"All the sun sees, the ocean laves, "Kingdoms and kings shall fall, "Nature and nature's works shall cease, "And time be lord of all. "Swift as the monarch of the skies "Impels the rolling year, "Swift as the gliding orb of night "Pursues her prone career, "So swift, so sure we all descend "As in the flame's resistless glare "Th' envelop'd smoke is lost, "Or as before the driving North "The scatter'd clouds are tost, "So this proud vapour shall expire, "Dare not to wish, nor dread to meet "A life beyond the grave; "You'll meet no other life than now "The unborn ages have. "Time whelms us in the vast Inane, "Hell, and its triple-headed guard, "And moon-struck Sybils dream." It was the good old custom of the Earl of Halifax to pass the Christmas at his family seat of Horton in great hospitality, and upon these occasions he never failed to be accompanied by parties of his friends and intimates. from town; the chief of these were the Lords Dupplin and Barrington, Mr. Charles Townshend, Mr. Francis Fane, Mr. James Oswald, Mr. Hans Stanley, Mr. Narbonne Berkeley, Lord Hillsborough, Mr. Dodington, Colonel James Johnstone, the husband of his sister Lady Charlotte, and Mr. Ambrose Isted of Ecton, near Northampton, his neighbour and constant visitor at those seasons; these, with the addition of Doctor Crane and the Reverend Mr. Spencer, an elderly clergyman, long attached to the family, formed a society high ly respectable. I ever entertained a perfect and sincere regard for Lady Halifax; her mild complacent character was to me far more engaging than the livelier spirits and more figuring talents of many, who engrossed that attention, which she did not aspire to: she was uniform in her kindness to me, and whilst she lived, I flatter myself I had a friend, who esteemed and understood me: when she died I had more reason to regret her loss than for myself alone. My father was still fixed in his residence at Stanwick, and there I ever found unvaried felicity, unabated affection. He had some excellent friends and many pleasant neighbours, with whom he lived upon the most agreeable terms, for in his house every body seemed to be happy; his table was admirably managed by my mother, his cellars, servants, equipage in the best order, and without parade unbecoming of his profession, or unsuitable to his fortune, no family could be better conducted; and here I must indulge myself in dilating on the character of one of his best friends, and best of men, Ambrose Isted, Esq. of Ecton. aforementioned. Through every scene of my life, from my childhood to the lamented event of his death, which happened whilst I was in Spain, he was invariably kind, indulgent and affectionate to me. I conceive there is not upon record one, who more perfectly fulfilled the true character of a country gentleman in all its most respectable duties and departments than did this exemplary person; nor will his name be forgotten in Northamptonshire so long as the memory or tradition of good deeds shall circulate, or gratitude be considered as a tribute due to the benevolent. He was the pattern and very model of hospitality most worthy to be copied; for his family and affairs were administered and conducted with such measured liberality, such correct and wise œconomy, that the friend, who found nothing wanting, which could constitute his comforts, found nothing wastefully superfluous to occasion his regret. Though Mr. Isted's estate was not large, yet by the process of inclosure, and above all by his prudent and well-ordered ́ management, it was augmented without extortion, and left in excellent condition to his son and heir. The benefits he conferred upon his poorer neighbours were of a nature far su perior to the common acts of almsgiving (though these were not omitted) for in all their difficulties and embarrassments, he was their counsellor and adviser, not merely in his capacity of acting justice of the peace, but also from his legal knowledge and experience, which were very considerable, and fully competent to all their uses; by which numbers, who might else have fallen under the talons of country attornies, were saved from pillage and beggary. With this gentleman my father acted as justice, and was united in friendship and in party, and to him he resorted upon all occasions, where the opinion and advice of a judicious friend were wanted. Our families corresponded in the utmost harmony, and our interchange of visits was frequent and delightful. The house of Ecton was to me a second home, and the hospitable master of it a second father; his gaiety of heart, his suavity of temper, the interest he took in giving pleasure to his guests, and the fund of information he possessed in the stores of a well-furnished memory and a lively animated genius, are ever fresh in my recollection, and I look back upon the days I have passed with him as some of the happiest |