fudder.

Gibson, however, in his treatise on the food of horses, condemns the use of rye-grass. He says, that in England, it is seldom given but in the months of August and September, except to horned cattle. Before Michaelmas it is tolerably hard and dry, especially in dry seasons; and many feed their working horses with it, mixed with dry clover: but afterwards it imbibes so much moisture that it becomes unwholesome, and few horses that have been used to good hay will care for it." Here, however, Mr. Clark differs from Mr. Gib. E; for he says, that where rye-grass mixed with a linle clover is much used, it is found to be a clean wholesome fodder for horses; and those that are constantly fed upon it are not so subject to be broken-winded as those that are fed with natural hay that is mow-burnt, whilst, at the same time, they perform the exercise required of them with strength and vigour. Nor does he, in another respect, agree with Gibson, who, in the same page, says, that "soft hay, of all others, imbibes mouture the easiest, and retains the effects of it the longest, which generally turns it rotten and wholesome, and so affords but a crude faint nourishment; and those horses that are forced to feed upon it, for want of better, are generally weak and faint, and in time grow diseased."

It is well known," says Mr.Clark, "that natural hay is much softer than rye-grass hay; of course, it is more hable to attract moisture, and to acquire all the bad qualities above mentioned: whereas rye-grass hay, being harder and firmer in its texture, will not so readily become moist; consequently, according to the author's reasoning, the latter should be the wholesomest fodder for horses. Another recommendation in its favour is that, be ng harder and firmer than natural hay, it obliges a horse to chew it more completely be fere he can swallow it. This makes it easier of digestion, less bulky in the stomach, and, of course, not so liable to produce the bad effects which have been mentioned.

But, whatever be the quality of hay, much depends upon its being well got in; for the best grass that ever was cut for this purpose may be spoiled by wet weather, or by bad management; and, where there is a choice, the best should always be given to horses that are employed in active exercises.

"Clover-hay," says Mr. Clark, "should only be given to cattle and draught-horses, whose labour is slow and equal. It cannot be recommraded as a proper fodder for horses that stand much at rest, nor to those who are used in violent exercise of any kind, as they are apt to over-feed upon it.

Wheat-straw is generally used as litter. It is seldom given as fodder, unless to draught horses, or when it is chopped or cut small, and maxed with oats, &c. in order to oblige horses to break their food thoroughly before they can swallow it. Yet the highest fed horses, when it is fresh laid before them, are not only fond of picking the unthrashed heads of wheat that reBan on the straw, but are likewise fond of the straw itself, by way of a change.

Barley and oat straw are the common fodder of cattle and farm-horses. They are seldom given to the better kind of horses, unless it be out of economy, or by way of amusing them when they stand idle in the stable, and to prevent them from being restless for want of other food.

• Pease and bean straw are a dangerous fodder

accustomed to it, as it is hard of digestion. It is likewise apt to produce flatulencies, attended with griping pains and obstructions in the bowels. It is commonly given to work-horses and horned cattle.

"New hay of any kind should not be given to horses, more especially to those employed in active exercises, as they feed upon it too greedily, and swallow it without chewing it properly. it overloads the stomach, and, at the same time, produces a crude watery chyle, which disposes the horse to sweat much, which weakens greatly; therefore it should never be given till the superfluous moisture it contains is dried up, which will require some months after it is got in. But to such horses as are employed in very active exercises, it should at least be eight or ten months old.

"Grass is the most natural food for horses; but, whether it proceeds from the coldness of the soil or climate in Britain, it does not produce such rich nourishment as to enable them to perform any active exercises with the same strength and vigour as in warmer climates, without the addition of grain, as oats, &c. When horses are allowed to run abroad, and have a sufficiency of oats, and, at the same time, are provided with proper shades to protect them from the inclemency of the weather, we find, from experience, that they thrive and perform any active labour as well as those horses that are kept in stables on dry food only; together with this advantage, that they are not so subject to diseases, nor to lameness, but what, in the latter case, may proceed from accidents among themselves.

"Grass is not only food, but it is likewise physic to horses-I mean the early or spring grass. When the viscera are sound, it cures most of the diseases they are subject to with more certainty and expedition than can be done by medicine. After a long course of dry feeding and hard labour, it restores the constitution to the highest health and strength. It cleanses the bowels, and carries off those chalky concretions that are apt to be produced in the stomachs of such horses as have been long used to dry hard feeding. It likewise carries off the different species of worms with which they are infested. It renovates, as it were, the whole mass of fluids in the body. It promotes all the secretions, and removes glandular obstructions; and, in many cases, it carries off stiffness in the joints, and other lameness; and, upon the whole, it restores the body to the highest state of perfection of which it is capable."

The author, however, observes, that the usual advantages that arise to horses from their feeding on spring grass are in a great measure lost to them, if they are allowed to continue through the summer, when the grass becomes too rank; for they then grow fat and corpulent, and by no means fit for active exercises of any kind, which cannot be attempted without danger. It is customary, indeed, when horses are too fat, and full of blood, to reduce them by bleeding, purging, &c.: but these, when too frequently repeated, impair their constitutions, and bring on a premature old age

If, instead of undergoing this kind of medical discipline, those horses that are intended for hunting, &c. were taken up from grass as soon as it begins to shoot, and kept in constant daily exercise, although fed with a very moderate allowance of oats at the time, as the hunting season approaches, both their feeding and exercise may

be gradually increased. They will become, by this management, in a proper condition for the severest exercises, without any purging or other evacuation. See the article PHYSIC.

Another salutary effect of grass is, that it dissolves the concretions that are apt to grow in the stomach and other viscera of horses. Van Swieten, when treating of chalky matter found in the liver in the human subject, says, that incrustations, like gypsum, or plaster of Paris, were often observed by Glisson in the pori biliarii, and its larger branches, dispersed through the livers of oxen that had been fed in stalls with hay and straw, during the winter season, and without exercise. These concretions, however, were very friable, and would "dissolve again, and pass out of the body, when the cattle came to feed upon the fresh grass of the meadows;" for, in oxen that are slaughtered in spring and summer, these substances are very rarely found.

The experience of Mr. Clark confirms this statement; for, in dissecting horses, he frequently met with chalky concretions in the liver and in the lungs, especially in those animals that had been fed long on dry food. In other instances, he found round or oval balls in the stomach, sceming, for the most part, to be composed of the dust they lick from their own bodies, mixed with the hair. Whether the fresh grass dissolves these, he says, is not so certain; but that it causes these concretions to pass through the intestines, he had a full demonstration in the following instance: "In May, 1786, a horse that had been long fed on dry food was turned out to grass; in about eight or ten days afterwards, he was seized with violent griping pains, which lasted about twentyfour hours, when he died. As the horse was very fat, the man who had the charge of him wanted to make something of his grease: in searching for it, he observed a large portion of the intestine of a very black colour; and, on feeling it, found something hard and weighty. He immediately cut the intestine open with his knife, and took out a large oval hard ball, which measured four inches in length, and three inches and a half in breadth. That this concretion was originally formed in the stomach there can be no doubt, as they frequently, upon dissection, have been found there; and nothing but its great bulk had hindered it from passing through the intestines."-That these solid accumulations are not by any means unfrequent we have shewn under the article CALCULUS, where a means of preventing this evil is suggested by Dr. Withers of Newbery.

Mr. Clark further observes, with respect to the properties of spring grass, that those horses that cannot be turned out to pasture should have it given them in the house as soon as it can be cut. Indeed he reprobates the too general, and even boasted practice, of feeding horses for years together on hard dry food; to which he ascribes that loathsome disease the farcy, which prevails most in England, where dry food is more persevered in than in Scotland. To the objection that horses kept for active exercises reap no advantage from oats, &c. whilst they are at grass, because the grass tends to carry off the nourishment that should be produced by the former, he answers that, although the early grass purges a horse gently at first feeding on it, yet this purging does not continue long, neither is it attended with that weakness, faintness, and loss of flesh, which is observed in horses purged by strong medicines, where the evacuation is brought on suddenly, and chaps to an excess."

"A change of diet," the author observes, “is not only agreeable, but wholesome for horses, as it contributes to keep them open in the body. Malt mixed occasionally with their food proves a medicine.

"Wheat, notwithstanding it affords the most nourishment, is seldom given to horses, probably owing to its price being higher than that of other grain. It is apt to purge horses a little on the first using of it; they eat it greedily, and are fond of it: but, as it becomes very slippery from the moisture in the mouth, it is swallowed whole, and passed through the body in that state; but, when it is given bruised, or mixed with chopped straw, the horse is obliged to break it minutely with his teeth before he can swallow it. It then proves very nourishing, and enables him to go through much labour. It likewise makes a horse coat well, and causes his hair to lie smooth and shining."

By lord Kaimes's calculation, the boll of middling wheat weighs fourteen stone, Dutch weight; the husks weigh two stone: for which reason, when wheat is given to horses, a less quantity will be necessary than of oats, the proportion of nourishment being as the weight.

It is well known, that barley purges horses on the first using of it; but when it is given mixed with cut straw it proves a wholesome nourishing diet. The Arabian, the Barbary, and other eastern horses, eat it ; and these animals undergo great fatigue, and perform journeys with incredible swiftness. In England, however, farmers, grooms, &c. are much prejudiced against feeding their horses with barley, as they allege that it gives them the itch. But Mr. Clark affirms, from his own experience, that it has a very opposite effect; and that, if horses troubled with cutaneous eruptions are fed on barley, either raw or boiled, it will contribute greatly towards their cure. boll of middling barley. weighs eighteen stone, Dutch weight; the husks one stone four pounds. When it is boiled, it proves light, and easy of digestion; for which reason it may be properly given to horses when they are sick, or to prevent costiveness.

The

"Oats, notwithstanding they are reckoned more heating and binding than any of the former grain, yet they are generally given to horses in Britain. To post and other carriage horses they are frequently given mixed with beans, which obliges them to break both oats and beans minutely before they can be swallowed. The adding of the beans makes this feeding very nourishing. On that account beans should never be given mixed with oats to those horses that stand much at rest, or have not sufficient exercise. The boll of middling oats weighs fourteen stone, Dutch weight; the husks weigh six stone. Therefore, as oats have more busks than any other grain, a greater quantity is necessary. For this reason, it is probable that the standard measure of oats is larger than that of other grain. The constant feeding with oats, although it is esteemed what is called clean feeding, yet it is apt to make horses too costive, &c., to prevent which, bran, mashed up with boiling water, is given once a week, or as circumstances may require.

"Beans are seldom or never given to horses by themselves, unless to labouring horses. When they are boiled, they afford the strongest nourishment of all the other grain. The boll of middiing beans weighs fifteen stone eight pounds; the husks weigh eight pounds, which is the smallest proportion of husks in all the grain now mentioned. Of course, they contain more nourishment;

bet, as they contain a great proportion of fixed air, when given in a raw state and in too great a quantity, they are found to produce flatulence, gripes, &c.

After having fully described the different kinds of fodder, grain, &c. and their uses in the feeding of horses, Mr. Clark proceeds to consider how these are or ought to be applied to the greatest benefit. He quotes the connt de Buffon (vol. iii. page 375), who asserts, "that the Tartar horses will travel two or three days without stopping; receiving, for four or five days on end, only a handful of herbage every eight hours; and at the same time, kept from drinking for twenty-four hours." In the same volume (page 369), the same writer says, "that the Arabian horses are rather meagre than fat. During the day they are not permitted to eat, but are watered twice or thrice. At sun-set, a bag, containing about half a bush-l of barley, is passed over their heads, and fastened to their necks. This bag is not removed till next morning, when the barley is entirely consumed. When the grass is good, they are turned out to pasture; and, during the rest of the year, they are allowed neither grass nor hay, and rarely straw, barley being their only tood: and great care is taken to give them only as much as is barely necessary; for too much nourishment makes their legs swell, and soon renders them

useless."

In another place the count tells us, that "the horses which are bred in the Indies are very indifferent. Those used by the great men of the country are brought from Persia and Arabia. They are fed with hay during the day; and, at night, in place of barley and oats, they get pease bored with sugar and butter. This nourishing diet supports them, and gives them some degree of strength: without it they would soon perish, the climate not being adapted to their constitution." Mr. Berringer notices that "the Indians feed their horses in the rice-fields; and when flesh is plenty, they boil the offal to rags, and, mixing it with butter, and some sorts of grain, make balls, which they thrust down the horses' throats. In scarcity of provision, they give them opium, which has the same effects both on horses and men; for it at once damps their appetites, and enables them to endure fatigue."

We may here advert to Gibson's objection to the use of greasy or oily substances as food for horses. Baffon likewise tells us (vol. iii. page 388), that " in Iceland, where the cold is excessive, and where often no other food can be had than dried fishes, the horses, though small, are extremely vigorous."

The Arabian horses intended for hunting in Arabia or Barbary seldom eat herbage or grain. Their common food, which consists of dates and camels' milk, is given them every morning and at sight. These aliments, instead of fattening them, render them meagre, nervous, and very fleet. They pontaneously suck the she camels, whom they follow till the time they are ready for mounting, which is not before the age of six or seven years."

Mr Berringer, in his curious work on horsemanship, says, "Nemesian recommends straw and barley as very nourishing diet; and it certainly conduces very much to keep horses in health, spirits, and wind, and in a state of body fit for any kind of labour, as it supports and strengthens, without rendering the animal heavy and corpulent. **The Kalmuck horses are so hardy and strong

in their constitution as to be able to run three or four hundred English miles in three days. They subsist, summer and winter, solely upon grass in the great deserts."

The rules of diet applicable to horses, and the common errors of those concerned in the care of them, are thus judiciously treated of by Mr. Clark. "As horses are not endowed with reason, but guided entirely by instinct to such aliments as correspond with their constitutions, the appetite for food excites in them a strong desire to gratify this sense. They are therefore apt to indulge in it to excess when it is laid before them, especially grain of any kind, and more so when confined in the stable, where they have no other amusement to divert them from it. For, in the fields, at grass, after they are satisfied with eating, they run about, and play with one another a consider able part of their time, and do not begin to eat till prompted to it by hunger. For this reason, there are few or no instances of horses over-eating themselves when running at grass.

"Young horses, in particular, are most liable to be injured by too much feeding with grain. The blood of young animals as naturally disposed to be hot; high feeding increases this disposition, and renders them more subject to inflammatory diseases. Hence dry feeding with oats, &c. produces a plethoric habit of body, which renders them liable to fevers, swelled legs, and greasy heels, and, upon catching the least cold, to a variety of other disorders.

"Besides the ordinary feeding with oats, &c. at stated times through the day, it is too common to keep the racks at all times filled with hay. Hence many horses, having stuffed themselves, drink a great quantity of water, and when they come to be exercised, they are hardly able to breathe. Numbers of horses are daily ruined from this practice; yet many people are not aware of its effects.

"There are horses too of delicate stomachs, who loath their food from its being too constantly before them, and no having sufficient time or exercise to digest what they have eaten; besides, having constantly breathed upon it, they cannot relish it afterwards. It ought, in all cases, to be remembered, that it is not the quantity of food merely which a horse eats that produces the wholesomest nourishment, but it is what he digests well that invigorates and strengthens; for, when the stomach is overloaded with food, the body is dull, heavy, oppressed, sluggish, and stupid, and the digestive faculty is impaired.

"Throwing great quantities of grain before horses at one time is very improper; they, in this case, dip their mouths in it with eagerness, by which means they grasp more than they can break down properly; they devour it greedily, and swallow whole mouthfuls of it almost dry. The natural moisture of the stomach, or water drunk immediately after eating, causes the grain to swell, by which the stomach is greatly distended, and thereby loses it contractile power to a ct upon the food. By its uncommon pressure u on the intestines, the passage for the food backwards is obstructed. The confined air, arising from the indigested food not having a ready passage backwards, and horses not possessing the power of eructation, or belching, the air, by the heat and confinement, becomes rarefied to a great degree, and the horse is seized with the most acute pains; as they increase, he becomes convul ed, and in many cases the stomach bursts, and d cath follows of course."

These cases clearly show how necessary it is not to allow horses to eat too great a quantity of grain at one time, but to give it them in small quantities, and repeat it the more frequently, spreading it carefully in the trough or manger. At the same time, they shew the propriety of mixing chopped straw or hay with the grain, in order to make them chew it thoroughly before they swallow it; a circumstance to which the earl of Pembroke particularly adverts in his excellent treatise upon horses. Every grain," says he, "gees to nourishment: none is to be found in the dung; and three feeds of it go farther than four, as con monly given, which have not been in the mill. But wheaten straw, and a little hay too sometimes mixed with it, is excellent food. To a quarter of corn put the same quantity of straw. It obliges them to chew their meat, and is in many other ways of use.

The opposite extreme, namely, too small an allowance of food, when horses are worked hard, also disposes them to many diseases. A famished horse becomes weak and spiritless, his body emaciated, his circulation faint and languid. Dropsical swellings appear in different parts of the body, but particularly in the extremities; the blood loses its natural colour and quality, and the animal sinks under a complication of diseases, which are consequent upon an impoverished state of the blood and juices. Hence, therefore, it will appear," says Mr. Clark, what care and attention are necessary in the feeding of horses, and how much depends on the conducting it in a proper and regular manner.

"Although it is extremely difficult to lay down any fixed rules for the feeding of horses, yet it may be observed, in general, that all extremes in the feeding of them ought to be avoided. Those that are constantly employed in hard labour, or active exercises, require to be fed with more grain than those that stand much at rest in the stable, or only perform gentle exercises, which occasion no great waste in the constitution. Upon the whole, the feeding of horses ought at all times to be proportioned to their labour, or the exercises they are employed in.

"Post-horses, hunters, and other horses employed in such violent exercises ought to be fed chietly with grain during the time of their being so employed. The former frequently eat from four to six or more feeds of oats, mixed with beans, per day, of the oat standard measure, which is the largest measure of all other grain. But this high feeding should not be continued for too great a length of time, without a little relaxation both trem severe labour and high feeding. The latter should be changed occasionally to that which is soft and moist, as boiled barley, malt, or

a little fresh grass in the season. This should be continued for a short time only, by way of change

of diet.

Wheat an 1 barley should likewise be given to horses frequently, by way of a change of diet; and all grain that is given th ́m, if possible, should be bruised in a a ill, or otherwise, for the reasons already mentic ned. This would not only be a saving of grain, but attended with considerable advantage in ther respects."

Too new gain of any kind should never be given to horses that are employed in active exer

cses: it produces the am bad effects as new hay, and disposes the horse to sweat much, and frequently occasions a severe looseness. Indeed, if the grain, at the same time, chance to be bad of

its kind, the diarrhoea may continue with sucli severity as to prove fatal; of which we have two many instances.

Costiveness, which is another effect of hard dry food, Mr. Clark says, should be particularly guarded against. This, like most diseases to which horses are liable, is easier prevented than cured, by giving mashes of bran, boiled barley, or malt, once a week, or oftener, by way of prevention.

FOO'DFUL. a. (food and full.) Fruitful; full of food, plenteous (Dryden). FOODY. a. (from food.) Eatable; fit for food.

FOOL. s. (ffol, Welsh.) 1. One to whom nature has denied,reason; a natural; an ideot (Pope). 2. (In Scripture.) A wicked man (Psalms). 3. A term of indignity and reproach (Dryden). 4. One who counterfeits folly; a buffoon; a jester (Denham). 5. To play the FOOL. To play pranks like a hired jester; to make sport (Sidney). 6. To play the FooL. To act like one void of common understanding (Shakspeare). 7. To make a FOOL of. To disappoint, to defeat (Shakspeare).

To FOOL. v. n. (from the noun.) To trifle; to toy; to play; to idle; to sport (Herbert). To Fool. v. a. 1. To treat with contempt; to disappoint; to frustrate; to defeat (B. Jon2. To infatuate; to make foolish (Cason). lamy). 3. To cheat; as, to fool one of his

FOOLHARDINESS, s. (from foolhardy.) Mad rashness; courage without sense (South). FOOLHARDISE. s. (fool and hardiesse, French.) Foolhardiness: obsolete (Spenser).

FOOLHA'RDY. a. (fool and hardy.) Daring without judgment; madly adventurous (Hooker).

FOOLISH. a. (from fool.) 1. Void of understanding; weak of intellect. 2. Imprudent; indiscreet (Shakspeare). 3. RidiculWicked; sinful. ous; contemptible (Law). 4. (In Scripture.)

FOOLISHLY. ad. (from foolish.) Weakly; without understanding. In Scripture, wickedly (Swift).

FOO'LISHNESS. s. (from foolish.) 1. Folly; want of understanding, 2. Foolish pracice; actual deviation from the right (Prior). FOO'LSTONES. s. A plant (Miller). FOOLSTONES, in botany. See ORCHIS. FOOLTRAP. s. (fool and trap.) A snare to catch fools in (Dryden).

FOOT. s. plural feet. (pot, Sax.) 1. The part upon which we stand (Clarend.). 2. That by which any thing is supported in the nature of a foot: as, the foot of a table. 3. The lower part; the base (Hokewill). 4. The end; the lower part (Dryden). 5. The act of walking

(Marcabees). 6. On FOOT. Walking; with oc: carriage. 7. On Fooт. In a posture of nou (Shakspeare). 8. Infantry; footmen in As (Clarendon). 9. State; character; condison (Addison). 10. Scheme; plan; settle ment (Swift). 11. A state of incipient existence (Tillotson). 12. A certain number of tables constituting a distinct part of a verse (Ascher). 13. Motion; action (Grew). 14. Step (L'Estrange). 15. A measure containing twelve inches.

FOOT (Square), is a square, each side of which is 12 inches; its surface, therefore, contains 144 square inches.

Foor (Solid), is a cube whose three dimensions are each 12 inches: its capacity is therefore 1728 cubic inches.

Foot of a horse extends from the fetlockjoint to the outer sole at the bottom of the hoof: it includes the coronary-bone, the nutbone, the coffin-bone, and the inner sole (or membranous mass), in which it is deposited; well as the frog and the wall or hoof surunding and supporting the whole. To FOOT. v. n. (from the noun.) 1. To dance; to tread wantonly; to trip (Dryden). 2. To walk; not ride (South). To FOOT. v. a.

1. To spurn; to kick (Shakspeare). 2. To settle; to begin to fix Shakspeare). 3. To tread (Tickel). FOOTBALL. s. (foot and ball.) 1. A ball commonly made of a blown bladder, cased with leather, driven by the foot (Waller). 2. The sport or practice of kicking the football (Arbuthno!).

FOOTBOY. s. (foot and boy.) A low menial, an attendant in livery (Boyle).

FOOTBRIDGE. s. A bridge on which passengers walk; a narrow bridge (Sidney). FOOTCLOTH. s. s. A sumpter cloth (Shak

FOOT DEROBE, in the manage. A horse's foot has this appellation when it is worn and wasted by going without shoes, so that, for want of hoof, it is a hard matter to shoe him. A horse's hoof is said to be worn and wasted, called in French usé, when he has but little hoof, and not enough for shoeing.

FOOT-FAT, in the manage. A horse is said to have a fat foot, when the hoof is so thin and weak, that unless the nails be driven very short, he runs the risk of being pricked in

shoeing.

FOOT-HALT, the name of a particular disorder incident to sheep. It arises from an insect, which, when it comes to a certain maturity, resembles a worm of two, three, or four inches in length. The first appearance of the malady is, when the sheep give signs of being lame, which increases so far as to prevent his grazing; when, what with want of sufficient food, and pain, the poor animal suffers greatly, and lingers till it dies a natural death, if not properly attended to by extracting the insect; which is very easily done.

As soon as the lameness is perceived, let the foot that is lame be examined between the close of the claws, and it will be found that in

the skin where the close separates is a small hole (not natural), through which the insect, when yet small, gets its entrance, and by degrees has worked itself upwards along the leg, between the outward skin and bone, and ob tains its largest magnitude. Proportionally it finds its nourishment, and is left undisturbed. This worm must be extracted by moving the claws backward and forward in contrary. directions; and it will not be long before the under part of the worm makes its appearance at the above mentioned small hole; and continuing the same operation of moving the claws, the whole worm will work itself out; which is better than when at its first appearance it is attempted to be drawn out with dan ger of breaking off, for part of it might remain in the sheep's leg, and by its rotting there be hurtful. This easy and simple operation will be found effectual without any other kind of application whatever, nature herself curing the channel which the worm had made along the leg.

FOOTSTALK, has been put by English. writers both for the peduncle and petiole. See PEDUNCULUS and PETIOLUS.

FOOTE (Samuel), an English dramatic. writer and performer, was born at Truro, in Cornwall, in 1722. His father was a justice of the peace for that county, and his mother sister to sir John Dinely Goodere, of Herefordshire, who was murdered by his brother, captain Goodere, at Bristol. Foote was educated at Worcester college, Oxford, from whence he removed to the Temple; but the liveliness of his mind did not suit with the profession of the law; he therefore abandoned it for the stage.

His first performance was in the character of Othello. In 1747 he opened the little theatre in the Haymarket, with a dramatic piece of his own, called, The Diversions of the Morning, which was represented above forty, mornings to crowded audiences. The next season he brought forward another exhibition, called, An Auction of Pictures, in which he took off some of the most noted characters of the day. He still continued to play at one or other of the theatres, and frequently brought out new pieces. In 1760 he produced the Minor at his own house in the Haymarket, and from that time it became a summer theatre. In 1766 he had the misfortune to break his leg while on a visit to lord Mexborough's in the country, in consequence of which he was obliged to have it amputated. He now. began to acquire a great deal of money, and his genius being very prolific, he every season produced some laughable caricature of persons well known; which filled the theatre, and consequently his pockets. In 1776 he attacked a lady, then the subject of much conversation; but his piece was suppressed; and some charges were brought against him of a very serious nature, no less than of his having been guilty of an unnatural offence. He was honourably acquitted of this accusation; but it had a deep effect upon his mind, and the year fol