“Is there anything in the shape of a good cob that could hunt if wanted down in your parts? Possibly I could get rid of the mare in the way of a chop. I have been riding a nearly thoroughbred mare for the last week on trial. A very nice thing, but too much in this way.
“I want something more of this kind—a good one to go, and pleasant to ride.
“Yours ever faithfully,
“J. L.”
“April 17, 1848.
“My dear Charley,
“.... Old Mark and I were special constables on Monday last. You would have laughed to see us on duty, trying the area gates, etc., Mark continually finding excuses for taking a small glass of ale or brandy and water. Policeman’s duty is no joke. I had to patrol about from ten at night till one in the morning, and heartily sick of it I was. It was only my loyalty and extreme love of peace and order that made me stand it....
“Ever yours faithfully,
“John Leech.”
My elderly readers will bear in mind April 10, 1848, and the monster petition of the Chartists, which they were not allowed to present to Parliament in the threatening form they had arranged, with other alarming signs of that troubled time—the flight of Louis Philippe, Continental thrones tottering, and the rest of it.