“’Bolt had scarcely reached the full blaze of his glory when a series of material obligations truly alarming commenced; and as I then regretted the manner in which he discharged them, so am I now less ashamed to relate them than sorry for their existence on the page of the past.  As nearly all Bolt’s acquaintances had carriages, it seemed imperative on him to follow their example, which he was not long in doing.  And this item of expense necessarily entailed that of two very worthy gentlemen—­viz.:  Mr. Fripp the coachman, and Mr. Still the footman—­without whom no turn-out can be considered complete.  Well, these worthy personages were put in possession of the carriage, but scarcely a week had passed before a great deficiency was discovered.  Messrs. Fripp and Still had acted in similar capacities to my Lady Brackenbridge, and now declared it beneath their dignity to remain in a service not honored with livery.  They laid their grievance before Bolt, who, appreciating the deficiency, forthwith ordered the requisite plush and cockades, to the no small joy of those worthies.  If you ask me the cost of these adjuncts so necessary to a very fine gentleman, my answer is that I cannot enlighten you; and this for the very reason, that the cost of an article depends very much on the manner in which you pay for it.’

“As my great-uncle said this he would grasp tighter his crutch and look wrathfully about the room for a seat.  ‘Bolt!’ he would continue, having adjusted his shabby drab hat, ’soon learned that in Europe tradesmen are exceedingly impressible, and notwithstanding they are held in utter contempt by the fine gentlemen of the diplomatic world, will be their humble servant to any amount, asking no other security than the, to them, immaculate character of the mission.  I do not mean to say that Bolt made such facilities a study; nor would I be understood as casting a sneer at the diplomatic body in general, but when modern instances prove notorious facts, how can I turn a deaf ear to the belief that our diplomacy has embodied another function?—­that of practising the most fashionable way of paying the most fashionable debts.  Pardon this little digression.  There was a never ending demand for Bolt’s custom.  Mr. Peppers, the distinguished jeweller of Regent street, would fill his order to any amount; Broadwood & Willow, tailors in ordinary to Her Majesty, always had a newly arrived fashion, the senior partner knew his honor would be pleased with; Dole, the wine merchant, who counted his customers among the first nobility of the land, sent a list of his very best importation, humbly soliciting an order.  And as Mr. Secretary Bolt had not the least objection to being driven into dignity, he would order all sorts of things, from a diamond bracelet down to a tin tea-pot for Mrs. Loveleather the laundress.  It was wonderful to see how credulous these tradesmen gentry were, and how they would chuckle over an order from one of the legation.  But I must here say that Bolt found