Chapter 1

           SirWalterElliot,ofKellynchHall,inSomersetshire,wasamanwho,forhisownamusement,nevertookupanybookbuttheBaronetage;therehefoundoccupationforanidlehour,andconsolationinadistressedone;therehisfacultieswererousedintoadmirationandrespect,bycontemplatingthelimitedremnantoftheearliestpatents;thereanyunwelcomesensations,arisingfromdomesticaffairschangednaturallyintopityandcontemptasheturnedoverthealmostendlesscreationsofthelastcentury;andthere,ifeveryotherleafwerepowerless,hecouldreadhisownhistorywithaninterestwhichneverfailed.Thiswasthepageatwhichthefavouritevolumealwaysopened:

           “ELLIOTOFKELLYNCHHALL.

           “WalterElliot,bornMarch1,1760,married,July15,1784,Elizabeth,daughterofJamesStevenson,Esq.ofSouthPark,inthecountyofGloucester,bywhichlady(whodied1800)hehasissueElizabeth,bornJune1,1785;Anne,bornAugust9,1787;astill-bornson,November5,1789;Mary,bornNovember20,1791.”

           Preciselysuchhadtheparagraphoriginallystoodfromtheprinter’shands;butSirWalterhadimproveditbyadding,fortheinformationofhimselfandhisfamily,thesewords,afterthedateofMary’sbirth—“Married,December16,1810,Charles,sonandheirofCharlesMusgrove,Esq.ofUppercross,inthecountyofSomerset,”andbyinsertingmostaccuratelythedayofthemonthonwhichhehadlosthiswife.