--If he could be believed, he found a variety of material
in this old collection. To a credulous and weak acquaintance, Mr. Burgum,
he went, beaming with joy, to present the pedigree and illuminated arms of
the de Bergham family--tracing the honest mechanic's descent to a noble
house which crossed the Channel with William the Conqueror. The delighted
Burgum gave him a crown, and Chatterton, pocketing the money, lampooned
his credulity thus:
Gods! what would Burgum give to get a name,
And snatch his blundering dialect from shame?
What would he give to hand his memory down
To time's remotest boundary? a crown!
Would you ask more, his swelling face looks blue--
Futurity he rates at two pound two!
In September, 1768, the inauguration or opening of the new bridge across
the Avon took place; and, taking advantage of the temporary interest it
excited, Chatterton, then sixteen, produced in the _Bristol Journal_ a
full description of the opening of the old bridge two hundred years
before, which he said he found among the old papers: "A description of the
Fryers first passing over the old bridge, taken from an ancient
manuscript," with details of the procession, and the Latin sermon preached
on the occasion by Ralph de Blundeville; ending with the dinner, the
sports, and the illumination on Kynwulph Hill.
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