Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1873-07-03
THE FfHsT KING or BATH.

TIE FIRST KING OF BATH.
Beau Nash" was the son Of gentle.
man Of Swansea, South Wales. in whicl
town Richard vas born. on the fS.h oI
October. l614. ffe was sent to school
at Carmarthcn, from which so,abrc coua,y
town he was removed to Jesus College,
Oaford. There he was distinguished fo,
idleness and dissipation. for love Of fins
clothes, and premature capacity for in.
trignc. Hearing that the boy had en-.
gagged hinsclf TO be married before he vas
seventeen, the father removed Dicks name
from the College books and carried him
back - Wales. Ths eexs psscrnal eiIor,
for the provisioa Of eAs ycung eentlcmau
was in the language Of the day, "the pur.
chase OF pair OF coiors" But the younc
ensign could not tolerate restraint.
He had no sppctite for drill. No respec,
for duty. He wished to dress as he liked
to do as be liked. in all respects. to be his
own master. So young Nash soon made
his las. appearance on parade. and be.ook
himself to new profession. The Inns Of
Court had more attractions for him than
the barracks. lie became student of the
Temple, and lived upon his Wits. The
old advice, TO ''drcss above your income
and live below it" was scrurulously OBJ
served by Nash. While dining from a
plate Of cold meat from cook-shop, he
wore the finest clothes. He was born with
few personal attractions. lie had nei,h-
or good face nor good figure. Ba. he
had elegant manners aud an insinuatiug
address; and he contrived to make many
so-called friends. among whom. perhaps,
were some dupcs. Little BY little his REP.
utation as man Of cultivated taste and
fine discernmspts in ceremonial usa scs
spread among bis brother Templars. Aud
when it was resolved by the Middle Ten
pie. OF which he was member. to give
an entertainment TO William III on his
accession, young Nash was appointed mas
ter Of the ceremonies.
lie did his work so we'll that the King
desired to knight him. But with saga
cious hint to his Majesty that If he were
to be knight at all he would wish to be
poor knight at Windsor. rs the prefer
ment would carry some pay with it, Nash
respectfully declined the honor.
But the affair gave him some notoriesy.
and by increasing the numbers of his ac
quaintaLce increased the numbers of his
dupcs. AS long as he could get money.
he did not care how he got it. He was
a gambler by profession, with a cross Of
the mountcbank. On one occasion he
made 6fty ponds by doing penan.e in a
blanket at the great door Of York Minister,
while people were coming out of church;
and he pocketed still larger amour. by
riding naked on a COW through country
village. Exceptional exploits. however,
Of this discredi'able kind could not main
tain his expenditure. 1t was the under
current Of successful gambling that pre-
served the fountain from running dry.
He knew whom to play with. aud he
played warily and well. London was at
that time, it is said, the only ittiu,
arena for such performances.
The English baths were frcqucnted
mainly BY valetudinarians. who wen. thith-
or to get rid Of what worthy DIR. Chcyuc
described as 1.-THE English malady-,hc
varors." But, on fortunate day at the
beginning of the eighteenth century.
Queen Anne. having the meagrims, made
a journey to Bath for the benefit of her
health. So the long neg lectcd city. with
all its beautiful environments. rose sudden
ly into fashion. People Of distinction"
made their way to place which majesty
had consented to honor; and the seekers
Of pleasure soon out-numbercd the seekers
Of health.
No long time passed before Mr. Richard
Nash Of the Middle Temple scented the
opportunity and went to Bath. Whether
he had found that dupes were scarccr in
London than they had been-that he
was becoming little too we'll known, and
that therefore it would be wise to change
bis hunting grounds. history does not re-
cord.
But it is certain he was shrewed enon yh
to perceive that. where idle and wealthy
people we're congrega,cd there we're sure
TO be sufieiency Of gaming. aud, there
fore. sutficiency oflegitimate prey. So
ne took his wits with him to Bath, and
With his fine clothes and plausible man
ners soon made an impression on the Wis
itors. which afterward extended itself to
the more permanent inhabitants. and be
became master Of the ceremonies in sue
cession, il would appear, to Capt. Web.
ster. who was one Of the noted gamblers
Of the day.
Nash was now in his element. His
genius had full scope for development.
He systematixed and organized the amuse-
ments OF the place. He evolved order
out OF chaos, and was soon recognized ss
necessity. He saw clearly that TO ac-
complish the results at which he aimed :,
il was necessary that be should assume
paramount authority. He had the ma
jorisy. including all the best people With
him, and ere long they called him King
Of Bath.
CO.'S.