in an expedition by water from Burton to Nottingham,
and on to Newark. They had cold provisions on board, and plenty of wine.
It was midsummer; the day ardent and sultry. The noon-tide meal had
been made, and the glass had gone gaily round. It was one of those _few_
instances in which the medical votary of the Naiads transgressed his
general and strict sobriety," in which, in fact, he may be said to
have--remembered himself.

"If not absolutely intoxicated, his spirits were in a high state of
vinous exhilaration. On the boat approaching Nottingham, within the
distance of a few fields, he surprised his companions by stepping,
without any previous notice, from the boat into the middle of the river,
and swimming to shore. They saw him get upon the bank, and walk coolly
over the meadows towards the town: they called to him in vain, but he
did not once turn his head.

"Anxious lest he should take a dangerous cold by remaining in his wet
clothes, and uncertain whether or not he intended to desert the party,
they rowed instantly to the town at which they had not designed to have
touched, and went in search of their river-god.

"In passing through the market-place they saw him standing upon a tub,
encircled by a crowd of people, and resisting the entreaties of an
apothecary of the place, one of his old acquaintances, who was
importuning him to his house, and to accept other raiments till his own
could be dried.

"The party on pressing through the crowd were surprised to hear him
speaking without any degree of his usual stammer:--'Have I not told you,
my friend, that I had drank a considerable quantity of wine before I
committed myself to the river. You know my general sobriety, and as a
professional man you _ought_ to know that the _unusual_ existence of
internal stimulus would, in its effects upon the system, counteract the
_external_ cold and moisture.'"

"Then perceiving his companions near him, he nodded, smiled, and waived
his hand, as enjoining them silence, thus, without hesitation,
addressing the populace:--

"'Ye men of Nottingham, listen to me. You are ingenious and industrious
mechanics. By your industry life's comforts are procured for yourselves
and families. If you lose your health the power of being industrious
will forsake you. _That_ you know, but you may _not_ know that to
breathe fresh and changed air constantly, is not less necessary to
preserve health than sobriety itself. Air becomes unwholesome in