spectator of such scandalous foul play, he therefore rushed through the
croud, and joining the young man, made the assailants feel the force of
his arm, which nature, aided by some skill in the pugilistic art, had in
no ordinary degree qualified for that useful purpose. On the present
occasion he acted under the impulse of a two-fold duty, first as a
generous man bound to sustain the weak and oppressed against injustice
and outrage, and secondly, as the person so injuriously attacked, was
one who had, on his own private account, a claim to his friendship and
assistance. The name of this young man was Fox; he had been a writer for
some of the London prints, and having taken to the stage, was stationed
with the Brighton company, when Hodgkinson being engaged there for a few
nights, was particularly requested by a gentleman who had once been
friendly to him, to do any service he could, and to take care of him, as
he was very young, wild, and giddy.

The cause of the ungenerous assault upon the young man was this: he had
written a very severe philippic on the well known lord Barrymore, and
Mr. Barry, the brother of his lordship, having found means to discover
it, they both vowed to take personal vengeance for the affront, the
first time they could lay hands upon the writer. This day they were in
company with a set of gentlemen, some of whom were well suited to their
_respectable_ designs. Seeing young Fox in the walk on the Stein, Mr.
Barry pointed to him and exclaimed, there, my lord, there is the rascal
who libelled you! "Knock him down!" said one, "flog the scoundrel," said
another, "break the villain's bones," said a third; and (very
magnanimously, no doubt) they endeavoured to do it. But Fox, though
young, was not so easy a conquest: To a frame, active, hardy, and
muscular, nature had blessed him by bestowing on him a bold, intrepid,
independent spirit; and his dauntless heart was no more to be
intimidated by the blows and menaces of the MOB about him, than his mind
was to be bent to respect for their rank and titles, when their conduct
was a disgrace to both. He was, therefore, busily employed returning
their favours in kind, when he was joined by Hodgkinson, who did not at
the time know the person or name of one single being in the crowd, Fox
alone excepted.

As soon as Hodgkinson appeared assisting his young friend "Here is
another of the rascally players," exclaimed one of those gentlemen,
"knock him down!"--"If