Some thought the thing a good joke; some objected to it, and quarreled with me.

Liberality in the matter of liquor and small loans, reconciled a large proportion of the objectors to their fate; the sulky minority I treated with contempt, and scourged avengingly with the smart lash of caricature.

I was at that time probably the most impudent man of my age in all England, and the common flock of jail-birds quailed before the magnificence of my assurance.

One prisoner only set me and my pencil successfully at defiance.

That prisoner was Gentleman Jones.
He had received his name from the suavity of his countenance, the inveterate politeness of his language, and the unassailable composure of his manner.