There is a phrase about "the happiness of the greatest number." It is an expressive phrase, but different people have different opinions of happiness. I was hunting in the Midland Counties and I asked, "Where is Tom?" The answer was, "He's retired, he's living the life of a hangel; he's a-heating, and a-drinking and a-cussing, and a-swearing all day long." That may not be your idea of the life of an angel, if it was my friend's idea. _The Tredegar Show, December 18th, 1872._ [Illustration: "_He's retired, he's living the life of a hangel._"] CHATS TO AND ABOUT CABBIES. I have had many rides in the cabs of Newport, and have always found the cabbies very good drivers, prepared to go the pace according to the fare they expected at the end of the journey. _Cabmen's Dinner, Newport, November 8th, 1889._ [Illustration: "_Prepared to go the pace according to the fare they expected at the end of the journey._"] [Illustration: "_You try to blow me up on my way to Tredegar House._"] I wish you had chosen some other Patron Saint than Guy Fawkes, for Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the House of Lords, and on each anniversary you try to blow me up on my way to Tredegar House. Some persons may think that one Conservative Peer more or less does not matter, but I prefer that the experiment of blowing up should be tried upon the body of a Radical Peer. _Cabmen's Dinner, Newport, Nov 5th, 1896._ [Illustration: "_Look here, cut it short guv'nor! I've got the cab by the hour._"] There are very odd traditions about cabmen, and I am certain that sometimes they are not deserved. I have been told it is something of a tradition that it is the pride of a cabman to be able to whistle louder, to hit his horse harder, and to tell a bigger lie than anybody else. I believe that to be absolutely untrue, though some of you may know better than I do. One of you is supposed to have nearly upset a wedding. That was a dreadful thing to do. The bride and bridegroom were both at the Altar and just about to have the knot tied nicely. The clergyman began to deliver his address, but the bridegroom appeared to be in a great hurry, and said to the clergyman, "Look here, cut it short, guv'nor! I've got the cab by the hour." That was rather natural on the part of the bridegroom but the clergyman became very angry, and very nearly threw up the case.... [Illustration: "_Look here, Mr. Huddleston, I call you a thief, a blackguard, a scoundrel, and a villain._"]