HE notoriety of this mock political hero had its origin in the sham elections for Garrat, in the neighbourhood of London, which took place about fifty or sixty years ago, and of which Sir Richard Phillips has given the following account, in "A Morning's Walk to Kew:""Southward of Wandsworth, a road extends nearly two miles to the village of Lower Tooting, and nearly midway are a few houses or hamlets, by the side of a small common, called Garrat, from which the road itself is called Garrat Lane. Various encroachments on this common led to an association of the neighbours, about threescore years since, when they chose a president or mayor, to protect their rights; and the time of their first election being the period of a new parliament, it was agreed that the mayor should be re-chosen after every general election. Some facetious members of the club gave, in a few years, local notoriety to this election. And, when party spirit ran high in the days of Wilkes and Liberty, it was easy to create an appetite for a burlesque election among the lower orders of the metropolis. The publi

cans at Wandsworth, Tooting, Battersea, Clapham, and Vauxhall made a purse to give it character; and Mr. Foote rendered its interest universal, by calling one of his inimitable farces, 'The Mayor of Garrat.' I have indeed been told, that Foote, Garrick, and Wilkes, wrote some of the candidates' addresses, for the purpose of instructing the people in the corruptions which attend elections to the legislature, and of producing those reforms by means of ridicule and shame, which are vainly expected from solemn appeals of argument and patriotism."

Such was the origin of the Garrat elections, the interest, fun, and amusement of which were so great at one period, that upwards of a hundred thousand persons have assembled at them, in vehicles of every description from a donkey-cart to the carriage of a peer; the candidates, dressed like chimney-sweepers on May-day, or in the mock fashion of the period, being brought to the hustings, sometimes in noblemen's carriages drawn by six horses, the owners themselves condescending to become their drivers!

The first Mayor of Garrat was Sir John Harper, who filled the office during two parliaments. He was, it is said, a man of wit, for at his election when a dead cat was thrown at him on the hustings, some one exclaiming that it stunk worse than a badger; "where's the wonder," vociferated Sir John, "don't you see it's a poll-cat?" This renowned knight was a retailer of brick-dust in London, and his Garrat honours having improved his trade and the condition of his ass, there were many aspirants in similar occupations who became emulous of the same distinctions.

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Among these was the renowned Sir Jeffery Dunstan, whose portrait we have given above, and who, according to Sir Richard Phillips, was the most popular candidate that ever appeared on the Garrat hustings, having been returned for no less than three parliaments successively. "His occupation," says Sir Richard, was that of buying OLD WIGS, once a trade like that in old clothes, but become obsolete since the full-bottomed and full-dressed wigs of both sexes went out of fashion. Sir Jeffery usually carried his wig-bag over his shoulder, and, to avoid the charge of vagrancy, vociferated, as he passed along the street, 'Old Wigs!' but having a person like Æsop, and a countenance and manner marked by irresistible humour, he never appeared without a train of boys and curious persons, whom he entertained by his sallies of wit, shrewd sayings, and smart repartees; and from whom, without begging, he collected sufficient to maintain his dignity of mayor and knight. He was no respecter of persons, and so severely did he cut at the corruptions of those in power, that, though but a street jester, he was prosecuted for using what were then called seditious expressions; nay, more, as a caricature on the times, which ought never to be forgotten, he was, in 1793, tried, convicted, and imprisoned! In consequence of this affair, and some charges of dis

honesty, he lost his popularity, and at the general election for 1796, was ousted by Sir Harry Dimsdale, muffin-seller, a man as much deformed as himself. This was the last of the political buffoons who figured as Mayor of Garrat."

Sir Jeffery could not long survive his fall; but, in death as in life, he proved a satire on the vices of the proud, for, in 1797, he died, like Alexander the Great, and many heroes renowned in the historic page-of suffocation from excessive drinking!

REDERICK BARON TRENCK was born at kunigs berg in Prussia, on the 16th of February, 1726, of one of the most ancient families in the country. His father, who died in 1740, with the rank of major-general of cavalry, bestowed particular care on the education of

his son, and sent him at the age of thirteen to the university of his native city, where he made a rapid progress in his studies. It was not long before he began to manifest that hot and impetuous disposition, and those violent passions which were probably the cause of all his subsequent misfortunes. At this period the barbarous practice of dueling was very common in the university of Konigsberg, where it was considered honourable to send a challenge. By the time Trenck was sixteen, he had been engaged in three affairs of this kind, and in all of them had wounded his antagonist. In 1742, he was introduced as a cadet into the body guards of the king, who was so highly pleased with the talents which he displayed, as to give him a cornet's commission in the space of six weeks. His majesty likewise equipped him splendidly for the service; and, in 1743, selected him to instruct the Silesian cavalry in the new manœuvres, an honour never before granted to a youth of eighteen.

During the following winter, Trenck's corps was garrisoned at Berlin, where a table was kept at court for the officers, and where he associated with the celebrated literati whom Frederick had assembled around him.

Trenck was now near six feet high, and nature had endowed him with every requisite to please. It was about this time that his heart began to feel a passion which eventually drew down upon him the indignation and severity of his sovereign, though he would himself fain ascribe it to a very different cause. The object of his love was the Princess Amelia, the king's sister, and from the notice which Trenck himself takes of this affair, it is not improbable that the first advances were made by the lady. He informs us that he was appointed to escort another of his majesty's sisters, who had been married to the king of Sweden, as far as Stettin. "Amid the tumult," says he," inseparable from occasions like these, on which it was my duty to maintain order, a thief had the address to steal my watch, and cut away a part of the gold lace from the waistcoat of my uniform, and escape unperceived. This accident brought on me the raillery of my comrades, and the lady alluded to thence took occasion to console me, saying it would be her care that I should be no loser. Her words were accompanied by a look which I could not misunderstand, and a few days afterwards I thought myself the happiest of mortals."

This amour it was Trenck's interest to keep as profound a secret as possible. His mistress supplied him with more money than he could spend, so that he made the greatest figure of any officer in his corps. The style in which he lived was remarked, and it was known that the income of the estate left him by his father was inadequate to support such an expenditure. Never did the days of youth glide away with more apparent success and pleasure than those of Trenck during the first years of his residence at Berlin. His good fortune was, however, but of short duration. In the beginning of September, 1744, war broke out between Austria and Prussia. In the course of the campaign the baron received from his sovereign the order of Merit, and when it was ended, returned to Berlin, where he says he was received with open arms. He became less cautious in regard to his amour, and perhaps was more narrowly observed. A lieutenant of the foot-guards having indulged in some impertinent jokes on the subject, Trenck bestowed on him such an epithet as he thought he deserved, on which they drew their swords and his antagonist was wounded. It would appear that his intrigue was no longer a secret to the king, for the next Sunday when the baron presented himself to pay his respects to his majesty on the parade, he addressed him in these remarkable words, "The thunder begins to roll and the bolt may fall-beware." This warning probably made little impression on Trenck, and obliged the king to have recourse to severity; for a short time afterwards, being a few minutes too late on the parade, the king remarked it, and made this neglect a pretext for sending