salesman, know his head of cattle-like a lottery prize-seeker, be acquainted with his number-like Fielding's Minos, in his "Journey from this world to the next," shut his gate against those who are brought up improperly to the bar. A modern Gilpin should scarcely risk a ride unwittingly through his demesne.

In the "dead waste and middle of the night," when sleep steals over him wearily, how many calls of the coachman, the chaise driver, the stanhope gentleman, the important bagman, and the drover, is he obliged to obey ! The imperative "Pike !""Gate!"-"Hallo!" are like so many knells rung in his ear. The clock is a friend to most men in the various occupations of life; the shadow on the grass warns the shepherd and hind to retire to rest; the dial gives the gardener leave to quit his vegetable and floral world in safety till the succeeding morning; but the pikeman finds no solace in the instructive progress of his Dutch-clock, or in the more highly favoured one with a window before its pulselike-pendulum, (as the person with a window in his breast,) or in the weather betokening man and woman," who, like an unhappy couple, never go out together.

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Who that has looked upon the pikeman's contracted span-his little white-painted hut, like a showman's figured canvass-but shrewdly guesses that the best portions of his sunside of comforts are on the outside? What a Jack in the Box!* He seems in his room like a singing-bird in a cage. His cat and dog are his companions, save when the newsman, postman, or any man, in short, arrives. Munden's "Crack" is not to be seen at every turnpike gate. A magpie, or blackbird, often hangs and whistles, like himself, in stationary captivity. Yet he is a man of some information. The waggoner, the duellist, the huckster, and the Gretna folks, in pursuit of romantic happiness, sometimes make him useful. The horse patrol consults him in the way of business; few fights occur without his knowledge; and even the political express gives him broad hints as to the secret operations of his majesty's ministers. He is completely au fait in all common concerns in his vicinity-a local " finger-post."

Occasionally, I have seen a chubfaced, curly-headed child playing near his "box" on the roadside, like idleness in ease, with rushes and flags round its brow, enjoying

The original" Jack in the Box," with the nutmeg. grater at the bottom, has disappeared with its contemporary, the "Horn Alphabet," to the no small loss of all good young people,

their decline and fall.

There is a difference between a Tyburngate official, and a promiscuous sojourner, who guards the pass of a new, lone road, through which scarcely a roadster trots. The cockney keeper of cockney riders, is rarely without "short cut" and the "ready" in word and deed. In his short-pocketed white apron he stands defiance, and seems to say, "Who cares?" His knowing wink to the elastic arm of the coachee, which indicates the "all right!" has much meaning in it. His twirl of the sixpence on his thumb nail, and rattle of "coppers" for "small change," prove his knowledge of exchange and the world.

The pikeman out of town is allowed a scrap of garden-ground, which he sedulously cultivates. In town, he has not the liberty of a back door-to be acquainted with his boundaries, you need only look at the "Farthing pie gate" for an example. He may be sometimes seen in a chair, in front of his domicile, making remarks on 66 men and manners." His name hangs on a thread over his door: if he is an honest man, equestrians will appreciate his merits, and do well if they imitate his philosophy.

morning he resumed his usual seclusion for the ensuing twelvemonth. He lived many years in full expectation of the commencement of the millennium.

But that which has given celebrity to the name of the late "Robert North, Esq." at Scarborough is the founding, in the year 1728, of a very useful institution, called "The Amicable Society," for clothing and educating the children of the poor; which under the government of a president, four trustees, and four wardens, annually elected, with a fund for its support, arising from the weekly subscriptions of the members, collections made in the church, and other voluntary donations, continues to flourish. The number of children thus clothed and educated, now in the school, is sixty, and the number of members two hundred and sixty-five.

This institution has preserved many children from the contagion of evil example, and enabled them to follow useful occupations in life with credit and advantage. Several, who, by their early education at this seminary, attained a competent know ledge of navigation, became mates and commanders of vessels, and eventually benefactors and patrons of the institu

tion.

The exact day of Mr. North's death does not appear; but his interment is dated in the parish-register of Scarborough, 14th October, 1760.

Mr. North, by a singular codicil to his will, gives one pair of his silver candlesticks to the celebrated Dr. Young, author of the poem on the Last Day, &c.; and the other pair to the Rev. James Hervey, author of the Meditations among the Tombs, &c. "I call these," he says, "in some measure legacies to the public, having given them to persons so well able to employ them for the benefit of mankind."

The other legacies by this codicil are usually in themselves remarkable, and all the bequests are accompanied by remarks, which denote the peculiar character of the donor's disposition: for example-"To the lady Lowther, of Swillington, a curious basket made of beads, the product of the virgin amusements of my grandmother and her two sisters-it seeming highly proper to present a thing, which has gained the applause of most people, to a person who I hope has gained the applause of all. To Mrs. Philadelphia Boycott, my Kerry seal set in gold, with Mr. Addison's head engraven on it-which will be very fitly deposited in the hands of a lady, whose letters are much celebrated for their wit

and humour. In pursuance of an old promise, to Mrs. Barbara Tatton a picture in needlework, which was likewise made at the leisure hours of my aforesaid grandmother and her sisters, and which I suppose to have been designed for king Charles II.

the subject of which may perhaps some, times engage her to reflect on this great truth, that the finest wit, if it deviate from the paths of virtue, is but a more elegant sort of folly. To Mrs. Christiana Hargrave, spinster, my silver coffee-pot, silver tea-pot, the silver stands for them, and my silver tea-canisters, milk-pot, and tea-spoonsbeing all of them baubles of some dignity and importance, even to women of sense, when in complaisance to the customs of an inconsiderate age they condescend to trifle. To the Rev. Thomas Adam, rector of Wintringham in Lincolnshire, my mahogany bureau and bookcase which may serve as a cabinet in which to reposit his manuscripts, till he may think it proper to make a cabinet of the world. In pursuance of an old promise to Mrs. Susannah Adam, his wife, my gold snuff-box-but if the contents of it prejudice her constitution, I hope she will upon this occasion follow the example of many fine ladies, who have many fine things which they never use. My silver cup and best silver tankard to Barnabas Legard, of Brompton, county of York, Esq., a person qualified by experience to teach our fine gentlemen a truth,. which perhaps many of them will be surprised to hear-that temperance is the most delicious and refined luxury. To ensign William Massey, (my godson,) son of the late Capt. John Massey, of Hull, my sword; and hope he will, if ever occasion require it, convince a rash world that he has learned to obey his God as well as his general, and that he entertains too true a sense of honour ever to admit any thing into the character of a good soldier, which is inconsistent with the duty of a good Christian. I give the sum of forty pounds, to be paid into the king's exchequer.-I give thirty pounds to be added to the common stock of our East India company —which two last legacies I leave, as the best method I know, though not an exact one, of making restitution for the injustice I may have done, in buying (inadvertently)

any uncustomed goods; and which I hope will be accepted by the great Judge of all men, in case I do not meet with a better before I die. I give the sum of one hundred pounds to the person who shall within four years after my decease make and publish the best tragedy, entitled Vir tue Triumphant wherein among such others, as the poet shall think proper to introduce, shall be drawn the character of a virtuous man unconquered by misfortunes, &c. I give the sum of one hundred pounds to the person who shall, within four years after my decease, make and publish the best comedy; wherein-among such others as the poet shall think proper to in troduce shall be drawn the four following characters, viz. of a fine gentleman, a fine lady, a beau, and a coquet; the two first to be drawn with a thorough taste for religion and virtue, accompanied with fine sense and humour, and to be crowned with success; the two last with the fopperies and follies common to persons of these denominations, and to be made objects of contempt and ridicule," &c.*

MR. NORTH'S PRIZES FOR THE POETS. Nothing further appears to be known respecting Mr. North, except that, through the "Gentleman's Magazine" for July, 1734, he proposed, and was the anonymous donor of fifty pounds, "as a prize for the poets," to encourage them "to make the best poem, Latin or English, on Life, Death,

Besides these bequests, Mr. North desired that two manuscript-books, consisting of miscellaneous pieces, and particularly a discourse, the first and last parts whereof were composed with a view of their being preached instead of a sermon at his funeral, should be printed in one volume after his decease, at an expense of one hundred pounds, and directed the profits of the books sold to be expended in causing an impres sion to be made of four sermons by archbishop Sharp and bishop Beveridge, containing a deseription of the Joys of Heaven and the Torments of the Damned; together with some directions how men may obtain the one, and escape the other; the said four sermons to be printed on good paper, and in a fair character, bound or stitched in strong covers, and given gratis among soldiers, sailors, poor persons, and common labourers. He further gave to the archbishop of York two hundred pounds, in trust, to be applied towards the building or other uses and services of another church, or a chapel of ease in Scarborough aforesaid, provided any such church or chapel should be erected within ten years after his decease. He also gave fifty pounds to the Society for promoting Christian Knowfedge; and fifty pounds to the Society for propagating the Gospel in foreign parts. "I desire the lord archbishop of York (Hutton) will do me the honour to accept the picture of Pope Gregory I., which has been commended, and was a legacy to me from the painter, Mr. John Settrington. I desire the lord bishop of Carlisle (Osbaldeston) will do me the honour to accept my own picture, drawn by the same hand.

These particulars, and those preceding, are contained in "A Biographical Sketch" of Mr. North, printed at Scarborough by and for John Cole, 1823. 8vo. pp. 16.

Judgment, Heaven, and Hell, viz. all the said subjects jointly, and not any single one independent of the rest:" and, that the poets might not be discouraged “ upon suspicion of incapacity in their judges," he entirely resigned the decision of the best poem to "universal suffrage" and election by "vote;" or, as he is pleased to call it, in the Magazine for August, "the public vote of kingdoms." He presumes that this scheme "will probably be most agreeable to the poets themselves, because they will be tried by such a number as is not capable of being bribed, and because this method of determination will, as he conceives, tend most to the honour of that poet who shall succeed." In October he prescribes that the voters shall sign a declaration, disclaiming undue influence; and he suggests, that if the majority of candidates prefer a determinate number of judges to the public at large, he will accord to that arrangement, provided they express their desires with their poems. Accordingly, the Gentleman's Magazine of May, 1735, "informs the candidates, that as the majority of them are for a decision by a select number of judges, the donor is desirous that Mr. Urban should apply to able merit, to undertake this office;" and three particular gentlemen of unexceptionit is announced, that the poems will be published in "an entire Magazine Extraordinary," to render which "acceptable, to those who have no great taste for poetry," there will be added something of general use." In the following July_the_poems appeared in the promised "Gentleman's Magazine Extraordinary, printed by E. Cave, at St. John's Gate, for the benefit of the poets;" whereto was added, as of " general use," agreeably to the above promise, and for those "who have no great taste in poetry," the Debates in the first session of parliament for 1735.

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What gratification Mr. North derived from his encouragement of " the poets," is to be inferred from this-that, in the supplement to the Gentleman's Magazine of the same year, 1735, he announced, that other prizes thereafter mentioned would be given to persons who should "make and send " to Mr. Urban, before the 11th of June, 1736, the four best poems, entitled "The Christian Hero"-viz.

"1. To the person who shall make the best will be given a gold medal, (intrinsic value about ten pounds,) which shall have the head of the right hon. the lady Elizabeth Hastings on one side, and that of James Oglethorpe,

In the Magazine of February, 1736, Mr. North begs pardon of the lady Elizabeth Hastings, (a female of distinguished piety,) for the uneasiness he had occasioned her by proposing to engrave her portrait on his prize medal: being," however, desirous that the poets should exercise their pens," he proposes to substitute the head of archbishop Tillotson, and "hopes that Mr. Oglethorpe will be prevailed upon to consent that the medal shall bear his effigies." Several of the poems made by "the poets" for this second prize appear in the Magazine of the same year, to which readers, desirous of perusing the effusions elicited by Mr. North's liberality, are referred.

The "James Oglethorpe, Esq." whose head Mr. North coveted for his prize medal, was the late general Oglethorpe, who died in 1785, at the advanced age of ninetyseven, the oldest general in the service. Besides his military employments, first as secretary and aide-de-camp to prince Eugene, and afterwards in America, and at home during the rebellion in 1745, he was distinguished as a useful member of the House of Commons, by proposing several regulations for the benefit of trade and the reform of prisons. In 1732 he settled the colony of Georgia, and erected the town of Savannah, and arrived in England in June, 1734, with several Indian chiefs. This gentleman's public services at that time, and his eminent philanthropy, were inducements to Mr. North to do him honour. The following is an interesting account of the presentation of the Indians at court.

On the 1st of August, 1734, Tomo Chachi, the king, Senauki his wife, with Tooanakowki, their son, Hillispilli, the war captain, and the other Cherokee Indians, brought over by Mr. Oglethorpe from Georgia, were introduced to his majesty at Kensington, who received them seated on his throne; when Tomo Chachi, micho, or king, made the following speech, at the same time presenting several eagles' feathers, trophies of their country.

"This day I see the majesty of your face, the greatness of your house, and the num ber of your people. I am come for the good of the whole nation, called the Creeks, to renew the peace which was long ago had with the English. I am come over in my old days, though I cannot live to see any advantage to myself; I am come for the good of the children of all the nations of the Upper and of the Lower Creeks, that they may be instructed in the knowledge of the English.

"These are the feathers of the eagle, which is the swiftest of birds, and who flieth all round our nations. These feathers are a sign of peace in our land, and have been carried from town to town there; and we have brought them over to leave with you, O great king, as a sign of everlasting peace.

"O great king, whatsoever words you shall say unto me, I will tell them faithfully to all the kings of the Creek nations." To which his majesty graciously answered,

"I am glad of this opportunity of assuring you of my regard for the people from whom you come, and am extremely well pleased with the assurances you have brought me from them, and accept very gratefully this present, as an indication of their good disposition to me and my people. I shall always be ready to cultivate a good correspondence between them and my own subjects, and shall be glad of any occasion to show you a mark of my particular friendship and esteem."

Tomo Chachi afterwards made the following speech to the queen.

"I am glad to see this day, and to have the opportunity of seeing, the mother of this great people.

"As our people are joined with your majesty's, we do humbly hope to find you the common mother and protectress of us and all our children."

Her majesty returned á suitably gracious

answer.

The war captain, and other attendants of Tomo Chachi, were very importunate to appear at court in the costume of their own country, merely a covering round the waist, the rest of the body being naked, but were dissuaded from it by Mr. Oglethorpe. But their faces were variously painted after their country manner, some half black, others triangular, and others with bearded arrows instead of whiskers. Tomo Chachi, and Senauki, his wife, were dressed in scarlet, trimmed with gold.

On the 17th of the same month Tomo