344 THE COACHING AGE. 



if any attention to what I said, and went on muclx 

 as before, apparently in a kind of sullen doggedness 

 of spirit, urging on his horses, regardless of my 

 expostulations. 



' " At length his health gave way altogether, and 

 when I first saw him he was the -victim of advanced 

 consumption. I found him in the back parlour of an 

 inn, vainly seeking amusement and happiness in 

 reading novels ofthe worst description. I endeavoured 

 to bring every means to bear on the relief of his 

 sufierings, and I soon gained his entire confidence. 

 On my second visit I left a tract on his bed, which 

 he appeared to receive respectfully, though I heard 

 that he afterwards expressed himself as having felt 

 insulted ; indeed, he was so angry and ofi"ended 

 at having a tract given to him, that he gnashed 

 his teeth in rage, and determined to tear it to pieces 

 directly I left the room. 



' " In one of our conversations, speaking of himself, 

 he said : ' I was one of the biggest blackguards that 

 ever stepped,' which was one of his forcible expres- 

 sions." 



' The suff'erings of poor B.,' the narrative continues, 

 ' were varied and severe,' and shortly afterwards 

 terminated his existence somewhere about the year 

 1845. 



A curious circumstance happened to a man 



