the man you have hitherto been. You may now perceive that to attain a little uncertain pelf, of which no man can enfure to himself the DESCRIPTION of the Town of FOLK. BU continuance, it is not worth while to (With a View elegantly engraved.) give up all that man ought to refpect, his character, his honour,DURY St. Edmund's is fituated on the weft fide of the river Bourn or Lark, which within thefe few years has been made navigable from Lynn to Farnham, about a mile north of the town. It is fo regularly built, that almost all the treets cut one another at sight angles. It ftands on an eafy afçent, and overlooks a fruitful enclosed country on the fouth and fouthweft,-on the north and north weft, the moft delightful champaign-fields, which extend themfelves to Lynn, and that part of the Norfolk coaft; and on the eaft the country is partly enclofed, and partly open. So pleafantly is this town fi uated, that it has been called the Momplier of England. and the friendship and efteem of ; to This town, including the fuburbs, extends above a mile from caft to weft, and near two miles from fouth to north. It contains five wards, five gates, and thirty-four ftreets, which are ftraight, fpacious, and well-paved. The chief public buildings are the Guild-hall, Wool-hall, and Shire-houfe; befides the Abbeygate, which is ftill a fine monument of what the abbey once was. St. Mary's, which is much the oldeft church, was firft built in 1005, and rebuilt in 1430. St. James's was not quite finished til the reformaHENRY ASHTON. tion, at which time here were five hofpitals, one college, and above forty churches and chapels. They are both remarkable for their fymmetry, large, beautiful windows, neat pillars, and noble roofs; and both ftand in one church yard. This noble and generous conduct on the part of his brother had a great effect on the mind of John. He received the proffered donation with gratitude, conquered, by degrees, at lealt in part, his propenfities to avarice and felfifinefs: and the two brothers lived ever after in uninterrupted amity. This town is governed by an alderman, who is the chief magiftrate, twelve capital burgeffes, and twenty-four common council-men, and and fends two members to parlia- In 1636 this town was fo depopulat ment. It has been famous for feveral conventions of the nobility and parliament. The barons made their league here againft king John. A parliament was held here in the reign of Henry III. and another in that of Edward I. In that of Edward III. the townímen broke open the abbey, carried off its treáfures, and made the abbot and monks their prifoners, till they had fealed a charter of incorporation for the town, and given them the cuftody of all the town-gates, and the wardfhip of all its orphans; but nineteen of the rioters were executed, and the writings that had been extorted from the abbot, made void, and the town fined 60,000l. In the reign of Henry VI. a parliament met here, when Humphrey duke of Gloucester, who had been regent during his minority, was murdered here, which gave the firft occafion to the war between the houfes of York and Lancaster. In February 1772, fome workmen, employed in the ruins of the abbey, found a leaden coffin that had been cafed in an oak cafe, which contained the body of Thomas Beaufort, duke of Exeter, uncle to Henry V. and depofited in 1427. The flesh, hair, and toe and hand-nails, were as perfect as though but just dead; but foon decayed; and the workmen turned the carcafe into a hole, and fold the leaden coffin to a plumber. In the time of Edward VI. here were reckoned 3000 housekeepers, and in that of queen Elizabeth 4000 communicants. Thay petitioned for the privilege of fending members to parliament, but could not obtain it till it was conferred on them by Charles 1. who alfo granted them their charter of incorporation; and, in 1608, when feveral hundred houfes were burned down, they had a grant from the crown of great quantities of timber to rebuild them. ed by a plague that grafs grew in the reets. Here is an hofpital or workhouse for thirty boys and girls, which was formerly a fynagogue of the Jews, who were very numerous here, till 1179, when they were accufed of having crucified a boy, and for that, and fimilar offences, which it was alleged they had committed in other places, they were banished the king dom. Here are two weekly markets on Wednefdays and Saturdays; and three annual fairs; one three days be fore, and three days after the feaft of St. Matthew, and it is generally protracted to a fortnight. BENEVOLENCE REWARDED. (Embellished with an elegant Engraving.) RUE benevolence acts without view to reward, but fometimes unexpectedly meets an ample recompenfe; as the hofpitable patriarch is faid to have "entertained angels unawares.” Mrs. Vincent was a widow lady, of a fmall but competent fortune, who, after the death of her hufband, a tradefman of fome eminence, had retired to a village on the western road, at a confiderable diflance from the metropolis, where the intended to pafs the remainder of her life, devoting her time to the education of an only daughter, and performing fuch acts of charitable beneficence among the poor cottagers, her neighbours, as rendered her at once admired and beloved by all who knew the goodnefs of her heart, and the extent of her munificence. One day, as fhe walked cut into an orchard he had behind the house, the found á poor fhepherd-Loy lying under one of the trees, exceedingly hurt |