and though by profession a gamester, he was generous, humane,
and honourable.

When he gave in his accounts to the Masters of the Temple, among
other items he charged was one--'For making one man happy, L10.' Being
questioned about the meaning of so strange an item, he frankly declared
that, happening to overhear a poor man declare to his wife and large
family of children that L10 would make him happy, he could not avoid
trying the experiment. He added, that, if they did not choose to
acquiesce in his charge, he was ready to refund the money. The Masters,
struck with such an uncommon instance of good nature, publicly thanked
him for his benevolence, and desired that the sum might be doubled as a
proof of their satisfaction.

'His laws were so strictly enforced that he was styled "King of Bath:"
no rank would protect the offender, nor dignity of station condone
a breach of the laws. Nash desired the Duchess of Queensberry, who
appeared at a dress ball in an apron of point-lace, said to be worth 500
guineas, to take it off, which she did, at the same time desiring his
acceptance of it; and when the Princess Amelia requested to have one
dance more after 11 o'clock, Nash replied that the laws of Bath, like
those of Lycurgus, were unalterable. Gaming ran high at Bath, and
frequently led to disputes and resort to the sword, then generally worn
by well-dressed men. Swords were, therefore, prohibited by Nash in
the public rooms; still they were worn in the streets, when Nash, in
consequence of a duel fought by torchlight, by two notorious gamesters,
made the law absolute, "That no swords should, on any account, be worn
in Bath."'(114)

(114) The Book of Days, Feb. 3.

About the year 1739 the gamblers, in order to evade the laws against
gaming, set up E O tables; and as these proved very profitable to the
proprietors at Tunbridge, Nash determined to introduce them at Bath,
having been assured by the lawyers that no law existed against them.
He therefore set up an E O table, and the speculation flourished for a
short time; but the legislature interfered in 1745, and inflicted severe
penalties on the keepers of such tables. This was the ruin of Nash's
gambling speculation; and for the remaining sixteen years of his life he
depended solely on the precarious products of the gaming table. He died
at Bath, in 1761, in greatly reduced circumstances, being represented as
'poor, old, and peevish, yet still incapable of turning f