‘ftreet 
1800 ] 
would fend for his creditors and pay them 
all round ; he bas paid my matter between 
20 and sal at a time. 
Q. You did not kcepa fhop yourfelf then 
at that time *—No, Sir; I iived with one 
Lander here for 20 years, and it was 
while Twas prentice and journeyman with 
him that I uted to wait en Mr. Thomfan. 
Lander made his majors and bobs, and a 
perfon of the na:ine of Taylor in Craven- 
in the Strand made his tie-wigs, 
An excellent cultomer he was to both. 
Q_ Dd you drefs any of his vifitors ? 
—Yes; Quin and Lyttelton, Sir George 
I think he was called —He was {o tender- 
faced I remember, and fo devilith dificult 
to fhave, that none of the men in the fhop 
darcd to venture cn him except myfelf. I 
have often taken Quin by the nofe too, 
which required fome courage let me tell 
you. One day he afked particularly if 
the razor was in good order, protetted he 
had as many barbers’ ears in his parlour 
at home, as any boy had of bird’s eggs 
on a ftring, and fwore, if I did not fhave 
him fmoothly, he would add mine to the 
number. ** Ah,” faid Th mfon, ** Wull 
fhaves very well, I affure you.”’ 
Q. You have feen the Seafons, I fup- 
pofe?—Yes, Sir; and once had a great 
deal of them by heart (he here quoted a 
paffage from Spring). Shepherd, who for- 
merly kept the Cattle Inn, fhewed me a 
book of Themfon’s writing, which was 
about the rebellion in 1745, and fet to 
mufic, bur I think he told me not pub- 
lithed, 
fn, but he thought Taylor bad made a 
finall miftake ; perhaps it might be fome of 
the patriotic fongs in the mafque of Alfred. 
Q. The caule of his death is faid to 
have been taking a boat from Kew, to 
Richmond, when ne was much heated by 
walkingi—No; I believe he got the bet- 
ter of thai; but having had a batch of 
drinking wita Quin, he took a quintity 
of cresior tartar, as he frequently did on 
fich occafions, which with a fever betore 
carried him off. [Mr. Robertfon did not 
aflent to this. ] 
Q_ He lived I think in Kew Foot- 
Lane ?—Yes; ani! died there; at the fur- 
theit houfe next Richmond Gardens, now 
Mr. Boicawen’s. He lived fometime be- 
fore at a fmailcr one higher up, inhabited 
By Mrs. Davis. 
Q. Did you atiend on him to the Jaft ? 
—Sir, I fhaved him the very day kefore 
his deaths he was very weak, but made a 
fhiftto fit up in bed. I afked him how he 
found himfelf that morning,--“Ah,Wull,”’ 
he replicd,** I am very bad indeed.”’ 
‘ 
Extraéis from the Portfolio of a Man of Letters. 
[I mentioned this to Mr. Robert- 
933 
{ Mr. Robertfon told me,he ordered this ope- 
rationhimfelfasaretrefhment to his fricnd, ] 
Taylor concluded by giving a hearty 
encomium on his charaéter. 
This converfation took place at one of 
the alcoves on Richmond Green, where [ 
accidentally dropped in. I afrerwards 
found it was a rural rendezvous for a fet 
of old invalids on nature’s infirm lilt; 
who met there every afternoon in fine 
weather, to recount and comment on the 
“6 ta.e of other times.’ 
J inquired after Lander, and Mrs, 
Hobart, and Tayicr of Craven-ftreet, 
but found that none of them were furvi- 
ving. Mrs, Hobart was thought to havea 
dang nter married inthetown ‘called Eger- 
ton; but it was not likely from the ‘dif- 
tance of time, that fhe could impart any 
thing new. 
Taylor told me the late Dr. Dodd had 
applied to him feveral years ago for anec. - 
dotes and information relative to Chomfon. 
Park Egerton, the bookfeller, ner 
Whitehall, tells me, that when Thom/fon 
firft came to London, he took up his abode 
with his predeceflor Millan, and finifhed 
his poem of Winter in the apartment over 
tne thop ; that Millan printed it for him, 
and i: remained on his fhelves a long time 
unnoticed 3 but after Thom‘on began to 
gain fome reputation as a poet, he either 
went him/elt,.or was taken by Mallet, to 
Miilar io the Strand, with whom he entered 
into new engagements for priniing his 
works, ohien fo much incenfed Millan 
his fift patron, and his countryman alfo, 
that they never afterwards were cordially 
reconciled, although L: rd Lyttelton took 
uncommon pains to mediate between them. 
The two following Epitaphs are faid to . 
bave been written by Mr. James 
THOMSON, Author of the Seajons, but 
I know not on what Authority. 
On Sotowuon MENDES, Eso. 
Here lies a man who never liv’d, 
Yet ftill from death was flying ; 
Who, if not fick, was never well, 
And dy’d—for fear of dying ! 
On Mr. Jacop Menpgs. 
Here Jacob lies, grave, jutt end fage, 
The chafteft perfon of the age ;— 
Who, had he been in Jofeph’s placey 
Had dy’d, not run away—alas ! 

The following Epitaph 62 THOMSON bim- 
felf was publifbed in a paltry Edition of 
bis Werks, about the year 1788. 
Gthers to marble may their glory owe, 
And boaft thofe honours {culpture can beftow; 
6K2 Short. 


