had for rector the
satirical James Bramston, author of "The Art of Politics" and "The Man
of Taste," two admirable poems in the manner of Pope. This is his
unimpeachable advice to public speakers:--

Those who would captivate the well-bred throng,
Should not too often speak, nor speak too long:
Church, nor Church Matters ever turn to Sport,
Nor make _St. Stephen's Chappell, Dover-Court_.

CHAPTER XI

BIGNOR

Burton and the sparrowhawk--James Broadbridge--The quaintest of
grocer's shops--A transformation scene--The Roman
pavement--Charlotte Smith the sonneteer--Parson Dorset's
advice--Humility at West Burton--Bury's Amazons.

Two miles due south from Petworth is Burton Park, a modest sandy
pleasaunce, with some beautiful deer, an ugly house, and a church for
the waistcoat pocket, which some American relic hunter will assuredly
carry off unless it is properly chained.

Mr. Knox has an interesting anecdote of a sparrowhawk at Burton. "In
May, 1844," he writes, "I received from Burton Park an adult male
sparrowhawk in full breeding plumage, which had killed itself, or rather
met its death, in a singular manner. The gardener was watering plants in
the greenhouse, the door being open, when a blackbird dashed in
suddenly, taking refuge between his legs, and at the same moment the
glass roof above his head was broken with a loud crash, and a hawk fell
dead at his feet. The force of the swoop was so great that for a moment
he imagined a stone hurled from a distance to have been the cause of the
fracture."

At Duncton, the neighbouring village, under the hill, James Broadbridge
was born in 1796--James Broadbridge, who was considered the best
all-round cricketer in England in his day. He had a curious hit to
square-leg between the wicket and himself, and he was the first of whom
it was said that he could do anything with the ball except make it
speak. In order to get practice with worthy players he would walk from
Duncton to Brighton, just as Lambert would walk from Reigate to London,
or Noah Mann ride to Hambledon from Petworth. Jim Broadbridge's first
great match was in 1815, for Sussex against the Epsom Club, including
Lambert and Lord Frederick Beauclerk, for a Thousand Guineas.
Broadbridge, after his wont, walked from Duncton to Brighton in the
morning, and he looked so much like a farmer and so little like a
cricketer that there was some opposition to his playing. B