and myself in all that related to the haute
class, and old Barnaby Blackstrap was an equally able guide to every
description of society, from the mediums down to the strange collections
of vagrant oddities which are to be found in the back Janes and suburbs
of the city of Bath. It has been well said, in a spirited reply to the
Reverend Mr. Ek--r--s--l's illiberal satire, entitled "The Bath Man,"
that "London has its divisions of good and bad sets as well as Bath;
nay, every little set has its lower set; Bank looks down contemptuously
upon wealth; those who are asked to Carlton Palace cut the muligatawny
set; the ancient aristocracy call law-lords and _parvenues_ a bad set;
and so downward through the whole scale of society, from Almack's to a
sixpenny hop, 'still in the lowest deep a lower deep,' and human pride
will ever find consolation that there is something to be found beneath
it. Plain men, accustomed to form their notions of good and evil on
more solid foundations than grades of fashionable distinctions, will
not consent to stigmatize as bad any class of society because there may
happen to ~299~~be a class above it." And what better apology could we
desire for our eccentric rambles through every grade of Bath society?
with us every set has its attractions, and I have known my friend
Transit cut a nobleman and half a dozen honourables for the delightful
gratification of enjoying the eccentricities of a beggars' club, and
being enabled to sketch from the life the varied exhibition of passion
and character which such a meeting would afford him. It will not,
therefore, create any surprise in my readers, that our first evening in
Bath should have been devoted to the social pipe; the pleasant account
Blackstrap gave us of the sporting party, in Matthew Temple's snuggery,
induced us to adjourn thither in the evening, where we might enjoy life,
smoke our cigars, join a little chaffing about the turf and the ring,
sip our punch and grog, enjoy a good chaunt, and collect a little
character for the pages of the English Spy. To such as are fond of these
amusements, most heartily do I recommend a visit to the Sporting Parlour
at the Castle, where they will not fail to recognise many of the jovial
characters represented in the opposite page; and as old Time pays no
respect to worth and mellow-hearted mortals, but in his turn will mow
down my old friend Matthew and his merry companions, I am desirous to
perpetuate their memory b