"Advt.—DOG AND DUCK SPA AND BATH, St. Georges Fields.—J. Hedger respectfully informs the Public, that the Gardens of the above Spa are open for the reception of those who wish to drink the Waters on the spot, at the usual terms of 3d. each person. The general salubrity of this Spa is well known: and its happy medicinal effects in Scorbutic, Scrophulous, and eruptive Complaints: as well as in the Gravel, and several other Disorders, have been long and incontestibly established. It will be sent to any part of the town in bottles, corked and sealed at the pump, on receiving orders as above. The Bath and Bowling Green are also open to Subscribers."—(Times, May 26, 1795.)

"Many persons were yesterday not a little terrified by St. Paul's clock striking 10 three times within an hour, expecting every moment, that Mr. Brothers's prophecy was about to be fulfilled, which had appointed some dreadful calamity to befal the City of London before the 4th day of June instant."—(Times, June 4, 1795.)

"It is with infinite pleasure we hear, that the Bishops in their respective dioceses, in conjunction with the opulent pluralists and other beneficed Clergy, are advancing the stipends, and making contributions, for their necessitous Curates, in these times of scarcity. A liberality (or rather an act of justice) which most probably originated with the Bishop of London, who declared in his Charge to the Clergy of his dioceses, as long since as the year 1790, that he would licence no Curate to a single church under £50, nor to two under £70 per an."—(Times, Aug. 13, 1795.)

"That practical bulls are not confined to Ireland, take the following specimen: A tradesman of this city, out of charity, took a French boy into his family, who was sent out one evening in a great hurry for butter. His haste threw him into the kennel, butter and all. This was an unfortunate mishap: the dirt he could scrape off, but that partial adhesion of water to grease could not so easily be removed. At last he hit upon an experiment: The maid was bawling out for the butter—'Well, well,' quoth Jaques, 'you shall have it quickly. I had the misfortune to wet it, and have just hung it up on a string, before the great stove—it will be dry in a moment, for it dripped before I came away.'"—(Times, Aug. 21, 1795.)

"What would our forefathers have thought to see a board with this inscription:—'With the nicest taste, and by men most exquisite for their professional abilities' over a Barber's shop?"—(Times, Aug. 21, 1795.)

—(Times, Aug. 27, 1795.)

"In an advertisement addressed to a young lady who has eloped, she is most earnestly requested to return to her most disconsolate parents: but it is added, that if she does not choose to come herself, she is most particularly desired to send the key of the tea chest!"—(Times, Sept. 4, 1795.)

"The grand match of Cricket, for one thousand guineas, between Kent and All England, was some days since terminated at Dandelion,[21] in favour of Kent."—(Times, Sept. 15, 1795.)

"A Clergyman in Essex, who had long farmed his tythes alternately among his parishioners, began at last to suspect that the rogues endeavoured to keep the income of his small living still less, and so determined, this year at least, to take his tythes in kind. To 'Cheat the Parson' is one of the oldest jokes in the history of agriculture, and stands on the same authority with the wittier malevolence of distressing him. These gentlemen, determined not to be behindhand with their predecessors: and, in the last harvest, sent to the Parson to take away his hay the moment it was cut down, alleging, that as soon as it was cut into swathes, it was no longer grass, and that he might turn it, and cook it, himself. Rather than 'go to law' the Parson submitted, and took his next Sunday's text on brotherly kindness, beginning thus—'Brotherly kindness may be divided into three parts—domestic affection—social love—and charity: from all which proper inferences may be drawn for instruction. Thus brethren, I give you a sermon in swathes—you may turn it, and cook it, yourselves.' The plan succeeded; his parishioners doubled the income, acknowledging it even then less than it should be: and thus, what justice, and law, might have kept from him for years, was given up to a clerical joke."—(Times, Sept. 19, 1795.)

"A curious circumstance occurred here (Brighton) yesterday. Sir John Lade, for a trifling wager, undertook to carry Lord Cholmondely, on his back, from opposite the Pavilion, twice round the Steine. Several ladies attended to be spectators of this extraordinary feat of the dwarf carrying a giant. When his Lordship declared himself ready, Sir John desired him to strip. 'Strip!' exclaimed the other: 'why surely you promised to carry me in my clothes!' 'By no means,' replied the Baronet. 'I engaged to carry you, but not an inch of clothes. So therefore, my Lord, make ready, and let us not disappoint the ladies.' After much laughable altercation, it was at length decided that Sir John had won his wager, the Peer declining to exhibit in puris naturalibus."—(Times, Oct. 2, 1795.)

"Nobody can doubt of the use and advantage of Boarding-Schools in an immense capital like this. When a Tradesman's daughter is taught to jump a dance, to play a tune, and spit French, she is fit for any thing—but a wife."—(Times, Oct. 17, 1795.)

"An amiable great lady, though very accomplished in the English language, now and then makes some innocent mistakes. She lately asked Lady Jersey if her child would not like new milk?"—(Times, Nov. 23, 1795.)

"A Gentleman lamenting the robbery committed at Mr. Erskine's house last week, after enquiring the particulars, said, he 'hoped none of the Family were alarmed?' 'No,' replied Mr. E., 'but I wish they had.'"—(Times, Dec. 23, 1795.)

"The name of Merchant of London will be as common in London as in France. A fellow who keeps a caricature shop in Oxford-Road, has the impudence to write in large characters against his house, Caricature Merchant.

"We think the Magistrates are deficient in their duty, when they permit such a number of obscene prints to be exposed in their windows. It is well known that some of them have likewise rooms in their houses, where they expose those prints to debauch the rising generation, and have agents at the public seminaries, where they introduce them among the boys."—(Times, Dec. 25, 1795.)

"The Confectioners begin to tremble from the fear that there will not be frost enough to enable them to lay in a stock of ice sufficient for the consumption of the ensuing summer. Ice is become so much a necessary of life in this climate, that the Island has not always produced a sufficient quantity for the supply of the inhabitants, and many vessels sent to Norway have returned freighted with this new luxury. How would Queen Elizabeth's Maids of Honour have stared at iced oranges after a hot dinner? They would probably have given them the same emphatical appellation with a late English Admiral—painted snow balls."—(Times, Jan. 22, 1796.)

"The vast estate of the Duke of Portland, in Marybone, cost his ancestors, about 100 years ago, but £9000; and the estate of Mr. Berners, (all the streets about the Middlesex Hospital) now £6000 a year, were in the year 1730, at a rental of £330 a year."—(Times, Jan. 25, 1796.)

"The Balls at Southampton are exceedingly lively, and well-attended. The young Ladies are particularly favourable to a German Dance, called the Volse: for squeezing, hugging, &c., it is excellent in its kind, and more than one Lady has actually fainted in the middle of it."—(Times, Feb. 19, 1796.)

"Thirteen thousand, five hundred vessels, freighted with property, to the value of between 60, and 70, millions sterling, sailed from, and arrived at, the port of London, in the course of a year."—(Times, Aug. 29, 1796.)

"Campus Nautica may be sailor-latin for a pleasant exhibition, though not quite concordical. A sailor at Oxford some time ago, wished to prove the whole University to be sailor-like, and he managed it in this way. 'The Gownsmen are Puppes, the Tradesmen are Naves, and the women are nautœ.' What though the puns don't quite spell, they are not less true for all that."—(Times, Feb. 29, 1796.)

"Lately died, in Scotland, James Anderson, a well-known itinerant tinker, at the astonishing age of 114, after carrying his budget since his 14th year."—(Times, March 12, 1796.)

"We learn from Chester, that the Grand Jury at Conway Assizes found an Indictment against the Bishop of Bangor, his Agent, Chaplain, and two other Divines, for a riot; and also another Bill against the Bishop for an assault!!!"—(Times, April 5, 1796.)

"There was a Bank Note came into the Bank the other day, the interest of which, calculated from the time it had been in circulation, amounted to more than £4300."—(Times, April 26, 1796.)

"Mrs. Mills had fourteen rooms open at her famous Rout and Supper, in Piccadilly, the other night. The bill for green-peas was seventy-five pounds."—(Times, May 18, 1796.)

"At one of Lady B——'s elegant Entertainments at Ham-Common, amongst other amusements provided for her refined company, were a pig with a soaped-tail and a smock-race. A Great Number of young women were collected by curiosity, but none of them could be prevailed upon to contend for the last prize. They declared ingenuously, that they only came for curiosity, as they thought her Ladyship and her Company were to run for it."—(Times, June 29, 1796.)

"'I should like to be an emigré,' said Mr. V——n the other day. 'Why so?' answered a gentleman present. 'Because,' he replied, 'the emigrants are the only people in town who know how to amuse themselves.'

"And surely nothing can exceed the refined elegance of the balls given by some of the emigrated Ladies, where the widows of twenty guillotined poor souls, trip the merry country-dance with all the swiftness of a fairy. We must, however, observe that these eminent dancers disdain the name of emigrées, and call themselves Americaines, from the property they possess in the West Indies, in order to avoid the reproach of thus squandering the superfluities of their incomes, which would be better employed in comforting so many unfortunate families, driven from their own country."—(Times, Aug. 1, 1796.)

"A DAY AT MARGATE.

"Rose at seven; went to Sayer's Bathing House, set my name down on the slate: took a walk on the Pier. Came back and waited a quarter of an hour, then bathed. Not a little delighted with the idea of realising in some degree la theorie des sentimens agreables by dipping in the same ocean with the sea nymphs from the City. Returned to my lodgings to dress for breakfast. Finding nobody in the Coffee-room, went back to the Pier, arrived at the happy moment, just as a hoy was vomiting out its sick: witnessed, as Peter Paragraph says, the Queen of France abuse, like a drab of Drury, one of the passengers. The case seemed a strong one, and well made out on the part of the Lady, but produced, as far as I saw, no conviction.

"Went to breakfast at Benson's, having first called at the Post-Office, and found not sorted on the door: eat my shilling's worth, one buttered roll, one dry toasted, and one cold ditto: heard who had won, or lost, at whist, and billiards, the night before; read the newspapers, and wrote a letter. Went over the way to Silver's library, who at my request gave me the choice of three rides, observing, that I might take a little of each by going round by Kingsgate, the North Foreland, and Broadstairs to Ramsgate, then crossing over to the Camp, and figuring in by Dandelion. 'What a charming General' (said I) 'spoilt in a Toyman. How you understand tactics, Mr. Silver!' 'Used to it all my life, Sir,' (said he with a pleasing flippancy) 'plan rides for the company daily all over the Island.' Set out with the carte du pays in my pocket: visited all the places in it, and finished with the cricket match, and the place of the public breakfast. Heard a lady say she had won two lotteries, and saw Tom Lord run without winning a notch. Went to the ordinary in the gardens at 6s. 6d. a head, for cold chicken, and roast lamb, with a haunch of venison given by a Noble Lord, who, very kindly, having helped himself to the first slice, sent it on. The heat on the cricket ground was intense. I was sorry I did not bring my white hat: but a remedy was at hand, as I learnt afterwards, if I had been ingenious enough to have tied a white handkerchief round the crown of my black one. Having finished my second breakfast, I rode home to dine at Margate. The green where the breakfast was, was much cooler than the burning cricket field, having the advantage of being shaded by the trees in the garden at its back; but I found I was out of luck, as there was no dancing, and, indeed, at the public breakfast, it sometimes happens, that the wagtails, and the yellow-hammers from the Capital are so numerous, and frisky, that the humming birds, the cockatoos, and the birds of Paradise of the higher order won't always hop with them. Got back to Margate on my pony, for which I was to pay 18d. a side, and thought as I rode along on the sands, where I should dine. The boarding houses were all open to me, on paying for a week, or one guinea. This was a great temptation: but having been offered a party at the Bowling green, on Prospect Place, I conceived this to be a better thing, on account of the humours of the loaded pigeon, and the fun of the canting machine, and the fireworks at night. I accordingly rode to my lodgings to dress, and went immediately to dinner. After dinner proceeded to the libraries, where the raffling lists were filling fast: was induced to throw in my shillings at Silver's and Were's: from thence passed on to Wood's, Surflen's, and Garner's. At Surflen's heard music, and several favourite glees: from thence to the playhouse, where I was invited to the rehearsal of a new piece, which was to be full of good things, if it had been suffered to be represented. It was now time to go to supper: I accordingly returned to the Coffee House, and from thence to the Billiard Room, where there was a violent cry of swindler, black-legs, and pickpocket, at which Mrs. Benson interfered, whilst her husband walked coolly up and down the Piazza, not venturing to intrude. The obnoxious person being turned out, and order restored, I retired at one o'clock in the morning.

EPHEMERIS."

—(Times, Oct. 2, 1795.)

Advt.

—(Times, June 17, 1796.)

"RAMSGATE. (Extract of a letter.)

"Our early season has already begun, and those who are fond of cheap lodgings, have made their appearance hirundine primâ. I assure you, we have City Misses here at this moment, each of whom, in the vain idea of rising 'A new born Goddess from the Sea' sowces into salt water every morning. Our company is of the greater sort. We have Mrs. Deputy Plumb, with her naked daughters, who have scarce more cloathing than a fig leaf on them, and imitate their great grand-dame Eve in much more even than that. Then we have Mrs. Pop from Whitechapel. She came down in state in her own job-coach, which was loaded so full with unredeemed Articles for family wear, that her dear pledges of domestic Love, her daughters, who are the very duplicate of herself, in delicacy and beauty, were forced to come in the Hoy. But she vows it is so shocking to her feelings, that they never shall ride down no more in that nasty sort of water conveyance, though she should spend upon their luxury and elegance ten, out of that thirty per cent., which she grinds from the necessitous miseries of hard-earned industry. Then we have three learned Ladies, who, after the great fatigues of novel-writing in the winter, have retired hither to display themselves to the vast pleasure, and edification, of some ancient enamoratus, who would not yield to Old Q himself in pretensions to gallantry. In truth, we begin to look gaily, early as it is: and I would that the salt-water, for the benefit of the Pops, and the Plumbs, who frequent our watering places, could as easily wash away the mud of vulgarity, and affectation, from their hearts, as it does the rouge from their faces."—(Times, July 8, 1796.)

"BRIGHTON.—The Prince and Princess of Wales's arrival has been talked of much in London; but as yet we have no signs of it here. The Duke and Duchess of Marlborough pass their time in a very retired manner indeed. His Grace walked for some time yesterday evening upon the Steyne; the company consisted chiefly of opulent Jews, needy fortune hunters, broken-down Cyprians, fishermen's daughters, and several fat city-dowdies, from the environs of Norton Folgate. Her Grace commands the Play on Friday evening, which will be her first appearance in public here for this season. The Officers of the Blues are the great dashers of the place: they associate with no one but their own Corps. The most of them keep their blood-horses, their curricles, and their girls. At one o'clock they appear on the parade, to hear the word of command given to the Subaltern Guard: afterwards they toss off their goes of brandy, dine about five, and come about eight to the Theatre, Vivent L'Amour et Bacchus."—(Times, July 13, 1796.)

"Yesterday a curious cricket match was played at Montpelier Gardens, between 11 of the Greenwich Pensioners, wanting an arm each, against the same number of their fellow sufferers with each a wooden leg. Not fewer than 5000 people were assembled on the occasion, who were highly entertained with the exertions of the old veterans of the ocean, who never acted against their most inveterate enemy with more energy, each party striving to quit the field victorious. The evening coming on, the contest could not be decided, but it was so much in favour of the Timber toes, as never to be recovered by the dint of Arms."—(Times, Aug. 10, 1796.)

"On Wednesday morning the 11 men with one arm, and 11 men with but one leg, were brought by three Greenwich stages engaged for that purpose, to the new Cricket Ground, the back of the Montpelier Tea Gardens, Walworth, when the match was played out, and the men, with one leg, beat the one arms, by 103 runnings. After the match was finished, the eleven one-legged men ran a race of 100 yards distance, for 20 Guineas, and the first three had prizes."—(Times, Aug. 12, 1796.)

"A new embankment of the River, on the Middlesex shore, from Westminster to Chelsea, is just commencing, to prevent the encroachments which are making almost daily."—(Times, Aug. 20, 1776.)

"On Tuesday morning, a young whale came up the River as far as Rotherhithe, and was killed near Execution Dock after having overset two boats. It measured 19 feet in length."—(Times, Aug. 25, 1796.)

"This day, the Publicans in the Metropolis, and its vicinity, have, conformable to an agreement amongst themselves, withdrawn from the Public the accommodation of finding them Pewter Pots, agreeable to a long established custom, which will, of course, occasion great inconvenience to workmen of every description, who are employed in raising buildings, repairing houses, &c.; as well as lodgers, and, even, to many respectable families. The profits upon Porter, for a length of time, have been very considerable, which proves itself beyond a doubt, by their acknowledging, in a Bill left at the houses of their customers, that they, collectively, sustain a loss, annually, of; £100,000 per annum, in Pots, which, by no means, could have been afforded, were not their returns somewhat enormous. Under that idea, it is presumed, having availed themselves of an opportunity, no longer to be liable to losses of that kind, in future, they will, as a recompence to the Public, make a reduction in price of the necessary article of Porter."—(Times, Sept. 2, 1796.)

"The late determination of several of the Publicans, to alter the established mode of serving their outdoor customers, with quart, and pint pots, seems to have been copied from an old resolution of a certain Borough, which ran thus: 'Resolved, that the best means of preserving our lamps from being broken, is to take them down by night, and put them up in the day.' Such of the Publicans as have come into this new regulation, seem to estimate the loss of a few pots, beyond that of the most respectable of their customers. It is, however, very probable, that the Small-Beer Brewers will profit by this circumstance, as table-beer may be ordered in by those who cannot be served any longer in the usual manner."—(Times, Sept. 21, 1796.)

"The university of Oxford has lately printed, at its own expence, to be distributed gratis among the French Clergy who have taken refuge in Great Britain (ad Usum Cleri Gallicani in Anglia exulantis, as the title states) 2000 copies of the Vulgate of the New Testament, which is the Latin version used by the Roman Church in all Public Prayers.

"The Marquis of Buckingham, distinguished for his munificence towards the Clergy, has likewise caused to be printed at his expence, 2000 copies at the same press, and for the same use. The University of Oxford has sent its copies to the venerable Bishop of St. Pol de Leon, for distribution, accompanied by a letter, analogous to the generous sentiments which dictate this honourable mark of esteem for the French Clergy, who are fully sensible of the value of the gift."—(Times, Oct. 25, 1796.)

"Christmas Eve, 1796, will be recorded hereafter, as the Frost was more rapid, and more rigorous, it is supposed, than in 1739-40, or any degree of cold ever experienced in England: the quicksilver in a thermometer in Somerset-place sunk from 28 to 4 degrees above 0 in 12 hours, 3 degrees below the depression of the Mercury in 1794 and 28 degrees below the freezing point, while it must necessarily have been still lower in the country."—(Times, Dec. 28, 1796.)

"BARTHOLOMEW FAIR.

"The various troops of itinerant Comedians, Showmen, Ropedancers, Jugglers, Conjurors, Fortune Tellers, Giants, Dwarfs, wild Beasts, learned Beasts, and every lusus naturæ that can be collected throughout the Kingdom, with all the appendages of immorality, and vice, were on Saturday put in legal possession of Smithfield, as the theatre of their achievements. When we add to these, the numerous tribe of pickpockets, ring-droppers, and sharpers of every description, we cannot but sincerely regret, that a scene, productive of so much idleness, and debauchery, should be sanctioned by the letter of the law, while the spirit of it shudders at the toleration of such excesses.

"The purposes for which this fair was held by its original tenure were of a nature directly opposite to those to which it is now prostituted. They went to the encouragement of industry by the previous manufacture, and subsequent sale, of necessary articles; but they are now made subservient to corrupt the public mind by the most abandoned, and dissolute, manners. The motley multitude that infests the fair, are the more audacious in their conduct, from knowing that they are warranted in their proceedings, at least by the appearance of law, which sanctions this annual ribaldry.

"We seriously lament, that this 'congratulation[22] of living vapours' so foul and pestilential to society, should be suffered to exist in the metropolis, and that the Chief Magistrate of the City of London should be annually compelled to degrade his dignity as the principal guardian of the public peace and morals, by going in state, to license a scene, which constantly terminates in the most fatal abuses."—(Times, Sep. 5, 1796.)

"At the general Meeting of the Magistrates for the division of Kensington, on Saturday last, complaints were made not only by the Bishop of London, as Lord of the Manor, but by other respectable inhabitants thereof, of a nuisance that has prevailed from time to time on Wormholt Scrubs by bull-baiting, to the great annoyance of the neighbourhood, and the disturbance of the public peace, when the Magistrates came to the laudable resolution of issuing warrants to the High, and Petty, Constables of the Division, requiring them to exert their utmost endeavours to prevent the same in future. And, having understood that many Publicans within their division had conveyed beer, and other liquors, from their respective houses to Wormholt Scrubs, where they had retailed it during such bull-baiting, they determined not to renew their licences."—(Times, Sept. 8, 1796.)

"A few days ago some villains broke into the Lea Church, Gloucestershire, and stole a quantity of money, the property of a company of singers belonging to the said church. A reward of £20 was immediately offered for discovering the offenders, accompanied by a threat that application would be immediately made to a conjuror, who lived not far off, to tell who the robbers were. The sacrilegious rascals, being convinced that the Devil would betray them, by informing the cunning man who they were, went in the night to the church, and pushed all the money they had taken through a slit in the door, where it was found the next morning."—(Times, Oct. 4, 1796.)

"An ingenious artist has invented a new Coffin, for which he has taken out a Patent. In his advertisements he says, he thinks no family would like to be without one, and that all who have made trial of them, prefer them to anything in that way, and recommend them to their friends."—(Times, Nov. 2, 1796.)

"We hope the Corporation of Bath will avoid a similar mistake as happened when the Duke of York was there last year, when the gold box was presented to the Duke, but somehow or other, it was forgotten to put the freedom into it."—(Times, Nov. 28, 1796.)

Advt. "RUS in URBE PULCHERRIMAM. To be LET furnished, the FIRST, SECOND and third Floors with a Kitchen, altogether the most convenient and beautiful little Dwelling in Europe. Satisfactory references will be required. Enquire at Messrs &c."—(Times, Oct. 14, 1796.)

"Lady E. being lately complimented upon her excellent complexion, assured her friend it was owing to her custom of dipping into cold water every morning. 'But I see,' said she, 'you don't believe me.' 'Pardon me,' said the Gentleman, 'if your Ladyship said you bathed in the Red Sea, I should have believed you.'"—(Times, Nov. 24, 1796.)

"Last Sunday, agreeable to his sentence in the Ecclesiastical Court, a Butcher of Newport Market, did penance in St. Ann's Church, for scandalizing a neighbour's character."—(Times, Dec. 2, 1796.)

"There is a Club in St. James St. called the Transalpine. To be a Member, it is indispensable that you have crossed Mont Cenis. One of the advantages of modern travelling is, to be entitled upon your return to waste your time at home, with those who have wasted their's abroad. This is the reward of what is called seeing the world: namely, seeing those who have seen it too."—(Times, Jan. 25, 1797.)

"A noble Viscount has instituted a Club, called the Ubiquarians—the Club is ambulatory, and held, in turn, at as many chop-houses as there are parishes in the capital. The dinner is at half-a-crown, but it costs as much more to those who are not good walkers to get at it."—(Times, Jan. 25, 1797.)

"It is a very curious fact, that the Turkish custom of taking opium is beginning to prevail in what are called the first circles of London. This dissipation is spreading wide amongst female fashion."—(Times, Feb. 10, 1797.)

"The Gentlemen of the Rainbow (footmen), whose only wear is motley, have within these few days, shewn evident symptoms of uniting. They declare their wages are very inferior in value to their services, and threaten their masters with a revolution in their conduct. When pampered valets claim an increase of salary, on the ground of meritorious service, a general discharge would certainly be the most effectual way of quieting their complaints."—(Times, June 6, 1797.)

"We are pleased to be able to commend one change of fashion, at least, that which has deprived the servants of Officers of the cockade in their hats: and we hope to see it spread, till it becomes as singular, as it is absurd, to dress up a Domestic in the characteristics of the field!"—(Times, June 10, 1797.)

"On Sunday, for the first time, the Civil Power interested itself in breaking up what was called Cooper's Fair in the Spa Fields, in consequence of the weekly holdings forth of a variety of Enthusiasts: such as Mystics, Methodists, Quaking Jews, &c. One of the latter description being eager for persecution, insisted upon going into confinement, and was conveyed to Clerkenwell Bridewell."—(Times, July 20, 1797.)

"On the 25th of February, died in the Barony of Ivereagh, in the County of Kerry, Ireland, in the 112th year of his age Daniel Bull Macarthy Esq. He had been married to five wives: he married the fifth, who survives him, when he was 84 and she 14, by whom he had twenty children, she bearing a child every year. He was very healthy: no cold could affect him: and he could not bear the warmth of a shirt in the night time, but put it under his pillow, for the last seventy years. In company he drank plentifully of rum, and brandy, which he called naked truth; and when, out of complaisance to other gentlemen, he took claret, or port, he always drank an equal glass of rum, or brandy, to qualify those liquors: this he called a wedge. He used to walk eight, or ten, miles in a winter's morning with greyhounds, and finders, and seldom failed to bring home a brace of hares."—(Times, Aug. 5, 1797.)

"On Sunday morning, about five o'clock, ten Police officers came to Norwood in three hackney-coaches, threw down all the gypsey tents, and exposed about 30 men, women, and children, in the primitive state of man. They carried them to prison, to be dealt with according to the Vagrant Act.

"It appears that they have made good harvest, this summer, of female credulity, and have often gained a guinea on a Sunday. Not only young girls, panting for matrimony, have been their dupes, but the well experienced dames, curious to trace the steps of their dear spouses, have paid liberally for discovery, as the following story will prove: On Thursday, as two Gentlemen, who dined at Norwood, were looking out of a window, they observed a respectable, well-dressed woman in deep consultation, for a sum paid to the old gypsey. They observed the good woman greatly agitated, and heard her ask 'If she was sure it was true'? On being answered 'As sure as God was in heaven' she gave the gypsey a further sum, and made further enquiry, and at last gave her a good pocket-handkerchief, and departed seemingly full of vengeance. The gentlemen, curious to learn the nature of the good woman's consultation, sent for the old gypsey, who candidly told them, that she enquired of her if her husband was continent, and that she answered he was not, and thereby obtained three presents instead of one."—(Times, Aug. 22, 1797.)

"FOURTEENTH OF SEPTEMBER.

"Bemired up to the knees, wetted from head to foot by the incessant rain, fatigued and disappointed, the Cocknies yesterday returned from their annual field-sport, with very little game indeed. A detachment from Cheapside, which had filed off early in the morning, toward Hampstead, with the locks of their fowling-pieces wrapped up in their handkerchiefs, were so galled by the rain, that they got no further than Old Mother Red Cap's, where they diverted themselves all day with firing from a window at some Dutch-pins in the skittle ground. One of these pins was mortally wounded in the belly by Ensign Tight Breeches, a man milliner's foreman, who drove a ball into it, at the amazing distance of two yards, without letting the gun fall out of his hand.

"Six journeymen weavers, from Spital-fields, who went in a chaise cart, to Ealing, with two guns, were rather more fortunate, in respect to Game. They killed a lame hen at Acton, shot one goose on the Common, wounded a large sow, and filled their pockets and Game-bags with turnips, and cabbages. They imagined they sprung a pheasant near Gunnersbury House,—but it proved to be an old turkey-cock. At Eleven, they returned, very wet, and very drunk, having lost one of their guns, and broke the stock of the other, by flinging it at a tame rabbit, in a farmer's yard.

"Four gentlemen from Leadenhall-Market, who went on the long-coach to Woolwich, as there are partridges in that part of Kent, killed two crows in Hanging-Wood Lane, blinded a jackass near the Warren, and wounded a sparrow, several feathers being perceived to drop from its wings. They had tolerable good sport with a bat, their terriers being of an excellent breed, and having worried a flock of ducks in a ditch, and killed one, they returned from Partridge shooting about nine at night, very much fatigued indeed.

"Five gentlemen who went sporting from Kent Bar to Lewisham, notwithstanding the wetness of the day, had tolerable good luck.

"They belonged to the Trained Bands, and depended more upon their bayonets, than their guns. At the Half-Way-House they killed a fine buck-cat, as he was watching a chaffinch. From the Half-Way-House to New-Cross Turnpike, every sparrow was affrighted by the noise of their guns: but the rain by this time having completely wetted the locks, and damped the powder, they were obliged to charge with bayonets, and every tree bore marks of their prowess, to the Lion and Lamb at Lewisham, where they dined, got drunk, killed two hogs, and a Chinese sow, and, in the evening, were carried home by the Lewisham stage.

"St. George's Fields, once the mart of London sportsmen, being now almost covered with houses, very few prentice-boy gunners were seen there. The birds which now inhabit that quarter, are many of them jail-birds, and if the new Magistrates were to sport their authority a little more than they do, they might bring down some of the most dangerous game with which a neighbourhood was ever infested.

"Very few were the sportsmen on Blackheath, to the great joy of sheep and jackasses, and to the safety of stage-passengers, who were often endangered by the random shot of those one-day sportsmen. As to partridges, their lives were in no danger, not one of those sportmen out of fifty knowing the difference between a partridge and a crow; besides, as their dogs are generally of the bull-dog kind, of the terrier, or the fox breed, the game are in very little danger of injury from their ability."—(Times, Sept. 15, 1797.)

"There will be more Powder expended to-day against the innocent Partridges, than would drive Buonaparte and his crew out of Asia. The Bank Clerks, India House Jemmies, Men Milliners, and tippy Apprentices, most loudly complain against the enclosures of that Cockney Manor, St. George's Fields, bewailing the loss of their sport, and lamenting that there is not a sparrow left to exercise their prowess upon."—(Times, Sept. 14, 1798.)

"So great is the rage for watering places, that the Margate Packet had, the week before last, one hundred and fifty-two passengers on board, who were 27 hours on their passage; during the greater part of the time, it rained so as to drive them under deck, and made them as comfortable as the people in the black hole at Calcutta."—(Times, Sept. 16, 1797.)

"On Thursday evening last, one George Kent, a Callender, in New Compton St., St. Giles's, eat, for a trifling wager, the enormous quantity of 30 boiled eggs, a two-penny loaf, and a quarter of a pound of butter, in the short space of 27 minutes, being three minutes less than the time given to perform it."—(Times, Oct. 2, 1797.)

(Advt.) "GUILDHALL.

"THREE GUINEAS will be given for a Gentleman's Ticket to Dine this Day at Guildhall, by sending it before 12 o'clock, to Mr. Short, Hair Dresser, Bearbinder-lane, near the Mansion House."—(Times, Nov. 9, 1797.)

"Never could any Country boast an equal respect, and even partiality, for age, with our own. Our favourite Sultanas are grandmothers, at the least: the Actresses that charmed our grandfathers return to the stage in the full bloom of their wrinkles: and we have boys of seventy, and fourscore, in our regiments."—(Times, Nov. 15, 1797.)

"Amongst the great, and worthy, pluralists of the Church, few can equal, and none exceed, in spiritual, and temporal, fortune, young Dr. Price, nephew to Bishop Barrington;[23] he is Canon, and Prebendary, of Salisbury, worth £300 per annum, Golden Prebendary of Durham, worth £1200 per annum: and Rector of Milksham, worth £1000 per annum, and is possessed of a temporal fortune of between 2 and £3000 per annum!

"Dr. Moss, a lately appointed Residentiary of St. Paul's, worth £1200 per annum, is Chancellor of the Diocese of Wells, Prebendary of Wells, Westminster, and Salisbury, and also Canon Residentiary of the latter, to which he was elected when he was about 24 years of age, on the resignation of his father. In addition to the above preferments, Dr. Moss is also rector of Newington in Oxfordshire, worth £600 per annum. The present Bishop of Wells, with his family, it is computed has received upwards of £100,000 out of the Cathedrals of Salisbury and Wells. He strongly insisted that his son should continue his Canonry of Salisbury, which Mr. Pitt would not allow."—(Times, Nov. 17, 1797.)

"In investigating a trivial cause yesterday, at Bow-Street, arising from an infamous practice, which we hope will be represented to Lord Kenyon, of issuing Marshalsea Court Writs for debts of 8s. or 12s., a fraud of some importance was discovered. It appears that it was the custom of Publicans, when they want to let their houses, to get a number of people together, whom they treat with beer.

"They call them show-men, and this is done for the purpose of deceiving the persons who come to view their house, and to make them suppose it has good custom."—(Times, Nov. 23, 1797.)

Advt. "PROCESSION TO ST. PAULS.[24]

"To BE LET, a DRAWING-ROOM about 20 feet long, the windows nearly level with his Majesty's Carriage. Twenty Persons may be comfortably accommodated. It is wished by the Proprietor of the above Premises, that the Party may be of their own selection: a strange mixture of Company on these occasions is unpleasant to most Families who wish to enjoy their own society. Price 20 Guineas. Enquire at Salmon's Goldsmith, No. 49 facing Old Round Court, Strand, between York buildings and the Adelphi."—(Times, Dec. 8, 1797.)

Advt. "ROYAL PROCESSION.

"One of the grandest sights since the days of Queen Anne, and in all probability we shall never see the like again. Those Ladies and Gentlemen who are desirous of being accommodated with one of the best views in the City to see the procession (not only as it passes by, but of seeing the Company go into Church), will apply to No. 28 Ludgate-Street, the corner of Ave Maria-Lane, next the Churchyard. The Front Seats in the Dining Room are only 2 Guineas, the second seats 1-1/2 guinea, third seats 1 Guinea: seats in the shop, which is very pleasant 1 Guinea each: a two pair front room, with 3 windows, for a large party, at 20 Guineas for the day, an excellent prospect. Also a 3 pair of stairs front room which has a capital view of the Churchyard, for 12 Guineas. Ladies and Gentlemen will be accommodated with sight of the procession at the west end of the Town, where they may have small rooms, or large, on moderate terms, that is to say, a very handsome dining-room for 15 Guineas, a small room adjoining for 5 Guineas, large room, 2 pair, for 10 Guineas, small room adjoining for 4 Guineas, by applying to Mr. Farrance, Pastry Cook, the Corner of Spring Gardens, Charing Cross."—(Times, Dec. 12, 1797.)

"The eight cream-coloured horses belonging to the King's State-Coach, are every morning drove to St. Paul's Church to train them to the flags in Queen Ann's Church-yard."—(Times, Dec. 14, 1797.)

"In England the amount of French prisoners is 23,600. In France the British do not exceed 1500."—(Times, Dec. 14, 1797.)