'OLD SMITH'S BULLOCKS: 431 



At this Smith's temper was uncontrollable, and he 

 replied in a sweltering rage : 



' I am Smith !' 



' And I,' said the other, ' am Home Tooke !' 



Strange to say, they afterwards became friendly, 

 and it is said that Smith voted for instead of against 

 the other. 



There is at present a family living in Devonshire, 

 which I have very little doubt are descendants of this 

 very Smith, because they are noted for their swagger 

 and ability to steer clear of the truth in what they 

 affirm ; insomuch so that it is of a certain member of 

 this family that it has been so neatly observed that 

 he ' was never known to speak the truth except once 

 by accident.' One of them — a man I knew well — 

 was a butcher not far from Exeter, if he did not once 

 keep a shop in that city. For many years his bullocks 

 were always better than those of the preceding season,, 

 and naturally, in the course of time, they attained a 

 very high state of perfection indeed ; until at last it 

 passed into a proverb, and when anyone told a 

 thumper more palpably outrageous than usual, it was 

 sufficiently understood when it was said, ' That's like 

 old Smith's bullocks.' I should add that afterwards 

 the butcher turned his attention to horses, which in 

 his hands (and mouth) became equally noted as 

 being of the same wonderful improving character ; 

 like the monster elephant that the showman assures 

 his audience grows half an inch a day ; and never 



