t to show you in what estimation he is held by the
ladies." "Give me leave to introduce you to a Raer fellow," said
Heartly; "an old friend of mine, who has all his lifetime been a
wholesale dealer in choice spirits, and having now bottled off enough
for the remainder of his life, is come to spend the evening of his days
in Bath among the bon vivants of the elegant city, enjoying the tit
bits of pleasure, and courting the sweet society of the pretty girls. By
heavens! boys, we shall be found out, and you, Mr. Spy, will be the
ruin of us all, for here comes our old sporting acquaintance, Charles
Bannatyne, with his Jackall at his heels, accompanied by that mad
wag Oemsby, the Cheltenham amateur of fashion, and the gallant little
Lieutenant Valombre, who having formerly made a rich capture of
Spanish dollars, is perhaps upon the look-out here ~329~~for a frigate
well-laden with English specie, in order to sail in consort, and cruize
off the straits of independence for life. Well, success attend him,"
said Heartly; "for he well deserves a good word whether at sea or
on shore. The military-looking gentleman yonder, who is in close
conversation with that rough diamond, Ellis, once a London attorney,
is the highly-respected Colonel Fitzgerald, whom our friend Transit
formerly caricatured under the cognomen of Colonel Saunter, a
good-humoured joke, with which he is by no means displeased himself."
"But, my dear fellows," said Transit, "if we remain fixed to this spot
much longer, we shall have the eyes of all the _beau monde_ upon us,
and stand a chance of being pointed at for the rest of the time that we
remain in Bath." A piece of advice that was not wholly unnecessary, for
being personally known to a few of the sporting characters, our visit
to the elegant city had spread like wildfire, and on our appearance in
Milsom-street, a very general desire was expressed by the beaux to
have a sight of the English Spy and his friend Transit, by whose joint
labours they anticipated they might hereafter live to fame.

One of the most remarkable personages of the old school still left to
Bath is the celebrated Captain Mathews, the author of "a short Treatise
on Whist," and the same gentleman who at an early period of life
contested with the late R. B. Sheridan, upon Lansdowne, for the
fair hand of the beauteous Miss Lindly, the lady to whom the wit was
afterwards married. In this way did my pleasant friends Heartly
and Eglantine continu