So strongly did appearance plead for him at this time, that Barrington’s depredation was never imputed to him by those who suffered in consequence of it; and though similar offences were at different seasons, for upwards of two years, committed by him without suspicion or detection, he preserved his fame, and even extended his acquaintance. With certain superficial qualifications for shining in company, and yet a stranger to honor or honesty, in the summer of the year 1775, in the course of his depredations, he visited, as his custom was, the most celebrated watering-places; and among the rest he went to Brighton, which at that time, though frequented by genteel company, was far from having arrived at the celebrity which it has since acquired, especially since the conclusion of the peace with France. But notwithstanding the paucity of numbers at this watering-place, he is said to have had the address to ingratiate himself into the notice and favor of the late duke of Ancaster, with several other persons of rank and property, who all considered him as a man of genius and ability, and as a gentleman of fortune and noble family. But, in tracing all Mr. Barrington’s very singular connections, it is necessary to remark, that about the conclusion of this winter he got acquainted with one Lowe, a very singular character, and one who, like his friend James, he occasionally made use of to vend his ill-gotten property. Mr. Barrington’s new junction with Mr. Lowe having rendered Mr. James rather a dead weight upon his hands, he began to think about breaking with him, which he did not find a difficult matter, as James, having at bottom some remorse of conscience for his neglect of the laws of justice and moral obligation, very easily quitted Mr. Barrington’s connection; and what is more extraordinary, being a Roman Catholic by profession, retired to a monastery upon the continent, there in all probability to end his days in piety and peace. Barrington, on the other hand, seemed to increase in temerity and desperation; for on his forming a connection with Lowe, which was but a short time previous to that evening of the month of January which was observed as the anniversary of the queen’s birthday, it was resolved on between them, that, habited as a clergyman, he should repair to court, and there endeavor, not only to pick the pockets of some of the company, but, what was a bolder and a much more novel attempt, to cut off the diamond orders of some of the knights of the Garter, Bath, and Thistle, who on such days usually wear the collars of their respective orders over their coats. In this enterprize he succeeded beyond the most sanguine expectations that could have been formed by either his new accomplice Lowe or himself; for he found means to deprive a nobleman of his diamond order, and also contrived to get away from the palace without suspicion. This being an article of too much value to dispose of in