Amongst the most notorious of the Prince’s companions were the brothers Barrymore, the eldest,—who had been ordained to the church,—being known amongst them, for his irreligious propensities, as Hellgate; the second, for his immorality, Newgate; and the third, for his lameness, Cripplegate. The latter was the survivor of the infamous trio, his infirmities not permitting him to indulge in the vices which prematurely terminated the career of his brothers. They had a sister, who surpassed them in evil qualifications, and she bore, for her coarse volubility, the nickname of Billingsgate. Another of the _clique_ was Colonel Hanger, familiarly known as George Hanger, the Knight of the Black Diamond, the wit and satirist of the party. His Life, {261b} written by himself, abounds with sarcasms and truisms, but though designed to “point a moral,” it does not “adorn a tale,” that teems with sensualities. Upon one occasion Sheridan and Hanger were dining in the room of the old building where the Prince usually dined, termed by them, in consequence of its contracted dimensions and generally excessively heated condition, the Royal Oven. In the course of the meal Sheridan said, “How do you feel yourself, Hanger?” “Hot, hot;—hot as h—l,” replied Hanger. “It is quite right,” was Sheridan’s severe rejoinder, “we should be prepared in this world for that which we know will be our lot in another.” Reckless roistering and inconsiderate practical joking were the delight of the Pavilion party, the hours of the night being principally the time when they immoderately enjoyed themselves. Upon one occasion, on a dark evening, they procured a coffin, and having put into it something resembling a corpse, dressed in a shroud, they stood it on end, without a lid, in front of the door of a tradesman’s house, at which they knocked, and then hid away. On the servant “answering the door,” as it is termed, the light of the candle in her hand displayed the spectre-like figure, which so frightened the poor girl that she shrieked and fainted. The inmates of the house, taking the alarm, ran to the door, and were equally terror-stricken. Cries of help quickly brought to their assistance many neighbours; but the concoctors of the joke had taken the precaution to fix to the handles of the coffin a strong rope, by means of which they, with little trouble, drew away the cause of the alarm; and there being thus nothing left to be frightened at, the inmates of the house became, for some time, laughing stocks for their credulity.