a long time persisted in his resolution to die, and seemed to be as fully determined as that celebrated Roman, who declined all manner of nourishment, and even refused to accept of existence when in his option, although pressed and entreated by a near relation *.

At length, however, he appears to have yielded to the entreaties of his friends and relatives; and nature having, at the same time, spontaneously interposed, after a severe but successful struggle, life, which seemed, at one time, to have ebbed nearly to the last drop of existence, now flowed in upon him in a genial current. He prophesied, however, from the first, that the change so much desired, would not prove of long continuance, and considered himself merely as a traveller on a journey †, detained unwillingly and against his better reason, in consequence of the pressing solicitations of others,

* "Quum quidem Agrippa, eum flens, atque oscalans, oraret atque obsecraret, ne ad id quod natura cogeret ipse quoque sibi acceleraret, et, quoniam tum quoque posset temporibus superresse, se sibi suisque reservaret:' precesiejus taciturnâ sua obstanatione compressit. Sic quiem biduum cibo se abstinuisset, subito febris decissit, leverioque morbus esse cæpit. Tamen propositum nihilo sęcius peregit."

Vit. V. Pomp. Attic.

† Non ex vitâ, sed ex domo in domum videretur migrare.

Hid

The moment he became convalescent, his mind imperiously and incessantly demanded employment. No sooner had the first coach arrived from London, than the newspapers were eagerly sent for. These, consisting of the Times and Morning Chronicle, were regularly read aloud, while his friends occasionally supplied him with others. But this only seemed to whet his inclination for intellectual nourishment; and appeared to be merely used as some epicures do oysters before dinner, who devour them for the purpose of creating an appetite. Books of all kinds were then called for and read in his presence. So incessant was the demand, that the young ladies, to make use of one of his own phrases,

were put in constant requisition ;" and as they were unable to undergo such an incessant fatigue, auxiliary aid was at length called in.

Meanwhile, he delighted greatly in grapes, and partook of both English and foreign, to a degree I had never before witnessed. With some of these, his neighbour, lady Rush, frequently supplied him; and he was always accustomed to evince the most grateful remembrance of her kindness. Jars, filled with the produce of the Portugal vines, were, at the same time obtained from the importers in Thames Street; and, when these failed, a whole hot-house be

longing to Mr. Rolls of Chelsea, was bespoke, purchased, and devoured! The fruits of his garden, also, seemed to contribute not a little to his recovery, and after dinner he helped himself to his own fine jargonel pears, with no sparing hand. I was accustomed, during my occasional visits, silently to demand of myself, "what this stomach could be composed of?" and was almost forced to allow, that if there ever was a constitution in which excess might be justifiable, that his was of this description.

MR. TOOKE AND HIS TOMB.

(Copied verbatim from a Manuscript Note.)

On October 7, 1810, I rode to Wimbledona fine day-about one o'clock arrived at the gate, expecting to find Mr. Tooke in a very dangerous situation, but was told by the gardener, with a smile, that I should be surprised. And I really was so, for, in the course of a few minutes, I beheld him carried by two men servants, to a garden chair placed on wheels, and after he had been duly seated, I went up to salute him and his company.

He expressed great satisfaction at my arrival, and dismissing his retinue, with sir Francis Burdett pulling before, and the Miss Hartes and his nephew assisting behind, we advanced in

procession along a broad gravel walk towards the kitchen garden.

On our arrival there, he desired me to meaşure the stone placed above a cenotaph, for which purpose he had brought two black rods, properly graduated, being such as are used by surveyors. It formed an oblong square or parallelogram, of Irish marble, black, glossy, and unique, being the first ever imported into this country; and, on my expressing some degree of surprise, mixed with approbation, at the introduction of this noble block from the sister island, he seized that opportunity to express his respect for Mr. Chantrey, whose zeal, on the present occasion, appeared to have gratified him exceedingly.

The following were the dimensions:

Length 7 feet 1 inch.

Breadth

Depth,

It was placed on the top of a tumulus, consisting of a brick vault covered with turf, and erected in that portion of the detached kitchen garden, which is divided by a pretty high wall from the neighbouring common. understood that it was meant to erect a summer house above it, that the young ladies might

I

have a view of the adjoining green, so that nothing gloomy should be attached to the spot.

After stating the measure as accurately as possible, he begged me to peruse the inscription, which was as follows:

After I had read the epitaph aloud, he commented on the last line, and testified both his satisfaction at living so long, and his high sense of the Divine goodness in permitting it! We then took a few turns, along the principal walk, and conversed on a variety of subjects. Having returned to the parlour, dinner was soon after announced; it consisted of a turbot with lobster sauce, beef en ragout, and a capon. The liquors were Madeira and Port. The desert, as usual, was excellent, and all from his own