But every now and then he saw the Cob-man riding about in the smoke, and at last having nobody to send to a regiment, he again beckoned to this little fellow, and told him to go up to that regiment and order them to charge, giving him some mark of authority the colonel would recognise. Away he galloped, and in a few minutes the Duke saw his order obeyed. The Duke asked him for his card, and found in the evening, when the card fell out of his sash, that he lived at Birmingham, and was a button manufacturer!
When at Birmingham the Duke inquired of the firm and found he was their traveller, and then in Ireland. When he returned, at the Duke’s request he called on him in London. The Duke was happy to see him and said he had a vacancy in the Mint of 800l a-year, where accounts were wanted. The little Cob-man said it would be exactly the thing and the Duke installed him.
I will ascertain if the facts are correct. If true, it redounds* much to his Grace’s honour.
* ‘Redound’ is a rare verb, from a Latin root meaning ‘surge up’. It is used now almost exclusively in phrases such as ‘it redounds to his honour/glory/credit’, meaning ‘it greatly contributes’ to it.