go home and kick up a fine duft," and accordingly on his return home, he abused his fon, fervants, &c. In confequence of a continuance of this rigid treatment, young Bentley ran away from his father, and was absent several years; and it is fuppofed that the habits which he contracted abroad, together with his father's ill-humour, were the occafion of his prefent eccentric turn of mind. The old gentleman poffeffed confiderable property, built feveral houses at Iflington (where he died about *1760) and had a country-house at Edmonton, where he married his fecond wife, a dissenting lady of great fortune, who died at Iflington, August 2, 1764, and by her death five thousand pounds came to the fund for the fupport of the widows and orphans of diffenting ministers, one thousand pounds for the fupport of a diffenting minifter at Kingston-upon-Thames, and one thousand pounds to St. Thomas's Hofpital. It was upon the intereft of this lady's fortune, (and merely for which he married her) that old Mr. Bentley lived, and thereby faved his own property; he also laid down his o n coach, and made ufe of her's. Though a proteftant dif parith church (St. Kathe senter, he made a prefent to his rine Cree-church, Leadenhall-Street) of a bell, which, by his defire, was to ring a peal, on each succeeding birth-day, while he lived. Round this bell, which the writer of this article purposely examined and read, is the following mfcription:" THE GIFT OF NATHANIEL BENTLEY, OF THIS PARISH, 1754. EASTERN AND PECK FECIT." He left his fon, the present inhabitant of this dirty warehoufe, a good fortune; befides the ftock and trade of an extenfive wholesale business, houfes, and property in dif * In a note in the European Magazine for January 1801, page 45, he is faid to have died about 1770; but this is a mistake; his fecond wife, whofe death is afcertained, was a widow about four years. ferent stocks, he left him a certain annuity: and in order to increase this annuity, and perhaps defirous at that time to relinquish trade, young Bentley, foon after his father's death, was in treaty with Mr. Blifs of Pall-Mall, an acquaintance of his father's, for the house, stock, &c. who proposed to pay half the purchase-money down, and give undeniable security for the remainder; but as Mr. Bentley was determined on having the whole at once, Mr. Bliss accordingly declined it. Our hero then (1764) altered the front of his two houses, and made them one (being the present shop) and taking his pleasure at this time, he appointed a perfon named Holliday, at 10s. 6d. per week, to mind the place during his absence, who accordingly placed the feveral things in order, and cleaned out the whole house, this being the last time it was ever put in order. Previous to his father's death, and for fome years after, Mr. Bentley was called the Beau of Leadenhall-Street, and was seen at all public places, dreffed as a man of fashion. He has been several times at Paris, particularly at the coronation of the late Louis XVI. to whom he was introduced perfonally, and was confidered the handsomest and best dreft English gentleman then at the French Court. He speaks feveral languages, particularly French and Italian fluently, and has been seen in the city and other parts of London in converfation with fome of the moft refpectable gentlemen and merchants in this country. He attended in a most elegant fuit the Fête at Renalagh, given by the Spanish Ambassador on the King's recovery. His manners in company ftill befpeak the gentleman, though his appearance in business is little fhort of difgufting. He has appeared at masquerades, affemblies, &c. in the most elegant and fashionable attire; which, on his return home, he throws off, puts on his dirty clothes, opens the fhop, chains the door, OF MR. BENTLEY. 93 door, and retires to reft; but how he fleeps is not known, for there is not a bed in the whole house! He has been seen lately at Sadler's Wells, the Masquerade at Ranelagh, with elegantly dreffed ladies, and was at Vauxhall the last birth-day of the Prince of Wales, August 12, 1802, dreffed in his favourite blue. He went to fee M. Garnerin's fecond afcenfion in the balloon, on which occafion he wore his fuftian drefs; and he once discharged a poor old woman for delaying about half an hour, whereby he lost three-halfpence, which he said "would never do." He was fome time ago the collector of the titherates for his parish, and after he had collected one hundred and fifty pounds, the amount of the tithes, eighty pounds for Cambridge College, and feventy pounds for the minister of the parish, he declined further collection, which, being the overplus, should have gone to the poor; fo that some of the inhabitants paid the tithe-rate that year, and others did not. Being called to an account in the veftry-room, he defended his conduct in fuch a manner, and with fo much eloquence, as baffled all argument. The last time he was at Paris he was abfent from home three weeks: the care of his fhop he committed to two people, who tranfacted the business as usual; on his return he paid their demands, and difmiffed them, requiring no account, as he remarked they would give whatever account they pleased. In his beauifh days, his favourite suit was blue and filver, with his hair dreffed in the extremity of fashion, chapeau de bras, &c. but now--what a wonderful alteration at home-his hair occafionally stands up "like the quills of the fretful porcupine." He generally attends in his fhop without a coat, while his waiftcoat, breeches, shirt, face and hands, correfpond with the dirtinefs of his warehouse. Out of business he wears a fuftian drefs and cock'd hat, and on gay occafions a fuit of old-fashioned blue. blue. He frequently powders his hair in all his dirt, before a front window, which naturally attracts the notice of the multitude. In the front garret window he is generally feen on Sundays, reading the newspaper. He has a fifter, a very accomplished lady, who for elegance and neatness, is quite the contraft of himself; her husband was Mr. Lindegreen, a confiderable merchant of Mincing Lane, after whofe decease she took up her refidence at Durham Place, Chelsea, near the Hofpital, where fhe and her family now live, and to whom the editor of this work applied for authentic information. She lately paid her brother a vifit and bespoke fome articles, which fhe requested him to fend to her; Mr. Bentley accordingly defired a person in his neighbourhood to take them, observing, that if he went himself, he would not be paid prompt. The meffenger was much furprized at the refpectable appearance and polite behaviour of his fifter, who defired him to give her love to her brother, that fhe would call to fee him, and then fettle with him; which having communicated to Mr. Bentley, he exclaimed-" Aye-aye-I was afraid how it would be.”— She often vifits her brother in her chariot, but never alights, being as much an enemy to dirt, as he is to cleanliness. His houfe, which appears to be very large, is as filthy in front, as it is in the interior: the windows are literally as black and as thick of dirt and smoke as the back of a chimney grate that had not been swept for many years: fome of the window-fhutters have not been opened for fome time, and the broken windows are repaired by old japanned waiters and tea-trays, which are chained to the frames, and which fill up the vacancies. The neighbours, efpecially those oppofite, have frequently offered to defray the expense of painting and white-wafh.ng the front of his houfe; but this Mr. Bentley as frequently refused, alledging that his shop is fo well known abroad, as well as at home, by the denomina denomination of the Dirty Warehouse of Leadenhall Street, that to alter its prefent appearance, would ruin his trade with the Levant, &c. The lower class, and the ignorant, have a fuperftitious notion that he has a blue room for the fame purpose as is told in the old idle ftory (now dramatifed) of Bluebeard, and confequently females are afraid of venturing into it. It is true that he has a locked-up room in his houfe, which has not been opened for a great number of years, and of this strange circumftance the following story is faid to be the cause. Mr. Bentley was engaged to be married to a beautiful young woman, and previous to the intended ceremony, he invited her and her relations to partake of an clegant repaft. Having prepared all things ready for their reception, he anxiously waited the arrival of his hoped-for bride, when a meffenger entered the room, and informed him of the melancholy news of the young lady's sudden death! This fo affected him, that he whimfically refolved to fasten up the room, and never to enter it as long as he lived. Every article that was prepared for the entertainment, with the neceffary appurtenances, were left in the order they were placed: he nailed up the windows and door, and in that state it has continued ever fince. This ftory, which is related by himself, is by feveral fuppofed to be merely a fabrication to fatisfy the curious. It is likewife reported that he has his coffin in the house, and probably of this he makes his bed: this affertion alfo comes from himself, as he admits no perfon into the interior part of his house. Formerly he did not go out more than once or twice in a year, and then he used to be fo tormented by the gaping multitude, who were all in an uproar after him, that he has been obliged to call in the affiftance of the beadle and a constable, in order to difperfe them. Once he played these idle fools a curious trick; for having placed a lighted candle in one of the front windows, which attracted their attention, he |