The Sun.
London, England, 1826-06-10 00:00:00

MR. EDWARD GIBBON WAKEFIELD.

(From the Liverpool Mercury.)
fbe following interesting account of the Elopement with Mr.
Wakefield of his first Wife, is drawn' up expressly' for the

Mercury.
Edward Wakefield, Esq the father of the subject of this sketch,
whose celebrated work on Ireland is so often referred to for the
accuracy and interest of its details, is one of the first land-agents
in the kingdom, and enjoys an income of 7,0001. or 8,0001. per
annum. He is now a candidate for the representation inParßtp;
'tient of the borough of Rending, and 4 'abort time ego married, at
the hotel of the British Ambassador at Paris, MissDaviet, daughter
of Dr. Davies, of Miwelesfield, a schoolmaster of the first celebrity.
His son, Edward Gibbon Wakefield, was, at au early age, sent to
attend the University at Edinburgh, confided to the care of a
friend of his father in that metropolis, a clerical gentlemen of
great literary acquirement% and peculiarly distinguished as it
Greek scholar.° In the family of this respectable
young,,Walrefield, from his (milk and cheerful disposition, became
II gi'tut favourite. Be was a fine looking youth, a lewder amongst
hie .enquinionte and the life of every party; lint his love of frolic
and that rough amusement wort to boyhood, in pursuance' of
which he player" off many practical jokes bordering upon the tut`'
chievous,:reudered him at length so great an annoyance to the se..
date inmates of the house, that they were obliged to write to his
father requesting that be. might be, retrieved. He, woo after left
Scotland, having studied for about two years at ,College, where he
obtained the reputation of cleverness, marred, however, by that
want of attention and punctuality. .which was the natural conse-
quence of his love of amusement, Of the nature of these frolics,
some idea may he forue'd from the fact, that on oue occasion, in
conipany with a fellow-student, he passed himself off as a blind
tidier, and performed his part so well amongst his every-day ac-
quaintance, that not one of them discovered the .joke ; and he
drew from them charitable contributions to;a considerable amount,
enjoying afterwards the wicked satisfaction of laughing at them
for, their credulity. The bilking of policestnen was another
favourite joke ; lint mere annoyance to those about him, by his
waggery, without any dishonottrahle Set whatever, formed the head
and.iront of his attending,. anti of this to pcnsiblc were the family
with whoui he lived, that he continued, after, he left them, in
habits of intimacy and correspondence. ,
Four or five years after his departure limn Edinburgh, a young
man, in a ehabhy-genteel dress, knocked at the door of his father's
friend in that cite, and inquired with much earneetness for the
gentleman of the house. his appearaoce was such, that little en-
couragement was given to his enquiries, anti being told that the
gentleman wait nut at home, he .expreaeed himself as very main,
tunete in not meeting with him. it was not, however, until he
enquired of the lady of the house whether a letter had been re-
ceived from Mr, Wakefield, and nwntioned his name, that she
surveyed hint with.attention, and discovered, through a disguise
rendered more complete by his anxious and jaded appearance, that
he was none other than her former young friend himself. He
was received with cordiality, mingled with no hale surprise at his
apparent plight. Ile explained that he was in a state of greet
destitution : and, what was worse, that ho lied a young lady of
respectability under his care, who was io an obscure place in the
town, and in such absolute wain of fuuth and dress, that she
Could not be produced ; and he entreated time lady to send her
some neceasary supply of habiliments. The Worthy lady, mindful
of the former romantic frolics of the young man, reaeonably enter-
tained sume•doubts as to the character and Merits of the female
whose ease 'he snearecatly pleaded. She, however, lost no time
in mending 'ter son to the spot mentioned, to ascertain, if posaible,
the real state of the matter nmd the interview which took place
between the messenger anti the' young woman, hail well nigh
proved fatal to his; future 'peace of mind. Ile found her, as he
expressed it, " the _most beautiful creature he lied ever beheld,"
and her language and accomplished mammy% were such, as at once
conviticed hint that she Was a virtuous young woman of rusk and
educeition. She wu'wititall, to use a Senttish phrase, au " dis-
geskit," (dejected) by fatigue and anxiety of mind, that he hastened
with the welcome report to his parents.
When the gentleman of the house came to inquire into the par-
ticulars of the ease, ha found that the lady (who was very young)
was a ward in Cheneery, heiress to a fortune of 50,(1001. from her
decessed fitther, and that the hail eloPerl with young Wakefield
(who was. not yet of .age) front a watering Orme in the south,---
we• believe Tunbridge Wells. lie further ascertained that the
elopement had its origin entirely in a love impression ; his young
friend had, indeed, no opportunity pretionsly of knowing what
were, her high expectations. The lady's mother, who was her
guardian as well as her natural protector, tremblingly' alive to the
Importance of her charge, bed maintabied over her the most rigid
aurveillance ; the more eo, as she suspected that an attachment
existed, although she did not know the character or family of the
lover. With the exception of 'half an limn in the morning;
the old lady had her eye constantly upon her (laughter ; but
as love laughs at guardians, as well its at locksmiths, this
short respite of freedom young Wakefield availed himself
of, and succeeded in making a favourable impression on
1 the ladyi heart. The mother had her suspicions and
her apprehensions, and to avert tiro dreaded consequences, hurried
her daughter from place to place, trusting, full surely, that the
stranger would, losing the scent, abantlon all further pursuit, and
leave her and her .charge in tranquil security to await the ad-
dresses of sonic lent ruyeteriotur suitor. Ne, however, contrived
to discover their movements, and pursued them from place to
ilare At length the mother 'fixed herself and her daughter in
lodgings at -, and having lost sight of the object of her dread,
began: to congratulate herself on her good deliverance. But how
vain are often our most sanguine expectations! The young man
bad taken up his quarters directly eppUite to the house which
contained the object of his alreetione, but so completely disguised
that he was not recognised except by the fair lady herself, who,,
(luring the accustomed half hour, when her guardian's precautions
relaxed, gave her lover opportunities of improving the hakession he had made. During a very short sojourn at this place,
Mr. Wakefield had the address to gain over all the servants
to his interest ; and one morning when the old lady was
absent for a short time, a chaise and fbur drove up to the
door, followed by a gig. Into the chaise was banded, with
great ceremoey,Mr. Wakefield's man servant, and the mug lady's
maid, both genteelly (framed.' And while this vehicle drove
off with the blinds up, by ' one road, with passible despatch,
urged by the apparent anxiety of the inmate% Mr. W. leisurely,
and without any show of grandeur, handed his fair charge into the
gig, and drove off in the opposite direction. The old-lady was
soon apprised that her bird of paradise had flown she got horses
put to her carriage; and, as• might be expected, (a eonaummatioe
devoutly to be wished by the lovers) drove on in pursuit of the
chaise, in hopes of overtaking the fugitives. She had not how-
ever, hurried fur on the road, before some part' of her carriage
broke down, and though the breakage was not attended with any
danger, it was found that the vehicle was unfit to proceed ; and
here the lady obtained a piece of information not much calculated
to allay the vexation occasioned by this accident at so critical a
moment. On inquiring into the probable Mite of the accident,
sad taking the servant to task for some supposed neglect,' he in-
formed her that Mr. Wakefield (who it appears was anxious that
the old lady should not over fatigue herself in the chase) " had
been doing something to the carriage the night before," and this
accounted for the mishap which had occurred.
Meantime, the lovers drove on in a dubious direction, and were
soon beyond the reach of the mother's pursuit. To prevent all
trace of their route, Mr. Wakefield disposed of his gig at a
neighbouring place, and from that time their journey throughout
was one of the moot romantic and adventurous in the.records of
hymeneal firgacity. Their fluids were but slender.: When they
nel
nhtiaonnc
in-
stinted, and Mr. Wakefield dared not to write fbr a supply to his
terpose to prevent .
father, who was not
thecougimiticsial7t ofT 'They
ehtzlsalocttilteeit ufatrigblietrct-
he found t 'at a price was set uphn his head, adverteiementa god
placards were Put Out all over the country, giving it description of
baentdt*l:iasiliiiftitne
discovered, to travel about at ran-
g offering a large reward for his apprehension anti at *leery
an
dreaded the appearance of peace lacers, end the inter.,
his *person as the abducer of an heiress
s
domi maeosing, however, The most unfrequented hyri4oade, petty
:tesithaelnitwd‘thvihretionemntsitmotocit'avelay,fdcomhoeGntarletnistetrre:thielibithfiltairTT''henior
dtr;mtioiltigrue:danuttrt,otithrtowns,:tie:eyeam':ornias,f,.
villages, and hamlets; and they thus traversed the whole
funds were soon so low that :they had no longer the -
• ' as, •n m getee

This gentleman 111 now wl hire to India, where he
obtainvd a lucrative clerical appointment.

of riding post, even had a favourable opportunity occur-
red. Their difficulties inereased daily, but .their spitita
it appears, bore up against them ; and the young who,
might be said, had never before been reenwed to pace bee foot
upon the ground beyond a short walk, and had enjoyed the ease
and comfort of a carriage even when she took an airing, was now
retineist to the necessity of walking many a long guile on the public
road with her companion. On some some occasions, they were
together on the top of a cone!' or waggon, and they tested at the
most humble houses of entertainment on the way tide, in this
manner, and partaking of the must common fare, they journeyed-
for many hundred miles together, during a period of three weehe,
until their dress, their fupds, and almost their hopes, were retloc..
eel to the lowest ebb. The unmurmuring perseverance of the
young lady afforded. mph, proof of her attachment to her ju
venile companion, who, there ie no doubt, as the sequel will eon-
firm, treated her with the must affectionate attention. kis stated
that they regarded each other as brother and sister, and journeyed
in that character. --an idea Which was countenanced by their es-
treme youth, cepeelally that of the lady. After a variety of suf-
fering consequent upon their romantic adventure, and 'many hair-
breadth escapes front detection, they arrived at Edinburgh, as be-
fore stated, where, in total. destitution, Mr. Wakefield was nit***
sitited f 4) leave hiS bride at an obscure lodging uutil he tstougl4
for ber the relief which her iimmatiate wants mit-tired.
The gentleman and hie lady to whom Mr. Wekefiehl addiees-A
himself, on learning these eireuntstances, Itimpitably received the
young couple under their roof, advanced them a sufficient sum to
enable them to appear as became their rank in life, and relying
upon their impression of the honourable character of Mr. Wake-
field, the gentleman, though at his own risk, and in the face of
the reward offered fur the apprehension of his young friend, in-
stantly decided, iu order to save the &meter of the young lade,
to hasten the legal marriage of the parties. They were accordingly
regularly united in wedlock .by the eminent clergymen and pro 7.
ressar, who was the worthy successor of the distinguitthed author
of the Lectures on Rhetoric, and the Belles Lettecs. '

Mr. I,Vakefield's father war apprised- of the match ; and 'the.
mother of the younglady, when the bud learned the state of the
rate, and the roipeetability of the party whom she had before int
much dreaded, not only became reconciled, but suceessfullY'ex,
erred herself to induce the Lord Chancellor to Withdraw the ana,-,
theme which he had imam:wed against the' young man. She
soon, indeed, • became so partial to Mr. Wakefield, that, on hie
being eppointed 'alertly after to a high diplomatic situation at the
Court of Turin, 'she accompanied tint young couple •on the
sion. At Turin, they rtwideil some years, the ti, `it
styled elegance and diitinotion. • Timer, or in softie part of
Italy, we believe, Mr. Wakefield had the•-miefortune to lose hit
wife; who left him the father of two children, for whom he
holds in trust the large fortune of their Mother. The latter V•ir*
eumstance, added to the consideration of hit father's respectable
character and station in lili, is sufficient to rebut the charge that
Mr. Wakefield is a needy adventurer. • His 'Edinburgh 'friends
are in palomino of numerous letters from him and his- lady
while they were abroad, and which are pregnant with great inte-
rest, and show that they,were highly esteemed and courted while
at Turin. What Mr. Wakefield's Movements have been for some
years after the death of his lady, we cannot state, The • love of
enterprise and adventure seems all along to have been his ruling
pamion; and it•appetws that, when en a recent wish to his friend,
Mr. Davies, the accounts which,he heard of Mite Turner fired
his ambition, and excited hiM t.o an attempt to win the
.prier
the result of which is now belitro the publie,—Mr.-WaksOell
has, we. understand, just turned ,')t) years of age. .• ,
This statement is. given on .the authority of a-literary 'gentlemen
of high mapectability, who was *Allow..indent with Mr.' Wake."
field, and who shared in some of his boyish frolics, but has had no
.
personal knowledge of him in after-life. Many of the facts rest, '
of emirS44 on the testimony of Mr. Wakefield himself at the time ;
but there is no reason. to doubt their general correctness. Shies
we were favoured with_ the oral account from which we have,
trusting chiefly to ineinnry,.drawn ,sketch, we haves heard
icstated that the wtatter bore a more serious lope" at the tirne„.,
than this relation of an apparently romantic, but real, adventure,
would seem to imply. But this opinion is best answered by' the
thrt that the lady's mother became recorteiled.to the match ; that
the Lord Chancellor 'ter/tore punishing the delihquent....-and abOVO
all, that the lady resigned herself into the hands of the-young man,
and lived happily with him ;. and whatever magnitude the recent
offence of Mr. Wakefield may :teatime, it is •surely .utifitir, though
we admit that it is natural enough in those irritated by hip In•esent
conduct, to permit that conduct to hear with a retrospective view..
upon a transaction of his earlier life. Tim highly respectable
persons with whom he was., acquainted when a student are loth to
believe that, in the affair now before the public, he has en-
tirely forfeited their regard ; and we sincerely, though we can-
not sanguinely, hope with them, that even here circumstances of
palliation, at least, may arise in the forthcoming trial.