Abroad a craftsman, he carried into the closet the skill and energy
which distinguished him when the moon was on the heath. Though not
born to the arts of peace, he was determined to prove his respect for
letters, and his masterpiece is no less pompous in manner than it is
estimable in tone and sound in reflection. He handled slang as one who
knew its limits and possibilities, employing it not for the sake of
eccentricity, but to give the proper colour and sparkle to his page;
indeed, his intimate acquaintance with the vagabonds of speech enabled
him to compile a dictionary of Pedlar's French, which has been pilfered
by a whole battalion of imitators. Moreover, there was none of the
proverbs of the pavement, those first cousins of slang, that escaped
him; and he assumed all the licence of the gentleman-collector in the
treatment of his love-passages.

Captain Smith took the justest view of his subject. For him robbery, in
the street as on the highway, was the finest of the arts, and he always
revered it for its own sake rather than for vulgar profit. Though, to
deceive the public, he abhorred villainy in word, he never concealed his
admiration in deed of a 'highwayman who robs like a gentleman.' 'There
is a beauty in all the works of nature,' he observes in one of his
wittiest exordia, 'which we are unable to define, though all the world
is convinced of its existence: so in every action and station of life
there is a grace to be attained, which will make a man pleasing to all
about him and serene in his own mind.' Some there are, he continues, who
have placed 'this beauty in vice itself; otherwise it is hardly probable
that they could commit so many irregularities with a strong gust and
an appearance of satisfaction.' Notwithstanding that the word 'vice' is
used in its conventional sense, we have here the key to Captain Smith's
position. He judged his heroes' achievements with the intelligent
impartiality of a connoisseur, and he permitted no other prejudice than