as the mercy of the legislature in favour of insolvent debtors is never
extended to uncertified bankrupts taken in execution. By dint of
industry and the most rigid economy, I make shift to live independent in
this retreat. To this scene my faculty of subsisting, as well as my
body, is peculiarly confined. Had I an opportunity to escape, where
should I go? All my views of fortune have been long blasted. I have no
friends nor connexions in the world. I must, therefore, starve in some
sequestered corner, or be recaptivated and confined for ever to close
prison, deprived of the indulgences which I now enjoy."

Here the conversation was broke off by another uproar, which was the
signal to battle between the doctor and his antagonist. The company
immediately adjourned to the field, where the combatants were already
undressed, and the stakes deposited. The doctor seemed of the middle age
and middle stature, active and alert, with an atrabilarious aspect, and a
mixture of rage and disdain expressed in his countenance. The brewer was
large, raw-boned, and round as a butt of beer, but very fat, unwieldy,
short-winded, and phlegmatic. Our adventurer was not a little surprised
when he beheld, in the character of seconds, a male and female stripped
naked from the waist upwards, the latter ranging on the side of the
physician; but the commencement of the battle prevented his demanding of
his guide an explanation of this phenomenon. The doctor retiring some
paces backwards, threw himself into the attitude of a battering-ram, and
rushed upon his antagonist with great impetuosity, foreseeing, that,
should he have the good fortune to overturn him in the first assault, it
would not be an easy task to raise him up again, and put him in a
capacity of offence. But the momentum of Crabclaw's head, and the
concomitant efforts of his knuckles, had no effect upon the ribs of
Tapley, who stood firm as the Acroceraunian promontory; and stepping
forward with his projected fist, something smaller and softer than a