And rank me with the barb'rous multitudes.

Shakspeare.

About the commencement of the reign of King Charles the First, a
stranger came to reside in a populous village in Lancashire, under
circumstances of considerable interest and mystery. He was young, and
elegant in his person; his language not only evinced the cultivated
chasteness of education, but the nicer polish of refined society. When
drawn into conversation (to which he seemed averse), he discovered
classical learning enlivened by brilliant wit, and seasoned by deep
reflection. He was versed in the history of foreign courts; and if he
forbore to speak of our own, it seemed more from caution than from
ignorance. He excelled in fashionable exercises, rode the great horse
with a military air, and alarmed the rustics by his skill in fencing,
as much as he delighted them by the till then unheard tones which he
drew from the viola-de-gamba. It was impossible that, with these
accomplishments, a sad-coloured cloak and plain beaver could conceal the
gentleman. In vain did he report himself to be a Blackwell-hall factor,
whom an unfortunate venture had reduced to ruin.--Every one discovered
that his manners did not correspond with this description, and they
would have at once determined him to be some gay gallant, whose
wantonness of expense had outstripped his ability, had not his purse
contained good store of broad pieces, which his hand liberally bestowed,
as often as poverty appealed to his benevolence.

A Lancashire gentleman in those times had less intercourse with the
metropolis of the British empire, than one of the present day, has with
Canton. No London correspondent, therefore, could whisper the sudden
disappearance of a sparkling blade, who, after blazing awhile at
Whitehall, had unaccountably vanished like a meteor from its horizon;
nor had the depredation of swindlers, or the frequent intrusion of
impertinent hangers-on compelled the owners of manorial houses to shut
their doors on uninvited guests. The jovial coarse hospitality of those
times delighted in a crowded board; the extensive household daily
required ample provision, and refinement was too little advanced from
its earliest stage to make nice arrangement or rare delicacies necessary
to an esquire's table. Such a guest therefore as Evellin, was eagerly
sought and warmly welcomed. He joined with the joyous hunters in the
morning, he relieved th