Page:Remarkable history of the miser of Berkshire- John Elwes, Esq..pdf/10

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annual expenditure was about one hundred and ten pounds ! - Tho' the robbery before mentioned probably did not accelerate his death, yet it lay heavy on his ſpirits; but more particularly when employed in the delightful talk of counting his gold. However incredible this may appear, yet it is ſtrictly true, that his cloaths cost him nothing, for he took them out of an old cheſt, where they had lain ſince the gay days of Sir Jervaiſe. He kept his houſehold chiefly upon game, and fiſh from his own pond. The cows, which grazed before his own-door, furniſhed milk, cheeſe, and butter, for his little economical houſehold; and what fuel he did burn, his woods ſupplied To thoſe who cannot exiſt out of the buſtle of ſociety, and the fever of public ſcenes, it may be curious to know, that he was a man who had the courage to live, as it were, nearly ſeventy years alone!

To the whole of his uncle's property Mr. Elwes succeeded; and it was imagined, that his own was not at the time very inferior He got, too, an additional seat; but he got it, as it had been, most religiously delivered down for ages past: The furniture was most sacredly antique. Not a room was painted, nor a window repaired! The beds above stairs, were all in canopy and state; where the worms and moths held undisturbed possession!

Mr. Elwes had now advanced beyond the 40th year of his age and for 15 years previous to this period it was that he was known in all the fashionable circles of London. He had always a turn for play; and it was only late in life, and