CHRONICLE. 



?T 



Wli«re a man in his advanced years, 

 Bmple fortune, and without any fa- 

 jnily but his wife, a most worthy 

 and respected woman, might cer» 

 Jainly have lived very comfortably. 

 But Mr. Pope abroad was removed 

 from his friends and customers, and 

 his money being idle, which was 

 always considered by hun as a great 

 misfortune, he resolved to come 

 home ; and to shew his resentment 

 {as hesaid) to allthis oppression, sub» 

 mitted to imprisonment rather than 

 pay the money. This de did most 

 heroically, and suffered the long im-r 

 prisonment of eleven years and three* 

 months. In the course of this time 

 Mr. Pope's affairg wore very diffe« 

 rent complexions; and at one time 

 he might have got his hberty for a 

 thousand pour.ds, but he remained 

 inflexible, and sent them word that 

 " this would be acknowledging the 

 justness of their debt, which he 

 would die sooner than do,*' and he 

 kept his word. Mr. Pope, in pri, 

 son, had many opportunities of in- 

 dulging those propensities he had 

 all his life been remarkable for. 

 He looked always at the pint pot 

 of small beer before he paid for it, 

 to see that it was full j a precaution 

 jhat in him was somewhat excusa- 

 ble, as the pintlasted him generally 

 two days, water being his coiumou 

 drink; and as to strong beer, it U'jcd 

 ^o be a note of admiration with his 

 fellow-prisoiierj when he drank any 

 with them at their apartments ; but 

 as for his sending for any for him- 

 self, of that he never was guilty. 

 His threc'-fartiiing candle he always 

 bouglit by weight, that is, had the 

 heaviest of six, eight, or ten, for his 

 money. In all this time, near twelve 

 yi ars, he has never had a joint of 

 Ineat on his table ; iiis greatest lux- 

 ury was a groat plute from the cook 



shop, and that generally served h\iT\ 

 for two meals. But in these points 

 he was not much at a loss ; for his 

 family, though livingat a great dis- 

 tance, knowingot his penurious dis- 

 position, sent to him very frequently 

 a very comfortable and proper sup- 

 ply : and on these occas.ons he ha? 

 even been known, sometimes, to 

 give some leavings to his eirand- 

 giri, orelsetobomedistressed object. 

 To do justice to such an eccentric 

 character as Mr. Pope, it is proper 

 to state, that while in trade, he had 

 early begun the benevoK at practice 

 of giving away, every week, a stone 

 of meat, and often more, among his 

 workmenand poor neighbours; and 

 this practice he never left off, not 

 even when he was every day weigh- 

 ing his candle, or looking after the 

 measure ot his small beer. In money 

 transactions Mr. Pope suffered ma- 

 ny frauds and impositions in prison, 

 as he had not that scope ot custom- 

 ers in his confined state, and always 

 bent upon making the most of his 

 money, was more easily imposed 

 upon ; so that he is supposed to 

 have lost, by such means, more mo- 

 ney than would have paid liis debt 

 and costs, large as they were. 



SEPTEMBER. 



1 St. As the corpse of a gentleman 

 was proceeding tuthe burial-ground* 

 it was arrested by a sheriff's officer 

 and his followers, under the usual 

 warrant on a writ of capias ad saiis' 

 Jacuudum. The friends, who fol- 

 io vved, immediately left their coach- 

 es, and t(jld the olhcer, if he cho&e, 

 he was welcome to take the body, 

 but he should not have cotfia, shroud, 

 or any one particle in which the 

 body was enveloped, as those things 



were 



