sentences at the Middlesex Sessions throughout the
year, it appears that two or three were branded
after each meeting of the most worshipful
justices. " Whipping at the cart's tail" was also
an exhibition freely indulged in. How criminals
appeared at the place of execution, may be seen
by referring to the trial of John M'Naughton,
Esq., for the murder (and a very barbarous one it
was) of Miss Maria Knox, at Strabane. " He was
brought to execution on foot, supported by two
men, and dressed in a white flannel waistcoat,
trimmed with black buttons and holes, a diaper
nightcap tied with a black ribbon, white stockings,
mourning buckles, and a crape tied on his
arm." This "suit of woe" was worn by Mr.
M'Naughton as a tribute of respect to the
young lady whom he had murdered—it is to be
presumed.

In the matrimonial arrangements of a hundred
years ago, the amount of the lady's fortune,
when she had one, was generally made public in
this succinct manner: " Captain Dauvergne of
the Horse Guards, to Miss Major of Chelsea;
thirty thousand pounds." " Captain Blagden of
Newcastle, to Mrs. Heath of Westoe; seven
thousand pounds." But when the marriage had
in it something remarkable, particulars were
often given, as in this instance: "A grenadier
belonging to the Yorkshire Buffs, quartered at
Newcastle, to the daughter of a chimney-sweep
of that place, whose dowry is soot, to the value
of forty pounds, and eightpence a day during the
life of the father." Fortunate grenadier! An
unnecessary mystery appears to have shrouded the
intended marriage which is thus announced: "On
Sunday last the banns of marriage were published
at St. James's Church, between two Right
Honourable personages of the first rank in the
kingdom." One would have thought, after the
publication of the banns, that there would have
been no squeamishness in mentioning names;
but the title of " Right Honourable" was held so
sacred, that even when treating of historical
matters, the minister was only adverted to as
"Mr. F———," or " Mr. P———." With those
of lower degree, greater freedom was allowed:
"On Wednesday last, was married at Reading,
Sir Thomas Cooke, one of the Poor Knights of
Windsor, and near seventy years of age, to Miss
Collier, a young lady of about twenty-two. The
Knight was extremely joyful on the occasion;
in the evening he danced three minuets, and
behaved in all respects so gallantly, that he put
the old bachelors (with whom the town is
overstocked) entirely out of countenance."
Advertising for wives was a practice then as now.
The following appears in Lloyd's Evening Post:
"Any Lady of Character and Fortune, that is
willing to enter into that honourable state called
Matrimony, and to take with her a partner for
Life, that is possessed of every Qualification,
that may be thought requisite or necessary, to
make her the most happy in that Station (Fortune
only excepted), five Feet nine Inches high,
straight and well-made, twenty-four years of
Age. But perhaps you will think me vain, when
I tell you my Person is altogether what the
Flattering World calls Handsome. If there is
any Lady whose Disposition may lead her to pity
the Youth, for his taking this method to reach
Happiness, may be informed of further Particulars,
by sending a line directed to Pollydore
Delight, to be left at Mr. Nicoll's, Publisher, in
St. Paul's Churchyard, London. N.B. Inviolable
secrecy preserved." Mr. Pollydore Delight
either met with "a lady of character and fortune,"
or his cash ran short, for the advertisement
does not seem to have been repeated.
Others there were, however, who went more
directly to the mark than this modest youth,
as appears by the accompanying romantic story,
which is told in two parts. First comes this
brief statement: " A duel was fought in Hyde
Park between an English officer and an Irish
gentleman, when the former was so dangerously
wounded in the belly that his life has been
despaired of. He is now, however, in a fair
way of doing well." On the next day this
paragraph appeared: "A lady in Bond-street,
said to be nearly related to the young officer
who was wounded in Hyde Park, shot herself
through the head with a pistol, and died in great
agonies. She was the daughter of a family of
fortune at Northaw, in Hertfordshire, and had
married against her friends' consent." The
marriage was in this wise: " About three weeks ago,
a cornet of horse went to her father's at
Northaw, to ask the character of a man-servant.
He not being at home, the officer was introduced
to the young lady his daughter, who
happened to be then at tea. She gave the servant
a fair character, and after some chat with the
officer, asked him to drink a dish of tea. Thus
began an acquaintance which the cornet cultivated
by means of letters delivered by the servant. The
lady, it is said, was an heiress to thirty thousand
pounds. The cornet declared himself to be the
son of a country gentleman of fortune; but, lest
inquiries might not prove in his favour, he soon
after insisted that the lady should make an
elopement and be married at Barnet. To run
away was very disagreeable, and with much
difficulty she was prevailed on. When they came
to Barnet, where he was stationed, a mistake
appearing in the license, the cornet took horse and
rode to London, and returned to Barnet time
enough to be married, which was done in the
presence of a number of people. The young
lady's mother was soon reconciled to the match,
but the father, who had proposed a more fortunate
one for his daughter, refused to see her. The
lady's and cornet's friends used all practicable
means to bring about a reconciliation, which
the young lady despairing of ever seeing
accomplished, unhappily put an end to her own life."

That the belief in witchcraft was popular a
hundred years ago, is apparent from the
circumstances related in the Annual Register for 1762,
as follows: "Nov. 28.—A number of people
surrounded the house of John Pritchett, of West
Langdon, in Kent, and under the notion of her
bewitching one Ladd, a boy thirteen years old,
dragged out his wife by violence, and compelled
her to go to the said Ladd's father's house,