CHRONICLE. 



265 



only 37 inches high ; she displays 

 a great genius, and is an admirer of 

 the fine arts ; and what renders her 

 so worthy of the public notice is, 

 the industrious and astonishing 

 means she has invented and prac- 

 tised in obtaining the use of the nee- 

 dle, scissors, pen, pencil, &c. where- 

 in she is extremely adroit ; she can 

 cut out and make any part of her 

 own clothes, sews extremely neat, 

 and in a most wonderful manner ; 

 writes well, draws landscapes, paints 

 miniatures, and many wonderful 

 things, all of which she performs 

 principally with her mouth. 



A singular instance of the in- 

 stability of human grandeur, was 

 stated in a speech by Mr. Whit- 

 bread. The identical service of 

 plate which Mrs. Clarke purchased 

 from Birkett, the pawn-broker, ori- 

 ginally belonged to a prince of the 

 unfortunate family of Bourbon, 

 What a memento must it have been 

 to the duke of York, to trace the 

 household plate, with the arms of 

 the royal family of Bourbon, to the 

 shop of a pawn-broker, and after- 

 wards to Mrs. Clarke's! Trace the 

 history of France (says Mr. Whit- 

 bread) from the luxurious days of 

 the La Vallieres and Montespans, 

 down to those of the Pompadours 

 and de Barres, and you would see 

 the destruction and overthrow of 

 the monarchy, which drove the il- 

 lustrious branches of the Bourbon 

 family into foreign exile, originating 

 in private vice, and finally com- 

 pleted by the deceitful and unbound- 

 ed extravagance of those intrusted 

 with public confidence and official 

 situation. One cannot help think- 

 ing, said the honourable gentle- 

 man, that the circumstance of the 

 duke de Bcrri's plate having been 

 disi)08ed of this way, and then 



coming into the possession of the 

 duke of York, must have occasion- 

 ed some sensations in the bosom of 

 his royal highness which could not 

 fail to rouse his feelings for the fate 

 of that unfortunate family, and 

 which would cause him inwardly 

 to ejaculate—" I thank God for 

 the warning which this magnificent 

 monument of the instability of 

 greatness holds up to my view, and 

 I will use it as a beacon to guard 

 against the danger of those rocks 

 on which others, once as great 

 and powerful as I am now, have 

 been so unexpectedly wrecked and 

 ruined." 



26. Biirlhigton- House. — Yester- 

 day the lease of this estate, granted 

 upwards of a century since, by one 

 of the ancestors of Mr. Pollen, to - 

 the Burlington family, expired — 

 Part of the estate was formerly 

 called the Ten Acres Field, and it 

 included a field, the mansion, gar- 

 den, and out-buildings, which were 

 very extensive. In the year 1708, 

 the estate was in the occupation of 

 Richard, earl of Burlington, and 

 his assigns ; and the duke of De- 

 vonshire, as the heir of the earl 

 of Burlington, is the present re- 

 ceiver of the rents. By the expi- 

 ration of the lease the duke loses 

 14,000/. a year. We understand 

 that the rents of the out-buildings 

 will be raised, and the present 

 mansion, built by the earl of Bur- 

 lington, will be pulled down. A 

 crescent is to be built on the scite, 

 and it will be called Hartington- 

 place, in honour of the marquis of 

 Hartington, who will have a house 

 erected in the center, fit for his 

 reception. 



'IS. Upon opening the body of 

 a man who lately died in Guy's 

 hospital, eighteen or nineteen large 



clasp- 



