182 ASHGILL; OR, THE LIFE 



obituary notice, gave a graphic picture of him in the 

 Sporting Times, from which we extract as follows : 



' The deceased was widely known, and better known 

 than esteemed, for his temper was so uncertain, at times 

 so violent, and his actions frequently so wayward, that it 

 was impossible to regard him as a friend, and equally 

 impossible to have dealings with him for long together. 

 In large transactions he was strictly honourable; but 

 in small ones overbearingly and frequently unjust. 

 Strong in his own strength, he seemed almost to despise 

 and desire to crush little men. Not only was this 

 conduct strikingly apparent in the ring, but also at the 

 clubs and at Tattersall's. If a little man in his hearing 

 offered to lay a certain price against a horse, ' Stevey ' 

 would immediately bawl him down by offering longer 

 odds and for a greater amount of money. His aim 

 seemed to be to keep the great guns all to himself, and 

 not to permit little interlopers to intrude upon his 

 domain. Yet we can remember him when he was a very 

 small man indeed we are not speaking of his size, but 

 of the extent of his monetary transactions for we 

 remember him when he used to bet with outsiders for 

 sums so small as half-a-crown and even so low as a 

 shilling, and at that time he was very violent, noisy, 

 and impetuous, and not unfrequently fell down in a fit 

 of epilepsy. In that state, as he was a powerful man, 

 his struggles were something fearful, and his fits were 

 generally of long duration. He has lain unconscious for 

 more than an hour, but as he grew older we believe that 

 the fits became fewer and farther between, and when 

 they did seize him they did so with less severity. 

 Whether his epilepsy was hereditary or not we cannot 

 say, but it is highly probable, for we have heard that 



