SirWalterElliot,ofKellynchHall,inSomersetshire,wasamanwho,forhisownamusement,nevertookupanybookbuttheBaronetagetherehefoundoccupationforanidlehour,andconsolationinadistressedonetherehisfacultieswererousedintoadmirationandrespect,bycontemplatingthelimitedremnantoftheearliestpatentsthereanyunwelcomesensations,arisingfromdomesticaffairschangednaturallyintopityandcontemptasheturnedoverthealmostendlesscreationsofthelastcenturyandthere,ifeveryotherleafwerepowerless,hecouldreadhisownhistorywithaninterestwhichneverfailed.Thiswasthepageatwhichthefavouritevolumealwaysopened:
“ELLIOTOFKELLYNCHHALL.
“WalterElliot,bornMarch1,1760,married,July15,1784,Elizabeth,daughterofJamesStevenson,Esq.ofSouthPark,inthecountyofGloucester,bywhichlady(whodied1800)hehasissueElizabeth,bornJune1,1785Anne,bornAugust9,1787astill-bornson,November5,1789Mary,bornNovember20,1791.”
Preciselysuchhadtheparagraphoriginallystoodfromtheprinter’shandsbutSirWalterhadimproveditbyadding,fortheinformationofhimselfandhisfamily,thesewords,afterthedateofMary’sbirth—“Married,December16,1810,Charles,sonandheirofCharlesMusgrove,Esq.ofUppercross,inthecountyofSomerset,”andbyinsertingmostaccuratelythedayofthemonthonwhichhehadlosthiswife.
Thenfollowedthehistoryandriseoftheancientandrespectablefamily,intheusualtermshowithadbeenfirstsettledinCheshirehowmentionedinDugdale,servingtheofficeofhighsheriff,representingaboroughinthreesuccessiveparliaments,exertionsofloyalty,anddignityofbaronet,inthefirstyearofCharlesII,withalltheMarysandElizabethstheyhadmarriedformingaltogethertwohandsomeduodecimopages,andconcludingwiththearmsandmotto:—“Principalseat,KellynchHall,inthecountyofSomerset,”andSirWalter’shandwritingagaininthisfinale:—
“Heirpresumptive,WilliamWalterElliot,Esq.,greatgrandsonofthesecondSirWalter.”
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