re-establish him in the World that the Hony Moon of Love had been almost over between them and that if he had made any Lapse in Disloyalty to her Marriage Right it was not Infidelity but Interest that had enforced him to all And so showing her handfuls of Gold and Silver he humbly intreated a Reconciliation betwixt ' em Which good Words and Address at last so perfectedly obtained that he perswaded her to send for all her Houshold Goods and to live with him somewhere in the Liberties of Westminster where disguising his Name and amending his Faults he doubted not through his practice to recover a plentiful Being and maintain her like a Woman The poor Creature absolutely mollified promises Fidelity to him and never returning to her new Lodgings takes him along with her defeating the whole Vengeance that was hatching against him and not stirring from him till all her Goods were come up from Banbury and a new House furnisht with ' em She had not lived there three days till finding a Gossiping Errand for her to keep her from home a whole day at her Return at Night to Bed she finds neither Husband nor Goods Bed to lye or Stool to sit upon the whole House being utterly dismantled and nothing but nakedness and empty Walls to receive her This last Cruelty of her Barbarian made her almost run stark Mad and returning to her Holborn Lodging to own her frailty in believing an Infidel and the Just Judgment that had befaln her upon it she found the poor Ludlow Mourner departed and all her Relief left was to return to Banbury to live upon the Alms of the Parish This Libertine Life of our Renegade did not long continue till found at last by the Ludlow Wife he was thrown into Worcester Jail from thence by Habeas Corpus at the Charge of a Parson in Southwark whose Daughter he had likewise Married removed to Newgate upon an Indictment of six Wives appearing against him being then Tryed by the Name of Morrel alias Bowyer a Name of a Worthy Person of Quality for personating of whom he had stood in the Pillory he pleaded Guilty to those six and twelve more and thereby received only the punishment of a Squeeze in the Fist After this Escape of a Halter what his following Adventures have been we are not informed 't is to be believed his Will was no ways wanting though his power of managing such hardy Exploits might undoubtedly be a little retrencht and therefore we have reason to conclude he fell into smaller Games in which his Walks have lain something more obscure and thereupon by reason of our unacquaintance with the Truth of that part of his Life we shall over-leap some years and bring him to his Conclusion Some few days before Christmas be came to one Mr. Cullens a Baker in the Strand to seek him a Lodging his Habit but indifferent and his Stock not above Two Shillings pretending himself to be a Person of Worth and Honour viz. Humphrey Wickham of Swaclift in the County of Oxon Esq a Person whose Name and Reputation was well known to Mrs. Cullen being Born not far from him which contributed much to the swallowing of the Imposture His pretence for leaving his Family in the Countrey and living here Incognito was occasion'd he said to avoid the payment of 500 l. which he stood engaged for and for which the principal had left him in the lurch and which he had made a rash Vow he would not pay Mr. Cullen's Family thus imposed upon supplied all his wants and paid him the due Respects to the Quality he Personated till falling sick on the 28th of December he made a Will as follows His WILL. IN the Name of God Amen I Humphrey Wickham of Swatclift in the County of Oxon Esquire being sick and weak in Body but of sound Mind and Memory do make this my last WILL and TEST AMENT revoking all Wills by me formerly made And as touching such Worldly Estate as God hath been pleased to bless me withal I do hereby give and bequeath the same in manner following Imprimis I do give devise and bequeath to my Kinsman William Wickham of Gazington in the County of Oxon all that my Mansion House of Swaclift aforesaid and all the Lands Tenements and Hereditaments thereunto belonging to hold unto him the said William Wickham and his Heirs for ever Item I give and bequeath unto John Cullin Son of Thomas Cullin of the Parish of St. Clement Danes in the County of Middlesex Baker all that my impropriated Personage of Sowgrate in the County of Northampton with the Rents Issues and Profits thereof Item I give unto Anne Cullin Sister of the said John Cullin the Summ of Two hundred and fifty Pounds Item I give unto Thomas Cullin Son of the said Thomas Cullin the Sum of Three hundred Pounds Item I give unto Dorothy Halford of Halford in the County of Warwick the Sum of two hundred Pounds Item I give unto Richard Davis Son of William Davis of the said Parish of St. Clement Danes the Sum of Four hundred Pounds Item I give unto William Davis Son of the said William Davis the Summ of Two hundred Pounds Item I give unto Anne Fowkes for her Care and Diligence in Looking after me in my Sickness the Sum of one hundred pounds Item I give unto Robert Croker Son of William Croker of Sanford in the said County of Oxon being my God-son the Sum of Five hundred Pounds Item I give unto the said William Croker the Sum of Five hundred Pounds Item I give unto Robert Penniston Son of Sir Thomas Penniston and younger Brother to Sir Farmalis Penniston of Corn hill in the said County of Oxon the Sum of Three hundred Pounds Item I give unto Mrs. Jane Penniston Sister of the said Mr. Robert Penniston the Summ of Two hundred Pounds Item I do hereby give devise and bequeath all my Lauds Tenements and Hereditaments whatsoever called by the name of Apple-tree Ducy in Cropridee in the County of Northampton unto John Brooking of Rashly in the County of Devon Esquire and the said William Davis senior and Thomas Cullin senior and the Survivor of them and their Heirs and the Survivor of them upon Trust and Confidence Nevertheless that they the said John Brooking William Davis and Thomas Cullin shall sell and dispose of the same and out of the Money thereby raised pay or cause to be paid the respective Legacies herein before bequeathed unto the said Anne Cullin Thomas Cullin Junior Dorothy Halford Richard Davis William Davis Junior and Anne Fowkes And whereas I have herein before bequeathed unto my Kinsman Will. Wickham and his Heirs all my Mansion-house at Swacklift aforesaid with the Lands Tenements and Hereditaments thereunto belonging my true Will and Meaning is That the same Devise is upon this special Trust and Confidence That the said William Wickham shall pay or cause to be paid the several Legacies herein before bequeathed unto
the said Rob. Croker and Will. Croker Robert Penniston and Jane Penniston and also pay and discharge one Bond for the Principal Sum of five hundred pounds with Interest which I became bound for with Thomas Walker to one Thomas Irons any thing herein before contained to the contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding and also that he the said William Wickham shall out of his Legacy and Lands and Premises aforesaid to him devised pay or cause to be paid unto my Executors hereafter named the Sum of five hundred pounds to be by them bestomed distributed or employed for the use and benefit of the Poor of the Parish of Swacklift aforesaid in such manner as they or the major part of them shall think fit and convenient Item I give and bequeath unto the said John Brooking out of the Moneys that shall be raised of the Sale of the said Lands and Tenements called Apple tree Ducy aforesaid the Summ of Five hundred Pounds And all the rest and residue of the Moneys that shall be thereby raised I do hereby give and bequeath unto the said William Davies Senior and Thomas Cullin Senior to be equally divided between them and the Survivor of them Item I give and bequeath unto Alice Cullin Wife of the said Thomas Cullin Senior the Sum of Six hundred Pounds to her own proper Use and Disposal Item I give and bequeath in like manner the Sum of Six huadred Pounds unto Jane Davis the Wife of the said William Davis Item I give unto the said Robert Croker and Will. Croker the Sum of Ten Pounds a piece to buy them Mourning and also to each of them a Ring of Twelve Shillings Item I give unto Jane Croker and Mary Croker and also to the said Robert Penniston and Jane Penniston and all other my Legates herein before mentioned and to every of them the Sum of Ten Pounds a piece to buy them Mourning and a Ring of Twelve Shillings Item Where as I have the Sum of Seven hundred Pounds lying at Iuterest in the hands of Mr. Ambrose Holbitch in the name of Oliver Charles my Servant I do hereby give and bequeath the same to and amongst my Four Servants Oliver Charles John Harber Sarah Winn and Margery Smith and the Survivor of them to be equally divided amongst them share and share alike Item I give and bequeath my Three Geldings and all my Accoutrements belonging to them unto the said John Brookeing William Davis Senior and Thomas Cullin Senior viz. my Bright Bay Gelding to the said Thomas Cullin and my Black Gelding to the said William Davis and my Dapple-grey Gelding to the said John Brookeing All the Arrears of Rent in my Tenants Hands at the time of my Decease I do hereby freely acquit and discharge And all the rest and Residue of my Personal Estate not herein before devised after my Debts Legacies and Funeral Expences paid and discharged I do hereby give and bequeath unto my said Kinsman William Wickham And lastly I do hereby nominate constitute and appoint the said William Wickham John Brooking William Davis senior and Thomas Cullin senior Executors of this my Will hereby revoking and making v id all other and former Will or Wills by me made In Witness whereof I the said Humphrey Wickham have to this my last Will containing one side of a Sheet of Paper and almost half the back thereof set my Hand and Seal this Twentieth day of Decemb Anno Dom. 1691. Humphrey Wickham Signed Sealed Published and Declared in the presence of us with the words Will. Wickham being first interlined Rob. Smith Jo. Chapman Rich. Chapman Mart. Pinckard I the above-named Humphrey Wickham having omitted out of my Will above-mentioned the Disposition of my Estate in Huntingtonshire do hereby make this Addition to and part of my said Will in manner following I give and bequeath all my Lands Tenements and Hereditaments called Pryor's Farm and all other my Estate in Holly-well and Needingworth unto the above-named John Brooking William Davis senior and Tho. Cullin senior and the Survivor of them and their Heirs and the Heirs of the Survivor of them under this special Trust and Confidence that the said Jo. Brooking William Davis and Thomas Cullin shall sell and dispose of the same and out of the Moneys thereby raised pay or cause to be paid the respective Legacies hereafter named viz. I give and bequeath to Humphrey Longford the sum of six hundred pounds and to his Sister Mary Longford the like sum of six hundred pounds Item I give and bequeath unto the said Tho. Cullin Sen. the further Sum of 800 l. and all the Remainder of the Moneys thereby raised I give and bequeath unto the said Will. Davis Sen. and Jane his Wife and the Survivor of them Item Whereas I have by Will above-said given unto John Cullin Son of the said Thomas Cullin the impropriated Parsonage of Sowgrave my true meaning is That I do give and devise the same to the said John Cullin and his Heirs for ever In Witness whereof I the said Humphrey Wickham have to this Codicil Addition or futher part of my said Will set my Hand and Seal this Twenty eighth Day of December Anno Dom. 1691. Humphrey Wickham Signed Sealed Published and Declared in the Presence of us Robert Smith John Chapman Rich. Chapman Martin Pinkard Probatum fuit c. This stupendious confidence of a dying man is very amazing nay he drove on the Masquerade at that strange rate that he may be truly said to have ended as he began having received the blessed Sacrament pretended the settlement of his Conscience and making peace with Heaven with that seeming sincerity as if he had resolved to prevaricate with God with the same assurance he had all along done with Mankind The credulity of these deluded persons his Landlord and the rest is not much to be wonder'd at when the last Gasps of Death could carry so fair an Hypocrisie and their Transports for his extravagant Legacies bequeathed 'em are rather to be pittied then rediculed And if they have been faulty in any little over-fondness of their imaginary good fortune the Jests and Gibes they have received have been their sufficient punishment besides Mr. Cullin's being run out of above 30 l. After his Death care was taken to provide him a Coffin of about 10 l. value and the Embalmers were paid for some of their Office of preserving him sweet till preparations for a solemn and sumptuous Funeral could be made suitable to the remains of the honourable Deceased And this Letter was sent as follows Sir THESE serve to inform you that Humphrey Wickham Esquire of Swaclift in the County of Oxon died this morning at my House where he has been about ten days He has made his Will and you are one of his Executors with me and others A very great share of his Estate is given to you therefore pray Sir speed to London that we may take care of his Funeral and other matters necessary to be done upon this occasion I think it may not be amiss that you keep this private lest any thing may be Purloyned or Imbezelled by any of the deceaseds Servants or any else at his Seat at Swaclift which is all given to you some Legacies thereout to be paid I am Sir Your Servant Tho. Cullin London 3. January 1691 2. From my House at the Wheat-sheaf near St. Clements Church over against Arundel Street Strand To Mr. William Wickham of Gazington inquire at the Blew Boars Head in Oxon. These following Lines were inclosed from the aforesaid Executors in the said Letter being left by the deceased WHereas I Humphrey Wickham Esquire in Company with my own man John Harbert and John Austin Son of Nich. Austin did carry a black Hoggs Skin Trunk marked with the Letters H. W. 1688. Wherein are the Deeds of my Estate at Sowgrave and Aple-tree Ducy these are to desire you to deliver them to the Executors signed with his own Name thus _____ Humphrey Wickham Memorandom that there are two Mortgages in the hands of Austin the one for 1400 l. and the other for 400 l. In the name of Oliver Charles in the hands of Mr. Ambrose Holbech In answer to this Letter came a Gentleman from Oxford to tell Mr. Cullin that the Christian name of this Mr. Wickham of Gazington was mistaken which gave the first Alarm of an Imposture otherewise Horse and Mourning had been provided to have carried him down to Swackley for his Interment there Mr. Cullin being not over apt to believe himself cheated but more to satisfie the rest of the World sent down a Messenger to Swackley with fifteen shillings in his Pocket mounted upon a poor Hackney but ordered to return upon the Bright Bay Gelding bequeathed him in his Will being not convinced of the Delusion till his Messengers Return notwithstanding several persons of Reputation had declared him a counterfeit Major Richardson and Mr. Compton had both inspected the Corps and averred him to be the very man formerly Judged for six Wives as before mentioned and more than once their Prisoner in Newgate The Messenger returning Tuesday the 12th of January he brought a Compliment to the Executors from Captain Wickham who had treated the Messenger very civilly to this effect that he gave 'em his hearty thanks for their intended kindness to him and if they would please to come to Swackley for a Month or more they should be very welcome and have the use of all the Geldings viz. the Black the Bright Bay and Dapple Grey tho he could not well part with 'em for good and all Upon this full satisfaction received about three the next Morning with no more than a Watchman and a Lanthorn in a a Coffin of four shillings price he was laid in Earth in a Nook of St. Clements Church yard Postscript THE Nurse and Assistants that attended him in his sickness now call to mind that they once or twice observed him to laugh to himself very pleasantly which they suppose proceeded from the pleasure he took in cheating the World he was then just upon leaving FINIS
she 's a little past the years of being dandled and kist out of her Reason He or any man else any Tooth good Barber with Honour and Estate may go far with her but Demonstration is the only Argument that must carry her Cause As many years as she has lived or at least past for a Maid she is not so hard set but she can tarry till Substantial Testimony as far off as Norfolk lies can make out the Lands and Tenements before she consents to an Inclosure Our Spark therefore put to his last Trumps finds this last a craggier and more difficult Enterprize than any he had ever yet encountred however thinking it a very great scandal to his Wit to lie down before her and shamefully for want of Ammunition be forced to raise the Siege he sets all his Brains at work for one last Mine to blow her up or if that take not he is resolved to quit the Field In a day or two after he begins to be Melancholly and indisposed during this fit he is very cold in his Love and applies him to Religious Books talks much of very odd Dreams he has had till at last he takes his Bed Physitians are sent for whether they found any real indications of sickness or no or acquiesced to his own Declaration of the Pains he felt no Medicinal Application was wanting His Distemper increasing he desires a Man of Law to be sent for accordingly a Scrivener of the Town is called who draws up his Will in which he gives away about Three Thousand pounds in several Legacies leaving his Nephew his full and sole Executor The Will is sealed up and delivered to his Man Tom and all the cognizance taken of his Mistress is only 10 l. to buy her Mourning Next a Man of God is sent for and all the necessary preparations for a Man of another World are made His Conscience setled and his Viaticum for his long Journey most devoutly furnisht But it pleases Fate or the Sick man rather in some few days after to give some small symptoms of amendment and to shorten the matter in Eight or Ten days time he is pretty well recovered and the next talk is of fancying his own Native Norfolk Air for perfecting his Health all this while the young Damfel who tho not call'd to the Will-making knew all the Contents of it and finding from all hands the great uprightness and devotion of her humble Servant could not fancy that so much Religion and Piety could be an Impostor and therefore she doubted not in the least but the Estate in Norfolk was unquestionable and tho indeed her Prudence would still incline her to a full inquiry and satisfactory account yet 't is now too late her cooling Admirer talks of speeding to London and tho he professes he will leave his heart behind with her She is afraid that new Faces and better Fortunes will soon shake her hold there and therefore taking her Pillow upon the business she resolves not to slip so favourable an opportunity but to lay hold of the serelock and take a good offer whilst she may have it For with all her natural Pride she considers her self but the Lees of a Tap and 't is not every Rich Gudgeon will bite at a Bait so blown and so stale Her departing Lover still pressing for his Journey the good-natur'd Girl watches the next amorous sally of her Gallant and takes him at his word and without asking advice thinks her own wit sufficient and in two days time enters into for better for worse The Town-Bells soon rung All Joy and the best Hogshead in Daddy 's Cellar run Claret His Honourable Guest and Son-in-Law was the little Idol of all the Virgins of the Town and the envied preferment of sweet Mrs. Betty had fill'd all Tongues and scarce a Prayer offered up for a Husband but Mrs. Betty's felicity was made the Pattern of their Devotion But now as the Devil would have it our dignified Bride is for having her Dear Spouse by all means doing her and her Father the honour of staying out the whole Bathe Season now coming on amongst 'em and nothing can divert her from that resolution This is a very unwelcome proposal for the multitude of Faces from all quarters of the Kingdom may not only be very dangerous to his circumstances but likewise his Norfolk Abilities long before that time may be examin'd too narrowly and therefore not being able to make any harsh refusal of his fair Brides request lest it should look like design and to marry a young Girl and be a shamed of her parentage would appear so unkind that he has no Artifice to wean her from Bathe and drill her out of Town but by pretending a small relapse of his Indisposition which he acted so well that he denied himself the very pleasures of Love and fell off even from Family-Duties This Curtain-failure began to moderate her passion for staying at Bathe for her tame Bedfellow still preaching up the virtues of his own Native Norfolk Air his poor defeated Bride could not but have a womanly longing for so necessary a Restorative and thereupon for so important a Medicine to her feeble Yokemate she consented to go along with him All her fine Cloaths were Boxed up together with several Bed and Table-Linnen c. for she had pretty good Moveables all the Legacies of Deceased Aunts and Grannies and other good Kin and all sent by her Man Tom to the Carriers and two days after places took in the flying Coach for their speeding to London But one main thing was almost forgotten She had call'd in her Portion which for a Guinies Gratification the Scrivener had ready at an Hours warning having at that time some other peoples Money by him undisposed and hers being out upon Mortgage the Owners were very well pleas'd to make an Exchange upon the same security This Money was not to be trusted by the Waggon but to be carryed up with her in the Coach-box for which her Man Tom beg'd her acceptance of a little Gilt leather'd Trunk that happen'd to be just small enough to go into the Coach-box The Day of setting out being the Morrow her thoughtful Spouse had nicely consider'd that the Coach would be in London half a day before the Carrier which for some Reasons you 'll find in the sequel was not altogether for his convenience and therefore he made a shift to put off the Journey till next Coach-day Against that time the Gilt-leather'd Trunk and the Key to it was deliver'd her tho' by the by he had got two Keys and the 80 l. some Broad pieces a Caudle-Cup half a dozen of Silver Spoons and some other Toys were all stowed in it and the Kind Couple are trundling away for London with the Man well mounted riding by Now as a Man of his Estate he had freely given her all her own Portion a small Privy Purse to buy her Pins with having Mirryed her