AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 
 
 r
 
 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 THOMAS WRIGHT, 
 
 OF BIRKENSHAW, 
 
 IN THE COUNTY OF YORK. 
 
 1736-1797. 
 
 f . 
 
 EDITED BY HIS GRANDSON, 
 THOMAS WRIGHT, M.A, F.S.A., ETC. 
 
 CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE IMPERIAL 
 INSTITUTE OF FRANCE. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 JOHN RUSSELL SMITH, 
 
 SOHO SgUARE. 
 
 1864.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 HE writer of the following Autobio- 
 graphy dates that it was defigned 
 for the inftru&ion and amufement 
 of his children and defcendants ; but 
 it has been thought by feveral friends who have 
 read it, and whofe judgment I refpe6t, that it 
 contains much that might be inftrutive and 
 amufmg to other people's children alfo, and I 
 have, therefore, ventured to give it to the public. 
 Too long a fpace of time has elapfed to leave any 
 perfonal feelings or interefts to be affected by it, 
 and I myfelf in printing it look upon it only as 
 a remarkable hiftorical record, which gives us a 
 curious and ftriking picture I may, perhaps, 
 add almoft unique of domeftic life among a very 
 important clafs of Englifh fociety during the latter 
 half of the laft century, in what has fince become 
 one of the greateft and moft active manufactur- 
 ing diftrits in our ifland. Moreover, it prefents 
 a very remarkable view of the effe&s, even on 
 the relations of the domeftic homeftead, of thofe 
 violent religious party-feelings and contentions 
 
 2063579
 
 viii PREFACE. 
 
 which raged more in this part of England than 
 anywhere, during the laft century, and which, 
 though they gave perhaps not an unhealthy 
 activity to men's minds, were certainly far from 
 improving their tempers, or encouraging among 
 them fentiments of mutual charity. 
 
 Thomas Wright, of Birkenfhaw, was, as will 
 be feen by his own writings, no ordinary man. 
 Endowed with very confiderable talents, and with 
 an earned defire for knowledge and a love of lite- 
 rature, which might have raifed him to a diftin- 
 guimed pofition in fame, he evidently, from his 
 own account, often regretted that he had no 
 guardians of his youth who could appreciate the 
 real bent of his mind, and give him the educa- 
 tion which his fortune, though not great, as well 
 as his inclinations claimed. But left an orphan 
 in his earlieft infancy, with none but diftant rela- 
 tives, who thought only of fecuring a {hare of his 
 property at firft a fpoiled child, and fubfequently 
 a neglected boy, nothing could fwerve his mind 
 from its natural bent, and fome of his manufcripts 
 in my pofleflion, as well as the reports of thofe 
 who knew him, prove that he pofTefled an ex- 
 traordinary extent of reading, a large amount of 
 mifcellaneous knowledge, with power and judg- 
 ment in the application of it, which muft have 
 made him an object of refpecl: among the fociety 
 of what was then rather a wild part of Yorkfhire. 
 At an early age he went through the ufual courfe of 
 Latin in the old and juftly celebrated free Gram-
 
 PREFACE. ix 
 
 mar School at Bradford, which was the whole 
 amount of what may be called his liberal education ; 
 and the writer of his brief " Life," prefixed to 
 the fecond edition of his " Familiar Religious 
 Converfation," printed in 1812, dates that, " He 
 was accounted very clever while at fchool ; and 
 when he went home, it was with the reputation 
 of being a youth of facetious difpofition, and of 
 the moft ready wit and invention." 
 
 This part of Yorkfhire had always been a 
 ftronghold of the Nonconformifts, and the Ef- 
 tablifhed Church was comparatively weak in face 
 of the violent diflenting Calvinifm which reigned 
 there ; but at this time the far more liberal Ar- 
 minianifm of Wefley and his party was labour- 
 ing to eftablifh itfelf, and, as might be expect- 
 ed, met with the moft unfcrupulous perfecu- 
 tion. Thomas Wright, of Birkenfhaw, had a 
 large fhare of the chivalrous in his character, 
 and he took up the caufe of the new fe& quite as 
 much becaufe it was that of the weak opprefled 
 by the ftrong, as for the conformity of their 
 opinions with his own liberal views. He tells us 
 in the following pages the rather curious way in 
 which he became firft acquainted with the Me- 
 thodifts, as the followers of Wefley were already 
 named ; his feelings in their favour, already well 
 known, were no doubt ftrengthened by his mar- 
 riage into a family who belonged to the leading 
 and moft violent Calvinifts of this diftri&, and 
 whofe hoftility difturbed the peace of his own
 
 x PREFACE. 
 
 family and the profpects of at leaft one of his 
 children; yet he poflefled no fe&arian fpirit, and 
 in fpite of the ftatement in the "Life" juft 
 alluded to, appended to his " Modern Religious 
 Converfation," I do not believe that my grand- 
 father was ever what they call a profefling Me- 
 thodift that is, a member of the Society, unlefs 
 it were juft at the clofe of his life. He has de- 
 fcribed his religious feelings very candidly in the 
 following lines of this poem, where he, in his 
 aflumed character of " Richard,'' is accufed of 
 being an Arminian, or Wefleyan (I quote from 
 the firft edition) : 
 
 " I own ingenuoufly to you, 
 I think their dolrines nearly true } 
 I am not, Jemmy, of their feft, 
 Yet I the people much refpeft, 
 Wifh well to what they chiefly teach, 
 And often go to hear them preach. 
 But bigot am I not fo hearty 
 To people, principles, or party, 
 But that if any one can mew 
 My tenets are not juft and true, 
 I will renounce them gladly then, 
 And learn to think with wifer men." 
 
 Neverthelefs, " Tommy Wright," as he was 
 popularly called in the phrafeology of the north 
 country, was thechampion of the Wefleyans in this 
 diftri<5t, contributed largely to their triumph over 
 perfecution, and obtained the acquaintance and 
 efteem of the great leaders of the Arminian party, 
 including fuch men as John Wefley himfelf and 
 Fletcher of Madeley. An interefting account of
 
 PREFACE. xi 
 
 his vifit to the latter in Shropfliire, in the year 
 1773, in the courfe of an excurfion for the pur- 
 pofe of obtaining fubfcriptions towards the ex- 
 penfe of building a Wefleyan Chapel at Height, 
 within half a mile of his own houfe, is given in 
 the following pages. The building of this chapel 
 appears to have given great offence to the Birk- 
 heads of Brookhoufes, and explains the violent 
 quarrel with his wife defcribed in the following 
 narrative (page 104). He appears to have made 
 the acquaintance of John Wefley during fome of 
 the excurfions of the latter to preach his doctrines 
 and principles in this part of the country, perhaps 
 nearly about the fame date. From this time he 
 entered warmly into the difputes between the 
 Calvinifts and Wefleyans, and his alliance was 
 the more valuable as he could handle with con- 
 fiderable power the rather formidable weapons 
 of fatire and ridicule j and, as his mind had a 
 ftrong poetical turn, he ufually compofed his con- 
 troverfial writings in verfe. Among the moft 
 violent, and it may be added, the moft abufive 
 of the writers of that time againft the Arminians, 
 and efpecially againft Fletcher of Madeley, was 
 Richard Hill, Efq.,of Hawkeftonein Shropfliire, 
 anceftor of the prefent Lord Hill, who fucceeded 
 his father as Sir Richard Hill, Bart., in 1783, 
 and was one of the reprefentatives of Shropfliire 
 in Parliament during a great part of his life. In 
 his " Modern Familiar Religious Converfation," 
 the author characterizes this champion of the
 
 xii PREFACE. 
 
 Calvinifts, who was in the habit of prefuming 
 rather too much on his ariftocratic pofition, in 
 the following lines : 
 
 "Though high-born, felf-important Hill, 
 In height of Calviniftic zeal, 
 For want of better weapons, fight 
 With fcorn, contempt, reproach, and fpite ; 
 And compafs you on every fide 
 With laughter or difdainful pride ; 
 With this and that poor ftormy rail, 
 Of bathing-tub, or comet-tail." 
 
 In 1775, Richard Hill, in a pamphlet entitled 
 " Logica Wefleienfis," publifhed one of the moft 
 fcurrilous perfonal attacks on Wefley he had yet 
 written, under the bantering title of a " Heroic 
 Poem " in his praife, in reply to which Thomas 
 Wright wrote a very clever parody, under the 
 title of "A Heroic Poem in praife of Richard Hill, 
 Efq." which is printed in the Appendix to the 
 prefent volume. It appears that he was prevented 
 from publiming this poem by the opinion of "one 
 of no mean name," that fuch an anfwer to the 
 Calviniftic afiailant was only returning " railing 
 for railing" the perfon here referred to being, 
 I fufpe&, John Wefley himfelf ; but he fent a 
 written copy of it to the Calviniftic champion 
 at Hawkeftone. Three years after this he pub- 
 limed a more general defence of the Arminian 
 party, alfo compofed in verfe, and entitled (a 
 parody on the title of Hogarth's celebrated pic- 
 ture) " A Modern Familiar Religious Converfa- 
 tion." The origin of this book is explained in
 
 PREFACE. xiii 
 
 the author's addrefs to the reader. "The occa- 
 fion of the following piece was rather accidental 
 than defigned. Having had frequent occafion to 
 take notice of the great variety of differing 
 opinions amongft the profeflbrs of Chriftianity, 
 and to remark their fpirit, practice, and manner 
 of teaching each other, which I had done with 
 fome degree of accuracy, and having been one 
 day engaged with an acquaintance in a religious 
 difpute, it afterwards proved an occafion of ex- 
 citing in my mind the following thoughts: I 
 imagined to myfelf a perfon in great fufpenfe 
 with refpecl: to his religious opinion, yet ex- 
 tremely defirous to learn, and fincerely willing to 
 embrace the truth. I next imagined this perfon, 
 in his fearch after truth, applying himfelf to the 
 different fe6ts of Chriftian profeflbrs one after 
 another, for inftru&ion and direction : he would 
 find every fucceflive party he applied to would, 
 in its turn, afTure him, in the moft pofitive man- 
 ner, that theirs was the only true fyfterh of reli- 
 gion, the only fyftem that was agreeable to the 
 Word of God throughout ; he would find them 
 very ready alfo to cenfure and condemn (with no 
 fmall degree of acrimony in general) every other 
 party as (more or lefs) blind, ignorant, out of the 
 way of truth, and involved in error. He would 
 further find that every party would readily allow 
 that the Word of God was uniformly and invari- 
 ably true ; and at the fame time he would find 
 every one of them profefling to ground their
 
 xiv PREFACE. 
 
 various, and even dire&ly oppofite, opinions upon 
 the fame Bible, and attempting to prove the truth 
 of their incompatible fentiments from the fame 
 book of God ! Under thefe circumftances, I 
 beheld my imaginary inquirer in the utmoft 
 perplexity and confufion j he had penetration 
 enough to difcover, and generofity enough to 
 difapprove, all the unfair, unkind, and unchrif- 
 tian practices more or lefs made ufe of by moft 
 parties, in order to blacken and difcredit thofe 
 who differed from them in their religious fenti- 
 ments ; yet, at the fame time, he had fenfe 
 enough to perceive, and candour enough to own, 
 that, amongft all or moft of the profefling parties, 
 many perfons might be found of great natural 
 abilities, various and deep learning, ftricl: morals, 
 and unblemifhed characters, both as men and 
 Chriftians, in every practical refpe&. Yet all 
 this did but ferve to heighten his dilemma and 
 increafe his uncertainty : and being refolved to 
 deal fairly and ingenuoufly with his own foul, and 
 not to efpoufe any fentiment merely becaufe fuch 
 a great man, or fuch a fafliionable or creditable 
 party, had efpoufed it, I faw him fairly forced 
 at laft to have recourfe to prayer and the Word 
 of God, that by comparing what each party in 
 its turn advanced for truth with that unerring 
 ftandard, fairly taken together, he might be able 
 to judge for himfelf. Being in this train of 
 thought, and having fomething of a poetical turn, 
 I put down (dialogue-wife) fome of the firft para-
 
 PREFACE. xv 
 
 graphs of the following eflay, without any farther 
 defign, at that time, than to write a fhort copy 
 of verfes for my own amufement ; but the fub- 
 je& growing upon me as I proceeded, the con- 
 fequence was, I have drawn it out to the prefent 
 length." The further hiftory of this book is 
 told as follows by the Wefleyan writer of the 
 "Life" of the author given with the fecond 
 and pofthumous edition, who informs us that, 
 <c poflefling an excellent memory, he often enter- 
 tained his friends by repeating to them a great 
 part of this poem. They generally exprefled 
 themfelves highly delighted with it. The high 
 feafoning of Hudibraftic compofition which the 
 author had imparted to it, excited their rifible 
 mufcles to a high degree ; and they frequently 
 declared it to be a performance which contained 
 much matter in a fmall compafs. After mature 
 confideration, he refolved on publifhing it. The 
 demand for it was much beyond his expectations. 
 In a very fhort time there was not a copy of it 
 to be procured. It operated like an electric 
 fliock on the Calviniftic poetafters and pam- 
 phleteers of that day. Not one of them found 
 it convenient to give a reply to what they termed 
 4 a worthlefs production.' It fealed up their 
 mouths in filence, and by the neighbouring ruf- 
 tics it was thought to be unanfwerable." 
 
 As we may fuppofe from these latter remarks, 
 the author of this poem did not ftri&ly carry out 
 the defign declared in his preface it is a warm
 
 xvi PREFACE. 
 
 and a fenfible defence of Arminianifm againft 
 Calvinifm. In the principal interlocutor Richard, 
 the defender of Arminianifm, the author has re- 
 prefented himfelf ; and the narrative contains 
 feveral allufions to his own difputes with the 
 Calviniftic party. We learn from one part of it 
 that, fometime previoufly, on the occafion of one 
 of John Wefley's vifits to the north, a rather 
 zealous young Calvinift minifter of Stockport 
 in Chemire, whom he defignates as the Rev. 
 
 T s B ke, after vifiting the meeting at 
 
 which he preached, and liftening to his fermon, 
 wrote to Wefley a very infulting letter, which 
 the great leader of Wefleyanifm did not think 
 worthy of a reply ; but this letter having fallen 
 into the hands of " Tommy Wright," he fa- 
 voured the writer with an anfwer, which appears 
 to have effectually iilenced him. The poem of 
 which I have been fpeaking was printed at 
 Leeds, by J. Bowling, in the year 1778, under 
 the title of " A Modern Familiar Religious 
 Converfation, among People of Differing Senti- 
 ments: a Poetical Effay." It is a book of merit, 
 and from a perufal of it we can well underftand 
 how it muft have excited the hoftility of the 
 author's relatives at Brookhoufes. The firft edi- 
 tion, publifhed anonymoufly, is now a book of 
 extreme rarity; in fat, the only copy I ever 
 heard of, is the one I poffefs myfelf, and which 
 has defcended to me from the author. But in 
 1812, a fecond and pofthumous edition was
 
 PREFACE. xvii 
 
 printed, intended, I believe, for the Wefleyans, 
 under the modified title of " A Familiar Reli- 
 gious Converfation inVerfe, by ThomasWright." 
 The editor profefles, and no doubt truly, that he 
 printed it from " a copy which was corrected and 
 amended by the author," but unfortunately adds 
 that he had made alterations of his own, and he 
 has given us no clue to enable us to diftinguifti 
 his own alterations from thofe of the author. I 
 have heard my father, who probably fupplied the 
 copy with the author's alterations, complain ra- 
 ther bitterly of the unwarrantable liberties taken 
 by the editor. 
 
 It is but juft to remark, that the brief " Life " 
 prefixed to this edition of his book gives a quali- 
 fied meed of praife to the perfonal character of 
 its author, which was hardly fair to the memory 
 of the man who had rendered fuch fignal fervices 
 to the religious party for whom efpecially this 
 Life was written. We are told that " he was 
 not a man deftitute of religion," but "was fa- 
 voured in his youth with the drawings of the 
 Spirit of God ;" that " when he arrived at riper 
 age he felt the fame ftrivings within him," and 
 that, when later in life he became more clofely 
 connected with the Wefleyans, he was " not 
 without having grievoufly to lament his frequent 
 wanderings from God," becaufe " his popularity 
 and his great vivacity were fources of great 
 temptation and danger to him." In truth, 
 " Tommy Wright," of Birkenfliaw, poflefled 
 b
 
 xviii PREFACE. 
 
 none of that fort of afcetic fpirit which the zea- 
 lots of either party were too apt to confider 
 as the chief proofs of true piety. He poflefled, 
 from his fchoolboy days, a genial difpofition and 
 a readinefs of wit, combined with many focial 
 qualities, which, afide from the religious ani- 
 mofities, endeared him to all his acquaintances ; 
 and I have heard, years ago, aged people who 
 had known him in the latter part of his life, 
 fpeaking of him with a feeling of affe&ion which 
 can hardly be defcribed. They fpoke of him 
 as being well known as the friend of every one 
 who wanted honeft advice and afiiftance ; and I 
 have heard one of them defcribe how, when any 
 individual under fuch circumftances applied to 
 him, he took him into his kitchen, feated him by 
 the kitchen fire which was in thofe days the 
 ufual place of intimate converfation gave him 
 a pipe (for he appears to have been given to 
 fmoking), and then inquired into his wants, with 
 a friendlinefs which nobody could miftake. In 
 his earlier youth although even then he was a 
 great reader we find him, in his own narrative, 
 aflbciating largely with the people around him, 
 and he feems to have at times regretted the lofs 
 of time which, in an intellectual point of view, 
 might have been more profitably employed. He 
 was a good fhot, and loved the pleafures of the 
 chafe. He appears even to have mixed not un 
 willingly in the ruftic amufements of the people. 
 Under the character of Richard, in his " Modern
 
 PREFACE. xix 
 
 Familiar Religious Converfation," he intimates 
 that one of the charges brought by his over-pious 
 enemies againft him was that he had joined in 
 the dance on the village green. When in 
 Richard's abfence one of his religious opponents 
 attempts to plead a little in his favour, another, 
 more fevere, replies, 
 
 " 'Tis all hypocrify and pride 
 (Mary with zealous warmth replied) ; 
 I've known e'er now when he's been found 
 Dancing upon the devil's ground, 
 At wakes, and feafts, and fairs, among 
 The thickeft of the carnal throng." 
 
 On which his feeble apologift remarks 
 
 " That may be too (fays Will), but what 
 Would you, my friend, infer from that ? 
 A man may rife and fall, 'tis plain, 
 And rife, and fall, and rife again. 
 Judge as feverely as you can, 
 'Tis fettled habit (hows the man. 
 Has Dick walk'd always thus contrary ? 
 Is it his conftant practice, Mary ? 
 Perhaps, when all the truth appears, 
 It has been once in twice feven years. 
 O Mary ! were you fearch'd to th' quick, 
 As narrowly as you fearch'd Dick, 
 'Tis like you never would be known 
 To caft at Dick another ftone." * 
 
 Only a few years ago, many ftories were cur- 
 rent in the locality where he lived, of the ready 
 
 * In the fecond edition, thefe lines are altered as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 Mary. Yes, that may be ; yet he's been found 
 Dancing upon the devil's ground, 
 At fairs and wakes, nor thought it wrong 
 To be the foremoft in the throng :
 
 xx PREFACE. 
 
 wit, the fang-froid) and the ingenuity of " Tommy 
 Wright," of Birkenfhaw, which proved his great 
 popularity j and fome of them are ftill remem- 
 bered among old people. I have heard one of 
 thefe old people tell how, in one of the lanes 
 through which he had to pafs on his way home at 
 night, he was attacked by a highwayman on 
 foot, or (in more technical language) a foot-pad, 
 who, with terrible threats, demanded his money. 
 My grandfather carried with him, concealed, 
 what was then either new, or newly improved, 
 and was almoft unknown in that part of the 
 country, a bull's-eye lantern, which, with a 
 threatening roar, he thruft out at arms' length 
 towards the face of his aflailant. The latter, 
 who could not in the dark very well diftinguifh 
 the form of the man he had to deal with, was 
 taken entirely by furprife, and, believing that he 
 had met with fome fupernatural monfter, fell on 
 his knees in abfolute terror, and begged to be 
 
 This was when he had firft begun 
 After the Methodifts to run. 
 Will. What follows then ? 'tis very plain 
 A man may rife and fall again. 
 Judge as feverely as you can, 
 Confirmed habits (hew the man. 
 Has this Dick's pra&ice always been, 
 To dance upon the village green ? 
 Perhaps, when all the truth appears, 
 'Twas only once in fourteen years. 
 Were you but fearched to the quick, 
 As narrowly as you fearch Dick, 
 You never would again be known 
 To caft at him another ftone.
 
 PREFACE. xxi 
 
 forgiven for what he faid was his firft offence of 
 the kind, which he promifed never to repeat if 
 he might be allowed to go away unfcathed. On 
 another occafion he played a practical joke upon 
 a tailor. It was the cuftom, when any perfon 
 wanted new clothes, to furnifh his own cloth, and 
 to fend for the tailor to his houfe, who was ufually 
 inftalled upon the kitchen table as his board, and 
 who received fo much a day, and remained there 
 till his work was finifhed. The tailor employed 
 on this occafion, who was probably the only one 
 near at hand, was rather noted for his idlenefs, 
 and he was efpecially in the habit of falling afleep 
 in the middle of his work. His employer deter- 
 mined to cure him of this, and he contrived that 
 fome heavy weight fhould be fufpended above 
 him in a manner the details of which I have for- 
 gotten, but it dropped on the table in the middle 
 of the tailor's fleep with fuch a frightful noife, 
 that he awoke in fo great an alarm, that he leaped 
 from the table, ran away, and could never be 
 perfuaded to return to the fame place again. 
 Whether it cured him of his idle habits or no, 
 I am not informed. Among many other ftories 
 of this kind, of which I have but an imperfect 
 recollection, I remember one, which, when but a 
 mere boy myfelf, I have heard told by my father, 
 and which always feemed to me an amufing ex- 
 ample of cruelly tormenting. 
 
 As will be feen in the following narrative, 
 "Tommy Wright" fet ftore on his orchards
 
 xxii PREFACE. 
 
 at Lower Blacup, and he was very much annoyed 
 when, for feveral confecutive nights, he found 
 them plundered by depredators. One day the elder 
 "Tommy" told young "Tommy'' to prepare his 
 gun (both were good fhots, though the latter was 
 but a boy), and to be ready to ftay up with him 
 all night. He loaded both guns with fmall grains 
 of hard rock-falt intead of fhot, and, taking his 
 fon with him, placed himfelf in a place of con- 
 cealment in one of the orchards, and waited the 
 events. In the middle of the night feveral per- 
 fons came into the orchard furnifhed with large 
 facks, which they began to fill with fruit, but 
 the two watchers ftole from their hiding-place, 
 gained a pofition at a diftance from which the 
 fhot would penetrate only through the fkin, and 
 then, giving the alarm, took aim at the lower 
 and more tender parts of their bodies as they had 
 turned their backs in flight, and fairly faked 
 them alive. The known refult was, that the 
 orchards at Lower Blacup were, for a long time 
 afterwards, free from fimilar intruders. 
 
 Another anecdote of the ready wit of the writer 
 of the following Autobiography enjoyed a greater 
 local reputation than all the reft. At the time of 
 his fecond marriage he had become bald, and was 
 in the habit of wearing a wig. He employed a 
 barber in Bradford, the neareft place it is to be 
 prefumed where a barber capable of fuch a work 
 could then be found, to make him a new wig, 
 and this barber was named Joftiua Craven. He
 
 PREFACE. xxiii 
 
 appears to have been a very dilatory workman, 
 and the delivery of the new wig was delayed until 
 the patience of him for whom it was defigned 
 became exhaufted. One day he called into his 
 house a neighbour who was patting on his way to 
 attend Bradford market, and afked him to wait 
 while he wrote a line to his barber ; and in a 
 few minutes he gave him the promifed letter, 
 which he duly delivered as directed, and was fur- 
 prifed at the broad laugh which burft from the 
 receiver when he had opened and read it : in facl: 
 it contained the following extempore lines : 
 
 " Mr. Jofhua Craven, I wifh your pate fhaven, 
 
 And over your moulders a twig ; 
 I muft have this ado, to fend to and fro, 
 And yet you won't make me my wig. 
 
 " How long, with a vengeance ! muft I dance attendance 
 
 On you, you dilatory prig, 
 
 And run in the cold, with my head bare and bald ? 
 And yet you won't make me my wig. 
 
 " Would you fend me my bob, to cover my nob, 
 
 Why then I might ftrut and look big ; 
 Now I'm forced to be fquat, and keep on my hat, 
 And all for the want of my wig. 
 
 " Don't you know, blefs your life, I've got a young wife ? 
 
 And did you but hear her fweet voice ! 
 When (he fees I am bald, fhe thinks I'm grown old, 
 And is fit to repent of her choice. 
 
 " I vow and proreft, if you don't do your beft, 
 
 And fend it by Saturday night, 
 I'll furely refent it, and make you repent it, 
 As fure as my name's THOMAS WRIGHT."
 
 xxiv PREFACE. 
 
 It is to be fuppofed that fuch an appeal could not 
 fail to have the defired effe&.* 
 
 The author was celebrated for an extraordinary 
 memory, of which I have heard feveral anec- 
 dotes. It is ftill remembered in one of the ma- 
 nufactories in which, when the increafe of his 
 family called for all his refources, he took employ- 
 ment, that " Tommy Wright " could repeat the 
 whole of Milton's " Paradife Loft" whenever 
 called upon, befides the works of other poets ; and 
 yetthathe could not remember accurately for a few 
 hours a common bufmefs commiflion. This is, 
 perhaps, fomewhat exaggerated on the fide of the 
 forgetfulnefs, although he had evidently no tafte 
 for bufmefs ; but only a few years ago I heard 
 dire&ly the following anecdote from an old man, 
 who may be ftill alive, and who was when young 
 his intimate neighbour. This perfon, who was an 
 intelligent man, and in eafy circumftances, ftated 
 that, on the day when the " Leeds Mercury," 
 then a young newfpaper, arrived, " Tommy 
 Wright" ufually brought it with him to his houfe, 
 
 * Thefe verfes were inferted in the local newfpapers at 
 the time of the author's death, and it is from a cutting from 
 one of thefe in my own poffeflion that I give them here com- 
 plete. Within the laft few weeks I have received from 
 two different quarters in that neighbourhood the ftory, with 
 imperfect copies of the verfes taken down from oral recita- 
 tion, a proof of the popularity of the writer, and at the 
 fame time a curious example of the length of time through 
 which in fome parts of the country fuch traditions are pre- 
 ferved.
 
 PREFACE. xxv 
 
 took his ufual feat by his kitchen fire, and, after 
 both had lit their pipes, proceeded to read it 
 through. The " Mercury" was then, of courfe, 
 comparatively a fmall paper; but when he had 
 once read it, if called upon immediately after- 
 wards to repeat either the whole or any part of 
 it, even an advertifement, he could do it without 
 hefitation, and fo accurately that it was quite 
 unnecefiary to refer to the paper itfelf. 
 
 Birkenfhaw, with the name of which that of 
 Thomas Wright is more efpecially connected, is 
 even now a rather wild and ftraggling village, 
 fpread over the top and fides of bleak elevated 
 land ; but in the laft century it muft have been 
 a very dreary place. A houfe, or rather a cot- 
 tage, the end one of a row, is ftill pointed out and 
 known to fome of the inhabitants as the one in 
 which he lived, after his removal from Lower 
 Blacup. This latter houfe remains much in the 
 condition which it prefented in his time. The 
 front and larger part of it appears, indeed, from 
 the ftone mullions and antiquated glazing of its 
 windows, to be a building of fome antiquity, per- 
 haps as old as the earlier half of the fevenreenth 
 century. He fpeaks of having let off part of it 
 as a feparate tenement, which expofed him, 
 through the difhonefty of his tenant, to a ferious 
 robbery ; and it ftill remains divided into two 
 houfes. It is prettily fituated on the fide of the 
 hills which form the fouth-weftern fide of a rich 
 and picturefque valley, with a ftream immediately
 
 xxvi PREFACE. 
 
 below, and a wood, once fpreading eaftwardly 
 over the fteeper fide of the hill above, and muft 
 have been, in the laft century, before fo many 
 factory chimneys had been raifed in its immedi- 
 ate neighbourhood, a fingularly rural and retired 
 place. As this houfe was the fcene of a rather 
 important and active period of his life, that of 
 his firft marriage and widowhood, it has been 
 thought that a view of it would form an appro- 
 priate frontifpiece to his Autobiography ; and it 
 has, therefore, been engraved from a very admi- 
 rable photograph, made for me by Mr. J. Beldon, 
 of Bradford, a young photographer of great talent, 
 and who promifes to attain a high pofition in his 
 art. Lower Blacup is rather more than three 
 miles nearly fouth of Birkenmaw, and about half 
 a mile from Cleckheaton, which, though now a 
 confiderable place, was then only a good-fized 
 village. Bradford itfelf, four miles northward 
 from Birkenfhaw, was then a fmall town in com- 
 parifon with its prefent extent. 
 
 Brookhoufes, which holds fo important a place 
 in the following narrative, ftands alfo on the flope 
 of the fame fweep of hills, but on the opposite 
 fide of Cleckheaton, beautifully fituated, with the 
 little river Spen winding round the foot of the 
 bank on which it ftands ; and overlooking Cleck- 
 heaton, which occupies the rifmg ground at a 
 very fhort diftance on the other fide of the river. 
 Through Cleckheaton, it would be lefs than a 
 mile diftant from Lower Blacup, and the diftance
 
 PREFACE. xxvii 
 
 is not much more than a mile by the more plea- 
 fant road along the foot of the hills. The prin- 
 cipal part of the houfe at Brookhoufes built by 
 the Birkheads ftill remains, but part of it has 
 been pulled down, and fome rather handfome 
 additions raifed on the fite. At a very fhort dif- 
 tance behind the houfe, the old Balm Mill ftill 
 remains, the place where my grandfather ufed to 
 meet Mifs Birkhead during his courtfhip. Be- 
 tween it and the houfe runs the lane which leads 
 to great Gomerfall, and thence to Birkenfhaw 
 and to Birftall. The chapel at Cleckheaton, 
 that of the Independents, which the Birkheads 
 frequented, has been rebuilt fince that time ; but 
 the tomb of Lydia Wright, with the infcription 
 raifed over her by her hufband, as defcribed in 
 the following pages, ftill ftands in the burial- 
 ground, and the tablet to her memory infide the 
 chapel ; and near that of my grandmother ftands 
 the tomb of her brother and parents, which bears 
 the following infcription: "May this marble 
 perpetuate the memory of William, Son of Mr. 
 William Birkhead, of Brookhoufes, who departed 
 this life the 2fth of April, 1780, aged 21 years. 
 Mary Birkhead, Mother of the above, died 
 April 29th, 1796, in the Both year of her age. 
 William Birkhead, Father of the above William 
 Birkhead, and Hufband of Mary, died March 
 3rd, 1797, in the ioo ed year of his age." 
 
 It muft not be fuppofed that in this country 
 Thomas Wright was buried among a population
 
 xxviii PREFACE. 
 
 of mere ignorant ruftics. A confiderable portion 
 of the people around him were occupied in the 
 cloth manufa&ure, and were fteadily laying the 
 foundation of the prefent manufacturing wealth of 
 the diftrift, and fome of them had already en- 
 riched themfelves by their induftry and intelli- 
 gence. The very agitation of religious contro- 
 verfy, whatever elfe it might do, tended to give 
 activity to people's minds. There were, more- 
 over, in the country around, a few men who had 
 raifed themfelves to intelle&ual diftin&ion. At 
 Bierley Hall, about two miles to the north-weft 
 of Birkenihaw, lived Dr. Richardfon, F.R.S., 
 the eminent naturalift, with whom Thomas 
 Wright was intimate in his youth. Field- 
 head, in the parim of Birftall, was the refi- 
 dence of the Prieftleys, where they eftablimed 
 a celebrated boarding-fchool for ladies, to which 
 he fent one of his daughters. As the cele- 
 brated Dr. Jofeph Prieftley, who was born at 
 Field-head, was* refident at Leeds during feveral 
 years fubfequentto 1767, he muft have frequently 
 vifited his near relatives at the place of his birth, 
 and it is at leaft probable that my grandfather was 
 perfonally acquainted with him. He vifited Mifs 
 Bofanquet, fubfequently the wife of Fletcher of 
 Madeley, at Crofs Hall, in the parim of Batley, 
 about three miles to the eaft of Birkenmaw, and 
 it was there that he heard the remarkable ghoft- 
 ftory related in the following pages (p. 132). He 
 defcribes as his friend, John Taylor, of Great
 
 PREFACE. xxix 
 
 Gomerfall, little more than a mile to the fouth of 
 Birkenfliaw, the enterprifing and intelligent mer- 
 chant and manufacturer, whofe chara&er is drawn 
 fo admirably by Charlotte Bronte under the name 
 of Mr. Yorke, in the novel of " Shirley." 
 
 The manufcript of the following Autobiogra- 
 phy, in the hand-writing of the author, is in my 
 poffeflion, having defcended to me as a fort of 
 heir-loom. He appears to have commenced it 
 in the year 1795, when he was fixty-one years 
 old, and to have intended to bring it down only 
 to that year, which he mentions more than once 
 in the text as the year in which he was writing ; 
 but he fubfequently continued it to 1797. In 
 the manufcript he has further added notes of 
 events in the three following years, but as they 
 merely relate to private tranfa&ions and difputes, 
 among fome of the younger branches of the 
 family, and have no intereft for the general reader, 
 I have judged it advifable to clofe it with the 
 year 1 797, according to the original defign. The 
 title in the manufcript is, " Memoirs of Thomas 
 Wright and his Family, interfperfed with Re- 
 marks and Moral Reflections on Occurring Cir- 
 cumftances, &c., written by Himfelf for the In- 
 formation, Inftru&ion, and Amufement of his 
 Children, 1797." Autobiography feemed to me 
 a better title for it, when printed, than Memoirs. 
 As I learn from an entry in the manufcript (in 
 the handwriting of my father), Thomas Wright, 
 of Birkenfhaw, died of an attack of typhus fever,
 
 xxx PREFACE. 
 
 on Friday, January 30, 1 80 1, at about feven 
 o'clock in the evening, eight days fhort of fixty- 
 five years of age. He was buried at the White 
 Chapel, in the north of the parifh of Birftall, at 
 the lower end of the chapel, by the fide of his 
 daughter Hannah, his fourth child by his fecond 
 marriage, who had died only eleven days before 
 him, at the age of ten years and a half. He re- 
 tained his office of infpe&or of woollens (or, 
 cloth-fearcher) to the end of his life. 
 
 Thomas Wright appears to have been much 
 attached to his children, and he defcribes the 
 death of a favourite fon, named John, in a de- 
 tailed account which is extremely pathetic. The 
 lofs of this child feems to have weighed heavily 
 on his mind for feveral years, in which he devoted 
 the anniverfary of the forrowful event to the 
 compofition of a fhort poem to his memory. 
 Thefe he has carefully copied, along with one or 
 two controverfial pieces in verfe, in a volume of 
 MS. accompanying the Autobiography, evidently 
 intending them as an appendix to it, and as fuch 
 I have printed them at the end of the prefent 
 volume. The laft of thefe relates to fome local 
 controverfy, and would require an explanation 
 which I am not able to give, for local traces of 
 this kind are very rare. Mr. Thomas Taylor 
 was a well-known and diftinguifhed Wefleyan 
 itinerant preacher, who travelled in the Birftall 
 circuit in 1771 and 1772, and was appointed to 
 the Bradford circuit two years later j he had been
 
 PREFACE. xxxi 
 
 a blackfmith. Mr. John Knight, an early Wef- 
 leyan convert, who had been a poor collier, and 
 had afterwards turned Calvinift, attacked him in 
 a pamphlet, in which he fought to throw ridi- 
 cule on his former occupation under the name of 
 Polyphemus the Cyclops. "Tommy Wright " 
 came to the refcue of Taylor in a poem which 
 is full of humour, and contains fome powerful 
 writing. I have not thought it neceflary to print 
 the rather long criticifm in profe on the con- 
 troverfial notes to Knight's poem, which follows 
 in the manufcript. 
 
 I have only to add, that it was thought a few 
 explanatory notes, efpecially on the localities 
 mentioned in the Autobiography, would render 
 it much more interefting to the general reader, 
 and that I owe nearly all thefe illuftrations to a 
 very refpe&ed friend in Bradford, Mr. Abraham 
 Holroyd, who is remarkably well acquainted with 
 the whole country around that town, and with 
 its hiftory and traditions. 
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 
 
 Sydney Street, Brompfon, London. 
 December, 1863.
 
 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THOMAS 
 WRIGHT. 
 
 OW exceedingly limited is human 
 knowledge in this tranfitory and im- 
 perfect ftate of things ! Even men 
 of the fineft geniufes and deepeft 
 refearches, men of the greateft parts, learning, 
 and diligence, do but make low attainments in 
 knowledge, comparatively fpeaking, either with 
 refpe6t to the things of the natural or fpiritual 
 world ; but with refpecl: to the bulk of mankind, 
 comprehending the middle and lower ranks of 
 people, they appear, with fome exceptions, to be 
 funk in ftupid ignorance, and to know very little 
 even of the world they dwell in, or the inhabit- 
 ants thereof, much lefs of things of a more ab- 
 ftrufe nature, but to content themfelves in general 
 with a knowledge of thofe mechanic arts, or 
 manual employments, that are necefiary to ob- 
 tain riches or a greater or lefs plentiful fubfiftence 
 in the prefent ftate. Nay, how little is known 
 by the generality of the people even of their own 
 families, very few being able to trace back their 
 B
 
 2 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 defcent beyond their grandfathers ; and, indeed, 
 there appears little defire in general to know 
 either from whom or from whence it is we fpring ; 
 notwithstanding the defire of remembering thofe, 
 and being remembered by thofe, we moft efteem 
 on earth, feems congenial to the human heart : 
 
 " For who, to dumb forgetfulnefs a prey 
 
 This pleafing anxious being e'er refign'd ? 
 Left the warm precin&s of the cheerful day. 
 Nor caft one longing, lingering look behind ? 
 
 " On fome fond breaft the parting foul relies, 
 
 Some pious drops the clofing eye requires ; 
 
 E'en from the tomb the voice of nature cries, 
 
 E'en in our ames live their wonted fires." 
 
 If every father of a family who can read and 
 write would take the pains to record the births, 
 baptifms, marriages, deaths, and moft remarkable 
 providential occurrences towards himfelf and the 
 different branches of his family, while under his 
 obfervation, it would be a circumftance that might 
 prove in many refpedts both ufeful and enter- 
 taining to his fuccefibrs. 
 
 I could wifh to give a more particular account 
 of my anceftors than I am able, they all having 
 died while I was very young ; and I, like moft 
 of my neighbours, having received nothing but 
 verbal accounts concerning them. However, I 
 will put down all that has come to my knowledge 
 concerning them, and be more particular when 
 I come, to myfelf and the affairs of my own more 
 immediate family. It may fome time, perhaps, 
 prove a leifure hour's ufeful amufement to fome
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 3 
 
 branch of my family into whofe hands it may 
 fall after I am gone. 
 
 Thomas Wright, my paternal grandfather, 
 (after whom, I fuppofe, I was named,) fome time 
 kept the Bowling Green Inn, in Bradford, York- 
 ftiire ; * where, after he married my grandmother, 
 
 * The Bowling Green Inn, Bradford, ftill remains, and 
 is one of the beft in the town. It is a long old building, 
 fronting on the level open fpace called from the earlieft 
 times the Bowling Green, and is at the weft end of Bridge 
 Street on the road from Wakefield. Outfide there are 
 the marks of many alterations, fuch as windows walled up 
 in fome places, and broken out in others ; doorways walled 
 up, and frefh ones broken out in other parts. In the infide 
 the rooms are fmall and low, and large fquare beams are 
 thrown acrofs the whole to fupport the flooring of the 
 upper rooms. This maffivenefs and ftrength was formerly 
 no doubt meant to fupport properly the heavy ftone flags 
 with which all rooms in this part were flagged. Wooden 
 flooring, which is both warmer and lighter, has now 
 become common in all new erections. Such is the account 
 given me by Mr. Abraham Holroyd of Bradford, who adds, 
 " My earlieft recolleftions of the inn reach to a time when 
 one Joe Ward was landlord ; and there ufed formerly to 
 be held here meetings on particular fubjefts, and the 
 fpeakers addrefled the crowds aflfembled in the open fpace 
 in front from an old balcony which yet runs the whole 
 length of the hotel. It ufed formerly to be the beft hoftelry 
 in Bradford, as the ftables in the rear yet teftifyj and the 
 mail coaches ufed to ftart from and arrive in here with 
 tremendous ado. But this has all pafled away, and the inn 
 is now the haunt only of the neighbouring tradefmen and 
 of the country farmers, who put up here on the market- 
 days ; and it is a rendezvous alfo of that flitting race the 
 commercial travellers. The other oldeft hoftelries in Brad- 
 ford are the IVoolpacks, Pack Horfe, King's Arms, and the 
 Buir* Head in Weftgate, at which laft the farmers and others 
 ufed to keep a market on both fides of the ftreet. At the 
 Bull's Head inWeftgate our earlieft merchants and manufac-
 
 4 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 he lived and died with credit and efteem amongft 
 his neighbours. I underftand by his will (which 
 I have by me) that he was by trade a cloth- 
 drefler ; and I have heard that the family came 
 originally from Keighley,* or its neighbourhood, 
 and fettled about Wibfey ; t and fome of the de- 
 
 turers ufed to occupy the beft front room upftairs to hold a 
 kind of Chamber of Commerce. During the wars of Eng- 
 land with the elder Napoleon the news from our armies 
 was retailed and difcufled by thefe gentlemen when they 
 met on the market-day at the Bull's Head. If the news 
 was againft us, they broke up early, and all went to their 
 homes in the country in a ferious and defponding manner 5 
 but if viclory had been with our army, they feafted, flayed 
 late, and got jolly well drunk on Mr. Illingworth's ftrong 
 home-brewed ale, like good fellows and lovers of their 
 country." 
 
 * Keighley, then a not very confiderable town, about 
 twelve miles to the north of Halifax, was celebrated for its 
 manufactures in cotton, linen, and efpecially worfted, which 
 were fold chiefly at Halifax and Bradford. 
 
 f Wibfey is now a very large village, and is in the 
 townfhip of North Bierley. It is nearly two miles fouth of 
 Bradford, and has in and near it three churches, and feveral 
 diflenting chapels. The great iron works of Low Moor are 
 near Wibfey. There is almoft everywhere a village which 
 is made the butt of thofe near it ; and the Wibfey people 
 are fuppofed not to be fo fliarp as their neighbours, and 
 hence are called by others, " Wibfey Geefe," " Hullatt 
 Wallers," and " Moon-rakers." It is reported of them, but 
 whether the ftory be true or not may perhaps be doubted, that 
 once upon a time, one of the Wibfey villagers faw fome- 
 thing in a pond on the " Slack," which he fuppofed to be 
 a cheefe this was at night, fo off he fet and collected 
 feveral of his companions, and they, with a few hay-rakes, 
 ftarted off to the place to recover the cheefe, if fo it might 
 be. After feveral fruitlefs efforts to obtain the cheefe by 
 raking for it in the pond, one of the party, pofiefled of a 
 little more fenfe than the reft, fuggefted that it might
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 5 
 
 fcendants remain ftill in the adjacent country. 
 This is all I know of my grandfather Wright 
 prior to his marriage with my grandmother. If 
 any of my family fhould be defirous to know 
 more, they may probably find an account of their 
 marriage and deaths in the parifli regifter at 
 Bradford. Martha Wright, my paternal grand- 
 mother, (whofe maiden name, I have heard, was 
 Hopkinfon,) and who came from Batley, had been 
 married before her connection with my grand- 
 father to a Richard Horton, by whom (he had 
 iflue, a fon and daughter, whom I perfonally 
 knew ; namely, Abraham Horton, my half-uncle, 
 a fhoemaker in Bradford, who has left feveral 
 fons that furvive ; and Martha Horton, my half- 
 aunt, who firft married a Haworth, and was 
 miftrefs of the old Cock Inn in Halifax,* with 
 
 be the fhadovv of the moon they faw in the water, as that 
 luminary was mining brightly. Hence the name of" Moon- 
 rakers," a term ftill applied to them. This, a little varied, 
 is, it need hardly be ftated, one of the well-known ftories 
 of the wife men of Gotham. But the Wibfey people are 
 charged with fomething worfe than this ; it is faid that 
 they are, and have long been, great eaters of " howpeys " 
 (horfes). Forty years ago there was nothing in this part of 
 the country to compare with the Wibfey people for all kinds 
 of wickednefs and low brutimnefs. Gambling and thimble- 
 rigging were common, and rapes and murders were frequent. 
 But cheap periodicals and the labours of the teacher are 
 entirely changing the habits of thefe miners and iron- 
 workers ; and ere many years are paft they will be changed 
 entirely. 
 
 * The old Cock Inn, Halifax, is ftill in exiftence, and 
 (rands near the " Corn Market." I am told that it has
 
 6 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 great credit and reputation, above thirty years ; 
 but after the death of her firft hufband (he mar- 
 ried a Nathaniel Longbottom, who proved but a 
 very indifferent hufband, deferted her, and went 
 to London, married a fecond wife during her 
 lifetime, ufed to fend threatening letters to extort 
 money from her, &c. She told me fhe faw his 
 apparition the night of his death, as fhe lay awake 
 in bed with a Mrs. Newton, with whom fhe 
 lived at that time, and who was faft afleep by 
 her fide that fhe looked earneftly at the ghoft 
 for fome time, and it looked as earneftly at her ; 
 but at laft fhe covered herfelf with the bedclothes 
 and faw him no more. She told her bed-fellow 
 in the morning that Natty was dead ; fhe had 
 feen him in the night, and expected a letter with 
 an account of his death by the next poft, which 
 happened according to her expectation. She told 
 me another inftance of the kind, which is as 
 follows : A Mr. Chriftopher Laverack, a reput- 
 able tradefman (a maltfter) at Spen, in the parifh 
 of Birftall,* who ufed to inn there, lying fick at 
 
 xindergone little alteration, and that it is ftill a flourishing 
 hoftelry. 
 
 * Spen, or Spen Bank, lies between Cleckheaton and 
 Birftall. There is a corn mill here, which was rebuilt fome 
 few years fince. Formerly the mill was managed by a 
 family named Mann. There are about a dozen cottages 
 near the mill ; and at a fhort diftance on the hill there is a 
 houfe, rebuilt alfo a few years ago, called Spen Houfe. 
 The place is lefs than a mile from Cleckheaton as you pafs 
 towards Gomerfall and Birftall.
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. j 
 
 home upon his death-bed : fhe was doing fome- 
 thing in the bar one evening about ten o'clock, 
 and happening to lift up her eyes fhe faw his 
 ghoft looking earneftly at her through the railing. 
 She afterwards heard that he died exactly at that 
 time. She always behaved very refpectfully to me. 
 She once vifited and ftayed with us a week at 
 Lower Blacup,* and I ufually called to fee her 
 when I went to town. She died in Halifax. I and 
 my wife were invited to and attended her funeral. 
 She was buried in Halifax Church, juft within 
 the large front door, on the left hand entering in. 
 I do not know whether any of her iflue furvive. 
 Thomas Cordingley, my maternal grandfather, 
 lived for many years in the later part of his life 
 at the Mul&ure Hall in Halifax, Yorkfhire,f 
 which, together with the mills, (namely, the Four 
 Mills, Little Mill, Farrah Mill, and a frizing mill, 
 with the grounds belonging to them,) he farmed 
 
 * Lower and Upper Blacup are two farms lying to the 
 fouth-eaft of Cleckheaton, and are but a fhort diftance from 
 the latter place, perhaps half a mile. A friend tells me 
 that the farm houfe at Lower Blacup is ftill a one-ftorey 
 building all covered with thatch in its primitive condition. 
 It is on the fide of a footpath which leads to Hightown, 
 or Heetaan, and to Hatchett or Hartfhead Moor. The 
 italics denote the way in which the people of the neigh- 
 bourhood pronounce thefe names. Blacup is Bleckup. 
 
 f- Mul&ure Hall is alfo ftill in exiftence ; but about 
 twenty years ago it was altered, and converted into model 
 lodging-houfes. Before the date of thefe alterations it 
 was occupied by an old gentleman by the name of Stott, 
 a noted antiquary in his day. It ftands by the fide of the 
 ftreet called Cripplegate.
 
 8 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 of Lord Irwin of Temple Newfome,* and which 
 he occupied till he died. He had been married 
 before his connection with my grandmother, and 
 had ifiue, two fons and a daughter, viz. Thomas, 
 who lived and died near Farrah Mill,t without 
 iflue. I have fince found he had another fon, 
 my half-uncle Jofhua, who was poifoned in eating 
 a falad, and lies buried by the fide of my mother, 
 with this infcription upon his graveftone : " Here 
 lieth interred the body of Jofhua Cordingley, 
 milner, who died igth July, aged 23 years. 
 1730;" and Martha, who married firft an 
 Aked, by whom (he had feveral children ; and 
 afterwards a Benj. Sutcliffe, a butcher, by whom 
 {he left no iflue. Not any of them now furvive. 
 My grandfather, in his laft will, left me a fmall 
 eftate called Oaks Fold, in Bowling, J from 
 
 * Temple Newfome, about four miles from Leeds, came 
 early in the feventeenth century into the poffeffion of the 
 Ingrams, who were fubfequently created vifcounts Irvine. 
 The laft Vifcount Irvine died here in 1807. The eftate 
 fubfequently patted to the Marquis of Hertford. 
 
 f- Farrah Mills, I am told, are in the valley between 
 Halifax and Salterhabble. 
 
 J Oaks Fold is in Birch Lane, in Bowling Lane, Brad- 
 ford (borough), and is about one mile from the centre of 
 Bradford. The land around Oaks Fold is now divided 
 between three owners; viz., Mr. Ripley, the dyer; the 
 heirs of Mr. Wroe ; and the Bowling Iron Works Com- 
 pany. The Fold has in it now three farm-houfes and four 
 cottages. The largeft of the farms is occupied by a family 
 named Benfon, and the houfe they refide in was built in 
 1617; and, as Mr. Benfon termed it, "had the top taan 
 off abaat forty year finY' The next farm, which is but 
 fmall, and keeps only two cows, is occupied by Mr. Jofeph
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 9 
 
 whence, I fuppofe, the family originally came. 
 He lies interred in the family burying-place in 
 Halifax churchyard. Martha Cordingley, my 
 maternal grandmother, was daughter of Matthias 
 Whitehead of Streetfide, between Dudley Hill 
 and Weftgate Hill, in the lordfhip of Tong. 
 They were a pretty numerous family. I re- 
 member the names of four brothers and two 
 fifters Samuel, whofe only fon and child, Mat- 
 thias Whitehead, inherits the family fettlement 
 at Streetfide at this time (1793), and has iflue 
 at prefent two fons and three daughters ; Benja- 
 min, who left feveral children of both fexes ; 
 Abraham ; and Jonathan, of whofe family I have 
 no knowledge ; Lydia, who married Timothy 
 Ellifon of Birkenfhaw (of whom more hereafter) ; 
 Mary, who married a Mr. Richmond, difTenting 
 minifter at Cleckheaton, by whom ihe had a fon 
 Robert, who was afterwards drowned j and Han- 
 
 Wright. His father was a Thomas Wright, and he was 
 in the fervice of the Low Moor Company. The father of 
 this Mr. Thomas Wright was a George Wright, a farmer 
 in Bowling, but which farm he held I have not been able 
 to afcertain. The prefent Jofeph Wright has a family of 
 five ; and as the farm will not fupport them, he takes em- 
 ployment from Mr. Ripley, at his dye-works near by. 
 The railway from Leeds to Halifax pafTes only a few 
 hundred yards from Oaks Fold, after you have pafied the 
 Bowling ftation going towards Halifax. It is a nice fpot 
 yet, and muft have been a lovely place before the towering 
 mill chimneys began to pour or belch forth their volumes 
 of black foot and fmoke 5 but if there ever were any oaks 
 here there are none now.
 
 io AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 nah, who died young, and who was remarkable, 
 while yet a child, for being able to repeat feveral 
 parts of the Bible by memory. This is moftly 
 what I know of the progenitors or collateral 
 branches of my mother's family. I have fmce 
 found a fon of my uncle Abraham Whitehead's, 
 a Chriftopher Whitehead, a faddler, in North- 
 gate, Wakefield. 
 
 John Wright, my father, was born at the 
 Bowling Green Inn in Bradford ; I have heard 
 of a brother and feveral fifters, but know nothing 
 of any certainty of any of them, except one. Upon 
 inquiry I have found that my father had two other 
 fifters : Mary, who married a Harper at 
 Halifax ; and Judith. My aunt Betty lived and 
 died at Bradford. She married firft a W. North- 
 rop, and afterwards a Thomas Craven, and left 
 iflue by both hufbands ; but I know little of any 
 of them. She died in ftraitened circumftances, 
 but was liberally behaved to while me lived by 
 Mr. Jofeph Hollings of Cottingley, a diftant and 
 fubftantial relation of the family. At a proper 
 age my father was put apprentice to a Jer. 
 Jagger, a cabinet-maker of Halifax, where he 
 became acquainted with and married my mother, 
 Elizabeth Cordingley, daughter and only child of 
 my grandfather with my grandmother Cording- 
 ley. After their marriage they dwelt as long as 
 they lived at Mul&ure Hall, with my grand- 
 father and grandmother ; and as my grandfather 
 was old, and my father young and active, he took
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. ii 
 
 the care of the mills upon himfelf, which he fuper- 
 intended till his death. My mother bore him 
 four children, namely Mary, Martha, Thomas 
 (myfelf), and Elizabeth, of whom fhe died in 
 childbed. Elizabeth Wright, my mother, was 
 born at the Mul&ure Hall in Halifax, the 
 latter end of November, 1711, and died at the 
 fame place when fhe had juft entered her twenty- 
 feventh year ; and was interred in the family 
 burying-place, a little above the loweft gate near 
 the fouth front wall in Halifax churchyard, where 
 a ftone lies over her grave with the following 
 infcription : 
 
 " HERE lieth the body of Martha, the daughter 
 of John Wright of Halifax, miller, who departed 
 this life the i8th day of Auguft, 1736, aged 2 
 years, 7 months, and 4 days. 
 
 " Alfo here lieth the body of Elizabeth, 
 daughter of the above John Wright, aged fix 
 hours. 
 
 " And alfo Elizabeth, the wife of the above 
 John Wright, who died February the igth, 
 1738, aged 26 years and three months." 
 
 I know not where my eldeft fifter Mary was 
 buried, but I fuppofe in the fame place. My 
 father died about two years afterwards, turned 
 (I fuppofe) of thirty years of age, and lies in- 
 terred by the fide of my mother. I can juft 
 remember my father twice. Once I afked him 
 for a halfpenny as he fat by the firefide in the 
 hall ; he gave me one, which I well remember
 
 12 4UTOBIOGRAPHT OF 
 
 was a little thick one of George the Firft, rimmed 
 round the impreflions, which drawing my notice, 
 feems to be the circumftance that fixed the oc- 
 currence in my memory. Another time, which 
 was on a Sunday, my father went out of the 
 great parlour, as we called it, down the orchard 
 below the hall, my grandmother, or fome one elfe, 
 fent me out after him to call him back. I re- 
 member I faw him go down the orchard and 
 climb over the wall at the bottom, as if going to 
 the Mills. I was juft then put into breeches. I re- 
 member that I had on a white dimity waiftcoat, 
 with a double row of buttons down the breaft ; 
 that I was in my fhirt fleeves, not having put 
 on my little coat ; that I fometimes called daddy 
 and fometimes father. I had been ufed to call 
 him daddy, but hearing fome of the neighbouring 
 boys call their father, I thought I would call 
 mine fo too, which fomewhat embarrafling me 
 in my mind at the time, feems to have been the 
 circumftance which fixed the occurrence in my 
 memory. This is all I remember of my father. 
 I cannot remember anything at all of my mother. 
 After the death of my father and mother I was 
 left to the care of my grandfather and my grand- 
 mother Cordingley. My grandfather died not 
 long after my father, and lies interred in the 
 fame grave. By the death of my father and 
 grandfather, my grandmother was left very for- 
 lorn and expofed. She was left with a pretty 
 large ftock in her hands, in cah and furniture,
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 13 
 
 and the articles of their bufinefs. The bufmefs 
 of the mills was extenfive and complicated, and 
 required far more management and attention than 
 fhe was capable of beftowing upon it; hence, 
 fhe was obliged to rely on the faithfulnefs of dif- 
 ferent perfons to tranfa<5t her bufinefs for her, 
 which fhe did till nearly ftript of all her pro- 
 perty. Her lofs on this occafion, I have reafon 
 to think, did not fall much fhort of a thoufand 
 pounds. I remember a circumftance (child as I 
 was) which, among others, fufficiently indicated 
 her critical fituation with regard to the rapid de- 
 creafe of her property, over which I remember 
 her forrowing very much. We had a woman 
 in the houfe (he hired as a maid, and chiefly to 
 attend me as a nurfe ; and as my grandmother 
 was very fond of me, (he ufed to indulge me with 
 any thing to play with I took a fancy to. Among 
 other things fhe ufed to let me have twenty-feven 
 and thirty-fix milling pieces of gold coin,* and 
 when I was weary of them locked them up again 
 in her defk. My grandmother ufed to attend the 
 diflenting meeting-houfe on Sundays, and fre- 
 quently left me and the maid at home by our- 
 felves on thofe days. I can remember the woman 
 having fweethearts attending her in my grand- 
 
 * The twenty-feven {billing piece was the moidore ; 
 the thirty-fix (hillings, the double piftole. Thefe coins 
 were properly Portugxiefe and Spanifti, but they were in- 
 troduced rather extenfively into our currency in the reigns 
 of the firft Georges.
 
 i 4 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 mother's abfence. And when I was troublefome 
 for playthings, and in particular for the gold 
 pieces, to get rid of my importunity me pro- 
 duced a key which opened my grandmother's 
 defk, and gave me the pieces to play with, with 
 a ftricl charge not to tell my grandmother ; and 
 me took care to lock them up again before her 
 return. It was therefore no wonder that her 
 property wafted fo faft. Finding things go fo 
 much the wrong way, my grandmother at laft 
 gave up the mills to one Richard Aked, and re- 
 moved to one of our own houfes at the bottom 
 of the town, taking me and the maid along with 
 her. The houfe is that which the widow of 
 James Carleton occupies at prefent ( 1 793). Here 
 my grandmother foon fickened and died ; leaving 
 me and my concerns to the care of her fifter, 
 my great aunt, Lydia Ellifon, of the parifh of 
 Birftall living at that time at the village of 
 Birkenfhaw. My grandmother Cordingley was 
 buried in the family burying-place before men- 
 tioned. I made a (hort ftay with my aunt Lydia 
 at her youngeft fon's, John Ellifon's, at Birken- 
 fhaw ; and then, for the convenience of going to 
 Bradford Free School, removed with her to her 
 youngeft daughter Hannah's, who had married a 
 Samuel Wood, a mixed clothmaker, refiding at 
 a country place called Leifter Dyke,* about a 
 
 * Laifter Dyke is on the eaft edge of the borough of 
 Bradford, and is now a very populous place. There are
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 15 
 
 mile from Bradford. At this place I refided for 
 fome years, and went from hence to Bradford 
 School, where I went through all the Latin forms 
 under the ufher Mr. Thomas Northrop. The 
 upper mafter at that time, who taught Greek and 
 Hebrew, was the Reverend Mr. Butler. At 
 this fchool they taught every day in the week, 
 begun every morning at feven o'clock, and loofed 
 every evening at five o'clock, except Wednefdays 
 and Saturdays, the afternoons of which days were 
 devoted to writing, and we lay by at three o'clock. 
 This was the practice fummer and winter, fo 
 that, living a mile off, I had to go and return 
 morning and evening during every winter feafon 
 in the dark. When I gave over learning at the 
 Free School I went to learn writing and accounts 
 with a Mrs. Betty Ward, who taught fometimes 
 at her own houfe on the Broad Stones, and fome- 
 times at the vicarage houfe oppofite the church, 
 the houfe being at that time empty. I may ob- 
 ferve here, that I learned to write a plain legible 
 hand, fufficient for any purpofe of common 
 life or common bufinefs; but believe I was in- 
 capable of ever learning to be what is called a 
 
 large mills, and rows of houfes and ftreets there, filled with 
 bufy workpeople. The Great Northern Railway to Brad- 
 ford has a ftation here. The place is near both the old 
 village of Tong and Birkenfhaw. It was perhaps called 
 Laifter Dyke from the fmall " beck," or " dyke," which 
 runs through it, but which is indeed at prefent very incon- 
 fiderable.
 
 16 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 fine, or becoming a very quick or ready writer. 
 With refpecl: to accounts, I learned a good way, 
 but never having occafion to make ufe of the 
 more uncommon rules in the fubfequent fcenes 
 of my life, I have now in a great meafure forgot 
 them ; though I fuppofe if neceffity required, the 
 circumftance of having learned them once would 
 make them more eafily attainable a fecond time. 
 The common rules I retain ready enough. With 
 regard to the other branch, or book learning, the 
 bent of my genius lying ftrongly that way, I 
 made a rapid proficiency above moft of my fel- 
 lows j and here I muft regret, if at leaft we 
 ought to regret any circumftance in life which 
 appears to be more peculiarly permitted or 
 brought about by the order of a wife and good 
 fuperintending Providence, and in which our 
 own will appears to have been little or not at all 
 concerned, I fay, I muft regret the want of fome 
 perfon or perfons attentive enough to my intereft 
 to have noticed the bent of my difpofition and 
 genius, and find out means (if means might have 
 been found) to have put me out to fome of the 
 learned profeflions. In this cafe I might perhaps 
 have made a confiderable figure in the world, 
 and thofe talents which fome have thought me 
 poflefled of might have enabled me to have fup- 
 ported myfelf and a family genteelly through life, 
 which now ftand me in little more ftead than to 
 make me perhaps a more pleafing and enter- 
 taining companion among my acquaintance.
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 17 
 
 However, as I obferved above, as it appears to 
 be the difpenfmg of a wife and kind Providence, 
 which appears in feveral inftances to have de- 
 fignedly prevented me from appearing or a<Sting 
 in the more public fcenes of life, it becomes me 
 to fubmit and be refigned, which I find myfelf 
 the more readily difpofed to do, as I am fully 
 perfuaded of the wifdom and goodnefs of Provi- 
 dence in its difpenfations towards every individual, 
 and firmly believe that God is 
 
 " Good when He gives, fupremely good, 
 
 Nor lefs when He denies ; 
 E'en crofles from His gracious hand 
 Are bleffings in difguife." 
 
 I here take notice of the comparatively fuperior 
 happinefs of childhood and youth. Pleafed, if in 
 health, with the prefent, unanxious for the future ; 
 roving at their leifure hours through the fields 
 and groves in fearch of the little birds' nefts, or 
 engaged in innocent plays or amufements with 
 their fchool-fellows j when fometimes, perhaps, 
 the fudden little unmalicious quarrel may excite 
 " The tear forgot as foon as fhed," which, how- 
 ever, is foon over, and they are bufy at their little 
 amufements again. What a contrail this to the 
 fcenes that await them. 
 
 " Retired we tread a fmooth and open way ; 
 Through briars and brambles in the World vie. ftray. 
 SY^oppofition, and perplex 'd debate, 
 And thorny care, and rank and flinging hate, 
 Which choke our paffage, our career control, 
 And wound the firmed temper of the foul." 
 
 DR. YOUNG. 
 C
 
 18 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 I never view thofe fcenes of my youthful amufe- 
 ments without feeling a deep regret for the lofs 
 of thofe happy hours, and exclaiming with the 
 poet. 
 
 " Ah happy hills, ah pleafmg {hade. 
 
 Ah fields beloved in vain ! 
 Where once my carelefs childhood ftray'd, 
 
 A ftranger yet to pain ! 
 1 feel the gales that from you blow 
 A momentary blifs beftow ; 
 
 As waving frefh their gladfome wing, 
 My weary foul they feem to footh, 
 And, redolent of joy and youth, 
 To breathe a fecond Spring." 
 
 GRAY. 
 
 The uncommon word redolent^ made ufe of 
 here by Mr. Gray, means fmelling fweet giving 
 a ftrong flavour, or reviving a lively, pleafmg fen- 
 fation or idea of joy and youth. I never fee chil- 
 dren or youth at their playful diverfions, but I 
 partake in a degree of their joy ; only regretting 
 for them the fhort continuance of their felicity. 
 
 " Gay hope is theirs, by fancy fed, 
 
 Lefs pleafmg when pofleft ; 
 The tear forgot as foon as ftied, 
 
 The funfhine of the breaft. 
 Theirs buxom health of rofy hue, 
 Wild wit, invention ever new, 
 
 And lively cheer of vigour born ; 
 The thoughtlefs day, the eafy night, 
 The fpirits pure, the (lumbers light, 
 
 That fly the approach of morn. 
 
 " Alas, regardlefs of their doom, 
 The little viftims play !
 
 THOM4S WRIGHT. 19 
 
 No fenfe have they of ills to come, 
 
 Nor care beyond to-day. 
 Yet fee how all around them wait, 
 The minifters of human fate ; 
 
 And black Misfortune's baleful train ! 
 Ah, mow them where in ambufh ftand 
 To feize their prey tire murderous band ! 
 
 Ah, tell them they are men ! 
 
 " Thefe (hall the fury Paflions tear, 
 
 The vultures of the mind j 
 Difdainful Anger, pallid Fear, 
 
 And Shame that fkulks behind ; 
 Or pining Love mail wafte their youth, 
 Or Jealoufy with rankling tooth, 
 
 That inly gnaws the fecret heart, 
 And Envy wan, and faded Care, 
 Grim-vifag'd, comfortlefs Defpair, 
 
 And Sorrow's piercing dart. 
 
 " Ambition this mall tempt to rife, 
 
 Then whirl the wretch from high, 
 To bitter Scorn a facrifice, 
 
 And grinning Infamy. 
 The ftings of Falfehood thofe mall try, 
 And hard Unkindnefs' altered eye, 
 
 That mocks the tear it forced to flow ; 
 And keen Remorfe, with blood defiled, 
 And moody Madnefs, laughing wild 
 
 Amid fevereft woe. 
 
 " Lo, in the vale of years beneath, 
 
 A grifly troop are feen, 
 The painful family of Death, 
 
 More hideous than their queen ; 
 This racks the joints, this fires the veins, 
 That every labouring fmew ftrains, 
 
 Thofe in the deeper vitals rage : . 
 Lo, Poverty to fill the band, 
 That numbs the foul with icy hand 
 
 And flow-confuming Age. 
 
 " To each his fufferings : all are men, 
 Condemn'd alike to groan 5
 
 20 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 The tender for another's pain, 
 
 The unfeeling for his own. 
 Yet ah, why mould they know their fate ? 
 Since Ibrrow never comes too late, 
 
 And happinefs too iwiftly flies. 
 Thought would deftroy their paradife. 
 No more ; where ignorance is bliis, 
 
 'Tis folly to be wife." 
 
 Yes, ye little fportive innocents, enjoy your 
 happy ignorance, enjoy your childifh amufements, 
 your youthful pleafures, while you may; the cares 
 and anxieties of life are haftening on, and will 
 put a fpeedy end to your felicity. 
 
 As I have been led infenfibly into fome account 
 of myfelf, without beginning at my birth, I will 
 now return and endeavour to give a regular and 
 connected account of myfelf from that period. 
 
 I, Thomas Wright, of Birkenfhaw, in the 
 parifh of Birftall, late of Lower Blacup, near 
 Hightown, in the fame parifh, but originally of 
 Halifax, was born at the Mul&ure Hall, in Hali- 
 fax, on Monday, the 2jth day of January, 1736, 
 about ten o'clock in the forenoon. (Feb. jth, 
 N.S. is now my birthday.) I was baptized 
 at the parifh church of St. John's, in Hali- 
 fax, on Monday, February the 24th, 1736. I 
 lived with my father and mother, and grandmother 
 and grandfather Cordingley, at the faid Multure 
 Hall, where they all lived together, till they all 
 died. My mother died in child-bed of my fifter 
 Elizabeth, when I was fomewhat turned of two 
 years old. My father died a year or two after- 
 wards, leaving me and my concerns to the
 
 THOM4S WRIGHT. 21 
 
 care of my grandfather and grandmother. My 
 eldeft fifter Martha, a beautiful little girl, having 
 died fometime before of the fmall-pox, my 
 grandmother, who was extremely fond of me, as 
 the only remains of her only offspring, and con- 
 fequently very anxious to preferve my life, was 
 perfuaded by a Do&or Nettleton, who was in- 
 timate with the family, to inoculate me, as the 
 fafeft method with that dreadful malady. I well 
 remember the operation, it was on a Saturday ; the 
 doctor feated me in a chair in the left wing of the 
 Hall, bared my arms, made an incifion with his 
 lance in both my arms above the bend of my 
 elbows, introduced the matter, and then bound 
 up the parts. A young man, an apprentice, I 
 fuppofe, flood by all the time to obferve the 
 operation. The doctor gave me a penny, faying 
 I was a fine boy, and obferving that I was the 
 firft upon whom he had performed the operation 
 who had not wept. The fever came on the 
 Saturday following. The doctor, his wife, 
 and apprentice, were afliduous in attending me, 
 and very anxious for the confequence, as the 
 practice was new in the neighbourhood, and de- 
 pended for its credit upon the fuccefs of this and a 
 few other inftances. I well remember them 
 bringing me fyrups and fweetmeats almoft every 
 day. However, by an improper treatment, that 
 of keeping me too hot both without and within, 
 which aftertimes and more improved knowledge 
 have rectified, the eruption was great, and I was
 
 22 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 much hazarded. Several of thofe inoculated in 
 the neighbourhood at the fame time, died, which 
 brought the practice into difrepute at that time. 
 However, by the blefiing of God, I furvived, 
 but was pitted a good deal, and a flight injury 
 remained on my right eye, which now, in my 
 more advanced years, I find the effet of, it being 
 much weaker than the other. My grandmother 
 kept a maid-fervant, who had been long in the 
 family, her name Mary Moore, a daughter of 
 Anthony Moore, a blackfmith at Smithy-ftake.* 
 She kept this woman chiefly for the fake of 
 nurfing and waiting on me. She afterwards 
 married a John Wright, who came from Belly- 
 bridge,! but followed his trade of joiner in the 
 town. She was ftill retained in the family after 
 her marriage till my grandmother's death, and 
 my removal. They afterwards lived in one of 
 my cottages in the Lower Church Steps till (he 
 died. She lies buried, at her own defire, in our 
 family burying-ground. She left four children, 
 John, Thomas, Elizabeth, and Maria. John en- 
 lifted and went to America, where he died ; Tho- 
 
 * Smithy Stake is the name of a diftrift in Halifax near 
 Mulfture Hall. 
 
 f- Bailiffe Bridge is in the parifh of Dewfbury, and is 
 about fix miles from Halifax. As you pafs on the railway 
 from Leeds to Halifax, it lies at lefs than a mile diftance on 
 the left hand, from the Lightcliffe ftation. It is here ipelt 
 " Belly Bridge," but is never named fo now. There are 
 two mills in the place, and it is now a confiderable place. 
 The road from Wibfey Low Moor to Huddersfield pafles 
 through it.
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 23 
 
 mas (my namefake) died a boy, foon after he had 
 been over at Lower Blacup to fee me j both the 
 daughters furvive, have both been married, and 
 refide at prefent at the bottom of Halifax. The 
 father in his old age was taken to the workhoufe, 
 and died there. I have taken this notice of the 
 family out of refpe6t to my old nurfe, who though 
 I believe her to have been blameable with refpedt 
 to her freedoms with my grandmother's property, 
 yet as I have reafon to believe me repented of this, 
 and always manifefted a parental love and regard 
 for me to the day of her death, common gratitude 
 requires from me this little tribute to her memory. 
 May me reft in peace ! After I recovered from the 
 fmall-pox, I was fent to fchool ; firft to a petty 
 fchool, taught by a Natty Binns, a lame man, 
 in one of my own cottages at the bottom of the 
 churchyard ; afterwards to a kind of free fchool, 
 a little higher in the ftreet than our Hall, on 
 the fame fide, taught at that time by a Mr. 
 Thomas Simpfon. Here I learned till I attained 
 a little writing, and Lilly's grammar in reading. 
 In this interval my grandfather died, leaving my 
 grandmother quite deftitute of all afliftance, an 
 unhappy circumftance, as I have before obferved, 
 both for my grandmother and me, whofe property 
 from this time wafted faft. I ftop here to notice a 
 few little circumftances. As foon as I became ac- 
 quainted with letters, that inclination for reading 
 and the acquifition of knowledge, which is one 
 of the ftrongeft propenfities of my nature, dif-
 
 24 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 covered itfelf. I was never weary of my book, 
 and by the time I was feven or eight years old, I 
 had read through the Old and New Teftaments, 
 and was well acquainted with every remarkable 
 ftory to be found there, and in the Apocrypha. 
 I well remember our maid, with whom I flept in 
 a clofe or ceiled bed, when engaged with her 
 fweetheart, ufed to bring me a candle to bed, and 
 fet it on a flielf in the bedfide, and a quarto bible 
 I ftill have in the family. On this I ufed to read 
 till twelve, one, or two o'clock in the morning, 
 till I fell afleep, a dangerous practice, though my 
 nurfe came frequently to fee me. I notice alfo 
 that my grandfather and grandmother drefled me 
 very well ; I remember wearing a filver-laced 
 hat, a filver-laced waiftcoat, and my fhirt ruffled 
 at the neck, breaft, and hands ; at the fame time 
 I had pence for afking for to buy any kind of fpice 
 or fweetmeats I pleafed, and the old people, 
 though naturally careful, thought nothing too 
 much they could do for me. I mention thefe 
 things not out of vanity, but as indicative of the 
 plentiful circumftances of my grandparents at that 
 time ; a circumftance I have found corroborated 
 fmce by feveral elderly people, their contempo- 
 raries, I have occafionally met with, particularly 
 the late Doctor Alexander, who was a neighbour 
 to and familiar with the family. He told me 
 that they were always confidered as a very cre- 
 ditable and fubftantial family. I notice the 
 following inftance of my childim ideas. A high
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 25 
 
 hill, or mountain, called the Haynes, rifes very 
 abruptly from the bottom of Halifax, to a con- 
 fiderable height. Our Hall flood not far from 
 the foot of this mountain, which I ufed to con- 
 template very much from the top of our orchard. 
 I verily thought the fky refted on the top of the 
 hill, and was very curious to go up and examine 
 how it was, and touch the fky. At length the 
 time arrived to fatisfy my curiofity ; my nurfe 
 perfuaded my grandmother to let her go upon a 
 vifit for three or four days to her hufband's 
 father's, who lived at Belly-bridge, and to take me 
 along with her. We fet off, accordingly, and I 
 remember my nurfe, when we were afcending 
 the old bank (which was the only road at that 
 time), bid me obferve my affectionate grand- 
 mother, who was anxioufly watching us up the 
 hill from the top of the orchard, hardly knowing 
 how to venture me out of her fight for the time. 
 Well, we arrived at Whifk'em Dandies, a cot- 
 tage fo called, fituated where the road croffes a 
 lower part of the top of the hill ; but alas ! 
 the fky, which I thought to have touched, was 
 retired far away. However, this being my firft 
 excurfion from home, every view and every ob- 
 jet was new to me, and I was fufficiently pleafed 
 and gratified with my journey. We lodged and 
 chiefly boarded at the public-houfe at Belly-bridge; 
 we flayed three or four days, and then returned. 
 I notice the following inftance of ill-nature. 
 When my grandmother gave up the mills, fhe
 
 26 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 retained the Hall and gardens till a time fixed for 
 her departure. In this interval I had one day 
 climbed a plum-tree in the fide of our orchard 
 next the lane leading to the mills ; Richard Aked, 
 who had taken the mills, was going down to 
 them, and feeing me in the tree, threw a fharp- 
 edged ftone violently at me, which cut a deep 
 wound in my eye-brow, and fo frighted me that 
 I leaped from the tree into the orchard, a con- 
 fiderable height, but providentially efcaped break- 
 ing my bones and having my eye knocked out. 
 My grandmother was very angry, and threatened 
 to profecute the man. I notice another circum- 
 ftance. My grandmother was weak enough to 
 admit the company of feveral defigning and in- 
 terefted men, who pretended love to her. Some 
 of thefe, I have heard, tricked her out of feveral 
 large fums of money a little before her death. I 
 remember the names of two of them ; George 
 Savage, and Abraham Baraclough. This latter was 
 a cuftomer fhe traded with, and I remember took 
 me with him to his houfe, fomewhere in Shelf, 
 where I ftayed a week or more. I know he ufed to 
 let me ride on a pretty little white galloway he 
 had, and tell me it mould be my own. I take notice 
 of two or three of my childim play-fellows who 
 ftill furvive in or about Halifax. Richard Nay- 
 lor, who lived in a cottage in our back-fold, and 
 whofe mother was very fond of me, and ufed to 
 entertain me with ftories, fome of which I ftill 
 remember ; he enlifted into the army, where he
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 27 
 
 remained many years ; he was by trade a mafon, 
 and is at prefent a penfioner. George Wallace, 
 a breeches-makerj and Bobby Alexander, fon of 
 a phyfician of that name in Halifax, where Bobby 
 now refides, and follows the profeffion of his 
 father; and Billy Wood, fon of a huckfter 
 oppofite our houfe, and who follows at prefent 
 the bufmefs of his father. After our removal to 
 our own houfe at the bottom of the town, my 
 dear grandmother foon fickened and died, leaving 
 me and my concerns to the care of her fifter, my 
 great-aunt Lydia Ellifon, of Birkenfhaw, whom 
 fhe made the ible executrix of her will. I remem- 
 ber my nurfe took me to the bedfide to take my laft 
 leave of my expiring grandmother. She turned 
 her head on the pillow and looked at me with a 
 look of inexpreflible love, affe&ion, and concern, 
 and had juft ftrength to exclaim, " Poor bairn ! " 
 deeply pierced, no doubt, with the forrowful re- 
 flection of the forlorn, comfortlefs, and deferted 
 ftate fhe was leaving the little darling of her heart 
 expofed to. She then ftretched herfelf out in the 
 bed and expired. Thus did I lofe the neareft, 
 deareft, and only difmterefted friend I had left in 
 the world. Farewell, my honoured, beloved, and 
 affe&ionate grandmother; great was your ma- 
 ternal care, love, and fondnefs for me. I was too 
 young at the time to be duly fenfible of, or 
 make a proper acknowledgement for your love 
 and kindnefs, but I have felt deeply grateful for 
 it fmce, and as I hope and truft to meet you in
 
 28 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 another and better ftate, I will thank you for it 
 in heaven. 
 
 Divine Providence, ever wife and good, how- 
 ever myfterious in its operation, having thus 
 deprived me of all my neareft and deareft friends, 
 and caft me a forlorn orphan upon the care of a 
 diftant relative, my great-aunt Lydia Ellifon, who 
 had come over on the occafion, after the funeral 
 and family concerns were fettled, I began my 
 wandering pilgrimage by making my firft remove 
 with her, from Halifax, my native place, to 
 Birkenmaw. My old aunt had procured a large 
 bafket, or wifket* (as fhe called it), which me 
 filled with delf and china ware, and carried on 
 her arm, with no fmall fatigue, to Birkenmaw. 
 We fet off together on foot on the afternoon of 
 
 * A Wijket, Mr. Holroyd tells me, " was a fmall fliallow 
 bafket about ten inches in width, made fometimes of wire 
 and fometimes of wicker-work : they were ufed in the 
 fpinning-mills to carry yarn. When hand-loom weaving 
 was common in this part of the north, the worfted weavers 
 had to fteep the weft in water before they ufed it, after it 
 had been wound on the bobbins. To get the water out 
 again, thefe wifkets or fpool baflcets were flung in ftrings, 
 with a ring at the end to hold by, and were then fwung 
 fwiftly round until the water had left the weft nearly dry 
 again. There was a game when I was a boy common 
 among children, which muft have been fuggefted from the 
 ufe of the wiflcet as ftated. The children formed a circle 
 by taking hold of hands, and running around one way, 
 and then the other, they repeated 
 
 ' A wiflcet, a waflcet, 
 To buy a penny baflcet : 
 You a penny, I a penny, 
 Turn round cheefes.' "
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 29 
 
 a winter's day, and by the time we reached 
 Oakenfhaw* it was dark. Being weary, I remem- 
 ber I thought the Cliff Rollings Lane a very long 
 one ; at laft, however, we reached our journey's 
 end, the houfe of my aunt's younger fon, John 
 Ellifon, at Birkenfhaw. Having been a much in- 
 dulged child, and coming all at once to a ftrange 
 place, and among ftrange perfons, I began to be 
 very heavy-hearted. I flept with my aunt, and 
 
 * Oakenfhaw is a good-fized village, about four miles 
 fouth of Bradford, not far from Cleckheaton, near the line of 
 railway from Bradford to the latter place. It is built at a 
 place where four roads meet ; viz., thofe from Bradford, 
 Leeds, Cleckheaton, and Halifax. There is now neither 
 church nor chapel in it, and the neareft will be thofe at Low 
 Moor, and the White Chapel at Cleckheaton. This latter 
 was eredted by the Richardibns of Bierley Hall, and a public 
 houfe near by is now called the " Richardlbn's Arms." 
 There ufed to be a public houfe here, bearing the fign of 
 the White Bear, and it was kept by a family of the name 
 of Bateman for more than a hundred years. Some years 
 ago, however, a perfon went and offered more rent than 
 the Batemans paid, to the owner of the houfe and land. 
 The greedy landlord, after taking off a piece of land, let 
 the new tenant have the place, but the bufinefs ceafed to 
 pay from that time, and had to be given up, and the whole 
 building turned into cottages. In the centre of the village 
 there ftand the remains of an old butter crofs, on which 
 there ufed to flourifh a weather-cock ; but in a fevere ftorm 
 about feven years ago, it was blown down. The inhabitants 
 are principally colliers, and the reft are farmers, and thofe 
 who work at the great Low Moor Iron Works. It was, 
 even fifty years ago, a very ruftic village. The inhabitants 
 were almoft wholly engaged in agriculture, and fo rude 
 were their manners that they became a bye-word. It was 
 faid of them that their hair was unkempt from Sunday to 
 Sunday, and that an iron comb was chained to the tree 
 which flood in the middle of the village, for the ufe of all 
 the inhabitants.
 
 30 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 refrained myfelf while I thought her awake ; but 
 as foon as I perceived her to be afleep, I burft 
 out into a violent flood of tears, till I wept my- 
 felf afleep. This I did many fucceeding nights, 
 till my aunt difcovered me. She faid what me 
 could to comfort me ; but I longed to return to 
 Halifax, but knew not the way. However, there 
 was a man in the village named Jofeph Tempeft, 
 who walked regularly to Halifax market every 
 Saturday j him I refolved to follow at a diftance, 
 that he might not obferve me, but to keep within 
 fight, for fear I mould lofe my way. However, 
 he difcovered me ; but on my promifing to return 
 with him, he fuffered me to go. I ftayed perhaps 
 a week, and then John Wright, my nurfe's huf- 
 band, brought me back again on horfeback. John 
 Ellifon was fond of mooting ; I ufed to attend 
 him in his excurfions, till I grew very fond of the 
 diverfion myfelf. As there was no proper fchool 
 at Birkenfhaw, my aunt removed with me to her 
 fon-in-law's, Samuel Wood, at Leifter Dike, for 
 the convenience of attending Bradford Free School. 
 As I have taken notice of what happened to me 
 in this fituation before, I will only notice a few 
 additional circumftances. As I was returning 
 home one winter's night in the dufk of the even- 
 ing, in company with a fchoolfellow who was a 
 neighbour, whofe name was Jofeph Bower, as 
 we were entering into a field of about four or five 
 acres, fituate on a declivity or hill-fide, the foot-path 
 lying along the bottom, called the Gravemaker's
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 31 
 
 Clofe, becaufe at that time the grave-maker of 
 Bradford Church farmed it, we obferved awoman, 
 as we thought, drefied all in white from head to 
 foot, coming over the oppofite ftile into the fame 
 field to meet us. The fingularity of her drefs 
 attracted our notice. But fuddenly we had loft 
 her ; but looking about we difcovered her about 
 the middle of the field, apparently aiming at the 
 upper crofs-corner. The unaccountable quick- 
 nefs of this remove rather alarmed me, and I 
 could not help turning my head to obferve her 
 procedure ; when fuddenly we had loft her again, 
 but on looking about us, found fhe had got to the 
 ftile behind us, which we had juft come over, 
 with equally unaccountable fpeed as before, and 
 as if fhe had taken that circuit to avoid meeting 
 us. We both began now to be pretty much 
 ftartled, and when we had reached the ftile, 
 turning about to look after her, we faw her 
 coming back after us, in the fame field. We 
 were both now fufficiently frightened, took to 
 our heels, and faw her no more. I could never 
 be fatisfied what this appearance was, and muft 
 therefore leave it undetermined. While I learned 
 writing and accounts with Mrs. Betty Ward, 
 there was a young, beautiful girl learned with her 
 at the fame time, called Nancy Denifon. With 
 the beauty of this girl I was greatly ftruck, but 
 was too young and bafhful to fay anything to her 
 in the way of courtfhip on my own behalf. 
 However, as is ufual in fuch cafes, I was per-
 
 32 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 petually talking of her, till the people where I 
 lived fufpedled the caufe, and rallied me fuffi- 
 ciently on the occafion. As the girl boarded 
 with a Mr. Hardcaftle, the then minifter of the 
 old Diflenting chapel at Bradford, where they 
 attended divine worfhip, they thought fit to in- 
 form the minifter of the circumftance ; and the 
 parfon fent me a jocofe invitation to his houfe, 
 with an affurance of a cordial welcome, and free 
 admiflion to the company of his amiable boarder ; 
 but I was too baftiful to accept the invitation, 
 and removing foon after, the impreffion wore off, 
 and the affair dropped. This was my firft love 
 impreflion ; a difpofition, I may here obferve, to 
 which, with refpedl: to the young and handfome 
 part of the fair fex, I was very prone. Being 
 very fond of (hooting, and catching game, I ufed 
 to go often out with a John Jobfon, a John 
 Lumby, a Squire Booth, and a James Speight, 
 neighbours, who were fond of the diverfion, till I 
 became a tolerable proficient at mooting flying. 
 Befides thefe perfons I ufed to (hoot with, I will 
 juft name the perfons who compofed the family 
 I lived in at the time, fome of the neighbours I 
 was moft intimate with, and fome of my fchool- 
 fellows. S. Wood, his wife, and children. Jonas 
 Bateman, John Webfter, and Humphrey Moore, 
 fervants. John Moore, John Webfter, and 
 Grace Wilfon, apprentices. Jofeph Gauk, 
 Timothy Fawbert, Jofeph Shaw, John Speight, 
 John Roberts, Richard Broadbent, neighbours.
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 33 
 
 Schoolfellows on my own form, William Nor- 
 throp, Richard Shepherd, Thomas Hodgfon, 
 Thomas Mafon, Jofeph Pollard, William Lifter ; 
 a William and Thomas Seargeantfon, and 
 Samuel Difney of Wakefield ; William Ambler 
 from Norfolk, William Nichols from Wales, and 
 Mr. Elmfall of Thornhill, afterwards fteward to 
 Sir George Saville. Moft of thofe I have here 
 named are at this time (1795) dead, fo fleeting is 
 human life ! 
 
 While I lived here I had a remarkable dream 
 two or three times repeated ; it was of the laft 
 day and its procefs. It ftruck me very much, 
 and made the firft confiderable religious im- 
 preflion upon my mind. But as I mean to in- 
 clude all my remarks on my religious principles 
 and impreflions in one point of view, after I have 
 run through my hiftorical fketch, I forbear faying 
 anything further at prefent, and haften to take 
 leave of this fcene of part of my youth. In this 
 interval, my coufm John Ellifon died of a high 
 fever. Mrs. Wood, his fifter, was fuppofed to 
 have caught the infection at his funeral, as (he 
 immediately after fickened and died of the fame 
 diforder. This event caufed my aunt and me to 
 remove toNorthBierley,*to her daughter Mary's, 
 
 * North Bierley is a very populous diftrift, a townftiip, 
 and lies about two miles to the fbuth of Bradford. It is 
 celebrated for its extenfive coal and iron works, and com- 
 prifes Bierley Lane, Butterlhaw, Carr Lane, Hill Top, 
 Hodgfon Moor, Woodhoufe Hill, Revoe Hill, Folly Hall, 
 
 D
 
 34 AUTOBIOGRAPHT OF 
 
 who had married William Brogden, my aunt 
 bringing Sufannah, S. Wood's youngeft child, 
 with her, purpofing to bring her up. If my 
 aunt at this time had put me out a regular 
 apprentice to fome fuitable calling, as fhe ought 
 to have done, I might poflibly have acquired 
 fome habit for trade, which might have been 
 of ufe to me afterwards ; but this was entirely 
 neglected, and I was fuffered to pafs feveral years 
 at this place doing nothing but feeking birds' nefts 
 in the fummer, and going a-fhooting in the 
 winter feafon. This was a lofs of a very pre- 
 
 Wibi'ey Slack, Low Moor, and Wibfey. The Low Moor 
 iron-works are very extenfive ; and Dr. Whittaker gives it 
 as his opinion, that the manufacture of iron was carried on 
 at North Bierley by the Romans. At thefe extenfive works, 
 cannon balls for the ule of hoftile nations throughout the 
 world are manufactured, or rather fabricated, as well as 
 fteam engines. Thefe works prefent a very ftriking view 
 to the ftranger ; during the darknefs of the night hundreds 
 of flames feem to (hoot up into the fky, and throw a liquid 
 light far and wide ; and during the day, the fable appear- 
 ance of the workmen, the hiding of furnaces, the heavy fall 
 of hammers, the rumbling founds vibrating in every quarter, 
 and the various fliapes the red iron affumes, combine to 
 produce upon his mind fenfations of terror and bewilder- 
 ment. 
 
 Bierley Hall, which was formerly the residence of Dr. 
 Richardfon, is a very handfome edifice. Bierley Chapel 
 ftands near the Hall, and was founded by Dr. Richardfon, 
 and licenfed as a place of worfhip fo early as 1716, yet it 
 was onlyconfecrated in 1824. It was enlarged in 1831, at 
 the expenfe of Mils Currer, of Efhton Hall. Trinity 
 Church, Low Moor, was erefted in 1604.. St. Paul's 
 Church, Butterfhaw, was built at the fole expenfe of John 
 Hardy, Efq., formerly member of parliament for Bradford. 
 The Wefleyans have a chapel at Low Moor, and another 
 at Wibfey. The Independents have alfo a fine chapel at 
 Wibfey.
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 35 
 
 cious and critical portion of my time, and had a 
 conflderable influence for the worfe on the 
 events of my future life, and was in a great 
 meafure occafioned by neglect and inattention in 
 thofe who had the ordering of me and my con- 
 cerns. I mention this circumftance, that if any 
 of my family mould happen hereafter to be in a 
 fimilar fituation, they may profit by my misfor- 
 tune. The perfons I have mentioned before, that 
 I ufed to go a-fhooting with at Sammy Wood's, 
 ufed to come conftantly to North Bierley two or 
 three times a week during the winter, to kill 
 game for Dodlor Richardfon. I conftantly ac- 
 companied them, and after rambling through the 
 fields, woods, and groves all the day, we ufed to 
 retire to the Doctor's at night, where a fupper was 
 provided for us, and as much ale as we choofe to 
 drink, paying us for the game after the rate of 
 fixpence for a woodcock, fourpence for a par- 
 tridge, threepence for a fnipe, and twopence for 
 a judcock.* By this means I became a pretty 
 good proficient in the art of mooting flying, an 
 amufement I pra6tifed with fome avidity for 
 fome years afterwards. 
 
 I notice a fecond love affair that happened 
 while I remained here, with Nancy Hopkin- 
 fon, only daughter of John Hopkinfon, a tanner 
 of this place. A pretty lafs, but like my- 
 felf, very young, about my own age, but a 
 tall girl of her years. On this occafion, though 
 
 * A judcock was a fmall fort of fnipe.
 
 36 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 ftill very bafhful, I went a ftep farther than in 
 my firft amour, frequently prefuming to give her 
 a kifs ; and one night, encouraged by a neigh- 
 bouring man, a John Halmfhaw, who had ac- 
 quaintance with the maid, I ventured to pay her 
 a vifit after the family were gone to bed, and 
 pafled part of the night with her, while John 
 wooed the maid. I remember I was terribly 
 embarrafled to keep up the converfation, me not 
 being a very talkative girl, and was fo difheartened 
 with the circumftance with which, by the by, 
 I mould not be puzzled now that for fear of 
 making myfelf appear ridiculous in that refpecl:, 
 I never durft repeat my vifit afterwards, although 
 the girl was coming enough. Soon after this, 
 a young man from a neighbouring village formed 
 a connection with her, got her with child, was 
 hardly perfuaded to marry her ; behaved un- 
 kindly. She was unhappy, bore a child, and died. 
 I faw her interred in the White-chapel, near the 
 pulpit. Farewell, poor Nancy Hopkinfon! 
 
 I obferve that in both thefe love affairs the 
 paflion only played as a gentle lambent flame 
 about my head, without fo much affe&ing my 
 heart as to give me any material uneafinefs of 
 mind. The next was more fatal to my peace of 
 mind, as I mall note by and by. I obferve that 
 here alfo there is hardly a perfon in the village, 
 except old Madam Richardfon, who were then 
 in a ftate of maturity, who now furvive ; fo 
 tranfitory is human life !
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 37 
 
 At length I removed with my aunt and her 
 little grand-daughter from this place to Birken- 
 fhaw once again. It was now ordered that I 
 fhould learn the white-cloth-making trade with 
 Richard Ellifon, my aunt's eldeft fon. I accord- 
 ingly attended and worked there at the trade, 
 but continued to board with my aunt, and lodged 
 with her and at Richard's alternately. I learned 
 to weave with John Bentley and John Sykes. 
 I flayed here till Richard's death, which happened 
 in the fpring of 1754, when I was about eighteen 
 years old. I continued with his widow till fhe 
 married again, when I purchafed the implements 
 of the trade of her, in order to trade a little for 
 myfelf. About this time I came of age, and of 
 courfe had my concerns to fettle with my aunt 
 as my executor. During my minority my half- 
 uncle, Thomas Cordingley of Farrah Mill,* 
 died : by his death, his fifter, my half-aunt, 
 Martha Sutcliffe, became entitled to a legacy of 
 one hundred pounds by my grandfather's will, 
 which I had to pay her out of my Little Bowling f 
 
 * The Farrah Mill here meant is an old corn-mill which 
 yet remains, and is fituated in a valley between Halifax 
 and a place called Salterhebble, not far from Skircoat Moor. 
 Formerly almoft every valley in the Weft Riding of York- 
 fhire had its corn-mill, or mills (if there was a ftream in it, 
 and a water-courfe or " goit" could be formed) for the ufe of 
 the farmers in the neighbourhood. The millers were wont 
 to mulct a certain quantity of the grain brought, as payment 
 for grinding, and it is highly probable that Mulfture Hall 
 got its name from this ancient cuftom, as it is built near 
 fome yet very large corn-mills. 
 
 f Little Bowling is up Manchefter Road, one mile from
 
 38 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 eftate. She demanded the legacy at my uncle's 
 death, but my executor finding that (he could 
 not pay it fafe till I came of age, it was deferred 
 till that time : I then paid them the legacy, with 
 about twelve pounds for intereft, upon a promife 
 from them, that if (after having taken a lawyer's 
 opinion on the fubjet, which we agreed to do) 
 it mould appear that they had no right to the 
 intereft, they mould refund it without trouble ; 
 which happening to be the cafe, I recovered, 
 after much ado, about nine guineas from my 
 interefted relations, and the attorney agreed to 
 take what he could get of the remainder for his 
 trouble. They manifefted a good deal of mean- 
 nefs, and ill-will at this time ; and a William 
 Aked, a fon of my aunt's by her firft hufband, 
 was brutimly abufive on my dear deceafed grand- 
 mother on this occafion, as he fuppofed {he had 
 perfuaded my grandfather to leave me the eftate, 
 
 Bradford. There were two Bowlings, Great and Little, 
 but the latter name has fallen into difufe. The old road 
 from Bradford to Low Moor ran paft Little Bowling, 
 which was a clufter of houfes at " Red Gin " a public- 
 houfe. The " Gin " was a machine for railing coals out of 
 the pit, and was worked by a horfe. The " Red Gin " is 
 not many hundred yards from Oak Fold to the weft of the 
 latter place. The Bowling Old Lane and Oak Folds dis- 
 trict ufed to be called Far Bowling. As to the coal in 
 Bowling, that in the vicinity of Birks Hall was got out 
 without finking, but the whole of the coal in the townfhip 
 of Bowling is all taken out now. The coal near Birks 
 Hall was taken out by Mr. Charles North, and the iron- 
 ftone by the Bowling Company, who have fome very ex- 
 teniive works clofe by.
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 39 
 
 which they wanted themfelves. The apoftle 
 fays, " The love of money is the root of all 
 evil." It often creates evil tempers, evil difpo- 
 fitions, and evil diflenfions among neareft rela- 
 tions and deareft friends : it is a pity ! I will 
 beg of God it may never be the cafe among any 
 of my defcendants, if they fhould have any 
 property to quarrel about. I return to my 
 executor. 
 
 All the time I had been under the guardian- 
 fhip of my aunt, I had fared very meanly, 
 and been as plainly clothed. A mefs of boiled 
 milk, and a little bread and milk, cold, to break- 
 faft ; about a print * of butter between two 
 pieces of oat-bread, or fometimes cheefe, with a 
 pint bottle of milk, or fometimes beer, for my 
 dinner and drinking ; and the fame to fupper as 
 
 * A print of butter meant generally a certain quantity, 
 as a pound or a half-pound, which was ftamped out, but 
 here it is applied more particularly to a fmall quantity, an 
 ounce or lefs in weight, and about the fize of a half-crown 
 piece. In the country farm-houfes they are made for the 
 children, and are intended as allowances by careful mothers, 
 aunts, &c. They are fometimes brought out at country 
 inns, where the inn happens to be a farmhoufe alfo, when 
 there are only one or two peribns to breakfaft or tea. " I 
 remember," a correfpondent writes, " being ferved fome 
 years ago with two of thefe fmall prints at Stanbury, which 
 lies on the edge of the moors above Haworth, the lady of 
 the houfe telling me that (he was churning, and fuppofed, 
 as I was a towns man, I might like it frefh in that way. 
 Thefe prints are generally ftamped the fame as the pounds 
 are, but fometimes the ftamping is done with the end of 
 the thumb."
 
 40 4UTOBIOGRAPHT OF 
 
 breakfaft, with a little pudding and frem or fait 
 meat on Sundays, was my general bill of fare for 
 moft of the time. Sammy Wood broke me off 
 from fchool frequently to go with cloth to mill 
 for him to the mills on the river Air, beyond 
 Bradford, befides other errands for the family to 
 Bierley, Birkenfhaw, &c., which took me much 
 from the fchool, and all went for nothing to me. 
 However, they took care to charge fufficiently 
 for everything they did for me, and made more 
 than a double charge for my board to what I 
 had coft them j befides, my perfonal property 
 that is, the houfehold furniture and wearing 
 apparel that came from Halifax was feverely 
 plundered amongft them under various pretences, 
 fo that I came off a confiderable lofer from 
 what I ought to have done. I perceived their 
 aim was to make end and even, as we fay, or to 
 make their charge equal to my income, that fo 
 they might have nothing to pay me. By this 
 means I was left deftitute of any ftock to trade 
 with, or towards paying off the legacy I was 
 charged with. I note that, with regard to the 
 unfair dealing I met with on this occafion, in 
 my opinion the chief blame attached to Sammy 
 Wood, who was a narrow-minded, interefted 
 man. My poor old aunt evidently irked with 
 the bufinefs, but fhe had given up the manage- 
 ment of all her concerns to him, in whom (he 
 placed an implicit confidence. His children by 
 his firft wife were likely to obtain a good {hare
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 41 
 
 of what the old woman might leave ; he there- 
 fore became interefted to procure her all he 
 could. I reafoned the cafe with him, and pro- 
 pofed to refer it to two indifferent perfons, but 
 to no purpofe : I therefore took my leave of him 
 with a recital of that paffage (which feemed to 
 ftrike him), Exod. xxii. 22, 23, 24, " Ye {hall 
 not affli6t any widow or fatherlefs child ; if thou 
 afflict them in any wife, and they cry at all unto 
 me, I will furely hear their cry, and my wrath 
 fhall wax hot, and I will kill you with the fword; 
 and your wives fhall be widows, and your chil- 
 dren fatherlefs." I told him I had rather be the 
 fufferer than the oppreflbr, for fear of the confe- 
 quences. I never hardly faw him afterwards, 
 but he mentioned it and endeavoured to palliate 
 his conduct, and to be greatly defirous that I 
 fhould think more favourably of it j a circum- 
 ftance which appeared to me as a ftriking proof 
 of confcious guilt. He was at this time as 
 careful, fober, and managing a man as any in 
 the neighbourhood ; but after the death of his 
 firft wife he became an extravagant, quarrelfome, 
 drunken fot, and fo, for aught I know, he lived, 
 and fo he died. 
 
 Being thus left with little ready cam, in 
 order to pay off the legacy before mentioned, 
 
 I fold Mr. A B of Bradford all the 
 
 coals he could get in the land without putting 
 down a pit within the ftakes of any of the out- 
 fences, for one hundred pounds, with which I
 
 42 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 paid the legacy, as I have noticed before. I 
 notice the following circumftance on this occa- 
 
 fion. When I met Mr. B and the attorney 
 
 (Mr. Jno. Eagle of Bradford, who had made 
 the writing) at the Talbot Inn in Halifax, in 
 order to receive the money and execute the 
 deed, Mr. Eagle gave it me to look over before 
 
 I figned it ; and I found it left Mr. B at 
 
 liberty to come within and break up my land, 
 only paying me for the damages. I told Mr. 
 Eagle this was contrary to bargain, to which 
 
 Mr. B with much confufion was obliged to 
 
 affent. Mr. Eagle was very angry, and fpoke 
 
 fome very (harp words to Mr. B on the 
 
 occafion, and immediately erafed the objection- 
 able paflage, and interlined words punctually 
 expreffive of the bargain; but I was fo ftruck 
 with the meannefs and apparent difhonefty of 
 the trick defigned to have been put upon me, 
 that I could hardly perfuade myfelf to fign the 
 writing till I had got it examined ; but Mr. 
 Eagle afluring me upon his honour it was right, 
 I figned it, but immediately mowed it to another 
 attorney when I got home, who afluring me it 
 
 was fafe, I was eafy. Mr. B had told me 
 
 that he was very intimate with, and had a great 
 refpet for, my father, and on this account pro- 
 fefled a great friendfhip and refpecl: for me ; 
 hence, being young and unexperienced in men 
 and manners, I was led to expe& a very friendly 
 and generous behaviour from him, when, alas !
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 43 
 
 the very firft opportunity that occurred, he was 
 aiming to trick me out of my property e'er I 
 had well got poflefled of it, and that to a con- 
 fiderable amount too, as it would have proved ; 
 while I was unexperienced with men, and a 
 novice in the world ; a moft ungenerous at- 
 tempt. 
 
 So deceitful is the human heart, and fo little 
 dependence is to be placed in general on pro- 
 feflions of human friendlhip ! While a perfon 
 can ferve a turn by you, or make you or yours 
 in any refpecl: fubfervient to his interefts, you 
 may expect plenty of thefe profeffions ; the 
 moment you do not need their affiftance they are 
 ready to do you any kindnefs ; nay, they will 
 even obtrude their friendly favours, as they call, 
 and you may think, them, upon you, becaufe 
 they run no rifk, and fee a probability, if nothing 
 more, of your returning their friendmip in kind, 
 or by fome fimilar or greater favour ; but the 
 moment you do ftand in need of their affiftance, 
 and are, perhaps, reduced to a condition not to 
 be able to make any great, if any return at all 
 for their kindnefs but gratitude, you will foon 
 fee their friendship aflume a different afpet, and 
 find them very ready to abandon an unprofitable 
 connection. Do you think taking the world 
 before you you would be able to find above one 
 perfon in a million capable of performing an 
 action of purely difinterejled friendship of any 
 confiderable confequence, to fave you or your
 
 44 JUrOBIOGRAPHT OF 
 
 family from a prifon or the workhoufe ? Nay, 
 in general 
 
 " The kindeft but your prefent wants allay, 
 Xo leave you wretched the fucceeding day." 
 
 If they have patted for your friends in a ftate 
 of profperity, on a change of circumftances with 
 you for the worfe, common decency indeed may 
 induce them to mow you fome fmall kindnefs, 
 in order to juftify in fome meafure the character 
 they have borne to the world ; as to afford you 
 an occafional treat, or perhaps to fpare or beftow 
 a few {hillings, or at moft a few pounds, for 
 your afliftance or in your favour. This, in 
 general, is the moft you may expect or will 
 experience. In the mean time you may expe6l 
 a rapid decreafe in their outward civility and 
 refpecl:; nay, if occafion offers, they may pro- 
 bably proceed to oppofition, detraction, and 
 abufe, if they do not go farther ftill, and add 
 injury to outrage, becaufe you are unable, or at 
 leaft, lefs able now than you was once either to 
 return a favour or retaliate an infult. Such 
 behaviour indeed indicates a mean, ungenerous 
 heart, and demonftrates the falfity of their pre- 
 tended friendfhip. This, however, is what we 
 have to expect from moft profeflbrs of friendfhip 
 in the world, although, perhaps, in our better 
 days, we may have laid them or theirs under 
 preceding obligations. Good, therefore, is the 
 advice of the prophet, "Ceafe ye from man,
 
 THOM4S WRIGHT. 45 
 
 whofe breath is in his noftrils, for wherein is he 
 to be accounted of?" Well does old Homer, 
 the poet, advife 
 
 " That fince of fallen mankind fo few are juft, 
 Think all are falle, nor even the faithful truft." 
 
 Needful, abfolutely needful, is an attention, 
 an invariably clofe attention, to the advice con- 
 tained in Tim a' Lee's old cautionary proverb, 
 Truji no mortal! No, let my children, or any 
 perfon who may read this manufcript, be advifed 
 by me Whatever profeffion of friendmip any 
 perfon may make, however highly you may 
 think of their friendly difpofition at prefent, 
 leave yourfelves, I advife you, as little at their 
 mercy as you polfibly can. If you do not, it is 
 five thoufand to one you are deceived, and will 
 find reafon to repent feverely, when it is too 
 late, of your imprudence. This was one of the 
 firft inftances I met with of the deceitfulnefs of 
 pretended friendfhip, but I have known many of 
 them fince, and perhaps not many perfons have 
 been more a dupe to them than myfelf ; hence I 
 advife caution in reliances of this nature. He is 
 well helped who, when he can, helps himfelf. I 
 know there is fomething extremely difagreeable 
 to an open, generous mind to treat every perfon 
 we may have to do with as if they were not to 
 be trufted : 'tis true we may and ought indeed 
 to do this as decently as we can, but ftill, in my 
 opinion, it is for the moft part abfolutely needful.
 
 46 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 When, therefore, you have affairs of any confe- 
 quence to tranfacl:, . fecure your own interefts 
 yourfelf as far as you decently can, and trujl no 
 mortal ! 
 
 I proceed to take notice of the following 
 circumftance, which happened about this time. 
 My aunt Betty, who lived at Bradford, made an 
 attempt when my father died, to wreft me and 
 my property from the care of my grandfather 
 and grandmother Cordingley, but as they knew 
 fhe did this from interefted motives, to get me 
 and what I had into her power, they withftood 
 and caft her ; the law, however, was expenfive, 
 but as fhe was caft in cofts, fhe was liable to 
 pay, or go to prifon ; but as fhe was poor, and a 
 near relation, they chofe rather to pay the cofts 
 themfelves and let her alone. When I fold the 
 coal, as noted before, fhe thruft herfelf officioufly 
 into the bufinefs, and went, or pretended to go, 
 
 feveral times betwixt me and Mr. B on the 
 
 occafion, without being either ordered or defired 
 by me. After this fhe made a charge of what 
 fhe had done in the above affair twenty years 
 before, and what fhe had done now, till fhe had 
 got it above ten pounds. To this pretended 
 debt fhe fwore, and arrefted me ; I gave bail to 
 the writ, determined in my firft chagrin to ftand 
 her out and punifh her, as I underftood I might 
 certainly have done ; but upon fecond thoughts, 
 confidering fhe had a numerous family, and was 
 very poor and diftreffed, the certain expenfe that
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 47 
 
 would attend the conteft, and that putting her or 
 her hufband in prifon would do me no good, I 
 was perfuaded by Mr. Jofeph Rollings of Cotting- 
 ley* to drop the conteft : I therefore paid her the 
 money and quit my hands of her. She after- 
 wards fent for me on her death-bed in great 
 diftrefs. I fent her three millings, and went 
 afterwards to fee her : I forgave her, and took a 
 friendly leave of her, but from that time have 
 had no connexion with the family. This affair, 
 firft and laft (for all the expenfe fell ultimately 
 on me), was, I fuppofe, not lefs than fifty pounds 
 out of my pocket. 
 
 I began now to acquire a pretty large acquaint- 
 ance among the fair fex, and to form fome par- 
 ticular connections ; but as I had made but little 
 mow in trade, having, indeed, but little fpare 
 money, I found myfelf much objected to on this 
 
 * Cottingley is a fmall village four miles to the north- 
 weft of Bradford. It lies on the north fide of what ufed 
 to be Cottingley Moor, but during the laft few years the 
 whole of this wafte land has been enclofed and let out in 
 fmall lots for almoft nothing, by the owner Busfield Fer- 
 rand, Efq. M.P. for Devonport. The high road from 
 Bradford to Bingley pafles near it, and it is about two 
 miles from the latter place. There are two or three old 
 houfes in it, and the fcenery in its vicinity is of the moit 
 beautiful kind. During the latter part of laft century a 
 Mr. Wickham, a juftice of the peace, refided in an old 
 hall which ftands by the fouth-eaft end of Cottingley 
 Bridge, and he was the only juftice then near Bradford. 
 Hence the faying among people generally, " O'll carry tha 
 ovver Cottingley Moor if tha dus'nt mind." That is, to 
 the juftice.
 
 48 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 account, and having by this time entered into a 
 particular attachment to a neighbouring girl, of 
 whom I became extremely enamoured, in order 
 to remove this odium, and fhow myfelf to the 
 beft advantage, I borrowed 2OO/. on my little 
 eftate. Confidering that I had always a natural 
 averfion to trade, and had but been very im- 
 perfectly initiated in the bufmefs I propofed to 
 follow with this money, this, at the time, was a 
 very imprudent action, and the firft ftep that 
 tended to break into and leflen my little property. 
 Had I done a little with what I could have fpared 
 out of my annual income, till I had become 
 gradually more perfectly acquainted with the 
 bufmefs, and increafed my ftock when I had 
 known better how to have ufed it, I had a&ed 
 far more wifely than I did ; but as I hinted 
 before, my eagernefs to remove the odium of 
 following little or no trade out of the way of my 
 being accepted as a hufband, was my chief 
 motive of action on this occafion. Well, having; 
 
 7 O 
 
 been chiefly while with Richard Ellifon confined 
 to the working part of the bufmefs, and feldom 
 or ever been taken to the markets, I was of 
 courfe unacquainted in a great meafure with 
 buying and felling, and being diffident of my own 
 abilities, I entered into a kind of partnerfhip 
 with a neighbour. This alfo was a weak im- 
 prudent meafure, by which I fuffered lofs, and 
 for which I blame myfelf. We continued to 
 make and fell cloth for fome time, till finding
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT, 49 
 
 my partner in an unfair practice, and that my 
 ftock diminished very faft, I gradually withdrew 
 from the connexion. 
 
 I proceed now to give fome account of the 
 attachment I mentioned before, with the circum- 
 ftances attending it. The girl was very young, 
 and a very pretty girl j we lived near together, 
 and had very frequent opportunities of enjoying 
 each other's company. My fondnefs for her 
 kept increafmg, till I became very unhappy in 
 her abfence. The idea of any other man form- 
 ing a connection with her gave me exquifite pain 
 of mind ; and, in fhort, I was deeply in love with 
 this girl, and experienced, as occafion oftered, all 
 the varieties of that baneful paffion. She was 
 fent one fummer to a boarding-fchool at Bolton 
 in Lancafliire, where I vifited her twice during 
 her ftay. Thefe journeys were very expensive, 
 and I was profufely lavifh of my money over 
 this girl, buying her anything me defired, or 
 whatever I thought would pleafe her, whatever 
 it coft me. 1 was likewife very liberal to her 
 mother, and father-in-law, and their family, 
 partly for her fake, and partly from the refpet I 
 had entertained for them from being familiar 
 with them from my infancy j and they were at 
 this time in ftraitened circumftances. 
 
 I notice here the extreme folly and imprudence 
 of this conduct in young fellows. The girls 
 love them never a whit the better, but often the 
 worfe for fuch profufion. They confider it as a
 
 50 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 bait thrown out for their affe&ions, and contemn, 
 defpife, and ridicule the man who aims at ob- 
 taining them by fuch paltry methods. 
 
 " Can gold gain friendfhip (or love) ? Impudence of hope ! 
 As well mere man an angel might beget. 
 Love, and love only, is the loan for love." 
 
 I therefore advife any young man who may 
 happen to be entangled, more or lefs, in this 
 foolim paffion, to keep his money in his pocket ; 
 or if he does anything in this way, not to go 
 beyond trifles. If he cannot obtain and fecure 
 his fweetheart's affe&ions by other means, money, 
 or anything which money can do, either for him 
 or her, will never be able to effe<St it ; he may 
 take my word for it if he pleafes. And in cafe 
 he mould drop the connection, or be fupplanted 
 by another man, he will fubjecl: himfeif to the 
 difagreeable alternative of either making himfeif 
 appear mean, interefted, and ungenerous, by re- 
 tracting or endeavouring to retract his favours, 
 rather than another man mould enjoy them ; or 
 of being heartily laughed at for his weaknefs 
 and folly by his more fuccefsful rival. I never 
 reflect upon my own actions in this cafe without 
 being deeply ftruck with a painful fenfation of 
 mame and regret for the weaknefs and folly of 
 my own conduct. 
 
 I return to my ftory. After keeping up our 
 acquaintance for feveral years, me went to 
 refide for fome time with an aunt me, had (her 
 mother's fifter), at two or three miles' diftance.
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 51 
 
 The uncle followed a large bufmefs, and had a 
 great many men and boys about him ; his niece 
 was a fond* girl, and remarkably weak in her 
 conduct in this refpe<5t. This, therefore, was a 
 dangerous fituation for her. I apprifed her mother 
 of the circumftance, and advifed her to order her 
 home ; me laughed at me, and obferved that I 
 only wanted her home that I might have more 
 of her company myfelf. This was partly true. 
 However, it foon appeared that to have followed 
 my advice was extremely neceflary ; reports of 
 a flanderous nature were prefently propagated 
 concerning her, with refpecT: to feveral men, both 
 at home and in the neighbourhood. I queftioned 
 her very clofely on the fubjet, but me conftantly 
 denied that there was any foundation for fuch 
 reports. I told her my defigns were honourable, 
 and my love difmterefted, but that if me preferred 
 any other perfon before me, if (he would let me 
 know it I would give her no further trouble, 
 whatever uneafmefs of mind it might fubjecl: me 
 to. She denied any other attachment, and feemed 
 very unwilling to drop the connection. As the 
 reports ftill continued particularly with regard 
 to one of her uncle's apprentices I was refolved, 
 if pollible, to find her out, and underftanding 
 that they ufually met in the dyehoufe, after the 
 
 * Fond in the dialeft of this diftrift means filly, in dotage, 
 an idiot. It is fometimes ufed as a term of endearment, 
 thus : " He's varry fond on her," that is, he doats or thinks 
 much of her.
 
 52 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 fervants had laid by their work, I went down one 
 winter's evening and placed myfelf in a corner 
 of the dyehoufe where I could fee what patted 
 without being obferved. Some of the boys after 
 fupper came into the dyehoufe, and placed them- 
 felves round the low lead fires,* and he came 
 amongft the reft. The fires were low, and caft 
 little or no light upwards ; the place was there- 
 fore very gloomy. She prefently came in, and he 
 immediately joined her, the other boys taking 
 little or no notice of them. He brought her 
 upon a heap of cloth very near me : I foon ob- 
 ferved improprieties pafs between them, which 
 fatisfied me of the truth of the reports that 
 parted. In the midft of their play I ftepped 
 fuddenly up to them ; they were both afhamed 
 and confounded, and feparated immediately. She 
 went into the houfe, and I followed her, ac- 
 quainted her aunt with the circumftance, told 
 her I fhould trouble her no more, and wiflied 
 them a good night. I afterwards fent her my 
 farewell advice in the following ftanzas : 
 
 * Formerly the vats in all the dye-houfes were made of 
 lead, and as the tops of the vats muft of courfe be on 
 a level with the floor of the workroom, the place for the 
 fires, to be below the vats, muft aifo be below the level of 
 the ground. The way to the firing-up place was down 
 fome fteps, and led between the vats. Thefe lower regions 
 were always termed "below the leads," or "below the lead 
 fires," and were the favourite reforts of youngfters (where 
 it was permitted) during the long evenings of winter, for 
 the fires were feldom allowed to go out entireJy.
 
 THOM4S WRIGHT. 53 
 
 TO EMMA. 
 
 I. 
 Dear Emma, will you deign to hear, 
 
 And heedfully attend, 
 The counfel which thefe verfes bear, 
 
 The counfel of a friend. 
 
 II. 
 
 Who with the warmeft wifties fraught 
 
 Your happinefs to fee, 
 Feels all at leaft that friendfliip ought 
 
 For your felicity. 
 
 in. 
 
 A friend whofe bofom once you knew 
 
 With generous ardour burn, 
 Although that ardour met from you 
 
 A moft unkind return. 
 
 IV. 
 
 'Twas faithful love which you fuppreffed, 
 'Twas true, and free from art, 
 
 As e'er poflefled a human breaft, 
 Or warmed a human heart. 
 
 V. 
 
 Difinterefted, genuine, free, 
 
 It knew no felfifh aim ; 
 But you unkindly damped its fires, 
 
 And quenched the rifing flame. 
 
 VI. 
 
 But may the wrongs I fuffered be 
 
 Eternally forgot, 
 Nor of them rife the leaft idea 
 
 To form one future thought. 
 
 VII. 
 
 Though difappointment ftung me fore, 
 Though grieved and pained I was, 
 
 Refentment now exifts no more, 
 But pity takes its place. 
 
 via. 
 
 How oft I've thought, when I've beheld 
 Th' imprudence of your ways,
 
 54 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 Along the fatal paths impelled 
 That led to dire difgrace, 
 
 IX. 
 
 Thoughtlefs, and wild, and void of care, 
 
 To your own errors blind. 
 What pity that a form fo fair 
 
 Should want an equal mind. 
 
 x. 
 
 But won't experience now at laft 
 
 Unfeal your clofed eyes ? 
 Will Emma never fee her faults ? 
 
 Will Emma ne'er be wife ? 
 
 XI. 
 
 On every coxcomb will me choofe 
 
 Her favours to beftow ? 
 Emma, aflume a confcious pride, 
 
 And fcorn to ftoop fo low. 
 
 XII. 
 
 Oh, could I learn what counfel giv'n 
 Might to your good redound, 
 
 'T mould flow as free as dew from heaven 
 Upon the thirfty ground. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 For now the cankered, poisonous tongue 
 
 Of calumny and fpite, 
 In blafting of your charafter 
 
 Enjoys a fell delight. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 Exulting malice mrugs the head, 
 And deeply wounds your fame, 
 
 And envy and ill-nature join 
 To vilify your name. 
 
 xv. 
 
 But if you're free, may you perfift 
 
 To keep your virtue ftill, 
 And difappoint th' ill-natured hope 
 
 Of fuch as wifh you ill.
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 55 
 
 XVI. 
 
 Your nature, over-fond, reftrain ; 
 
 Learn th' happy mean to fteer, 
 Betwixt a condul light and vain 
 
 And one that's too fevere. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 Our fex, remember, little prize 
 
 What little trouble gains ; 
 An eafy conqueft they defpife, 
 
 And love what cofts them pains. 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 Let prudence, then, direft your ways, 
 
 And reafon fway your will ; 
 And wifely mun the devious paths 
 
 That lead to certain ill. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 Accept this counfel fairly meant, 
 
 And honeftly defign'd, 
 And may it leave a good imprefs 
 
 Upon your thoughtful mind. 
 
 XX. 
 
 Think not I've any felfifh view, 
 
 Or finifter defign ; 
 I know I never can be yours, 
 
 You never can be mine. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 'Tis real friendfliip prompts my pen 
 
 This plain advice to give, 
 And if your intereft it promote, 
 
 Then I my wifh receive. 
 
 May Emma's fame, though now obfcured, 
 Shine out more fair and bright, 
 
 With friendly warmth and belt good-will 
 So wifhes Thomas Wright.
 
 56 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 Here ended my connexion with this girl, and 
 though it gave me fome uneafmefs of mind, 
 which gradually wore off with time, confidering 
 the nature of her future conduct, it was well for 
 me that it did ; I fhould have been one of the 
 moft unhappy mortals under the fun, had I been 
 brought into the fituation her future hufband 
 happened to be. I had reafon therefore to be 
 very thankful to a kind Providence, which would 
 not fuffer me to enjoy my eager and baneful 
 defire. 
 
 " Heaven's choice is fafer than our own ; 
 
 Of ages paft inquire. 
 What the moft formidable fate? 
 To have our o<von defire. 
 
 " If in your wrath the worft of foes 
 
 You wifh extremely ill, 
 Expofe him to the thunder's ftroke, 
 Or that of his own 
 
 " What numbers milling down the fteep 
 
 Of inclination ftrong, 
 Have perimed in their ardent nvijh ? 
 Wiih ardent, ever wrong." 
 
 DR. YOUNG'S Refignation. 
 
 As (he has now (1795) been dead many years, 
 I will juft give fome of the outlines of her 
 hiftory from the ceafmg of our connection to 
 her death. She foon after proved with child by 
 the aforefaid apprentice ; her relations would not 
 fuffer her to marry him. She bore the child, 
 and it died. After fome time an acquaintance 
 of mine married her ; fhe bore him a fon in 
 twenty weeks after their marriage. They lived
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 57 
 
 together to have fix children, who all died : fhe 
 afterwards proved unfaithful to his bed; they 
 quarrelled ; he left her and went to London, 
 where report faid he married another wife, and 
 had two children by her before his firft wife 
 died. She at laft fell into a confumptive diforder, 
 and, reflecting on her former life, appeared to be 
 very penitent. I called to fee her, and fhe 
 defired me to write her a penitent letter to her 
 hufband, a copy of which I here fubjoin. 
 
 DEAR B , 
 
 I know not whether you have heard that your 
 wife is in a very bad ftate of health or no, but 
 fhe appears to be in a deep confumption, and 
 near approaching the borders of the grave. I 
 have feen her now and then lately, and have been 
 glad to obferve a ferious and fettled concern upon 
 her mind for her future welfare ; fhe appears to 
 be truly penitent for her paft fin and folly, and 
 as a proof of this fhe has defired me to write 
 you this for her, wherein fhe requefted me to 
 let you know that fhe is very deeply fenfible of 
 the offences fhe has formerly committed againft 
 you, defires to confefs them before God and you, 
 and take all deferved fhame to herfelf upon the 
 account, and earneftly begs your pardon. She 
 fays it has been for fome time one of the greateft 
 burdens upon her mind, and that after having 
 made this free confeflion and requeft, fhe can be 
 fo far eafy. That fhe could be glad to fee you,
 
 58 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 to acknowledge her faults, and be reconciled to 
 you in perfon before (he dies ; but if you cannot 
 fhow her that favour, (he hopes you will write 
 immediately and let her know if you are enabled 
 to forgive her; and in the meantime fhe bids 
 you farewell, and recommends you to the pro- 
 tection and favour of God, of whom me trufts 
 to have her fins (though great) forgiven, and 
 with whom fhe trufts to be reconciled and 
 accepted through the mediation of an infinitely 
 gracious Saviour. And if fhe muft fee you here 
 no more of which fhe confefles herfelf un- 
 worthy fhe hopes to meet you, fhe fays, where 
 all weaknefs, fin, and forrow will be done away, 
 in a better and happier world. Your wife 
 appears to be very fmcere in her defire of recon- 
 ciliation with you, very fenfible of and repentant 
 for her crimes ; and earneftly defirous of being 
 reconciled to God ; and I think will not be long 
 before fhe dies. If it fuits your convenience 
 and inclination, I could wifh you to fee her once 
 again to exchange forgivenefs and part in peace; 
 if not, I defire you would not fail to write to her 
 immediately, as it may be a fatisfaction to the 
 repentant fpirit of one that has been dear to you 
 and that ftands in a near connection to you ftill. 
 I hope this will find you in health, as I and my 
 children are at prefent. I fhall always be glad 
 
 to hear of your welfare, and remain, dear B , 
 
 yours with great fincerity of affe&ion, 
 
 T. WRIGHT.
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 59 
 
 He came not down, but wrote a letter, in 
 which he forgave her. Soon after this I called 
 to fee her, juft as fhe was expiring, and flood by 
 her till fhe died, June 25th, 1779. She was 
 buried near the low gates in Birftall church-yard. 
 Farewell, Emma ! 
 
 During my love affair with this girl two young 
 women and a widow thought fit to think favour- 
 ably of me, and took care to let me know it. 
 The widow, who was a good deal elder than 
 me, was very importunate, and deeper in the 
 paflion, if poflible, than myfelf ; but as my affec- 
 tions were pre-engaged, all their attempts to 
 engage my attention were vain. 
 
 I flop here to make fome reflections on this 
 ftrange paflion, fo common, in a greater or lefs 
 degree, among the youth of both fexes, and 
 fometimes attended with very ferious confe- 
 quences. 
 
 " What art thou Love ! them ftrange myfterious ill ? " 
 
 It has been obferved that perfons of the moft 
 generous, open, and good-natured difpofitions 
 are of all others the moft fubjecl: to this paflion ; 
 that perfons of a four, ill-natured turn of mind 
 are feldom or ever engaged in it ; and that in 
 Africa, where the heat of the climate is fup- 
 pofed to render the inhabitants more favage, the 
 paflion is unknown. 
 
 " Love dwells not there, 
 The foft regards, the tendernefs of life, 
 The heart-flied tear, th' ineffable delight
 
 60 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 Of fweet humanity : thefe court the beam 
 Of milder climes ; in felfim, fieice defire, 
 And the wild fury of voluptuous fenie, 
 There loft." 
 
 THOMSON'S Summer. 
 
 Whether thefe authors have fufficient grounds 
 for what they afTert of thefe Africans, I know 
 not. The former part of the obfervation I 
 believe is a facl: : it therefore behoves young 
 perfons of this defcription, of both fexes, to be 
 doubly careful how they fufter their affe&ions to 
 be engaged upon improper objects, or to an im- 
 proper degree, if they mean to avoid the follies, 
 inconveniences, and vexations of this befooling 
 paflion. 
 
 Dr. Young, in his " Eftimate of Human Life," 
 Third Edition, p. 30, has, I think, given the 
 beft account of it I have met with. He obferves, 
 that love u implies difcontent, that is pain ; for 
 he that defires is diflatisfied with his prefent con- 
 dition, be it what it will ; and the pain is in pro- 
 portion to the defire. To fay the leaft to the 
 difadvantage of this paflion, it is putting your 
 peace in the power of another, which is rarely 
 fafe even in your own." He obferves further, 
 that " Love is all the paflions in one : it is anger 
 that it cannot, Jhame that it does not, fear that it 
 Jhall not enjoy its object. It is envy of and 
 hatred to thofe that poflibly may ; for envy\ 
 hatred^ and fufpicion form love's conftant com- 
 panion, jealoufy ; which therefore ftings deeper 
 than either of them, becaufe it is all. Now, as
 
 THOM4S WRIGHT. 61 
 
 many paflions as love has, fo many pains. Be it 
 therefore a maxim, he that was never pained 
 never loved. But though this paffion has pains, 
 leads it not to pleafures ? It may fail of them, 
 and then it is defpair, which is moft terrible; if 
 it attains them they may not be lafting, for moft 
 pleafures, like flowers, when gathered, die. Love 
 has under its banner watching^ ftcknefs^ abafement^ 
 adulation^ perjury^ jealoufy^ and fometimes it lifts 
 anger's moft dreadful followers ; the only differ- 
 ence is, there they are ftanding troops, here cafual 
 recruits ; there they are volunteers^ here they are 
 prejjed occaflonally into the fervice ; for they do 
 not naturally belong to love." I will conclude 
 thefe (hort reflections on this fubjecl: with a 
 tranfcription of Mr. Thomfon's beautiful and 
 ftriking defcription of and diffuafive from the 
 wild and irregular paflion of love, oppofed to 
 that of a pure and happy kind. 
 
 " And let the afpiring youth beware of love, 
 Of the fmooth glance beware ; for 'tis too late, 
 When on his heart the torrent foftnefs pours. 
 Then wifdom proftrate lies, and fading fame 
 Diflblves in air away ; while the fond foul, 
 Wrapt in gay vifions of unreal bliis, 
 Still paints th illufive form, the kindling grace, 
 Th' enticing fmile, the modeft-feeming eye, 
 Beneath whofe beauteous beams, belying Heaven, 
 Lurk fearchlefs cunning, cruelty, and death : 
 And ftill, falfe- warbling in his cheated ear, 
 Her firen voice, enchanting, draws him on 
 To guileful mores and meads of fatal joy. 
 
 E'en prefent, in the very lap of love 
 Inglorious laid while mufic flows around, 
 Perfumes, and oils, and wine, and wanton hours
 
 62 AUTOBIOGRAPHT OF 
 
 Amid the rofes, fierce repentance rears 
 
 Her fnaky creft : a quick-returning pang 
 
 Shoots through the con Icious heart; where honour ftill 
 
 And great defign, againft th' oppreflive load 
 
 Of luxury, by fits, impatient heave. 
 
 But abf'ent, what fantaftic woes, aroufed, 
 Rage in each thought, by reftlefs mufing fed, 
 Chill the warm cheek, and blaft the bloom of life ! 
 Neglefted fortune flies ; and, fliding fwift, 
 Prone into ruin fall his fcorn'd affairs. 
 *Tis nought but gloom around ; the darken'd fun 
 Lofes his light. The rofy-bofom'd Spring 
 To weeping fancy pines; and yon bright arch, 
 Contracted, bends into a duflcy vault. 
 All nature fades extincl: ; and (he alone 
 Heard, felt, and feen, poffefTes every thought, 
 Fills every fenfe, and pants in every vein. 
 Books are but formal dullnefs, tedious friends ; 
 And fad amid the focial band he fits, 
 Lonely and unattentive. From his tongue 
 Th' unfiniuYd period falls : while, borne away 
 On fwelling thought, his wafted fpirit flies 
 To the vain bofom of his diftant fair ; 
 And leaves the femblance of a lover, fix'd 
 In melancholy fite, with head declined, 
 And love-dejeled eyes. Sudden he ftarts, 
 Shook from his tender trance, and, reftlefs, runs 
 To glimmering fhades and lympathetic glooms ; 
 Where the dun umbrage o'er the falling ftream 
 Romantic hangs ; there, through the penfive duflc 
 Strays, in heart-thrilling meditation loft, 
 Indulging all to love ; or on the bank 
 Thrown, amid drooping lilies, fwells the breeze 
 With fighs unceafing, and the brook with tears. 
 Thus in foft anguim he confumes the day, 
 Nor quits his deep retirement, till the moon 
 Peeps through the chambers of the fleecy eaft, 
 Enlighten'd by degrees, and in her train 
 Leads on the gentle hours ; then forth he walks, 
 Beneath the trembling languifh of her beam, 
 With foften'd foul, and woos the bird of eve 
 To mingle woes with his ; or, while the world 
 And all the fons of care lie huflied in deep,
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 63 
 
 Aflbciates with the midnight fhadows drear ; 
 
 And, fighing to the lonely taper, pours 
 
 His idly-tortured heart into the page 
 
 Meant for the moving meflenger of love ; 
 
 Where rapture burns on rapture, every line 
 
 With riling frenzy fired. But if on bed 
 
 Delirious flung, fleep from his pillow flies 5 
 
 All night he toflfes, nor the balmy power 
 
 In any pofture finds,- till the grey morn 
 
 Lifts her pale luftre on the paler wretch, 
 
 Exanimate by love : and then perhaps 
 
 Exhaufted nature finks a while to reft, 
 
 Still interrupted by diftrafted dreams, 
 
 That o'er the fick imagination rife, 
 
 And in black colours paint the mimic fcene. 
 
 Oft with the enchantrefs of his foul he talks ; 
 
 Sometimes in crowds diftrefs'd ; or, if retired 
 
 To fecret-winding flower-enwoven bowers, 
 
 Far from the dull impertinence of man, 
 
 Juft as he, credulous, his endlefs cares 
 
 Begins to lofe in blind oblivious love, 
 
 Snatch'd from her yielded hand, he knows not how, 
 
 Through forefts huge, and long untravell'd heaths 
 
 With deiblation brown, he wanders wafte, 
 
 In night and temped wrapt"; or fhrinks aghaft, 
 
 Back from the bending precipice ; or wades 
 
 The turbid ftream below, and ftrives to reach 
 
 The farther fhore ; where, fuccourlefs and fad, 
 
 She with extended arms his aid implores, 
 
 But ftrives in vain : borne by th' outrageous flood 
 
 To diltance down, he rides the ridgy wave, 
 
 Or, whelm'd beneath the boiling eddy, finks. 
 
 Thefe are the charming agonies of love, 
 Whofe mifery delights. But through the heart 
 Should jealoufy its venom once diffuie, 
 'Tis then delightful mifery no more, 
 But agony-unmix'd, inceflant gall, 
 Corroding every thought, and blafting all 
 Love's paradife. Ye fairy profpefts, then, 
 Ye beds of rofes, and ye bowers of joy, 
 Farewell ! ye gleamings of departed peace, 
 Shine out your laft! the yellow-tinging plague 
 Internal vifion taints, and in a night
 
 64 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 Of livid gloom imagination wraps. 
 
 Ah ! then, inftead of love-enliven' 1 d cheeks, 
 
 Of funny features, and of ardent eyes 
 
 With flowing rapture bright, dark looks fucceed, 
 
 Suffufed and glaring with untendcr fire ; 
 
 A clouded afpeft, and a burning check, 
 
 Where the whole poifon'd foul, malignant, fits, 
 
 And frightens love away. Ten thouiand fears 
 
 Invented wild, ten thousand frantic views 
 
 Of horrid rivals, hanging on the charms 
 
 For which he melts in fondnefs, eat him up 
 
 With fervent anguifh and confuming rage. 
 
 In vain reproaches lend their idle aid, 
 
 Deceitful pride, and refolution frail, 
 
 Giving falfe peace a moment. Fancy pours 
 
 Afrem her beauties on his bufy thought ; 
 
 Her firft endearments twining round the foul 
 
 With all the witchcraft of enlharing love. 
 
 Straight the fierce ftorm involves his mind anew, 
 
 Flames through the nerves, and boils along the veins; 
 
 While anxious doubt diftraftsthe tortured heart: 
 
 For e'en the fad affurance of his fears 
 
 Were ease to what he feels. Thus the warm youth, 
 
 Whom love deludes into his thorny wilds, 
 
 Through flowery- tempting paths, or leads a life 
 
 Of fevered rapture, or of cruel care ; 
 
 His brighteft aims extingunVd all, and all 
 
 His lively moments running down to wafte. 
 
 But happy they ! the happieft of their kind ! 
 Whom gentler ftars unite, and in one fate 
 Their hearts, their fortunes, and their beings bknd. 
 'Tis not the coarfer tie of human laws, 
 Unnatural oft, and foreign to the mind, 
 That binds their peace, but harmony itfelf, 
 Attuning all their paflions into love ; 
 Where friendfhip full exerts her fofteft power, 
 Perfect efteem enliven 'd by defire 
 Ineffable, and fympathy of foul ; 
 Thought meeting thought, and will preventing will, 
 With boundlefs confidence: for nought but love 
 Can anfwer love, and render bliis fecure. 
 Let him, ungenerous, who, alone intent 
 To blefs himfelf, from fordid parents buys
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 65 
 
 The loathing virgin, in eternal care, 
 Well merited, confume his nights and days ; 
 Let barbarous nations, whofe inhuman love 
 Is wild defire, fierce as the funs they feel : 
 Let eaftern tyrants from the light of heaven 
 Seclude their bofom-flaves, meanly poflefs'd 
 Of a mere lifelefs, violated form ; 
 While thofe whom love cements in holy faith 
 And equal transport, free as Nature liv^e, 
 Difdaining fear. What is the world to them, 
 Its pomp, its pleafure, and its nonfenfe all ! 
 Who in each other clafp whatever fair 
 High fancy forms, and lavifh hearts can wifli ; 
 Something than beauty dearer, mould they look 
 Or on the mind, or mind-illumined face 
 Truth, goodnefs, honour, harmony, and love, 
 The richeft bounty of indulgent Heaven. 
 Meantime a fmiling offspring rifes round, 
 And mingles both their graces. By degrees, 
 The human bloflbm blows ; and every day, 
 Soft as it rolls along, thows fome new charm 
 The father's luftre, and the mother's bloom. 
 Then infant reafon grows apace, and calls 
 For the kind hand of an affiduous care. 
 Delightful talk ! to rear the tender thought, 
 To teach the young idea how to moot, 
 To pour the frem inftruftion o'er the mind, 
 To breathe the enlivening fpirit, and to fix 
 The generous purpofe in the glowing breaft. 
 Oh, Ipeak the joy ! ye, whom the fudden tear 
 Surprifes often, while you look around, 
 And nothing ftrikes your eye but fights of blifs : 
 All various Nature preffing on the heart 
 An elegant fufficiency, content, 
 Retirement, rural quiet, friendship, books, 
 Eafe and alternate labour, ufeful life, 
 Progreffive virtue, and approving Heaven ! 
 Thefe are the matchlefs joys of virtuous love ; 
 And thus their moments fly. The seafons thus, 
 As ceafelefs round a jarring world they roll, 
 Still find them happy ; and confenting Spring 
 Sheds her own roly garland on their heads : 
 Till evening comes at laft, ferene and mild ; 
 
 F
 
 66 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 When after the long vernal day of life, 
 Enamour'd more, as more remembrance fwells 
 With many a proof of recollected love, 
 Together down they fink in focial deep ; 
 Together freed, their gentle fpirits fly 
 To Icenes where love and bliss immortal reign." 
 
 I take notice here of a circumftance which 
 mould have been mentioned when I related the 
 behaviour of my aunt. As fhe would have 
 heired part of my little property if I had died 
 inteftate, and as I thought fhe had rendered her- 
 felf peculiarly unworthy of anything that was 
 mine, in order to prevent this in cafe of any- 
 thing fudden happening to me, I made a will, 
 which coft me about half-a-guinea, wherein I 
 left John Ellifon junior (fon of the before men- 
 tioned John) all I had, I having the greateft 
 refpe& for him and the family of any relation or 
 friendly acquaintance I then had. I note alfo 
 that during this interval I bought many books, 
 and read much divinity, philofophy, history, 
 poetry, voyages, travels, &c., &c. ; and having 
 a good memory, by this means I acquired a good 
 deal of various knowledge, which, qualifying me 
 for converfation, I contracted a very large 
 acquaintance with fome of the moft fenfible men 
 and beft families in the country round about. I 
 alfo learned to play a little upon the violin and 
 German flute. During this period alfo I made 
 feveral excurfions into the furrounding country. 
 
 I went with Mr. R B , of Cleckheaton, 
 
 and his fifter to Hull : we crofled the Humber
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 67 
 
 to Barton in Lincolnfhire, where we purchafed 
 fome wool, and returned. We ftayed about a 
 
 week with an aunt of Mr. B 's, at Hull, and 
 
 returned home by the way of York. I went 
 alfo to the Spa at Scarborough feveral feafons, 
 and I took a journey to London with Mr. Martin 
 Charlesworth, of Little Gomerfal.* We refided 
 at the Talbot Inn, in the Borough, Southwark : 
 we went down to Greenwich and Woolwich to 
 fee the men-of-war, &c. I was on board the 
 Sterling Cattle, of 74 guns. We went to St. 
 James's Chapel, faw the old king, George II., 
 the prefent king, George III., then Prince of 
 Wales, and moft of the Royal Family. I faw 
 alfo during my ftay fome of the principal public 
 places and curiofities of the city and its neigh- 
 bourhood. We ftayed about ten days, and then 
 returned. I went alfo with an acquaintance to 
 Harrogate, and forward to Ripon ; and this, I 
 think, is nearly the extent of my travels to this 
 period. 
 
 * Little Gomerfall is a part of Great Gomerfall, and is 
 in the fame townfhip. It is in the parifti of Birftali, but 
 by a fingular arrangement, Birftali is in the townfhip of 
 Gomerlall. There is a chapel of eafe in it, and a new 
 church was ere&ed about twelve years ago. The Wefleyans 
 have a chapel here, and there is a Moravian chapel which 
 is of a very old date. The trade of the place is the 
 woollen manufa<5hire, particularly that of blanketing. It 
 is about five miles fouth-eaft of Bradford. At this place 
 lived the prototype of Mr. Yorke, a charafter in the 
 late Mifs Bronte's novel of " Shirley j " the real name was 
 Taylor.
 
 68 JUrOBIOGRAPHT OF 
 
 After my affair with the laft-mentioned girl, 
 an old Methodift in the town, called Benjamin 
 Boys, obferving me look more folid and thought- 
 ful than ufual, concluded that I was under fome 
 religious impreffion, and invited me to go with 
 him to hear the Methodifts preach : I complied 
 with his requeft, and hence began my acquaint- 
 ance and connection with the Methodifts, of 
 which more hereafter. I was fo deeply difgufted 
 with the vexation and difappointment I had met 
 with in my late love affair, that I was almoft 
 ready to forfwear all future connections with the 
 fex, and was for fome time without any inter- 
 courfe of the kind ; but by and by a circumftance 
 
 happened which yoked me again. J B , 
 
 my late fweetheart's father-in-law, became fo 
 ftraitened in his circumftances, that he was 
 obliged to retire to London to avoid the perfecu- 
 tton of his creditors and recover himfelf; his 
 wife and children locked up the houfe for fear 
 the creditors fhould break it up, and I took them 
 to me into my houfe, and accommodated them 
 the beft I could till he returned and paid his 
 creditors, which after fome time he honeftly did. 
 During their ftay with me, Mrs. Birkhead of 
 Brook-houfes,* near Cleckheaton (a near relation 
 
 * Brook-houfes. This beautiful place is rather lefs 
 than half-a-mile up the ftream from Spen Bridge, and is 
 but a fhort diftance to the north of Cleckheaton. One of 
 the houfes the Hall is built of done, and was ere&ed 
 about thirty years ago when the old one was pulled down.
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 69 
 
 of Mrs. B 's), attended by her eldeft daughter 
 
 Lydia, paid her a vifit. I was much taken with 
 Mifs Birkhead, who was a very beautiful girl, 
 and when they returned home in the evening, 
 bore them company moft of the way. As fhe 
 was at this time but very young about eleven 
 or twelve years old I came to a refolution in 
 my own mind to wait about three years, and 
 then, if we both lived, try if I could not obtain 
 her for a wife, and I punctually kept my refo- 
 lution. 
 
 At the end of three years Mifs Birkhead and 
 her fifter Betty happened to be learning writing 
 and accounts with a Mr. John Whitford, at that 
 time minifter of the Red Chapel * at Cleck- 
 heaton, who taught a fchool on the week days, 
 
 The other part confifts of two cottages built of brick, which 
 ftand with the end towards the back of the hall. The 
 buildings are beautifully environed in trees, and the whole 
 neighbourhood as far as Spen Bridge looks like an ancient 
 park. A clear ftream runs juft below, and all down the 
 valley towards the eaft there are fome fplendid bits of 
 woodland and park-like grounds. An old foot-road leads 
 down to Spen Bridge, paft a mill-dam, and the walks are 
 very carefully kept. Such is the Brook-houfes at the 
 prelent day. 
 
 * Red Chapel, Cleckheaton. The old Independent 
 chapel in Cleckheaton was built of brick, as are many of 
 the houfes in that place. I luppofe it was called the Red 
 Chapel from that circumftance, or it might be to diftinguifti 
 it from the White Chapel, which flood at a ftiort diftance 
 from it. The Red Chapel has been replaced fome years 
 fince by a very handfome new one of ftone, and it is, 
 perhaps, the belt building in Cleckheaton at prefent. The 
 White Chapel is built of ftone.
 
 70 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 and taught his fcholars at this time in the chapel. 
 As I was well acquainted and very familiar with 
 this gentleman, I called in one day to fee him 
 while teaching his fcholars in the chapel, and the 
 Mifs Birkheads being there, I went into the feat 
 to them and helped them to finifh their fums. 
 After they had fhown them to the mafter and 
 returned, I took Lydia behind the pulpit, where 
 I paid my firft addrefs to her in the way of 
 courtfhip. The minifter obferving this haftened 
 to loofe his fcholars, and left us the chapel to 
 ourfelves. 
 
 I continued to cultivate my acquaintance with 
 this girl for feveral years, till we had formed a 
 pretty clofe connection. I obferved that fhe was 
 remarkably backward in admitting my vifits at 
 her father's houfe, though extremely willing to 
 oblige me with every other opportunity : I found 
 this arofe from a fear of her parents becoming 
 acquainted with our connection, which fhe en- 
 deavoured to conceal from them as much as fhe 
 could. I afterwards underftood that they not 
 only difapproved of me for a hufband to their 
 daughter, but were bitterly prejudiced againft 
 me on other occafions. I was fo difgufted with 
 the mean pride, contempt, and ill-nature I heard 
 they exprefled on this occafion, that it caufed me 
 to drop our correfpondence for fome time. In 
 this interval I accidentally became acquainted 
 with a Mifs C H , a very handfome,
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 71 
 
 genteel, young lady, near Mirfield,* whofe father 
 could give her fome fortune, had given her a 
 good education, and who was likely to make a 
 very agreeable, managing wife. I kept company 
 with this girl during the whole interruption of 
 my correfpondence with Mifs Birkhead, and for 
 aught I know, had I been fo determined, might 
 have had her for a wife ; but meeting again with 
 
 Mifs B at a friend's houfe, we made up the 
 
 breach, and I was of courfe obliged to drop my 
 
 correfpondence with Mifs H . This young 
 
 lady afterwards married a Mr. M. F n of 
 
 Raftrick, went with him to America, bore him 
 two children there (daughters), and died. He 
 himfelf foon after perimed in a voyage upon 
 bufmefs to the Dutch ifland of St. Euftatius. 
 The veflel, it was fuppofed, foundered at fea, 
 and all on board perifhed, as me was never heard 
 of after her departure from the American port. 
 One of the girls furvives, and has fmce come 
 over to fettle with her relations in this country. 
 I heard the following ftory concerning her 
 
 (Mifs H ) related as a fad: That while her 
 
 hufband and me were at fea, on their paflage to 
 
 * Mirfield, or Minefield, is a prettily fituated village 
 about three miles and a halt" to the loath-weft of Dewfbury. 
 It is rather celebrated in the legendary hiftory of this part 
 of the county, and near the church there is a large conical 
 mound, and the remains of an ancient manor-houfe. In 
 modern times it has been beft known as one of the chief 
 feats of the woollen manufacture.
 
 72 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 America, her mother faw her apparition one 
 evening pafs out of one room into another, with 
 a candle in her hand, looking more than ordinarily 
 thoughtful. If fo, I think it feemed to betoken 
 that me was never to fee her again in this world. 
 I return to my own ftory. My fweetheart 
 and me began now to think of marriage, in fpite 
 of the old folk's oppofition, and in one of my 
 vifits I propofed it to her. She was willing, but 
 did not know how we mould accomplim it, (he 
 being under age, and her father refufing to give 
 his confent. I told her there was one way ftill ; 
 fhe faid, what was that ? I told her to take a trip 
 to Scotland, and afked her if fhe would go ? She 
 declared fhe would whenever I pleafed. We 
 then proceeded to fix a day for our adventure ; 
 it was Thurfday evening, fhe obferved, that her 
 father and mother would have to attend what 
 they call a church-meeting at Heckmondwike,* 
 that day three weeks ; that they would fet off by 
 one o'clock paft noon, and be detained till the 
 evening ; that if I would, in their abfence, come 
 down the private lane at the back of her father's 
 houfe with my mare and a pillion, fhe would ride 
 off with me to Leeds, where we could take the 
 chaife for Scotland. On this footing we parted 
 
 * Heckmondwike. A confiderable place, eight miles 
 fouth of Bradford. Here are extenfive blanket and carpet 
 manufactories. It is but a mort diftance from Liverfedge 
 and Cleckheaton, on the Lancashire and Yorkfhire Rail- 
 way from Bradford to Mirfield and Huddersfield.
 
 THOM4S WRIGHT. 73 
 
 at this time. I had propofed the meafure without 
 much thought or confideration, and when I came 
 to confider it with attention, it gave me no little 
 uneafmefs ; not but that I loved the girl well 
 enough, but I was afraid of the old people's after 
 behaviour ; and indeed, I had much more reafon 
 to dread this as I found to my coft afterwards 
 than I was at prefent aware of. However, as I 
 confidered myfelf as equal to them, at leaft, in 
 family, fortune, education, or moral character, 
 and that if I behaved refpedlfully they could not 
 retain their refentment long, I determined to 
 make the venture. The Sunday following I 
 rode to Cleckheaton Chapel, and put up my 
 mare at the public-houfe at Heaton Gate. My 
 fweetheart, amongft other children, was faying 
 her catechifm that day to the parfon. At noon 
 a friendly acquaintance of mine (Mr. John 
 Broadley, of Rawfolds *) invited me to dine with 
 him, as he ufually did. I accordingly went and 
 dined with him, and in returning to chapel after 
 
 * Rawfolds is near Liverfedge, and has become a famous 
 place fmce the novel of " Shirley," by Mifs Bronte, of Ha- 
 worth,waspublifhed. The mill, or manufaftory, here is cele- 
 brated for its fuccefsful and fanguinary refiftance to the Lud- 
 dite rioters on the nth of April, i8iz, under its proprietor, 
 Mr. Cartwright. It is about a mile from Roe Head, near 
 Heckmondwike, where Mifs Charlotte Bronte (Currer 
 Bell) went to fchool, and fhe has introduced it prominently 
 in the ftory of " Shirley." An interesting account of it 
 will be found in the life of Charlotte Bronte, by Mrs. 
 Gafkell. At prefent there are cloth-works and dye-works 
 carried on in the mills at Rawfolds, or " Rawfuds."
 
 74 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 dinner, I obferved Ifaac Taylor coming to meet 
 me in a field called Rawfolds Pafture. I imme- 
 diately fufpe&ed that he came with fome meflage 
 from Mifs Birkhead, which proved to be the 
 cafe. This man lived in a little ftraw-thatched 
 cottage at a place called Goofe Hill,* juft at 
 the back of Mr. Birkhead's houfe, in the croft 
 where the Balm-Mill ftands. We ufually called 
 it the Ivy Hall, from its being much overgrown 
 with ivy at the weft-end of it ; at this place Mifs 
 Birkhead and me ufually met during the greateft 
 part of our courtfhip, hence the family became 
 a kind of confidents in our amour, and did all 
 they could to promote our defign. He told me 
 that Mifs Birkhead had been over at his houfe 
 fince I faw her, and that fhe had laid a new and 
 a fpeedier plan for our being married, which was 
 as follows : She and her fifter Betty were to go 
 over in the morning (Monday) upon a vifit for 
 fome time to her coufm, Sammy Webfter's, at 
 Morley ; that I mould go over with my mare and 
 pillion, her riding drefs, &c., in the evening, put 
 up my mare at the public-houfe, vifit her at her 
 coufin Sammy's as a fuitor ; that fhe would ftay 
 with me till they were fettled in bed ; that then I 
 
 * Goofe Hill. This name is no longer ufed, but the 
 hamlet now paflTes as Balm Mill, or in the dialeft of the 
 diftrict, Borne Miln ; it ftands about one hundred yards to 
 the weft of Brook-houfes, and is only divided from the 
 latter place by a narrow green lane, a beautiful clear ftream 
 of water, and a croft.
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 75 
 
 fhould fetch the mare from the public-houfe, and 
 {he would ride off with me to Leeds, where we 
 might take the chaife for Scotland. I fhould have 
 noticed firft, that he told me fhe had got her riding 
 drefs out to his houfe, that I was to ftay at the 
 public-houfe till dark ; that then he would meet 
 me at Spen Bridge* with her clothes, which I 
 fhould take home with me, in order to carry 
 them to Morley, to put on for her journey. All 
 this was fudden ; entirely of her own contriving, 
 and bound me to put or put up, and from the 
 fhortnefs of the time, ftunned me a little. How- 
 ever, as I was fond of the girl, and hoped (as 
 obferved before) that the circumftance the moft 
 frightful to me, the old people's prejudice, might 
 probably be furmounted, I fent her word that I 
 would comply with her plan, and that fhe might 
 expect me the next evening at Morley, according 
 to appointment. I accordingly flayed at Abraham 
 Smith's, the public-houfe at Heaton Gate, till 
 dark ; met Ifaac, and took her clothes with me 
 to Birkenfhaw. I muft here notice another 
 circumftance. Mr. Timothy Crowther, a friendly 
 acquaintance of mine in the fame village, had 
 been married fome time before to a Mifs Nancy 
 Brooke, eldeft daughter of Mr. Jofeph Brooke, 
 
 * Spen Bridge is a fine ftone bridge near Spen Mill. 
 On the eaft fide of the bridge there are large factories 
 which have been built by Mr. Atkinfon. The owner of 
 Spen Mill is a Mr. Mann, and the leflees of the mill are 
 Meflrs. Firth and Blackburn.
 
 76 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 of Hall Mill, at the bottom of Mirfield Moor. 
 The girl was of age, and therefore at her own 
 difpofal, but her mother was fo averfe to parting 
 with her, that we had her to get away as we 
 could. I went early one fummer's morning with 
 a horfe and a pillion, and fhe met me at the 
 bottom of the common ; fhe leaped on behind 
 me, and a fervant met us up the fields with her 
 clothes ; we rode to a neighbouring ale-houfe, 
 where we met her intended fpoufe and one or 
 two companions ; here fhe drefled, and we 
 walked to the church and had them married. 
 On this occafion Mr. Crowther declared that if 
 ever I flood in need of fimilar affiftance, he 
 would go with me wherever I went. He and 
 his father and brother traded into Scotland ; I 
 therefore the rather claimed his promife at this 
 time, as I had been little ufed to travelling, and 
 he knew the roads and the country, having been 
 there before. After fome little hefitation on the 
 fhortnefs of the time, he declared he would bear 
 us company ; he therefore fpoke to his father 
 and his brother, and they arranged their mercan- 
 tile concerns for the journey as fpeedily as they 
 could. I had never afked her father's leave to 
 wait on her, but I determined to do it that day 
 though I knew I mould be denied that he might 
 not have it to fay I had never afked him. I 
 accordingly afked, and was refufed, but with 
 more civility than I expected. 
 
 I made what fpeed I could in getting ready
 
 THOM4S BRIGHT. 77 
 
 for my journey, as to money, linen, &c., and in 
 the evening rode over to Morley according to 
 my promife, accompanied by Timmy Crowther, 
 Benny Beaumont, and John Barrans. We put 
 up our horfes at Morley Hole, where I left them 
 and my companions, and attended my fweetheart. 
 S. Webfter was acquainted with her parents' 
 prejudice againft me, but, however, behaved 
 very civilly, and invited me to fup with them. 
 We were obliged to acquaint the maid with the 
 affair, whom we obliged to fecrefy : fhe was 
 very willing to oblige us, and obferved that fhe 
 herfelf had a fweetheart that night, and that 
 when they heard them ruftle and whifper, they 
 would imagine it to be us, and they would carry 
 on the deception as long as they could. When 
 it approached eleven o'clock my fweetheart was 
 impatient to be gone. I had ordered one of my 
 companions to attend at the back-door when it 
 grew late, and I would ftep out and let him know 
 when we were ready, to fetch the mare ; I 
 therefore ftepped to the back door and told him, 
 and he ran over for my mare and the reft of the 
 company. She got on behind me from the wall 
 near the windmill, and we proceeded to Mr. 
 George Em's, the Golden Lion Inn, at the 
 bottom of Briggate, Leeds, the place I ufually 
 inn'd at when about my bufinefs. She here 
 changed her drefs (me was in mourning at tms 
 time for her uncle Tommy), the chaife was got 
 ready with fpeed, we put a bottle of wine and
 
 78 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 fome cake in the box, and mounted. As the 
 dread of her parents' malevolence ftill hung upon 
 my mind, I looked folid and thoughtful ; Mifs 
 Birkhead obferved this and faid jocofely that if 
 anybody faid a few words, I fhould run back of 
 my bargain. At this my companion (a funny 
 fellow) laughed heartily, and bantered me freely 
 on the occafion. Our two companions returned, 
 taking the horfes, &c. back with them, and we 
 flarted on our journey. 
 
 We were juft pafling through Shipfcar turn- 
 pike as it was chiming twelve o'clock at night 
 at Leeds old church, and we reached Knares- 
 borough early in the morning. Here we changed 
 our carriage and horfes and proceeded to Borough- 
 bridge, ftill in the dark ; here we called them 
 out of bed, changed our carriage and horfes 
 again, and proceeded to Northallerton. Here we 
 got our breakfaft, and then rode on to Darling- 
 ton ; here we dined, and then proceeded to 
 Durham ; here we drunk tea, and then pro- 
 ceeded through Chefter-le-ftreet to Newcaftle- 
 upon-Tyne, which we reached about fix or feven 
 o'clock in the evening of Tuefday, Nov. i8th, 
 1766. The driver took us to the Queen's 
 Head, Pilgrim Street ; here we fupped and refted 
 awhile. Mr. Crowther was weary and fleepy, 
 and propofed going to bed, but Mifs Birkhead 
 and I were afraid if anyone happened to purfue 
 us it might prove difagreeable, and therefore 
 urged our proceeding with all fpeed, although
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 79 
 
 (he declared if anyone fhould overtake us, {he 
 would not return with them, at which Mr. 
 Crowther laughed heartily again, and declared, 
 No, we would fight blood to the knees before ! 
 I called the driver and gave him a {hilling extra j 
 he told me he would put two as good horfes in 
 the carriage as there was in Newcaftle, and 
 drive us merrily ; he was as good as his word. 
 We went on the canter almoft all the way to 
 Morpeth, where we called them out of bed, 
 changed our chaife, and proceeded to Alnwick. 
 Here we called them out of bed again, got a 
 bottle of wine and fome little refremment, and 
 rode on to a village they call Belford;* here 
 fome of the tackle of the chaife had broken, and 
 the driver had to call up a blackfmith to repair 
 them ; we fat in the chaife the while, and then 
 proceeded to Berwick-upon-Tweed, which v/e 
 reached foon after daybreak. Here we ftaid 
 breakfaft and dinner, as Mr. Crowther had fome 
 cuftomers to tranfadl bufmefs with at this place. 
 We then proceeded over the Scotch moors to a 
 large, lone inn's-houfe called Old Camus. The 
 roads were bad, fo that we had to alight feveral 
 times and walk, the horfes having enough to do 
 to draw the empty carriage. The face of the 
 country fuddenly changed from a country en- 
 clofed and adorned with trees and hedges, to a 
 
 * Belford is not a village, but a fmall market-town, 
 about fourteen miles from Berwick-upon-Tweed.
 
 8o AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 black, barren, dreary wafte, where no fence, and 
 hardly a tree or a bum were to be feen for long 
 together ; the cattle alfo had a very different 
 appearance j the fmall, black, Scotch heifers and 
 the diminutive ftieep on the wafte grounds of 
 Scotland, formed a very ftriking contraft to the 
 large cattle we had juft left behind in fome of 
 the northern counties of England. We reached 
 Old Camus at laft, changed our chaife, and pro- 
 ceeded to a village they call Broxburn.* The inn 
 where we alighted was no other than a ftraw- 
 thatched cottage with an earthen floor ; the 
 waiter, a ftrong-limbed, brown, Scotch girl, bare- 
 legged and bare-footed, and fpeaking the broad 
 Scotch dialect. Mifs Birkhead was ftartled with 
 the oddnefs of the fcene. After getting fome 
 refrefhment at this place, we proceeded to Had- 
 dingtoun, the capital, I fuppofe, of Eaft Lothian, 
 in North Britain ; we arrived at this place about 
 fix o'clock in the evening of Wednefday, Nov. 
 iQth, 1766. We alighted at the chief, or one of 
 the chief inns in the town (I forget the f:gn), 
 and immediately fent for a minifter ; they pre- 
 fently brought one ; he required a large fee at 
 firft, but I told him as we were but common 
 people, and not marrying from interefted motives, 
 he muft be content with lefs ; we agreed for two 
 
 * Broxburn is the name of a river which runs through 
 Haddingtonfhire to the fea, which it enters at Broxmouth. 
 The village of Broxburn ftands on the banks of this river.
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 81 
 
 guineas the minifter, and five fhillings the clerk, 
 which I gave them, and he married us in a 
 chamber of the inn about feven o'clock in the 
 evening. My wife went to bed immediately, 
 and after chatting awhile with my companion 
 and the parfon, I followed her. The parfon told 
 us the following ftory, which he had juft been 
 concerned in a little before he married us. 
 
 A gentleman of London, of good fortune and 
 character, wooed a lady of the fame place of a 
 good fortune likewife. The gentleman was an 
 unexceptionable match, but the lady's father was 
 a fmgular conceited fellow, and, as his daughter 
 was under age, utterly refufed to give his confent 
 to the marriage ; the young couple, however, 
 were determined on the meafure, and laid their 
 plan accordingly. The gentleman hired a chaife 
 and four in the neighbourhood to be ready at a 
 certain hour, and as he knew that the lady's 
 father was a (harp, active man, that their elope- 
 ment could not be long concealed from him, and 
 that he would follow them with all fpeed, he 
 took the precaution to fend off a fervant, poft, 
 with orders to keep a ftage before them all the 
 way, and to fee a chaife and four ready harnefled 
 at each ftage, and a fupply of wine and victuals 
 in the box for them to fubflft on by the way, 
 that they might ftep out of one carriage into 
 another, and proceed with the utmoft fpeed with- 
 out a moment's delay. By this means they pre- 
 fently reached Haddington, and alighted at the
 
 82 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 fame inn which we did, but as they knew the 
 activity of the old gentleman, they were afraid 
 they would not have time to complete the cere- 
 mony before he was at their heels ; they there- 
 fore requefted the miftrefs of the houfe to {how 
 them a bed-room, and they would undrefs and 
 get into bed, and if the old gentleman came, to 
 tell him they were married and a-bed. She 
 promifed to follow their directions, and by the 
 time fhe had well left them the old gentleman 
 was rattling in a chaife and four at the door ; he 
 immediately inquired for the young couple ; fhe 
 told him they were a-bed. "A-bed!" he exclaimed 
 with aftonifhment ; " what, were they married 
 already?" (he told him, yes. After furioufly 
 walking backwards and forwards for fome time, 
 he defired to be mown to their bed-room ; fhe 
 accordingly introduced him into the room ; the 
 young folks apologifed and begged his pardon : 
 after fwearing and raving furioufly for fome time 
 his paflion at length remitted, and he invited 
 them to rife that they might drink together before 
 he returned. He retired, and they arofe, drefled 
 themfelves, and joined the old gentleman, where 
 they became tolerable friends over a bottle. 
 The lady's father then got into the chaife, and 
 returned home again. They then fent for the 
 parfon (the fame who married us and told us 
 the ftory), got married, went to bed, and the 
 next morning followed the old gentleman to 
 London.
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 83 
 
 The minifter wrote me the following certifi- 
 cate or teftimonial of our marriage : 
 
 " Thomas Wright, of the parifh of Birftall, 
 in the county of York, clothier, and Lydia 
 Birkhead, of the fame parifh, fpinfter, were 
 married at Haddington, in Eaft Lothian, N. 
 Britain, according to the form of matrimony 
 prefcribed and ufed by the Church of England, 
 on this nineteenth day of November, 1766, by 
 J. BUCHANAN, Minifter, 
 
 T ,, r c f TIMOTHY CROWTHER. 
 
 In the prelence of J _. ,, 
 
 I. BARTHOLOMEW BOWER. 
 
 In the morning, while breakfaft was preparing, 
 I overheard the miftrefs of the houfe remarking 
 to fome of the family, that the young lady (my 
 wife) was a very pretty young lady as moft me 
 had feen, and looked well j but that the gentle- 
 man (myfelf ) looked but poorly, and fhe thought 
 the young lady would foon have a new hufband 
 to feek. I thought, " I hope not, miftrefs, I do 
 not think of dying fo foon as you feemto imagine." 
 My wife had never had the fmall-pox, was in 
 the bloom of youth and beauty, and at this time 
 looked very well. I myfelf always looked pale, 
 was at this time much fatigued both in body and 
 mind, and had got little or no reft or fleep for 
 three or four fucceflive days and nights, fo that 
 at this time I looked poorlier than ordinary. 
 Mr. Crowther and Mifs Birkhead flept foundly 
 in the chaife, but I could not. But alas ! how
 
 84 AU^OEIOGRAPHT OF 
 
 was our landlady miftaken ! The young bloom- 
 ing beauty, my wife, who was at this time like 
 the pi&ure of health, and whofe look feemed to 
 promife many long years of life, health, and 
 vivacity, has now (at the time I am writing this 
 September, 1795 after living with me in 
 wedlock near eleven years, and bearing me feven 
 children), been dead near eighteen years ; and 
 the poorly-looking gentleman who, in the judge- 
 ment of the landlady, feemed to be then near the 
 borders of the grave, after living with his then 
 wife near eleven years, and having feven children 
 by her, as mentioned above ; after living above 
 four years in a ftate of widowhood, and after 
 being married a fecond time to a younger wife 
 than his firft, with whom he has lived near four- 
 teen years, and had five children by her, which 
 makes up his whole number twelve, is at prefent 
 in a comfortable ftate of health and ftrength for 
 his time of life. So uncertain is human fore- 
 fight, and fo liable is human judgment to be im- 
 pofed upon by deceitful appearances. 
 
 We now concluded to bear Mr. Crowther 
 company the reft of his journey amongft his 
 cuftomers, and return home again together. 
 After breakfaft, therefore, we took the chaife 
 and proceeded to Edinburgh. This is the capital 
 city of Scotland, and here we ftayed feveral days. 
 We took a walk to Leith, the fea-port for Edin- 
 burgh, and about a mile diftant, and took a view 
 of the harbour, the (hipping, &c. We alfo took
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 85 
 
 a walk to Holyrood Houfe, where the Scottifh 
 kings ufed formerly to be crowned. The houfes 
 in this city (efpecially High Street) are remark- 
 ably high, from four to twelve or fixteen ftories, 
 fo that a perfon walking beneath feems buried 
 between the houfes, which appear the height of 
 fteeples on each fide, and gives a perfon a remark- 
 able idea of his own littlenefs. The different 
 ftories of thefe lofty buildings are afcended by 
 flights of fteps, which they here call winds, and 
 at each ftory for the moft part a different 
 family dwells, with an infcription over the door 
 containing the perfon's name and occupation. 
 My wife and I afcended, I think, feventy-one 
 fteps to our bed-room. The inhabitants of this 
 city are not accommodated with neceffary houfes j 
 each family, therefore, provide themfelves with 
 clofe-ftools ; at ten in the evening a perfon goes 
 about the city with a drum, to give notice to the 
 people in the ftreets to get out of the way j 
 every family then empty their clofe-ftool-pots 
 out of the windows into the ftreets, and early in 
 the morning perfons appointed for the purpofe 
 clean the ftreets and take as much of it away 
 as poflible, leaving the reft in vacant places, 
 covered with afhes, to take away afterwards. 
 This practice caufes a nafty fmell in the ftreets, 
 which is very difagreeable, efpecially to ftrangers ; 
 I hardly durft venture out in a morning before I 
 had got my breakfaft. I obferved that they were 
 almoft univerfally fnuff-takers in this place, and
 
 86 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 fomebody told me that they had adopted this 
 cuftom as an antidote againft the bad fmells 
 arifing in the ftreets, occafioned by the aforefaid 
 dirty practice. We refided in one of the prin- 
 cipal inns and one of the principal ftreets in the 
 city, but I forget both the fign of the houfe and 
 the name of the ftreet. One day while we 
 remained here two of the maid fervants quarrelled 
 about their work ; they fcolded loud and feverely 
 in the broad Scotch dialed} ; they appeared very 
 droll to us, as we hardly knew a word they fpoke, 
 although we could fee they were very angry. 
 
 Mr. Crowther having finifhed his bufmefs at 
 this place, we took the coach one morning and 
 proceeded to the city of Glafgow, which we 
 reached in the evening. We refided during our 
 ftay here at the firft inn on the right hand enter- 
 ing the city. The name of the perfon who kept 
 the inn was, I think, at that time Tenant. The 
 landlady of this inn was the biggeft, moft cor- 
 pulent, and heavieft woman that ever I faw in 
 my life ; fhe told us her weight, but I have for- 
 got it. She had a little wide carriage, like a 
 cart, in which me rode out to take the air, for 
 fhe was too heavy and overgrown to walk five 
 yards : me faid when fhe was young fhe was as 
 fmall as my wife ; however, fhe would have 
 made half-a-dozen of her now. This city, for 
 its bignefs, is one of the prettieft cities I ever 
 faw ; it appears to have been laid out on a 
 regular plan, all the ftreets crofling each other
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 87 
 
 at right angles. The buildings are lofty, grand, 
 and regular, and the principal ftreets accommo- 
 dated with piazzas, which are very agreeable to 
 foot-paflengers on a hot or rainy day. I called 
 in one day at one of the bookfellers and purchafed 
 Gay's " Beggars' Opera," to read for amufe- 
 ment during our ftay : the bookfeller underftand- 
 ing I came from Yorkfhire, afked me if I knew 
 Mr. Edwards, of Halifax? I told him, "Yes, very 
 well ; " he faid, " If you fpear him, he will ken 
 me j my name is Robinfon." In returning 
 down the ftreet a poor boy afked me for twa 
 bawbees ; I told him he was too greedy, and 
 gave him one (a halfpenny). On Sunday we 
 attended two of their kirks to hear divine fervice ; 
 one of them, a new-ere&ed building and highly 
 finiftied, where the quality reforted. I obferved 
 feveral women in the ftreets whofe petticoats 
 reached very little below the knees, and one old 
 woman whofe petticoat did not reach the knees : 
 this appeared very odd, becaufe, perhaps, un- 
 ufual, to me. We drunk tea with feveral of Mr. 
 Crowther's cuftomers, and after ftaying moft of 
 a week in this city, we took the coach and re- 
 turned to Edinburgh. We had a kind of a {hip- 
 captain, a paflenger with us in the coach part of 
 the way. The man was drunk, and therefore 
 difagreeable company ; he chewed tobacco, and 
 fitting next my companion, flavered and fpat 
 upon his coat. At this Mr. Crowther was 
 offended, and fpoke rather fharply to the man ;
 
 88 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 the fellow immediately challenged him out of 
 the coach to fight, but Mr. Crowther treating 
 him with the contempt he deferved, the man 
 foon after fell afleep, and the affair dropped. 
 
 One of the fervant-girls a ftrong-made, 
 hardy-looking, Scotch lafs would gladly have 
 come with us as a fervant, from the inn we 
 refided at in Edinburgh ; me faid if we would 
 accept her fervice, me could run on foot after 
 the chaife all the way; and obferved, that me 
 could milk the cows, tend and clean them or 
 other cattle, look after the dairy, and upon occa- 
 fion, do any genteeler work j and I do believe if 
 we had ventured to bring her, me would have 
 made an excellent fervant. We returned from 
 Edinburgh by a different road from that which 
 we came, till we got to Newcaftle. We flept 
 the firft night at a place they call Gingle-kirk ; 
 in the morning Mr. Crowther had his eyes 
 almoft fwelled up from being bit by the bugs, 
 but though I thought I felt them run over me 
 in the night, neither I or my wife were bitten 
 by them the whole journey. We proceeded 
 from hence through Wooller to Newcaftle, from 
 whence we returned by the route we came, 
 through Chefter-le-ftreet, Durham, Darlington, 
 Northallerton, Boroughbridge, and Knaref- 
 borough, to Leeds, where we arrived onTuefday, 
 December 2nd, it being juft a fortnight the night 
 before fmce we left the place. It being market- 
 day, my friendly acquaintance foon flocked round
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 89 
 
 me and acquainted me with the terrible hubbub 
 our adventure had raifed, and the rage and 
 malevolence of my wife's parents. Mr. John 
 Broadley, of Rawfolds, near Littletown* (a gene- 
 rous little fellow), infifted that I and my wife 
 ftiould go home with him, where we fhould be 
 as welcome as day, till we could accommodate 
 ourfelves with a proper fettlement for at this 
 time I was no houfekeeper, but boarded out. 
 He faid farther, that if I could purchafe a foil 
 anywhere nigh, and make it convenient to build, 
 he would give me the ftones out of his own 
 quarry to build the houfe, if I built one as large 
 as Bilton's Hall,f and help me lead the materials 
 into the bargain. Mr. Richard Brooke, of 
 Cleckheaton, declared he would help me alfo 
 to lead the materials. I fhould certainly have 
 accepted Mr. Broadley's propofal, but Nathaniel 
 Brooke, of Cleckheaton, my wife's uncle (her 
 mother's youngeft brother), obferved that it 
 would be more prudent for us to go home with 
 him, as we fhould be nearer the old folk ; that 
 they would be better pleafed with our being 
 there, he being fo near a relation, and that he 
 would have a better opportunity of promoting 
 a reconciliation. On thefe confiderations we 
 agreed to his propofal, and accompanied him 
 
 * Littletown is a part of the townfhip of Liverfedge. 
 
 j- I am told that there was formerly a popular saying in 
 this part of Yorkfhire, in the form, " I'll build a houfe as 
 big as Built-ons Hall," or " Bilton's Hall 5 " but it appears 
 to be now obfolete.
 
 90 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 home that evening, where we had an upper and 
 lower room appropriated partly to our ufe, and 
 in which we refided till we removed the May-day 
 following to a farm I had taken in the meantime. 
 The terrible tafk was now to be undertaken 
 of attempting to propitiate the dreadful wrath of 
 thofe high and mighty, forely-offended, deeply- 
 injured, felf-important, and eminently religious 
 people ; and as much fear and cringing, adula- 
 tion, felf-abafement, and fubmiflion was thought 
 requifite on this occafion as if we were approach- 
 ing the grand Turk, or fome equally dreaded, 
 powerful, and offended tyrant ! Nathaniel Brooke, 
 my wife's uncle a fneering, fcornful fellow, a 
 characteristic of the family was our profeffed 
 mediator on this occafion, and propofed to intro- 
 duce us to their offended majefties. He repre- 
 fented the abfolute neceflity of great fubmiflion 
 in order to avert their anger, and obtain their 
 favour j and faid fo much, that, as I was greatly 
 defirous of peace and quietnefs, he perfuaded me 
 to comply with the abject circumftance of afking 
 their pardon, together with my wife, upon my 
 knees, for having married their daughter without 
 their confent, who was no better than myfelf, 
 and fprung from a family no better, if as good, 
 as my own, a circumftance for which he himfelf 
 afterwards laughed me to fcorn, in confonance, 
 indeed, to his family difpofition. To a worthy, 
 generous-minded perfon I might have happened 
 to affront or difoblige, I fhould have efteemed it
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 91 
 
 no diflionour to have made the humbleft reafon- 
 able acknowledgment and fubmiflion ; but to 
 ftoop fo low to ftupid, fordid, unfeeling people, 
 who never manifefted one generous principle 
 that ever I could perceive during my whole 
 acquaintance and connexion with them, was too 
 unworthy and difgufting an abafement for an 
 open, ingenuous mind ever to reflect upon with 
 patience; and I never recall the circumftance 
 to my memory without feeling a painful fenfation 
 of fhame and indignation. They received our 
 humble addrefs and requeft with the ftupid, un- 
 feeling indifference and difregard peculiar to 
 their character and difpofition, and we returned 
 on pretty much the fame terms we came, except- 
 ing a baneful admifiion, obtained by my wife, to 
 vifit them occafionally, to hear them contemn, 
 abufe, and vilify her hufband, and afford them 
 an opportunity to fay and do all that lay in their 
 power to alienate her efteem and affection from 
 her partner, and ruin the peace and comfort of 
 our family. This purpofe, wicked as it was, 
 through the weaknefs and indifcretion of my 
 wife, they at laft completely effected. I had 
 fondly imagined that thefe venerable people, who 
 were grown gray in the profefiion of religion, 
 and had paid a ftricl: conformity for many years 
 to the formalities of their party, and pafled among 
 their neighbours for mighty pious folks, who 
 could fay with the Pharifee (Luke xviii. n,) 
 " God, we thank thee, that we are not as other
 
 92 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 men are, extortioners, unjuft, adulterers, or even 
 as our comparatively more profane and lefs formal 
 neighbours : we pray twice in our family every 
 day (it feems fa/ting was not in their formulary), 
 in contributing to the fupport of the church (as 
 they call it) and its minifters, entertaining the 
 faints, &c. &c : we pay tithes of all that we 
 poflefs, we pay a facred regard to the fabbath by 
 attending conftantly at the chapel that day ; we 
 give a ftri6t attendance on the ordinance (as they 
 emphatically call it), and receive the Sacrament 
 of thy Body and Blood every month, &c. &c. : 
 we muft furely, therefore, be far more eminent 
 Chriftians than thofe of our neighbours who 
 pay little or no regard to thefe, or many of thefe 
 formalities." 
 
 I fee nothing amifs in all this for thofe who 
 choofe to follow it, but I conceive this is not 
 Chriftianity. I had fondly hoped, as I faid before, 
 amidft all this eclat and parade of profejjion and 
 formality , to find fome reality; to find them in 
 pofleflion of fome tolerable meafure of the 
 genuine fpirit and praElice of Chriftianity ; to 
 find them paying fome deference, regard, and 
 attention to fome of the moft important com- 
 mands and precepts given by that divine perfon 
 to his followers, whom they affected to call 
 Mafter ; precepts, the obfervation whereof was 
 of the laft confequence to the peace and comfort 
 both of fociety at large, to every family, and to 
 every individual j I mean thofe of mutual love
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 93 
 
 and forgivenefs, to which he required an un- 
 qualified obedience. But, alas ! I was miferably 
 difappointed in my expectation ; they appeared 
 to be utterly unacquainted with the divine com- 
 mands and injunctions, or, what was worfe, to 
 pay an utter difregard to them j their whole 
 fpirit and conduct towards me on this occafion, 
 for near thirty years together, being if I have 
 a fingle grain of true judgment in the cafe 
 diametrically oppofite both to the fpirit and 
 praflice of Chriftianity. The gofpel commands 
 every man not to think of himfelf more highly 
 than he ought to think, but to think foberly; 
 but thefe people thought highly of themfelves, 
 not only on account of the little wealth they 
 had acquired more than the generality of their 
 neighbours, but alfo on account of their ftri6t, 
 religious formalities, from whence they concluded 
 themfelves righteous ; and, with the ancient 
 Pharisees, thofe religious devils incarnate, def- 
 pifed others efpecially myfelf whom they af- 
 fected to treat with the moft fovereign contempt, 
 and vilified me in the moft vulgar, infulting, and 
 abufive language, as if I had been the vileft 
 character in the country. Jefus Chrift fays, 
 " If thy brother fin againft thee feven times in a 
 day, and feven times in a day turn again unto 
 thee, faying, I repent, forgive him." His be- 
 loved apoftle, John, declares, " If any man fay 
 he loves God, and hateth his brother, he is a 
 liar, and the truth is not in him." And left any
 
 94 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 narrow-minded fectary (hould attempt to reftrain 
 the meaning of the word brother to thofe of their 
 own party (as the felf-opinionated Jews were 
 ftrongly inclined to do), Jefus Chrift teaches 
 them better in the amiable and affecting parable 
 of the Good Samaritan, wherein he gives his 
 narrow-fouled querift in a very forcible manner 
 to underftand, that it was his duty to confider 
 any individual of the human race, even though 
 an enemy, that might happen to ftand in need of 
 his kindnefs or afiiftance, as his neighbour or his 
 brother. But William Birkhead wifhed his 
 knife in my heart, and declared to a friend of 
 mine (Mr. John Broadley) that he would never 
 forgive me ! My friend obferving, that then he 
 muft never fay his prayers, he declared he did 
 not care if he never did ; and whatever he may 
 have done fmce as to faying his prayers, which 
 I think means very little, he feems firmly to have 
 kept his purpofe of bearing me a deadly hatred 
 to this day. 
 
 I mean by and by to give a few fhort notices 
 of both thefe people's families as far as I have 
 been able to trace them out ; in the meantime 
 I return to the thread of my ftory. My wife 
 continued to repeat her vifits, while I was kept 
 at a diftance, as a difhonour to the family. 
 Thefe vifits foon operated for the worfe on my 
 wife's mind and behaviour, and I prefently found, 
 to my extreme regret, that by attaching myfelf 
 to this family, I had attached myfelf to family
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 95 
 
 difquiet and unhappinefs ; to grief, vexation, 
 mifery, poverty, and ruin. 
 
 We were now to make our appearance and 
 receive the vifits of our friendly acquaintance 
 according to cuftom ; but my wife's two beft 
 gowns one green, and the other blue filk 
 were at Brook-houfes, and her parents refufed 
 to let her have them. I told her not to mind 
 this, that I had feven filk gowns which had been 
 preferved from the wreck of my mother's ward- 
 robe, and fome of them better than hers, that as 
 fhe feemed to be about my mother's fize, me 
 fhould have one of the beft of them altered into 
 the prefent fafhion for her to appear in on the 
 prefent occafion. For this purpofe we immedi- 
 ately fent for the mantua-maker, but her mother 
 hearing of the circumftance, her pride, fuch as 
 it was, induced her to fend over the two gowns 
 immediately. We accordingly made our appear- 
 ance and received our vifitors, and had a good 
 number of our common friendly acquaintance to 
 fee us. At May-day, or thereabouts, 1767, we 
 removed to Lower Blacup, in the townfhip of 
 Liverfedge, on the north fide of the hill facing the 
 turnpike-road leading from Cleckheaton to Hartf- 
 head Moor.* The farm I had taken of Mr. 
 
 * Hartfhead Moor is a place near the village of Hartf- 
 head, and is about two miles to the fouth-eaft of Cleck- 
 heaton, the village of Hightown lying between them. 
 The Moor is now all encloled, and covered with thriving 
 farms. There is an ancient crofs where this moor was, in
 
 g6 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 Richard Brooke, of Hoyland,* for fifteen pounds 
 per annum. It was but mean land, and had a 
 very difficult and inconvenient road to it, but 
 was very quiet and retired a circumftance which 
 fuited my fancy very much had a number of 
 good fruit trees plumbs, apples, and cherries in 
 the two gardens or orchards planted by the laft 
 tenant, William Cordingley. We had one quiet 
 neighbour under the roof with us, Tere Lee, 
 with whom, upon the whole, we lived very 
 peaceably during our ftay together, which was 
 fourteen years. Tere Lee had dwelt long at 
 
 a lane near the church. Parts of the church are very 
 ancient, and there is an arch in it which bears a great re- 
 femblance to the beautiful arch now to be feen in Addle, 
 or Adel Church. " I have vifited Hartfhead Church," 
 Mr. Holroyd writes, " and am of opinion that it was 
 built in the earlier part of the twelfth century. Its 
 fituation is fplendid, and embraces a view of the whole of 
 the vale of the Calder, except that part above Halifax. 
 Kirklees, and the wood where bold Robin Hood is faid to 
 lie buried, lie below, a few miles to the fouth ; and the 
 fcene is indeed charming. In the early part of the prefent 
 century the Rev. Patrick Bronte was the incumbent of 
 Hartfhead, and it was to this place he brought his young 
 Cornifh wife, the fame lady who afterwards became the 
 mother of Charlotte, Emily Jane, and Anne Bronte, of 
 Thornton and Haworth, to which places their father after- 
 wards removed.'" 
 
 * Hoyland. There are four places bearing this name 
 in the Weft Riding of Yorkfhire, viz. High Hoyland, 
 a parifh fix miles north of Peniftone ; Swaine Hoyland, 
 two miles north-eaft of Peniftone ; and Upper and Nethei 
 Hoyland, five and a half miles fouth-fouth-eaft of Barnfley. 
 Very likely the latter is the Hoyland referred to in the text,c 
 having over two thoufand inhabitants.
 
 THOM4S WRIGHT. 97 
 
 che place, I fuppofe near forty years. Some 
 houfehold furniture I had, which had been faved 
 from the wreck of my family's furniture, which 
 did fomething towards furnifhing the houfe ; I 
 had alfo purchafed fome other pieces of furniture 
 when I occupied a room or two at Birkenmaw ; 
 thefe made out a little further, and after fome 
 time we had the following articles from Brook- 
 houfes. A new oak defk and drawers this 
 :hey had back again when my wife died j a new 
 fmall mahogany tea-table, price one pound ; one 
 old-famioned oak bedftead, and part of the old 
 bedding, of fmall value ; one little ftand table to 
 fet a candle upon : thefe I ftill retain. An old 
 cradle this they had back again alfo ; a fmall, 
 old-faihioned filver table-fpoon ; this, with many 
 other things belonging to me, they afterwards 
 mamefully, unjuftly, and wickedly perfuaded my 
 children to purloin from their father's houfe, 
 and being but children, and not knowing confe- 
 quences, they were eafily impofed upon by the 
 fpecious pretences that a fecond wife would fhut 
 them, but that they would take care of them 
 for their ufe ; but alas ! they took care that they 
 were never a farthing better for any or moft of 
 them afterwards, fo that they were entirely loft 
 both to them and their father ; a piece of bafe 
 injuftice, and little, if anything better than if my 
 houfe had been rifled by a common houfebreaker. 
 But I return to my ftory. I was obliged to 
 lurchafe what further neceflary things I wanted 
 H
 
 98 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 for the houfe and the farm. I bought a cloth- 
 tenter as it flood in the tenter-croft, and a little 
 old cart and its furniture, and other old goods 
 and implements for the houfe and barn, of 
 William Cordingley, the late tenant, for which 
 I paid him twenty pounds j but I afterwards 
 thought this a dear bargain. Our marriage 
 adventure had coft me a good fum of money ; 
 we were more than a fortnight abfent, and had 
 travelled 500 miles, more or lefs, in carriages ; 
 it will be eafily imagined, therefore, that it muft 
 have been very expenfive : this, with following 
 expenfes, by the time we had got fettled on the 
 farm, had nearly drained my pocket of ready 
 money. However, they ventured fo far at Brook- 
 houfes as to fend us a pack of wool to begin 
 cloth-making with ; we accordingly begun and 
 did a little, as our fmall flock would allow. 
 
 I proceed to relate another circumflance. I 
 had a fmall eftate at Halifax, in cottages, at the 
 bottom of the churchyard ; two or three of thefe, 
 which fronted into the churchyard, were mean 
 and made little rent, and I was advifed by fome 
 of my acquaintance to pull them down, and 
 build new ones on the foundation. I complied 
 with their advice, and for this purpofe borrowed 
 two hundred pounds of Mr. Samuel Webfler, 
 of Morley,* and gave him fecurity of the place. 
 
 * Morley is in the parifh of Batley, eight miles fouth- 
 eaft of Bradford, and four miles fouth-vvell of Leeds. It
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 99 
 
 This money, together with moft of fifty pounds 
 I had at Brook-houfes, was expended on this 
 occafion, and when the affair was completed, the 
 rent which they let for paid about five per cent, 
 for the money, fo that I had better have let it 
 alone. I was foft and unacquainted with affairs 
 and bargains of this nature, and the artful work- 
 men impofed upon me much, fo that the build- 
 ings coft me much more than they might or 
 ought to have done. I remained at Lower 
 Blacup in the whole fourteen years. Soon after 
 we came to this place, my wife's father lent me 
 fifty pounds, for which I gave him a note, but 
 not to pay intereft. Moft of this, as I obferved 
 before, I laid out at Halifax. About the year 
 1773, tnere being a brilk trade, and having but 
 little ftock, my wife's father lent her another 
 fifty pounds, and I made cloth for fome time. 
 My family increafed apace, and about this time 
 my wife lay badly a long time, in lying in of her 
 fourth child (Sally), which proved avery expenfive 
 feafon, and I found, upon calculation, my family 
 expenfes greatly exceeded my income. I acknow- 
 ledge I was no great adept in trade, however, as 
 I never did but little in this way ; if I got nothing 
 I could not be fuppofed to make myfelf much 
 worfe. Our fifty pounds dwindled very faft, 
 
 is a very populous village, and the inhabitants live by the 
 manufacture of clothing. Batley, near by, is the centre 
 of the " Ihoddy '' trade.
 
 ioo AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 owing chiefly to the extraordinary expenfes of 
 my family. I afterwards endeavoured to adjuft 
 my family expenfes to my annual income, that 
 I might be enabled to keep even in the world as 
 long as I could. I did my beft to live on friendly 
 terms with my wife's parents, and fometimes we 
 feemed pretty agreeable, but this never lafted 
 long, and as I could not put up with foul looks 
 and difrefpe&ful behaviour, I was finally forced 
 to withdraw myfelf as much as poflible from all 
 intercourfe with them. My wife, however, con- 
 tinued, and would continue, her vifits in fpite of 
 all I could fay to perfuade her to the contrary ; 
 and they continued to blackguard, villify, and 
 abufe me in her prefence with all the virulence 
 and malignity that the blackeft and moft dia- 
 bolical pride and malice could infpire. This 
 foon had its effecl: on my wife's mind and temper, 
 and entirely ruined the peace and happinefs of 
 our family. Notwith Handing I did all that lay 
 in my power to oblige her, and put up with the 
 infults of her parents with a degree of patience 
 which, confidering the natural warmth of my 
 temper, I have often fince been aftonifhed at, 
 yet Oie feldom came from thence but in a bad 
 humour, and would have abufed me in the moft 
 provoking language for hours together, when I 
 have hardly uttered a word in reply ; indeed, I 
 am forry to fay it, but it is a fad}, and I record 
 it, not to expofe her (for I write this only for 
 my family's perufal), but as a warning to the
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 101 
 
 different branches of my family to avoid the 
 fame fhameful and fatal evil ; I fay me feldom 
 came fober from Brook-houfes, and in fuch cafes 
 always in a bad, abufive humour. I feldom 
 contefted with her on fuch occafions, as I deemed 
 it abfurd, but got her to fleep as foon as I could. 
 This practice, I am certain, very much injured 
 her health, and fhortened her life : it alfo affected 
 the life of one, and injured the health of feveral 
 others of her later children. When the notoriety 
 of her conduct had unavoidably expofed her to 
 the obfervation of all the neighbourhood, and 
 her parents could no longer deny the fact (though 
 ~ it terribly mortified their religious vanity), they 
 endeavoured to throw the odium upon me by 
 faying, that it was grief and vexation of mind 
 becaufe I did not follow a trade, &c. that induced 
 her to adopt the fatal practice ; but this aflertion 
 was faife as hell the propenfity was natural, 
 ftrengthened and increafed, very probably, by 
 habit, for the old people always kept a dram by 
 them, and any of the children that happened to 
 be fo difpofed, could eafily find accefs to the 
 bottle. 
 
 I did not fail to admonim her when me was 
 properly herfelf of the pernicious confequences 
 likely to attend fo imprudent a condu6t, in the 
 moft loving, affectionate, and refpectful manner 
 I poflibly could, but it had no effect j and, indeed, 
 the continual, reiterated contempt and abufe (he 
 heard uttered by her parents againft me, in her
 
 102 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 frequent vifits to fee them, appeared to have en- 
 tirely diverted her of all proper regard and affec- 
 tion for her hufband ; and her behaviour in 
 general was what I might have expected from 
 fuch an unhappy difpofition of mind. In vain did 
 I beg of her with the utmoft earneftnefs and 
 good-nature to forbear her vifits, as the effe&s 
 of them were fo unfavourable to the peace of 
 our family ; in vain did I tell her (he fhould be 
 welcome to fhare the laft penny I had or could 
 honeftly procure, and that I would never upbraid 
 her with her want of fortune, if fhe would ftay 
 by me and not join my enemies, but let us do 
 the beft we could for ourfelves and our family. 
 She told me to my face fhe would not, but that 
 fhe would go and fee them whenever (he pleafed, 
 whether I would or no, whatever was the confe- 
 quence ; and that fhe did not care if I was utterly 
 ruined the next day ! I told her I hoped her laft 
 words were a flip of the tongue, and that upon 
 fecond thoughts fhe would recall them. She 
 protefted fhe would not, and vehemently affirmed 
 that it was the fettled difpofition of her mind ! 
 I told her I was forry for it, and that it was fo 
 much the more pity; and Mary Gomerfall, a 
 neighbour-woman (a Quaker) who fetched milk, 
 and happened to be then in the houfe, cried out, 
 " Nay, miftrefs, for fhame ; thou muft not fay 
 fo ! " I own this repeated declaration (which 
 fhe never afterwards retracted) entirely over- 
 turned my efteem for her, and it was never in
 
 THOM4S WRIGHT. 103 
 
 my power afterwards, to the day of her death, 
 to regard her with that degree of love and affec- 
 tion I always had done before ; and the recollec- 
 tion of it to my mind, even at this diftance of 
 time, is highly difgufting ftill. Hence I advife all 
 my children of both fexes that may happen to 
 enter into the matrimonial connection, to be 
 doubly careful how they make ufe of fuch im- 
 prudent and difrefpe&ful expreflions to their 
 partners ; for though they may be uttered in 
 pafiion, and perhaps afterwards retracted, yet are 
 they apt to make fuch unfavourable impreflions, 
 and create fuch averfions in delicate minds, as 
 perhaps they may never afterwards be able to 
 furmount as long as they live a moft unhappy 
 circumftance between a married couple. How- 
 ever, I was enabled to behave refpelfully and 
 even tenderly to my partner to her laft hour, 
 notwithftanding the ungenerous return I con- 
 tinually met with. 
 
 In the fpring of the year 1774, my wife one 
 morning propofed to go over to her father's and 
 fpend the day with them, as (he very frequently 
 did ; to oblige her, I accompanied her within a 
 field of the houfe, and carried the child for her, 
 and then returned home again to look after our 
 family affairs. I had told her I would meet her 
 in the evening, and help her to bring the child 
 home again. We had ploughers in the field, and 
 they had promifed to plough me a headland to 
 plant potatoes upon. Towards evening I locked
 
 104 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 the door, and went to fee what they were doing. 
 I found they had left the field without performing 
 their promife ; I followed them to a blackfmith's 
 at the top of the hill, where I heard they were, 
 and engaged them to come again and plough it 
 for me, and then returned home immediately. 
 When I got within view of our houfe I faw my 
 wife at the door, and hafted down to open it. 
 Her brother Willy had brought her and the child 
 behind him on her father's gray mare. When I 
 reached the houfe I found my wife in a furious 
 pallion on the fuppofition that I had been attend- 
 ing the mafons who were at that time erecting 
 the Methodift preaching-houfe on the top of the 
 hill ; in this fhe was miftaken ; however, fhe 
 proceeded to abufe me at a great rate. I faid 
 little, but told her that if fhe could not fee her 
 parents and come home peaceably and in good 
 humour, I wifhed fhe would flay with them, 
 while fhe was there. She immediately put on 
 her cloak and marched off, leaving the little child 
 in the cradle. Her younger fitter afterwards 
 fetched the child while I was out of the houfe, 
 and I followed them to Brook-houfes, where I 
 received plenty of abufe, and many warm words 
 paffed between us. I left her, and fhe flayed 
 with them about three weeks, when, under- 
 ftanding that fhe wifhed to be at home, I went 
 over and fetched her and the child back again. 
 
 D 
 
 On this occafion more warm words pafled 
 between us, and her mother told me, with a
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 105 
 
 fpirit of the moft perverfe malignity, that fhe 
 had rather {he had married a chimney-fweeper ; 
 nay, that fhe had rather follow her to her grave, 
 than fee her return peaceably home with her 
 hufband ! This was an old woman making 
 mighty pretences to religion, but where, I 
 wonder, on this occafion was her Chriftianity ? 
 No wonder, that being conftantly under fuch 
 baneful influence, my wife a weak, unreflecting 
 girl fhould behave with impropriety towards 
 her hufband. I told her, as we returned home, 
 that I was no longer difpofed to put up with 
 fimilar infults to thofe I had received formerly, 
 and that I infifted upon better behaviour for the 
 future ; otherwife, fhe might depend upon it, 
 I would take more fevere methods with her. 
 This feemed (partly, at leaft) to have its effect, 
 as fhe behaved afterwards, though not very re- 
 fpetfully, yet in a lefs offenfive manner towards 
 me to the day of her death. 
 
 I have noticed before that my wife lay a long 
 time ill when fhe bore her fourth child, and I 
 think it may not be amifs to give a more parti- 
 cular account of that circumftance in this place. 
 I fhall be excufed for the plainnefs of my narra- 
 tion, as, firft, the fa6t itfelf was made as notorious 
 as it could be to all the neighbourhood by her 
 own conduit ; and fecondly, I write this only 
 for the perufal of my family, to whom it may 
 prove a fuitable admonition ; and thirdly, I 
 have forgiven my wife for her mifcondudl to-
 
 io6 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 wards me, and, though I know nothing of her 
 prefent fltuation, yet, as {he is in the hands of a 
 God of infinite goodnefs, wifdom, and power, I 
 am fatisfied that all will be done for her that is 
 neceflary, when it is neceflary and as it is necef- 
 fary, to reftore her again to holinefs and happi- 
 nefs, to the full perfe&ion of her nature ; in 
 which ftate, through divine goodnefs, I doubt 
 not, one day, of meeting with her again. I 
 proceed. By the imprudent ufe of fpirits fhe 
 had much injured her health and constitution, 
 as well as the health and conftitution of the 
 child (he was pregnant with, and it was with 
 difficulty it was reared afterwards. The child 
 was to bring up by the fpoon, and {he herfelf, 
 after the birth, lay confined to her bed for the 
 moft part for three months, caufed, I am fatisfied, 
 principally, if not folely, by a continuance of the 
 fame baneful practice. I obferved this with 
 extreme forrow and regret, but knew not how I 
 could peaceably prevent it. If I had complained 
 or withheld it from her, her parents would have 
 abufed me beyond meafure, as being unwilling 
 to allow her what {he ftood in need of. I hoped 
 her fifter or mother, who frequently attended 
 her, would have noticed the circumftance, and 
 have -had good fenfe and refpecl: enough for her, 
 to have interpofed ; but I expected this in vain. 
 Mr. James Scott, the minifter of the Calvin- 
 iftic Chapel at Heckmondwike, of which her 
 parents were members, paid her a vifit, to pray
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 107 
 
 with her and adminifter ghoftly comfort and 
 confolation. I knew her to be very unfteady 
 in her head at the time, yet fhe quoted the 
 common-place fcriptures fhe had been wont to 
 read, talked to the parfon in the cant ftrain of 
 the party, and profefled great fpiritual comfort 
 and confolation. Difgufting circumftances thefe 
 to a fober, obfervant byftander. The minifter 
 was impofed upon, and departed without ever 
 difcovering (that ever I could perceive) anything 
 at all of her real fituation. The doctor, how- 
 ever, took notice of this, and afked me how 
 much rum we ufed in a week ? I told him we 
 had ufed more than a gallon for many weeks 
 together. He held up his hands, and declared 
 we fhould kill her. I told him I was aware of 
 it, and informed him of my critical fituation. 
 He pitied me very much, but declared that if we 
 continued the practice we mould infallibly and 
 fpeedily deftroy her. In a day or two after this, 
 
 old Dame G d, a difcreet, difcerning old 
 
 woman, a diftant relation of the family, paid her 
 a vifit. She had fagacity enough to difcern her 
 real fituation, and after afking fome queftions of 
 me as to what we gave her to drink, &c.,feemed 
 to be fully aware of the danger of it. She faid 
 nothing to me of her intention when me left us, 
 but I was pretty certain from what fhe faid, and 
 what followed, that fhe immediately acquainted 
 her mother with the circumftance, and the im- 
 propriety and danger of the practice j for the
 
 loS AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 next forenoon fhe came up in a great chafe, and 
 almoft out of breath, and the firft word fhe faid 
 after fhe came into the houfe was, " Take away 
 that bottle, fhe fhall not have another drop ! " 
 I thought, that is well, then my wife will get 
 upon her legs again. The bottle was taken 
 away, fhe had no more rum, and fhe immediately 
 recovered. It had been well if fhe had never 
 tafted it more ; it might have been fome addition 
 to her days ; but alas ! the propenfity was too 
 deeply rooted, and fhe could not or would not 
 deny herfelf of the baneful practice, as oppor- 
 tunity offered, till at length it deftroyed her 
 health and life together. 
 
 In the autumn of the year 1773, I took an 
 excurfion into the country, in company with 
 Mr. Jofeph Jackfon, a currier of Hightown,* to 
 folicit the affiftance of the Methodifts in different 
 parts in defraying the expenfe of erecting the 
 new Methodift Meeting-houfe at Height. We 
 proceeded through Halifax, Rochdale, Man- 
 chefter, Bolton, and the intermediate towns, to 
 
 * Hightown, in the townfhip of Liverfedge, lies between 
 Cleckheaton and Hartfhead, and is, as its name imports, 
 fituated on elevated ground. The Wefleyan Methodift 
 Meeting-houfe referred to as about to be built at " Height," 
 probably refers to the " theykd chapel " at Hightown, 
 which was creeled on a piece of high land. This place of 
 wormip was pulled down a few years ago, and a more 
 commodious one was creeled on, or near, the fame fpot. 
 Hightown was formerly noted for its blanket and card 
 manufactories.
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 109 
 
 Liverpool ; we then crofTed the river Merfey to 
 Eafton Ferry ; we patted thence to Chefter, into 
 the edge of Wales, and places adjacent. We 
 then crofled the country to Shrewfbury, the 
 capital of Shropfhire. Here we pafled the night 
 at one of the principal inns in the town, and in 
 the evening the mafter of the inn informed us of 
 the fituation of a young man in the town prifon 
 under condemnation to death for a highway 
 robbery, and who was to fufter the next day. 
 I exprefled a defire to fee him, and the landlord 
 told us that he had been fo uncommonly rude 
 and favage in his behaviour during his confine- 
 ment, as to intimidate moft people from vifiting 
 him ; but that if we durft venture, he would 
 accompany us to the prifon to fee him in the 
 morning. We agreed to his propofal, and the 
 next morning, in company with our hoft, paid a 
 vifit to the prifoner. We found him in a cham- 
 ber of the prifon, fitting befide the fire, heavily 
 ironed ; another prifoner fat on the other fide of 
 the fire, with heavy irons upon him likewife, 
 and the keeper of the prifon's daughter (as I 
 took her to be), decently drefled in black, fat 
 fewing in a window not far from the prifoner we 
 came to vifit. I afked him if he was the perfon 
 who was to fuffer to-day ? He looked earneflly 
 at me and replied, yes. I noticed the awfulnefs 
 of his cafe, and exprefled my pity for his unhappy 
 fituation. He was looking very earneftly in the 
 meantime at Mr. Jackfon, who flood at my right
 
 no AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 hand (I was betwixt them), and faid, " I took 
 that perfon at firft for my profecutor, and was 
 juft looking for the poker to dafti out his brains !" 
 This declaration alarmed my partner not a little, 
 who fhrunk back with fear, and was fo ftruck 
 with the circumftance, that he did not choofe 
 afterwards to vifit him a fecond time. I afked 
 if he thought himfelf wrongfully profecuted ? he 
 faid he was fure of it. I faid, be that as it might, 
 it was wrong to bear malice even to an enemy, 
 and peculiarly dangerous to a perfon in his awful 
 fituation. He faid, " I know it," and earneftly 
 added, " but what can a man do ? " I told him 
 it was true, that of ourfehes we could do nothing, 
 but that through Chrift ftrengthening us, we 
 could do all things ; and earneftly advifed him 
 to pay a clofe and ferious attention to the con- 
 cerns of a future world the little time he had to 
 remain in this, and urged fome fcripture promifes 
 for his encouragement. He told me he knew 
 the fcriptures as well as me, and quoted (I think) 
 that paflage in the prophet Jeremiah x. 23, 
 " The way of man is not in himfelf, it is not in 
 man that walketh to diret his fteps." He faid 
 that he had been in battle, and that he had been 
 fhot through his hat, his coat, &c. and yet had 
 never received any harm ; that he believed every- 
 thing was fated to come to pafs as it did come to 
 pafs ; that every man was fated to die when he 
 did die, and that therefore he might as well die 
 like a man, as like a fool. I told him that his
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. in 
 
 reafonings and conclufions were equally falfe ; 
 that I was forry he had got involved in that 
 common error, and advifed him not by any 
 means to rely upon his opinion for fafety, or 
 expect to get rid of his own evil conduct and its 
 confequences, by vainly attempting to father it 
 upon fate or the Divine decree. I aflured him if 
 he did he would find himfelf dreadfully miftaken. 
 I told him we were ftrangers to each other, that 
 I had no intereft in his concerns but what arofe 
 from the common love I bore to my fpecies, that 
 mifery always attracted my pity, and the greater 
 the mifery and the danger attending it, the greater 
 my concern for the fufferer ; that I fhould feel 
 myfelf peculiarly happy to fee him manifeft a 
 proper fenfe of his prefent condition, and genuine 
 penitence for his fin and folly, that he might be 
 able to entertain a well-grounded hope of better- 
 ing his condition in that future world to which 
 he was haftening, an.d begged him to cry earneftly 
 for mercy. He heard me with attention, feemed 
 much affected with what I faid his heart ap- 
 peared to be full, and the tears flood in his eyes. 
 I told him if he was truly penitent I was fure 
 God would accept him through a Mediator, and 
 encouraged him to hope for mercy. The time 
 of his. execution drew nigh, and we were obliged 
 to leave him ; I gave him my hand and bid him 
 farewell. He held my hand hard for fome time, 
 and feemed to part with it with reluctance. As 
 foon as he could for, as I obferved before, his
 
 ii2 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 heart was full he very kindly and very refpecl- 
 fully bid me farewell, and we departed. 
 
 We were invited to dine at a houfe in the 
 town where they received the Methodift preach- 
 ers. We repaired thither, and a gentlewoman 
 of the town named Lady Glynn, a lady of 
 fortune, and a favourer of the Methodifts, fent 
 us a number of dimes to dinner ; but before we 
 had quite dined fhe fent up her maid in hafte, to 
 inform us that what I had faid to the prifoner 
 had affe&ed him to fuch a degree, that after we 
 left him he burft into a flood of tears and begged 
 them to fend for a minifter to pray with him, 
 which fhe looked upon as fo extraordinary a 
 circumftance after his former defperate and 
 hardened behaviour, that fhe wifhed I would go 
 immediately to the prifon, and, if I could gain 
 admittance, to repeat my endeavours to engage 
 his ferious attention to his future welfare. Xo 
 oblige her ladymip, we left our dinner immedi- 
 ately and walked to the prifon, but were too late 
 to fpeak with the prifoner, as they were juft 
 bringing him out to execution. We attended 
 him to the gallows nearly a mile out of the 
 town, amongft a prodigious concourfe of people. 
 A young man fat by him in the cart with a book 
 in his hand, who read and fpoke to him by turns, 
 but we could not hear what he faid. By his 
 demeanour in the cart, he feemed to be either 
 drunk or ftupified with the apprehenfion of his 
 near approaching fate. His behaviour at the
 
 THOM4S WRIGHT. 113 
 
 gallows while the minifter was praying with him, 
 appeared to me in the fame light, and in his 
 addrefs to the people, I was forry to hear him 
 declare his belief in the fame erroneous fenti- 
 ment of fate he had done to us before, a fenti- 
 ment in which he feemed to take refuge to the 
 laft moment of his life. The cart was then 
 drawn from under him, and he was launched 
 into the unfeen world. 
 
 This young man was only twenty-four years 
 of age, was fprung from a reputable family, 
 who had given him a liberal education ; he 
 turned out wild, enlifted into the horfe-guards, 
 deferted from them, taking his horfe along with 
 him, and committed the highway-robbery near 
 Shrewfbury for which he fuffered. 
 
 I wifh here to take notice of the dangerous 
 tendency of this erroneous doctrine of Fate or 
 Predeftinatlon ; of which, the practical ufe which 
 this unhappy young fellow made of it, is an un- 
 deniable inftance. The favourers of this opinion 
 may perhaps fay, that people may abufe any 
 opinion. It is true, moft opinions, however 
 true or innocent, may be abufed by inattentive 
 and difengenuous minds ; but this is no abufe of 
 this opinion, for, if it be true, the inference 
 drawn from it by the highwayman is a fair, 
 natural, and neceflary confequence of the prin- 
 ciple. 
 
 In the morning (Sunday) we proceeded from 
 hence to Madeley, to vifit the Rev. Mr. Flet-
 
 ii 4 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 cher.* In pafling through Coal-brook-dale we 
 pafied over the broken ground caufed by the earth- 
 quake which happened the preceding May,t and 
 faw the new track which the river had wrought 
 itfelf through an adjacent meadow, after being 
 forced by the moving earth out of its ancient 
 courfe. We attended the forenoon and after- 
 noon fervice at Madeley Church, and were much 
 edified with the company of this truly learned 
 and pious man, who was at this time writing his 
 " Equal Check," the manufcript of which he 
 
 * The life of this remarkable man has employed the 
 pens of more than one writer, the beft being that by the 
 Rev. J, Benfon. John William Fletcher, whofe real name 
 was Jean Guillaume de la Flechere, was a Swifs by birth 
 and family, who fettled in England, and became a clergy- 
 man of the English Church. His Strong feelings againft 
 the doclrines of Calvinifm had prevented his entering the 
 church in his native land. He was prefented to the vicar- 
 age of Madeley, in Shropshire, in the year 1760; fo that 
 at the date mentioned in the text, he had held the living 
 thirteen years. He died at Madeley in 1785, and was buried 
 in the churchyard of that pariSh, where his tomb is yet 
 Shown. Madeley is fifteen miles to the eaft of Shrewsbury. 
 
 t This refers to an extraordinary movement and break- 
 ing up of the ground which occurred on the 27th of 
 May, 1773, at a place called the Birches, about half-way 
 between Buildwas and Iron-bridge, which lay on the way 
 our travellers would take to proceed from Shrew/bury to 
 Madeley. Buildwas is about eleven miles from Shrewsbury, 
 on the river Severn. An account of the circumftances of 
 this extraordinary occurrence is given in the " Gentleman's 
 Magazine" for 1773, p. 281. A more detailed account 
 was published by Mr. Fletcher who vifited the fpot imme- 
 diately after it occurred in a pamphlet entitled, "A 
 Dreadful Phenomenon Defcribed and Improved," printed 
 at Shrewfbury. Fletcher had preached a fermon on the
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 115 
 
 mowed me.* We pafled the night with him, 
 and in the morning we proceeded on our journey 
 through Shiftnall, Congleton, Newcaftle-under- 
 line, Boflam, and other places, to Macclesfield 
 in Chefhire. We pafled from hence over the 
 mountains, through Buxton, Tidfwell, &c. to 
 Sheffield. We pafled the night at the Methodift 
 preacher's, and after fupper, Mr. Jackfon being 
 very weary and fleepy, was in hafte to get to bed. 
 While he was undreffing having heard much 
 of the bugs at Sheffield I took a candle and 
 examined the bed-ftocks, in a knot-hole of which 
 I difcovered a whole fwarm of bugs. My partner 
 was furprifed, and afked me if they were bugs ? 
 I told him, yes. He was prefently drefled again, 
 and declared he would not fleep there for five 
 guineas. " Come, Tommy," fays he, " we have 
 often fpared a night's fleep with our fweethearts ; 
 let us fit by the fire till morning rather than 
 hazard the taking any of thefe vermin home 
 with us." The people of the houfe would fain 
 have perfuaded us to go to bed, telling us they 
 
 occafion, which was printed in this pamphlet. It was 
 looked upon at the time as the effeft of an earthquake, 
 and it is Hated in the " Gentleman's Magazine," that the 
 convulfion of the earth was felt at Wenlock, and at Bridge- 
 north, a (till greater diftance. 
 
 * This was Fletcher's well-known work entitled, " An 
 Equal Check to Pharifaifm and Antinomianifm." The firft 
 part was published late in the fpring following this vifit 
 defcribed in the text. The preface to this firtt part is 
 dated " Madeley, May 21, 1774."
 
 u6 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 did not bite all perfons, but no arguments could 
 prevail on Mr. Jackfon to venture himfelf 
 amongft fuch company. We accordingly fat or lay 
 upon the chairs, by the fire, all night, and in the 
 morning proceeded through Barnfley and Wake- 
 field home again, where we arrived that after- 
 noon, after having been about a fortnight abfent. 
 I underftood from my neighbours that my 
 wife had been very imprudent in the indulgence 
 of her peculiar weaknefs in my abfence ; a cir- 
 cumftance which mowed me the inexpediency 
 of leaving home, and made me much regret my 
 journey. As my family now increafed apace, 
 and my income began to pinch us, I propofed to 
 my wife to folicit for her fortune j not to trade 
 with, for fear it fhould be leflened or fpent, but 
 to put out on intereft to increafe our annual 
 income ; at the fame time I propofed to fecure 
 it to her and her children by a jointure on my 
 own eftate equal to the fum advanced. Had this 
 plan been adopted, I might have been enabled, 
 with good economy, to maintain my family com- 
 fortably at leaft, if not genteelly, without break- 
 ing any farther into my little patrimony. My 
 wife, I fuppofe, never mentioned the matter, for 
 what reafon I know not. The confequence was, 
 I was obliged finally to fell my land a moft un- 
 fortunate circumftance both for me and my 
 family, as if I had had it to difpofe of at prefent, 
 from a concurrence of circumftances fmce that 
 period, I fuppofe it might have fetched above
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 117 
 
 2OOO/. : this I owe to the carefulnefs, prudence, 
 forefight, wifdom, and piety refident at Brook- 
 houfes. I wifh here to remark, that as I did 
 not make myfelf, my want of talents or propenfity 
 for trade, &c. is no moral defect ; it is therefore 
 no crime, brings no guilt upon my mind ; nor 
 can any perfon juftly blame or defpife me on that 
 account. I notice here alfo that I never engaged 
 in trade but I had a fecret mifgiving upon my 
 mind that it would not do well. Had I defpifed 
 the cenfures of the world, and paid more atten- 
 tion to this filent monitor, it might have been 
 fome hundreds better for me at prefent than it is. 
 But fo far for this. 
 
 I proceed to take notice, that during my refi- 
 dence at Lower Blacup my wife bore me the 
 following children in the following order : 
 
 ELIZABETH WRIGHT, my firft child and firft 
 daughter, was born at Lower Blacup, near High- 
 town, on the north fide of the hill facing the 
 turnpike-road leading from Cleckheaton to Hartf- 
 head Moor, in the townmip of Liverfedge, in 
 the parifh of Birftall, within fix miles of Halifax, 
 in the county of York, on Saturday, the 3Oth 
 day of January, 1768, at half-an-hour after two 
 o'clock in the afternoon, one year, ten weeks, 
 and two days after our marriage. She was bap- 
 tized by the Rev. Mr. James Scott, minifter of 
 the Independent Congregation at the Old Chapel 
 in Heckmondwike, on Tuefday, the 22nd day 
 of March, 1768.
 
 n8 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 MARY WRIGHT, my fecond child and fecond 
 daughter, was born at Lower Blacup likewife, 
 on Wednefday, the 22nd day of November, 
 
 1769, about feven o'clock in the evening, one 
 year, ten months, two weeks, and two days after 
 the birth of her fifter Elizabeth. She was bap- 
 tized by the Rev. Mr. James Scott of Heck- 
 mondwike likewife, on Monday, the 5th day of 
 February, 1770. Mary Wright, my fecond 
 daughter and fecond child, died at Lower Blacup 
 on Friday, the 25th day of May, 1770, between 
 eleven and twelve o'clock in the forenoon, and 
 was buried in the Old Red Chapel at Cleck- 
 heaton, at the bottom of the alley, at the foot of 
 her great uncle Thomas Birkhead's graveftone, 
 which now lies in the New Chapel yard, near 
 the low wall, and is broken acrofs the middle, 
 but has this year (1796) been taken up to re- 
 ceive the corpfe of her grandmother Birkhead. 
 Between the foot of this ftone and the low wall, 
 Mary, my fecond child, and James, as I call 
 him for diftinHon fake (though never-baptized), 
 my ftill-born male child, lie fide by fide. She 
 was interred on Monday, the 28th day of May, 
 
 1770, aged twenty-fix weeks, one day and a half. 
 She was a remarkably beautiful and good-tempered 
 child, and apparently likelier for life than any 
 child we had ; but by fome means or other (we 
 never knew how) contracted a cough, which 
 grew more and more violent, till it wafted her 
 away, and defpatched her infant foul to Paradife.
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 119 
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT,* my third child and firft 
 fon, was born at Lower Blacup alfo, on Friday, 
 the 8th day of March, 1771, eleven minutes 
 before five o'clock in the afternoon, one year, 
 three months, three weeks, and one day after 
 the birth of his fifter Mary. He was baptized 
 by the Rev. Mr. James Dawfon, minifter of the 
 Independent Congregation, at the Old Red 
 Chapel in Cleckheaton. 
 
 SARAH WRIGHT, my fourth child and third 
 daughter, was born at Lower Blacup likewife, 
 on Wednefday, the 5th day of March, 1773, a 
 few minutes after feven o'clock in the evening, 
 one year, twelve months, three weeks, and three 
 days after the birth of her brother Thomas. 
 She was baptized by the Rev. Mr. James Daw- 
 fon of Cleckheaton likewife. Sally was a very 
 weakly child when born ; fhe had been much 
 injured in her conftitution by her mother's im- 
 prudence, and it appeared very doubtful whether 
 we could raife her or not. I had defigned to 
 name her Lydia, after her mother (whom fhe 
 very much refembles both in perfon and difpo- 
 fition), but as her mother and her friends thought 
 it probable fhe would die, they difapproved of 
 my defign, and I therefore gave her the name of 
 Sarah. Her mother lay badly long after her 
 
 * The father of the editor of the prefent volume. It may 
 be remarked that this praftice of marking the exaft moment 
 of births with fo much care, arofe out of the old belief in 
 aftrological influences.
 
 120 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 birth ; we had her therefore to bring up by the 
 fpoon, which proved a very troublefome bufmefs. 
 However, fhe furvived to attain maturity, and is at 
 prefent(June 1796) married and has two children. 
 JAMES WRIGHT, my fifth child and fecond 
 fon, was born at Lower Blacup likewife, on 
 Monday, the yth day of February, 1774 (the 
 birthday of his father fince the alteration of 
 the ftyle), twelve four-week months and two 
 days after the birth of his fifter Sarah. I had 
 defigned if the child furvived and proved a fon, 
 to have called his name John, but being born 
 dead, for diftin<SHon fake I named him James. 
 This child, who never faw the light of the fun, 
 fell a vi&im to his mother's imprudence in the 
 womb, and was buried at the bottom of the alley 
 in the Old Red Chapel at Cleckheaton. 
 
 " Happy the infant dead ; but happieft he 
 
 Who ne'er muft fail on life's tempeftuous fea ; 
 Who, with bleft freedom, from the general doom 
 Exempt, muft never force the teeming womb, 
 Nor fee the fun, nor fink into the tomb ! " 
 
 JOHN WRIGHT, my fixth child and third fon, 
 was born at Lower Blacup likewife, on Thurfday, 
 the 2nd day of February, 1775, at eight minutes 
 after nine o'clock in the evening, twelve months, 
 three weeks, and two days after the birth of his 
 brother James. He was baptized by the Rev. 
 Mr. James Dawfon, of Cleckheaton, on Monday 
 the 27th day of February, 1775. 
 
 WILLIAM WRIGHT, my feventh child and 
 fourth fon, was born at Brook-houfes, in the 
 townfhip of Gomerfall, in the parim of Birftall,
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 121 
 
 aforefaid, twelve weeks and two days before his 
 mother's death, {he having been gradually de- 
 clining of a confumption during moft of the time 
 of her pregnancy with him, on Monday, the 
 28th day of July, 1777, half-an-hour after eight 
 o'clock in the evening, two years, fix months, 
 one week, and one day after the birth of his 
 brother John. He was baptized by the Rev. Mr. 
 James Scott, of Heckmondwike, on Monday, 
 Auguft the i8th, 1777. William Wright, my 
 feventh child and fourth fon, died at Brook- 
 houfes, of the fmall-pox, on Sunday the loth 
 day of March, 1782, about feven o'clock in the 
 morning, and was buried on Tuefday, the I2th 
 day of March, in the New Chapel yard, at 
 Cleckheaton, clofe by the north fide of his 
 mother's tomb, and rather under the edge of it, 
 aged four years and feven months. This child 
 alfo fuffered feverely in his conftitution from the 
 fame unhappy caufe before mentioned. I put 
 him out to nurfe, where he continued till he was 
 almoft gone ; his grandmother then propofed to 
 take him to herfelf, to which I agreed, and with 
 much care and attention me recovered him, and 
 he was become a fine lovely boy, remarkably 
 good-natured and intelligent, and that engaged 
 the old people's afte&ion very much, efpecially 
 his grandfather's, who forrowed exceedingly for 
 his death. He was a very weakly child when 
 born, and long after being raifed with great diffi- 
 culty, his mother having left him a ftrong taint 
 of the confumptive diforder of which me died,
 
 122 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 and which he never got clear of, always breathing 
 fhort whenever he was the leaft hurried, which 
 plainly indicated a defet in the lungs. This was 
 a very unfavourable circumftance for him under 
 the diforder with which he was afflicted, and was 
 probably the greateft natural impediment to his 
 ftruggling through it with life, as his eldeft fifter 
 did, who was afflicted with the fame malignant 
 kind of pox. However, he was grown a beautiful 
 lovely child, was frefh and fair-looking, and very 
 forward and intelligent for his years as to his 
 mental abilities, and of a moft fweet and engaging 
 difpofition and temper, which had greatly en- 
 deared him to me and to his grandparents, with 
 whom he had lived fmce he came from the nurfe 
 when part of a year old. They had been very 
 tender over him, and taken great care and pains 
 to rear him, but death fnatched him from all our 
 hopes, and tranfported his infant foul to his 
 brother and fifter in Paradife. I note, they had 
 a carelefs girl for a maid, who fhould have 
 watched with him that night, while the old 
 people were at reft ; but fell afleep, and in the 
 morning found the child fallen from a high bed- 
 fide, cold and dead, or nearly fo ; a deplorable 
 circumftance and matter of pungent grief to 
 furviving relatives. 
 
 EPITAPH. 
 
 r. 
 Infant. 
 
 To the dark and filent tomb 
 Soon I hafted from the womb ;
 
 r HO MAS WRIGHT. 123 
 
 Scarce the dawn of life began 
 E'er I meafur'd out my fpan. 
 
 II. 
 
 I no fmiling pleafures knew, 
 
 I no gay delights could view ; 
 Joylefs fojourner was I, 
 
 Only born to weep and die. 
 
 in. 
 
 Anfwer. 
 Happy infant ! early bleft ! 
 
 Reft, in peaceful (lumber, reft ; 
 Early refcu'd from the cares 
 
 Which increafe with growing years. 
 
 iv. . 
 
 No delights are worth thy ftay, 
 
 Smiling as they feem and gay ; 
 All our gaiety is vain, 
 
 All our laughter is but pain. 
 
 v. 
 
 Infant, 
 Are then all your pleafures vain ? 
 
 Is there none exempt from pain ? 
 Is there no delight or joy 
 
 But your fondeft hopes will cloy ? 
 
 VI. 
 
 Anpuier. 
 Short and fickly are they all, 
 
 Hardly tafted e'er they pall ; 
 Lafting only and divine 
 
 Is an innocence like thine. 
 
 VII. 
 Infant. 
 Sickly pleafures all adieu ! 
 
 Pleafures which I never knew, 
 I'll enjoy my early reft, 
 
 Of my innocence poflefled : 
 
 Happy, happy, from the womb 
 
 That I hafted to the tomb.
 
 124- AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 I take notice here of the following circum- 
 ftances, which may ferve to difplay the nature of 
 their fpirit and conduct towards me at Brook- 
 houfes. The night before my child died, I went 
 over to fee him, and found him forely afflicted 
 indeed. While I was forrowing over him, he 
 put me from him, and faid (if I underftood him 
 right, for he could hardly fpeak plain), " I do 
 not like you." This cut me to the heart. I 
 knew from whence it came : my child was 
 guiltlefs, not being arrived at an age to diftin- 
 guifh between good and evil ; but thofe people 
 who, by abufe and mifreprefentation, had infufed 
 the averfion into my infant's mind againft his 
 own father, furely were highly culpable. Was 
 this the fpirit and conduct of Chriftians, to lead 
 my child if he had lived into the hazard of 
 bringing himfelf under the weight of that fentence, 
 (Deut. xxvii. 16,) " Curfed be he that fetteth light 
 by his father." It will be obferved that in order 
 to bring the account of this child altogether to 
 his death, I have anticipated the time ; his 
 mother being at this time dead, I having been 
 a widower above four years, and was at this 
 time married to my prefent wife. I note next, 
 that when my fon died, they never fent me any 
 notice of his death any more than if I had been 
 nothing related to him, nor did I hear anything 
 of it till fome neighbours brought me word 
 towards noon. Was this the behaviour of Chrif- 
 tians ? or would it not have done difcredit to the
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 125 
 
 manners and feelings of a heathen? I note next, 
 that when my child was buried they refufed to 
 admit my wife to the funeral. She was not fond 
 of going, but the contrary, on their account ; 
 but I was grieved to fee them exert their malice, 
 ill-nature, and ill-manners on fuch a forrowful 
 and improper occafion, rendered more affecting 
 by the lofs of a favourite child. One would 
 have imagined that the folemnity and diftrefs of 
 fuch a circumftance might have foftened their 
 malice and ill-nature for the moment, and in- 
 duced them to behave, if not with kindnefs, 
 with common decency at leaft ; but this, it feems, 
 was not to be expected from fuch characters. 
 We met accidentally at O. Brooke's, to buy 
 funeral attire, where many warm words parted 
 between us, and I threatened to take the child 
 home and bury him myfelf. On this occafion, 
 Willy Birkhead, my late wife's brother, behaved 
 very commendably, and it is with pleafure that I 
 record his affability and good nature. He ap- 
 peared to be much diftrefled with the behaviour 
 of his parents, apologifed to me for their conduct, 
 faid they were old and tefty, and begged I would 
 excufe them, and contain my paffion, fo as not to 
 utter any harfh expreflion. For his fake I bridled 
 a good deal. He went to his parents, wept 
 bitterly, and perfuaded them to agree for my 
 wife to come to the funeral. He returned with 
 his mother, and they told me if I pleafed I might 
 bring my wife with me. I told my brother that
 
 126 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 I was obliged to him for his good will and the 
 propriety of bis behaviour ; but that my wife 
 fhould not come amongft them, that neither 
 would I nor the children, but that we would 
 meet my child's corpfe by the way and accom- 
 pany it to the grave. At this declaration he burft 
 into a violent flood of tears, and earneftly begged 
 that I would go, and take the children with me, 
 at leaft ; he faid, elfe it would look fo badly. I 
 told him I was fenfible of that, but could not 
 help it ; it was their fault and not mine. Here 
 his mother joined her entreaties, and defired me 
 to go. I told her I did not choofe to go where 
 I knew I was not welcome : fhe faid I was wel- 
 come. I looked her in the face, and afked her 
 if fhe could fay from her heart, and without 
 hypocrify, that I was welcome ? She faid fhe 
 could (how truly, God knows !). Upon this I 
 promifed to go, and accordingly next day I and 
 the children went over and accompanied my 
 dear, and lately beautiful, lovely, and intelligent 
 boy to the grave. There may he reft in peace- 
 ful {lumber till the archangel's trumpet awake 
 him into a renewed, immortal, more happy and 
 more perfect ftate of exiftence. 
 
 I return to the thread of my ftory. In the 
 clofe of the year 1776, and the beginning of 
 1777, I was attacked with a fevere fit of the 
 rheumatifm, which confined me to my bed for 
 feveral weeks. I recovered about February, 
 when my wife began to feel ftrong fymptoms of
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 127 
 
 a defeft in the lungs, and an approaching decline. 
 She was frefh and corpulent, and looked very 
 well when fhe began, but the difeafe altered her 
 very faft. As our houfe flood on the north fide 
 of a fteep hill, the doctor advifed her to refide 
 fome time at her father's houfe, for the benefit 
 of a better air, as the weather was cold, and it 
 enjoyed a warmer and more foutherly expofure. 
 With my confent, therefore, fhe went over to 
 her father's houfe, where fhe refided afterwards 
 for the moft part till her death. We were at 
 this time without a maid ; I was left alone with 
 the children. I hired a neighbour woman to do 
 our occafional work, but as I was obliged to be 
 often from home, and the children were little 
 ones, I fuftered much by her difhonefty. 1 paid 
 my wife all the attention, and procured her all 
 the afliftance, in my power, but found myfelf in 
 an unpleafing fituation from the unkind and dif- 
 refpeclful behaviour of her parents. I therefore 
 infifted on her returning home, and I would 
 procure her all needful attendance and afliftance. 
 She wifhed to ftay, obferving that fhe could not 
 be fo well pleafed with anybody to wait upon her 
 as her fifter, and fhe could not make it convenient 
 to attend her at our houfe. This was her de- 
 clared motive for defiring to ftay, but I very well 
 knew fhe had another and a ftronger motive for 
 wifhing to remain at Brook-houfes. I threatened 
 to take her home by force as I could not vifit 
 her there with fatisfa&ion, but as fhe begged
 
 128 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 with tears and a good deal of refpe&ful fubmifllon 
 when {he faw me angry, that I would indulge 
 her at leaft for a while, I confented, and fhe 
 rode over home once or twice to fee us. I was 
 there every day, fometimes twice a day; but, 
 from the influence of her parents, as I had reafon 
 to believe, fhe did not always behave very refpedl:- 
 fully. The day before her death if I remember 
 right finding her very weak and not likely to 
 live long, after returning home and looking after 
 my family affairs, I went over again about eight 
 o'clock in the evening, and took all the children 
 with me, to take, as I thought, and as it proved, 
 their laft leave of each other. When I got there, 
 I found Sufy Clough, the neighbouring miller's 
 wife, come in to fee her, and ftanding by the 
 bedfide. I told my wife, that finding her fo 
 weak, I had brought the children to fee her. 
 She replied very angrily, that fhe wondered I 
 fhould hurry them over thither, that I was 
 always there, and that it would feem me much 
 better to ftay at home and mind my bufinefs. 
 I told her that, judging her near her end, I 
 thought fhe would be pleafed to fee the children, 
 as it might probably be the laft time they might 
 fee each other in this world ; that I was forry 
 to find her fo unkind and ill-tempered at fuch a 
 time and in fuch a fituation, and wifhed her in a 
 better ftate of mind. Sufy Clough held up both 
 her hands in amazement, and I have heard her 
 mention it with aftonifhment feveral times fince.
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 129 
 
 We bade her a laft farewell, and as I parted 
 through the houfe I told her mother I could like 
 to be with her when {he died : that I would 
 have watched with her all night, but I had 
 nobody to attend the children ; but if any change 
 was likely to take place before morning, I would 
 take it kindly if they would let James Walker, 
 at the neighbouring cottage, know, and they 
 would fend fome of the family to inform me, 
 and I would pleafe them for their trouble. She 
 gave me no anfwer, nor ever fent me any word. 
 When they waked next morning, about fix 
 o'clock, they found my wife dead. They laid 
 her out, but never fent any notice of the event 
 either to me or the children any more than if we 
 had been nothing related to her. Was not this 
 ftrange behaviour in people making large preten- 
 fions to Chriftianity ? and as it evidently arofe 
 from a proud, contemptuous, refentful, and 
 malicious fpirit, and was exerted at fuch an 
 improper time, and on fuch a folemn and diftrefT- 
 ing occafion, how did it accord with the humble, 
 loving fpirit which Chriftians ought to manifeft 
 on all occafions ? 
 
 LYDIA WRIGHT, my firft wife, died at Brook- 
 houfes on Wednefday, the 22nd day of October, 
 1777, about fix o'clock in the morning, aged 
 thirty years, nine weeks, and four days. She 
 was nineteen years, thirteen weeks, and five 
 days old when (he was married, and the time 
 between her marriage and death was four weeks 
 K
 
 130 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 fhort of eleven years. She was buried within 
 the Old Red Chapel at Cleckheaton, clofe by 
 the wall, under the lower back window ; but 
 fince it was pulled down and the ground thrown 
 to the New Chapel-yard, I have placed a tomb 
 over her grave, with the following infcription : 
 " Beneath this ftone lies interred the body of 
 Lydia, wife of Thomas Wright, late of Lower 
 Blacup, near this place, who died October 22nd, 
 1777, aged thirty years. Alfo, three of their 
 children lie adjacent, namely, Mary, who died 
 May 25th, 1770, aged fix months; William, 
 who died March loth, 1782, aged four years 
 and feven months; and a male child, ftill-born." 
 There is alfo erected within the New Chapel a 
 fmall, neat, marble monument to the memory of 
 my wife's younger fifter Betty, upon which, after 
 her fifter's epitaph, one is infcribed for her as 
 follows : " Likewife, Mrs. Lydia Wright, fifter 
 to the above, who died in the full triumph of 
 faith, October 22nd, 1777, aged thirty years. 
 ' Behold, God is my falvation ; I will truft and 
 not be afraid, for the Lord Jehovah is my ftrength 
 and my fong ; he alfo is become my falvation.' 
 Alfo two of her children." Ifaiah xii. 2, the 
 verfe from which Mr. Scott preached her funeral 
 fermon at Heckmondwike Old Chapel. 
 
 In the autumn of the year 1780, I happened 
 upon occafion to be one afternoon at Crofs-hall, 
 near Brunt-clifte,* the houfe of a Mifs Bofan- 
 
 * The village of Bruntcliffe, in the parifh of Batley,
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 131 
 
 quet,* a maiden lady of confiderable property. 
 She was a very religious and charitable lady, and 
 much attached to the Methodifts. She had afked 
 me to drink tea with her, and juft as we rofe 
 from the table a Mr. John Hampfon, fenior, a 
 Methodift preacher, happened to drop in from 
 Wales, and as I had contracted a little acquaint- 
 ance with her, (he afked me to ftay fupper, and 
 bear the preacher company; which I accordingly 
 did, and during fupper he acquainted us with a 
 circumftance which had come to his knowledge 
 
 is built on the junction of four roads; thofe leading to 
 Bradford, Wakefield, Leeds, and Birftall. It is only a 
 mort diftance from Adwalton, or Atherton, and Birken- 
 fhavv ; and is feven miles from Bradford. It is fometimes 
 called Brunrcliff Thorn, and is not far from the Gilderfome 
 ftation, on the Bradford and Wakefield branch of the Great 
 Northern Railway. Crofs Hall is a little to the eaft of 
 Bruntcliffe, built by Mils Bofanquet. 
 
 * Mifs Bofanquet. This was the lady who afterwards 
 became Mrs. Fletcher, of Madeley. Her memory feems 
 to have lafted traditionally in this part of the country. 
 Mr. Holroyd has obtained for me from a very old man 
 from Morley, the following account of Mifs Bofanquet of 
 Crofs Hall, which I give in the language of the relator, 
 who has confounded a Swifs with a Swede. 
 
 " I knew Mifs Bofanquet varry weel when I were a 
 lad. I've heerd mi father tell at moo com thro London, 
 where moo hed a brother at wer a parliament man ; an as 
 luck wod hev it, moo wer convarted under owd Wefley, 
 an then moo com doon thro London an belt Crofs Hall, an 
 browt a weggan load o young wimmin, all orphans, an 
 moo kept em wol they gate up ta be owd enef ta keep 
 therfevs. Shoo led clafs-meetings, and preycht tu, an a 
 rare gooid preycher moo wor. I remember moo gate wed 
 tul a gentleman o't name o Fletcher, a Swede, an they 
 went ta live at Gilderfome, where I think they both deed."
 
 132 AUTOBIOGRAPHT OF 
 
 a little before he left Wales, and of which he 
 gave us the following relation.* 
 
 It had been for fome time reported in the 
 neighbourhood that a poor unmarried woman, 
 who was a member of the Methodift Society, 
 and had become ferious under their miniftry, 
 had feen and converfed with the apparition of a 
 gentleman, who had made a ftrange difcovery to 
 her. Mr. Hampfon being defirous to afcertain 
 if there was any truth in the ftory, fent for the 
 woman, and defired her to give him an exat 
 relation of the whole aftair from her own mouth, 
 and as near the truth as me poflibly could. She 
 faid (he was a poor woman who got her living by 
 fpinning hemp and line ; that it was cuftomary 
 for the farmers and gentlemen of that neighbour- 
 hood to grow a little hemp or line in a corner of 
 their fields, for their own home confumption, 
 and as (he had a good hand at fpinning the 
 materials, me ufed to go from houfe to houfe to 
 enquire for work ; that her method was, where 
 they employed her, during her ftay to have meat, 
 and drink, and lodging (if fhe had occafion to 
 fleep with them), for her work, and what they 
 pleafed to give her befides. That, among other 
 places, fhe happened to call in one day at the 
 Welfh Earl Powis's country feat, called Red- 
 
 * This curious relation is written at the end of the 
 manufcript of the autobiography, but I have reftored it to 
 its place in the narrative. Mr. Hampfon was one of the 
 dittinguiftied preachers in the early days of Methodifm.
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 133 
 
 caftle,* to inquire for work, as (he ufually had 
 done before. The quality were at this time in 
 London, and had left the fteward and his wife, 
 with other fervants, as ufual, to take care of 
 their country refidence in their abfence. The 
 fteward's wife fet her to work, and in the 
 evening told her that (he muft ftay all night 
 with them, as they had more work for her to do 
 next day. When bedtime arrived, two or three 
 of the fervants in company, with each a lighted 
 candle in her hand, conducted her to her lodging. 
 They led her to a ground room, with a boarded 
 floor and two fafh windows. The room was 
 grandly furnifhed and had a genteel bed in one 
 corner of it. They had made her a good fire, 
 and had placed her a chair and a table before it, 
 and a large lighted candle upon the table. They 
 told her that was her bedroom, and me might go 
 to fleep when me pleafed : they then wifhed her 
 a good night, and withdrew altogether, pulling 
 the door quickly after them, fo as to hafp the 
 fpring-fneck t in the brafs lock that was upon it. 
 When they were gone, me gazed awhile at the 
 
 * Red Caftle. This in Welfti, Cartel goch was the 
 old name of Powis Caftle, and is laid to have been given 
 to it from the red colour of the ftone of which it was built. 
 I have not been able to difcover if this very remarkable 
 ghoft ftory is ftill remembered there, but I have heard that 
 there is a room in the caftle ftill called the haunted 
 chamber. 
 
 f Spring-fneck. Sneck, in the dialeft of Yorkftiire, 
 means a door-latch.
 
 134 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 fine furniture, under no fmall aftonifhment that 
 they fhould put fuch a poor perfon as her in fo 
 grand a room and bed, with all the apparatus of 
 fire, chair, table, and candle. She was alfo fur- 
 prifed at the circumftance of the fervants coming 
 fo many together, with each of them a candle ; 
 however, after gazing about her fome little time, 
 fhe fat down and took a fmall Welfh Bible out of 
 her pocket, which fhe always carried about with 
 her, and in which fhe ufually read a chapter 
 chiefly in the New Teftament before fhe faid 
 her prayers and went to bed. While fhe was 
 reading fhe heard the room door open, and, 
 turning her head, faw a gentleman enter in a 
 gold-laced hat and waiftcoat, and the reft of his 
 drefs correfponding therewith. (I think fhe was 
 very particular in defcribing the reft of his drefs 
 to Mr. Hampfon, and he to me at the time, but 
 I have now forgot the other particulars.) He 
 walked down by the fafh-window to the corner 
 of the room, and then returned. When he came 
 at the firft window in his return (the bottom of 
 which was nearly breaft-high) he refted his elbow 
 on the bottom of the window, and the fide of 
 his face upon the palm of his hand, and flood in 
 that leaning pofture for fome time, with his fide 
 partly towards her. She looked at him earneftly 
 to fee if fhe knew him, but though, from her 
 frequent intercourfe with them, fhe had a perfonal 
 knowledge of all the prefent family, he appeared 
 a ftranger to her. She fuppofed afterwards, that
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 135 
 
 he flood in this manner to encourage her to 
 fpeak ; but as fhe did not, after fome little time 
 he walked off, pulling the door after him as the 
 fervants had done before. She began now to be 
 much alarmed, concluding it to be an apparition, 
 and that they had put her there on purpofe. 
 This was really the cafe. The room, it feems, 
 had been difturbed for a long time fo that nobody 
 could fleep peaceably in it, and as fhe pafled for 
 a very ferious woman, the fervants took it in 
 their heads to put the Methodift and fpirit 
 together, to fee what they would make of it. 
 Startled at this thought, fhe rofe from her chair, 
 and kneeled down by the bedfide to fay her 
 prayers. While fhe was praying he came in 
 again, walked round the room, and came clofe 
 behind her. She had it on her mind to fpeak, 
 but when fhe attempted it fhe was fo very much 
 agitated, that fhe could not utter a word. He 
 walked out of the room again, pulling the door 
 after him as before. She begged that God would 
 ftrengthen her, and not fuffer her to be tried 
 beyond what fhe was able to bear ; fhe recovered 
 her fpirits, and thought fhe felt more confidence 
 and refolution, and determined if he came in 
 again fhe would fpeak to him if poflible. He 
 prefently came in again, walked round, and came 
 behind her as before ; fhe turned her head and 
 faid, " Pray fir, who are you, and what do you 
 want ? " He put up his finger, and faid, " Take 
 up the candle and follow me, and I will tell you."
 
 136 AUrOElOGRAPHY OF 
 
 She got up, took up the candle, and followed 
 him out of the room. He led her through a 
 long boarded paflage, till they came to the door 
 of another room, which he opened and went in ; 
 it was a fmall room, or what might be called a 
 large clofet. " As the room was fmall, and I 
 believed him to be a fpirit," faid (he, " I flopped 
 at the door j he turned and faid, ' Walk in ; I 
 will not hurt you ; ' fo I walked in. He faid, 
 'Obferve what I do;' I faid, <I will.' He 
 {looped, and tore up one of the boards of the 
 floor, and there appeared under it a box with an 
 iron handle in the lid. He faid, l Do you fee 
 that box ?' I faid, l Yes, I do.' He then ftepped 
 to one fide of the room and fhowed me a crevice 
 in the wall, where, he faid, a key was hid that 
 would open it. He faid, l This box and key 
 muft be taken out, and fent to the earl in Lon- 
 don ' * (naming the earl and his place of refidence 
 in the city). He faid, * Will you fee it done ? ' 
 I faid, c I will do my beft to get it done ; ' he 
 faid, ' Do, and I will trouble the houfe no more.' 
 He then walked out of the room and left me. 
 (He feems to have been a very civil fpirit, and 
 to have been very careful to affright her as little 
 as poflible.) I ftepped to the room-door, and 
 
 * The Earl in London, This was the laft of the earls 
 of Powis, of the family of Herbert. He fucceeded his 
 father to the title in 1749, anc ^ died ' n 1801, after which 
 it was conferred upon Lord dive, who had married the 
 earl's fitter.
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 137 
 
 fet up a fhout. The fteward and his wife, with 
 the other fervants, came to me immediately ; all 
 clung together, with a number of lights in their 
 hands. It feems they had all been waiting to 
 fee the iflue of the interview betwixt me and 
 the apparition. They afked me what was the 
 matter ? I told them the foregoing circumftances, 
 and fhowed them the box. The fteward durft 
 not meddle with it, but his wife had more courage, 
 and, with the help of the other fervants, tugged 
 it out, and found the key. She faid by their 
 lifting it appeared to be pretty heavy, but that 
 ftie did not fee it opened, and therefore did not 
 know what it contained ; perhaps money, or 
 writings of confequence to the family, or both." 
 They took it away with them, and me then 
 went to bed and flept peaceably till the morning. 
 It appeared afterwards that they fent the box 
 to the earl, in London, with an account of the 
 manner of its difcovery, and by whom ; as the 
 earl fent down orders immediately to his fteward 
 to inform the poor woman who had been the 
 occafion of the difcovery, that if (he would come 
 and refide in his family, (he mould be comfortably 
 provided for the remainder of her days ; or, if 
 (he did not choofe to refide conftantly with 
 them, if (he would let them know when flic 
 wanted affiftance, me mould be liberally fupplied 
 at his lordfhip's expenfe, as long as me lived. 
 And Mr. Hampfon faid it was a known fact in 
 the neighbourhood, that {he had been fo fupplied
 
 138 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 from his lordfhip's family from the time the affair 
 was faid to have happened, and continued to be 
 fo at the time fhe gave Mr. Hampfon this ac- 
 count. She told him that fhe was fo often 
 folicited by curious people to relate the ftory, 
 that fhe was weary of repeating it, but to oblige 
 him had once more related the particulars, and 
 wifhed now to have done with it. Mr. Hamp- 
 fon faid fhe appeared to be a fenfible, intelligent 
 perfon, and that he faw no reafon to doubt her 
 veracity. I know many perfons in the prefent 
 day laugh at fuch ftories, and affet very much 
 to doubt their reality, while others totally deny 
 the poflibility of their exiftence. However, 
 fcripture, and many well-attefted relations, feem 
 to favour the idea, and the prefent ftory appeared 
 fo fingular and fo well attefted, and I had it fo 
 near the fountain-head, that I thought it might 
 perhaps be worth preferving, and I have there- 
 fore taken the pains to record it. Admitting it 
 to be true, it fhould feem that the confequences 
 to the family of what the hidden box contained, 
 was the formal caufe of the fpirit's difquiet, and 
 of its difturbing the houfe fo much and fo long, 
 in order to bring about a difcovery ; but why a 
 departed fpirit fhould concern itfelf in the affairs 
 of this world after it has left it, or why they 
 fhould difquiet it fo as to caufe it to reappear 
 and make difturbances, in order to difcover and 
 have things righted, as in the preceding cafe, or 
 why this fhould be done in fome cafes of appa-
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 139 
 
 rently lefs moment, while in other cafes much 
 greater family injuries feem to be fuffered, and 
 no fpirit appears to intereft itfelf in the cafe, are 
 circumftances for which we can by no means 
 account. The cloud fits deep on futurity, and 
 we are fo little acquainted with the laws of the 
 fpiritual world, that we are, perhaps, incapable, 
 in our prefent ftate, of comprehending its nature, 
 or of giving any fatisfa&ory account of thefe 
 matters. 
 
 I continued in a ftate of widowhood four 
 years and two weeks, during which interval I 
 fuffered much from the difhonefty of people I 
 had occafionally about me. The firft fervant I 
 
 had after my wife died was B B , a 
 
 daughter of one of my late wife's uncles ; but 
 this was a very honeft girl for aught I ever faw 
 by her, but during her ftay with me the following 
 circumftance happened. 
 
 I had imprudently let the loom-fhop as I did 
 not ufe it to a collier and his family. It ad- 
 joined upon the houfe, opened on the fame front, 
 and was very near my own door, fo that it was 
 very opportune for a perfon flipping out of one 
 houfe into the other. The collier's wife was a 
 woman of an exceeding bad character. I that 
 year ferved the public office of colle&or of the 
 land-tax and window money. I had collected, I 
 think, about eighty pounds, which I had put in 
 a fmall drawer in my defk, which flood in the 
 houfe, within about three yards of the houfe-
 
 140 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 door. By fome means or other I had fpoiled the 
 lock of my defk-lid, that I could not lock it, 
 and thought I would remove the money into a 
 box in the chamber where I could lock it up in 
 fafety ; but believing my maid honeft, and never 
 fufpefting any other perfon would have the im- 
 pudence to come into the houfe and go in to my 
 defk in the day-time, I had neglected this for 
 feveral days. At laft I went to remove it, and 
 found a great part of it gone ; I think near thirty 
 pounds. I had that fum to borrow of a neigh- 
 bour to make it up. The maid protefted her 
 innocence, and I was fatisfied of it ; (he faid the 
 collier's wife had obferved that I placed great 
 confidence in her (the maid) to leave fo much 
 money in the houfe with her, unlocked. This 
 fhowed fhe had noticed the circumftance, and 
 the maid faid, (he believed {he had watched her 
 out of the houfe when (he went to the brook to 
 fetch water, and left the houfe door unlocked, 
 and had gone in and ftole the money out of the 
 defk in her abfence ; which I doubted not was 
 the cafe. As they were bad neighbours, I had 
 been endeavouring for fome time to get rid of 
 them, but could not ; but as I had made a noife 
 about this affair, and threatened, if I could find 
 out the thief, to profecute feverely, the next 
 morning I found they had removed their goods 
 in the night, and were gone ! She afterwards 
 bought a profufion of fine clothes at the rag-fhop
 
 THOM4S WRIGHT. 141 
 
 and elfewhere, which fufficiently pointed out the 
 thief; but as money could not be fworn to, and 
 was an article fo eafily concealed, I had no chance 
 to recover it, fo was obliged to fit down with the 
 lofs, which tended much to my further embarrafs- 
 ment. 
 
 They kept my daughter Sally and my youngeft 
 fon Willy at Brook-houfes, but took no notice 
 of me, but to hurry all they could from me, and 
 I was weak and foft enough to fufter myfelf to 
 be terribly plundered by them. For this purpofe, 
 foon after my wife's death, her youngeft fifter 
 came and wheedled me out of every rag of her 
 clothes, under pretence that fome of them would 
 be fpoiled if they were not warned, &c., and 
 that they would take care of them for the 
 children, and I might have them again when I 
 pleafed. However, I never received any of 
 them again, and I underftood afterwards, that 
 me appropriated moft of them to her own ufe, 
 and that my children got little or nothing belong- 
 ing to them afterwards. A piece of conduit this, 
 which evinced fuch a degree of difhonefty and 
 meannefs of fpirit, as no perfon poflefled of a 
 fingle grain of generofity would have been con- 
 cerned in, as feveral of the articles were new or 
 nearly fo, and lately purchafed with my own 
 money. Being willing to give my eldeft daughter 
 Betty the beft education I could me being grown 
 a fine girl, and taking learning very readily I fent
 
 142 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 her to the boarding-fchool at Birftall-field-head, 
 taught by Mrs. Prieftley,* at an expenfe, indeed, 
 beyond my abilities ; fhe ftayed here half-a-year, 
 and I believe it was of confiderable fervice to 
 her. I notice here, that her grandmother took 
 no notice of her all the time, never paid her a 
 fingle vifit, or offered me the leaft affiftance, or 
 gave her a fingle rag or a fingle {hilling from 
 firft to laft : nay, they had lent her an overworn 
 bed-fheet, of very fmall value, to ferve her for a 
 change during her ftay ; and they made fuch a 
 clamour for this being returned, for fear they 
 fliould lofe it even before the child came home 
 as if it had been a thing of the greateft im- 
 portance ; another inftance of their inherent 
 meannefs of fpirit. 
 
 About this time I had two fucceflive fervants, 
 or houfekeepers, who both turned out very bad. 
 One was an incurable drunkard, and proved 
 very expenfive to me; the other, the greateft 
 liar and the greateft thief that ever fell under 
 my obfervation. She turned the houfe upfide 
 down, and plundered it through every time I 
 turned my back, and carried out (when ever I 
 was abfent) to her father's and relations, meal, 
 flour, butter, eggs, ribbons, fmall linen, beer, and 
 
 The celebrated Dr. Prieftly was born at Birftall-field- 
 head ; fo that the perfon here mentioned was, no doubt, a 
 near relation of his, pofTibly his mother, but more probably 
 a fifter or fifter-in-law. Formerly maiden ladies often took 
 the title of Mrs.
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 143 
 
 bottles of rum ; in fhort, whatever was portable, 
 and told fome of them that I had fent them for 
 prefents. At the fame time, me had a brother, 
 a boy as bad and thievifh as herfelf, who came 
 miching* daily into our barn, and picked up all 
 the eggs which nine or ten hens produced during 
 the height of their laying, for weeks together. 
 At the fame time I fummered her father a cow, 
 and her mother and her met every morning and 
 evening at the milking-place ; here they changed 
 the ftrippings of our cows for the firftings of 
 theirs, and by this means they got almoft all the 
 butter, and we got next to none. At laft (he 
 proceeded to break open the locks on the drawers, 
 and I turned her out of doors. I might have 
 hanged her, but I did not choofe the trouble, 
 though I knew nothing of the extent of my lofs 
 by her at this time. This girl's name was 
 R-ch-1 R-b-rtfh-ed, the daughter of a near 
 neighbour, whom I had laid under repeated 
 pecuniary obligations, by lending him money 
 when he was ftraitened. He was alfo an old 
 profeffing Methodift, and muft have known 
 fomething of his daughter's illicit practices, from 
 the quantity of purloined fluff me carried home, 
 till it fell under the obfervation of the neighbours, 
 and could not well be fuppofed, therefore, to 
 efcape his obfervation. My drunken fervant 
 was alfo a profeffing Methodift ; joined in clafs, 
 
 * Miching. Sneaking and prowling about, thieving.
 
 I 4 4 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 and always very happy at the clafs-meetings. 
 So difficult is it, very frequently, to reconcile 
 people's profeffions with their conduct. I had 
 this girl eight weeks, and in that time fuffered, I 
 believe, as many pounds by her, at leaft ; but, 
 indeed, I never did, and I believe never muft, 
 know my lofs by this girl and her family. 
 
 I now plainly perceived that I muft have a 
 wife, or be ruined ; but who would be a fuitable 
 wife, or who I was to pleafe myfelf or other 
 people in the choice of one, was a queftion. 
 Some people advifed me to marry an old woman 
 that would have no more children, and talked in 
 fuch a manner as if they fuppofed that I might 
 accommodate my fancy and affe&ion to any old 
 creature, with as much eafe as I might choofe a 
 joint of meat to get my dinner upon. Thefe 
 people feemed to think, that if a perfon has been 
 married once, and got fome children, he muft 
 have loft all the finer feelings of the human 
 heart; or, at leaft, that he could be juftified by 
 no other motives to a future marriage, than thofe 
 mean and fordid ones, intereft and convenience. 
 I cry thofe prudent people's mercy. I am, and 
 muft be, of a different opinion ; for though I 
 readily allow that it is quite neceflary on fuch 
 occafions to make ufe of all the care and prudence 
 that the circumftances of the cafe will admit of, 
 yet I think there are circumftances of greater 
 importance to be confidered in this cafe than 
 even thofe of wealth and convenience j not but
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 145 
 
 that I think, as I faid before, it is every one's 
 duty and intereft to obtain as much wealth and 
 convenience as he fairly and honeftly can ; yet I 
 judge the matter of greateft moment is, if the 
 parties love each other for their own fakes, with 
 a love of difinterefted efteem and affection. 
 This I look upon to be abfolutely neceflary, as 
 the foundation of matrimonial happinefs, and 
 which, I conceive, cannot pofiibly fubfift without 
 it. Here, perhaps, fome wifeacre may afk me, 
 with a fneer, what I have got by indulging my 
 head-ftrong will in this cafe ? I will tell him. 
 I have got an agreeable partner, whom I love 
 and efteem, and with whom, fo far, I am happy. 
 I have got a houfe full of fine children, and 
 ftraitened circumftances ; and I had a thoufand 
 times rather choofe this fituation, than be bound 
 for life to a perfon I could not love, though in 
 the midft of affluence and worldly profperity ; 
 for in this cafe, my mind is fo conftituted, I 
 fhould be one of the moft unhappy creatures 
 under heaven. However, I do not fuppofe that 
 the increafe of my family (the confequence of 
 my marrying a young woman) is a principal \ or 
 even any confiderable, caufe of the reduction of 
 my property. No, this had other unhappy 
 caufes, with which this had no connexion ; 
 though it is certain, that my having a young and 
 numerous family in my advanced years, under 
 the prefent reduced ftate of my original property, 
 and at a time when the price of all the necef-
 
 146 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 faries of life are fo unreafonably enhanced, tends 
 greatly to increafe my prefent embarrafTments ; 
 but as this is the common lot of humanity, and 
 we cannot help it, we muft endeavour to be as 
 content as we poffibly can. 
 
 I return to my ftory. I found that fervants 
 and houfekeepers were not to be trufted, I had 
 no old grandmother, no mother, no fifter, as 
 many others in my fituation have, upon whom 
 I might rely, and who might, in a good meafure, 
 fupply the place of a wife, in taking care of my 
 children and looking after the concerns of my 
 family. I had it not, therefore, in my choice, 
 in a confiftency with my intereft, to marry or 
 not to marry. No, imperious neceflity, arifing 
 from the ftate of my family, required me to get 
 a wife as fpeedily as poflible. During the ftate 
 of my widowhood, for want of a wife in the 
 houfe when I was abfent, I had already fuffered, 
 to my own knowledge, to the amount of forty 
 or fifty pounds at leaft, by downright thievery ; 
 fo that continuing as I was, I had no profpecl: 
 before me but ruin. I could not fancy an old 
 woman. Does fome felf-important fellow with 
 a fapient face afk me, why I could not ? I mould 
 deem the queftion abfurd, and afk him in my 
 turn, why he chofe his wife (if he has got one) 
 in preference to any other woman ? If he fays 
 he cannot tell ; that it happened fo j becaufe he 
 liked her beft ; I return him the fame anfwer. 
 I therefore chofe to take a young woman whom
 
 THOM4S WRIGHT. 147 
 
 I could love, and with whom I could be happy, 
 though attended with almoft a certainty of being 
 encumbered with more children, rather than 
 take an old woman, to avoid that inconvenience, 
 whom I could not love, and with whom I could 
 not be happy. This is the true ftate of the cafe, 
 and I have been fo particular upon the fubject, 
 that I might prefent a fair view of the cafe, 
 that from a juft reprefentation of the fubjeft, 
 any impartial perfon may be able to draw a juft 
 conclufion ; becaufe I have been fo feverely 
 cenfured for my conduct: on this occafion by 
 many perfons who were " as wife in their own 
 eyes as feven men that can render a reafonj" 
 but it is much eafier for a half-thinking perfon 
 to fhake the head, and, with a folemn face and 
 magifterial air, pronounce an ill-natured and ill- 
 founded cenfure upon his neighbour's conduct, 
 than it is to advance one folid reafon in fupport 
 of fuch a cenfure. Yet there feems to be as 
 many perfons in the prefent day among Chriftian 
 profeflbrs as there was eighteen hundred years 
 ago, who can fee, or think they can fee, a mote 
 in the eye of their neighbour, while they quite 
 overlook the huge beam that is in their own 
 eye. Peace be to all fuch perfons, and a better 
 fpirit. 
 
 About this time I faw a young woman I 
 thought I could fancy. She was, indeed, very 
 young, but had got a tolerable education, had very 
 good hands, was very ingenious, folid, and fen-
 
 148 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 fible. I therefore formed a connection with her 
 immediately. This foon reached the ears of 
 my bitter enemies at Brook-houfes, and awakened 
 all their malice, which flowed in a plentiful 
 ftream of abufe and invective againft me from 
 their envenomed lips. By fpecious mifreprefen- 
 tations of the cafe, they endeavoured to deprive 
 me of my children's affections, debauch them 
 from their duty, and make them believe that I 
 had a6ted unkindly, unjuftly, and wickedly with 
 refpe6t to them in this cafe ; and fo far fucceeded, 
 that my two eldeft children became very faucy 
 and difrefpe&ful, which procured them both a 
 more fevere beating than ever I had given them 
 before. However, by appealing to their filial 
 affection and good fenfe, by fhowing them the 
 impropriety and bad confequences of their liften- 
 ing to fuch people, and following their pernicious 
 counfels, I brought them back to their duty, and 
 we foon recovered and maintained the wonted 
 peace and quietnefs of our family, notwithftand- 
 ing all the infernal efforts of thofe fpiteful people 
 to deftroy it. 
 
 I proceed to relate the following unfortunate 
 circumftance, which happened at this time. A 
 neighbouring man, who lived about a quarter of 
 a mile from us, on the oppofite fide of the hill, 
 over againft our little farm, feeing me mowing 
 my own grafs in the fields, came frequently to 
 me, and talked of trade and what profit he was 
 certain might be obtained by dealing in fuch and
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 149 
 
 fuch articles. He had a fmall eftate on which 
 he lived, but it was very deeply encumbered, and 
 I believe he was at this time in a very difficult 
 fituation for want of money to enable him to 
 carry on a trade to maintain his family. He 
 knew I had it in my power to raife fome money, 
 and therefore propofed that I mould borrow fome 
 more money on my land, throw up my farm, go 
 live in a part of his houfe, and enter into partner- 
 fhip with him, and he doubted not we fhould 
 perform wonders. I was weak and unwary 
 enough to liften to his propofals, and borrowed 
 an additional two hundred pounds on my land, 
 threw up my farm, went to live in a part of his 
 houfe, and entered into parrnerfhip with him ; 
 but as he had little or no money to advance, 
 I was obliged to lend him fome of mine, for 
 which he was to pay me common intereft j fo 
 he joined with me at my own money. We 
 went immediately into trade ; bought and fold, 
 and trucked a variety of articles, till at laft we 
 got into the liquor bufinefs. We went to Man- 
 chefter and Liverpool to buy goods, fought cuftom 
 amongft the publicans, and foon had a great 
 many bad debts on hand, which, whether they 
 were ever all paid, or no, I know not to this 
 day. We took out a retail licence, and my 
 partner's wife was intruded with this bufinefs, 
 which required more honefty to do juftice to 
 the partnerfhip than falls to everybody's {hare. 
 The houfe, however, began to be very well
 
 150 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 accuftomed, and prefented a very promifing 
 profpedt for trade ; but my money vanifhed like 
 a mift, payments came on, more money was 
 wanted, my partner could raife no money ; I 
 fold a pitftead in my land for eighty pounds ; 
 this went into the old fwallow, and difappeared 
 in an inftant as if it had been thrown into a 
 coal-pit. Stupid, and dull, and foolifhly confid- 
 ing as I had been in this cafe, I now began to 
 fee I was in the wrong box ; indeed, my wife 
 (for I was now married), who was a much clofer 
 obferver than myfelf, had given me repeated hints 
 of the circumftance before. I was determined 
 to be rid of this ruinous connexion as fpeedily 
 as poffible, if I efcaped with the fkin of my 
 teeth ; and my partner and his deep-contriving 
 wife feemed very willing to difpenfe with my 
 company, and quite agreeable to appropriate all 
 the profpe6t of advantage, obtained at my coft, 
 entirely to themfelves. In balancing our accounts 
 I was brought in debtor, though I had raifed 
 nearly all the money and over and befide, my 
 partner was engaged in an expenfive chancery 
 law-fuit all the time yet he came ofF creditor. 
 All was imputed to my extravagance, and two 
 of my old acquaintance, whom I had got to 
 fcrutinize the cunning of my opponents, entered 
 into their idea, and fuppofed me inattentive and 
 extravagant enough to run through all that money 
 in two years' time, and fo, inftead of doing me 
 any fervice, they encouraged my opponent, and
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 151 
 
 did me a great deal of hurt. Extravagant ! 
 when I was never drunk all the time, and my 
 partner hardly ever came home fober ; when he 
 had a more numerous and expenfive family 
 to keep, and had nothing to keep them on but 
 what he got by the trade, and I had a lefs nume- 
 rous and expenfive family, and an eftate of near 
 thirty pounds a year befides the trade to keep 
 them on. Add to this, my partner was engaged 
 in an expenfive law-fuit, which coft him a good 
 deal of money. Yet he came ofF on the faving 
 fide, and I juft quitted the connection in time to 
 efcape a gaol. I believe I fuftered by this con- 
 nection, in the courfe of about two years, little 
 lefs than three hundred pounds. This was a 
 bad affair for me, and threw me into difficulties 
 immediately, which I have laboured under ever 
 fmce. I thus became a ftepping-ftone for my 
 partner, who trod me and my family into the 
 duft to mount himfelf and his family into afflu- 
 ence and profperity. 
 
 I flop to notice fome occurrences in my 
 family during this period. We unfortunately left 
 Lower Blacup, after refiding there fourteen years, 
 and removed into Cleckheaton upper-lane, May 
 the 1 2th, 1781. I was married a fecond time 
 on Sunday, the 4th day of November, 1781, to 
 Alicia Finder, eldeft daughter of Thomas Finder, 
 farmer, of Upper Blacup, a few fields from my 
 former abode, after remaining in a ftate of widow- 
 hood four years and two weeks. We were
 
 152 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 married at the parifh church of Birftall, by the 
 Rev. Mr. Reuben Ogden ; prefent only befides 
 ourfelves, the minifter, Jo. Shaw, the clerk, and 
 my wife's father. Alicia Finder was born on 
 Monday, the iQth day of May, 1766. She was 
 baptized at the White Chapel, in the North, by 
 the Rev. Mr. Jonas Eaftwood, on Sunday, June 
 the 1 5th, 1766, and was fifteen years and a-half 
 old when {he was married. Soon after we were 
 married my wife was attacked by a fevere rheu- 
 matic fever, which reduced her very low. Before 
 (he was quite recovered, in the end of the year 
 1781, and the beginning of the year 1782, my 
 . children were attacked by that dreadful diftemper 
 the fmall-pox, which at this time raged in the 
 neighbourhood, and was of a very fatal and 
 malignant kind. Betty was near fourteen years 
 of age, Tommy was near eleven, and John near 
 feven. They had often begged to be inoculated, 
 but as their grandparents were bitterly prejudiced 
 againft the practice, to oblige them I had forbore 
 to do it. For this I afterwards blamed myfelf 
 much, as their prejudice was fo inveterate againft 
 me, that it appeared impoflible for me to con- 
 ciliate their favour by anything I could do ; and 
 it expofed my children to more than double 
 hazard and fuffering. Betty's was of a moft 
 malignant kind, and me was rendered one of 
 the moft deplorable objects I ever faw, and was 
 literally flayed from head to foot. However, it 
 pleafed God to fpare her life, contrary to the
 
 THOM4S WRIGHT. 153 
 
 expectations of all who faw her, and even of the 
 phyfician who attended her. I regretted very 
 much the ravage this naufeous diforder had made 
 in her fine countenance, which was fo great, 
 that if I had been abfent for the time, I mould 
 have been unable at firft to have recognized my 
 own child. However, I was thankful that her 
 life, her eyes, and limbs were fpared. Tommy 
 was more favourably dealt with ; his pocks were 
 of a better kind, his countenance little or none 
 altered, and he got through them the eafieft of 
 all the three. John was very full ; his lovely 
 countenance much altered, yet he got through 
 them with much lefs trouble and danger than 
 his fifter did. 
 
 During this troublefome and diftrefling fitua- 
 tion of my family, my wife though ftill very 
 weak allifted me in waiting upon the children 
 with the greateft tendernefs and afliduity. I was 
 myfelf fix or feven weeks and never had all my 
 clothes off, was engaged day and night going up 
 and down ftairs and from one chamber to another 
 almoft without intermiffion, and my fleep de- 
 parted from mine eyes ; yet a kind Providence fo 
 ordered it, that I neither felt much over-fatigued, 
 nor greatly to want my fleep during the whole 
 time, though one might have imagined, from 
 the conftant fatigue I underwent, and the de- 
 prefling forrow of mind I was under for my 
 fuffering children efpecially for my eldeft 
 daughter, whofe death I apprehended every hour
 
 154 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 that it would have been impoflible I fhould 
 have bore up under it. When my three children 
 at home were recovering, my other two at 
 Brook-houfes begun, though none of the family 
 had ever come near our houfe while we had 
 them. Sally got very favourably through them, 
 but they proved fatal to my youngeft fon Willy, 
 the circumftances of whofe death I have pre- 
 vioufly related. 
 
 I ftop to notice the following little circum- 
 ftance. John, who was uncommonly fond of, 
 and, of confequence, equally dear to me, the 
 morning he found himfelf blind, when in the 
 fmall-pox, I being in bed with him, faid haftily, 
 " Daddy, I am dead ! " I faid, " No, my dear ;" 
 but then he faid, "I am dying." I faid, " What 
 for, my love ?" he faid, " Becaufe I cannot fee." 
 I told him to be content, and not pull his eyes 
 open, and he would fee again after a fhort time. 
 He was fatisfied, and very patient, but added, 
 " Daddy, I could not like to die." I afked him 
 if he was afraid to die ; he faid, " No ; but 
 I could not like to leave you" and earneftly 
 added, " Blefs you! everybody fays you are a good 
 daddy to your children, and fo you are." (The 
 poor child had heard the family at Brook-houfes 
 abufe me and fay I was a bad father to my 
 children, and behaved ill to them ; he had heard 
 all the neighbours fay the contrary, and from the 
 tendernefs with which I treated him and all my 
 children, was fatisfied of the contrary himfelf.
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 155 
 
 This was the caufe of my child's remarks on 
 this occafion.) He then fondly embraced, kifled, 
 and blefled me. Such was the endearing prattle 
 and behaviour of my beloved child, whom death, 
 to my heavy affliction, has fmce fuddenly fnatched 
 from my embraces. I note here again the 
 wicked perverfity of Mr. and Mrs. Birkhead's 
 condudt on this occafion, in thus perpetually 
 endeavouring to infpire my children with a bad 
 idea of their father, and to rob me of their duty 
 and affe&ion ; and I appeal to the judgment of 
 every candid and unprejudiced perfon, if fuch a 
 conduct was not abfolutely inconfiftent with 
 their high profeflion of Chriftianity. I take 
 notice here alfo, that a little before we left the 
 Lower Blacup, my eldeft daughter Betty lay 
 feveral weeks dangeroufly ill of a fcarlet fever, 
 of which feveral had died round about us. My 
 fon John was poorly alfo, and about this time 
 they all three had the meafles, which were 
 attended with much fever, and I was in fear I 
 fhould have loft John, he was fo bad. We were 
 without fervant ; I therefore waited on my fick 
 children myfelf, and I dare appeal to my neigh- 
 bours, that they were carefully and properly 
 attended. 
 
 On Monday, the I2th day of May, 1783 
 (old May-day), I removed with my family to 
 Birkenmaw, the place where I had lived before 
 I was married the firft time, into the loweft but 
 one of John Ellifon's new-built houfes. I flop
 
 156 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 here again, to notice the following circumftance, 
 which I had overlooked in its place. Old Mrs. 
 Birkhead, fome time before my fecond marriage, 
 having heard of my intention to marry, came 
 wheedling over to my houfe, and faid, " Tommy, 
 you always faid that Betty and Sally fhould have 
 your mother's clothes between them." I faid, 
 " Yes ; I mean fo." She faid, " Will you 
 oblige me in letting me have them to our houfe 
 to keep ? I will take the beft care I can of them 
 for the children." I perceived fhe was afraid 
 of a fecond wife getting them ; but as I always 
 meant my girls to have them, and as the hypocrite 
 appeared in high good humour which it feems 
 fhe could aflume to ferve a turn and as I was 
 greatly defirous of living on peaceable terms 
 with them if polfible, I told her, that the clothes 
 had been kept with great care almoft from my 
 birth, but that if fhe thought them fafer in her 
 keeping than mine, if fhe would promife me to 
 take good care of them, and let my daughters 
 have them when they wanted them, I had no 
 great objection to oblige her in this cafe, for the 
 fake of peace, as neither I nor the perfon I was 
 aiming to marry, had any defire to deprive my 
 children of them. If, therefore, fhe would 
 come over to my houfe fome day when I was 
 at leifure, I would look them over, and let her 
 have fuch as I intended for them. With this 
 promife fhe departed for the prefent, and fome- 
 time afterwards, inftead of coming on a day
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 157 
 
 when I was at home, fhe contrived in concert 
 with my daughter Betty, I make no doubt to 
 come on a day when I was not at home, on 
 purpofe to have the opportunity of plundering 
 my houfe uncontrolled. This they did in a 
 fhameful manner ; fo that with what they took 
 now, and what fhe and her agents had taken 
 before, they almoft entirely ftripped my houfe 
 both of bed-linen and wearing apparel, fave that 
 which the children and I had in common ufe, 
 befides a variety of other articles ; nay, fhe had 
 even the meannefs and impudence to take my 
 own mother's wedding-ring, which, however I 
 fent for back again, and was almoft in mind to 
 have entered a legal procefs againft her for 
 burglary. My daughter Betty, to be fure, was 
 young, and deceived and mifled by her grand- 
 mother's fpecious though falfe reprefentations ; 
 and thefe circumftances may, perhaps, form a 
 tolerable excufe for my daughter's conduct on 
 thefe occafions ; yet fhe was certainly very 
 blameable, as fhe was old enough (fourteen) to 
 have known better than to have joined a mean, 
 interefted woman in plundering her father's 
 property ; but the old woman herfelf, or any 
 other perfon of the family, who either took it 
 themfelves, or encouraged my children fo to do, 
 were no better than thieves and robbers. After 
 they had thus ftripped my houfe of all my wife's 
 clothes and all my own mother's clothes, bed- 
 linen, &c. &c., inftead of keeping them facred
 
 158 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 for the children, as they pretended, her aunt 
 
 B y carried off one part, and had the extreme 
 
 meannefs and impudence to wear fome articles 
 of my own mother's till they were good for 
 nothing ; her grandmother feized and diftributed 
 another part ; and a diftioneft fervant-girl they 
 had, cut, and fpoiled, and ftole another part ; fo 
 that, fave fome of the larger articles of my 
 mother's, as her gowns, &c. which they could 
 not well take without being obferved by every- 
 body, the greateft part of the property thus 
 filched from my houfe was entirely loft both to 
 me and my children ; whereas, had they ftill 
 continued in my keeping, they might have en- 
 joyed every individual article. 
 
 I will beftow a few reflections on thefe people's 
 conduct towards me on this occafion. I believe 
 if they could have ftripped me naked and turned 
 me out upon a common, it would have pleafed 
 them to have done it. Their oftenfible reafon 
 for this manner of proceeding was, " A fecond 
 wife will get all that is left ; " and this plea they 
 feemed to think fufficient to juftify them in doing 
 all that lay in their power to accomplifh my ruin. 
 What ftrange reafoning, and what abfurd and 
 inconfiftent conduct was this ! Mrs. Birkhead's 
 own father married a fecond time, after having 
 married a firft wife, with whom he had iflue. 
 Mrs. Birkhead herfelf was a fruit of that fecond 
 marriage. Her father married a third wife, to 
 whom, fame fays, he and his family did not
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 159 
 
 behave over-kindly. Now, if her father's child 
 or children by his firft wife, or their relations, 
 had acled upon the fame principles with refpecl: 
 to him and his future family which (he and her 
 family acted upon with refpecl: to me and mine ; 
 if they had endeavoured to prejudice his child or 
 children againft him, to debauch them from their 
 duty, and rob him of their affe&ion ; if they 
 had rifled, or encouraged his child or children to 
 rifle his property, even to the hazard of his ruin, 
 for fear his fecond wife and fecond children of 
 whom (he herfelf was one fhould have anything 
 left to fubfift upon afterwards ; what would 
 Mrs. Birkhead have thought or faid of fuch a 
 proceeding ? What indeed ! doubtlefs, if it had 
 been her own cafe, fhe would have thought, and 
 faid too, that they were a fet of wicked, unjuft, 
 ungenerous, and unfeeling rafcals. 
 
 I return to my narration. When we came 
 to Birkenfhaw, my wife was in a very weak 
 ftate of body ; fhe was juft recovering from a 
 fecond attack of her old diforder, the rheumatic 
 fever. She was obliged to wean the child (Patty) 
 when about fifteen weeks old, who was poorly 
 alfo ; but after this they both recovered pretty 
 fpeedily. About this time I was obliged to fell 
 my land one of the moft unfortunate adtions 
 for my worldly welfare that ever I did in my 
 life, as I have hinted before. After paying off 
 the mortgage, I put one hundred pounds of the 
 fpare money into the hands of fome friendly
 
 160 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 acquaintance in the wool trade, on condition 
 that I {hould have a proportional {hare of the 
 profits arifing therefrom. However, I never 
 received anything but fimple intereft for my 
 money, and took fome of the ftock now and 
 fome then, till I had taken it all. We tried to 
 keep a (hop, but this would do nothing for us ; 
 we loft money by roguifh cuftomers. We next 
 tried to teach a fchool, and could get the trouble 
 and inconvenience of fcholars, but could get no 
 pay for many of them ; we therefore gave this 
 up. I next got in to be book-keeper at the 
 furnace for Meflrs. Emmets,* which place I 
 held about a year, and had about two {hillings a 
 day. This helped us for the time, and then we 
 parted. My family was increafing all this time, 
 and of courfe my difficulties. A friendly ac- 
 quaintance of mine (Mr. John Taylor, merchant, 
 of Great Gomerfall),t having, I fuppofe, intelli- 
 gence of this, paid me a vifit, and kindly in- 
 quired into my fituation. He had lately built a 
 
 * The father of the prefent Emmanuel Emmet, Efq. of 
 Birkenfhaw, had a foundry and iron-works at Birkenfhaw 
 during the laft century, and the earlier part of the prefent. 
 Both the Coles and the Billingfleys, late of the Bowling 
 Iron Works, were in the employ of the Emmets before 
 they came to Bowling. 
 
 f This " Mr. John Taylor, merchant, of Great Gomer- 
 fall," was the identical perfon who afterwards figured as 
 Mr. Yorke in Mifs Bronte's novel of " Shirley." He was 
 a man of great energy, was quite a charader, and became 
 rich by trade. He built a chapel at Gomerfall at his own 
 fole expenfe, and preached in it himfelf.
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 161 
 
 pretty large mill for carding machines, to which 
 he had attached four flocks to mill woollen cloth 
 in. He wanted a cloth fearcher, and propofed 
 to me to endeavour to obtain the place, and 
 he would affift me. He obferved, it would be 
 good for nothing the firft year, being only four 
 pounds for the year ; but that the year following 
 it would be advanced to ten pounds, he made no 
 doubt, and eventually to fifteen or fixteen pounds. 
 That it would put me in the line of the bufmefs, 
 and give me an opportunity of future advance- 
 ment to better places. I thanked him, accepted 
 the propofal, and obtained the place. As he 
 obferved, I loft by it the firft year ; the fecond 
 year it was raifed to ten pounds a year, which 
 was the falary affixed to it when I threw up the 
 place ; but it was afterwards raifed to fifteen or 
 fixteen pounds a year, and, with other emolu- 
 ments, is worth twenty, or near twenty pounds 
 a year to the prefent officer. Mr. Taylor at the 
 fame time allowed me eight millings a week for 
 keeping the books and affifting to overlook the 
 fervants and work of his carding machinery. 
 Both the places together made me about twelve 
 
 1 O 
 
 fhillings a week, which, added to my own pit- 
 tance, enabled me to fubfift my family pretty 
 comfortably. When I had been here better than 
 two years, two perfons at Birkenfhaw the village 
 where I refided built a fcribbling-mill ; * another 
 
 * A. fcribbling-mill is a mill where wool is prepared for 
 fpinning, previous to being woven into cloth. The labour 
 M
 
 162 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 had been built about the fame time about a 
 mile from the village, and to both thefe mills 
 two ftocks were attached for milling cloth ; 
 thefe required a fearcher to attend them, and 
 our fupervifor faid that I was like to take them, 
 as they could not pretend to appoint an additional 
 fearcher to thefe fmall places, while I was near 
 them. To this I agreed, rather than quit the 
 connection, though I loft four fhillings a week 
 by the circumftance, as I could not poflibly 
 attend Mr. Taylor's bufmefs and thefe additional 
 mills too; but I knew Hunfworth* mill was 
 likely foon to be advanced. At this crifis the 
 principal partner at Birkenfhaw mill afked me if 
 I was difengaged from Mr. Taylor. I told him 
 yes, as I could not poflibly overlook all the mills 
 and Mr. Taylor's work too. He then propofed, 
 that, if I would throw up Hunfworth mill, and 
 retain only the two mills at Birkenfhaw (for 
 which I had got ten pounds a year allowed), and 
 come and keep their books, and aflift in over- 
 feeing their work as I had done for Mr. Taylor, 
 they would give me the fame wage, namely, 
 
 of fcribbling is now done by machinery, worked by fteam - t 
 but formerly this kind of work ufed to be done by hand- 
 machines, or machines moved by the hand. 
 
 * Hunfworth is a village near Oakenfhaw, in the parifh 
 of Birftall, four and a half miles fouth of Bradford, and 
 has a population at this time of twelve hundred. The Old 
 Mills (till remain. The corn mills are worked by Mr. 
 Thomas Briggs, of Hunfworth ; and there are alfo extenfive 
 woollen manufa&ories and dye works carried on by the 
 Meflrs. Taylors, of Hunfworth.
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 163 
 
 eight {hillings a week, which would put me 
 precifely on the fame footing I was at Hunfworth ; 
 and he obferved, that it would fave me much 
 walking every morning and evening, that I 
 fhould be at home, and that I might get warm 
 meals, Sec. I told him I was aware of thefe 
 advantages, but afked him if I might depend 
 upon the continuance of the place, becaufe I was 
 fure of the mill, and the falary was likely foon to 
 be advanced to an amount which would be 
 worth as much to me or nearly fo as the wage 
 of their place, befides the choice of another 
 mill at Heaton if I thought I could ferve them 
 all ; and thefe I was pretty fure of for life, 
 except an opportunity offered of getting a better 
 place ; but if I threw it up, I loft it entirely, 
 and if I loft their place too, I fhould be in a 
 fhabby fituation indeed, with Birkenfhaw mills 
 only. He faid I might depend upon it. I fpoke 
 to Mr. Taylor and Mr. Thompfon. Mr. Taylor 
 was for me keeping the mill and refufing the 
 place ; Mr. Thompfon faid, if I thought I could 
 confide in my fuppofed friend, to be fure it would 
 be much eafier for me. I verily thought I could, 
 and therefore threw up the mill and accepted the 
 place. 
 
 This was another very imprudent action into 
 which I was betrayed by a too great confidence 
 in profefled friendfhip. I put them in a com- 
 modious way of keeping the books, which I had 
 pradtifed at Hunfworth. When I had been with
 
 164 4UTOBIOGRAPHT OF 
 
 them about two years, one Saturday evening, 
 without a moment's notice, or any other reafon 
 afligned, the other partner told me drily, that 
 they thought they could keep the books them- 
 felves, and had no further occafion for my fervice. 
 I was aftonifhed at this, and looked upon it, as 
 it certainly was, as a very mean, as well as a 
 very unfriendly, unfair, and ungenerous action. 
 I had not fought the place ; indeed, I had no 
 thoughts about it. I was folicited to come to 
 this place, and to throw up my fearching at 
 Hunfworth for this purpofe, though I knew it 
 was likely foon to be worth as much, or more, 
 to me as theirs, and which, in all probability, I 
 might retain, if I pleafed, for life. The only 
 difference was, their work was near home. I 
 was promifed I might depend upon the place, and 
 was then prefently kicked out of it j fo that it 
 looked as if a fcheme had been formed by my 
 profefling friends to deprive me of the comfort- 
 able fituation and profpecl: I had obtained through 
 Mr. Taylor's favour, and turn me adrift in fearch 
 of new profpe&s. 
 
 " What then is friendship ? 'tis a name, 
 
 A charm that lulls to fleep ; 
 A (hade that follows wealth and fame, 
 But leaves the wretch to weep." 
 
 This event confirmed my conviction of the 
 great fanity of Tim a' Lee's proverb, and the 
 general neceflity of acting upon his maxim, 
 Truft no mortal.
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 165 
 
 This event dripped me of all my before-ac- 
 quired benefits and profpe6ts, and left me only 
 the ten pounds a year for Birkenfhaw mills, at a 
 time when all the neceffaries of life were greatly 
 enhanced, and my family increafed with feveral 
 more children. We ftruggled with the difficulties 
 brought upon us by this event for more than two 
 years, and it was a lofs to us of near forty pounds, 
 which was wrung from the backs and bellies of 
 me and my family in a very difficult period. 
 Mr. Thompfon and feveral others of my friendly 
 acquaintance had promifed me to do their beft 
 the firft opportunity that occurred, to obtain me 
 a better fituation. In the mean time we troubled 
 nobody with our complaints ; we fuffered in 
 filence, and endeavoured to make the beft of 
 our fituation. The infpe&orfhip of Gomerfall 
 diftrit was divided into two rounds, with an 
 annual falary of twenty-feven pounds annexed to 
 each of them. Jofhua Dixon, of Birftal, fur- 
 veyed the one, and Robert Goodalls, of Church 
 lane,* the other. During this period Jofhua 
 Dixon died, and the two rounds were thrown 
 into one. Robert Goodall had five pounds added 
 to his former falary, which made it thirty-two 
 pounds per annum, for which he furveyed both 
 the rounds. Robert Goodall died in the month 
 
 * Church Lane is probably what is now called Thirk 
 Lane. It is the road leading from Cleckheaton to Birftall 
 by way of Spen Bridge and Spen Houfe. This road leads 
 through the hamlet of Gomeriall Hill Top.
 
 166 JUTOBIOGRJPHr OF 
 
 of January, 1796, and I obtained the place 
 January the 27th, 1796, which I ftill retain 
 at this time, April the igth, 1797. As I obferved 
 before, the falary was thirty-two pounds per 
 annum, befides fome other fmall emoluments 
 arifing from ftamping blanks for the merchants 
 and clothiers, &c. 
 
 I defire here to take notice to the praife of a 
 kind Providence, which, I am firmly perfuaded, 
 prefides, governs, and difpenfes with infinite 
 wifdom and goodnefs, towards every individual^ 
 and towards his whole creation the critical 
 timing of my obtaining this place. It was when 
 I could fubfift my family no longer without 
 breaking into my little real or perfonal property, 
 and thereby greatly injuring my annual income 
 or prefent convenience, either of which we could 
 ill forego. Blefled be God for his goodnefs ! 
 
 I return to take notice of the feveral events 
 which happened in my family during this period j 
 that is, from my fecond marriage to the prefent 
 time, April 20th, 1797. Mrs. Birkhead perfuaded 
 my daughter Betty to refide with them, and I 
 gave my confent. This was from no liberal 
 motive, but fhe engaged Betty to do the fervant's 
 work, and had only a little meat to find her, for 
 I myfelf found her clothes, even to the value of 
 a coarfe linen brat to warn up the pots in. The 
 family, therefore, which I brought to Birkenfhaw 
 confifted of myfelf, my wife, my eldeft fon 
 Tommy, my third fon John, and my little
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 167 
 
 daughter Patty, about fifteen weeks old. I 
 fent Tommy to fchool to my old acquaintance 
 Benny Brooke, at Tong,* and John to Eaft 
 Bierley fchool (it being much nearer) to Mr. 
 William Kellet. 
 
 Nine weeks and five days after my coming to 
 Birkenmaw, I was vifited by one of the moft 
 fevere trials I had ever experienced hitherto, in 
 the fudden death of my darling child, John 
 Wright, my third fon and fixth child, who died 
 in my arms on Saturday, July the iQth, 1783, 
 about three o'clock in the afternoon. He was 
 buried on the Monday evening following, being 
 the 2 1 ft of the fame month, in the New Chapel- 
 yard at Cleckheaton, clofe by the north fide of 
 his brother William's grave and his mother's 
 tomb. There his beloved remains reft in the 
 peaceful grave, in a fure and certain hope of a 
 joyful refurre&ion to eternal life when the Arch- 
 angel's trumpet mall give the final fummons, 
 " for the trumpet mail found and the dead mail 
 be raifed incorruptible.''! This glorious hope 
 
 * Xong, in the parifh of Birftall, is a quiet rural village, 
 four miles from Bradford, and the population of the town- 
 fhip in 1861 was 3035. This is the Tunic of the Domef- 
 day Book, and is generally called the Lordfhip of Tong. 
 The heirs to thefe fertile lands from the times of the 
 Saxons have been the families of the Tongs, the Mirfields, 
 and the Tempefts; and Colonel Plumbe Tempeft is now 
 lord of the manor, and refides in an old hall built of brick 
 which overlooks a beautiful vale, on the other fide of which 
 ftands the eftablilhment of Fulneck, the feat of the Mora- 
 vians in Yorkshire, 
 i Cor. xv. 2z.
 
 i68 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 we owe to Jefus' dying love, who will moft 
 afluredly raife to a new, a happy, and an endlefs 
 life, the diflblved bodies of all thofe who fleep in 
 Him, as I doubt not all thofe who die in their 
 infancy moft certainly do. No ftone or tomb- 
 ftone has yet been laid or erected to his memory, 
 the ftraitnefs of my circumftances have hitherto 
 prevented me from doing it ; but if ever I am 
 able I mean to do it with the firft opportunity 
 that may offer ; and if I never (hould be able, I 
 will endeavour, if it be poflible, to engage fome 
 branch of my family to do it for me fooner or 
 later. Meanwhile I have prepared the following 
 epitaph, which may be fhortened, if need be, of 
 the four laft lines in the poetry, or fome words, 
 perhaps, in the preceding part. For John 
 Wright's tombftone : 
 
 In Memory of 
 JOHN WRIGHT, 
 
 Third fon of Thomas Wright, of Birkenfhaw, 
 
 whofe body refts in hope within this tomb, and 
 
 who died fuddenly, in his afflicted father's arms, 
 
 on Saturday, July the iQth, 1783. 
 
 Aged 8 years and 6 months. 
 
 Here all the flattering hopes of youthful bloom, 
 Untimely blafted, wither in the tomb : 
 Sudden death fnatch'd him from his guiltlefs play, 
 And clos'd his eyes, to wake in endleis day. 
 Grac'd with each merit years like his could boaft, 
 So loon difcovered, and fo early loft ; 
 Studious by every pleafing art to prove 
 The endearing tendernefs of filial love,
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 169 
 
 Which, guided ftill by Nature's gentleft voice, 
 Prepar'd him for that Heaven he now enjoys. 
 O let not grief pronounce that doom unjuit, 
 Which lays a parent's faireft hopes in duft. 
 Lord, I fubmit to Thee, all good and wile, 
 And yield the infant victim to the Ikies. 
 
 John Wright was near two years and three 
 quarters old at the time of his mother's death. 
 I always fufpe&ed he was hurt by a fright his 
 mamma gave him, by fuddenly fcolding and 
 fhaking him when he cried and was troublefome 
 one night in bed, when he was a little one, 
 which at the time nearly threw him into fits, 
 and I had much ado to recover him from the 
 fright. He was ever after fubjet to be frighty 
 upon any fudden alarm, and would frequently 
 get out of bed in dreams, and fometimes awoke 
 out of his deep under an unaccountable fright 
 and tremor } which I always fufpe&ed to be 
 caufed, or at leaft increafed, by the above-men- 
 tioned fright, though I may be miftaken, and it 
 might be purely natural : however, it is needful 
 to be as careful as poflible not to give children 
 any fudden fright. As he grew up he was very 
 remarkable for the fondeft filial affection, and 
 would frequently be telling me in his childifh 
 way how dearly he loved me beyond everything 
 elfe in the world. If I had at any time been out 
 late, if he had been a-bed and awoke when I 
 came in, he would have leaped out of bed, run 
 to my embraces, and welcomed me home with 
 the tendereft exprefiions. He was remarkably
 
 170 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 felicitous about his prayers, and before he had 
 learned the Lord's Prayer by heart, would have 
 called on me, if I forgot, to teach him them 
 before he would have gone to fleep. A few 
 weeks before his death, being playing with 
 his brother Tommy at Brook-houfes, he got 
 fomething into his ear which frighted him ; they 
 put a drop of rum in his ear, which, they faid, 
 brought out fome kind of a fmall black infect. 
 One night foon after, I had been from home, 
 and when I came in in the evening, he came 
 weeping down ftairs, and faid fomething made a 
 noife in his ears which frighted him, and thought 
 it was fomething he had got in his ear at the 
 time above mentioned. I took him on my knee 
 and it ceafed, and I put him to bed, and he com- 
 plained no more of it afterwards. Whether this 
 circumftance might be any caufe of the ftrange 
 diforder which afterwards cut him fo fuddenly 
 off, I cannot tell ; God knoweth. 
 
 On Thurfday, the loth day of July, 1783, 
 there came on, about ten o'clock in the evening, 
 one of the moft dreadful ftorms of thunder and 
 lightning I had ever beheld. It was extremely 
 awful and alarming indeed. I got my family to 
 bed, where, I think, they would have remained 
 pretty compofed, but a neighbour woman coming 
 in with her children, extremely frightened, 
 alarmed my children too, fo that they and our 
 maid (a Matty Webfter from Tong) ran from 
 their own bed to my wife and the little one,
 
 THOM4S WRIGHT. 171 
 
 where, with two of our neighbour's children, 
 there were feven in one bed, at the head and 
 feet. John was between two at the feet. I 
 told him not to be afraid, but to commend him- 
 felf to the divine protection, which I believe he 
 did. He afterwards called me to him : when 
 I came I found him bathed in fweat, occafioned 
 by lying over-head in bed, to avoid feeing the 
 lightning. He faid, " Daddy, I will fall afleep 
 if I can, and then I fhall not fee the lightning. 
 Will you pray for me ? you know, when I am 
 afleep I cannot pray for myfelf." This requeft, 
 uttered by my dear child with a fteady feriouf- 
 nefs, ftruck me greatly, and I immediately went 
 to my knees to recommend him to the divine 
 mercy and protection. A few days before he 
 died, John Kitfon, fon of Jonathan Kitfon, 
 near whom we had lived before we came to 
 Birkenfhaw, came upon an errand to our next 
 door neighbour, and had a little bay galloway 
 with him ; at that time, Tommy and John, my 
 two fons, were going to fee their grandfather at 
 Brook-houfes, and John Kitfon told my younger 
 boy, that if he would go the lane way with him, 
 he fhould ride upon the galloway, of which he 
 was fo fond ; and importuned me fo much to let 
 him go, that I confented, upon John Kitfon's 
 promifing to let him ride, and to proceed flowly 
 and carefully ; but as foon as he was out of my 
 fight he made my boy difmount, and then fet off 
 on the full trot down the lane, and my boy ran
 
 172 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 after him moft of the way to Gomerfall. I was 
 exceeding unhappy after I knew this, as the day 
 was uncommonly hot and fultry, and muft almoft 
 fuffocate the child to run after the horfe fo far 
 and fo fail under a burning fun ; and I have 
 often been afraid the overheating himfelf fo much 
 on this occafion, and bathing in cold water while 
 he was yet hot (as I underftood he afterwards 
 did), might contribute to the bringing on that 
 diforder which foon after put a period to his life. 
 Whether it was fo or not, I cannot tell, but 
 I have often reflected upon it with extreme 
 regret, that ever I fuffered him to go with that 
 unlucky, mifchievous boy ; and if I had known 
 the trick he would have played him, he fhould 
 not have gone with him upon any confidera- 
 tion. 
 
 On Friday, the i8th of July, 1783, he got 
 a milk breakfaft as ufual, and v/as impatient with 
 the maid to get it ready, as he was afraid of his 
 mafter being angry at his being late to fchool. 
 When he was going he looked fondly at me, 
 and I afked him if I muft go part of the way 
 with him as I frequently did and he faid, 
 " Yes, if you pleafe, daddy." I accordingly 
 went with him over the firft field, and over the 
 ftile into the fecond, where we ftood to part. 
 He turned about, and ftroked his hands over his 
 little thighs, and faid, " Daddy, I am fomehow 
 ftiff over here, and it almoft makes me lame." 
 I told him he had, perhaps, been running or
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 173 
 
 leaping, which had occafioned it, and I hoped it 
 would be better foon. He faid yes, he hoped it 
 would. I fuppofe his running after the horfe, 
 above mentioned, fo far and fo faft, might be the 
 occafion of this ftiffnefs. He then came and 
 kifled me, and blefled me, and bid me farewell, 
 as he almoft always did when he parted with 
 me ; but having gone a few fteps he turned 
 about and faid, " Daddy, ftay on that pit-hill * 
 (a pit-hill that was juft by) while I go up the 
 Kirkgate, and I can turn about and look at you." 
 I faid, "Well, my dear," and he proceeded. 
 As I looked after him I thought he looked a 
 very poor look, as if he was not very well, as 
 indeed, he had done for fome days ; and my 
 heart ached in an uncommon manner at parting 
 with him, as if foreboding the heavy affliction 
 which awaited me. It was much I did not take 
 him back with me, but as it was now about nine 
 o'clock, and he would be down to his dinner, I 
 thought it would not be long ere I faw my child 
 again. I little thought this would be the laft 
 interview I mould ever have with my dear little 
 boy out of doors; yet fo it proved, to my unfpeak- 
 
 * This would very likely be an accumulation of rubbifh 
 thrown out of fome coal-pit, on the fide of the road from 
 Birkenfhaw to Bradford, as fuch heaps are yet very common. 
 There is a lane ftill called Kirkgate, which leads up to an 
 ancient crofs, on the hill. The faft of this crofs being on 
 the hill, muft have given rife to the name (Kirkgate), as 
 there was not, until a few years ago, any church at Birken- 
 fhaw.
 
 174 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 able affliction. I ftood near the place till he 
 walked up the oppofite field, called the Kirkgate, 
 where he turned about, as he had faid, to take 
 from thence his laft look at his daddy. I waited 
 till he was out of fight, and afterwards returned 
 home. He ufed to come to his dinner towards 
 one o'clock, but falling badly at fchool, his mafter 
 fent him home fooner, and it was about twelve 
 o'clock at noon when he came in at the back- 
 door and up the entry, weeping, to me, as I was 
 fet in the houfe rocking the little child in the 
 cradle. I afked him what was the matter, and 
 he faid, " Daddy, my head aches." I faid, 
 " Does it, my love ? " and he faid, " Yes, fadly, 
 and I have thrown up my breakfaft at fchool." 
 I told him not to cry, it would make his head 
 worfe, and he immediately forbore. I took him 
 upon my knee, and tied my pocket-handkerchief 
 about his head, and being fet in a rocking-chair, 
 he lay his head back in my arm, and I rocked 
 him upon my knee. He prefently afked for 
 fomething to drink ; the weather being very hot, 
 our beer was turning hard, and I thought it 
 would not be proper for him ; I therefore afked 
 him if he would choofe fome milk ? He said, 
 yes. I got him fome, of which he drank, then 
 lay in my arm again, and feemed difpofed to 
 deep. I told him if he could deep, I would 
 carry him, if he would, into our bed, and he 
 would lie eafier, and I hoped deep would cure 
 his head, to which he confented. As I was
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 175 
 
 carrying him up-ftairs, he afked to drink again ; 
 and after laying him in bed, and taking off all 
 his clothes but his ftockings, I fetched him the 
 milk again, of which he drank a fecond time, 
 and compofed himfelf to fleep. I went down to 
 the child in the cradle (my wife being out of the 
 houfe), but he prefently called upon me again, 
 and I ran up-ftairs. He was reaching to puke ; 
 I held my hand on his forehead, and he threw 
 up the milk he had drunk, which came curdled 
 from his ftomach. I fuppofe clear water would 
 have been beft to have given him, if I had known 
 it, for he was much worfe than I imagined, as I 
 took it to be nothing more than a common fit of 
 the headache, occafioned, perhaps, by the un- 
 common heat of the day, and from which fleep 
 would effectually relieve him. I went to fee him 
 often, and he feemed to fleep kindly, which 
 abated my fears, and I concluded he was doing 
 well. I ordered my wife to get fome tea and 
 bread and butter ready againft he awoke, as 
 I thought he muft be hungry then, as he had 
 parted with his breakfaft before, and tea would 
 be more fuitable for him than ftronger meat. 
 
 D 
 
 She accordingly got it ready, and fet it by the 
 fire to keep warm againft he awoke ; but alas ! 
 my dear poorly child never eat more. In the 
 forenoon Mr. William Johnftone, of Gomerfall- 
 hill-top,* had called upon me as he went to 
 
 * Gomerfall Hill Top. A hamlet a little to the fouth- 
 eaft of Gomerfall, and not far from Birftall. It lies exa&ly
 
 176 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 Bradford, and engaged me to meet him at Mr. 
 James Wilkinfon's, at five o'clock in the after- 
 noon. I carefully attended, and very frequently 
 went to look at my child, till betwixt five and 
 fix o'clock in the evening, and though I thought 
 he flept long^ yet I thought he flept kindly, and 
 ftill hoped he would be well when he awoke. 
 I therefore ventured to fulfil my engagement, 
 after leaving a ftri& charge with my family to 
 obferve him with the utmoft care. 
 
 I obferve here, that fome unfriendly perfons, 
 and particularly one perfon, who profefled the 
 greateft refpe& and friendfhip for me, and even 
 afFe&ed to confider me as one of her own family, 
 and to whom, and to whofe family, I had behaved 
 with the greateft generofity and good nature, 
 laid hold of this circumftance to reprefent me 
 as wanting in affe&ion to my child ; as being all 
 the afternoon from him, and taking little notice 
 of him, which flander was as falfe as it was 
 malicious in every circumftance. They alfo 
 reported that the milk I gave him to drink was 
 four ; but if it was (for I did not tafte it), it was 
 more than I knew, and when I queftioned our 
 maid about it me pofitively aflerted the contrary. 
 Nay, the perfon above referred to, went fo far as 
 to infinuate (to Mrs. Birkhead, her near relation, 
 and my greateft enemy), that we had poifoned 
 
 between Great and Little Gomerfall, and at about equal 
 diftances from each of thefe places.
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 177 
 
 the child. I believe this lying flander was aimed 
 chiefly againft my wife, though fhe told her alfo 
 that I was a furious fellow, and curfed and fwore 
 like a common collier, &c. &c. This, indeed, 
 was a notorious falfehood ; yet I believe what 
 ftie faid againft me caufed Mrs. Birkhead to 
 behave in a worfe manner than ufual to me 
 about this time, and muft therefore attach no 
 fmall guilt to the perfon's mind, as a common 
 tale-bearer and mifchief-maker. What her motive 
 could be for this proceeding, I know not, except 
 it was to curry favour with her relation, with 
 whom fhe had been but on fhy terms for fome 
 time paft ; yet I have heard Mrs. Birkhead 
 repeatedly fpeak of her and her family with the 
 utmoft difrefpedt and contempt. This was an 
 inftance of mameful ingratitude, and an additional 
 proof of the general invalidity and infincerity of 
 common profefTed friendmips. I certainly wanted 
 not affection to induce me to do the beft I could 
 for my own child, whofe life and welfare were, 
 if poflible, dearer to me than my own. 
 
 I returned from Mr. Wilkinfon's a little after 
 eight o'clock, fo that I had been fomewhat more 
 than two hours away. When I came near home 
 I obferved our maid running to meet me, and 
 my fpirits immediately funk, for I feared my 
 child was worfe. I afked her what was the 
 matter ? and fhe faid John had awoke, and was 
 on a very ftrange faftiion. I ran immediately to 
 him, and found him apparently in convulfions.
 
 178 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 The neighbours flocked in, and as he lay upon 
 one of their knees, I thought he was expiring. 
 It is importable to exprefs the extreme agony of 
 forrow with which this fudden, fevere, and un- 
 expected ftroke overwhelmed me. It pierced 
 like a fword through my foul, and almoft rendered 
 me diftra&ed. Mils Wilkinfon (Sally), who had 
 come in amongft the reft, came to me and de- 
 fired me to go down flairs, " for," me faid, " you 
 diftrefs the child ; bad as he is, he follows you 
 with his eye wherever you go, and anfwers you 
 groan for groan." I went down into the. kitchen, 
 and as I thought him expiring, earneftly recom- 
 mended his foul to God. Prefently one came, 
 and faid, " Tommy, do not forrow fo exceed- 
 ingly, your child is coming to himfelf again." 
 I faid, " Is he alive r " They faid, " Yes, and 
 feems coming out of a fit." I blefled God there 
 was yet fome hope for his life, and immediately 
 defpatched a perfon for the doctor with all fpeed. 
 He fent him directly, and ftayed behind himfelf 
 to bring the medicines he might order for the 
 child when he returned. The doctor feemed at 
 a lofs to know what the child ailed, but finding 
 him very delirious, and to complain much of his 
 breaft, exprefled a fufpicion that he had got fome- 
 thing he could not digeft, and afked if I had got any 
 fpirituous liquors ? but this was not the cafe, nor 
 had he taken anything which anyone knew of, 
 which could poflibly do him the leaft harm. I 
 have fince fufpeded that as the fummer had been
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 179 
 
 uncommonly hot, he might, when heated with 
 play at fchool, have drank of the ftanding water 
 in the ditches (as there was no good water near 
 the fchool), and taken in the fpawn of fome 
 animal, which might have bred in his ftomach, 
 and killed him, but this is only conje&ure. The 
 doctor propofed to bleed him and give him a 
 clyfter, which he did, and he faid I heard 
 afterwards, that but for this he would not have 
 furvived two hours. When he returned, he fent 
 him a thin mixture, and a bottle of drops. We 
 gave him fome little of the mixture two or three 
 times, and one of the drops in number twenty. 
 I perceived the doctor thought he would die im- 
 mediately, but in this he was miftaken. Old 
 Matty Birkhead, and a young woman named 
 Betty Fox, and myfelf, watched all night with 
 him, and a fore, afflicted, agonizing night he 
 pafled. I could have been extremely glad if my 
 child had been able to have talked fenfibly with 
 me, if it had but been a little ; but this could 
 not be obtained ; only now and then when his 
 eye catched me, he would call me his bonny 
 daddy, and repeat other fond expreffions he had 
 before been wont to make ufe of; and once he 
 faid, " Come daddy, lie down by me, and let us 
 fall afleep together," and threw his arms eagerly 
 about my neck, and was foon toiling and agonizing 
 again. 
 
 I had fent early in the morning by Betty Fox 
 for his fitters from Brook-houfes, and they got
 
 i8o AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 up fome time before he died. At intervals he 
 knew his eldeft fifter, and called her once or 
 twice by her name. As he continued fo long 
 beyond the doctor's expectations, I began to en- 
 tertain hopes that he might be fpared j but I was 
 miftaken. About three o'clock in the afternoon 
 (Saturday, July the iQth), my family being at 
 dinner, he feemed to recover his reflection, and 
 be pretty compofed, and feeing me weeping over 
 him, he fuddenly ftretched out his little arms, 
 and with a look of inexpreflible love and pity, 
 and the fondeft concern to comfort me, cried out, 
 " Come daddy, come joy, come joy, come joy ! " 
 I faid, " I will, my dear," and bent down my 
 head to meet him. He threw his arms about 
 my neck, prefled me to his bofom, and eagerly 
 kifled and blefled me. He held me clofe fome 
 time, but at length flacking his arms, I raifed my 
 head ; he ftill followed me with his eyes, and 
 appeared very much concerned to fee me in fo 
 much forrow. I afked if he would kifs me again ; 
 he quickly and eagerly replied, " Aye, bonny 
 daddy, I will!" and ftretched out his .arms to 
 embrace me again. He kifled me with great 
 fondnefs, and faid with much earneftnefs, " Blefs 
 you, my daddy ! blefs you, my bonny daddy ! " 
 This was the laft affectionate embrace which my 
 beloved John gave his afflicted daddy, and thefe 
 the laft loving words he uttered. Soon after he 
 had fpoken them, he turned his head upon the 
 pillow and feemed inclined to puke. His fifter
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 181 
 
 Betty, who was ftanding by me, faid, " Daddy, 
 if he could get fomething up, it would perhaps 
 eafe him." I thought it perhaps might, and there- 
 fore took him gently on my knee, lay my hand 
 upon his forehead, and leaned him towards the 
 floor. He threw up about two fpoonfuls of the 
 mixture he had taken, and immediately his hands 
 hung down, and I perceived his head would fall 
 too if I took away my hand. I told his fifter 
 Betty he was dying, fhe cried out and alarmed 
 the family, and they alarmed the neighbours, who 
 came running up to us. One of them would 
 have taken him from me, faying I forrowed fo 
 violently ; but I faid, " No, he fhall die in his 
 father's arms, where I am fure he would choofe 
 to die if he was capable of choofing." I accord- 
 ingly kept him in my arms, and, while he was 
 expiring, recommended his precious departing 
 foul into the hands of his gracious Saviour. 
 
 Thus did I lofe, as to this world, my darling 
 child ; thus was the defire of my eyes taken from 
 me at a ftroke j fuddenly fnatched from my 
 paternal embraces, painfully torn from my bleed- 
 ing heart ! The killing image is ftill before me ; 
 my imagination recalls the diftreffing fcene ! I 
 ftill hear thy laft affectionate words calling upon 
 me to come to thee, and pronouncing bleflings 
 upon me with thy expiring breath ! I ftill fee 
 thee gafping in my arms, and refigning thy laft 
 breath in thy father's bofom ! Farewell, my fon, 
 my fon ; my dearly beloved John ! very pleafant
 
 182 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 haft thou been unto me; thy love to me was 
 wonderful, furpafling the common inftances of 
 filial affe&ion. I am diftrefled, I am exceedingly 
 diftrefled for thee, my darling child ! Thou 
 fhalt no more play around thy daddy, and enter- 
 tain him with thy engaging and affectionate 
 prattle ! Thou fhalt no more be at a lofs for 
 comparifons and numbers to exprefs the greatnefs 
 of thy love to me ! I fhall no more hear thy 
 fweet voice eagerly bleffing me, and when re- 
 turning home, thou 
 
 " No more (halt run to lifp thy fires return, 
 Or climb his knees the envied kifs to fhare." 
 
 I mail no more behold thee on this fide the 
 grave, but I fhall fee thee again at that day the 
 day of the glorious appearing of our Lord and 
 Saviour the Lord Jefus Chrift, who fhall change 
 our vile bodies, that they may be fafhioned like 
 unto his glorious body, according to the mighty 
 working whereby he is able to fubdue even all 
 things unto himfelf. Till then, farewell, my 
 beloved John ! Thou art engraven on the palms 
 of my hands; yea, upon the table of my heart ! 
 I fhall go mourning to the grave for thee, my 
 fon ! Farewell, my fweet babe, till we meet 
 again in happier regions, beyond the reach of fin 
 and forrow, pain and death ; farewell, till we 
 meet again to part no more, 
 
 " High in falvation and the climes of blifs," 
 and join together with the reft of our family, I
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 183 
 
 truft, through the goodnefs of God in Jefus 
 Chrift to blefs, and praife, and adore our gra- 
 cious Redeemer for his unfpeakable goodnefs and 
 mercy for ever and ever. 
 
 The forrow of mind to which this event fub- 
 je&ed me, funk my fpirits fo very low, that the 
 dolor began to apprehend very much danger, 
 and I was obliged to exert my utmoft refolution 
 to furmount the affli&ive impreflion ; yet I fuf- 
 fered confiderably in my health on this occafion, 
 and feel, or imagine I feel, the effe&s of it to 
 this day. Some perfons cenfured me pretty freely, 
 as forrowing over much ; but it is an eafy thing 
 to find fault. Different perfons have different 
 feelings, and it had pleafed my Maker to endow 
 me with very acute ones, efpecially with refpecl: 
 to my children. I murmured not at the divine 
 difpenfation I knew that God did all things well 
 but I could not diveft myfelf of the nature 
 which he had given me ; and whether my cen- 
 furers know or know it not, 
 
 " Full well I know the twifted firings 
 
 Of ardent hearts combined, 
 When rent afunder, how they bleed, 
 How hard to be reigned." 
 
 I may obferve here that I had wrote an elegy 
 on the death of my daughter Mary, confifting of 
 ninety-five verfes, with notes. Mr. John Wefley 
 publifhed about one half of thefe verfes in the 
 " Arminian Magazine,"* for, I think, February 
 
 * My grandfather's memory has been a little at fault in
 
 1 84 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 1778. I wrote alfo feveral copies of verfes at 
 different times, and in different metres, on the 
 death of my fon John. Thefe I mean to tran- 
 fcribe, and put all together, and the reader may 
 probably find them attached to thefe papers. 
 
 In the end of the fummer of 1786 I was made 
 a commiflioner in a chancery law affair, refpecl:- 
 ing the eftate of my deceafed friend, Mr. John 
 Broadley, of Rawfolds. I was called to a meet- 
 ing on this account at Wakefield, where it was 
 thought neceffary that I and the attorney who 
 was employed in the affair a Mr. L-m-top, 
 Bradford fhould proceed immediately to Sir 
 George Robinfon's,* in Northamptonfhire, to 
 obtain the fignature of a young woman who was 
 concerned in the cafe, and who, at this time, 
 refided in Sir George's family. This journey 
 being unexpected by me, I had provided no 
 money but what I happened to have in my 
 pocket, which amounted to three or four pounds, 
 and knowing that travelling in the chaife would 
 be very expenfive, I alked my companion if he 
 was provided with fufficient cam for the journey? 
 He affured me he was, which made me remain 
 
 this date. The " Arminian Magazine,'' edited at firft by 
 John Wefley, commenced with the beginning of the year 
 1778. The poem here alluded to, which is printed com- 
 plete at the end of the prefent volume, was inferted in the 
 " Arminian Magazine " for February, 1779, vol. ii. p. 96. 
 * Sir George Robinfon, Bart, was elected member for 
 Northampton in 1774.. His feat was at Crauford, near 
 Kettering, in Northamptonfliire.
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 185 
 
 eafy on that account. We accordingly hired a 
 chaife, and proceeded on our journey, through 
 Barn{ley, Sheffield, Chefterfield, Mansfield, Not- 
 tingham, Loughborough, Leicefter, and foon to 
 the feat of Sir George Robinfon in Northampton- 
 fhire. We found the family gone from home 
 on a party of pleafure, and the young woman 
 we were in fearch of was gone along with them, 
 and it appeared they were not expected home 
 again for fome weeks or months to come. We 
 of courfe did not obtain the defign of our 
 journey, but were obliged to return home again 
 without our errand. 
 
 As Sir George's feat was fituated about the 
 midway between what is called the upper and 
 lower roads to London, we concluded to crofs 
 the country forwards to the lower road, and re- 
 turn home again that way. We therefore ordered 
 the poftilion to drive forwards to the next market- 
 town, which was called Oundle. In this paflage 
 my companion told me that he had expended all 
 his cafli, and had not as much left as would pay 
 for our prefent paflage. I had fufpe6ted fomething 
 of this nature before, as he had fpunged all my 
 cafh from me, except five {hillings I had referved 
 which he did not know of. I think I never felt 
 fo chagrined and embarrafied in my mind in all 
 my life as I did upon this occafion. At a diftance 
 of 140 or 150 miles from home, riding in a chaife 
 and appearing and living like gentlemen, without 
 money in our pockets, and unacquainted with a
 
 i86 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 fingle perfon in the country, was a moft morti- 
 fying circumftance indeed. I fcolded my com- 
 panion moft feverely for the abfurdity and impru- 
 dence of his conduit, efpecially as I had warned 
 him of the circumftance before we fet off from 
 Wakefield. He kept his temper, however, and 
 affedted to laugh at my chagrin ; faid I was a 
 young traveller, that he had been in worfe fitua- 
 tions than this, and faid, "We will find fome 
 way to extricate ourfelves, I'll warrant you." 
 We arrived at Oundle, and my companion imme- 
 diately walked off into the town, defiring me to 
 fit down in the inn till he returned. I waited, 
 however, at the inn door all the time, under no 
 fmall anxiety of mind, for fear he fhould defert 
 me, and leave me in the lurch. However, he 
 foon returned, and produced cam to pay our fare 
 and expenfes at the inn. We then hired the 
 chaife to Wansford, where he paid the fare, and 
 for a genteel dinner alfo. It feems he had pawned 
 a pair of valuable knee-buckles for a prefent 
 fupply, and fupplied their place with a pair of 
 plain fteel ones ; but his cam again running low, 
 he hired a feat in a ftage- coach that was paffing 
 by, and I took one on the outfide, to Grantham, 
 where we arrived in the evening. Here our 
 finances were quite run out, except the two 
 dormant half-crown pieces in my pocket, which 
 I kept as a laft referve. I was therefore obliged, 
 though very unwillingly, to pawn my watch for 
 one guinea, which had coft me four guineas, and
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 187 
 
 was a very good one, and a favourite, under a 
 promife, however, from the perfon who had it, 
 that he would return it again when we fent back 
 the guinea, and one fhilling for intereft j and my 
 companion promifed pofitively that he both could 
 and would obtain it for me again when we got 
 home. However, I never faw it fince, although, 
 I may note here, that I afterwards fent him a 
 guinea and {hilling to fulfil his promife, and get 
 my watch again. However, I never heard more 
 of it, and I loft this money too, as he never re- 
 paid it me again ; but he lent me a pretty good 
 watch of his own, which wanted fome little 
 repairs, till he mould obtain mine : this I never 
 returned, and mean to retain it ftill, in lieu of my 
 own. 
 
 We hired places on the outfide the York ftage- 
 coach, to Doncafter the next day, and fet off early 
 in the morning. Soon after we fet out, a dog 
 brought a hare acrofs the road, and killed her 
 juft by us. The coachman alighted, and fecured 
 pufs in the coach-box, and then drove on again. 
 As there happened to be no infide paflengers, he 
 permitted us to fit within the coach ; fo that this 
 proved a cheap and an eafy ftage for us. We 
 reached Doncafter in the afternoon, and inquired 
 for fome of the diligences, to obtain a lift to 
 Wakefield, but they were all gone. However, 
 in returning over the bridge, we met with two 
 chaife-boys returning with four empty chaife- 
 horfes to Wakefield, two of which had faddles
 
 i88 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 upon them. We bargained with them for half- 
 a-crown for a ride to Wakefield, which we 
 reached after dark in the evening. My horfe 
 was a very uneafy one, and I was much fatigued 
 when I got to Wakefield, but after getting fome 
 refrefhment, I was determined to walk home on 
 foot that night. My partner was tired, and 
 wifhed to ftay till morning. I told him I thought 
 he had better, but that I could walk home well 
 enough. He fwore he could walk home better 
 than me, for he was but half as old; and he was 
 determined, if I walked home, he would too. I 
 faid it was right, fo we fet off homewards late in 
 the evening perhaps nine or ten o'clock. By 
 the time we were turned of Ardfley, he was 
 taken ill of the belly-ache. He groaned and 
 cried out bitterly, walked double-fold, and we 
 could hardly get any forwards at all. It was 
 near midnight, people all a-bed, and nobody 
 ftirring, and I did not know what to do with 
 him ; but by-and-by a bailiff overtook us, upon 
 a little galloway, with whom he was acquainted. 
 He offered him to ride, and we helped him on j 
 he rode about two or three hundred yards, and 
 then could bear to ride no farther. We helped 
 him to difmount, and the bailiff was obliged to 
 leave him upon my hands. I had a bad job of 
 it, and feared I mould have to ftay all night in 
 the lanes with him ; however, I encouraged and 
 haled him forwards as well as I could, till we
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 189 
 
 reached the firft public-houfe on this fide Tingle- 
 moor turnpike-bar. Here he was fo ill, that he 
 would have us try to gain admifiion and relief; 
 we therefore fhouted the landlord out of bed, 
 who came in his ftiirt and talked with us through 
 the window. We told him our names and where 
 we refided j that the gentleman was taken ill on 
 the road, which had thrown us late ; that he 
 wanted fomething warm to relieve him, for which 
 he would pay, and we would leave the houfe 
 again immediately. But in fpite of all we could 
 fay, the fearful landlord would not open the door 
 nor afford us any relief. My companion was 
 chagrined and highly affronted, and almoft ready 
 to weep, and threatened the man with profecution 
 for refufing to relieve a gentleman taken badly on 
 the road. But all would not do, and we were 
 forced to proceed on our journey to Adwalton. 
 We reached this place early in the morning, and 
 by good fortune found the family up, they having 
 been detained late with company the night before. 
 We fat down by a good fire, called for a bowl of 
 rum and milk, which I helped my fick companion 
 to drink a part of, and then refumed my walk for 
 home, which I reached before break of day, with 
 my two half-crowns in my pocket, after the moft 
 fatiguing journey, both of body and mind, that I 
 ever experienced. Nine or ten years afterwards 
 I received nine or ten pounds as a compenfation 
 for the trouble and expenfe I was at on this
 
 i 9 o AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 occafion, which did little, if anything, more 
 than barely reimburfe me for the expenfe I was 
 at out of my own pocket.* 
 
 I have mentioned before that my daughter 
 Betty went to refide at Brook-houfes fome time 
 before we removed to Birkenfhaw. About this 
 time the old woman at Brook-houfes behaved 
 remarkably ill, and did all me could to prevent 
 my children (for Sally was there alfo) from 
 coming to fee me. I had wimed to fee and 
 fpeak with my daughter Betty, and had fent for 
 her repeatedly in vain. I had to go to the balm- 
 mill which was juft by the houfe from whence 
 I fent a perfon to defire my daughter to ftep over 
 to the mill and fpeak with me. She fent me 
 word her grandmother would not fufter her to 
 come. Provoked at this, out of all patience, I 
 went over myfelf in much warmth, determined 
 to take her home with me, and in my way met 
 with the old, religious, wicked woman. We fell 
 out feverely, and I followed her to the door-ftones 
 and ordered my daughter to gather up her clothes 
 and come away immediately. She faid me would 
 as fpeedily as poffible. While me was doing 
 this, the old woman told her, that if me would 
 forfake and difown her father, and never look the 
 way he was, or call him father again, me was 
 welcome to ftay there. To this wicked and 
 
 * This narrative alfo is inferted here from the end of 
 the original manufcript of this autobiography.
 
 r HO MAS WRIGHT. 191 
 
 fhameful propofal my girl anfwered, as it was 
 her duty to do, that fhe would not. I told the 
 old woman we had heard that fhe faid we had 
 poifoned my lately deceafed child. She faid, 
 " No, it was my great friend at Birkenfhaw that 
 faid fo," meaning the perfon before alluded to. I 
 took her (Betty) with me to the mill, and her 
 fifter Sally followed us, and begged to go home 
 with me too ; elfe, fhe faid, they would never let 
 her fee me. I therefore took them both home 
 with me. All the clothes on Sally's back were, 
 perhaps, not worth fifteen pence ; I therefore 
 had new clothes to buy her, and I fent her to 
 fchool with her fifter Betty. After fome time, 
 my girls had to go to the mantua-maker at 
 Height with fome new coats to make, and they 
 afked my leave to call at Brook-houfes as they 
 parted by, and afk the old people how they did. 
 I gave them leave, and they called as they re- 
 turned. The old woman detained Sally, although 
 I had charged them not to ftay, but to return 
 home ; and when Betty urged my order, and her 
 fear of my being angry, fhe faid fhe might tell 
 her father that fhe could not fpare Sally yet, and 
 he muft let her ftay awhile there. I ordered 
 Betty to tell her when fhe faw her again, that I 
 had no objection to any of my children going to 
 fee them, or flaying with them awhile, lefs or 
 more, provided they did not abufe me to my 
 children, nor attempt to alienate their afte&ion 
 from me, nor hinder them from coming to fee
 
 192 
 
 me when I or they defired. This laft article they 
 complied with pretty well afterwards, becaufe 
 they were otherwife afraid of a difagreeable viflt 
 from me again j but they continued to abufe me 
 to my children behind my back, with as much 
 virulence as ever. They had not liberality enough 
 to fend Sally to any genteel place of education ; 
 me was only fent occasionally to the petty fchools 
 in the neighbourhood, and even there, for the 
 moft part, I had her fchool-wage to pay myfelf. 
 She was kept great part of her time immured in 
 a chamber, fpinning worfted, fecluded from all 
 company but that of a few neighbouring cottagers 
 and themfelves, from whom (he could never learn 
 one liberal fentiment. Hence, the child was left 
 very deficient in her manners and education, from 
 the fordid avarice of her grandparents. However, 
 me refided with them from this time till her 
 marriage. Betty dwelt with me a confiderable 
 time after this, and I fent her to fchool to learn 
 writing and accounts. At length her grandmother 
 happened to be without a fervant again, and, wifli- 
 ing to engage Betty to fupply the place of one, 
 at a cheap rate, as {he had done before, me 
 therefore encouraged her to go live with them. 
 Betty was perfuaded, and obtaining my confent, 
 me went and refided with them from this time 
 till her marriage alfo. However, me found her 
 fituation very difagreeable ; me was obliged to do 
 all their drudgery work, and was fubjected to the 
 difagreeable neceflity of hearing her father abufed
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 193 
 
 in the moft illiberal manner eveiy time he was 
 named ; and as fhe had a tender affection for her 
 father, this circumftance hurt her filial feelings 
 not a little. She was almoft reduced to a fkeleton, 
 and I was much afraid fhe was haftening into a 
 decline, and had thought of taking her home 
 again immediately, when fhe was relieved from 
 her painful fituation by marriage. 
 
 I fent Tommy to fchool all the time he was 
 with me at Birkenfhaw. I put him apprentice 
 to Meffrs. John and George Nicholfon (father 
 and fon), bookfellers, ftationers, and printers, at 
 Bradford, in March, 1787, for five year&, ending 
 March, 1792. I note, his grandfather advanced 
 twenty pounds for him on this occafion, which 
 was required as a premium by his matters. I 
 take notice next, that my fecond wife during this 
 period bore me the following additional children, 
 at the following places, and in the following 
 order : 
 
 MARTHA WRIGHT, my fourth daughter and 
 eighth child (the firft by my fecond marriage), 
 was born on Tuefday, the i8th day of January, 
 1783, a quarter paft two o'clock in the afternoon, 
 one year, twelve weeks, and one day after our 
 marriage, and five years and a half after the birth 
 of my fon William, in Cleckheaton-upper-lane, 
 under the roof with Jonathan Kitfon's. She was 
 baptized by the Rev. John Croffe, the prefent 
 (1797) vicar of Bradford Church, at the Old 
 White Chapel, in the north, on the 4th day of 
 o
 
 i 9 4 AUrOElOGRAPHY OF 
 
 April, 1783. Sponfors, its father, mother, and 
 grandmother Finder ; alfo Mrs. Elizabeth Wil- 
 kinfon and the clerk were prefent. 
 
 ANN WRIGHT, my fifth daughter and ninth 
 child (the fecond by my fecond marriage), was 
 born at Birkenfliaw, on Monday, the 27th day of 
 June, 1785, a quarter paft one o'clock in the 
 morning, two years, twenty-one weeks, and three 
 days after the birth of her fifter Martha. She 
 was baptized by the Rev. Mr. Reuben Ogden, 
 at the parifh church of Birftall, on Saturday, 
 July the 3Oth, 1 785. Sponfors, its father, mother, 
 and Mary Davifon. The clerk was Jo. Shaw. 
 
 BENJAMIN WRIGHT, my fifth fon and tenth 
 child (the third by my fecond marriage), was 
 born at Birkenfhaw alfo, on Thurfday, the 2Oth 
 day of September, 1787, half-an-hour after one 
 o'clock in the afternoon, two years, twelve 
 weeks, and one day after the birth of his fifter 
 Ann. He was baptized by the Rev. Mr. Reubejti 
 Ogden, at the parifh church of Birftall, on Friday, 
 the 23rd day of November, 1787. Sponfors, 
 its father, mother, and grandfather Thomas 
 Finder. Jo. Shaw, clerk. 
 
 HANNAH WRIGHT, my fixth daughter and 
 eleventh child (the fourth by my fecond marriage), 
 was born at Birkenfhaw alfo, on Friday, the 25th 
 day of June, 1790, twenty-five minutes after four 
 o'clock in the morning, two 'years, thirty-nine 
 weeks, and four days after the birth of her 
 brother Benjamin. She was baptized by the
 
 THOM4S WRIGHT. 195 
 
 Rev. Mr. Reuben Ogden, at the parifh church 
 of Birftall, on Thurfday, the 22nd day of July, 
 1790. Sponfors, her mother, her aunt Hannah 
 Finder, and her uncle William Finder. Jo. 
 Shaw, clerk. 
 
 JOHN WRIGHT, my fecond fon of that name, 
 my fixth fon and twelfth child (the fifth by my 
 fecond marriage), was born at Birkenfhaw alfo, 
 on Saturday, the 21 ft day of September, 1793, 
 half-an-hour after five o'clock in the morning, 
 three years, three months, and three days after 
 the birth of his fifter Hannah. He was baptized 
 by the Rev. Mr. Rueben Ogden (Jo. Shaw, 
 clerk), at the parim church of Birftall, on Tuef- 
 day, the 22nd day of October, 1793. Sponfors, 
 his uncles Thomas Brooke and John Finder, 
 and his aunt Hannah Finder. N.B. Ann Finder, 
 my wife's fifter, was married to Thomas Brooke, 
 of Birftall, joiner, the fame day. 
 
 JOSEPH WRIGHT, my feventh fon and thir- 
 teenth child (the fixth by my fecond marriage), 
 was born at Birkenfhaw alfo, on Friday, the loth 
 day of June, 1796, at half-an-hour after three 
 o'clock in the afternoon, two years, thirty-feven 
 weeks, and four days after the birth of his brother 
 John. He was baptized by the Rev. Mr. Rueben 
 Ogden (Jo. Shaw, clerk), at the parifh church 
 of Birftall, on Tuefday, the 27th day of Septem- 
 ber, 1796. Sponfors, his father, mother, and 
 John Walker of Toftfhaw-moor-fide. 
 
 It is fomewhat fingular, that the preceding fix
 
 196 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 children were born precifely in the fame order 
 that my firft wife bore her firft fix children, viz., 
 the two' firft births girls ; the third, a boy ; the 
 fourth, a girl ; the fifth and fixth, boys ; which 
 is one boy fhort of my firft wife's number. 
 
 In my account of John I have mentioned a 
 remarkable thunder-ftorm which happened on 
 Leeds' fair-day, at night, July the loth, 1783.* 
 I will juft notice the circumftances that fell under 
 my obfervation on that occafion. The fummer 
 had been unufually hot and fultry, and the air 
 appeared to be uncommonly charged with fulphu- 
 reous vapours, and we had received repeated in- 
 telligence in the public papers of deftru6live 
 earthquakes having happened in Italy and the 
 adjacent countries. The ftorm came on from 
 the north-weft, about ten o'clock in the evening. 
 A diftant rumbling of the thunder was heard for 
 fome time before, but it approached us faft, and 
 we were foon furrounded by the loudeft and moft 
 tremendous peals and crafhes of thunder I ever 
 heard, and involved in almoft perpetual flaflies of 
 the moft vivid lightning I ever faw. The fcene 
 
 * The month of July in the year 1783 is memorable 
 for the terrible ftorms which traverfed almoft every part of 
 our ifland, doing incalculable mifchief. Many people were 
 killed, and there was a great deftruftion of cattle and of 
 other kinds of property. Accounts of the effefts of thefe 
 ftorms in many parts of the country, are given in the 
 | Gentleman's Magazine," for this month and the month 
 following, vol. liii. pp. 621, 707. It was the year of the 
 great earthquake in Calabria.
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 197 
 
 was truly awful and alarming indeed, and ac- 
 cordingly, moft of the neighbours were terribly 
 alarmed, efpecially the women, fome of whom 
 were nearly frightened into fits. Indeed, none 
 who were awake could avoid being awed, except 
 a fet of drunken fellows in the neighbouring ale- 
 
 ^ DO 
 
 houfe, who feemed infenfible of the tremendous 
 fcene, and who were, perhaps, incapable, in their 
 prefent condition at leaft, of being alarmed even 
 with a view of hell itfelf. There was one perfon 
 
 there, however (a T s R s, a butcher 
 
 from Gomerfal) whom the ftorm caught fober, 
 though in the habit of being frequently drunk, 
 in which fituation he was remarkable for an 
 overbearing, rude, and profane behaviour. This 
 perfon appeared the greatlieft alarmed I ever faw. 
 He came to me, as I flood before my own door 
 obferving the ftorm, apparently under the greateft 
 agitation of mind, and afked me, weeping and 
 greatly trembling, " Tommy, do you think it is 
 the laft day?" I faid, "No, it is a dreadful 
 ftorm of thunder and lightning j are you af- 
 frighted ?" He faid, " Yes j but I am not fo 
 much afraid of the thunder as I am afraid of 
 being killed, becaufe I am not fit to die." I 
 told him that was a very fufficient caufe for fear, 
 and recommended to him to acknowledge his fin 
 to God, and beg his pardon. He ftepped into 
 the public-houfe, and kneeling down by a table 
 utterly regardlefs of the taunts of the drunken 
 company wept and prayed very heartily. Yet,
 
 198 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 (alas! for the weaknefs of human refolutions,) I 
 foon after faw him in the fame houfe, drunken, 
 and profanely fwearing at a great rate. I gently 
 reminded him of his fright in the thunder-ftorm ; 
 he blufhed, was afhamed, and acknowledged the 
 impropriety of his conduct. He is long fince 
 gone into the unfeen world. I watched till about 
 three o'clock in the morning, and obferved the 
 progrefs of the ftorm as accurately as I could. 
 None of the flames feemed to come very near us 
 but one, when the flafh and report were exactly 
 together. It burft from a low cloud, apparently 
 forty or fifty yards from us, with a horrid cram, 
 and took a direction down the caufeway, about 
 a yard and a half above it. It ran in a zigzag 
 form, or that of acute angles, and appeared to 
 me for the moment fomething like a ftream of 
 the moft glowing melted metal, ifluing from the 
 furnace. John Green, a neighbour, who flood 
 by me at the time, faid he faw it burft from the 
 cloud, and that it appeared to him like a globe 
 of glowing fire. He would have it that it hurt 
 one of his eyes, of which he did not fee perfectly 
 for fome time afterwards. If it was fo, it muft 
 have proceeded from the ftrong glare of the 
 lightning from being fo near us perhaps ten or 
 twelve yards diftant. The report of the thunder 
 fliook the houfes to the very foundation. There 
 were three principal ftorms at the fame time : 
 one fouth-eaft, over the top of Birftall from us ; 
 another towards Cleckheaton, fouth-weft; and
 
 7 'HO MAS WRIGHT. 199 
 
 a third, north, towards Bradford and Bingley. 
 Thefe played againft each other for feveral hours, 
 flafh for flafh, and roar for roar, like batteries of 
 cannon. The intermingled flafhes fucceeded 
 each other fo rapidly, that it was impoffible to 
 diftinguifh to which flafh each clap of thunder 
 belonged. The whole hemifphere appeared like 
 a glowing oven, except in the very fhort intervals 
 of pitchy darknefs ; and I could fee the diftant 
 Derbyfhire hills through a blue fulphureous 
 medium, conftituted by the almoft conftant glare 
 of the ftreaming lightning. The ftorm abated 
 as the morning approached, and by three o'clock 
 it had nearly fubfided altogether. 
 
 Upon the whole ; the dreadful rattling of the 
 rolling thunder, and the frightful flafhes of the 
 darting lightning ; the burning glare of the 
 glowing hemifphere, contrafted with the fhort 
 intervals of black, pitchy, midnight darknefs; 
 the fhaking of the houfes and windows at every 
 repeated clap of thunder ; and the furious dam- 
 ing of the rufhing rain ; the folemn hour of the 
 night, and the general affright and confternation 
 of the neighbours, contributed, all together, to 
 render it one of the moft awful and alarming 
 fcenes I had ever beheld. 
 
 I tranfcribe the following defcription of a 
 thunder-ftorm from Mr. Thomfon's "Summer," 
 v. 1128, &c. 
 
 " 'Tis liftening fear, and dumb amazement all, 
 When to the ftartled eye the hidden glance
 
 200 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 Appears far fouth, eruptive through the cloud ; 
 And following flower, in explofion vaft, 
 The thunder railes his tremendous voice. 
 At firlr, heard iblemn o'er the verge of heaven, 
 The tempeft growls ; but as it nearer comes, 
 And rolls its awful burden on the wind, 
 The lightnings flaih a larger curve, and more 
 The noife aftounds : till over head a meet 
 Of livid flame difdofes wide ; then (huts 
 And opens wider ; fhuts and opens (till 
 Expanfive, wrapping ether in a blaze. 
 Follows the loofen'd aggravated roar, 
 Enlarging, deepening, mingling; peal on peal 
 Crum'd horrible, convulfing heaven and earth. 
 Down comes a deluge of ibnorous hail, 
 Or prone-delcending rain. Wide rent, the clouds 
 Pour a whole flood ; and yet, its flame unquench'd, 
 Th' unconquerable lightning ftruggles through, 
 Ragged and fierce, or in red whirling balls, 
 And fires the mountains with redoubled rage. 
 Black from the ftroke, above, the fmouldering pine 
 Stands a fad fhatter'd trunk ; and ftretch'd below, 
 A lifelefs group the blafted cattle lie." 
 
 I will next relate another incident that fell 
 under my obfervation during this period. The 
 cafe was this. A William Seeker, a poor man 
 who lived in a cottage in a valley called Cotterf- 
 dale,* about a mile below Drighlington,t and who 
 had a wife and a number of fmall children, was 
 found dead one winter's morning in the fields, 
 
 * Cotterfdale, now called Cockerfdale, is a valley which 
 lies about a mile to the north of Driglington and Gilder- 
 fome Chapelry, and is about five miles call of Bradford, in 
 the direction of Tong. 
 
 f Driglington, a ftraggling village, in the parifli of 
 Birftall, is five miles fouth-eaft of Bradford. It is chiefly 
 famous as a mining and coal diftridt, and contains 4,274 
 inhabitants.
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 201 
 
 laid on his back upon the fnow, by the fide of 
 a fmall brook, in a valley that lies between Tong 
 and Drighlington, about fifteen or twenty yards 
 from a footpath that paffes between the two 
 villages. No outward wound was found upon 
 him when he was difcovered, except that a moufe 
 or fome other fmall vermin appeared to have been 
 upon his face in the night, and to have gnawed the 
 (kin of his forehead a little in two or three places. 
 He was conveyed home, and I was called to be 
 upon the jury at the coroner's inquelr.. The pre- 
 ceding evening to his being found was a remark- 
 ably ftormy one ; it had fnowed violently all the 
 afternoon, and continued to do fo moft part of the 
 night, attended with a very ftrong eafterly wind, 
 and extremely cold, which rendered it very in- 
 commodious and uncomfortable to fuch as were 
 expofed to the inclemency of the weather. It 
 appeared that Seeker had called, when it was far 
 in the evening, at a Michael Jilfon's, a public- 
 houfe in Adwalton,* where he got a pint of ale, 
 over which he fat, to warm himfelf, during the 
 ftorm, for fome time. That, being a clothier by 
 
 * Aldwalton is in a flourifhing diftnft, on the high- 
 road from Bradford to Wakefield, and is about five miles 
 fouth-eaft from Bradford. In 164.3 a fanguinary battle 
 was fought here between the royalilt army, under the 
 Duke or Newcaftle, and the parliamentary forces, under 
 Sir Thomas Fairfax, in which the latter were defeated, in 
 confequence of which Bradford was befieged and taken by 
 the royalifts. The place is generally called Atherton in 
 the neighbourhood.
 
 202 
 
 OF 
 
 trade, he had a very fmall fadge of wool with him, 
 in a fheet or poke ; that he departed from thence 
 at a late hour, to go dire&ly home, during the 
 fury of the ftorm, and faid to Mr. Jilfon, when 
 he fet off, " I will now go home and give them 
 a duft," meaning his wife and one Snowden, 
 whom he expelled to find together ; and that 
 this was the laft place where any one would own 
 he was feen alive, being found dead early the 
 next morning. He was diftin&ly traced through 
 the fnow down the footpath to his own door, as 
 near as the intermingled footfteps of the neigh- 
 bours would admit. He, or fome other perfon^ was 
 then traced back again over the laft ftile he had 
 come over in returning home ; the perfon then 
 left the footpath on the left hand, and proceeded 
 at random through the fields and hedges, where 
 there was no path, till he arrived over againft a 
 place called Sha-field,* perhaps a mile from 
 Seeker's houfe ; he then turned through a bufhy 
 place to the right, down the hill-fide towards 
 Tong, and had left the aforefaid fmall parcel of 
 wool. hung in one of the hedges. He then pro- 
 ceeded to the place where poor Seeker's body was 
 found laid upon its back in the fnow, by the fide of 
 the brook before mentioned. It appeared that the 
 returning track was fprinkled with blood all the 
 
 * Shafield, now called Shawfield, is a (hortdiftance from 
 Tong, in the direaion of Weftgate Hill, or Wifket Hill ; 
 and is not far from the Bradford and Wakefield highroad.
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 203 
 
 way from Seeker's houfe to where his body was 
 found. This circumftance we (the jury) at- 
 tempted to account for from the bleeding of his 
 legs, being found with the ftockings down, and 
 the legs appearing much fcratched in paffing 
 through the hedges. This being admitted, to- 
 gether with the circumftance of only one man's 
 footfteps appearing in the track, led me and the 
 reft of the jury, for want of better attention, 
 into what I have always confidered fince as. a 
 miftaken verdi6t, of accidental death ; for after- 
 wards, when I came to think more clofely on 
 the circumftances, I was fully convinced that 
 foul play had been mown to the poor man. A 
 neighbour who was on the jury alfo (Mr. James 
 Wilkinfon), to whom I communicated my fuf- 
 picions, and my reafons for them, thought exactly 
 the fame with me, and feemed once almoft deter- 
 mined to have the body taken out of the grave 
 for re-examination, but this dropped. The fol- 
 lowing are my reafons for my faid fufpicions : 
 There was a man who was a widower, named 
 John Snowden, who dwelt in a cottage adjoining 
 to Seeker. The neighbours had long and very 
 much fufpe&ed that a criminal correfpondence 
 was carried on between Seeker's wife and this 
 fellow ; Seeker himfelf was jealous, and it had 
 already produced feveral quarrels between the 
 parties. As Seeker was unreturned at fo late an 
 hour, his wife and her gallant might conclude he 
 would not return that night, efpecially as the
 
 204 4UTOBIOGRAPHT OF 
 
 night was fo very ftormy ; coming therefore un- 
 expectedly, he might probably furprife them to- 
 gether. It is natural to imagine a furious quarrel 
 would enfue, and the adulterer, by a blow with 
 a ftick, a poker, or the like, might kill the 
 hufband (whether defignedly^ or by a cafual blow 
 in his own defence, God knoweth). Seeker 
 being dead, the guilty pair would next confult 
 how to difpofe of the body, in order to conceal 
 the real caufe of his death ; when Snowden, being 
 a ftrong-built, middle-fized man, might eafily 
 take the corpfe on his back, with the legs over 
 his moulders, and the head hanging down behind ; 
 the wife would faften the little fadge of wool 
 about his neck, and he would proceed on the 
 returning track (leaving the little fadge in one of 
 the hedges by the way, as though Seeker had 
 dropped it himfelf), to the place where the body 
 was found, and after having dropped it, go the 
 few remaining yards down the {hallow brook, 
 without ftepping in the fnow till he reached the 
 footpath which led him back home, and where 
 his footfteps would be mingled with thofe of 
 other paflengers, and almoft obliterated before 
 morning by the falling fnow. By this difpofition 
 of the body and fadge, they might fuppofe that 
 people would be led to conclude that Seeker 
 himfelf had wandered from his own houfe in the 
 ftorm, and perifhed in the fnow ; and for want 
 of accurate attention in the jury, their expecta- 
 tions were but too well verified. I went with
 
 THOM4S WRIGHT. 205 
 
 my fellows of the jury to view the body; the 
 other jurors took a flight view of it as it lay 
 upon the floor, and then withdrew. I flayed 
 behind and looked at it more carefully. I ob- 
 ferved that the hollow of the right ear ftood full 
 of blood, which drained from the cavity of the 
 ear, and had trickled plentifully down into his 
 hair, as the body lay upon its back upon the floor. 
 This circumftance evidently denoted violence, 
 and we ought, by all means, to have procured a 
 furgeon to have examined the head very accu- 
 rately. Seeker's fhoe ought alfo to have been 
 compared with the impreffion in the fnow ; but 
 both thefe circumftances were overlooked. It 
 is well known that a fmart blow on the back of 
 the ear will break the jugular vein without break- 
 ing the fkin, which, by inundating the brain with 
 blood, is known to be inftant death. This was 
 probably the cafe with poor Seeker, and accounts 
 for the blood in his ear at this time, as well as 
 for the blood that was fprinkled through the re- 
 turning track to where his body was found; and 
 it was obferved that no blood was feen in Seeker's 
 track from Adwalton to his own houfe. His 
 ftockings being down and his legs fcratched, is 
 eafily accounted for from the man's holding him 
 on his fhoulders by the legs, and parting through 
 fo many hedges with him in that pofition; befides, 
 blood was found in the/r/? field, before any hedge 
 was pafled, and could not therefore proceed from 
 the fcratching of his legs ; and it was utterly
 
 206 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 improbable that, after he had gained the comfort- 
 able flicker of his own houfe, on fuch a dreadful 
 night, and at fo late an hour, he fhould come out 
 again immediately, encumbered, too, with the 
 fadge, without any reafon, to wander fome miles 
 through the pathlefs fields and hedges during the 
 fury of the ftorm, and at laft lie him down to 
 die in the fnow. All thefe circumftances put 
 together, ftrongly corroborate the fufpicion that 
 Snowden had killed him, and difpofed of the body 
 as aforefaid. We fent for the man to examine 
 him at the public-houfe where the inqueft was 
 held, and though he would confefs nothing to 
 criminate himfelf, yet the ftrongeft marks of 
 guilt and confufion appeared in his countenance. 
 Soon after Seeker's death he married the widow, 
 in fpite of common decency and the confirming 
 afpet it bore upon his fufpecled guilt. They 
 removed to Batley,* or its neighbourhood, where, 
 frequently quarrelling, the wife was heard to 
 threaten him with hanging (for fome fecret fault 
 of his fhe was acquainted with), if he did not 
 amend his behaviour ; a further proof of the 
 reality of his guilt. 
 
 Poor Seeker's cafe was truly pitiable. To 
 come home to his reft from toiling abroad for 
 
 O 
 
 the fupport of his family j to be knocked on the 
 
 * Batley, nine miles to the fouth-eaft of Bradford, is a 
 very ancient town. Of late years it has grown fafter than 
 any other place in Yorkfhire, chiefly on account of its trade 
 in flioddy, and blanketings, and cloth.
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 207 
 
 head by an adulterous rafcal, in his own houfe, 
 in the prefence, and perhaps with the afiiftance, 
 of his guilty wife, and amidft his innocent fleep- 
 ing children, was very deplorable indeed. The 
 man is fmce gone gone into the unfeen world ; 
 where (if he did not fincerely repent of his 
 wickednefs in this), he will be certain to meet 
 with his deferved punimment. 
 
 I have related this afFair fo circumftantially, to 
 make fome amends for my inattention at the time, 
 and as it may pojjibly happen to prevent a like 
 overfight on fome future (imilar occafion. 
 
 I return to my family. My eldeft daughter, 
 Betty, was married to Jofeph Greenwood, tobac- 
 conift, in Lower-head-row, Leeds, fon of Thomas 
 Greenwood, farmer, of Cleckheaton, at St. Peter's 
 Church, in Leeds, by the Rev. Mr. Fawcett, on 
 Sunday, the 25th day of December, 1789, in the 
 twenty- fecond year of her age. 
 
 William Birkhead Greenwood, her firft fur- 
 viving child and eldeft fon, was born on Wednef- 
 day, the 2nd day of September, 1791, four 
 minutes paft nine o'clock at night. He was 
 baptized on Tuefday, the 2gth day of September, 
 1791. William Birkhead Greenwood died the 
 24th day of April, I793> ten minutes paft twelve 
 o'clock at noon, and was buried on the 27th, in 
 St. John's Churchyard, Leeds, 1793, aged one 
 year and a half, three weeks, and one day. His 
 days were few, and full of forrow, he was greatly 
 afflicted from his birth to his death, and gave
 
 2o8 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 occafion for his mamma to exhibit a very eminent 
 degree of maternal tendernefs and affe&ion to- 
 wards him during his ftay. He now refts in 
 peace, and will be found again by his feeling, 
 affectionate parents in that day. 
 
 Thomas Greenwood, her fecond furviving 
 
 ' O 
 
 child, and fecond fon, was born on Sunday, the 
 1 2th day of May, 1793, eleven minutes before 
 five o'clock in the afternoon. He was baptized 
 on Thurfday, the 3Oth day of the fame month. 
 
 Lydia Greenwood, her third furviving child 
 and firft daughter, was born on Friday, the Qth 
 day of October, 1795, at fix o'clock in the 
 morning. She was baptized on Friday, the 30th 
 day of the fame month. 
 
 Befides thefe, fhe has had three mifcarriages, 
 and appears at prefent near the birth of her feventh 
 child. Betty was always a feeling, affectionate 
 child towards her father ; and, I doubt not, will 
 make a feeling, affectionate wife to her hufband, 
 and mother to her children. They are fettled in 
 a pretty way of bufmefs, with (I hope) a pro- 
 mifing profpecl: before them. May every needful 
 bleffing from their heavenly Father reft upon 
 them and their offspring, to the lateft generation. 
 
 Sally, my third daughter, and fourth child, 
 was married to Timothy Greenwood, furgeon 
 and apothecary, of Cleckheaton, fon of Benjamin 
 Greenwood, clothier, of the fame place, on Mon- 
 day, the 1 7th day of June, 1793, by the Rev 
 Mr. Rueben Ogden, at the parim church -
 
 r HO MAS WRIGHT. 209 
 
 Birftall, in the twenty-firft year of her age. Jo. 
 Shaw, clerk. 
 
 John Brook Greenwood, her firft child and 
 firft fon, was born at Cleckheaton, on Friday, 
 March the I4th, 1794, about eleven o'clock in 
 the forenoon. He was baptized by the Rev. 
 Mr. James Dawfon. 
 
 Mary Ann Greenwood, her fecond child and 
 firft daughter, was born at Brook-houfes, on 
 Monday, the gth day of May, 1796, about eight 
 o'clock in the evening. She was baptized by 
 the Rev. Mr. John Ralph, the minifter of the 
 Independent Congregation at Cleckheaton, on 
 Wednefday, the gth day of June, 1796. 
 
 They fettled firft at Cleckheaton. They after- 
 wards removed to Bradford, and then back again 
 to Brook-houfes, where they remain at prefent. 
 Sally behaves kindly and refpe&fully to her father, 
 and her hufband is poflefled of a promifing bufi- 
 nefs, and feems to be particularly efteemed in 
 that branch of it which concerns the women. 
 May every neceflary blefling from their heavenly 
 Father reft upon them and their offspring to the 
 lateft pofterity ! 
 
 Thomas, my third child and firft fon, was put 
 apprentice to Meflrs. Nicholfons of Bradford 
 (as has been obferved before), at the age of fix- 
 teen, with whom he remained till he attained the 
 twenty-firft year of his age. With thefe people 
 he acquired a pretty good knowledge of his 
 ufinefs, but fome unfortunate circumftances 
 p
 
 210 AUTOBIOGRAPHT OF 
 
 attended him in this place, which proved an un- 
 happy occafion of his being afterwards unfairly 
 and cruelly deprived, by the machinations of in- 
 confiderate, interefted, malicious, and evil-dipofed 
 perfons, of nearly the whole of his expected 
 property at Brook-houfes. I will endeavour to 
 give a fair and candid account of this matter, 
 without partiality to my own child, on one fide, 
 or prejudice againft thofe whom I confider as his 
 and my enemies, on the other. 
 
 Mr. S.Nicholfon, my boy's matter's youngeft 
 fon, was poflefled of a confiderable (hare of good 
 fenfe, and had a good hand at his bufmefs j but 
 affe&ed to live and appear in a higher ftyle than 
 his means would allow ; and this, of courfe, led 
 him into pecuniary embarrafTments ; and on this 
 account he was on bad terms with his father, who 
 greatly difapproved of his conduct in this refpecl:. 
 He wifhed his father to take him in as a partner 
 and allow him a {hare of the profits of his trade ; 
 this the old man utterly refufed, for the aforefaid 
 reafon ; he therefore left him in difguft, and fet 
 up a (hop for himfelf in New Street, which he 
 furnifhed with a very fcanty ftock, as his ftrait- 
 ened circumftances would allow. Being defirous 
 of availing himfelf of my fon's alfiftance, and 
 having gained an afcendancy over his mind, he 
 encouraged a fhynefs between his old mafter and 
 him ; and by reprefenting to him that' he was 
 much better able to finifh his inftru&ions in his 
 bufmefs than his father was (which was partly
 
 THOM4S WRIGHT. 211 
 
 true), he perfuaded him to leave his old mafter 
 and dwell with him, which he accordingly did 
 during a fmall part of the conclufion of his ap- 
 prenticefhip. Mr. S. Nicholfon, however, find- 
 ing that his (hop would not anfwer his purpofe, 
 and (as it appeared afterwards) having a defign 
 to marry and remove elfewhere, took the follow- 
 ing meafures to fupply himfelf with money through 
 the medium of my fon. Being acquainted with 
 Tommy's expectations at Brook-houfes, he took 
 occafion to commence an acquaintance with the 
 family, by means of vifits made along with my 
 fon, &c., and having a genteel appearance, and 
 infmuating addrefs, he foon recommended himfelf 
 to the notice and good opinion of old Mrs. Birk- 
 head, the chief conductor of the family affairs. 
 He then artfully propofed that Tommy, upon the 
 conclufion of his apprenticefhip, mould purchafe 
 his ftock at a valuation, and he would give up 
 his mop and cuftom to him, which would afford 
 him a fine opportunity of beginning bufinefs, 
 with a good profpe6t of advantage. He had the 
 addrefs to bring the old woman into his fcheme, 
 and to engage her confent and promife to raife 
 the money neceffary for this purpofe, and my boy 
 entered eagerly into the project, with all the in- 
 cautious truft and fanguine expectation incident 
 to youth and inexperience. It is to be obferved, 
 that fuch was the inveterate prejudice which 
 Mrs. Birkhead had entertained againft me, that 
 me ftri&ly forbade the parties to inform me of.
 
 212 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 or confult me at all upon, the occafion, as fhe 
 wifhed me to know nothing of or have any hand 
 in the matter ; hence, whatever degree of praife 
 or blame attaches to the tranfa&ion, they (hare 
 it all among themfelves, as I had no hand in 
 it. However, my fon had acquainted me with 
 the affair, and from the firft I apprehended 
 a good deal of danger in the cafe, and warned 
 him repeatedly to take the utmoft care that he 
 was not impofed upon, as I myfelf had been not 
 long before, in a fomewhat fimilar cafe to this. 
 However, Tommy's implicit confidence in Mr. 
 Nicholfon's integrity,* and the fanguine expecta- 
 tions of youth, rendered my cautions void. The 
 
 * Samuel Nicholfon was the youngeft of John Nichol- 
 fon's three fons. The eldeft fon, George, was a very re- 
 markable man, and may be confidered as having almoft 
 worked a revolution in the publishing trade. After remain- 
 ing fome years at Manchefter, he went to Ludlow in Shrop- 
 fhire, and eftablimed himfelf at the beautiful hamlet of 
 Poughnil in 1799, near that town, where he continued for 
 fome years to publifh books, which were remarkable for 
 their good tafte and good printing, and which had a large 
 circulation. My father either -accompanied or followed 
 him into Shropftiire, which was the caufe of the editor 
 of the prefent volume being a native of that county inftead 
 of a Yorkfhireman. Mr. Nicholfon was his own compiler 
 and editor, and his own traveller; and he performed the 
 latter tafk almoft always on foot. His " Cambrian Tra- 
 veller's Guide," firft publifhed in 1808, but much enlarged 
 and improved in a fecond edition in 1813, is ftill the beft 
 work we have on Wales. My father had the greateft 
 perfonal efteem and refpeft for George Nicholfon, and 
 their friendfhip continued till the death of the latter in 
 1825. He had left Poughnil before the publication of the 
 fecond edition of the " Cambrian Traveller's Guide," and 
 eftablifhed himfelf at Stourport, on the river Severn, where 
 he died.
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 213 
 
 bargain was made, the price of the ftock fettled 
 (at much more than it was worth, as I believe 
 my boy never made one half of the money of it 
 which it coft), the (hop was given up, Tommy 
 took poffeflion of the premifes, and the old 
 woman paid a part of the purchafe-money. In 
 the meantime S. Nicholfon got married and re- 
 moved to Manchefter, where, being needy, he 
 fent frequent and preffing letters for the payment 
 of what remained. Mrs. Birkhead wilhing, I 
 fuppofe, to raife the money without the know- 
 ledge of the old man, found fome difficulty in 
 doing this as fpeedily as S. Nicholfon's needs 
 required ; and as he had taken the precaution of 
 taking fecurity for the money, he proceeded at 
 laft to fend a threatening letter. This dunning 
 fo irritated and difgufted her, that me began to 
 view the whole affair in a different light, and, by 
 the laft circumftance in particular, Mr. Nichol- 
 fon entirely forfeited her good opinion. How- 
 ever, the money was at laft paid, and that was all 
 Mr. Nicholfon either wanted or cared for. My 
 fon paid a very high rent for the premifes he occu- 
 pied, and, as he had but a fcanty ftock, and of 
 courfe fmall cuftom, it was eafy to forefee that, 
 except he could increafe his ftock, it would do 
 nothing for him. 
 
 I take notice here, that the money advanced 
 by Mrs. Birkhead for Mr. Nicholfon on this 
 occafion (which was I20/. or I4O/., I know not 
 which), was not given to my fon, but lent in the
 
 214 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 firft inftance, to Jofeph Greenwood, of Leeds, 
 who had married his fitter, who gave his note 
 for it to William Birkhead, and my fon gave 
 Jofeph Greenwood his bond for it for his fecurity, 
 till the note was cancelled. I never approved of 
 the fcheme my fon had adopted, but had much 
 rather he had gone out as a journeyman for 
 fome time, gained a more perfect knowledge of 
 his bufinefs, and waited the event of the old 
 people's death ; a circumftance which was not 
 likely to be long ere it took place. In this ftate 
 of things old Mrs. Birkhead died fuddenly in the 
 month of April, 1796. This event roufed every 
 perfon who had expectations from the old people, 
 and immediately introduced a lawfuit between 
 the parties. I will endeavour to give as juft, 
 impartial, and difpaffionate an account of this 
 difagreeable, unjuft, and unhappy affair, as I am 
 able ; but before I proceed, I ftop to notice, that 
 the old woman died fuddenly , as might have been 
 expected from exifting circumftances ; that fhe 
 died in her feventy-fixth year, and was buried in 
 the fame grave with her hufband's younger bro- 
 ther Tommy, in Cleckheaton Chapel-yard, and 
 had afterwards as is ufual with the party the 
 parade of a funeral fermon preached for her. It 
 was curious to obferve upon this occafion, how 
 a perfon who had ruined the peace of my family, 
 alienated the affections of my wife from me, 
 connived at her vicious weaknefles, and induced 
 her to behave with the utmoft difrefpe6t and im-
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 215 
 
 propriety towards her hufband to the last moment 
 of her life ; who had uniformly and invariably to 
 the laft, as occafions offered, faid and done all 
 that lay in her power, to inftill a bad opinion of 
 their father into the minds of my own children, 
 to deprive me of their filial affe&ion, and detach 
 them from their duty; who had for anything 
 that appeared to the contrary carried her im- 
 placable malice and refentment againft me to the 
 grave ; and who had, with the help of her coun- 
 fellors and afliftants except me herfelf was im- 
 pofed upon by thefe, of which I have a ftrong 
 fufpicion, the affair is fo atrocious and unnatural 
 difpofed of the old man's property contrary to 
 his mind, as evidently appeared from what he 
 himfelf repeatedly faid afterwards, and contrary 
 to her own folemn promife to me in her lifetime ; 
 and who had, by this conduct, done the greatefl 
 injury to fome of her own offspring, and given 
 occafion for the moft implacable animofity to 
 arife between the parties, who were near rela- 
 tions, immediately fprung from her own family, 
 and which malice and animofity will probably be 
 tranfmitted to future generations ; when an equit- 
 able difpofal of the property, as juftice required, 
 might have preferved and induced a fpirit of 
 Chriftian love and unity amongft the different 
 branches of the family ; I fay it was curious to 
 obferve (for me, at leaft) on this occafion how, 
 by the peculiar addrefs and dexterity of the 
 preacher, fuch a perfon as this could be meta-
 
 morphofed into an eminent faint and a mother in 
 Ifrael ! The preacher did not deal fairly with his 
 auditory on this occafion ; he only gave them the 
 bright parts of the picture, extremely heightened 
 in the colouring. He ought to have given the 
 fhades alfo, and fo prefented them with a perfect 
 whole. If he was not prepared for this part of 
 his fubjedt, there were perfons prefent who could 
 eafily have fupplied him with genuine materials. 
 His hearers then might have been able to have 
 formed a juft and conclufive judgment upon the 
 fubjeft. 
 
 Funeral fermons are, of late years, become fo 
 common in this part of the country, amongft the 
 Methodifts and fome of the different diflenting 
 parties, that they feem to be confidered as a necef- 
 fary appendage to the exit of every faint fo called 
 in the neighbourhood; and one may as certainly 
 expet one of thefe funeral harangues upon the 
 death of every member of the different parties, 
 as one may expedt to hear confejffions cried about 
 the ftreets upon the execution of every felon at 
 Tyburn. Religious pride may, perhaps, be as 
 predominant amongft profeflbrs, at prefent, as it 
 was formerly amongft the ancient Pharifees. I 
 remember, the perfon whofe funeral fermon has 
 given occafion for these reflections, was fo terri- 
 bly chagrined that her youngeft brother was con- 
 figned to the grave without this badge of religious 
 honour being attached to his memory, that fhe 
 exclaimed in an agony of difappointed pride,
 
 THOM4S WRIGHT. 217 
 
 " Died my brother as a fool dieth ! " It was 
 evident from the import of her exclamation, 
 that it was the want of the fuppofed honour, rather 
 than the ufefulnefs of the circumftance, which 
 her pride fo feelingly regretted. Indeed, thefe 
 difcourfes, as they have been generally managed, 
 have been ftuffed with fo much fulfome pane- 
 gyric on the deceafed, as to render them ex- 
 tremely difgufting to every fenfible hearer ; and 
 were fome of thefe flattering funeral effufions 
 to be printed, one might well addrefs the author 
 in the language of the poet on a fimilar occa- 
 fion 
 
 " Sir, in your funeral talk I'm griev'd, 
 
 So very much is faid ; 
 One hair will never be believ'd, 
 The other never read." 
 
 Indeed, a preacher may be frequently led into a 
 very unpleafant and difagreeable fituation in this 
 refpedr,, if he be not fully acquainted with the 
 whole character himfelf which he has to fpeak to. 
 He generally receives a flattering and exaggerated 
 account from fome party-man friend or relative 
 of the virtues and piety of the deceafed, with- 
 out one word being faid of their failings ; hence 
 he is led to give a very partial, if not a very 
 falfe, reprefentation of the cafe, which may tend 
 to hurt his own character as to his veracity or 
 prudence, in the judgment of thofe who knew 
 the perfon better, and may do material mifchief 
 to fome of his fimpler hearers, who may well be
 
 218 JUrOBlOGRAPHT OF 
 
 fuppofed to argue in this manner : " To be fure, 
 if my neighbour can be efteemed fo great a faint 
 by thefe eminent profeflbrs (who, to be fure, 
 muft be capital judges of the nature of Chrift- 
 ianity), notwithftanding I know he or fhe has in- 
 dulged to the laft fome evil difpofitions and evil 
 practices, very contrary to thefpirit and duty of 
 a Chriftian, I need not, then, be over anxious 
 to mortify fome of my own evil propenfities and 
 practices, which ftick very clofe to me, but which, 
 I am fure, are of a lefs blameable nature than 
 thofe of my neighbour. It feems I may indulge 
 them to the laft with the utmoft fafety, as well 
 as he or fhe did, and remain a good Chriftian 
 ftill, even in the judgment of thefe great and 
 pious preachers, and go to heaven at laft for all 
 that." So, poflibly, nay, very probably, may 
 fome of his hearers argue, to the great hazard 
 of unhappy confequences. A preacher ought, 
 therefore, to be fully acquainted with the whole 
 character and conduct of the perfon of whom he 
 is fpeaking himfelf; or, otherwife, be fully and 
 fairly informed of it by fome candid perfon able 
 to give that information, before he ventures to 
 give fo high and heavenly a character before a 
 whole congregation of a finful mortal he knows 
 little or nothing about. He ought alfo to be 
 entirely uninfluenced by party-prejudice, or any 
 other finifter motive in this cafe ; but, indeed, 
 the whole affair of funeral praife is of fo ticklifh 
 and delicate a nature, that I think it is much
 
 THOM4S WRIGHT. 219 
 
 ;'; better let alone altogether ; except, perhaps, in 
 
 j; fome very exempt cafes. This is my private 
 
 opinion ; however, I blame nobody for thinking 
 
 otherwife. It is certain, thefe funeral adulations 
 
 are nothing to the dead. No ; 
 
 " Can ftoried urn or animated buft 
 
 Back to its manfion call the fleeting breath ? 
 Can honours voice provoke the Client duft, 
 Or flattery fbothe the dull cold ear of death ?" 
 
 No, it may ferve to foothe the pride and vanity 
 of fome furviving relative or party-profefTor, but 
 can anfwer no valuable purpofe that I can con- 
 ceive. The words with which (I am told) a late 
 refpe&able minifter in this neighbourhood ufed 
 to addrefs his hearers on thefe occafions, are, I 
 think, very fuitable and very fenfible : " Friends 
 and brethren, whatever you have obferved in this 
 perfon's conduct and converfation agreeable with 
 thefpirit and praftice of Chriftianity, be fure you 
 carefully endeavour to imitate ; whatever you 
 have feen of a contrary nature, be fure you care- 
 fully endeavour to avoid." This, I think, is 
 enough in confcience to be faid for any man, and 
 I am glad to hear that fome of the more judicious 
 preachers in the neighbourhood are laying afide 
 the aforefaid practice of funeral panegyric, and, 
 as the relations of the deceafed will, for the 
 moft part, infift on the ufual honour of a funeral 
 fermon for their deceafed friend, they give them 
 a good edifying difcourfe on the occafion, faying 
 nothing, or as little as may be, concerning the
 
 220 AVTOBIOGRAPHT OF 
 
 dead. For my part, I (hould be utterly afhamed 
 to have the whole of my conduct expofed before 
 a crowded audience, and fo (I fuppofe) might 
 the bejl and greatejl faint amongft any of the 
 religious parties in the country ; and fhould any 
 perfon pick out a few of mine or any other 
 perfon's beft actions, or what may be efteemed 
 fuch, and exhibit them as forming our character 
 before a great congregation, I fhould think it a 
 very partial, unfair, and unjuft mode of proceed- 
 ing. I am concerned (though perhaps not fo 
 much as I ought to be) to fecur.ethe approbation 
 of my Maker. I defire alfo to behave in fuch a 
 manner that the good and worthy part of my 
 neighbours and acquaintance may be able to 
 think and fpeak of me and my conduit with 
 complaifance and general approbation after I am 
 gone. As for the ignorant, the uncandid, the 
 malicious, and the cenforious, I am altogether 
 unconcerned at anything they may think or fay 
 concerning me. It is enough for me that my 
 allwife, good, and gracious Maker is perfectly 
 acquainted with me, my propenfities, my actions, 
 and all my concerns ; that he knows how to 
 rectify his own work, when it is got out of order ; 
 that his goodnefs will certainly difpofe him to 
 do this j and his wifdom and power will enable 
 him to accomplifh it in his own time and in his 
 own manner, and I can, with the moft pleafing 
 confidence, " caft my care upon Him, believing 
 that he careth for me," and can fay to furvivors,
 
 THOM4S WRIGHT. 221 
 
 in the language of the poet, with refpet to the 
 foregoing fubje& 
 
 " No farther feek my merits to difclofe, 
 
 Or draw my frailties from their dread abode, 
 (There they alike in trembling hope repofe) 
 The bofom of my Father and my God." 
 
 I return to the beginning of the family conteft 
 before mentioned. Timothy Greenwood and his 
 family, upon the death of the old woman, were 
 left fettled at Brook-houfes, fo that the old man, 
 with the houfe and farm, came more immediately 
 under his care and management. The old woman 
 had, before her death, dictated to one Thomas 
 Exley, who had taken it down in writing, how 
 {he would have fuch and fuch parts of the houfe- 
 hold furniture, bedding, filver-plate, linen, &c., 
 difpofed of amongft the grandchildren immedi- 
 ately after her death, though me had no right to 
 do this without her hufband's confent. With this 
 divifion of perfonal property, Timothy Green- 
 wood and his wife were not fatisfied, as believing 
 he had not left them their fair {hare. It was 
 known that the old man had made a will, or 
 rather, that the old woman and her accomplices 
 had made a will for him. It appeared from exift- 
 ing circumftances, that Jofeph Greenwood and 
 William Birkby knew in general if they had 
 not a hand in the will-making that the will was 
 very much in their favour ; hence they became 
 extremely interefted to fecure its validity, and 
 exceflively jealous of Timothy Greenwood, for
 
 222 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 fear he mould, as they faid, perfuade the old man 
 to make a new will. However, as the old man 
 was beft acquainted and fatisfied with my daughter 
 Sally, as me had been brought up with them, 
 Timothy Greenwood and his family were fettled 
 at Brook-houfes, and it was agreed that he mould 
 have eighteen millings a week allowed for the 
 care and maintenance of the old man, as long as 
 he lived. I was pleafed with this circumftance, 
 as hoping it would prevent litigation among the 
 parties, at leaft, during the old man's life ; but 
 I was miftaken. The mutual hatred and jealoufy 
 of the parties foon found and gave occafion for 
 frefh difturbances. 
 
 There was a field of grafs to be fold, belong- 
 ing to the farm, and as Timothy Greenwood 
 kept a cow and a galloway, he wifhed to purchafe 
 the grafs himfelf, efpecially as it lay fo convenient 
 for him. Jofeph Greenwood objected to this, 
 except he bought it in bidding among others at a 
 public auction. Whether Jofeph Greenwood 
 was actuated on this occafion by a fear that if 
 Timothy Greenwood bought it he either could 
 not or would not pay for it or by a fear that he 
 fhould get it for lefs than it was worth or by a 
 principle of mere ill-will and oppofition^ is beft 
 known to himfelf. The two parties were own 
 brother's children, had married two own fifters, 
 and of courfe were nearly related in blood, and 
 a (hare of the property of the grafs in queftion 
 belonged to Timothy Greenwood as one of the 
 perfons interefted in the eftate. To raife, there-
 
 THOM4S WRIGHT. 223 
 
 fore, a contention for a trifle of two or three 
 guineas at moft, which proved the caufe of intro- 
 ducing contention and mifchief between the 
 parties much fooner perhaps than it would other- 
 wife have taken place, was very imprudent, to 
 fay the leaft of it. Well, a day was appointed, 
 and the grafs put up to be fold by auction j and 
 on this occafion Jofeph Greenwood himfelf be- 
 came a bidder, and bid fo high a price for it as 
 Timothy Greenwood thought was much more 
 than it was worth, and was much piqued at the 
 conduct of his kinfman on this occafion, as fup- 
 pofmg it proceeded from mere oppofition and ill- 
 will to him. However, Jofeph was the buyer, 
 but was tied to have it mowed by fuch a day, or 
 the bargain to be void. The weather proved 
 unfettled, the day came, the grafs was uncut, and 
 the bargain forfeited. Timothy Greenwood now 
 got a neighbour to value the grafs, bargained for 
 it with the old man, gave him half-a-guinea 
 earneft, and took pofleflion of it immediately. 
 This proceeding irritated Jofeph Greenwood and 
 his party, and they talked of applying to the 
 chancellor immediately, to appoint a guardian 
 for the old man, in order to get rid of Timothy 
 Greenwood. The conteft being thus commenced, 
 I one day received the following letter: 
 
 " MR. THOMAS WRIGHT, Birkenftiaw. 
 " SIR, 
 
 " This is to defire the favour that you will call 
 upon your fon-in-law, Mr. Timothy Greenwood,
 
 224 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 to-morrow forenoon, and come to my houfe, and, 
 as it is on a particular occafion, I wifh for no 
 other perfon with you. 
 
 I am, Sir, yours to command, 
 
 THOMAS EXLEY. 
 
 Spen, Thurfday noon." 
 
 I immediately conceived that he wanted me 
 on fome occafion of the prefent difference, and 
 as I wifhed to meddle as little between them as 
 poflible, I called upon Thomas Exley the next 
 morning, without taking Timothy Greenwood 
 with me. I told him that I ftiould be pleafed to 
 fay or do anything that lay in my power to pro- 
 mote peace and quietnefs between the families, 
 but that as I flood nearly and equally related to 
 both parties, I wifhed not to take, or feem to 
 take, any deciflve part with either againft the 
 other (except I difcovered unfair and unjujl 
 defigns in the conduct of either of the parties), 
 that I might, if poflible, avoid giving any juft 
 occafion of offence on either fide. That for 
 this reafon I had not called upon or brought 
 Timothy Greenwood with me, and wifhed to be 
 excufed from taking any part in the affair. 
 Thomas Exley, however, pleaded that his defign 
 was to promote peace on this occafion, and 
 preffed me pretty much to go over to Timothy 
 Greenwood and bring him with me. Accord- 
 ingly, in my return from my circuit in the 
 evening, I called upon Timothy Greenwood, 
 and he walked with me over to Thomas Exley's.
 
 THOM4S WRIGHT. 225 
 
 I note, that before we left Brook-houfes, old 
 William Birkhead laid, " Do&or, how happens 
 it that Thomas Exley does not come down ? I 
 want to fee my will, and to hear it read, that I 
 may right what is wrong in it," or words to that 
 purpofe. Timothy Greenwood replied, " I am 
 juft going over to his houfe, and will tell him 
 what you fay." The old man faid, " Do." In 
 our way thither, Timothy Greenwood told me 
 that, perceiving Jofeph Greenwood and his party 
 were doing all they could to rid him from the 
 place, he had, for his own fecurity, prevailed on 
 the old man to make him a leafe of the place, 
 together with a right to receive all the old man's 
 rents and profits to maintain him on during his 
 life, and the obligation to ceafe at the old man's 
 death ; and that he had alfo made him a deed of 
 gift for, I think, part of the houfehold furniture. 
 I told him, I hoped he had done nothing to injure 
 any other perfon concerned in the aftair. He 
 aflured me he had not. We proceeded to Thomas 
 Exley's, whom he alfo acquainted with what he had 
 done, at which he feemed pretty much alarmed, 
 and told us in return, that he and his colleagues 
 had determined to apply to the Lord Chancellor 
 to appoint a guardian for the old man. Before 
 we left the houfe, Timothy Greenwood delivered 
 William Birkhead's meflage, to which Thomas 
 Exley replied, " William Birkhead mall neither 
 fee nor hear his will read, nor mall it go out of 
 my houfe while William Birkhead liveth." They
 
 226 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 came to no agreement in their propofals, and we 
 departed. 
 
 About this time, a friendly acquaintance of 
 mine became acquainted (by information from 
 Thomas Exley) with the principal difpofals con- 
 tained in the paper which was called William 
 Birkhead's will. Thefe circumftances he com- 
 municated to me, and they were faid to be as 
 follows : " The Lower Brook-houfes to William 
 Birkby's youngeft fon William and his heirs for 
 ever, fubjecl: to a legacy to be paid out of it to 
 his elder brother, or fome of his fitters. A field 
 in Cleckheaton-upper-lane, and fome cottages at 
 Heaton-gate to William Birkby's eldeft fon John 
 and his heirs for ever. A fmall eftate in land and 
 houfes at Heckmondwike, of 157. per annum, to 
 my eldeft daughter Betty, wife of Jofeph Green- 
 wood, and her heirs for ever. The annuity for 
 life of another eftate in land, at the fame place, 
 of 157. per annum alfo, to my younger daughter 
 Sally, wife of Timothy Greenwood, and at her 
 death, to her children and their heirs for ever. 
 An annuity for life of 13!. ids, out of the Upper 
 Brook-houfes eftate, to my eldeft fon Tommy, 
 and the eftate itfelf was left, at my fon's death, 
 to Jofeph Greenwood's children." The farm 
 was let at this time for 21 1. per annum. The 
 truftees were empowered to borrow 1507. on 
 a mortgage upon the farm, and the intereft to be 
 paid out of the rents arifing from the place, and 
 to accumulate for a portion for William Birkby's
 
 THOMJS WRIGHT. 227 
 
 youngeft daughter j my fon only to receive the 
 remainder of the rent for life, namely, i^l. lOs. 
 It appeared afterwards, that the will-maker had 
 taken peculiar care to exclude my fon from ever 
 coming into poffejjion of the eftate, in order effect- 
 ually to debar him from ever making any further 
 advantage of his miferable donation, by felling 
 the wood or coal, or advancing the rent upon the 
 expiration of the leafe. But the truftees were 
 to receive the rents, and pay him his pitiful 
 pittance half-yearly, as a pauper receives his 
 monthly allowance at the hands of a parim-officer. 
 As foon as I became acquainted with this difpo- 
 fition of the old man's property, I faw at once 
 into the real motives and defigns of the feveral 
 parties concerned in the affair. I knew very 
 well that Jofeph Greenwood had from the com- 
 mencement of his connection with the family, 
 been very afliduous in currying favour with old 
 Miftrefs Birkhead and her chief confidant and 
 counfellor Thomas Exley. Exley was poor, and 
 full of religious pride and prejudice ; Mrs. Birk- 
 head alfo had her full quantum of thefe laft quali- 
 ties, to which me added a moft difgufting degree 
 of mean family pride and felf-importance, fordid 
 avarice, and the moft perverfe and unremitting 
 malice, that ever I experienced, or that ever fell 
 under my obfervation. Jofeph Greenwood ap- 
 plied, with a good deal of addrefs, to their par- 
 ticular foibles, and by means of fuitable prefents 
 and flatteries, well-timed and circumftanced, and
 
 228 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 profeffions and appearances at the time of great 
 management and fuccefs in his bufmefs, fucceeded 
 in obtaining their confidence and good opinion in 
 a very high degree. I did not think amifs of 
 this circumftance at the time, as I conceived it 
 to be Jofeph Greenwood's defign to counterwork 
 the undue influence of William Birkby's family, 
 and prevent them getting more than their fair 
 fhare (and one penny lefs I never wifhed them to 
 have). In this light, therefore, I thought his 
 policy commendable. But, alas ! as it proved 
 afterwards, I was quite miftaken in my furmifes. 
 It was not, it feemed, to guard againft any unfair 
 practices of William Birkby's family that the 
 manoeuvres of Jofeph Greenwood and his affift- 
 ants were directed : no, but againft my poor, foft, 
 good-natured boy, the eldeft male branch of 
 the family, and the eldeft and only furviving 
 brother whom Jofeph Greenwood's wife had left 
 alive by the fame mother ; and who, notwith- 
 ftanding fome blameable indifcretions which he 
 was drawn into almoft in his childhood, and 
 under very mitigating circumftances, which ren- 
 dered him altogether as much an object of pity 
 as blame ; and whofe after conduct to this day 
 has abundantly proved that they were more the 
 refult of thefe unhappy circumftances, than any 
 natural propenfity to the crimes themfelves ; I 
 fay, who, notwithftanding thefe accidental fail- 
 ings, had always been remarkable for the kindeft 
 fraternal affection to his fifter, and the warmeft
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 229 
 
 filial love to his father ; whofe moral conduit 
 was at this time unblameable, and who had, by 
 mere dint of exertion, carefulnefs, and induftry, 
 obtained a refpetable acquaintance, and eftab- 
 lifhed himfelf in a promifing little bufinefs, with 
 fairer profpe&s before him if he could have had 
 that property which he had a right to expect, to 
 affift him. I fay it was againft this brother their 
 ungenerous attempts were directed, to under- 
 mine and fubvert him in the old people's affection 
 and good opinion, to deprive him of his fair 
 fhare in their property, to turn him and any 
 family he might have out to poverty and ruin, 
 and obtain what ought to have been his portion, 
 for Jofeph Greenwood's and William Birkby's 
 children. 
 
 But I return to take notice, that William 
 Birkhead immediately after his wife's death, 
 began to exprefs great uneafmefs of mind on 
 account of the paper which was called his will, 
 and which was in Thomas Exley's, the will- 
 maker's, keeping, becauft, he faid, he had not done 
 juftlce to Tommy Wright's children. He defired, 
 therefore, earneftly to hear it read, that he might 
 rectify what was amifs ; but this reafonable re- 
 queft was utterly refufed him by Thomas Exley. 
 The old man continued to be very uneafy for 
 many days, and to exprefs an eager defire to alter 
 the will, and do right to my children, till at 
 length it engaged the attention of his attendants, 
 relations, and neighbours, and a meeting was
 
 230 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 called of feveral refpe&able perfons in the neigh- 
 bourhood, to queftion the old man and judge of 
 his intellects. The perfons called in were Meffrs. 
 Richard and Thomas Brooke, and the Rev. 
 Mr. John Ralph, of Cleckheaton, Mr. William 
 Williamfon, of Snelfons,* and Mr. Sykes, 
 furgeon, of Gomerfall. It was agreed that Mr. 
 Sykes mould queftion the old man, and he afked 
 him, " Are you not fatisfied with your will ? " 
 He anfwered, " No, I am not." He afked 
 again, " How do you defire to alter it ? " He 
 anfwered, " I would leave this lower Brook- 
 houfes to Tommy Wright (meaning my fon) ; 
 you know he is my eldeft daughter's fon, and 
 has the greateft right to it." It was obferved 
 that it was fenfibly anfwered, and a good reafon 
 given for it. He then afked him, " How would 
 you leave the reft of your eftate ? " He faid, 
 "There is a woman in the chamber (meaning 
 my daughter Betty), and Tommy Exley, who 
 know how I would leave the reft." At this 
 juncture an impertinent fellow (Obadiah Brooke) 
 came into the room, and with matchlefs impu- 
 dence, fhouted out, " William, do not alter your 
 will ; your will is right ; it is agreeable both to 
 my fitter's mind and yours, and you will make 
 it worfe if you alter it," &c. This ftunned the 
 old man, and he walked out of the room and 
 
 * Snelfons is an eftate near Cleckheaton, on the road 
 to Low Moor. The railway to Bradford pafles near it.
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 231 
 
 could not be prevailed upon to come amongft 
 them again. Mr. Richard Brooke ftepped up to 
 Obadiah Brooke, and blamed him much for the 
 rudenefs and impropriety of his interpofition. 
 He told him they were not come there to exert 
 any unfair influence upon the old man's mind, 
 but to learn, if poflible, what was his real mind 
 and will, uninfluenced and unperfuaded by any 
 perfon ; and that, therefore, he thought his ad- 
 drefs to William Birkhead very unfair, and very 
 blameable. He churlifhly anfwered, that he 
 would not be hindered from feeing his brother, 
 and faying what he pleafed to him. This broke 
 up the meeting, and it was propofed to meet 
 again the following Monday, if required. How- 
 ever, this was never put in execution. 
 
 Obadiah Brooke's conduct on this occafion 
 was certainly very wrong and very cenfurable. 
 In the firft place, it was very impertinent^ as he 
 was not called upon in the affair, neither had he 
 any bufmefs or concern in the matter. In the 
 next place, it appeared to be very malicious to 
 fome of my children, efpecially to my fon ; as it 
 was plain, from what he faid, that he knew the 
 contents of the will, elfe how mould he be able 
 to fay whether it was right or wrong? He mujl^ 
 therefore, be acquainted with the fhameful in- 
 juftice done to my fon in that paper j and my 
 boy may, therefore, juftly confider him as one of 
 his greateft enemies on this occafion, as he faid 
 and did all that lay in his power to eftablifh the
 
 232 AlirOEIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 authenticity of that villainous paper which de- 
 prived him of what ought to have been his pro- 
 perty, and to prevent William Birkhead from 
 rectifying what he had been perfuaded by mali- 
 cious and interefted perfons to do amifs, which 
 his confcience told him was wrong, and which he 
 repeatedly declared he had done wrong^ and which 
 he manifefted, not only a willingnefs^ but the 
 moft anxious defire to rectify ; and which (there 
 are people who believe) he would have rectified at 
 this time, if it had not been for Obadiah Brooke's 
 wicked interpofition. I wifh my children there- 
 fore to take notice that as Mrs. Birkhead bated 
 me, with a perfett hatred to the day of her death, 
 fo did fhe alfo diilike all my children, in fo far as 
 they were related or fhe thought them to bear 
 any fimilarity to their father. I wifh them to 
 note alfo, that moft of her neareft relations, by 
 her own family fide, are more or lefs inimical 
 both to me and to every branch of my family, 
 where fome particular intereft does not inter- 
 vene, and to beware of them accordingly. 
 
 It now began to be rumoured that William 
 Birkhead had made another will, under the in- 
 fluence of TimothyGreenwood. TimothyGreen- 
 wood's opponents had induftrioufly reported it 
 through the country, that the deed of gift before 
 mentioned, conveyed all the old man's property 
 to him, and deprived all the reft of the grand- 
 children of their fair fhares. This report, though 
 utterly falfe, was generally believed in the neigh-
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 233 
 
 bourhood, and operated much to the prejudice of 
 Timothy Greenwood's character ; and although 
 the making of another will proved to a demonf- 
 tration the falfity of this report (becaufe, if he 
 had made all he had away by a deed of gift before^ 
 he could not poflibly devife it to any other perfon 
 afterwards by a will), yet they encouraged a 
 fimilar report on this occafion ; namely, that 
 Timothy Greenwood had perfuaded the old man 
 to leave him all or mojl of what he had, in this 
 will, to the prejudice of the other parties. This 
 report alfo was generally believed by his already- 
 prejudiced neighbours, to the further detriment 
 of his character, till the real contents of this will 
 were afterwards brought to light. Jofeph Green- 
 wood and his aflbciates a&ed with much what 
 the fame policy in this cafe, as Mr. Pope's 
 " Wife of Bath," and might juftly have adopted 
 her language on this occafion 
 
 " I, like a dog, could bite as well as whine, 
 
 Andjirft complain'd whene'er the fault was mine." 
 
 When I heard of this report I afked Timothy 
 Greenwood if it was true ? He faid it was, but 
 declared that the old man had done it of his own 
 mind, and dictated the whole himfelf, without 
 any unfair influence. Mr. Lambert, the attorney 
 who wrote the will, declared the fame. The 
 other party afTerted the contrary, and believed, 
 or affe&ed to believe, it to be Timothy Green- 
 wood's will, and that it was framed by and under
 
 234 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 his influence. However, be this as it may, I 
 believe it to be a real fat, that the old man was 
 as liable to be, and actually was, as unfairly dealt 
 with in framing the firft (efpecially the unjuft, 
 mifchief-making codicil), as he poflibly could be 
 in framing the fecond will, as it was well known 
 that his memory had failed very much for years 
 before the date of the firft will ; and though the 
 fecond will was much too partial to Timothy 
 Greenwood, yet, upon the whole, it did more 
 juftice to all the parties concerned than the firft 
 will, with the annexed codicil, did. I afked 
 Timothy Greenwood how the old man's property 
 was difpofed off in the fecond will ? and he faid 
 it was as follows : " The Lower Brook-houfes, 
 free from all incumbrances, to Timothy Green- 
 wood and his heirs for ever, befides ioo/. in cafti 
 out of the perfonal eftate. The Upper Brook- 
 houfes (or Mortimer's Farm) to my eldeft fon 
 Tommy and his heirs for ever, free from all in- 
 cumbrances alfo. To young W. Birkby and his 
 heirs for ever, the 157. a year eftate at Heck- 
 mondwike, which Timothy Greenwood had left 
 in the firft will, free alfo, in lieu of the Lower 
 Brook-houfes. The other 157. a year eftate at 
 the fame place, free from incumbrances alfo, to 
 Jofeph Greenwood and his heirs for ever, and 
 ioo/. in cam, befides, out of the perfonal eftate, 
 in addition to what he had received before. The 
 field above Heaton, and the cottages at Heaton- 
 gate, to John Birkby ; and the remainder of the
 
 THOM4S WRIGHT. 235 
 
 money equally amongft William Birkby's daugh- 
 ters." I was not pleafed with this difpofal, 
 becaufe, in the firft place, it did not correfpond 
 with the old man's foregoing declaration, namely, 
 that he wifhed to leave the Lower Brook-houfes 
 to my fon Tommy ; and, in the fecond place, 
 becaufe, by being fo partial to Timothy Green- 
 wood, it afforded too plaufible a pretext for other 
 people to furmife that he ufed unfair influence 
 upon the old man, and would look worfe in a 
 court of juftice. Had the Lower Brook-houfes 
 been left to my fon Tommy, chargeable with the 
 legacy of 2OO/. to John Birkby, and the field 
 and cottages in Heaton to John Birkby alfo ; 
 the Upper Brook-houfes to William Birkby 
 junior, chargeable with the 1507. legacy to his 
 youngeft fifter ; the two eftates at Heckmond- 
 wike to my daughters Betty and Sally, free from 
 all ties and incumbrances, and the money they 
 had already received ; and the ready cam in the 
 perfonal eftate amongft William Birkby's daugh- 
 ters, it would have been a pretty fair and equal 
 divifion. However, as William Birkby had re- 
 ceived (as the old man conftantly and repeatedly 
 aflerted) near iooo/. from Brook-houfes which 
 was much more than all my family had received 
 put together though the laft will was partial to 
 Sally with refpet to my other children, yet, 
 everything fairly confidered, William Birkby's 
 family got their full and fair mare even by this 
 will ; and though it was not as I could have
 
 236 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 wiflied it to be, yet, as it did more juftice by far 
 to all the parties concerned than the firft will 
 did, for this reafon I wifhed it to ftand much 
 rather than the other. 
 
 Jofeph Greenwood and his party now applied 
 to the Chancellor to appoint a guardian for 
 William Birkhead, and in confequence of their 
 application, a jury of eighteen perfons were fum- 
 moned to examine the old man, and judge of 
 his intellects. Thefe met at the farther Black 
 Bull, near Birftall church, where they gave in a 
 verdicl: of lunacy againft him. That William 
 Birkhead's memory had become very deficient, 
 which it had been for fome years back, fo that he 
 could not recollecT: any of his former acquaintance, 
 except thofe who were conftantly converfant 
 about him, was a matter of fact ; however, he 
 had a good general knowledge of his property, 
 and, as far as his memory would ferve him, his 
 underftanding appeared to be very good. He 
 was no more lunatic, in the proper fenfe of the 
 word, than thofe who brought the verdicl: againft 
 him, nor, I think, could any fenfible perfon who 
 had candidly obferved him, have the leaft doubt 
 but that with a little honejl afliftance to his 
 memory from any unprejudiced perfon who was 
 willing that equal juftice fhould be done to all 
 the parties concerned, the old man was very com- 
 petent to have made a juft and equitable difpofal 
 of his property. 
 
 It was now expe&ed that a guardian would
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 237 
 
 be appointed for the old man immediately, by 
 the Court of Chancery; but this was delayed, and 
 the old man died before any fuch event took 
 place. William Birkhead died on the 3rd day 
 of March, 1797, being about one hundred years 
 old. Upon this occafion the two parties made 
 hafte to deliver in the refpeUve wills to the 
 fpiritual court at York, in order to their approval. 
 However, the affair hung in fufpenfe in this court 
 till Jofeph Greenwood and his party profecuted 
 the matter at common law, and brought on a 
 trial at the autumn affixes for York, 1797. It 
 appeared that, from fome overfight of Jofeph 
 Greenwood's attorney, they were likely to be 
 nonfuited ; an accommodation was therefore 
 propofed, and the parties agreed to refer it to the 
 fole decifion of Samuel Buck, Efq., the recorder 
 of Leeds. This gentleman afterwards made a 
 very unfair decifion (in my judgment), eftablifh- 
 ing the firft will, with the unjuft codicil, in its 
 full extent. By this decifion my fon loft nearly 
 the whole of what ought to have been his pro- 
 perty. He afterwards fold his trifling annuity of 
 I3/. ids. for one hundred and eight guineas. 
 
 The attorney, D n, and Jofeph Greenwood 
 
 had affured my fon when they perfuaded him to 
 fign his name to fend up to the chancellor, that 
 it would not conftitute him a party , or make him 
 liable as fuch, to pay any part of the expenfe 
 that might be incurred in the affair. I had told 
 him the contrary, and repeatedly and earneftly
 
 238 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 defired him not to join or give his countenance 
 or affiftance to a fet of fellows whofe chief and 
 apparent defign was to deprive himfelf of his 
 fortune, and leave him a beggar; as well to 
 avoid the odium of fuch abfurd conduct, as the 
 further pecuniary inconvenience it would pro- 
 bably fubjedl: him to in the event. However, 
 fuch was the afcendancy they had gained over 
 his mind, that they appeared to be able to per- 
 fuade him to do anything, however contrary to 
 his own intereft or difgraceful to his intellects. 
 He accordingly conftantly followed their advice, 
 and neglected mine. However, the attorney 
 carefully watched the moment when he had re- 
 ceived the purchafe-money of his annuity, and 
 immediately fent him a charge of 337. as his 
 (hare, or part of his fhare, of the law expenfes, 
 as a party concerned in a conteft that had been 
 commenced and carried on (by the party to whom 
 he himfelf lent all the affiftance in his power), 
 from the fole motive of obtaining and fecuring 
 that very eftate for another man's children, which 
 in all equity and juftice ought to have been his 
 own property, which property he had the mojl 
 urgent occafion for at the prefent time, and the 
 want of which property was likely to reduce him 
 to the moft pinching diftrefs, and fubje6l all the 
 future fcenes of his life to difficulties and incon- 
 veniences. The attorneys conduct on this occa- 
 fion gave the lie to his former declaration, namely, 
 that my boy's figning his name to addrefs the
 
 THOM4S WRIGHT. 239 
 
 chancellor would not conftitute him a party, and 
 that he would never be afked for any part of the 
 law-expenfes ; but fuch conduct as this is not, 
 in general, to be wondered at in men of this pro- 
 feflion. One hardly knows which to wonder at 
 moft, the ungenerous, unfair, and difingenuous 
 conduct of this party towards an irrefolute, yield- 
 ing, eafy-tempered, inexperienced youth, or the 
 great imbecility of mind manifefted by my boy 
 on this occafion. However, he was fo much 
 chagrined at the unexpected charge, that he de- 
 clared he would lie in a jail before he would pay 
 a penny of the money j or otherwife, abandon 
 his country to avoid that inconvenience ; and he 
 had actually made confiderable preparations for, 
 and was on the point of putting this laft refolve 
 into execution, when he was perfuaded by me 
 and fome others of his friendly acquaintance to 
 fettle himfelf, and follow his bufmefs as ufual, at 
 all hazards ; and it appeared afterwards that the 
 attorney had been perfuaded by fomebody not to 
 urge his claim, at leaft for the prefent. Here 
 the affair refts, and if it happen that the attorney 
 can get paid elfewhere, it is likely he may never 
 renew his claim upon my fon ; if not, it is pro- 
 bable, it may ftill fubje6t him to future trouble 
 and inconvenience. 
 
 Jofeph Greenwood had repeatedly declared in 
 my hearing, that if the difpofition of William 
 Birkhead's will with which he w as, or pretended 
 to be^ unacquainted at the time had left to his
 
 240 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 children the eftate which ought to have been left 
 to my fon, as it was reported it had done, that, 
 in that cafe, he would make my fon all the 
 amends in his power. What he might have con- 
 fidered as proper amends^ or what kind or degree 
 of amends he might have conferred, if the power 
 of compenfation had remained in his hands, I 
 am not able to fay. I had always thought him 
 in a profperous way of bufmefs ; he had taken 
 in a partner the laft year, and about this time 
 they became bankrupt. Jofeph Greenwood at- 
 tributed very much blame to his partner on this 
 occafion, and faid it was the unfairnefs of his 
 conduct that fubje&ed him to very much lofs, 
 and brought on the bankruptcy. However, this 
 affair entirely difabled him (at leaft, for the pre- 
 fent) from making any recompenfe to my boy 
 for the deprivation of his expected property, in 
 favour of his children, as aforefaid. Jofeph 
 Greenwood made a demand upon William Birk- 
 head's truftees for money out of the Brook- 
 houfes eftate, to pay the law-expenfes incurred 
 in the late conteft. With this demand I under- 
 ftand they were not very ready to comply j and 
 it is faid that the aflignees of the bankruptcy 
 declare they will fue the truftees if they ftill 
 refufe to advance the money ; in which cafe, it 
 is faid, the truftees have declared they will give 
 up their truft into the hands of the chancellor ; 
 and in this cafe, it is faid a noted counfel in the 
 law has declared, that the whole eftate would
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 241 
 
 be expended. Here the affair hangs for the 
 prefent, and if the aflignees fhould put their 
 threat in execution, I fuppofe they could recover 
 no more, at moft, than what might be deemed 
 Jofeph Greenwood's equal fliare of the expenfes 
 as one of the party ; and if my fon was confidered 
 as another of the party, he might ftill be liable 
 to pay his full fhare of the expenfe incurred in 
 this deteftable affair, or otherwife take the trouble 
 and expenfe upon himfelf if this may be feafible 
 of forcing payment from the Brook-houfes 
 eftate. 
 
 Such injurious and unpleafing confequences 
 attend the want of proper attention to paternal 
 admonition. I therefore wifh all my family to 
 take notice of the circumftance, that they may 
 profit thereby if ever it mould fo happen that 
 any of them hereafter fhould be brought into 
 any fimilar circumftances. 
 
 I have now brought the hiftorical fketch of 
 myfelf and my family down to the prefent time. 
 It remains only to take notice, that my daughter 
 Betty, during this interval, bore her fourth living 
 child, a daughter, at Leeds. Mary Ann Green- 
 wood was born in Lower-head-row, Leeds, on 
 Monday, the I2th day of June, 1797. 
 
 I will now endeavour to give a fhort account 
 of the important family at Brook-houfes, I mean 
 of the rank and characters of the families they 
 were fprung from. 
 
 William Birkhead, grandfather of my. firft
 
 242 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 wife, dwelt, it feems, at Street-fide, near Dudley- 
 hill,* and followed the trade of making coarfe 
 white cloth. It does not appear that he was 
 pofleffed of any real eftate, but ranked as one of 
 the lower order of tradefmen in the middle ranks 
 of people. As to his religion, he was a Diflenter 
 of the Prefbyterian perfuafion, and attended divine 
 worfhip at the old Diflenting Chapel, f Bradford. 
 
 * Street-fide is an old name in the neighbourhood of 
 Birkenfhaw. The high-road from Wakefield to Bradford, 
 after pafling Birkenlhaw, leads over one of the higheft 
 hills in the neighbourhood of Bradford, called Weft-gate 
 hill. A little farther on towards Bradford, a duller of 
 houfes are named Street-fide, from time immemorial. At 
 the diftance of about a mile, a thickly inhabited diftricl: in 
 the borough of Bradford is called Dudley Hill. Within 
 the memory of many now living, the road from Birken- 
 fhaw to Bradford had only a few farm-houfes on each fide, 
 where now may be feen a population confiding of thoufands 
 of the labouring clafTes. 
 
 f This Diflenting Chapel, Bradford, was the old build- 
 ing ftill (landing in Chapel-lane. This Prefbyterian place 
 of worfhip was built about the year 1717, but it is probable 
 that there was a diflenting place of worfhip in Chapel-lane 
 before that date. The congregation, about the year 1770, 
 adopted the Unitarian creed of opinions, and have fo con- 
 tinued to the prefent day. It was endowed by Jeremy 
 Dixon, of Heaton-royds, near Manningham, Bradford, 
 yeoman, who by will, dated zznd Feb. 1724, gave a farm 
 in Denholme, called Birchin Lee, being then of the yearly 
 rent of ten pounds, unto the truftees of this chapel, to the 
 ufe, for ever, of the minitler, being a Proteftant Diflenter 
 from the Eftablifhed Church. Three of the minifters of 
 this place have been learned men, viz., Mr. Heineker, Mr. 
 Ryland, and the prefent minifter, Mr. Freckelton. The 
 interior oak fittings were brought from Howley Hall, on 
 its demolition. The (lone gateway to the chapel was alfo 
 brought from the fame place.
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 243 
 
 This was the cafe at firft with his eldeft fon 
 William, but the Minifters of the Calviniftic fed 
 called Independents afterwards obtaining poflef- 
 fion of many of the old Prefbyterian chapels and 
 livings, and this being the cafe in particular at 
 Cleckheaton and Heckmondwike, he and his 
 family became infenfibly connected with this 
 party, and entered violently into all their fpirit, 
 principles, and prejudices. He had only one 
 brother younger than himfelf, named Thomas, 
 and three fitters. One of thefe married a Jofeph 
 Wooller, a fhoemaker at Bradford, and left iflue 
 only one daughter, who married a Mr. Samuel 
 Webfter, a maltfter at Morley, a man of property 
 and a refpetable family and character. She 
 died without iflue. Another fifter married John 
 Hinchcliffe, near Dudley-hill. They were poor 
 all their life ; but their fon John becoming a 
 dealer in cattle, acquired confiderable property, 
 took a large farm in the neighbourhood, and pro- 
 vided comfortably for the old people while they 
 lived. John died, leaving a fon, Jofeph Hinch- 
 cliffe (his only child), who refides at prefent at 
 Newel-hall,* in the road to Wibfey, and occupies 
 
 * Newel-hall. "On the confines of the townfhip of 
 Bowling, towards North Bierley, lies Newall, or New-hall, 
 anciently one of the feats of the Richardfons of Bierley. 
 From an infcription over the door, within a fcrolled tablet, 
 it appears to have been built in 1672, by Richard Richard- 
 fon, during the life of his fecond wife, Elizabeth. Though 
 now occupied by cottagers, there are many traces indicatory 
 of its formerly having been a fine manfion. It is built of
 
 244 AUTOBIOGRAPHT OF 
 
 the farm belonging to it. He has at prefent a 
 numerous family of feven or eight children, is a 
 man of good character, much bufinefs, and con- 
 fiderable property. The other branches of the 
 family are but in low circumftances. A third 
 fifter married a Julius Whitehead, of Tong, a 
 mafon by trade, an inoffenfive, orderly man, who 
 ranked among that clafs of his neighbours who 
 obtain their bread by their labour. 
 
 I return to William and his brother Thomas. 
 Thefe refided at a houfe and fmall farm they had 
 taken at Street-fide, between Dudley-hill and 
 Weftgate-hill, where they joined their ftocks, 
 made coarfe white cloth, and were, it feems, 
 pretty fuccefsful, efpecially during what was 
 called the Ruflia Middle Trade, in which favour- 
 able opportunity, it is generally fuppofed, they 
 obtained the greateft part of their property. 
 They lived together in a ftate of bachelorfhip, 
 till William was approaching towards fifty years 
 of age ; he then married a Mary Brooke, a 
 daughter of a John Brooke, a white cloth_ maker, 
 of Cleckheaton. With her he received a part 
 of the Brook-houfes eftate as a portion, and 
 
 large blocks of ftone, and confifts of two wings and a 
 centre. The porch or entrance, according to the ftyle of 
 that day, proje&s unfymmetrically from one of the wings. 
 The timber and wainfcotting are of black oak, and the 
 maffy door, ftudded with broad-headed nails, ftrongly con- 
 trafts with the light and elegant doors of modern man- 
 fions." Mr. JOHN JAMES, in his " Hiftory of Bradford." 
 1848.
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 245 
 
 paying her father the remaining value, he thus 
 became poflefled of the whole eftate, partly by 
 gift and partly by purchafe. He immediately 
 ere&ed the prefent houfe, outhoufes, &c., and as 
 foon as it was ready, removed with his family 
 from Street-fide thither, his brother Tommy con- 
 tinuing to refide with the family. Here the family 
 continued till they all died fucceflively, William 
 himfelf, though much the oldeft of the family, 
 being the laft furviving branch of it. His bro- 
 ther Tommy died a bachelor, in the year 1766, 
 leaving his whole fhare of the property to his 
 brother William, except fome trifling legacies 
 of five pounds a-piece to each of his fitters, or 
 their defendants ; thefe, being fome of them in 
 very ftraitened circumftances, exclaimed heavily 
 againft the unfairnefs and difproportion of their 
 brother's donation ; but all to no purpofe, it being 
 in general the way of the world to pour into the 
 full cup on thefe occafions. I note here that 
 their two eldeft children, Lydia (my wife) and 
 her fifter Betty, were born at Street-fide, and 
 Willy and Mary were born at Brook-houfes. 
 The old people being careful and faving money 
 out of their income every year, had, during their 
 refidence at this place, firft received in mortgage, 
 and afterwards bought out, the two fmall eftates 
 at Heckmondwike, and purchafed the field in 
 Cleckheaton Upper-lane, and the cottages at 
 Heaton-gate ; befides, he had lent upon bond, to 
 Obadiah Brooke, 30O/., which he has had in his
 
 246 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 hands perhaps forty years, and as the old man 
 repeatedly aflerted, paid little or no intereft for 
 it. He had alfo lent upon note io/. to Gomerfal 
 Workhoufe (which William Birkby afterwards 
 received), and io/. to Thomas Exley. This was 
 the whole of the property he appeared to be 
 poflefled of at his death. He had, during his 
 lifetime, paid to my wife (as I mentioned before) 
 ioo/., and about 3OO/. amongft my children, 
 which made in the whole 4OO/. on my family- 
 fide ; and he often and earneftly declared that 
 William Birkby had received near iooo/. out of 
 his houfe, which, with the partial difpofals of the 
 will in his family's favour, made a very great, a 
 very unjuft, and a very difproportionate divifion 
 of the {hares which William Birkby and his 
 family, on one fide, and I and my family on the 
 other fide, received out of William Birkhead's 
 property. 
 
 There were alfo feveral perfons who were in- 
 timately acquainted with the family and its con- 
 cerns, who thought they had great reafon to 
 believe that fome of their flatterers^ in the later 
 part of the old man's life, had obtained confider- 
 able fums of money from him perhaps 40O/., 
 5OO/., or 6oo/., more or lefs, which were never 
 accounted for, and for which there appeared no 
 fecurity, and which, if it was fa&, were of courfe 
 unjuftly alienated from, and totally loft to, his 
 own lawful offspring. 
 
 John Brooke, the father of Mrs. Birkhead,
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 247 
 
 appears to have been a man of a fair general 
 character, and confiderable landed property, and 
 a branch of a numerous, and, at that time, pretty 
 fubftantial family in the neighbourhood ; and 
 ranked among the better fort of the middling 
 rank of people. He was by religion a rigid 
 Prefbyterian. He married three wives, by the 
 firft of whom he had one child, a fon, named 
 Richard. He turned out wild, enlifted for a 
 foldier, caught a confumption, and died. His 
 fecond wife was from a family at Rooms, near 
 Morley, of the furname of Webfter. With her 
 he had four children, namely, Mary (the late 
 Mrs. Birkhead), of whom we have fpoken before j 
 Samuel, his eldeft fon, who, having offended his 
 father by his marriage, was by him, in effect, dif- 
 inherited, forfaken by the family, and treated ever 
 afterwards as an alien to their blood j a ftriking 
 inftance, even towards one of their own offspring 
 and the eldeft hope of the family, of the mean 
 pride and unremitting malice inherent in the 
 family, and of which I myfelf experienced from 
 his daughter fo bitter a tafte afterwards. His 
 father gave him two or three fmall crofts, with 
 a cottage and workfhop erected upon them, at a 
 place called Woodfide, between Heaton and High- 
 town. Having a numerous family of eleven 
 children, he was obliged to mortgage his little 
 pittance for as much money as it would fetch, 
 and ftruggled with diftrefiing circumftances all 
 his days. His furviving children, fince his death,
 
 248 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 have all or moft of them been able to obtain a 
 comfortable fubfiftence by their own exertions. 
 Obadiah, his fecond fon, had the family refidence 
 at Heaton-Green-fide fettled upon him, which 
 ought to have been given to his elder brother. 
 He remained a bachelor to a pretty advanced 
 age, when he had the good fortune to marry a 
 Betty Wood, a daughter of a John Wood, a 
 hardwareman of Bradford. To her management 
 and commercial talents he is entirely indebted, 
 under providence, for the prefent favourable ftate 
 of his family, although, I underftand, his eftate 
 is very deeply mortgaged. He has buried all his 
 children but two fons, John and Obadiah. John 
 has married a quaker, it is faid, with a large 
 fortune, and keeps a hardware fhop, &c. at Cleck- 
 heaton. Obadiah is a bachelor, and fettled at 
 Leeds, where he follows the profeffion of a fur- 
 geon and apothecary. Nathaniel, John Brooke's 
 youngeft fon, had a fmall farm called Walftone- 
 houfes, left him near Little Gomerfal, and a few 
 cottages at Heaton-gate ; but having a large 
 family alfo of eleven children, was obliged to 
 difpofe of his little eftate in his lifetime, and 
 died in very ftraitened circumftances. His fon 
 Obadiah died before him. Ten of his children 
 furvived him, namely, John, his eldeft fon, who 
 went to the Weft Indies to avoid the perfecution 
 of his father's creditors, and died in Jamaica ; 
 Thomas and Jofhua, who obtain their fubfiftence 
 by their labour ; Nathaniel and Benoni, who en-
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 249 
 
 lifted for foldiers, and are, I fuppofe, ftill in the 
 fervice ; Edmund, who had fits, was thrown upon 
 the town, and died ; Hannah, who went as a 
 fervant to London, married there, and died; 
 Mary, who married a blackfmith in Lancafhire ; 
 Lydia, his youngeft girl, who turned out bad, 
 and followed the foldiers ; and Betty, the eldeft 
 girl, who has done much the beft of any of the 
 family, having lately married a Benjamin Fearn- 
 ley, only fon and child of a John Fearnley, a man 
 of confiderable property in Cleckheaton, who is 
 lately dead, and has left property to his fon, it is 
 faid, of upwards of 24OO/. 
 
 Thus, I have given as fair and impartial an 
 account of this family on both fides, as I am 
 able ; their predeceflbrs, themfelves, their defcen- 
 dants, and the collateral branches of the families 
 on each fide ; from whence it will appear, that 
 they were not fprung from princes ; that a few 
 of them were in eafy circumftances, but far the 
 greater part in a low fituation j that they them- 
 felves, (notwithftanding their accidental good for- 
 tune in accumulating a little wealth on fome 
 favourable occafions, which made them, in this 
 refpecl:, a little better than fome of their neigh- 
 bours,) were of mean education and low attain- 
 ments in knowledge. They bore, indeed, a pretty 
 fair character for honefty in their dealings in 
 common with many of their neighbours, and paid 
 a ftridl attention to the formalities of their reli- 
 gion ; but had no juft ground, I conceive, for
 
 2 5 o AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 that mighty felf-importance which they feemed 
 defirous of affuming over their neighbours ; and 
 I think I may be allowed, without vanity, to fay, 
 that either with regard to my family, fortune, 
 education, mental abilities, or moral character, I 
 myfelf was, at leaft, as refpe&able as they or any 
 that belonged to them ; and that therefore the 
 arrogance, abufe, and contempt with which they 
 continued to treat me to the day of their death, 
 evinced their weaknefs, pride, and vanity, and 
 the badnefs of their hearts j was infufferable, 
 wicked, deteftable, and blameable in a very high 
 degree. 
 
 I come next to their religion, of which I fhall 
 endeavour to give as clear and concife an account 
 as I can. I fhall next give an exat relation of 
 their behaviour towards me and my children 
 during my connection with them. I fhall then 
 contraft that behaviour with their religious pro- 
 fefiion, and fee how they agree together. Among 
 thefe obfervations I fhall have occafion to make 
 fome ftri&ures on the conduct of feveral other 
 perfons, particularly fome of their religious fra- 
 ternity, who appear to me to have been acceflbrs, 
 prompters, or afiiftants to one or both the old 
 people in their very blameable behaviour towards 
 me and my eldeft fon in particular, and whofe 
 conduct appears, on this occafion, to have been 
 very inconfiftent with their duty as profefling 
 Chriftians. 
 
 The religious fyftem of the old people was
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 251 
 
 Cahinifm, and they entered into all the bitter 
 prejudices common to the party, againft thofe 
 fe6taries who differ from them in opinion, efpe- 
 cially the Arminlam^ fo called. They were 
 church-members (as they term themfelves) of 
 the fedr, called Independents, meeting together 
 for divine worfhip at Heckmondwike Old Chapel. 
 They paid a conftant attendance twice every 
 Sunday to hear their preachings, were conftant 
 partakers every month of the ordinance (the cant 
 term of the party for the Lord's Supper), attended 
 the extra lectures and preachments of the party 
 at the neighbouring chapels, had prayers in their 
 family morning and evening every day, and taught 
 their children, &c. the aflembly's catechifm, had 
 a kind of religious meetings among the brother- 
 hood at each of their houfes by turns ; till they 
 came round, where they fung and prayed among 
 themfelves, and concluded each vifit with good 
 cheer and common converfation j they refufed 
 to call the firft day of the week Sunday, but in- 
 ftead thereof, the Sabbath, or the Sabbath-day. 
 They had a like objection to fay Chriftmas, but 
 inftead thereof faid the Winter-holidays or Play- 
 days. In fhort, they came nearer the nice, fcru- 
 pulous formality of the ancient Pharifees than 
 any other party which I have been acquainted 
 with ; and I have too much reafon to believe that 
 this was eminently the cafe with refpe& to their 
 fpirit and difpofition likewife. 
 
 From all this oftentatious parade of religious
 
 252 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 formality, I thought I had fome reafon to expect 
 that, though I had married their daughter with- 
 out their confent, and thereby given them fome 
 occafion for difpleafure, yet, after their firft 
 refentments were over, their good fenfe and 
 Chriftianity (if they really had any) would induce 
 them to behave with fome reafonable degree of 
 refpedt towards me, if it was but for the fake of 
 the peace and comfort of their own child, efpeci- 
 ally if, as I intended, I endeavoured to conciliate 
 their affection by behaving as refpe&fully towards 
 them and their daughter as lay in my power; but 
 in this expectation I was terribly difappointed. 
 They had before our marriage fpoke of me with 
 the higheft contempt and difapprobation imagin- 
 able; and, indeed, in fuch very depreciating terms, 
 that if I had heard of all they had faid before our 
 marriage, I believe it would have ftaggered my 
 refolution for the match. On occafion of our 
 marriage their fury arofe well-nigh to madnefs, 
 and their refentment gave vent to itfelf in the 
 moft bitter, degrading, and indecent language ; 
 language fo mighty felf-important, abufive, and 
 indecent, as confidering the little or no difparity 
 between us in my disfavour in any refpe6t, and 
 their high pretenfions to religion was matter of 
 aftonimment to moft of our furrounding neigh- 
 bours and acquaintance. The old man wifhed 
 his knife in my heart, faid he would never forgive 
 me, nor ever give me a penny with his daughter, 
 with much more to the fame purpofe. The old
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 253 
 
 woman's malice, if poffible, exceeded his, and, 
 indeed, I always believed fhe had much the worfe 
 heart of the two, and that the old man's anger 
 and prejudice would have remitted, if it had not 
 been artfully increafed and kept up by her evil 
 influence and mifreprefentations, by which fhe 
 induced him to look upon me as one of the worft 
 of characters, and rivetted his prejudice againft 
 me to the day of his death. In fhort, their whole 
 conduct on this occafion could not have been 
 worfe if I had been the vileft mifcreant in the 
 Britifh dominions. However, I bore all with 
 ftoical patience, and endeavoured to conciliate 
 their refpecl. by the moft gentle and fubmiffive 
 behaviour, though, the reader will eafily perceive, 
 their repeated infultswere peculiarly difagreeable 
 and difgufting. Some fhort intervals of apparent 
 peace and reconciliation fucceeded, but thefe were 
 always of fhort duration, as they foon found fome- 
 thing, or nothing, as an occafion to aflume their 
 black looks and difrefpe&ful behaviour ; fo that 
 I was finally obliged to drop all intercourfe with 
 the family. My wife, however, would continue 
 her vifits, and being a weak girl, by conftant abu- 
 five and degrading language, they foon alienated 
 her affection from me, and completely infpired 
 her with their own fpirit and prejudices, which 
 foon difcovered itfelf in a want of proper efteem 
 and regard for me, and a total careleflhefs of my 
 welfare, which entirely overturned all the peace 
 and comfort of our family; and, as I always
 
 254 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 gave her all my cafli to keep, and received it 
 from her again as our occafions required, with- 
 out taking any account of it, relying entirely on 
 her faithfulnefs, without the leaft fufpicion, I 
 have fince found much reafon to believe that 
 her parents induced her to defraud me of feveral 
 fums of money fecretly, under the fpecious pre- 
 tences of getting back again what they had lent 
 us, for fear I fhould fhut it,* and faving it for her 
 and the children ; a circumftance which tended 
 much to haften my embarraflments. Nay, me 
 was fo weak and imprudent (as I have been in- 
 formed fince), as to rail on me behind my back, 
 to the vulgar fellows we had working in the fields, 
 though they laughed her to fcorn for her pains ; 
 and in this fpirit they kept her as long as me 
 lived. 
 
 When they had thus deprived me of the affec- 
 tions of my wife and the peace of my family, 
 they did all that lay in their power to injure my 
 moral character ; and in order to gain credit for 
 their own conduct, and throw all the odium upon 
 me, they fpoke of me with the utmoft contempt, 
 and flandered me in the moft unjuft manner, to 
 all their party and acquaintance ; and, in the 
 opinion of thofe who did not know me, and 
 thought well of them and their profeflion, they 
 doubtlefs did me much injury; but in the opinion 
 of all who knew me better, it was out of their 
 
 * Shut it, i. e. fpend it. A common Yorkshire word.
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 255 
 
 power, I believe, to hurt my moral chara&er. 
 Not content with this, they faid and did all that 
 lay in their power to deprive me of my children's 
 affections, and endeavoured with all their might. 
 
 * O * 
 
 from their infancy to maturer age, to inftil into 
 their minds a diflike and averfion to their own 
 father ! Confidering the anxious attention I 
 always paid to my children, the paternal tender- 
 nefs with which I had always treated them, and 
 the great affection I always had for them, this 
 part of their conduit hurt me worfe than all the 
 reft, and quite overpowered my patience ; and 
 on occafion of the old woman's refufmg to let 
 my daughter come and fpeak with me, when I 
 one day fent for her, I differed with her feverely 
 (as I have before related), took both my children 
 home with me, and never came at the houfe again 
 till her death ; and I appeal to the heart of every 
 feeling parent, if they can think me greatly blame- 
 able, at leaft, on this account, under fuch a trying 
 provocation. 
 
 During my widowhood they never came at 
 me, only to get what they could from me. Her 
 youngeft fifter came and wheedled me out of all 
 my wife's clothes, and her mother came and 
 rifled my houfe in my abfence of all my mother's 
 clothes, part of which they fufFered to be ftolen 
 or deftroyed, or wore themfelves, and encouraged 
 my children to convey things fecretly from my 
 houfe, under their ufual pretences, as I have 
 before related. After my fecond marriage, they
 
 256 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 endeavoured with all their might to perfuade my 
 children to behave with infolence and impropriety 
 towards me and my wife, and thus once again 
 deftroy the peace of my family ; though, by ap- 
 pealing to the good fenfe and affection of my 
 elder children, with fome correction, I was en- 
 abled in a good meafure, though not altogether, 
 to prevent the bad confequences of their evil in- 
 fluence. In fhort, for anything that appeared to 
 the contrary, they carried their evil propenfity 
 againft me to the grave. 
 
 After their death a new fcene of malice and 
 undermining villany difplayed itfelf, in the man- 
 ner in which the old woman and her accomplices 
 had difpofed of the old man's property. As I 
 have given a hiftory of this bufmefs in the pre- 
 ceding pages, I mall only now add fome additional 
 circumftances, and give fome account of the 
 mean, ungenerous, and unjuft practices made 
 ufe of by the perfons who concerned themfelves 
 in this affair, in order to induce Mrs. Birkhead 
 to deprive my fon of his property in favour of 
 thofe who had not fo great a right to it as he 
 had, as the old man himfelf juftly obferved ; and 
 attempt to inveftigate the motives by which they 
 appear to have been each of them actuated. 
 
 I have before given a very particular account 
 of the unfortunate affair of my fon with Mifs 
 Rother.* This circumftance was eagerly laid 
 
 * This account has been carefully taken out of the 
 manufcript, and this allufion to it is all that remains.
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 257 
 
 hold of by thofe who were not well-wifliers 
 either to me or my fon, and reprefented to the 
 old people in the moft exaggerated manner, par- 
 ticularly the circumftance of his having promifed 
 the girl marriage. I believe this affair might 
 have been fettled with a trifle, fuppofing the girl 
 had ever advanced any claim, which, perhaps, 
 {he never would have done; but granting the 
 worft in this cafe, why fhould the eldeft male 
 branch of the family, who, fince his misfortune 
 had given manifeft proofs of his rectitude of con- 
 duct, be dealt with much worfe than the youngeft 
 female branch of it, and in a manner difmherited : 
 contrary to the old woman's folemn promife to 
 me in her lifetime; contrary to his uncle Willy's 
 dying requeft, and the old people's folemn promife 
 to him in his dying moments; contrary to the 
 old man's mind (us it evidently appeared from his 
 own words afterwards), and contrary to all natu- 
 ral juftice and equity. Or, if any claims from 
 Mifs Rother were feared, why mould not a better 
 annuity than the paltry one of 137. 105. have 
 been fettled upon him for life, and the reverfion 
 of the eftate to his family, as had been done to 
 his younger fifter ; or, in default of a family, 
 equally between his fifters or their iflue, at his 
 death; as equity and natural juftice required? 
 This would have fecured it from any poflible 
 claims of Mifs Rother, and have been ufmg him 
 with fome juftice and mercy ; but to deal with 
 him as they did, and leave his family (if he had
 
 258 JUTOBIOGRAPHT OF 
 
 one, and as he was likely to have) without a 
 fhilling to fupport them with in cafe of his death, 
 was fo excefiively inconfiderate and cruel, that I 
 cannot forbear fufpe&ing (as I have hinted before) 
 that the old woman herfelf bad as fhe was was 
 impofed upon by the will-maker and her other 
 aflbciates in this affair, who appear to have been 
 actuated on this occafion by a more infernal 
 malice, if pofTible, againft me and my fon, than 
 the old woman herfelf. 
 
 Another circumftance which the watchful 
 enemies of my boy laid hold of to prejudice the 
 old people againft him, and deprive him of his 
 expectations from them, was as follows. The 
 old people were rigid Calvinifts in their religious 
 fentiments (as I have before obferved). I myfelf 
 was of a directly contrary opinion, and efpoufed 
 the doctrine of Free-agency and Univerfal Re- 
 demption. I fcorned to difiemble my fentiments, 
 to flatter their vanity, but defended them freely 
 and boldly to the beft of my abilities, though 
 with decency and good manners as I had a right 
 to do whenever I was attacked by them or any 
 of their party. This rendered me obnoxious to 
 the whole party, and drew upon me their diflike 
 and difapprobation, and they fpoke of me with 
 great contempt, and meanly and unjuftly caft 
 invidious reflections upon my moral character 
 behind my back upon many occafions, efpecially 
 the Calviniftic bigots at Brook-houfes. 
 
 My fon, during his apprenticefhip with Mr.
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 259 
 
 Nicholfons (while yet a child, indeed, and before 
 his judgment was matured to form juft conclu- 
 fions of religious difficulties), had unhappily im- 
 bibed from the younger Nicholfon fome biafs to 
 Deifm ; and, after he came to Leeds, was in- 
 cautious enough to fpeak flightingly of the Bible, 
 and utter his crude conceptions too freely in the 
 hearing of Jofeph Greenwood and others. This 
 was playing a fecond time into his enemies' hands, 
 and was once again the very thing they wanted ; 
 for, though no perfon worth his ears would have 
 carried the unwary expreflions of an unfufpicious, 
 unexperienced, unreflecting youth to the perfons 
 with whom it was likely to do him the greateft 
 injury ; yet, by fome perfons, inftigated probably 
 by malice againft him, or me, or both of us, and 
 by fome other perfons inftigated probably byfe/f- 
 intereft, the wicked tenets and afTertions of my 
 fon, with all their aggravations, were prefently 
 whifpered in Mrs. Birkhead's ears ; and one 
 flandering, character-murdering, back-ftabbing 
 fcoundrel (old O. B. of Cleckneaton), had the 
 impudence to tell his fifter in the hearing and 
 prefence of my own child (Sally), that my fon 
 was what ? not a Deijl, as one might have ex- 
 pected, but an Atheiji-, and that I myfelf had 
 taught him Atheism, and that it was a fad thing 
 for a father to teach his child fuch bad principles. 
 A fad thing, indeed ! had the charge not happened 
 to be utterly unfounded. Did he not deferve his 
 tongue nailing to the door of the houfe, for utter-
 
 2 6o AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 ing fuch a falfe and injurious flander? This 
 injurious report was bandied amongft them for 
 fome time before it reached my fon. At length 
 fome acquaintance told him, that it was reported 
 in the country that he was an Atbeijl. He treated 
 this intelligence at firft with the fmile of con- 
 tempt, as not fuppofing that anybody would 
 believe it; but at laft the old woman herfelf 
 fent for him, to queftion him upon the fubjecT:. 
 He then began to perceive that it was likely to 
 do him a confiderable injury, and that it had been 
 raifed and propagated by defigning perfons, for 
 this very purpofe. He then fet about finding out 
 the original author, and traced back the report 
 to the late Rev. Mr. James Dawfon, the Inde- 
 pendent minifter at Cleckheaton, to whom he 
 immediately wrote the following letter : 
 
 " To the Rev. Mr. JAMES DAWSON, Cleckheaton. 
 
 " REV. SIR " Leeds > Ma y I2th ' 
 
 " Some time fmce I was informed by feveral 
 perfons, that it was reported that I was an Atheift. 
 This information, being as new as it was falfe and 
 abfurd, was received by me with the fmile of 
 contempt. I did not think that any evil effects 
 could proceed from fuch a report, for I did not 
 believe it would be credited. Having, however, 
 found that it has operated much to my own dif- 
 advantage, and caufed uneafmefs to my friends, 
 I have, therefore, made careful inquiry to find
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 261 
 
 out the original author of this calumny j and 
 after tracing it from one perfon to another, have 
 at laft found, that the fuppofed circumftance was 
 mentioned by you to a certain gentleman of 
 Cleckheaton, who, mentioning it to others, has 
 fpread the invidious report. I have therefore 
 taken the liberty of requefting that you will in- 
 form me who was the perfon that told you I was 
 an Atheift. This requeft I think you ought to 
 comply with, as well for my fatisfa&ion as for 
 the fake of your own character ; and I am not 
 without hopes that you will, by fo doing, fupply 
 me with a clue by which I mail have it in my 
 power to difcover at laft, in the original author 
 of this flanderous report, either the fecret machi- 
 nations of the moft abominable villain, or the 
 agency of fome filly, intermeddling blockhead. 
 " I am, with all due refpecl:, 
 
 " Your humble fervant, 
 
 " THOMAS WRIGHT." 
 
 Above a week having elapfed without his 
 having received any anfwer, he wrote a fecond 
 letter as follows : 
 
 " To the Rev. Mr. JAMES DAWSON, Cleckheaton. 
 
 REV. SIR, "Leeds, May nft, 1795. 
 
 " When I lately wrote to defire a fmall favour 
 from you, I had no doubt but that you would 
 readily comply with a requeft fo reafonable, and
 
 262 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 refpe&ing a matter fo important to me, and of fo 
 little moment to yourfelfj but I have been totally 
 difappointed in your filence. What can be the 
 caufe of this, I am ignorant. Perhaps you think 
 that the affair is not of fufficient importance 
 to deferve your notice ; but furely common 
 civility required a civil anfwer. And befides, 
 you had reported the calumny in queftion to a 
 perfon of your acquaintance ; a calumny for 
 which it is impoflible you fliould have any juft 
 foundation. This circumftance made it requifite 
 that you fhould either give up the author, or 
 apologize for the ungenerous conduct of having 
 propagated fo vile a flander, without knowing 
 from whom you had heard it. If you have 
 never propagated any fuch report (and I fhall 
 certainly take your word for it, if you deny it), 
 then I have detected a very refpe&able gentle- 
 man of Cleckheaton in a wilful falfehood. If I 
 have addrefled you fomewhat in the language of 
 invective, I hope your candour will make an 
 allowance, and confider that the infulted pride 
 of an honeft mind may be expected to defend 
 itfelf with fome warmth, againft the dark defigns 
 of the hidden aflalfins of its reputation, without 
 refpel of perfons. Can anyone tamely bear fo 
 fenfible an injury without refentment againft its 
 authors ? This calumny, Sir, which has been 
 invented againft me, is calculated to produce the 
 moft ferious effe&s; to ftrip me of character, 
 to deprive me of the fympathy and good-will of
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 263 
 
 my neighbours, and even to wreft from me the 
 means of procuring an honeft livelihood. After 
 all, if you mould not choofe to give the infor- 
 mation defired, and if it be not in my power to 
 find the author of this calumnious report, what 
 can I do lefs than contradict fo grofs a falfehood, 
 by making a public difavowal of having ever 
 embraced the atheiftical fyftem ; and point out 
 to the world thofe ungenerous perfons who have 
 been, on this occafion, the vifible agents of the 
 moft malicious and injurious flander and calumny. 
 " I am, Sir, with all due refpe<St, 
 
 " Your humble fervant, 
 " THOMAS WRIGHT." 
 
 However, before he put this letter in the poft, 
 he received from Mr. Dawfon the following 
 anfwer to his former letter : 
 
 " To MR. THOMAS WRIGHT, Leeds. 
 
 SlR, " Cleckheaton, zznd May, 1795. 
 
 " Yours, dated I2th inftant, came to hand. 
 I mall not trouble you with any remarks upon it, 
 but (hall comply with your requeft. You afk 
 me, * Who was the perfon that told me that you 
 was an Atheift ? ' I have heard Mrs. Birkhead 
 more than either once or twice, fay that me was 
 informed that you was an Atheift ; and if me 
 will, me can tell you who gave her this infor- 
 mation. 
 
 " I am, with all due refpet, yours, 
 
 "J. DAWSON."
 
 264 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 It is evident from this letter of Mr. Dawfon's, 
 that this injurious flander had been paffing among 
 them for fome time ; and every candid mind will 
 allow, that whoever was the author of fuch a 
 wicked flander, they muft be blameable in a very 
 high degree. My boy was fo extremely timid 
 and bafliful, that I could never perfuade him to 
 fpeak to the old people in his own behalf, and 
 this timidity was fo much increafed by the con- 
 fcious mame he felt upon his mind on account of 
 his unhappy affair with the aforefaid girl, that in 
 fpite of all I could fay and I made repeated 
 trials and the abfolute neceflity of it for his own 
 welfare, I could never engage him to furmount 
 it. This timid bafhfulnefs and want of fpirit 
 was injurioufly imprudent in his then circum- 
 ftances, and operated much to his difadvantage, 
 though it afforded a ftrong proof of a tender and 
 ingenuous mind. His brother-in-law and lifter 
 Greenwood encouraged him in this conduct, and 
 difluaded him from vifiting the old people, con- 
 trary to my advice ; for what reafon is beft known 
 to themfelves, though, in my opinion (from cir- 
 cumftances that have fmce turned up), their 
 conduct on this occafion does not bear a favour- 
 able afpe6t. He accordingly kept himfelf at a 
 {by diftance from the old people, and fcarce ever 
 paid them a vifit for feveral years. This weak 
 and impolitic conduct gave his enemies their full 
 fcope to raife and fix the old people's prejudices 
 againft him, without oppofition or difturbance,
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 265 
 
 and afforded thofe perfons who had defigns upon 
 his expe&ed property, the beft opportunity they 
 could wifh to eftablifh their undermining plans, 
 and put their bafe defigns in execution ; and of 
 this opportunity as he found to his coft after- 
 wards they did not fail to avail themfelves to 
 the full. 
 
 Another occafion which his enemies laid hold 
 of to ruin him in the favour and good opinion of 
 the old people, was his premature attempt to 
 begin bufmefs, and its unfavourable confequences. 
 I had no hand in this affair, and had rather (and 
 it had been better, much better for him) that he 
 had gone out as a journeyman for fome time, 
 till he had been more perfect in his bufmefs, 
 and waited the event of the old people's death, 
 which was not likely to be far diftant. My boy 
 and Mrs. Birkhead were perfuaded into this 
 tranfaHon, and both completely impofed upon 
 in it, by the artful manoeuvres of the younger 
 Nicholfon, who, wanting money, took this 
 method to fupply his pockets, at the expenfe of 
 this unwary couple, by exchanging his old fhop- 
 goods, which were comparatively of little value, 
 for Mrs. Birkhead's ready cafh. I believe my 
 boy afterwards never fold them for one half of 
 the money which was paid for them ; but this 
 not the worft. His connexion with this 
 perfon led him into his fatal connection with 
 Mifs Rother, which, plunging his mind in con- 
 fufion, and adding greatly to his expenfe, both
 
 
 266 ' AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 goods and money were foon difiipated. This laid 
 the foundation for all his future misfortunes, and 
 fupplied his enemies with a plaufible reafon for 
 perfuading the old woman that he would be like 
 his father, and would never be good for anything 
 in trade (though his future fobrietyand diligence 
 has fince fully confuted this uncandid furmife) ; 
 that if they left him anything, it would certainly 
 be fpent, and that they had better cut him off 
 with a trifling annuity for life. This unrighteous 
 advice Mrs. Birkhead thought fit to follow, and 
 engaged her diflionourable will-writer to frame 
 a codicil which cut him off from the eftate 
 which the old man had left him in the will itfelf, 
 in lieu of the Lower Brook-houfes, which fhe 
 had quirked him out of before, in favour of 
 William Birkby's family ; and by this codicil fhe 
 tricked him out of this eftate alfo, and quit him 
 with a trifling annuity for life (without regard to 
 any family he might have), which was worth 
 little or nothing in comparifon of what fhe had 
 left the other branches of the family. This 
 roguifh codicil, fhe and her affociates perfuaded 
 the poor old doting man to fign, when I believe 
 at the fame time they might as eafily have per- 
 fuaded him to have figned his own death-warrant. 
 He afterwards called Tommy into the garden 
 feveral times, told him repeatedly that he had 
 left him the Upper Brook-houfes, faid it would 
 be a pretty thing for him, and wifhed him to take 
 care that nobody cheated him out of it, and never
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 267 
 
 manifefted the moft diftant idea of the codicil j 
 and I firmly believe, that as far as his recolle&ion 
 would ferve him, the old man died in the full 
 perfuafion that he bad left Tommy John Morti- 
 mer's farm. However, the die is now caft, they 
 have put their wicked and fpiteful defigns in 
 execution, and he is now labouring, and is ftill 
 likely to labour, under the difficulties and incon- 
 veniences brought upon him by the malicious or 
 interefted efforts of his and my enemies, in the 
 deprivation of his juftly expected property. 
 
 It does not appear that my fon ever queftioned 
 Mrs. Birkhead after the writing of the aforefaid 
 letters, as to who had informed her that he and 
 his father were Atheifts, otherwife he might 
 poffibly have been able to have afcertained with 
 greater precifion iv ho was the real author of this 
 execrable flander. However, the perfons who ap- 
 peared to concern themfelves moft in this nefari- 
 ous bufmefs were, Jofeph Greenwood, of Leeds, 
 who appears to have been actuated (perhaps 
 altogether) by motives of felf-l ntereft ; Thomas 
 Exley, of Spen, and Obadiah Brook, of Cleck- 
 heaton, who appear to have been actuated chiefly 
 by what I beg leave to call religious malice ; for 
 to the beft of my knowledge, I never gave either 
 of them anyy'w/? occafion for ill-will towards me, 
 nor ever any other occafion than that of happen- 
 ing to difter from them in my religious principles, 
 and taking the liberty of defending thofe prin- 
 ciples from fcripture and reafon, to the beft of
 
 268 AUTOBIOGRAPHT OF 
 
 my abilities, whenever I was attacked by any of 
 their party. But this is enough to make a man 
 pafs with many, perhaps with moft Calvinifts, 
 for a fool, a knave, a Deift, an Atheift, and every- 
 thing that is weak, wicked, and contemptible ; 
 and I believe thefe two perfons were the more 
 willing to do my fon a ferious injury, becaufe 
 they could thereby gratify their fpleen and malice 
 againft his father. I do not know that either my 
 fon or me ever gave the leaft fhadow of occafion 
 to any perfon under the fun, to believe or fuppofe 
 that we were Atheifts, or ever manifefted the 
 leaft tendency towards the arheiftical fyftem. I 
 can fay the fame for myfelf with refpe<5t to Deifm, 
 which I never believed as a fyftem, or inclined 
 to believe, though I have feen and read fome of 
 their capital authors and arguments ; but ever 
 fmce I was able to form a rational judgment, have 
 uniformly believed and received the Chriftian 
 doctrines, according to the beft of my apprehen- 
 fions ; and I have taken no fmall pains to obtain 
 a juft knowledge of the Chriftian fyftem, and 
 afcertain what was truth, and what was error, 
 among the different fyftems of profefling Chrift- 
 ians. This, I conceive, it was my duty to do, 
 and this, I conceive, it is the duty of every other 
 perfon to do, according to their talents and oppor- 
 . tunities. And though I believe that I have a 
 right to fay, if I think fo, that I believe another 
 perfon's fentiments to be erroneous giving my 
 reafons for fuch my judgment yet I do not
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 269 
 
 believe that either I or anybody elfe have a right 
 to mifreprefent, contemn, (lander, vilify, and per- 
 fecute any other perfon becaufe his religious fen- 
 timents happen to be different from, or contrary , 
 to ours, any more than becaufe our countenances 
 happen to be different. I therefore think that 
 fuch a conduct is highly blameable, and a certain 
 mark, fo far, of a bad fpirit. 
 
 I recite the following circumftances, contain- 
 ing the reafons for the motives I have afcribed to 
 the conduft of the perfons above referred to. 
 
 William Birkhead frequently altered his wills, 
 or rather, made new ones, in confequence chiefly 
 of the changes made in his family by death. 
 Towards the clofe of his life, and for fome con- 
 fiderable time before what was called, during the 
 late law conteft, his firjl will was made, it was 
 well known he was become exceeding defective 
 in his memory, and was fallen, in a degree, into 
 what is commonly called dotage. Under this 
 circumftance the whole direction and manage- 
 ment of family concerns fell into Mrs. Birk- 
 head's hands, and me could influence the old 
 man to fay, or do, or fign anything (he pleafed, 
 with the fame eafe fhe could influence a child. 
 Taking advantage of this ftate of his mind 
 contrary to natural juftice, and, I believe, his 
 own uninfluenced mind fhe and her youngeft 
 daughter, while fhe lived, over-perfuaded the old 
 man to leave William Birkby's youngeft fon, the 
 youngeft male branch of the family, the Lower
 
 2 7 o AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 Brook-houfes, inftead of leaving it to my fon, 
 the eldejl male branch of the family, as natural 
 juftice required. But to make him fome com- 
 penfation for this unfair partiality, he, at the 
 fame time, left him the upper part of the eftate, 
 or John Mortimer's Farm. However, after 
 fome time, when the old man's mind was ftill 
 more debilitated by increafing age, urged by her 
 malignity againft me, and the advice and influence 
 of her malicious or interefted aflbciates, me and 
 they framed that deteftable codicil, and perfuaded 
 the old man to fign it, when, I believe, he did 
 not know what he was doing ; which cut my 
 fon off from this eftate alfo, and quit him with 
 the paltry annuity aforefaid. 
 
 I was well aware that Jofeph Greenwood 
 had taken no little pains to infmuate himfelf into 
 Mrs. Birkhead's good opinion, and had been 
 equally folicitous to obtain the good graces of 
 her chief counfeller and fcribe, Thomas Exley ; 
 and by an artful application to their particular 
 foibles, and the apparent profperous circumftances 
 of his trade at that time which induced Mrs. 
 Birkhead to believe him to be a great manager 
 he fucceeded in a great meafure in his defign, 
 and they entered pretty eagerly into his views. 
 As I myfelf was out of favour with the old folks, 
 and had never come at them for ten or twelve 
 years, and as my children had no fpirit or refolu- 
 tion to fpeak to the old people for themfelves, or 
 make the leaft attempt to counterwork the undue
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 271 
 
 influence of the other family, I thought this cir- 
 cumftance not amifs at the time, as it might 
 ferve to balance accounts with the fmifter en- 
 deavours of the contrary party, never once 
 imagining that his defign was to undermine the 
 intereft of my own child my eldeft and only 
 furviving fon by this connection, and deprive 
 him of that property he had a right to expect, 
 and procure it to be transferred to his own chil- 
 dren. This, however, appeared from following 
 circumftances to be the real fat, for though 
 Jofeph Greenwood pretended to be unacquainted 
 with the particulars of the firft will, yet his un- 
 common eagernefs to eftablifh the validity of this 
 will, was an undeniable proof that he knew it 
 was made very much in his, or his family's 
 favour j and that he knew this was done out of 
 what ought to have been given to my fon, appears, 
 I think, firft, from his advifmg my fon fo con- 
 trary to good policy and his apparent intereft 
 not to vifit the old people after his misfortune, to 
 apologize for his fault, endeavour to regain their 
 favour, and prevent his enemies from taking the 
 advantage of his misfortune and his abfence. It 
 is true his fijler joined in this advice, but whether 
 {he judged fo /'// as to believe the advice to be 
 proper for his intereft, or had any fmifter view 
 in the cafe, is a matter that admits of fome doubt 
 to me, and caufes many a painful reflection in 
 my mind, whenever I think upon it. In the 
 next place, although Jofeph Greenwood and his
 
 272 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 party made Doffor Greenwood's dejigns to cheat 
 the rejl of the family , the great bugbear of their 
 proceedings, yet the futility of this pretence was 
 evinced beyond a doubt in the fequel ; for when 
 the contents of the loft will came to be known, 
 it appeared that Jofeph Greenwood had a better 
 fortune left by this will than by the firft will, 
 excepting that the rafcally codicil alienated 
 Tommy's portion, which the old man had left 
 him in the will itfelf, in favour of William 
 Birkby's girl and Jofeph Greenwood's children. 
 Therefore, if Jofeph Greenwood had been a 
 fair, and equitable, and a generous man, when 
 he knew this, he would have dropped the conteft 
 immediately, and fcorned to have advanced an- 
 other ftep, or fpent another farthing in fuch a 
 mameful caufe ; but as he did not, but perfevered 
 in the profecution of it till he had attained his 
 unrighteous defign, it is an inconteftible proof 
 that to obtain Tommy's portion for his own 
 children and Birkby's girl (by which he left 
 Tommy in a ftate next to beggary), was the fole 
 motive of his conduct throughout this whole 
 
 D 
 
 affair. A further proof of this is, that Thomas 
 Exley was overheard to tell him, that he muft 
 fupport the firft will, at all events, as it was 
 made very much in his favour. I have alfo a 
 violent fufpicion that the wicked and execrable 
 flander of Atbeifm^ and' other injurious reports, 
 originated at Leeds j though they might be im- 
 proved and further propagated by his afliftants at
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 273 
 
 Spen, Cleckheaton, and probably others of the 
 party we know not of. I fufpect this, firft becaufe 
 Tommy was wont to exprefs his fentiments the 
 moft freely and incautioufly at Jofeph Green- 
 wood's houfe not about Atbeifm, to which I 
 never knew him in the leaft inclined but about 
 the validity of the Bible, of which he feemed to 
 have fome doubt, and to manifeft a difpofition to 
 Deifm , and fome wife people are hardly able to 
 make a diftin&ion between the fyftems, though 
 they are as different as light and darknefs, and a 
 difpofiiion to Deifm is eafily improved by fuch 
 reporters into *.firm belief of it, and a firm belief 
 of it into Atheifm. Again, I have heard Jofeph 
 Greenwood make remarks on this fubjecl:, and 
 fpeak on feveral occafions with the greateft con- 
 tempt of Tommy's fchemes, talents for trade, 
 &c. Again, I have heard both Jofeph Green- 
 wood and Betty fay, that if the old people left 
 Tommy anything, they had beft leave him an 
 annuity. To this I fhould have had no great 
 objection, had they left him a genteel annuity, 
 adequate to what they left the other branches of 
 the family, and the reverfion of the eftate to his 
 family, if he fhould leave one, at his death ; but 
 to leave him fuch a paltry annuity as they did, 
 and that for life only, deferved dafhing back 
 again in their teeth. In the laft place and above 
 all, I fufpe6t this, becaufe fuch a flanderous afper- 
 fion on Tommy and his father, was fo capitally 
 calculated to promote their bafe purpofes, and 
 
 T
 
 274 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 accomplifh their interefted or malicious defigns. 
 I was yet more vexed, if poflible, that Jofeph 
 Greenwood mould induce my fon to view the 
 affair in fo falfe a light, and in confequence of this 
 to perfuade him to a&with fuch exceffive abfurdity 
 as difgraced his intellects, by affifting a fet of 
 perfons with all his might in a caufe whofe chief, 
 if not fole, object, was to accomplifh his own 
 ruin, by depriving him of that property which 
 the old man would fain have left him, and which 
 was his only and lajl expectation of pecuniary 
 afliftance in this world. Great is the injury 
 which Jofeph Greenwood has done to my fon 
 as well as to himfelf and my younger daughter, 
 by his ill-timed, ill-omened, and ill-judged con- 
 duel: on this occafion. In the firft place, I am 
 perfuaded it has injured himfelf by breaking his 
 time, neglecting his bufmefs, and expending his 
 money ; and by breaking into his ftock, has moft 
 probably haftened his bankruptcy, which has 
 given occafion for what was fairly and honour- 
 able left him at Brook-houfes to be immediately 
 alienated from him, and he and his family thrown 
 upon the mercy of his friends and the world. 
 In the next place, it has deprived Tommy of the 
 Lower Brook-houfes, which the old man would 
 certainly have left him but for his interference. 
 In the next place, it has deprived him of the 
 Upper Brook-houfes, which the old man had 
 left him in lieu of it the vile codicil cutting 
 him off from this alfo, and leaving him, in com-
 
 THOM4S WRIGHT. 275 
 
 parifon of the others, next to nothing. In the 
 next place, it has occafioned my younger daugh- 
 ter's hufband perhaps as much trouble, incon- 
 venience, and expenfe as all he has got is worth ; 
 and it has thrown perhaps more than two-thirds 
 of the property into the hands of the other family 
 at the expenfe of mine , without their being obliged 
 to be at any trouble or expenfe on the occafion j 
 and all this appears to have been done merely to 
 fecure the reverfion of the Upper Brook-houfes 
 at Tommy's death (loaded with a legacy of 1507. 
 and intereft out of it to the other family) to 
 Jofeph Greenwood's children. It has occa- 
 fioned another very great evil. It has fown the 
 feeds of diflenfion and malice between perfons 
 and families who ought to have been the moft 
 kindly-affeclioned to one another, and which is 
 not likely to be foon or eafily extinguifhed, and 
 which exifts at the imminent hazard of the future 
 happinefs of every perfon who indulges it. 
 
 Such is the injurious and unpleafing confe- 
 quences attending this ill-judged conteft. It will 
 be faid, perhaps, that Tommy was under great 
 obligations to Jofeph Greenwood ; that he had 
 been at the trouble and expenfe of following him 
 to Sheffield to difengage him from Mifs Rother ; 
 that he afterwards afforded him the fhelter and 
 convenience of his houfe in his diftrefs, and 
 aflifted him with fmall fums of money to begin 
 his bufmefs with again, &c. This is true, and 
 both Tommy and his father wimed to be grate-
 
 276 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 ful, and to make him every reafonable return, if 
 ever it might be in the power of either of them 
 to fhow him as great, or a greater favour. But 
 this did not entitle him to what ought to have 
 been Tommy's property, or juftify or excufe 
 him in unfair and ungenerous attempts to obtain 
 it. Could Tommy have had what he had a 
 right to exper, he both could and would have 
 made him every return that could reafonably 
 have been expefled from an honeft, grateful, 
 and generous heart ; but being deprived of this, 
 it renders him unable to manifeft his gratitude 
 to the extent he could have wiflied, and he muft 
 remain apparently under an unreturned obligation 
 ftill ; thoughjofeph Greenwood has got Tommy's 
 expedited property for his own children, and 
 thereby deprived him in a great meafure of the 
 means of making a comfortable provifion for his 
 own fubfiftence. 
 
 I remark next on the conduct of Thomas 
 Exley. This man had made a long and high 
 profeflion of religion ; and was confidered as 
 one of the chief pillars of the religious fociety 
 with which he was connected : one would there- 
 fore have expected from a perfon of fuch a pro- 
 feflion and character, that he would have fpoke 
 and acled with refpe<St to every man he might 
 have any concern about, with the equity, candour, 
 love, and kindnefs of a ckriftian ; but this did 
 not appear to have been the cafe to me. There 
 are divers perfons who fuppofe that Thomas
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT, 277 
 
 Exley flood fo high in the good opinion and efti- 
 mation of the old people, and that his influence 
 over them was fo great, that if he had thought 
 fit, he could eafily have perfuaded them to have 
 made a more equitable will. However, be this 
 as it may, I blame him for writing fo fcandaloufly 
 unfair a paper, as the codicil efpecially, at all, fo 
 I told him. He faid, if he had not wrote it, fome- 
 body elfe would. Be it fo ; then fomebody elfe 
 fhould ; I would have fcorned to have had a hand 
 in fo dirty a bufmefs j and I think I know even 
 fome attorneys who, from a principle of honour, 
 would have refufed to have wrote, even for pay, 
 fuch an unjuft paper as the codicil. I blame him, 
 in the next place, for prevarication^ if not for 
 uttering a wilful fa If eh ood. I met with him at 
 the public-houfe where the jury met to decide 
 upon the old man's intelle&s. I there told him 
 what I had heard reported of the difpofals in the 
 old man's will, and complained with fome warmth 
 of their great injujlice to my boy, if the report 
 was true. He advifed me to be patient till the 
 will was made public, and ajpured me that things 
 were not, or were not fo bad, as I feemed to fear, 
 or as had been reported ; hence I was induced to 
 hope that matters might turn out more favour- 
 able for my fon, than I had been led to imagine. 
 However, when the will came to be known, it 
 turned out to be much worfe than had either ever 
 been reported, or than I had ever imagined it to 
 be. Now, it was evident that Thomas Exley
 
 278 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 defigned, by what he faid, to quiet my apprehen- 
 fions, and make me believe that matters were 
 left better for my fon than they really were ; and 
 as he was the will- writer, he muft be perfectly 
 acquainted with its contents : I afk, therefore, 
 was fuch double dealing as this confiftent with 
 the Chriftian character ? I blame him, in the 
 next place, for indulging a very unchriftian fpirit 
 towards me. He was converfing one day with 
 a friendly acquaintance of mine on the fubjet of 
 the old man's will, fome time previous to its 
 being made public ; he told him that my fon 
 was difmherited, and quit with a trifling annuity, 
 and faid, with a farcaftic fmile, " How Tommy 
 Wright of Birkenfhaw would ftorm if he knew 
 this ! " and feemed to enjoy, by anticipation, a 
 malignant pleafure in the chagrin which he fup- 
 pofed the knowledge of this circumftance would 
 excite in my breaft. He afterwards, indeed, 
 when I charged him with it, denied that he had 
 made the obfervation ; but as I have no reafon 
 to doubt the veracity of my friend, who could 
 not poffibly have known the circumftances he 
 related to me, if Thomas Exley had not informed 
 him of them ; and as Thomas Exley attempted 
 to deny what I heard him fay with my own ears 
 at Birftall, by fkulking behind a flimfy falvo, I 
 have reafon to believe his motives and conduct 
 much the fame on this occafion. But fuch a 
 fpirit and fuch a conduft but ill comports with 
 Chriftianity.
 
 THOMJS WRIGHT. 279 
 
 I next remark on the condu& of Obadiah 
 Brook, of Cleckheaton. This perfon is another 
 religious brother of the fame community, and 
 had repeatedly manifefted a malevolent difpofition 
 towards me ; and there is reafon to believe that 
 the old man would have refined his will, and 
 done juftice to my fon, as well as to the reft of 
 the family, if it had not been for his impertinent 
 and malicious interpofition, as I have obferved 
 before. Thefe circumftances, together with that 
 of his falfe and injurious flander to his fifter, that 
 my fon was an atheift, and that I had taught him 
 atheifm, difcover fuch a degree of the moft ran- 
 corous and infernal malignity towards me and my 
 family, as I think, the moft candid perfon would 
 find no fmall difficulty to reconcile with the 
 genuine fpirit of Chriftianity. I proceed to 
 compare the conduct of thefe people with their 
 religious profeflion. 
 
 When I determined to marry William Birk- 
 head's daughter, notwithftanding the unfavour- 
 able difpofition of her parents towards me at the 
 time, I entertained a pretty confident hope that, 
 when the firft paroxifm of their fury was over, 
 and they had given every circumftance a fair 
 confideration, their refentment would fubfide, 
 and we mould foon become reconciled to one 
 another. I founded this expectation, in the firft. 
 place, upon the circumftance of there being little 
 or no real occafion between us for their violent 
 difapprobation of the match ; and, in the next
 
 280 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 place, upon their religious chara&er ; concluding, 
 that if indeed they poflefled in any tolerable de- 
 gree the genuine fpirit of the religion they had 
 made fo long and fo high a profeflion of, they 
 both muft and would acl accordingly, and that 
 mutual goodwill, peace, and quietnefs between 
 the families would be the happy and neceflary 
 refult. In order to obtain this defirable end, I 
 had refolved to behave towards the old people 
 with all the reafonable refpecl: and fubmiflion that 
 I could. I accordingly condefcended to acknow- 
 ledge the impropriety of my conduct in marrying 
 their daughter without their confent, and to afk 
 their pardon in the humbleft manner, as I have 
 noticed before. I told them I fhould be glad to 
 live on friendly terms with them, and to do all 
 that lay in my power to oblige them, and make 
 their daughter happy ; but all would not do, for, 
 except fome very fhort intervals of apparent 
 fociablenefs, during which they were ill able to 
 conceal and fupprefs their prejudices, their general 
 behaviour towards me to the day of their death, 
 was marked with the keeneft averfion and con- 
 tempt, and the moft inveterate malice. When I 
 could no longer fee them with any fatisfaclion, I 
 refrained the houfe as much as poflible. How- 
 ever, I indulged my wife in this refpecl:, as fhe 
 would vifit them frequently ; and I often fent the 
 maid (when we had one), or went with her my- 
 felf, to carry the child, till we were near the 
 houfe, and then returned, and met her again
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 281 
 
 when fhe came back. This was a difagreeable 
 circumftance, and a woman of any fpirit, or 
 who had had any regard for the honour of her 
 hufband, if be could not have feen them in peace, 
 and with good acceptance, would have fcorned 
 to have come near them herfelf. But I foon 
 found the bad effects of this intercourfe. It has 
 appeared fince, that her parents efpecially her 
 mother during thefe vifits were perpetually vili- 
 fying and abufing me to my wife in the moft 
 malignant manner, and endeavouring with all 
 their might to inftil into her mind a mean and 
 contemptible opinion of her hufband, and to de- 
 prive me of her regard and affection. This vile 
 purpofe they finally efte&ed, and rendered her 
 not only indifferent^ but even inimical to both me 
 and my interefts, and, of courfe, entirely over- 
 turned the peace and comfort of our family ; and 
 in this unpleafing ftate of mind, with refpet to 
 her hufband, through the evil influence of her 
 parents, (he appeared to remain to her laft 
 moment. Death itfelf did not feem to foften 
 their enmity, or appear in the leaft to meliorate 
 their minds ; even on this awful occafion they 
 continued to manifeft their utter contempt and 
 difregard of me in the moft ftriking manner, by 
 refufing to fend either me or the children the 
 leaft notice of my wife's death, though it fo 
 nearly concerned us, and I had earneftly defired 
 it of them the night before ; nor did we hear 
 anything of the event, till the neighbours, who
 
 came occafionally to our houfe, brought us word 
 in the morning. They behaved precifely in the 
 fame difrefpe&ful and ill-natured manner towards 
 me fome years afterwards on occafion of the 
 death of my youngeft fon. During my widow- 
 hood they took Sally, and brought her up from 
 that time, for the moft part ; but would never 
 fend her to any place of genteel education (ex- 
 cept a few weeks at Leeds when fhe was up- 
 grown), and the petty learning fhe had I paid 
 the fchool wage chiefly myfelf; but fhe never 
 learned one liberal fentiment from them during 
 their lives, and it had been much better for her 
 if fhe had been brought up elfewhere. They 
 took my youngeft fon (Willy), with my confent, 
 from the nurfe, and took great care of him while 
 he lived. They feemed to have a great affection 
 for this child, efpecially the old man, who ap- 
 peared to forrow more feverely for this child's 
 death, than even for that of his own fon. This 
 was a proof of a feeling heart, and mended my 
 opinion a good deal of the old man's difpofition, 
 though he appeared to retain his antipathy againft 
 me to the laft. But the poor old man, I believe, 
 was very much impofed upon, and his diflike and 
 ill-opinion of me artfully fomented and kept up 
 by his wife and her aflbciates for malicious or 
 interefted purpofes, and is therefore entitled to 
 greater allowance in this refpeft. I believe, had 
 my fon Willy furvived, he would have flood a 
 fair chance for a good fhare of the old people's
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 283 
 
 property. However, they continued to exert all 
 their influence to deprive me of my children's 
 affe&ion, and infpire them with a fupreme con- 
 tempt for their father ; and as my fon Tommy 
 had always manifefted a warm attachment to, 
 and affe&ion for, his father, I have much reafon 
 to believe that their unjuft and fcandalous be- 
 haviour towards him at laft, arofe in a large 
 meafure from their hatred to me, for fear (mould 
 I afterwards ftand in need of his help) he fhould 
 have it in his power to afford me any afliftance. 
 Now, even admitting that I had been a perfon of 
 a bad moral character and conduct, would it not 
 have been their duty as Chriftians, and mould 
 not common prudence and natural affection to 
 their own child, have induced them to do their 
 beft to promote peace, harmony, and happinefs 
 between us ? It certainly ought to have been 
 the cafe, but as they could raife no juft objection 
 to my moral character, and I did my beft to be 
 on good terms with them, were they not, there- 
 fore, doubly blameable, and uncommonly per- 
 verfe, conftantly to abufe me to my wife, to 
 alienate her affection from me, and to give fome 
 colour to fuch an ungenerous proceeding, to en- 
 deavour to blacken my moral character; to with- 
 hold her fortune from her, to the embarraflment 
 and final ruin of my temporal circumftances ; to 
 endeavour to deprive me of my childrens' efteem 
 and affe&ion from their infancy to maturer age, by 
 fpeaking of me to them in the moft contemptuous
 
 284 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 and degrading manner, and thus, as far as they 
 could, to ruin the peace of my family; and finally, 
 to deal unjuftly with my children in the difpofal of 
 their property, by nearly difinheriting my eldeft 
 fon, and turning him and his family out to 
 beggary ; and difpofmg of far the beft and greater 
 part of their property to the youngeft daughter's 
 offspring, contrary to the folemn promife the old 
 woman had made to me while fhe lived, contrary 
 to the folemn promife they had both made to 
 their own expiring fon, and contrary to every 
 rule of natural juftice and equity ? Could fuch a 
 conduit as this be confiftent with a fmgle grain 
 of real Chriftianity, I leave it with the reader to 
 determine; but furely, as the poet juftly and 
 ftrikingly fays, 
 
 " Accurfed is the wretch, 
 To focial life the moft inhuman foe, 
 Who, in the nice, the tender 1'cenes of life, 
 Dares ra/hly meddle and fow," 
 
 or promote, divifion and difagreement betwixt a 
 man and the wife of his bofom, betwixt a father 
 a tender and affectionate father and the off- 
 fpring of his own bowels. Yet this have they 
 done to me at Brook-houfes ; this did they con- 
 tinue to do as long as they lived ; and in the old 
 man's will (fo called) matters were fo unfairly 
 ordered in the difpofal of their property, as to 
 foment and continue the fame infernal fpirit of 
 ftrife and contention, animofity and malice, 
 amongft the different branches of the family
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 285 
 
 (amongft whom I have the misfortune to number 
 three of my own furviving children by this con- 
 nection), which has caufed fome hundreds of it 
 to be fquandered amongft the lawyers, has ruined 
 my eldeft fon, and done very confiderable injury 
 to my other two children, and is not unlikely to 
 tranfmit the fame bad fpirit of enmity and ill-will 
 to future generations.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 ELEGIAC STANZAS ON THE DEATH OF 
 AN INFANT 
 
 (MARY WRIGHT, MY SECOND DAUGHTER AND 
 SECOND CHILD). 
 
 Wherein fome obfervations are occafionally introduced 
 on that opinion entertained by fome religious profeflbrs, 
 that all the children of thofe who are not Chriftian be- 
 lievers, who die in their infancy, are damned. 
 
 " Happy the babe, who privileged by fate, 
 To morter labour and a lighter weight, 
 Received but yefterday the gift of breath, 
 Ordered to-morrow to return to death." PRIOR'S Sal. 
 
 " And they brought young childen to him that he fhould touch them ; and his 
 difciples rebuked thofe that brought them. But when Jefus faw it, he was much 
 diffleafed, and did unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and 
 forbid them not, for of fuch is the kingdom of God. Verily, I lay unto you, 
 whofoever {hall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he (hall not 
 enter therein. And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and 
 bleffed them." Mart x. Ij 16. 
 
 S fome fweet floweret of the youthful year, 
 Its tender beauties ventures to difplay, 
 And frefh and gay its radiant hues appear, 
 In life exulting through the vernal day : 
 
 At night fhrunk up by fome unkindly blaft, 
 
 Its unabiding, fhadowy beauties fly, 
 Its blooming honours to oblivion hafte, 
 
 And droop, and ficken, fade away, and die.
 
 APPENDIX. 287 
 
 So thou, fweet babe, juft op'd thy infant eyes, 
 This fm-diforder'd fcene of things to view, 
 
 But blafted by the noxious damps that rife, 
 Thy tender foul to happier climes withdrew. 
 
 Farewell, my lovely innocent, farewell ! 
 
 By thy cherubic guards attended, rife 
 High in thy heavenly Father's houfe to dwell, 
 
 In blifsful manfions of the eternal fkies.* 
 
 Well haft thou fcaped the thoufand ills that fwarm 
 In baneful troops o'er earth's infe&ed more ; 
 
 Safe art thou lodged beyond the reach of harm, 
 Where pain and grief can never touch thee more. 
 
 Whate'er of fin from thy firft firef derived 
 Subjected thee to pain and death below, 
 
 Thy Saviour's blood has of its fting deprived, 
 The little children He receives, we know.J 
 
 Shall any hard, unfeeling bofom dare 
 
 Suppofe that innocence like thine may go 
 
 To liiffer dire, infernal torments there 
 
 Where raging fiends inhabit endlefs woe ? 
 
 Accurfed thought ! abhorrent muft it be, 
 
 Greatly abhorrent to the tender heart ; 
 Dire, horrid, mocking to humanity ; 
 
 Enough to make the vileft tyrant Itart ! 
 
 Vile thought, moft gracious God ! vile thought of thee ; 
 
 Difgraceful to thy goodnefs muft it prove ; 
 Difhonourable to the laft degree 
 
 To thee, whofe nature and whofe name is Love. 
 
 Ye infant-damners, lend a candid ear, 
 
 While 1 attempt the tender babes' defence ; 
 
 The little children's advocate appear, 
 
 And plead the caufe of infant innocence. 
 
 See Matt, xviii. 10. * For I fay unto you, that in heaven their angels do 
 always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven." 
 
 f Adam. 
 
 j See the motto, and the correfpondent places in the other Evangclifts, " Surfer 
 the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not."
 
 288 APPENDIX. 
 
 " Of infant-innocence," methinks I hear 
 Some gloomy, ftern, auftere profeflbr cry, 
 
 " They all deferve the wrath of Heaven to bear, 
 They all deferve for Adam's fin to die. 
 
 " To die eternally, their lot to have, 
 
 In foul-tormenting, everlafting fire ; 
 To howl, and fcream, and fhriek, and writhe, and rave, 
 
 In vengeful flames that never (hall expire." 
 
 Oh, horrid, horrid tale ! enough to make 
 The moft unpitying bofom thrill with pain ; 
 
 To caufe a heart of adamant to ache, 
 
 And freeze the life-blood up in every vein. 
 
 Can this be any parent's voice, that deals 
 Damnation round in fuch a lavilh drain 
 
 Amongft the helplefs infant tribes, nor feels 
 One pang of forrow, grief, remorfe, or pain ? 
 
 Can way father al fo dire a part ? 
 
 Or tender mother fuch opinions bear * 
 Where are the yearnings of a father's heart ? 
 
 The founding of a mother's bowels, where ? 
 
 Oh, what fond parent's heart could unoppreft 
 Behold their offspring ficken and expire, 
 
 Torn from the nurfing mother's tender breaft, 
 And plunged in oceans of devouring fire ? 
 
 But oh, my foul, the dreadful thought forbear, 
 A thought too dreadful far for me, I own : 
 
 In this refpecl, whatever others are, 
 
 My heart is made of flefh, and not of ftone. 
 
 But you fome falvo have in this refpeft, 
 
 Whereby more favour will to yours be ihown j 
 
 You a believer are, you are ele6r, 
 
 And think by this that you fecure your own. 
 
 Your narrow foul, it feems, without regret, 
 
 Can half a world of other infants fee 
 (Be yours but fafe) thrown headlong to the pit, 
 
 To feed the flames to all eternity.
 
 APPENDIX. 289 
 
 For loving Chriftians a fad fpirit this, 
 
 And as ftrange Chriftian doftrine this indeed 5 
 
 This genuine fupererogation is, 
 
 If your believing fave your infant feed. 
 
 But when did God the folemn oath annul, 
 
 Which in His facred Word we find him make ? * 
 
 Does he at length invert his ancient rule, 
 
 And fave or damn them for the parent's fake ? 
 
 See that poor heathen ; in her clofe embrace 
 While kindly fhe her tender babe fecures, 
 
 It fweetly fmiles in its fond parent's face, 
 As free from blame, as innocent, as yours. 
 
 Will God, their common maker, think you, deal 
 So differently with thefe, as yours to fave, 
 
 And fend the heathen infant's foul to hell, 
 Whene'er he fends its body to the grave ? 
 
 'Caufe you have heard the found, and have receiv'd, 
 Believed, and trufted in a Saviour's name, 
 
 In which the unhappy heathen ne'er believ'd, 
 Becaufe, alas ! fhe never heard the fame. 
 
 Unequal, cruel conduct this indeed, 
 
 With which you charge a gracious God, my friend $ 
 Strange gofpel ! which I'm fure I never read, 
 
 And which, I think, you never can defend. 
 
 'Tis true, God does permit the little ones 
 
 (Though they in perfon ne'er could fin, we know,) 
 
 To cry, complain, and weep ; to utter groans, 
 And fuffer a variety of woe. 
 
 For their exiftence, by their father's f fault, 
 So circumftanced was, that they, 'tis plain, 
 
 Could into perfonal being not be brought 
 Without being fubjeted to fuffer pain. 
 
 * See Ezek. xviii. 3 and zo. " As I live, faith the Lord God, the fon (hall 
 not bear the iniquity of the father, neither ftiall the father bear the iniquity of the 
 fon." t Adam's. 
 
 U
 
 290 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Howe'er, the light affliHons they endure, 
 Which are but for a moment ere they ceafe, 
 
 Are greatly countervail'd, as they enfure 
 A weight of glory, and eternal blefs.* 
 
 So God ordains. When our firft father fell, 
 And in his loins his whole included feed, 
 
 God juftly might have fent us all to hell, 
 As making one with our corrupted head. 
 
 This muft have been the cafe, if juftice had 
 
 Eternally to punifti us devifed, 
 So far true equity had been difplay'd, 
 
 The fin and punifhment had harmoniz'd. 
 
 For as unconfcious of our father's crime, 
 We finn'd in him without our own confent, 
 
 We then mould have been punimed in him, 
 Without a confciousnefs of puniftiment. 
 
 But Mercy interpofed, and Goodnefs cried, 
 (Infinite Goodneis !) let the finner live ; 
 
 I have a ranfom found, my Son has died,f 
 (Died in effeft) I can his fin forgive. 
 
 Through this Redeemer, all his future race, 
 Together with their fire, may be forgiven, 
 
 May all obtain, through His redeeming grace, 
 Repentance, pardon, holinefs, and heaven. 
 
 And as for thofe the monfter Death fliall feize, 
 And in their infancy of life divert, 
 
 'Twill infinitely better be for thefe 
 
 Than if their perfonal being were fuppreft. 
 
 For as through the offence of Adam, all 
 
 (He and his unborn feed) were doomed to die, 
 
 Even/o the righteoufnefs of Jefus mall 
 Retrieve them all, and freely juftify.J 
 
 * See ^ Cor. iv. 17. " For our light afflictions which are but for a moment, 
 worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." 
 
 t Job xxxiii 14. " Deliver him from going down into the pit, I have found 
 a ranfom." 
 
 t See Rom. v. 18. " Therefore, as by the offence of one (Adam) judgment 
 came upon all men to condemnation, even /o (in the lame manner and extent) by
 
 APPENDIX. 291 
 
 And by my great and glorious name, I (wear,* 
 No (on (hall differ for his father's crime 5 
 
 Eternal mifery, I mean, howe'er 
 
 They undergo grief, pain, and death in time. 
 
 Hence, gentle innocents, ye all are fafe, 
 
 Ye ne'er ihall occupy the infernal den ; 
 God is your friend, you may fecurely laugh 
 
 At the vain notions of erroneous men. 
 
 What ftrange, unworthy notions muft they have, 
 Of that f all-loving, good, and gracious mind, 
 
 Who think they honoured him whene'er they gave 
 Him fovereign right to damn the infant kind. 
 
 What a ftrange Chriftian muft that mortal be, 
 
 Who can the cruel fentiment maintain, 
 Or could with any fatisfa<5lion fee 
 
 Poor, harmlefs infants doomed to endlefs pain ! 
 
 The Saviour feems of quite a different mind, 
 " Forbid ye not the little ones," J fays he, 
 
 Welcome to Jefus are the infant kind, 
 " Suffer the little babes to come to me." 
 
 " Yes, truly, this (hall be your certain doom, 
 
 Ye in no wife (hall ever be forgiven, 
 Except like little children you become ; 
 
 Of fuch is the ibciety of heaven." 
 
 the righteoufnefs of one (Chrift) the free gift came upon (the fame) all moi, to 
 justification of life." This paflage (.1 think) fully proves the point, as to the juf- 
 ufication of all infants (at leaft), exhibits Jefus Chrift as great a Saviour as Adam 
 was a deftroyer, and makes the plaifter as wide as the fore ; and I am apt to think, 
 that no perfon of good fenfe and penetration, who candidly confiders the paflage, 
 without party-prejudice or views to pre-conceived fyftems, can pofiibly think 
 otherwife. 
 
 * See Ezek. xviii. } and 10. " As 1 live, faith the Lord God, the fon fhall 
 not die for the iniquity of his father." This muft, I conceive, refer to uncommon 
 judgments and future fufferings, for by the law of our prefent degraded ftate, we 
 iuffer many diftrefles and inconveniences of a ttmforal nature, from the wickednefs, 
 folly, or imprudence of our parents ; nay, the body is fubjeft to pain, diflblution, 
 and death, becaufe of fin of young and old, good and bad together. 
 
 t See Pfalm cxlv. 9. " The Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies arc 
 over all his works." See alfo I Tim. ii. } and 4. " God our Saviour will have 
 all men to be faved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth." 
 
 t Mark x. 4. " Suffer ye little children to come unto me."
 
 292 APPENDIX. 
 
 Jefus was much difpleafed with thofe (I read)* 
 Who thought 16 meanly of his love and grace 
 
 Whofe yet contracted breaft would have forbid 
 The little children from his fond embrace. 
 
 Who can but be difpleafed, as Jefus was, 
 
 Yea, much, yea, very much difpleafed with thofe 
 
 Who would exclude poor infants from his grace, 
 And doom the little ones to endlefs woes. 
 
 But, hail, ye little lovely creatures, hail ! 
 
 Tho' fome ftrange mortals would no pity mew 
 Towards your helplefs innocence, 'tis well 
 
 Your Saviour has a kinder heart for you. 
 
 Whatever morofe would you of heaven deny, 
 I am well pleafed to hear the Saviour blefs ; -f- 
 
 Whoever are difpleafed to hear it, I 
 Rejoice fmcerely in your happinefs. 
 
 Not in the happinefs of mine alone ; 
 
 That were unworthy of a generous breaft 
 (Tho' two of my dear babes are thither gone) ; J 
 
 No, I rejoice to think you all are bleft. 
 
 If e'er thro' boundlefs mercy I obtain 
 An humble place upon that happy more, 
 
 Where error and miftake, where grief and pain, 
 Difeafe and death, and parting are no more ; 
 
 Methinks, conduced by fome heav'nly guide, 
 I then mail gladly hafte to feaft my fight 
 
 With the fweet heav'n where infant-faints refide, 
 And view their happy train with vaft delight. 
 
 Methinks, on ftrong imagination's wing 
 Tranfported, I already view the place ; 
 
 Already hear their happy manfions ring 
 With thankful fongs for their Redeemer's grace. 
 
 Mark x. 4. " Jefos was much difpleafed." 
 
 t Mark x. 16. " Jefus took them up in His arms and bleffed them." 
 
 J Before the finifhing of thefe ftanzas, a fecond child of the author's died.
 
 APPENDIX. 293 
 
 See ! what a blaze of lucid brightnefs decks 
 And beams delightful o'er the blifsful plain ; 
 
 What equal* ray of dreaming glory breaks 
 From ev'ry faint thro' all the countlefs train ! 
 
 Hail, virgin fouls ! ye little cherubs, hail ! 
 
 Firft objefts of your Lord's redeeming care ; 
 Thro' Him poflTefs'd of joys that ne'er mall fail, 
 
 And all the blifs you poflibly can mare. 
 
 'Tis true your infant-fouls cannot contain 
 
 So large a mare of happinefs as they 
 Who fought and conquer'd on the hoftile plain, 
 
 And bore the heat and burden of the day. 
 
 Howe'er, you mare pre-eminence in this j 
 For furely you had leaft to be forgiven, 
 
 Tho' not poflels'd of fuch a height of blifs, 
 Tho' not exalted to fo high an heaven. 
 
 But where (methinks I afk the angel fair, 
 
 And eager queftion thus my glorious guide) 
 
 Where is the place, the heav'nly manfion where, 
 The happy fpot where my fweet babes refide ? 
 
 Where yonder grove of heavenly palm f afpires, 
 And forms beneath its fhade fweet mining bowers, 
 
 There tuning their celeftial harps J and lyres, 
 Abide the happy fouls you claim as yours : 
 
 Or frequent follow with their fellow train 
 
 The Lamb of God, combined in grateful ftrife, 
 
 * For as none of them were capable of abufing or improving their inferior talent, 
 they are admitted with it to an equal as to tktmfelves, though to that of adult 
 faints an inferior degree of glory. 
 
 t Rev. vii. 9. " And they had palms in their hands." 
 
 j Rev. v. 8, and xiv. i. " And having every one harps. And I heard the voice 
 of harpers harping with their harps." 
 
 $ Rev. xiv. 4. " Which follow the Lamb wherefoever he goeth." Suerj. 
 Whether the 144,000 (a certain number, it feems, put for an uncertain) fpoken 
 of in this paflage, as not defiled with women, as virgins, as following the 
 Lamb, as redeemed from among men, as firtl fruits unto God and the Lamb, as 
 without guile, and without fault before God, be not fpoken of thofe who die in 
 their infancy, and therefore could never commit a ferfenal fault ? I know com- 
 mentators explain it otherwife, but their interpretation admits, I think, at leaft of 
 a doubt.
 
 294 APPENDIX. 
 
 Whene'er He leads them o'er the happy plain, 
 By living ftreams among the trees of life.* 
 
 Lo, there they ftand, furrounded by a throng 
 Of fellow-faints, who equal raptures prove, 
 
 About, it feems, to fing fome heav'nly fong, 
 And celebrate their Saviour's matchlefs love. 
 
 Know ye your earthly parent, gentle lambs ? 
 
 (Sufpend awhile your facred fong and (hew) 
 Know ye, my lovely babes, the man who claims 
 
 A loving, tender father's part in you ? 
 
 Yes ! they reply, while heav'nly fweetnefs flows 
 In blifsful fmiles from either charming face, 
 
 And each its arms around me kindly throws, 
 And clafps its father in a fond embrace. 
 
 Yes, we difcern and love our father dear ; 
 
 Yes, we our kind, our tender parent know j 
 For lo--ve and knowledge are extended here f 
 
 Beyond the reach of thought in worlds below. 
 
 But higher motives here our paffions move, 
 More god-like views our pure affeftions join, 
 
 And every earthly motive here above 
 Is loft in love, fuperior and divine. 
 
 Our fire is welcome to thefe feats of blifs, 
 Welcome with us celeftial joys to prove, 
 
 Thrice welcome to our heav'nly paradife ; 
 
 Come, join with us to praife the Saviour's love, 
 
 They faid, and ftriking their celeftial lyres 
 To correfpondent notes from ev'ry tongue ; 
 
 In lofty praife the pleafing ftrain afpires, 
 
 And heav'n refounded with their facred fong. 
 
 * Rev. vii. 17, and xxii. i, i. "And he fliall lead them to living fountains of 
 waters. And he (hewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as cryftal. And 
 in the midft of the ftreet of it, and on either fide of the river, was there the tree 
 of life." 
 
 + See I Cor. xiii. li. " For nmu we fee through a glafe darkly, but thin face 
 to face ; new I know in part, but then fcall I know, even as alfo I am known."
 
 APPENDIX. 295 
 
 Such melting ftrains, fo ravifhing an air, 
 
 So fweet, fo heav'nly, fo divine the lay, 
 'T might cheer a foul even in the laft defpair, 
 
 And charm the agonies of death away. 
 
 Their Maker's and their Saviour's praife they fung ; 
 
 This the bleft fubjecl of their happy theme 
 The Saviour's praifes flowed from ev'ry tongue, 
 
 And facred many a grateful drain to him. 
 
 Say, Mufe, their fong, for thou remembereft well 
 The facred fubjeCt of their grateful lay : 
 
 Repeat the heav'nly ftrain ; for thou canft tell, 
 
 Thou heard'ft, and canft each circumftance difplay. 
 
 Glory to God (they fung), and endlefs praife ; 
 
 Glory to God who reigns enthron'd above, 
 The God of faving univerfal grace, 
 
 The God of boundlefs everlafting love ! 
 
 Glory to Thee, Almighty Father, Thee ! 
 
 Great Fountain of Exiftence, fource of blifs ; 
 Thou awful Father of Eternity ! 
 
 God of all grace, and peace, and happinefs. 
 
 'Twas love amazing ! love beyond degree ! 
 
 Goodnefs Divine ! which prompted Thee to form 
 Each creature, from the higheft dignity 
 
 In heaven, down to the meaneft mortal worm. 
 
 Thy god-like principle of aftion this, 
 
 To ev'ry creature to communicate 
 As large a mare of happinefs and blifs 
 
 As each was able to participate. 
 
 Thanks to Thy Name for Thy creating love ; 
 
 All glory, blefling, honour, power, and praife, 
 Be rendered Thee by all the hofts above, 
 
 And all below, in earth, or air, or feas. 
 
 Glory to Thee, incarnate Son of God, 
 Gracious Redeemer of our fallen race !
 
 296 APPENDIX. 
 
 Glory to Thee, thro' Whofe atoning blood 
 We now exift,* are bleft, and fing Thy praife. 
 
 Great was the grace, ftupendous was the love 
 
 Which made Thee not difdain the Virgin's womb, 
 
 But gladly leave Thy Father's throne above, 
 And there like us a little child become. 
 
 Great is the myftery of Thy love divine, 
 Aftonifhing the firft-born fons of light, 
 
 Which even archangels never can define, 
 But earneftly defire to view the fight, f 
 
 To Jefus thanks for His redeeming love j 
 Blefling and honour to His laving Name ; 
 
 Glory to Him who fills the throne above 
 Be ever given, falvation to the Lamb ! 
 
 Glory to Thee, eternal Spirit Divine ; 
 
 Glory to Thee, benign celeftial Dove ; 
 Eternal glory, power, and thanks be Thine, 
 
 And praiie unwearied as Thy patient love ! 
 
 Thanks to Thy Name for Thy renewing grace, 
 Thy fanftifying influence on the foul, 
 
 Whereby Thou doft the works of fin efface, 
 And all the raging powers of hell control. 
 
 Glory to Father, Son, and Holy Ghoft, 
 
 The myftic Three that bear record in heaven t 
 
 (Which yet are One), by all the heav'nly hoft, 
 And fons of earth, eternal praife be given ! 
 
 That is exifl ferfonalty, for had it not been for the Redeemer, juftice and 
 mercy in conjunction muji have required the fe rfonal puniihment of Adam and his 
 confort alone, as they alone finned perfnnally, when they had power afforded them 
 by their gracious Maker to do otherwife, in which cafe not one of Adam's feed 
 had ever enjoyed zperfonal exiftence, but had fuffered as they had finned, without 
 the leaft confcioufnefs of the matter, in a ftate of feminal exiftence in the loins of 
 Adam. 
 
 t I Peter i. II. "Which things the angels defire to look into." 
 j I John v. 7. " For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, 
 the Word, and the Holy Ghoft, and thefe three are one."
 
 APPENDIX. 297 
 
 What thanks from us to Love Divine is due 
 For our Almighty Father's tender care, 
 
 Who from yon dangerous fcene our fouls withdrew, 
 And placed them in a ftate of fafety here ! 
 
 What praifes to a gracious God we owe, 
 
 Whofe kind affeftion fnatch'd us from the womb ; 
 
 Who feafonably call'd us from below, 
 
 And timely took us from the ills to come ! 
 
 Perhaps our gracious heav'nly Father faw 
 Some dire temptation forming to betray 
 
 Our minds to vice; fome dangerous fnare to draw 
 Our fimple, unexperienc'd fouls aftray. 
 
 He therefore hous'd His pleafant plants in time 
 T' avoid the withering blaft and fcorching flame ; 
 
 Remov'd our fpirits to a happier clime, 
 
 Before the dread, the fierce temptation came. 
 
 What grief and pain, what mifery and woe, 
 What direful fcenes in yonder world abound ; 
 
 What foul-diftreffing cares are known below, 
 What bitter groans from all its coafts refound ! 
 
 There many wallow in the laft excefs, 
 
 As if in hafte with raging fiends to dwell ; 
 
 And moft, regardlefs of their future peace, 
 By folly antedate the pains of hell. 
 
 There ev'n the good man ftruggling thro' the throng, 
 
 And agonizing in the arduous fray, 
 Conflifting with temptations, many and ftrong, 
 
 Is almoft ready to refign the day. 
 
 What bitter floods of fierce contempt arife 
 What raging billows of temptation roar, 
 
 To intercept his pafl'age to the flcies, 
 
 To bar his progrefs to the heav'nly more ! 
 
 But by wife order of our heav'nly Sire, 
 
 Beneath the load of aflual fin to groan, 
 And be expofed to fierce temptation's fire, 
 
 Is what our favour'd fouls have never known.
 
 298 APPENDIX. 
 
 Be everlafting glory to our King; 
 
 Unceafing thanks be to our Jefus given j 
 Honour and bleffing to His Name we'll ling, 
 
 And praife eternal as the days of heaven. 
 
 O, could our praifes equal our defires, 
 
 Or bear the leaft proportion to our theme, 
 
 To honour Jefus as His love requires, 
 In blefling, praifing, and adoring Him. 
 
 But vain th' attempt ; our efforts here muft ceafe j 
 Our loftieft (trains the arduous tafk refign : 
 
 Loft ! loft ! loft ! in th' uncircumfcrib'd abyfs, 
 Th' unfathomable depths of Love Divine. 
 
 Here ceas'd their grateful fong. Enraptur'd I 
 Exclaim, O happy, happy, happy train ! 
 
 Worthy is Jefus, fervently reply, 
 
 And to their praifes add my loud Amen. 
 
 Amen j thankfgiving, honour, glory, praife, 
 Wifdom and ftrength, be to our Jefus given j 
 
 His praife be fung in everlafting lays, 
 
 By all the fons of earth and hofts of heaven. 
 
 But from this pleafmg vifionary fcene 
 To yonder clod I muft defcend again. 
 
 Alas ! what fin and forrow lies between, 
 E'er I your happy peaceful ftate attain. 
 
 Enjoy, ye favour'd fouls, your heav'n enjoy ; 
 
 Be ever bleft, and ftill your blifs improve ; 
 Happy, thrice happy in your fweet employ, 
 
 To praife in thankful ftrains the God you love. 
 
 Farewell, my babes, my happy babes farewell, 
 Till at the final fummons Death difmifs 
 
 My foul by grace renew'd with yours to dwell, 
 " High in falvation, and the climes of blifs." * 
 
 _. f A line from MILTON'S Paradife Loft^ B. II, 1. 708.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 299 
 
 ON THE DEATH OF JOHN WRIGHT, 
 
 THE AUTHOR'S THIRD SON AND SIXTH CHILD, WHO DIED 
 SUDDENLY, IN HIS AFFLICTED FATHER'S ARMS, ON SATUR- 
 DAY, JULY THE I9TH, 1797, AGED EIGHT YEARS AND 
 SIX MONTHS. 
 
 S my beloved gone ? 
 
 And is my darling fled ? 
 In one revolving day cut down, 
 And numbered with the dead ! 
 
 Yes, Death in one fhort day 
 Has feiz'd the blooming prize, 
 
 And fnatch'd my much-lov'd child away 
 From my defiring eyes. 
 
 Commtfiion' > d from above, 
 
 The frowning tyrant fee ! 
 The gloomy king, my deareft love, 
 
 Severely frown'd on thee. 
 
 His deathful bow he drew, 
 And wing'd the deadly dart ; 
 
 The fatal fhaft unpitying flew, 
 And pierc'd thy tender heart. 
 
 Now drooping, pale, and wan, 
 
 My infant Ties diftreft, 
 Convuls'd with agonizing pain, 
 
 With mortal anguim preft. 
 
 While tofllng to and fro 
 
 Upon his dying bed, 
 He ftruggles with his lateft foe, 
 
 And haftens to the dead.
 
 300 APPENDIX. 
 
 Alas ! for thee, my lamb, 
 
 My poor afflicted one, 
 What anguifh tore thy tender frame, 
 
 My lovelieft, deareft fon ! 
 
 Oft did I wifh for thee 
 
 (But the fond wifh was vain), 
 
 To bear thy mortal agony 
 To fuffer all thy pain. 
 
 O, could thy father bear 
 (How oft did I exclaim) 
 
 Thofe dire convulfive throes, my dear, 
 That make thy inmoft frame ! 
 
 While o'er his face I hung, 
 
 And mark'd his painful fmarr, 
 How ev'ry pang he fuffer'd wrung 
 His father's aching heart ! 
 
 He rais'd a languid look, 
 His weeping fire to view; 
 
 And tho' delirious with the ftroke, 
 His weeping fire he knew. 
 
 Struck with his father's grief, 
 His little arms he fpread; 
 
 T* afford my forrowing mind relief, 
 He rais'd his drooping head ; 
 
 And with the tendered love 
 
 And pity in his eyes, 
 With eager reach my neck he ftrove 
 
 To clafp, while thus he cries : 
 
 " Come, daddy ! come my joy ! 
 
 Whom beft on earth I love ;" * 
 As if inviting me to go 
 
 To fly with him above. 
 
 * His words were, " Come daddy, come joy, come joy, come joy ! " exprefied 
 with a look and accent of the tendered love and pity for his father, when he few 
 me weeping over him, at the lame time ftretching out his little arms and em- 
 bracing, luffing, and bleffing me, with the greateft ardour of filial affection, a few 
 moments before he expired.
 
 APPENDIX. 301 
 
 Then in a laft embrace, 
 
 With filial ardour preft 
 His much-afflifted father clofe 
 
 To his beloved breaft. 
 
 His laft fweet words I heard, 
 
 To give me comfort ftrove, 
 And in his laft fond looks appear'd 
 
 Unutterable love. 
 
 With dying lips on mine, 
 
 A parting kifs he preft, 
 And with his laft expiring breath, 
 
 His forrowing father bleft. 
 
 O Death ! relentlefs king ! 
 
 In all his blooming charms, 
 How could'ft thou kill my child, within 
 
 His weeping father's arms ? 
 
 But foon th' unequal ftrife 
 
 The conteft foon was o'er ; 
 My darling child refign'd his life, 
 
 And funk to rife no more. 
 
 No more on earth to rife, 
 
 Till that great awful Day 
 Th' Archangel's trumpet from the flcies t 
 
 Shall wake his fleeping clay. 
 
 Then with new life endued, 
 
 His lovely form mall (hine 
 In beauty, ftrength, and youth renew'd, 
 
 Immortal and divine ! 
 
 This glorious hope we owe 
 
 To Jefus' dying love ; 
 O may we (hare his grace below, 
 
 And fing his power above. 
 
 Till that great Day come on 
 
 (A period none can tell), 
 My loving, my beloved fon, 
 
 My darling child, farewell !
 
 302 APPENDIX. 
 
 Or rather, John, farewell 
 
 Till I mall be fet free, 
 And Death difmifs my foul to dwell 
 
 In Paradife with thee. 
 
 Then, if Almighty Grace, 
 Descending from above, 
 
 Shall fit me for that heav'nly place, 
 And perfect me in love. 
 
 Then free from grief and pain, 
 
 Of perfect blifs poffeft, 
 I then (hall meet my child again, 
 And clafp him to my breaft : 
 
 There hand in hand again, 
 Recount our former loves, 
 
 While ranging o'er the happy plain, 
 Or through the bliisful groves : 
 
 In praife to Jefus join, 
 His love and goodnefs tell, 
 
 And blefs the gracious hand Divine 
 That order'd all things well. 
 
 For fure Thy filial love 
 
 (A fpark from Love Divine), 
 
 Can ne'er in heav'n deficient prove, 
 Or fuffer a decline ? 
 
 And mine to thee, my dear, 
 Can ne'er impaired be ; 
 
 Can ne'er become indiff'rent there, 
 Or e'er grow cold to thee. 
 
 Our love fo deep, fo kind, 
 Was ne'er to perifh given j 
 
 Improv'd, exalted, and refin'd, 
 But not annull'd in heaven. 
 
 But O, my deareft love, 
 Thy mortal confli&s o'er ; 
 
 Thou by a iudden quick remove 
 Haft gain'd the peaceful fhore.
 
 APPENDIX. 303 
 
 Thy painful throes below 
 
 A final period have, 
 And ev'ry mortal grief and woe 
 
 Is buried in thy grave. 
 
 While left behind to mourn, 
 
 Thy father wanders here, 
 With heart-corroding anguifh torn, 
 
 A prey to grief and care. 
 
 By fin and forrow preft, 
 
 I long to follow thee ; 
 O may the God of Love cut fliort 
 
 His gracious work in me. 
 
 And when from fin fet free, 
 
 Of perfefl love poffeft, 
 Call up my foul to dwell with thee, 
 
 In everlafting reft. 
 
 Till then, in lonely walk, 
 
 I mourn thy timelefs fall, 
 And to thy fancied (hadow talk, 
 
 As though thou heard'ft my call. 
 
 Thy dear, dear name repeat, 
 
 My love to thee declare, 
 And fondly call thee kind and fweet, 
 
 As thou, my John, waft there. 
 
 Tell me (I cry), O tell, 
 
 Thou foul or him I love, 
 In what new region doft thou dwell, 
 
 With happy fouls above ? 
 
 Tell me, my deareft love, 
 
 Ah ! whither art thou fled ? 
 To what delightful world above, 
 
 Among the happy dead ? 
 
 Doft thou e'er hover near 
 
 My walk, my charming faint ? 
 Or does my lov'd one ever hear 
 
 His father's fond complaint ?
 
 304 APPENDIX. 
 
 Doft thou e'er mark my moans, 
 Or know my griefs and fears ? 
 
 Doft thou e'er hear my fighs and groans, 
 Or fee my dreaming tears ? 
 
 Or if detained above, 
 
 Where living pleafures flow, 
 
 Thy happy foul no longer fees 
 What pafles here below. 
 
 Amongft the fpirits divine, 
 
 Who human aftions fee, 
 Has no informing angel told 
 
 Thy father's griefs to thee ? 
 
 How, while I wander wild, 
 
 Dejefted and forlorn, 
 I weep for my beloved child, 
 
 And for his abfence mourn ? 
 
 Each field or path T find 
 
 Where he was wont to run, 
 Recalls my darling to my mind, 
 
 What he hath iaid or done. 
 
 . He here around me play'd, 
 
 On that fame fpot of ground ; 
 This little obfervation made, 
 That little wonder found. 
 
 In that fame flowery vale, 
 
 Beneath that fhady tree, 
 He told his little childifh tale, 
 
 And prattled on my knee. 
 
 I there have feen him ftand ; 
 
 To climb that tree he tried ; 
 There hung upon his daddy's hand, 
 
 Ran tripping by my fide ; 
 
 While his dear loving chat 
 
 Would all my cares beguile, 
 And ev'n while preft with anxious thought, 
 Would make me fondly fmile.
 
 APPENDIX. 305 
 
 " Blefs you, my daddy, doy," * 
 
 Oft has my lov'd one fan! ; 
 " From heaven ten thoufand bleffings flow 
 
 Upon my daddy's head ! 
 
 " I love you, daddy, well 
 
 You may your child believe 
 How well I love, no tongue can tell, 
 No human heart conceive. 
 
 " You dearer are to me 
 
 Than all the world would prove ; 
 I better than ten thoufand worlds 
 
 My deareft daddy love. 
 
 " O if unpitying Death 
 
 Should my lov'd father flay, 
 Your poor forfaken, forrowing child 
 
 Would weep his life away. 
 
 " Nor would I choofe to die, 
 
 For this, becaufe I find 
 I could not love to leave you here 
 
 In this bad world behind. 
 
 " O, I (hould greatly mourn, 
 
 And weep from you to part ; 
 'Twould much diftrefs me to be torn 
 
 From your indulgent heart. 
 
 " Your neighbours all confpire, 
 
 Your tendernefs t' approve, 
 And all your babes will witnefs bear 
 
 To your paternal love ! " 
 
 From my lov'd infant's lips, 
 
 Such tender prattle flowed, 
 And fuch the warm affeclion which 
 
 In his lov'd bofom glowed. 
 
 * The firft feven verfes in this page, are the words my departed child has often 
 exprefled to me, as near as the verfe would admit, which I have put in the lame 
 child-like language he was wont to make ufe of when fondly prattling to hi* 
 father. 
 
 X
 
 3 o6 APPENDIX. 
 
 Whene'er we chanc'd to part, 
 
 Some little tale he'd tell, 
 Then turn about, his father kifs, 
 And bid a kind farewell. 
 
 And oft to fee his fire 
 My child took fuch delight 
 
 He oft would a(k me there to ftand, 
 While he remained in fight. 
 
 And when he reach'd the place 
 Of utmolt view, would (land, 
 
 Look at me there, with eager gaze, 
 And wave his little hand. 
 
 How pleas'd, how fond was I 
 To mark his guiltlefs play, 
 While full of life he round me ran, 
 All aftive, briflc, and gay. 
 
 Pleas'd when his father feem'd 
 His little a6b t' approve ; 
 
 Affe&ion breath'd in ev'ry word, 
 And every look was love. 
 
 My child ! and nmft it be ? 
 
 And muft we, muft we part ? 
 My deareft John, the lots of thee 
 
 Will never from my heart ! 
 
 Thy death to my fad foul 
 Such lafting anguifh gave, 
 
 As finks thy mourning father down 
 With forrow to the grave. 
 
 O who can e'er exprefs 
 
 The pungent grief and fmart, 
 
 The bitter woe, the fore diftrefs, 
 That tore my aching heart, 
 
 When on that fatal day, 
 In all his youthful charms, 
 
 My dear departing infant lay 
 Expiring in my arms !
 
 APPENDIX. 307 
 
 All ! thofe fond looks, my dear, 
 
 Thofe laft fond looks from thee, 
 In fancy's eye ftill feem to med 
 
 Their pitying rays on me. 
 
 Thy tender accents ftill 
 
 I fondly think I hear, 
 And thy beloved voice yet founds 
 
 In lift'ning fancy's ear. 
 
 No time can blot the trace, 
 
 Or bid thy form depart ; 
 Succefliye years can ne'er efface 
 
 Thy image from my heart. 
 
 In my diftrafted mind * 
 
 While mem'ry holds a feat, 
 My dying infant, fweet and kind, 
 
 I never can forget. 
 
 While life remains, I ftill 
 
 Shall thy remembrance find } 
 The dear idea for ever will 
 
 Be prefent to my mind. 
 
 In the laft mortal pain, 
 
 When death (hall let me free, 
 If confcious memory then remain, 
 
 I ftill mail think on thee. 
 
 In that dread moment when 
 
 I dole my eyes in death, 
 O will thy loving fpirit then 
 
 Attend my parting breath ? 
 
 And while my lifelefs clay 
 
 Remains with thine to reft, 
 Point out thy father's fpirit the way 
 
 To manfions of the bleft ? 
 
 Hear I, or think I hear 
 My happy infant fay, 
 
 * " While memory holds a feat 
 In this dUo-afted globe." SHAKESPEARE.
 
 308 APPENDIX. 
 
 " Yes, daddy, I'll attend you there ; 
 Will point you out the way. 
 
 " Yes, if the Will Divine 
 
 With my define comply, 
 Your child your angel-guard will join, 
 
 To waft your foul on high, 
 
 " To that divine abode, 
 
 Thofe manfions of the bleft ; 
 
 Thofe peaceful feats prepared by God, 
 Where fep'rate fpirits reft. 
 
 " Meantime, by Jefus taught, 
 
 Refign your darling up, 
 And forrow not as thofe without 
 
 The Gofpel's blefled hope. 
 
 " In mercy, truth, and love, 
 
 Th' afflidive ftroke was giv'n, 
 To fix your thoughts on things above, 
 And draw your foul to heav'n. 
 
 " 'Twas Love and Mercy mild 
 Took me from ills to come ; 
 
 'Twas Mercy fent your darling child 
 To fill an early tomb. 
 
 " Now placed beyond the reach 
 Of fin and Satan's power, 
 
 No further mifery e'er can vex 
 Or ever touch me more. 
 
 " In forrowing fancy's eye,* 
 If ftill your child you fee, 
 
 Still hear your lov'd one's dying cry, 
 ' Come, daddy ! follow me ! ' 
 
 " O may the thought infpire 
 Your foul with holy zeal, 
 
 To mount on wings of heav'nly fire 
 To yon celeftial hill ! 
 
 * See firft two verfes in page 307.
 
 APPENDIX. 309 
 
 " There free from grief and pain, 
 
 On that eternal fhore, 
 There you and I mall meet again, 
 
 Shall meet to part no more." 
 
 ON THE ANNIVERSARY RETURN OF THE 
 
 DAY ON WHICH JOHN WRIGHT 
 
 DIED, JULY i 9 TH, 1783. 
 
 " Unhappy day ! be facred flill to grief, 
 A grief too obl'tinate for all relief ; 
 On thee my face (hall never wear a smile, 
 No joy on thee (hall e'er my heart beguile. 
 Why does thy light again my eyes moleft ? 
 Why am I not with thee, dear youth, at reft ? 
 For thee all thoughts of pleasure I forego ; 
 For thee my tears (hall never ceafe to flow ; 
 My bofom all thy image (hall retain 
 The full imprefiion there (hall full remain, 
 Till I with thee, upon my dufty bed, 
 Foiget the toils of life, and mingle with the dead." 
 
 MRS. ROUE 
 
 PART I. 
 
 H' unwearied flight of Time, once more 
 
 Returns the fatal day 
 Which from my heaving bofom tore 
 My darling child away. 
 
 Deep was the wound, my deareft John, 
 
 And lading was the i'mart 
 Inflifted by that ftroke, upon 
 
 Thy father's aching heart. 
 
 Still, ftill I feel the piercing pain, 
 
 The bitter grief renew, 
 While fond remembrance calls again 
 
 Thy image to my view.
 
 3 io APPENDIX. 
 
 Yes, bufy thought prefents again " 
 
 The fad diftrefsful day, 
 When rack'd with agonizing pain 
 
 My ftruggling infant lay. 
 
 Ah ! ftill I fee thee gafping there, 
 Still hear thy plaintive moan, 
 
 And pour afrefh the ftreaming tear, 
 And heave the mournful groan. 
 
 Beneath the heavy hand of Death 
 (Nor could thy father fave) 
 
 I faw thee yield thy infant breath, 
 And fink into the grave. 
 
 Since then, as fad I frequent ftray'd. 
 Withdrawn from mortal fight, 
 
 Beneath the awful folemn (hade 
 Of all-concealing night; 
 
 What floods of tears my eyes have filed, 
 While with deep anguifti preft ; 
 
 For thee what heart-felt groans have fled 
 From my afflifted bread ! 
 
 Oft have I, funk in penfive thought, 
 Beneath the midnight Iky, 
 
 Bedew'd with tears the facred fpot 
 Where thy dear relics lie. 
 
 And oft along the lonely walk, 
 
 I mourn my infant gone ; 
 To thy imagined fhadow talk, 
 
 And cry, My John ! my John ! 
 
 Thou too waft wont, my deareft love, 
 
 (Thus to myfelf I fay), 
 With me along thefe fields to rove, 
 
 And round my footfteps play ; 
 
 With little aftive limbs addreft 
 Would climb th' afpiring tree ; 
 
 Would rifle there the lofty neft, 
 And bring the fpoils to me.
 
 APPENDIX. 311 
 
 Then thro' the hazel copfe would'ft beat, 
 
 And oft difcover there 
 The little fongfter's clofe retreat, 
 
 Then (how thy father where : 
 
 Would pluck each flower of fweeteft fcent, 
 
 And mod variety, 
 Then form the nofegay, and prefent 
 
 The flow'ry wreath to me ; 
 
 And fondly fmiling, bid me fee 
 
 If I thy choice approv'd ; 
 Then fit and prattle on my knee, 
 
 And tell how much thou lov'd. 
 
 " By me " thus would my prattler fay, 
 
 While round my neck he clung, 
 And fweetly kils'd my cares away, 
 
 And blefs'd me with his tongue, 
 
 " By me whate'er beneath the flcies 
 
 The circling fun can view, 
 Ten thoufand worlds are not fo priz'd, 
 
 So dearly lov'd as you. 
 
 " Much, much may be th' affeclion which 
 
 In other children mine, 
 Yet O their love can never reach 
 
 Can never equal mine. 
 
 " May heav'n to you all goodnefc (hew, 
 
 Its choiceft influence (hed ; 
 And may ten thouiand bleflings flow 
 
 Upon my daddy's head !" 
 
 Such was thy foft engaging talk, 
 
 Such thy fweet chat to me, 
 When in the folemn evening walk 
 
 I trod thefe fliades with thee. 
 
 Ah ! oft to fee thee play about, 
 
 And mark thy infant wiles, 
 Would foften my feverer thought, 
 
 And melt me into fmiles.
 
 3 i2 APPENDIX. 
 
 And oft to my remembrance brought 
 My infant days, when, free 
 
 From thorny care and anxious thought, 
 I pafs'd the time like thee. 
 
 But now with lonely ftep I glide 
 
 Along the gloomy vale, 
 No little prattler by my fide, 
 
 To tell his pleafmg tale. 
 
 Thofe fmiling eyes that wont to mine, 
 
 Now wither and decay ; 
 Thofe little aftive limbs of thine 
 
 Lie mouldering in the clay. 
 
 Cut off amidft thy fprightlieft bloom, 
 And clos'd thy eyes Ib bright ; 
 
 Remov'd into the filent tomb, 
 Out of my longing fight. 
 
 But never from my heart removM, 
 While circling feafons roll, 
 
 My deareft, fweeteft, beft belov'd, 
 Thou darling of my foul ! 
 
 I fooner could myfelf forget, 
 
 And all the fun can fee, 
 Than thee forget, my deareft John, 
 
 Than ceafe to think on thee. 
 
 Yes, thy dear mem'ry mall furvive, 
 In fpite of time and death, 
 
 While in this mortal world I live, 
 And draw my vital breath. 
 
 Where'er thy little feet have trod, 
 Or climb'd th' afpiring tree, 
 
 Some fond memorial there I'll make, 
 My deareft love, of thee. 
 
 Within the bark I'll carve thy name, 
 
 In ev'ry fhady grove; 
 Memorial of thy little fame, 
 
 And my paternal love.
 
 APPENDIX. 313 
 
 O name to me for ever fad, 
 
 To me for ever dear ; 
 Still breath'd in many a heart-felt figh, 
 
 Still utter'd with a tear. 
 
 Long muft thy father's aching heart 
 
 With deep-felt anguifh moan ; 
 And long my forrowing foul deplore 
 
 The lofs of thee, my John ! 
 
 PART II. 
 
 UT may not this affli&ion giv'n, 
 
 Divine monition be? 
 What is the voice of gracious Heav'n 
 In this event to me ? 
 
 For yet that fage remark is juft, 
 
 And ftill a truth is found ; 
 Affliclion fprings not from the duft, 
 
 Nor trouble from the ground. 
 
 Waft thou withdrawn, my deareft love, 
 
 To urge thy father's rife ; 
 To draw my heart to things above, 
 
 And call me to the flues. 
 
 When tofling on thy dying bed, 
 
 Did I not hear thee fay, 
 " From earthly cares, and earthly loves, 
 
 Come, daddy, come away ? 
 
 " The mortal pleafures we purfue 
 
 In this dark dreary vale, 
 Are tranfient as the morning dew, 
 
 And fleeting as the gale. 
 
 " Sin has involv'd thefe earthly fcenes 
 
 In mifery and woe ; 
 In vain the fons of Adam feek 
 
 For happinefs below.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 " 'Tis fin that with a fatal ftroke 
 
 Now points the deadly dart, 
 And tears, with unrelenting hand, 
 
 Your darling from your heart. 
 
 " Then, daddy, if your bowels yearn 
 
 For your beloved John, 
 If overwhelm'd with grief, you mourn 
 
 O'er your expiring fon ; 
 
 " As e'er you ardently defire 
 
 To meet me in the fkies. 
 When my dear Saviour (hall require 
 
 My fleeping duft to rife ; 
 
 " As e'er you wifh to join me there, 
 
 On that eternal more, 
 Where pining grief and anxious care, 
 
 And parting are no more ; 
 
 " From fin, that fatal mifchief, ceafe, 
 
 And you mall be forgiv'n ; 
 And in the paths of holinefs, 
 
 Come after me to heav'n. 
 
 " O think, and may the afFe<5Kng thought 
 
 Your nobleft paffions move, 
 Till all your willing mind be brought 
 
 To feek the things above. 
 
 " O think of each endearing fcene, 
 
 Each aftion paft review, 
 The tender love that pafs'd between 
 
 Your darling child and you. 
 
 " When wont around you to rejoice, 
 
 Along the field or grove, 
 And blefs you with the genuine voice 
 
 Of ur.diflembled love. 
 
 " Think of the laft fad parting fcene, 
 When, 'midft my youthful charms, 
 
 Unpitying Death his viftim feiz'd, 
 And tore me from your arms.
 
 APPENDIX. 315 
 
 " Think of the laft fond words I fpoke 
 
 Upon my dying bed, 
 Wherein you heard me Heav'n invoke 
 
 For bleffings on your head. 
 
 " Remember my laft dying call, 
 
 The laft fond kifs I gave ; 
 That laft embrace e'er yet I funk 
 
 Into the filent grave. 
 
 " And when your mortal life fhall ceafe, 
 
 Then (all your fins forgiv'n), 
 Then may you clofe your eyes in peace, 
 
 And follow me to heav'n." 
 
 Yes, my dear prattler, may I be 
 
 Renew'd by grace divine j 
 Made by my gracious Saviour free, 
 
 And in His image mine ! 
 
 Then I fhall up to heav'n afcend, 
 
 From mortal anguifh free, 
 In unimagin'd blifs to fpend 
 
 An endlefs year with thee ! 
 
 ON JOHN WRIGHT FOUR YEARS AFTER 
 HIS DEATH. 
 
 OUR times round the central fun, 
 
 Journeying through the azure fkies, 
 Earth its annual courfe has run, 
 
 Since my darling clos'd his eyes : 
 Cropp'd amidft his vernal bloom, 
 Sent to fill an early tomb ! 
 
 Sacred be the fpot my dear, 
 
 Where thy lovely limbs repofe; 
 
 Reft thy precious relifts there, 
 
 Till the laft dread trumpet blows ; 
 
 Till thy loving Saviour fay, 
 
 " Rife ! my love, and come away ! **
 
 316 APPENDIX. 
 
 Oft thy father pafling near, 
 
 Wrapt beneath the midnight ftiade, 
 
 Oft has pour'd the dreaming tear, 
 Where thy dear remains are laid ; 
 
 Oft exprefs'd the heaving figh, 
 
 Where thy fleeping afhes lie. 
 
 There, while funk in penfive though', 
 Mufmg over thee, my John, 
 
 To my mind fond mem'ry brought 
 Many an aftion thou hadft done j 
 
 Buly fancy call'd anew 
 
 Thy iov'd image to my view. 
 
 Sportive o'er the flow'ry mead, 
 Lively, active, briflc, and gay, 
 
 Tliou with me was wont to tread, 
 Round me run in youthful play, 
 
 Or beneath the fhady tree 
 
 Sit and prattle on my knee. 
 
 Ah ! my lovely fondling boy ! 
 
 Rudely from my bolom torn, 
 Late thy father's deareft joy, 
 
 Now condemn'd for thee to mourn ; 
 From my fond embraces fled, 
 Mingled with the filent dead. 
 
 Through the well-known flow'ry vale 
 Now forlorn and fad I ftray ; 
 
 Hear no more thy prattling tale, 
 See no more thy aftive play ; 
 
 Death the fatal fummons gave, 
 
 Sunk thee to the gloomy grave. 
 
 Ravifli'd from my longing eyes, 
 Shall I never fee thee more ? 
 
 Art thou fall'n no more to rife, 
 Held by Death's eternal power? 
 
 Will not He, the Prince of Day, 
 
 Re awake thy fleeping clay ?
 
 APPENDIX. 317 
 
 Yes ! the lip of Truth hath faid ; * 
 Why fhould Ibrrow then complain ? 
 
 Tho' thy much-lov'd child be dead, 
 He (hall furely live again ; 
 
 Refcued from the greedy grave, 
 
 He fhall prove My power to fave ! 
 
 Hafte the happy glorious morn 
 
 When my child again (hall rife ! 
 When from duft and afhes borne, 
 
 I fhall meet him in the fkies; 
 Join him there our God t' adore, 
 Join him there to part no more. 
 
 ON JOHN WRIGHT'S DEATH, 1788. 
 
 LED, alas ! my child is fled 
 
 From my fond embraces, 
 To the regions of the dead, 
 
 Thofe undifcover'd places ! 
 Whither is my darling flown ? 
 
 To what blifsful regions ? 
 From his father's bofom gone, 
 
 To join the angelic legions. 
 
 Shall I never fee thee more ? 
 
 Shall grim Death diflcver 
 Thofe who lov'd fo dear before 
 
 For ever and for ever ? 
 Nay, I hear the Saviour fay;f 
 
 " Ceafe thy grief and mourning ; 
 He mail rife again that day 
 
 The day of my returning ! 
 
 * John xi. 23, 24, 25. " Jefus saith, Thy brother (hall rife again. Martha 
 (aith, I know that he flull rife again in the refurre&ion at the laft day. Jefus 
 laid, I am the resurrcftion and the life." &c. 
 
 f See John xi. 23, 24, 25.
 
 3 i8 APPENDIX. 
 
 He ftiall prove my pow'r to fave, 
 
 Over death viftorious ; 
 Refcu'd from the greedy grave. 
 
 All perfeft, bright, and glorious. 
 Then with me to heav'n afcend, 
 
 Thro' the bright expanfion, 
 To the joys that never end, 
 
 In yon celeftial manfion ! " 
 
 Glorious Saviour ! ftrong to fave ; 
 
 Jefus, we adore Thee ! 
 Thou haft triumph'd o'er the grave, 
 
 Death, hell, fall down before Thee. 
 Everlafting praife be Thine, 
 
 Great, Almighty Saviour, 
 For a bleffing io divine. 
 
 For fuch a god-like favour. 
 
 Yet indulge, immortal King, 
 
 A father's fond complaining, 
 While in penfive drains I fing 
 
 My dear departed darling. 
 Deareft, fweeteft, lovelieft youth ! 
 
 Still for ever thought on ; 
 Thy dear filial love and truth 
 
 Shall never be forgotten. 
 
 Mournful mem'ry marks the day, 
 
 In yon meadow ftraying, 
 Frefh in life, in beauty gay, 
 
 I law my lov'd one playing; 
 Down in that fame flow'ry vale, 
 
 Near yon tree fo lhady, 
 Oft I heard the tender tale 
 
 Of my dear prattling baby. 
 
 There my boy would fondly tell, 
 
 While we ftray'd together, 
 In kind praife, how much, how well 
 
 He lov'd his deareft father : 
 Better, would my darling fay, 
 
 While my life remaineth 
 Better than the world itfelf, 
 
 And all that it containeth.
 
 APPENDIX. 319 
 
 Deareft prattler ! fare-thee-well, 
 
 Till the trumpet founding, 
 .Call thee from thy filent cell, 
 
 To heav'nly joys abounding} 
 Endlefs life thence to retain, 
 
 Thro 1 the great Retriever, 
 Then we both mail meet again, 
 
 To part no more for ever ! 
 
 ON JOHN WRIGHT. 
 
 (The four frjl Stanzas a little altered from Mr. TAomfon.) 
 
 ELL me, thou foul of him I love, 
 
 Ah ! tell me, whither art thou fled ? 
 To what delightful world above, 
 Appointed for the happy dead ? 
 
 Or doft thou free at pleafure roam, 
 And ibmetimes (hare thy father's woe, 
 
 Where, void of thee, his cheerlefs home 
 Can now, alas ! fmall comfort know ? 
 
 Oh ! if thou hov'reft round my walk, 
 While, under ev'ry well-known tree, 
 
 I to thy fancied fhadow talk, 
 And ev'ry tear is full of thee. 
 
 Should then the weary eye of grief, 
 Befide fome fympathetic Itream, 
 
 In (lumber find a fhort relief, 
 O vifit thou my foothing dream. 
 
 When thro' the filent fliady grove, 
 With lonely fteps I mufmg ftray 
 
 Thro' trads where thou was wont to rove, 
 In purfuit of thy childifti play.
 
 320 APPENDIX. 
 
 Then mein'ry fond recalls the time, 
 
 And marks the path where them haft ftray'c 
 
 The tree which I have known thee climb, 
 The mofly bank where thou haft play'd. 
 
 Struck with the fadly-pleafing thought, 
 Swells my fad heart with heaving fighs, 
 
 While down my cheeks in ftreamlets flow 
 The briny forrow from my eyes. 
 
 Dear, lovely youth ! caught from my hopes, 
 How greatly dear to me thou art ; 
 
 Far dearer than the vital drops 
 That vifit my fad drooping heart ! 
 
 But peace, my weary troubled mind, 
 Let peevifh grief no more complain; 
 
 I mall not long remain behind ; 
 I foon (hall meet my child again ! 
 
 Meet him where fin no more can blight, 
 Or pain opprefs, or forrow fade ; 
 
 Where fever's rage no more can fmite, 
 Or caufe to hang the drooping head : 
 
 Meet him where Death difarm'd of power, 
 For ever drops his fatal dart, 
 
 And where the tyrant can no more 
 With anguifh pierce the feeling heart. 
 
 Meet him in yonder blifsful ikies, 
 Baflcing in life's meridian ray, 
 
 And with my much-lov'd darling rife, 
 To triumph in eternal day !
 
 APPENDIX. 321 
 
 A HEROIC POEM IN PRAISE OF 
 RICHARD HILL, ESQ. 
 
 BEING A COUNTERPART TO MR. HILL'S HEROIC POEM 
 IN PRAISE OF MR. WESLEY. 
 
 " All fools have ftill an itching to deride, 
 And fain would be upon the laughing fide." Port. 
 
 To RICHARD HILL, Es<^., AT HAWKESTONE, NEAR 
 WHITCHURCH, IN SHROPSHIRE.* 
 
 SIR, 
 
 HAVING feen "A Heroic Poem in praife of Mr. John 
 Wefley," in a pamphlet of yours lately publifhed, entitled, 
 " Logica Wefleienfis, or The Farrago Double Diftilled," 
 I have taken the liberty to fend you the following, which 
 pleafe to accept as a counterpart to yours. 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 ITHER, ye chofen tribes, repair, 
 
 " I've welcome news to tell ; " 
 Whate'er your iniquities are, 
 " My dofe can fuit you well." 
 
 For let your fins be great or fmall,t 
 
 Of low or high degree, 
 Refifted or indulged, 'tis all 
 
 The very fame to me. 
 
 * The following poem was fent by the author to Mr. Hill, in a letter by the 
 ' See Mr. Hill's " Five Letters to the Vindicator of Mr. Wefley't Minuto," 
 
 I *7> 3*- 
 
 y
 
 322 APPENDIX. 
 
 The great Herculean ta(k, a man 
 
 Shall find in this refpeft, 
 Is firm believing (if he can) 
 
 Himfelfto be cleft. 
 
 Such who my noftrum's virtue tries, 
 Shall find his bufmefs done ; 
 
 Sin flies my pill, as darknefs flies 
 Before the rifing fun. 
 
 Sia in the chofen ones, I mean, 
 
 The Jim of the elefi, 
 \nfuch my famous pill is feen 
 
 To work a rare effect. 
 
 But hence, ye reprobated brood ! 
 
 " Who hearken not to me," 
 But dread to father upon God 
 
 John Calvin's black decree : 
 
 Who teach the world the Father gave 
 
 His Son to die for all, 
 And ranfom each unhappy flave 
 
 That fell in Adam's fall. 
 
 But oh ! my brother, babe, or friend, 
 Thefe doctrines don't believe j 
 
 For Calvin's Gofpel ftill contend, 
 And cordially receive. 
 
 Perhaps you know not who I am, 
 What battles I have won ? 
 
 What ! have you never heard my fame ? 
 What wonders I have done ? 
 
 Pm Dick the giant-killer, I * 
 
 That leading hero who 
 Goliah flew, and forc'd to fly 
 
 The proud Oxonian foe ! 
 
 * Should any perfon imagine that this line is too vulgar to be applied to a 
 gentleman of Mr. Hill's quality, &c., he muft confider that it is altogether as 
 genteel and juft, if not more fo, as " brave Jack of all trades," applied by Mr. 
 Hill to Mr. Wefley. Mr. Hill wrote a pamphlet upon occafion of the expulfion 
 of the fix ftudents from Edmund Hill, which he ironically entitled " Goliah Slain ;" 
 and another on the fame occafion, entitled, " Pietas Oxonienfii," that is, Oxonian 
 piety, or the piety of Oxford.
 
 APPENDIX. 323 
 
 Poor Wejley, friends, 'tis true derides, 
 
 And calls me THE CATSPAW,* 
 But what ! I've bang'd him back and fides, 
 
 For his prefumption though. 
 
 And if his crabb'd a/ociates would 
 
 But have reftrain'd their ire, 
 The poor old heretic I could 
 
 Have trod into the mire. 
 
 But oh ! that fturdy S<wifs,-\- he makes 
 
 My bofom beat with tears, 
 And with Helvetic bluntnefs makes 
 
 My fyftem by the ears. 
 
 honefly ! Truths candle ! too, J 
 I like them not, not I ; 
 They all my laboured fophifms (how, 
 And ev'ry corner fpy. 
 
 From this rough mountaineer, my friends, 
 
 I've fuffer'd many a pang ; 
 And many a dang'rous fhaft he fends, 
 
 And gives me many a bang. 
 
 For folid argument I long 
 
 Have anfwer'd him with fun ; 
 
 And for his reafons clear and ftrong, 
 Return'd a cutting pun. 
 
 And oft my brave auxiliar troops 
 
 Of fcandal lend fupplies, 
 Which in his face I dam, in hopes 
 
 To put out both his eyes. 
 
 * See Mr. Hill's " Heroic Poem," eleventh ftanza ; and Mr. Wefley's " Re- 
 marks on Mr. Hill's Review," p. 40. 
 
 t The Rev. Mr. John Fletcher, Vicar of Madeley, in Shropshire, who is a natire 
 of Switzerland. 
 
 \ See " The Farrago Double Diftilled," p. 7. In another publication Mr. Hill 
 ind his brother exprefc their diflike of Mr. Fletcher's " Illuftrations," which he 
 CMr. Fletcher) calls the candle of the Lord, or the candle of truth. 
 
 $ Alluding to the flanderous flories Mr. Hill and his affociates pick up and 
 publish, in order to bring Mr. Wefley into ridicule and contempt.
 
 324 APPENDIX. 
 
 Though all is ineffectual, yet 
 Who knows what may betide ? * 
 
 He by and bye may take the pet, 
 Perhaps may change his fide. 
 
 But cheer, my friends, I'll never yield, 
 Though I mould fuffer pain ; 
 
 I'll brandifh Calvin's fword and fliield, 
 Till ev'ry giant's flain ; 
 
 I'll make them, with farcaftic jokes, 
 Like madmen (kip and leap ; 
 
 Reviews, Farragos, Finffid Strokes,-^ 
 Shall drive them on a heap. 
 
 I'll raife John Calvin's ghoft to fight, 
 All grizly, ftern, and pale 5 
 
 And if his horrid front J wont fright, 
 I'll turn his fill hy tall! 
 
 What ! (hall the precious babies lack 
 
 The foul-reviving dofe, 
 'Caufe 'tis abufed by a pack 
 
 Of corrupt-minded foes ? || 
 
 No ; I'll the privilege declare 
 So pleafing to old Adam 
 
 That thing call'd flefh, I mean whate'er 
 It be to Him who made 'em. 
 
 While Mr. Hill attacks Mr. Wefley with all the virulence and animofity of 
 an irreconcileable enmity, not difcovering the moft diftant define of an accommo- 
 dation with him, he at the lame time manifefts a willingnefs to be friends with Mr. 
 Fletcher, whom, though lately honoured with the title of " Young-Ignorance," he 
 now kindly condefcends to call his " able antagoniji," but intimates that he muft 
 purchafe his friendfhip, if not by turning Calvinilt, at leaft by remaining neuter in 
 the prefent controverfy, and fo deferting his friend and what he himfelf efteems 
 to be the caufe of truth together. A mighty generous intimation indeed I See 
 his " Farrago Double Diftilled," towards the conclufion. 
 
 t The titles of feveral of Mr. Hill's pamphlets in the prefent controverfy. 
 
 j The doflrine of Abfolute Reprobation. 
 
 $ The impure Nicolaitun do&rines of the Antinomians, which maintain that a 
 man may be a pleafant child of God while he h defiling his neighbour's bed, and 
 embruing his hands in his brother's blood ; and which, we think, may be juftly 
 confidered as the fpawn of Calvinifm. 
 
 U "Five Letters," p. 35, 54, ^^, firft edition.
 
 APPENDIX. 325 
 
 Mark then this/rrotf, obferve it well, 
 
 'Twill ferve a time of need, 
 And many a charming tale 'twill tell 
 
 To Calvin's chofenfeed. 
 
 To Calvin's faints a pleafing fight, 
 
 And comfort to all thofe ,- 
 But caufe of horrible affright 
 
 And terror to our foes. 
 
 It fays the faints of Calvin's God 
 
 May lie, or fwear, or whore ; 
 Slander their neighbour, flied his blood, 
 
 Opprefs or rob the poor. 
 
 But though they into whoredom fall, 
 
 Their neighbour rob or kill, 
 Yet in thefe very afts, they all 
 
 Are pie af ant children ftill.* 
 
 Their fouls though really black with fin, 
 
 In Chrift are really fair ; f 
 And though polluted all within, 
 
 In Him they're clean, O rare ! \ 
 
 Nay, with the help of Crifj> I trow 
 
 " I've learn'd to conjure too," 
 And prove the work isfinijh'd noiv,^ 
 Which yet remains to do. 
 
 Your fins mall fly, I'll not leave one 
 
 " Prefto, hey pafs ! " I' th' name 
 O' Do&or Crifp at once they're gone ; 
 
 They're gone before they came ! 
 
 With fneer and banter long I tried 
 
 To lay old Goodwin's ghoft j 
 Abufe and (lander next applied, 
 
 But all is labour loft ; 
 
 See Mr. Hill's "Fire Letters," and hii " Review," where be publicly main- 
 tains that David was a plea&nt child of God, while wallowing in adultery and 
 murder. 
 
 t " Five Letters," p. 17, z8. 
 
 j O rare 1 an exclamation Mr. Hill frequently makes ufe of in his ' Farrago 
 Double Diftilled." 
 
 $ The abfurd doctrine of Fini/hed Salvation.
 
 326 APPENDIX. 
 
 For ftill each vile Arminian fnake 
 
 My fyftem will oppofe, 
 Will counterwork my plots, and take 
 
 My do&rines by the nofe. 
 
 There's Cobler Tom f and Mountain Jack, 
 With that fierce fiend Sellon, 
 
 Befides th" arch heretic , || good lack ! 
 I fear we's be out-done. 
 
 Help, Toplady, thou foul-mouth'd thing, 
 
 With thy auxiliar aids j 
 Thy Billingfgate artill'ry bring, 
 
 To drub thefe tefty blades ; 
 
 Like any Heflor tread the ftage, 
 
 Put on thy terrors, man ; 
 Threat, bully, blufter, vaunt, and rage, 
 
 And fright them if thou can. 
 
 Say that I fill an efquire^s room, 
 And tell them for their good, 
 
 That many of our friends are come 
 Of honourable blood. 
 
 With us the rich and noble are, 
 
 And dottors of degree ; 
 How mould plain Swifs and Cobblers fliare 
 
 As much good fenfe as we ? 
 
 A noble magazine f[ of arms 
 We have, 'tis furely known, 
 
 With cutting fcandal ftuff'd, and charms 
 Peculiarly our own. 
 
 * Mr. Hill calls Mr. Fletcher a fnake that bites the Calvinifin minifters. - 
 " Review," p. 70. 
 
 t Mr. Thomas Olivers, a lay preacher under Mr. Weiley. 
 
 j The Rev. Mr. John Fletcher. 
 
 $ The Rev. Mr. Walter Sellon. 
 
 || The Rev. Mr. John Wefley. 
 
 ^[ "The Gofpel Magazine," as it is falfely called, fays Mr. Sellon; "that 
 monthly medley of truth and error, found words, and blaffhemy, trumped up as a 
 
 vehicle to convey Calvinifm and flander round the nation." M n and could'ft 
 
 thou Gofpel add ; O name, O iacrcd name of Gofpel thus profaned !
 
 APPENDIX. 327 
 
 at *%>* thou rmmm n 
 Thou Bell-wether ! thou Pope ! 
 Thou merits fending for ajlave, 
 Or hanging in a rope. 
 
 Thou Proteus ! conjurer! thou quack! 
 
 Thou whore of Babylon! 
 Thou lying fophifler ! thou ?:* 
 
 Of all trades! good at none. 
 
 Religious gambler ! coward! both, 
 
 In forgery employ'd ; 
 Thou Jefuit, ofjujlice, truth, 
 
 And common honour void ! 
 
 Blind leader of a blinded clan, 
 Thou teacher of free-wilt! 
 
 Apoftate, heretic, carman, 
 Old plagiary, windmill! 
 
 Thou lurking, Jly a/a/m, thou 
 
 Beneath the level gone 
 Of chimney-fweep or oyfter-frow, 
 
 Thou falfe, thou perjured one ! 
 
 Thou plays a mean, difhoneft part, 
 
 As any man may fee ; 
 A nuifance and a peft thou art 
 
 To all fociety ! 
 
 Come then, my worthy friends, nor lag 
 Behind, nor fhun the fight ; 
 
 Afford your help, and foon we'll drag 
 This monfter out to light. 
 
 My principal,^ with loud alarms, 
 Denounc'd the found of war ; 
 
 Summon'd three nations up to arms, 
 The glorious toil tojhare ! 
 
 See Mr. Toplady's " Letter to Mr. Wefley," and Mr. Hill's publications in the 
 prefent controvert"/, where the abutive names and fturriltui language which com- 
 pofe the fix following ftanzas may be found, either directly or indiredly, in a 
 pofitiTe or comparative fenle, appUed to Mr. Wefley, befides a great rariefy of 
 Billingfgate language liberally beftowed upon him from time to time by a great 
 number of Calviniftic writers upon other occafions. 
 
 t The Rev. Mr. Shir y. Sec his " Circular Letter."
 
 328 APPENDIX. 
 
 Our friends in order to excite 
 
 To help without delay, 
 Proclaim'd aloud with all his might, 
 
 Free quarters, if no pay. 
 
 Down with the heretics ! cried he, 
 
 Defend the good old caufe ; 
 We join'd the cry, and herefy 
 
 Our word of battle was. 
 
 The found aroufed my martial flame ; 
 
 I flew to his relief, 
 Refolved to fignalize my name, 
 
 Beneath this mighty chief. 
 
 But fcarce had he perform'd a feat, 
 
 But flyly flunk away,* 
 And left his friend to bear the heat 
 
 And burden of the day. 
 
 But, O thou brazen-fronted friend, 
 
 Exert thy founding lungs ; 
 Thy voice to all our brethren fend, 
 
 Of parties, people, tongues. 
 
 Should all ftill prove too weak when come 
 
 To ftand th' Arminian fire ; 
 Why, then, we'll fend exprefs to Rome, 
 To fetch the Popijh Friar. f 
 
 But if the field, through hoftile ire, 
 Should e'er become unfafe, 
 
 To fort contempt we'll then retire, 
 And from the ramparts laugh, j 
 
 Nor fear t' incur the coward's doom, 
 
 'Tis courage in difguife j 
 For if we can't our foes overcome, 
 
 We can our foes defpife. 
 
 * Mr. S y, after publishing his " Narrative," wifely flipped his neck out of 
 
 th collar and gave up the cudgels to the prefent Calviniftic champion, Mr. Hill, 
 t See the " Dialogue with the Benedifline Monk at Paris." 
 j See Mr. Toplady's " Letter to Mr. Wefley," p. 12.
 
 APPENDIX. 329 
 
 '' THUS, Sir," I have returned your favour, by "giving you 
 a few hobbling rhymes in the exaft language of" your 
 own publications, and thofe of your allies, " from whence 
 I have borrowed " every flocking doarine, all the Billingf- 
 gate language, and " every abufi<ve appellation " which my 
 verfes contain ; and this 1 have done with a fincere defire 
 that it may prove a means of mewing you " the great im- 
 propriety as well of your own and of your" allies' " manner 
 of writing," as of the great fhame and difgrace attending 
 your manner of conduft towards two eminent minifters of 
 Chrift, which is fuch as utterly unbecomes you, either as a 
 man, a gentleman, or a Chriftian, and more especially the 
 laft ; for as you are one of thofe who efteem themfelves the 
 chofen ones of God, one might juftly have expefted to 
 have found you more ready to have put in practice the 
 Apoftle's advice, where he exhorts the eleft of God, as 
 fuch, to put on bowels of mercy, kindnefs, humblenefs of 
 mind, meeknefs, long-fuffering ; forbearing one another, 
 and forgiving one another, if any man had a quarrel againft 
 another, even as Chrift forgave them. And you ought cer- 
 tainly to remember, on fuch occafions as thefe, that good 
 advice of his in another place, that the fervant of the Lord 
 muft not ftrive, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, 
 patient, in meeknefs inftruiling thofe that oppofe them- 
 felves, if God peradventure may give them repentance to 
 the acknowledging of (Calvinifm, if Calvinifm be) the 
 truth. 
 
 Now, fir, mould you be offended at the freedom of my 
 conduft upon this occafion, I (hall only apologize for the 
 liberty I have taken in the words of a celebrated poet 
 
 " Example flrikes 
 All human hearts, a bad example more." YOUNG. 
 
 I am, Sir, your humble fervant, 
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT. 
 
 Lower Blacup, near Hightown, near Halifax in Yorldhirc, 
 Augufl, 177$.
 
 330 APPENDIX. 
 
 POSTSCRIPT. 
 
 I HOULD any perfon objeft againft this perform- 
 ance (as one of no mean name has already done) 
 that it is " railing for railing," I think fuch 
 objectors ought to confider that there are circumftances 
 wherein it may not only be allowable, but even neceffary 
 to take the wife man's advice, and to anfwer a fool 
 according to his folly, left he mould be wife in his own 
 conceit. I allow this ought fo to be done as not to ren- 
 der the refpondent like the fool he anfwers ; and this, I 
 conceive, is a very nice and difficult point to hit upon. 
 Mr. Hill profefles that the fole motive which induced him 
 to write the farcaftic piece upon Mr. Wefley, was only to 
 convince him of his error, and to bring him to a deteftation 
 of (what it feems he thinks) his opprobrious way of writ- 
 ing. Were this fa<5t, I think it might be a fufficient ex- 
 cufe for Mr. Hill's performance, but I think the contrary 
 appears very evident from the circumftances and manner of 
 its execution. It is allowed by all good judges, that vice 
 and/o//y are the only proper objets of fatire ; but if a divine 
 of good natural parts and great learning mould think fit 
 to write not only upon divinity, but natural philofophy, 
 phyfic, politics, &c.; or mould he venture to give his advice 
 with refpecT: to the drinking of tea, or a perfon entering 
 into the marriage ftate ; muft the doing of any or all of 
 thefe neceffarily imply that the perfon who has done them 
 muft either be a vicious man or a fool ? Yet all thefe are 
 circumftances which Mr. Hill, in his poem, attempts to 
 turn into ridicule. He likewife felefts fome other circum- 
 ftances which he reprefents in a very unfair and unjuft 
 manner, whereas fatire ought always to be founded in the 
 ftri&eft truth and juftice. From all this, it appears to me 
 that Mr. Hill's motive in writing his poem was not (what 
 it feems he would fain have the world believe it to be) a 
 kind, good-natured intention of leading Mr. Wefley out of 
 his error, &c., but rather an ill-natured defign to reproach 
 him, and by reprefenting him in as abfurd and ridiculous a 
 view as poffible, to bring him into the greateft difefteem 
 and contempt. However, I think what Mr. Hill only 
 pretended to be his motive in writing was really mine. I 
 thought thus retorting upon Mr. Hill might poffibly prove 
 an occafion of (hewing him the great abfurdity, weaknefs,
 
 APPENDIX. 331 
 
 and folly of his own conduct and of that of his allies, as well 
 as that of his religious fyftem, by exhibiting a proof if both 
 thefe lay much more open to juft farcalm and ridicule 
 than either the conduit or religious fyftem of thofe himfelf 
 had been fo earneftly labouring to bring into contempt. 
 I hope I have not been guilty of the fame faults mylelf 
 which I have been cenfuring in Mr. Hill. I think I have 
 given a fair reprefentation of the circumftances I mention, 
 and that they juftly deferve to be held forth in the ridicu- 
 lous view in which they appear in my verfes ; however, I 
 leave this to the judgment of the candid reader. 
 
 OBSERVATIONS ON A PAMPHLET LATELY 
 PUBLISHED, 
 
 ENTITLED "POLYPHEMUS, OR A CYCLOPS 
 COMBATTING TRUTH." 
 
 " All fools have ftill an itching to deride, 
 And fain would be upon the laughing fide." POPE. 
 
 " On any point if you difpute, 
 Depend upon it he'll confute ; 
 Change fides, you but increafe your pain. 
 For he'll confute you back again." PRIOR. 
 
 TO THE READER. 
 
 KIND READER, 
 
 HAVE no hard names or allufions to heathen 
 fables to explain to thee, like the Calvinift, 
 nor mail I make any apology for what my 
 pamphlet contains ; but what follows may 
 ferve to explain the Introduftion. Some Cal- 
 vinifts returning in a poft-chaife from one of their leftures,* 
 where the author of " Polyphemus " had been firft vending 
 his ware, and in their way pafling by a Methodift preaching- 
 houfe,f the vehicle flopped ; out leaps a Calvinift, runs to 
 
 * Heckmondwike. 
 
 + The Height preaching-honfe above Hightown. [The Height Chapel ft< 
 an eminence which is now in the centre of Hightown, over againfi the Lower 
 Blacup farm. It was pulled down partly fome years ago, and altered into col 
 tages, but the gable ends are ftill to be feen. The old chapel would be led than 
 half a mile from the poet's home.]
 
 332 APPENDIX. 
 
 the preaching-houfe, and attempts to force one of the 
 giant-titled pamphlets under the door mightily tickled, 
 no doubt, at thinking how the poor Methodifts, at their 
 next vifit, would be frighted to find fo horrid a monfter 
 ftalking about the place ! However, as the found truth of 
 the Methodift doftrines repell all the vain arguments and 
 malicious attempts the Calvinifts make ufe of in order to 
 overturn or injure them, fo the firmnefs and clofenefs of 
 the preaching-houfe doors repelled the vain attempt of this 
 Calvinift to force "Polyphemus" into the place 5 he there- 
 fore runs next to the ftable-door, the bottom of which not 
 being quite fo clofe, he thrufts " Polyphemus " half way 
 through into the horfe-ftand (a place too good for him); 
 but the poor giant, alas ! flicking faft by the middle, his 
 friend was obliged to leave him in that condition, with his 
 pofteriors expofed to a briflc mower of rain, which happened 
 to fall at that time. This had fuch an effeft in fottening 
 the giant's hinder parts, that when an obferver came after- 
 wards to difengage him, he feparated in two pieces ! The 
 Calvinift returned to his carriage again and drove away, 
 laughing in his fleeve at the arch trick he had played the 
 Methodifts. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Being an account of an adventure of one of the 
 pamphlets in quejiion. 
 
 [' other day as I happened to pafs on the road, 
 I obferved a great number of people abroad, 
 And aflcing the meaning, was made underftand 
 The Calvinifts had a great lefture in hand.* 
 A le&ure, faid I ; what's the meaning of that ? 
 Why, a meeting of people to hear and debate, 
 To pray, preach, and fing, and to eat, drink, and chat. 
 I thankfully nodded, but queftion'd no more, 
 And journey'd along, as I had done before. 
 
 * At Heckmondwikc. [Formerly, " on the firft Wednefday after the fecond 
 Sunday in June, an annual religious feftival was held here, called the ' Lefhire,' 
 which was attended by a great number of Calviniftic minifters and people of that 
 perfuafion, from the furrounding country, the objects of which were the arrange- 
 ment of certain matters relating to the miniftry, and the promotion of vital reli- 
 gion." BAINES' Directory of TorkjUre.']
 
 APPENDIX. 333 
 
 It happened, I having fulfill'd my intent, 
 
 At night I returned the way that I went j 
 
 When fudden a rumble, faluting my ear, 
 
 Informed me fome kind of a carnage was near. 
 
 A chaife foon appear'd, not far from the place, 
 
 And whirling along it approach'd me apace. 
 
 Now, reader, you here may obferve if you will 
 
 A Methodift preaching-houfe ftood on the hill. 
 
 The chaife bounc'd along in its wonted career, 
 
 But what there was in it did not yet appear ; 
 
 However, when juft 'gainft the chapel it ftopp'd, 
 
 The door it flew open, and out of it popp'd 
 
 A Predeftinarian, I think, by his mien, 
 
 Or fomething as like one as ever was feen. 
 
 He ftepp'd to the houfe, caft a proud, fcornful eye on't, 
 
 Then turn'd from his pocket a fierce new-born giant. 
 
 As it happ'd to be rainy, the tender young thing 
 
 Would gladly have enter'd, but could not get in ; 
 
 It ftruggled for entrance at bottom o' th' door, 
 
 And got in its head, but could get in no more ; 
 
 Not one hair's breadth further a way could it find, 
 
 Though its friend puff'd and thrufted hard at it behind. 
 
 In this painful pofture, and ftruggling amain, 
 
 Its pofteriors expofed to the wind and the rain, 
 
 He laid fomething of God, and the houfe, and its father, 
 
 Some prayer, or fome fneer on the Methodifts rather, 
 
 Then ftrode back the way he had meafur'd before, 
 
 Leap'd into the carriage, and faften'd the door ; 
 
 Where being compofed and adjufted aright, 
 
 The fteeds quickly whirl'd him out of my fight. 
 
 I ftepp'd o'er the road to fee if I could find 
 
 What the poor thing was doing he'd juft left behind ; 
 
 When, ftrange to relate but, betwixt me and you, 
 
 I allure you, kind reader, 'tis certainly true 
 
 'Twas transformed to a pamphlet ! a pamphlet, indeed, 
 
 With an outlandifh tail, and a monftrous head. 
 
 But the rain having much, fir, bedabbled its tail, 
 
 Had rendered it weakly, and tender, and frail ; 
 
 And when to have taken it up I defign'd, 
 
 The tail, fir, came off, but the head ftuck behind ; 
 
 Howe'er, when I join'd the two pieces anew, 
 
 It's terrific title flam'd full in my view.
 
 334 APPENDIX. 
 
 OBSERVATIONS ON THE TITLE PAGE.* 
 
 "POLYPHEMUS! aCyclopsT^ Lord blefs me, thought I, 
 
 The monfter I fear will be rude by and by. 
 
 "Combatting" O fie, thought I, that is not well, 
 
 That thofe fliould write Latin who Englifli can't fpell. 
 
 " Truth /" aye, fir, but this is a general term, 
 
 And yours I fufpect is not fterling and firm. 
 
 The practice is common in thefe days, you fee, 
 
 For profeffors of every name and degree, 
 
 Howe'er contradiftory their fyftems you know, 
 
 To lay kindred claim to the goddefs below. 
 
 See Proteftants, Papifts, Turks, Pagans, and Jews, 
 
 How different foe'er their opinions and views, 
 
 Although twice five hundred ways they divide, 
 
 All, all, fir, alike find fair Truth on their fide, 
 
 Are as pofitive in turn as yourfelf, 'tis well known, 
 
 And their ipfe dlxifi as good as your own. 
 
 "A Poem I" that's fomething, I fancy, like mine, 
 
 In rhyme and in meafure, neat, pretty, and fine. 
 
 We next have the mottos infcrib'd on its fore-face, 
 From Virgil, the author, St. Paul, and old Horace, 
 And fomebody elfe too, but who I don't wift, 
 " Veritas non eget defenforibus tft " 
 Your readers will here, fir, be loft in a mift ; J 
 Not one in five hundred, rare fcholar I ween, 
 Ev'n of your own party, can tell what you mean ! 
 " Tanteene aaimis caleftibus ir<s ? " 
 For this fome kind ignorant friend may admire ye ; 
 Cry out, what a wonderful fcholar is this ! 
 He's a man of rare parts, to be fure that he is : 
 You fee he writes Latin, he is fo far learned, 
 Though by moft of his readers 'twill not be difcerned, 
 But doubtlefs it gives the Armlnlam a fmack 5 
 I darefay it trims that fame blackfmith his back ; 
 
 The quotations will be all along enclofed in double commas. 
 
 t " Polyphemus ! a Cyclops ! " a fcornful allufion to Mr. Taylor's original 
 occupation a blackfmith. How difingenuous this in Mr. Knight, who was him- 
 felf originally a collier! 
 
 \ I disapprove of the practice of making ufe of Latin and Greek terms and 
 quotations, in publications where very few of thofe who are likely to read them 
 underftand a word of the language. I think it is unmeaning and abfurd, and only 
 loves to hew the vanity of the author.
 
 APPENDIX. 335 
 
 He too talk'd of hammering Latin you know, 
 
 But the Collier* has given him his bellyful now. 
 
 IJfuch the fruits of PERFECT LOVE, 
 
 '"Tis not descended from above. 
 
 But then, kind fir, you ought to prove 
 
 Cyclops profefles perfect love; 
 
 Or otherwife, you know, my lad, 
 
 Suppofe his book or good or bad, 
 
 It can't be th' fruit of that, you know, 
 
 Which he makes no pretenfions to. 
 
 Th' advice you give from Paul, 'tis true, 
 
 Is good for him, and good for you ; 
 
 Forj/ou particularly, fir, 
 
 Whofe arrogant afluming air 
 
 Declares you (if I err not wide) 
 
 Far gone in prejudice and pride, 
 
 Right willing, were it in your pow'r, 
 
 To bite, afperfe, traduce, devour ; 
 
 But thanks to favouring Heaven for't, 
 
 Th' unlucky heifer's horns are fliort. 
 
 And fince the caufe of genuine Truth, 
 
 Embrac'd by the Cyclopean youth, 
 
 Among your quondam friends is fafe, 
 
 Permit us, fir, a friendly laugh, 
 
 While you will falfify and rail, 
 
 With Horace at your title's tail. 
 
 THE ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 WHAT next, fir, our attention claims ? 
 A comment on his heathen names. 
 We likewife find this author tries, 
 With fome concern, t' apologize 
 For that acute and dreadful Imart, 
 He feems to think his poignant dart, 
 
 * I difapprove of the great di/ingenuity of this author's fpirit, in endeavouring 
 to caft contempt upon Philalethes, by a fcornful allufion to his original occupation 
 (that of a blackfmith) in his title page, as the Cyclops, it is well known, were 
 fabled by the ancient poets to be gigantic journeymen blackfiniths to Vulcan in 
 forging arms for his heroes, &c. Now, a poor man may be born with a good 
 natural genius, which if he improves and makes ufe of for the good of fociety, he 
 is a worthy man, and defenres respcfl, notwithstanding the lownefc of hit birth or 
 occupation.
 
 336 APPENDIX. 
 
 Unerring, acrimonious, dire, 
 Will caufe the object of his ire. 
 Dear Collier, be advifed by me, 
 And let not your good nature be 
 Too much alarmed on this occafion ; 
 The Blackfmith, fir, is on good fafhion j 
 So far from having pierc'd within, 
 Your weapon never raz'd his (kin ; 
 He did, when firft your book he faw, 
 Feel fomething tickle like a ftraw, 
 But then his limbs and life were fafe 
 It only made the Blackfmith laugh ! 
 
 REMARKS ON THE POEM CALLED "POLYPHEMUS."* 
 
 Now hark ye, kind reader, a word in your ear ; 
 
 I only (hall notice a place here and there, 
 
 Where this writer I find wand'ring widely, poor man ! 
 
 And fet him as gently to rights as I can. 
 
 " He greatly admired her :" f he tells you not fo, 
 
 But that he much doubted her genuine or no,J 
 
 And that afterwards, when he ventured to try, 
 
 He found her a baftard, not fprung from the fky ; 
 
 No goddefs, the offspring of heav'nly plains, 
 
 But the fpurious produce of Calvinian brains. 
 
 " He writes, juft efcaped:" he does not, indeed ; 
 
 I wonder you'll truft to your blundering head. 
 
 'Tis " lately efcaped," fure, if you will look ; 
 
 But 'tis common with you, fir, to talk without book. 
 
 To " lately efcaped," he tells the blind youth, 
 
 He ought to have added, "from the arms of Truth" 
 
 But rather it mould be, I think, honeft friend, 
 
 From the dang'rous errors Calvinians defend. 
 
 " Said HephatJJos," fo here your poor readers may feek 
 
 Long enough for the meaning of this heathen Greek ; 
 
 What need for it, pray, but to mow on th' occafion 
 
 Your own learned vanity and affeftation ? 
 
 * The name of a huge cruel Sicilian giant mentioned by Homer in his 
 ** Odyfley," with only one large eye in the middle of his forehead. 
 
 t Viz., Calvinifin, which this author, with a great deal of dogmatical affurance, 
 dignifies with the name of Truth. 
 
 $ See the third page of his own pamphlet, in his addrefs to Mr. Wefley.
 
 APPENDIX. 337 
 
 Omnifcience to God we deny not, you know, 
 
 His decrees, right defined, we likewife allow ; 
 
 And if" Turks, Pagans, Jews, have in every age 
 
 A/ertedyour docJrine, both pious andfage, 
 
 And Chriflians in this and in every nation 
 
 Have drunk in the tenet of predeftination" 
 
 You ftill muft allow the Cyclopean youth, 
 
 That the age of a tenet's no proof of its truth ; 
 
 Nor does it authenticate error, I ween, 
 
 How num'rous foe'er its abettors have been. 
 
 " But clofe not in argument " Calvinift, fie ; 
 
 Your proud intimation joins clofe on a lie; 
 
 Your puffs are unmeaning, your boafting is vain ; 
 
 We fear not the Calvinift nor his 'whole train. 
 
 That Fletcher you hint at has given you your fill, 
 
 Has drubb'd your bold champions, Toplady and Hill, 
 
 Has come to clofe quarters, much clofer I trow 
 
 Than fome of you like, that we very well know ; 
 
 If this writer thinks not, let him try if he can 
 
 (He yet is unanfwer'd) to ani'wer the man 
 
 To bring down this high-foaring Swifs to the ground, 
 
 His books are in print, and may eafily be found. 
 
 " We eftablifli old chance ; " fir, we do not indeed, 
 
 'Tis but a mittake of your own muddy head. 
 
 " And may ye fucceed, but 'tis more than I hope s" 
 
 Here too, fir, we think you are wide of your fcope. 
 
 In general it feems, if we truft to old fame, 
 
 The Calvinians are playing a faft loofing game. 
 
 " Untaught to examine, forbid to debate " 
 
 Such falfities how can this writer relate ? 
 
 Of your pens or your parts, fir, we ftand in no dread ; 
 
 We fear not your ableft productions to read, 
 
 To give them a fair and a candid review, 
 
 And canvafs your ableft arguments through. 
 
 However, good fir, that of crowds of your own 
 
 The line is defcriptive, is very well known.* 
 
 " And crafty Uly/es ; " dear fir, have a care, 
 
 And be not fool-hardy, but cautious, beware ! 
 
 Touch lightly on Fletcher, your teeth he will fpoil ; 
 
 You remember the tale of the viper and file ? f 
 
 * The Calvinifts, to our knowledge, in many pUces ftriflly charging their people 
 not to read Mr. Fletcher. 
 
 t See the twenty-third fable of /Efop. 
 Z
 
 338 APPENDIX. 
 
 The Calvinijl, fir, may be certain of this, 
 
 He nor is, nor e'er will be, a match for the S*wifs. 
 
 " Quits darkened the eye in poor Polypheme s front " 
 
 Now don't write abfurdly, good poet, pray don't. 
 
 " When truth he beheld-" how ! what, man, do you fay ? 
 
 Could the Cyclops fee truth without eyes, fir, I pray, 
 
 When his eye was quite darken'd (you feign he'd but one), 
 
 And poor Polyphemus was " blind as a fane?" 
 
 Our poet poflefles rare talents indeed, 
 
 An invention-furprifmg, and accurate head ! 
 
 " But the goddefs,* indeed, 
 " HadVeritas\ legibly 'wrote on her head." 
 Don't you think you miftake now ? I think, fir, you do ; 
 The medium is falfe which you look at her through ; 
 Or fomething's the matter, whatever it be, 
 For Truth on her forehead you never did fee. 
 You'll fay I am pofitive ; excufe me, fir, do, 
 Example is catching, dear poet, you know. 
 It is not long fince this Calvinian elf 
 I met on my way, fir, and faw her myfelf ; 
 Examin'd her clofely, and truly can tell 
 I remember her perfon and look very well. 
 Since then, I have feen, fir, you muft underftand, 
 Her portraiture drawn by a mafterly hand ; J 
 And for your advantage and profit, dear man, 
 I'll try to defcribe her as near as I can. 
 
 A FIGURATIVE SKETCH OF CALVINISM. 
 
 HER perfon's genteel, fair-proportion'd, and tall, 
 Her countenance comely, but haughty withal ; 
 Her genuine name (for I faw't in her face 
 Infcrib'd on her forehead) is Wanton-free grace.^ 
 Howe'er, th' appellations are diff'rent (he claims, 
 And (he paffes herfelf under various names; 
 Sometimes Orthodoxy, and fometimes Free-grace, 
 Curtail'd of the addition infcrib'd on her facej \ 
 Sometimes the Pure Gofpel herfelf fhe'll affirm; 
 And fometimes The DoQrines of Grace are her term ; 
 
 * Calvinifm. -f Viz., Truth. 
 
 I Mr. Fletcher. See his " Hifiorical Effay," p. zi, preceding the firft part of 
 his " Equal Check." 
 $ Viz., Abfolute Election. || Viz., Wanton.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Then The Truth or The Go/pel, to thefe (he'll lay claim 
 
 As if none but herfclf e'er deferved the name. 
 
 An ugly black boy* you'll be certain to find, 
 
 I hat bears up the train of her mantle behind : 
 
 Her content attendant, ne'er feen from her fide, 
 
 And by the fraternal relation allied, 
 
 But as confcious, it leems, of his own frightful look, 
 
 Very artfully hides himlelf under her cloak f 
 
 When firft I difcerned him, I ftepp'd to the place, 
 And took up the train that o'ermadow'd his face 
 But (fave me kind Heaven, and merciful be !) 
 So horrid an afpeft I never did fee ! 
 Remorfelefs ill-nature appear'd in his air, 
 And perch'd on his head fat the Fury Defpair ; 
 His breath fent around a fulphureous fmelf, 
 From his broad glaring eyes flafti'd the lightning of hell ; 
 For fingers dire fharp crooked talons appear'd ; 
 His roar the moft dreadful that ever was heard ; 
 His fplay cloven feet might be feen as he went, 
 And plainly betray'd his infernal defcent ; 
 His name is FREE WRATH, fir, which vifibly ftood 
 Infcribed on his forehead in letters of blood ; 
 In one fingle line his character to tell, 
 He was fierce as ten furies, and horrid as hell ! J 
 His dire afpeft which ftill frighted fancy retains 
 E'en caus'd the warm blood to run chill in my veins. 
 I darted with horror, turn'd back from the view, 
 Implor'd Heaven's protection, and hafty withdrew ; 
 Retir'd to a diftance, beneath a frefh made, 
 And fat down to notice the progrefs they made. 
 She walks through the world (her attendant behind); 
 And as me proceeds through the crowds of mankind, 
 She picks up fome fav'rites, a few here and there, 
 And fawns over thefe with peculiar care ; 
 She hugs them and foothes them, and fmiles in their face, 
 And tells them they're all the dear offspring of grace ; 
 That (he loves them all dearly, and will do for aye, 
 Let them do what they will, or behave as they may j 
 Should they murder with David, or curfe, fwear, and lie 
 With Peter, or like him their Saviour deny ; 
 
 Abfolute Reprobation. 
 
 t Alluding to the gcacr al backwardness of th: Calvinifti to ipcak on the lubjeit 
 of Reprobation 
 
 $ ** Fierce as tjn furies, terrible at hell," it a line of Millon, B. i, L. 671.
 
 340 APPENDIX. 
 
 Or commit what fome people adultery call, 
 
 She allures them they never (hall finally fall ; 
 
 But fooner or later, howe'er they've behaved, 
 
 Shall be made to repent, and believe, and be faved. 
 
 But (he looks on all elfe, fir, that ever were born, 
 
 With contempt, indignation, and infinite fcorn, 
 
 And tells them expreffly (he always view'd them 
 
 With wrath everlafting, and hatred iupreme. 
 
 She calls them and makes them mock offers of grace ; 
 
 If they come, fir, (he taunts them and fleers in their face, 
 
 Reproaches them as a vile reprobate brood, 
 
 Appointed for Tophet, and hated of God. 
 
 When they dared to complain, fir, I heard her declare, 
 
 With a haughty, imperious, and infolent air, 
 
 She was fure her proceedings were not to be blam'd, 
 
 That their fuff'rings were juft, and they ought to be 
 
 damn'd ; 
 
 And queftion'd them fternly how fuch a vile brood 
 Durft prefume to complain or reply againft God ? 
 For that fix thoufand years ago, or thereupon, 
 The crime that deferved thefe pains they had done 
 In the garden of Eden, when, at Satan's fuit," 
 Our old grandfather Adam eat forbidden fruit. 
 When they further prefum'd, fir, to reafon the cafe, 
 And told her they never remember' d the place, 
 And faid (like the lamb in the fable* forlorn) 
 That the time (he had named was before they were born, 
 That they could not conceive how God juftly could fend 
 Them to torments infernal and pains without end, 
 As they themfelves never were able to choofe, 
 Nor e'er had a power to accept or refufe ; 
 'Twas as hard with a crime to be chargeable made, 
 Of which, fir, they never were confcious they faid 
 For a crime to be hated, rejected, forlorn, 
 Another committed before they were born ; 
 And earneftly begg'd (he'd confider their cafe, 
 And try them at leaft with one grain of true grace, 
 That they might (though but fmall) have fome chance for 
 
 falvation, 
 
 Before they were fent to eternal damnation. 
 Here the lady put on, in a furious fit, 
 A frown, fir, as black as the bottomlefs pit 5 
 She huff'd and look'd fcornful, and proudly declar'd 
 
 * See the fecond fable of JEfop.
 
 APPENDIX. 341 
 
 Such dull coxcombs as they were beneath her regard j 
 She call'd them perverfe, and of reprobate mind, 
 And free willing heretics, ftupid, and blind ; 
 Blafpheming Arminians, that truth they betrayed 
 'Twas horrid and mocking to hear them, (he faid ; 
 That 'twas true they'd no pow'r to accept or deny, 
 And declar'd that Free-agency all was a lie j 
 That how ftrange a matter foe'er it may feem 
 To fuch mallow (hort-fighted creatures as them, 
 With fuch things as thele, (he would have them to know, 
 Common fenfe, fir, and reafon had nothing to do : * 
 She wonder'd, much wonder'd, fuch wretches as them, 
 To cenfure their Maker's decrees mould prefume ; 
 Though they fell on themfelves with a terrible weight, 
 They mould hold their peace, go to hell, and be quiet ; 
 And as heaven's great Sovereign it feems had thought fit 
 To doom them to burn in the bottomlefs pit, 
 They ought not to murmur, but humbly fubmit, 
 To yield to the fovereign difpofal he claims, 
 Nor complain for his pleal'ure to fry in the flames. 
 
 Here (he frown'd and look'd wrathful, averted her face, 
 And declar'd they mould ne'er have a grain of true grace ; 
 Contemptuous (he turn'd, difregarded their cry, 
 And finally parted the poor reprobates by. 
 
 No fooner (he turned, but the monfter behind, 
 Perceiving they now for the flames were defign'd, 
 Firft view'd them with infernal pleafure a while, 
 And grinn'd o'er them horrid a grim ghaftly fmile,f 
 Then ftalk'd through the crowd with his cloven fplay feet, 
 And toft them by (hoals to the bottomlefs pit ! 
 But whatfliock'd beyond meafure and harrow'd my mind, 
 Was to fee the grim fiend feize the poor infant kind ! 
 For myriads of infants the Wanton pafs'd by,J 
 Not regarding their moan or their heart-piercing cry. 
 I watch'd the fierce fury, and faw him, fir, (land 
 With a tender young infant gripp'd faft in each hand ; 
 His talons pierced thro' them, and down from each wound 
 The warm blood in ftreamlets diftill'd on the ground. 
 To have heard their fad (hrieks and their pitiful moan, 
 
 * This the author heard a Calvinift aflert in exprefs terms not long ago. 
 'Grinn'd horrible a ghaftly fmile." Milton, B.I, L. 846. 
 
 fpcaks of the
 
 342 APPENDIX. 
 
 Would have pierced a heart even harder than ftone ; 
 
 They writhed in an agony, tortur'd with pain, 
 
 And fpread out their poor little arms, fir, in vain ! 
 
 I wept o'er the babies, I could not forbear 
 
 (I, fir, am a. father, excufe the fond tear); 
 
 My bowels yearn'd o'er the poor innocent lambs ; 
 
 And when the foul fiend caft them into the flames, 
 
 I ftepp'd to the fide of the pit and look'd in ; 
 
 But O, my dear Calvinift, what a fad fcene ! 
 
 Whole myriads of infants of different degrees, 
 
 Some but a fpan long, fome yet fmaller than thefe, 
 
 In furious burnings lay weltering there, 
 
 Though they knew not for why they fo miferable were j 
 
 Convulfed and rack'd with unfpeakable pain, 
 
 They feebly fcream'd out, but their Icreams were in vain ! 
 
 horrid and cruel, I cried out, difmayed ; 
 
 It feems the dire couple o'erheard what I (aid, 
 
 For no fooner the words from my lips, fir, were flown, 
 
 But they both caft upon me an indignant frown. 
 
 1 was frighted, as well you'll fuppofe I might be, 
 For fear thofe dire talons fliould faften on me. 
 
 I turned about, in a hurry withdrew, 
 
 And bade them a long and a willing adieu ! 
 
 END OF THE SKETCH. 
 
 " I fay "tis chance alone bears rule, 
 And ^who denies this is a fool; 
 'The Almighty Ruler ofthejkies, 
 I dare affirm, is not all-wife. 
 I fay "'tis falfe that when man fell, 
 His co<v'nant feed deferred hell. 
 
 iiberis eorum infantibus') together with their little children, are involved, WITHOUT 
 REMEDY, in eternal death by the fall, he fays that ' Gad foreknew their end before 
 he made man.' And he accounts for this foreknowledge thus: 'He foreknew it 
 becaufe he had ordained it bjt His decree ' a decree this which three lines above he 
 calls ' horribly awful.' ' Et ideo prsefcivit quia decreto fuo fie ordinarat.' ' Decre- 
 tum quidem horribile fateor.' And in the next chapter he obferves, that ' Foraf- 
 much as the reprobates do not obey the Word of God, we may well charge their dif- 
 tbedience ufon the WICKEDNESS of their hearts, fro-uided we add at the fame time 
 that they were devoted to this WICKEDNESS; becaufe by the jujl and unfearchabli 
 judgment of God, they were raifed uf to illujh-ate his glory by their DAMNATION.' 
 ' Modo fimul adjiciatur, ideo in hanc pravitatem addiftos, quia jufto et infcruta- 
 bili Dei judicio fufcitati funt, ad gloriam ejus fua damnatione illuilrandam.' " This 
 Calvinifm unmaflced may be feen in " Calvin's Inftitutions," third book, chap. 13, 
 fca. 7 ; and chap. 14, fed. 14.
 
 APPENDIX. 343 
 
 'Twould be unjujljhould God not love 
 
 With like affeSion all our race, 
 
 And give to all men EqyAL grace ! 
 
 We dij "approve the Word that fays 
 
 'Tis God difpofei all men's ways ; 
 
 Nor can we o--wn him for a Methodift, 
 
 Who fays he can do nothing without Chrift. 
 
 We Calvinifm WHOLLY dif approve, 
 
 And HATE to them confifts 'with PERFECT love. 
 
 The tranfvers'djhillingjix'd my faith* 
 
 Which Vm refolv"d to hold till death." 
 
 I'll tell thee what, Calvinift, 'twixt thee and I, 
 
 'Tis mean, and unmanly, and wicked to lie. 
 
 Of all thefe aflertions thy pen has let fall, 
 
 There is not one grain of found truth in them all. 
 
 That our open belief of thefe points we declare, 
 
 Your confcience, I think, will not let you aver; 
 
 That with juftice and truth they can fairly be drawn 
 
 From our principles, is what I never have known ; 
 
 And 'tis well enough known to this candid good man, 
 
 That our fixed belief is that they never can, 
 
 And therefore to mifreprefent as you do, 
 
 Is unfair, and ungen'rous, and cowardly too. 
 
 " That men by works are juftified 
 We preach.'''' So does Saint James befides.f 
 We ....... make it plain 
 
 That God mufl FIRST be lov'd by man." 
 
 Write greater untruth they who can. 
 
 " We prove that God may love to-day, 
 
 To-morrow take his love away." 
 
 The fame will honeft Hofea lay 5 J 
 
 The fame Ezekiel faid before.^ 
 
 And John,\\ and Paul,^ and twenty more. 
 
 Calvinians "fay God's" ftill "the fame" 
 
 Who, think you, can this author name 
 
 That thinks the fentiment amifs, 
 
 Or fays the contrary to this? 
 
 " And whom He loves and makes His friend, 
 
 He loves andfaves them to the end" 
 
 The very fame the Blackfmith faith, 
 
 If they continue in the Faith, 
 
 Viz., Mr. Wefley-i. * Ezek. xrui. 14, 16 5 and XKUL u. it 
 
 + See James U. 14. i fc^'i 
 
 t Hofea ix. 15- 5Rom.xi.il.
 
 344 APPENDIX. 
 
 Grounded and fettled, nor give up 
 The genuine Gofpel's ftable hope. 
 
 " Some truths there are, c we can't deny, 
 Yet dare by no means preach them" Fie ! 
 Now is not this, dear fir, a lie ? 
 " Somethings <we DISBELIEVE, yet they * 
 Will ha--ve them preach'd, and we obey. 
 
 "We hope 
 
 Though <we do give our confcience up 
 (Small harm, If good may come from thence), 
 God *with our weaknefs will dijpenfe ." 
 
 fie for fhame, Calvinift, fie, fie for fhame ! 
 
 Did not confcience here whifper thou'rt highly to blame ? 
 Where one of thofe Methodift preachers, I trow, 
 (Come name them and fhame them) where one doft thou 
 
 know, 
 
 That fuch a bafe, vile, wicked maxim receives, 
 Or preaches contrary to what he believes ? 
 But if thou canft not, then repent as 'tis o'er, 
 And write fuch bafe, vile, wicked flanders no more. 
 " Profane and ungodly and Methodijts joiri'd, 
 United in purpofe, in heart, and in mind" 
 
 1 cannot help thinking, dear fir, in this place, 
 This remark comes from you with a very ill grace. 
 Thought I, 'twould do well this Calvinian elf 
 Would take Paul's advice f and confider himfelf, 
 Keep his vile intimations upon his own ground, 
 Where profane and ungodly enough may be found. 
 " Infpite of them all, I the fceptre yet hold." 
 
 But where, fir, reigns Calvinifm fo uncontroll'd ? 
 That erroneous fcheme you fo ftoutly aver, 
 And difhonour the truth by comparing't with her. 
 " Forbear then, O Cyclops, for triumph I mujl, 
 When thou and thy forces are laid in the duft." 
 A mean, empty, low, and poor paltry vain boaft. 
 
 Viz., the Wefleys. f See Gal. vi. I. 
 
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