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Literature. Review.
of boys , on the lower form of a middle-class school we shall be told that the Monarch who did this act was Henry VII . and not the VHI . of that name . The style too is open to grave objections , for each chapter appears as if it had been penned by a different hand , and makes the book bear witness to the author ' s skill in bookmaking . These we consider the faults of the volume before
us , and they are faults of no man importance when we know that generations ivill read this book , and drew their historical knowledge of false dates , and fallacious colourings , from its pages as not one in a thousand will detect the errors for himself , or when thinking they are errors , sift the matter for himself , because he ivould argue to himself ; this is a work by a professed genealogist , ono who is over hunting
over old records for authentic facts—a King-at-Arms , —and what can a general reader know about such things in comliarison to the writer who holds the supremacy of all such knowledge in the sister kingdom ?" We now pass to the work itself , and light on a chapter which treats of the famous misers Elwcs . Sir Bernard Burke tells us that the Elwos family is one of a respectable
antiquity , and has gained no little notoriety from the two famous misers , uncle and nephew , that wore its acknowledged heads in succession . The penuriousness of the latter may be judged from the following : —•
"The extent of his property in houses was so great that it naturally followed that all his houses would not be let at the same time . Some , as a matter of course , would remain uiioccirpied ancl hence it was his custom , whenever he came to London , to take up his abode in the first one he found vacant . In this manner he travelled from street to street ; for when any tenant wanted the particular house in which he was at the time , he made no hesitation in ielding it to the applicantand betaking himself to some
y , other . This was no great difficulty for a man who so little encumbered himself with furniture . A couple of beds , the like number of chairs , a table , ancl an old woman , comprised the whole of his household appointments . None of these , except the old woman , gave him . any trouble , ancl she was afflicted with a lameness that made ifc no easy matter to get her into motion as quickly as he wished . Moreover , she had a singular aptitude for catching coldsand no wonderconsidering what she was exposed to ; for
, , sometimes she was in a small house in the Ilaymarket , then in a great mansion in Portland Place ; sometimes in a little room with a coal fire , at others in appartnients of frigid dimensions , with oiled papers in the windows for glass , ancl with nothing to warm her save a few chips that happened to he left by the carpenters . " The scence ivhich terminated the life of this poor drudge is not among the least characteristic anecdotes recorded by Mr Elwes .
Nor , strange as" it seems , can its truth he doubted , since it comes to us upon the authority of Colonel Timins , a favourite nephew of the miser ' s , and one more inclined to soften than to exaggerate his uncle's defects .
" Mr . Elwes had come to town in his usual way , and taken up his abode in one of his empty houses . The Colonel , Aiho wished to see him , was by some accident informed that the old man was in London , though of his actual whereabouts he could get no tidings . In this dilemma he inquired for him at every place where he was most likely to be heard of , —at Hoare ' s the banker , at the Mount Coffee-house , and at others of his usual haunts , but all to no purpose . At lengtha person whom he met accidentallyrecollected
, , seeing the miser go into an uninhabited house in Great Marlborough Street . Thither accordingly the Colonel repaired , ancl , to follow up the clue thus obtained , got hold of a chairman . Bufc no intelligenre could be obtained of a gentleman called Mr Elwes . A potboy , however , remembered that he had seen a poor old fellow open the door of a stable and lock it after him ; ancl upon being further questioned , the description of the stranger perfectly agreed with
the usual appearance of Mr . Elwes ; and ' when the Colonel , after repeated knocking , could obtain no answer , he sent . for a blacksmith , and ordered him to pick the lock . This being easily accomplished , they entered the house together , and found all in the lower part dark ancl silent . On ascending the staircase , however , they heard the idistinct moanings of some one apparently in great pain . Following the sound , they came to a room , where , upon an old bed
pallet , streatched out the figure of tlie miser , who , to all seeming , was well nigh at the last gasp ; but , upon some cordials being administered by an apothecary hastily called in , lie recovered enough to say that he believed he had been ill for two or three days , and there was an old woman in the house , who had herself been ill , but that he supposed she had got well and taken herself off . ' "At this intimation they repaired to the garrets , where they tound the old woman , the companion of all his movements , associate
of all his journeys , stretched out lifeless on the floor , with no better couch than a mere rug . " Afterwards , as if to offer some compensation to society , a spendthrift came into possession , and quickly dissipated tho hoardings of two lives ; and the present inheritor of a baronetcy ( which he has never assumed ) having held tho situation of waiter at an hotel , has risen by his own
exertion and exemplary diligence , to the position of jiostmaster in a country town . Scotland , wifch its troubled history , bas ' * ' witnessed many vicissitudes of families . " Few of its noble houses can boast a higher lineage than tho Leslies , Earls of Eothes , now represented by a youthful countess , whose grandmotheralso heiress of tho line , and consequently peeress
, in her own right , reversed tho story of the Lord of Burleigh , by wedding a youthful gardener . A moro immediate interest attaches to the name of Livingstone . Derived from a Hungarian progenitor , named Lovingors , who settled in West Lothian in tho eleventh century , the Livingstones could at one time boast of three earldoms , two viscounties , and some half-dozen baronies . The most
famous of all the ' line was that Alexander Livingstone , the regent of Scotland , who so treacherously beheaded fcho young Earl Douglas after a banquet afc Edinburgh Castle in 1140 . In later times — for tho Jacobite insurrections made terrible havoc among thoir titles—their history bas been romantic rather than historical . Here is a curious story touching their estate of Westquarter :
" Indeed , the history of the recovery of Wostqnnvtev is a-romance in itself , ancl in spite of its apparent improbability , is generally believcd . to he true . The tale runs thus : —Sir Alexander Livingstone , after the death of his uncle , by which event the succession opened to him , deemed it necessary to visit Edinburgh for the due arrangement of his affairs . He set out accordingly , by post , from London , ancl , on his way , stopped afc the inn at Belford , a small town betwixt Alnwick and Berwick , on a stormy Christmas
afternoon . So tempestuous indeed was the weather , that tho landlady besought Sir Alexander to proceed no further that evening . She explained to him that the next stage was a long one , that night was approaching , and the roads bad and hilly ; that sho had only tired horses in her stables , ancl that , besides , it was the custom of the house to entertain all the postilions , hostlers , and other servants at a Christmas supper , 'thus urged , Sir Alexander consented to remain , only stipulating for some books ancl newspapers to pass the
evening with . Unfortunately , the library of mine host of Retford was not extensive ; the lady brought the Bible , the Pilgrim's Progress , and the Seven Champions of Christendom ; and these not meeting with Sir Alexander's approval , be ivas informed that they exhausted the literature of the household , but that there were some curious old papers in a closet adjoining the sitting-room into which he had been ushered . In default of occupation more attractive , Sir Alexander began an examination of the closet , which , to his astonishment , lie found to contain an ample store ot law papers , legal processes , and other similar documents , all of them havingreference to Scotch lawsuits . His curiosity was exc-itoil , and , his
eye baying caught tbe names of Livingstone and V . cstqnarter , he continued bis researches , ancl at last lighted on the title-deeds of the estate of Westquarter , ivhich appeared to have been produced as evidence to instruct some statement of fact in a litigated case . On applying to the landlady , she cleared up the mystery , by informing him that she was an Edinburgh woman—the daughter of a Scotch solicitor , —that she had married below her own condition in lifeand that she had . removedwith her husbandto Belfordto
, , , , ivhich place , at her father ' s death , she had brought many of his old papers , which as lumber had been thrown into the closet where Sir Alexander had discovered them . Many others , sho told him , , had been destroyed , and , being supposed to be of no value , had been employed in singeing fowls , for pasting up crevices and cupboards , and for other household purposes . To the Westquatcr documents Sir Alexander was made heartily welcome ; his Beltbrd
Christmas night had indeed been for him a most fortunate occurrence , and he started for Edinburgh next morning , carrying with him the very title-deeds with which he was enabled ^ to vindicate his right to ' the estate , and to oust Lord I \ apkr from it . " A remarkable litigation is now pending for the possesion of another estate of this family , and the succession to their ancient baronetcy . Should " the claimant , who styles
himself Sir Alexander Livingstone , succeed in making good liis pretensions—and it is bis legitimacy , not his paternity , which is questioned—the son of a common sailor , who died in great penury in Eothcihithc—whose right had he now been living " , must have been undisputed—will be
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Literature. Review.
of boys , on the lower form of a middle-class school we shall be told that the Monarch who did this act was Henry VII . and not the VHI . of that name . The style too is open to grave objections , for each chapter appears as if it had been penned by a different hand , and makes the book bear witness to the author ' s skill in bookmaking . These we consider the faults of the volume before
us , and they are faults of no man importance when we know that generations ivill read this book , and drew their historical knowledge of false dates , and fallacious colourings , from its pages as not one in a thousand will detect the errors for himself , or when thinking they are errors , sift the matter for himself , because he ivould argue to himself ; this is a work by a professed genealogist , ono who is over hunting
over old records for authentic facts—a King-at-Arms , —and what can a general reader know about such things in comliarison to the writer who holds the supremacy of all such knowledge in the sister kingdom ?" We now pass to the work itself , and light on a chapter which treats of the famous misers Elwcs . Sir Bernard Burke tells us that the Elwos family is one of a respectable
antiquity , and has gained no little notoriety from the two famous misers , uncle and nephew , that wore its acknowledged heads in succession . The penuriousness of the latter may be judged from the following : —•
"The extent of his property in houses was so great that it naturally followed that all his houses would not be let at the same time . Some , as a matter of course , would remain uiioccirpied ancl hence it was his custom , whenever he came to London , to take up his abode in the first one he found vacant . In this manner he travelled from street to street ; for when any tenant wanted the particular house in which he was at the time , he made no hesitation in ielding it to the applicantand betaking himself to some
y , other . This was no great difficulty for a man who so little encumbered himself with furniture . A couple of beds , the like number of chairs , a table , ancl an old woman , comprised the whole of his household appointments . None of these , except the old woman , gave him . any trouble , ancl she was afflicted with a lameness that made ifc no easy matter to get her into motion as quickly as he wished . Moreover , she had a singular aptitude for catching coldsand no wonderconsidering what she was exposed to ; for
, , sometimes she was in a small house in the Ilaymarket , then in a great mansion in Portland Place ; sometimes in a little room with a coal fire , at others in appartnients of frigid dimensions , with oiled papers in the windows for glass , ancl with nothing to warm her save a few chips that happened to he left by the carpenters . " The scence ivhich terminated the life of this poor drudge is not among the least characteristic anecdotes recorded by Mr Elwes .
Nor , strange as" it seems , can its truth he doubted , since it comes to us upon the authority of Colonel Timins , a favourite nephew of the miser ' s , and one more inclined to soften than to exaggerate his uncle's defects .
" Mr . Elwes had come to town in his usual way , and taken up his abode in one of his empty houses . The Colonel , Aiho wished to see him , was by some accident informed that the old man was in London , though of his actual whereabouts he could get no tidings . In this dilemma he inquired for him at every place where he was most likely to be heard of , —at Hoare ' s the banker , at the Mount Coffee-house , and at others of his usual haunts , but all to no purpose . At lengtha person whom he met accidentallyrecollected
, , seeing the miser go into an uninhabited house in Great Marlborough Street . Thither accordingly the Colonel repaired , ancl , to follow up the clue thus obtained , got hold of a chairman . Bufc no intelligenre could be obtained of a gentleman called Mr Elwes . A potboy , however , remembered that he had seen a poor old fellow open the door of a stable and lock it after him ; ancl upon being further questioned , the description of the stranger perfectly agreed with
the usual appearance of Mr . Elwes ; and ' when the Colonel , after repeated knocking , could obtain no answer , he sent . for a blacksmith , and ordered him to pick the lock . This being easily accomplished , they entered the house together , and found all in the lower part dark ancl silent . On ascending the staircase , however , they heard the idistinct moanings of some one apparently in great pain . Following the sound , they came to a room , where , upon an old bed
pallet , streatched out the figure of tlie miser , who , to all seeming , was well nigh at the last gasp ; but , upon some cordials being administered by an apothecary hastily called in , lie recovered enough to say that he believed he had been ill for two or three days , and there was an old woman in the house , who had herself been ill , but that he supposed she had got well and taken herself off . ' "At this intimation they repaired to the garrets , where they tound the old woman , the companion of all his movements , associate
of all his journeys , stretched out lifeless on the floor , with no better couch than a mere rug . " Afterwards , as if to offer some compensation to society , a spendthrift came into possession , and quickly dissipated tho hoardings of two lives ; and the present inheritor of a baronetcy ( which he has never assumed ) having held tho situation of waiter at an hotel , has risen by his own
exertion and exemplary diligence , to the position of jiostmaster in a country town . Scotland , wifch its troubled history , bas ' * ' witnessed many vicissitudes of families . " Few of its noble houses can boast a higher lineage than tho Leslies , Earls of Eothes , now represented by a youthful countess , whose grandmotheralso heiress of tho line , and consequently peeress
, in her own right , reversed tho story of the Lord of Burleigh , by wedding a youthful gardener . A moro immediate interest attaches to the name of Livingstone . Derived from a Hungarian progenitor , named Lovingors , who settled in West Lothian in tho eleventh century , the Livingstones could at one time boast of three earldoms , two viscounties , and some half-dozen baronies . The most
famous of all the ' line was that Alexander Livingstone , the regent of Scotland , who so treacherously beheaded fcho young Earl Douglas after a banquet afc Edinburgh Castle in 1140 . In later times — for tho Jacobite insurrections made terrible havoc among thoir titles—their history bas been romantic rather than historical . Here is a curious story touching their estate of Westquarter :
" Indeed , the history of the recovery of Wostqnnvtev is a-romance in itself , ancl in spite of its apparent improbability , is generally believcd . to he true . The tale runs thus : —Sir Alexander Livingstone , after the death of his uncle , by which event the succession opened to him , deemed it necessary to visit Edinburgh for the due arrangement of his affairs . He set out accordingly , by post , from London , ancl , on his way , stopped afc the inn at Belford , a small town betwixt Alnwick and Berwick , on a stormy Christmas
afternoon . So tempestuous indeed was the weather , that tho landlady besought Sir Alexander to proceed no further that evening . She explained to him that the next stage was a long one , that night was approaching , and the roads bad and hilly ; that sho had only tired horses in her stables , ancl that , besides , it was the custom of the house to entertain all the postilions , hostlers , and other servants at a Christmas supper , 'thus urged , Sir Alexander consented to remain , only stipulating for some books ancl newspapers to pass the
evening with . Unfortunately , the library of mine host of Retford was not extensive ; the lady brought the Bible , the Pilgrim's Progress , and the Seven Champions of Christendom ; and these not meeting with Sir Alexander's approval , be ivas informed that they exhausted the literature of the household , but that there were some curious old papers in a closet adjoining the sitting-room into which he had been ushered . In default of occupation more attractive , Sir Alexander began an examination of the closet , which , to his astonishment , lie found to contain an ample store ot law papers , legal processes , and other similar documents , all of them havingreference to Scotch lawsuits . His curiosity was exc-itoil , and , his
eye baying caught tbe names of Livingstone and V . cstqnarter , he continued bis researches , ancl at last lighted on the title-deeds of the estate of Westquarter , ivhich appeared to have been produced as evidence to instruct some statement of fact in a litigated case . On applying to the landlady , she cleared up the mystery , by informing him that she was an Edinburgh woman—the daughter of a Scotch solicitor , —that she had married below her own condition in lifeand that she had . removedwith her husbandto Belfordto
, , , , ivhich place , at her father ' s death , she had brought many of his old papers , which as lumber had been thrown into the closet where Sir Alexander had discovered them . Many others , sho told him , , had been destroyed , and , being supposed to be of no value , had been employed in singeing fowls , for pasting up crevices and cupboards , and for other household purposes . To the Westquatcr documents Sir Alexander was made heartily welcome ; his Beltbrd
Christmas night had indeed been for him a most fortunate occurrence , and he started for Edinburgh next morning , carrying with him the very title-deeds with which he was enabled ^ to vindicate his right to ' the estate , and to oust Lord I \ apkr from it . " A remarkable litigation is now pending for the possesion of another estate of this family , and the succession to their ancient baronetcy . Should " the claimant , who styles
himself Sir Alexander Livingstone , succeed in making good liis pretensions—and it is bis legitimacy , not his paternity , which is questioned—the son of a common sailor , who died in great penury in Eothcihithc—whose right had he now been living " , must have been undisputed—will be