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The Sussex Diarists. 59 |
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despite the excellence of his character, his good family, learning, and social position, deserves to be ranked among the diarists of Sussex. Most certainly the Journal and Account-Book on which his claims to do so rest, fall in interest far below the diaries of the Rev. Giles Moore, Anthony Stapley, Thos. Turner and Walter Gale. It consists chiefly of bald entries of moneys paid and received; of the presents which were sent to him (often, doubtless, in acknowledgment of legal advice) by his friends and neighbours, rich and poor; of the wages of servants, the price of grain, &c. Occasionally, however, Mr. Timothy Burrell enters into, to him, more interesting and domestic matters, and on these occasions, like the Rev. Giles Moore, he makes use of the Latin language. Thus (as rendered into English by Mr. R. W. Blencowe), "I severely reprimanded John Packham for his continual drunkenness, and at last I turned him out of my house, of which he had had the free run for five years: a drunken extravagant fellow!" And, touching on more delicate ground, he thus records a family trouble:—"My sister quarrelled with me, and was insolent to me, and I was somewhat, not to say too much, irritated with her; the consequence was, that for two days my stomach was at intervals seriously affected. I took Tipping's Mixture, and one or two doses of hiera picra" (still a favourite medicine, says Mr. Blencowe, who edited this journal for the Sussex Archaeological Society, with the common people of Sussex). And if sometimes Mr. Timothy Burrell could call his sister to account for insolence, he also shows that he was not blind to his own defects of temper. Ex. gr.: "I was rather too impatient with my servant for having put too much salt in my broth."
The larger number of entries are, however, of the business-like and homely character we have adverted to, and one or two of these will serve to illustrate the rest. As showing the price of wheat, in October, 1709, Mr. Burrell enters, "I bought two bushels of wheat for 16s., and then two bushels more for 17s. The two bushels, with the bag, |
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