manager of Lord Monmouth's parliamentary influence, and the auditor of his
vast estates. He was more; he was Lord Monmouth's companion when in
England, his correspondent when abroad; hardly his counsellor, for Lord
Monmouth never required advice; but Mr. Rigby could instruct him in
matters of detail, which Mr. Rigby made amusing. Rigby was not a
professional man; indeed, his origin, education, early pursuits, and
studies, were equally obscure; but he had contrived in good time to
squeeze himself into parliament, by means which no one could ever
comprehend, and then set up to be a perfect man of business. The world
took him at his word, for he was bold, acute, and voluble; with no
thought, but a good deal of desultory information; and though destitute of
all imagination and noble sentiment, was blessed with a vigorous,
mendacious fancy, fruitful in small expedients, and never happier than
when devising shifts for great men's scrapes.

They say that all of us have one chance in this life, and so it was with
Rigby. After a struggle of many years, after a long series of the usual
alternatives of small successes and small failures, after a few cleverish
speeches and a good many cleverish pamphlets, with a considerable
reputation, indeed, for pasquinades, most of which he never wrote, and
articles in reviews to which it was whispered he had contributed, Rigby,
who had already intrigued himself into a subordinate office, met with Lord
Monmouth.

He was just the animal that Lord Monmouth wanted, for Lord Monmouth always
looked upon human nature with the callous eye of a jockey. He surveyed
Rigby; and he determined to buy him. He bought him; with his clear head,
his indefatigable industry, his audacious tongue, and his ready and
unscrupulous pen; with all his dates, all his lampoons; all his private
memoirs, and all his political intrigues. It was a good purchase. Rigby