ls of a blighted vine--all conspire to arrest
the attention of an inquisitive eye; yet the Chelts know but little
~233~~about his history, beyond his being a man of good property, the
proprietor of the Vittoria boarding-house, inoffensive in manners,
obliging in disposition, and intelligent in conversation. His great
penchant is a midnight supper, stewed chicken and mushrooms, or any
other choice and highly-seasoned dish; to enjoy which in perfection,
he hath a maiden sleeping at the foot of his bed ready to attend his
commands, which, it is said, are communicated to her in a very singular
way; no particle of speech being used to disturb the solemn silence of
the night, but a long cane reaching downwards to the slumbering maid, by
certain horizontal taps against her side, propelled forward by the
hand of the craving _gourmand_, wakes her to action, and the banquet,
piping-hot from the stew-pan, smokes upon the board, unlike a vision,
sending up real and enchanting odoriferous perfumes beneath his
olfactory organs. Extraordinary as this account may appear, it is, I
believe, strictly true, and is the great feature of the eccentric's
peculiarities, all the minor whims and fancies being of a subordinate
and uninteresting nature. I shall conclude my notice of him by relating
an action that would do honour to a king, and will excuse the eccentric
with the world, although his follies were ten times more remarkable.
During the suspension of payments by one of the Cheltenham banks, and
when all the poorer class of mechanics and labourers were in a most
piteous situation from the unprecedented number of one pound provincial
notes then in circulation, Mr. Mackey, to his eternal-honour be it
related, and without the remotest interest in the bank, stepped nobly
forward, unsolicited and unsupported, gave to all the poor people
who held the one pound notes the full value for them, reserving to
himself only the chance of the dividend. Ye Berkeleys, Ducies, Lennoxes,
Cravens, Hammonds, Bushes, Molineauxes, and Coventrys, and all the
long list of Cheltenham gay! ~234~~show me an action like this ye
have done--a spirit so noble, when did you display?--Do you see that
rosy-gilled fellow coming this way, with a hunting-whip in his hand? in
costume, more like a country horse-dealer than a country clergyman;
yet such he was, until the bishop of the diocese removed the clerical
incumbrance of the cassock, to give the wearer freer license to indu