SML By54 941 YALE UNIVERSITY MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE and TIMES, O F Sir Thomas Deveil, Knight, O N E O F His Majefty's JUSTICES of the PEACE, For ths Counties of Middkfcx, EJfex, Surry and HertfordfJnre^ THE City and Liberty of TVcJlminJlery THE Tower of London, and the Liberties thereof, ^c. Aude ali^uid, Ji vis ejje aliq^uis. LONDON: Printed and Sold by M. Cooper, in Pater-Nofler-Row, J. Robinson, in Ludgate-Street ; M. Cook, and M. Nu'tt, at the Royal-E.r,.'!ange; A. Dodd, at thePeacoci without Temple-Bar; M. Amey, in the Court of Re queft, and G. Woodfall, by Chariiig-Crofs, 1748, [Price One-Shilling and Sixpence.] ( I ) MEMOIRS o F Sir Thomas De Veil, Knt. &c. HERE feems to be no kind of writing more in favour with the prefent age, than memoirs, or accounts of perfons who have diflinguifhed themfelves in the world, by arms or arts, by wit or learning, in a civil, military, na val, or commercial capacity. In all the different fcenes, as well as all the different feafons of life, if fadts are properly difpofed, there is a great and amiable variety, which, at once, amufes and fur- nifhes inftrudtion to the reader. It is for this rea fon, that the lives cf perfons, diftinguiflied in the world, are always read with more eagernefs and pleafure, than moft other books ; becaufe, howe ver people may differ in their public ftations ; in their private charadbers, in their virtues and vices, inclinations and averfions, they ftand much upon B the ( 2 ) the fame foot, and it gives the ordinary rank of man kind, no fmall pleafure to find, that fo it is ; and that how different appearances foever men wear, yet follow them clofe, enter with them into their cabinets, or, which is ftill more, into their pri vate thoughts, and the dark recelTes of their minds, and they will be found pretty much upon a level. There is another advantage that attends this kind of writing, which renders it ftill more curi ous, ufeful and entertaining ; and that is, that it fhews us what kind of abilities are requifite in different profefTions ; and in this refpeft, the fol lowing pages may boaft of fomewhat new. We have the memoirs of many able ftatefmen, great captains, gallant feamen, and indeed, of almoft all profefTions, but the memoirs of a maglftrate, the life of a juftice of the peace, has fcarce hither to appeared, and yet it will be found, that this, like all other charafters, requires particular ta lents, and that the qualides which render a man capable of fliining therein, are not fo common* or fo trivial, as many people imagine. Sir Thomas Be Veil, was a gentleman, who pafTed thro' many fcenes of life, and raifed him felf by his perfonal merit, from carrying a brown mufket (3 ) mufket, to make a very confiderable figure in the world. To trace him therefore from the begin ning, to fhew by what fteps he fell in the earlier part of his life, into great difHcuItiesj how he extricated himfelf from thefe, by a vigorous ap plication of his parts, as he fupported them with a very manly patience ; how he accommodated himfelf to all the different ftations through which he pafTcd; how he made them all fubfervient to his purpofes, gaining in each new lights, and new experience, which he rendered ufeful to him, in thefe following ftages of his journey through the world. How his induftry fupported him when he had little elfe to fubfift on, and how, by his a6li- vity and dexterity in employments, which would hardly have made any other man confiderable, he made friends, and thereby raifed himfelf to a fu perior rank in life, muft give great fatisfadion to every intelligent reader, more efpeci-illy, as all we have to fay, relates to perfons, things and events, with which every one is acquainted, and about the truth of which, therefore, no-body can be at a lofs; we fhall fee from hence, that courage, in defatigable diligence, and a certain boldnefs in addrefs, will carry a man through moR of thofe troubles, that are incident to fetting out in the world, with few friends, and a very fmall fortune. B 2 Wi (4) We fliall fee, that if a man is not wanting to himfelf, no rubs that lie in his way, can hinder him from rifing, and that a perfon, who does his duty in his poft, and has a juft refpeft for the fervice of the public, will always find his ac count in it, though he may have fome weaknefTcs and failing.s, and be now arad then carried in pur fuit of his intereft, into fome httle errors in his conduft. Thefe will prove very ufeful lefTons to the penetrating and the prudent j as for lighter kind of readers, they will find matter enough for amufement, in the varieties of a life full of fuch diverfity of fubjedls, that fcarce any two pages contain matter of the fame nature j we have the more reafon to hope, that thefe memoirs will give general pleafure, fince they have been colledted with great care, from perfons who had occafion to be well informed of the fadls which they com municated, and are penii'd with all imaginable impartiality, without any view of reprefenting him, to whom they relate, better or worfe, weaker or wifer, more a patriot, or lefs a courtier, than he really was. Thus much it was neceffary to fiy, by way of introdu(5lion, let us now proceed £0 matters of faifl. "Whij.e (5) While this gentleman was living, people took the liberty of afperfing him, as if he had been a foreigner by birth, and meanly defcended, neither of which were true. His father the reve rend Dr. Hans De Veil., was of a good family in Lorain., had the happinefs of an excellent educa tion, and was a man of great natural parts, and profound learning, as the works that he publifh ed full fhew. He was a thorough mafter of He brew, and of all the rabbinical litrature, which enabled him to write an admirable book on facri fices, and a commenta.iy upon the minor prophets, both of which have been juftly efteemed by thofe who were beft verfed in thefe fiibjedls. He came over into England before the revolution, was a minifter ofthe church by law eftablifhed, library- keeper at Lambeth, and had great credit with the famous archbifiiop Tillotfon, who was his patron and his friend. His wife was a very grave good fort of woman, and particularly careful of his family, fo that his fon Thomas pafTed the firft years of his life under very ftridt difcipline, and had as much care taken of his manners, as of his learning, to which he had a great propenfity, and by the care of his fether, laid fuch a foundation while a child, as was ( 6) was very ufeful to him after he became a man. He was born in St. Paul's, Chnrch-yard, where his father then lived, in 1684, and remained with his parents till he attained the age of fixteen, or thereabouts, and then it was thought requififr, as his father's circumftances were but narrow, that he fhould go into the World, in order ttj become mafter of fome trade, or other, that might put hlrn into -a way of getting his bread. Several methods were thought of, byt at laft it was a- greed, that he ftiould go to a Mercer, and ac- 'cordingly a mafter was found for him, under whom it was thought he might have pafTed the time of his apprenticefhip very eafily and happi ly ; a.nd as he was very dutiful to his parents, he vfillingly confented to what they thought expedi ent for him, and was accordingly bound. The perfon to whom he was put prentice, lived in ^.eeii's-ftreet^ near Chcapfide, and for fome few months, things went happily, the mafter expreffed great fatisfadljon in refpedl to the boy's condudl, and the young man, who was-na-. turally induftrious, applied himfelf clofe to bufi nefs, and might, in all probability, have done- very, well. But an unlucky accident, which hap-. pened in lefs than a year, intirely changed the, nice of hi.3 affairs 5 in fliort, his mafter broke, and (7) and as his father had ftrained himfelf to the utJ moft, to put his fon out to this trade, he was a- ble to do little more for him, fo that he found himfelf obliged to put himfelf in the v/ay of pre ferment (the war breaking out about that time) into the army, where he thought it no indignity, as indeed perfons of the greateft quality have ne ver thought it any, to enter himfelf as a private man. We have no particular, or diftindl accounts of the regiments in which he ferved, or the manner in which he was advanced ; all we know, is, that his capacity and readinefs in learning languages, \yere very foon taken notice of, more efpecially after he came to fall under the eye of the lord vifcount Galway, who being himfelf a French pro- teftant, did not like him the worfe for being of foreign extradtion. That gentleman's ftory is too well known, for me to dwell long upon it. His father M; Rouvigni, was ambaffador here from France, in the reign of king Charles II. And af ter the revocation of the edidb of Nantz, his fon, and the whole family, quitted their native country, to come and fetde here. The young Rouvigni ferved firft in Ireland, and having been very inftrumental in the redudtion of that king dom, grew much into the fiwour of king Willi' ami am, who created him lord Galway, and had a ve ry good opinion of his abilities, both as an offi cer and as a minifter. In the beginning of queen Ann*a reign, he was fent over in both capacities to Portugal, where he adted at court as minifter plenipotentiary from her Britannic majefty, and in the field, as commander in chief of the forces which fhe furnifhed on that fide, for the fervice of the common caufe. It was here that Mr. De Veil became known to his lordfhip, who, at firft, very probably, pro pofed nothing farther in doing him fervice, than gratifying a generous inclination to affift a gende- man in diftrefs ; but when he came to be more throughly acquainted with him, and found how far it was in his power to be ufeful to him in various refpedts, he began to have a much greater refpedl for him, and that increafed in proportion to the fervices he did him, which were of fuch a- nature, that befides entertaining him as a kind of fecretary, he was alfo pleafed to beftow upon him a troop of dragoons, and that was the beginning of his fortune. The fervice in Portugal, was very expenfive to, the nadon, though from abundance of crofs acci dents, it was far enough from proving advanta geous (9) geous to the common caufe; but it gave lord Galway an opportunity of providing for a multi tudes of his countrymen, whom he loved as ten derly, as if they had been really what he com monly called them, his children. But this hu mour, tho' very natural, and very excufable, at leaft, if not very commendable in his lordfhip, rendered him difagreeble to an Engli/h army, fo that they fpoke very contemptible of him, tho» he was certainly very brave in his perfon, and had all the abilities requifite to fill his employ ments. How juft a fenfe he had of the ho nour done him by the Englijh nation, may ap pear from the following ftory, often told by Sir Thomas De Veil, and which ought to be remem bered to that nobleman's honour. The king of Portugal, who began to draw greater advantages from the Brafils, than any of his predeceffors had done, was very uneafy at the fight of the golds vanifhing, that came from thence, almoft as foon as it appeared, and being informed, that the greateft part of it was fent to England, he confulted privately with his minifters, about finding out ways and means for putting a ftop to this, in order to keep the money at home; and a projedt was formed for this purpofe, which turned chiefly upon two points, one was fetdncr C up ( I^ ) up manufadtures in his own country, for fupply- ing the people o( Brajil with what they wanted; and the other, putting the laws ftridtly in execu tion, which had been made for preventing the exportation of gold. This fcheme was kept very private ; but as he had a great confidence in lord Gahvay, and believed him to be, as he really was, a man of great honour and fincerity, he refolved to take his opinion upon it. He propofed to him accordingly, a true ftate of what he called his grievances, and of the remedies which he judged neceffary, and then defired his fentiments as to their being pradlicabie. Lord Galw^ heard him with great attention, and having firft defired and obtained liberty to deliver his own opinion freely ; he told the king, in the firft place, that his complaint was not fo well founded as he imagined, fince the fituadon' of his dominions, made it requifite for him, to depend conftantly on his allies, for his fecurity, againft neighbours, who, as he very well knew, were inclined to do him all the mifchief they could, and were powerful enough to do it, if he was not aflifted by his friends. But he obferved, that while he lived upon good terms with thcBrittJh nation, he was fure of receiving fuccours from them, proportionable both to, his wants and wiflies, and therefore ( ii ) therefore he ought to confider this as a great alle viation of the grievances which he took fo hea vily. He told him, that to the remedies pro pofed, he would not enquire, v/hether they might, or might not prove effedi:ual ; if the latter was the cafe, he would not be barely difappointed, but would alfo loofe the hearts of his allies, by making the experiment ; and if the former hap pened, that is to fay, if by his contrivances, the gold could be kept in Portugal, he would very foon find worfe confequences flow frorh thence. As things then ftood , he fhewed him, that the Engliff) weavers, taylors, fhoemakers, and other tradefmen, wrought for his fubjedts in Praftl; the Englijh merchants were at the pains to fend thefe goods to Lijbon, and a great many fhips, and fome hundred of feamen, were annually employ ed in this trade, which fuddenly taken away from them, would leave thoufands of people deftitute cf fubfiftance. But as this proceeding v.-ould be a diredl and flagrant breach of the alliances, fub fifting between the two nations, it might be fear ed, that numbers of the people fo diftrcfil-d.. might turn foldiers, and embarking on board th:,- very fhips turned out of the Vortugd tiucl.-, n;J!?iir prove ftrong enough to atcark and ro;in;irr the 'Is. V- ( 12 ) In fliort, he fhewed him, that providence had made a wife and juft diftribution of wealth to the one, and induftry to the other, which proved a bond of harmony, and a fource of happinefs to bothi that if this was taken away, wars would certainly follow, and the power that was weakeft at fea, would certainly have the worft of it. The king and his minifters having confidered this at tentively, law the ftrength and juftice of his lord- fiiip's obfervations, and immediately laid afide their former defign. This was a very important fervice rendered to the Engliff) nation, and as fuch, ought to be remembered and efteemed. But to return to Captain De Veil. While he remained in this country, he con- tradtcd acquaintances with feveral officers of dif- tindlion, which proved very advantageous to him in the fubfequent part of his life. Amongft thefe, we may juftly reckon his intimacy with colonel Martin Bladen, a gentleman, who, like himfelf, owed his rife to perfonal merit. He was, if I have been right informed, originally bred to the law, but having a tafte for letters, he tranflated Cafar's commentaries, which he dedicated to the duke of Marlborough, whofe favour brought him ' intOj ( i3 ) into, and preferred him in the army ; and as he likewife happened to ferve in Portugal, where he was much in the good graces of lord Galway, this gave him the opportunity of knowing the merit and capacity of captain De Veil, for whom he expreffed an early, and with whom he maintain ed a fincere friendfhip during the remainder of their lives. The regiment in which captain De Veil ferved, being reduced, he came over into England, and having a family, a love for company, and a tafte for pleafure, he found it impoffible to maintain the former, and gratify the latter, upon the nar row income of his half-pay, to help this out, therefore, he had recourfe to an employment, for which no man living was ever better qualified, and that was, foliciting at the war-ofHce, the trea fury, and other public boards, drawing pedtions, cafes, and reprefentations, memorials, and fuch kind of papers, for which he kept an office in Scotland-yard, and as he wrote a good ftile in French, as well as Englijh, underftood moft of the modern languages, had a general notion of, and a ftrong turn to bufinefs, he carried it on with reputation and profit. It It has been faid, that in this fituation of life, the captain fliewed a ftrong appetite for money, in excufe of which, it may be truly replied, that he had many demands for it, and confequently could not be without it. He had, befides, a great principle of juftice, loved to pay people, hated debt, and was fully perfuaded, that a man could never have any intereft, that vvas neceflitous. There was, however, a little circumftance in, his conducl, which contributed not a little to give the world, or at leaft a circle of his acquaintance in it, fuch an opinion of him. The cafe was this, the captain was a very nice lEconomift, and tho' be was very willing to give his friends any aflif tance that might be drawn from his time or la bour, yet he thought they had no right to his pocket, and therefore he was fo punctual in fet ting dfjwn his expences, that a difh of coffee did not efcape him. Hs was often- rallied pretty feverely, for thi^ over-ftrained tnigality, as- fbme people called it; but this did not in the leaft m.ove him. He ob ferved, tba: what were very trifles in themfelves, r.'hen added together, and brought into one man's expenoes, bec;;.me worthy of notice, and that it s-rj.^ ir^uch bcticr irj mAincio.n fuch things, and have them ( i5 ) them fetded, then either to forbear doing people fervice, or grudge thofe fervices when done, on the fcore of thofe little expences that attended them. To fay the truth, tho' he was very nice in this point of money lent, or laid out, yet he expedted no more from others, than he thought himfelf obliged to perform under the like circumftances, perhaps not fo much. When he nrft came over to England, his affairs were in a very bad pofture, and by foliciting at various places, in order to make them better, he ran himfelf confiderably in debt, upon which he renred to a country village, lived upon half his half-p.ay, and difcharged the debts he had contradted, before he attempted to pufli his way in the world, in the manner before- mendoned. It was this difpofition, that gave him a con ftant and confiderable credit, fo that he always knew where to meet with the fum of money he wanted upon any emergency, which he never fail ed to repay with intereft at his time ; and this was of more ufe to him than can be well exprefl[ed. His oflice at Whitehall, brought him into abun dance of bufinefs, and the manner in which he difcharged it, gained him a very large and gene ral acquaintance, many of whom expreflTed a de fire to ferve him, and were inclined to give him their ( 16 ) their afliftance, to put himfelf into another fitua tion of life, wherein he might make a better fi gure, and find his account in it, at the fame time. The method propofed, was the procuring him to be put into the commiflion of the peace for the county of Middlejex and liberty of Wejlminfter, which he was not very hafty in accepting. He knew very well, that there were many things with which a man ought to be throughly acquaint ed, who takes upon himfelf the office of a maglf trate, of which he had an high opinion ; and be ing naturally difpofed to difcharge with great pundluality, whatever he underftood to be his du ty, he refolved to employ fome part of his time in making himfelf well acquainted with the na ture of that office, and with the powers of a juf tice of peace, before he undertook to execute them. He was not long in acquiring thefe lights, and as foon as he had acquired them, the intereft of his friends, and particularly colonel Bladen before- mentioned, put him into a capacity of exerting them, by getdng him made a juftice in 1729. Soon after which, he took a houfe in Leicejler- fields., and by his adlivity, vigilance, and great at tention, to whatever came before him, diftinguifbed himfelf ( 17) himfelf in that employment beyond many of thofe v/ho had been long in it; and as this raifed his reputation, and made him taken notice of by feveral perfons of rank and figure, fo it drew upon him alfo an extraordinary concourfe of com pany, as well for advice or curiofity, as to fee perhaps if they could fpy any faults in him ; but that did not give him great concern j his fpirit being fuperior to every thing of this kind, which -enabled him to p.afs chearfully through a great deal of bufinefs, that to a man of another turn of mindj would have proved a very uneafy, if not infjpportablc burden. The great caunon he ufed in all his tranf- adlions, and the method he took to keep his af fairs in order, foon diftinguifbed him in his office ; and the readinefs and facility with which he enter ed into all the branches of it in a furprifing fliort fpace of time, made him much taken notice of; and this drew upon him the envy of perfons who tho* ihey had been longer in that kind of bufinefs, yet found themfelves liable to miftakes, flowing from different caufes^ by which they foon fell much be neath him in credit, and confequendy loft a great part of the profits which they had formerly en joyed. The reader will eafily apprehend the per fons of whom I a.Ti fpeaking, who are what tbe D vulgar ( i8 ) vulgar call (and perhaps not improperly^ Trading Jufitces ; of whom it may not be amifs to fay fomething before we proceed. They are a fort of people that have never ftood in a very fair lighr, either with their fu periors or inferiors : by the former they are ge nerally confidered as low, needy, and mercenary tools, who fubfift on their commiflions, and may be put upon any thing by fuch as have either power or intereft fufficient to affcdl: them. On the other hand, they are hated and. dreaded by the common people, who fancy they have far greater powers than they really have ; who ap ply to them upon every trivial occafion, to gra tify their own fpleen and malice againft their neighbours ; or being obnoxious to fuch treat ment from others, for they dread a warrant more than all things^ and are as much afraid of being carried before his ivorl^np, as the people of Paris fear the bejitlc, or the inhabitants of LiJl>on the inqiifillon. Such people there have been for ages paft, and very probably will be in thofe that are to come, becaufe they are a kind of neccffiry evils j for though the part they adt is low, and v^ry frequently oppreflive and injurious, yet if there were ( 19 ) were not fuch litde niagiftrates, the laws could not be well put in execution, or the common fort of people kept within any bounds in regard to their fuperiors, or to one another : befides, what ever evils they do, flow chiefly from the bad ha bits of thofe they have to do with, and thefe mif- chiefs can never rife to any confiderable height, before they are met with and corredted by fome or other of the fuperior tribunals of juftice ; fo that they are rather tolerated than authorized, and whenever their errors become fl.igrant in themfelves, or notorious in their nature, they fel dom fail to meet with a quick and effeclual cure. These fort of folks, we may readily conceive, had reafon enough to be jealous of Mr. De Veil, who, though he did much of their kind of bufi nefs, did it in another manner ; fo that though his office was very profitable, yet it was not li able to any fcandal ; on the contrary, he was not only exadt in what he did himfelf, but (as they came in his way) redlified other peoples miflakes, and was a great check upon fuch as had nothing but intereft in view, and confidered juftice in no other light, than as a commodity, by the vending cif whicb they could make money, D 3 \z- ( 20 ) It fell out in about a year after he began to cdl, that one Mr. V/ found himfelf hurt by Mr. De Veil\ refufing to comply with an irregu lar adl of his, and by his complaining of it to the Lord Chancellor's fecretary, his refentment run fo high, that he refolved to take perfonal fatis- fadlion of Mr. De Veil ; in order to which he fent for him from his own houfe to the Leicejier coffec-houfe in Leicefter-fields, and getting him into a room above ftairs, drew his fword upon him, infulted him grofly, and at laft wounded him dangeroufly, and perhaps might have gone ftill further, if the noife had not brought company up ftairs, which prevented him from executing the whole of his purpofe. The conduct of Mr. DeVeil upon this occa fion was very calm and difcreet. He told his brother juftice, that difputes between niagiftrates vvere to be regulated by the law, and not by the fword -, that he had put this difpute into a proper method of being determined where it ought to be determined, and that when this V/asonce over^ if he ftill thought himfelf aggrieved, he would readily give him any kind of fatisfadtion he fhould then think fit to require. But this having ntb fort of effcdl upon the perfon he had to deal with, whp, ( 21 ) who, as we have before related, took his own way of revenging his quarrel, Mr. De Veil per fifted alfo in his method, and had all the advan tage over his antagonift in a judicial way that he could expedl or defire ; and as this affair made a great noife in the world, and came to be fully explained and examined in a fuperior court of juftice, it was of much fervice to Mr. De Veil, ' and brought him to be confidered as a perfon very capable of doing great fervice in his ftation, and of becoming fuch a maglftrate as in all times is much wanted, but was never more fo than at that jundlure, when a great fpirit of corruption reigned, and bad people were become fb infblcnt, that it required great courage and prefence of mind, in fuch as were called by their ftations to put in execu tion the laws provided by the legiflature, for fuppreffing and punifl^ing fuch infamous per fons. As men feldom make any great progrefs in the world, who do not propofe to therhfelves fome certain point, towards which they bend their fteps, keep it conftantly in view, and make it their fole aim ; Mr, De Veil iormtdi. fuch an objedl: ' to himfelf, and neverloft fight thereof dll he found himfelf in poffeffion of it. The poft he aimed at was the confidence of the court and miniftry in (22 ) in his office as juftice of peace ; and to this ne was moved by many ' motives ; firft, it gratified his ambition, he loved to be about great men, and to have an intereft in them,which he believed could not be obtained any other way than by ferving them. In the next place, he knew it would give him credit and power, for which he had alfo a very ftrong appeute, and was never happier than when furrounded by a number of people whom he could influence by his nod. Laftly, he had his profit in view ; for though he was far enough from covetoufnefs, if we reftrain that vice to the mere Gathering and keeping of money, yet he had a ftrong pafTion for acquiring ic, that he might live in his own way, which was magnificent enough, and graufy his propenfity to pleafures, which were very expenfive. His notion in this refpedb was very well founded, the methods he took to raife himfelf were well contrived and fteadily profecuted, and the fuccefs that attended his en- .deavours perhaps exceeded even his hopes. But before we proceed to a diftin^t relation of thefe, it may not be amifs to inform the reader as to a point of hiftory that is not very well un- derfl:ood, and that is, that fuch a maglftrate as this has never been wanting under any reign fince that of Queen EUzahtih : In her time Fleetwood, who (23 ) who was Recorder of Lw;^o«, had this poft, and held a regular correfpondence with the prime mi nifter Cecil, to whom he was extremely ufeful. In the reign of King James it would be eafy 'to point out feveral that had fuccefllvely this em ployment, but the moft remarkable was one Sir Francis MitcheU, who was a Middlejex juftice, and a creature of the duke of Buckingham's, who fup ported him in many outragious adts of power, e- ven againft the Lord Chancellor Bacon, and the fcandalous hiftory of thofe times does not ftick to fay, that the firft difference between the chan cellor and the duke arofe about this man, -whom fince we have mentioned, it may perhaps give no offence to the reader, to be told, that in the opinion of fome very intelligent perfons, who lived in thofe times, this accident proved the chancellor's ruin, for he furniflied fome of his friends with matter for accufing this Middlejex juftice in parliament, where he was feverely pu- nifhed, and his patron was fo much provoked thereby, that he foon after gave up the chancellor to a like profecution, v/hich brought him to dif grace: In the reign of King Charles II. the famous Sir Edmundhury Godjrey wx-, the court juftice, and a very adtive and ufeful magiflrate he was, dif- playing ( 24 ) playing in that capacity a degree of courage wor thy of an old Roman ; an inftance of which, be caufe it is not commonly known, Ihall be kt dov/n here. On the breaking out of the great plague in 1666, there were peft-houfes eredled, into which fuch as vvere feized with the diftem per were carried, till either the difeafe killed, or ("v/hich did not very often happen^ the dodlors cured. It happened, that a fellow who had com mitted a great robbery and a very black murder, being purfued by the conftable, took refuge in one of thefe peft-houfes, and there thought to be fecure. The conftables, and thofe that were with them, furrounded the place, and notice being fent to Sir Edmundbury Godjrey, he came thither in perfon, and did all he could to perfuade fome of them to go in and bring the fellov/ out, but it was to no purpofe ; at laft, when he found that neither perfuafion nor threats would do any thing, the juftice himfelf went in, made a ftridi: fearch among the beds of the difeafed and dying people, dragged the criminal from under one of them, brought him out into the ftreet, and put him into the hands of the officers of juftice, and having made his mittimus, fav/ him fairly con- -dudled to Newgate. It was owing to his being ;fuch a maglftrate, tha.t Tongue and Oates, when they -framed their firft narrative of the popifli plot, ( 25 ) plot, made their application to him, which, as all the world knows, proved the occafion of his death, which made fo m.uch noi fe^ and is become a fadt of confequence enough to make a confi'' derable figure even in our general hiftories. Among other fucceffors in the fame reign, he had one who diftinguiflied himfelf very pardcu- larly, the perfon I mean v/as Sir John Rerejby, a Torkjhire baronet, of a good family, and confider able fortune, who was put into the commiflion of the peace for Middlejex, on purpofe to ferve up on great occafions, in deference to which the king did not think it below himj to give him his or ders with his own mouth ; of which^ in his me moirs, we have the following very remarkable inftance, in relation to the murder of Mr, y/^y^?;, and the apprehending Count Coningsmark, which being partially as well as very imperfedtly re lated by our hiftorians, I will give you the whole in Sir John Rerejby's own words, who entered it thus in a very regular diary that he kept of all his proceedings* *' 1681. Feb. 12. At this time was perpetrated the moft barbarous and audacious murder that had almoft ever been heard of in England. Mr, Thynn, a gentleman of 5000/, per annum, and lately E married ( 26 ) married to lady Ogle, who repenting herfelf of the match, fled from him into Holland before they were bedded, was fet upon by three ruffians, who fhot him as he was going along the ftreet in his coach. This unhappy gentleman being much engaged in the duke of Monmouth's caufe, it was feared that party might put fome violent con- ftrudlion on this accident, the adbors therein ma king their efcape juft for the time, and being un known, I happened to be at court that evening, when the king hearing the news, feemed greatly concerned at it, not only for the horror of the .idVion itfelf, which was fhocking to his natural difpofition, but alfo for fear of the turns the anti- court party might give thereto. I left the court, and was juft ftepping into bed, when Mr. fhynnh gentleman came to me to grant him a hue and cry, and immediately at his heels comes the duke of Monmouth's page, to defire me to come to him at Mr, Thynn's lodgings, fending his coach for me, which I made ufe of accordingly, I there found his grace furrounded with feveral lords and gentlemen, Mr. Thynn's friends, and Mr. Th/nn himfelf mortally wounded with five fliot from a blunderbufs, I on the fpot granted feveral war rants againft perfons fufpedted to have had a hand therein, and that night got fome iiitelli- f^ence concerning the adtors themfelves. At length, ( 27 ) length, by the information of a chairman, who had carried one of the ruffians from his lodgings at PVefiminlfer to the Black Bull there to take horfe, and by means of a loofe woman who ufed to vifit the fame perfon, the conftables found out the place of his abode, and there took his man, by nation a Sweed, who being brought before me, confcflTed himfelf a fervant to a Gcrvmn cap tain, who had told him he had a quarrel with Mr. Thynn, and had often ordered him to watch his coach, and that parncularly that day the cap tain no fooner underftood the coach to be gone by, than he booted himfelf, and with two others, a Sivedijh Y\(tniend.x\t and a Pole, went on horfe- back, as he fuppofed, in queft of Mr. Thynn. Feb. 13. By the fame fervant I alfo underftood where poffibly the captain and his two compa nions were tobe found, and having with the duke bf Monmouth, lord Mordaunt, and others, fearch- ed feveral houfe.s, as he diredted us, till fix in the morning, and having been in clofe purfuit all night, I perfonally took the captain in the hOufe of a Swedijh doctor in Leicejler-fields. I went firft into his room, followed by lord Mordaunt, where I found him in bed, with his fword at fome di ftance from him on the table : his weapon I in the firft place fecured, and then his perfon,' commit,. E 2 ting ( 28 ) ting him to two conftables. I wondered, 'he ihould make fo tame a fubmiffion, for he -was certainly a man of great courage, and appeared quite unconcerned from the very beginning, tho» he was very certain he fhould be found the -chief adtor in the tragedy. This gentleman had not long before commanded the forlorn hope at the fiege at Mons, when but two befides himfelf, of fifty under his command, efcaped with life,- and in confideration of this fervice, the prince of Orange made him a lieutenant of his guards, and in regard for the fame, the king of Sweden gave him a troop of horfe : but to infift no farther on this, his twp accomplices alfo were taken, and brought to my houfe/'where, before I cbuld-fi- , nifli the feveral examinadfc)"Hs I had to go through, the king fent for me to attend him In coiincilTor that purpofe with the prifoners and papers. His majefty ordered me to give him an account of the proceedings hitherto, as well v/ich regard to the apprehending the prifoners, as their examination^ and then examined them himfelf, and when the council rofe, ordered me to put every thing into writing, and in form, againft the trial, which took me up a great part ofthe day, tho' I had got pne cf the clerks of the council, and another juftice of the peace, to affift me, both for the fake of difpatch, and of my own fecurity the ni cety ( 29 ) cety of the' affair requiring it, as will In the fequel appear. • "- ' ¦ ' ¦'• ' ¦'• ''-'"'¦'' .Feb. i;5.,- The council met again, among other things to examine the. gOvernour of young count Conningsmazk, -a '.youngi gentleman then in': Miv Foubert's academy. iri London, and fuppofed to' be privy to the murder. Upon .this occafion the king fent for me to attend in council, where tho faid governdur confeffing, that the eldeft count Coningsmark, who had been in -England .fomg months before, arid made his addreflTes to the lady who fo unfortunately married Mr, Thynn, arrived incognito ten days before the faid' murder, and lay difgulfed till it was committed, g.-ive great -caufe to fufpedt that the count was at the bottorn of this bloody aflfliir, and his majefty ordered me thereupon to go and fearch his lodgings, which I did with two conftables, but the bird was flown ; he wentaway bsdmes in the morning of the day fifter the deed-was perpetrated, of which I im mediately gave the king an account. I feveral times afterwards attended on the king, both in private and in council, from time to time, to giv^ him information as frefh matter occurred or jap- peared j and iipori^ the whole it was difc6\^ertd, pardy'by the- confeffion of the- parties conC(^riled and partly-by -the information of others, that the Gennan ( 30 ) S£)7;m« captain had been for eight years an inti mate with count Coningsmark, one of the greatelj men in the kingdom of Sweden, his uncle being at that time governour of Pomerania, ' and near upon marrying the king's aunt ; and moreover^ that during the time he was in £«^/ which though it could not be called unreafonable, was very far from being well rdiffied by th^ public, '¦ It was, foref(?eq that this reftraint ( 43 ) reftraint would be fatal to that diverfion, which of all others, had been moft encouraged in all polite nations ; and that what was only intended to reach perfonal abufe, would be extended to general fa- tyr. This forefight has been but too well juftified by experience, for new-plays have been ever fince fo void of tafte and fpirit, as well as fait and fire, that fcarce any of them have been able to hold out three nights. But to come to the point. In the month of OSlober following, there came over a {ttt of French players, who by the intereft of fome perfons of quality, procured a licenfe to adt comedies In their own language in tht Hay-market; for which printed bills being ftuck up in all parts of the town, with the words By Authority in over-grown capitals ; this provoked to the laft degree, the wits that were already enough out of humour ; they could not bear that while Englijh fenfe was excifed, French tinfel ffiould be import ed with impunity ; and therefore threw outbroad hints, that upon this occafion, the town would In- terpofe their Authority, in order to reform an a- bufe tolerated by the fuperior powers, I ffiall not take upon me to enquire who the Town is, what their rights are, or whether they interpofed with juftice upon this occafion, becaufe thefe are points, the difcuffion of which, would lead G 2 me ( 44 ) me a great way from my fubjedt; and becaufe thofe who have a mind to fee them argued, may very eafily fatisiy their curiofity, by having re courfe to the literary records of thofe times ; fuch as the Hiftcrical Regijler, and the Magazines. \t is enough for my purpofe, that the Colonel thought proper upqn this occafion, to make his appearance at the theatre, In hopes that his prefence might fupport /-^^ ff/c/^w/y mentioned in the bills. But the town was not difpofed to pay any luch refpedt to thi: ju/iice ^ and the French players no fopner made their app.arance, but they were faluted net pnly with hiflTes and cat-calls, but with oranges, ap ples, and all the ufual artillery cf the pit. The poor devils were ftrangely aniazed at a recepdon ib innrely Englijh, and therefore retired in great dif order behind the fcenes: upon this, forth flood the Colonel, and began an oration againft what hewas pleafed to call Bear-garden behaviour ; he vvas an fwered by a wit, whofe chriftian name if I remem ber right, vf as Paul, and focqnclufively, that in point of argument it was a plain defeat. The Colonel than, began tp talk in the language -of power, which is alv/aysout of feafon, when nc^t immediately backed by fuperior force; The peo ple In the pit thqqght they had power too, and began to exert it without farther ceremony, by pull ing up benches and forms, and throwing all things into confufion, and it was in this temper of mind th^e company 1 ( 45) company parted, but not before the Colonel had yery unluckily threatned to employ his old wea pon the Proclamation againft riots. This affair made a prodigious noife, all the cof- fee-houfes rung with it, the papers were filled witji it, and the cafe of theF««fi'-piayers became with fome folks a point of law, and with others a pomt of ftate ; but thofe for whom the Colonel had taken all this trouble, where not difpofed to car ry things to extremities, they very wifely judged that fupporting player's of any fort, was much be neath the dignity of perfons of tlieir rank ; that FrfWc/.'-players made this more unworthy, and more unpopular, and that the confequences which might attend It, were not to be risked upon fo ¦frlffling an occafion. Upon thefe motives, the matter was let drop, and the Colonel was obliged to employ his pen to defend him againft that tor rent of abgfe ; which in fuch cafes, never fails to difcharge itfelf upon any fingle man, who is hardy enough to fet up his private fenuments, againft tiiofe of the town. It would acquire a volume, and that perhaps of a pretty large fize, to enter into -the particulars pf the Colonel's employn^ents as a maglftrate at this feafon ; for notwithftanding thefe little difap- ppiptments, he was now in the height of his glory, and ( 46 ) . and in all emergencies wher'e a man in his capaci ty could be ufeful, no other man was thought of; he was the oracle of the veftry, and though he did not prefide, all the court was paid to him at the quarter-feffions; he fat by the judge at the Old. Bailey, and fat like a judge at his own office, which was now transferred to Bow-Jlreet, Covent- garden, where it continued for feveral years. But in the midft of fuch a variety of events which might confound a much abler hiftorian than I take myfelf to be, I ffiall make choice of fome few, which feem to me to deferve more particularly the reader's norice. There was no quality by which colonel DeVeil was more diftinguiffied than his fagacity, except his diligence if he was once furniffied with a few hint.% he knew how to form them into a clue, which lead him through all the labyrinth's of ini quity; and when once he laid hold of this clue, he never parted with it dll he brought the whole difcovery to the view of the public. An extra ordinary inftance of this occurred in the cafe of one Mr, Drew an attorney in Suffolk, at a place call'd Long-Meljord, who on the 31ft, of January, 1740, was ffiot dead upon opening his own door, between eleven and twelve o'clock at night. An accidental miftake in the diredlion of a letter, which was intended for this gentleman's fon Mr. Charles (47) Charles Drew, and which came to the hands of a name-fake of his an attorney, was what gave the firft light as to the author of this barbarous fadt; and upon an application to Colonel De Veil, Mr, Charles Drew who was come up to town, had thrown off his mourning put on laced cloaths, and aflTumed the name of Thomas Roberts, was taken at a bagnio in Leicejier-fields, kept by one Eajimead, and brought to the Colonel's houfe, where upon a very ffiort examination, there was fufficient caufe appeared for his commitment to Newgate ; and the Colonel purfued the hints he had acquired fo fteddily, that he brought the whole affair to light; and going down himfelf to the enfuing af- fizes at Bury, which were held before Mr. Juftice Page, on the 20th, of March foWomng, the pri foner was there convidted upon very full evidence, of his being the perfon that with his own hands difcharged the piece that killed his father. Upon the 9th, of Jpril he was according to his fen tence executed at St. Edmond' s-Bury, and died in all the horrors, with which fuch a cruel and un natural crime muft be neceflTarily attended. I have the rather mentioned this, becaufe in the bringing fo heinous an offender to juftice, the Colonel went innrely out of the ordinary road, as having done all that he was obliged to do by com mitting him to NevJgate ; which ffiows how much fervice ( 4« ; fervice men of his temper adtually render their country ; though many people perhaps might think his diligence in this refpedt, rather a work of fuperregation, who it is hot my bufinefs td anfwer. There is one fingular advantage that attends thd office of an adting juftice of peace, which is, that if he is a vigilant and ufeful maglftrate, fuch frequent opportunities offer themfelves for exerting' his abilities, as keeps the pubhc in conftant re-' raembrance of, and attention to the fervices he performs; fo that it Is impoffible his merit ffiould be hid, or pafs for any lehgth of time unreward ed. Colonel Dc Veil, was a very clear example of this, for no fooner had he performed one re- m.irkable exploit in his judicial capacity, and the world had time to examine and refledt upon ir, but another fell in his way, of as great a confe- quercc to his reputation. As for inftance, the very next year after he had brought Drew to juf tice, whofe crime was a parricide, had raifed the horror of the thinking part of the world ; he be came no lefs inftrumental in detedting another black aflfair, which from a variety of circumftances at tending it, alarmed the town extremely. Mr. Pe7i?^ a gentleman of a very good family much advanced in years, eafy in his fortune ; at the ( 49 ) the time of his death Principal of Cl^^^^^^-Ifin, and Deputy Pay-majler of the penfions ; had lived long in the enjoyment of the pleafures of a fingle and independant life. He fpent his days in ..bufi nefs, his evenings with his friends; he went fome times into the country, and had nothing elfe in view but making the decline of life as comfortable as poffible. This gentleman had a fervant whofe name was James Hall, a fellow of a furly difpofi tion, and of a very cloudy afpedt; he had lived with him between fix and feven years, and having of late addidted himfelf to the keeping of compa ny, which was in fome meafure owing to having too much time left upon his hands had run into debt; and finding himfelf preflTed by his creditors entertained thoughts of freeing himfelf from his difficulties, by murdering and robbing his mafter. It is a very juft and true obfervation, no man becomes exceffively wicked all at once, it was fome time before this wretch, notwithftanding his natural temper was foure and cruel enough, could bring himfelf up to that pitch of barbarous refo lution, requifite to fo foul a crime. It is alfo very- remarkable, that while thefe notions where rowling in his brains, his looks and behaviour were fo much altered, that his mafter took notice of it, and of ten expreffed to his friends an apprehenfion of this fellow, and a defire to be rid of him ; which how- H ever. ( 5° ) ever, either thro' indolence, or from fome other latent caufe he did not put in execution : and as he was a referved man with whom his acquaini:ance could not take much liberty, he was not preflTed as he ought to have been, to difcharge him immedi. ately, and thereby made himfelf eafy. The firft ftep that Hall took towards accompliffiing his de- fio-n, was providing himfelf with a ffiort oaken ftick, that had a large knob to if, with which he intend^ ed to knock his mafter down, and kill him with out eff'ufion of blood. This ftick he put under his mafter's bed, deferring from time to time the ex-. ecution of his deteftable projedt ; rather from the apprehenfion of being himfelf detedted and puniffi- ed, than out of any tendernefs for one, with whom he had lived fome years, whofe fervice had been very profitable to hi.m, and to whom in other re fpedts, hewas under great obligations. At laft, finding himfelf more and more preflTed, he became defperate, and on Wcdnejday the ift, of June, 1 741, in the evening as his mafter fat on the bed-fide undreffing himfelf, he drew his wea pon from under the bed on the oppofite fide, and being behind his mafter, ftruck him fuch a blow as ftunned him ; he afterwards difpatch'd him with repeated ftrokes in the fame manner, then very carefully undreflTed him, and cut his throat with a penknife, tho' he v/as dead before, in which his cunning (51 ) cunning failed him ; yet he adted with great pre caution in filling two chamber-pots with the blood, and rnixing it with water to prevent its coagula ting, and then threw it down the fink. Heftripped the body next, and having rowled his waiftcoat about his mafters head, ftripped himfelf alfo ftark naked, that no blood might fdl upon his cloaths, carried the body to the bqg-hdufe and threw it down ; his mafter's cloaths and ffiirt he difpofed of in another place ; then came and undreffed him felf, opened his mafter's fcrutores to riffle them? and afterwards put every thing into as good order as he could. The next morning he told the v/oman who at tended the chamber, that his mafter was gone out of town, and had diredted his rooms to be waffi'd that they might be dry againft his return, which was accordingly done. With all this precaution, he had the imprudence to make up a bundle, in which amongft other things, was his mafter's green purfe with thirty fix guineas, which he left with his Taylor : but to prevent any fufpicion, he re mained about the chambers as ufual, and affected great concern upon his mafter's being miffing. It was not many days before his mafter's nephew an eminent and worthy tradefman in Fleet-flreet, be gan to make enquiry after his Uncle, and Dean Penny his Brother came to town upon the occafi- H 2 on ; ( 52 ) on; when after fome confultanon, it was refolved to take up this Hall, notwithftanding that he had never abfconded, or ffiewn himfelf under any ap prehenfion, but on the contrary, feemed very bufy in looking for, and enquiring after his mafter. Upon his being carried before Colonel De Veih he behaved very refolutely, and with fome info lence ; but the colonel being ufed to fuch people, examined him fo clofely, that he very foon fell inr to confufion, and then became fullen, and would anfwer no queftlons that where asked him. The colonel committed him to the Gate-houje, and af the fame time told the relations of the deceas'd, that if they would caufe the bog-houfe at Clement's- Inn to be fearched, he made no doubt but 'they would find the body of the late unfortunate Mr, Penny. This was accordingly done, and the body found : the Taylor alfo made a difcovery of the efr fedts that were depofited with him, which affbrd ed fuch light into the affair, that HaU having in vain made a defperate attempt to efcape out pf Newgate ; began to feel fome remorfe, and fend ing for one who had been formerly his fcllow-fer-r vant, he made a full difcovery : and at the enfuing feffions at the Old-Bailey, pleaded guilty to the in- didtment, received fentence of death, and was ex ecuted on Monday, September 14, at the end of Catherine-Jlreet in the Strand, and was afterward^ hung (53 ) hung in chains at Shepherd' s-BuJh, as is ufual jn fuch Inftances of barbarity. It is worth obfervation, that this fellow got ve-r ry little by fo cruel and fo unnatural an adtion, and it will be found that this generally happens, fo that if perfons under fuch temptations, would but refledt a little on the fate of others, who have given way to them, they might eafily drive fuch villanous thoughts out of their heads; for how lit tle regard foeyer men may have for the property of others, or tendernefs for their perfons, yet they have generally fpeaking, concern enough about themfelves, and would not willingly run head-long upon an infamous death, and almoft certain damnation, without any profpedt of profit ; nay, even fuppofing it poffible to enjoy what was fb gotten with any quiet of mind. The profligate difcourfes that are become fo common in all public-hou fes, where there is gene rally fpeaking a prating fellow or two, who fet up for oracles, either in favour of enthufiafm, or infidelity, are public nufances, and have terri- bfe operations upon weak minds and bad hearts. For enthufiafm confounds men's underftandlngs, gives them falfe lights, and frequently leads them to commit the worft adtions, without any bad in tention. On the other hand, infidelity leaves men with- - ( 54 ) without any guide at all, except their appetites; and it is to the prevailing of this ridiculous noti on, that we chiefly owe that corruption which is fhe fcandal of the prefent times. When people lofe all regard for religion, they foon lofe all prin ciples, and to this it is owing, that fo little honour is to be found among the great, and fo litde ho- nejly among the vulgar. But to return to Colonel De Veil. - ^ His natural fagacity, affifted by his experience^ enabled him to make moft furprizing difcoveries; he knew fo well how to throw thofe he examined into confuflon, and was fo able to catch up their ynguarded expreffions, to piece together broken hints, and fometimes by feigning to know all, put thefe wretches upon detedting themfelves, by jafti- fying againft what he knew to be falfe, that he was very rarely deceived. Indeed it was amazing upon what flight grounds he would enter into the fecret of the darkeft tranfadtions. There was a fellow brought before him once, upon fufpicion of ftealing a great quantity of plate out of an eating-houfe in Whites-Alley, Chancery- ' Lane, He fteadily denied knowing any thing pf the matter, and there was no colour of proof, for the only circumftance fuggefted was, that he had paffed oftner than ufual through the houfe to the (55) the billiard-table; The Colonel faw plainly that this would not juftify a commitment, and there fore leaving of his examination, after hearing that a lock was picked to come at the things ; he dif courfed of indifferent matters to fome people that were In the room, and then turning fuddenly up on the criminal, asked him if he could not lend him a knife. The man put his hand in his pock et and gave the juftice his penknife, who obferve- ing the point of it broken, bid the conftable and the man of the houfe go home and fearch the place from which the plate was taken, where they found the point of the knife ; and upon a promife that he ffiould be profecuted only for a fingle fe lony, the fellow confeflTed the fadt, and named a Pawnbroker, to whom he had difpofed -of the plate, which brought him into the fcrape, and proved his ruin. Many inftances of the fame kind might be given, fuch as detedting the great robbery com mitted at Bath, by an unfortunate French adven turer, that by an Ill-run at play, was forced into a new road of thieving, which brought him with in fight of the gallows, from which he efcaped by dying In prifon. The colonel was alio very ufeful in detedting frauds, and was frequently con fulted in difficult cafes by perfons of great diftinc- tion; and as it is very natural for men to value them- (56) themfelves upon their talents ; fo it cannot be dc nied, that the fuccefs of colonel De Veil made him not a litde vain, but even this foible of his, was advantageous to the public, as it induced him to do many things from a defire of ffiowing his dex terity, from which he might otherwife have ex cufed himfelf, as having no very clofe relation to the duties of his office. One might be tempted to digrefs a litde upon this occafion, to ffiow that the follies and weak- neflTes of mankind, are frequently as beneficial to fociety as their virtues. To fay the truth, the di verfity of follies which we fee in the world, form a kind cf balance to each other, and hinder them how pernicious foever to individuals, from being fatal to the public. Thus the extravagancy of mi- fers heirs, prefently diffufes thofe immenfe fums, that if the paffion of hoarding were hereditary would remain for ever locked up, and a ftrong turn for pleafure, very often takes cflf from that keennefs of parts, which otherwife might be fatal to fociety. Nay, the very notion of acquiring, or maintaining a charadter in the world, ffiall ve ry frequently produce the fame eifedts, as the beft principles would have done ; and therefore though vanity be evident a weaknefs, yet it is a- mong the number of thofe weakneffes, that per haps it is beft not to difcourage ; for provided things ( ^1 ) things be well done. It is not always neceflTary to enquire narrowly into the motives upon which they are done. The witty Earl of Dorfet, when he was re proved for fighdng a very idle duel, and was told he might have declined it without any danger of being cenfured by men of honour ; anfwered, with great fpirit, That may be very true, but a man who refufed to fight, would never have been well with the maids of honour; and ifa man of fenfe will rifli his life upon fo weak a principle, we need not wo:ider that men of inferioD parts, are carried to great adtions by very light inducements. In matters of greater importance, and where his charadter was really at ftake, the colonel adted fometimes with extraordinary circurafpedtion, and in a manner that might afford juft grounds for imitation to fome of his brethren. In reference to the famous Wejiminjler eledtion preceeding the laft parliament, he ffiowed himfelf a great politi cian. His intereft and his gratitude obliged him to take a larger ffiare in that tranfadtion, than was in all probability agreeable to his inclinations ; and though this was attended with as much popu lar clamour and mob refentment, as any thing of that kind could be, yet he bore it with the utmoft patience, and made his court to the people in I power ( 58 ) power, by ftanding all the abufe that popular rage could excite, or popular language could ex- prefs. Yet when things came clofer, and thofe who were not fo well able to endure this fort of difci pline, talked offending for the guards, and inclined to employ military force In defence cf themfelves and their caufe ; the colonel had the wit to be fick, and thereby kept himfelf from being in volved in a meafure, the confequences of which he forefaw, without expofing himfelf to the fuf- picions of his great friends, by difapproving their remedy ; which he knew, and they felt to be much worfe than the difeafe; I believe this was very lit tle taken notice of, either at that time, cr fince, and yet it was one of the moft prudent adtions of his life; and that which ffiewed his underftanding was better than many people took it to be, more efpecially among the grandees, who are apt to fancy themfelves as much exalted by their abilities, as by their ftations. In dealing with them, the colonel always con cealed, or gave a new turn to his vanity : for he never pretended to advife, but feemed always ready to obey, and appeared frequently officious in executing what he very well knew had been bet ter let alone; but he thought, and perhaps he was not ( 59 ) not much in the wrong, that he had a right to de- ¦celve thofe who had defpifed him, and malce his ufes of fuch as thought they made him their tool. At leaft thus much is certain, that as he knew how to ferve the great which was one main point; he likev/ife knew how to find his account in it, which was another point, and this v/ithout condn- ual follicitations, unlefs repeate'd fervices could be accounted fuch ; for what ever was given him, he was fo fuper abundandy thankful, that he feemed to take that for grace and favour, which he knew as well as any body, was but barely the wages of his merit. There were certain occafions in private life, as in his military capacity, In which colonel De Veil gave very clear tefl:imonies of his courage ; but as he was notof a quarrelfome temper, and cautious enough of giving offence himfelf, fo he was not over ready in taking up other people, but cn the contrary, would pafs by many things, that in all probability would have made another man angry. He thought that as a maglftrate, he was excufed from deciding differences by the fword, and at his time of life he judged it unneceflTary, for a man to ftand very nicely upon pundtilio's; yet in cafes where none of thefe excufes took place, he fliewed as much determined refolution as any man, of which the following is a very particular inftance. I 2 Upon ( 6q ) Upon the firft apprehenfion of a French invafi- on, the Swijs having formed a regiment volunta rily ; there was an advertifement publiffied for a general meeting of the footmen abouc town, and Hickjord's great room was the place appointed ; this fome great people did not reliffi, believing that more hurt than good, might arife from fuch an aflTembly, and therefore the colonel was defired to hinder it ; he went accordingly to the place, and diredted that the room ffiould not be opened. When the footmen came and found themfelves difappointed, they expreflTed a very high refent ment ; and hearing that it was by colonel De Veil's orders, they went immediately to his houfe in Bow-Jlreet in great numbers, and fome of them forced in even to the colonels ftudy in a very ia- folent manner. He was alone, but had a cafe of piftols by him, •and was fo far from being intimidated by their rudenefs, or the vollies of oaths they difcharged up on the occafion, that he ordered the door to be ffiur, and by the help of his fervants and a con ftable fecured fome of them, which put the reft whofe numbers were by this time gready Increafed 'into fuch a fury, that they beat in the door of the houfe, tho' it was very ftrong, refcued their com panions, and endeavour'd by threats to oblige the colonel (6i ) colonel to fend orders to deliver the key, which he abfolutely refufed to do, notwithftanding the peril he was in ; and they upon the news that a guard was coming from the Hit-yard, thought fit to with draw, which was indeed the moft prudent ftep they could take, by which they avoided being called to an account for their bad behaviour. This happened on Saturday the loth of March* 1744, and the affair made fo great a noife, that a proclamation was publiffied in the London-Gazette for apprehending WiUiafn Davis, James Brooks, and John White, the perfons colonel De Veil had firft fecured, with the offer of a reward of one hundred pounds for apprehending the firft, and fifty pounds a piece for the other two, but for any thing I know, this matter went no farther. The pretence upon which thefe people would have affembled, was to find out fome means to pre vent their bread being taken from them by French' men and Foreigners, and the town rung for fome- time with loud complaints of this nature, which like other topicks of clamour, was very differently received ; fome thinking they had, and others that they had not reafon : but be that as it will, moft un doubtedly fuch a meeung at fuch a time, was by np means well calculated, and tho' there might be no harm defigned, yet the precaution ufed for prevent ing any accidents that might havc attended fuch a tumultuous ( 62 ) tumultuous concourfe was certainly very proper and ranonal. After all, perhaps the preferring ftrang ers to our own people in that capacity, is not fuch a difgrace as is commonly conceived ; on the con trary, it appears to me that it is a kind of com pliment to the genius, even of the lower part of the Britijh nation, that they are not fo well qua lified for footmen ; neither can I be perfuaded till I fee better reafons, than have been hitherto of fered, that any mighty injury isdone to our people, by preferring foreigners to the honour of being lacqueys, becaufe I have feldom feen fuch f'brt of perfons fo well provided for in their old age, as I could wiffi every Englijh fubjedt might be in the decline cf life. Befides, if it be confidered that the greateft part of the nobility, and all the Eng- iijo gentlemen of large eftates that live upon them, and take care to preferve them, keep Englijh fer vants, the hardffiip is not fo great as is imagined, Thofe who are fo fond of foreign fervants, are generally fpeaking as fond of foreign cuftoms, which are not fb agreeable to thofe who live with them, nor would the propagadon of them among the lower fort of people be of any advantage to this nation. It is therefore perhaps full as well, that frejjchified people ffiould have French fervants, that the contagion of foreign manners may be as much reftrained as poffible. This I muft confefs has (63) has very little to do with colonel De Veil, but di- greffions in hiftory are faffiionable, more efpeci* ally when attended with political refledtions, of which nature I defire that thefe may be , confider ed, particularly by, thofe worthy perfons, the knights of the mojl ancient order of the R a inbow, for whofe ufe they are principally intended; and I hope if duly weighed, may have very good ef- fedts in keeping them quiet for the future ; which as it will fully reward the pains I have taken, fo I truft It will fufficiendy excufe the trouble I have given the reader. The fit of public fpirit being quite over, I return cooly to the thread of my nar- rauon, which like of that of the colonel's life, is now pretty near fpun. It was about a month after this affair of the footmen, that the juftices of the peace in the coun ty of Middlejex thought it incumbent upon them, in a dme of fuch apprehenfions, to give his ma jefty the ftrongeft aflTurance of their attachment to his perfon, and zeal for his government, which they did by a very warm and very well penned addrefs ; upon the prefenting of which, colonel De VeU who on this, as upon all other occafions, was very for ward InexprefTing his loyalty, received with two other gendemen in the commiffion, the honour of knighthood, fo that hence forward we are to ftile him Sir Thomas De Veil. Upon the breaking out of ( 64) of the Rebeflion in Scotland, and the juft alarrri that was occafioned by it in this kingdom. Sir Thomas De Veil was extremely adtive in his ftation, both as ajuftice of peace, and as colonel of the regiment of Wejlminjler militia ; he was pardcu- larly careful in the execution of the warrants fot taking up popiffi priefts ; efpecially fuch as claim ed the protedtionof foreign minifters, and it was owing to his skill and dexterity in that point, that the proclamations IflTued had their intended effedt* in driving turbulent and feditious people out of the neighbourhood of this capital, without inflidt- ing unnecefTary feverities, and creating the appear ance of a perfecution, which how juftifiable- foe ver by the letter of che law, would by no means have been ufeful to the government. o^ In this refpedt he was not only capable of exe cuting veryfenfibly what orders foever he receiv'd, but alfo of giving advice, he could judge perfedtly of any informations that were given ; he knew how to keep inferior officers to their duty, and to provide againft their abufing the mild difpofiti on of the government by doing nothing ; adting againft it by an officious and ufelefs diligence ; or converdng ro their own profit the indulgence of the ftate. His behaviour in thefe matters recom mended him extrem.ely, not only as they vvere ve ry acceptable fervices, but as rendered in a very ticklifli ( 65 ) tickliffi affair, and performed in a certain delicate manner, much eafier to be conceived than exprefs- ed. We need not therefore be at all furprized, that his intereft was at this jundture greater than ever, much lefs that he ffiould be able to procure his younger fon an enfigns commiffion as he did, and without queftion, would have obtained him a better preferment if he had lived to have feen a proper opportunity of asking it, in which he was always very cautious ; and perhaps his intereft and the temper of the times confidered, might be faid to be a little too nice ; but that is a vice fo uncom mon in this age, that it may be forgiven him, as a fingularity in his difpofinon derived from na ture, and not curable by art. It is alfo certain, that though he ftood fo well with the great, and which was more, was known to ftand well with them ; yet he kept his credit with the public, to the full as well as could be ex- pedted, that is to fay, every body acknowledged that he was a vigilant and adtive maglftrate ; and notwithftanding any private views he might have, or pleafures he might indulge, he was undoubt edly very ferviceable to the community; kept bad people much in awe, and vvas able at anytime to defeat, and difperfe any of their gangs how formidable foever. Indeed there hardly ever was a maglftrate fo truly dreadfull in this refpedt to K thefe ( 66 ) thefe fort of people : for the very name of hitri: was fufficient to fright them, and they fancied hia intelligence to be fo good, that they were never fife from him ; to fay the truth, the pains he took in fuppreffing Wreathorck's and the Black-boy-aUey gang, if he had done nothing elfe, might in this refpedt have eftabliffi.ed his charadter fince, except Car touch and his fett of ruffians at Paris^ there cer tainly never were more daring rafcals than thefe, who notwithftanding deferted all their ufual lurk ing hales, and abandoned their trade as foon as they knew that Sir Thomas was in fearch of them, from v/hora.they thought it impoffible, either to hide their perfons, cr conceal their crimes. It is certainly the intereft of every adm'inlftran- on, to have fuch a maglftrate in the county of Mid dlejex if it be poffible, becaufe he is very capable by the charader he bears, and the influence he muft neceffii'ily obtain; of freeing them from abun dance of trouble, as well as doing them continual, ufeful, and acceptable pieces of fervice; and there fore in all probability, fuch officers will never be wanted for the future, as we have ffiewn they were feldom cr never wanted in times paft : neither is this barely an advantage to men in power, or to be confidered as a mere artifice of flate, fince the public reaps very great benefit there from, and the very reputation of fuch a maglftrate, is a great fecuritjj fecurity to their property, and more effedtual for indmidadng rogues than a double watch ; but then <:are muft be taken that this maglftrate who has fo much countenance ffiewn him, be a man capable of his employment, one who has a fufficient de gree of knowledge to adl right, and a neceflTiry degree of courage to fupport him in adting ; and either a fortune, or a fpirit, that fets him above mean and low adtions ; for otherwife he would be in danger of becoming himfelf as great a nufance, as any he employs his authority to fupprefs. But it is now time to come to the laft fcene of Sir Thomas's life, and as we have attended him through a great variety of fortune, accompany him to that port, which once gained, no future ffiip-Wrecks are to be feared in the turbulent fea of this worlds affairs. He was always very affiduous, and diligent in bufinefs, and as he had difl:Inguiflii- ed himfelf thereby in the eariier part cf his life, fo he was to the full as indefatigable even to the very laft; and may be truly faid, to have died in his profeffion, for on Monday the 6:h, of Ocfobei, 1746, about five in the evening, after having fpent fomctime in examining a prifoner, he was taken fuddenly very ill, though he was obferved to have been in very good fpirit?, andtoall outwar-d appearance in good health all day. A jelly vvas im mediately brought him, which he was accuftomcd to take when he vvas at any I'mc fainr. he fwa!- K 2 lowest (68 ) lowed if, then rofe up went and looked .in the glafs, ftroked his face and then fat down again ; foon after which his countenance changed, and from the moment he was taken, he loft his fpeech. A furgeon was fent for who let him blood as foon as he came, it ran very freely in the operation, and what was drawn appeared very frefh and florid, they took from him in this manner ten ounces, and about the fame quantity by cupping j he was then put to bed feven blifters applied to feveral parts of his body, and all methods tried that could be thought of to make him vomit, but to no purpofe. He lay without expreffing any fenfe till the next morning about five o'clock, when he expired in- the fixty-third year of his age. He had always lead a pretty free life, which drew upon him. the gout, of which he had many fevere fits, and be ing by nature not over patient, he was eafily pre vailed upon to try a certain medicine, which he was aflTured would hinder it from coming -upon him at chat feafon of the year, when he was moft apprehenfive of it. After taking the medicine, he found himfelf better, and expreflTed great fa- tisfaction at the thoughts of having for once got the better of his old antagonift : but many peo ple think, that the morbific matter might by this means be tranflated on the noble parts, and fo (69) fo prove the occafion of his death ; fome of the circumftances before mentioned, feeming to indi cate plainly that it was not an appoplexy. Sir Thomas De Veil, though he had been four times married, left no great family behind him, though he had by his wives in all twenty-five children. His firft v/ife was Mrs. Hancock, who lived in the Thomond family, by v/hom he had the reverend Mr. Hans De VeU, late fchool-mafter of Flajiead in Effex, whom he bred at the univerfity at Cam bridge, where he diftinguiflied himfelf by his great vivacity, and had fome turn to the mathematics as appeared by his writing while at coUege, qn effay to explain the Phseaomenon of the harveft moon. He tranflated alfo the amufements of the Spa from the French, and writ feveral little piece^ of poetry. Sir Thomas h.id by the firne wife, a daughter, married to one Mr. T'homas who lived in the fame family with her mother. Sir Thomas's fecond match was purely from the motive of affedtion, he faw the lady accidentally In the New-Exchange in the Strand, made his ad dreffes to and married her ; by her he had three children that are now living, viz. a fon who is lately come from abroad on account of the death of his father, a daughter who was married to a Liiifien-Draper in Chcnpjide, who i.^ a widow, ano ther ( 70 ) ther daughter married to an attorney. His third wife was the fifter of one Mr. Kingsman an attorney in Grcy's-Inn, and his fourth, a lady, who brought him a very fine perfon, and a very confiderable fortune : he was a widower at the time of his deceas'd, and had been fo for fometime. His corps was carried on Saturday xht wfh, of October from his houfe in Botv-Jlreet, Covent-Gar- den, about fix in the morning to Denham in Buck- rnghamjhire, two miles beyond Uxbridge, and was buried near that of his fecond wife, the mother of all his furviving children. We have given thefe particulars, rather to ffiow our care in colledting what are commonly efteemed neceffary materials to a work of this nature, than from any perfuafi on that they really are fo. • The perfonal hiftory cf a man that makes an extraordinary figure in the world, may be very ufeful to the public ; but as to the circumftances of his family, they are commonly fuch as belong rather to the Stone-cutter, than to the hiftorian ; and though it muft be allowed that they make a very pretty figure in a country church-yard ; yet no eloquence can lend them ornaments fuffici ent to make any eclat in a performance of- this fort, and therefore we .ffiall quit them, to give ' ths ( 71 ) the reader fome free and impartial remarks upon his charadter. It is the pradtice of all eminent Biographers, from Plutarch and Cornelius Nepos, down to the candid Mr. Oldmixon,- and the reverend, as weli learned Mr. Loraine, to enter into the private life of their heroes, which example of theirs muft be followed, though with reludtancy. Tht French feem to me to have the advantage of the Greeks and Romans, for very often in their memoirs, you fee nothing of the man, but he is a Judge, a Ge neral, or an Author all the way ; if the firft, he is an inftance of finguUr penetration, and incor ruptible probity ; the valour of Achilles, and the wifdom of Ulyffes, fill up the fecond charadter } and as for the third, the moft extenfive learning, a refined tafte, and an imagination lively as the fpring, and fruitful as the fummer, are the ingre dients that compofe it. We muft not conclude from hence, that the French heroes are abfolutely per- fedt, or that the writers of their memoirs, cha- radlers and eulogies, were ignorant of their foi bles; but thefe they rejedted as not falling within the compafs of their plan, and in this, though T cannot commend their fidelity, yet I muft ap plaud their ingenuity, for by this means, though their pidtures are not extremely like, yet they are wonderfully handfome. Bat as this is not yet be- comi ( 70 come the Englijh tafle, therefore we muft pur fue the old method. The gendenian of whom we are fpeaking, as he was not very nice in his morals, fo he was no hypocrite in his" difcourfe, he had failings, he knew them, and made no fecret of them. He was ofan afpiring temper, he knew howtobuftle through the world, and valued himfelf not a litde upon his dexterity in this refpedt. He was fo extremely fenfible, that great men valu ed littles ones In proportion, to the ufe they could make of them ; that he thought it not allowable only, but laudable to make them ufe ful in their turns, and in this he was fo happy ; that befides other pofts which no man knew (let ter how to render profitable than himfelf, he ob tained a lucrative employment in the Cujloms, as a reward for that trouble, from which by his own skill, he found means to make it pay itfelf He loved money, and affedted magnificence ; he was a man of pleafure and never wanted refour- ces, for what It conftantly requires unbounded ex- pence. His greateft foible was a moft irregular paffion for tht Jair Sex, which as he freely indulg ed, he made it often the fubjedt of his difcourfe. He would tell many pleafant ftories of a cer tain gendeman of his own age and calling, who had a private clofct for the examinati on of fuch of '(73) tf the fair Jex, as were endowed v/Ith qualides ca pable of excitlnga certain fort ofattentioh and regard. However, wanted pretences for condudting them into his cabinet, drawn from the inexpediency of letting other people hear the queftion, he thought requifite to alk, and the anfwer that muft be made to them ; 'and though, perhaps there might be fome little difficukies made, or fome appearance of ¦ reluftance, ffiown to the entring upon thefe teie a fete conferences; yet this fagacity in dif- tinguiffiing ladies of a certain charadter, com monly prevented any unfeafonable delay, in thefe clofet entertainments, fo that his ufual compliment upon icoming out, - was, you fee madam, theit I am capable oJ being particularly dilligent and expedi tious,- in doing a lady's bufmejs. He held it one of the "greateft inconveniences in matrimony, that thefe private examinations would now and then give uneafinefs to a wife, and perhaps prove the fubjedt of curtain converfation, that were not al together fo pleafant. ¦ ¦ ¦¦ This old gentleman had likewife a knack at coming at kept niiftreffes, without taking any ffiare in the expence of keeping them ; in order to which, he pradtifed abundance of artifices, with the recital of which, our Knight would fometimes make his company very merry. As for infl:ance, if the lady, a=? ic frequendy ¦ hap- L penei^ i •74 ) pened, had a litde of the termagant, and wqultl now and then make the houfe where ffie lodged, ring with her difputes ; his worffiip took care,^ that this ffiould be fettled before him, and then in return for his civility, he was wont to enquire of the fair criminal, if ffie had not a back-door , to her lodging, where a chair might; ftop. witljocij: fufpicion? at what feafon her friend was. out of town or engaged ? and when an amicable vifit; might be received, without interception ?. v^herc this method could not be taken, the difmiffing a maid fervant, or a quarrel about fome liberties with her apparel, were made ufe of as" pVope^ means to procure an interview, which feldom failed of producing the defired effedt, of cpniing ac the knowledge of the back-door, and ah its entertaining intrigues, which not only put^ the faireft and freffieft bona reba^s into the, hands .of this cunning ardft, but furnifhed him alfo, with the whole amorous hiftory of the tpvvn, and a/r forded him ways and means of gaining an i.ntereflt jn, or an influence over the whole fraternity x>f Keepers. . ''.-'. 1' There was yet another circumftance, that con tributed not a little to the old gentleman's diver fion, and fometimes perhaps to his emolument alfo, which was the bufinefs of their fpurioiis iifuc; for on the one hand, perhaps it was not al together C r. ) together 'tohvenient, that this ffiould become ^ tovvh 'italk-, or it fornetimes fell our, that the lady Was'a lictl6 tender of her reputation, at leaft ot hei- peffoiri, did 'not care for vifits of parifli offi cers, ior the infpedtion that naturally follovvs upoti fiich 'vifits. Now the only, or at leaft, the mof^ ?Hfe5tual method of avoiding thefe iroubleipme i'n-qtiirles, and fo referving that fecrecy and filence that are fuitable to the rites of the goddefs Z,««»i7, was ¦3, refp'edtful appl'icatroh to the old gentl^nianj, Jie knew hovy to aM;^ the ftorms and teriipefts of parochial inquifitbrs, and could, if ihe' %\t- jlble meafures wei-e takeri, render ^11 things t'alm and quiet, fo that the fair one had "no other. difl- tQ'rbance than what her condition created, "and iftight te a'fterwards at liberty to difplay without thfe leaft moieftatiph, the kind -effedts of herib- rgt*-S liberality in a inaghificen't chrifl:ehi'ng; where, i:?^ tKe lather was a man of title and falhibh,' pet:, haps the old gentleman himfelf, would condefcc'nd fe t).e a giieft, and then for taking care of .'the ladies, 'Co.mfordng^.T;he gentlewoman in the ftravv,, keie^n^ u.^ the good humours ofthe company. with- 'iti fcious tajes, he would outdo even, the- paribh' himfelf, '¦ Qri Certain occafions however, "even this grave c^errtidtrtah found inconvenienccis arife iFrom his 4^,lln^ "-with thfe fair and grea^ ; for die former Ll 2 would ( 76 y would now and then put to the latter- upon;, fuch ' kind of requefts, as could not be granted .with eafe, or denied with fafety : fometimes they would interfere in favour of .their maids gallants,, arid become obnoxious to the law, for crimes that ren- dered them, liable to infamous puniffiirients ;-at other times they would be fuitors for perfons of ja- nother charadter, though not of a better, Itnean that race of men who deal in dice, and drefs like- lords, from the profits of a, trade which Bridewell fometimes rewards, but not according tO;their merit. ,- More frequently they would interpofe.oiit of regard to certain old .decayed gentlewomen ;.of their acquaintance, that were fo. kind as to accom modate young finners, and took a pleafure iti pro-; moting thofe pleafures ,they .were paft , taking,; , Thefe were clients that though they feldorn.came empty handed, were notwithftanding .the molt un welcome, becaufe no indulgence/ could be granted^ but at the expence of his worffiip's private; repu-; tation, as well as the fecurity of the public.- Yet fo importunate they we.re,. and knew fo^welLhow- tointereft'theirpatrons in fupport of their,caufe.' bad as they were, that theyxould not be:, .denied,. Ways and hieans therefore muft be ufed,: and in fuch cafes, recourfe v/as frequendy had to another pernicious race of animals, .&.ikd petty-Jogger:s£^ a kindof jhfedts bred out of , die corruption and ex crements of the law, that' Tike, all other vermin are (77 ) are a fcandal to the body, upon which they feed, and to which in that fenfe only, they can be faid. to belong. -i .cn:;-;! ,:• ¦.:.¦•:;! :y]i Thefe fellows were always ready to help out at adeadhft, more efpecially when they vvere, ftire; of connivance, ..they knew how to contrive a. free, paflTage for the firft fort of folk, by the fecret of converting broomfticks into bail, by the fame art they fometimes relieved the fecond, and^were it. failed, they were .vyell acquainted v/ith a kindred. tribe of fcoundrcls, who wear ftraws jinj. their. heels, and who are faid to ufe JVeJlminJier-Hail, for their parade : as for the third, the fpirit;pf a; pariffi profecution, was frequently^ allayed -by ^wq or three good, dinners. The motherly .worrianjji- diftrefs changed her name, and the quarter of the town ffie lived in ; and thus the vicious "^'Svas Ikreen'd in this world, and their crimes left- to the cognizance of that tribunal, were no afts'''can' avail, and were all parties muft meet with thfeir' juft deferts. No wonder then that even thofe find' themfelves obliged to wink at fuch • evafiohs^'of juftice, feel fome kind cf remorfe, - and ire'-a lit-'' tie afflidted with the confcioufnefs, that there-'-will- a time come when thefe fecrets will be difclofed,- and when not only the guilty, but thofe v/ho 'have- averted punifliment will be called to andccbunt.'" Such bloomy thoughts as th.eff, would fometimes" pr6v6ke - (78 ) provoke bitter refledtions againft thofe whol^ grandeur hot only fet them above the neceffity of doing right, or the fear of being puniffied for do ing wrong, but cf extending this impunity to the creatures pf their Will, the i'mple'mcnts -of their crimes, and the tools of their 'iniquities. But thefe bittei- refledtibris wefe all in --Jecref," riot-^ word was openly uttered, and the old tnan's di- ftradtion of mind, paffed only for a peeviffinefii of temper. A hui^our "faid to be incident to old age, which is true, ''birt incident frorn a retro- ^edtion of dmespaft, for fethferwife 6ld agfe niay, be the pleafanteft part o.f a man's life^ - and if ii is not, it is generally fpeaking his own fault, Thi^ only by the bye, and to give the readei^ a drop bf inarality in a draught of 'arauferQenti , .But it was not barely in the way of 'his Offices^- that.this old acquaintance of the Knights ;ffiewe(^ the vigour of his conftitudon, -and bis unquench- Jible fondnefs for the fair ; he difcovered it !ike•^ wife» in being himfelf a keeper, and ashisfrientis,: jfeported, he was as fingular as pleafant in his. , manner. of tnanaging, for having frequent calls; out of town, fometimesiipon bufinefs, fometimes. on parries of pleafure.. ;.He took it into his head that 'there could be nothing more conyetiiehti than to have a female acquaintance, in fome or. other of the villages Qpon each of the great Irpadfi , ^boyt town, that he might never be at a lofs for n (79) a, foft companion when in thehum.pij-r-, and. th;^ extravagant whim. he. ppflied to fuch a length,, as to have four or fiye. in keeping at a time, Itj muft be confeflTed, that there Is fpmething fo wild and odd in this circumftance, that ac Erft fight, it feenis abfolutely incredible, but. not-. withftanding this, it wa,s. very confidently faid when the ftpry w^S; told, chat if his name :had been mendoned, there vvere numbers living, who could vouch that it vyas Uterally true. The tale however, that appeared moft out of the road of fadt, with regard co chis fame knight- errant^ was^an unacco.un table fancy, that he took to a very fine old. lady of feventy, to whom, having entered into a kind of engagement not very fuitable to either of their, years, he thought himfelf fo much bound tp keep, his word, that he rode forty miles, I. cannpt fay, whether it was poft or npt, fpr this. yery valuable purpofe... .One rnay guefs from the nature of thefe ftories, that his head. was fometimes. occupied with freaks of a like kind, which certainly did him no credit^ and though ic cannot be expedted, that a man Ihould be always grave, and never lay afide the maglftrate; yet,, there is a medium to be keptj even in this, and. I have often thought,' that the manner in, which, a.certain great prelate concludes his chi^radter of a man of high quality, viz.'.-that- he (8o) he was decent, even in his vices, ought to be a memento to all finners of rank, to whom, by- thefe prefents I recommend it. ' . • . r - But to return for the laft time, to Sir Tho mas' De ' Veil. As ¦ it .is highly probable, that fothe who fucceed him in his office, may look up on his condudt, as worthy of imitadon, I ffial} take the liberty for their fake, and that of the public, to point out two things which they will do well to confider, as nothing can be of greater confequence to them, than avoiding the "one, iand nothing capable of raifing their reputation more, than out-doing him if poffible in the other. • Wc have ffiown, that in the whole courfe of his life, •this gentleman did not want a bold, and puffiing fpirit, but after he came to be a juftice of Peace, and more efpecially, in the latter part cf his life* whether it was, that he grew vain of the refpedt' paid him, and of his great intereft, or, whether his natural paffion grew too ftrong for him, fo it was, that he gave .way to a hafty, and vehement way of fpeaking, which was apparently inconfiftent with the nature of his employment, and was fometimes difrefpedlful in regard to the perfbn, before whom it broke out. When a perfon 'is brought before a juftice of peace for any crime, it is cn fufpicion only, and care ffiould therefore be taken, not to treat the party accufed, as if he was ( 8i ) V/as already convidted, and the behaviour of the judges in Wejlminjler- HaU in fuch cafes, is an ex ample that every maglftrate may be proud to copy. They behave always not only v/ith the utmoft impartiality, but with the utmoft mildnefs and decency their zeal appears in the execution of the laws, but without any diminution of that tender nefs which humanity requires for thofe, that however bad they may be, are ftill our fellow creatures, and our fellow fubjedts. But whatever his error might be in regard to the point laft mentioned, it is certain, that he was very careful as to another of equal import ance. He knew that all the powers that he had* were derived from Law, and therefore never for got that they were circumfcrited and bounded by Law. He was therefore very cautious in all his Pro ceedings, took great Care to diftinguiffi whether what came before him vvas properly within his cognizance, or not, and where it had any refe rence to a ftatute ; the letter of the law was his guide, and he never took it into his head, that it became him to afliime any power of Conftrudtion. M TI® ,( 82 ) He had a juft tendernefs for the Warrants of the judges, upon which he would never take bail, it any of their lordffiips were in town ; and tho' nobody had.ftudied the bufinefs of a juftice- of peace more, cr underftood it better, yet he held it both fafefl, and beft, to keep within -the limits of bis jurifdidtion, and not advance much lefs be yond them. He was very cautious and appre henfive, when any Old-Bailey folicitor appeared before him, and generally entertained a bad opir nion of fuch as brought them ; and this had one good confequence, which was,- that it made him equally Itridt in the inquiry into what was his du ty, and in the difcharge of it, when it became l^nown to him upon that inquiry. By this circumfpection, he fenced againft thofe fort of people better than another man would have done, even of quicker parts and more good-na- .ture ; -for he always took time to fettle his judg ment, and when it was fettled, no intreaties or menaces could move him. Fie was fenfible, that if be meant well, and did right, he ffiould be fure of fupport 5 and as he neither wanted addrefs in mainlining bis own caufe, cr opportunity of be- iDo heard by thofe to whom the decifion of it muft always belong, he gave himfelf no great pain either about private application, or public clamour. Thefe (83) Thefe are the principal circumftances that it has been found pradticable to coUedt' in regard to this fubjedt ; they have been ranged in their natural order, and have been fully and fiirly expofed for the fake of truth and juftice to pofterity, without any mixture of prejudice or prepoffeffion; with out the defire of pleafing, or the fear of offending any party ; and if they contribute in any defire to the edification or amufement of the public, they will fully anfwer the ends of their publication, and perhaps excite fome better pen to do juftice to the abilides of the man, who ffiall attempt, to exceed Sir Thomas Devcil in his zeal for the public fer vice, without filling into any of his foibles. FINIS. This preservation photocopy was made by the Preservation Department, Yale University Library and complies with the copyright laws. The paper is Mohawk Superfine which exceeds ANSI Standard Z39.48-1992. 1999