THE BLACKSMITH 



189 



old shallow-crowned, broad-leafed, napless black hat, protects 

 his dirty bald head from the winds, and keeps the lank un- 

 combed grey locks of the sides down upon his greasy coat 

 collar. Altogether, Bullwaist has a most unwholesome sort 

 of look ; yet this is the sort of man that deals in drugs and 

 potions, and is consulted about the ailments and accidents 

 of cattle and horses; and, strange to say, many of the country 

 people prefer these ignorant quacks, these blockheads, these 

 horse torturers, to regularly educated men. They have heard 

 of some wonderful cure, some extraordinary operation border- 

 ing on a miracle, performed by them, that banishes the recol- 

 lection of all their bungling failures, and of all their broken 

 promises. Some, indeed, carry the principle out with regard 

 to themselves, and many a lout would rather be operated upon 

 by a bone-setter than by a Liston, a Cooper, or a Brodie. It 

 is wonderful the influence some of these quacks obtain over the 

 minds of country people ; nay, even over parties from whom 

 better things might be expected. In a village, not fifty miles 

 from London, carriagefuls of people used to resort, week 

 after week, to a man fully as ignorant and as brutal as Bull- 

 waist ; nay, we believe, more ignorant, for Bullwaist can make 

 a sort of writing, whereas the individual in question was wholly 

 ignorant of the art. 



Here is a specimen of Bullwaist's spelling. We are sorry 



we cannot give a facsimile of the call 



iphy 



tself:- 



£1 



