gh inadvertence presented himself in the
assembly-rooms in boots, Nash was so completely master of the
situation that he would politely step up to the intruder and suggest
that he had forgotten his horse.

Goldsmith does not magnify the intellectual capacity of his hero; but
he gives him credit for a sort of rude wit that was sometimes
effective enough. His physician, for example, having called on him to
see whether he had followed a prescription that had been sent him the
previous day, was greeted in this fashion: "Followed your
prescription? No. Egad, if I had, I should have broken my neck, for I
flung it out of the two pair of stairs window." For the rest, this
diverting biography contains some excellent warnings against the vice
of gambling; with a particular account of the manner in which the
Government of the day tried by statute after statute to suppress the
tables at Tunbridge and Bath, thereby only driving the sharpers to new
subterfuges. That the Beau was in alliance with sharpers, or, at
least, that he was a sleeping partner in the firm, his biographer
admits; but it is urged on his behalf that he was the most generous of
winners, and again and again interfered to prevent the ruin of some
gambler by whose folly he would himself have profited. His constant
charity was well known; the money so lightly come by was at the
disposal of any one who could prefer a piteous tale. Moreover he made
no scruple about exacting from others that charity which they could
well afford. One may easily guess who was the duchess mentioned in the
following story of Goldsmith's narration:--

"The sums he gave and collected for the Hospital were great,
and his manner of doing it was no less admirable. I am told
that he was once collecting money in Wiltshire's room for
that purpose, when a lady entered, who is more remarkable
for her wit than her charity, and not being able to pass by
him unobserved, she gave him a pat with her fan, and said,
'You must put down a trifle for me, Nash, for I have no
money in my pocket.' 'Yes, madam,' says he, 'that I will
with pleasure, if your grace will tell me when to stop;'
then taking an handful of guineas out of his pocket, he
began to tell them into his white hat--' One, two, three,
four, five ----' 'Hold, hold!' says the duchess, 'consider
what you are about.' 'Consider your rank and fortune,
madam,' says Nash, and continues