An Excursion to Windsor in July 1810, through Battersea ... and Hampton Court ... Also a Sail down the River Medway, July, 1811, from Maidstone ... to the Nore, upon the opening of the oyster beds. To which is annexed, A Journal of a Trip to Paris ... 1816, by way of Ostend ... and Waterloo,...

Front matter

AN IBxtmsion to Wlinbm, 4-c George Smaj.lfielp, Printer, Hackney AN lExcurj&fott to œtttirjgor, IN JULY, 1810, THROUGH BATTERSEA, PUTNEY, KEW, RICHMOND, TWICKENHAM, STRAWBERRY HILL, AND HAMP TON- COURT Interspersed with l&igtorical aid) Ufogtapftttal glncctiotcs, FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE RISING GENERATION*. WITH An Account of His Mvijesty's la.it Walks on the Terrace of Windsor Castle ALSO a S>ail fcobm t&e Ut'facr Jlteijfoajj, JULY, 1811, FROM MAIDSTONE TO ROCHESTER, AND FROM ROCHESTER TO THE NORE, Ul'ON THE OPENING OF THE OYSTER BEDS. By JOHN EV,ANS, A.M. Master of a Seminary for a Iimi ted Number of Flip. ls, Pullm's Row, Islington. To which is annexed. SI journal of a Œrtp to In the Autumn of 1816, BY WAV OF OSTEVD, BRUGES, GHENT, ANTWERP, BRUSSELS, AND WATERLOO. EMBELLISHED WITH WOOD CUTS By JOHV EVA ISS, Jun.

A. M. SonDon : PRINTED FOR SHERWOOD, NEELY AND JONES, NO. 20, PATER.-NOSTER BOW. 1817. TO JOHN LESLIE, F.R.S.E. PROFESSOR OF MATHEMATICS IN THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH, WHOSE DISTINGUISHED TALENTS ARE SEDULOUSLY DEVOTED TO THE INSTRUCTION OF YOUTH IN THE NOBLEST OF ALL THE SCIENCES, AND WHOSE LUMINOUS DISCOVERIES IN NATURAL PHILOSOPHY HAVE ENLARGED THE BOUNDARIES OF HUMAN KNOWLEDGE, THIS VOLUME IS, IN GRATEFUL RETURN FOR KIND ATTENTIONS TO HIS SON DURING THE COURSE OF HIS STUDIES AT THAT UNIVERSITY, MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED, BY THE AUTHOR.

Preface

. THE flattering reception of the Juvenile Tour ist, embracing- Excursions through the West of England, the Midland Counties, and the County of Kent, has induced the Author to comply with the request of his friends in producing-, on a similar plan, the present publication. That its execution has been so long delayed must be attributed to his professional engagements. The superintendence of a Seminary leaves only the leisure hour for the productions of the press, though consecrated, as they have in his case always been, to the service of the rising Generation. . *> No apology is offered by the Author for the numerous Biographical sketches found in the subsequent pages. The venerable Dead called up from their graves seem to pass before the eye a second VI

PREFACE.

. time, clothed afresh with the attributes of life and action, whilst to teach by example must be pro nounced the most powerful mode of instruction. The recurrence of so many eminent characters will not be met with in any other route of equal extent through out the British dominions ! The Philosopher and the Poet, the Politician and the Divine, here unite to form a constellation of worthies illusl rating the triumphs of Literature and txalling the glory of Civilized Humanity. Passing rich are the biographic annals of Albion — on the mighty scroll, sweeping through the long tract of centuries, are seen illumined — "Mar tyrs to her pure religion, Patriots expiring on the scaffolJ and iu the field for her laws and liberties, Wise Men deliberating in councils and courts of justice, Historians recording her virtues for universal example, Bards enshrining themselves in immortal numbers, and a host of Heroes defending her against an envious world !" * The Excursion to Windsor (in twelve Letters to * See the second Part of Armata, a * aluable Work ascribed to the pen of tbe justly celebrated Lord Erskine, and illustrative of the Constitution, Religion, Laws, Manners aud Customs of Great Britain.

PREFACE.

. VII a. Pupil) being made in 1810, and the Letters having been written at different times since that period, will account for certain anachronisms which the critical eye may notice. The decease of the Princess Amelia and the discovery of the bodies of Henry the Eighth and Charles the First, happening since the original Journey, were events too interesting to be omitted. No one fact, indeed, has been withheld which was deemed gratifying to the curiosity, or conducive to intellectual and moral improvement. It was the Author's singular felicity to visit Wi n dsor just before his Majesty, on account of his present lamentable indisposition, had retired from public view. He witnessed his evening walks on the Ter race not more than three months previous to the event. The scene was truly interesting — its vivid impression continues and will continue to the latest period of life.

Little, however, did he imagine that the emblazoned, though setting Orb of Majesty, was so soon to be withdrawn from that horizon which it had irradiated and gladdened for upwards of half a century ! The Frontispiece (see Letter the Tenth) was sketched at Windsor by the Author's eldest son, and has the merit of fidelity.

PREFACE.

. The two Letters to a Friend, delineating the Saii. down the River Medway, though similar as to their nature, are not exactly of the same description. The first pourtrays the humble pleasures of a little domestic party gliding along a romantic valley, not altogether unlike the charming Tempe of classical Greece; whilst the second exhibits, on a day of public festivity, the commemorative triumphs of the Corporate Body of one of the most ancient cities in the United Kingdom ! The valedictory reflections will not be found useless to lhe Rising Generation ; and the final paragraph has the sanction of Dr. Samuel Johnson, who, in his Rambler, has furnished his readers with a paper, entitled 77te Voyage of Life, abounding with topics of moral instruction — Wiib constant motion, as lhe moments glide, Behold in running Life the rolling tide * For none can stem by art, oi stop by pow'r, The flowing ocean, or the tleeting* hour • But wave by wave pursued arrives on shore, And each impellM behind impels before: So Time on Time revolving we descry, So miuutes follow, and so minutes fly !

OVID. The sage moralist, with all his repulsive asperities, exercised a hallowed vigilance over the combined and closely-allied interests of virtue and piety.

PREFACE.

. IX The Journal ofa Trip to Paris, embellished with Wood Cuts, from designs by its Juvenile Author, who committed his ideas to paper, without the remotest view to publication, inculcates this useful lesson upon all citizens, — that a Briton wandering through foreign climes never fails to return back with a keener relish for the natural beauties, and with a more just appreciation of the moral advantages attaching to his native country — Realms of this Globe ! that ever circling run, And rise alternate to embrace the sun ; Shall I with envy at my lot repine, Because I boast so small a portion Mine ? If e'er in thought of Andalusia's vines, Golconda's jewels or Potosi's mines, In these or those if vanity forgot The humbler blessings of my little cot — Then may the stream that murmurs near my door, The waving grove that loves the mazy shore, Withhold each soothing pleasure that they gave, No longer murmur and no longer wave !

Langhorne. Whilst the multifarious contents of the Volume ensure its variety, the Author hopes, that the execution of his plan, enlivened by the introduction of Poetical Extracts, will subserve the purpose which

PREFACE.

. X he has had in view throughout all his Publications, with respect to Young People, of promoting their knowledge, establishing their virtue and augmenting their piety. Youth of both sexes — are the Men and Women of the next generation, becoming, under the salutary auspices of a well-regulated and appropriate Education, the ornament, the strength, the very bulwark of the community ! Nor let the Instructor of Youth be wearied with the good work in which he is engaged — but tremu lously watch their progress towards maturity. The Sower scatters his seed with an unsparing hand — the the furrows are closed, and the vegetable treasure is apparently entombed for ever. But the kindly sun, shedding its beams, and the rain descending in ferti lizing showers — soon the latent energies of the buried store shoot forth in every direction — till at length the husbandman anticipates and hails the fair-coming Harvest ! In such a Vineyard, the humblest labourer fails not of his reward. Puliin's Row, Islington, August 4, 1817. dmtrSt-oit to SSlittintor, Sa. &rt.

Letter I

i^ATTBltSEA ; SITUATION; BHUNEL's MANUFACTORY*, LORD BOL- INGBROKE; HIS HISTORY, CHARACTER-, AND WRITINGS; ITS CHURCH, DISSENTING PLACE OP WORSHIP, HORIZONTAL MILL ; WANDSWORTH; POPULATION, AND MANUFACTURES; FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ; SIR JOHN BARNARD ; MAYOR OF CAR RAT ; PUTNEY; ITS POPULATION AND HISTORY ; PUTNEY COM- MON WITH ITS OBELISK ; WILLIAM PITT ; HIS HISTORY*, DEATH, CHARACTER; ROEHAMPTON; ROBERT WOOD THE CLASSICAL TRAVELLER, ESPECIALLY TO GREECE; EDWARD GIBBON; HIS HISTORY, HIS WORKS, WITH HAYLEY'S ODE AND STANZAS; HIS DEATH, HIS CHARACTER J AN ESTIMATE OF TIIE NATURE AND TENDENCY OK HIS WRITINGS. ANECDOTE OP G1ERO.V UESPECTING THE DUCHESS OF DEVONSHIRE. CONCLUSION. Islington, July 1810. MY DEAR YOUNG FRIEND, INSTEAD of visiting the sea-side or of paying my respects to my Relatives in the Principality of Wales, I determined to pass, during this Summer Vacation, a Week with my little family at Windsor.

Accord ingly at nine o'Clock in the morning we Ief„ Islington, ten of us, in two post chaises, including myself, Mrs. Evans, our four Sons, and four West Indians env, BATTERSEA. BRUNEL's MANUFACTORY. trusted to my care for education. We passed over that beautiful specimen of human art Blackfiiars' Bridge, towards the Obelisk in St. George's Fields, then turning to the right directed our route through Battersea, Wandtworth, Putney, Barnes, Mort lake, Richmond, Twickenham to Hampton Court. The day was fine ; nor was the road either too dusty or too crowded. We bowled along with an even and steady pace. The majestic river Thames soon pre sented his smooth expanse to view, while small vessels were seen here and there, bearing towards the Metropolis, the treasures of the more inland parts of the country.

On the the right we quickly perceived the little pleasant village of Battersea, situated on the margin of the Thames, as well as distinguished on every side for miles around, by the tapering spire of its church and its horizontal windmill. Manufactories and distille ries are here seen in every direction. The manufactory of the modest and persevering Mr. Brunei, is well worth attention. His machinery is the subject of geneial admiration. His wonderful apparatus in the dock yard at Portsmouth, I inspected some time ago with unmingled pleasure. On no other occasion have I witnessed t.'ie Six Mechanic Powers so variously combined, so ingeniously diversified. Nor has the operation of this machinery been confined to one object; here it descends even to the making of shoes. liacb shoe passes through twenty-five hands, one hundred pair are produced each day, the operators LORB BOLINGBROKE. 3 are wounded soldiers, who perform the several details with precision and accuracy.

The distillery in the possession of Mr. Hodgson, add marked by the horizontal windmill, stands on the premises of the ancient mansion belonging to the Bolingbroke family. Here it was, therefore, that the celebrated Lord Bolingbroke resided; tlje companion of Pope, and whose name frequently oc curs in the annals of Great Britain. At Battersea he was bora, 1672, and died at Battersea, 1751, in the 79lh", year of his age. Educated at Eton, he from thence went o Oxford. Graceful in his person, and winning in his address, he soon distinguished himself. He became Secretaiy of War, during the period of the Duke of Malborough's successes.—- For negotiating the Treaty of Utrecht, he was threatened with an im peachment, on the accession of George I. , and retired to France. Here he engaged himself in the interest of the Pretender.

His new master being unsuccessful in the Rebellion of 1715, he discharged him from the post of Secretaryship which he had conferred upon him, threatening him with an impedchment. Thus, Lord Bolingbroke had the singular fortune of having been in the same office, under a real and under a mock sovereign, and having been dismissed in both instances with the same tokens of displeasure ! In France he, under those novel circumstances, wrote Reflections on Exile, in which he endeavoured to suggest topics of consolation, upon the ground of unmerited suffering. b LORD BOLINGBROKE's WRITINGS. In 1723, Lord Bolingbroke obtained his Majesty's full pardon, and returned to England. Having his family inheritance restored to him, which he had lost by attainder, he purchased a rural spot near Uxbridge, whence addressing himself to Dean Swift, he says — " I am in my farm, and here I shoot strong and tenacious roots. — I have caught hold of the earth, to use the gardener's phrase, and neither my enemies nor my friends will find it an easy matter to transplant me again.'' However, there was still rankling in his breast a spirit of discontentment.

Not having been restored to the House of Lords, and conceiving the Minister, Walpole, the cause of it, he commenced against him a violent career of opposition. This warfare he carried on for ten years ; but again withdrew to France. His father, who was created Viscount St. John, during his son's exile, dying — the son returned and settled at Battersea, where he passed the remainder of his life. He was the author of A Letter on the true Use of Retirement and Study ; of Letters on the Study and Use of History ; and also of Let ters on the Spirit of Patriotism, and the Idea of a Patriot King ; as well as of other publications. As a Political Writer, he employed his pen on topics of temporary interest, with a few exceptions ; and as a Philosophical Moralist, he appears to advantage in Pope's Essay on Man; of which celebrated Poem, the plan and design are avowedly his, and also some of the illustrations.

Nor is there a finer passage in all the Poet's Works than the concluding, encomiast LORD BOLINGBROKE'S WILL. address to his Lordship. 'Having introduced the poem with these two lines : — Awake, my St. John ! Leave all meaner things To low Ambition, and thc pride of Kings ! — the Poet pursues his subject with inimitable beauty, till he finally bursts forth into the well-known, animated apostrophe : — Come then, my Friend, my Genius, come along, Oh Master of the Poet and the Song ! Oh while along the stream of time thy nam< Expanded flies, and gathers all its fame; Say, shall my little Bark attendant sail, Pursue the triumph, and partake the gale? When Statesmen, Heroes, Kings in dust repose, Whose sons shall blush their Fathers were thy foes, Shall then this verse to future age pretend Thou wert my Guide, Philosopher and Friend?

That, urg'd by thee, I turn'd the tuneful art From sounds to things, from fancy to the heArt ; For Wit's false mirror held up Nature's light, Shew'd Pride whatever is — is right; That Reason, Passion, answer one great aim ; That true Self-love and Social are the same ; That Virtue only makes our bliss below, And all our knowledge is Ourselves to know ? By Will he left his manuscripts to Mr. David Mallet, who, in 1754, published " The Works of the late Right Hon. Henry St. John Viscount Bolingbroke, complete, in 5 Vols. 4to." A considerable part is occupied by Letters or Essays addressed to Alexan der Pope Esquire, on Religion and Philosophy. His Lordship pours out a violent philippic against LORD BOLINGBROKE. WHITFIELD. Revealed Religion, and its Ministers are abused with out mercy. Warburton and others made an ample reply to the pernicious contents of this posthumous publication.

As Bolingbroke on the mother's side was related to the Puritans, there is a report that his dislike to Religion arose from a good Presbyterian uncle making the nephew read a series of dull sermons, on each verse of the 119th Psalm, every Sunday evening ! Be this as it may, politicians are too apt to consider religion in no other view than a slate-engine, contrived to agitate the fears, and by this means to keep the people in subjection. Whitfield somewhere in his works remarks — " I had the other evening the honour of Lord Bolingbroke for an auditor ; there he sat in a chair with all the dignity of an Archbishop ; and when I came down from the pulpit after the service, he bowed and said, ' 1 thank you, Sir ; you have handled the moral attributes of the Deity well !' " This was a handsome compliment; for the moral attributes of the Deity are not always " handled well."

Ministers of every denomination ought to hold them up, on every occasion, in a manner honourable to the character of the Supreme Being, for their operation is eminently conducive to the present and ultimate felicity of mankind. For the sake of young people, it may be necessary to conclude this account of Lord Bolingbroke, with Dr. Hugh Blair's character of his Works .—" Though I may have recourse to this author sometimes for examples of style, it is his style only and not his sentiments that deserve praise. An unhappy instance this author LORD BOLINGBROKE'S INSCRIPTION. 7 is, of parts and genius so miserably perverted by faction and passion that, as his memory will descend to posterity with little honour, so his productions will soon pass and are, indeed, already passing into neg lect and oblivion/' Battersea has a neat little church, with a monument to Bolingbroke, executed by Roubilliac; and his remains lie interred in a vault belonging to the family.

The inscription on the monument runs thus : — , Here lies Henry St. John, In the reign of Queen Anne, Secretary of War, Secretary of Slate, and Viscount Bolingbroke : In the days of King George I.- and King George tl. something more and belter. — His attachment to Queen Anne Exposed him to a long and severe persecution : He bore it with flrmness of mind. He passed the latter pail of his time at home, The enemy of no national party, The friend of no faction. Distinguished (under the cloud of proscription, Wliich had not then been entirely taken off) By zeal to maintain the Liberty, And to restore the ancient Prosperity, Of Great Britain. He died 12th of December, 1751, iiged 79. Oliver Goldsmith has canvassed the merits and de merits of Lord Bolingbroke in an interesting piece of biography.

BIBLE SOCIETY. HORIZONTAL WINDMILL. Here is also a Dissenting place of worship, where officiates the Rev. Joseph Hughes, one of the active and indefatigable Secretaries of The Bible Society. With him, indeed, the idea of the Institution orginated. To the honour of the age be it recorded, that every Denomination has united (with the exception of a few narrow bigots), to patronize a Society which, regardless of the petty distinctions of party, has for its object the promotion of the best interests of mankind. It has worn down, even in its ordinary progression, the ungracious protuberances of bigotry, and promoted a spirit of candour, and of love, which is at once the badge and glory of our common Christianity. The Horizontal Windmill at Battersea, is so con spicuous an object, that it must not be passed over in silence.

It stands, as I have already observed, on the scite of the old mansion belonging to the Bolingbroke family. The height of the mill is 140 feet ; the outer part consists of ninety-six shutters 80 feet high and 9 inches broad, which, by the pulling of a rope, open and shut in the manner of Venetian blinds! The main shaft of the mill is the centre of a large circle formed by the sails, which consist of ninety-six dou ble planks, placed perpendicularly, and of the same height as the planks that form the shutters. The wind rushing through acts upon the sails, and blowing fresh, turns the mill with prodigious rapidity. This may be moderated by lessening the apertures till the force be annihilated. The mill, grinds malt for the distillery. It was constructed after Hooper's Mill at WANDSWORTH. Margate ; one more only of the kind is to be found — in tbe Uuited States of America !

Wandsivorth which we reach next, contains seven hundred houses and four thousand inhabitants; it stands on the Wandle, in the hundred of Brixton, Surry. It is six miles from London. Nearly one thousand of the inhabitants were lately returned as employed in various trades ; particularly in calico printing, bolting-cloths for flour mills, distilleries, &c. The latter, belonging to Messrs. Bush & Co., are well known for their extent and respectability. The church is a modern edifice attached lo an ancient tower, with a small remetry. Some French Refugees settled here in the course of the last century. In 1787, a Quakers' Meeting was erected ; and here are two schools of that persuasion. The town is situated be tween two eminences denominated East Hill and West Hill, over which are scattered Gentlemen's houses.

Hence is a delightful view of the Thames, between the bridges of Putney and Battersea ; whilst the two churches of Putney and Fulham are seen to the left embosomed as it were in woods ; with a distant view of Harrow on the hill, as well as Hampstead and High gate on the right; the whole forming a scene of picturesque beauty. I should have mentioned, that in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, some of the leading Puritans seeing no prospect of Reformation by tbe Legislature, agreed to attempt it in a more private way ; for this purpose they erected a Presbytery at Wandsworth, convenib3 SIR JOHN BARNARD. ently situated for the London brethren, as standing on the banks of the river Thames. Eleven Elders were chosen, and their offices described in a register entitled The Orders of Wandsworth. This was the first Presbyterian church in England.

It was at Wandsworth also that the patriotic citizen Sir John Barnard received his education. This Little Man, adored by the Common Hall, was for many years an active member of the Corporation of London. He served the City in Parliament for nearly forty years ; and opposed most strenuously Sir Robert Walpole, especially in his plan of introducing the Excise into this country. He died in 1764 ; and in the Royal Exchange the citizens have gratefully placed a statue to his memory. He was knighted by George the Second ; but this mark of Court favour, did not induce him to swerve from his steady line of patriotic duty. He always gloried in his independence, owing, to the free choice of his constituents, his place in the House of Commons. He therefore abhorred every species of corruption and bribery.

He died at an advanced age, and lies interred at Mortlake. He appears to have been a true lover of his country. In the vicinity of Wandsworth, is the hamlet of Garratt, known for its mock Election on the recur rence of a new Parliament. Foote, in 1763, produced a farce, called the Mayor of Garratt, which afforded his comic genius an opportunity of caricaturing several public characters of the day. The origin of the Mayor and Members of Garratt may be thus explained ;— MAYOR OF GARRATT. PUTNEY. 11 About fifty years ago, some persons, who lived near that part of Wandsworth which adjoins Garratt-lane, had formed a kind of club, not merely to eat and drink, but to concert measures for removing the encroachments made on that part of the common. As the members were most of them persons of low cir cumstances, they agreed at every meeting to contribute a trifle in order to make up a purse for the defence of their collective rights.

When a sufficient sum of money was subscribed, they applied to a worthy attorney in the neighbourhood, who brought an action in the name of the President (or, as they called him, the Mayor) of the club against the incroachers. They gained their suit, with costs. The incroachments were destroyed ; and, ever after, the President, who lived many years, was called " The Mayor of Garratt !" This event happening at the time of a General Election, the ceremony, upon every new Parliament, of choosing out-door Members for the borough of Garratt has been constantly kept up, and is still continued to the emolument of all the publicans at Wandsworth, who annually subscribe to the incidental expenses of this mock election ! Putney, a few miles further on, and nearer the river Thames, is sejferated by a bridge from Fulham.

It contains six hundred houses, and two thousand inhabitants. The church, an old Gothic structure, has at the east end a curious chapel, the roof of which is adorned with rich tapestry. This place gave birth to the un fortunate Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, whose 1'- OBELISK. MR. HARTLEY'S FIRE-PLATES. father was a blacksmith ! But Honour and shame from no condition rise; Act .veil your part — there all the honour lies rope. In the year 1647, Putney was made the head-quarters of Oliver Cromwell ; and his military councils were held in the Church, around the Communion Table! Upon Putney Common, in 1786, was raised an Obelisk, covered with inscriptions. The side to wards the road informs us that it was erected 110 years after the Fire of London, on the anniversary of the dreadful event, and in memory of an invention for the securing of buildings from the ravages of the merciless conflagration !

This alludes to a house ad joining, three stories high, and two rooms on a floor, built by David Hartley, Esq. with fire-plates between the cielings and floors. Six experiments were made in the year 1776; one in particular, when their Ma jesties and some of the Royal Family were in a room over the ground floor while the apartment beneath was burning with the utmost fury! The remaining in scriptions merely record that the House of Commons, in 1774, granted Mr. Hartley €2,500 for this invention ; and that the Court of Common Council shewed their gratitude by conferring upon the ingenious author the freedom of the City. Rewards the most liberal ought not to be withheld, when the head devises, and the hand executes, plans conducive to the happiness of mankind. DESTRUCTION OF THE WORLD. 13 The element of Fire is the grand instrument of the Almighty in the accomplishment of some of his pur poses towards man in various parts of his widely-ex tended creation.

Indescribable is its utility in the great laboratory of Nature. But, when it exceeds proper bounds, its ravages are awful, and apparently interminable. The Burning of Carthage and the Fire of London were spectacles of overwhelming sublimity. How interesting the description of Ovid, when the madness and folly of Phaeton had kindled up one general conflagration ! But why refer to Heathen My thology ? The destruction of the world by the element of Fire is the subject of Prophecy in the Sacred Writings. The too near approach of a Comet, or the eruption of the vast mass of combustible materials concealed in the bowels of the earth, are tbe probable means of accomplishment. Its Creator will become its Destroyer — then, indeed, will be the end of the World But who of woman born may paint the hour When seiz'd in his mid course the Sun shall wane, Making Noon ghastly '.—Who of woman born May image how the red-ey'd Fiend, outstretcht Beneath th' unsteady feet of Nature, groans In fcv'rish slumbers — destin'd then to wake, When fiery whirlwinds thunder his great name, Destruction .' when thc sons of Morning shout, The Angels shout, Destruction .' How his arm The last great Spirit lifting high in air Shall swear by Him, the Everlasting One, Time is no more !

COLERIDGE WILLIAM PITT. At Putney, William Pitt, the celebrated Premier, breathed his last, January 23d, 1806, in the 47th year of his age. He was the second son of the eloquent Earl of Chatham, who bestowed much pains on his education, and then sent him to Cambridge. Bred to the. Bar, he went once or twice on the Western Circuit. In 1781 he became Member of the House of Commons, and was a strenuous advocate for the reform of Parliament. In Dec. 1783, and when only twenty-four years of age, he was constituted Prime Minister ! He distinguished himself in 1788, during the Regency occasioned by the first indisposition of his Majesty. But it was in the commencement and progress of the war against Revolutionary France that Mr. Pitt took a very conspicuous part, and the failure of some of his favourite plans respecting this contest is thought to have facilitated his retirement.

He resigned his post in February, 1801, carrying with him the gratitude of the party which had supported him, and by which he was denominated " the Pilot who had weathered the storm !" This was said with reference to his domestic politics, by which he was supposed to have prevented a revolution in this country. The Peace of Amiens soon followed, under the Ad dington ministry ; — but, alas ! war quickly reared its head, and raged with its accustomed fury. Mr. Pitt, on some points, joined the Opposition; but, in 1804, he again took his post at the Treasury. He engaged the two great military Powers of Russia and Austria in a new confederacy against France ; but the battle WILLIAM PITT. 15 of Austerlitz put an end to his hopes and expectations ! This is reported to have affected him much, as well as a parliamentary attack on his intimate associate Lord Melville.

And, in the opinion of some persons, both these events accelerated his death. An hereditary gout was making its ravages on his constitution In the autumn of 1805 his health rapidly declined, and during the month of December he visited Bath ; but the waters of that celebrated place had no beneficial effect on a frame reduced to extreme debility. His return (so weak as to he four days on the road) was soon followed by his dissolution. His tutor and friend, the Bishop of Lincoln, attended him in his last moments, and published an interesting account of the melancholy event. Among other things, Mr. Pitt assured the Bishop that it had ever been his wish to act rightly, but that he was very sensible of many errors and failures, declaring that he was perfectly resigned to the will of God — felt no enmity towards any, and died in peace with all mankind !