The Sun.
London, England, 1802-12-28 00:00:00

EXTRAORDINARY CHARACTER.

HENRY Esq. was a native f Lincoln_•
shire, and inherited a dear estate of more than
toool. a year. He Was regularly bred ; t The Uni-
versify, studied for some time in one of the Inns of
Court, and in the course of his travels spent several
years abroad. On his returo, this very accomplished
Gentlemao settled on his paternal estate, lived with.
great hospitality, matched to his liking, and had a
beautiful and virtuhns daughter, who was married,
with his entire apprbbation, to a Sir CHRISTOPHER
HILLIARD; in Yorkshire. Hehad now lived to the
age of forty, resneaed by the rich, prayed for, by
the poor, honoured and beloved by all ; when one
day 'a -younger brother, with whom he had some
difference in opinion, meeting him -in the field,
snapped a pistol at him,, which happily flashed in
the pan: Thinking that this was
.done only to
fright him, he coolly disarmed the ruffian, and put.
ting the weapon carelessly in his, pocket, thought-
fully returned home ; but, on after_examination,
the discovery of • bullets -in the pistol, had such an
die& upon his mind, that he instantly conceived an
extraordinary resoluthin of retiring entirely froth the
world, in which he persisted to the end of his life.
—He took a very fair house in the lower end. of
Grub street, near Cripplegate, 'London, and con-
trafting- a numerous ,retinue into a small family,
having the house prepared for his purpose, he se-
leEteethree chambers for himself; the one- for his
diet, the second for his lodging, and the third for
his study. As they were one within another,
while his diet was" set on table., by an old maid, he
retired into his lodging room, and when his bed
was making, into his study, still doing so till all
was cleat.. Out of these chambers, from the time
of his entry into them, he never issued, till he was
carried thence,- 4.4 years after, on men's shoulders ;
neither in all that time did his son-in-law, daughter,
or grandchild, brother, • sister, or kinsman, young
or old, rich or poor, of what degree or condition
soever; look upon his face, save the ancient maid,
whose name was Elizabeth. She only • made his
fire, prepared his bed, provided his diet and dressed
his chambers. 'She saw him but seldom, never but
on cases of extraordinary necessity, and died not
above six days before him: In all the time of his
retirement, .he never tasted fish or flesh ; his chief
food was oatmeal gruel; now and then in summer
he had. a sallad of some choice cool herbs 3- and for
dainties,. when he would feast himself upon a high
day, he would ..eat the yolk of an hen's egg, .but no
part of the white ; what bread he did eat, he cut
out of the middle:of..the loaf, but the crust he
never tasted ; his constant drink was four shillings
beer and no other, fur he never tasted wine, or
strong water. Now and then, when .his stomach
served, he did eat some kind of sackers, and now
and then drank red cow's milk, which 'his maid,.
Elizabeth, fetched him out of the fields hot -from
the cow. Nevertheless he' kept a bountiful tple
for .his servants, and sufficient entertainment for
any stranger or tenant, who had occasion of busi-
ness at his house. Every book that was printed,
was bought. for him, and conveyed to him; but such
as related to controversy, he always laid aside and
never read..

In Christmas holidays, at Easter, and other Fes-
tivals, he had great cheer provided, With all dishes
in season, served into his own chamber with stores
of -wine, which his maid brought in. Then, after
thanks-to God for his good benefits, he would pin
a clean napkin before him, and putting on a pair of
clean Holland sleeves, which reached to his elbows,
cutting .up dish after. dish, in order, he would
send one to one poOr neighbour, the next to an-
other, whether it were brawn, beef, capon, goose,
&c. till he had left the table quite empty, when
giving thanks again, he laid by his linen, and
caused the cloth to be taken away ; and this he
would do, dinner and supper, upon these days,
without tasting of any thing whatsoever. When
any clamoured impudently at his gate, they were
riot therefore, immediately relieved ; but when,
from his private chamber, he spied any sick, weak,
or lame, he would pre,sently send after them, to
comfort, cherish and strengthen, them ; and not a
trifle to serve them for the present, but so much as
would relieve them for many days after. He-would
moreover enquire which of his neighbours were
industrious in their callings, and who had great
charge of children ; and withal, if their labour and
industry could not sufficiently supply their families ;
to such he would liberally , send, and relieve them
according to their necessities. He died at his house
in Grub-street, after an anchoretical confinement of
forty-four years, oa. 29, 1636, aged eighty-four.
At his death his hair and beard were so over-
grown, that he appeared rather like a hermit of
the wilderness, than the inhabitant of one of the
first cities in the world.

ANECDOTE of, Sir CHRISTOPHER WREN, and
the building of ST. PAUL'S.--t-When .Sir CHRIST°.
rttEIC was describing the ground-plot of St. Paul's,
he spoke to a man to bring him. something to
mark a particular spot. The man took up a frag-
ment of a tomb, lying among the ruins, and in-
scribed, RESURGAM, ".I shall rise again." Sir
CHRISTOPHER was struck with the inscription. the
moment he saw it, , and interpreted it as a good
omen. The event was answerable, as he lived to
see the church finished. The fragment was sup-
posed to be from the tomb of Bishop KING, whom
JAMES 1. used to call the King of Preachers.
A singular circumstance occurred a few days
since at the Parish church of Louth ; Two cou-
ple were united in the holy hands of wedlock; the
joint ages of the fist were only thirty-six,. while
those of the second amounted to one hundred and
thirty years.