1817.
Visit of the Grand Duke Nicholas of Russia -- Stones thrown
at the Regent -- Issue of the new Silver Coinage -- Riots and
arrests for sedition -- First issue of Sovereigns -- The Case of
Abraham Thornton and appeal by battle -- The Queen at Bath --
Death of the Princess Charlotte -- Richard Owen and his scheme
-- "The Fortunate Youth" -- "Caraboo."
The Chronicle of this year opens with the record of a luckily rare
visitation, namely, that a slight shock of earthquake was felt on
January 8th at Mansfield, in Nottinghamshire. In 1816 a shock had
been felt in several places in Scotland.
The Grand Duke Nicholas of Russia, afterwards Czar, was over here,
and spent some months in this country, and those of us who remember
the last war we had with Russia, will scarcely recognize the stern
Nicholas of the Crimea, under the guise of the light-hearted Grand
Duke, as exemplified in the following anecdote, which occurred early
in January:--
"A LITTLE FROLIC OF THE GRAND DUKE NICHOLAS.--On his Imperial
Highness leaving Chester for Montgomeryshire, he perceived one of the
outriders to be mounted on a good horse; being a fine morning, his
Highness felt disposed to take a ride, and requested to change place
with the Courier; it was a fourteen-mile stage, and, on descending
a very long and steep hill, his Highness did not like to crawl down
so slow as the others, and told his suite that he would ride on, and
order some refreshment and horses for them. On his Highness arriving
at the Inn, he desired the landlady to prepare some beefsteaks and
mutton chops for the Grand Duke and his suite.
"The landlady observed that they should immediately be got ready,
and, taking his Highness for the Courier, asked him to accept of
something, which he politely declined, observing that he would wait
until the company arrived. She then showed him the room she had
prepared for the Grand Duke, and asked him if he thought it would
do? His Highness told her that it would do extremely well. The
carriages shortly after arrived, and the hostess begged him to have
the goodness to point out to her the Grand Duke; his Highness smiled,
and said she would be sure to see him." When Generals Kutusoff and
Mansel alighted and saluted him, one can picture the landlady's
astonishment. Nicholas was so pleased with the horse that he bought
it. He left England at the end of March.
Far less popular was another Royal Highness, far nearer home. The
Prince Regent went on the 28th of January to open the Session
of Parliament, and was met with a storm of yells and opprobious
epithets, but he got safely to the House of Lords, and delivered his
speech; on his return, the clamour and insults had vastly increased.
It is true that some few cried "God save the King," but the majority
hissed and hooted at, and called his Royal Highness naughty names;
the climax was reached when the Regent's carriage was about the
middle of the Mall. Some evilly disposed person threw a stone, or
stones, at the Royal equipage, and made a hole in one of the windows.
This hole remains a mystery, for the window on the opposite side
was not broken, and no stone, nor other missile, was found in the
carriage.
Lord James Murray, who was Lord of the Bedchamber to the Regent, was
in the carriage with him, and was examined shortly afterwards at the
bar of the House of Commons, and he was of opinion that the hole in
the window was made by two small bullets, about a quarter of an inch
apart--but this must have been pure conjecture on his lordship's
part. He went on to say that "about a minute after the glass was
broken, as I have described, a large stone was thrown against the
glass of the carriage, which broke it, and three or four other small
stones were thrown, which struck the glass, and the other part of the
carriage." And this is all that was found out about it.
The Lords and Commons united in an Address conveying their Abhorrence
of this attack upon his Royal Highness--the Guards at the Palaces,
the Parks, the Bank, and elsewhere were doubled; the Lord Mayor
was informed of the awful occurrence, and requested, if he thought
necessary, to call in the aid of the Military power, and despatches
were sent by the Mail Coaches to every part of the kingdom, to put
the Magistrates in every place on their guard. But there was no
occasion for all this fuss: the event did not produce a ferment in
the public mind, and we learn in next morning's paper, "that by five
o'clock in the afternoon the streets were perfectly clear of all mob,
and no disposition to riot appeared in any part of the town."
[Illustration: "The New Coinage; or, John Bull's Visit to Mat of The
Mint!!" (_February 13, 1817._)
_New Silver to enable the people to give intrinsic value for Bank
rags & worthless Tokens_]
A man named James Scott was the only one arrested, although £1,000
reward was offered for the Criminals, and as somebody was wanted to
be hanged, they accused him of high treason in throwing stones at the
Vicegerent of the Lord's Anointed. But, although they tried very hard
for a conviction, it only wanted three examinations by a Magistrate
to acquit the man of the charge of treason, but he was committed for
a misdemeanour in aiding and abetting of the Riot. He was admitted to
bail in two Sureties of £100 each, and himself in £200. Reading
the evidence, I can see nothing to incriminate him, and as I can
find nothing about his conviction, or acquittal, from any source, I
presume he was never called upon to appear. Peter Pindar satirised
this event in "R--LTY BESET."
On the 18th of January, a proclamation was issued "from our Court
at Brighton," announcing the issue of a new Silver Coinage, which
might be changed for old, at the Mint, between the 3rd and 17th of
February: and another proclamation of the 12th of February, "from
our Court at Carlton House," gave the date of the 13th of February
as that of general issue, after which they were to be taken as
lawful money. On this date was published a Satirical print, called
"The New Coinage, or John Bull's visit to MAT of the MINT!!"[26] in
which Wellesley Pole, "Master and Worker of his Majesty's Mint," is
shovelling money into a sack, saying "There, Johnny! see how I have
been working for you for months past; you can't say I get my money
for nothing." John Bull replies, "You be a very industrious man,
Master Mat, and the prettiest _Cole_[27] merchant I have dealt with
for many a day." The room, and the street, seen through an open door,
are crowded with men, women, and children, anxious to get the new
silver. That advantage was taken of promptly changing old worn silver
for bright new coin, is shown that by the 19th the large Hall of the
Bank, which was given up to its issue, was nearly empty, and the old
coinage had disappeared from circulation. They were counterfeited
immediately, which was a natural sequence, and there were squabbles
about their artistic merits, which was also natural. Regarding the
latter, as there are plenty of this issue now in circulation, my
readers can judge for themselves. There was the usual epigram upon it.
[Footnote 26: Mat o' the Mint was a character in Gay's
Beggar's Opera.]
[Footnote 27: _Cole_ or _Coal_ is thieves' slang for money,
and many people carry a piece of Coal in their pocket,
under the belief that so long as they have _Cole_ in their
pocket they will never want for money.]
"THE NEW COIN.
It is allow'd, throughout the town,
The head upon the new Half-Crown,
Is not the GEORGE we so much prize--
The Chin's not like--the Nose--the Eyes.
This may be true--yet, on the whole,
The fault lies chiefly _in the Pole_!"
Reform was being violently agitated all over the country, and,
without wishing to give this book any political character, yet as a
phase of social life it must be mentioned. There were riots late in
February in Somersetshire, among the Colliers, who struck against
a deduction of 10 per cent. in their wages. They did not do much
damage, but a dangerous spirit was abroad, and the cry of "Bread or
Blood; Hunt for ever!" was ominous of mischief. They were soon put
down by a troop of the 22nd Lancers, from Bristol, and the North
Somerset Yeomanry, without bloodshed.
On the 28th of February, the operation of the Act of _Habeas Corpus_
was suspended, and was not resumed until the 31st of January, 1818.
Of the Spa Fields rioters, two others besides Cashman, whose
execution has already been recorded, were hanged--and the others
in custody respited during pleasure: but no severity could quell
the unhappy feeling all over England. The people were restless and
suffering, and were determined to make themselves heard: as, for
instance, on the 10th of March, a meeting took place at Manchester
for the avowed purpose of petitioning the Prince Regent for a redress
of grievances, and a Reform in Parliament. It was recommended for the
Reformers to proceed in a large body to London, which was attempted
to be carried into effect by some hundreds, who had provided
themselves with blankets and bundles; but, by the activity of the
Magistrates, aided by the military, their purpose was defeated, and
several of the leaders were committed to prison.
On the 18th of March numerous arrests took place at Manchester, of
persons charged with seditious practices; and on the 25th of March
the Bill to prevent seditious meetings passed the House of Commons
by a large majority. High treason had become so familiar that
new regulations had to be adopted in the Tower, as to prisoners
contained there. "Each prisoner is kept in a separate apartment, and
night and day, two yeomen, or warders, continue in the room, the
door of which is locked, and on the outside a sentinel is placed
to prevent the approach of any one, except those in the Governor's
establishment. Their beds and board are provided by the Government.
No person is allowed to see the prisoners, unless a special order
is sent to the Lieutenant-Governor by the Clerk of the Council, and
then they are restricted from holding any communication except in the
presence and hearing of some persons appointed by the lieutenant, or
his deputy."
Let us pass to something pleasanter. The Custom House was opened for
business on the 12th of May without ceremony, and as one newspaper
says: "This structure is, in fact, perfect in everything, as its
inmates confess, and wants nothing but _business_." But the building
was not finished until the 2nd of August.
The only Social News between this date and July is the account of
mere riots at Nottingham and Leeds--together with State trials--which
we will skip.
On the 1st of July were issued the new gold Coin "the Sovereign,"
and from that date the old Guinea was doomed, and only now survives
in professional fees, and wherever any one can stick on an extra
shilling to a Sovereign. They were taken very kindly to, only some
exception was taken to the name, many thinking they ought to have
been called a "George." The half-sovereigns soon got a nickname,
that of "Regents." This is what a wicked wag thought of the "New
Sovereign":
"The Horse on the _Coin_ is more fit for a Waggon,
Than meet for _St. George_ to encounter the _Dragon_!
And, as for the _Effigy_, meant for the _Saint_,
He appears like a _Sans Culotte_, ready to faint;
With his head hanging down o'er a lean hungry paunch,
He has struck, with his spear, his poor horse, on the haunch;
While the _Dragon_ in pity, looks at the incision,
And cocks up his nose, at _St. George_ in derision!!!"
One of the most famous Criminal Cases of modern times occurred this
year--singular for the fact that it revived the old Ordeal, "Appeal
by battle," which had been in obeyance since 1771, and which no one
ever dreamed would be revived. One Abraham Thornton had been accused
of murdering Mary Ashford by drowning her on the 27th of May. He was
tried, and acquitted, but was subsequently arrested in October on an
appeal. This was heard in the King's Bench on the 17th of November,
and both Appellant and Appellee answered to their names. The first,
William Ashford, brother of the deceased, is described as being a
slight made lad, about seventeen years of age, and short in stature.
Thornton stood about five feet four inches high, very stout and
robust.
After the preliminary formalities were over, Mr. Leblanc, clerk to
the Crown, read over the record against him, and asked him whether
he was guilty or not." "His Counsel, Mr. Reader, then put a piece of
paper in his hand from which the prisoner read:
"'NOT GUILTY; AND I AM READY TO DEFEND THE SAME WITH MY BODY.'
"Mr. Reader had likewise handed a pair of large gauntlets, or gloves,
to the prisoner, one of which he put on, and the other, in pursuance
of the old form, he threw down for the appellant to take up. It was
not taken up, and
"Mr. Reader moved that it should be kept in the custody of the
officer of the Court.
Mr. Leblanc: Your plea is that you are not Guilty, and that you are
ready to defend the said plea with your body?
"The Prisoner: It is.
"Lord Ellenborough: Is the Appellant in Court?
"Mr. Clarke (his Counsel): He is, my Lord."
He appeared, but said nothing, and then Mr. Clarke addressed the
Court with a counter plea for the Appellant. In the course of his
speech, he said, "It would appear to me extraordinary indeed, if the
person who murdered the sister, should, as the law exists in these
enlightened times, be allowed to prove his innocence by murdering the
brother also, or at least, by an attempt to do so.
"Lord Ellenborough: It is the law of England, Mr. Clarke. We must not
call it murder."
Mr. Clarke then went on arguing that, surely the appeal must be
discretionary with the Court, and urged the inferiority of his
client's physique.
The Case was adjourned until the 22nd of November, when the Appellant
pleaded that Thornton ought not to be admitted to wage battle with
him, because both before and after the appeal there had been, and
still were, proofs that he had murdered the Appellant's sister. Case
adjourned.
On the 16th of April, 1818, Abraham Thornton was discharged, without
bail, the appellant declining the Challenge to combat, according to
ancient usage. But such a scandal could not long continue, and the
law was repealed in 1819 (59 George III. cap. 46).
What became of him, I know not, but I find mention of him in _The
Morning Chronicle_ of the 26th of October, 1818. _The Liverpool
Courier_ says: "We stated a few weeks ago, that the celebrated
Abraham Thornton had arrived in this town for the purpose of
emigrating to the United States. He has experienced more difficulty
than he anticipated in getting a passage thither. It appears that he
had engaged one in the _Independence_, but, when the other passengers
became acquainted with his name and character, they unanimously
refused to go in the same vessel with him; and a new Muster roll
was, in consequence, made out, in which his name was omitted."
The Chinese Embassy sent out under Lord Amherst had returned, having
failed in its object, his lordship refusing to kotoo to the Emperor:
his ship, the _Alceste_, being fired into by the Chinese.
The health of that tough old lady, Queen Charlotte, was beginning
to fail, and her physicians recommended her to go to Bath, for the
waters, and, in November, thither repaired, accompanied by the Duke
of Clarence.
The illustration gives an extremely graphic idea of the effects of
the Water upon the afflicted Queen. It is called "A PEEP into the
PUMP ROOM, or the Zomersetshire folk in A Maze."
The following anecdote of her sojourn is dated "Bath, November
28th.--The Queen wishing to ride through Prior Park, the property of
John Thomas, a very rich Quaker, a footman was sent forward to the
house to ask leave for the gates to be opened. Mr. Thomas received
the Queen very respectfully at the park gate, and addressed her as
follows: "Charlotte, I hope thee is very well: I am glad to see thee
in my park; thou art very welcome at any time, and I shall feel proud
in opening my gates for thy pleasure. I hope thou receives benefit
from the Bath waters. I wish thee well."
[Illustration: "A Peep into the Pump Room; or, The Zomersetshire Folk
in a Maze," October, 1817. (_Published, February, 1818._)]
Early in the morning of the 6th of November, died the Princess
Charlotte. On the day before she had been delivered of a stillborn
child, and was reported to be going on well, but within twelve hours
she was a corpse. There really was sorrow when she died. Her husband
was inconsolable, and her father, bereft of his only, though somewhat
wayward child, stayed at home and was ill. She was buried, with all
pomp, at Windsor, on the 19th of November. There was no Lord Mayor's
Show this year.
Before the end of the year there were more riots at Brighton and
Worcester, and a Commission sat at Derby, upon thirty-five persons
charged with high treason. Three of them, Brandreth, Ludlam, and
Turner were found guilty, and afterwards hanged and beheaded. The
others, on withdrawing their plea of not guilty, were dealt with
mercifully.
The Chronicle of this year must not be closed without mention of
Robert Owen, a Cotton Spinner at Lanark, who was a Social Reformer
of somewhat peculiar views. He had a Plan for the better support and
government of the poor, the outlines of which are as follows:--He
proposed to make the poor National, and to raise funds by mortgaging
the poor's rate to the amount of five or six years of its annual
value. The money so raised, in sums as required, he would have
applied in purchase of land, in portions of different magnitudes,
and erect establishments thereon for the accommodation of from
five hundred to fifteen hundred people. Of these buildings he
furnished a plan, on a scale for twelve hundred persons--men, women,
and children. The buildings were to be surrounded by a regulated
quantity of land for _spade_ cultivation--say an acre for each
person, including the site of erection--and they were designed for
a pauper community, which was to supply everything for itself; and
to be superintended on the principle of combining moral culture, and
reformation, with industry and frugality.
[Illustration: Robert Owen, August 21, 1817.]
The occupants were both to farm and manufacture, and, consequently,
to employ the faculties of each description of poor. Besides
comfortable lodging rooms, the buildings were intended to contain
a public kitchen, mess rooms, and all requisite accommodation
attached to comfortable cookery and eating; a chapel, infant
schools, schools for adults, grounds for exercise and recreation,
planted and beautified with trees. The lodgings for the married
poor, each to be sufficient to accommodate two children with their
father and mother: dormitories for children above three years of
age; manufactories and gardens; a complete farming establishment;
malting, and brewing-houses, corn-mill, dairy, and, in short, all the
constituents for self-support. To the men were assigned the labours
of agriculture, and the heaviest part of the manufactures. To the
women the care of their children and houses, the cultivation of
vegetables, the making of clothes, and an attendance, in rotation,
on the kitchen, mess-room, and dormitories. The children were to be
trained in the lighter occupations until fit for manly or womanly
employment, &c. The expense of such an establishment for twelve
hundred people, Owen estimated at £96,000.
In the latter part of this year, a great deal was heard of "The
Fortunate Youth." The story told about whom was, that a young
gentleman met with a very rich old one, who took a violent fancy
to the youth, used often to have him at his house, without the
knowledge of his parents, and finally, dying, left "The Fortunate
Youth" an immense fortune. This lad succeeded in humbugging people
to an unlimited extent, and in obtaining money from them, until, in
a Newspaper of the 6th of December, appeared: "SOI-DISANT FORTUNATE
YOUTH.--We lament to wound the feelings of the friends of this young
man, but we are bound by a painful duty to caution the public against
an impostor, whose detected falsehoods, and disingenuous acts,
authorize the assertion, that there is not one word of truth in his
whole story."
This was pretty plain speaking, and brought forth a disclaimer from
"The Solicitor and Confidential Friend of 'The Fortunate Youth'
and his family," in which he says, "I will venture to assert that
this Youth has never defrauded, nor attempted to defraud, any one;
and that if any person has any just pecuniary claim upon him, the
liquidation of it will be immediately provided for, on such claim
being made known to me." Once again he wrote defending his client;
but alack, and well-a-day, a little time afterwards, in a letter to
the same Newspaper, he writes (giving his own name, Weatherby): "I
feel it now a duty I owe to the public to declare, that circumstances
have since occurred, which induce me to think that I have been
grossly deceived in my opinion of him, and that his pretensions to a
large property are without foundation."
The editor then gives the impostor's real story.
"This young man's name is ABRAHAM W. CAWSTON. His father is a farmer
at Chippenham, near Newmarket. The early promise of shining talents
induced his father to send him to school, under the tuition of the
eminent Dr. Butler, of Shrewsbury, and there his attainments and
abilities gained him universal admiration. He was not seventeen years
of age when he paid his addresses to a young lady of fortune in
that place, and from that time the strange artifice or imagination
of this enormous fortune that had dropped to him, as it were, from
the clouds, had birth. He first opened his wonderful secret to his
father; and the story which he told was, that an aged gentleman
had, at one of his journeys from home to school, fallen in with him
in a stage coach going to Birmingham, and that he afterwards made
him _a deed of gift_ of his whole fortune! It did not, in the first
disclosure, swell to the magnitude which it afterwards attained;
but the first feeling that he manifested was to settle a part of his
wealth on his parents and brother. For this purpose he was introduced
to Mr. Weatherby, to whom he gave instructions to make a will; and,
as his fortune was stated to be all personal, Mr. Weatherby saw no
objection to the deed. His distribution of wealth, though uncommon,
did not strike Mr. Weatherby as improbable, so clear and consistent
were the boy's statements in their different interviews, and so
filial, and brotherly, were the bequests.
"From this time, nothing could equal the romance of his story, the
unblushing effrontery with which he maintained it, and the ingenious
stratagems he devised to keep up the delusion. It would fill a
volume to recount the history of the youth for the last two months;
and we are possessed of so many curious anecdotes, that we shall
entertain our readers with the relation of a few of them, since
the affair has afforded a striking example of the courtesy which
is shown to appearance, and the eagerness with which a meteor is
contemplated in the hemisphere of rank and fashion. That tradesmen
of all descriptions should crowd round his doors for the advantage
of his orders, was natural; but that Bankers should contend for his
account--Duchesses for the honour of his acquaintance--and Ministers
for his Parliamentary support--prove how much all conditions of
Society are on the alert for gold and power.
"He prevailed on his father to enter his elder brother, who is
twenty-four years of age, and had been brought up in the line of
farming, as a fellow commoner of Emanuel College, Cambridge.
"He instructed one solicitor to enter into a negociation for the
purchase of several estates, and surveys had actually been made.
"He applied to Government for a grant to take the name and bear the
arms of Devereux, and the Herald's College had begun to take steps
to exemplify the arms, and waited only for information as to which
branch of the house of Devereux his benefactor belonged.
"He instructed another Solicitor to insert an advertisement in the
public papers, calling on the Creditors, if any, of Don Gaspar de
Quintilla, deceased, to bring vouchers of their demands, in order
that they might be immediately liquidated. (Meaning to couple him
with Don Joachim de Quintilla, a rich Portuguese diamond Merchant.)
"He stated that it was his determination to purchase ten Boroughs,
that he might have twenty Members of Parliament in the House of
Commons, to procure him an Earldom.
"He said that his half-year's dividend, due on the 5th of January
next, was £92,000, and that he held annuities from several of the
crowned heads of Europe to the amount of millions.
"He was in the habit of suffering drafts on bankers for thousands,
nay, at times for tens, and hundreds of thousands, to drop from
his pocket-book, as if by accident, that they might be seen; and
he talked of loans to persons of the highest distinction, on whose
estate he had mortgages.
"When strongly pressed for an explanation as to the _Deed of Gift_ by
which the Legacy Tax had been evaded, he said that it was a secret
which he was bound to conceal for a time, but it was in an iron
chest, buried in the garden of his benefactor.
"So entire was the conviction of his friends, as to the certainty,
and extent, of his wealth, that a consultation was held with two
eminent Lawyers, to devise the means of making him a Ward of
Chancery; and, as his wealth was all his own, and, consequently,
there was no ground for the interference of the Lord Chancellor, it
was settled that he should present £30,000 to his father, and file a
friendly bill, upon which application might be made to constitute him
a ward."
This is only a slight portion of the revelations made respecting him;
but, although highly amusing, the relation of them would occupy too
much space. I have not taken the trouble to try and find out what
became of him.
It is curious that this should have been the year of two notorious
and historical impostors. One we have just heard of: the other
was a hussey named Wilcox or Baker--who tried to ape the _rôle_ of
George Psalmanazar. Her story is on this wise. On the evening of
3rd April, 1817, the guardian of the poor brought a female, aged
about twenty-five, clothed in ordinary costume, although it was
somewhat fantastically put on, to Mrs. Worrall, of Knole Park, for
advice. She had been found in the neighbouring village of Almondsbury
(Gloucestershire), and had gone into a cottage, making signs that she
wished to rest and sleep there: but as there was something uncanny
about her, and she spoke no language they understood, she was taken
to the Great House. Mrs. Worrall very kindly sent a maid with her
to the village inn, where she slept that night. Next day she was
interviewed, but all that could be got out of her was some gibberish
no one could understand, and she kept pointing to herself, saying
"Caraboo," by which it was inferred that such was her name. She
was taken to Bristol and examined: many persons versed in Eastern
languages trying to converse with her, but failing--her language
being utterly unknown to them.
Mrs. Worrall then took her to her house at Knole, and afterwards, a
Portuguese Malay appeared on the scene, undoubtedly a confederate,
who could talk to her, and then it came out that she was a Malayan
princess, of Chinese origin, and that she came from _Javasu_
(wherever that may be). One day she was walking in her garden
attended by her women, when the crew of a pirate prahu landed,
scaled the walls, gagged her, bound her and carried her off! (_Red
fire. Curtain falls_).--Act II. She is now discovered in a state of
slavery--having been sold by the pirates to the captain of a brig,
from which ship she was transferred to another, where she found
company in the society of a few more female captives, who, after
five weeks' cruise, were landed at another port. Caraboo, however,
continues sailing the wild ocean for nearly three months, till,
nearing land, and preferring death to slavery, she jumps overboard!
(_Soft music. Curtain falls_).--Act III. A merciful Providence
watches over her, and she swims ashore, borne to a land to which
she is an utter stranger, wanders about for six weeks, and at last
finds herself in this village of Almondsbury, clad like a respectable
working woman, in stuff dress, bonnet, woollen socks, leather boots,
a piece of soap, and other necessaries in a bundle, and a few
halfpence and a bad sixpence in her pocket. Kind people befriended
her, she composed a new language, and wrote some of it. Suspicion
is aroused, other kind people take an interest in her, who trace
different antecedents for her; she is confronted with the friends of
her youth, and (counterpart of Rider Haggard's "She") the Princess
Caraboo of Javasu crumbles into Mary Baker, or Wilcox, of Witheridge,
in the county of Devon!!! (_Tableau. Curtain falls, hisses and
catcalls._)
She afterwards went, still in 1817, to America, but a New York paper
noticing her arrival at Philadelphia, remarked, "That her personal
charms will have their due weight here, we should be sorry in this
age of gallantry, to doubt; but as to any prospect of success which
the fair adventuress may promise herself in the way of _hoaxing_, she
will shortly discover, from the number of our _banking institutions_,
our _stones in cotton_, and _wooden nutmegs_, that we are already
adepts in her profession."
In the year 1824 she returned from America, and took apartments in
New Bond Street, where she publicly showed herself at a shilling a
head. She finally settled down at Bristol, where she sold leeches,
and died at the close of 1864.