8 Memoir of Mr. John Legg, 0/ Market Lavington, Wilts. 



here, again, at the end of a short preface or advertisement (page 

 26), we have the locality of the author more accurately given, 

 " Townsend, near Market Lavington " : and the date " Feb. 20, 1789," 

 and his initials "J. L." repeated: so that, from these two little 

 pamphlets, we have it plainly stated that the initials of the author 

 of the " Emigration of British Birds " are J. L. And now we are 

 getting very near to discovering our author, and indeed, with these 

 definite marks to guide us, it may seem strange that there should 

 have been any difficulty in the matter ; nor would there have been, 

 had this third pamphlet come earlier into notice ; but it was not 

 found until after the name of the anonymous author had been 

 revealed. 



In addition to the three little books enumerated above, our author, 

 still anonymously, contributed a number of articles on various sub- 

 jects to the " Ladies 1 Magazine " : some on natural history, some on 

 fiction, and these, too, are signed with the initials " J. L.," and are 

 scattered among many volumes of that periodical. I am informed 

 that he once began a novel, and a few chapters were printed in the 

 same magazine : and then for some unexplained reason he stopped 

 short, and left his story incomplete, to the indignation of the dismayed 

 editor, who doubtless would have endorsed the verdict of his character 

 as given by one of his surviving descendants, that he was a " con- 

 tradictory and strange man." 



Now these little books of J. L. would doubtless have remained 

 unnoticed and unknown, and the author's name as profoundly lost 

 as he intended when he published them anonymously, if Professor 

 Newton, in his indefatigable researches after such obscure treatises, 

 had not chanced to come across a copy of the " Emigration of British 

 Birds " ; and, astonished at the excellent character of the book, 

 resolved to discover its author ; and seeing the locality whence it 

 was written, " Market Lavington, Wilts," at once wrote to me and 

 desired me to investigate the matter. 



It is needless to recount here how often I was baffled in my at- 

 tempts ; how the parish registers yielded no information ; enquiries 

 at Market Lavington in all directions proved unavailing,and I had 

 almost proposed to abandon the search as hopeless ; but Professor 



