A REMARKABLE OLD MAN.
Mr. Ingleby, of Battle Abbey, Sussex, died 1798, aged 117. He had been for upwards of ninety-five years a domestic in the family of Lady Webster. The following narrative of this remarkable man is by a gentleman who visited him in the autumn of 1797:—
"To my great surprise," he says, "I found Mr. Ingleby in a situation very far removed from the luxuries of life, or the place which might be deemed necessary for his years. He was in an antique outbuilding, near the Castle Gate, where his table was spread under an arched roof; nearly the whole of the building being filled with billet-wood, and scarcely affording room for the oaken bench on which this wonder of longevity was reclining by the fire. His dress was a full-bottomed wig, and a chocolate-coloured suit of clothes with yellow buttons. His air and demeanour was pensive and solemn; though there was nothing in his look which impressed the mind with the idea of a person more than fourscore years old, except a slight falling of the under jaw, which bespoke a more advanced age. We were introduced by a matron, who served as a sort of interpreter between us—Mr. Ingleby's deafness not permitting any regular conversation. When the nurse explained our errand, he replied, in a very distinct but hollow voice, 'I am much obliged to the gentlemen for the favour they do me; but I am not well, and unable to converse with them.' He then turned his face to the higher part of the bench on which he reclined, and was silent. In each of his withered hands he held a short, rude, beechen walking stick, about three feet high, by the help of which he was accustomed not only to walk about the extensive premises in which he passed the most part of his life, but also to take his little rambles about the town; and once (for, occasionally, the old gentleman was irascible,) he set out on a pedestrian excursion to Hastings, to inquire for another situation in service, because his patroness desired him to be more attentive to personal neatness. It is but justice to the lady alluded to, to add, that the uncouth abode in which Mr. Ingleby dwelt was the only one in which he could be persuaded to reside, and which long familiarity had rendered dear to him. The choice appeared very extraordinary; but such persons, in their conduct, are seldom governed by the fixed and settled rules by which human life is ordinarily regulated."
CURIOUS MANUSCRIPT.
A very curious manuscript was presented to the Antiquarian Society of Yorkshire in 1828. It contains sundry rules to be observed by the household of Henry the 8th, and enjoins the following singular particulars:—"None of his Highness's attendants to steal any locks, or keys, tables, forms, cupboards, or other furniture, out of noblemen's, or gentlemen's, houses where he goes to visit. No herald, minstrel, falconer, or other, to bring to the Court any boy or rascal; nor to keeps lads or rascals in Court to do their business for them. Master cooks not to employ such scullions as shall go about naked, or lie all night on the ground before the kitchen fire. Dinner to be at ten, and supper at four. The Knight Marshal to take care that all such unthrifty and common women as follow the Court be banished. The proper officers are, between six and seven o'clock every morning, to make the fire in and straw his Highness's Privy Chamber. Officers of his Highness's Privy Chamber to keep secret every thing said or done, leaving hearkening or inquiring where the King is or goes, be it early or late, without grudging, mumbling, or talking of the King's past time, late or early going to bed, or any other matter. Coal only allowed to the King's, Queen's, and Lady Mary's Chambers. The Queen's Maids of Honour to have a chet loaf, a manchet, a gallon of ale, and a chine of beef, for their breakfasts. Among the fishes for the table is a porpoise, and if it is too big for a horse-load, a further allowance is made for it to the purveyor." The manuscript ends with several proclamations. One is "to take up and punish strong and mighty beggars, rascals, and vagabonds, who hang about the Court."
WONDERFUL ESCAPE.
In 1809, a barge was going along the new cut from Paddington with casks of spirits and barrels of gunpowder. It is supposed that one of the crew bored a hole in a powder-barrel by mistake, meaning to steal spirits; the gimlet set fire to the powder, and eleven other barrels were driven to the distance of 150 yards; but only the single barrel exploded.
DAVID HUME ON HIS OWN DEATH.
The letter which we here lay before our readers was addressed by David Hume to the Countess de Boufflers, and is supposed to be the last that was ever written by that great historian, as he died only five days afterwards, August 25th. With what calmness did that illustrious philosopher contemplate the rapid approach of his own death!
The letter was torn at the places where the words are printed in italics: