suppose; for Walsingham has informed me that you are a sportsman; all in character I find." And immediately the glass was drawn up, and the cavalcade passed on. Now it is my most sincere wish and daily prayer, that his Majesty was capable of making so shrewd a remark at this time. As my father and many of my ancestors were conversant in every thing relating to Cranbourne Chase, and I have myself borne a considerable share in it, I think it incumbent upon me to say something on that subject; but as there are litigations at this time pending, and much hath lately appeared in several public prints concerning it, I am precluded from expatiating on the subject at present, although a very interesting one to me, and in which many events to be mentioned in my simple History are interwoven. I shall, therefore, stop short now, and defer what I have further to communicate to a more appropriate time. 1. Rev. WILLIAM CHAFIN to Messrs. NICHOLS. « SIRS, Chettle, Dec, 20, 1814. "I have taken the liberty of troubling you with some particular occurrences respecting Mr. Hutchins's History of Dorset. I was a subscriber to the two volumes published during his life; and fully intended to continue being so to those which were to be published under the direction of General Bellasis, but, being called away from home into Cambridgeshire, I unfortunately neglected it. I had the honour of a short correspondence with the greatly lamented Mr. Gough, to whom, by his particular desire, I sent some old letters, written by my grandfather to his wife, at the time of Monmouth's rebellion, both before and after the battle of Sedgemoor, which letters Mr. Gough returned to me, together with a proof sheet of the third volume, to show me what use he had made of them; and requesting me to send any other old records relating to my family in the county of Dorset, if I had any. And I had collected a few old papers, such as pardons, &c. to my ancestors, one under the Great Seal of England in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and some other matters, which would have been sent, had I not seen the melancholy account of Mr. Gough's death announced in the papers, and I was then at a loss where to send them, and I suppose it is too late for them to be of any use now. I am very desirous "REV. SIR, 2. Mr. NICHOLS to Mr. CHAFIN. "I am truly obliged by your very kind letter; and much regret I had not the pleasure of hearing from you in time to insert any other communications you might have to send, in the account of Chettle in vol. III. of Dorsetshire History. If, however, you think fit, I would add them in an Appendix of Additions which I am now printing. In Feb. 1811, I announced my intention of publishing vols. III. and IV. in the Dorset and Salisbury papers; and in June 1813, I published vol. III.; and since I received your favour have published the fourth volume also. It contains a portrait of Mr. Hutchins, with a Memoir by the late Rev. Mr. Bingham; a curious Essay on British Antiquities, by Sir R. C. Hoare, with many very beautiful plates. I am myself a Septuagenarian; and was employed on the History of Dorset as the printer more than forty years ago; but you must be some years older." 3. Mr. CHAFIN to Messrs. NICHOLS. "SIRS, Chettle, March 23, 1816. "I have taken the liberty of writing to say that, in case the Appendix to Mr. Hutchins's History of Dorset is published, or whenever it may be, I shall be glad to have it to bind up with the volume which you sent last; and shall be obliged if you will inform me of the price of the first and second volumes of the new edition. I was a subscriber to the original publication; but left both volumes at Cambridge many years ago. There are some little publications, which I often wish to have, but cannot get from the booksellers in the country without long/delay; and, reading being my only amusement, if such a trifling matter be not beneath your notice, your indulgence in admitting me to a correspondence will greatly oblige "Your humble servant, WM. CHAFIN." C 4.." SIRS, Chettle, Cashmoor-inn, July 30, 1816. "I have herein sent a draft for the Appendix to Mr. Hutchins' History of Dorset, and other books. Had I rightly comprehended the scope and design of that Appendix, I think I could have added some few trifling matters to it, for, having in my younger days, almost from childhood, lived nine years in the same place (Milton Abbey) with Mr. Hutchins the author, many little occurrences happened which made an impression on a juvenile mind not to be obliterated even in extreme old age. They were too trifling indeed to engage the notice of the Rev. Mr. Bingham, when he wrote the short history of Mr. Hutchins' life. In the Appendix I meet with a very melancholy story which I never before heard of, I mean the wilful and premeditated murder of a Mr. Fussell, of Blandford, by a Mr. George Strangeways, which seems to have cast a blot on the escutcheon of the noble family of Ilchester. What induces me to mention this matter is this. A coincidence hath fallen in my way which corroborates the truth of that tragical event. The murdered man was agent and steward to my great-grandmother, Amphillis Chafin, then a widow; she was an heiress of the Tichborne family in Hampshire, and I have letters in my possession written by her to Mr. Fussell at Blandford just before he took his fatal journey to London, which letters are at your service whenever you may wish to see them. I had once the honour of having a short correspondence with the much lamented Mr. Gough, and I sent to him some letters which were written by my grandfather to his wife at the time of Monmouth's rebellion, and he inserted as many as he thought proper in the History of Dorset, and returned the whole to me. I now regret that I did not at that time send other old letters which I now have relating to persons of old families in the county of Dorset; but as they are chiefly on sporting subjects, I thought them of no use, but I now think some of them may have had a place in the Appendix. "It is my wish, if it should be agreeable to you, to keep up an occasional correspondence with you; and at some future time, if I should be capable of doing it, I should be glad to commit to your custody a short sketch of my own life, which, although a domestic one (for I have never been more than one hundred and sixty miles from my birth place in the course of a very long life), has been attended with peculiarities somewhat uncommon, and the situation I at this time stand in is so very particular, that it is impossible for any other person to be in the same, for I believe that I am the oldest Member of the University of Cambridge, the oldest clergyman in the diocese of Bristol, and the oldest magistrate in the county of Dorset; of the two latter I am certain, but out of so many thousands there possibly may be a senior Member of the University, but on the strictest inquiry I can hear of no one. You may depend upon my veracity in every thing which I may communicate to you, and you are welcome to make what use you please of my communications; and I am your obliged humble servant, "WM. CHAFIN." 5. Mr. J. B. NICHOLS to Mr. CHAFIN. "REV. SIR, Red Lion-passage, July 31, 1816. "I beg to return you my very grateful thanks for your kind and agreeable letter. To my father especially, who is no modern, your letter will be particularly interesting. Allow me to take the liberty of asking whether you happen to have met with his work, intituled, Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century; if not, I think it would interest you, as it contains a multitude of anecdotes of learned Cambridge men, who must have been your contemporaries. I doubt not it is in your power to add to the interest of such a work from the early recollections of your well stored mind. If this would be agrecable to you, any such communications would be highly acceptable, either relating to yourself or others, accompanied with any original letters that might be worth printing. "The tragical event in the Strangeways family is, I doubt not, correct; as I perceive Mr. Gough has stated it shortly in the first volume of Dorset, and given a fuller account of it in the Appendix. Whence he derived his information I know not. At all events, I hope you will find leisure to favour us with the sketch you so kindly promised us of your own life, embracing such a long series of eventful years; and which I hope may be prolonged to as distant a day as you can possibly enjoy existence. I am, Reverend Sir, yours very respectfully and faithfully, J.B. NICHOLS." 6. Rev. Mr. CHAFIN to Messrs. NICHOLS. "SIRS, Chettle, Aug. 5, 1816. "I have received your kind letter, and I shall be much obliged if you will send me the Literary Anecdotes' which you mention, for I have never seen them, and they will certainly be entertaining to me, and perhaps instructive, should I be capable of accomplishing my present design. "I am your sincere humble servant, WM. CHAFIN." 7. "SIRS, Chettle, Aug. 26, 1816. "I received the 'Literary Anecdotes' quite safe, and I have no doubt but I shall derive much amusement from them when I can find time to peruse them. I herewith send a first assay of the sketch which I proposed, and it rests with you whether I shall make a full stop at once, or endeavour to go on a few sheets further. If I can give the elder Mr. Nichols a few minutes entertainment I shall be content. I find it a more arduous task than I was aware of; I have, no amanuensis, no diary, no memorandums to help, and have nothing to depend on but mere dint of memory, which, among all the infirmities incident to old age, I thank God has not as yet failed me, especially in events long past. "I have very little time to spare; I have many avocations which take up the greatest part of it, as a farmer having a small farm in my hands, as a justice of the peace, which occupies much of my time, although I have never attended the assizes or quarter sessions, but left that to my lay brethren, as more proper for them, and have never acted but at home, and that only on emergencies, and yet it is a restraint on my domestic habits. My chief business in this way is the hearing complaints of paupers, and ordering them relief according to the best of my judgment; a very unpleasant and distressing employment it is, and multiplies daily. I have but little leisure in the day-time for writing; and can only get a spare hour or two at night to do it by candle-light. If I should continue the sketch proposed, I shall relate some trifling anecdotes of the two greatest personages in the kingdom; no female, for that would be too delicate a subject for such a pen as mine, nor shall what I say give offence to any one; God forbid it should! Salisbury is my post-town,' sixteen miles from my habitation; I cannot, therefore, conveniently pay postage. "I am your obliged humble servant, WM. CHAFIN." 8. "SIRS, Chettle, Sunday-night. "I was very sorry to find by your last letter that the elder Mr. Nichols was much indisposed; but I hope and trust he is at this time in a state of convalescence. As you gave me some encouragement to continue my trifling little sketch, I have herewith sent you a sheet or two more. I represented to you in my last the predicament I labour under; my avocations in the daytime are such that I have only time to write by candle-light. You must therefore make allowance for blunders and false orthography; and I must leave it to you to correct all deficiencies, if you think it worth your while. I have communicated the chief incidents of my life, on the truth of which you may depend; but I have many extraneous matters still to send, some of them of a ludicrous kind; but whatever I communicate I leave entirely to your disposal, to throw into the fire or to make any use of that you please. I keep no copy, I have no helper, and only scribble just what occurs to my memory at the time; therefore I shall go on or leave off just as you think most advisable; Mr. Chafin's hand-writing, so far from needing an apology, is beau. tifully clear and legible. |
