ties of five or six, or
sometimes more. It cannot, indeed, be said that their occupations
were particularly edifying. Dice, backgammon-boards, and cards were
spread on many of the tables; punch smoked around with a very
fragrant odour; and whatever might have been the nature of the
conversation in general, the oaths and expletives, with which it was
interlarded from time to time, spoke not very well for either the
morality or the eloquence of our ancestors: for such, indeed, I must
call these gentlemen, forming as they did part of the great ancestral
body of a hundred and fifty years ago; though I devoutly hope and
pray that none of my own immediate progenitors happened to be amongst
the number there assembled. The smell of punch and other strong drink
was, to the atmosphere of the place, exactly what the dissolute and
swaggering air of a great number of the persons assembled there was
to the natural expression of the human countenance. The noise, too,
was very great; so that the ear of a new comer required to become
accustomed to it before he could hear anything that was taking place.
Gradually, however, as habit reconciled the visitor to the din, the
oaths and objurgations, together with the words "cheat, liar, knave,"
&c. &c., separated themselves from the rest of the conversation, and
swam like a sort of scum upon the top of the buzz. Though all were
met there for enjoyment, too, it is worthy of remark, that many of
the countenances around bore strong marks of fierce and angry
passions, disappointment, hatred, revenge; and many a flushed cheek
and flashing eye told the often-told tale, that in the amusements
which man devises for himself he is almost always sure to mingle a
sufficient quantity of vice to bring forth a plentiful return of
sorrow.
While all this was proceeding in full current, the door, which opened
with a weight and pulley, rattled and squeaked as it was cast back,
and our often-mentioned friend Green--or the Colonel, as he was
called--entered the room. Giving a casual glance around him, he
proceeded to the other end of the saloon, where there was a small
table vacant, and called in a loud but slow voice for a pint of
claret. Whether this was his habit, or whether it was merely an
accidental compliance with the tavern etiquette of taking something
in the house which we visit, the claret was brought to him instantly,
as if it had been ready prepared, together with a large glass of the
kind now called a tumbler, and a single biscuit.
G