He was then a very young man, but succeeded so well in giving
satisfaction, that the king offered to give him the honour of

knighthood, which, however, Nash declined, saying:--`Please your
Majesty, if you intend to make me a knight, I wish it may be one

of your poor knights of Windsor; and then I shall have a fortune
at least able to support my title.'

In the Middle Temple he managed to rise `to the very summit of
second-rate luxury,' and seems to have succeeded in becoming

a fashionable _recherche_, being always one of those who were
called good company--a professed dandy among the elegants.

No wonder, then, that we subsequently find him Master of the
Ceremonies at Bath, then the theatre of summer amusements for all

people of fashion. It was here that he took to gambling, and was
at first classed among the needy adventurers who went to that

place; there was, however, the great difference between him and
them, that his heart was not corrupt; and though by profession a

gamester, he was generous, humane, and honourable.
When he gave in his accounts to the Masters of the Temple, among

other items he charged was one--`For making one man happy,
L10.' Being questioned about the meaning of so strange an

item, he frankly declared that, happening to overhear a poor man
declare to his wife and large family of children that L10

would make him happy, he could not avoid trying the experiment.
He added, that, if they did not choose to acquiesce in his

charge, he was ready to refund the money. The Masters, struck
with such an uncommoninstance of good nature, publicly

thanked him for his benevolence, and desired that the sum might
be doubled as a proof of their satisfaction.

`His laws were so strictly enforced that he was styled "King of
Bath:" no rank would protect the offender, nor dignity of

station condone a breach of the laws. Nash desired the Duchess
of Queensberry, who appeared at a dress ball in an apron of

point-lace, said to be worth 500 guineas, to take it off, which
she did, at the same time desiring his acceptance of it; and when

the Princess Amelia requested to have one dance more after 11
o'clock, Nash replied that the laws of Bath, like those of

Lycurgus, were unalterable. Gaming ran high at Bath, and
frequently led to disputes and resort to the sword, then

generally worn by well-dressed men. Swords were, therefore,
prohibited by Nash in the public rooms; still they were worn in

the streets, when Nash, in consequence of a duel fought by
torchlight, by two notorious gamesters, made the law absolute,

"That no swords should, on any account, be worn in
Bath." '[114]

[114] The Book of Days, Feb. 3.
About the year 1739 the gamblers, in order to evade the laws

against gaming, set up E O tables; and as these proved very
profitable to the proprietors at Tunbridge, Nash determined to

introduce them at Bath, having been assured by the lawyers that
no law existed against them. He therefore set up an E O table,

and the speculation flourished for a short time; but the
legislature interfered in 1745, and inflicted severe penalties on

the keepers of such tables. This was the ruin of Nash's gambling
speculation; and for the remaining sixteen years of his life he

depended solely on the precarious products of the gaming table.
He died at Bath, in 1761, in greatly reduced circumstances, being

represented as `poor, old, and peevish, yet still incapable of
turning from his former manner of life.'

`He was buried in the Abbey Church with great ceremony: a solemn
hymn was sung by the charity-school children, three clergymen

preceded the coffin, the pall was supported by aldermen, and the
Masters of the Assembly-Rooms followed as chief mourners; while

the streets were filled and the housetops covered with
spectators, anxious to witness the respect paid to the venerable

founder of the prosperity of the city of Bath.'[115]
[115] The Book of Days, Feb. 3.

The following are the chief anecdotes told of Beau Nash.
A giddy youth, who had resigned his fellowship at Oxford, brought

his fortune to Bath, and, without the smallest skill, won a
considerable sum; and following it up, in the next October added

four thousand pounds to his former capital. Nash one night
invited him to supper, and offered to give him fifty guineas to

forfeit twenty every time he lost two hundred at one sitting.
The young man refused, and was at last undone.

The Duke of B---- loved play to distraction. One night,
chagrined at a heavy loss, he pressed Nash to tie him up from

deep play in future. The beau accordingly gave his Grace one
hundred guineas on condition to receive ten thousand whenever he

lost that amount at one sitting. The duke soon lost eight
thousand at Hazard, and was going to throw for three thousand

more, when Nash caught the dice-box, and entreated the peer to
reflect on the penalty if he lost. The duke desisted for that

time; but ere long, losing considerably at Newmarket, he
willingly paid the penalty.

When the Earl of T---- was a youth he was passionately fond
of play. Nash undertook to cure him. Conscious of his superior

skill, he engaged the earl in single play. His lordship lost his
estate, equipage, everything! Our generous gamester returned

all, only stipulating for the payment of L5000 whenever he
might think proper to demand it. Some time after his lordship's

death, Nash's affairs being on the wane, he demanded it of his
heirs, _WHO PAID IT WITHOUT HESITATION_.

Nash one day complained of his ill luck to the Earl of
Chesterfield, adding that he had lost L500 the last night.

The earl replied, `I don't wonder at your _LOSING_ money, Nash,
but all the world is surprised where you get it to lose.'

`The Corporation of Bath so highly respected Nash, that the
Chamber voted a marblestatue of him, which was erected in the

Pump-room, between the busts of Newton and Pope; this gave rise
to a stinging epigram by Lord Chesterfield, concluding with these

lines:
"The _STATUE_ placed these busts between

Gives satire all its strength;
_WISDOM_ and _WIT_ are little seen,

But _FOLLY_ at full length." '[116]
[116] The Book of Days, Feb. 3.

THE EARL OF CHESTERFIELD.
Walpole tells us that the celebrated Earl of Chesterfield

_LIVED_ at White's Club, gaming, and uttering witticisms among
the boys of quality; `yet he says to his son, that a member of a

gaming club should be a cheat, or he will soon be a beggar;' an
inconsistency which reminds one of old Fuller's saw--`A father

that whipt his son for swearing, and swore himself whilst he
whipt him, did more harm by his example than good by his

correction.'
GEORGE SELWYN.

The character of Selwyn,' says Mr Jesse, `was in many respects a
remarkable one. With brilliant wit, a quick perception of the

ridiculous, and a thorough knowledge of the world and human
nature, he united classical knowledge and a taste for the fine

arts. To these qualities may be added others of a very
contradictory nature. With a thoroughenjoyment of the pleasures

of society, an imperturbable good-humour, a kind heart, and a
passionate fondness for children, he united a morbid interest in

the details of human suffering, and, more especially, a
taste for witnessing criminal executions. Not only was he a

constant frequenter of such scenes of horror, but all the details
of crime, the private history of the criminal, his demeanour at

his trial, in the dungeon, and on the scaffold, and the state of
his feelings in the hour of death and degradation, were to Selwyn

matters of the deepest and most extraordinary interest. Even the
most frightful particulars relating to suicide and murder, the

investigation of the disfigured corpse, the sight of an
acquaintance lying in his shroud, seem to have afforded him a