 (said he) and half a guinea into the bargain, for
the boots, which fitted me like a glove; and I shan't be able to get the fellows
of them till the good weather for riding is over.« The stuttering wit declared,
that the only secret which Cropdale ever kept, was the place of his lodgings;
but, he believed, that, during the heats of summer, he commonly took his repose
upon a bulk, or indulged himself, in fresco, with one of the kennel-nymphs,
under the portico of St. Martin's church. »Pox on him! (cried the bookseller) he
might as well have taken my whip and spurs - In that case, he might have been
tempted to steal another horse, and then he would have rid to the devil of
course.«
    After coffee, I took my leave of Mr. S--, with proper acknowledgments of his
civility, and was extremely well pleased with the entertainment of the day,
though not yet satisfied, with respect to the nature of this connexion, betwixt
a man of character in the literary world, and a parcel of authorlings, who, in
all probability, would never be able to acquire any degree of reputation by
their labours. On this head I interrogated my conductor, Dick Ivy, who answered
me to this effect - »One would imagine S-- had some view to his own interest, in
giving countenance and assistance to those people, whom he knows to be bad men,
as well as bad writers; but, if he has any such view, he will find himself
disappointed; for if he is so vain as to imagine he can make them subservient to
his schemes of profit or ambition, they are cunning enough to make him their
property in the mean time. There is not one of the company you have seen to-day
(myself excepted) who does not owe him particular obligations. - One of them he
bailed out of a spunging-house, and afterwards paid the debt - another he
translated into his family, and cloathed, when he was turned out half naked from
jail in consequence of an act for the relief of insolvent debtors - a third, who
was reduced to a woollen nightcap, and lived upon sheeps' trotters, up three
pair of stairs backward in Butcher-row, he took into present pay and free
quarters, and enabled him to appear as a gentleman, without having the fear of
sheriff's officers before his eyes. Those who are in distress he supplies with
money when he has
