capable of reading. I never heard him give so much praise to any Book as to that.

“ I think it was in the year 1784 that the Question came to be decided between the journeymen Shoemakers; whether those who had learn'd without serving an Apprenticeship could follow the Trade*?

"The Man by whom Robert and I were employ'd, Mr. Chamberlayne, of Cheapside, took an active part against the lawful journeymen; and even went so far as to pay off every man that worked for him that had join'd their Clubs. This so exasperated the men, that their acting Committee soon look'd for unlawful men (as they called them) among Chamberlayne's workmen."

They found out little Robert, and threatened to prosecute Chamberlayne for employing him; and to prosecute his Brother, Mr. G. Bloomfield, for

* That is as journeymen: for there was no question that they could not as Masters on their own account. That a person may work as a journeyman without having served an apprenticeship, had already been determined, T. 9. G. III, Beach v. Turner. Burr. Mansf. 2449. A person also who has not served an Apprenticeship may be a partner, contributing money, or advice and attention to the accounts and general concerns of the Trade, provided that he does not actually exercise the trade, and that the acting partner has served. Vide Reynolds v. Chase, M. 30. G. II. Burr. Mansf. 2. 1 Burn. J. P. Apprent. § 12. C. L.

teaching him. Chamberlayne requested of the Brother to go on and bring it to a trial; for that he would defend it; and that neither George nor Robert should be hurt.

In the mean time George was much insulted for having refus'd to join upon this occasion those. who called themselves, exclusively, the Lawful Crafts. George, who says he was never fam'd for patience, (it is not indeed so much as might be sometimes wisht, very often the lot of strong and acute minds to possess largely of this virtue,) took his pen, and address'd a Letter to one of the most active of their Committee-men (a man of very bad character.) In this, after stating that he took Robert at his Mother's request, he made free as well with the private character of this man as with the views of the Committee. "This," says George,

was very foolish: for it made things worse: but I felt too much to refrain."

What connects this episodical circumstance with the character of our Author follows in his Brother's words.

Robert, naturally fond of Peace, and fearful for my personal safety, begged to be suffered to retire from the storm.

"He came home; and Mr. AUSTIN kindly bade him take his house for his home till he could

return to me. And here, with his mind glowing with the fine Descriptions of rural scenery which he found in THOMSON'S SEASONS, he again retrac'd the very fields where first he began to think. Here, free from the smoke *, the noise, the contention of the city, he imbibed that Love of rural Simplicity and rural Innocence, which fitted him, in a great degree, to be the writer of such a thing as the Farmer's Boy!

"Here he liv'd two Months:...at length, as the dispute in the trade still remain'd undecided, Mr. DUDBRIDGE offer'd to take Robert Apprentice, to secure him, at all events, from any consequences of the Litigation.

He was bound by Mr. Ingram, of Bell-alley, to Mr. John Dudbridge. His Brother George paid five shillings for Robert, by way of form, as a premium. Dudbridge was their Landlord, and a freeman of the city of London. He acted most honourably, and took no advantage of the power which the Indentures gave him.

field staid with Robert till he

work as expertly as his self.

George Bloom

found he could

* But one word is altered in this Description; which

reminds one of the

Omitte mirari beatæ

Fumum et opes Strepitumque Romæ.

C. L.

Mr. GEORGE BLOOMFIELD adds, "When I left London he was turn'd of twenty; and much of my happiness since has arisen from a constant correspondence which I have held with him.

"After I left him, he studied Music, and was a good player on the Violin.

"But as my Brother Nat had married a Woolwich woman, it happened that Robert took a fancy to MARY-ANNE CHURCH, a comely young woman of that town, whose Father is a boat-builder in the Government yard there. He married 12th Dec. 1790*.

"Soon after he married, Robert told me, in a Letter, that he had sold his Fiddle and got a Wife.' Like most poor men, he got a wife first, and had to get household stuff afterward. It took him some time to get out of ready-furnished Lodgings. At length, by hard working, &c. he acquired a Bed of his own, and hir'd the room up one pair of stairs at 14, Bell-alley, Coleman-street. The Landlord kindly gave him leave to sit and work in the light Garret, two pair of stairs higher.

"In this Garret, amid six or seven other workmen, his active mind employ'd itself in composing the Farmer's Boy!

*This Date from the Author. C. L.

"In my correspondence I have seen several poetical effusions of his; all of them of a good moral tendency; but which he very likely would think do him little credit: on that account I have not preserv'd them.

"ROBERT is a Ladies' Shoemaker, and works for Mr. DAVIES, Lombard-street. He is of a slender make; of about 5 F. 4 I. high; very dark complexion. His MOTHER, who is a very religious member of the Church of England, took all the pains she could in his infancy to make him pious and, as his reason expanded, his love of God and Man increas'd with it. I never knew his fellow for Mildness of temper and Goodness of disposition. And since I left him, universally is he prais'd by those who know him best, for the best of Husbands, an indulgent Father, and quiet Neighbour. He is between thirty-three and four years old *, and has three children;" two Daughters and a Son +.

* Corrected from the above Date, p. iv, to his Age, May 1800. C. L.

+ Added from the information of Mr. R. BLOOMFIELD. Now four; Hannah, born 25 Oct. 1791. Mary Anne, 6 July 1793. Charles, 15 Sept. 1798. Charlotte, 20 Apr. 1801.