MR. GROSE, an eminent antiquary, was the son of a jeweller, at Richmond, in Surrey, who fitted up the coronation crown for George II. He was born in 1731, and having a taste for heraldry and antiquities, his father procured him a place in the College of Arms, which, however, he resigned in 1763. By his father he was left an independent fortune, which he was not of a disposition to add to or even to preserve. He early entered into the Surrey Militia, of which he became adjutant and paymaster; but so much had dissipation taken possession of him, that, in a situation which, above all others, required attention, he was so careless as to

have for some time (as he used pleasantly to tell) only two books of accounts, viz. his right and left hand pockets. In the one he received, and from the other paid; and this, too, with a want of circumspection which may be readily supposed from such a mode of book-keeping. His losses on this occasion roused his latent talents: with a good classical education he united a fine taste for drawing, which he now began again to cultivate; and, encouraged by his friends, he undertook the work from which he derived both profit and reputation: his Views of Antiquities in England and Wales, which he first began to publish, in numbers, in 1773, and finished in 1776. The next year he added two more volumes to his English Views, in which he included the islands of Guernsey and Jersey, which were completed in 1787. This work, which was executed with accuracy and elegance, soon became a favourite with the public at large, as well as with professed antiquaries, from the neatness of the embellishments, and the succinct manner in which he conveyed his information, and, therefore, answered his most sanguine expectations; and, from the time he began it to the end of his life, he continued without intermission to publish various works, generally to the advantage of his literary reputation, and almost always to the benefit of his finances. His wit and good humour were the abundant source of satisfaction to himself and entertainment to his friends. He visited almost every part of

the kingdom, and was a welcome guest wherever he went. In the summer of 1789 he set out on a tour in Scotland; the result of which he began to communicate to the public in 1790, in numbers. Before he had concluded this work, he proceeded to Ireland, intending to furnish that kingdom with views and descriptions of her antiquities, in the same manner he had executed those of Great Britain; but, soon after his arrival in Dublin, being at the house of Mr. Hone there, he suddenly was seized at table with an apoplectic fit, on the 6th of May, 1791, and died immediately. He was interred in Dublin. "His literary history," says a friend, respectable as it is, was exceeded by his good-humour, conviviality, and friendship. Living much abroad, and in the best company at home, he had the easiest habits of adapting himself to all tempers; and, being a man of general knowledge, perpetually drew out some conversation that was either useful to himself, or agreeable to the party. He could observe upon most things with precision and judgement; but his natural tendency was to humour, in which he excelled both by the selection of anecdotes and his manner of telling them: it may be said, too, that his figure rather assisted him, which was, in fact, the very title-page to a joke. He had neither the pride nor malignity of authorship: he felt the independency of his own talents, and was satisfied with them without degrading others. His friendships were of the same cast;

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constant and sincere, overlooking some faults, and seeking out greater virtues."

Grose, to a stranger, says Mr. Noble, might have been supposed not a surname, but one selected as significant of his figure, which was more of the form of Sancho Pança than Falstaff; but he partook of the properties of both. He was as low, squat, and rotund as the former, and not less a sloven; equalled him, too, in his love of sleep, and nearly so in his proverbs. In his wit he was a Falstaff. He was the but for other men to shoot at, but it always rebounded with a double force. He could eat with Sancho, and drink with the knight. In simplicity, probity, and a compassionate heart, he was wholly of the -Pança breed; his jocularity could, have pleased a prince. In the "St. James's Evening Post," the following was -proposed as an epitaph for him :

At Hooper's, the bookseller, in High Holborn, who was publisher of Captain Grose's Works, a room was set apart, where a conversatióne was held between the literary characters of that period. It is asserted that the Captain was a most prominent feature in those meetings, and that the company were delighted with the peculiar felicity with

which he related his various facetious stories and interesting anecdotes. Captain Grose was also a great observer of men and manners, and possessed a fine and accurate taste for painting. Dr. Griffiths, Arthur Murphy, Mr. Quick, the celebrated comedian, &c. &c. were among the persons who frequently visited the Captain a Hooper's, where they discussed the literary topics of the day.

The Captain had a funny fellow, of the name of Tom Cocking, one after his own heart, as an amanuensis, and who was also a draughtsman of considerable merit. He was of great service to the Captain in his Tour through England, Ireland, and Scotland. In the latter place, Captain Grose became intimately acquainted with Robert Burns, the poet, who thus describes the Antiquarian : —

If in your

bounds ye chance to light

Upon a fine, fat, fodgel wight

O' stature short, but genius bright,

That's he, mark weel

And wow! he has an unco slight

O' cauk and keel.

It's tauld he was a sodger bred,

And ane wad rather faʼn than fled :

But now he's quat the spurtle-blade,

And dog-skin wallet,

And taen the Antiquarian trade,

I think they call it.