He had invented several improvements in the working machinery of the mine which had so nearly proved his tomb; these had been adopted, with considerable profit to himself, in other places; and the money thus acquired he had not frittered away (as is usual in such cases) in speculative investments.

In the interim between his giving up his trade and his reaping the fruits of his inventions he had tasted the bitterness of poverty, and that had made him very cautious.
But he had a small share in Dunloppel, which seemed likely to turn out very profitable; and he had built the inn, the returns from which were more than sufficient to support him--indeed, it was rumored that John Trevethick had been laying by a pretty penny, and could hold his head much higher if he pleased.

His pleasures were certainly not expensive, for they consisted in fancy iron-working, the results of which brought him in a considerable sum; and in occasionally getting drunk, which, being a publican, he could accomplish at the most reasonable figure.

He was a hard unlovable man, and interesting only as statistics may be said to be as compared with literature--in a hard, practical way.

If superstitious, he was by no means religious; and, though honest, he was grasping.