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lie himself was clerk to one Boker, the patentee of
certain �bitters�, the recipe of which he, Leslie, purchased
from the inventor, a German who died poor.     Upon
getting it the shrewd Scot started in business for him-
self, sustained actions for infringement of patent &c and
now ships cargoes to California and Australia, buys
up unlimited �barrels� of Scotch ale, manufactures brandy
to order, sells bitters and ginger wine and what not.
The firm is considered a very mean but perfectly reliable
one � this Leslie himself told me with a chuckle.
He is a true Mammonite, and would be merciless in
pursuit of his interest � to which he has the keenest
of eyes.     I have almost shuddered at his details of
low cases in which he has been and is engaged.    Every
touch of humanity and large heartedness seems thrown over-
board � the sharpest, severest and meanest of advantages
perceived and clutched at.     Its war to the last dollar
� ruin your adversary if you can rather than let him get
one cent the better of you.     Leslie is, like most egotists, 
a talker and the �I� is horribly prominent in his dis-
course.    His mind centres in and revolves on the dollar
pivot.      When he spends money on his own indulgences �
he is liberal in small matters � he always talks of
it afterwards, with a sort of regret and yet a respect
for himself for having done so!    Perhaps if one had
to pick out the adjective of all others most suited to
him it would be �pig-headed.�     Yet he can do kind-
nesses not inconsistent with his character.     He is a