RECOLLECTIONS TO 1890. 93 



hands of the " Centurion," Borrower No. 1, by the 

 agency of the Lender, No. 2. Some explanations 

 were given to me about that diminutive scandal, but 

 I did not believe a word of it. However, a few days 

 after my onslaught on our " Centurion " I received 

 from him a letter of four pages of the size I write 

 these historical divagations, of close writings of abuse 

 rather silly, and the man was not a fool, but his 

 pride had been wounded. He began his letter 

 by " Here inclosed my check for $50, amount of bill 

 rendered to me for plant wrongly labelled," etc., etc. 

 So you can see he was honest. I liked that sort of 

 exordium, but his long epistle, and its longer and more 

 abusive and silly peroration, made me mad first, 

 then I laughed with pity for I had a foible for him. 

 Nine-tenths of his letter, if not all, was the most elabo- 

 rate theme of Billingsgate rhetoric I have seen. He 

 evidently had made up his mind to make the letter as 

 long as he could, and / resolved to make my answer as 

 short as possible. In that letter he threatened me to 

 send me one like it every week. He never did it. It 

 seemed he had told his friend he would do so. The 

 friend told him not to send it to me, and if I should 

 answer it, he would be sorry I know Menand. When 

 he got my answer, you will see below, he went to show 

 it to him. He frankly told his friend he was sorry, 

 but too late. 



