upwards of two thousand acres; he left his son involved. The latter gentleman, was a captain in the Surrey Militia, at the same period, that his friend, the celebrated Captain Grose held a commission in that corps. The society, which, at that period assembled at Parker's seat, at Waddon Court, was of the first order. Several of the Boscawens' were visiters; Mr. Marshall, a celebrated Agriculturist, and author of many popular publications on agriculture, also, frequently joined in the gay circle of a house kept more in the style of a nobleman's, than a farmer's. Grose was then in the hey-day of life, and perhaps, one of the most witty and pleasant companions in the world, we shall have much to say of him hereafter, of chaacters with whom he associated, and with whom we were acquainted at the same time. One person in particular, claims our attention, he is worthy of notice, and was known to the author when he had so large a family as twelve children. His eldest daughter, a beautiful girl, had nearly won the heart of the author's eldest brother. The following account of him was written by Captain Grose, and communicated to his friend, James Petit Andrews, Esq. F. S. A. who thus acknowledges it :

"THE following letter, contains an instance of the most excellent domestic management, which imagination can conceive. It may be depended on, for, facetious as the writer is known to be, he never indulges his humour at the expence of his veracity; and he avers every circumstance there related to be literally true."

¡ECONOMY.

"You ask me, what I have seen in my ramble, worth relating. You are no antiquarian, I will not therefore teaze you with ruined abbeys, Gothic castles, Roman and Danish camps, or Druidical circles, but confine my narrative to a human curiosity. This is a Mr. Osbaldeston, an attorney's clerk; and in spite of the popular prejudices against his profession, said to be an honest man.

This you will allow to be

a curiosity, but that is not all. This honest limb of the law is married, and has at least, half a dozen children, all whom, with as many couple of hounds, and a brace of hunters, he

maintains out of how much do you think? Guess little I pray you-why then, to support himself, a wife and six children, twelve dogs, and two horses, he has not a penny more than sixty pounds per annum! And if possible to increase the miracle, he did this in London for many years; paying every body their own, and keeping a tight coat for sundays and holydays: but I will try to explain this seeming paradox. After the expiration of the time which Mr. Osbaldeston owed his master, he acted as an accountant for the butchers in Claremarket, who paid him in offal; the choicest morsels of this, he selected for himself and family, and with the rest he fed his hounds, which he kept in his garret. His horses were lodged in his cellar, and fed on grains from a neighbouring brewhouse, and on damaged corn, with which he was supplied by a corn-chandler, whose books he kept in order. Once or twice a week in the season he hunted, and by giving a hare now and then to the farmers, over whose grounds he sported, he secured their good will and permission. Besides which, several gentlemen, struck with his extraordinary economy, winked at his going over their manors, with his moderate pack.

"Accident has since removed this uncommon man to Lewes in Sussex; where, on the same stipend, he continues to maintain the same family. Curiosity led me to visit this extraordinary party, about their dinner time. The two-legged party were clean, though not superfluously clothed, and seemed to live like brothers with the surrounding animals. It looked, in short, somewhat like the golden age. Mr. O. himself, seemed and acted like the father of the quadrupeds as well as the bipeds, and as such, decided with the utmost impartiality; for master Jackey having taken a bone from Jowler, he commanded immediate restitution; and on the other hand, Doxy having snatched a piece of a liver from miss Dorothea, was oblig'd on the spot, to restore it to the young lady.

"On enquiry, I found that Mr. O. was the younger son of a gentleman of good family, but small fortune, in the north of England, and that, having imprudently married one of his father's servants, he was turned out of doors, with no other fortune than a southern hound big with pup, whose offspring have since been a source of profit and amusement to him."F.G

"The writer of the above letter has informed the Editor, that this very extraordinary character has lately resided with the same family at Croydon, in Surrey.

J. P. A.

At the time the Author knew Mr.Osbaldeston, he had the numerous family of twelve children; the eldest son was somewhat deformed, and the old gentleman being in the vale of years, was almost incapable of following his profession-the poor man had frequent occasion to obtain temporary credit of the author's mother, but always paid most honourably. This was about the year 1780; during the residence of Mr. Osbaldeston, at Beddington. He retained

As considerable historical interest is associated with the the village of Beddington, the following account of it, from the "Ambulator" and "Lysons' Environs of London," cannot but be acceptable to the reader.

"BEDDINGTON, a village two miles west of Croydon; Here is the seat of the ancient family of Carew, which descending to Richard Gee, Esq. of Orpington, in Kent, that gentleman, 1780, took the name and arms of Carew. It was forfeited in 1539, on the attainder and execution of Sir Nicholas Carew for a conspiracy. His son, Sir Francis, having procured the reversal of the attainder, purchased this estate of Lord Darcy to whom it had been granted by Edward VI. He rebuilt the mansion house, and planted the garden with éhoice fruit trees, in the cultivation of which he took great delight. Sir Francis spared no expence in procuring them from foreign countries. The First orange trees seen in England, are said to have been planted by him. Aubrey says they were brought from Italy by Sir Francis Carew. But the editors of the Biographia, speaking from a tradition preserved in the family, fell, they were raised by Sir Francis Carew from the seeds of the first oranges which were imported into England by Sir Walter Raleigh, who had married his niece, the daughter of Sir Nicholas Throckmorton. The trees were planted in the open ground, and were preserved in the winter by a moveable shed. They flourished for about a century and a half, being destroyed by the hard frost in 1739-40. In the garden was a pleasure house, on the top of which was painted the Spanish Invasion. In August 1599, Queen Elizabeth paid a visit to Sir F. Carew, at Beddington, for three days; and again in the same month the ensuing year. The queen's oak, and her favourite walk are still pointed out. Sir Hugh Platt tells an anecdote, in his Garden of Eden, relating to one of these visits, which shews the pains Sir Francis took, in the management and cultivation of his fruit trees. "Here I will conclude" says he, "with a conceit of that delicate knight, Sir F, Carew, who for the better accomplishment of his royal entertainment of our late Queen Elizabeth, of happy memory, at his house at Beddington, led her majesty to a cherry tree, whose fruit he had of purpose kept back from ripening, at the least one month

and followed his professional employment until an advanced age; his athletic, and grotesque figure, dressed in the old English style, with a large cocked hat, and full bushy wig, gave him an air of consequence, and importance among the peasantry of the place; and the author perfectly recollects, although a child at the time, the curious corrupted appellation applied to him, which was that of Lawyer Distance, (a corruption of Lawyer Osbaldeston.) At a more advanced period the author would have willingly known some of the profession by that name, although them justice, he has, throughout all his vicissitudes, received not only indulgence, but also much personal kindness from them.

Captain Grose also furnishes another curious instance of parsimony in the character of a person, not long deceased,* whose memory will long be remembered for the distinguished. preference which he gave in his last will, to public charities, over his nearest relations. A very singular, and laughafter all other chervies had taken their farewell of England. This secret he performed by straining a tent, or cover of canvass, over the whole tree, and, wetting the same, now and then with a scoop or horn, as the heat of the weather required; and so, by witholding the sun beams from reflecting upon the berries, they grew both great, and were very long before they had gotten their perfect cherry colour; and when he was assured of her majesty's coming, he removed the tent, and a few sunny days brought them to their full maturity. The Park is still famous for walnut trees. The manor house, situated near the church, is built of brick, and occupies three sides of a square. It was rebuilt in its present form in 1709. The great door of the hall, has a curious antient lock, richly wrought; a shield with the arms of England, moving in a groove, conceals the key-hole. In this hall is the portrait of a lady, falsely shewn as Queen Elizabeth ; a small room, adjoining to the hall retains the ancient pannels, with mantled carvings; over the chimney is a small portrait of the Carews, surrounded by a pedigree, Another room has several portraits of the Hacket family; particularly one of Bishop Hacket, by Sir Peter Lely. In the parlour, at the north-end of the hall, are some other family portraits, among which is one of Sir Nicholas Carew, who was beheaded in the reign of Henry the VIII. In the aisles of the church, which is a beautiful Gothic pile, are several stalls, after the manner of cathedrals, having formerly belonged to Merton Abbey.

*From a note by the late Isaac Reed, Esq. to the author's copy of Andrews's anecdotes, it would appear that this singular personage was, ai Mr. Russel, of Bermondsey.

able instance of this is reported.

"He loved to attend dramatic exhibitions, and for his health's sake, he chose to take a great coat with him; but where should he leave this useful appendage during the performance? The boxkeepers would expect, at least sixpence; the orange girls would take little less; and should he leave it in the coffee house, he must spend threepence to obtain house room for it. His invention supplied him with a method cheaper and equally secure. He pawned his garment every evening that he attended the play, at a shop near the door, for a shilling, which he carried back to it, at the close of the play, adding one penny for interest, and received his great coat again safe and sound, as it had literally been laid up in lavender.

The author in recurring to the first stage, or first ten years of his existence, is desirous of reminding his readers, that some interest may subsequently be attached to the extensive and numerous digressions, and the unlimited retrospect adverted to in his original address; he will however for the present, confine himself chronologically to objects associated with literature, &c. from the year (1770,) of his birth, and connected with the chain of his literary recollections.

In 1770, John Wilkes, after having been expelled the House of Commons, and confined for publishing No. 45, of the North Briton, was liberated upon giving security for his good behaviour for seven years. London was illuminated upon the occasion, and after the Committee of the bill of Rights had paid all his debts, the illumination was general throughout the kingdom. He had a short time before been elected a third time member for Middlesex, but his election was declared null and void by the Commons, although he had been returned by 1143 votes, against 296, given for his ministerial opponent, Colonel Luttrell, who was elected with only the latter number; this was deemed a most arbitrary proceeding. Mr. Wilkes was subsequently re-elected, but his return was declared of no avail. He was shortly after sworn in an Alderman of London. At a late period of his life, the author recollects him with his street dress-a scarlet coat, lined with