The Statesman.
London, England, 1820-09-08 00:00:00

Tag ST.A.TMIIO.

ANECDOTE tif the EARLY LIFE of MR. If uxr.

--ow— -
[From Memoirs of Heel Hoot, nog. *Mien by himself.]

" I will relate one particular occurrence which I
had to encounter at this school, and which, but fur a
mere accident, would have fixed upon my character an
indelible stain ; and I am especially induced to notice
it by the circumstance of its having been grossly wis-
represented by the venal part of the public press. I
believe it appeared either in one or both of those sinks
of corruption, those unblushing vehicles of calumny
and lies, the Morning Post and the Courier, vis. 'that
Hun', whets a boy, war tarried out of a school for
robbing use of his scAoolfrllows: Although I believe
there is nut one disinterested intelligent person in i
thousand, who reads those papers, that ever gives the
least credit to any of those atrocious folsehoods with
which their columns are constantly tilled, yet the
h:oieness and cowardice of their intentions are not the
less disgraceful on that account. To proceed, my bed-
fellow, whose name was Scott, when he arose one
morning, discovered that, during the night, his
breeches bad been removed from under his pillion', and
his purse, which contained a guinea and 2 or 3 shilling:,
had been t.tken out of the pocket, ransacked of its con
tents, and then replaced under the pillow. Scott
missed the money as he was getting up, and, having
mentioned the thing, all the boys collected roiled him
to hear his account of the story. There were also
some buys who came out of another room up stairs,
anti amongst theut a boy of the name of Best, who,
after having heard what Scott hail to say, at once
declared that it was impossible for any one bet the
'soy who had slept with him is the vane bed, to have
stolen the nonce. I instantly tired up, and endea-
voured to knock down tile scoundrel, %veto hail by im-
pliratiou charged toe with the theft. A battle en-
sued, in which Best got the worst of it, and amongst
other things a Mack eye : which being perceived hy
Mr. Evans, when we got into the schisA, I was
punishutl with an imposition for having given it to
him ; notwithstanding that I informed the master that
it arose in consequence of his hatv:ng falsely chased
we with a theft. Upon this an investigation took
place. Scott proved that he had the money whew he
went to bed ; I also spoke to the knowledge of *at
fact ; all which B. at urged as presumptive proof of
any guilt. Appearances were against me, and nty
having o ea Idettly attacked Best for the insinuation,
rather inrreased than diminished those. apnearassers.
After breakfast Mr. Brans called we into his par-
lour, where there was no one but himself and Mrs.
Evan•, and addressed sue in a very solemn manner,
misting, be said, that I would instantly confess to
him that I h.:di/loped some hie': t-it't fin IPIIN•11, and
restore it to him ; in is hich case, lie would endeavour
to hush the matter np a, well as he ...I'M. I stood
g..sping• with astonishment, without being able to,
give an immediate answer: not before believing that
he hail ally suspicion ~1 me. Be proceeded as fellows,
" it is no use for )..0 to deny it, Macer Hunt, as I
know those who nal prove that they saw you take
the money.- My surprise was now turned to indig-
watiuu. I protested relleute tly against the truth of
his assertion, tie Proof. . I deniest
in the most so , l. knew any thing of
the 'nosier, lauded. Oh more dials eon ttttt m
earnestness, t aPhe would Mar •forth my accusers,
that I might meet them face to fare.
Mrs. Es ans now came forward, and earnestly rn-
treated her husband, in c ttttt mos justice, if there was
any person u hit had seen Ine, or if he hail any proof
that I took the money, or knew any thing of it, that he
would bring then. forward: if he hasi not, that hr
would at least, admit that 11 no ground for saving
what he had said. Mr. Era felt the force of herl
ob-
servation, and seeing that' I 4ttied the fart so unequi-
vocally, he said that he had no proof of the fact, that
he had gone too far, that as circumstances appeared
strung against me at first, and it appeared that I was
embarrassed, he thought it best to charge we boldly
with it, to induce me to confess at once. Mts. Evans,
1011) WAS a good creature, and a sincere lover of jus-
tice, puss !using too a great deal of discrimination, in-
veighed in very strong terms against charging a boy
with theft, and casting aspersions upon his character,
without any foundation or proof whatever. She added,
that I had been at the school nearly five years, without
ever having created any suspicion of my Istmesty, or
without doing the slightest act upon which they could
ground %nth a charge:—that she haul frequently trust-
ed me with money to execute errands and commissions
for her, Coo I had always done it with the strictest
regularity, and the most scrupulous regard to hones-
ty ; and, raising her voice, she said she would her-
self be bound fur nay innocence upon this occasion;
adding, with great warmth, there was not an honester
lad in thy school, and that some of those who threw
out dark hints of suspicion against Master Ilnnt, were
much snore likely, front their general character, to
have robbed Scott than he was.

" In consequence of this tone being taken by my
kind friend, whose memory I have always held, and
ever shall hold, in the highe►t veneration, Mr. Evans
slightly apologised for having asserted that hr had
proof of my guilt ; saying in excuse that it was his
duty to du every thing in his power to unravel the
mystery. You way go Master linut, said Mrs. Evans;
and io the kindest possible manner she endeavoured
to console in.• for the injustice I had suffered, by telling
me that the thief would certainly be funnel oat, and
then those that bud accused me would be ashamed of
themselves.

" As I walked out of the parlour up the play-ground,
many of my school-fellows approached, to know the
result of such a long conference--" Well, Hunt,
there any thing made out likely to clear up this affair ?"
all of them anxious to see me fairly acquitted of the
charge. I exclaimed in a loud voice, " what a d—d
liar that Ti* Erais is. fie first declared that some
one had seen use take the money, and afterwards con-
' fcssed it was no such thing." Mr. Evans, who had
followed me oat of the parlour. and had, unperceived
by me, walked up his garden, which was only sepa-
rated Irons the play-ground by some pales and a slight
low yew hedge, heard this as plain as any of the boys,
lin a very emphatic tone, and close to my elbow, ha, to
'my utter confusion, said, " really Master Hunt' Pray,
Sir, go to your room, and we will settle that account
las soon as we go into school," which was its a few
I usinutes after.

I. I certainly sow expected that should hate a severe'
bogging, and so did all my school fellows ; but t was
agreeably disappointed when he arrived in the school,
by his addressing me in a very serious manner, at fol-
lows, " Master Host, I now set yon an imposition of
one hundred lines of Virgil to learn by Friday, and
the next time I ever hear you make use of such words
I will certainly give you a flogging." The lines
were learnt, and so ended that part of the story.
As, however, no discovery was made about the
money, I felt very uneasy ; not that I believed any of
the boys hail any suspicion of me, aml Scott himself
constantly declared that he had not the slightest idea
that I knew any thing of the matter. Notwithstand-
ing this, there was sometimes an insinitation thrown
out, wide!' rendered my life very miserable ; and Best,
the boy who had first acruseil me, 0111(.110i front the
drubbing he gut lie was deterred from repeating the
assertion, yet he would frequently ask in my hearing,
" //'ho if u! Scores flowery "

(Tu be continued i■ our me.rt.)

T.,1111.E

(Frnu Baldwin and Co.'sLoodon Magazine, for September.)

Lively sallies and connected discourse are very slit%
ferent things. There are many prism's of that im-
patient and restless turn of tniel, that they cannot
wait a moment fur a conclusion, or follow tip the thread
of any I'4:meta. In the hurry of conversation their
ideas are somehow huddled into sense, hut in the in-
tervals of thought, leave a great gap between. Mon-
ies titian said, he often lost au isle:. before he could
find words for it : yet hr dictated, by way of saving
time, to an amanuensis. This is in my opinion a vile!
method, and a solecism in authorship. Horne Tooke,
among other produces, used to meintain, that no
one could write a good style who was not in the habit'
of talking and hearing Oct sonnet of his own yuice.
Ile might as well hate said that sio o,e (multi relish a
good style withisitt r.adiug i: out. as we tint! c ))))) town
people Jo to assist their apprehension. Hut there is a
method of trine periods on the e:kr• or weighing
them with the scales of the breath, without any arti-
culate %multi. Atitlit rs, as they write, nev be said to
" bear a soutcl sum tine, tip re's nothi 'twixt it
aid silence." Even nuts's' imis tfotte: all) c impose its
their head. I azree that n s style is tst.•uti that is not
tit to be spoken or read aloud with etre, t. 'I his I 'ls
true not only of emphasis and rade:see, but also with
regard to natural idiom and callnipti•l freedom.
Strrne's was in [hi. respect the best st:. le that ever
was written. Yon feney that you Ise..r the people
talking. For a contrary college-man writes
a good style, or understamls it when written. Fine
writing is with hits, all rerhiar• and monntony---a
translation into classical motile or larcameter

That whieh I have just esseteioned is among many
! instances I could give of ingenious abenrditits ad-
Tainted by Mr. Tooke in the heat and pride of eon-
;
• troversy. A person who knew h!tts well, and glestly
• admired his talents, said of him that be never (to
j his recollection) heard him defend an opinion which
he thought right, or in which he believed him to be
himself sincere. He indeed provoked his antagonists
into defeat by the very extravagance of his assertions,
and the teasing sophistry by which he rendered them
plausible. His temper was pr pter to-his skill. He
had the manners of a man of the world, with great
j scholastic resources. lie flung every one else otf his
guard and was himself immoveable. I never knew any one
who did not admit his superiority in this kind of warfare.
He put a full stop to one of I°llg-winded
refatory apologies for his youth and inexperience, by
saying abruptly, —.. Speak up, young man !" and at
another time, silenced a learned professor, by desiring
an explanation of a word which the other frequently
used, and which, he said, he had been many years'
trying to get at the meaning of,--the copulative Is'
He was the best fencer of his day. He made strange
liav'w of Fuseli's fantastic hieroglyphics, violent
humours, and oddity of dialect. Cumin, who was
sometimes of the same party, was lively and animated
iu convivial conversation, but dull in argument nay,
averse to any thing like reasoning or serious Oise! J-
tion, and hail the worst taste I ever knew. His fa-
vourite critical topics were to abuse Hilton's Paradise
Lost, and Romeo and Juliet. Indeed, he confessed a
want of sufficient acquaintance with books when he
found himself in literary society in London. Ile and •
Sheridan once dined at John Keinhle.s, with 3lrs.
Inrhbald and Mary Woolstonecroft, when the discourse
almost wholly turned on Love, from noon to dewy
eve, a summer's day:" What a subject! What
speakers, and what hearers! What would I not give
to have been there, had I not learned it all from the
bright eyes of Amarylis, and may one day wake a
Table-talk of it: Peter Pindar was rich in aoecdute
and grotesque humour, and profound in technical
knowledge both of music, poetry, and painting, hut he
was gross and ov..rlsearitig. Wordsworth sometimes
talks like a man inspired on subjects of poetry (his own
out of the question)--Coleridge well on every subleet,
and o—Twin on none. To finish this subject--lira.
----'s conversation is as floe-cum as h..r features, and
I like to sit in the room with that sort of coronet face.
What she says leaves a flavour, like hue green tea.
ll—es is champaigne, and like anchovy
sandwiches. H--yd--n's is like a game at trap-ball.
L---'s like snap-dragon : and my own (if Ido nut this-
take the matter) is nut very much unlike a game at
nine-pins ' One sourer of the conversation
of authors, is the character of other authors, and on
that they are rich indeed. What things they say !
What stories they tell of one another, more particularly
of their friends ! If I durst only give some of these
co ifidential communications! The reader may per-
haps think the foregoing a sp-eimen of them :—but
indeed he is mistaken.

Race or Two MILICA.—..% match made over the bot-
tle, on Wednesday night, between a Captain Haley and
a Mr. Snell, for 20 guineas, took place .-esterday at
Kilburn. The Captain took the lead and kept it the
whole distance ; hut it n-as an excellent race, and won
by four yards only. It was done in ten minutes and
form--two seconds.
Little, Woof, and Armstrong. left for (Wendell at
the late Assises for Carlisle, underwent the sentence.
of the law on Saturday last, and died as they livid, 111
the most hardened manner.

141.1CIICSL !NTS LtIG ENC E.
Canso' LTAR, AVG. I6.—The Virginia arrived to.dor
from Baltimore, reports, that in beating up the Stroji
she saw a veuel on shore, near Tangier, without coleus:
apparently a Dane or Swede.
011ITEND, SEPT. 6.—The Wisesteen, Neilson, &owl_
terrisoer, with timber ; and the Rysberge. Doctor, fro,
Riga, with Linseed, went on shore near this port, st 9
p. m. crews, materials, and part of linseed saved. The
Rvseberge will go to pieces.
-111111EGATE. SEPT. b.—The wreck of the Nor
schooner, Forgoget, which was cast away on the 00,4
win Sand on Sunday night last, floated off aid 00,
picked up, and towed into this harbour last night

CANTS/ FIDELITT.—A few days ago as Iwo WI
named Whitehead, one aged 13 and the other li, well
amusing themselves on the banks of the Surrey Cast
' at Camberwell, the youngest of them fell in and inns
diately sunk. His brother after vainly endeavor tin
to assist him, ran to the public house and related what
had happened ; the landlord and some persons who
were drinking in the house hastened to the spot, Red sot
of them who had a large dog immediately drew his at.
'Pinion to the object in the water ; the faithful Cies;
plunged in, and succeeded in getting the boy by tb.
col!a: of his jacket, and bringing him on shore: het he.
was insensible, having been near ten minutes in the in
ter. His mother came up at the moment, and stein/
the bov's situation, had nu doubt but he WU dead, ao„
immediately fainted. They were both conveyed to the
house of Mr. Collins, a surgeon where the hey Was re.
rtirell by the means recommended by the Humane So.
viety. to the great joy of his antions parents. The slog
i• of the Norwegian kind, and belorge to Mr. Hihheet,
a raw-keeper.