The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 139: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

116 REYNOLDS’ WORKS with each other in sourness, he made away with some of the stablegear and harness belonging to his ducal master. It being perceived that Raggidbak was very often drunk, and the grand duke well knowing that his dependent had no honest nor legitimate means of thus disguising himself in liquor, ordered an inquiry to take place; and behold, the once illustrious Baron Raggidbak, who had been addressed as ‘‘ my lord ”’ in England, was suddenly discovered and pro- claimed to be a petty larcenist. His ignominious dismissal from the ducal service was the immediate consequence, and with an equally unfeeling abruptness — as he considered it to be — he was ordered to betake himself beyond the frontier of the grand duchy. This latter part of the sentence was, however, no real hardship, inasmuch as a comparatively pleasant walk taken in any direction from the ducal capital would bring an individual to the frontier of that paltry little state. To be brief, it was under these circumstances that the injured and ill-used Raggidbak quitted his native city and the ducal service, and made his way into Belgium. But having no regular and formal passports in his possession, and being looked upon in the common light of a rogue and vaga- bond, he received a hint from the police authorities that he had better leave the country, and on arriving at Ostend, he was provided with a free passage across to Dover. Thus, on arriving in England, this worthy gentleman of broken for- tunes was only too glad to accept employment in the com- pany of the mountebanks. Returning from our digression, we take up the thread of our narrative. It was about noon, as we have said, when the itinerant performers, attended by the German who was alike their musician and their butt, were passing through the fields in the neighbourhood of Verner House. On reaching the front of that mansion, Baron Raggidbak began to beat his drum and to blow away at the Pandean pipes, while his stilted companions commenced their wonted antics, — danc- ing, capering, and waving wands with ribbons attached to them. At first Sir John Steward was seized with indignation at the idea of a set of persons, whom he regarded as thieves and vagabonds, daring to show off in front of his mansion, the more so inasmuch as they had presumed to open the carriage gate and pass into the enclosure. Being in the com- mission of the peace, he vowed that he would send them all EORNIClIOO KS (E(0)