The Sun.
London, England, 1836-05-02 00:00:00

SPORTING MAGAZINE.

-----
The engravings in this Magazine are always finished in a
very superior. artist-like fashion ; the present Number, in
particular, is remarkably fortunate in this respect, for the
" Fox's Head," which is engraved by Beckwith, can scarcely
be surpassed in skill and delicacy of execution. The lite-
rary contents are of the usual character, and comprise at Ole
leading sporting events of the month.

POSTHUMOUS PAPERS OF THE. PICKWICK

CLUB.
The second Number of an entertaining, miscellaneous
collections of tales, anecdotes, &c., collected and arranged
by Boz, and illustrated by Seymour. The best, at least the
most vigorously written, tale, is the one which describes
the death of a low pantomime actor at one of the minor
theatres.

THE PARTERRE.
There is a short, clever essay in the Number before us,
on the writings of Washington Irving, in which the critic
justly observes, that delicate, sporeive humour is more the
forte of Master Geoffrey Crayon, than pathos. or even
description, much as he excels in this last qualification.
There is no other article in this cheap Miscellany of Prose
and Verse which calls for any particular notice.

ARBORETUM BRITANNICUM.
The Editor of this practical periodical, which is crammed
full of useful information relative to the " hardy trees of
Great Britain," is Mr. Loudon, an indefatigable manufactu-
rer of
,zoological, horticultural, and architectural publica-
tions. The wood-cuts are numerous, and carefully en-
graved.

ANECDOTES OF THE LATE MR.

WOOD.

His father was lying dangerously ill at Cheltenham, and at
, length " Jemmy," for that was the name by which he was ge-
nerally known, mustered up courage and went to Dr. Ches-
t. ton, who resided at Gloucester, and asked him to come to
Cheltenham, to see his dying parent. Dr. Cheston having
fixed a. period, and a post-chaise having been procured, they
went together to Cheltenham. On their arrival, however,
they found the old gentleman had breathed his last. Jemmy
after having, shed a tear, said to the physician, " Well, Doctor,
we must take him home with us." " Take bins home with
us," replied the Doctor; " in %%hat way : how can we take
him home with us ?" "Oh I" said the rich banker, "we can
put'en between us in the chaise, and no one will know but
what he's alive." The Doctor, although having a great and
proper regard for his patients during their lifetime, was not
so much attached to them in death, and therefore was puzzled
to find out some mode by which he might get rid of the com-
panion intended for him. He, however, hit upon this expe-
dient. The road between Gloucester and Cheltenham was at
that period very bad, and he therefore said to the devoted son,
4 I shall have no objection at all, Mr. Wood ; but, as the
road is very rough, the probability is, if we put the body in an
upright position, that your father, by the slaking of the car-
riage, will come to life again."—" Oh," said Jemmy, " let'en
stay, Doctor, let'en"stay ; I'll send a hearse for'en."
On another occasion, as he was returning from Cheltenham,
whither he had been footing it, a violent storm came on.
Jemmy was fearful that his venerable coat, which was so old
that, according to the Gloucestershire song, " it would keep
out no rain," would be injured, looked about for some house
in which be might take shelter. No friendly cottage was
visible, but in a short,time he espied a hearse coming. Jemmy
rubbed his hands with almost as mueh glee as if he had earned
a "penny," and hailed the driver, with whom he struck a bar-
gain, and who allowed him to ride inside his vehicle, Jemmy
giving him especial directions to put him down before they
entered Gloucester. The driver, of course, acceded to this
request, but he knew well who his passenger was, and as no
chaise or hearse driver in the city had ever had occasion to be
thankful to the rich banker for any favours conferred on them,
he thought, at all events, he would have a joke, so driving
quietly into the city, he gave all the persons he saw in the
street to understand that he had something "rich" within, and
induced them to follow in his train. On arriving opposite the
shop of Mr. Wood he drew up in due form, and a cross d hav-
ing assembled he requested some one to open the door of the
hearse, when, to the astonishment and merriment of all pre-
sent, who should get out but Mr. Wood himself. The banker
was a little annoyed at first to find himself opposite his own
door, yet recollecting that the ride had cost him a mere no-
thing, his countenance soon recovered its wonted complacency
at having had a quid sine quo.
There were three banking establishments at Gloucester, and
many years since there chanced to be a run upon one of them.
Mr. Wood, in high glee at the idea of his neighbour beity,
likely to be ruined, observed that there:would be but two banks
in Gloucester. This carne to the cars of one of the partners of
the other bank, who, after having weathered the s:orm, went
to Mr. Wood to threaten legal proceedings against him. With
that degree of low cunning, however, which avaricious persons
frequently possess, Mr. Wood at once admitted having made
the observation, but added that he was at the time fully justified
in so doing, as he himself had some thoughts of retiring from
business, and then there would be only two banks in Glouces-
ter. Of course, Mr.
at the same time he was well aware of the mean subterfuge
resorted to.

In 1825 there was a run upon the banks at Stroud, and the
Gloucester bank happened to hold about 1,500/. worth of the
notes of one of those banks, upon which, however, there chanced
to be scarcely any 'run at all. Jemmy borrowed a horse, and
off he rode to Stroud, not to lend his friendly aid to his bro-
Ater tradesman, but to get the notes changed. On going
into the back he said, that happening to be coming that way
he had taken the opportunity of bringing a few notes of
theirs which he had, to be changed for some they might
have of his; not dreaming, however, that they held many of
the notes of the Gloucester bank. The clerk said he would
see what notes they had of the " Gloucester Old Bank," and
upon collecting them he found they held notes amount-
17s. This the chagrined
amount-
ing to 1,5001. 17s. These he handed to Mr. Wood, re.
ver, and made the best
where he ordered the horse to be
aqnudestainsgtonpiasybrier
itmonfk trlt e
hbaanldaendee,o
borfoluligsh‘tvoayut!o rtchleie inn,
er had no demand upon him, for al-
though he had bestrode the best eleven miles, he had not or-
dered it to be fed. The ostler, nevertheless, held cut his
hand for something for himself, when Jemmy said, "he had
no halfpence, but he would give him threepence next time he
came." ..011 no, Sir, (said Richard) I know you—you be
Mr. Wood of Gloucester ; I'd rather be paid now, if you
please, because I may never see you again." Jemmy was,
therefore, obliged to get change for sixpence, and give the
man the threepence. Fortunately, Jemmy got out of the
town before his errand was made public, pr else, such was
the general feeling against him, that he would certainly have
been rolled in the mud for his conduct.

It has been for a long time said, that whenever Mr. Wood
was coming to London, he invariably took an outside place ;
and at all times when an inside was vacant, after they had got
some miles on the road, he made friends with the guard, who
on receipt of one shilling or so, allowed the banker to supply
such vacancy. The regularity of the old gentleman's plan at
length an object of remark at the coach•ofl'ice, and the next
time he went to book as usual, the clerk said, " No, Sir, we
must have the inside fare if you please." Mr. Wood, finding
that lie bad been found out, after a few ineffectual attempts to
demand an explanation, handed over the larger sum, and
walked off'.

It was likewise a matter of frequent remark some years
since, that " Jemmy" rarely dined at home on a Sunday. He
was often told by persons that they would dine with him on
that day, it being a I..isure day ; but he generally made an
excuse, on the ground that he himself was engaged out. The
continuance of these prior engagements, all the residents in
the City bring well acquainted with the fact that he visited no
one, led to his being watched and to inquiries, when it was
discovered that Mr. Wood, the rich banker, and by general
repute one of the most wealthy Commoners within the British
dominions, was in the habit of putting some cold meat into his
pocket on the Sunday morning, and walking off some distance
into the country, where he went into some road-side public-
house and bad half a pint of beer, to moisten the throat be-
come parched with the walk; and the dryness of the victuals he
had eaten during the day.

We arc authorised to state, in reference to the re-
turn of Colonel Kinloch and Major Greville, from the British
Legion, that the former gallant officer comes to England on
sick leave, and that the latter, who before his departure had
the rank of Brevet Lieut.-Colonel conferred on him by Gene-
ral Evans, has been pronounced by a medical board, the mi-
nutes of which are in London, incapacitated from active service.
After tho departure of the allied troops from Cracow
300 Austrian infantry will remain ti'l the organization of the
city guards. The Senate itself has requested this measure for
the security of the city.—German Paper.
LIVERPOOL COTTON-MARKET, SATURDAY.—
We have had a better demand to-day than for some time past,
and prices are much firmer, Sales, 2,500 to 3,000 bags,
chiefly American descriptiona,
The famous hot-houses at the Duke of Devon-
shire's Paladian Villa, at Chiswick, are now converted into a
Conservatory, one of the largest and most complete in the
kingdom, built upon the soundest principles, and including
all the recent improvements. The forcing-houses at Chats-
wpeth arp upon a grand scale, and at the present time exhibit
strawberrieo; perf,poy ripe.
B 4 Np agitation has exis:ed
during the last few days, in consequence of its becoming known
that there were obtaclus to the grant of a Court of Sessions
being made to Banbury.