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annual expenditure was about one hundred and
ten pounds ! - Tho' the robbery before mentioned
probably did not accelerate his death, yet it lay
heavy on his ſpirits; but more particularly when
employed in the delightful talk of counting his gold.
However incredible this may appear, yet it is ſtrictly
true, that his cloaths cost him nothing, for he took
them out of an old cheſt, where they had lain ſince
the gay days of Sir Jervaiſe. ---- He kept his houſehold
chiefly upon game, and fiſh from his own pond.
The cows, which grazed before his own-door,
furniſhed milk, cheeſe, and butter, for his little
economical houſehold; and what fuel he did burn,
his woods ſupplied ---- To thoſe who cannot exiſt
out of the buſtle of ſociety, and the fever of public
ſcenes, it may be curious to know, that he was
a man who had the courage to live, as it were,
nearly ſeventy years alone!
To the whole of his uncle's property Mr. Elwes
succeeded; and it was imagined, that his own was
not at the time very inferior ----He got, too, an additional
seat; but he got it, as it had been, most
religiously delivered down for ages past: ---- The
furniture was most sacredly antique. Not a room
was painted, nor a window repaired! ---- The beds
above stairs, were all in canopy and state; where
the worms and moths held undisturbed possession!
Mr. Elwes had now advanced beyond the 40th year of his age and for 15 years previous to this period it was that he was known in all the fashionable circles of London. He had always a turn for play; and it was only late in life, and
