempt for the works pf medical writers. " There," said he, "is Radcliffe?s library," pointing to a few books on a window-seat. The faculty, in revenge, called his cures "guess work," and he retorted by terming them "o/d nurses." — His abhorret^ce of the practice of WILLIAM HI.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 45 consulting the water of patients is well known;* nature was his guide, and she led him to adopt a cool regimen in the small-pox, which has saved numbers of lives, and preserved the smoothness and beauty of many faces. Several circumstances conspired to ren der his residence at Oxford unpleasant ; he, therefore, went to London, where his practice became general,. and he was equally celebrated for his wit and his pre scriptions ; the former blazed forth with native frank ness, without respect to place or persons ; he once said to King William, " I would not have your two legs for your three kingdoms :" and to Queen Anne, by a messenger who had been sent for him, that " her majesty was as well as any woman in England, if she would think so." Dr. Radcliffe was a firm friend, and his lamenta tions on the death of the Duke of Beaufort and Lord * A woman, the wife of a shoe-maker, went to the doctor with her husband's water, (who was ill,) in a urinal, for advice ; he threw the water away, withdrew, and filled it with his own, bidding her return and shew her husband that, and make him a pair of boots to fit. The poor woman said the thing was impossible, without his being measured ; and so is it to cure him, replied Radcliffe, without seeing him. 46 MEMOIRS OF [william ui. Craven do honour to his feelings ; he has, however, been accused of parsimony, and neglect of his family ; the latter charge he endeavoured to obviate, by leaving liberal annuiries to his two sisters, two nephews and a niece, and rewarding his servants ; several acts are recorded of his benevolence, and he not only forgave, but provided for a criminal who had robbed him, and exulted in restoring to his place and confidence a servant whom he suspected and had dismissed. He was once informed of a considerable loss he had sus tained by the capture of a ship, in which some of his property had been embarked, and answered the usual compliments of condolence with a smile, and put round the bottle, " my lord, I have only to go up 250 pair of stairs to make myself whole again." A nobleman of high rank, whom the doctor had attended, and who was afflicted with a quinsey in the throat, being by his friends considered in imminent danger, and Radcliffe refusing to go on the first send ing for, the servants had orders to take the carriage and bring him to the patient by force ; this the coach man literally obeyed, thrusring the doctor into the carriage, and driving him home, where, when he arrived, he ordered the coachman and footman to attend him into their master's chamber, giving orders WILLIAM HI.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 47 to the footman to make the cook get ready imme diately a dish of hot hasty-pudding, and send it up ; keeping the coachman in the room, under pretence of his assistance being necessary. The pudding ready, the doctor desired the coachman to give some to his master while hot, which the sick nobleman declining to take, the doctor made the coachman be seated with him to partake of it; neither for a time could taste it for the heat, but Radcliffe, after blowing and pretend ing to take a spoonful, very dexterously threw a hot one in the coachman's face, who, hot relishing the salutation, immediately returned the compliment in that of the doctor's, — the sight of this curious engage ment set the sick nobleman into a convulsion of laughter, which broke the quinsey, and brought the doctor to the assistance of his patient, to prevent suf focation. Dr. Radcliffe's constiturion was strong, and he had a turn for conviviality ; but when he entertained Prince Eugene, he gave him plain beef and pudding, for which "the prince returned him thanks, as having considered him "not as a courtier, but as a soldier." It is believed that he distributed large sums in private charity, to the non-juring clergy of England, and the deprived episcopal clergy of Scotiand ; and 48 MEMOIR^ OF [william hi. he is known to have been very liberal to the society for promoring Chrisrian Knowledge ; and to his friend Dr. Walker, a Roman Catholic, to whom he gave a handsome competence, and a respectable funeral after his decease ; it has been suspected that he gave his purse, with his friendship, to Dr. Sacheverel. He resided next door to Sir Godfrey Kneller, with whom, for a time, he lived on friendly terms, and who several rimes painted his portrait ; but some dispute arising, concerning a garden-door which separated their houses, Sir Godfrey threatened to have it nailed up, which coming to the knowledge of the doctor, he faceriously said. Sir Godfrey was welcome to do what he pleased with it, provided he did not paint it. Sir Godfrey's rejoinder was, he could take that or any thing else from the doctor, except physic ! He was to have married a lady with 15,000/. fortune, who endeavoured to conceal her pregnancy by a favoured lover ; far from resenting her conduct after the discovery, he pleaded to her father for for giveness, and advised him to marry her to the man of her choice, that he might give his property legally to the young Hans-en-kelder. Dr. Radcliffe died, November 1, 1714, and was buried at St. Mary's Church, Oxford, with a solem- WILLIAM HI.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 49 nity commensurate to his munificence to that Univer sity. His death is supposed to have been accelerated by the vexation he experienced at not having attended Queen Anne, during her last moments, as ordered by the privy-council. His property, (exclusive of the legacies mentioned above,) he bequeathed to the Uni versity of Oxford, where his library is a sufficient monument to bis memory ; and to St. Bartholomew's Hospital, in London. VOL. I. II 50 Memoirs of [william m. Thomas Rymer was born in Yorkshire, and had his education at the University of Cambridge, b'lit in what college is not kiioWn. On his settling in Lon don, he became a member of the society of Gray's Inn, and, in 1692, succeeded Mr. Shadwell, as his toriographer to King William IIL, a situation he was well qualified to fill, from his extensive reading, and deep research into books and manuscripts connected with English History. He was a man of great learn ing, and a lover of poetry ; but, when he set up for a critic, he brought a swarm of disappointed authors roiind him, that almost galled and stung him to death, in revenge for his unmercifully scourging the offspring of their brains. His critical writings prove he had very few requisites for the, character he had assumed, and he was indeed almost totally disqualified for it, by his want of candour. — The severities which he has exercised in his View of the Tragedies of the last Age, against the inimitable Shakespeare, are scarcely to be forgiven, and must surely be considered as a THOMAS ]iY:M:EIl. WILLIAM Hi.;j REMARKABLE PERSONS. 51 kind of sacrilege committed on the memory of our imniortal Bard. The publication brought on him a very severe satire, from the pen pf a brother author, apd equally severe criric, under the title of " A Description of the Miseries of a Garreteer Poet," in a print representing Mr. Rymer and his distressed family, in a miserable attic, with the following descrip tion of the place and furniture, " in one corner of this ppeticgl apartment stood a flock-bed, and underneath it a green Jordan presented itself to the eye, which had collected the nocturnal urine of the whole family,, consisting of Mr. Rymer, his wife, ^nd two daugh ters ; three rotten chairs and half seemed to stand like traps in various parts of the room, threatening down fall to unwary strangers ; and one spHtary table, in the middle of this aerial apartment, served to hold the different treasures of the whole family ; there was now lying upon it, the first act pf a Comedy, a pair of yel low stays, two political pamphlets, a plate of bread and butter, three dirty night-caps, and a volume of miscellaneous poems. The lady of the house was drowning a neck pf mutton in meagre soup, and their two daughters sat in the window mending their father's brown stpckings, with blue worsted ; such was the mansiop of Mr. Rymer, the poet ; and, to H 2 52 MEMOIRS OF [william iii. complete his misfortunes, instead of an expected reward for his works from a nobleman, he brought home as a present little Pompey : this so exasperated his wife, that with savage hands she seized his works on the table, and was going to commit them to the flames, but her husband's voice interrupted her, crying out, see ! see ! see ! my dear, the pot boils over, and the broth is all running into the fire ; this luckily put an end to their debate, they sat down to dinner with out a table-cloth, envying one another everj' morsel that escaped their own mouths." That Mr. Rymer's talents for dramatic poetry were extremely inferior to those of the persons whose wrirings he has with so much rigour attacked, will be apparent to every one who will take the trouble of perusing one play, which he has given to the world, entitled, Edgar, a tragedy, 4to., 1678. But although he did not rank high in fame or judg ment as a poet and a criric, yet it cannot be denied but that he was a very excellent anriquary and histo rian. Some of his pieces, relating to our constitu tion, are remarkably good ; and his well-known valu able and most useful work, entitled the Fcedera, printed in seventeen volumes, folio, will stand an everlasting monument of his worth, his indefatigable WILLIAM HI.] REMARKABLE PERSONS, 53 assiduity, and clearness of judgment as an historical compiler. He died on the 14th day of December, 1713, and was buried in the parish-church of St. Cle ment's Danes. 54 MEMOIRS OF [^^il^iaj? iit. ^fimnii»'Wmm> Tho.mas' Tryon was one among many instances " tolprpye; how niiuch personal industry, aided Jby pru- deiice, may effecf; H[e was born at Bibury, ?« Glou cestershire, of pafrents in a very huttible Situation ; his father was a plasterer and tile-malser, and, at five years of age, rendered jjiiis spn useful towatds iearninfg a part to.slippprt hittiself; by spinning and carding of wool, and assisridg hirn in his own trade bf a plasterer, which o'dcupatjp^i he quitted: to assume the office of a shepherd. At thirteen years of age he first began to learn tp read, and at fourteen, by the strictest fru gality, he . found himself master bf several sheep, one of which he gave to be taught the art of wriring ; and, .shortly afterwards, .lie spld his whole stock, of sheep for three pounds, and with that sum in his pocket made the best of his way to London, in hopes of im proving his litrie fortune : he was not long in finding a situation, and became apprentice to a hat-maker, at Bridewell Dock: he paid the greatest attention in learning his business, to which he devoted the whole THOMAS TUYO:^, WILLIAM III.J REMARKABLE PERSONS. 55 of the day, and amii'sed himself the greatest part of the night in reading ; he Was peculiarly attached to books of astrplogy and the occult Sciences, and Lilly, Partridge, BPoker, and others of the same classy were his infallible orades. In ittlitaribh of R'oger Crabb, the Uxbridge hermiti, he rejected the use of animal food, and affected to consider the lives of the dumb creation as sacred. Having heated his imagination to the highest pitch, he boasted that by his "tctope- rahce, cleanliness, and innPcency," he Was purified for celestiarenjoyntietit, and had felt himself inspired with divine illuminations. He possessed, however, suffi cient prudence to take care of that which the gene rality of the woi^d call "the main chance." He entered ahd pursued business With such attention and success, that he accumulated a considerable fortune. His amusements and fancies were innocent, and hurt none ; and, like some other humourists, 'naarked the progress of the spirit in a journal, in which he care fully recorded the mighty- working wonders of his pro lific brain, and at forty-eight commenced author upon other subjects, not less extraordinary than the pre ceding. Tryon. was of a sensible, enthusiastic mind, acring enrirely from his own resolves ; not submitting to the 56 MEMOIRS OF [william hi. guidance or advice of any one ; had society or friend ship directed him, or assisted his experience and appli cation, he might have produced something worthy remark, and we might have admired, and been improved, instead of wondering and smiling at his singular mode of burying birds, or laughing at his abomination of woollen cloth, and his permission fpr our wearing linen. He died August 21, 1703, at the age of 69, when perhaps he had thoughts of remaining a series of ages in this worid, through: his tenderness to beasts, birds, fishes, insects, and reptiles. ^itJru^'^^^ies^of^ainesWkllny.tJte^olQnoti/^ WILLIAM HI.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 57 '^aimi6i Wifjitntst* In general,, the. biographers of rogues and vaga bonds give their heroes a tijle to wit and ingenuity very, far beyond the abilities of the : scoundrels they record ; to this^t in a; great Sieasure,: isjPwing the dif ficulty of finding out, and appreciating as they merit, genuine aneedotesipf, -the characters delineated. If any man becomes distinguished by crime, a hun dred stories are immediately put in circulation, attrir butirigmatter^ to his inven tioBj to which he was not pnly incompetent, but /-absQluptely a stranger to the very circumstaiifiesirelated. One of this description appears to have been James Whitney, who, in addition to his dWB depredations, has the credit of many he never probably committed* He was born at SteVenage in Hertfordshire,, and, Mfhen fit.ifor servitude, was apprenticed tEsop was determined not to remain neuter, and, inspired by the classic- air bf Eton, he started in the treble pursuits of pblitics, poetry, and cobbhng, and employed his pen and awl alternately^ to patch the state and old shoes and boots. The latter prCfeSsion, however, succeeded with him best; as his cobbling jobs enabled hini to keep St, Cris- pinV- weekly holiday regularly throughout the year, ¦ and the copious draughts of Sir John Barleycorn's delightful beverage enabled him' to exercise his muse VOL. I. L 74 MEMOIRS OF [anne. in many a drunken rhyme, though it does not appear that either his poetic or prosaic productions were ever deemed worthy to be preserved in print. Mr. Granger observes of his rhymes, that he knew no better way to characterize them, than " by the three blue beans in a blue bladder." The memory of Msop of Eton, and his works, have long ceased to interest any one. At the period in which JEsop of Eton flourished, there were several other pretenders to the appellation of the Phrygian sage, and the name became so de graded as to be marked only with contempt. Tom Brown informs us, in one of his witty letters, that, " because ^Esop from Tunbridge had the good fortune to please, an hundred other iEsops, from Epsom, Islington, and other parts of the kingdom, were im mediately trumped up, till the very name of JEsop at last grew scandalous." Tom Brown's Works, Vol. I, p. 24 1 . rA:^IE S BICK, ' Tlip Mimic Trumpeter. I ANjJE.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 75 ^ame$ ISick, THE MIMIC TRUMPETER. James Bick picked up a'tolerable living by fre quenting public-houses, ahd amusing the company in various tricks of Ventriloquism. He is said to have been related to John Shore Bick, Esq. serjeant*- trumpeter, but there- is no reason to suppose there was any other affinity in thefee people, than in the name. "^^ James Bick particularly excelled in imi tating the trumpet, and he has beeur known toaccom- pany-a band, -wliere that instrument was wanting, in a manner so perfectly correct, that the finest ear COU Id "i not fed the: deficiency of the real from the counterfeit dieception. ¦ He lived and : flourished about the tatter end of ^ Queen Anne's ifeign, and w-as sucdeeded in his rflitnic art by one Clinch, of Barnet, who regulariy performed at Hicks's-hall Coffee-house, St. John's-street, Clerkenwell, of au evening, and collected very considerable sums from his admiring auditors. Bick's reputation, as a sham-trumpeter, was too L 2 76 MEMOIRS OF [anne. well established for Clinch to attack that instrument, and he wisely judged it best to stick to the horn, which, by incessant practice, he brought himself to excel in ; he greatly distinguished himself in mimic- ing the huntsman, pack of hounds, sham doctor, old woman, drunken man ; and the bells, the flute, double courtel, and the organ, with three voices. AH instruments were imitated by his natural voice, and he sung an Essex song, after a manner which none but himself could perform, as we are informed by the " Daily Post" of April 24, 1722. The time of Bick's death is not known, but Clinch died in December, 1734, when he had attained the age of seventy years. We have of late years witnessed the surprising powers of Ventriloquism. Askins, a man with a wooden-leg, performed for a season or two at Sadler's Wells, at a considerable weekly salary; and George Romondo, a narive of Lisbon, about the year 1805, exhibited his tricks of Ventriloquism in almost every public-house throughout the metro polis. Mathews, the Comedian, has lately set up in this way, and his single exertions filled the theatre of the English Opera-house for a whole season, while the theatres of Drury-Lane and Covent-garden were playing to empty benches. ^'M.a^x^f^cA>i THOMAS BlilTTOK. ANNE.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 77 Zt^omn^ ii^ritton. ' I". ., -fl Thomas Britton was born about the middle of the seventeenth century, at, or near Higham-Ferrers, r ¦ I in Northamptonshire. He .served an apprenticeship to a small-coal man, in London, and set up in the same trade in Clerkenwell. He made it his business to go about the streets, with his sack on his back, crying '' Small-coal." His daily rounds through the town made him acquainted with a variety of book stalls, from which he collected a tolerable library of books, which he bccasionally sold at a good profit to the nobility and gentry. About the commencement of the last century, a passion prevailed among several persons of distinction, for collecring old books and MSS., and it was their Saturday's amusement, during winter, to. ramble through various quarters of the town in pursuit of these literary treasures. The Earls of Oxford, Pembroke, Sunderland, and Win- chelsea, and the Duke of Devonshire were of this party; and Mr. Bagford, and other collectors, assisted them in their researches. Britton appears to have fS MEMOIRS OF [anne. been employed by them ; and, as he was a very modest, decent, and unassuming man, he was a sharer in their conversation when they met, after their morning's walk, at a bookseller's shop in Ave- maria-lane. Britton used to pitch his coal-sack on a bulk at the door, and, drest in his blue-frock, step in, and spend an hour with the company. But it was not only by a few bookish lords that his ac quaintance was cultivated ; his humble roof was fre quented by assemblies of the fair and the gay, and this small-coal man has the singular honour of having set the first example, in this country, of that elegant and rational amusement, a music;u concert. His attachment to music caused him to be known to many amateurs and performers, who formed themselves into a club at his house, where capital pieces were played by some of the first professional persons. Dr. Pepusch, and even Handel, here displayed their powers on the harpsichord, and Dubourg played his first solo on the violin. Britten's house was an old mean buildi- ing, of which the ground-floor was a repository for coals ; over this was the concert-room, long, low, and narrow, and ascended to by a pair of stairs from the outside, scarcely to be mounted without crawling ; yet some of the finest ladies of the land were seen ANNE.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 79 to trip up them without airs or hesitation. This music-meeting commenced iu 1678, and it is affirmed that it was at first absolutely gratuitous, but, in process of time, probably after Britton had taken a more convenient room in the next house, a sub scription was paid of ten shillings a-year each ; for which, however, he provided musical instruments. He had also a very good collection of ancient and modern music, bv the best authors. The singularity of Britten's mode of life, and the contrast between his station and his connections, caused a variety of opinions to prevail concerning him and his meetings. He was taken for an atheist, a Jesuit, a sectary, and a conjuror i and his concerts were thought to be meetings for seditious or magical purposes. He was, however, a plain honest man, of an open, ingenuous countenance, and cheerful temper, and a sincere votary of the arts and studies in which he engaged. His taste for chemistry he imbibed from his neighbour, Dr. Garencieres; and his ingenuity enabled him to contrive a moving labo ratory, built by himself, at a small expence, with which he performed many curious experiments; of the nature of these we are not informed, but as many 80 MEMOIRS OF [anne. of the books he had picked up related to the Rosycru- cian philosophy, it is not improbable that he might waste some of his small-coal in search after the grand secret. He appears rather to have been a general virtuoso than a real proficient in any one branch, yet he played upon the viol de gamba at his own concerts; and the noted antiquary, Thomas Hearne, has at tested his real skill in rare books and old manuscripts. He sold a large collection of these some years before his death, the printed catalogue of which Hearne says he has often looked over with wonder; and another collection of books and music, which was the chief property he left behind him, was sold by his widow. The circumstances of his death were as extraordi nary as those of his life, if the story is to be credited. A Ventriloquist was introduced into his company by an acquaintance, who was fond of mischievous jests ; this man, in a voice apparently coming from a distance, announced to poor Britton his approach ing end, and bid him prepare for it, by repeating the Lord's Prayer, on his knees. Britton, whose mystical and magical books had probably made anne.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. SI him credulous, obeyed the injunction, went home, took to his bed, and actually died in a few days. This was in September, 1714. He was buried, with a very respectful attendance, in Clerkenwell church yard. VOL. I. M 82 MEMOIRS OF [anne. Banul ^mQt^&* Daniel Burgess, a pulpit buffoon, and inaitator of Hugh Peters, amused his congregations more by the levity of his manners, and coarseness of his jfikes, than benefited them either by precept or example. He was the son of a. clergyman, at Gollingburn-Ducis, Wilts, where he was .born, in 16*5. ": Mr. BjLjrgess went to Iri^land,. under th^eprptection of Lord Qjrery, the Lprd-president of Mtijister, where he, taught a schpol; at Cliarieyil ; but, r.etprning;to Ehglandiat the Restoration, he became a Nojirqonfprmist, thp^gll npt a Puritan; fPr he was, as facetious,, as his-' merry monarch, and his jokes were suited to the nature of his company, and the age he lived in, , The t#es and jests of Hugh Peters have been collected,,; ang 'pub lished in a small volume, but the quips, cmi^, jests, and puns of Daniel Burgess would form a small Encyclopaedia of wit and mirth. PreE|c|i>n.g of Job's 'robe of righteousness,'. Ijjf,'^^aid he, ¦^' any, of you would have a suit for a twelvemonth, let him repair to Monmouth-street ; if for his life-rime, let him ... /J 7 VS I i).AW.TK \i IIITM OE S S ANNE.J REMARKABLE PERSONS. 83 apply to the Court of Chancery ; and if for all eter nity, let him put on righteousness." Observing but a small congregation one day at his sermon, he sud denly called out, " Fire ! Fire ! Fire !" The affrighted audience exclaimed, "Where? Where? Where?" — " In hell, to burn such wretches as regard not the glad tidings of the gospel." Some modern preachers have not disdained to copy the style and manner of Daniel's address from the pulpit. The Rev. Mr. Whitfield, previous to one of his sermons, loudly vociferated, "I espy a whore! I'll throw my bible at her ?" at which every female in the chapel stooping their heads, to avoid the menaced threat, fearing in his wrath he might mistake the right aim ; '* Aye," exclaimed he, ," I see a guilty con science needs no accuser." The Rev. Rowland Hill, likewise, would some times condescend to a little facetiousness ; — while building his chapel in the Blackfriar's-road, he ob served considerable progress making towards erecting the first Surry Theatre, which he noticed in an address to his followers in the. following words :—" You have a race to run now, between G— — and the devil ; the children of the last are making all possible haste in building him a temple, where he may receive the m 2 84 MEMOIRS OF [anne. donation and devotions of the children of vanity ! now exert yourselves in the cause of righteousness, and never let it be said but what God can outrun the devil." Burgess assigned a curious motive for the Hebrews being called Israelites, " the reason is, because God ever hated Jacobites ; and, therefore, Jacob's sons were not so called, but Israelites." — Burgess, in his doctrine as well as politics, was in direct opposition to the popular fire-brand, Dr. Sacheverel ; this was so well known, that when the high and low church party were at the summit of their intemperate zeal, Sach- everel's mob, infuriated by the hangman's burning the sermons of their idol, in revenge set fire to the meet- ing-hpuses of their opponents, the Whigs, in which conflagration, that of Daniel Burgess, as one of the most conspicuous, became first illuminated, at the expence of the pulpit and pews. His vein of mirth did not forsake him to the last, nor was his waggery and jokes confined to the meeting-house, but enlivened the company in which he joined, both at home and abroad. Burgess once dining with a gentleman of his con gregation, a large Cheshire-cheese, uncut, was brought to table, " Where shall I cut it ?" asked Daniel ; anne.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 85 " Any where you please, Mr. Burgess," answered the gentleman. Upon which Daniel handed it to the ser vant, desiring him to carry it to his house, and he would cut it at home. He published many works, a catalogue of which is added to his funeral sermon, from his " Golden Snuf fers," to his " Larin Defence of Non-conformity." There were several Puritan preachers of the name of Burgess, who are mentioned by Dr. Calamy. Daniel Burgess died towards the end of January, and was buried the 31st of that month, 1723. 86 MEMOIRS OF [anne. S^oj^n Wtmi$* John ©ENNis, well-known under the Appellation of Denniis ih6 Critic, was the son of a s&dler, and citizen of London, Where he' was born in 1657. He received, a literary education, first at Hari-ow-school, and afterwards at 'Caius College, Cambridge. He remained seven years at the University, and quitting it, with the degree of M. A., made the tour of France and, Italy,' which he was enabled to accomplish by the liberahty of his father and a rich uncle, the latter of whpm leaving him a small 'fortune,';;shortly after his retiirnl, it enabled; him to form an 'acquaintance with the most distinguished poets and men of letters of the time, by. whom he was regarded as a person of know ledge and talents. He followed . nbfparticular pro fession, but devoted himself to a literary life. He endeavoured to make, himself known as a pbet, critic, and dramatic writer, and exerted himself with con siderable assiduity, though with but little success ; his poetry was turgid, heavy, and obscure. ANNE.J REMARKABLE PERSONS. 87 For the stage, he wrote both comedy and tragedy, and appears to have had some knowledge of the me chanism of the drama ; but his performances were, in general, valued by the public at a much lower rate than he himself put upon them. His tragedy, entitled '* Liberty Asserted," which became popular, on ac count of the virulent abuse of the French nation, (with which it abounded,) was of such political con sequence in his own eyes, that he imagined Lewis XIV. would make a point, at the peace, of having him; delivered up to his resentment. Under this appre hension, he actually applied to the Duke of Marl borough for his good offices, when the treaty of Utrecht was in agitation. The Duke gravely remark ed, "that he himself had made no application for security in the articles of peace, and yet he could net but think he had done the French king almost as much harm as Mr. Dennis had done." Another time, being upon a visit to a friend, who lived on the coast of Sussex, he saw a ship making towards land, when, taking it into his head that this was a French vessel come to seize him, he exclaimed, that he was betrayed, and made the best of his way to London, without taking leave of his host. When his " Appius and Virginia" was performed,. 88 MEMOIRS OF [anne. Dennis, to augment the terror of the scene, invented a new species of thunder, more sonorous and alarming than that before in use, and which, indeed, was so well approved as to be employed to the present day. His tragedy soon disappeared from the stage; but Dennis soon after heard his own thunder at the per formance of Macbeth. " S'death," cried he, "how these rascals use me ! they will not let my play run, yet they steal my thunder." His last tragedy, enritied " Coriolanus, or the Fatal Resentment," altered from Shakespeare, caused him entirely to break with the managers. After three representations to poor houses, another play was given out for the next night. Dennis was equally surprised and enraged. He published his tragedy, with a dedicarion to the Duke of Newcastle, in which he states his case, charging the " three insolent actors," who were managers, * with a conspiracy against him, and against genius in general^ and assum ing the most ludicrous self-consequence. Dennis was a sour, morose, and ill-natured man ; his irritable temper often involved him in personal * Booth, Wilks, and Cibber. ANNE.J REMARKABLE PERSONS. 89 disputes with men greatly his superiors, among whom were Addison and Pope; and, though his attacks upon them were not witiiout some foundation of reason and plain sense, yet they shewed great insen- sibiHty to poetical beauty, and much coarseness of animosity. His jealousy, of a successful rival provoked him, notwithstanding his Whiggism, to publish some very severe strictures on Addison's Cato, but they did not deprive Cato of a single admirer, notwith standing they might prove that it was not a perfect piece. Still less could his homespun criticism injure such an exquisite fancy-piece as the Rape of the Lock ; yet Pope, as irritable as himself, thought proper to give him a niche in the Dunciad ; and further persecuted him with a very laughable " Narrative of the Deplorable Phrensy of Mr. John Dennis." It is probable that the acrimony of the critic's temper was heightened by the narrowness of his circum stances. The private fortune he possessed seems soon to have been spent. Through the favor of the Duke of Marlborough, he obtained the place of a land-waiter, at the Custom house, which his extravagance obliged him in a few years to seU, with the reservation of an annuity for vol. I. N 90 MEMOIRS OF [anne. a certain term ; this he outiived, so that he was totally unprovided for the necessities of old age. He was obliged to secure his person, by residence within the verge of the court, and his quiet was continually disturbed by the fear of bailiffs.* When he was far advanced in years, and afflicted with loss of sight, a play was acted at the Hay-market for his benefit, to which his old antagonist. Pope, wrote a prologue. This act of generosity would have been more to the poet's credit, had he not written his prologue in a style of ironical ridicule upon the old critic. Thomson, who took the most active part in the charity, was complimented in Dennis's name, with some elegant lines, said to be written by Savage. The veteran did not long survive this kindness, dying in his seventy-seventh year, 1734. * Straying a little beyond the rules of the court once, on the evening of a Saturday, he saw a person, with an ill-favored coun tenance, near him ; with dismay and trembling he waited till the clock had struck twelve, when he exclaimed, " I value you not now, whether bailiff or not." The gentleman, who had caused his alarm, understanding for what he had been mistaken, was with diflSculty restrained, by the age of Dennis, from giving liim corporal chastisement. fBorn 16 06.) ANNE.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 91 .,;:; u-'.- ' Hetirs ISSjaniS* The confused jumble of dates which: ;Mr..Neble has set down concerning this person, \ would lead one to imagine he never saw the inscription to the portrait; which is, "; Henry Evans, ! born at Haber- dam. County of Caernarvon, vEt. 104, 1710." The reverend author; remarks, several persons of the above name have lived to great' ages: — Jonathan Evans> resident near Welch Pool, in the County of Mont- gpiriery, lived: to be: 117 years of age; and left a spn aged ninety-one, and a daughter, eighty-seven. JWe cannot much wonder at the hardy sons bf Wales ;' Hying more; than a century, upon their; mountains ; but Mr; Henry Evans, transplanted from Cambria^ certainly .resided in Spital-street,'i Spital-fields, London j yet : reached the stiU greater age. of : 129, and. retained aU his faculties to the last. He was seven years old when Charles I. was beheaded by the regicides ; and this circumstance ascertains his birth to have been in 1642, and. his. death to have occurred in 1771. N 2 92 MEMOIRS OF [anne. But if Evans was one hundred and four years of age in 1710, he must have been forty-two years of age at the time of Charles's death ; and if born, as the inscription implies, in 1606, and deceasing in 1771j according to Mr. Noble's account, he must have lived to the great age of 165, an age little short of Henry Jenkins, I am inclined to think, the resident in Spital- street, Spitalfields, and the native of Caernarvon, were different persons. Parish certificates are some times made use of for deceptive purposes, as was the case in the year 1790 ; when Donald Mac Leod, a Scotch soldier, travelled from Edinburgh to London, on foot, for the purpose of applying to Chelsea Hospital for admission, or a pension for past services ; he vs^as accompanied by a female, of a middle age, who passed for his wife, and they sup ported themselves on the road, by a certificate be had obtained in Scotland, representing him then as in the one hundred and second year of his age ; in person he was athletic and healthy, and was, in truth, upwards of seventy, but had taken his father's certificate, (who had been a serjeant in an Highland regiment) instead of his own. The circumstance of his ap parent great age and strength gained many friends. anne.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 93 and two different portraits were engraved and pub lished for his benefit, together with his memoirs ; — but, upon a strict enquiry, the cheat was discovered, the consequent disappointment and vexation of which brought the old man to the grave, in the year 1792. 94 MEMOIRS OF [anne. ^ntit^itt :ff'Utcfftt. Andrew Fletcher, who was a thorough-paced republican, has been variously represented by dif ferent writers, but all agree in one particular, that is, to the violence and turbulent disposition of his manners. He was son of Sir Robert Fletcher, of Saltoun, in Scotland, and born in 1653. His father, who died while he was a child, directed he should be placed under the tuition of Dr. Gilbert Burnet, then rector of Saltoun, frohi whom he imbibed his free principles in government. He spent some years of his youth in foreign travel, and first ap peared as a public character in the station of a com missioner for East Lothian, in the Scotch parliament, when the Duke of York was lord-commissioner. He distinguished himself in such a manner, by his opposition to the measures of the court, that he thought it adviseable to withdraw to Holland ; and, upon his non-appearance to a summons from the lords of the council, he was outlawed, , and his estate confiscated. In 1683 he came over to England, to >*^ ¦i .¦; ¦jfi^'v^X "=-?r= -l^.m.cJjJmoA^ (Of Saltan..) ANNE.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 95 consult with some of his republican friends, but pru- , dently returned to the Continent. In 1685, he engaged in the enterprise of the Duke of Monmouth to dethrone James XL, but was greatly disgusted at the act of Monmouth's adherents pro claiming him king ; an unfortunate circumstance occasioned his quitting that party almost as soon as he had joined them. Fletcher having taken the horse of a country gentleman, engaged in the same cause, on some remonstrance by the owner, drew out a pistol, and shot the man dead. This action excited such resentment against him, among the friends and countrymen of the deceased, that it became neces sary for the duke to dismiss him from the armyj and he made his escape from justice, by getting on board a vessel which conveyed him to Spain, and, fortunately for him, saved him from suffering the fate that attended the unfortunate Monmouth and his deluded followers. He is said to have undergone many hazards in Spain ; but, at length, he made his way into Hungary, where he engaged in the war against the Turks. — But his restless disposition suffering him to rest no where long, brought him back to join in the confe rences which were held among the Scottish refugees 96 MEMOIRS OF [anne. in Holland, for the purpose of effecting a revolution ; and, when that event took place, he returned to Scotland, and resumed the possession of his estate, and held it by his own law, without asking leave of king or parliament. Jealousy of kings, indeed, seems to have been wrought into his very nature, and he thought it was scarcely possible to provide too many securities against their love of absolute sway. In his own disposition he was arbitrary and tyran nical, and in one of his discourses on the affairs of Scotland, he proposes a provision for the poor, by domestic slavery. Mackay, in his Memoirs, drew the following character of him while living : — " He is a gentleman, steady in his principles, of nice honor, with abun dance of learning ; brave as the sword he wears, and bold as a lion ; a sure friend, but an irreconcileable enemy; would lose his life readily to serve his country, and would not do a base thing to save it. His thoughts are large as to religion, and could never be brought within the bounds of any particular sect ; nor will he be under the distinction of Whig or Tory, saying, " these names are only used to cloak the knavery of both parties." It is, however, evi dent that Fletcher was not so brave as Mackay ANNE.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 97 supposed ; ,nor was he accurate, when he said, that " he would lose his life readily to serve his cotintry, but would not do a base thing to save it.'' He exiled himself from Scotland, when he should have stayed ; and fled to a ship, after he had committed a murder. If his most particular friend, however high in rank, accepted an office under government, from that moment he was his enemy ; apologies only added to his violence and obloquy. He talked and wrote against all bodies of men. Had the law taken its proper course, he must have died as a malefactor, for his unprovoked enormity at Taunton. One of his servants wishing his dismissal, he asked, " Why do you leave me?" — " Because I cannot bear your temper.'' — " I am passionate, but my passion is no sooner on than it is off!'' — " But then. Sir, it is no sooner off than it is on." Bishop Burnet, in noticing Andrew Fletcher, gives him the following character: — " A gentleman of a fair estate in Scotland, attended with the improve ment of a good education, he has written some ex cellent tracts, but not published in his name ; and has a very fine genius; is a low, thin man, brown complexion, full of fire, with a stern, sour look, and VOL. I. o 98 MEMOIRS OF [annb. fifty years old." Dean Swift calls him, " A most arrogant, conceited pedant in politics ; cannot endure the least contradiction in any of his visions or para doxes." Andrew Fletcher died at London, in 1716. ANNE.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 99 Munitl Mttot* Daniel Defoe, the son of a butcher, was bprn at London, about -the year 1663; the father's name was James Foe, and. why the son prefixed the De to the surname does not appear.* Daniel received his eduieatipn at N^wington-green, and early displayed his attachment, tp the cause of libeity and Protestantism^ by joining the ill-advised insuirection under the Duke of Monmouth, in the west; and he had the good fortune to escape, and * In a pamphlet, intituled " The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures, of Mr. D de F , of London, hosier, who has lived above fifty years by himself, in the kingdoms of tforlh and South Britain. The various shapes he has iippeared in, and the Discoveries he has made for the Benesfit of his Country." The author makes De Foe to s^y, he always hated the English, and took a pleasure in depreciating and vilifying of them, wit ness his True-bom Englishman ; and that he changed his name merely to ^ake it sound like French. The subject of the tract is a dialogue between De Foe, Robinson Crusoe, and his Man Friday. London, 1719. o 2 100 MEMOIRS OF [anne. return unnoticed to London. He eariy imbibed a taste for literature, and wrote a political pamphlet before his twenty-first year. With the business of a writer, he joined that of a trader, and was first en gaged as a hose-factor, aud afterwards as a maker of bricks and pantiles, near Tilbury-fort ; but his com mercial schemes proved unsuccessful, and he became insolvent. It is to his credit that, after having been released from his debts by a composition, he paid most of them in full, when his circumstances were amended. The first of his writings which excited the .public attention was " The True-born English man." Its purpose was to furnish a reply to those who were continually abusing King William and some of his friends as foreigners, by shewing that the present race of Englishmen was a mixed and heterogenous breed, scarcely any of which could lay claim to native purity of blood. His " Shortest Way with the Dissenters, or Proposals for the Establish ment of the Church ;" became a subject of complaint in the House of Commons, and was voted a sedi tious libel, and burnt by the common hangman, and a prosecution was ordered against the publishers. Defoe at first secreted himself, but upon the appre hension of his printer and bookseller, he came anne.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 101 forward, in order to secure them, and stood his trial ; was convicted, and sentenced to fine, imprison ment, and the pillory. He underwent the infamous punishment with the greatest forritude, and so far from being ashamed of his fate, that he wrote " A Hymn to the Pillory." Pope, who thought fit to introduce him in his Dunciad, characterises him in the following line : — Earless on high stood unabash'd Defoe. By this it should seem the barbarous custom of cutting off the ears of libellers was still practiced. It was generally thought he was treated with un reasonable, and unmerited severity, and, at last, ob tained his liberation from Newgate by the interpo sition of Harley, afterwards Earl of Oxford; and the Queen herself compassionating his case, sent money to his wife and family. He continued, after he had regained his liberty, to write upon political subjects, and in 1706 he pubhshed, by subscription, his largest piece in verse, which was " Jure Divino," a satire, in twelve books. It was intended to expose the doctrine of the divine right of kings, and to decry tyrannical government. He seems, at this time, to have enjoyed the favor of Queen Anne, by 102 MEMOIRS OF [anne. whom he was employed, according to his own asser tion, in certain honourable, though secret, services ; and, when the union with Scotland was projected, he was sent by the ministers into that country, for the purpose of rendering the measure popular. His knowledge of commerce and revenue caused him to be frequently consulted by the committees of parliament there, and he endeavoured to conciliate the good-will of the nation by a poem, entitled " Caledonia," highly comphmentary to its inhabit ants. After the union was completed, he wrote the history of it, in a folio volume, 1709; and, in the same year, he published *' The History of Ad dresses." At this time he was living in tranquillity and comfort at Stoke Newington. The most celebrated of aU his works, " The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe,'' appeared in 1719, and no work in any language has been more popular. Its editions have been numberless, and has been translated into almost afl modern languages, and continues to be a standard library book. Defoe's success in this performance, induced him to write a number of other lives and adventures, which are now published collectively with his other works. Defoe died at London, in April, 1731. BLI]^I> GHAIS^JSTY. ANNE.J REMARKABLE PERSONS. 103 iSItnti (!Brrantts. This miserable, wretched, drunken object, who was blind of one eye, used to annpy the passengers in the streets of London, while sober, with licking her blind eye with her tongue, which was of a most enormous length, and thickness; indeed, it was of such a prodigious size, that her mouth could not contain it, and she cPuld never clbse her lips, or, to use a common expression, keep her tongue within her teeth. This wonderful feat of washing her eye with her tongue, was exhibited with a view of obtaining money fi:om such as crowded around her ; and, no sooner had she obtained sufficient means, but she hastened to the first convenient liquor-shop, to indulge her propensity in copious libations ; and when properly inspired, would rush into the streets, with all the gestures of a frantic maniac, and roll and dance about,, until she became a little sobered, which was sometimes accelerated by the salutary apphcation of a pail of water, gratuitously bestowed upon her, by persons whose door-way she had taken possession 104 MEMOIRS OF [anne. of, as shelter from the persecuting tormen tings of boys and girls who generally followed her. UPON LADY GRANNY, IN HER SUPPOSED GRANDURE. " That Fools have fortune we may now aver. Since Granny laughs at them y* laught at her; So fame reports, then let no n3^ph despair. Since so deform'd a wretch so well can fare ; Let none suppose her Dancing days are fled. Who see how finely Grannt's brought to bed : Have patience. Lasses, 'till the hour approach, And then, like Grannt, you may keep your Coach." * UPON GRANNY IN HER NATIVE POVERTY. " The scene is alter'd — Granny's glory. Coach and Fortune's all a story ; Yet, tho' her honor's now neglected. She's merry still, no whit dejected ; Which shows that wit may be a trouble. And only make misfortune double. While Granny always blith and jolly. Enjoys the pleasure of her folly." It should seem, from the above lines, this woman had been used, in early days, to scenes of gaiety and splendour, but if she really had ever kept her coach. ANNE.] REMARKABLE* PERSONS. lOS it certainly must have been supported by other means than the attraction of her personal charms. — Whatever she might have been in the prime of her youth, not the least vestige of former beauty is to be discovered in the resemblances of her, when ad vanced in years. There are three prints of old Grannvj one • in 4ta. , mezzotirito, and two whole- length engravings,' the best of .which is that with the first eight lines of verses,' engraved in the back ground of the printi and from which the second is a copy. VOL. I. 106 MEMOIRS OF [anne. ^t^n ItatHmam John Hardman was a professed operator and doctor for corns and bunnions, and, from his badge of the king's arms, it may reasonably be conjectured William the Third's- toes, at one time or other, might be indebted for relief to Hardnrian's skill ; the appearance of this man, from his portrait, bespeaks him to have been a foreigner, (probably a Dutchman,) with whom London, during the reign of William, swarmed ; his flowing locks of hair, and formal curled whiskers,' ear-rings, and curiously-cut coat and waistcoat, were entirely foreign, and gives him very much the appearance of what he most likely was, a mountebank. He found it his interest to parade the streets in this strange attire, to attract the notice, and engage the custom, of people afflicted with what he undertook to cure ;t— however he was authorised, he took the liberty to wear the king's arms, by way of a clasp to fasten his waistcoat, and, as if that was not sufficient to distinguish him, wore the same, hanging by a chain, adorning his JOHK HARB^IAlSr, (Corn Cutter.) ANNE.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 107 side, similar to an order of knighthood. The doctors of medicine, apothecaries, &c. his contemporaries, were distinguished by large wigs and gold-headed canes, which peculiarly marked their profession even to the early part of the reign of George the Third ; and, it would have appeared equally singular in a counsel to plead in court without the appendages of wig and band, as to see a medical man enter a sick room divested of his wig and cane. A high- sounding title has of late years been found produc tive in most professions ; thus, the trade of a farrier is lost in that of a veterinary surgeon, a barber and tooth-drawer in that of a dentist, and a corn-cutter in that of a chiropedist. One of the latter calling, a Mr. Corderoy, scarcely measuring three feet ten inches in height, is everlastingly on his feet, peram bulating the streets and squares at the west end of the town, attentive to the charge and care of the most fashionable disordered and distorted toes and feet in the . kingdom, though it is well known his practice is so extensive, it would enable him, were he so inclined, to set up a splendid equipage ; pru dential reasons are assigned as the cause of this operator's forbearance, having a family often children to provide for. It is really amusing to see the p g 108 MEMOIRS OF [annb. double use the httle gentleman. puts his umbrella to; from the diminutiveaess of his stature, it effectually screens him from the pelting, rain, and the adroitness which practice has brought his hand tb, in making use of it in raising the knockers and bells, (otherwise out of his reach) is truly amazing. Ferdinando Lord Fairfax, the father of the pariia- mentary general, died of a mortification in his foot, in consequence of the unskilfulness of an operator cutting his great toe-nail. Corn-cutters, or chiropcedists, con fine .themselves at presentiin their operations to their own houses, or the private chambers of their patients, without proclaiming their calling to the multitude in the open streets, and the only gentry that peram bulate with symbolic ^badges, watching for customers, are the modern rat-catchers ; who, . like Hardman, appear appareled in all the pomp and pageantry!: of their vocation ; but it is very probable they shortly will adopt a more lofty style and title,' and some latinised term, to elevate them in dignity. '.L-li H.A'KliY, (with 3iis Kviree Sli.ow. ) ANNE.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. aW THE RAREsE-SHOW-MAN. Old Harry had a facetious manner in describing the; contents of his Raree-show, that never failed drawing around him ,cro.wds .of auditors; his learned and .ielaborate elucidation on every subject^-, and artiiclfey vcbntainedi in the r thd rouble he to4k iot ifureisb'. them, with, a.ispecies ibfiien^ertaidr mei}ti;>;of .ail! integesti^nnaiture, at a .very mt^derate char^eidniitheuripiQcteis. ; But Poor.. Hdrhfm^9 not jyithbiSif ariyairintthy'artr Jemmy MRse/HeilAfetlovf of greatrii^enuity, .'had Furnished; himsetf-iWiith a sAintolKixfca; siilailar descriptSmi rw3>th..^ar«^%>^d4i'ith the boldness and intrepidity of a iieSotmeifii toadeii]^ progress!, through town ; knd countryi feying' efeery neighhpurhood under heavy contrilaotibns,".!* return 110 MEMOIRS OF [anne. for the compliment of his occasional visits; while Old Harry, with a modesty quite his own, was content with the patronage and support he experi enced in his own immediate vicinity of Moorfields, seldom straying beyond the boundaries of Hoxton and Islington, and very rarely was known to travel westward beyond Temble-bar. Sutton NichoUs, an engraver and printseller, re siding in Aldersgate-street, has preserved two repre sentations of Harry, with his raree-show; the first a small half-sheet ; the other, in the same print with Ellis the Ideot, sitting on the rails of Moorfields. Pierce Tempest, in his Cries of London, from drawings by Marcellus Laroon, has given the character of Old Harry, with his show on his back, perambulating the streets, bawling aloud for an audience to his show. Jemmy la Roche likewise was deemed of sufficient consequence to have his likeness handed down to pos terity, which has been preserved by Sutton NichoUs, in a print similar" to that of Old Harry ; and Smith, the Mezzotinto Scraper, has done a very fine print of La Roche. These rival candidates for popularity flourished about the year 1710. Under the portrait of old Harry with his show, are the following Unes : — ANN e.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 1 1 1 " Reader, behold the Efigie of one Wrinkled by Age ; Decrepit and Forlorne, Then what's Inscrib'd beneath his picture trace, That shows the Man, the Picture but his Face, His tinkling bell doth you together call. To see his rary-show Spectators all, That will be pleased before you by him pass. To pay a Farthing and look through his glass. Where every Object that it doth present Will please your fancy, yield your mind content ! Objects as strange in Nature as in Number, Such a vast many as will make you wonder ; That when you do look through his glass you'd swear, That by one small sight you view'd a whole Fair Of Monsters stranger than can be express'd. There's Nippotate lies among the rest, Twelve years together he has drove this trade, And by no upstart yet has been dismaid ; 'Tis so long since he did himself betake, To shew the Louse, the Flea, and Spangl'd Snake^ His Nippotate which on Raw flesh fed. He liveing shew'd, and does the same now dead ; The Bells that he when Liveing always wore. He wears about his Neck as heretofore. Then Buy Old Harry, stick him up that he May be remembered by Posterity." Nippotate was a tame hedge-hog, which Harry felt so much attachment for, as to preserve stuffed when dead. 112 MEMOIRS OF [anne. THE GREAT SLEEPER. Nicholas Hart liecame the subject of'general notice ahd conversation, frPm the circumstance of a lethargic fit, that .seized bim on the 5th of August, 1711, tb theWth of the.'same month. His friends, ,after haviri^'"tried eVery theans in their power to rouse him from the dormant state he lav. in, had him, conveyed 'to St. BarthoJomew's hospital, where he remained dUriiig thc^^abovfe pieriidd,'#ithdut taking the least refreshment of any kind whatever^ esjccepting sleep; thpugh'. several, experiments;, were maide on his persoh' tbprbtobte resfisei tation ; • It 'appears, however, there ..was a greater, portion of . art than nature in: this unnatural slumberi >and thiEct he had purpPsely taken iiarcPtic drugs, to' produce the effect desired, namely, to procure money to be raised for him, by confederate knaves, as an object of charity and commisseration. In this speculation, Mr. Hart entirely succeeded ; and, it seems, from the symptoms of his periodical sleeping fit, faithfully detailed by a IS^ICHOLAS HAUT, f The Great Sleeper.) annb.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 118 gentleman of Lincoln's-inn,* that Hart slept, in order to be maintained in ease and comfort when he awoke, and that he gained more by his rest than others by their industry ; and, in short, wealth flowed so fast upon him, that he obtained sufficient to support others, besides saving his own provisions, while he carried on his profitable farce ! What use Hart put the money to he had thus raised we are not informed; • The symptoms this gentleman observed in Hart were, that " On the first of the month he grew dull, On the second appeared drowsy. On the third fell a yawning, On the fourth began to nod. On the fifth dropped asleep. On the sixth was heard to snore, On the seventh turned himself in his bed. On the eighth recovered his former posture. On the ninth' fell a stretching. On the tenth about midnight awaked. On the eleventh in the morning, called for a little small beer." The same gentleman observes, " He believes it a very extraor dinary circumstance for a man to gain his livelihood by sleeping, and that rest should procure a man sustenance, as well as indus try ; yet so it is, that Nicholas Hart got last year enough to sup port himself for a twelvemonth ;" and adds, " he is informed that he has had this year a very comfortable nap." VOL. I. Q 114 MEMOIRS OF [anne. but Mr. Addison, in noticing the circumstance, says, " Nicholas Hart, who slept last year in St. Bartholo mew's Hospital, intends to sleep this year at the Cock and Bottle, in Littie Britain," probably glanc ing at a similar attempt to raise contributicns on the credulous part of the community. Stow, in his Summarie, gives an account of a still greater sleeper than Hart, but it is tP be hpped with different views. He infprms us, that '* The 27th pf April, 1546, being Wednesday in Easter-week, W. Foxlei, pot-maker for the mint in the Tower of Lon- dpn,* fell asleep, who could not be wakened with * M. Brady, Physician to Prince Charles of Lorrain, gives the following particulars of an extraordinary sleeper : — " A woman named Elizabeth Alton, of a healthful strong con stitution, who had been servant to the curate of St. Guilain, near the town of Mons, about the beginning of 1738, when she was about thirty-six years of age, grew extremely restless and melan choly. In the month of August, in the same year, she fell into a sleep which held four days, notwithstanding all possible endea vours to awake her. At length she awaked naturally, but became more restless and uneasy than before ; for six or seven days, how ever, she resumed her usual employments, until she fell asleep again, which continued eighteen hours. From that time to the year 1753, which is fifteen years, she fell asleep daily about three o'clock in the morning, without waking until about eight or nine at night. In 1754, indeed, her sleep returned to tlie natural ANNE.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 115 pricking, cramping, or otherwise, till the first day of the next tearm, which was full xiiij dales and xv, nights. The cause of his thus sleeping coulde not be knowen, though the same were diligently searched for by the physicians, and other learned men ; yea, the king himself examined the said W. Foxlei, who was in all points found as he had slept but one night ; and was living till the year of our Lorde 1587." periods for four months, and, in 1748, a tertian ague prevented her sleeping for three weeks. On February 20, 1755, M. Brady, with a surgeon, went to see her. About five o'clock in the even ing, they found her pulse extremely regular; on taking hold of her arm it was so rigid, that it was not bent without much trouble. They then attempted to lift up her head, but her neck and back were as stifi" as her arms. He hallooed in her ear as loud as his voice could reach ; he thrust a needle into her flesh up to the bone ; he put a piece of rag to her nose flaming with spirits of wine, and let it burn some time, yet all without being able to dis turb her in the least. At length, in about six hours and a-half, her limbs began to relax; in eight hours she turned herself in the bed, and then suddenly raised herself up, sat down by the fire, eat heartily, and began to spin. At other times, they whipped her till the blood came ; they rubbed her back with honey, and then exposed it to the stings of bees ; they thrust nails under her finger-nails ; and it seems these triers of experiments consulted more the gratifying their own curiosity than the recovery of the unhappy object of the malady. Q 2 116 MEMOIRS OF [anne. 1i$mt tfie aSrVinmv, This man, who resided at Oxfprd, having by nature an extreme ordinary physiognomy, turned it to the best account in his ppwer, by niaking it still more disgusting, and set up the trade of a public grinner, and was in his way allowed to be master of a great deal pf. Priginal grimace: it is still the custom, in hnany parts pf the country, particularly at fairs, to have a grinning-ma,tch throfigh a horse-collajf, >vhich is by many thought to be' adding a whimsical frame to an ugly picture. Isaac was hot the original in- ventpr pf thi^ elegant art, but he brought it to more perfection than nibst of his predecessors, or subse quent successors. The public are generally indulged in these genteel sights by several performers, who are stimulated ta excel by the prize of a gold-laced hat, gloves, stockings, garters, or other articles of trifling value. The practice is much conimended by Mr. Addison, in the Spectatorj and, as a personal accom plishment, he thinks it far more agreeable than burn ing the raputh with eating hpt hasty-pudding, or » »¦ ISAAC THE OXFORD GTLUNTN'EK, ANNE.} REMARKABLE PERSONS. UT running in a sack over hillocks, or a ploughed field, or vaulting to seize the suspended soap-lathered goose, plunging the head into a tub of water with the hands tied behind, to catch with the teeth the floating oranges or apples that elude the nimblest bite, or any other ingenious invention, to provoke a laugh. About thirty years since, Mr. Astley, of the amphi theatre, Westminster-road, engaged an Italian buffoon, who appeared under the title of the celebrated grima- cier, and distorted his face into thirty different charac ters, totally dissimilar one with another ; the salary of this man was ten pounds per week. Isaac of Oxford was thought of sufficient consequence to have his likeness handed down to ppsterity, and the print has been said very much to resemble him. 118 MEMOIRS OF [annb. : - * alias BLIND JACK. '¦ The streets '"of London, in the reigns of Queen Anne, iGePrge' the First and Second, were infested with alfsorts of paupers,,-vagabbnds, impostors, and cotnmon adventurers ; 'and many, who. otherwise might "be' considered real cbjects of charity, by their disgusting" manners and general appearance in public placies, rather- merited the. interference of the parish beadles, and the disciphrie-of Bridewelli than the countenance and encouragemept-bf such persons as mps'tly congregate: around common . street-exhibitions. One,-eyed Granny and Blind > Jack were particular nuisances to the: neighbourhoods in which they first practiced her mad-drunk gambols, and the latter his beastly manner pf performing on the flageolet. — John Keiling, alias Blind Jack, having the misfortune to lose his sight, thought of a strange method to insure himself a livelihood. He was constitutionally a hale, robust fellow, without any complaint, saving blind- ANNE.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 119 ness, and having learnt to play a little on the flageolet, he conceived a notion that, by performing on that instrument in a different way to that generally practiced, he should render himself more noticed by the public, and be able to lay larger contributions on their pockets. The manner of Blind Jack's playing the flageolet was by obtruding the mouth-piece of the instrument Up one of his nostrils, and, by long custom, he could produce as much wind as most others with their lips into the pipe ; but the continued contortion and gesti culation of his muscles and countenance, rendered him an object of derision and disgust, as much as that of charity and commisseration. The original print of John Keiling, which is a 4to. done in mezzotinto, is in the RadcUffe collection, and very rare to be seen in any other. 120 MEMOIRS OF [anne. COMMONLY Called toby. Edward King was the son of a farrier, in High- street, Coventry, an honest and industrious mtan ; his mother was Mrs. Ruth Roper, sister to Abel Roper, the celebrated bookseller ; his' uncle, Abel, having been very successful in trade, and probably remem- ^ring the kindness dohe him In early hffe by an uncle, sent for his nephew to London, and bound him ap- prehtjce to himself as a bookseller : but soon after, leaving Pff shop-keeping, and tnaking it his whple business tp collect news for his PPst-bPy, he wanted some one to attend him, and carry his copy to the printer; and in this capacity he^&Spl:^ed his nephew, who, having a remarkable cast iri each of his eyes, and a face covered with warts, was particularly noticed wherever he. went. One day going up-stairs at the Tilt-yard Coffee-hbuse, Whitehall, to speak with his uncle, his singular phiz attracted the attention of Cap tain Drake, one of the clerks of the Adtniralty-office, ANNE.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 121 who spontaneously ejaculated, here comes Toby f though he had never seen his comical face before. And, from that moment, Edward King hardly went by any other name than the captain's adoption to his^ dying day. The post assigned him by his uncle Abel continu ally involved him in broils and vexation ; being sent one evening from the Rummer-tavern, Charing-cross, with some copy for the printer, at Northumberland- house he was accosted by a common-street-walker, pretty well dressed, with a how do you do. Country man P says Toby, Why are you my countrywoman ? Yes, answered madam, I am. So jogging on lovingly together, says Toby, do you know Coventry? — Aye, very well, said she ! And do you know my Lady Hales P — says Toby. Aye, God bless her, replied the pretended Coventry woman, for she is a very good gentlewom,an. So Tofty could no longer doubt of her being his country-woman. By this time they drew pretty near to Exeter Change, and Toby had agreed to give madam a pint of ale at the upper end of Exeter-street ; but, as ill-luck would have it, some of the reformers of that age, knowing the woman to be a common strumpet, seized both her and her gallant; vol. I. R 122 MEMQJftS PF [anne. Toby, though in a fright, had the presence of mind tp run for it : Bqt, O grievqus misfortune I Toby was no racer, so they soon retpok him, and as flight shews guilt, these myroiidons conveyed him and his Ic^dy prisoners to the watch-house in St. Martin's-l?ne. However, to preserve his tender reputatipn, which till now had been unspotted, he resolved to send fqr ^i^ uncle Abpl, tQ help him put pf his trouble, and giving a poor woman the qnly twp-pence he had in the WQ?ld, he dispatches her to the Rammer, but, unfortunately, Al^el was gone ; the wpnaan being unlucky in her en quiry, Mr. Crofts, the inaster pf the house, had .the curiosity to enquire what Uu§iness she had with Mr. Jloper ? — " Why, says the woms^n, I cpme from his kinsman ; he is in St. Martin's watch-house, and ws^ats to speak with him directly." Toby in the watch- hoiise, wopian ? No, no, it cannot be ; nay, feplie*^ the wonian, call him Toby, or what you pl^^iie, I do not know his nanjie ; byt he s^ys Mr. Roper i§ bis uncle ; and I t^l you he was bfOugh|t tp the watch- hpuse with a wpfflanabiove an houragp, WeU, ^ays the vintner, Mr- Rpper is not in the house, but an't please God, I will go my^^elf, ^d kftow the truth of this matter. Accordingly he went, ^qd folding -the ANNE.] REMAB^fcA^lifi PBftSONS. 1!^^ riiessenger had n'b't decefived him, he vi^rbught Toby's delive'rarice, by engaging to see him forth-coining wh^ri ^erit for, which he never was. Some time after this, Toby being in haSte, and the evening dark, Mr. Evans, who was at that time under secretary to the lord^chanibferlain, and Toby happen ing to cortie in contact, unfortunately blundered against him, who, taking it for an assault, called at the lodge, in Whitehall, whei'e Toby was kept prisoner all night ; but the next mormng, his uncle, who was acquainted with Mr. Evans, wbnt and told him the misfortune of his kinsttian'S eye-sight, whereupon he was discharged without paying fees. Sir Richard Steele was judged to be of great use to the public by his writings; particularly with regard to the dismantling and siiri^erider of Dunkirk, &c. But as it was impossible to please every body, there appeared a pamphlet uhder the following title, '• The Character of Richard S le, Esq;, with some re marks. By Toby, Abel's kinsnian ; or, according to Mr. Calairiy, A. F. & N. in a letter to his godfather. Price 6d." Now this pariiphlet was not written by Toby, as triany people irhagined ; what induced then! to believe it was, they knew his uncle had been at the charge bf teaching Hihi to translate FreWch and Dutch ; R 3 184 MEMOIRS OF [anne. which in a year's time he did pretty well, and in a tolerable good style ; but for politics, he understood them no more than the Pestle and Mortar Apothe cary, or the Virtuoso Doctor, that- made it his busi|- ness to catch butterflies, and afterwards dissect them. The real author was Dr. Wagstaffe, Physician of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, a very ingenious, facetious, and pleasant gentleman, who was likewise author of that excellent piece, " A Comment upon the Hi-story of Tom Thumb." — However, when Toby was asked whether he wrote Mr. Steele's character, he would shake his head, squint, and say nothing. But now, having enjoyed a profound quiet for a considerable time, poor Toby is called out once more to suffer. He had undertaken, to print and disperse a pamphlet, entitled, "An English Merchant's Re marks upon a scandalous Jacobite Paper published in the Post-boy, under the name of a Memorial pre sented to the Chancery of Sweden, by the Resident of Great Britain." It never could be learnt where Toby had the copy of this pamphlet ; and it died a se cret in his own breast. Though the government came very artfully into the knowledge of the Printer and Publisher, they could never learn, by any art or stra tagem, who was the Author of those Remarks.^ ANNB.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 125 When Toby was trudging about the town to disperse this pamphlet, a friend of his asked him, how he durst venture to do it ? 0, says Toby, / disguise myself. Disguise yourself, replied the other. How ? By pul ling my perruque on one side, answered Toby, and flopping my hat over my eyes. Well, it is certain, he did this for some days before the government knew any thing of it ; at last a pretended friend of Toby's, but employed underhand by those at the helm, came tptake a night's lodging with him ; and Toby coming home pretty much in drink, (for he was a great lover of strong liquor,) and taking his friend to be one of the same principles with himself, he made no scruple of telling' him in bed, that he handed that pamphlet to the press. Thereupon the other asked him who printed it ; and Toby told him, the widow Beardwell. The next news heard was, that Mrs. Beardwell and Toby were taken into custody, upon the information of that very bedfellow of his, though the man always denied it. After a few days, the widow was admitted to bail, but poor Toby was continued in custody, be cause he would not tell where he had the copy ; and the messengers thought themselves sure of this point, if they could but make him drunk. They, therefore, tried the experiment, for Toby would be as drunk as 126 MB5M0IRS OF [anne. they pleaS^dj but in his cups they cbuld get no more out of him than when be was- sbbfer, excepting, that he returtted into their laps part df the liquor, of which they bad been so liberal. Thus continuing bbstinatle and inflexible to the last, he was kept in custody si± or seven months, at tbe expiration whereof ari aet bf indentnifiication' Came out, and Toby, taking advantage of it, escaped otit of their hands. Upcti Toft^^s being taken intb custody, his uricfe and he p'Etttedf and poor Toby Was forced to shift' fbr hiflffseifr So, to- get a pentfy, rd% caused the dying speeehes pf Jiifetice Hall and Parspn' Paul, (two Pres ton rebels', hawged at TybUrn,) to be printed poni'- pously in a la'rge brPad sheet, with theii* effigies at top, curiously engi'SVed in chopper : the design answered so wel'l^ that Toby got a new suit of clothes by it, and money in his- pocket; which last being in time pretty. wdl' exhausted', and not knowing how to get more iri an honest; way, Toby takes a trip to CdveAtry, the place of his nativity, where his father-iri-law,- a farrier, ga'Ve hiM' a kind reception, and tobk a little hoUsie fbr him, whicli in a shoirt time was launched under the name of Toby's €oj!fee-Ao««'se;- and here T&by sold sttiong ale, coffee, and dramsj and entertained hi^ friends with his squints arid Conundrums. Neither, ANNB.] REMARi;AgJL-^ PJP^ONS. 127 to speak truth, did be want for encpuragenient, but fell at once into a very gppd train of bqsiness ; all the gentlemen of the city and cpiintry, (of the Tory party,) frequented his house, chiefly on account of his principles, but more particularly for his fidelity in standing to his text, and not discovering the author of the Swedish pamphlet above-mentioned ; and, observ ing that poor Toby had no sign, they thought none so fit to hang at the dpor as his own sweet phiz, which they therefore desired Mr. Fry, who drew all their ctures, to take upon a board of Toby's providing ; which he did accordingly, and hit his likeness so exactly, that he gained a great deal of reputation by it. When Toby took his coffee-house, he Ukewise took a wife ; the object of his love was his father-in-law's housekeeper, who proved a very notable woman ; but he, like an imprudent man, drank hard. His uncle generaUy went once a-year to visit him, but had the mortification to see him sometimes drink to excess. He advised him all he could against it, but to no purpose ; at last he said, once for all, to him, Toby, I find you have a mind to make your wife a widow soon ; I will not speak to you any more about drinking, and so fare you well. As he said, so it 128 MEMOIRS OF [anne. proved, for about two months after, he departed this mortal life, of the distemper called the jaundice. So for' poor Toby there was finis. Edward King died some time about 1796. anne] remarkable PERSONS. 129 ^amejS :|^oro< James Poro, the son of Paul Poro, was born at Genoa, in the year 1686, and was doomed, by one of the sports of Nature, to drag about with him a monstrous excrescence; which grew from his body, having something of the form and feature of the human kind, which possessing an independent ani mated nature to himself, was considered as a twin- brother, and was as such ' baptized by the name of Matthew. This unfortunate object made a show of himself, in London, in the year 1714, and was particularly noticed by Sir Hans Sloane, who caused his portrait to be painted, which , is' still preserved in the Brirish Museum. The Rev. J. Greene, of Wilford, near Stratford-upon-Avon, gave an account in the Gentleman's Magazine, for October, 1777, of Lazarus Coloredo, a Gfenoese, who, in the reign of King Charles the First, was piibUcly exhibited for sight, with a much more perfect twin-brother than that of Pore's, • which Thomas Bartholine, an accu rate and judicious naturalist, of the seventeenth cen- VOL. I. • s 130 MEMOIRS OF [anne. tury, and royal professor of anatomy at Copenhagen, saw twice ; first at Copenhagen, when Coloredo was twenty-eight years of age; and afterwards at Basil, in Switzerland. Bartholine noticed this deviation of nature, and also gave a print of it in the first volume of his " Historiarum Anatomicarum Rario- rum, I. et II." dedicated to Frederick III. King Pf Denmark, printed at the Hague, in 1654. The " Gentleman's Magazine" contains an engraving of Coloredo, in the dress of the times, with a cloak and band, boots, spurs, and sword ; his breast open, with the monster hanging from him, whose head is much larger than his own. In the " Philosophical Transactions,*' is a description of twin-sisters, Hun garians, who were publicly shown in London, about the year 1708, when they were about eight years old. They were united behind, from the small of the back to the parting of the legs, so that when one went forward, the other went backward ; and when one stooped she Ufted the other from the ground. They were very active, and one of them talked a good deal ; they had not the sense of feeling in common, any where but in the parts that Joined. They could read, write, and sing, very prettily ; they could also speak three languages, Hungarian, ANNE.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 131 High and Low Dutch, and French : and while they were here, they learned English. Their faces were very beautiful, and they were well-shaped ; they Ibved each other with great tenderness, and one of them dying in her twenty-second year, the other did not long survive. The portrait of Coloredo is engraved both by Hollar and Marshall, and were probably given or sold to those persons whose curiosity led them to visit him, when in England, where he was publicly shown, as he was afterwards in Scotland. In the reign of James II., Sir Thomas Grantham having purchased a negro in the West Indies, with an ex crescence projecting frpm his breast like a child, brought him over to England, to exhibit him, but the negroe having escaped, professing him.self a christian, and being baptized, he claimed his habeas corpus when seized, and was allowed it. It does not appear when Poro died, or whether he returned to his native country. s 2 132 MEMOIRS OF [anne. ¦>'.-, * PRINCE George's cap woman. " Amorigst the Females of a modern. Fame, Nan justly does our admiltation claim : Some pebpliB yet her Sex cou'd never scan, Five! Voyages she madealid^passed for Man ; At Cudgel weapons" she mankind defies, And with disoourseshe will them exercise ; She hath two Kaces run, it is well known. And won them both, as Luke at Bear will own. But that so few her real sex yet knows, Is one great sign she keeps her Leggs too close. Then at her skill, we need the less to wonder, Whoe'er would Conquer Nan, must keep her under. From the above Unes, an inference is plain, that Nan was a fprnale, virago, the connterpart of Mary Frith, comnionly cailled Moll Cut-purse, Ann Mills, Hannah SneU, and Other women ,of masculine habits and propensities. In what capacity, she made her five voyages, we are uninformed.; but it is by no means unlikely, in a similarCway with her two co- tempories, Mary Read and Anne Bbnny, the no torious female pirates. The Rev. Mark Noble jp.c..^^.yi^ (Ptin.ce Georg-e's Cap-Wbmaji.) ANNE.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 133 judged, from the appearance and occupation of Nan, she was an harmless maniac, that was suffered to go about with her wares, hats, and caps ; but that she was for a short time confined in Bedlam. In all probability, he formed his ideas on this woman's character, from the sight of an imperfect print wanting the descriptive lines, otherwise it is not likely a reverend divine would construe cudgel- matches, foot-races, or sea-adventures, harmles recrea- tions for a female. Her title of Cap woman to Prince George, (of Denmark,) consort to Queen Anne, was doubtless of her own adoption. 134 MEMOIRS OF ^ [anne. ^iv WiilUeLm 91dleatr. Sir: William Read was orie of those extraordi nary per'^ons, who, from the lowest stations in life, by their: own perseverance, achieve both fame and for tune ; he was originally a tailorj or a cPbler, and became progressively a mountebank, and a quack-doctor ; and though he could not readj he could spell weU enough to ride in his pwn chariot,; and entertain his friends with the- greatest delicacies the season afforded, arid treat them with copiPus libations frotti golden vessels. Impudence is the great suppprt of the quack pro fession, and of that Read had an uncommon share. A few scraps pf Latin, in his bills, made the igno rant suppose him to be wonderfully learned ; indeed, the very air of Oxford infused knpwledge into him, when he resided there, in his last profession ; and in one bf his addresses, he, called upon the vice- chancellor, university, and the city, tp vouch for his cures, as indeed he did upon the good people of the three kingdoms. Blindness vanished before him, and he even deigned to practice in other dis- .A' '^^i^jii't'. yv. !IB. ^ril^lrlAM RKAH, f Ocxnli st . ANNE.J REMARKABLE PERSONS. 135 tempers ; but he defied all competition as an oculist. Queen Anne and George I. honored him with the care of their eyes ; from which, one would have thought the rulers, like the ruled, wished to be as dark as Taylor, his brother quack's coach-horses, five of which were blind, because he exercised his skill upon animals that could not complain. Read died at Rochester, May 24, 1715; and the next day was deposited in the cemetery of St. Ni cholas, in that city. After Queen Anne had knighted Read and Dr. Hans Sloane, Mr. Gwinnet sent the following lines, in a letter, to his beloved Mrs. Thomas : — " The Queen, like heaven, shines equally on all, Her favors now without aistinction fall ; Great Read and slender Haniies, both knighted, show That none their honors sliall to merit owe. That popish doctrine is exploded quite, Or Ralph had been no diiKe,* and Read no knight. That none may virtue or their learning plead, 1- '^ ii:'J7 Ki,^t iaSf,. This has no grace, and that can hardly read.' The most fortunate however of eye-doctors is the present Sir William Adami/^^erly a little apothecary Ralph, Duke of Montagup. 136 MEMOIRS OF [anne. in Devonshire; but luckily taking to the study of the diseases of the eye, and making a few successful cures, has jumped over the heads of the first ocu lists of the present day ; his practical success is not diminished, by having married a lady of consi derable fortune. He has, beside, been lucky enough to find a recipe for the cure of opthalmia, and suc ceeded in restoring to sight two and twenty old Greenwich pensioners, for which the governors of that hospital liberally made him a present of a piece of plate, valued at five hundred guineas. ABEL ROPER. anne.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 137 ^htl i^oper* Abel Rope.r w'as born'af Atherston, in War wickshire, of parents not in the most flourishing cir cumstances, who, having many; children to prPvide for, an uncle, who was a bookseller 'in London, took him home, and adopted him at; twelve years of age, and sent him to school. He.took very ready to learn ing, and is said to speak Greek by rote, when he did not understand Latin. He did not continue long at school,, being bound apprentice, at the age of fourteen, to his uncle, who then lived in Fleet-street, but died within a;year and a half after; when Abel was turned over to Christopher 'Wilkinson, of the same trade, resident in the sairie street. .Afterheattained the age of twenty-one, he .received. 100/.' Ieft;ham.by his uncle, and the copy-rights of various- ; works, . worth much more ; and his prospects were further improved by marrying his last master's widow. He 'then.' cbm- menced business, by taking one side of a saddler's shop, near Bell-yard, opposite the Middle Temple gate ; tut he afterwards' removed next door to the VOL. I. T 138 MEMQIM OF [anne. Devil tavern; — his sign was the "Black Dog." — Those who had determined to expel James II. from the throne, fixed upon Roper as the distributor of pamphlets, written to pave the way for the revolution, in which he was indefatigable ; and was the original printer of the famous ballad of " Lillyburlero," after wards reprinted with a tune set by Richard Baldwin^ when it sold . with wonderful rapidity. At length Abel thought it of little importance what he sold, so that he gained by it ; or whether it was subversive of religion, morals., or the government. His unequalled impudence, and unmoved countenance, carried him through many difficulties with impunity. He pub lished the "Post-boy," in which he a,ttaeked the Tories, and even the Whigs, just as he was hired. Swift, threatened to be revenged for his. abuse, though be bad joined in that of Marlborough, more hateful to h,im than even Roper or his "Post-boy," or any other of his writings. He published the. ribaldry , of Tom Brown, and UbeUed Lewis XIV- besides which, he Jampopned the, celebrated women of his. day, m "The Auction. of Ladiea;" and thus exposed several young persona, especially tradesn^en'Si daughters* to ridicule and contempts The vignet,te affiled tp this pefiqdical paper was, a black ram^ alluding tfi, tlie^ Wtellrk^aoJWf ANWE.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. fS^ custom of frail matrons bestriditig that animal to Save their lands. But this Scandalous paper, to the credit of the publifc, did not extend to more than eight or nine numbers. The unwarrantable Ubertiies of his pen ofteri brbught when Abel beat Tomi. From enemies Ihey becianae friends^ and Tbift assisted hirn in his " Auction of LadieSi" 140 MEMOIRS OF [anne. An obscure Frenchman, the quondam master of the " Post Man," a writer and translator of the lowest description, frcm an assistant, was at length taken into partnership by Roper, who would not change the title of his paper, but retained that of the " Post Boy." George Ridpath, a Scotchman, and editor of the " Flying Post," was tried at Guildhall, for inserting some scandalous reflections in his paper upon Queen Anne, but had not the temerity to wait in court till the jury brought in their verdict ; on the contrary, wisely retired ; nor stopped, when he was informed bf the result, till he found himself safe in Holland. Such were the editors of the " Post Boy," the " Post Man," and the " Flying Post." Abel Roper died in I716. It has been remarked of him, that "like many others of his brethren of the quill, he had an excellent talent at a specious lie, and knew how to make vice of virtue, or virtue of vice, according as they clashed or coincided with his party." It was Roper that persuaded Faithorne (the en graver) to erase the head of Cromwell in the eques trian print of him, and to substitute that of the Prince of Orange, afterwards William III. ANNE.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. IM: 29i% Itencg Sh^ctttUvtlf Henry , Sacheverel, . a mian whose .history; affords ; a very striking exannple of the folly of party- spirit,, was the son of Joshua Sacheverel, of Marl- ^Iprough,' clerk, who died rector of St. Peter^s chjurch, in ^Marfbprough, leaving d numerous ; family,- in very lowiicirdufnstances. By a .letter ;: to, him frpm ihiis uncle, in 171 1, it .appears that he had a brother, named,Thpmas,.and'a sister, Susannah.; Henry was put to' schodl'at: Mariborough, ¦ at the ; charge' of Mr. Edward Hearstj: an' apothecary,' whoi being his god father, .adopted' hiiri as his son. Hearst's widow, put bim afterwards to 'Magdalen College, Oxford... Here he soon distinguished himself by a regularibbservation of the duties of the house, by his compositions, good manners, and genteel behaviour.; quaUfications vyhich j:ecoirimended-him.to that society, of ^vbich he became fellow ; and, as a, public tutor, had the care of the edu- cation ofmost of the young gentlemen of quality and fortune that were admitted of the college ; and was MEMOIRS OF [anne. contemporary and chamber-fellow with Addison, and one of his chief intimates till the time of his famous trial. Much has beelti said by Safcheverei's enemies of his ingratitude to his relations, and of his turbulent beha viour at Oxford ; but these appear to have been ^oundless calumnies, circulated/ only by the spirit of party.. In his younger years he wtote some excellent Latin poems, besides several ia the second and third volumes of the Musae Anglicanoej" ascribed to big pupils; and there is a good, one of some length in the second volume, under his own name, (transcribed from the Oxford collection, on Queen Mary's death, 1695^). He took the degree bf M . A . May; 16", 1 696 ; B.D. Feb. 4, 1 707 ; D. D» July 1 » If OS. His first preferment was Carinock, or Cank, in the, bounty of Stafford. He was appointed/ preacher ofStiiSaviout's^ Southwark, iri 1705 ; and, while in this station^ preached his famous serriions J(at Derby, August 14-^ 1709, and at St. Paul's, November 9!, in the sanae year ;) and, in one of thenii was supposed to point at Locd Godolphin, Under the name df .Vdlpotae. It 'has been suggested*, that to this circutnstance, as much as to tbe idoGtrines contained in his sermons, he Was indebted for his proseeution, and, eventually, for his A N N E. 1 REM AIIKiteM4B ^m^O^^ preferment. Being itapeaclinsd by the Houae^f C&vsn^ mons, his trial began Februairy 37, 1709-10, and ooa- tinned unril the; asd of March, when, h© vwas senl- tejjced to assuspeusipn frjon^. preachj&g' foP'threei yeara, and his two sermons iordieredi to be; bunqt. This pro*- secutipn, however,. ovCT.threw the.' mihibtiy, and kid the fojundation; of hisfbrtUnei! Toi Sir Simon : Hat'- court,.w^JO wasicounsel for him, he presented: a sdlver bason, gilt j with an elegant inscription, written pro bably by his friend Dr. Atterbury. HiSi enemies triumphed;, yet dkred not venture abroad. He was. disgraced by the legislaturey. but tens of thsousands bent as lowly before him as the Thibetians to the Grand I^^ia- He. went on a tour of triurijphi tlirough the cosuntry; and was received with splendour and respectful pomp atieveiy place he visited. Magistsratea,; in their fgi»landH 144 MEMOIRS OF [anne. of flowers, and the steeples covered with flags. In this manner he passed through Warwick, Birming ham, Bridgenorth, Ludlow, and Shrewsbury, on his way to his Welch living, with a cavalcade better suited to a prince than a priest. Ridiculous as this farce was, it did some good, as it kept up the respect due to the national church, by engaging the voice of the people at large in its favour, and discouraging any attempts to lower or innovate upon it, in the smallest degree. In the month that his suspension ended, he had the valuable rectory of St. Andrew's, Holborn, given him by the Queen ; and the House of Commons, his pro secutors, ordered him to preach before them, and thanked him for his discourse. At that time his repu tation was so high, that he was enabled to sell the first sermon (preached after his sentence expired on. Palm Sunday) for the sum of one hundred pounds ; and upwards of forty thousand copies, it is said, were soon sold. We find, by " Swift's Journal to Stella," January 22, 171 1-12, that he had also interest enough with the ministry to provide very amply forone of his brothers ;. yet, as the dean had said befbre, " they hated and ANNE.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 145 affected tP despise him." A considerable estate at Callow, in Derbyshire, was soon after left to him by his kinsman, George Sacheverel, Esq. After this we hear littie of him, except by quarrels with his parish ioners. He died June 5, 1724 ; and, by his will, bequeathed to Bishop Atterbury, then in exile, who was supposed to have penned for him the defence he made before the House of Peers, the sum of five hun dred pounds. The Duchess of MarlborPiigh describes Sacheverel as " an ignorant, impudent incendiary ; a man who was the scorn even of those who made use of him as a tool." And, Bishop Burnet says^ "he was a bold, insolent man, with a very small measure of religion, virtue, learning, or ^ood sense ; hut he resolved to force himself int<) ipopularity and ^eferment by the most petulant railings at dissenter-S and low-church men, in several seWspns and libels, written without either chastenesS of style, or liveliness of expres sion." Whatever his character, it is evident he owed every thing to an injudicious prosecution, which defeated the purposes of those who instituted it, and for many VOL. I. u 146 MEMOIRS OF [anne. years continued those prejudices in the pubUc mind, which a wiser administration would, have been anxious .to dispel. H^--^^ .^..^..'-^^ ^'^ #,^^,ffi.,v!=^s,>,^^, -N:^,immu..u.^,^:sss:;;^^s^ Jla^dffc^ .tvw^f JANE SCR OIS HAA\ . AN>JE.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 147 ^mt Scctm0^atai Jane Scrimshaw is no other way recbrd'ed, than as having lived tb the advanced age ofone'huhdred and twenty-seven. She was the daughter' bf 'Mr.' Thomas Scrimshaw, wpolstapler, and born in Ldndbbr in the parish of St. Mary-le-Bbw, Aprif 3, 1584'. She was never married; and, when 'little rrioire than thirty years old, found a cPmfbrtable'asylum in MW- chant Taylors' Alms-house, near Little Tower-hill'.; Her portrait, which was taken in April,' 1711, at the' Alms-house, bears an inscription, deiiScribing her aar then in a good state of health. It appears, however, she was shortly after removed to Rosemary-lane Work house, where she 'died, December 25, the same year. Vexation, perhaps, in leaving 'the Alms-Chouse, where she-had resided ei'ghty years, might' havte 'accelerated her'death. — ' ' Had Jane Scrimshaw kept a diary of transactipris which must have passed immediately under her view, how many interesting particulars might have been recorded during* the reigns of eight sovereigns, Eliza- u 2 148 MEMOIRS OF [ANWfE. beth to Anne, That persons greatiy advanced in age retain their health and faculties, is evident from prbofs we daily meet with. Mr. Noble saw a woman, named Boston, aged one hundred and six years, who had resided fifty years in the hospital at Temple- Balsal, Warwickshire ; she was tall and upright, and, only a fortnight before her death, she had performed her usual Saturday's task, of carrying a pail of water, from a well at a considerable distance, to wash her rooms. He saw her in the last week of her life, when she had in her hands a large water jug, complaining she was not so well as usual, and therefore could not carry the pail ; but she had used great exertion some day before, in walking several miles to visit a grand daughter, which had exhausted her strength. Elizabeth Alexander, who resided many years in Han way-street, Tottenham-court-road, in the year 1810, when past the age of one hundred and eight, would, when walking in the street, if looked after, quickly turn to observe if any part of her <^ess was in disorder, or accidentally soiled ; and frequently has; walked to Camden Town, a distance of nearly two miles, to visit some friends who resided there. JOHN TUT CHIN. ^NNE,] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 149 , ¦ '. " ' if ¦¦-J ti-'.d^ . John Tut oh in,, a ¦ passionate 'party-wriitep in the reign of James 1 1., 'levelled so many Of bis-politieal pieces against the person -and goverfflment of that king, that, if they d*iU • not ' actually excke 'riebellioH, considerably promoted' that which broke out under the comnaand of the unfortunate ''James, Diuke of Monmouth ; on the suppression of which j 'the S&verity' of punishment, under the direetiion df the infamous' Judge Jefferies, exceeded tl*at of any pre^dtng exam-f pie. Among the" many called ¦ to' ac^unt or, this- GceaSiotii was' Johri Tntchiri, who was ;bi>oaght{io trjal' for thci pubUcation- : attd eirou-latiOri of seditious , and' inflammatory writings, 'tending to subvert the exiistirig' governments With such a.j^idge as Jeffbi'iesi,''arid' in such times, a look or nod to the Jury was sufficient ; and TutehiR was found guilty. He was, in conse-. quence, sentenced to be whipped through several market-towns in the West of England. Hi^ puniish- ment, on this occasion, was so very severe, that he even petitioned to be hanged ; but that was a mercy 150 MEMOIRS OF [anne. the implacable Jefferies, nor the vindictive James, could be brought to grant. At the death of James, Tutchin wrote an invective against his memory, with more asperity than even the severity of his sufferings could excuse. Tutchin was every way contemptible, both as a writer and as a man ; and yet, at the Revo lution, he considered himself not only as a persecuted patriot, . but as a genius worthy to celebrate and pro tect the sacred name of liberty :^ — not deterred by former punishments, he continued his political mania, and April 1, 1702, he produced a periodical work, entitled " The Observator," which proceeded, unno ticed and despised, until 1703, when certain reflections appeared in some of his papers so obnoxious to the ministry that a proclamation was issued, offering. 100/. for apprehending him, 50/. for John How, the printer, and the same sum for Benjamin Bragg. Tutchin attempted poetry as well as prose, and pub Ushed a volume of poems in 1685, together with a pastoral, entitled, "The Unfortunate Shepherd ;" but he suffered less in his reputation as a writer when he was whipped, than he did, on this miserable produc tion : for his genius did not soar higher than was necessary for the production of a common ballad. ANSE.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 151 His " Foreigners," pubUshed in the reign of WilUam III. produced the " True-born Englishman ;" and his other writings, in that of Queen Anne, contributed to change the ministry : thus we find, that " Great events from little causes spring." Several of his writings were burnt in Dublin, by the hands of the common hangman ; — and, by his petulance and scurrility, he became so odious to the Tories, as to receive so severe a personal chastisement in August, 1707, that occasioned his death on the 23d of September following, in great distress, at his lodgings in the Mint, Southwark, where he had pro bably retired to avoid arrests ; it being a privileged place, where persons, laying under pecuniary difficul ties, found a sanctuary against the persecution of clamorous creditors, as well as within the verge of the court under controul of the board of Green-cloth. * • The privilege against arrest for debt, in the Mint, had ceased Ipng prior to the same taking effect, as to that of the verge of th^ court ; vrhere it continued in full force until within the last forty years. 152 MEMOIRS OF [anne. Iti Sbme Verses on his death he is called Captain Tutcrhin ; at the time of his death he Was but forty- four yeats ^f age. NNE.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. I5S ^of)n 'Faleritt^. Valerius was born in fbe Upper Palatinate of Germany, in the year 1667, without arms ; and, when bereaved of his parents and friends, by death, had no other means to depend on for a subsistence than the exhibition of his person. He had practiced many arts with his feet and toes, generally performed by the hands and fingers ; and necessity had brought them into such use, that he felt but little deficiency in the lack of arms and hands. He travelled into several countries, and, among others, visited England, and at London exhibited himself, and performed all his wonderful feats, from the year 1698-9 until 1705, as may J)e seen by the various specimens of his w'rit- ing, dated in the intermediate periods. — > The portrait of this man, and his different postures and performances, was engraved and published by himself, in Holland, with Dutch inscriptions, and must have been productive of great advantages to VOL. I. X 154 MEMOIRS OF [anne. Valerius, from the immense number of impressions taken from the plates, which appear, from some of the copies extant, (though in any state rare to be met with) to have been very much worn. It was a common custom with the persons who visited Valerius, to give him some gratuity for a specimen of his wriring ; and, on the back of his portrait, which belonged to the late Sir William Mus grave, were four lines, written by Valerius with his toes. The late Mr. Bindley, for upwards of forty years a commissioner of the stamp-office, was one of the greatest collectors of portraits of his time ; and, among other rare articles, possessed Valerius's book complete, with lines round the portrait (written by himself) in the same manner as that of Sir Wil liam's. ' Valerius wrote but very indifferently, compared with Matthew Buckinger, whose performances in writing and drawing were truly astonishing. A female of the. present time, (a Miss Biffin) that annually is to be seen at Bartholomew and other fairs round the metropolis, labouring under similar 'misfortune with Valerius, works with her toes neatly ANNE.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 155 at her needle, and is very ingenious in designing and cutting out patterns in paper.* • A still more extraordinary person than either Valerius ot Miss Biffin, was William Kingston, who was born without arms or hands, and resided at Ditcheat, near Bristol, an account of whom is extracted from a letter sent to the Rev. Mr. Wesley, by a per son named Walton, dated Bristol, October 14, 1788. " I went with a friend to visit this man, who highly entertained us at breakfast, by putting his half-naked foot upon the table as he sat, and carrying his tea and toast between his great and second toe to his mouth, with as much facility as if his foot had been a hand, and his toes fingers. I put half a sheet of paper upon the floor, with a pen and ink-horn : he threw off his shoes as he sat,^ took the ink-horn in the toes of his left foot, and held the pen in those of his right. He then wrote three lines, as well as most ordinary writers, and as swiftly. He writes out all his own bills, and other accounts. He then shewed how he shaves himself with a razor in his toes, and how he combs his own hair. He can dress and undress himself, except buttoning his deaths. He feeds himself, and can bring both his meat or his broth to his mouth, by holding the fork or spoon in his toes. He cleans his own shoes; can clean the knives, light the fire, and do almost everybther domestic business as well as any other man. He can make his hen-coops. He is a farmer by occupation ; he can milk his own cows with his toes, and cut his own hay, bind it up in bundles,' and cari-y it about the field for his cattle. Last winter he had eight heifers constantly to fodder. The last summer he made all his own hay-ricks. He can do all the business of the hay-field (except mowing), as fast and as well, with ohly his feet, ¦ as others can with rakes and forks. He goes to the field and X 2 156 MEMOIRS OF [anne. In the place of an arm, where the shoulder usually projects, in the body of Valerius appears the figure of a perfect thumb, and his chest, unlike most others of his sex and nature, exhibits the appearance of the breast of a female. His face is, likewise, remarkably feminine. The very rare book of Valerius's postures con tains sixteen prints, the first of which is his portrait, inscribed — Brachys manibus que coptus orepidus que Laboret Sine Brachys born in Palatino. London, March the 20th, 1698-9. Scriptumore John Valerij." catches his horse ; he saddles and bridles him with his feet and toes. If he has a sheep among his flock that ails any thing, he can separate it from the rest, drive it into a corner, and catch it when nobody else can. He then examines it, and applies a remedy to it. He is so strong in his teeth, that he can lift ten pecks of beans with them. He can throw a great sledge-hammer as far with his feet as other men can with their hands. In a word, he can nearly do as much without, as others can with, their arms. " He began the world with a hen and chicken ; with the profit of these he purchased an ewe ; the sale of these procured him a ragged colt (as he expressed it) and then abetter; after this he raised a few sheep, and now occupies a small farm." ANNE.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 157 PLATE II. Represents Valerius beating a drum, with an inscrip tion in Dutch, (which is likewise under each of the other prints) implying, that " Whoever sees him perform this feat will be struck with astonishment and wonder." PLATE III. Playing at Cards and Dice. " In the act of managing the cards and dice he does not yield in dexterity to those who play with their hands." PLATE IV. Shaving Himself. " No man who has the use of his hands would ever think of the expedient of doing this office with his toes." 158 MEMOIRS OF [anne. PLATE v. Standing erect on his kft leg, holding a rapier between his great and second toe. " In the science and art of defence, he manages his weapon with as much skill, adroitness, and strength as his adversary." PLATE VI. Standing on his left leg, balancing a chair with his right. " The ease and power with which he elevates and supports the chair in the position he places it in, is beyond what many could do with the use of their arms and hands." PLATE VII. Balancing himself on a pedestal, and taking up a dice with his mouth. " By the support of one foot, with the toes of the other, he takes up various dice, and, by the assist ance of his teeth, he builds a little square tower three stories in height." ANNB.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 159 PLATE VIII. Laying at full length, with his head on the ground, and recovering himself by the support of his left leg. " The flexibility of his joints enabled him to place himself in most extraordinary positions, and his strength was sufficient to recover any posture at pleasure." PLATE IX. Laying on his back, taking up a glass of liquor, and conveying it with his toes to his head. " In addition to his powers in balancing his body, it was truly wonderful to witness the ease and dex terity with which he took a glass, filled to the brim with wine, and conducted it, with his toes, to the top of his head, and balancing the same without spilling a drop.'* PLATE X. Balancing a glass of liquor on his forehead. " This feat he performed in a way similar to the former, with the exception of his laying extended at 160 MEMOIRS OF [anne. full length on a table, depending for support by the left leg." PLATE XI. Standing on a stool, taking a glass of liquor from the ground with his mouth. " Elevated near two feet from the floor, on a stool, with the greatest ease he bends his body, and catches the glass between his teeth, drinks the liquor, and turns the glass upside down." PLATE XII. Seated on a stool, with both feet he conducts a glass of liquor to the top of his head. " The amazing pliability of his joints rendered it a matter of the greatest ease to Valerius to do all the offices of the hands with his feet, and he could move them in every direction with the utmost facility." PLATE XIII. Seated on a stool, and writing with his toes. " However niggardly nature had been in bounty to Valerius, she made an ample compensation, in ANNE.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 161 gifting him with most extraordinary powers and command with his feet, which he could, with the greatest agility, turn to all the purposes of the hands." PLATE XIV. Seated on a stool, he takes a pistol and discharges it with his right toes. " Long habit had brought this man's soles of the feet into the same use as the palm of the hand ; he could expand or contract them at pleasure ; and, if he could not handle, he could foot a pistol, with any one/' PLATE XV. Seated on a low stool, he takes up a musket, and assisted by both feet discharges the same. " The weight and length of a musket must have made this one of Valerius's most difficult perform ances ; yet, from the apparent ease with which he managed it, it seems to have been equally of the same familiar use with the rest." VOL. I. Y 162 MEMOIRS OF [anne. PLATE XVI. Standing on the left leg, taking up his hat from the ground with his right foot. " It was Valerius's general mode, when his visit ants took leave of him, to take up his hat, which, after placing on his head, he took off in a most graceful manner, and bowed thanks for the honour their visit conferred on him.'' JEREMIAH WHITE , ( Cliaplaiii to Oliver CronnsEll. ) ANNE.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 163 CHA:p.LAI>f^ to OLIVER CROWTWELL Jeremiah White received 'a Uberal education, and 'Was; brought up at Trinity Cbllege; 'Cambridge, of which house he became Fellow. In ^ the trouble- sometime of the 'civil wars, Mr. White's politics led him to join! the- prevailing powers, and. in tike p'ro- cured'him to be made preacher to the council of statfe-; and- domestic chaplain to his Highness Oliver, Lord Pro^ctor. He was a very sprightly : arid facetious maiij-despised-the; cant and hypocrisy; of the puritarii- c^ party of his time, and :was considered, orie of the chief wifs of the Protector's court. ,. ¦;.?. Ir^ ;,. :¦ Possessing all" the advantages of youth, arid; a fine person, he had the ambition to aspire to thfe hand ^of " Cromwell's youngest daughter, the Lady Frances. The young lady appears by no means to have dis couraged his addresses,, but, in so religious a court, this gallantry could not be carried on without being taken notice of Y 2 J64 IkJEMOIRS OF [anne. The Protector was informed of it ; and, having no inclination for such an aUiance, was so much concerned, that he ordered the person who told him to keep a strict look-out, promising, if he could give him any substantial proofs, he. should be ispell re warded, and White severely punished. The spy followed his business so close, that in a little time he dogged Jerry White, (as he was generally called) to the lady's, chamber, and ran immediately to the Protector, to acquaint him that they were together. Oliver, in a rage, hastened to the chamber, and going feasfily in, found Jerry on his knees, either kissing his daughter's hand, or having, just .kissed it, Cromwell, in a fury, asked what was the mean ing of that posture before his daughter Frances? White, with a great deal of presence of mind, said, " Msiy it please your Highness, I have a long time courted that young gentlewoman there, ray lady's woman, and cannot prevail ; I was, therefore, humbly • praying her ladyship to intercede for me." OUver turning to the young woman, cried, ^' What's tke meaning of this, hussey? Why do you refuse the honour Mr. White would do you ? He is my friend, and I expect you would treat him as such." My lady's woman, who desired nothing better, with a anne.] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 166 very low curtsey, replied, " If Mr. White intends me that honour I shall not be against him." " Sayest thou so, my lass," cried GromweU, ^« call Goodwyn —this business shall be done presently, before I go out of the room." Mr. White had gone too far to recede from his proposal ; his brother parson came, and Jerry and my lady's woman were married in the presence of the Protector, who gave the bride five hundred pounds to her portion, to the secret disappointment and indignation of the enraged dupe of his own. making, but entire gratification and satisfaction of the fair abigail, the moment they were made one flesh, who, by this unexpected good fortune, obtained a husband much above her most sanguine hope or pretensions. The Restoration deprived White of all hope of preferment, if he refused to take the oaths, and offered him but faint prospects if he did ; he, there fore, prudently chose to remain quiescent, for he was too pleasant a man to take up his abode in a prison, for preaching in a conventicle. His wit and cheerfulness gained him many friends, — but he would have found himself more at home in the palace of Charles II. than in that of Oliver. He 166 MEMOIRS, Sec. [annb. survived not only the Restoration and Revolution, but the Union, and died in 1 707, aged seventy-eight. When the story of his marriage was mentioned before Mrs. White, (who survived her husband) she always simpered her assent to its truth. Jeremiah White printed the funeral sermon of Mr. Francis Fuller, preached by him; but his " Persuasive to Moderation and Forbearance in Love, among the divided Forms of Christians," was published after his death. Others of his works were promised, but have not yet appeared. END OF VOL. I. Wi LEWIS, PRINTER, FINCH-LAME, fOK.VHILL, LONDON. - »«-¦*¦ • -It ipti— ^J^ir-^-^-ste-- Era * •V'.."li„5 f'j, ft " f. ¦* * .". Jl. ^.f^ -^1 .>''l -ft i