Being at the levee of Lord Townsend, when that nobleman was Lord
Lieutenant of Ireland, he thought he saw a person in his Excellency's
suite whom he had known to have lived many years a life of expediency
in London. To convince himself of the fact, he asked his Excellency
who it was.
"That is Mr. T----, one of my gentlemen at large," was the answer. "Do
you know him?"
"Oh, yes! perfectly well," said Foote, "and what your Excellency tells
me is doubly extraordinary: first, that he is a gentleman; and next,
that he is at large."