places where they had reached their greatest possible perfection. Although no glass was employed, yet his lofty walls, facing the southwest, presented him with plenty of grapes during the autumn. Apples and pears, the charmantel, jargonel, the chrisan, brown bury, &c. succeeded in rotation; and these were so well served, that, in the spring of the year in which he died, some of the best fruits were to be found in April, at his house, in great plenty and perfection, although they had long before disappeared almost every where else.

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To the country gentleman, who was unable to discriminate, this convocation resembled a little court accustomed to pay an hebdomadal visit to a sovereign prince; but there was this difference, that all the attentions proceeded from the head of the table; for, while few chose to argue with, no one I ever yet met with, possessed hardihood sufficient to flatter the personage who presided in all the majesty of superior talents. The mere man of business, accustomed to the daily routine of common affairs, was astonished and even dazzled at the titles of some, and the wealth of many of the guests; while the man of the world, after eyeing the groupe before him, could not always refrain from making some sarcastic remark on the motley assemblage. The sneer

would have been inexcusable, had the motives been fully known and fairly appreciated; but indeed it might have excited the smile of any one to have beheld officers both of the horse and foot-guards crowding the table of that "hoary traitor," who had been often their prisoner, and whom they had so repeatedly conducted "with all the pomp and circumstance of glorious war," to Newgate, the Old Bailey, and the Tower. Here, at times, were to be seen men of rank and mechanics, sitting in social converse; persons of ample fortune, and those completely ruined by the prosecutions of the attorney general. On one side was to be descried, perhaps, the learned professor of an university, replete with Greek and Latin, and panting to display his learned lore, indignant at being obliged to chatter with his neighbour, a member of the common council, about city politics. Next to these would sit a man of letters and a banker, between whom it was difficult to settle the precise agio of conversation, the one being full of the present state of the money market, and the other bursting to display his knowledge of all books- except those of account alone! A little further off, a baronet and a barrister could be heard discussing contested cases, both in the law and the constitution; the suspected atheist

might be here seen, in amicable converse with a clergyman of acknowledged orthodoxy; while the trinitarian and unitarian, leaving difficult points to be settled by the controversies of for mer times, no longer argued with either the fierceness or intolerance of polemics. Whenever a serious dispute occurred, or a dubious fact was started, an appeal was immediately made to the president, whose judgment, when serious, was always authoritative, and generally final. But he generally forbore to offend either party by a peremptory decision, unless when it was intimately connected with some great point in law, religion, or the constitution; he was frequently accustomed to get rid of the argument by means of a joke; and was generally so happy in this species of appeal, as to elucidate the question and set the table in a roar, by the same flash of merriment.

It may be here necessary to point out the precise cause of the mixed society that appeared on Sundays at Mr. Tooke's very friendly and hospitable board. In the first place, having twice appeared as a candidate to represent the seat of government in parliament, he still considered himself as in some measure connected with the city of Westminster; while, on the other hand, he was visited by several of

the inhabitants of London, whose fathers had supported him and his cause during the days of "Wilkes and Liberty." At a latter period of his life, those attached to sir Francis Burdett, whatever their rank or condition in life might be, were received with open arms. Finally, all those who had been tried with him, were sure to obtain a friendly welcome; and I well recollect an occurrence, which shall be mentioned hereafter, as it made a deep and lasting impression on my mind.

The real truth, perhaps, is, that Mr. Tooke did not decline to be surrounded by a circle, who appreciated his sufferings and estimated his talents. Like Cato, at Utica, he might be flattered with the faint image of a senate, composed of his friends, adherents, and dependents. Let it be recollected, also, that Mr. Tooke was connected with many of his guests in the double capacity of a patron and a client; for, to several of these, he was accustomed to give legal advice, and, from many, he himself had received assistance in a variety of ways. Even the poorest and the lowest wère endeared to him, either by their sufferings or their services. The fact is, that Mr. Tooke was friendly, kind, and beneficent; and, although no one could be more peremptory or decisive, when the occasion required, yet he

would not hurt the feelings of the meanest man of his acquaintance, by turning him away from his door on a Sunday, to trudge back six long miles, exposed to a broiling sun in summer, or the snow and sleet of winter, to search for a dinner in town.

Nor ought it to be omitted here, that, on particular occasions, the patriot of Wimbledon was accustomed to specify a certain day in the week for the entertainment of select guests. Many men of rank, character, and fortune, were desirous to mingle in his society. Some contemplated him as the martyr of a good cause; others, wholly indifferent to his politics, merely viewed him as an oppressed individual: all beheld in him a man richly gifted by nature, and amply endowed with whatever learning could furnish. Neither pragmatical nor austere, he could be gallant, courtly, and accommodating to females; and many distinguished ladies were accustomed to express their surprise at the fascination of his manners and conversation.

At the same board, already described, but on a different day, have sat countesses and women of quality; two lords of parliament, one of whom *, illustrious for his talents, and memorable for his

Lord Thurlow.