near St. Sepulchre's church, London, and all my other property in the city of London, should be sold; and the produce applied to the general purposes of my will. I give and bequeath to Mrs. Gordon, wife of colonel Gordon, late of Prince's-court, Westminster, the sum of twenty pounds. I give and bequeath my row of large pearls to the right honourable lady Shuldham, in affectionate testimony of my value for her friendship to my dear father and myself. I desire my executors to offer Mr. Henry Thomas Williams, of Copthall-court, Throgmorton-street, sixty pounds, as a token of my thankfulness and satisfaction. I give and bequeath unto my before-mentioned cousin, lady Baker, the silver cup that was the honourable gift of the city of London to my dear and honoured father; and also my plate of all descriptions. I give and bequeath to her eldest daughter before mentioned, all my diamonds, ornaments, and trinkets, not otherwise bequeathed.

I desire my respected and dear friends, Mr. and Mrs. Hastings, to accept of the

prints and bronzes in my eating-parlour; and I give to my aforesaid cousin, lady Baker, the picture, painted by Zoffany, of my dear father and myself, and the portrait of me done in crayons by Hoare. All my books not mentioned in the catalogue of my honoured father's library (except the Gems of Worlidge) I give miss Mary Hayley Baker, with my drawings; and the Gems just mentioned I give to miss Harriet Wilkes, as also the gold watch which belonged to my father. My china, both useful and ornamental, I give to my cousin, lady Baker; and my five-guinea piece of king William and queen Mary, to my worthy friend Mrs. Trapaud: my two other five-guinea pieces I desire may be accepted by the miss Meads, of Portman-street. I most particularly desire that my executors would deliver all my honoured father's library, according to the catalogue, to Mr. Peter Elmsley, of Sloane-street, with the remaining copies of his Catullus and Theophrastus, to be sold (at my request) under his direction; and after taking for himself the fifty pounds I desire

him to accept, my will is, that the remainder of the produce should be appropriated for the benefit of the widows and children of decayed freemen of the city of London, at the discretion of the two senior aldermen and the chamberlain of the city of London for the time being. I desire, also, that all manuscripts belonging to me, of whatever kind, may be faithfully delivered to the said Mr. Peter. Elmsley, to whose judgment and delicacy I confide them. All the remainders of my dif. ferent bequests I give and bequeath to the archbishop of Canterbury, and to the archbishop of York, for the time being, in trust for charitable purposes; and any thing not specified I commit to the discretion of my executors.

I give and bequeath to my waiting-woman at the time of my decease, all my wearing apparel; and five guineas each to those of my servants who may have been in my service more than one year, leaving ten guineas each to those who may have lived in my service above five years. I give ten pounds to the poor of St. George's parish, Hanover-square; and ten

116

MEMOIRS OF JOHN WILKES, ESQ.

pounds to the poor of St. Sepulchre's parish, in the city. I request to be interred in the same vault as my honoured and dear father, in Grosvenor-chapel. I desire my executors to make some donation out of my property to the poor of the different places where I have estates, besides those already mentioned. I desire Mr. Paice to accept the pictures not otherwise mentioned.

Signed, sealed, published, and declared,

by the said Mary Wilkes, to be her last will and testament; written with her own hand on these six sides of paper, severally signed by her in the presence of us who in her presence and in presence of each other do here witness the same, this 18th day of July, 1800.

MARY WILKES. [L. s.]

Sealed and delivered by miss Mary Wilkes as her last will, in the presence of us,

GEO. RIDGE,

JAMES COCKS, JUNR.

T. SOMMERS COCKS.

OF MR. WILKES'S SON, MR. JOHN SMITH.

He has been mentioned in Mr. Wilkes's letters to Mr. Cotes, and in several of miss Wilkes's letters.

His mother's name was Catherine Smith. She was housekeeper to Mr. Wilkes; but being a very low illiterate woman, the boy was removed from her as soon as possible, that he might not attain any of her vulgar idiom or coarse phraseology. He was placed first at Hounslow; in some degree under the attention of Mr. Frogley, of the Bucks militia: and was then put to school at Hammersmith; from whence, at a proper time, he was sent to Harrow. After being some years at Harrow, he was removed to Hamburgh. The three following letters contain some further account of him.

Mr. Wilkes acknowledged him as his nephew, and he was accustomed to call Mr. Wilkes his uncle.