124° Mistake relative to the late Marquis of Exeter. (Sept. 1, 
Vo the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
W WAVING observed, a few months 
| ago, an anecdote relative to the 
late Marquis of Exeter, from an Account 
of an Excursion to the Highlands, in 
which the author is grossly mistaken, I 
beg leave, from my own personal ac- 
quaintance _ with that worthy deceased 
nobleman for years, during his retire- 
gnent, to clear up this subject. That he 
retired from his seat at Handbury-hall, in 
Worcestershire, to the little village of 
Bolas, in Shropshire, about eight miles 
from Newport, and twelve from Shrews- 
bury, under the feigned appellation of 
Jones, about the year 1790, is most true; 
though that he ever gambled away a/d his 
fortune, and suffered the affliction in con- 
sequence of the divorce from his first 
lady, which Mr. Mawman imputes to 
him, is, in a great measure, from his ha- 
bitual cheerfulness and serenity during 
those years, liable to much doubt. To 
some, who were most intimate with him, 
he often observed, he never was more 
comfortable, nor enjoyed bis health so 
well as he did during that period; both 
which circumstances were totally incom- 
patible with a life of regret and vexation, 
After residing afew mouths as a boarder 
at the house of Mr. H s, a farmer at 
Bolas, the father of the young woman 
whom he soon after married, he pur- 
chased seven acres of land on Bolas com- 
mon, from the Rev. Creswell Tayleur, of 
Meeson; and. there built a smal! brick 
house, which a little before the demise of 
his late uncle, he enlarged and adorned 
with two small wings. . It now goes un, 
der the name of Burghley Villa, is the 
property of Mrs. Tayleur, the relict of 
the late Creswell Tayleur, or rather one 
of her children, his godson, to whom he 
bequeathed both house and land; andis 
altogether at present a very comfortable 
habitation, with the other convenient 
buildings attached to it, for a person of 
about a thousand pounds a year. 
The late Rev. T—~ H ,of W..U. 
amusing himself about that time in brick- 
making, Mr. Jones, to be more classically 
correct, purchased some of the’ first 
bricks that composed it of this gentle- 
man; but however retired this worthy 
manimight have appeared to the people 
of Shropshire, be was not so, be assured, 
to hig connections pf Handbury and 
Burghley ; ong af the stewards of the for- 
mer, whom] once saw at his house, be- 
ing oceasiouaily with him. The circum- 
., igtanee that brings it more particularly to 
/ 
my recollection was Mr. Jones’s obsers 
vation to me, that he was an old man, 
who possessed a great deal of humour, 
That his lordship, in the course of this 
time, was the subject of much conversa~ 
tion, is likewise true, many endeavouring, 
as is usual in these cases, to evinoe the 
superiority of their sagacity by the supe 
rior severity of their remarks; but*so far 
was he at any time from divulging a tittle 
about himself to any one, that the rude 
enquiries of a certain gentleman farmer, 
now deceased, who called aloud to him, 
in a convivial party, to declare who he 
was, what he was, and from whence he 
came, were evaded by him with the ut- 
most pleasantry and good humour. Though 
his conversation abounded with the ine 
formation and good manners of a gentle- 
man, with remarks on medicine and na- 
tural philosophy, I do not recollect that 
it did at any time take a classical turn, as 
the Tourist insinuates, though I have fre~ 
quently dined in his company at the ta- 
ble of one of these gentlemen; and that 
neither of them (the only clergymen near 
him) ever discovered his real rank at all, 
will be evident to you, Sir, from the fol- 
lowing facts. Upon the birth of his first 
son, who soon after died, after he settled 
on the common, two or three of his 
friends roasting a sheep, in celebration of 
that event, the Rev. Mr. T. and his fa 
mily at Meeson expressed their surprise 
that so much rejoicing should be made. 
for the birth of a child of a mere private 
man, as Mr. J. appeared to be; and 
when he came to his tide, ‘so little idea 
had the other reverend gentleman of it, 
that the marquis himself was the first 
who informed him by a letter, which I 
saw, of that event. Now, if this noble- 
man had divulged the secret of his con- 
dition to either of these gentlemen, it is 
impossible that the first of them should 
have betrayed the surprize that he did 
upon the rejoicing made for the birth of 
his child; neither would it have been re- 
quisite for him to unfold the mystery to 
the second, as he did, by letter, Had 
his Jordship been as incautious as Mr, 
M. informs us he was, it would most pro- 
bably have defeated the end of his retire- 
ment; and while it eucouraged the visits 
of the great and opulent to a litle cot- 
tage, where he could uot have had the 
means of entertaining them as he wished, 
it would have prevented the diffident of 
the former little circle, from whom he re- 
eeived most satisfaction, from associating 
with him as they had been accustomedtq . 
do. Jam the more anxious to clear up 
thig 
