HIGHWAYMEN 175 



remarking as he bowed with the most courtly grace: 

 "Sir, you are liberal, and your liberality shall excuse you 

 the other three hundred pounds." 



A different form of entertainment was suggested by 

 James Whitney and his followers, for after they had 

 robbed a clergyman of ^10 the humour seized them 

 that he should preach them a sermon. The divine rose 

 to the occasion, and took for his text the word "Theft," 

 which was certainly applicable to his audience, but 

 showed great daring on his part. His discourse ended 

 thus: "Let him that stole steal no more, or else the 

 letters of my text point to a tragical conclusion; for T, 

 take care; H, hanging; E, ends not; F, felony; T, at 

 Tyburn." Despite its extreme pointedness, the robbers 

 approved of the sermon, and declaring that the preacher 

 deserved his fee presented him with los. out of his ;^io. 



Ned Wicks made a strange proposition to one of 

 his viftims, for when he stopped Lord Mohun with 

 the usual polite formula of "Damee stand and deliver," 

 his lordship replied with such a string of profanities 

 that Wicks, who was no mean performer in that line 

 himself, was quite taken aback. A man with such a 

 command of language was quite out of the common 

 run and entitled to any highwayman's respect. With a 

 view to ascertaining who was the most proficient in the 

 gentle art of swearing, Wicks proposed they should 

 have a swearing match for a bet of £^0, Lord Mohun's 

 groom to aft as judge. 



The preliminaries settled, they fell to, and for a 

 quarter of an hour they swore in a way that fairly 



