CHRONICLE. 



491 



Ms steady adherence lo the rules of 

 justice and moderation, and his 

 constant practice of those leading 

 duties of the Christian, humanity 

 and benevolence. In many respects 

 he perpetuated in Iiis family the be- 

 nevolent qualities of his illustrious 

 ancestor ; at the same time his mind 

 >vas strongly tinctured by peculia- 

 rities ^vhich separated him from a 

 comparison witii almost any other 

 human being. His character, as 

 "'draw n by Mr. Pratt, in his " Glean- 

 ings," we shall extract, as we un- 

 derstand it is not exaggerated : " At 

 the abbey here resides a gentleman 

 in the possession of a once finely- 

 wooded domain, of great politeness 

 and urbanity, much reading, of 

 sound understanding, who, never- 

 theless, has allowed almost every 

 tree, m hich his domain had to boast, 

 to be deliberately cut down and car- 

 tied away without so much as mak- 

 ing any manner of enquiry after the 

 olFenders, or entering into any re- 

 monstrance as to their past, present, 

 or future depredations, though this 

 went to the loss of twenty thousand 

 pounds T' — " I suppose," says Mr. 

 Pratt, " you would think I must 

 be fibbing, weie I to inform you 

 that whoever has a mind to it goes 

 into Iiis stable, saddles or harnesses 

 a horse, and rides or plows with 

 him, brings him home at night, or 

 keeps him a week or a fortnight toge- 

 ther, without so much as a question 

 being asked by the 'squire ; and, 

 "what is w orse, they not only steal 

 wheat, barley, and other grain, 

 from the field where it is sheaved, 

 to save themselves the trouble of 

 cutting it, but they are wicked 

 enough to cut olT the corn-ears, by 

 whole acres, before they are half 

 ripe.'' It would exceed our limits 

 to go into the miniitix of this extra- 



ordinary person, who, with all 

 these peculiarities, was rich in a 

 thousand qualities tl»at do honour 

 to the heart of man. Notwithstand- 

 ing these deep drawbacks upon his 

 property, Mr. Warner died ex- 

 tremely rich. His Walfingham and 

 othe/ estates go to his nephew, and 

 other relations of the same family, 

 in and near Norwich ; and, with all 

 his shades of character, in which, 

 however, there Avas no mixture of 

 vice or immorality, he will long be 

 remembered as a man of very tender 

 feelings, a scholar, and a gentle- 

 man. Iiis remains were conveyed 

 in a hearse, from his venerable 

 mansion to the parish church of that 

 town for interment, preceded hy a 

 number of his tenants on horseback, 

 and followed by several of the most 

 distinguished gentlemen of the 

 neighbourhood in their carriages, 

 and a great concourse of spcetators. 

 At Grotto-house, Margate, in 

 his 16th year, J. P. Oldiield, a 

 youth of most extraordinary genius. 

 At the age of five years and a half, 

 he had a scarlet fever, which 

 brought on him a paralysis of the 

 lower extremities, and debilitated 

 his body for the rest of his lite; but 

 his mind presented the finest display 

 of human perfection. Whatever he 

 read he instantly had by heart ; his 

 favourite pursuits were mathematics, 

 philosophy, astronomy, geography, 

 history, and painting, in all of 

 which he had made great proficien- 

 cy. His favourite authors were 

 Locke and Newton ; and his reten- 

 tive faculties were so strong, that 

 he never forgot a single incident 

 with which he had been once ac- 

 quainted. He could relate every 

 circumstance of Grecian, Roman, 

 and English history ; was master of 

 astronomy, and h^d pursued it up 



in 



