THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A PHRENOLOGIST. First Heriot: FROM BIRTH TILL NINE 1796 TO 1805. YEARS OF ACE. The earthly life is a wondrous maze, On craggy mountains, where lightning gleams, ⚫ Some seek a dwelling in murky caves; With storms some wrestle on ocean waves, But dark or sunny, in peace or strife, As dwelling or path may be, To each is given a clue of life, To lead to the "far countrie."" MARY C. EUME. NEAR to the then most aristocratic street in the city of Westminster (termed Great George Street), there stood, sixty years since, a large court, built in the form of a cross, and used in the good old days of Catholicism as a residence for many of the holy monks and friars,' whose duty lay so frequently at the noble Abbey Church dedicated to St. Peter. This court terminated 6 a at one end in a narrow lane, opening again into broad space, and termed respectively the 'Narrow' and Broad Sanctuary,' used, as the name imports, as a refuge for those whose crimes or misfortunes drove them into the security and protection of Holy Mother Church'; and which, at the time I speak of, was the resort of many individuals not of the most estimable character, but who here seemed still to congregate, though the freedom from arrest had long since been abolished. The other end of the court terminated in Princes Street, which still exists and bears its original name, though the court and the sanctuaries have long since been rased to the ground, and numbered among the things that were. The termination of the court in Princes Street was nearly opposite to another court, handsomely paved, named Princes Court, in which were wont to reside, during the Parliamentary Session, many of the country members. This court led into St. James's Park, towards that part termed Bird-Cage Walk, and in which, at that time, there was going on one uninterrupted drill of recruits. At the corner of Prince's Court was a large Hotel, or Story's Gate Tavern, as it was and is still called, and was the resort of many of the gentlemen members before alluded to, and was besides frequented by some of the most eminent men of the last century and the beginning of the present. Directly opposite the Abbey Church, which was situated in front of the Broad Sanctuary before mentioned, there stood, and still stands, a very busy, a very dirty, very crowded, and very vile street, called Tothill Street; and if I have described it in the superlative degree, it is no more than it deserves, for it is, in truth, the superlative of wickedness; but as I shall have occasion again to speak about this street, and its purlieus, I shall pass over it now by merely naming it. In the court before mentioned, and which rejoiced in the name of Angel's Court,' probably on account of the angels who were supposed to be on visiting terms with the 'holy monks and friars' who inhabited it,—————I was born on the But, stop! there is a dispute about the day of my birth, which has never been settled; and as I have no recollection of the precise time myself, I am apprehensive that this important event will always remain in doubt. I was born, then, in the year 1796. There was, so I have been informed, no small stir and commotion in the house at the time, but, whether just before midnight, or just after it, has never been accurately settled. Some contend that it was just before; and if that is the truth, on the 29th of February, 1852, I saw my fifteenth birthday, a ripe youth, with sons and daughters who have seen more birthdays, and, consequently, are older than myself. But some contend that my birthday was after midnight; that I was ushered into the world on the day of the patron saint of Wales, David; that I had brought my name with me, and David was I accordingly named; consequently, that I was born on the 1st of March, 1796, and, therefore, I am now in my sixtieth year; and so my sons and daughters will not have seen more birthdays than myself. I think it will be advisable for me to settle this matter summarily, and say, I was born March 1st, 1796, in the aforesaid Angel's Court. What passed from this time until I was nearly three years of age, I cannot precisely remember-perhaps I did not cultivate the organ most necessary perhaps those who had the charge of me were ignorant of its existence, or perhaps it had not developed itself; yet, as long as I can recollect, I have always been celebrated for possessing a good memory. At all events, at or about the age of three years, a circumstance occurred of which I have the most perfect recollection-it was the death of my father. I knew not the loss I had sustained, and I perhaps should not have remembered this event but for the pageant associated with it. My father belonged to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows,' an 'order' which at that time enrolled among its members some of the gayest young men of the aristocracy; and I have since been told that some of my relations have sat in the same lodge with the then Prince of Wales (late George IV.) My father was high in favor among this fraternity, and his remains were honored by a public funeral; and it was this pageant that so forcibly impressed upon my memory my father's death. I saw the whole procession from the window of a neighbor's house in the Court, to which I had been removed, I suppose, to be out of the way. The coffin was preceded by two brothers, as they were called, bearing drawn swords; then followed a long procession, some before, some after the coffin, with sashes, aprons, and medals of distinction, some of them sparkling with gems, or, as is most probable, with Bristol stones. I thought it a very grand sight, but I have since had my thoughts changed materially. However, this is the first public event which I remember, and the event left me an orphan, and my mother burdened with a heavy family of sons, of whom I was the youngest. I think the next public event that impressed me was the Peace of 1802, and I remember it on account of the firing of the park guns, and the general illumination. Such demonstrations of joy were then made in colored glass lamps at the public offices, and in small tallow candles from the windows of private houses! I remember my mother's house was illuminated in the latter way; and as I rambled up and down the court, I was marvellously pleased with the display of candles in the neighbors' houses. But over the door of the Story's Gate Tavern, the regal star, and the royal initials of 'G. R.,' struck me as inconceivably grand. This grandeur, however, sunk into insignificance by a view of the devices at the Horse Guards and Admiralty. But grand as all this appeared to me, at the period of which I write, and grand as it undoubtedly was to the old people then living, to such as now behold the blaze of light in the splendid shops of our large cities, it would, could they have seen and compared. it, have proved a very paltry affair indeed. Still it is deserving of note, if it be but to show the progress we |