Mr. Wogan then remained for two days closeted in his friend's
lodgings, and was hard put to it to pass the time, since the Parson,
who acted as secretary and right-hand man to Bishop Atterbury, was
ever dancing attendance upon his lordship at Bromley or the Deanery of
Westminster. Wogan smoked a deal of tobacco, and, knitting his brows,
made a strenuous endeavour to peruse one of George Kelly's books--a
translation of Tully's _Letters_. He did, indeed, read a complete
page, and then being seized with a sudden vertigo, such as from his
extreme youth had prevented him from a course of study, was forced to
discontinue his labours. At this juncture Mrs. Barnes comforted him
with a greasy pack of cards, and for the rest of that day he played
games of chance for extraordinary stakes, one hand against t'other,
winning and losing millions of pounds sterling in the space of a
single hour. By bedtime he was sunk in a plethora of wealth and an
extremity of destitution at one and the same time; and so, since he
saw no way of setting the balance right, he bethought him of another
plan. On the morrow he would write out a full history of his
ancestors, as a memorial of their valour and a shame to the men of
this age.
The Parson, when he was informed of the notable design, quoted a scrap
of Latin to the effect that it would be something more than a brazen
proceeding. Wogan, however, was not to be dissuaded by any tag of
rhyme, and getting up before daylight, since he had but this one day
for the enterprise, was at once very busy with all of Kelly's
spluttering pens. He began with the founder of the family, the great
Chevalier Ugus, who lived in the time of my little Octavius Caesar, and
was commissioned by that unparalleled monarch to build the town of
Florence. 'Ugus,' wrote Mr. Wogan in big round painful letters with a
flourish to each, and, coming to a stop, woke up George Kelly to ask
him in what year of Our Lord Octavius Caesar was born into this weary
world. 'In no year of Our Lord,' grumbled George, a little churlishly
to Wogan's thinking, who went back to his desk, and taking up a new
pen again wrote 'Ugus.' Thereupon he fell into a great profundity of
thought; so many philosophic reflections crowded into his head while
he nibbled his pen, as he felt sure must visibly raise him in the
estimation of his friends. So, taking his candle in one hand and his
pen in the other, he came a second time to Kelly's bedside and sat him
down heavily upon his legs, the better to ensure his awakening. It is
to be admitted that this time the Parson sat up in his bed, and swore
with all the volubility of a dragoon or even of my Lord Bishop of
Rochester. But Wogan smiled amiably, knowing when he communicated his
thoughts how soon those oaths would turn to cries of admiration.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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