ation tour, and he writes to one of his lady correspondents: 'You
will be glad that, during the three weeks I passed in Suffolk, I did not
meet a single unpleasant man, nor experience a single unpleasant
accident.' With the name of the Suffolk hero Captain Broke, of the
_Shannon_. (I can well remember the Shannon coach--which ran from
Yoxford to London--the only day-coach we had at that time), Ipswich is
inseparably connected. He was born at Broke Hall, just by, and there
spent the later years of his life. Another of our naval heroes, Admiral
Vernon, the victor of Porto Bello, resided in the same vicinity. At one
time there seems to have been an attempt to connect Ipswich with the Iron
Duke. In the memoir of Admiral Broke we have more than one reference to
the Duke's shooting in that neighbourhood, and actually it appears that,
unknown to himself, he was nominated as a candidate to the office of High
Steward. Ipswich, however, preferred a neighbour, in the shape of Sir
Robert Harland. At a later day the office was filled by Mr. Charles
Austin, the distinguished writer on Jurisprudence.

One of the celebrated noblemen who lived in Ipswich was Lord Chedworth.
He wore top-boots, and wore them till they were not fit to be seen. When
new boots were sent home he was accustomed to set them on one side, and
get his manservant to wear them a short time to prepare them for his own
feet. Sometimes the man would tell his lordship that he thought the
boots were ready, but his lordship would generally reply, 'Never mind,
William; wear them another week.' While at Ipswich his lordship was
frequently consulted, owing to his legal attainments and well-known
generous disposition, by tradesmen and people in indigent circumstances.
The applicants were ushered into the library, where, surrounded by books,
they found his lordship. The chairs and furniture of the room, like his
lordship's clothes, had not merely seen their best days, but were
comparatively worthless, and the old red cloak which invariably enveloped
his shoulders made him look more like a gipsy boy than a peer of the
realm. His lordship's legacies to Ipswich ladies and others, especially
of the theatrical profession, were of the most liberal character.

Ipswich in its old days had its share of witches. One of the most
notorious of them was Mother Hatheland, who in due course was tried,
condemned and executed. From her confession in 1645 it appears 'the said
Moth