Sketches by Boz...................................................................................................................................................1

How much is conveyed in those two short words 'The Parish!' And with how many tales of distress and

misery, of broken fortune and ruined hopes, too often of unrelieved wretchedness and successful knavery, are

they associated! A poor man, with small earnings, and a large family, just manages to live on from hand to

mouth, and to procure food from day to day; he has barely sufficient to satisfy the present cravings of nature,

and can take no heed of the future. His taxes are in arrear, quarterday passes by, another quarterday

arrives: he can procure no more quarter for himself, and is summoned by the parish. His goods are

distrained, his children are crying with cold and hunger, and the very bed on which his sick wife is lying, is

dragged from beneath her. What can he do? To whom is he to apply for relief? To private charity? To

benevolent individuals? Certainly not there is his parish. There are the parish vestry, the parish infirmary,

the parish surgeon, the parish officers, the parish beadle. Excellent institutions, and gentle, kindhearted men.

The woman dies she is buried by the parish. The children have no protector they are taken care of by the

parish. The man first neglects, and afterwards cannot obtain, work he is relieved by the parish; and when

distress and drunkenness have done their work upon him, he is maintained, a harmless babbling idiot, in the

The parish beadle is one of the most, perhaps THE most, important member of the local administration. He is

not so well off as the churchwardens, certainly, nor is he so learned as the vestryclerk, nor does he order

things quite so much his own way as either of them. But his power is very great, notwithstanding; and the

dignity of his office is never impaired by the absence of efforts on his part to maintain it. The beadle of our

parish is a splendid fellow. It is quite delightful to hear him, as he explains the state of the existing poor laws

to the deaf old women in the board room passage on business nights; and to hear what he said to the senior

churchwarden, and what the senior churchwarden said to him; and what 'we' (the beadle and the other

gentlemen) came to the determination of doing. A miserablelooking woman is called into the boardroom,

and represents a case of extreme destitution, affecting herself a widow, with six small children. 'Where do

you live?' inquires one of the overseers. 'I rents a twopair back, gentlemen, at Mrs. Brown's, Number 3,

Little King William's alley, which has lived there this fifteen year, and knows me to be very hardworking

and industrious, and when my poor husband was alive, gentlemen, as died in the hospital' 'Well, well,'

interrupts the overseer, taking a note of the address, 'I'll send Simmons, the beadle, tomorrow morning, to

ascertain whether your story is correct; and if so, I suppose you must have an order into the House

Simmons, go to this woman's the first thing tomorrow morning, will you?' Simmons bows assent, and

ushers the woman out. Her previous admiration of 'the board' (who all sit behind great books, and with their

hats on) fades into nothing before her respect for her lacetrimmed conductor; and her account of what has

passed inside, increases if that be possible the marks of respect, shown by the assembled crowd, to that

solemn functionary. As to taking out a summons, it's quite a hopeless case if Simmons attends it, on behalf of

the parish. He knows all the titles of the Lord Mayor by heart; states the case without a single stammer: and it

is even reported that on one occasion he ventured to make a joke, which the Lord Mayor's head footman (who

happened to be present) afterwards told an intimate friend, confidentially, was almost equal to one of Mr.

See him again on Sunday in his statecoat and cockedhat, with a largeheaded staff for show in his left

hand, and a small cane for use in his right. How pompously he marshals the children into their places! and

how demurely the little urchins look at him askance as he surveys them when they are all seated, with a glare

of the eye peculiar to beadles! The churchwardens and overseers being duly installed in their curtained pews,

he seats himself on a mahogany bracket, erected expressly for him at the top of the aisle, and divides his

attention between his prayerbook and the boys. Suddenly, just at the commencement of the communion

service, when the whole congregation is hushed into a profound silence, broken only by the voice of the

officiating clergyman, a penny is heard to ring on the stone floor of the aisle with astounding clearness.

Observe the generalship of the beadle. His involuntary look of horror is instantly changed into one of perfect

indifference, as if he were the only person present who had not heard the noise. The artifice succeeds. After

putting forth his right leg now and then, as a feeler, the victim who dropped the money ventures to make one

or two distinct dives after it; and the beadle, gliding softly round, salutes his little round head, when it again

appears above the seat, with divers double knocks, administered with the cane before noticed, to the intense

delight of three young men in an adjacent pew, who cough violently at intervals until the conclusion of the

Such are a few traits of the importance and gravity of a parish beadle a gravity which has never been

disturbed in any case that has come under our observation, except when the services of that particularly

useful machine, a parish fireengine, are required: then indeed all is bustle. Two little boys run to the beadle

as fast as their legs will carry them, and report from their own personal observation that some neighbouring

chimney is on fire; the engine is hastily got out, and a plentiful supply of boys being obtained, and harnessed

to it with ropes, away they rattle over the pavement, the beadle, running we do not exaggerate running at

the side, until they arrive at some house, smelling strongly of soot, at the door of which the beadle knocks

with considerable gravity for halfanhour. No attention being paid to these manual applications, and the

turncock having turned on the water, the engine turns off amidst the shouts of the boys; it pulls up once

more at the workhouse, and the beadle 'pulls up' the unfortunate householder next day, for the amount of his

legal reward. We never saw a parish engine at a regular fire but once. It came up in gallant style three miles

and a half an hour, at least; there was a capital supply of water, and it was first on the spot. Bang went the

pumps the people cheered the beadle perspired profusely; but it was unfortunately discovered, just as they

were going to put the fire out, that nobody understood the process by which the engine was filled with water;

and that eighteen boys, and a man, had exhausted themselves in pumping for twenty minutes, without

The personages next in importance to the beadle, are the master of the workhouse and the parish

schoolmaster. The vestryclerk, as everybody knows, is a short, pudgy little man, in black, with a thick gold

watchchain of considerable length, terminating in two large seals and a key. He is an attorney, and generally

in a bustle; at no time more so, than when he is hurrying to some parochial meeting, with his gloves crumpled

up in one hand, and a large red book under the other arm. As to the churchwardens and overseers, we exclude

them altogether, because all we know of them is, that they are usually respectable tradesmen, who wear hats

with brims inclined to flatness, and who occasionally testify in gilt letters on a blue ground, in some

conspicuous part of the church, to the important fact of a gallery having being enlarged and beautified, or an

The master of the workhouse is not, in our parish nor is he usually in any other one of that class of men

the better part of whose existence has passed away, and who drag out the remainder in some inferior

situation, with just enough thought of the past, to feel degraded by, and discontented with the present. We are

unable to guess precisely to our own satisfaction what station the man can have occupied before; we should

think he had been an inferior sort of attorney's clerk, or else the master of a national school whatever he

was, it is clear his present position is a change for the better. His income is small certainly, as the rusty black

coat and threadbare velvet collar demonstrate: but then he lives free of houserent, has a limited allowance of

coals and candles, and an almost unlimited allowance of authority in his petty kingdom. He is a tall, thin,

bony man; always wears shoes and black cotton stockings with his surtout; and eyes you, as you pass his

parlour window, as if he wished you were a pauper, just to give you a specimen of his power. He is an

admirable specimen of a small tyrant: morose, brutish, and illtempered; bullying to his inferiors, cringing to

Our schoolmaster is just the very reverse of this amiable official. He has been one of those men one

occasionally hears of, on whom misfortune seems to have set her mark; nothing he ever did, or was

concerned in, appears to have prospered. A rich old relation who had brought him up, and openly announced

his intention of providing for him, left him 10,000L. in his will, and revoked the bequest in a codicil. Thus

unexpectedly reduced to the necessity of providing for himself, he procured a situation in a public office. The

young clerks below him, died off as if there were a plague among them; but the old fellows over his head, for

the reversion of whose places he was anxiously waiting, lived on and on, as if they were immortal. He

speculated and lost. He speculated again and won but never got his money. His talents were great; his

disposition, easy, generous and liberal. His friends profited by the one, and abused the other. Loss succeeded

loss; misfortune crowded on misfortune; each successive day brought him nearer the verge of hopeless

penury, and the quondam friends who had been warmest in their professions, grew strangely cold and

indifferent. He had children whom he loved, and a wife on whom he doted. The former turned their backs on

him; the latter died brokenhearted. He went with the stream it had ever been his failing, and he had not

courage sufficient to bear up against so many shocks he had never cared for himself, and the only being

who had cared for him, in his poverty and distress, was spared to him no longer. It was at this period that he

applied for parochial relief. Some kindhearted man who had known him in happier times, chanced to be

churchwarden that year, and through his interest he was appointed to his present situation.

He is an old man now. Of the many who once crowded round him in all the hollow friendship of

booncompanionship, some have died, some have fallen like himself, some have prospered all have

forgotten him. Time and misfortune have mercifully been permitted to impair his memory, and use has

habituated him to his present condition. Meek, uncomplaining, and zealous in the discharge of his duties, he

has been allowed to hold his situation long beyond the usual period; and he will no doubt continue to hold it,

until infirmity renders him incapable, or death releases him. As the greyheaded old man feebly paces up and

down the sunny side of the little courtyard between school hours, it would be difficult, indeed, for the most

intimate of his former friends to recognise their once gay and happy associate, in the person of the Pauper

We commenced our last chapter with the beadle of our parish, because we are deeply sensible of the

importance and dignity of his office. We will begin the present, with the clergyman. Our curate is a young

gentleman of such prepossessing appearance, and fascinating manners, that within one month after his first

appearance in the parish, half the younglady inhabitants were melancholy with religion, and the other half,

desponding with love. Never were so many young ladies seen in our parish church on Sunday before; and

never had the little round angels' faces on Mr. Tomkins's monument in the side aisle, beheld such devotion on

earth as they all exhibited. He was about fiveandtwenty when he first came to astonish the parishioners. He

parted his hair on the centre of his forehead in the form of a Norman arch, wore a brilliant of the first water

on the fourth finger of his left hand (which he always applied to his left cheek when he read prayers), and had

a deep sepulchral voice of unusual solemnity. Innumerable were the calls made by prudent mammas on our

new curate, and innumerable the invitations with which he was assailed, and which, to do him justice, he

readily accepted. If his manner in the pulpit had created an impression in his favour, the sensation was

increased tenfold, by his appearance in private circles. Pews in the immediate vicinity of the pulpit or

readingdesk rose in value; sittings in the centre aisle were at a premium: an inch of room in the front row of

the gallery could not be procured for love or money; and some people even went so far as to assert, that the

three Miss Browns, who had an obscure family pew just behind the churchwardens', were detected, one

Sunday, in the free seats by the communiontable, actually lying in wait for the curate as he passed to the

vestry! He began to preach extempore sermons, and even grave papas caught the infection. He got out of bed

at halfpast twelve o'clock one winter's night, to halfbaptise a washerwoman's child in a slopbasin, and the

gratitude of the parishioners knew no bounds the very churchwardens grew generous, and insisted on the

parish defraying the expense of the watchbox on wheels, which the new curate had ordered for himself, to

perform the funeral service in, in wet weather. He sent three pints of gruel and a quarter of a pound of tea to a

poor woman who had been brought to bed of four small children, all at once the parish were charmed. He

got up a subscription for her the woman's fortune was made. He spoke for one hour and twentyfive

minutes, at an antislavery meeting at the Goat and Boots the enthusiasm was at its height. A proposal was

set on foot for presenting the curate with a piece of plate, as a mark of esteem for his valuable services

rendered to the parish. The list of subscriptions was filled up in no time; the contest was, not who should

escape the contribution, but who should be the foremost to subscribe. A splendid silver inkstand was made,

and engraved with an appropriate inscription; the curate was invited to a public breakfast, at the

beforementioned Goat and Boots; the inkstand was presented in a neat speech by Mr. Gubbins, the

exchurchwarden, and acknowledged by the curate in terms which drew tears into the eyes of all present

One would have supposed that, by this time, the theme of universal admiration was lifted to the very pinnacle

of popularity. No such thing. The curate began to cough; four fits of coughing one morning between the

Litany and the Epistle, and five in the afternoon service. Here was a discovery the curate was consumptive.

How interestingly melancholy! If the young ladies were energetic before, their sympathy and solicitude now

knew no bounds. Such a man as the curate such a dear such a perfect love to be consumptive! It was

too much. Anonymous presents of blackcurrant jam, and lozenges, elastic waistcoats, bosom friends, and

warm stockings, poured in upon the curate until he was as completely fitted out with winter clothing, as if he

were on the verge of an expedition to the North Pole: verbal bulletins of the state of his health were circulated

throughout the parish halfa dozen times a day; and the curate was in the very zenith of his popularity.

About this period, a change came over the spirit of the parish. A very quiet, respectable, dozing old

gentleman, who had officiated in our chapelofease for twelve years previously, died one fine morning,

without having given any notice whatever of his intention. This circumstance gave rise to countersensation

the first; and the arrival of his successor occasioned countersensation the second. He was a pale, thin,

cadaverous man, with large black eyes, and long straggling black hair: his dress was slovenly in the extreme,

his manner ungainly, his doctrines startling; in short, he was in every respect the antipodes of the curate.

Crowds of our female parishioners flocked to hear him; at first, because he was SO odd looking, then

because his face was SO expressive, then because he preached SO well; and at last, because they really

thought that, after all, there was something about him which it was quite impossible to describe. As to the

curate, he was all very well; but certainly, after all, there was no denying that that in short, the curate

wasn't a novelty, and the other clergyman was. The inconstancy of public opinion is proverbial: the

congregation migrated one by one. The curate coughed till he was black in the face it was in vain. He

respired with difficulty it was equally ineffectual in awakening sympathy. Seats are once again to be had in

any part of our parish church, and the chapelofease is going to be enlarged, as it is crowded to suffocation

The best known and most respected among our parishioners, is an old lady, who resided in our parish long

before our name was registered in the list of baptisms. Our parish is a suburban one, and the old lady lives in

a neat row of houses in the most airy and pleasant part of it. The house is her own; and it, and everything

about it, except the old lady herself, who looks a little older than she did ten years ago, is in just the same

state as when the old gentleman was living. The little front parlour, which is the old lady's ordinary

sittingroom, is a perfect picture of quiet neatness; the carpet is covered with brown Holland, the glass and

pictureframes are carefully enveloped in yellow muslin; the tablecovers are never taken off, except when

the leaves are turpentined and bees' waxed, an operation which is regularly commenced every other morning

at halfpast nine o'clock and the little nicknacks are always arranged in precisely the same manner. The

greater part of these are presents from little girls whose parents live in the same row; but some of them, such

as the two oldfashioned watches (which never keep the same time, one being always a quarter of an hour

too slow, and the other a quarter of an hour too fast), the little picture of the Princess Charlotte and Prince

Leopold as they appeared in the Royal Box at Drury Lane Theatre, and others of the same class, have been in

the old lady's possession for many years. Here the old lady sits with her spectacles on, busily engaged in

needlework near the window in summer time; and if she sees you coming up the steps, and you happen to

be a favourite, she trots out to open the streetdoor for you before you knock, and as you must be fatigued

after that hot walk, insists on your swallowing two glasses of sherry before you exert yourself by talking. If

you call in the evening you will find her cheerful, but rather more serious than usual, with an open Bible on

the table, before her, of which 'Sarah,' who is just as neat and methodical as her mistress, regularly reads two

The old lady sees scarcely any company, except the little girls before noticed, each of whom has always a

regular fixed day for a periodical teadrinking with her, to which the child looks forward as the greatest treat

of its existence. She seldom visits at a greater distance than the next door but one on either side; and when

she drinks tea here, Sarah runs out first and knocks a double knock, to prevent the possibility of her

'Missis's' catching cold by having to wait at the door. She is very scrupulous in returning these little

invitations, and when she asks Mr. and Mrs. Soandso, to meet Mr. and Mrs. Somebodyelse, Sarah and

she dust the urn, and the best china teaservice, and the Pope Joan board; and the visitors are received in the

drawingroom in great state. She has but few relations, and they are scattered about in different parts of the

country, and she seldom sees them. She has a son in India, whom she always describes to you as a fine,

handsome fellow so like the profile of his poor dear father over the sideboard, but the old lady adds, with a

mournful shake of the head, that he has always been one of her greatest trials; and that indeed he once almost

broke her heart; but it pleased God to enable her to get the better of it, and she would prefer your never

mentioning the subject to her again. She has a great number of pensioners: and on Saturday, after she comes

back from market, there is a regular levee of old men and women in the passage, waiting for their weekly

gratuity. Her name always heads the list of any benevolent subscriptions, and hers are always the most liberal

donations to the Winter Coal and Soup Distribution Society. She subscribed twenty pounds towards the

erection of an organ in our parish church, and was so overcome the first Sunday the children sang to it, that

she was obliged to be carried out by the pewopener. Her entrance into church on Sunday is always the

signal for a little bustle in the side aisle, occasioned by a general rise among the poor people, who bow and

curtsey until the pewopener has ushered the old lady into her accustomed seat, dropped a respectful curtsey,

and shut the door: and the same ceremony is repeated on her leaving church, when she walks home with the

family next door but one, and talks about the sermon all the way, invariably opening the conversation by

Thus, with the annual variation of a trip to some quiet place on the seacoast, passes the old lady's life. It has

rolled on in the same unvarying and benevolent course for many years now, and must at no distant period be

brought to its final close. She looks forward to its termination, with calmness and without apprehension. She

A very different personage, but one who has rendered himself very conspicuous in our parish, is one of the

old lady's nextdoor neighbours. He is an old naval officer on halfpay, and his bluff and unceremonious

behaviour disturbs the old lady's domestic economy, not a little. In the first place, he WILL smoke cigars in

the front court, and when he wants something to drink with them which is by no means an uncommon

circumstance he lifts up the old lady's knocker with his walkingstick, and demands to have a glass of table

ale, handed over the rails. In addition to this cool proceeding, he is a bit of a Jack of all trades, or to use his

own words, 'a regular Robinson Crusoe;' and nothing delights him better than to experimentalise on the old

lady's property. One morning he got up early, and planted three or four roots of fullgrown marigolds in

every bed of her front garden, to the inconceivable astonishment of the old lady, who actually thought when

she got up and looked out of the window, that it was some strange eruption which had come out in the night.

Another time he took to pieces the eightday clock on the front landing, under pretence of cleaning the

works, which he put together again, by some undiscovered process, in so wonderful a manner, that the large

hand has done nothing but trip up the little one ever since. Then he took to breeding silkworms, which he

WOULD bring in two or three times a day, in little paper boxes, to show the old lady, generally dropping a

worm or two at every visit. The consequence was, that one morning a very stout silkworm was discovered

in the act of walking upstairs probably with the view of inquiring after his friends, for, on further

inspection, it appeared that some of his companions had already found their way to every room in the house.

The old lady went to the seaside in despair, and during her absence he completely effaced the name from her

But all this is nothing to his seditious conduct in public life. He attends every vestry meeting that is held;

always opposes the constituted authorities of the parish, denounces the profligacy of the churchwardens,

contests legal points against the vestryclerk, will make the taxgatherer call for his money till he won't call

any longer, and then he sends it: finds fault with the sermon every Sunday, says that the organist ought to be

ashamed of himself, offers to back himself for any amount to sing the psalms better than all the children put

together, male and female; and, in short, conducts himself in the most turbulent and uproarious manner. The

worst of it is, that having a high regard for the old lady, he wants to make her a convert to his views, and

therefore walks into her little parlour with his newspaper in his hand, and talks violent politics by the hour.

He is a charitable, open hearted old fellow at bottom, after all; so, although he puts the old lady a little out

occasionally, they agree very well in the main, and she laughs as much at each feat of his handiwork when it

The row of houses in which the old lady and her troublesome neighbour reside, comprises, beyond all doubt,

a greater number of characters within its circumscribed limits, than all the rest of the parish put together. As

we cannot, consistently with our present plan, however, extend the number of our parochial sketches beyond

six, it will be better perhaps, to select the most peculiar, and to introduce them at once without further

The four Miss Willises, then, settled in our parish thirteen years ago. It is a melancholy reflection that the old

adage, 'time and tide wait for no man,' applies with equal force to the fairer portion of the creation; and

willingly would we conceal the fact, that even thirteen years ago the Miss Willises were far from juvenile.

Our duty as faithful parochial chroniclers, however, is paramount to every other consideration, and we are

bound to state, that thirteen years since, the authorities in matrimonial cases, considered the youngest Miss

Willis in a very precarious state, while the eldest sister was positively given over, as being far beyond all

human hope. Well, the Miss Willises took a lease of the house; it was fresh painted and papered from top to

bottom: the paint inside was all wainscoted, the marble all cleaned, the old grates taken down, and

registerstoves, you could see to dress by, put up; four trees were planted in the back garden, several small

baskets of gravel sprinkled over the front one, vans of elegant furniture arrived, spring blinds were fitted to

the windows, carpenters who had been employed in the various preparations, alterations, and repairs, made

confidential statements to the different maidservants in the row, relative to the magnificent scale on which

the Miss Willises were commencing; the maidservants told their 'Missises,' the Missises told their friends,

and vague rumours were circulated throughout the parish, that No. 25, in Gordonplace, had been taken by

At last, the Miss Willises moved in; and then the 'calling' began. The house was the perfection of neatness

so were the four Miss Willises. Everything was formal, stiff, and cold so were the four Miss Willises. Not a

single chair of the whole set was ever seen out of its place not a single Miss Willis of the whole four was

ever seen out of hers. There they always sat, in the same places, doing precisely the same things at the same

hour. The eldest Miss Willis used to knit, the second to draw, the two others to play duets on the piano. They

seemed to have no separate existence, but to have made up their minds just to winter through life together.

They were three long graces in drapery, with the addition, like a schooldinner, of another long grace

afterwards the three fates with another sister the Siamese twins multiplied by two. The eldest Miss Willis

grew bilious the four Miss Willises grew bilious immediately. The eldest Miss Willis grew illtempered

and religious the four Miss Willises were ill tempered and religious directly. Whatever the eldest did, the

others did, and whatever anybody else did, they all disapproved of; and thus they vegetated living in Polar

harmony among themselves, and, as they sometimes went out, or saw company 'in a quietway' at home,

occasionally icing the neighbours. Three years passed over in this way, when an unlooked for and

extraordinary phenomenon occurred. The Miss Willises showed symptoms of summer, the frost gradually

broke up; a complete thaw took place. Was it possible? one of the four Miss Willises was going to be

Now, where on earth the husband came from, by what feelings the poor man could have been actuated, or by

what process of reasoning the four Miss Willises succeeded in persuading themselves that it was possible for

a man to marry one of them, without marrying them all, are questions too profound for us to resolve: certain

it is, however, that the visits of Mr. Robinson (a gentleman in a public office, with a good salary and a little

property of his own, besides) were received that the four Miss Willises were courted in due form by the

said Mr Robinson that the neighbours were perfectly frantic in their anxiety to discover which of the four

Miss Willises was the fortunate fair, and that the difficulty they experienced in solving the problem was not at

all lessened by the announcement of the eldest Miss Willis, 'WE are going to marry Mr. Robinson.'

It was very extraordinary. They were so completely identified, the one with the other, that the curiosity of the

whole row even of the old lady herself was roused almost beyond endurance. The subject was discussed

at every little cardtable and teadrinking. The old gentleman of silkworm notoriety did not hesitate to

express his decided opinion that Mr. Robinson was of Eastern descent, and contemplated marrying the whole

family at once; and the row, generally, shook their heads with considerable gravity, and declared the business

to be very mysterious. They hoped it might all end well; it certainly had a very singular appearance, but still

it would be uncharitable to express any opinion without good grounds to go upon, and certainly the Miss

Willises were QUITE old enough to judge for themselves, and to be sure people ought to know their own

At last, one fine morning, at a quarter before eight o'clock, A.M., two glasscoaches drove up to the Miss

Willises' door, at which Mr. Robinson had arrived in a cab ten minutes before, dressed in a lightblue coat

and doublemilled kersey pantaloons, white neckerchief, pumps, and dressgloves, his manner denoting, as

appeared from the evidence of the housemaid at No. 23, who was sweeping the doorsteps at the time, a

considerable degree of nervous excitement. It was also hastily reported on the same testimony, that the cook

who opened the door, wore a large white bow of unusual dimensions, in a much smarter headdress than the

regulation cap to which the Miss Willises invariably restricted the somewhat excursive tastes of female

The intelligence spread rapidly from house to house. It was quite clear that the eventful morning had at length

arrived; the whole row stationed themselves behind their first and second floor blinds, and waited the result in

At last the Miss Willises' door opened; the door of the first glasscoach did the same. Two gentlemen, and a

pair of ladies to correspond friends of the family, no doubt; up went the steps, bang went the door, off went

The street door opened again; the excitement of the whole row increased Mr. Robinson and the eldest Miss

Willis. 'I thought so,' said the lady at No. 19; 'I always said it was MISS Willis!' 'Well, I never!' ejaculated

the young lady at No. 18 to the young lady at No. 17. 'Did you ever, dear!' responded the young lady at No.

17 to the young lady at No. 18. 'It's too ridiculous!' exclaimed a spinster of an UNcertain age, at No. 16,

joining in the conversation. But who shall portray the astonishment of Gordon place, when Mr. Robinson

handed in ALL the Miss Willises, one after the other, and then squeezed himself into an acute angle of the

glasscoach, which forthwith proceeded at a brisk pace, after the other glasscoach, which other glasscoach

had itself proceeded, at a brisk pace, in the direction of the parish church! Who shall depict the perplexity of

the clergyman, when ALL the Miss Willises knelt down at the communiontable, and repeated the responses

incidental to the marriage service in an audible voice or who shall describe the confusion which prevailed,

when even after the difficulties thus occasioned had been adjusted ALL the Miss Willises went into

hysterics at the conclusion of the ceremony, until the sacred edifice resounded with their united wailings!

As the four sisters and Mr. Robinson continued to occupy the same house after this memorable occasion, and

as the married sister, whoever she was, never appeared in public without the other three, we are not quite

clear that the neighbours ever would have discovered the real Mrs. Robinson, but for a circumstance of the

most gratifying description, which WILL happen occasionally in the bestregulated families. Three

quarterdays elapsed, and the row, on whom a new light appeared to have been bursting for some time,

began to speak with a sort of implied confidence on the subject, and to wonder how Mrs. Robinson the

youngest Miss Willis that was got on; and servants might be seen running up the steps, about nine or ten

o'clock every morning, with 'Missis's compliments, and wishes to know how Mrs. Robinson finds herself this

morning?' And the answer always was, 'Mrs. Robinson's compliments, and she's in very good spirits, and

doesn't find herself any worse.' The piano was heard no longer, the knittingneedles were laid aside, drawing

was neglected, and mantuamaking and millinery, on the smallest scale imaginable, appeared to have

become the favourite amusement of the whole family. The parlour wasn't quite as tidy as it used to be, and if

you called in the morning, you would see lying on a table, with an old newspaper carelessly thrown over

them, two or three particularly small caps, rather larger than if they had been made for a moderatesized doll,

with a small piece of lace, in the shape of a horseshoe, let in behind: or perhaps a white robe, not very large

in circumference, but very much out of proportion in point of length, with a little tucker round the top, and a

frill round the bottom; and once when we called, we saw a long white roller, with a kind of blue margin down

each side, the probable use of which, we were at a loss to conjecture. Then we fancied that Dr. Dawson, the

surgeon, who displays a large lamp with a different colour in every pane of glass, at the corner of the row,

began to be knocked up at night oftener than he used to be; and once we were very much alarmed by hearing

a hackneycoach stop at Mrs. Robinson's door, at halfpast two o'clock in the morning, out of which there

emerged a fat old woman, in a cloak and nightcap, with a bundle in one hand, and a pair of pattens in the

other, who looked as if she had been suddenly knocked up out of bed for some very special purpose.

When we got up in the morning we saw that the knocker was tied up in an old white kid glove; and we, in our

innocence (we were in a state of bachelorship then), wondered what on earth it all meant, until we heard the

eldest Miss Willis, IN PROPRIA PERSONA say, with great dignity, in answer to the next inquiry, 'MY

compliments, and Mrs. Robinson's doing as well as can be expected, and the little girl thrives wonderfully.'

And then, in common with the rest of the row, our curiosity was satisfied, and we began to wonder it had

A great event has recently occurred in our parish. A contest of paramount interest has just terminated; a

parochial convulsion has taken place. It has been succeeded by a glorious triumph, which the country or at

least the parish it is all the same will long remember. We have had an election; an election for beadle.

The supporters of the old beadle system have been defeated in their stronghold, and the advocates of the great

Our parish, which, like all other parishes, is a little world of its own, has long been divided into two parties,

whose contentions, slumbering for a while, have never failed to burst forth with unabated vigour, on any

occasion on which they could by possibility be renewed. Watchingrates, lightingrates, pavingrates,

sewer's rates, churchrates, poor'srates all sorts of rates, have been in their turns the subjects of a grand

struggle; and as to questions of patronage, the asperity and determination with which they have been

The leader of the official party the steady advocate of the churchwardens, and the unflinching supporter of

the overseers is an old gentleman who lives in our row. He owns some half a dozen houses in it, and always

walks on the opposite side of the way, so that he may be able to take in a view of the whole of his property at

once. He is a tall, thin, bony man, with an interrogative nose, and little restless perking eyes, which appear to

have been given him for the sole purpose of peeping into other people's affairs with. He is deeply impressed

with the importance of our parish business, and prides himself, not a little, on his style of addressing the

parishioners in vestry assembled. His views are rather confined than extensive; his principles more narrow

than liberal. He has been heard to declaim very loudly in favour of the liberty of the press, and advocates the

repeal of the stamp duty on newspapers, because the daily journals who now have a monopoly of the public,

never give VERBATIM reports of vestry meetings. He would not appear egotistical for the world, but at the

same time he must say, that there are SPEECHES that celebrated speech of his own, on the emoluments of

the sexton, and the duties of the office, for instance which might be communicated to the public, greatly to

His great opponent in public life is Captain Purday, the old naval officer on halfpay, to whom we have

already introduced our readers. The captain being a determined opponent of the constituted authorities,

whoever they may chance to be, and our other friend being their steady supporter, with an equal disregard of

their individual merits, it will readily be supposed, that occasions for their coming into direct collision are

neither few nor far between. They divided the vestry fourteen times on a motion for heating the church with

warm water instead of coals: and made speeches about liberty and expenditure, and prodigality and hot water,

which threw the whole parish into a state of excitement. Then the captain, when he was on the visiting

committee, and his opponent overseer, brought forward certain distinct and specific charges relative to the

management of the workhouse, boldly expressed his total want of confidence in the existing authorities, and

moved for 'a copy of the recipe by which the paupers' soup was prepared, together with any documents

relating thereto.' This the overseer steadily resisted; he fortified himself by precedent, appealed to the

established usage, and declined to produce the papers, on the ground of the injury that would be done to the

public service, if documents of a strictly private nature, passing between the master of the workhouse and the

cook, were to be thus dragged to light on the motion of any individual member of the vestry. The motion was

lost by a majority of two; and then the captain, who never allows himself to be defeated, moved for a

committee of inquiry into the whole subject. The affair grew serious: the question was discussed at meeting

after meeting, and vestry after vestry; speeches were made, attacks repudiated, personal defiances exchanged,

explanations received, and the greatest excitement prevailed, until at last, just as the question was going to be

finally decided, the vestry found that somehow or other, they had become entangled in a point of form, from

which it was impossible to escape with propriety. So, the motion was dropped, and everybody looked

extremely important, and seemed quite satisfied with the meritorious nature of the whole proceeding.

This was the state of affairs in our parish a week or two since, when Simmons, the beadle, suddenly died. The

lamented deceased had overexerted himself, a day or two previously, in conveying an aged female, highly

intoxicated, to the strong room of the workhouse. The excitement thus occasioned, added to a severe cold,

which this indefatigable officer had caught in his capacity of director of the parish engine, by inadvertently

playing over himself instead of a fire, proved too much for a constitution already enfeebled by age; and the

intelligence was conveyed to the Board one evening that Simmons had died, and left his respects.

The breath was scarcely out of the body of the deceased functionary, when the field was filled with

competitors for the vacant office, each of whom rested his claims to public support, entirely on the number

and extent of his family, as if the office of beadle were originally instituted as an encouragement for the

propagation of the human species. 'Bung for Beadle. Five small children!' 'Hopkins for Beadle. Seven small

children!!' 'Timkins for Beadle. Nine small children!!!' Such were the placards in large black letters on a

white ground, which were plentifully pasted on the walls, and posted in the windows of the principal shops.

Timkins's success was considered certain: several mothers of families half promised their votes, and the nine

small children would have run over the course, but for the production of another placard, announcing the

appearance of a still more meritorious candidate. 'Spruggins for Beadle. Ten small children (two of them

twins), and a wife!!!' There was no resisting this; ten small children would have been almost irresistible in

themselves, without the twins, but the touching parenthesis about that interesting production of nature, and

the still more touching allusion to Mrs. Spruggins, must ensure success. Spruggins was the favourite at once,

and the appearance of his lady, as she went about to solicit votes (which encouraged confident hopes of a still

further addition to the house of Spruggins at no remote period), increased the general prepossession in his

favour. The other candidates, Bung alone excepted, resigned in despair. The day of election was fixed; and

The members of the vestry could not be supposed to escape the contagious excitement inseparable from the

occasion. The majority of the lady inhabitants of the parish declared at once for Spruggins; and the

QUONDAM overseer took the same side, on the ground that men with large families always had been elected

to the office, and that although he must admit, that, in other respects, Spruggins was the least qualified

candidate of the two, still it was an old practice, and he saw no reason why an old practice should be departed

from. This was enough for the captain. He immediately sided with Bung, canvassed for him personally in all

directions, wrote squibs on Spruggins, and got his butcher to skewer them up on conspicuous joints in his

shopfront; frightened his neighbour, the old lady, into a palpitation of the heart, by his awful denunciations

of Spruggins's party; and bounced in and out, and up and down, and backwards and forwards, until all the

sober inhabitants of the parish thought it inevitable that he must die of a brain fever, long before the election

The day of election arrived. It was no longer an individual struggle, but a party contest between the ins and

outs. The question was, whether the withering influence of the overseers, the domination of the

churchwardens, and the blighting despotism of the vestryclerk, should be allowed to render the election of

beadle a form a nullity: whether they should impose a vestryelected beadle on the parish, to do their

bidding and forward their views, or whether the parishioners, fearlessly asserting their undoubted rights,

The nomination was fixed to take place in the vestry, but so great was the throng of anxious spectators, that it

was found necessary to adjourn to the church, where the ceremony commenced with due solemnity. The

appearance of the churchwardens and overseers, and the exchurchwardens and exoverseers, with

Spruggins in the rear, excited general attention. Spruggins was a little thin man, in rusty black, with a long

pale face, and a countenance expressive of care and fatigue, which might either be attributed to the extent of

his family or the anxiety of his feelings. His opponent appeared in a castoff coat of the captain's a blue

coat with bright buttons; white trousers, and that description of shoes familiarly known by the appellation of

'highlows.' There was a serenity in the open countenance of Bung a kind of moral dignity in his confident

air an 'I wish you may get it' sort of expression in his eye which infused animation into his supporters,

The exchurchwarden rose to propose Thomas Spruggins for beadle. He had known him long. He had had

his eye upon him closely for years; he had watched him with twofold vigilance for months. (A parishioner

here suggested that this might be termed 'taking a double sight,' but the observation was drowned in loud

cries of 'Order!') He would repeat that he had had his eye upon him for years, and this he would say, that a

more wellconducted, a more wellbehaved, a more sober, a more quiet man, with a more well regulated

mind, he had never met with. A man with a larger family he had never known (cheers). The parish required a

man who could be depended on ('Hear!' from the Spruggins side, answered by ironical cheers from the Bung

party). Such a man he now proposed ('No,' 'Yes'). He would not allude to individuals (the ex churchwarden

continued, in the celebrated negative style adopted by great speakers). He would not advert to a gentleman

who had once held a high rank in the service of his majesty; he would not say, that that gentleman was no

gentleman; he would not assert, that that man was no man; he would not say, that he was a turbulent

parishioner; he would not say, that he had grossly misbehaved himself, not only on this, but on all former

occasions; he would not say, that he was one of those discontented and treasonable spirits, who carried

confusion and disorder wherever they went; he would not say, that he harboured in his heart envy, and hatred,

and malice, and all uncharitableness. No! He wished to have everything comfortable and pleasant, and

The captain replied in a similar parliamentary style. He would not say, he was astonished at the speech they

had just heard; he would not say, he was disgusted (cheers). He would not retort the epithets which had been

hurled against him (renewed cheering); he would not allude to men once in office, but now happily out of it,

who had mismanaged the workhouse, ground the paupers, diluted the beer, slackbaked the bread, boned the

meat, heightened the work, and lowered the soup (tremendous cheers). He would not ask what such men

deserved (a voice, 'Nothing aday, and find themselves!'). He would not say, that one burst of general

indignation should drive them from the parish they polluted with their presence ('Give it him!'). He would not

allude to the unfortunate man who had been proposed he would not say, as the vestry's tool, but as Beadle.

He would not advert to that individual's family; he would not say, that nine children, twins, and a wife, were

very bad examples for pauper imitation (loud cheers). He would not advert in detail to the qualifications of

Bung. The man stood before him, and he would not say in his presence, what he might be disposed to say of

him, if he were absent. (Here Mr. Bung telegraphed to a friend near him, under cover of his hat, by

contracting his left eye, and applying his right thumb to the tip of his nose). It had been objected to Bung that

he had only five children ('Hear, hear!' from the opposition). Well; he had yet to learn that the legislature had

affixed any precise amount of infantine qualification to the office of beadle; but taking it for granted that an

extensive family were a great requisite, he entreated them to look to facts, and compare DATA, about which

there could be no mistake. Bung was 35 years of age. Spruggins of whom he wished to speak with all

possible respect was 50. Was it not more than possible was it not very probable that by the time Bung

attained the latter age, he might see around him a family, even exceeding in number and extent, that to which

Spruggins at present laid claim (deafening cheers and waving of handkerchiefs)? The captain concluded,

amidst loud applause, by calling upon the parishioners to sound the tocsin, rush to the poll, free themselves

On the following day the polling began, and we never have had such a bustle in our parish since we got up

our famous antislavery petition, which was such an important one, that the House of Commons ordered it to

be printed, on the motion of the member for the district. The captain engaged two hackneycoaches and a cab

for Bung's people the cab for the drunken voters, and the two coaches for the old ladies, the greater portion

of whom, owing to the captain's impetuosity, were driven up to the poll and home again, before they

recovered from their flurry sufficiently to know, with any degree of clearness, what they had been doing. The

opposite party wholly neglected these precautions, and the consequence was, that a great many ladies who

were walking leisurely up to the church for it was a very hot day to vote for Spruggins, were artfully

decoyed into the coaches, and voted for Bung. The captain's arguments, too, had produced considerable

effect: the attempted influence of the vestry produced a greater. A threat of exclusive dealing was clearly

established against the vestryclerk a case of heartless and profligate atrocity. It appeared that the

delinquent had been in the habit of purchasing six penn'orth of muffins, weekly, from an old woman who

rents a small house in the parish, and resides among the original settlers; on her last weekly visit, a message

was conveyed to her through the medium of the cook, couched in mysterious terms, but indicating with

sufficient clearness, that the vestryclerk's appetite for muffins, in future, depended entirely on her vote on

the beadleship. This was sufficient: the stream had been turning previously, and the impulse thus

administered directed its final course. The Bung party ordered one shilling'sworth of muffins weekly for the

remainder of the old woman's natural life; the parishioners were loud in their exclamations; and the fate of

It was in vain that the twins were exhibited in dresses of the same pattern, and nightcaps, to match, at the

church door: the boy in Mrs. Spruggins's right arm, and the girl in her left even Mrs. Spruggins herself

failed to be an object of sympathy any longer. The majority attained by Bung on the gross poll was four

The excitement of the late election has subsided, and our parish being once again restored to a state of

comparative tranquillity, we are enabled to devote our attention to those parishioners who take little share in

our party contests or in the turmoil and bustle of public life. And we feel sincere pleasure in acknowledging

here, that in collecting materials for this task we have been greatly assisted by Mr. Bung himself, who has

imposed on us a debt of obligation which we fear we can never repay. The life of this gentleman has been one

of a very chequered description: he has undergone transitions not from grave to gay, for he never was grave

not from lively to severe, for severity forms no part of his disposition; his fluctuations have been between

poverty in the extreme, and poverty modified, or, to use his own emphatic language, 'between nothing to eat

and just half enough.' He is not, as he forcibly remarks, 'one of those fortunate men who, if they were to dive

under one side of a barge starknaked, would come up on the other with a new suit of clothes on, and a ticket

for soup in the waistcoatpocket:' neither is he one of those, whose spirit has been broken beyond redemption

by misfortune and want. He is just one of the careless, goodfornothing, happy fellows, who float,

corklike, on the surface, for the world to play at hockey with: knocked here, and there, and everywhere: now

to the right, then to the left, again up in the air, and anon to the bottom, but always reappearing and bounding

with the stream buoyantly and merrily along. Some few months before he was prevailed upon to stand a

contested election for the office of beadle, necessity attached him to the service of a broker; and on the

opportunities he here acquired of ascertaining the condition of most of the poorer inhabitants of the parish,

his patron, the captain, first grounded his claims to public support. Chance threw the man in our way a short

time since. We were, in the first instance, attracted by his prepossessing impudence at the election; we were

not surprised, on further acquaintance, to find him a shrewd, knowing fellow, with no inconsiderable power

of observation; and, after conversing with him a little, were somewhat struck (as we dare say our readers have

frequently been in other cases) with the power some men seem to have, not only of sympathising with, but to

all appearance of understanding feelings to which they themselves are entire strangers. We had been

expressing to the new functionary our surprise that he should ever have served in the capacity to which we

have just adverted, when we gradually led him into one or two professional anecdotes. As we are induced to

think, on reflection, that they will tell better in nearly his own words, than with any attempted embellishments

'It's very true, as you say, sir,' Mr. Bung commenced, 'that a broker's man's is not a life to be envied; and in

course you know as well as I do, though you don't say it, that people hate and scout 'em because they're the

ministers of wretchedness, like, to poor people. But what could I do, sir? The thing was no worse because I

did it, instead of somebody else; and if putting me in possession of a house would put me in possession of

three and sixpence a day, and levying a distress on another man's goods would relieve my distress and that of

my family, it can't be expected but what I'd take the job and go through with it. I never liked it, God knows; I

always looked out for something else, and the moment I got other work to do, I left it. If there is anything

wrong in being the agent in such matters not the principal, mind you I'm sure the business, to a beginner

like I was, at all events, carries its own punishment along with it. I wished again and again that the people

would only blow me up, or pitch into me that I wouldn't have minded, it's all in my way; but it's the being

shut up by yourself in one room for five days, without so much as an old newspaper to look at, or anything to

see out o' the winder but the roofs and chimneys at the back of the house, or anything to listen to, but the

ticking, perhaps, of an old Dutch clock, the sobbing of the missis, now and then, the low talking of friends in

the next room, who speak in whispers, lest "the man" should overhear them, or perhaps the occasional

opening of the door, as a child peeps in to look at you, and then runs halffrightened away it's all this, that

makes you feel sneaking somehow, and ashamed of yourself; and then, if it's wintertime, they just give you

fire enough to make you think you'd like more, and bring in your grub as if they wished it 'ud choke you as

I dare say they do, for the matter of that, most heartily. If they're very civil, they make you up a bed in the

room at night, and if they don't, your master sends one in for you; but there you are, without being washed or

shaved all the time, shunned by everybody, and spoken to by no one, unless some one comes in at

dinnertime, and asks you whether you want any more, in a tone as much to say, "I hope you don't," or, in the

evening, to inquire whether you wouldn't rather have a candle, after you've been sitting in the dark half the

night. When I was left in this way, I used to sit, think, think, thinking, till I felt as lonesome as a kitten in a

washhouse copper with the lid on; but I believe the old brokers' men who are regularly trained to it, never

'I put in a good many distresses in my time (continued Mr. Bung), and in course I wasn't long in finding, that

some people are not as much to be pitied as others are, and that people with good incomes who get into

difficulties, which they keep patching up day after day and week after week, get so used to these sort of

things in time, that at last they come scarcely to feel them at all. I remember the very first place I was put in

possession of, was a gentleman's house in this parish here, that everybody would suppose couldn't help

having money if he tried. I went with old Fixem, my old master, 'bout half arter eight in the morning; rang the

area bell; servant in livery opened the door: "Governor at home?" "Yes, he is," says the man; "but he's

breakfasting just now." "Never mind," says Fixem, "just you tell him there's a gentleman here, as wants to

speak to him partickler." So the servant he opens his eyes, and stares about him all ways looking for the

gentleman, as it struck me, for I don't think anybody but a man as was stoneblind would mistake Fixem for

one; and as for me, I was as seedy as a cheap cowcumber. Hows'ever, he turns round, and goes to the

breakfastparlour, which was a little snug sort of room at the end of the passage, and Fixem (as we always

did in that profession), without waiting to be announced, walks in arter him, and before the servant could get

out, "Please, sir, here's a man as wants to speak to you," looks in at the door as familiar and pleasant as may

be. "Who the devil are you, and how dare you walk into a gentleman's house without leave?" says the master,

as fierce as a bull in fits. "My name," says Fixem, winking to the master to send the servant away, and putting

the warrant into his hands folded up like a note, "My name's Smith," says he, "and I called from Johnson's

about that business of Thompson's." "Oh," says the other, quite down on him directly, "How IS

Thompson?" says he; "Pray sit down, Mr. Smith: John, leave the room." Out went the servant; and the

gentleman and Fixem looked at one another till they couldn't look any longer, and then they varied the

amusements by looking at me, who had been standing on the mat all this time. "Hundred and fifty pounds, I

see," said the gentleman at last. "Hundred and fifty pound," said Fixem, "besides cost of levy, sheriff's

poundage, and all other incidental expenses." "Um," says the gentleman, "I shan't be able to settle this

before to morrow afternoon." "Very sorry; but I shall be obliged to leave my man here till then," replies

Fixem, pretending to look very miserable over it. "That's very unfort'nate," says the gentleman, "for I have

got a large party here tonight, and I'm ruined if those fellows of mine get an inkling of the matter just step

here, Mr. Smith," says he, after a short pause. So Fixem walks with him up to the window, and after a good

deal of whispering, and a little chinking of suverins, and looking at me, he comes back and says, "Bung,

you're a handy fellow, and very honest I know. This gentleman wants an assistant to clean the plate and wait

at table today, and if you're not particularly engaged," says old Fixem, grinning like mad, and shoving a

couple of suverins into my hand, "he'll be very glad to avail himself of your services." Well, I laughed: and

the gentleman laughed, and we all laughed; and I went home and cleaned myself, leaving Fixem there, and

when I went back, Fixem went away, and I polished up the plate, and waited at table, and gammoned the

servants, and nobody had the least idea I was in possession, though it very nearly came out after all; for one

of the last gentlemen who remained, came downstairs into the hall where I was sitting pretty late at night,

and putting halfacrown into my hand, says, "Here, my man," says he, "run and get me a coach, will you?" I

thought it was a do, to get me out of the house, and was just going to say so, sulkily enough, when the

gentleman (who was up to everything) came running downstairs, as if he was in great anxiety. "Bung," says

he, pretending to be in a consuming passion. "Sir," says I. "Why the devil an't you looking after that plate?"

"I was just going to send him for a coach for me," says the other gentleman. "And I was just agoing to say,"

says I "Anybody else, my dear fellow," interrupts the master of the house, pushing me down the passage to

get out of the way "anybody else; but I have put this man in possession of all the plate and valuables, and I

cannot allow him on any consideration whatever, to leave the house. Bung, you scoundrel, go and count those

forks in the breakfastparlour instantly." You may be sure I went laughing pretty hearty when I found it was

all right. The money was paid next day, with the addition of something else for myself, and that was the best

'But this is the bright side of the picture, sir, after all,' resumed Mr. Bung, laying aside the knowing look and

flash air, with which he had repeated the previous anecdote 'and I'm sorry to say, it's the side one sees very,

very seldom, in comparison with the dark one. The civility which money will purchase, is rarely extended to

those who have none; and there's a consolation even in being able to patch up one difficulty, to make way for

another, to which very poor people are strangers. I was once put into a house down George'syard that little

dirty court at the back of the gasworks; and I never shall forget the misery of them people, dear me! It was a

distress for half a year's rent two pound ten, I think. There was only two rooms in the house, and as there

was no passage, the lodgers upstairs always went through the room of the people of the house, as they

passed in and out; and every time they did so which, on the average, was about four times every quarter of

an hour they blowed up quite frightful: for their things had been seized too, and included in the inventory.

There was a little piece of enclosed dust in front of the house, with a cinderpath leading up to the door, and

an open rainwater butt on one side. A dirty striped curtain, on a very slack string, hung in the window, and a

little triangular bit of broken lookingglass rested on the sill inside. I suppose it was meant for the people's

use, but their appearance was so wretched, and so miserable, that I'm certain they never could have plucked

up courage to look themselves in the face a second time, if they survived the fright of doing so once. There

was two or three chairs, that might have been worth, in their best days, from eightpence to a shilling apiece;

a small deal table, an old corner cupboard with nothing in it, and one of those bedsteads which turn up half

way, and leave the bottom legs sticking out for you to knock your head against, or hang your hat upon; no

bed, no bedding. There was an old sack, by way of rug, before the fireplace, and four or five children were

grovelling about, among the sand on the floor. The execution was only put in, to get 'em out of the house, for

there was nothing to take to pay the expenses; and here I stopped for three days, though that was a mere form

too: for, in course, I knew, and we all knew, they could never pay the money. In one of the chairs, by the side

of the place where the fire ought to have been, was an old 'ooman the ugliest and dirtiest I ever see who

sat rocking herself backwards and forwards, backwards and forwards, without once stopping, except for an

instant now and then, to clasp together the withered hands which, with these exceptions, she kept constantly

rubbing upon her knees, just raising and depressing her fingers convulsively, in time to the rocking of the

chair. On the other side sat the mother with an infant in her arms, which cried till it cried itself to sleep, and

when it 'woke, cried till it cried itself off again. The old 'ooman's voice I never heard: she seemed completely

stupefied; and as to the mother's, it would have been better if she had been so too, for misery had changed her

to a devil. If you had heard how she cursed the little naked children as was rolling on the floor, and seen how

savagely she struck the infant when it cried with hunger, you'd have shuddered as much as I did. There they

remained all the time: the children ate a morsel of bread once or twice, and I gave 'em best part of the dinners

my missis brought me, but the woman ate nothing; they never even laid on the bedstead, nor was the room

swept or cleaned all the time. The neighbours were all too poor themselves to take any notice of 'em, but from

what I could make out from the abuse of the woman up stairs, it seemed the husband had been transported a

few weeks before. When the time was up, the landlord and old Fixem too, got rather frightened about the

family, and so they made a stir about it, and had 'em taken to the workhouse. They sent the sick couch for the

old 'ooman, and Simmons took the children away at night. The old 'ooman went into the infirmary, and very

soon died. The children are all in the house to this day, and very comfortable they are in comparison. As to

the mother, there was no taming her at all. She had been a quiet, hardworking woman, I believe, but her

misery had actually drove her wild; so after she had been sent to the house of correction halfadozen times,

for throwing inkstands at the overseers, blaspheming the churchwardens, and smashing everybody as come

near her, she burst a bloodvessel one mornin', and died too; and a happy release it was, both for herself and

the old paupers, male and female, which she used to tip over in all directions, as if they were so many skittles,

'Now this was bad enough,' resumed Mr. Bung, taking a halfstep towards the door, as if to intimate that he

had nearly concluded. 'This was bad enough, but there was a sort of quiet misery if you understand what I

mean by that, sir about a lady at one house I was put into, as touched me a good deal more. It doesn't matter

where it was exactly: indeed, I'd rather not say, but it was the same sort o' job. I went with Fixem in the usual

way there was a year's rent in arrear; a very small servantgirl opened the door, and three or four

finelooking little children was in the front parlour we were shown into, which was very clean, but very

scantily furnished, much like the children themselves. "Bung," says Fixem to me, in a low voice, when we

were left alone for a minute, "I know something about this here family, and my opinion is, it's no go." "Do

you think they can't settle?" says I, quite anxiously; for I liked the looks of them children. Fixem shook his

head, and was just about to reply, when the door opened, and in come a lady, as white as ever I see any one in

my days, except about the eyes, which were red with crying. She walked in, as firm as I could have done;

shut the door carefully after her, and sat herself down with a face as composed as if it was made of stone.

"What is the matter, gentlemen?" says she, in a surprisin' steady voice. "IS this an execution?" "It is, mum,"

says Fixem. The lady looked at him as steady as ever: she didn't seem to have understood him. "It is, mum,"

says Fixem again; "this is my warrant of distress, mum," says he, handing it over as polite as if it was a

'The lady's lip trembled as she took the printed paper. She cast her eye over it, and old Fixem began to

explain the form, but saw she wasn't reading it, plain enough, poor thing. "Oh, my God!" says she, suddenly

abursting out crying, letting the warrant fall, and hiding her face in her hands. "Oh, my God! what will

become of us!" The noise she made, brought in a young lady of about nineteen or twenty, who, I suppose, had

been alistening at the door, and who had got a little boy in her arms: she sat him down in the lady's lap,

without speaking, and she hugged the poor little fellow to her bosom, and cried over him, till even old Fixem

put on his blue spectacles to hide the two tears, that was atrickling down, one on each side of his dirty face.

"Now, dear ma," says the young lady, "you know how much you have borne. For all our sakes for pa's

sake," says she, "don't give way to this!" "No, no, I won't!" says the lady, gathering herself up, hastily, and

drying her eyes; "I am very foolish, but I'm better now much better." And then she roused herself up, went

with us into every room while we took the inventory, opened all the drawers of her own accord, sorted the

children's little clothes to make the work easier; and, except doing everything in a strange sort of hurry,

seemed as calm and composed as if nothing had happened. When we came downstairs again, she hesitated a

minute or two, and at last says, "Gentlemen," says she, "I am afraid I have done wrong, and perhaps it may

bring you into trouble. I secreted just now," she says, "the only trinket I have left in the world here it is." So

she lays down on the table a little miniature mounted in gold. "It's a miniature," she says, "of my poor dear

father! I little thought once, that I should ever thank God for depriving me of the original, but I do, and have

done for years back, most fervently. Take it away, sir," she says, "it's a face that never turned from me in

sickness and distress, and I can hardly bear to turn from it now, when, God knows, I suffer both in no

ordinary degree." I couldn't say nothing, but I raised my head from the inventory which I was filling up, and

looked at Fixem; the old fellow nodded to me significantly, so I ran my pen through the "MINI" I had just

'Well, sir, to make short of a long story, I was left in possession, and in possession I remained; and though I

was an ignorant man, and the master of the house a clever one, I saw what he never did, but what he would

give worlds now (if he had 'em) to have seen in time. I saw, sir, that his wife was wasting away, beneath cares

of which she never complained, and griefs she never told. I saw that she was dying before his eyes; I knew

that one exertion from him might have saved her, but he never made it. I don't blame him: I don't think he

COULD rouse himself. She had so long anticipated all his wishes, and acted for him, that he was a lost man

when left to himself. I used to think when I caught sight of her, in the clothes she used to wear, which looked

shabby even upon her, and would have been scarcely decent on any one else, that if I was a gentleman it

would wring my very heart to see the woman that was a smart and merry girl when I courted her, so altered

through her love for me. Bitter cold and damp weather it was, yet, though her dress was thin, and her shoes

none of the best, during the whole three days, from morning to night, she was out of doors running about to

try and raise the money. The money WAS raised and the execution was paid out. The whole family crowded

into the room where I was, when the money arrived. The father was quite happy as the inconvenience was

removed I dare say he didn't know how; the children looked merry and cheerful again; the eldest girl was

bustling about, making preparations for the first comfortable meal they had had since the distress was put in;

and the mother looked pleased to see them all so. But if ever I saw death in a woman's face, I saw it in hers

'I was right, sir,' continued Mr. Bung, hurriedly passing his coat sleeve over his face; 'the family grew more

prosperous, and good fortune arrived. But it was too late. Those children are motherless now, and their father

would give up all he has since gained house, home, goods, money: all that he has, or ever can have, to

Our Parish is very prolific in ladies' charitable institutions. In winter, when wet feet are common, and colds

not scarce, we have the ladies' soup distribution society, the ladies' coal distribution society, and the ladies'

blanket distribution society; in summer, when stone fruits flourish and stomach aches prevail, we have the

ladies' dispensary, and the ladies' sick visitation committee; and all the year round we have the ladies' child's

examination society, the ladies' bible and prayerbook circulation society, and the ladies' childbedlinen

monthly loan society. The two latter are decidedly the most important; whether they are productive of more

benefit than the rest, it is not for us to say, but we can take upon ourselves to affirm, with the utmost

solemnity, that they create a greater stir and more bustle, than all the others put together.

We should be disposed to affirm, on the first blush of the matter, that the bible and prayerbook society is not

so popular as the childbedlinen society; the bible and prayerbook society has, however, considerably

increased in importance within the last year or two, having derived some adventitious aid from the factious

opposition of the child's examination society; which factious opposition originated in manner following:

When the young curate was popular, and all the unmarried ladies in the parish took a serious turn, the charity

children all at once became objects of peculiar and especial interest. The three Miss Browns (enthusiastic

admirers of the curate) taught, and exercised, and examined, and reexamined the unfortunate children, until

the boys grew pale, and the girls consumptive with study and fatigue. The three Miss Browns stood it out

very well, because they relieved each other; but the children, having no relief at all, exhibited decided

symptoms of weariness and care. The unthinking part of the parishioners laughed at all this, but the more

reflective portion of the inhabitants abstained from expressing any opinion on the subject until that of the

The opportunity was not long wanting. The curate preached a charity sermon on behalf of the charity school,

and in the charity sermon aforesaid, expatiated in glowing terms on the praiseworthy and indefatigable

exertions of certain estimable individuals. Sobs were heard to issue from the three Miss Browns' pew; the

pewopener of the division was seen to hurry down the centre aisle to the vestry door, and to return

immediately, bearing a glass of water in her hand. A low moaning ensued; two more pewopeners rushed to

the spot, and the three Miss Browns, each supported by a pewopener, were led out of the church, and led in

again after the lapse of five minutes with white pockethandkerchiefs to their eyes, as if they had been

attending a funeral in the churchyard adjoining. If any doubt had for a moment existed, as to whom the

allusion was intended to apply, it was at once removed. The wish to enlighten the charity children became

universal, and the three Miss Browns were unanimously besought to divide the school into classes, and to

A little learning is a dangerous thing, but a little patronage is more so; the three Miss Browns appointed all

the old maids, and carefully excluded the young ones. Maiden aunts triumphed, mammas were reduced to the

lowest depths of despair, and there is no telling in what act of violence the general indignation against the

three Miss Browns might have vented itself, had not a perfectly providential occurrence changed the tide of

public feeling. Mrs. Johnson Parker, the mother of seven extremely fine girls all unmarried hastily

reported to several other mammas of several other unmarried families, that five old men, six old women, and

children innumerable, in the free seats near her pew, were in the habit of coming to church every Sunday,

without either bible or prayerbook. Was this to be borne in a civilised country? Could such things be

tolerated in a Christian land? Never! A ladies' bible and prayerbook distribution society was instantly

formed: president, Mrs. Johnson Parker; treasurers, auditors, and secretary, the Misses Johnson Parker:

subscriptions were entered into, books were bought, all the freeseat people provided therewith, and when

the first lesson was given out, on the first Sunday succeeding these events, there was such a dropping of

books, and rustling of leaves, that it was morally impossible to hear one word of the service for five minutes

The three Miss Browns, and their party, saw the approaching danger, and endeavoured to avert it by ridicule

and sarcasm. Neither the old men nor the old women could read their books, now they had got them, said the

three Miss Browns. Never mind; they could learn, replied Mrs. Johnson Parker. The children couldn't read

either, suggested the three Miss Browns. No matter; they could be taught, retorted Mrs. Johnson Parker. A

balance of parties took place. The Miss Browns publicly examined popular feeling inclined to the child's

examination society. The Miss Johnson Parkers publicly distributed a reaction took place in favour of the

prayerbook distribution. A feather would have turned the scale, and a feather did turn it. A missionary

returned from the West Indies; he was to be presented to the Dissenters' Missionary Society on his marriage

with a wealthy widow. Overtures were made to the Dissenters by the Johnson Parkers. Their object was the

same, and why not have a joint meeting of the two societies? The proposition was accepted. The meeting was

duly heralded by public announcement, and the room was crowded to suffocation. The Missionary appeared

on the platform; he was hailed with enthusiasm. He repeated a dialogue he had heard between two negroes,

behind a hedge, on the subject of distribution societies; the approbation was tumultuous. He gave an imitation

of the two negroes in broken English; the roof was rent with applause. From that period we date (with one

trifling exception) a daily increase in the popularity of the distribution society, and an increase of popularity,

which the feeble and impotent opposition of the examination party, has only tended to augment.

Now, the great points about the childbedlinen monthly loan society are, that it is less dependent on the

fluctuations of public opinion than either the distribution or the child's examination; and that, come what

may, there is never any lack of objects on which to exercise its benevolence. Our parish is a very populous

one, and, if anything, contributes, we should be disposed to say, rather more than its due share to the

aggregate amount of births in the metropolis and its environs. The consequence is, that the monthly loan

society flourishes, and invests its members with a most enviable amount of bustling patronage. The society

(whose only notion of dividing time, would appear to be its allotment into months) holds monthly

teadrinkings, at which the monthly report is received, a secretary elected for the month ensuing, and such of

the monthly boxes as may not happen to be out on loan for the month, carefully examined.

We were never present at one of these meetings, from all of which it is scarcely necessary to say, gentlemen

are carefully excluded; but Mr. Bung has been called before the board once or twice, and we have his

authority for stating, that its proceedings are conducted with great order and regularity: not more than four

members being allowed to speak at one time on any pretence whatever. The regular committee is composed

exclusively of married ladies, but a vast number of young unmarried ladies of from eighteen to twentyfive

years of age, respectively, are admitted as honorary members, partly because they are very useful in

replenishing the boxes, and visiting the confined; partly because it is highly desirable that they should be

initiated, at an early period, into the more serious and matronly duties of afterlife; and partly, because

prudent mammas have not unfrequently been known to turn this circumstance to wonderfully good account in

In addition to the loan of the monthly boxes (which are always painted blue, with the name of the society in

large white letters on the lid), the society dispense occasional grants of beeftea, and a composition of warm

beer, spice, eggs, and sugar, commonly known by the name of 'candle,' to its patients. And here again the

services of the honorary members are called into requisition, and most cheerfully conceded. Deputations of

twos or threes are sent out to visit the patients, and on these occasions there is such a tasting of candle and

beeftea, such a stirring about of little messes in tiny saucepans on the hob, such a dressing and undressing of

infants, such a tying, and folding, and pinning; such a nursing and warming of little legs and feet before the

fire, such a delightful confusion of talking and cooking, bustle, importance, and officiousness, as never can be

In rivalry of these two institutions, and as a last expiring effort to acquire parochial popularity, the child's

examination people determined, the other day, on having a grand public examination of the pupils; and the

large schoolroom of the national seminary was, by and with the consent of the parish authorities, devoted to

the purpose. Invitation circulars were forwarded to all the principal parishioners, including, of course, the

heads of the other two societies, for whose especial behoof and edification the display was intended; and a

large audience was confidently anticipated on the occasion. The floor was carefully scrubbed the day before,

under the immediate superintendence of the three Miss Browns; forms were placed across the room for the

accommodation of the visitors, specimens in writing were carefully selected, and as carefully patched and

touched up, until they astonished the children who had written them, rather more than the company who read

them; sums in compound addition were rehearsed and rerehearsed until all the children had the totals by

heart; and the preparations altogether were on the most laborious and most comprehensive scale. The

morning arrived: the children were yellowsoaped and flannelled, and towelled, till their faces shone again;

every pupil's hair was carefully combed into his or her eyes, as the case might be; the girls were adorned with

snowwhite tippets, and caps bound round the head by a single purple ribbon: the necks of the elder boys

The doors were thrown open, and the Misses Brown and Co. were discovered in plain white muslin dresses,

and caps of the same the child's examination uniform. The room filled: the greetings of the company were

loud and cordial. The distributionists trembled, for their popularity was at stake. The eldest boy fell forward,

and delivered a propitiatory address from behind his collar. It was from the pen of Mr. Henry Brown; the

applause was universal, and the Johnson Parkers were aghast. The examination proceeded with success, and

terminated in triumph. The child's examination society gained a momentary victory, and the Johnson Parkers

A secret council of the distributionists was held that night, with Mrs. Johnson Parker in the chair, to consider

of the best means of recovering the ground they had lost in the favour of the parish. What could be done?

Another meeting! Alas! who was to attend it? The Missionary would not do twice; and the slaves were

emancipated. A bold step must be taken. The parish must be astonished in some way or other; but no one was

able to suggest what the step should be. At length, a very old lady was heard to mumble, in indistinct tones,

'Exeter Hall.' A sudden light broke in upon the meeting. It was unanimously resolved, that a deputation of old

ladies should wait upon a celebrated orator, imploring his assistance, and the favour of a speech; and the

deputation should also wait on two or three other imbecile old women, not resident in the parish, and entreat

their attendance. The application was successful, the meeting was held; the orator (an Irishman) came. He

talked of green isles other shores vast Atlantic bosom of the deep Christian charity blood and

extermination mercy in hearts arms in hands altars and homes household gods. He wiped his eyes, he

blew his nose, and he quoted Latin. The effect was tremendous the Latin was a decided hit. Nobody knew

exactly what it was about, but everybody knew it must be affecting, because even the orator was overcome.

The popularity of the distribution society among the ladies of our parish is unprecedented; and the child's

We are very fond of speculating as we walk through a street, on the character and pursuits of the people who

inhabit it; and nothing so materially assists us in these speculations as the appearance of the house doors. The

various expressions of the human countenance afford a beautiful and interesting study; but there is something

in the physiognomy of streetdoor knockers, almost as characteristic, and nearly as infallible. Whenever we

visit a man for the first time, we contemplate the features of his knocker with the greatest curiosity, for we

well know, that between the man and his knocker, there will inevitably be a greater or less degree of

For instance, there is one description of knocker that used to be common enough, but which is fast passing

away a large round one, with the jolly face of a convivial lion smiling blandly at you, as you twist the sides

of your hair into a curl or pull up your shirt collar while you are waiting for the door to be opened; we never

saw that knocker on the door of a churlish man so far as our experience is concerned, it invariably bespoke

No man ever saw this knocker on the door of a small attorney or billbroker; they always patronise the other

lion; a heavy ferociouslooking fellow, with a countenance expressive of savage stupidity a sort of grand

Then there is a little pert Egyptian knocker, with a long thin face, a pinchedup nose, and a very sharp chin;

he is most in vogue with your governmentoffice people, in light drabs and starched cravats; little spare,

priggish men, who are perfectly satisfied with their own opinions, and consider themselves of paramount

We were greatly troubled a few years ago, by the innovation of a new kind of knocker, without any face at

all, composed of a wreath depending from a hand or small truncheon. A little trouble and attention, however,

enabled us to overcome this difficulty, and to reconcile the new system to our favourite theory. You will

invariably find this knocker on the doors of cold and formal people, who always ask you why you DON'T

Everybody knows the brass knocker is common to suburban villas, and extensive boardingschools; and

having noticed this genus we have recapitulated all the most prominent and stronglydefined species.

Some phrenologists affirm, that the agitation of a man's brain by different passions, produces corresponding

developments in the form of his skull. Do not let us be understood as pushing our theory to the full length of

asserting, that any alteration in a man's disposition would produce a visible effect on the feature of his

knocker. Our position merely is, that in such a case, the magnetism which must exist between a man and his

knocker, would induce the man to remove, and seek some knocker more congenial to his altered feelings. If

you ever find a man changing his habitation without any reasonable pretext, depend upon it, that, although he

may not be aware of the fact himself, it is because he and his knocker are at variance. This is a new theory,

but we venture to launch it, nevertheless, as being quite as ingenious and infallible as many thousands of the

learned speculations which are daily broached for public good and private fortunemaking.

Entertaining these feelings on the subject of knockers, it will be readily imagined with what consternation we

viewed the entire removal of the knocker from the door of the next house to the one we lived in, some time

ago, and the substitution of a bell. This was a calamity we had never anticipated. The bare idea of anybody

being able to exist without a knocker, appeared so wild and visionary, that it had never for one instant entered

We sauntered moodily from the spot, and bent our steps towards Eatonsquare, then just building. What was

our astonishment and indignation to find that bells were fast becoming the rule, and knockers the exception!

Our theory trembled beneath the shock. We hastened home; and fancying we foresaw in the swift progress of

events, its entire abolition, resolved from that day forward to vent our speculations on our nextdoor

neighbours in person. The house adjoining ours on the left hand was uninhabited, and we had, therefore,

The house without the knocker was in the occupation of a city clerk, and there was a neatlywritten bill in the

parlour window intimating that lodgings for a single gentleman were to be let within.

It was a neat, dull little house, on the shady side of the way, with new, narrow floorcloth in the passage, and

new, narrow stair carpets up to the first floor. The paper was new, and the paint was new, and the furniture

was new; and all three, paper, paint, and furniture, bespoke the limited means of the tenant. There was a little

red and black carpet in the drawingroom, with a border of flooring all the way round; a few stained chairs

and a pembroke table. A pink shell was displayed on each of the little sideboards, which, with the addition of

a teatray and caddy, a few more shells on the mantelpiece, and three peacock's feathers tastefully arranged

This was the room destined for the reception of the single gentleman during the day, and a little back room on

The bill had not been long in the window, when a stout, good humoured looking gentleman, of about

fiveandthirty, appeared as a candidate for the tenancy. Terms were soon arranged, for the bill was taken

down immediately after his first visit. In a day or two the single gentleman came in, and shortly afterwards

First of all, he displayed a most extraordinary partiality for sitting up till three or four o'clock in the morning,

drinking whiskeyandwater, and smoking cigars; then he invited friends home, who used to come at ten

o'clock, and begin to get happy about the small hours, when they evinced their perfect contentment by

singing songs with halfadozen verses of two lines each, and a chorus of ten, which chorus used to be

shouted forth by the whole strength of the company, in the most enthusiastic and vociferous manner, to the

great annoyance of the neighbours, and the special discomfort of another single gentleman overhead.

Now, this was bad enough, occurring as it did three times a week on the average, but this was not all; for

when the company DID go away, instead of walking quietly down the street, as anybody else's company

would have done, they amused themselves by making alarming and frightful noises, and counterfeiting the

shrieks of females in distress; and one night, a redfaced gentleman in a white hat knocked in the most urgent

manner at the door of the powdered headed old gentleman at No. 3, and when the powderedheaded old

gentleman, who thought one of his married daughters must have been taken ill prematurely, had groped

downstairs, and after a great deal of unbolting and keyturning, opened the street door, the red faced man

in the white hat said he hoped he'd excuse his giving him so much trouble, but he'd feel obliged if he'd favour

him with a glass of cold spring water, and the loan of a shilling for a cab to take him home, on which the old

gentleman slammed the door and went upstairs, and threw the contents of his water jug out of window

very straight, only it went over the wrong man; and the whole street was involved in confusion.

A joke's a joke; and even practical jests are very capital in their way, if you can only get the other party to see

the fun of them; but the population of our street were so dull of apprehension, as to be quite lost to a sense of

the drollery of this proceeding: and the consequence was, that our nextdoor neighbour was obliged to tell

the single gentleman, that unless he gave up entertaining his friends at home, he really must be compelled to

The single gentleman received the remonstrance with great good humour, and promised from that time

forward, to spend his evenings at a coffeehouse a determination which afforded general and unmixed

The next night passed off very well, everybody being delighted with the change; but on the next, the noises

were renewed with greater spirit than ever. The single gentleman's friends being unable to see him in his own

house every alternate night, had come to the determination of seeing him home every night; and what with

the discordant greetings of the friends at parting, and the noise created by the single gentleman in his passage

upstairs, and his subsequent struggles to get his boots off, the evil was not to be borne. So, our nextdoor

neighbour gave the single gentleman, who was a very good lodger in other respects, notice to quit; and the

The next applicant for the vacant first floor, was of a very different character from the troublesome single

gentleman who had just quitted it. He was a tall, thin, young gentleman, with a profusion of brown hair,

reddish whiskers, and very slightly developed moustaches. He wore a braided surtout, with frogs behind, light

grey trousers, and washleather gloves, and had altogether rather a military appearance. So unlike the

roystering single gentleman. Such insinuating manners, and such a delightful address! So seriously disposed,

too! When he first came to look at the lodgings, he inquired most particularly whether he was sure to be able

to get a seat in the parish church; and when he had agreed to take them, he requested to have a list of the

different local charities, as he intended to subscribe his mite to the most deserving among them.

Our nextdoor neighbour was now perfectly happy. He had got a lodger at last, of just his own way of

thinking a serious, well disposed man, who abhorred gaiety, and loved retirement. He took down the bill

with a light heart, and pictured in imagination a long series of quiet Sundays, on which he and his lodger

The serious man arrived, and his luggage was to arrive from the country next morning. He borrowed a clean

shirt, and a prayer book, from our nextdoor neighbour, and retired to rest at an early hour, requesting that

he might be called punctually at ten o'clock next morning not before, as he was much fatigued.

He WAS called, and did not answer: he was called again, but there was no reply. Our nextdoor neighbour

became alarmed, and burst the door open. The serious man had left the house mysteriously; carrying with him

Whether this occurrence, coupled with the irregularities of his former lodger, gave our nextdoor neighbour

an aversion to single gentlemen, we know not; we only know that the next bill which made its appearance in

the parlour window intimated generally, that there were furnished apartments to let on the first floor. The bill

was soon removed. The new lodgers at first attracted our curiosity, and afterwards excited our interest.

They were a young lad of eighteen or nineteen, and his mother, a lady of about fifty, or it might be less. The

mother wore a widow's weeds, and the boy was also clothed in deep mourning. They were poor very poor;

for their only means of support arose from the pittance the boy earned, by copying writings, and translating

They had removed from some country place and settled in London; partly because it afforded better chances

of employment for the boy, and partly, perhaps, with the natural desire to leave a place where they had been

in better circumstances, and where their poverty was known. They were proud under their reverses, and

above revealing their wants and privations to strangers. How bitter those privations were, and how hard the

boy worked to remove them, no one ever knew but themselves. Night after night, two, three, four hours after

midnight, could we hear the occasional raking up of the scanty fire, or the hollow and halfstifled cough,

which indicated his being still at work; and day after day, could we see more plainly that nature had set that

unearthly light in his plaintive face, which is the beacon of her worst disease.

Actuated, we hope, by a higher feeling than mere curiosity, we contrived to establish, first an acquaintance,

and then a close intimacy, with the poor strangers. Our worst fears were realised; the boy was sinking fast.

Through a part of the winter, and the whole of the following spring and summer, his labours were

unceasingly prolonged: and the mother attempted to procure needle work, embroidery anything for bread.

A few shillings now and then, were all she could earn. The boy worked steadily on; dying by minutes, but

One beautiful autumn evening we went to pay our customary visit to the invalid. His little remaining strength

had been decreasing rapidly for two or three days preceding, and he was lying on the sofa at the open

window, gazing at the setting sun. His mother had been reading the Bible to him, for she closed the book as

'I was telling William,' she said, 'that we must manage to take him into the country somewhere, so that he

may get quite well. He is not ill, you know, but he is not very strong, and has exerted himself too much

lately.' Poor thing! The tears that streamed through her fingers, as she turned aside, as if to adjust her close

widow's cap, too plainly showed how fruitless was the attempt to deceive herself.

We sat down by the head of the sofa, but said nothing, for we saw the breath of life was passing gently but

rapidly from the young form before us. At every respiration, his heart beat more slowly.

The boy placed one hand in ours, grasped his mother's arm with the other, drew her hastily towards him, and

fervently kissed her cheek. There was a pause. He sunk back upon his pillow, and looked long and earnestly

'William, William!' murmured the mother, after a long interval, 'don't look at me so speak to me, dear!'

The boy smiled languidly, but an instant afterwards his features resolved into the same cold, solemn gaze.

'William, dear William! rouse yourself; don't look at me so, love pray don't! Oh, my God! what shall I do!'

cried the widow, clasping her hands in agony 'my dear boy! he is dying!' The boy raised himself by a

violent effort, and folded his hands together 'Mother! dear, dear mother, bury me in the open fields

anywhere but in these dreadful streets. I should like to be where you can see my grave, but not in these close

crowded streets; they have killed me; kiss me again, mother; put your arm round my neck '

He fell back, and a strange expression stole upon his features; not of pain or suffering, but an indescribable

The appearance presented by the streets of London an hour before sunrise, on a summer's morning, is most

striking even to the few whose unfortunate pursuits of pleasure, or scarcely less unfortunate pursuits of

business, cause them to be well acquainted with the scene. There is an air of cold, solitary desolation about

the noiseless streets which we are accustomed to see thronged at other times by a busy, eager crowd, and over

the quiet, closely shut buildings, which throughout the day are swarming with life and bustle, that is very

The last drunken man, who shall find his way home before sunlight, has just staggered heavily along, roaring

out the burden of the drinking song of the previous night: the last houseless vagrant whom penury and police

have left in the streets, has coiled up his chilly limbs in some paved comer, to dream of food and warmth. The

drunken, the dissipated, and the wretched have disappeared; the more sober and orderly part of the population

have not yet awakened to the labours of the day, and the stillness of death is over the streets; its very hue

seems to be imparted to them, cold and lifeless as they look in the grey, sombre light of daybreak. The

coachstands in the larger thoroughfares are deserted: the night houses are closed; and the chosen

An occasional policeman may alone be seen at the street corners, listlessly gazing on the deserted prospect

before him; and now and then a rakishlooking cat runs stealthily across the road and descends his own area

with as much caution and slyness bounding first on the waterbutt, then on the dusthole, and then

alighting on the flagstones as if he were conscious that his character depended on his gallantry of the

preceding night escaping public observation. A partially opened bedroomwindow here and there, bespeaks

the heat of the weather, and the uneasy slumbers of its occupant; and the dim scanty flicker of the rushlight,

through the windowblind, denotes the chamber of watching or sickness. With these few exceptions, the

An hour wears away; the spires of the churches and roofs of the principal buildings are faintly tinged with the

light of the rising sun; and the streets, by almost imperceptible degrees, begin to resume their bustle and

animation. Marketcarts roll slowly along: the sleepy waggoner impatiently urging on his tired horses, or

vainly endeavouring to awaken the boy, who, luxuriously stretched on the top of the fruitbaskets, forgets, in

Rough, sleepylooking animals of strange appearance, something between ostlers and hackneycoachmen,

begin to take down the shutters of early publichouses; and little deal tables, with the ordinary preparations

for a street breakfast, make their appearance at the customary stations. Numbers of men and women

(principally the latter), carrying upon their heads heavy baskets of fruit, toil down the park side of Piccadilly,

on their way to Coventgarden, and, following each other in rapid succession, form a long straggling line

Here and there, a bricklayer's labourer, with the day's dinner tied up in a handkerchief, walks briskly to his

work, and occasionally a little knot of three or four schoolboys on a stolen bathing expedition rattle merrily

over the pavement, their boisterous mirth contrasting forcibly with the demeanour of the little sweep, who,

having knocked and rung till his arm aches, and being interdicted by a merciful legislature from endangering

his lungs by calling out, sits patiently down on the doorstep, until the housemaid may happen to awake.

Coventgarden market, and the avenues leading to it, are thronged with carts of all sorts, sizes, and

descriptions, from the heavy lumbering waggon, with its four stout horses, to the jingling costermonger's cart,

with its consumptive donkey. The pavement is already strewed with decayed cabbageleaves, broken

haybands, and all the indescribable litter of a vegetable market; men are shouting, carts backing, horses

neighing, boys fighting, basket women talking, piemen expatiating on the excellence of their pastry, and

donkeys braying. These and a hundred other sounds form a compound discordant enough to a Londoner's

ears, and remarkably disagreeable to those of country gentlemen who are sleeping at the Hummums for the

Another hour passes away, and the day begins in good earnest. The servant of all work, who, under the plea

of sleeping very soundly, has utterly disregarded 'Missis's' ringing for half an hour previously, is warned by

Master (whom Missis has sent up in his drapery to the landingplace for that purpose), that it's halfpast six,

whereupon she awakes all of a sudden, with wellfeigned astonishment, and goes downstairs very sulkily,

wishing, while she strikes a light, that the principle of spontaneous combustion would extend itself to coals

and kitchen range. When the fire is lighted, she opens the streetdoor to take in the milk, when, by the most

singular coincidence in the world, she discovers that the servant next door has just taken in her milk too, and

that Mr. Todd's young man over the way, is, by an equally extraordinary chance, taking down his master's

shutters. The inevitable consequence is, that she just steps, milkjug in hand, as far as next door, just to say

'good morning' to Betsy Clark, and that Mr. Todd's young man just steps over the way to say 'good morning'

to both of 'em; and as the aforesaid Mr. Todd's young man is almost as goodlooking and fascinating as the

baker himself, the conversation quickly becomes very interesting, and probably would become more so, if

Betsy Clark's Missis, who always will be afollowin' her about, didn't give an angry tap at her bedroom

window, on which Mr. Todd's young man tries to whistle coolly, as he goes back to his shop much faster than

he came from it; and the two girls run back to their respective places, and shut their streetdoors with

surprising softness, each of them poking their heads out of the front parlour window, a minute afterwards,

however, ostensibly with the view of looking at the mail which just then passes by, but really for the purpose

of catching another glimpse of Mr. Todd's young man, who being fond of mails, but more of females, takes a

short look at the mails, and a long look at the girls, much to the satisfaction of all parties concerned.

The mail itself goes on to the coachoffice in due course, and the passengers who are going out by the early

coach, stare with astonishment at the passengers who are coming in by the early coach, who look blue and

dismal, and are evidently under the influence of that odd feeling produced by travelling, which makes the

events of yesterday morning seem as if they had happened at least six months ago, and induces people to

wonder with considerable gravity whether the friends and relations they took leave of a fortnight before, have

altered much since they have left them. The coachoffice is all alive, and the coaches which are just going

out, are surrounded by the usual crowd of Jews and nondescripts, who seem to consider, Heaven knows why,

that it is quite impossible any man can mount a coach without requiring at least sixpennyworth of oranges, a

penknife, a pocketbook, a last year's annual, a pencilcase, a piece of sponge, and a small series of

Half an hour more, and the sun darts his bright rays cheerfully down the still halfempty streets, and shines

with sufficient force to rouse the dismal laziness of the apprentice, who pauses every other minute from his

task of sweeping out the shop and watering the pavement in front of it, to tell another apprentice similarly

employed, how hot it will be today, or to stand with his right hand shading his eyes, and his left resting on

the broom, gazing at the 'Wonder,' or the 'Tallyho,' or the 'Nimrod,' or some other fast coach, till it is out of

sight, when he reenters the shop, envying the passengers on the outside of the fast coach, and thinking of the

old red brick house 'down in the country,' where he went to school: the miseries of the milk and water, and

thick bread and scrapings, fading into nothing before the pleasant recollection of the green field the boys used

to play in, and the green pond he was caned for presuming to fall into, and other schoolboy associations.

Cabs, with trunks and bandboxes between the drivers' legs and outside the apron, rattle briskly up and down

the streets on their way to the coachoffices or steampacket wharfs; and the cab drivers and

hackneycoachmen who are on the stand polish up the ornamental part of their dingy vehicles the former

wondering how people can prefer 'them wild beast cariwans of homnibuses, to a riglar cab with a fast trotter,'

and the latter admiring how people can trust their necks into one of 'them crazy cabs, when they can have a

'spectable 'ackney cotche with a pair of 'orses as von't run away with no vun;' a consolation unquestionably

founded on fact, seeing that a hackneycoach horse never was known to run at all, 'except,' as the smart

The shops are now completely opened, and apprentices and shopmen are busily engaged in cleaning and

decking the windows for the day. The bakers' shops in town are filled with servants and children waiting for

the drawing of the first batch of rolls an operation which was performed a full hour ago in the suburbs: for

the early clerk population of Somers and Camden towns, Islington, and Pentonville, are fast pouring into the

city, or directing their steps towards Chancerylane and the Inns of Court. Middleaged men, whose salaries

have by no means increased in the same proportion as their families, plod steadily along, apparently with no

object in view but the countinghouse; knowing by sight almost everybody they meet or overtake, for they

have seen them every morning (Sunday excepted) during the last twenty years, but speaking to no one. If they

do happen to overtake a personal acquaintance, they just exchange a hurried salutation, and keep walking on

either by his side, or in front of him, as his rate of walking may chance to be. As to stopping to shake hands,

or to take the friend's arm, they seem to think that as it is not included in their salary, they have no right to do

it. Small office lads in large hats, who are made men before they are boys, hurry along in pairs, with their first

coat carefully brushed, and the white trousers of last Sunday plentifully besmeared with dust and ink. It

evidently requires a considerable mental struggle to avoid investing part of the day's dinnermoney in the

purchase of the stale tarts so temptingly exposed in dusty tins at the pastry cooks' doors; but a consciousness

of their own importance and the receipt of seven shillings aweek, with the prospect of an early rise to eight,

comes to their aid, and they accordingly put their hats a little more on one side, and look under the bonnets of

all the milliners' and staymakers' apprentices they meet poor girls! the hardest worked, the worst paid,

Eleven o'clock, and a new set of people fill the streets. The goods in the shopwindows are invitingly

arranged; the shopmen in their white neckerchiefs and spruce coats, look as it they couldn't clean a window if

their lives depended on it; the carts have disappeared from Coventgarden; the waggoners have returned, and

the costermongers repaired to their ordinary 'beats' in the suburbs; clerks are at their offices, and gigs, cabs,

omnibuses, and saddlehorses, are conveying their masters to the same destination. The streets are thronged

with a vast concourse of people, gay and shabby, rich and poor, idle and industrious; and we come to the

But the streets of London, to be beheld in the very height of their glory, should be seen on a dark, dull, murky

winter's night, when there is just enough damp gently stealing down to make the pavement greasy, without

cleansing it of any of its impurities; and when the heavy lazy mist, which hangs over every object, makes the

gaslamps look brighter, and the brilliantlylighted shops more splendid, from the contrast they present to

the darkness around. All the people who are at home on such a night as this, seem disposed to make

themselves as snug and comfortable as possible; and the passengers in the streets have excellent reason to

In the larger and better kind of streets, dining parlour curtains are closely drawn, kitchen fires blaze brightly

up, and savoury steams of hot dinners salute the nostrils of the hungry wayfarer, as he plods wearily by the

area railings. In the suburbs, the muffin boy rings his way down the little street, much more slowly than he is

wont to do; for Mrs. Macklin, of No. 4, has no sooner opened her little streetdoor, and screamed out

'Muffins!' with all her might, than Mrs. Walker, at No. 5, puts her head out of the parlourwindow, and

screams 'Muffins!' too; and Mrs. Walker has scarcely got the words out of her lips, than Mrs. Peplow, over

the way, lets loose Master Peplow, who darts down the street, with a velocity which nothing but buttered

muffins in perspective could possibly inspire, and drags the boy back by main force, whereupon Mrs.

Macklin and Mrs. Walker, just to save the boy trouble, and to say a few neighbourly words to Mrs. Peplow at

the same time, run over the way and buy their muffins at Mrs. Peplow's door, when it appears from the

voluntary statement of Mrs. Walker, that her 'kittle's jist abiling, and the cups and sarsers ready laid,' and

that, as it was such a wretched night out o' doors, she'd made up her mind to have a nice, hot, comfortable cup

o' tea a determination at which, by the most singular coincidence, the other two ladies had simultaneously

After a little conversation about the wretchedness of the weather and the merits of tea, with a digression

relative to the viciousness of boys as a rule, and the amiability of Master Peplow as an exception, Mrs.

Walker sees her husband coming down the street; and as he must want his tea, poor man, after his dirty walk

from the Docks, she instantly runs across, muffins in hand, and Mrs. Macklin does the same, and after a few

words to Mrs. Walker, they all pop into their little houses, and slam their little streetdoors, which are not

opened again for the remainder of the evening, except to the nine o'clock 'beer,' who comes round with a

lantern in front of his tray, and says, as he lends Mrs. Walker 'Yesterday's 'Tiser,' that he's blessed if he can

hardly hold the pot, much less feel the paper, for it's one of the bitterest nights he ever felt, 'cept the night

After a little prophetic conversation with the policeman at the streetcorner, touching a probable change in

the weather, and the settingin of a hard frost, the nine o'clock beer returns to his master's house, and

employs himself for the remainder of the evening, in assiduously stirring the taproom fire, and deferentially

The streets in the vicinity of the Marshgate and Victoria Theatre present an appearance of dirt and

discomfort on such a night, which the groups who lounge about them in no degree tend to diminish. Even the

little blocktin temple sacred to baked potatoes, surmounted by a splendid design in variegated lamps, looks

less gay than usual, and as to the kidneypie stand, its glory has quite departed. The candle in the transparent

lamp, manufactured of oil paper, embellished with 'characters,' has been blown out fifty times, so the

kidneypie merchant, tired with running backwards and forwards to the next winevaults, to get a light, has

given up the idea of illumination in despair, and the only signs of his 'whereabout,' are the bright sparks, of

which a long irregular train is whirled down the street every time he opens his portable oven to hand a hot

Flatfish, oyster, and fruit vendors linger hopelessly in the kennel, in vain endeavouring to attract customers;

and the ragged boys who usually disport themselves about the streets, stand crouched in little knots in some

projecting doorway, or under the canvas blind of a cheesemonger's, where great flaring gaslights, unshaded

by any glass, display huge piles of blight red and pale yellow cheeses, mingled with little fivepenny dabs of

Here they amuse themselves with theatrical converse, arising out of their last halfprice visit to the Victoria

gallery, admire the terrific combat, which is nightly encored, and expatiate on the inimitable manner in which

Bill Thompson can 'come the double monkey,' or go through the mysterious involutions of a sailor's

It is nearly eleven o'clock, and the cold thin rain which has been drizzling so long, is beginning to pour down

in good earnest; the bakedpotato man has departed the kidneypie man has just walked away with his

warehouse on his arm the cheesemonger has drawn in his blind, and the boys have dispersed. The constant

clicking of pattens on the slippy and uneven pavement, and the rustling of umbrellas, as the wind blows

against the shopwindows, bear testimony to the inclemency of the night; and the policeman, with his oilskin

cape buttoned closely round him, seems as he holds his hat on his head, and turns round to avoid the gust of

wind and rain which drives against him at the streetcorner, to be very far from congratulating himself on the

The little chandler's shop with the cracked bell behind the door, whose melancholy tinkling has been

regulated by the demand for quarterns of sugar and halfounces of coffee, is shutting up. The crowds which

have been passing to and fro during the whole day, are rapidly dwindling away; and the noise of shouting and

quarrelling which issues from the publichouses, is almost the only sound that breaks the melancholy

There was another, but it has ceased. That wretched woman with the infant in her arms, round whose meagre

form the remnant of her own scanty shawl is carefully wrapped, has been attempting to sing some popular

ballad, in the hope of wringing a few pence from the compassionate passerby. A brutal laugh at her weak

voice is all she has gained. The tears fall thick and fast down her own pale face; the child is cold and hungry,

and its low halfstifled wailing adds to the misery of its wretched mother, as she moans aloud, and sinks

Singing! How few of those who pass such a miserable creature as this, think of the anguish of heart, the

sinking of soul and spirit, which the very effort of singing produces. Bitter mockery! Disease, neglect, and

starvation, faintly articulating the words of the joyous ditty, that has enlivened your hours of feasting and

merriment, God knows how often! It is no subject of jeering. The weak tremulous voice tells a fearful tale of

want and famishing; and the feeble singer of this roaring song may turn away, only to die of cold and hunger.

One o'clock! Parties returning from the different theatres foot it through the muddy streets; cabs,

hackneycoaches, carriages, and theatre omnibuses, roll swiftly by; watermen with dim dirty lanterns in their

hands, and large brass plates upon their breasts, who have been shouting and rushing about for the last two

hours, retire to their wateringhouses, to solace themselves with the creature comforts of pipes and purl; the

halfprice pit and box frequenters of the theatres throng to the different houses of refreshment; and chops,

kidneys, rabbits, oysters, stout, cigars, and 'goes' innumerable, are served up amidst a noise and confusion of

smoking, running, knifeclattering, and waiterchattering, perfectly indescribable.

The more musical portion of the playgoing community betake themselves to some harmonic meeting. As a

In a lofty room of spacious dimensions, are seated some eighty or a hundred guests knocking little pewter

measures on the tables, and hammering away, with the handles of their knives, as if they were so many

trunkmakers. They are applauding a glee, which has just been executed by the three 'professional gentlemen'

at the top of the centre table, one of whom is in the chair the little pompous man with the bald head just

emerging from the collar of his green coat. The others are seated on either side of him the stout man with

the small voice, and the thinfaced dark man in black. The little man in the chair is a most amusing

'Bass!' as the young gentleman near us with the blue stock forcibly remarks to his companion, 'bass! I b'lieve

you; he can go down lower than any man: so low sometimes that you can't hear him.' And so he does. To hear

him growling away, gradually lower and lower down, till he can't get back again, is the most delightful thing

in the world, and it is quite impossible to witness unmoved the impressive solemnity with which he pours

forth his soul in 'My 'art's in the 'ighlands,' or 'The brave old Hoak.' The stout man is also addicted to

sentimentality, and warbles 'Fly, fly from the world, my Bessy, with me,' or some such song, with ladylike

'Pray give your orders, gen'l'm'n pray give your orders,' says the palefaced man with the red head; and

demands for 'goes' of gin and 'goes' of brandy, and pints of stout, and cigars of peculiar mildness, are

vociferously made from all parts of the room. The 'professional gentlemen' are in the very height of their

glory, and bestow condescending nods, or even a word or two of recognition, on the betterknown

The little roundfaced man, with the small brown surtout, white stockings and shoes, is in the comic line; the

mixed air of self denial, and mental consciousness of his own powers, with which he acknowledges the call

of the chair, is particularly gratifying. 'Gen'l'men,' says the little pompous man, accompanying the word with

a knock of the president's hammer on the table 'Gen'l'men, allow me to claim your attention our friend,

Mr. Smuggins, will oblige.' 'Bravo!' shout the company; and Smuggins, after a considerable quantity of

coughing by way of symphony, and a most facetious sniff or two, which afford general delight, sings a comic

song, with a falderal tolderal chorus at the end of every verse, much longer than the verse itself. It is

received with unbounded applause, and after some aspiring genius has volunteered a recitation, and failed

dismally therein, the little pompous man gives another knock, and says 'Gen'l'men, we will attempt a glee, if

you please.' This announcement calls forth tumultuous applause, and the more energetic spirits express the

unqualified approbation it affords them, by knocking one or two stout glasses off their legs a humorous

device; but one which frequently occasions some slight altercation when the form of paying the damage is

Scenes like these are continued until three or four o'clock in the morning; and even when they close, fresh

ones open to the inquisitive novice. But as a description of all of them, however slight, would require a

volume, the contents of which, however instructive, would be by no means pleasing, we make our bow, and

What inexhaustible food for speculation, do the streets of London afford! We never were able to agree with

Sterne in pitying the man who could travel from Dan to Beersheba, and say that all was barren; we have not

the slightest commiseration for the man who can take up his hat and stick, and walk from Coventgarden to

St. Paul's Churchyard, and back into the bargain, without deriving some amusement we had almost said

instruction from his perambulation. And yet there are such beings: we meet them every day. Large black

stocks and light waistcoats, jet canes and discontented countenances, are the characteristics of the race; other

people brush quickly by you, steadily plodding on to business, or cheerfully running after pleasure. These

men linger listlessly past, looking as happy and animated as a policeman on duty. Nothing seems to make an

impression on their minds: nothing short of being knocked down by a porter, or run over by a cab, will

disturb their equanimity. You will meet them on a fine day in any of the leading thoroughfares: peep through

the window of a west end cigar shop in the evening, if you can manage to get a glimpse between the blue

curtains which intercept the vulgar gaze, and you see them in their only enjoyment of existence. There they

are lounging about, on round tubs and pipe boxes, in all the dignity of whiskers, and gilt watchguards;

whispering soft nothings to the young lady in amber, with the large earrings, who, as she sits behind the

counter in a blaze of adoration and gaslight, is the admiration of all the female servants in the

neighbourhood, and the envy of every milliner's apprentice within two miles round.

One of our principal amusements is to watch the gradual progress the rise or fall of particular shops. We

have formed an intimate acquaintance with several, in different parts of town, and are perfectly acquainted

with their whole history. We could name off hand, twenty at least, which we are quite sure have paid no

taxes for the last six years. They are never inhabited for more than two months consecutively, and, we verily

There is one, whose history is a sample of the rest, in whose fate we have taken especial interest, having had

the pleasure of knowing it ever since it has been a shop. It is on the Surrey side of the water a little distance

beyond the Marshgate. It was originally a substantial, goodlooking private house enough; the landlord got

into difficulties, the house got into Chancery, the tenant went away, and the house went to ruin. At this period

our acquaintance with it commenced; the paint was all worn off; the windows were broken, the area was

green with neglect and the overflowings of the waterbutt; the butt itself was without a lid, and the

streetdoor was the very picture of misery. The chief pastime of the children in the vicinity had been to

assemble in a body on the steps, and to take it in turn to knock loud double knocks at the door, to the great

satisfaction of the neighbours generally, and especially of the nervous old lady next door but one. Numerous

complaints were made, and several small basins of water discharged over the offenders, but without effect. In

this state of things, the marinestore dealer at the corner of the street, in the most obliging manner took the

knocker off, and sold it: and the unfortunate house looked more wretched than ever.

We deserted our friend for a few weeks. What was our surprise, on our return, to find no trace of its

existence! In its place was a handsome shop, fast approaching to a state of completion, and on the shutters

were large bills, informing the public that it would shortly be opened with 'an extensive stock of

linendrapery and haberdashery.' It opened in due course; there was the name of the proprietor 'and Co.' in

gilt letters, almost too dazzling to look at. Such ribbons and shawls! and two such elegant young men behind

the counter, each in a clean collar and white neckcloth, like the lover in a farce. As to the proprietor, he did

nothing but walk up and down the shop, and hand seats to the ladies, and hold important conversations with

the handsomest of the young men, who was shrewdly suspected by the neighbours to be the 'Co.' We saw all

this with sorrow; we felt a fatal presentiment that the shop was doomed and so it was. Its decay was slow,

but sure. Tickets gradually appeared in the windows; then rolls of flannel, with labels on them, were stuck

outside the door; then a bill was pasted on the streetdoor, intimating that the first floor was to let

unfurnished; then one of the young men disappeared altogether, and the other took to a black neckerchief, and

the proprietor took to drinking. The shop became dirty, broken panes of glass remained unmended, and the

stock disappeared piecemeal. At last the company's man came to cut off the water, and then the linendraper

The next occupant was a fancy stationer. The shop was more modestly painted than before, still it was neat;

but somehow we always thought, as we passed, that it looked like a poor and struggling concern. We wished

the man well, but we trembled for his success. He was a widower evidently, and had employment elsewhere,

for he passed us every morning on his road to the city. The business was carried on by his eldest daughter.

Poor girl! she needed no assistance. We occasionally caught a glimpse of two or three children, in mourning

like herself, as they sat in the little parlour behind the shop; and we never passed at night without seeing the

eldest girl at work, either for them, or in making some elegant little trifle for sale. We often thought, as her

pale face looked more sad and pensive in the dim candlelight, that if those thoughtless females who interfere

with the miserable market of poor creatures such as these, knew but onehalf of the misery they suffer, and

the bitter privations they endure, in their honourable attempts to earn a scanty subsistence, they would,

perhaps, resign even opportunities for the gratification of vanity, and an immodest love of selfdisplay, rather

than drive them to a last dreadful resource, which it would shock the delicate feelings of these

But we are forgetting the shop. Well, we continued to watch it, and every day showed too clearly the

increasing poverty of its inmates. The children were clean, it is true, but their clothes were threadbare and

shabby; no tenant had been procured for the upper part of the house, from the letting of which, a portion of

the means of paying the rent was to have been derived, and a slow, wasting consumption prevented the eldest

girl from continuing her exertions. Quarterday arrived. The landlord had suffered from the extravagance of

his last tenant, and he had no compassion for the struggles of his successor; he put in an execution. As we

passed one morning, the broker's men were removing the little furniture there was in the house, and a

newlyposted bill informed us it was again 'To Let.' What became of the last tenant we never could learn; we

believe the girl is past all suffering, and beyond all sorrow. God help her! We hope she is.

We were somewhat curious to ascertain what would be the next stage for that the place had no chance of

succeeding now, was perfectly clear. The bill was soon taken down, and some alterations were being made in

the interior of the shop. We were in a fever of expectation; we exhausted conjecture we imagined all

possible trades, none of which were perfectly reconcilable with our idea of the gradual decay of the tenement.

It opened, and we wondered why we had not guessed at the real state of the case before. The shop not a

large one at the best of times had been converted into two: one was a bonnetshape maker's, the other was

opened by a tobacconist, who also dealt in walkingsticks and Sunday newspapers; the two were separated

The tobacconist remained in possession longer than any tenant within our recollection. He was a redfaced,

impudent, goodfor nothing dog, evidently accustomed to take things as they came, and to make the best of

a bad job. He sold as many cigars as he could, and smoked the rest. He occupied the shop as long as he could

make peace with the landlord, and when he could no longer live in quiet, he very coolly locked the door, and

bolted himself. From this period, the two little dens have undergone innumerable changes. The tobacconist

was succeeded by a theatrical hairdresser, who ornamented the window with a great variety of 'characters,'

and terrific combats. The bonnetshape maker gave place to a greengrocer, and the histrionic barber was

succeeded, in his turn, by a tailor. So numerous have been the changes, that we have of late done little more

than mark the peculiar but certain indications of a house being poorly inhabited. It has been progressing by

almost imperceptible degrees. The occupiers of the shops have gradually given up room after room, until they

have only reserved the little parlour for themselves. First there appeared a brass plate on the private door,

with 'Ladies' School' legibly engraved thereon; shortly afterwards we observed a second brass plate, then a

When we paused in front of our old friend, and observed these signs of poverty, which are not to be mistaken,

we thought as we turned away, that the house had attained its lowest pitch of degradation. We were wrong.

When we last passed it, a 'dairy' was established in the area, and a party of melancholylooking fowls were

Scotlandyard is a small a very smalltract of land, bounded on one side by the river Thames, on the other

by the gardens of Northumberland House: abutting at one end on the bottom of Northumberlandstreet, at the

other on the back of Whitehallplace. When this territory was first accidentally discovered by a country

gentleman who lost his way in the Strand, some years ago, the original settlers were found to be a tailor, a

publican, two eatinghouse keepers, and a fruitpie maker; and it was also found to contain a race of strong

and bulky men, who repaired to the wharfs in Scotlandyard regularly every morning, about five or six

o'clock, to fill heavy waggons with coal, with which they proceeded to distant places up the country, and

supplied the inhabitants with fuel. When they had emptied their waggons, they again returned for a fresh

As the settlers derived their subsistence from ministering to the wants of these primitive traders, the articles

exposed for sale, and the places where they were sold, bore strong outward marks of being expressly adapted

to their tastes and wishes. The tailor displayed in his window a Lilliputian pair of leather gaiters, and a

diminutive round frock, while each doorpost was appropriately garnished with a model of a coalsack. The

two eatinghouse keepers exhibited joints of a magnitude, and puddings of a solidity, which coalheavers

alone could appreciate; and the fruit pie maker displayed on his wellscrubbed windowboard large white

compositions of flour and dripping, ornamented with pink stains, giving rich promise of the fruit within,

But the choicest spot in all Scotlandyard was the old publichouse in the corner. Here, in a dark

wainscotedroom of ancient appearance, cheered by the glow of a mighty fire, and decorated with an

enormous clock, whereof the face was white, and the figures black, sat the lusty coalheavers, quaffing large

draughts of Barclay's best, and puffing forth volumes of smoke, which wreathed heavily above their heads,

and involved the room in a thick dark cloud. From this apartment might their voices be heard on a winter's

night, penetrating to the very bank of the river, as they shouted out some sturdy chorus, or roared forth the

burden of a popular song; dwelling upon the last few words with a strength and length of emphasis which

Here, too, would they tell old legends of what the Thames was in ancient times, when the Patent Shot

Manufactory wasn't built, and Waterloobridge had never been thought of; and then they would shake their

heads with portentous looks, to the deep edification of the rising generation of heavers, who crowded round

them, and wondered where all this would end; whereat the tailor would take his pipe solemnly from his

mouth, and say, how that he hoped it might end well, but he very much doubted whether it would or not, and

couldn't rightly tell what to make of it a mysterious expression of opinion, delivered with a semiprophetic

air, which never failed to elicit the fullest concurrence of the assembled company; and so they would go on

drinking and wondering till ten o'clock came, and with it the tailor's wife to fetch him home, when the little

party broke up, to meet again in the same room, and say and do precisely the same things, on the following

About this time the barges that came up the river began to bring vague rumours to Scotlandyard of

somebody in the city having been heard to say, that the Lord Mayor had threatened in so many words to pull

down the old Londonbridge, and build up a new one. At first these rumours were disregarded as idle tales,

wholly destitute of foundation, for nobody in Scotlandyard doubted that if the Lord Mayor contemplated

any such dark design, he would just be clapped up in the Tower for a week or two, and then killed off for

By degrees, however, the reports grew stronger, and more frequent, and at last a barge, laden with numerous

chaldrons of the best Wallsend, brought up the positive intelligence that several of the arches of the old

bridge were stopped, and that preparations were actually in progress for constructing the new one. What an

excitement was visible in the old taproom on that memorable night! Each man looked into his neighbour's

face, pale with alarm and astonishment, and read therein an echo of the sentiments which filled his own

breast. The oldest heaver present proved to demonstration, that the moment the piers were removed, all the

water in the Thames would run clean off, and leave a dry gully in its place. What was to become of the

coalbarges of the trade of Scotlandyard of the very existence of its population? The tailor shook his

head more sagely than usual, and grimly pointing to a knife on the table, bid them wait and see what

happened. He said nothing not he; but if the Lord Mayor didn't fall a victim to popular indignation, why he

They did wait; barge after barge arrived, and still no tidings of the assassination of the Lord Mayor. The first

stone was laid: it was done by a Duke the King's brother. Years passed away, and the bridge was opened by

the King himself. In course of time, the piers were removed; and when the people in Scotlandyard got up

next morning in the confident expectation of being able to step over to Pedlar's Acre without wetting the soles

of their shoes, they found to their unspeakable astonishment that the water was just where it used to be.

A result so different from that which they had anticipated from this first improvement, produced its full effect

upon the inhabitants of Scotlandyard. One of the eatinghouse keepers began to court public opinion, and to

look for customers among a new class of people. He covered his little diningtables with white cloths, and

got a painter's apprentice to inscribe something about hot joints from twelve to two, in one of the little panes

of his shopwindow. Improvement began to march with rapid strides to the very threshold of Scotlandyard.

A new market sprung up at Hungerford, and the Police Commissioners established their office in

Whitehallplace. The traffic in Scotlandyard increased; fresh Members were added to the House of

Commons, the Metropolitan Representatives found it a near cut, and many other foot passengers followed

We marked the advance of civilisation, and beheld it with a sigh. The eatinghouse keeper who manfully

resisted the innovation of tablecloths, was losing ground every day, as his opponent gained it, and a deadly

feud sprung up between them. The genteel one no longer took his evening's pint in Scotlandyard, but drank

gin and water at a 'parlour' in Parliamentstreet. The fruitpie maker still continued to visit the old room, but

he took to smoking cigars, and began to call himself a pastrycook, and to read the papers. The old heavers

still assembled round the ancient fireplace, but their talk was mournful: and the loud song and the joyous

And what is Scotlandyard now? How have its old customs changed; and how has the ancient simplicity of

its inhabitants faded away! The old tottering publichouse is converted into a spacious and lofty

'winevaults;' gold leaf has been used in the construction of the letters which emblazon its exterior, and the

poet's art has been called into requisition, to intimate that if you drink a certain description of ale, you must

hold fast by the rail. The tailor exhibits in his window the pattern of a foreignlooking brown surtout, with

silk buttons, a fur collar, and fur cuffs. He wears a stripe down the outside of each leg of his trousers: and we

have detected his assistants (for he has assistants now) in the act of sitting on the shopboard in the same

At the other end of the little row of houses a bootmaker has established himself in a brick box, with the

additional innovation of a first floor; and here he exposes for sale, boots real Wellington boots an article

which a few years ago, none of the original inhabitants had ever seen or heard of. It was but the other day,

that a dressmaker opened another little box in the middle of the row; and, when we thought that the spirit of

change could produce no alteration beyond that, a jeweller appeared, and not content with exposing gilt rings

and copper bracelets out of number, put up an announcement, which still sticks in his window, that 'ladies'

ears may be pierced within.' The dressmaker employs a young lady who wears pockets in her apron; and the

Amidst all this change, and restlessness, and innovation, there remains but one old man, who seems to mourn

the downfall of this ancient place. He holds no converse with human kind, but, seated on a wooden bench at

the angle of the wall which fronts the crossing from Whitehallplace, watches in silence the gambols of his

sleek and wellfed dogs. He is the presiding genius of Scotlandyard. Years and years have rolled over his

head; but, in fine weather or in foul, hot or cold, wet or dry, hail, rain, or snow, he is still in his accustomed

spot. Misery and want are depicted in his countenance; his form is bent by age, his head is grey with length of

trial, but there he sits from day to day, brooding over the past; and thither he will continue to drag his feeble

limbs, until his eyes have closed upon Scotlandyard, and upon the world together.

A few years hence, and the antiquary of another generation looking into some mouldy record of the strife and

passions that agitated the world in these times, may glance his eye over the pages we have just filled: and not

all his knowledge of the history of the past, not all his blackletter lore, or his skill in bookcollecting, not all

the dry studies of a long life, or the dusty volumes that have cost him a fortune, may help him to the

whereabouts, either of Scotlandyard, or of any one of the landmarks we have mentioned in describing it.

We have always been of opinion that if Tom King and the Frenchman had not immortalised Seven Dials,

Seven Dials would have immortalised itself. Seven Dials! the region of song and poetry first effusions, and

last dying speeches: hallowed by the names of Catnach and of Pitts names that will entwine themselves

with costermongers, and barrelorgans, when penny magazines shall have superseded penny yards of song,

Look at the construction of the place. The Gordian knot was all very well in its way: so was the maze of

Hampton Court: so is the maze at the Beulah Spa: so were the ties of stiff white neckcloths, when the

difficulty of getting one on, was only to be equalled by the apparent impossibility of ever getting it off again.

But what involutions can compare with those of Seven Dials? Where is there such another maze of streets,

courts, lanes, and alleys? Where such a pure mixture of Englishmen and Irishmen, as in this complicated part

of London? We boldly aver that we doubt the veracity of the legend to which we have adverted. We CAN

suppose a man rash enough to inquire at random at a house with lodgers too for a Mr. Thompson, with all

but the certainty before his eyes, of finding at least two or three Thompsons in any house of moderate

dimensions; but a Frenchman a Frenchman in Seven Dials! Pooh! He was an Irishman. Tom King's

education had been neglected in his infancy, and as he couldn't understand half the man said, he took it for

The stranger who finds himself in 'The Dials' for the first time, and stands Belzonilike, at the entrance of

seven obscure passages, uncertain which to take, will see enough around him to keep his curiosity and

attention awake for no inconsiderable time. From the irregular square into which he has plunged, the streets

and courts dart in all directions, until they are lost in the unwholesome vapour which hangs over the

housetops, and renders the dirty perspective uncertain and confined; and lounging at every corner, as if they

came there to take a few gasps of such fresh air as has found its way so far, but is too much exhausted

already, to be enabled to force itself into the narrow alleys around, are groups of people, whose appearance

On one side, a little crowd has collected round a couple of ladies, who having imbibed the contents of various

'threeouts' of gin and bitters in the course of the morning, have at length differed on some point of domestic

arrangement, and are on the eve of settling the quarrel satisfactorily, by an appeal to blows, greatly to the

interest of other ladies who live in the same house, and tenements adjoining, and who are all partisans on one

'Vy don't you pitch into her, Sarah?' exclaims one halfdressed matron, by way of encouragement. 'Vy don't

you? if MY 'usband had treated her with a drain last night, unbeknown to me, I'd tear her precious eyes out

'What's the matter, ma'am?' inquires another old woman, who has just bustled up to the spot.

'Matter!' replies the first speaker, talking AT the obnoxious combatant, 'matter! Here's poor dear Mrs.

Sulliwin, as has five blessed children of her own, can't go out a charing for one arternoon, but what hussies

must be a comin', and 'ticing avay her oun' 'usband, as she's been married to twelve year come next Easter

Monday, for I see the certificate ven I vas a drinkin' a cup o' tea vith her, only the werry last blessed Ven'sday

'What do you mean by hussies?' interrupts a champion of the other party, who has evinced a strong

inclination throughout to get up a branch fight on her own account ('Hooroar,' ejaculates a potboy in

parenthesis, 'put the kyebosk on her, Mary!'), 'What do you mean by hussies?' reiterates the champion.

'Niver mind,' replies the opposition expressively, 'niver mind; YOU go home, and, ven you're quite sober,

This somewhat personal allusion, not only to the lady's habits of intemperance, but also to the state of her

wardrobe, rouses her utmost ire, and she accordingly complies with the urgent request of the bystanders to

'pitch in,' with considerable alacrity. The scuffle became general, and terminates, in minor playbill

phraseology, with 'arrival of the policemen, interior of the stationhouse, and impressive DENOUEMENT.'

In addition to the numerous groups who are idling about the gin shops and squabbling in the centre of the

road, every post in the open space has its occupant, who leans against it for hours, with listless perseverance.

It is odd enough that one class of men in London appear to have no enjoyment beyond leaning against posts.

We never saw a regular bricklayer's labourer take any other recreation, fighting excepted. Pass through St.

Giles's in the evening of a weekday, there they are in their fustian dresses, spotted with brickdust and

whitewash, leaning against posts. Walk through Seven Dials on Sunday morning: there they are again, drab

or light corduroy trousers, Blucher boots, blue coats, and great yellow waistcoats, leaning against posts. The

idea of a man dressing himself in his best clothes, to lean against a post all day!

The peculiar character of these streets, and the close resemblance each one bears to its neighbour, by no

means tends to decrease the bewilderment in which the unexperienced wayfarer through 'the Dials' finds

himself involved. He traverses streets of dirty, straggling houses, with now and then an unexpected court

composed of buildings as illproportioned and deformed as the halfnaked children that wallow in the

kennels. Here and there, a little dark chandler's shop, with a cracked bell hung up behind the door to

announce the entrance of a customer, or betray the presence of some young gentleman in whom a passion for

shop tills has developed itself at an early age: others, as if for support, against some handsome lofty building,

which usurps the place of a low dingy publichouse; long rows of broken and patched windows expose

plants that may have flourished when 'the Dials' were built, in vessels as dirty as 'the Dials' themselves; and

shops for the purchase of rags, bones, old iron, and kitchenstuff, vie in cleanliness with the birdfanciers

and rabbitdealers, which one might fancy so many arks, but for the irresistible conviction that no bird in its

proper senses, who was permitted to leave one of them, would ever come back again. Brokers' shops, which

would seem to have been established by humane individuals, as refuges for destitute bugs, interspersed with

announcements of dayschools, penny theatres, petitionwriters, mangles, and music for balls or routs,

complete the 'still life' of the subject; and dirty men, filthy women, squalid children, fluttering shuttlecocks,

noisy battledores, reeking pipes, bad fruit, more than doubtful oysters, attenuated cats, depressed dogs, and

If the external appearance of the houses, or a glance at their inhabitants, present but few attractions, a closer

acquaintance with either is little calculated to alter one's first impression. Every room has its separate tenant,

and every tenant is, by the same mysterious dispensation which causes a country curate to 'increase and

The man in the shop, perhaps, is in the baked 'jemmy' line, or the firewood and hearthstone line, or any

other line which requires a floating capital of eighteenpence or thereabouts: and he and his family live in the

shop, and the small back parlour behind it. Then there is an Irish labourer and HIS family in the back kitchen,

and a jobbing man carpetbeater and so forth with HIS family in the front one. In the front onepair,

there's another man with another wife and family, and in the back onepair, there's 'a young 'oman as takes in

tambourwork, and dresses quite genteel,' who talks a good deal about 'my friend,' and can't 'abear anything

low.' The second floor front, and the rest of the lodgers, are just a second edition of the people below, except

a shabbygenteel man in the back attic, who has his halfpint of coffee every morning from the coffeeshop

next door but one, which boasts a little front den called a coffeeroom, with a fireplace, over which is an

inscription, politely requesting that, 'to prevent mistakes,' customers will 'please to pay on delivery.' The

shabbygenteel man is an object of some mystery, but as he leads a life of seclusion, and never was known to

buy anything beyond an occasional pen, except halfpints of coffee, penny loaves, and ha'porths of ink, his

fellowlodgers very naturally suppose him to be an author; and rumours are current in the Dials, that he

Now anybody who passed through the Dials on a hot summer's evening, and saw the different women of the

house gossiping on the steps, would be apt to think that all was harmony among them, and that a more

primitive set of people than the native Diallers could not be imagined. Alas! the man in the shop illtreats his

family; the carpetbeater extends his professional pursuits to his wife; the onepair front has an undying feud

with the twopair front, in consequence of the twopair front persisting in dancing over his (the onepair

front's) head, when he and his family have retired for the night; the twopair back will interfere with the front

kitchen's children; the Irishman comes home drunk every other night, and attacks everybody; and the

onepair back screams at everything. Animosities spring up between floor and floor; the very cellar asserts

his equality. Mrs. A. 'smacks' Mrs. B.'s child for 'making faces.' Mrs. B. forthwith throws cold water over

Mrs. A.'s child for 'calling names.' The husbands are embroiled the quarrel becomes general an assault is

We have always entertained a particular attachment towards Monmouthstreet, as the only true and real

emporium for secondhand wearing apparel. Monmouthstreet is venerable from its antiquity, and

respectable from its usefulness. Holywellstreet we despise; the redheaded and redwhiskered Jews who

forcibly haul you into their squalid houses, and thrust you into a suit of clothes, whether you will or not, we

The inhabitants of Monmouthstreet are a distinct class; a peaceable and retiring race, who immure

themselves for the most part in deep cellars, or small back parlours, and who seldom come forth into the

world, except in the dusk and coolness of the evening, when they may be seen seated, in chairs on the

pavement, smoking their pipes, or watching the gambols of their engaging children as they revel in the gutter,

a happy troop of infantine scavengers. Their countenances bear a thoughtful and a dirty cast, certain

indications of their love of traffic; and their habitations are distinguished by that disregard of outward

appearance and neglect of personal comfort, so common among people who are constantly immersed in

We have hinted at the antiquity of our favourite spot. 'A Monmouthstreet laced coat' was a byword a

century ago; and still we find Monmouthstreet the same. Pilot greatcoats with wooden buttons, have

usurped the place of the ponderous laced coats with full skirts; embroidered waistcoats with large flaps, have

yielded to doublebreasted checks with rollcollars; and threecornered hats of quaint appearance, have

given place to the low crowns and broad brims of the coachman school; but it is the times that have changed,

not Monmouthstreet. Through every alteration and every change, Monmouthstreet has still remained the

burialplace of the fashions; and such, to judge from all present appearances, it will remain until there are no

We love to walk among these extensive groves of the illustrious dead, and to indulge in the speculations to

which they give rise; now fitting a deceased coat, then a dead pair of trousers, and anon the mortal remains of

a gaudy waistcoat, upon some being of our own conjuring up, and endeavouring, from the shape and fashion

of the garment itself, to bring its former owner before our mind's eye. We have gone on speculating in this

way, until whole rows of coats have started from their pegs, and buttoned up, of their own accord, round the

waists of imaginary wearers; lines of trousers have jumped down to meet them; waistcoats have almost burst

with anxiety to put themselves on; and half an acre of shoes have suddenly found feet to fit them, and gone

stumping down the street with a noise which has fairly awakened us from our pleasant reverie, and driven us

slowly away, with a bewildered stare, an object of astonishment to the good people of Monmouthstreet, and

We were occupied in this manner the other day, endeavouring to fit a pair of laceup halfboots on an ideal

personage, for whom, to say the truth, they were full a couple of sizes too small, when our eyes happened to

alight on a few suits of clothes ranged outside a shopwindow, which it immediately struck us, must at

different periods have all belonged to, and been worn by, the same individual, and had now, by one of those

strange conjunctions of circumstances which will occur sometimes, come to be exposed together for sale in

the same shop. The idea seemed a fantastic one, and we looked at the clothes again with a firm determination

not to be easily led away. No, we were right; the more we looked, the more we were convinced of the

accuracy of our previous impression. There was the man's whole life written as legibly on those clothes, as if

The first was a patched and muchsoiled skeleton suit; one of those straight blue cloth cases in which small

boys used to be confined, before belts and tunics had come in, and old notions had gone out: an ingenious

contrivance for displaying the full symmetry of a boy's figure, by fastening him into a very tight jacket, with

an ornamental row of buttons over each shoulder, and then buttoning his trousers over it, so as to give his legs

the appearance of being hooked on, just under the armpits. This was the boy's dress. It had belonged to a

town boy, we could see; there was a shortness about the legs and arms of the suit; and a bagging at the knees,

peculiar to the rising youth of London streets. A small dayschool he had been at, evidently. If it had been a

regular boys' school they wouldn't have let him play on the floor so much, and rub his knees so white. He had

an indulgent mother too, and plenty of halfpence, as the numerous smears of some sticky substance about the

pockets, and just below the chin, which even the salesman's skill could not succeed in disguising, sufficiently

betokened. They were decent people, but not overburdened with riches, or he would not have so far outgrown

the suit when he passed into those corduroys with the round jacket; in which he went to a boys' school,

however, and learnt to write and in ink of pretty tolerable blackness, too, if the place where he used to wipe

A black suit and the jacket changed into a diminutive coat. His father had died, and the mother had got the

boy a messagelad's place in some office. A longworn suit that one; rusty and threadbare before it was laid

aside, but clean and free from soil to the last. Poor woman! We could imagine her assumed cheerfulness over

the scanty meal, and the refusal of her own small portion, that her hungry boy might have enough. Her

constant anxiety for his welfare, her pride in his growth mingled sometimes with the thought, almost too

acute to bear, that as he grew to be a man his old affection might cool, old kindnesses fade from his mind, and

old promises be forgotten the sharp pain that even then a careless word or a cold look would give her all

These things happen every hour, and we all know it; and yet we felt as much sorrow when we saw, or fancied

we saw it makes no difference which the change that began to take place now, as if we had just conceived

the bare possibility of such a thing for the first time. The next suit, smart but slovenly; meant to be gay, and

yet not half so decent as the threadbare apparel; redolent of the idle lounge, and the blackguard companions,

told us, we thought, that the widow's comfort had rapidly faded away. We could imagine that coat imagine!

we could see it; we HAD seen it a hundred times sauntering in company with three or four other coats of

We dressed, from the same shopwindow in an instant, half a dozen boys of from fifteen to twenty; and

putting cigars into their mouths, and their hands into their pockets, watched them as they sauntered down the

street, and lingered at the corner, with the obscene jest, and the oftrepeated oath. We never lost sight of

them, till they had cocked their hats a little more on one side, and swaggered into the publichouse; and then

we entered the desolate home, where the mother sat late in the night, alone; we watched her, as she paced the

room in feverish anxiety, and every now and then opened the door, looked wistfully into the dark and empty

street, and again returned, to be again and again disappointed. We beheld the look of patience with which she

bore the brutish threat, nay, even the drunken blow; and we heard the agony of tears that gushed from her

A long period had elapsed, and a greater change had taken place, by the time of casting off the suit that hung

above. It was that of a stout, broadshouldered, sturdychested man; and we knew at once, as anybody

would, who glanced at that broadskirted green coat, with the large metal buttons, that its wearer seldom

walked forth without a dog at his heels, and some idle ruffian, the very counterpart of himself, at his side. The

vices of the boy had grown with the man, and we fancied his home then if such a place deserve the name.

We saw the bare and miserable room, destitute of furniture, crowded with his wife and children, pale, hungry,

and emaciated; the man cursing their lamentations, staggering to the taproom, from whence he had just

returned, followed by his wife and a sickly infant, clamouring for bread; and heard the streetwrangle and

noisy recrimination that his striking her occasioned. And then imagination led us to some metropolitan

workhouse, situated in the midst of crowded streets and alleys, filled with noxious vapours, and ringing with

boisterous cries, where an old and feeble woman, imploring pardon for her son, lay dying in a close dark

room, with no child to clasp her hand, and no pure air from heaven to fan her brow. A stranger closed the

eyes that settled into a cold unmeaning glare, and strange ears received the words that murmured from the

A coarse round frock, with a worn cotton neckerchief, and other articles of clothing of the commonest

description, completed the history. A prison, and the sentence banishment or the gallows. What would the

man have given then, to be once again the contented humble drudge of his boyish years; to have been

restored to life, but for a week, a day, an hour, a minute, only for so long a time as would enable him to say

one word of passionate regret to, and hear one sound of heartfelt forgiveness from, the cold and ghastly form

that lay rotting in the pauper's grave! The children wild in the streets, the mother a destitute widow; both

deeply tainted with the deep disgrace of the husband and father's name, and impelled by sheer necessity,

down the precipice that had led him to a lingering death, possibly of many years' duration, thousands of miles

away. We had no clue to the end of the tale; but it was easy to guess its termination.

We took a step or two further on, and by way of restoring the naturally cheerful tone of our thoughts, began

fitting visionary feet and legs into a cellarboard full of boots and shoes, with a speed and accuracy that

would have astonished the most expert artist in leather, living. There was one pair of boots in particular a

jolly, goodtempered, heartylooking pair of tops, that excited our warmest regard; and we had got a fine,

redfaced, jovial fellow of a marketgardener into them, before we had made their acquaintance half a

minute. They were just the very thing for him. There was his huge fat legs bulging over the tops, and fitting

them too tight to admit of his tucking in the loops he had pulled them on by; and his kneecords with an

interval of stocking; and his blue apron tucked up round his waist; and his red neckerchief and blue coat, and

a white hat stuck on one side of his head; and there he stood with a broad grin on his great red face, whistling

away, as if any other idea but that of being happy and comfortable had never entered his brain.

This was the very man after our own heart; we knew all about him; we had seen him coming up to

Coventgarden in his green chaise cart, with the fat, tubby little horse, half a thousand times; and even

while we cast an affectionate look upon his boots, at that instant, the form of a coquettish servantmaid

suddenly sprung into a pair of Denmark satin shoes that stood beside them, and we at once recognised the

very girl who accepted his offer of a ride, just on this side the Hammersmith suspensionbridge, the very last

A very smart female, in a showy bonnet, stepped into a pair of grey cloth boots, with black fringe and

binding, that were studiously pointing out their toes on the other side of the topboots, and seemed very

anxious to engage his attention, but we didn't observe that our friend the marketgardener appeared at all

captivated with these blandishments; for beyond giving a knowing wink when they first began, as if to imply

that he quite understood their end and object, he took no further notice of them. His indifference, however,

was amply recompensed by the excessive gallantry of a very old gentleman with a silverheaded stick, who

tottered into a pair of large list shoes, that were standing in one corner of the board, and indulged in a variety

of gestures expressive of his admiration of the lady in the cloth boots, to the immeasurable amusement of a

young fellow we put into a pair of longquartered pumps, who we thought would have split the coat that slid

We had been looking on at this little pantomime with great satisfaction for some time, when, to our

unspeakable astonishment, we perceived that the whole of the characters, including a numerous CORPS DE

BALLET of boots and shoes in the background, into which we had been hastily thrusting as many feet as we

could press into the service, were arranging themselves in order for dancing; and some music striking up at

the moment, to it they went without delay. It was perfectly delightful to witness the agility of the market

gardener. Out went the boots, first on one side, then on the other, then cutting, then shuffling, then setting to

the Denmark satins, then advancing, then retreating, then going round, and then repeating the whole of the

evolutions again, without appearing to suffer in the least from the violence of the exercise.

Nor were the Denmark satins a bit behindhand, for they jumped and bounded about, in all directions; and

though they were neither so regular, nor so true to the time as the cloth boots, still, as they seemed to do it

from the heart, and to enjoy it more, we candidly confess that we preferred their style of dancing to the other.

But the old gentleman in the list shoes was the most amusing object in the whole party; for, besides his

grotesque attempts to appear youthful, and amorous, which were sufficiently entertaining in themselves, the

young fellow in the pumps managed so artfully that every time the old gentleman advanced to salute the lady

in the cloth boots, he trod with his whole weight on the old fellow's toes, which made him roar with anguish,

We were in the full enjoyment of these festivities when we heard a shrill, and by no means musical voice,

exclaim, 'Hope you'll know me agin, imperence!' and on looking intently forward to see from whence the

sound came, we found that it proceeded, not from the young lady in the cloth boots, as we had at first been

inclined to suppose, but from a bulky lady of elderly appearance who was seated in a chair at the head of the

cellarsteps, apparently for the purpose of superintending the sale of the articles arranged there.

A barrelorgan, which had been in full force close behind us, ceased playing; the people we had been fitting

into the shoes and boots took to flight at the interruption; and as we were conscious that in the depth of our

meditations we might have been rudely staring at the old lady for half an hour without knowing it, we took to

flight too, and were soon immersed in the deepest obscurity of the adjacent 'Dials.'

We maintain that hackneycoaches, properly so called, belong solely to the metropolis. We may be told, that

there are hackneycoach stands in Edinburgh; and not to go quite so far for a contradiction to our position,

we may be reminded that Liverpool, Manchester, 'and other large towns' (as the Parliamentary phrase goes),

have THEIR hackneycoach stands. We readily concede to these places the possession of certain vehicles,

which may look almost as dirty, and even go almost as slowly, as London hackneycoaches; but that they

have the slightest claim to compete with the metropolis, either in point of stands, drivers, or cattle, we

Take a regular, ponderous, rickety, London hackneycoach of the old school, and let any man have the

boldness to assert, if he can, that he ever beheld any object on the face of the earth which at all resembles it,

unless, indeed, it were another hackneycoach of the same date. We have recently observed on certain stands,

and we say it with deep regret, rather dapper green chariots, and coaches of polished yellow, with four wheels

of the same colour as the coach, whereas it is perfectly notorious to every one who has studied the subject,

that every wheel ought to be of a different colour, and a different size. These are innovations, and, like other

miscalled improvements, awful signs of the restlessness of the public mind, and the little respect paid to our

timehonoured institutions. Why should hackneycoaches be clean? Our ancestors found them dirty, and left

them so. Why should we, with a feverish wish to 'keep moving,' desire to roll along at the rate of six miles an

hour, while they were content to rumble over the stones at four? These are solemn considerations.

Hackneycoaches are part and parcel of the law of the land; they were settled by the Legislature; plated and

Then why have they been swamped by cabs and omnibuses? Or why should people be allowed to ride

quickly for eightpence a mile, after Parliament had come to the solemn decision that they should pay a

shilling a mile for riding slowly? We pause for a reply; and, having no chance of getting one, begin a fresh

Our acquaintance with hackneycoach stands is of long standing. We are a walking book of fares, feeling

ourselves, half bound, as it were, to be always in the right on contested points. We know all the regular

watermen within three miles of Coventgarden by sight, and should be almost tempted to believe that all the

hackneycoach horses in that district knew us by sight too, if onehalf of them were not blind. We take great

interest in hackneycoaches, but we seldom drive, having a knack of turning ourselves over when we attempt

to do so. We are as great friends to horses, hackneycoach and otherwise, as the renowned Mr. Martin, of

costermonger notoriety, and yet we never ride. We keep no horse, but a clothes horse; enjoy no saddle so

much as a saddle of mutton; and, following our own inclinations, have never followed the hounds. Leaving

these fleeter means of getting over the ground, or of depositing oneself upon it, to those who like them, by

There is a hackneycoach stand under the very window at which we are writing; there is only one coach on it

now, but it is a fair specimen of the class of vehicles to which we have alluded a great, lumbering, square

concern of a dingy yellow colour (like a bilious brunette), with very small glasses, but very large frames; the

panels are ornamented with a faded coat of arms, in shape something like a dissected bat, the axletree is red,

and the majority of the wheels are green. The box is partially covered by an old greatcoat, with a

multiplicity of capes, and some extraordinarylooking clothes; and the straw, with which the canvas cushion

is stuffed, is sticking up in several places, as if in rivalry of the hay, which is peeping through the chinks in

the boot. The horses, with drooping heads, and each with a mane and tail as scanty and straggling as those of

a wornout rockinghorse, are standing patiently on some damp straw, occasionally wincing, and rattling the

harness; and now and then, one of them lifts his mouth to the ear of his companion, as if he were saying, in a

whisper, that he should like to assassinate the coachman. The coachman himself is in the wateringhouse;

and the waterman, with his hands forced into his pockets as far as they can possibly go, is dancing the 'double

The servantgirl, with the pink ribbons, at No. 5, opposite, suddenly opens the streetdoor, and four small

children forthwith rush out, and scream 'Coach!' with all their might and main. The waterman darts from the

pump, seizes the horses by their respective bridles, and drags them, and the coach too, round to the house,

shouting all the time for the coachman at the very top, or rather very bottom of his voice, for it is a deep bass

growl. A response is heard from the taproom; the coachman, in his woodensoled shoes, makes the street

echo again as he runs across it; and then there is such a struggling, and backing, and grating of the kennel, to

get the coachdoor opposite the housedoor, that the children are in perfect ecstasies of delight. What a

commotion! The old lady, who has been stopping there for the last month, is going back to the country. Out

comes box after box, and one side of the vehicle is filled with luggage in no time; the children get into

everybody's way, and the youngest, who has upset himself in his attempts to carry an umbrella, is borne off

wounded and kicking. The youngsters disappear, and a short pause ensues, during which the old lady is, no

doubt, kissing them all round in the back parlour. She appears at last, followed by her married daughter, all

the children, and both the servants, who, with the joint assistance of the coachman and waterman, manage to

get her safely into the coach. A cloak is handed in, and a little basket, which we could almost swear contains

a small black bottle, and a paper of sandwiches. Up go the steps, bang goes the door, 'Goldencross,

Charingcross, Tom,' says the waterman; 'Goodbye, grandma,' cry the children, off jingles the coach at the

rate of three miles an hour, and the mamma and children retire into the house, with the exception of one little

villain, who runs up the street at the top of his speed, pursued by the servant; not illpleased to have such an

opportunity of displaying her attractions. She brings him back, and, after casting two or three gracious

glances across the way, which are either intended for us or the potboy (we are not quite certain which), shuts

We have been frequently amused with the intense delight with which 'a servant of all work,' who is sent for a

coach, deposits herself inside; and the unspeakable gratification which boys, who have been despatched on a

similar errand, appear to derive from mounting the box. But we never recollect to have been more amused

with a hackneycoach party, than one we saw early the other morning in Tottenhamcourtroad. It was a

weddingparty, and emerged from one of the inferior streets near Fitzroysquare. There were the bride, with

a thin white dress, and a great red face; and the bridesmaid, a little, dumpy, goodhumoured young woman,

dressed, of course, in the same appropriate costume; and the bridegroom and his chosen friend, in blue coats,

yellow waistcoats, white trousers, and Berlin gloves to match. They stopped at the corner of the street, and

called a coach with an air of indescribable dignity. The moment they were in, the bridesmaid threw a red

shawl, which she had, no doubt, brought on purpose, negligently over the number on the door, evidently to

delude pedestrians into the belief that the hackneycoach was a private carriage; and away they went,

perfectly satisfied that the imposition was successful, and quite unconscious that there was a great staring

number stuck up behind, on a plate as large as a schoolboy's slate. A shilling a mile! the ride was worth

What an interesting book a hackneycoach might produce, if it could carry as much in its head as it does in

its body! The autobiography of a brokendown hackneycoach, would surely be as amusing as the

autobiography of a brokendown hackneyed dramatist; and it might tell as much of its travels WITH the

pole, as others have of their expeditions TO it. How many stories might be related of the different people it

had conveyed on matters of business or profit pleasure or pain! And how many melancholy tales of the

same people at different periods! The countrygirl the showy, overdressed woman the drunken

Talk of cabs! Cabs are all very well in cases of expedition, when it's a matter of neck or nothing, life or death,

your temporary home or your long one. But, besides a cab's lacking that gravity of deportment which so

peculiarly distinguishes a hackneycoach, let it never be forgotten that a cab is a thing of yesterday, and that

he never was anything better. A hackneycab has always been a hackneycab, from his first entry into life;

whereas a hackney coach is a remnant of past gentility, a victim to fashion, a hangeron of an old English

family, wearing their arms, and, in days of yore, escorted by men wearing their livery, stripped of his finery,

and thrown upon the world, like a oncesmart footman when he is no longer sufficiently juvenile for his

office, progressing lower and lower in the scale of fourwheeled degradation, until at last it comes to A

Walking without any definite object through St. Paul's Churchyard, a little while ago, we happened to turn

down a street entitled 'Paul'schain,' and keeping straight forward for a few hundred yards, found ourself, as a

natural consequence, in Doctors' Commons. Now Doctors' Commons being familiar by name to everybody,

as the place where they grant marriagelicenses to lovesick couples, and divorces to unfaithful ones;

unpleasant names, we no sooner discovered that we were really within its precincts, than we felt a laudable

desire to become better acquainted therewith; and as the first object of our curiosity was the Court, whose

decrees can even unloose the bonds of matrimony, we procured a direction to it; and bent our steps thither

Crossing a quiet and shady courtyard, paved with stone, and frowned upon by old red brick houses, on the

doors of which were painted the names of sundry learned civilians, we paused before a small, greenbaized,

brassheadednailed door, which yielding to our gentle push, at once admitted us into an old quaintlooking

apartment, with sunken windows, and black carved wainscoting, at the upper end of which, seated on a raised

platform, of semicircular shape, were about a dozen solemnlooking gentlemen, in crimson gowns and wigs.

At a more elevated desk in the centre, sat a very fat and redfaced gentleman, in tortoiseshell spectacles,

whose dignified appearance announced the judge; and round a long greenbaized table below, something like

a billiardtable without the cushions and pockets, were a number of very selfimportantlooking personages,

in stiff neckcloths, and black gowns with white fur collars, whom we at once set down as proctors. At the

lower end of the billiardtable was an individual in an armchair, and a wig, whom we afterwards discovered

to be the registrar; and seated behind a little desk, near the door, were a respectablelooking man in black, of

about twentystone weight or thereabouts, and a fatfaced, smirking, civillooking body, in a black gown,

black kid gloves, knee shorts, and silks, with a shirtfrill in his bosom, curls on his head, and a silver staff in

his hand, whom we had no difficulty in recognising as the officer of the Court. The latter, indeed, speedily set

our mind at rest upon this point, for, advancing to our elbow, and opening a conversation forthwith, he had

communicated to us, in less than five minutes, that he was the apparitor, and the other the courtkeeper; that

this was the Arches Court, and therefore the counsel wore red gowns, and the proctors fur collars; and that

when the other Courts sat there, they didn't wear red gowns or fur collars either; with many other scraps of

intelligence equally interesting. Besides these two officers, there was a little thin old man, with long grizzly

hair, crouched in a remote corner, whose duty, our communicative friend informed us, was to ring a large

handbell when the Court opened in the morning, and who, for aught his appearance betokened to the

contrary, might have been similarly employed for the last two centuries at least.

The redfaced gentleman in the tortoiseshell spectacles had got all the talk to himself just then, and very

well he was doing it, too, only he spoke very fast, but that was habit; and rather thick, but that was good

living. So we had plenty of time to look about us. There was one individual who amused us mightily. This

was one of the bewigged gentlemen in the red robes, who was straddling before the fire in the centre of the

Court, in the attitude of the brazen Colossus, to the complete exclusion of everybody else. He had gathered up

his robe behind, in much the same manner as a slovenly woman would her petticoats on a very dirty day, in

order that he might feel the full warmth of the fire. His wig was put on all awry, with the tail straggling about

his neck; his scanty grey trousers and short black gaiters, made in the worst possible style, imported an

additional inelegant appearance to his uncouth person; and his limp, badlystarched shirtcollar almost

obscured his eyes. We shall never be able to claim any credit as a physiognomist again, for, after a careful

scrutiny of this gentleman's countenance, we had come to the conclusion that it bespoke nothing but conceit

and silliness, when our friend with the silver staff whispered in our ear that he was no other than a doctor of

civil law, and heaven knows what besides. So of course we were mistaken, and he must be a very talented

man. He conceals it so well though perhaps with the merciful view of not astonishing ordinary people too

The gentleman in the spectacles having concluded his judgment, and a few minutes having been allowed to

elapse, to afford time for the buzz of the Court to subside, the registrar called on the next cause, which was

'the office of the Judge promoted by Bumple against Sludberry.' A general movement was visible in the

Court, at this announcement, and the obliging functionary with silver staff whispered us that 'there would be

We were not rendered much the wiser by this piece of information, till we found by the opening speech of the

counsel for the promoter, that, under a halfobsolete statute of one of the Edwards, the court was empowered

to visit with the penalty of excommunication, any person who should be proved guilty of the crime of

'brawling,' or 'smiting,' in any church, or vestry adjoining thereto; and it appeared, by some eightandtwenty

affidavits, which were duly referred to, that on a certain night, at a certain vestrymeeting, in a certain parish

particularly set forth, Thomas Sludberry, the party appeared against in that suit, had made use of, and applied

to Michael Bumple, the promoter, the words 'You be blowed;' and that, on the said Michael Bumple and

others remonstrating with the said Thomas Sludberry, on the impropriety of his conduct, the said Thomas

Sludberry repeated the aforesaid expression, 'You be blowed;' and furthermore desired and requested to

know, whether the said Michael Bumple 'wanted anything for himself;' adding, 'that if the said Michael

Bumple did want anything for himself, he, the said Thomas Sludberry, was the man to give it him;' at the

same time making use of other heinous and sinful expressions, all of which, Bumple submitted, came within

the intent and meaning of the Act; and therefore he, for the soul's health and chastening of Sludberry, prayed

Upon these facts a long argument was entered into, on both sides, to the great edification of a number of

persons interested in the parochial squabbles, who crowded the court; and when some very long and grave

speeches had been made PRO and CON, the redfaced gentleman in the tortoiseshell spectacles took a

review of the case, which occupied half an hour more, and then pronounced upon Sludberry the awful

sentence of excommunication for a fortnight, and payment of the costs of the suit. Upon this, Sludberry, who

was a little, redfaced, slylooking, gingerbeer seller, addressed the court, and said, if they'd be good

enough to take off the costs, and excommunicate him for the term of his natural life instead, it would be much

more convenient to him, for he never went to church at all. To this appeal the gentleman in the spectacles

made no other reply than a look of virtuous indignation; and Sludberry and his friends retired. As the man

with the silver staff informed us that the court was on the point of rising, we retired too pondering, as we

walked away, upon the beautiful spirit of these ancient ecclesiastical laws, the kind and neighbourly feelings

they are calculated to awaken, and the strong attachment to religious institutions which they cannot fail to

We were so lost in these meditations, that we had turned into the street, and run up against a doorpost,

before we recollected where we were walking. On looking upwards to see what house we had stumbled upon,

the words 'PrerogativeOffice,' written in large characters, met our eye; and as we were in a sightseeing

The room into which we walked, was a long, busylooking place, partitioned off, on either side, into a

variety of little boxes, in which a few clerks were engaged in copying or examining deeds. Down the centre

of the room were several desks nearly breast high, at each of which, three or four people were standing,

poring over large volumes. As we knew that they were searching for wills, they attracted our attention at

It was curious to contrast the lazy indifference of the attorneys' clerks who were making a search for some

legal purpose, with the air of earnestness and interest which distinguished the strangers to the place, who

were looking up the will of some deceased relative; the former pausing every now and then with an impatient

yawn, or raising their heads to look at the people who passed up and down the room; the latter stooping over

the book, and running down column after column of names in the deepest abstraction.

There was one little dirtyfaced man in a blue apron, who after a whole morning's search, extending some

fifty years back, had just found the will to which he wished to refer, which one of the officials was reading to

him in a low hurried voice from a thick vellum book with large clasps. It was perfectly evident that the more

the clerk read, the less the man with the blue apron understood about the matter. When the volume was first

brought down, he took off his hat, smoothed down his hair, smiled with great selfsatisfaction, and looked up

in the reader's face with the air of a man who had made up his mind to recollect every word he heard. The

first two or three lines were intelligible enough; but then the technicalities began, and the little man began to

look rather dubious. Then came a whole string of complicated trusts, and he was regularly at sea. As the

reader proceeded, it was quite apparent that it was a hopeless case, and the little man, with his mouth open

and his eyes fixed upon his face, looked on with an expression of bewilderment and perplexity irresistibly

A little further on, a hardfeatured old man with a deeplywrinkled face, was intently perusing a lengthy will

with the aid of a pair of horn spectacles: occasionally pausing from his task, and slily noting down some brief

memorandum of the bequests contained in it. Every wrinkle about his toothless mouth, and sharp keen eyes,

told of avarice and cunning. His clothes were nearly threadbare, but it was easy to see that he wore them from

choice and not from necessity; all his looks and gestures down to the very small pinches of snuff which he

every now and then took from a little tin canister, told of wealth, and penury, and avarice.

As he leisurely closed the register, put up his spectacles, and folded his scraps of paper in a large leathern

pocketbook, we thought what a nice hard bargain he was driving with some poverty stricken legatee, who,

tired of waiting year after year, until some lifeinterest should fall in, was selling his chance, just as it began

to grow most valuable, for a twelfth part of its worth. It was a good speculation a very safe one. The old

man stowed his pocketbook carefully in the breast of his greatcoat, and hobbled away with a leer of

Having commenced our observations, we should certainly have extended them to another dozen of people at

least, had not a sudden shutting up and putting away of the wormeaten old books, warned us that the time

for closing the office had arrived; and thus deprived us of a pleasure, and spared our readers an infliction.

We naturally fell into a train of reflection as we walked homewards, upon the curious old records of likings

and dislikings; of jealousies and revenges; of affection defying the power of death, and hatred pursued

beyond the grave, which these depositories contain; silent but striking tokens, some of them, of excellence of

heart, and nobleness of soul; melancholy examples, others, of the worst passions of human nature. How many

men as they lay speechless and helpless on the bed of death, would have given worlds but for the strength and

power to blot out the silent evidence of animosity and bitterness, which now stands registered against them in

The wish of persons in the humbler classes of life, to ape the manners and customs of those whom fortune has

placed above them, is often the subject of remark, and not unfrequently of complaint. The inclination may,

and no doubt does, exist to a great extent, among the small gentility the wouldbe aristocrats of the

middle classes. Tradesmen and clerks, with fashionable novel reading families, and

circulatinglibrarysubscribing daughters, get up small assemblies in humble imitation of Almack's, and

promenade the dingy 'large room' of some secondrate hotel with as much complacency as the enviable few

who are privileged to exhibit their magnificence in that exclusive haunt of fashion and foolery. Aspiring

young ladies, who read flaming accounts of some 'fancy fair in high life,' suddenly grow desperately

charitable; visions of admiration and matrimony float before their eyes; some wonderfully meritorious

institution, which, by the strangest accident in the world, has never been heard of before, is discovered to be

in a languishing condition: Thomson's great room, or Johnson's nurseryground, is forthwith engaged, and

the aforesaid young ladies, from mere charity, exhibit themselves for three days, from twelve to four, for the

small charge of one shilling per head! With the exception of these classes of society, however, and a few

weak and insignificant persons, we do not think the attempt at imitation to which we have alluded, prevails in

any great degree. The different character of the recreations of different classes, has often afforded us

amusement; and we have chosen it for the subject of our present sketch, in the hope that it may possess some

If the regular City man, who leaves Lloyd's at five o'clock, and drives home to Hackney, Clapton,

Stamfordhill, or elsewhere, can be said to have any daily recreation beyond his dinner, it is his garden. He

never does anything to it with his own hands; but he takes great pride in it notwithstanding; and if you are

desirous of paying your addresses to the youngest daughter, be sure to be in raptures with every flower and

shrub it contains. If your poverty of expression compel you to make any distinction between the two, we

would certainly recommend your bestowing more admiration on his garden than his wine. He always takes a

walk round it, before he starts for town in the morning, and is particularly anxious that the fishpond should

be kept specially neat. If you call on him on Sunday in summertime, about an hour before dinner, you will

find him sitting in an armchair, on the lawn behind the house, with a straw hat on, reading a Sunday paper.

A short distance from him you will most likely observe a handsome paroquet in a large brass wire cage; ten

to one but the two eldest girls are loitering in one of the side walks accompanied by a couple of young

gentlemen, who are holding parasols over them of course only to keep the sun off while the younger

children, with the under nurserymaid, are strolling listlessly about, in the shade. Beyond these occasions, his

delight in his garden appears to arise more from the consciousness of possession than actual enjoyment of it.

When he drives you down to dinner on a weekday, he is rather fatigued with the occupations of the

morning, and tolerably cross into the bargain; but when the cloth is removed, and he has drank three or four

glasses of his favourite port, he orders the French windows of his diningroom (which of course look into the

garden) to be opened, and throwing a silk handkerchief over his head, and leaning back in his armchair,

descants at considerable length upon its beauty, and the cost of maintaining it. This is to impress you who

are a young friend of the family with a due sense of the excellence of the garden, and the wealth of its

There is another and a very different class of men, whose recreation is their garden. An individual of this

class, resides some short distance from town say in the Hampsteadroad, or the Kilburnroad, or any other

road where the houses are small and neat, and have little slips of back garden. He and his wife who is as

clean and compact a little body as himself have occupied the same house ever since he retired from

business twenty years ago. They have no family. They once had a son, who died at about five years old. The

child's portrait hangs over the mantelpiece in the best sittingroom, and a little cart he used to draw about, is

In fine weather the old gentleman is almost constantly in the garden; and when it is too wet to go into it, he

will look out of the window at it, by the hour together. He has always something to do there, and you will see

him digging, and sweeping, and cutting, and planting, with manifest delight. In springtime, there is no end

to the sowing of seeds, and sticking little bits of wood over them, with labels, which look like epitaphs to

their memory; and in the evening, when the sun has gone down, the perseverance with which he lugs a great

wateringpot about is perfectly astonishing. The only other recreation he has, is the newspaper, which he

peruses every day, from beginning to end, generally reading the most interesting pieces of intelligence to his

wife, during breakfast. The old lady is very fond of flowers, as the hyacinth glasses in the parlourwindow,

and geraniumpots in the little front court, testify. She takes great pride in the garden too: and when one of

the four fruittrees produces rather a larger gooseberry than usual, it is carefully preserved under a

wineglass on the sideboard, for the edification of visitors, who are duly informed that Mr. Soandso

planted the tree which produced it, with his own hands. On a summer's evening, when the large wateringpot

has been filled and emptied some fourteen times, and the old couple have quite exhausted themselves by

trotting about, you will see them sitting happily together in the little summerhouse, enjoying the calm and

peace of the twilight, and watching the shadows as they fall upon the garden, and gradually growing thicker

and more sombre, obscure the tints of their gayest flowers no bad emblem of the years that have silently

rolled over their heads, deadening in their course the brightest hues of early hopes and feelings which have

long since faded away. These are their only recreations, and they require no more. They have within

themselves, the materials of comfort and content; and the only anxiety of each, is to die before the other.

This is no ideal sketch. There USED to be many old people of this description; their numbers may have

diminished, and may decrease still more. Whether the course female education has taken of late days

whether the pursuit of giddy frivolities, and empty nothings, has tended to unfit women for that quiet

domestic life, in which they show far more beautifully than in the most crowded assembly, is a question we

Let us turn now, to another portion of the London population, whose recreations present about as strong a

contrast as can well be conceived we mean the Sunday pleasurers; and let us beg our readers to imagine

The heat is intense this afternoon, and the people, of whom there are additional parties arriving every

moment, look as warm as the tables which have been recently painted, and have the appearance of being

redhot. What a dust and noise! Men and women boys and girls sweethearts and married people babies

in arms, and children in chaises pipes and shrimps cigars and periwinkles tea and tobacco. Gentlemen,

in alarming waistcoats, and steel watchguards, promenading about, three abreast, with surprising dignity (or

as the gentleman in the next box facetiously observes, 'cutting it uncommon fat!') ladies, with great, long,

white pockethandkerchiefs like small tablecloths, in their hands, chasing one another on the grass in the

most playful and interesting manner, with the view of attracting the attention of the aforesaid gentlemen

husbands in perspective ordering bottles of gingerbeer for the objects of their affections, with a lavish

disregard of expense; and the said objects washing down huge quantities of 'shrimps' and 'winkles,' with an

equal disregard of their own bodily health and subsequent comfort boys, with great silk hats just balanced

on the top of their heads, smoking cigars, and trying to look as if they liked them gentlemen in pink shirts

and blue waistcoats, occasionally upsetting either themselves, or somebody else, with their own canes.

Some of the finery of these people provokes a smile, but they are all clean, and happy, and disposed to be

goodnatured and sociable. Those two motherlylooking women in the smart pelisses, who are chatting so

confidentially, inserting a 'ma'am' at every fourth word, scraped an acquaintance about a quarter of an hour

ago: it originated in admiration of the little boy who belongs to one of them that diminutive specimen of

mortality in the threecornered pink satin hat with black feathers. The two men in the blue coats and drab

trousers, who are walking up and down, smoking their pipes, are their husbands. The party in the opposite

box are a pretty fair specimen of the generality of the visitors. These are the father and mother, and old

grandmother: a young man and woman, and an individual addressed by the euphonious title of 'Uncle Bill,'

who is evidently the wit of the party. They have some half dozen children with them, but it is scarcely

necessary to notice the fact, for that is a matter of course here. Every woman in 'the gardens,' who has been

married for any length of time, must have had twins on two or three occasions; it is impossible to account for

Observe the inexpressible delight of the old grandmother, at Uncle Bill's splendid joke of 'tea for four:

breadandbutter for forty;' and the loud explosion of mirth which follows his wafering a paper 'pigtail' on

the waiter's collar. The young man is evidently 'keeping company' with Uncle Bill's niece: and Uncle Bill's

hints such as 'Don't forget me at the dinner, you know,' 'I shall look out for the cake, Sally,' 'I'll be godfather

to your first wager it's a boy,' and so forth, are equally embarrassing to the young people, and delightful to

the elder ones. As to the old grandmother, she is in perfect ecstasies, and does nothing but laugh herself into

fits of coughing, until they have finished the 'ginandwater warm with,' of which Uncle Bill ordered 'glasses

round' after tea, 'just to keep the night air out, and to do it up comfortable and riglar arter sitch an

It is getting dark, and the people begin to move. The field leading to town is quite full of them; the little

handchaises are dragged wearily along, the children are tired, and amuse themselves and the company

generally by crying, or resort to the much more pleasant expedient of going to sleep the mothers begin to

wish they were at home again sweethearts grow more sentimental than ever, as the time for parting arrives

the gardens look mournful enough, by the light of the two lanterns which hang against the trees for the

convenience of smokers and the waiters who have been running about incessantly for the last six hours,

'Are you fond of the water?' is a question very frequently asked, in hot summer weather, by

amphibiouslooking young men. 'Very,' is the general reply. 'An't you?' 'Hardly ever off it,' is the response,

accompanied by sundry adjectives, expressive of the speaker's heartfelt admiration of that element. Now,

with all respect for the opinion of society in general, and cutter clubs in particular, we humbly suggest that

some of the most painful reminiscences in the mind of every individual who has occasionally disported

himself on the Thames, must be connected with his aquatic recreations. Who ever heard of a successful

waterparty? or to put the question in a still more intelligible form, who ever saw one? We have been on

water excursions out of number, but we solemnly declare that we cannot call to mind one single occasion of

the kind, which was not marked by more miseries than any one would suppose could be reasonably crowded

into the space of some eight or nine hours. Something has always gone wrong. Either the cork of the

saladdressing has come out, or the most anxiously expected member of the party has not come out, or the

most disagreeable man in company would come out, or a child or two have fallen into the water, or the

gentleman who undertook to steer has endangered everybody's life all the way, or the gentlemen who

volunteered to row have been 'out of practice,' and performed very alarming evolutions, putting their oars

down into the water and not being able to get them up again, or taking terrific pulls without putting them in at

all; in either case, pitching over on the backs of their heads with startling violence, and exhibiting the soles of

We grant that the banks of the Thames are very beautiful at Richmond and Twickenham, and other distant

havens, often sought though seldom reached; but from the 'Redus' back to Blackfriars bridge, the scene is

wonderfully changed. The Penitentiary is a noble building, no doubt, and the sportive youths who 'go in' at

that particular part of the river, on a summer's evening, may be all very well in perspective; but when you are

obliged to keep in shore coming home, and the young ladies will colour up, and look perseveringly the other

way, while the married dittos cough slightly, and stare very hard at the water, you feel awkward especially

if you happen to have been attempting the most distant approach to sentimentality, for an hour or two

Although experience and suffering have produced in our minds the result we have just stated, we are by no

means blind to a proper sense of the fun which a lookeron may extract from the amateurs of boating. What

can be more amusing than Searle's yard on a fine Sunday morning? It's a Richmond tide, and some dozen

boats are preparing for the reception of the parties who have engaged them. Two or three fellows in great

rough trousers and Guernsey shirts, are getting them ready by easy stages; now coming down the yard with a

pair of sculls and a cushion then having a chat with the 'Jack,' who, like all his tribe, seems to be wholly

incapable of doing anything but lounging about then going back again, and returning with a rudderline

and a stretcher then solacing themselves with another chat and then wondering, with their hands in their

capacious pockets, 'where them gentlemen's got to as ordered the six.' One of these, the head man, with the

legs of his trousers carefully tucked up at the bottom, to admit the water, we presume for it is an element in

which he is infinitely more at home than on land is quite a character, and shares with the defunct

oysterswallower the celebrated name of 'Dando.' Watch him, as taking a few minutes' respite from his toils,

he negligently seats himself on the edge of a boat, and fans his broad bushy chest with a cap scarcely half so

furry. Look at his magnificent, though reddish whiskers, and mark the somewhat native humour with which

he 'chaffs' the boys and 'prentices, or cunningly gammons the gen'lm'n into the gift of a glass of gin, of which

we verily believe he swallows in one day as much as any six ordinary men, without ever being one atom the

But the party arrives, and Dando, relieved from his state of uncertainty, starts up into activity. They approach

in full aquatic costume, with round blue jackets, striped shirts, and caps of all sizes and patterns, from the

velvet skullcap of French manufacture, to the easy headdress familiar to the students of the old

spellingbooks, as having, on the authority of the portrait, formed part of the costume of the Reverend Mr.

This is the most amusing time to observe a regular Sunday water party. There has evidently been up to this

period no inconsiderable degree of boasting on everybody's part relative to his knowledge of navigation; the

sight of the water rapidly cools their courage, and the air of selfdenial with which each of them insists on

somebody else's taking an oar, is perfectly delightful. At length, after a great deal of changing and fidgeting,

consequent upon the election of a strokeoar: the inability of one gentleman to pull on this side, of another to

pull on that, and of a third to pull at all, the boat's crew are seated. 'Shove her off!' cries the cockswain, who

looks as easy and comfortable as if he were steering in the Bay of Biscay. The order is obeyed; the boat is

immediately turned completely round, and proceeds towards Westminsterbridge, amidst such a splashing

and struggling as never was seen before, except when the Royal George went down. 'Back wa'ater, sir,' shouts

Dando, 'Back wa'ater, you sir, aft;' upon which everybody thinking he must be the individual referred to, they

all back water, and back comes the boat, stern first, to the spot whence it started. 'Back water, you sir, aft;

pull round, you sir, for'ad, can't you?' shouts Dando, in a frenzy of excitement. 'Pull round, Tom, can't you?'

reechoes one of the party. 'Tom an't for'ad,' replies another. 'Yes, he is,' cries a third; and the unfortunate

young man, at the imminent risk of breaking a bloodvessel, pulls and pulls, until the head of the boat fairly

lies in the direction of Vauxhallbridge. 'That's right now pull all on you!' shouts Dando again, adding, in

an undertone, to somebody by him, 'Blowed if hever I see sich a set of muffs!' and away jogs the boat in a

zigzag direction, every one of the six oars dipping into the water at a different time; and the yard is once more

A wellcontested rowingmatch on the Thames, is a very lively and interesting scene. The water is studded

with boats of all sorts, kinds, and descriptions; places in the coalbarges at the different wharfs are let to

crowds of spectators, beer and tobacco flow freely about; men, women, and children wait for the start in

breathless expectation; cutters of six and eight oars glide gently up and down, waiting to accompany their

PROTEGES during the race; bands of music add to the animation, if not to the harmony of the scene; groups

of watermen are assembled at the different stairs, discussing the merits of the respective candidates; and the

prize wherry, which is rowed slowly about by a pair of sculls, is an object of general interest.

Two o'clock strikes, and everybody looks anxiously in the direction of the bridge through which the

candidates for the prize will come halfpast two, and the general attention which has been preserved so

long begins to flag, when suddenly a gun is heard, and a noise of distant hurra'ing along each bank of the

river every head is bent forward the noise draws nearer and nearer the boats which have been waiting at

the bridge start briskly up the river, and a wellmanned galley shoots through the arch, the sitters cheering on

'Here they are,' is the general cry and through darts the first boat, the men in her, stripped to the skin, and

exerting every muscle to preserve the advantage they have gained four other boats follow close astern;

there are not two boats' length between them the shouting is tremendous, and the interest intense. 'Go on,

Pink' 'Give it her, Red' 'Sulliwin for ever' 'Bravo! George' 'Now, Tom, now now now why don't

your partner stretch out?' 'Two pots to a pint on Yellow,' Every little publichouse fires its gun, and hoists

its flag; and the men who win the heat, come in, amidst a splashing and shouting, and banging and confusion,

which no one can imagine who has not witnessed it, and of which any description would convey a very faint

One of the most amusing places we know is the steamwharf of the London Bridge, or St. Katharine's Dock

Company, on a Saturday morning in summer, when the Gravesend and Margate steamers are usually crowded

to excess; and as we have just taken a glance at the river above bridge, we hope our readers will not object to

Coaches are every moment setting down at the entrance to the wharf, and the stare of bewildered

astonishment with which the 'fares' resign themselves and their luggage into the hands of the porters, who

seize all the packages at once as a matter of course, and run away with them, heaven knows where, is

laughable in the extreme. A Margate boat lies alongside the wharf, the Gravesend boat (which starts first) lies

alongside that again; and as a temporary communication is formed between the two, by means of a plank and

'Gravesend?' inquires a stout father of a stout family, who follow him, under the guidance of their mother,

and a servant, at the no small risk of two or three of them being left behind in the confusion. 'Gravesend?'

Hereupon the stout father, being rather mystified, and the stout mother rather distracted by maternal anxiety,

the whole party deposit themselves in the Margate boat, and after having congratulated himself on having

secured very comfortable seats, the stout father sallies to the chimney to look for his luggage, which he has a

faint recollection of having given some man, something, to take somewhere. No luggage, however, bearing

the most remote resemblance to his own, in shape or form, is to be discovered; on which the stout father calls

very loudly for an officer, to whom he states the case, in the presence of another father of another family a

little thin man who entirely concurs with him (the stout father) in thinking that it's high time something was

done with these steam companies, and that as the Corporation Bill failed to do it, something else must; for

really people's property is not to be sacrificed in this way; and that if the luggage isn't restored without delay,

he will take care it shall be put in the papers, for the public is not to be the victim of these great monopolies.

To this, the officer, in his turn, replies, that that company, ever since it has been St. Kat'rine's Dock Company,

has protected life and property; that if it had been the London Bridge Wharf Company, indeed, he shouldn't

have wondered, seeing that the morality of that company (they being the opposition) can't be answered for,

by no one; but as it is, he's convinced there must be some mistake, and he wouldn't mind making a solemn

oath afore a magistrate that the gentleman'll find his luggage afore he gets to Margate.

Here the stout father, thinking he is making a capital point, replies, that as it happens, he is not going to

Margate at all, and that 'Passenger to Gravesend' was on the luggage, in letters of full two inches long; on

which the officer rapidly explains the mistake, and the stout mother, and the stout children, and the servant,

are hurried with all possible despatch on board the Gravesend boat, which they reached just in time to

discover that their luggage is there, and that their comfortable seats are not. Then the bell, which is the signal

for the Gravesend boat starting, begins to ring most furiously: and people keep time to the bell, by running in

and out of our boat at a doublequick pace. The bell stops; the boat starts: people who have been taking leave

of their friends on board, are carried away against their will; and people who have been taking leave of their

friends on shore, find that they have performed a very needless ceremony, in consequence of their not being

carried away at all. The regular passengers, who have season tickets, go below to breakfast; people who have

purchased morning papers, compose themselves to read them; and people who have not been down the river

before, think that both the shipping and the water, look a great deal better at a distance.

When we get down about as far as Blackwall, and begin to move at a quicker rate, the spirits of the

passengers appear to rise in proportion. Old women who have brought large wicker handbaskets with them,

set seriously to work at the demolition of heavy sandwiches, and pass round a wineglass, which is

frequently replenished from a flat bottle like a stomachwarmer, with considerable glee: handing it first to

the gentleman in the foragingcap, who plays the harp partly as an expression of satisfaction with his

previous exertions, and partly to induce him to play 'Dumbledumbdeary,' for 'Alick' to dance to; which being

done, Alick, who is a damp earthy child in red worsted socks, takes certain small jumps upon the deck, to the

unspeakable satisfaction of his family circle. Girls who have brought the first volume of some new novel in

their reticule, become extremely plaintive, and expatiate to Mr. Brown, or young Mr. O'Brien, who has been

looking over them, on the blueness of the sky, and brightness of the water; on which Mr. Brown or Mr.

O'Brien, as the case may be, remarks in a low voice that he has been quite insensible of late to the beauties of

nature, that his whole thoughts and wishes have centred in one object alone whereupon the young lady

looks up, and failing in her attempt to appear unconscious, looks down again; and turns over the next leaf

with great difficulty, in order to afford opportunity for a lengthened pressure of the hand.

Telescopes, sandwiches, and glasses of brandyandwater cold without, begin to be in great requisition; and

bashful men who have been looking down the hatchway at the engine, find, to their great relief, a subject on

'Wonderful thing steam, sir.' 'Ah! (a deepdrawn sigh) it is indeed, sir.' 'Great power, sir.' 'Immense

immense!' 'Great deal done by steam, sir.' 'Ah! (another sigh at the immensity of the subject, and a knowing

shake of the head) you may say that, sir.' 'Still in its infancy, they say, sir.' Novel remarks of this kind, are

generally the commencement of a conversation which is prolonged until the conclusion of the trip, and,

perhaps, lays the foundation of a speaking acquaintance between halfadozen gentlemen, who, having their

families at Gravesend, take season tickets for the boat, and dine on board regularly every afternoon.

We never see any very large, staring, black Roman capitals, in a book, or shopwindow, or placarded on a

wall, without their immediately recalling to our mind an indistinct and confused recollection of the time when

we were first initiated in the mysteries of the alphabet. We almost fancy we see the pin's point following the

letter, to impress its form more strongly on our bewildered imagination; and wince involuntarily, as we

remember the hard knuckles with which the reverend old lady who instilled into our mind the first principles

of education for ninepence per week, or ten and sixpence per quarter, was wont to poke our juvenile head

occasionally, by way of adjusting the confusion of ideas in which we were generally involved. The same kind

of feeling pursues us in many other instances, but there is no place which recalls so strongly our recollections

of childhood as Astley's. It was not a 'Royal Amphitheatre' in those days, nor had Ducrow arisen to shed the

light of classic taste and portable gas over the sawdust of the circus; but the whole character of the place was

the same, the pieces were the same, the clown's jokes were the same, the riding masters were equally grand,

the comic performers equally witty, the tragedians equally hoarse, and the 'highlytrained chargers' equally

spirited. Astley's has altered for the better we have changed for the worse. Our histrionic taste is gone, and

with shame we confess, that we are far more delighted and amused with the audience, than with the pageantry

We like to watch a regular Astley's party in the Easter or Midsummer holidays pa and ma, and nine or ten

children, varying from five foot six to two foot eleven: from fourteen years of age to four. We had just taken

our seat in one of the boxes, in the centre of the house, the other night, when the next was occupied by just

such a party as we should have attempted to describe, had we depicted our BEAU IDEAL of a group of

First of all, there came three little boys and a little girl, who, in pursuance of pa's directions, issued in a very

audible voice from the boxdoor, occupied the front row; then two more little girls were ushered in by a

young lady, evidently the governess. Then came three more little boys, dressed like the first, in blue jackets

and trousers, with laydown shirtcollars: then a child in a braided frock and high state of astonishment, with

very large round eyes, opened to their utmost width, was lifted over the seats a process which occasioned a

considerable display of little pink legs then came ma and pa, and then the eldest son, a boy of fourteen

years old, who was evidently trying to look as if he did not belong to the family.

The first five minutes were occupied in taking the shawls off the little girls, and adjusting the bows which

ornamented their hair; then it was providentially discovered that one of the little boys was seated behind a

pillar and could not see, so the governess was stuck behind the pillar, and the boy lifted into her place. Then

pa drilled the boys, and directed the stowing away of their pocket handkerchiefs, and ma having first

nodded and winked to the governess to pull the girls' frocks a little more off their shoulders, stood up to

review the little troop an inspection which appeared to terminate much to her own satisfaction, for she

looked with a complacent air at pa, who was standing up at the further end of the seat. Pa returned the glance,

and blew his nose very emphatically; and the poor governess peeped out from behind the pillar, and timidly

tried to catch ma's eye, with a look expressive of her high admiration of the whole family. Then two of the

little boys who had been discussing the point whether Astley's was more than twice as large as Drury Lane,

agreed to refer it to 'George' for his decision; at which 'George,' who was no other than the young gentleman

before noticed, waxed indignant, and remonstrated in no very gentle terms on the gross impropriety of having

his name repeated in so loud a voice at a public place, on which all the children laughed very heartily, and

one of the little boys wound up by expressing his opinion, that 'George began to think himself quite a man

now,' whereupon both pa and ma laughed too; and George (who carried a dress cane and was cultivating

whiskers) muttered that 'William always was encouraged in his impertinence;' and assumed a look of

The play began, and the interest of the little boys knew no bounds. Pa was clearly interested too, although he

very unsuccessfully endeavoured to look as if he wasn't. As for ma, she was perfectly overcome by the

drollery of the principal comedian, and laughed till every one of the immense bows on her ample cap

trembled, at which the governess peeped out from behind the pillar again, and whenever she could catch ma's

eye, put her handkerchief to her mouth, and appeared, as in duty bound, to be in convulsions of laughter also.

Then when the man in the splendid armour vowed to rescue the lady or perish in the attempt, the little boys

applauded vehemently, especially one little fellow who was apparently on a visit to the family, and had been

carrying on a child's flirtation, the whole evening, with a small coquette of twelve years old, who looked like

a model of her mamma on a reduced scale; and who, in common with the other little girls (who generally

speaking have even more coquettishness about them than much older ones), looked very properly shocked,

When the scenes in the circle commenced, the children were more delighted than ever; and the wish to see

what was going forward, completely conquering pa's dignity, he stood up in the box, and applauded as loudly

as any of them. Between each feat of horsemanship, the governess leant across to ma, and retailed the clever

remarks of the children on that which had preceded: and ma, in the openness of her heart, offered the

governess an acidulated drop, and the governess, gratified to be taken notice of, retired behind her pillar again

with a brighter countenance: and the whole party seemed quite happy, except the exquisite in the back of the

box, who, being too grand to take any interest in the children, and too insignificant to be taken notice of by

anybody else, occupied himself, from time to time, in rubbing the place where the whiskers ought to be, and

We defy any one who has been to Astley's two or three times, and is consequently capable of appreciating the

perseverance with which precisely the same jokes are repeated night after night, and season after season, not

to be amused with one part of the performances at least we mean the scenes in the circle. For ourself, we

know that when the hoop, composed of jets of gas, is let down, the curtain drawn up for the convenience of

the halfprice on their ejectment from the ring, the orangepeel cleared away, and the sawdust shaken, with

mathematical precision, into a complete circle, we feel as much enlivened as the youngest child present; and

actually join in the laugh which follows the clown's shrill shout of 'Here we are!' just for old acquaintance'

sake. Nor can we quite divest ourself of our old feeling of reverence for the ridingmaster, who follows the

clown with a long whip in his hand, and bows to the audience with graceful dignity. He is none of your

secondrate ridingmasters in nankeen dressinggowns, with brown frogs, but the regular

gentlemanattendant on the principal riders, who always wears a military uniform with a tablecloth inside

the breast of the coat, in which costume he forcibly reminds one of a fowl trussed for roasting. He is but

why should we attempt to describe that of which no description can convey an adequate idea? Everybody

knows the man, and everybody remembers his polished boots, his graceful demeanour, stiff, as some

misjudging persons have in their jealousy considered it, and the splendid head of black hair, parted high on

the forehead, to impart to the countenance an appearance of deep thought and poetic melancholy. His soft and

pleasing voice, too, is in perfect unison with his noble bearing, as he humours the clown by indulging in a

little badinage; and the striking recollection of his own dignity, with which he exclaims, 'Now, sir, if you

please, inquire for Miss Woolford, sir,' can never be forgotten. The graceful air, too, with which he introduces

Miss Woolford into the arena, and, after assisting her to the saddle, follows her fairy courser round the circle,

can never fail to create a deep impression in the bosom of every female servant present.

When Miss Woolford, and the horse, and the orchestra, all stop together to take breath, he urbanely takes part

in some such dialogue as the following (commenced by the clown): 'I say, sir!' 'Well, sir?' (it's always

conducted in the politest manner.) 'Did you ever happen to hear I was in the army, sir?' 'No, sir.' 'Oh,

yes, sir I can go through my exercise, sir.' 'Indeed, sir!' 'Shall I do it now, sir?' 'If you please, sir;

come, sir make haste' (a cut with the long whip, and 'Ha' done now I don't like it,' from the clown). Here

the clown throws himself on the ground, and goes through a variety of gymnastic convulsions, doubling

himself up, and untying himself again, and making himself look very like a man in the most hopeless extreme

of human agony, to the vociferous delight of the gallery, until he is interrupted by a second cut from the long

whip, and a request to see 'what Miss Woolford's stopping for?' On which, to the inexpressible mirth of the

gallery, he exclaims, 'Now, Miss Woolford, what can I come for to go, for to fetch, for to bring, for to carry,

for to do, for you, ma'am?' On the lady's announcing with a sweet smile that she wants the two flags, they are,

with sundry grimaces, procured and handed up; the clown facetiously observing after the performance of the

latter ceremony 'He, he, oh! I say, sir, Miss Woolford knows me; she smiled at me.' Another cut from the

whip, a burst from the orchestra, a start from the horse, and round goes Miss Woolford again on her graceful

performance, to the delight of every member of the audience, young or old. The next pause affords an

opportunity for similar witticisms, the only additional fun being that of the clown making ludicrous grimaces

at the ridingmaster every time his back is turned; and finally quitting the circle by jumping over his head,

Did any of our readers ever notice the class of people, who hang about the stagedoors of our minor theatres

in the daytime? You will rarely pass one of these entrances without seeing a group of three or four men

conversing on the pavement, with an indescribable publichouseparlour swagger, and a kind of conscious

air, peculiar to people of this description. They always seem to think they are exhibiting; the lamps are ever

before them. That young fellow in the faded brown coat, and very full light green trousers, pulls down the

wristbands of his check shirt, as ostentatiously as if it were of the finest linen, and cocks the white hat of the

summer beforelast as knowingly over his right eye, as if it were a purchase of yesterday. Look at the dirty

white Berlin gloves, and the cheap silk handkerchief stuck in the bosom of his threadbare coat. Is it possible

to see him for an instant, and not come to the conclusion that he is the walking gentleman who wears a blue

surtout, clean collar, and white trousers, for half an hour, and then shrinks into his wornout scanty clothes:

who has to boast night after night of his splendid fortune, with the painful consciousness of a pound aweek

and his boots to find; to talk of his father's mansion in the country, with a dreary recollection of his own

twopair back, in the New Cut; and to be envied and flattered as the favoured lover of a rich heiress,

remembering all the while that the exdancer at home is in the family way, and out of an engagement?

Next to him, perhaps, you will see a thin pale man, with a very long face, in a suit of shining black,

thoughtfully knocking that part of his boot which once had a heel, with an ash stick. He is the man who does

the heavy business, such as prosy fathers, virtuous servants, curates, landlords, and so forth.

By the way, talking of fathers, we should very much like to see some piece in which all the dramatis personae

were orphans. Fathers are invariably great nuisances on the stage, and always have to give the hero or heroine

a long explanation of what was done before the curtain rose, usually commencing with 'It is now nineteen

years, my dear child, since your blessed mother (here the old villain's voice falters) confided you to my

charge. You were then an infant,' Or else they have to discover, all of a sudden, that somebody whom they

have been in constant communication with, during three long acts, without the slightest suspicion, is their

own child: in which case they exclaim, 'Ah! what do I see? This bracelet! That smile! These documents!

Those eyes! Can I believe my senses? It must be! Yes it is, it is my child!' 'My father!' exclaims the

child; and they fall into each other's arms, and look over each other's shoulders, and the audience give three

To return from this digression, we were about to say, that these are the sort of people whom you see talking,

and attitudinising, outside the stagedoors of our minor theatres. At Astley's they are always more numerous

than at any other place. There is generally a groom or two, sitting on the windowsill, and two or three dirty

shabbygenteel men in checked neckerchiefs, and sallow linen, lounging about, and carrying, perhaps, under

one arm, a pair of stage shoes badly wrapped up in a piece of old newspaper. Some years ago we used to

stand looking, openmouthed, at these men, with a feeling of mysterious curiosity, the very recollection of

which provokes a smile at the moment we are writing. We could not believe that the beings of light and

elegance, in milkwhite tunics, salmoncoloured legs, and blue scarfs, who flitted on sleek creamcoloured

horses before our eyes at night, with all the aid of lights, music, and artificial flowers, could be the pale,

We can hardly believe it now. Of the lower class of actors we have seen something, and it requires no great

exercise of imagination to identify the walking gentleman with the 'dirty swell,' the comic singer with the

publichouse chairman, or the leading tragedian with drunkenness and distress; but these other men are

mysterious beings, never seen out of the ring, never beheld but in the costume of gods and sylphs. With the

exception of Ducrow, who can scarcely be classed among them, who ever knew a rider at Astley's, or saw

him but on horseback? Can our friend in the military uniform ever appear in threadbare attire, or descend to

the comparatively un wadded costume of everyday life? Impossible! We cannot we will not believe it.

If the Parks be 'the lungs of London,' we wonder what Greenwich Fair is a periodical breaking out, we

suppose, a sort of spring rash: a three days' fever, which cools the blood for six months afterwards, and at

the expiration of which London is restored to its old habits of plodding industry, as suddenly and completely

In our earlier days, we were a constant frequenter of Greenwich Fair, for years. We have proceeded to, and

returned from it, in almost every description of vehicle. We cannot conscientiously deny the charge of having

once made the passage in a springvan, accompanied by thirteen gentlemen, fourteen ladies, an unlimited

number of children, and a barrel of beer; and we have a vague recollection of having, in later days, found

ourself the eighth outside, on the top of a hackneycoach, at something past four o'clock in the morning, with

a rather confused idea of our own name, or place of residence. We have grown older since then, and quiet,

and steady: liking nothing better than to spend our Easter, and all our other holidays, in some quiet nook, with

people of whom we shall never tire; but we think we still remember something of Greenwich Fair, and of

The road to Greenwich during the whole of Easter Monday, is in a state of perpetual bustle and noise. Cabs,

hackneycoaches, 'shay' carts, coalwaggons, stages, omnibuses, sociables, gigs, donkey chaises all

crammed with people (for the question never is, what the horse can draw, but what the vehicle will hold), roll

along at their utmost speed; the dust flies in clouds, gingerbeer corks go off in volleys, the balcony of every

publichouse is crowded with people, smoking and drinking, half the private houses are turned into

teashops, fiddles are in great request, every little fruit shop displays its stall of gilt gingerbread and penny

toys; turnpike men are in despair; horses won't go on, and wheels will come off; ladies in 'carawans' scream

with fright at every fresh concussion, and their admirers find it necessary to sit remarkably close to them, by

way of encouragement; servantsofallwork, who are not allowed to have followers, and have got a holiday

for the day, make the most of their time with the faithful admirer who waits for a stolen interview at the

corner of the street every night, when they go to fetch the beer apprentices grow sentimental, and

strawbonnet makers kind. Everybody is anxious to get on, and actuated by the common wish to be at the

Pedestrians linger in groups at the roadside, unable to resist the allurements of the stout proprietress of the

'Jackinthebox, three shies a penny,' or the more splendid offers of the man with three thimbles and a pea

on a little round board, who astonishes the bewildered crowd with some such address as, 'Here's the sort o'

game to make you laugh seven years arter you're dead, and turn ev'ry air on your ed gray vith delight! Three

thimbles and vun little pea with a vun, two, three, and a two, three, vun: catch him who can, look on, keep

your eyes open, and niver say die! niver mind the change, and the expense: all fair and above board: them as

don't play can't vin, and luck attend the ryal sportsman! Bet any gen'lm'n any sum of money, from

harfacrown up to a suverin, as he doesn't name the thimble as kivers the pea!' Here some greenhorn

whispers his friend that he distinctly saw the pea roll under the middle thimble an impression which is

immediately confirmed by a gentleman in topboots, who is standing by, and who, in a low tone, regrets his

own inability to bet, in consequence of having unfortunately left his purse at home, but strongly urges the

stranger not to neglect such a golden opportunity. The 'plant' is successful, the bet is made, the stranger of

course loses: and the gentleman with the thimbles consoles him, as he pockets the money, with an assurance

that it's 'all the fortin of war! this time I vin, next time you vin: niver mind the loss of two bob and a bender!

Do it up in a small parcel, and break out in a fresh place. Here's the sort o' game,' and the eloquent

harangue, with such variations as the speaker's exuberant fancy suggests, is again repeated to the gaping

The chief place of resort in the daytime, after the publichouses, is the park, in which the principal

amusement is to drag young ladies up the steep hill which leads to the Observatory, and then drag them down

again, at the very top of their speed, greatly to the derangement of their curls and bonnetcaps, and much to

the edification of lookerson from below. 'Kiss in the Ring,' and 'Threading my Grandmother's Needle,' too,

are sports which receive their full share of patronage. Lovesick swains, under the influence of

ginandwater, and the tender passion, become violently affectionate: and the fair objects of their regard

enhance the value of stolen kisses, by a vast deal of struggling, and holding down of heads, and cries of 'Oh!

Ha' done, then, George Oh, do tickle him for me, Mary Well, I never!' and similar Lucretian ejaculations.

Little old men and women, with a small basket under one arm, and a wineglass, without a foot, in the other

hand, tender 'a drop o' the right sort' to the different groups; and young ladies, who are persuaded to indulge

in a drop of the aforesaid right sort, display a pleasing degree of reluctance to taste it, and cough afterwards

The old pensioners, who, for the moderate charge of a penny, exhibit the masthouse, the Thames and

shipping, the place where the men used to hang in chains, and other interesting sights, through a telescope,

are asked questions about objects within the range of the glass, which it would puzzle a Solomon to answer;

and requested to find out particular houses in particular streets, which it would have been a task of some

difficulty for Mr. Horner (not the young gentleman who ate mincepies with his thumb, but the man of

Colosseum notoriety) to discover. Here and there, where some three or four couple are sitting on the grass

together, you will see a sunburnt woman in a red cloak 'telling fortunes' and prophesying husbands, which it

requires no extraordinary observation to describe, for the originals are before her. Thereupon, the lady

concerned laughs and blushes, and ultimately buries her face in an imitation cambric handkerchief, and the

gentleman described looks extremely foolish, and squeezes her hand, and fees the gipsy liberally; and the

gipsy goes away, perfectly satisfied herself, and leaving those behind her perfectly satisfied also: and the

prophecy, like many other prophecies of greater importance, fulfils itself in time.

But it grows dark: the crowd has gradually dispersed, and only a few stragglers are left behind. The light in

the direction of the church shows that the fair is illuminated; and the distant noise proves it to be filling fast.

The spot, which half an hour ago was ringing with the shouts of boisterous mirth, is as calm and quiet as if

nothing could ever disturb its serenity: the fine old trees, the majestic building at their feet, with the noble

river beyond, glistening in the moonlight, appear in all their beauty, and under their most favourable aspect;

the voices of the boys, singing their evening hymn, are borne gently on the air; and the humblest mechanic

who has been lingering on the grass so pleasant to the feet that beat the same dull round from week to week

in the paved streets of London, feels proud to think as he surveys the scene before him, that he belongs to the

country which has selected such a spot as a retreat for its oldest and best defenders in the decline of their

Five minutes' walking brings you to the fair; a scene calculated to awaken very different feelings. The

entrance is occupied on either side by the vendors of gingerbread and toys: the stalls are gaily lighted up, the

most attractive goods profusely disposed, and unbonneted young ladies, in their zeal for the interest of their

employers, seize you by the coat, and use all the blandishments of 'Do, dear' 'There's a love' 'Don't be

cross, now,' to induce you to purchase half a pound of the real spice nuts, of which the majority of the regular

fairgoers carry a pound or two as a present supply, tied up in a cotton pockethandkerchief. Occasionally

you pass a deal table, on which are exposed pen'orths of pickled salmon (fennel included), in little white

saucers: oysters, with shells as large as cheeseplates, and divers specimens of a species of snail (WILKS, we

think they are called), floating in a somewhat biliouslooking green liquid. Cigars, too, are in great demand;

gentlemen must smoke, of course, and here they are, two a penny, in a regular authentic cigarbox, with a

Imagine yourself in an extremely dense crowd, which swings you to and fro, and in and out, and every way

but the right one; add to this the screams of women, the shouts of boys, the clanging of gongs, the firing of

pistols, the ringing of bells, the bellowings of speakingtrumpets, the squeaking of penny dittos, the noise of

a dozen bands, with three drums in each, all playing different tunes at the same time, the hallooing of

showmen, and an occasional roar from the wildbeast shows; and you are in the very centre and heart of the

This immense booth, with the large stage in front, so brightly illuminated with variegated lamps, and pots of

burning fat, is 'Richardson's,' where you have a melodrama (with three murders and a ghost), a pantomime, a

comic song, an overture, and some incidental music, all done in fiveandtwenty minutes.

The company are now promenading outside in all the dignity of wigs, spangles, redochre, and whitening.

See with what a ferocious air the gentleman who personates the Mexican chief, paces up and down, and with

what an eye of calm dignity the principal tragedian gazes on the crowd below, or converses confidentially

with the harlequin! The four clowns, who are engaged in a mock broadsword combat, may be all very well

for the lowminded holidaymakers; but these are the people for the reflective portion of the community.

They look so noble in those Roman dresses, with their yellow legs and arms, long black curly heads, bushy

eyebrows, and scowl expressive of assassination, and vengeance, and everything else that is grand and

solemn. Then, the ladies were there ever such innocent and awfullooking beings; as they walk up and

down the platform in twos and threes, with their arms round each other's waists, or leaning for support on one

of those majestic men! Their spangled muslin dresses and blue satin shoes and sandals (a LEETLE the worse

for wear) are the admiration of all beholders; and the playful manner in which they check the advances of the

'Just agoing to begin! Pray come for'erd, come for'erd,' exclaims the man in the countryman's dress, for the

seventieth time: and people force their way up the steps in crowds. The band suddenly strikes up, the

harlequin and columbine set the example, reels are formed in less than no time, the Roman heroes place their

arms a kimbo, and dance with considerable agility; and the leading tragic actress, and the gentleman who

enacts the 'swell' in the pantomime, foot it to perfection. 'All in to begin,' shouts the manager, when no more

people can be induced to 'come for'erd,' and away rush the leading members of the company to do the

A change of performance takes place every day during the fair, but the story of the tragedy is always pretty

much the same. There is a rightful heir, who loves a young lady, and is beloved by her; and a wrongful heir,

who loves her too, and isn't beloved by her; and the wrongful heir gets hold of the rightful heir, and throws

him into a dungeon, just to kill him off when convenient, for which purpose he hires a couple of assassins a

good one and a bad one who, the moment they are left alone, get up a little murder on their own account,

the good one killing the bad one, and the bad one wounding the good one. Then the rightful heir is discovered

in prison, carefully holding a long chain in his hands, and seated despondingly in a large armchair; and the

young lady comes in to two bars of soft music, and embraces the rightful heir; and then the wrongful heir

comes in to two bars of quick music (technically called 'a hurry'), and goes on in the most shocking manner,

throwing the young lady about as if she was nobody, and calling the rightful heir 'Arrecreant arwretch!'

in a very loud voice, which answers the double purpose of displaying his passion, and preventing the sound

being deadened by the sawdust. The interest becomes intense; the wrongful heir draws his sword, and rushes

on the rightful heir; a blue smoke is seen, a gong is heard, and a tall white figure (who has been all this time,

behind the arm chair, covered over with a tablecloth), slowly rises to the tune of 'Oft in the stilly night.'

This is no other than the ghost of the rightful heir's father, who was killed by the wrongful heir's father, at

sight of which the wrongful heir becomes apoplectic, and is literally 'struck all of a heap,' the stage not being

large enough to admit of his falling down at full length. Then the good assassin staggers in, and says he was

hired in conjunction with the bad assassin, by the wrongful heir, to kill the rightful heir; and he's killed a good

many people in his time, but he's very sorry for it, and won't do so any more a promise which he

immediately redeems, by dying off hand without any nonsense about it. Then the rightful heir throws down

his chain; and then two men, a sailor, and a young woman (the tenantry of the rightful heir) come in, and the

ghost makes dumb motions to them, which they, by supernatural interference, understand for no one else

can; and the ghost (who can't do anything without blue fire) blesses the rightful heir and the young lady, by

half suffocating them with smoke: and then a muffinbell rings, and the curtain drops.

The exhibitions next in popularity to these itinerant theatres are the travelling menageries, or, to speak more

intelligibly, the 'Wildbeast shows,' where a military band in beefeater's costume, with leopardskin caps,

play incessantly; and where large highly coloured representations of tigers tearing men's heads open, and a

lion being burnt with redhot irons to induce him to drop his victim, are hung up outside, by way of attracting

The principal officer at these places is generally a very tall, hoarse man, in a scarlet coat, with a cane in his

hand, with which he occasionally raps the pictures we have just noticed, by way of illustrating his description

something in this way. 'Here, here, here; the lion, the lion (tap), exactly as he is represented on the canvas

outside (three taps): no waiting, remember; no deception. The ferocious lion (tap, tap) who bit off the

gentleman's head last Cambervel vos a twelvemonth, and has killed on the awerage three keepers ayear ever

since he arrived at matoority. No extra charge on this account recollect; the price of admission is only

sixpence.' This address never fails to produce a considerable sensation, and sixpences flow into the treasury

The dwarfs are also objects of great curiosity, and as a dwarf, a giantess, a living skeleton, a wild Indian, 'a

young lady of singular beauty, with perfectly white hair and pink eyes,' and two or three other natural

curiosities, are usually exhibited together for the small charge of a penny, they attract very numerous

audiences. The best thing about a dwarf is, that he has always a little box, about two feet six inches high, into

which, by long practice, he can just manage to get, by doubling himself up like a bootjack; this box is

painted outside like a sixroomed house, and as the crowd see him ring a bell, or fire a pistol out of the

firstfloor window, they verily believe that it is his ordinary town residence, divided like other mansions into

drawingrooms, diningparlour, and bedchambers. Shut up in this case, the unfortunate little object is

brought out to delight the throng by holding a facetious dialogue with the proprietor: in the course of which,

the dwarf (who is always particularly drunk) pledges himself to sing a comic song inside, and pays various

compliments to the ladies, which induce them to 'come for'erd' with great alacrity. As a giant is not so easily

moved, a pair of indescribables of most capacious dimensions, and a huge shoe, are usually brought out, into

which two or three stout men get all at once, to the enthusiastic delight of the crowd, who are quite satisfied

with the solemn assurance that these habiliments form part of the giant's everyday costume.

The grandest and most numerouslyfrequented booth in the whole fair, however, is 'The Crown and Anchor'

a temporary ballroom we forget how many hundred feet long, the price of admission to which is one

shilling. Immediately on your right hand as you enter, after paying your money, is a refreshment place, at

which cold beef, roast and boiled, French rolls, stout, wine, tongue, ham, even fowls, if we recollect right, are

displayed in tempting array. There is a raised orchestra, and the place is boarded all the way down, in patches,

There is no master of the ceremonies in this artificial Eden all is primitive, unreserved, and unstudied. The

dust is blinding, the heat insupportable, the company somewhat noisy, and in the highest spirits possible: the

ladies, in the height of their innocent animation, dancing in the gentlemen's hats, and the gentlemen

promenading 'the gay and festive scene' in the ladies' bonnets, or with the more expensive ornaments of false

noses, and lowcrowned, tinderboxlooking hats: playing children's drums, and accompanied by ladies on

The noise of these various instruments, the orchestra, the shouting, the 'scratchers,' and the dancing, is

perfectly bewildering. The dancing, itself, beggars description every figure lasts about an hour, and the

ladies bounce up and down the middle, with a degree of spirit which is quite indescribable. As to the

gentlemen, they stamp their feet against the ground, every time 'hands four round' begins, go down the middle

and up again, with cigars in their mouths, and silk handkerchiefs in their hands, and whirl their partners

round, nothing loth, scrambling and falling, and embracing, and knocking up against the other couples, until

they are fairly tired out, and can move no longer. The same scene is repeated again and again (slightly varied

by an occasional 'row') until a late hour at night: and a great many clerks and 'prentices find themselves next

morning with aching heads, empty pockets, damaged hats, and a very imperfect recollection of how it was

Such are the written placards wafered up in the gentlemen's dressingroom, or the greenroom (where there

is any), at a private theatre; and such are the sums extracted from the shoptill, or overcharged in the office

expenditure, by the donkeys who are prevailed upon to pay for permission to exhibit their lamentable

ignorance and boobyism on the stage of a private theatre. This they do, in proportion to the scope afforded by

the character for the display of their imbecility. For instance, the Duke of Glo'ster is well worth two pounds,

because he has it all to himself; he must wear a real sword, and what is better still, he must draw it, several

times in the course of the piece. The soliloquies alone are well worth fifteen shillings; then there is the

stabbing King Henry decidedly cheap at threeandsixpence, that's eighteenandsixpence; bullying the

coffinbearers say eighteenpence, though it's worth much more that's a pound. Then the love scene with

Lady Ann, and the bustle of the fourth act can't be dear at ten shillings more that's only one pound ten,

including the 'off with his head!' which is sure to bring down the applause, and it is very easy to do 'Orf

with his ed' (very quick and loud; then slow and sneeringly) 'So much for Buuu uckingham!' Lay the

emphasis on the 'uck;' get yourself gradually into a corner, and work with your right hand, while you're

saying it, as if you were feeling your way, and it's sure to do. The tent scene is confessedly worth

halfasovereign, and so you have the fight in, gratis, and everybody knows what an effect may be produced

by a good combat. One two three four over; then, one two three four under; then thrust; then

dodge and slide about; then fall down on one knee; then fight upon it, and then get up again and stagger. You

may keep on doing this, as long as it seems to take say ten minutes and then fall down (backwards, if you

can manage it without hurting yourself), and die game: nothing like it for producing an effect. They always

do it at Astley's and Sadler's Wells, and if they don't know how to do this sort of thing, who in the world

does? A small child, or a female in white, increases the interest of a combat materially indeed, we are not

aware that a regular legitimate terrific broadsword combat could be done without; but it would be rather

difficult, and somewhat unusual, to introduce this effect in the last scene of Richard the Third, so the only

thing to be done, is, just to make the best of a bad bargain, and be as long as possible fighting it out.

The principal patrons of private theatres are dirty boys, low copyingclerks, in attorneys' offices,

capaciousheaded youths from city countinghouses, Jews whose business, as lenders of fancy dresses, is a

sure passport to the amateur stage, shopboys who now and then mistake their masters' money for their own;

and a choice miscellany of idle vagabonds. The proprietor of a private theatre may be an exscenepainter, a

low coffeehousekeeper, a disappointed eighthrate actor, a retired smuggler, or uncertificated bankrupt.

The theatre itself may be in Catherine street, Strand, the purlieus of the city, the neighbourhood of

Gray'sinnlane, or the vicinity of Sadler's Wells; or it may, perhaps, form the chief nuisance of some shabby

The lady performers pay nothing for their characters, and it is needless to add, are usually selected from one

class of society; the audiences are necessarily of much the same character as the performers, who receive, in

return for their contributions to the management, tickets to the amount of the money they pay.

All the minor theatres in London, especially the lowest, constitute the centre of a little stagestruck

neighbourhood. Each of them has an audience exclusively its own; and at any you will see dropping into the

pit at halfprice, or swaggering into the back of a box, if the price of admission be a reduced one, divers boys

of from fifteen to twentyone years of age, who throw back their coat and turn up their wristbands, after the

portraits of Count D'Orsay, hum tunes and whistle when the curtain is down, by way of persuading the people

near them, that they are not at all anxious to have it up again, and speak familiarly of the inferior performers

as Bill Suchaone, and Ned Soandso, or tell each other how a new piece called THE UNKNOWN

BANDIT OF THE INVISIBLE CAVERN, is in rehearsal; how Mister Palmer is to play THE UNKNOWN

BANDIT; how Charley Scarton is to take the part of an English sailor, and fight a broadsword combat with

six unknown bandits, at one and the same time (one theatrical sailor is always equal to half a dozen men at

least); how Mister Palmer and Charley Scarton are to go through a double hornpipe in fetters in the second

act; how the interior of the invisible cavern is to occupy the whole extent of the stage; and other

townsurprising theatrical announcements. These gentlemen are the amateurs the RICHARDS,

See them at the neighbouring publichouse or the theatrical coffee shop! They are the kings of the place,

supposing no real performers to be present; and roll about, hats on one side, and arms akimbo, as if they had

actually come into possession of eighteen shillings aweek, and a share of a ticket night. If one of them does

but know an Astley's supernumerary he is a happy fellow. The mingled air of envy and admiration with

which his companions will regard him, as he converses familiarly with some mouldylooking man in a fancy

neckerchief, whose partially corked eyebrows, and halfrouged face, testify to the fact of his having just left

the stage or the circle, sufficiently shows in what high admiration these public characters are held.

With the double view of guarding against the discovery of friends or employers, and enhancing the interest of

an assumed character, by attaching a highsounding name to its representative, these geniuses assume

fictitious names, which are not the least amusing part of the playbill of a private theatre. Belville, Melville,

Treville, Berkeley, Randolph, Byron, St. Clair, and so forth, are among the humblest; and the less imposing

titles of Jenkins, Walker, Thomson, Barker, Solomons, are completely laid aside. There is something

imposing in this, and it is an excellent apology for shabbiness into the bargain. A shrunken, faded coat, a

decayed hat, a patched and soiled pair of trousers nay, even a very dirty shirt (and none of these

appearances are very uncommon among the members of the CORPS DRAMATIQUE), may be worn for the

purpose of disguise, and to prevent the remotest chance of recognition. Then it prevents any troublesome

inquiries or explanations about employment and pursuits; everybody is a gentleman at large, for the occasion,

and there are none of those unpleasant and unnecessary distinctions to which even genius must occasionally

succumb elsewhere. As to the ladies (God bless them), they are quite above any formal absurdities; the mere

circumstance of your being behind the scenes is a sufficient introduction to their society for of course they

know that none but strictly respectable persons would be admitted into that close fellowship with them,

which acting engenders. They place implicit reliance on the manager, no doubt; and as to the manager, he is

all affability when he knows you well, or, in other words, when he has pocketed your money once, and

A quarter before eight there will be a full house tonight six parties in the boxes, already; four little boys

and a woman in the pit; and two fiddles and a flute in the orchestra, who have got through five overtures

since seven o'clock (the hour fixed for the commencement of the performances), and have just begun the

sixth. There will be plenty of it, though, when it does begin, for there is enough in the bill to last six hours at

That gentleman in the white hat and checked shirt, brown coat and brass buttons, lounging behind the

stagebox on the O. P. side, is Mr. Horatio St. Julien, alias Jem Larkins. His line is genteel comedy his

father's, coal and potato. He DOES Alfred Highflier in the last piece, and very well he'll do it at the price.

The party of gentlemen in the opposite box, to whom he has just nodded, are friends and supporters of Mr.

Beverley (otherwise Loggins), the MACBETH of the night. You observe their attempts to appear easy and

gentlemanly, each member of the party, with his feet cocked upon the cushion in front of the box! They let

them do these things here, upon the same humane principle which permits poor people's children to knock

double knocks at the door of an empty house because they can't do it anywhere else. The two stout men in

the centre box, with an operaglass ostentatiously placed before them, are friends of the proprietor opulent

country managers, as he confidentially informs every individual among the crew behind the curtain opulent

country managers looking out for recruits; a representation which Mr. Nathan, the dresser, who is in the

manager's interest, and has just arrived with the costumes, offers to confirm upon oath if required

corroborative evidence, however, is quite unnecessary, for the gulls believe it at once.

The stout Jewess who has just entered, is the mother of the pale, bony little girl, with the necklace of blue

glass beads, sitting by her; she is being brought up to 'the profession.' Pantomime is to be her line, and she is

coming out tonight, in a hornpipe after the tragedy. The short thin man beside Mr. St. Julien, whose white

face is so deeply seared with the smallpox, and whose dirty shirt front is inlaid with openwork, and

embossed with coral studs like ladybirds, is the low comedian and comic singer of the establishment. The

remainder of the audience a tolerably numerous one by this time are a motley group of dupes and

The footlights have just made their appearance: the wicks of the six little oil lamps round the only tier of

boxes, are being turned up, and the additional light thus afforded serves to show the presence of dirt, and

absence of paint, which forms a prominent feature in the audience part of the house. As these preparations,

however, announce the speedy commencement of the play, let us take a peep 'behind,' previous to the

The little narrow passages beneath the stage are neither especially clean nor too brilliantly lighted; and the

absence of any flooring, together with the damp mildewy smell which pervades the place, does not conduce

in any great degree to their comfortable appearance. Don't fall over this plate basket it's one of the

'properties' the caldron for the witches' cave; and the three uncouthlooking figures, with broken

clothesprops in their hands, who are drinking ginandwater out of a pint pot, are the weird sisters. This

miserable room, lighted by candles in sconces placed at lengthened intervals round the wall, is the

dressingroom, common to the gentlemen performers, and the square hole in the ceiling is THE trapdoor of

the stage above. You will observe that the ceiling is ornamented with the beams that support the boards, and

The characters in the tragedy are all dressed, and their own clothes are scattered in hurried confusion over the

wooden dresser which surrounds the room. That snuffshoplooking figure, in front of the glass, is

BANQUO, and the young lady with the liberal display of legs, who is kindly painting his face with a hare's

foot, is dressed for FLEANCE. The large woman, who is consulting the stage directions in Cumberland's

edition of MACBETH, is the LADY MACBETH of the night; she is always selected to play the part, because

she is tall and stout, and LOOKS a little like Mrs. Siddons at a considerable distance. That stupidlooking

milksop, with light hair and bow legs a kind of man whom you can warrant town made is fresh caught;

he plays MALCOLM tonight, just to accustom himself to an audience. He will get on better by degrees; he

will play OTHELLO in a month, and in a month more, will very probably be apprehended on a charge of

embezzlement. The blackeyed female with whom he is talking so earnestly, is dressed for the

'gentlewoman.' It is HER first appearance, too in that character. The boy of fourteen who is having his

eyebrows smeared with soap and whitening, is DUNCAN, King of Scotland; and the two dirty men with the

corked countenances, in very old green tunics, and dirty drab boots, are the 'army.'

'Look sharp below there, gents,' exclaims the dresser, a redheaded and redwhiskered Jew, calling through

the trap, 'they're agoing to ring up. The flute says he'll be blowed if he plays any more, and they're getting

precious noisy in front.' A general rush immediately takes place to the halfdozen little steep steps leading to

the stage, and the heterogeneous group are soon assembled at the side scenes, in breathless anxiety and

'Now,' cries the manager, consulting the written list which hangs behind the first P. S, wing, 'Scene 1, open

country lamps down thunder and lightning all ready, White?' [This is addressed to one of the army.]

'All ready.' 'Very well. Scene 2, front chamber. Is the front chamber down?' 'Yes.' 'Very well.' 'Jones'

[to the other army who is up in the flies]. 'Hallo!' 'Wind up the open country when we ring up.' 'I'll take

care.' 'Scene 3, back perspective with practical bridge. Bridge ready, White? Got the tressels there?' 'All

'Very well. Clear the stage,' cries the manager, hastily packing every member of the company into the little

space there is between the wings and the wall, and one wing and another. 'Places, places. Now then, Witches

Duncan Malcolm bleeding officer where's the bleeding officer?' 'Here!' replies the officer, who has

been rosepinking for the character. 'Get ready, then; now, White, ring the second musicbell.' The actors

who are to be discovered, are hastily arranged, and the actors who are not to be discovered place themselves,

in their anxiety to peep at the house, just where the audience can see them. The bell rings, and the orchestra,

in acknowledgment of the call, play three distinct chords. The bell rings the tragedy (!) opens and our

There was a time when if a man ventured to wonder how Vauxhall gardens would look by day, he was

hailed with a shout of derision at the absurdity of the idea. Vauxhall by daylight! A porterpot without porter,

the House of Commons without the Speaker, a gas lamp without the gas pooh, nonsense, the thing was not

to be thought of. It was rumoured, too, in those times, that Vauxhall gardens by day, were the scene of

secret and hidden experiments; that there, carvers were exercised in the mystic art of cutting a

moderatesized ham into slices thin enough to pave the whole of the grounds; that beneath the shade of the

tall trees, studious men were constantly engaged in chemical experiments, with the view of discovering how

much water a bowl of negus could possibly bear; and that in some retired nooks, appropriated to the study of

ornithology, other sage and learned men were, by a process known only to themselves, incessantly employed

Vague rumours of this kind, together with many others of a similar nature, cast over Vauxhallgardens an air

of deep mystery; and as there is a great deal in the mysterious, there is no doubt that to a good many people,

at all events, the pleasure they afforded was not a little enhanced by this very circumstance.

Of this class of people we confess to having made one. We loved to wander among these illuminated groves,

thinking of the patient and laborious researches which had been carried on there during the day, and

witnessing their results in the suppers which were served up beneath the light of lamps and to the sound of

music at night. The temples and saloons and cosmoramas and fountains glittered and sparkled before our

eyes; the beauty of the lady singers and the elegant deportment of the gentlemen, captivated our hearts; a few

hundred thousand of additional lamps dazzled our senses; a bowl or two of punch bewildered our brains; and

In an evil hour, the proprietors of Vauxhallgardens took to opening them by day. We regretted this, as

rudely and harshly disturbing that veil of mystery which had hung about the property for many years, and

which none but the noonday sun, and the late Mr. Simpson, had ever penetrated. We shrunk from going; at

this moment we scarcely know why. Perhaps a morbid consciousness of approaching disappointment

perhaps a fatal presentiment perhaps the weather; whatever it was, we did NOT go until the second or third

We paid our shilling at the gate, and then we saw for the first time, that the entrance, if there had been any

magic about it at all, was now decidedly disenchanted, being, in fact, nothing more nor less than a

combination of very roughlypainted boards and sawdust. We glanced at the orchestra and supperroom as

we hurried past we just recognised them, and that was all. We bent our steps to the fireworkground; there,

at least, we should not be disappointed. We reached it, and stood rooted to the spot with mortification and

astonishment. THAT the Moorish tower that wooden shed with a door in the centre, and daubs of crimson

and yellow all round, like a gigantic watchcase! THAT the place where night after night we had beheld the

undaunted Mr. Blackmore make his terrific ascent, surrounded by flames of fire, and peals of artillery, and

where the white garments of Madame Somebody (we forget even her name now), who nobly devoted her life

to the manufacture of fireworks, had so often been seen fluttering in the wind, as she called up a red, blue, or

partycoloured light to illumine her temple! THAT the but at this moment the bell rung; the people

scampered away, pellmell, to the spot from whence the sound proceeded; and we, from the mere force of

It was for the concert in the orchestra. A small party of dismal men in cocked hats were 'executing' the

overture to TANCREDI, and a numerous assemblage of ladies and gentlemen, with their families, had rushed

from their halfemptied stout mugs in the supper boxes, and crowded to the spot. Intense was the low

murmur of admiration when a particularly small gentleman, in a dress coat, led on a particularly tall lady in a

blue sarcenet pelisse and bonnet of the same, ornamented with large white feathers, and forthwith

We knew the small gentleman well; we had seen a lithographed semblance of him, on many a piece of music,

with his mouth wide open as if in the act of singing; a wineglass in his hand; and a table with two decanters

and four pineapples on it in the background. The tall lady, too, we had gazed on, lost in raptures of

admiration, many and many a time how different people DO look by daylight, and without punch, to be

sure! It was a beautiful duet: first the small gentleman asked a question, and then the tall lady answered it;

then the small gentleman and the tall lady sang together most melodiously; then the small gentleman went

through a little piece of vehemence by himself, and got very tenor indeed, in the excitement of his feelings, to

which the tall lady responded in a similar manner; then the small gentleman had a shake or two, after which

the tall lady had the same, and then they both merged imperceptibly into the original air: and the band wound

themselves up to a pitch of fury, and the small gentleman handed the tall lady out, and the applause was

The comic singer, however, was the especial favourite; we really thought that a gentleman, with his dinner in

a pockethandkerchief, who stood near us, would have fainted with excess of joy. A marvellously facetious

gentleman that comic singer is; his distinguishing characteristics are, a wig approaching to the flaxen, and an

aged countenance, and he bears the name of one of the English counties, if we recollect right. He sang a very

good song about the seven ages, the first halfhour of which afforded the assembly the purest delight; of the

We walked about, and met with a disappointment at every turn; our favourite views were mere patches of

paint; the fountain that had sparkled so showily by lamplight, presented very much the appearance of a

waterpipe that had burst; all the ornaments were dingy, and all the walks gloomy. There was a spectral

attempt at ropedancing in the little open theatre. The sun shone upon the spangled dresses of the performers,

and their evolutions were about as inspiriting and appropriate as a countrydance in a family vault. So we

retraced our steps to the fireworkground, and mingled with the little crowd of people who were

Some halfdozen men were restraining the impetuosity of one of the balloons, which was completely filled,

and had the car already attached; and as rumours had gone abroad that a Lord was 'going up,' the crowd were

more than usually anxious and talkative. There was one little man in faded black, with a dirty face and a rusty

black neckerchief with a red border, tied in a narrow wisp round his neck, who entered into conversation with

everybody, and had something to say upon every remark that was made within his hearing. He was standing

with his arms folded, staring up at the balloon, and every now and then vented his feelings of reverence for

the aeronaut, by saying, as he looked round to catch somebody's eye, 'He's a rum 'un is Green; think o' this

here being up'ards of his two hundredth ascent; ecod, the man as is ekal to Green never had the toothache yet,

nor won't have within this hundred year, and that's all about it. When you meets with real talent, and native,

too, encourage it, that's what I say;' and when he had delivered himself to this effect, he would fold his arms

with more determination than ever, and stare at the balloon with a sort of admiring defiance of any other man

alive, beyond himself and Green, that impressed the crowd with the opinion that he was an oracle.

'Ah, you're very right, sir,' said another gentleman, with his wife, and children, and mother, and wife's sister,

and a host of female friends, in all the gentility of white pockethandkerchiefs, frills, and spencers, 'Mr.

'Fear!' said the little man: 'isn't it a lovely thing to see him and his wife a going up in one balloon, and his

own son and HIS wife a jostling up against them in another, and all of them going twenty or thirty mile in

three hours or so, and then coming back in pochayses? I don't know where this here science is to stop, mind

'What's the ladies a laughing at, sir?' inquired the little man, condescendingly.

'It's only my sister Mary,' said one of the girls, 'as says she hopes his lordship won't be frightened when he's

'Make yourself easy about that there, my dear,' replied the little man. 'If he was so much as to move a inch

without leave, Green would jist fetch him a crack over the head with the telescope, as would send him into

'Yes, would he,' replied the little one, 'and think nothing of it, neither, if he was the king himself. Green's

Just at this moment all eyes were directed to the preparations which were being made for starting. The car

was attached to the second balloon, the two were brought pretty close together, and a military band

commenced playing, with a zeal and fervour which would render the most timid man in existence but too

happy to accept any means of quitting that particular spot of earth on which they were stationed. Then Mr.

Green, sen., and his noble companion entered one car, and Mr. Green, jun., and HIS companion the other;

and then the balloons went up, and the aerial travellers stood up, and the crowd outside roared with delight,

and the two gentlemen who had never ascended before, tried to wave their flags, as if they were not nervous,

but held on very fast all the while; and the balloons were wafted gently away, our little friend solemnly

protesting, long after they were reduced to mere specks in the air, that he could still distinguish the white hat

of Mr. Green. The gardens disgorged their multitudes, boys ran up and down screaming 'balloon;' and in all

the crowded thoroughfares people rushed out of their shops into the middle of the road, and having stared up

in the air at two little black objects till they almost dislocated their necks, walked slowly in again, perfectly

The next day there was a grand account of the ascent in the morning papers, and the public were informed

how it was the finest day but four in Mr. Green's remembrance; how they retained sight of the earth till they

lost it behind the clouds; and how the reflection of the balloon on the undulating masses of vapour was

gorgeously picturesque; together with a little science about the refraction of the sun's rays, and some

There was also an interesting account how a man in a boat was distinctly heard by Mr. Green, jun., to

exclaim, 'My eye!' which Mr. Green, jun., attributed to his voice rising to the balloon, and the sound being

thrown back from its surface into the car; and the whole concluded with a slight allusion to another ascent

next Wednesday, all of which was very instructive and very amusing, as our readers will see if they look to

the papers. If we have forgotten to mention the date, they have only to wait till next summer, and take the

We have often wondered how many months' incessant travelling in a postchaise it would take to kill a man;

and wondering by analogy, we should very much like to know how many months of constant travelling in a

succession of early coaches, an unfortunate mortal could endure. Breaking a man alive upon the wheel, would

be nothing to breaking his rest, his peace, his heart everything but his fast upon four; and the punishment

of Ixion (the only practical person, bythebye, who has discovered the secret of the perpetual motion)

would sink into utter insignificance before the one we have suggested. If we had been a powerful churchman

in those good times when blood was shed as freely as water, and men were mowed down like grass, in the

sacred cause of religion, we would have lain by very quietly till we got hold of some especially obstinate

miscreant, who positively refused to be converted to our faith, and then we would have booked him for an

inside place in a small coach, which travelled day and night: and securing the remainder of the places for

stout men with a slight tendency to coughing and spitting, we would have started him forth on his last travels:

leaving him mercilessly to all the tortures which the waiters, landlords, coachmen, guards, boots,

chambermaids, and other familiars on his line of road, might think proper to inflict.

Who has not experienced the miseries inevitably consequent upon a summons to undertake a hasty journey?

You receive an intimation from your place of business wherever that may be, or whatever you may be

that it will be necessary to leave town without delay. You and your family are forthwith thrown into a state of

tremendous excitement; an express is immediately dispatched to the washerwoman's; everybody is in a

bustle; and you, yourself, with a feeling of dignity which you cannot altogether conceal, sally forth to the

bookingoffice to secure your place. Here a painful consciousness of your own unimportance first rushes on

your mind the people are as cool and collected as if nobody were going out of town, or as if a journey of a

hundred odd miles were a mere nothing. You enter a mouldylooking room, ornamented with large

postingbills; the greater part of the place enclosed behind a huge, lumbering, rough counter, and fitted up

with recesses that look like the dens of the smaller animals in a travelling menagerie, without the bars. Some

halfdozen people are 'booking' brownpaper parcels, which one of the clerks flings into the aforesaid

recesses with an air of recklessness which you, remembering the new carpetbag you bought in the morning,

feel considerably annoyed at; porters, looking like so many Atlases, keep rushing in and out, with large

packages on their shoulders; and while you are waiting to make the necessary inquiries, you wonder what on

earth the bookingoffice clerks can have been before they were bookingoffice clerks; one of them with his

pen behind his ear, and his hands behind him, is standing in front of the fire, like a fulllength portrait of

Napoleon; the other with his hat half off his head, enters the passengers' names in the books with a coolness

which is inexpressibly provoking; and the villain whistles actually whistles while a man asks him what

the fare is outside, all the way to Holyhead! in frosty weather, too! They are clearly an isolated race,

evidently possessing no sympathies or feelings in common with the rest of mankind. Your turn comes at last,

and having paid the fare, you tremblingly inquire 'What time will it be necessary for me to be here in the

morning?' 'Six o'clock,' replies the whistler, carelessly pitching the sovereign you have just parted with, into

a wooden bowl on the desk. 'Rather before than arter,' adds the man with the semiroasted unmentionables,

with just as much ease and complacency as if the whole world got out of bed at five. You turn into the street,

ruminating as you bend your steps homewards on the extent to which men become hardened in cruelty, by

If there be one thing in existence more miserable than another, it most unquestionably is the being compelled

to rise by candlelight. If you have ever doubted the fact, you are painfully convinced of your error, on the

morning of your departure. You left strict orders, overnight, to be called at halfpast four, and you have done

nothing all night but doze for five minutes at a time, and start up suddenly from a terrific dream of a large

churchclock with the small hand running round, with astonishing rapidity, to every figure on the dialplate.

At last, completely exhausted, you fall gradually into a refreshing sleep your thoughts grow confused the

stagecoaches, which have been 'going off' before your eyes all night, become less and less distinct, until

they go off altogether; one moment you are driving with all the skill and smartness of an experienced whip

the next you are exhibiting E LA Ducrow, on the offleader; anon you are closely muffled up, inside, and

have just recognised in the person of the guard an old schoolfellow, whose funeral, even in your dream, you

remember to have attended eighteen years ago. At last you fall into a state of complete oblivion, from which

you are aroused, as if into a new state of existence, by a singular illusion. You are apprenticed to a

trunkmaker; how, or why, or when, or wherefore, you don't take the trouble to inquire; but there you are,

pasting the lining in the lid of a portmanteau. Confound that other apprentice in the back shop, how he is

hammering! rap, rap, rap what an industrious fellow he must be! you have heard him at work for half an

hour past, and he has been hammering incessantly the whole time. Rap, rap, rap, again he's talking now

what's that he said? Five o'clock! You make a violent exertion, and start up in bed. The vision is at once

dispelled; the trunkmaker's shop is your own bedroom, and the other apprentice your shivering servant, who

has been vainly endeavouring to wake you for the last quarter of an hour, at the imminent risk of breaking

You proceed to dress yourself, with all possible dispatch. The flaring flat candle with the long snuff, gives

light enough to show that the things you want, are not where they ought to be, and you undergo a trifling

delay in consequence of having carefully packed up one of your boots in your overanxiety of the preceding

night. You soon complete your toilet, however, for you are not particular on such an occasion, and you

shaved yesterday evening; so mounting your Petersham greatcoat, and green travelling shawl, and grasping

your carpetbag in your right hand, you walk lightly downstairs, lest you should awaken any of the family,

and after pausing in the common sittingroom for one moment, just to have a cup of coffee (the said common

sittingroom looking remarkably comfortable, with everything out of its place, and strewed with the crumbs

of last night's supper), you undo the chain and bolts of the streetdoor, and find yourself fairly in the street.

A thaw, by all that is miserable! The frost is completely broken up. You look down the long perspective of

Oxfordstreet, the gas lights mournfully reflected on the wet pavement, and can discern no speck in the

road to encourage the belief that there is a cab or a coach to be had the very coachmen have gone home in

despair. The cold sleet is drizzling down with that gentle regularity, which betokens a duration of

fourandtwenty hours at least; the damp hangs upon the housetops and lampposts, and clings to you like

an invisible cloak. The water is 'coming in' in every area, the pipes have burst, the waterbutts are running

over; the kennels seem to be doing matches against time, pumphandles descend of their own accord, horses

in marketcarts fall down, and there's no one to help them up again, policemen look as if they had been

carefully sprinkled with powdered glass; here and there a milkwoman trudges slowly along, with a bit of list

round each foot to keep her from slipping; boys who 'don't sleep in the house,' and are not allowed much

sleep out of it, can't wake their masters by thundering at the shopdoor, and cry with the cold the

compound of ice, snow, and water on the pavement, is a couple of inches thick nobody ventures to walk

fast to keep himself warm, and nobody could succeed in keeping himself warm if he did.

It strikes a quarter past five as you trudge down Waterlooplace on your way to the Golden Cross, and you

discover, for the first time, that you were called about an hour too early. You have not time to go back; there

is no place open to go into, and you have, therefore, no resource but to go forward, which you do, feeling

remarkably satisfied with yourself, and everything about you. You arrive at the office, and look wistfully up

the yard for the Birmingham Highflier, which, for aught you can see, may have flown away altogether, for

preparations appear to be on foot for the departure of any vehicle in the shape of a coach. You wander into

the bookingoffice, which with the gaslights and blazing fire, looks quite comfortable by contrast that is

to say, if any place CAN look comfortable at halfpast five on a winter's morning. There stands the identical

bookkeeper in the same position as if he had not moved since you saw him yesterday. As he informs you,

that the coach is up the yard, and will be brought round in about a quarter of an hour, you leave your bag, and

repair to 'The Tap' not with any absurd idea of warming yourself, because you feel such a result to be

utterly hopeless, but for the purpose of procuring some hot brandyandwater, which you do, when the

kettle boils! an event which occurs exactly two minutes and a half before the time fixed for the starting of the

The first stroke of six, peals from St. Martin's church steeple, just as you take the first sip of the boiling

liquid. You find yourself at the bookingoffice in two seconds, and the tapwaiter finds himself much

comforted by your brandyandwater, in about the same period. The coach is out; the horses are in, and the

guard and two or three porters, are stowing the luggage away, and running up the steps of the bookingoffice,

and down the steps of the bookingoffice, with breathless rapidity. The place, which a few minutes ago was

so still and quiet, is now all bustle; the early vendors of the morning papers have arrived, and you are assailed

on all sides with shouts of 'TIMES, gen'lm'n, TIMES,' 'Here's CHRON CHRON CHRON,' 'HERALD,

ma'am,' 'Highly interesting murder, gen'lm'n,' 'Curious case o' breach o' promise, ladies.' The inside

passengers are already in their dens, and the outsides, with the exception of yourself, are pacing up and down

the pavement to keep themselves warm; they consist of two young men with very long hair, to which the sleet

has communicated the appearance of crystallised rats' tails; one thin young woman cold and peevish, one old

gentleman ditto ditto, and something in a cloak and cap, intended to represent a military officer; every

member of the party, with a large stiff shawl over his chin, looking exactly as if he were playing a set of Pan's

'Take off the cloths, Bob,' says the coachman, who now appears for the first time, in a rough blue greatcoat,

of which the buttons behind are so far apart, that you can't see them both at the same time. 'Now, gen'lm'n,'

cries the guard, with the waybill in his hand. 'Five minutes behind time already!' Up jump the passengers

the two young men smoking like limekilns, and the old gentleman grumbling audibly. The thin young

woman is got upon the roof, by dint of a great deal of pulling, and pushing, and helping and trouble, and she

repays it by expressing her solemn conviction that she will never be able to get down again.

'All right,' sings out the guard at last, jumping up as the coach starts, and blowing his horn directly

afterwards, in proof of the soundness of his wind. 'Let 'em go, Harry, give 'em their heads,' cries the

coachman and off we start as briskly as if the morning were 'all right,' as well as the coach: and looking

forward as anxiously to the termination of our journey, as we fear our readers will have done, long since, to

It is very generally allowed that public conveyances afford an extensive field for amusement and observation.

Of all the public conveyances that have been constructed since the days of the Ark we think that is the

earliest on record to the present time, commend us to an omnibus. A long stage is not to be despised, but

there you have only six insides, and the chances are, that the same people go all the way with you there is

no change, no variety. Besides, after the first twelve hours or so, people get cross and sleepy, and when you

have seen a man in his nightcap, you lose all respect for him; at least, that is the case with us. Then on smooth

roads people frequently get prosy, and tell long stories, and even those who don't talk, may have very

unpleasant predilections. We once travelled four hundred miles, inside a stagecoach, with a stout man, who

had a glass of rumandwater, warm, handed in at the window at every place where we changed horses. This

was decidedly unpleasant. We have also travelled occasionally, with a small boy of a pale aspect, with light

hair, and no perceptible neck, coming up to town from school under the protection of the guard, and directed

to be left at the Cross Keys till called for. This is, perhaps, even worse than rumandwater in a close

atmosphere. Then there is the whole train of evils consequent on a change of the coachman; and the misery of

the discovery which the guard is sure to make the moment you begin to doze that he wants a

brownpaper parcel, which he distinctly remembers to have deposited under the seat on which you are

reposing. A great deal of bustle and groping takes place, and when you are thoroughly awakened, and

severely cramped, by holding your legs up by an almost supernatural exertion, while he is looking behind

them, it suddenly occurs to him that he put it in the fore boot. Bang goes the door; the parcel is immediately

found; off starts the coach again; and the guard plays the keybugle as loud as he can play it, as if in mockery

Now, you meet with none of these afflictions in an omnibus; sameness there can never be. The passengers

change as often in the course of one journey as the figures in a kaleidoscope, and though not so glittering, are

far more amusing. We believe there is no instance on record, of a man's having gone to sleep in one of these

vehicles. As to long stories, would any man venture to tell a long story in an omnibus? and even if he did,

where would be the harm? nobody could possibly hear what he was talking about. Again; children, though

occasionally, are not often to be found in an omnibus; and even when they are, if the vehicle be full, as is

generally the case, somebody sits upon them, and we are unconscious of their presence. Yes, after mature

reflection, and considerable experience, we are decidedly of opinion, that of all known vehicles, from the

glasscoach in which we were taken to be christened, to that sombre caravan in which we must one day make

We will back the machine in which we make our daily peregrination from the top of Oxfordstreet to the

city, against any 'buss' on the road, whether it be for the gaudiness of its exterior, the perfect simplicity of its

interior, or the native coolness of its cad. This young gentleman is a singular instance of selfdevotion; his

somewhat intemperate zeal on behalf of his employers, is constantly getting him into trouble, and

occasionally into the house of correction. He is no sooner emancipated, however, than he resumes the duties

of his profession with unabated ardour. His principal distinction is his activity. His great boast is, 'that he can

chuck an old gen'lm'n into the buss, shut him in, and rattle off, afore he knows where it's agoing to' a feat

which he frequently performs, to the infinite amusement of every one but the old gentleman concerned, who,

We are not aware that it has ever been precisely ascertained, how many passengers our omnibus will contain.

The impression on the cad's mind evidently is, that it is amply sufficient for the accommodation of any

number of persons that can be enticed into it. 'Any room?' cries a hot pedestrian. 'Plenty o' room, sir,' replies

the conductor, gradually opening the door, and not disclosing the real state of the case, until the wretched

man is on the steps. 'Where?' inquires the entrapped individual, with an attempt to back out again. 'Either

side, sir,' rejoins the cad, shoving him in, and slamming the door. 'All right, Bill.' Retreat is impossible; the

As we get into the city a little before ten, four or five of our party are regular passengers. We always take

them up at the same places, and they generally occupy the same seats; they are always dressed in the same

manner, and invariably discuss the same topics the increasing rapidity of cabs, and the disregard of moral

obligations evinced by omnibus men. There is a little testy old man, with a powdered head, who always sits

on the righthand side of the door as you enter, with his hands folded on the top of his umbrella. He is

extremely impatient, and sits there for the purpose of keeping a sharp eye on the cad, with whom he generally

holds a running dialogue. He is very officious in helping people in and out, and always volunteers to give the

cad a poke with his umbrella, when any one wants to alight. He usually recommends ladies to have sixpence

ready, to prevent delay; and if anybody puts a window down, that he can reach, he immediately puts it up

'Now, what are you stopping for?' says the little man every morning, the moment there is the slightest

indication of 'pulling up' at the corner of Regentstreet, when some such dialogue as the following takes

'I know you're stopping for passengers; but you've no business to do so. WHY are you stopping?'

'Vy, sir, that's a difficult question. I think it is because we perfer stopping here to going on.'

'Now mind,' exclaims the little old man, with great vehemence, 'I'll pull you up tomorrow; I've often

'Thankee, sir,' replies the cad, touching his hat with a mock expression of gratitude; 'werry much obliged to

you indeed, sir.' Here the young men in the omnibus laugh very heartily, and the old gentleman gets very red

The stout gentleman in the white neckcloth, at the other end of the vehicle, looks very prophetic, and says

that something must shortly be done with these fellows, or there's no saying where all this will end; and the

shabbygenteel man with the green bag, expresses his entire concurrence in the opinion, as he has done

A second omnibus now comes up, and stops immediately behind us. Another old gentleman elevates his cane

in the air, and runs with all his might towards our omnibus; we watch his progress with great interest; the

door is opened to receive him, he suddenly disappears he has been spirited away by the opposition.

Hereupon the driver of the opposition taunts our people with his having 'regularly done 'em out of that old

swell,' and the voice of the 'old swell' is heard, vainly protesting against this unlawful detention. We rattle off,

the other omnibus rattles after us, and every time we stop to take up a passenger, they stop to take him too;

sometimes we get him; sometimes they get him; but whoever don't get him, say they ought to have had him,

As we arrive in the vicinity of Lincoln'sinnfields, Bedfordrow, and other legal haunts, we drop a great

many of our original passengers, and take up fresh ones, who meet with a very sulky reception. It is rather

remarkable, that the people already in an omnibus, always look at newcomers, as if they entertained some

undefined idea that they have no business to come in at all. We are quite persuaded the little old man has

some notion of this kind, and that he considers their entry as a sort of negative impertinence.

Conversation is now entirely dropped; each person gazes vacantly through the window in front of him, and

everybody thinks that his opposite neighbour is staring at him. If one man gets out at Shoe lane, and another

at the corner of Farringdonstreet, the little old gentleman grumbles, and suggests to the latter, that if he had

got out at Shoelane too, he would have saved them the delay of another stoppage; whereupon the young

men laugh again, and the old gentleman looks very solemn, and says nothing more till he gets to the Bank,

when he trots off as fast as he can, leaving us to do the same, and to wish, as we walk away, that we could

Of all the cabrioletdrivers whom we have ever had the honour and gratification of knowing by sight and

our acquaintance in this way has been most extensive there is one who made an impression on our mind

which can never be effaced, and who awakened in our bosom a feeling of admiration and respect, which we

entertain a fatal presentiment will never be called forth again by any human being. He was a man of most

simple and prepossessing appearance. He was a brownwhiskered, whitehatted, nocoated cabman; his

nose was generally red, and his bright blue eye not unfrequently stood out in bold relief against a black

border of artificial workmanship; his boots were of the Wellington form, pulled up to meet his corduroy

kneesmalls, or at least to approach as near them as their dimensions would admit of; and his neck was

usually garnished with a bright yellow handkerchief. In summer he carried in his mouth a flower; in winter, a

straw slight, but, to a contemplative mind, certain indications of a love of nature, and a taste for botany.

His cabriolet was gorgeously painted a bright red; and wherever we went, City or West End, Paddington or

Holloway, North, East, West, or South, there was the red cab, bumping up against the posts at the street

corners, and turning in and out, among hackney coaches, and drays, and carts, and waggons, and omnibuses,

and contriving by some strange means or other, to get out of places which no other vehicle but the red cab

could ever by any possibility have contrived to get into at all. Our fondness for that red cab was unbounded.

How we should have liked to have seen it in the circle at Astley's! Our life upon it, that it should have

performed such evolutions as would have put the whole company to shame Indian chiefs, knights, Swiss

Some people object to the exertion of getting into cabs, and others object to the difficulty of getting out of

them; we think both these are objections which take their rise in perverse and ill conditioned minds. The

getting into a cab is a very pretty and graceful process, which, when well performed, is essentially

melodramatic. First, there is the expressive pantomime of every one of the eighteen cabmen on the stand, the

moment you raise your eyes from the ground. Then there is your own pantomime in reply quite a little

ballet. Four cabs immediately leave the stand, for your especial accommodation; and the evolutions of the

animals who draw them, are beautiful in the extreme, as they grate the wheels of the cabs against the

curbstones, and sport playfully in the kennel. You single out a particular cab, and dart swiftly towards it.

One bound, and you are on the first step; turn your body lightly round to the right, and you are on the second;

bend gracefully beneath the reins, working round to the left at the same time, and you are in the cab. There is

no difficulty in finding a seat: the apron knocks you comfortably into it at once, and off you go.

The getting out of a cab is, perhaps, rather more complicated in its theory, and a shade more difficult in its

execution. We have studied the subject a great deal, and we think the best way is, to throw yourself out, and

trust to chance for alighting on your feet. If you make the driver alight first, and then throw yourself upon

him, you will find that he breaks your fall materially. In the event of your contemplating an offer of

eightpence, on no account make the tender, or show the money, until you are safely on the pavement. It is

very bad policy attempting to save the fourpence. You are very much in the power of a cabman, and he

considers it a kind of fee not to do you any wilful damage. Any instruction, however, in the art of getting out

of a cab, is wholly unnecessary if you are going any distance, because the probability is, that you will be shot

We are not aware of any instance on record in which a cabhorse has performed three consecutive miles

without going down once. What of that? It is all excitement. And in these days of derangement of the nervous

system and universal lassitude, people are content to pay handsomely for excitement; where can it be

But to return to the red cab; it was omnipresent. You had but to walk down Holborn, or Fleetstreet, or any of

the principal thoroughfares in which there is a great deal of traffic, and judge for yourself. You had hardly

turned into the street, when you saw a trunk or two, lying on the ground: an uprooted post, a hatbox, a

portmanteau, and a carpetbag, strewed about in a very picturesque manner: a horse in a cab standing by,

looking about him with great unconcern; and a crowd, shouting and screaming with delight, cooling their

flushed faces against the glass windows of a chemist's shop. 'What's the matter here, can you tell me?'

'O'ny a cab, sir.' 'Anybody hurt, do you know?' 'O'ny the fare, sir. I see him a turnin' the corner, and I ses

to another gen'lm'n "that's a reg'lar little oss that, and he's a comin' along rayther sweet, an't he?" "He just

is," ses the other gen'lm'n, ven bump they cums agin the post, and out flies the fare like bricks.' Need we say

it was the red cab; or that the gentleman with the straw in his mouth, who emerged so coolly from the

chemist's shop and philosophically climbing into the little dickey, started off at full gallop, was the red cab's

The ubiquity of this red cab, and the influence it exercised over the risible muscles of justice itself, was

perfectly astonishing. You walked into the justiceroom of the Mansionhouse; the whole court resounded

with merriment. The Lord Mayor threw himself back in his chair, in a state of frantic delight at his own joke;

every vein in Mr. Hobler's countenance was swollen with laughter, partly at the Lord Mayor's facetiousness,

but more at his own; the constables and policeofficers were (as in duty bound) in ecstasies at Mr. Hobler

and the Lord Mayor combined; and the very paupers, glancing respectfully at the beadle's countenance, tried

to smile, as even he relaxed. A tall, weazenfaced man, with an impediment in his speech, would be

endeavouring to state a case of imposition against the red cab's driver; and the red cab's driver, and the Lord

Mayor, and Mr. Hobler, would be having a little fun among themselves, to the inordinate delight of

everybody but the complainant. In the end, justice would be so tickled with the red cabdriver's native

humour, that the fine would be mitigated, and he would go away full gallop, in the red cab, to impose on

The driver of the red cab, confident in the strength of his own moral principles, like many other philosophers,

was wont to set the feelings and opinions of society at complete defiance. Generally speaking, perhaps, he

would as soon carry a fare safely to his destination, as he would upset him sooner, perhaps, because in that

case he not only got the money, but had the additional amusement of running a longer heat against some

smart rival. But society made war upon him in the shape of penalties, and he must make war upon society in

his own way. This was the reasoning of the red cabdriver. So, he bestowed a searching look upon the fare,

as he put his hand in his waistcoat pocket, when he had gone half the mile, to get the money ready; and if he

The last time we saw our friend was one wet evening in Tottenham courtroad, when he was engaged in a

very warm and somewhat personal altercation with a loquacious little gentleman in a green coat. Poor fellow!

there were great excuses to be made for him: he had not received above eighteenpence more than his fare,

and consequently laboured under a great deal of very natural indignation. The dispute had attained a pretty

considerable height, when at last the loquacious little gentleman, making a mental calculation of the distance,

and finding that he had already paid more than he ought, avowed his unalterable determination to 'pull up' the

'Now, just mark this, young man,' said the little gentleman, 'I'll pull you up tomorrow morning.'

'I will,' replied the little gentleman, 'mark my words, that's all. If I live till tomorrow morning, you shall

There was a steadiness of purpose, and indignation of speech, about the little gentleman, as he took an angry

pinch of snuff, after this last declaration, which made a visible impression on the mind of the red cabdriver.

He appeared to hesitate for an instant. It was only for an instant; his resolve was soon taken.

'Very well,' said our friend, tucking up his shirt sleeves very calmly. 'There'll be three veeks for that. Wery

good; that'll bring me up to the middle o' next month. Three veeks more would carry me on to my birthday,

and then I've got ten pound to draw. I may as well get board, lodgin', and washin', till then, out of the county,

So, without more ado, the red cabdriver knocked the little gentleman down, and then called the police to

A story is nothing without the sequel; and therefore, we may state, that to our certain knowledge, the board,

lodging, and washing were all provided in due course. We happen to know the fact, for it came to our

knowledge thus: We went over the House of Correction for the county of Middlesex shortly after, to witness

the operation of the silent system; and looked on all the 'wheels' with the greatest anxiety, in search of our

longlost friend. He was nowhere to be seen, however, and we began to think that the little gentleman in the

green coat must have relented, when, as we were traversing the kitchengarden, which lies in a sequestered

part of the prison, we were startled by hearing a voice, which apparently proceeded from the wall, pouring

forth its soul in the plaintive air of 'All round my hat,' which was then just beginning to form a recognised

'Sad fellow,' he replied, 'very sad. He positively refused to work on the wheel; so, after many trials, I was

compelled to order him into solitary confinement. He says he likes it very much though, and I am afraid he

Shall we add, that our heart had not deceived us and that the comic singer was no other than our

We have never seen him since, but we have strong reason to suspect that this noble individual was a distant

relative of a waterman of our acquaintance, who, on one occasion, when we were passing the coachstand

over which he presides, after standing very quietly to see a tall man struggle into a cab, ran up very briskly

when it was all over (as his brethren invariably do), and, touching his hat, asked, as a matter of course, for 'a

copper for the waterman.' Now, the fare was by no means a handsome man; and, waxing very indignant at the

demand, he replied 'Money! What for? Coming up and looking at me, I suppose!' 'Vell, sir,' rejoined the

The identical waterman afterwards attained a very prominent station in society; and as we know something of

his life, and have often thought of telling what we DO know, perhaps we shall never have a better opportunity

Mr. William Barker, then, for that was the gentleman's name, Mr. William Barker was born but why need

we relate where Mr. William Barker was born, or when? Why scrutinise the entries in parochial ledgers, or

seek to penetrate the Lucinian mysteries of lyingin hospitals? Mr. William Barker WAS born, or he had

never been. There is a son there was a father. There is an effect there was a cause. Surely this is sufficient

information for the most Fatimalike curiosity; and, if it be not, we regret our inability to supply any further

evidence on the point. Can there be a more satisfactory, or more strictly parliamentary course? Impossible.

We at once avow a similar inability to record at what precise period, or by what particular process, this

gentleman's patronymic, of William Barker, became corrupted into 'Bill Boorker.' Mr. Barker acquired a high

standing, and no inconsiderable reputation, among the members of that profession to which he more

peculiarly devoted his energies; and to them he was generally known, either by the familiar appellation of

'Bill Boorker,' or the flattering designation of 'Aggerawatin Bill,' the latter being a playful and expressive

SOBRIQUET, illustrative of Mr. Barker's great talent in 'aggerawatin' and rendering wild such subjects of her

Majesty as are conveyed from place to place, through the instrumentality of omnibuses. Of the early life of

Mr. Barker little is known, and even that little is involved in considerable doubt and obscurity. A want of

application, a restlessness of purpose, a thirsting after porter, a love of all that is roving and cadgerlike in

nature, shared in common with many other great geniuses, appear to have been his leading characteristics.

The busy hum of a parochial freeschool, and the shady repose of a county gaol, were alike inefficacious in

producing the slightest alteration in Mr. Barker's disposition. His feverish attachment to change and variety

If Mr. Barker can be fairly said to have had any weakness in his earlier years, it was an amiable one love;

love in its most comprehensive form a love of ladies, liquids, and pocket handkerchiefs. It was no selfish

feeling; it was not confined to his own possessions, which but too many men regard with exclusive

complacency. No; it was a nobler love a general principle. It extended itself with equal force to the property

There is something very affecting in this. It is still more affecting to know, that such philanthropy is but

imperfectly rewarded. Bowstreet, Newgate, and Millbank, are a poor return for general benevolence,

evincing itself in an irrepressible love for all created objects. Mr. Barker felt it so. After a lengthened

interview with the highest legal authorities, he quitted his ungrateful country, with the consent, and at the

expense, of its Government; proceeded to a distant shore; and there employed himself, like another

Cincinnatus, in clearing and cultivating the soil a peaceful pursuit, in which a term of seven years glided

Whether, at the expiration of the period we have just mentioned, the British Government required Mr.

Barker's presence here, or did not require his residence abroad, we have no distinct means of ascertaining. We

should be inclined, however, to favour the latter position, inasmuch as we do not find that he was advanced to

any other public post on his return, than the post at the corner of the Haymarket, where he officiated as

assistantwaterman to the hackneycoach stand. Seated, in this capacity, on a couple of tubs near the

curbstone, with a brass plate and number suspended round his neck by a massive chain, and his ankles

curiously enveloped in haybands, he is supposed to have made those observations on human nature which

Mr. Barker had not officiated for many months in this capacity, when the appearance of the first omnibus

caused the public mind to go in a new direction, and prevented a great many hackneycoaches from going in

any direction at all. The genius of Mr. Barker at once perceived the whole extent of the injury that would be

eventually inflicted on cab and coach stands, and, by consequence, on watermen also, by the progress of the

system of which the first omnibus was a part. He saw, too, the necessity of adopting some more profitable

profession; and his active mind at once perceived how much might be done in the way of enticing the

youthful and unwary, and shoving the old and helpless, into the wrong buss, and carrying them off, until,

reduced to despair, they ransomed themselves by the payment of sixpence ahead, or, to adopt his own

figurative expression in all its native beauty, 'till they was rig'larly done over, and forked out the stumpy.'

An opportunity for realising his fondest anticipations, soon presented itself. Rumours were rife on the

hackneycoach stands, that a buss was building, to run from Lissongrove to the Bank, down Oxfordstreet

and Holborn; and the rapid increase of busses on the Paddingtonroad, encouraged the idea. Mr. Barker

secretly and cautiously inquired in the proper quarters. The report was correct; the 'Royal William' was to

make its first journey on the following Monday. It was a crack affair altogether. An enterprising young

cabman, of established reputation as a dashing whip for he had compromised with the parents of three

scrunched children, and just 'worked out' his fine for knocking down an old lady was the driver; and the

spirited proprietor, knowing Mr. Barker's qualifications, appointed him to the vacant office of cad on the very

first application. The buss began to run, and Mr. Barker entered into a new suit of clothes, and on a new

To recapitulate all the improvements introduced by this extraordinary man into the omnibus system

gradually, indeed, but surely would occupy a far greater space than we are enabled to devote to this

imperfect memoir. To him is universally assigned the original suggestion of the practice which afterwards

became so general of the driver of a second buss keeping constantly behind the first one, and driving the

pole of his vehicle either into the door of the other, every time it was opened, or through the body of any lady

or gentleman who might make an attempt to get into it; a humorous and pleasant invention, exhibiting all that

originality of idea, and fine, bold flow of spirits, so conspicuous in every action of this great man.

Mr. Barker had opponents of course; what man in public life has not? But even his worst enemies cannot

deny that he has taken more old ladies and gentlemen to Paddington who wanted to go to the Bank, and more

old ladies and gentlemen to the Bank who wanted to go to Paddington, than any six men on the road; and

however much malevolent spirits may pretend to doubt the accuracy of the statement, they well know it to be

an established fact, that he has forcibly conveyed a variety of ancient persons of either sex, to both places,

Mr. Barker was the identical cad who nobly distinguished himself, some time since, by keeping a tradesman

on the step the omnibus going at full speed all the time till he had thrashed him to his entire satisfaction,

and finally throwing him away, when he had quite done with him. Mr. Barker it OUGHT to have been, who

honestly indignant at being ignominiously ejected from a house of public entertainment, kicked the landlord

in the knee, and thereby caused his death. We say it OUGHT to have been Mr. Barker, because the action

It has now become matter of history; it is recorded in the Newgate Calendar; and we wish we could attribute

this piece of daring heroism to Mr. Barker. We regret being compelled to state that it was not performed by

him. Would, for the family credit we could add, that it was achieved by his brother!

It was in the exercise of the nicer details of his profession, that Mr. Barker's knowledge of human nature was

beautifully displayed. He could tell at a glance where a passenger wanted to go to, and would shout the name

of the place accordingly, without the slightest reference to the real destination of the vehicle. He knew exactly

the kind of old lady that would be too much flurried by the process of pushing in and pulling out of the

caravan, to discover where she had been put down, until too late; had an intuitive perception of what was

passing in a passenger's mind when he inwardly resolved to 'pull that cad up tomorrow morning;' and never

failed to make himself agreeable to female servants, whom he would place next the door, and talk to all the

Human judgment is never infallible, and it would occasionally happen that Mr. Barker experimentalised with

the timidity or forbearance of the wrong person, in which case a summons to a Policeoffice, was, on more

than one occasion, followed by a committal to prison. It was not in the power of trifles such as these,

however, to subdue the freedom of his spirit. As soon as they passed away, he resumed the duties of his

We have spoken of Mr. Barker and of the red cabdriver, in the past tense. Alas! Mr. Barker has again

become an absentee; and the class of men to which they both belonged is fast disappearing. Improvement has

peered beneath the aprons of our cabs, and penetrated to the very innermost recesses of our omnibuses. Dirt

and fustian will vanish before cleanliness and livery. Slang will be forgotten when civility becomes general:

and that enlightened, eloquent, sage, and profound body, the Magistracy of London, will be deprived of half

We hope our readers will not be alarmed at this rather ominous title. We assure them that we are not about to

become political, neither have we the slightest intention of being more prosy than usual if we can help it. It

has occurred to us that a slight sketch of the general aspect of 'the House,' and the crowds that resort to it on

the night of an important debate, would be productive of some amusement: and as we have made some few

calls at the aforesaid house in our time have visited it quite often enough for our purpose, and a great deal

too often for our personal peace and comfort we have determined to attempt the description. Dismissing

from our minds, therefore, all that feeling of awe, which vague ideas of breaches of privilege,

SerjeantatArms, heavy denunciations, and still heavier fees, are calculated to awaken, we enter at once into

Halfpast four o'clock and at five the mover of the Address will be 'on his legs,' as the newspapers

announce sometimes by way of novelty, as if speakers were occasionally in the habit of standing on their

heads. The members are pouring in, one after the other, in shoals. The few spectators who can obtain

standingroom in the passages, scrutinise them as they pass, with the utmost interest, and the man who can

identify a member occasionally, becomes a person of great importance. Every now and then you hear earnest

whispers of 'That's Sir John Thomson.' 'Which? him with the gilt order round his neck?' 'No, no; that's one of

the messengers that other with the yellow gloves, is Sir John Thomson.' 'Here's Mr. Smith.' 'Lor!' 'Yes, how

d'ye do, sir? (He is our new member) How do you do, sir?' Mr. Smith stops: turns round with an air of

enchanting urbanity (for the rumour of an intended dissolution has been very extensively circulated this

morning); seizes both the hands of his gratified constituent, and, after greeting him with the most enthusiastic

warmth, darts into the lobby with an extraordinary display of ardour in the public cause, leaving an immense

The arrivals increase in number, and the heat and noise increase in very unpleasant proportion. The livery

servants form a complete lane on either side of the passage, and you reduce yourself into the smallest possible

space to avoid being turned out. You see that stout man with the hoarse voice, in the blue coat, queer

crowned, broadbrimmed hat, white corduroy breeches, and great boots, who has been talking incessantly for

half an hour past, and whose importance has occasioned no small quantity of mirth among the strangers. That

is the great conservator of the peace of Westminster. You cannot fail to have remarked the grace with which

he saluted the noble Lord who passed just now, or the excessive dignity of his air, as he expostulates with the

crowd. He is rather out of temper now, in consequence of the very irreverent behaviour of those two young

fellows behind him, who have done nothing but laugh all the time they have been here.

'Will they divide tonight, do you think, Mr. ' timidly inquires a little thin man in the crowd, hoping to

'How CAN you ask such questions, sir?' replies the functionary, in an incredibly loud key, and pettishly

grasping the thick stick he carries in his right hand. 'Pray do not, sir. I beg of you; pray do not, sir.' The little

man looks remarkably out of his element, and the uninitiated part of the throng are in positive convulsions of

Just at this moment some unfortunate individual appears, with a very smirking air, at the bottom of the long

passage. He has managed to elude the vigilance of the special constable downstairs, and is evidently

'Go back, sir you must NOT come here,' shouts the hoarse one, with tremendous emphasis of voice and

'Do you hear, sir will you go back?' continues the official dignitary, gently pushing the intruder some

'A Jackinoffice, sir, and a very insolent fellow,' reiterates the stranger, now completely in a passion.

'Pray do not force me to put you out, sir,' retorts the other 'pray do not my instructions are to keep this

'Here, Wilson! Collins!' gasps the officer, actually paralysed at this insulting expression, which in his mind

is all but high treason; 'take this man out take him out, I say! How dare you, sir?' and down goes the

unfortunate man five stairs at a time, turning round at every stoppage, to come back again, and denouncing

'Make way, gentlemen, pray make way for the Members, I beg of you!' shouts the zealous officer, turning

You see this ferociouslooking gentleman, with a complexion almost as sallow as his linen, and whose large

black moustache would give him the appearance of a figure in a hairdresser's window, if his countenance

possessed the thought which is communicated to those waxen caricatures of the human face divine. He is a

militia officer, and the most amusing person in the House. Can anything be more exquisitely absurd than the

burlesque grandeur of his air, as he strides up to the lobby, his eyes rolling like those of a Turk's head in a

cheap Dutch clock? He never appears without that bundle of dirty papers which he carries under his left arm,

and which are generally supposed to be the miscellaneous estimates for 1804, or some equally important

documents. He is very punctual in his attendance at the House, and his selfsatisfied 'HearHear,' is not

This is the gentleman who once actually sent a messenger up to the Strangers' gallery in the old House of

Commons, to inquire the name of an individual who was using an eyeglass, in order that he might complain

to the Speaker that the person in question was quizzing him! On another occasion, he is reported to have

repaired to Bellamy's kitchen a refreshmentroom, where persons who are not Members are admitted on

sufferance, as it were and perceiving two or three gentlemen at supper, who, he was aware, were not

Members, and could not, in that place, very well resent his behaviour, he indulged in the pleasantry of sitting

with his booted leg on the table at which they were supping! He is generally harmless, though, and always

By dint of patience, and some little interest with our friend the constable, we have contrived to make our way

to the Lobby, and you can just manage to catch an occasional glimpse of the House, as the door is opened for

the admission of Members. It is tolerably full already, and little groups of Members are congregated together

That smartlooking fellow in the black coat with velvet facings and cuffs, who wears his D'ORSAY hat so

rakishly, is 'Honest Tom,' a metropolitan representative; and the large man in the cloak with the white lining

not the man by the pillar; the other with the light hair hanging over his coat collar behind is his colleague.

The quiet gentlemanlylooking man in the blue surtout, gray trousers, white neckerchief and gloves, whose

closelybuttoned coat displays his manly figure and broad chest to great advantage, is a very wellknown

character. He has fought a great many battles in his time, and conquered like the heroes of old, with no other

arms than those the gods gave him. The old hardfeatured man who is standing near him, is really a good

specimen of a class of men, now nearly extinct. He is a county Member, and has been from time whereof the

memory of man is not to the contrary. Look at his loose, wide, brown coat, with capacious pockets on each

side; the kneebreeches and boots, the immensely long waistcoat, and silver watchchain dangling below it,

the widebrimmed brown hat, and the white handkerchief tied in a great bow, with straggling ends sticking

out beyond his shirtfrill. It is a costume one seldom sees nowadays, and when the few who wear it have died

off, it will be quite extinct. He can tell you long stories of Fox, Pitt, Sheridan, and Canning, and how much

better the House was managed in those times, when they used to get up at eight or nine o'clock, except on

regular fielddays, of which everybody was apprised beforehand. He has a great contempt for all young

Members of Parliament, and thinks it quite impossible that a man can say anything worth hearing, unless he

has sat in the House for fifteen years at least, without saying anything at all. He is of opinion that 'that young

Macaulay' was a regular impostor; he allows, that Lord Stanley may do something one of these days, but 'he's

too young, sir too young.' He is an excellent authority on points of precedent, and when he grows talkative,

after his wine, will tell you how Sir Somebody Something, when he was whipperin for the Government,

brought four men out of their beds to vote in the majority, three of whom died on their way home again; how

the House once divided on the question, that fresh candles be now brought in; how the Speaker was once

upon a time left in the chair by accident, at the conclusion of business, and was obliged to sit in the House by

himself for three hours, till some Member could be knocked up and brought back again, to move the

There he stands, leaning on his stick; looking at the throng of Exquisites around him with most profound

contempt; and conjuring up, before his mind's eye, the scenes he beheld in the old House, in days gone by,

when his own feelings were fresher and brighter, and when, as he imagines, wit, talent, and patriotism

You are curious to know who that young man in the rough greatcoat is, who has accosted every Member

who has entered the House since we have been standing here. He is not a Member; he is only an 'hereditary

bondsman,' or, in other words, an Irish correspondent of an Irish newspaper, who has just procured his

fortysecond frank from a Member whom he never saw in his life before. There he goes again another!

We will try our fortune at the Strangers' gallery, though the nature of the debate encourages very little hope of

success. What on earth are you about? Holding up your order as if it were a talisman at whose command the

wicket would fly open? Nonsense. Just preserve the order for an autograph, if it be worth keeping at all, and

make your appearance at the door with your thumb and forefinger expressively inserted in your

waistcoatpocket. This tall stout man in black is the doorkeeper. 'Any room?' 'Not an inch two or three

dozen gentlemen waiting downstairs on the chance of somebody's going out.' Pull out your purse 'Are you

QUITE sure there's no room?' 'I'll go and look,' replies the doorkeeper, with a wistful glance at your purse,

'but I'm afraid there's not.' He returns, and with real feeling assures you that it is morally impossible to get

near the gallery. It is of no use waiting. When you are refused admission into the Strangers' gallery at the

House of Commons, under such circumstances, you may return home thoroughly satisfied that the place must

Retracing our steps through the long passage, descending the stairs, and crossing Palaceyard, we halt at a

small temporary doorway adjoining the King's entrance to the House of Lords. The order of the

serjeantatarms will admit you into the Reporters' gallery, from whence you can obtain a tolerably good

view of the House. Take care of the stairs, they are none of the best; through this little wicket there. As

soon as your eyes become a little used to the mist of the place, and the glare of the chandeliers below you,

you will see that some unimportant personage on the Ministerial side of the House (to your right hand) is

speaking, amidst a hum of voices and confusion which would rival Babel, but for the circumstance of its

The 'hear, hear,' which occasioned that laugh, proceeded from our warlike friend with the moustache; he is

sitting on the back seat against the wall, behind the Member who is speaking, looking as ferocious and

intellectual as usual. Take one look around you, and retire! The body of the House and the side galleries are

full of Members; some, with their legs on the back of the opposite seat; some, with theirs stretched out to

their utmost length on the floor; some going out, others coming in; all talking, laughing, lounging, coughing,

ohing, questioning, or groaning; presenting a conglomeration of noise and confusion, to be met with in no

other place in existence, not even excepting Smithfield on a marketday, or a cockpit in its glory.

But let us not omit to notice Bellamy's kitchen, or, in other words, the refreshmentroom, common to both

Houses of Parliament, where Ministerialists and Oppositionists, Whigs and Tories, Radicals, Peers, and

Destructives, strangers from the gallery, and the more favoured strangers from below the bar, are alike at

liberty to resort; where divers honourable members prove their perfect independence by remaining during the

whole of a heavy debate, solacing themselves with the creature comforts; and whence they are summoned by

whippersin, when the House is on the point of dividing; either to give their 'conscientious votes' on

questions of which they are conscientiously innocent of knowing anything whatever, or to find a vent for the

playful exuberance of their wineinspired fancies, in boisterous shouts of 'Divide,' occasionally varied with a

little howling, barking, crowing, or other ebullitions of senatorial pleasantry.

When you have ascended the narrow staircase which, in the present temporary House of Commons, leads to

the place we are describing, you will probably observe a couple of rooms on your right hand, with tables

spread for dining. Neither of these is the kitchen, although they are both devoted to the same purpose; the

kitchen is further on to our left, up these halfdozen stairs. Before we ascend the staircase, however, we must

request you to pause in front of this little barplace with the sashwindows; and beg your particular attention

to the steady, honestlooking old fellow in black, who is its sole occupant. Nicholas (we do not mind

mentioning the old fellow's name, for if Nicholas be not a public man, who is? and public men's names are

public property) Nicholas is the butler of Bellamy's, and has held the same place, dressed exactly in the

same manner, and said precisely the same things, ever since the oldest of its present visitors can remember.

An excellent servant Nicholas is an unrivalled compounder of saladdressing an admirable preparer of

sodawater and lemon a special mixer of cold grog and punch and, above all, an unequalled judge of

cheese. If the old man have such a thing as vanity in his composition, this is certainly his pride; and if it be

possible to imagine that anything in this world could disturb his impenetrable calmness, we should say it

We needn't tell you all this, however, for if you have an atom of observation, one glance at his sleek,

knowinglooking head and face his prim white neckerchief, with the wooden tie into which it has been

regularly folded for twenty years past, merging by imperceptible degrees into a smallplaited shirtfrill and

his comfortablelooking form encased in a wellbrushed suit of black would give you a better idea of his

Nicholas is rather out of his element now; he cannot see the kitchen as he used to in the old House; there, one

window of his glasscase opened into the room, and then, for the edification and behoof of more juvenile

questioners, he would stand for an hour together, answering deferential questions about Sheridan, and

Percival, and Castlereagh, and Heaven knows who beside, with manifest delight, always inserting a 'Mister'

Nicholas, like all men of his age and standing, has a great idea of the degeneracy of the times. He seldom

expresses any political opinions, but we managed to ascertain, just before the passing of the Reform Bill, that

Nicholas was a thorough Reformer. What was our astonishment to discover shortly after the meeting of the

first reformed Parliament, that he was a most inveterate and decided Tory! It was very odd: some men change

their opinions from necessity, others from expediency, others from inspiration; but that Nicholas should

undergo any change in any respect, was an event we had never contemplated, and should have considered

impossible. His strong opinion against the clause which empowered the metropolitan districts to return

We discovered the secret at last; the metropolitan Members always dined at home. The rascals! As for giving

additional Members to Ireland, it was even worse decidedly unconstitutional. Why, sir, an Irish Member

would go up there, and eat more dinner than three English Members put together. He took no wine; drank

tablebeer by the halfgallon; and went home to Manchesterbuildings, or Millbankstreet, for his

whiskeyandwater. And what was the consequence? Why, the concern lost actually lost, sir by his

patronage. A queer old fellow is Nicholas, and as completely a part of the building as the house itself. We

wonder he ever left the old place, and fully expected to see in the papers, the morning after the fire, a pathetic

account of an old gentleman in black, of decent appearance, who was seen at one of the upper windows when

the flames were at their height, and declared his resolute intention of falling with the floor. He must have

been got out by force. However, he was got out here he is again, looking as he always does, as if he had

been in a bandbox ever since the last session. There he is, at his old post every night, just as we have

described him: and, as characters are scarce, and faithful servants scarcer, long may he be there, say we!

Now, when you have taken your seat in the kitchen, and duly noticed the large fire and roastingjack at one

end of the room the little table for washing glasses and draining jugs at the other the clock over the

window opposite St. Margaret's Church the deal tables and wax candles the damask tablecloths and bare

floor the plate and china on the tables, and the gridiron on the fire; and a few other anomalies peculiar to

the place we will point out to your notice two or three of the people present, whose station or absurdities

It is halfpast twelve o'clock, and as the division is not expected for an hour or two, a few Members are

lounging away the time here in preference to standing at the bar of the House, or sleeping in one of the side

galleries. That singularly awkward and ungainly looking man, in the brownishwhite hat, with the

straggling black trousers which reach about halfway down the leg of his boots, who is leaning against the

meatscreen, apparently deluding himself into the belief that he is thinking about something, is a splendid

sample of a Member of the House of Commons concentrating in his own person the wisdom of a

constituency. Observe the wig, of a dark hue but indescribable colour, for if it be naturally brown, it has

acquired a black tint by long service, and if it be naturally black, the same cause has imparted to it a tinge of

rusty brown; and remark how very materially the great blinkerlike spectacles assist the expression of that

most intelligent face. Seriously speaking, did you ever see a countenance so expressive of the most hopeless

extreme of heavy dulness, or behold a form so strangely put together? He is no great speaker: but when he

The small gentleman with the sharp nose, who has just saluted him, is a Member of Parliament, an

exAlderman, and a sort of amateur fireman. He, and the celebrated fireman's dog, were observed to be

remarkably active at the conflagration of the two Houses of Parliament they both ran up and down, and in

and out, getting under people's feet, and into everybody's way, fully impressed with the belief that they were

doing a great deal of good, and barking tremendously. The dog went quietly back to his kennel with the

engine, but the gentleman kept up such an incessant noise for some weeks after the occurrence, that he

became a positive nuisance. As no more parliamentary fires have occurred, however, and as he has

consequently had no more opportunities of writing to the newspapers to relate how, by way of preserving

pictures he cut them out of their frames, and performed other great national services, he has gradually

That female in black not the one whom the Lord'sDayBill Baronet has just chucked under the chin; the

shorter of the two is 'Jane:' the Hebe of Bellamy's. Jane is as great a character as Nicholas, in her way. Her

leading features are a thorough contempt for the great majority of her visitors; her predominant quality, love

of admiration, as you cannot fail to observe, if you mark the glee with which she listens to something the

young Member near her mutters somewhat unintelligibly in her ear (for his speech is rather thick from some

cause or other), and how playfully she digs the handle of a fork into the arm with which he detains her, by

Jane is no bad hand at repartees, and showers them about, with a degree of liberality and total absence of

reserve or constraint, which occasionally excites no small amazement in the minds of strangers. She cuts

jokes with Nicholas, too, but looks up to him with a great deal of respect the immovable stolidity with

which Nicholas receives the aforesaid jokes, and looks on, at certain pastoral friskings and rompings (Jane's

only recreations, and they are very innocent too) which occasionally take place in the passage, is not the least

The two persons who are seated at the table in the corner, at the farther end of the room, have been constant

guests here, for many years past; and one of them has feasted within these walls, many a time, with the most

brilliant characters of a brilliant period. He has gone up to the other House since then; the greater part of his

boon companions have shared Yorick's fate, and his visits to Bellamy's are comparatively few.

If he really be eating his supper now, at what hour can he possibly have dined! A second solid mass of

rumpsteak has disappeared, and he eat the first in four minutes and three quarters, by the clock over the

window. Was there ever such a personification of Falstaff! Mark the air with which he gloats over that

Stilton, as he removes the napkin which has been placed beneath his chin to catch the superfluous gravy of

the steak, and with what gusto he imbibes the porter which has been fetched, expressly for him, in the pewter

pot. Listen to the hoarse sound of that voice, kept down as it is by layers of solids, and deep draughts of rich

wine, and tell us if you ever saw such a perfect picture of a regular GOURMAND; and whether he is not

exactly the man whom you would pitch upon as having been the partner of Sheridan's parliamentary

carouses, the volunteer driver of the hackneycoach that took him home, and the involuntary upsetter of the

What an amusing contrast between his voice and appearance, and that of the spare, squeaking old man, who

sits at the same table, and who, elevating a little cracked bantam sort of voice to its highest pitch, invokes

damnation upon his own eyes or somebody else's at the commencement of every sentence he utters. 'The

Captain,' as they call him, is a very old frequenter of Bellamy's; much addicted to stopping 'after the House is

up' (an inexpiable crime in Jane's eyes), and a complete walking reservoir of spirits and water.

The old Peer or rather, the old man for his peerage is of comparatively recent date has a huge tumbler

of hot punch brought him; and the other damns and drinks, and drinks and damns, and smokes. Members

arrive every moment in a great bustle to report that 'The Chancellor of the Exchequer's up,' and to get glasses

of brandyandwater to sustain them during the division; people who have ordered supper, countermand it,

and prepare to go downstairs, when suddenly a bell is heard to ring with tremendous violence, and a cry of

'Division!' is heard in the passage. This is enough; away rush the members pellmell. The room is cleared

in an instant; the noise rapidly dies away; you hear the creaking of the last boot on the last stair, and are left

All public dinners in London, from the Lord Mayor's annual banquet at Guildhall, to the Chimneysweepers'

anniversary at White Conduit House; from the Goldsmiths' to the Butchers', from the Sheriffs' to the Licensed

Victuallers'; are amusing scenes. Of all entertainments of this description, however, we think the annual

dinner of some public charity is the most amusing. At a Company's dinner, the people are nearly all alike

regular old stagers, who make it a matter of business, and a thing not to be laughed at. At a political dinner,

everybody is disagreeable, and inclined to speechify much the same thing, bythebye; but at a charity

dinner you see people of all sorts, kinds, and descriptions. The wine may not be remarkably special, to be

sure, and we have heard some hardhearted monsters grumble at the collection; but we really think the

amusement to be derived from the occasion, sufficient to counterbalance even these disadvantages.

Let us suppose you are induced to attend a dinner of this description 'Indigent Orphans' Friends' Benevolent

Institution,' we think it is. The name of the charity is a line or two longer, but never mind the rest. You have a

distinct recollection, however, that you purchased a ticket at the solicitation of some charitable friend: and

you deposit yourself in a hackneycoach, the driver of which no doubt that you may do the thing in style

turns a deaf ear to your earnest entreaties to be set down at the corner of Great Queenstreet, and persists in

carrying you to the very door of the Freemasons', round which a crowd of people are assembled to witness

the entrance of the indigent orphans' friends. You hear great speculations as you pay the fare, on the

possibility of your being the noble Lord who is announced to fill the chair on the occasion, and are highly

The first thing that strikes you, on your entrance, is the astonishing importance of the committee. You

observe a door on the first landing, carefully guarded by two waiters, in and out of which stout gentlemen

with very red faces keep running, with a degree of speed highly unbecoming the gravity of persons of their

years and corpulency. You pause, quite alarmed at the bustle, and thinking, in your innocence, that two or

three people must have been carried out of the diningroom in fits, at least. You are immediately undeceived

by the waiter 'Upstairs, if you please, sir; this is the committeeroom.' Upstairs you go, accordingly;

wondering, as you mount, what the duties of the committee can be, and whether they ever do anything

Having deposited your hat and cloak, and received a remarkably small scrap of pasteboard in exchange

(which, as a matter of course, you lose, before you require it again), you enter the hall, down which there are

three long tables for the less distinguished guests, with a cross table on a raised platform at the upper end for

the reception of the very particular friends of the indigent orphans. Being fortunate enough to find a plate

without anybody's card in it, you wisely seat yourself at once, and have a little leisure to look about you.

Waiters, with winebaskets in their hands, are placing decanters of sherry down the tables, at very

respectable distances; melancholylooking saltcellars, and decayed vinegarcruets, which might have

belonged to the parents of the indigent orphans in their time, are scattered at distant intervals on the cloth; and

the knives and forks look as if they had done duty at every public dinner in London since the accession of

George the First. The musicians are scraping and grating and screwing tremendously playing no notes but

notes of preparation; and several gentlemen are gliding along the sides of the tables, looking into plate after

plate with frantic eagerness, the expression of their countenances growing more and more dismal as they

You turn round to take a look at the table behind you, and not being in the habit of attending public dinners

are somewhat struck by the appearance of the party on which your eyes rest. One of its principal members

appears to be a little man, with a long and rather inflamed face, and gray hair brushed bolt upright in front; he

wears a wisp of black silk round his neck, without any stiffener, as an apology for a neckerchief, and is

addressed by his companions by the familiar appellation of 'Fitz,' or some such monosyllable. Near him is a

stout man in a white neckerchief and buff waistcoat, with shining dark hair, cut very short in front, and a

great, round, healthylooking face, on which he studiously preserves a half sentimental simper. Next him,

again, is a large headed man, with black hair and bushy whiskers; and opposite them are two or three others,

one of whom is a little roundfaced person, in a dressstock and blue underwaistcoat. There is something

peculiar in their air and manner, though you could hardly describe what it is; you cannot divest yourself of

the idea that they have come for some other purpose than mere eating and drinking. You have no time to

debate the matter, however, for the waiters (who have been arranged in lines down the room, placing the

dishes on table) retire to the lower end; the dark man in the blue coat and bright buttons, who has the

direction of the music, looks up to the gallery, and calls out 'band' in a very loud voice; out burst the

orchestra, up rise the visitors, in march fourteen stewards, each with a long wand in his hand, like the evil

genius in a pantomime; then the chairman, then the titled visitors; they all make their way up the room, as fast

as they can, bowing, and smiling, and smirking, and looking remarkably amiable. The applause ceases, grace

is said, the clatter of plates and dishes begins; and every one appears highly gratified, either with the presence

of the distinguished visitors, or the commencement of the anxiouslyexpected dinner.

As to the dinner itself the mere dinner it goes off much the same everywhere. Tureens of soup are

emptied with awful rapidity waiters take plates of turbot away, to get lobstersauce, and bring back plates

of lobstersauce without turbot; people who can carve poultry, are great fools if they own it, and people who

can't have no wish to learn. The knives and forks form a pleasing accompaniment to Auber's music, and

Auber's music would form a pleasing accompaniment to the dinner, if you could hear anything besides the

cymbals. The substantials disappear moulds of jelly vanish like lightning hearty eaters wipe their

foreheads, and appear rather overcome by their recent exertions people who have looked very cross

hitherto, become remarkably bland, and ask you to take wine in the most friendly manner possible old

gentlemen direct your attention to the ladies' gallery, and take great pains to impress you with the fact that the

charity is always peculiarly favoured in this respect every one appears disposed to become talkative and

'Pray, silence, gentlemen, if you please, for NON NOBIS!' shouts the toastmaster with stentorian lungs a

toastmaster's shirt front, waistcoat, and neckerchief, bythebye, always exhibit three distinct shades of

cloudywhite. 'Pray, silence, gentlemen, for NON NOBIS!' The singers, whom you discover to be no other

than the very party that excited your curiosity at first, after 'pitching' their voices immediately begin

TOOTOOing most dismally, on which the regular old stagers burst into occasional cries of 'Sh Sh

waiters! Silence, waiters stand still, waiters keep back, waiters,' and other exorcisms, delivered in a

tone of indignant remonstrance. The grace is soon concluded, and the company resume their seats. The

uninitiated portion of the guests applaud NON NOBIS as vehemently as if it were a capital comic song,

greatly to the scandal and indignation of the regular diners, who immediately attempt to quell this

sacrilegious approbation, by cries of 'Hush, hush!' whereupon the others, mistaking these sounds for hisses,

applaud more tumultuously than before, and, by way of placing their approval beyond the possibility of

The moment the noise ceases, up starts the toastmaster: 'Gentlemen, charge your glasses, if you please!'

Decanters having been handed about, and glasses filled, the toastmaster proceeds, in a regular ascending

scale: 'Gentlemen AIR you all charged? Pray silence gentlemen for the chair!' The

chairman rises, and, after stating that he feels it quite unnecessary to preface the toast he is about to propose,

with any observations whatever, wanders into a maze of sentences, and flounders about in the most

extraordinary manner, presenting a lamentable spectacle of mystified humanity, until he arrives at the words,

'constitutional sovereign of these realms,' at which elderly gentlemen exclaim 'Bravo!' and hammer the table

tremendously with their knifehandles. 'Under any circumstances, it would give him the greatest pride, it

would give him the greatest pleasure he might almost say, it would afford him satisfaction [cheers] to

propose that toast. What must be his feelings, then, when he has the gratification of announcing, that he has

received her Majesty's commands to apply to the Treasurer of her Majesty's Household, for her Majesty's

annual donation of 25L. in aid of the funds of this charity!' This announcement (which has been regularly

made by every chairman, since the first foundation of the charity, forty two years ago) calls forth the most

vociferous applause; the toast is drunk with a great deal of cheering and knocking; and 'God save the Queen'

is sung by the 'professional gentlemen;' the unprofessional gentlemen joining in the chorus, and giving the

national anthem an effect which the newspapers, with great justice, describe as 'perfectly electrical.'

The other 'loyal and patriotic' toasts having been drunk with all due enthusiasm, a comic song having been

well sung by the gentleman with the small neckerchief, and a sentimental one by the second of the party, we

come to the most important toast of the evening 'Prosperity to the charity.' Here again we are compelled to

adopt newspaper phraseology, and to express our regret at being 'precluded from giving even the substance of

the noble lord's observations.' Suffice it to say, that the speech, which is somewhat of the longest, is

rapturously received; and the toast having been drunk, the stewards (looking more important than ever) leave

the room, and presently return, heading a procession of indigent orphans, boys and girls, who walk round the

room, curtseying, and bowing, and treading on each other's heels, and looking very much as if they would

like a glass of wine apiece, to the high gratification of the company generally, and especially of the lady

patronesses in the gallery. EXEUNT children, and reenter stewards, each with a blue plate in his hand. The

band plays a lively air; the majority of the company put their hands in their pockets and look rather serious;

and the noise of sovereigns, rattling on crockery, is heard from all parts of the room.

After a short interval, occupied in singing and toasting, the secretary puts on his spectacles, and proceeds to

read the report and list of subscriptions, the latter being listened to with great attention. 'Mr. Smith, one

guinea Mr. Tompkins, one guinea Mr. Wilson, one guinea Mr. Hickson, one guinea Mr. Nixon, one

guinea Mr. Charles Nixon, one guinea [hear, hear!] Mr. James Nixon, one guinea Mr. Thomas Nixon,

one pound one [tremendous applause]. Lord Fitz Binkle, the chairman of the day, in addition to an annual

donation of fifteen pounds thirty guineas [prolonged knocking: several gentlemen knock the stems off their

wine glasses, in the vehemence of their approbation]. Lady, Fitz Binkle, in addition to an annual donation of

ten pound twenty pound' [protracted knocking and shouts of 'Bravo!'] The list being at length concluded,

the chairman rises, and proposes the health of the secretary, than whom he knows no more zealous or

estimable individual. The secretary, in returning thanks, observes that HE knows no more excellent individual

than the chairman except the senior officer of the charity, whose health HE begs to propose. The senior

officer, in returning thanks, observes that HE knows no more worthy man than the secretary except Mr.

Walker, the auditor, whose health HE begs to propose. Mr. Walker, in returning thanks, discovers some other

estimable individual, to whom alone the senior officer is inferior and so they go on toasting and lauding and

thanking: the only other toast of importance being 'The Lady Patronesses now present!' on which all the

gentlemen turn their faces towards the ladies' gallery, shouting tremendously; and little priggish men, who

have imbibed more wine than usual, kiss their hands and exhibit distressing contortions of visage.

We have protracted our dinner to so great a length, that we have hardly time to add one word by way of

grace. We can only entreat our readers not to imagine, because we have attempted to extract some amusement

from a charity dinner, that we are at all disposed to underrate, either the excellence of the benevolent

institutions with which London abounds, or the estimable motives of those who support them.

The first of May! There is a merry freshness in the sound, calling to our minds a thousand thoughts of all that

is pleasant in nature and beautiful in her most delightful form. What man is there, over whose mind a bright

spring morning does not exercise a magic influence carrying him back to the days of his childish sports,

and conjuring up before him the old green field with its gently waving trees, where the birds sang as he has

never heard them since where the butterfly fluttered far more gaily than he ever sees him now, in all his

ramblings where the sky seemed bluer, and the sun shone more brightly where the air blew more freshly

over greener grass, and sweetersmelling flowers where everything wore a richer and more brilliant hue

than it is ever dressed in now! Such are the deep feelings of childhood, and such are the impressions which

every lovely object stamps upon its heart! The hardy traveller wanders through the maze of thick and pathless

woods, where the sun's rays never shone, and heaven's pure air never played; he stands on the brink of the

roaring waterfall, and, giddy and bewildered, watches the foaming mass as it leaps from stone to stone, and

from crag to crag; he lingers in the fertile plains of a land of perpetual sunshine, and revels in the luxury of

their balmy breath. But what are the deep forests, or the thundering waters, or the richest landscapes that

bounteous nature ever spread, to charm the eyes, and captivate the senses of man, compared with the

recollection of the old scenes of his early youth? Magic scenes indeed; for the fancies of childhood dressed

In former times, spring brought with it not only such associations as these, connected with the past, but sports

and games for the present merry dances round rustic pillars, adorned with emblems of the season, and

reared in honour of its coming. Where are they now! Pillars we have, but they are no longer rustic ones; and

as to dancers, they are used to rooms, and lights, and would not show well in the open air. Think of the

immorality, too! What would your sabbath enthusiasts say, to an aristocratic ring encircling the Duke of

York's column in Carltonterrace a grand POUSSETTE of the middle classes, round Alderman Waithman's

monument in Fleet street, or a general handsfourround of tenpound householders, at the foot of the

Obelisk in St. George'sfields? Alas! romance can make no head against the riot act; and pastoral simplicity

Well; many years ago we began to be a steady and matteroffact sort of people, and dancing in spring being

beneath our dignity, we gave it up, and in course of time it descended to the sweeps a fall certainly,

because, though sweeps are very good fellows in their way, and moreover very useful in a civilised

community, they are not exactly the sort of people to give the tone to the little elegances of society. The

sweeps, however, got the dancing to themselves, and they kept it up, and handed it down. This was a severe

blow to the romance of springtime, but, it did not entirely destroy it, either; for a portion of it descended to

the sweeps with the dancing, and rendered them objects of great interest. A mystery hung over the sweeps in

those days. Legends were in existence of wealthy gentlemen who had lost children, and who, after many

years of sorrow and suffering, had found them in the character of sweeps. Stories were related of a young boy

who, having been stolen from his parents in his infancy, and devoted to the occupation of

chimneysweeping, was sent, in the course of his professional career, to sweep the chimney of his mother's

bedroom; and how, being hot and tired when he came out of the chimney, he got into the bed he had so often

slept in as an infant, and was discovered and recognised therein by his mother, who once every year of her

life, thereafter, requested the pleasure of the company of every London sweep, at halfpast one o'clock, to

Such stories as these, and there were many such, threw an air of mystery round the sweeps, and produced for

them some of those good effects which animals derive from the doctrine of the transmigration of souls. No

one (except the masters) thought of illtreating a sweep, because no one knew who he might be, or what

nobleman's or gentleman's son he might turn out. Chimneysweeping was, by many believers in the

marvellous, considered as a sort of probationary term, at an earlier or later period of which, divers young

noblemen were to come into possession of their rank and titles: and the profession was held by them in great

We remember, in our young days, a little sweep about our own age, with curly hair and white teeth, whom we

devoutly and sincerely believed to be the lost son and heir of some illustrious personage an impression

which was resolved into an unchangeable conviction on our infant mind, by the subject of our speculations

informing us, one day, in reply to our question, propounded a few moments before his ascent to the summit

of the kitchen chimney, 'that he believed he'd been born in the vurkis, but he'd never know'd his father.' We

felt certain, from that time forth, that he would one day be owned by a lord: and we never heard the

churchbells ring, or saw a flag hoisted in the neighbourhood, without thinking that the happy event had at

last occurred, and that his longlost parent had arrived in a coach and six, to take him home to Grosvenor

square. He never came, however; and, at the present moment, the young gentleman in question is settled

down as a master sweep in the neighbourhood of Battlebridge, his distinguishing characteristics being a

decided antipathy to washing himself, and the possession of a pair of legs very inadequate to the support of

The romance of spring having gone out before our time, we were fain to console ourselves as we best could

with the uncertainty that enveloped the birth and parentage of its attendant dancers, the sweeps; and we DID

console ourselves with it, for many years. But, even this wicked source of comfort received a shock from

which it has never recovered a shock which has been in reality its death blow. We could not disguise from

ourselves the fact that whole families of sweeps were regularly born of sweeps, in the rural districts of

Somers Town and Camden Town that the eldest son succeeded to the father's business, that the other

branches assisted him therein, and commenced on their own account; that their children again, were educated

to the profession; and that about their identity there could be no mistake whatever. We could not be blind, we

say, to this melancholy truth, but we could not bring ourselves to admit it, nevertheless, and we lived on for

some years in a state of voluntary ignorance. We were roused from our pleasant slumber by certain dark

insinuations thrown out by a friend of ours, to the effect that children in the lower ranks of life were

beginning to CHOOSE chimneysweeping as their particular walk; that applications had been made by

various boys to the constituted authorities, to allow them to pursue the object of their ambition with the full

concurrence and sanction of the law; that the affair, in short, was becoming one of mere legal contract. We

turned a deaf ear to these rumours at first, but slowly and surely they stole upon us. Month after month, week

after week, nay, day after day, at last, did we meet with accounts of similar applications. The veil was

removed, all mystery was at an end, and chimneysweeping had become a favourite and chosen pursuit.

There is no longer any occasion to steal boys; for boys flock in crowds to bind themselves. The romance of

the trade has fled, and the chimneysweeper of the present day, is no more like unto him of thirty years ago,

than is a Fleetstreet pickpocket to a Spanish brigand, or Paul Pry to Caleb Williams.

This gradual decay and disuse of the practice of leading noble youths into captivity, and compelling them to

ascend chimneys, was a severe blow, if we may so speak, to the romance of chimney sweeping, and to the

romance of spring at the same time. But even this was not all, for some few years ago the dancing on

Mayday began to decline; small sweeps were observed to congregate in twos or threes, unsupported by a

'green,' with no 'My Lord' to act as master of the ceremonies, and no 'My Lady' to preside over the exchequer.

Even in companies where there was a 'green' it was an absolute nothing a mere sprout and the

instrumental accompaniments rarely extended beyond the shovels and a set of Panpipes, better known to the

These were signs of the times, portentous omens of a coming change; and what was the result which they

shadowed forth? Why, the master sweeps, influenced by a restless spirit of innovation, actually interposed

their authority, in opposition to the dancing, and substituted a dinner an anniversary dinner at White

Conduit House where clean faces appeared in lieu of black ones smeared with rose pink; and knee cords

Gentlemen who were in the habit of riding shy horses; and steady going people who have no vagrancy in

their souls, lauded this alteration to the skies, and the conduct of the master sweeps was described beyond the

reach of praise. But how stands the real fact? Let any man deny, if he can, that when the cloth had been

removed, fresh pots and pipes laid upon the table, and the customary loyal and patriotic toasts proposed, the

celebrated Mr. Sluffen, of AdamandEvecourt, whose authority not the most malignant of our opponents

can call in question, expressed himself in a manner following: 'That now he'd cotcht the cheerman's hi, he

vished he might be jolly vell blessed, if he worn't a goin' to have his innings, vich he vould say these here

obserwashuns that how some mischeevus coves as know'd nuffin about the consarn, had tried to sit people

agin the mas'r swips, and take the shine out o' their bis'nes, and the bread out o' the traps o' their preshus kids,

by a makin' o' this here remark, as chimblies could be as vell svept by 'sheenery as by boys; and that the

makin' use o' boys for that there purpuss vos barbareous; vereas, he 'ad been a chummy he begged the

cheerman's parding for usin' such a wulgar hexpression more nor thirty year he might say he'd been born

in a chimbley and he know'd uncommon vell as 'sheenery vos vus nor o' no use: and as to kerhewelty to the

boys, everybody in the chimbley line know'd as vell as he did, that they liked the climbin' better nor nuffin as

vos.' From this day, we date the total fall of the last lingering remnant of Mayday dancing, among the

ELITE of the profession: and from this period we commence a new era in that portion of our spring

We are aware that the unthinking part of the population will meet us here, with the assertion, that dancing on

Mayday still continues that 'greens' are annually seen to roll along the streets that youths in the garb of

clowns, precede them, giving vent to the ebullitions of their sportive fancies; and that lords and ladies follow

Granted. We are ready to acknowledge that in outward show, these processions have greatly improved: we do

not deny the introduction of solos on the drum; we will even go so far as to admit an occasional fantasia on

the triangle, but here our admissions end. We positively deny that the sweeps have art or part in these

proceedings. We distinctly charge the dustmen with throwing what they ought to clear away, into the eyes of

the public. We accuse scavengers, brickmakers, and gentlemen who devote their energies to the

costermongering line, with obtaining money once ayear, under false pretences. We cling with peculiar

fondness to the custom of days gone by, and have shut out conviction as long as we could, but it has forced

itself upon us; and we now proclaim to a deluded public, that the Mayday dancers are NOT sweeps. The

size of them, alone, is sufficient to repudiate the idea. It is a notorious fact that the widelyspread taste for

registerstoves has materially increased the demand for small boys; whereas the men, who, under a fictitious

character, dance about the streets on the first of May nowadays, would be a tight fit in a kitchen flue, to say

nothing of the parlour. This is strong presumptive evidence, but we have positive proof the evidence of our

Upon the morning of the second of the merry month of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight

hundred and thirtysix, we went out for a stroll, with a kind of forlorn hope of seeing something or other

which might induce us to believe that it was really spring, and not Christmas. After wandering as far as

Copenhagen House, without meeting anything calculated to dispel our impression that there was a mistake in

the almanacks, we turned back down Maidenlane, with the intention of passing through the extensive colony

lying between it and Battlebridge, which is inhabited by proprietors of donkeycarts, boilers of horseflesh,

makers of tiles, and sifters of cinders; through which colony we should have passed, without stoppage or

interruption, if a little crowd gathered round a shed had not attracted our attention, and induced us to pause.

When we say a 'shed,' we do not mean the conservatory sort of building, which, according to the old song,

Love tenanted when he was a young man, but a wooden house with windows stuffed with rags and paper, and

a small yard at the side, with one dustcart, two baskets, a few shovels, and little heaps of cinders, and

fragments of china and tiles, scattered about it. Before this inviting spot we paused; and the longer we looked,

the more we wondered what exciting circumstance it could be, that induced the foremost members of the

crowd to flatten their noses against the parlour window, in the vain hope of catching a glimpse of what was

going on inside. After staring vacantly about us for some minutes, we appealed, touching the cause of this

assemblage, to a gentleman in a suit of tarpaulin, who was smoking his pipe on our right hand; but as the only

answer we obtained was a playful inquiry whether our mother had disposed of her mangle, we determined to

Judge of our virtuous indignation, when the streetdoor of the shed opened, and a party emerged therefrom,

The first person who appeared was 'my lord,' habited in a blue coat and bright buttons, with gilt paper tacked

over the seams, yellow kneebreeches, pink cotton stockings, and shoes; a cocked hat, ornamented with

shreds of variouscoloured paper, on his head, a BOUQUET the size of a prize cauliflower in his

buttonhole, a long Belcher handkerchief in his right hand, and a thin cane in his left. A murmur of applause

ran through the crowd (which was chiefly composed of his lordship's personal friends), when this graceful

figure made his appearance, which swelled into a burst of applause as his fair partner in the dance bounded

forth to join him. Her ladyship was attired in pink crape over bedfurniture, with a low body and short

sleeves. The symmetry of her ankles was partially concealed by a very perceptible pair of frilled trousers; and

the inconvenience which might have resulted from the circumstance of her white satin shoes being a few

sizes too large, was obviated by their being firmly attached to her legs with strong tape sandals.

Her head was ornamented with a profusion of artificial flowers; and in her hand she bore a large brass ladle,

wherein to receive what she figuratively denominated 'the tin.' The other characters were a young gentleman

in girl's clothes and a widow's cap; two clowns who walked upon their hands in the mud, to the immeasurable

delight of all the spectators; a man with a drum; another man with a flageolet; a dirty woman in a large shawl,

with a box under her arm for the money, and last, though not least, the 'green,' animated by no less a

The man hammered away at the drum, the flageolet squeaked, the shovels rattled, the 'green' rolled about,

pitching first on one side and then on the other; my lady threw her right foot over her left ankle, and her left

foot over her right ankle, alternately; my lord ran a few paces forward, and butted at the 'green,' and then a

few paces backward upon the toes of the crowd, and then went to the right, and then to the left, and then

dodged my lady round the 'green;' and finally drew her arm through his, and called upon the boys to shout,

We passed the same group, accidentally, in the evening. We never saw a 'green' so drunk, a lord so

quarrelsome (no: not even in the house of peers after dinner), a pair of clowns so melancholy, a lady so

When we affirm that brokers' shops are strange places, and that if an authentic history of their contents could

be procured, it would furnish many a page of amusement, and many a melancholy tale, it is necessary to

explain the class of shops to which we allude. Perhaps when we make use of the term 'Brokers' Shop,' the

minds of our readers will at once picture large, handsome warehouses, exhibiting a long perspective of

Frenchpolished diningtables, rosewood chiffoniers, and mahogany washhandstands, with an occasional

vista of a fourpost bedstead and hangings, and an appropriate foreground of diningroom chairs. Perhaps

they will imagine that we mean an humble class of secondhand furniture repositories. Their imagination will

then naturally lead them to that street at the back of Longacre, which is composed almost entirely of

brokers' shops; where you walk through groves of deceitful, showylooking furniture, and where the prospect

is occasionally enlivened by a bright red, blue, and yellow hearth rug, embellished with the pleasing device

of a mailcoach at full speed, or a strange animal, supposed to have been originally intended for a dog, with a

mass of worstedwork in his mouth, which conjecture has likened to a basket of flowers.

This, bythebye, is a tempting article to young wives in the humbler ranks of life, who have a firstfloor

front to furnish they are lost in admiration, and hardly know which to admire most. The dog is very

beautiful, but they have a dog already on the best teatray, and two more on the mantelpiece. Then, there is

something so genteel about that mailcoach; and the passengers outside (who are all hat) give it such an air

The goods here are adapted to the taste, or rather to the means, of cheap purchasers. There are some of the

most beautiful LOOKING Pembroke tables that were ever beheld: the wood as green as the trees in the Park,

and the leaves almost as certain to fall off in the course of a year. There is also a most extensive assortment of

tent and turnup bedsteads, made of stained wood, and innumerable specimens of that base imposition on

A turnup bedstead is a blunt, honest piece of furniture; it may be slightly disguised with a sham drawer; and

sometimes a mad attempt is even made to pass it off for a bookcase; ornament it as you will, however, the

turnup bedstead seems to defy disguise, and to insist on having it distinctly understood that he is a turnup

bedstead, and nothing else that he is indispensably necessary, and that being so useful, he disdains to be

How different is the demeanour of a sofa bedstead! Ashamed of its real use, it strives to appear an article of

luxury and gentility an attempt in which it miserably fails. It has neither the respectability of a sofa, nor the

virtues of a bed; every man who keeps a sofa bedstead in his house, becomes a party to a wilful and designing

fraud we question whether you could insult him more, than by insinuating that you entertain the least

To return from this digression, we beg to say, that neither of these classes of brokers' shops, forms the subject

of this sketch. The shops to which we advert, are immeasurably inferior to those on whose outward

appearance we have slightly touched. Our readers must often have observed in some bystreet, in a poor

neighbourhood, a small dirty shop, exposing for sale the most extraordinary and confused jumble of old,

wornout, wretched articles, that can well be imagined. Our wonder at their ever having been bought, is only

to be equalled by our astonishment at the idea of their ever being sold again. On a board, at the side of the

door, are placed about twenty books all odd volumes; and as many wineglasses all different patterns;

several locks, an old earthenware pan, full of rusty keys; two or three gaudy chimneyornaments cracked,

of course; the remains of a lustre, without any drops; a round frame like a capital O, which has once held a

mirror; a flute, complete with the exception of the middle joint; a pair of curlingirons; and a tinderbox. In

front of the shopwindow, are ranged some halfdozen highbacked chairs, with spinal complaints and

wasted legs; a corner cupboard; two or three very dark mahogany tables with flaps like mathematical

problems; some picklejars, some surgeons' ditto, with gilt labels and without stoppers; an unframed portrait

of some lady who flourished about the beginning of the thirteenth century, by an artist who never flourished

at all; an incalculable host of miscellanies of every description, including bottles and cabinets, rags and

bones, fenders and streetdoor knockers, fireirons, wearing apparel and bedding, a halllamp, and a

roomdoor. Imagine, in addition to this incongruous mass, a black doll in a white frock, with two faces one

looking up the street, and the other looking down, swinging over the door; a board with the squeezedup

inscription 'Dealer in marine stores,' in lanky white letters, whose height is strangely out of proportion to their

width; and you have before you precisely the kind of shop to which we wish to direct your attention.

Although the same heterogeneous mixture of things will be found at all these places, it is curious to observe

how truly and accurately some of the minor articles which are exposed for sale articles of wearing apparel,

for instance mark the character of the neighbourhood. Take DruryLane and Coventgarden for example.

This is essentially a theatrical neighbourhood. There is not a potboy in the vicinity who is not, to a greater or

less extent, a dramatic character. The errandboys and chandler'sshopkeepers' sons, are all stagestruck:

they 'gets up' plays in back kitchens hired for the purpose, and will stand before a shopwindow for hours,

contemplating a great staring portrait of Mr. Somebody or other, of the Royal Coburg Theatre, 'as he

appeared in the character of Tongo the Denounced.' The consequence is, that there is not a marinestore shop

in the neighbourhood, which does not exhibit for sale some faded articles of dramatic finery, such as three or

four pairs of soiled buff boots with turnover red tops, heretofore worn by a 'fourth robber,' or 'fifth mob;' a

pair of rusty broadswords, a few gauntlets, and certain resplendent ornaments, which, if they were yellow

instead of white, might be taken for insurance plates of the Sun Fireoffice. There are several of these shops

in the narrow streets and dirty courts, of which there are so many near the national theatres, and they all have

tempting goods of this description, with the addition, perhaps, of a lady's pink dress covered with spangles;

white wreaths, stage shoes, and a tiara like a tin lamp reflector. They have been purchased of some wretched

supernumeraries, or sixthrate actors, and are now offered for the benefit of the rising generation, who, on

condition of making certain weekly payments, amounting in the whole to about ten times their value, may

Let us take a very different quarter, and apply it to the same test. Look at a marinestore dealer's, in that

reservoir of dirt, drunkenness, and drabs: thieves, oysters, baked potatoes, and pickled salmon

Ratcliffhighway. Here, the wearing apparel is all nautical. Rough blue jackets, with motherofpearl

buttons, oilskin hats, coarse checked shirts, and large canvas trousers that look as if they were made for a

pair of bodies instead of a pair of legs, are the staple commodities. Then, there are large bunches of cotton

pockethandkerchiefs, in colour and pattern unlike any one ever saw before, with the exception of those on

the backs of the three young ladies without bonnets who passed just now. The furniture is much the same as

elsewhere, with the addition of one or two models of ships, and some old prints of naval engagements in still

older frames. In the window, are a few compasses, a small tray containing silver watches in clumsy thick

cases; and tobaccoboxes, the lid of each ornamented with a ship, or an anchor, or some such trophy. A sailor

generally pawns or sells all he has before he has been long ashore, and if he does not, some favoured

companion kindly saves him the trouble. In either case, it is an even chance that he afterwards unconsciously

Again: pay a visit with a similar object, to a part of London, as unlike both of these as they are to each other.

Cross over to the Surrey side, and look at such shops of this description as are to be found near the King's

Bench prison, and in 'the Rules.' How different, and how strikingly illustrative of the decay of some of the

unfortunate residents in this part of the metropolis! Imprisonment and neglect have done their work. There is

contamination in the profligate denizens of a debtor's prison; old friends have fallen off; the recollection of

former prosperity has passed away; and with it all thoughts for the past, all care for the future. First, watches

and rings, then cloaks, coats, and all the more expensive articles of dress, have found their way to the

pawnbroker's. That miserable resource has failed at last, and the sale of some trifling article at one of these

shops, has been the only mode left of raising a shilling or two, to meet the urgent demands of the moment.

Dressingcases and writingdesks, too old to pawn but too good to keep; guns, fishingrods, musical

instruments, all in the same condition; have first been sold, and the sacrifice has been but slightly felt. But

hunger must be allayed, and what has already become a habit, is easily resorted to, when an emergency

arises. Light articles of clothing, first of the ruined man, then of his wife, at last of their children, even of the

youngest, have been parted with, piecemeal. There they are, thrown carelessly together until a purchaser

presents himself, old, and patched and repaired, it is true; but the make and materials tell of better days; and

the older they are, the greater the misery and destitution of those whom they once adorned.

It is a remarkable circumstance, that different trades appear to partake of the disease to which elephants and

dogs are especially liable, and to run stark, staring, raving mad, periodically. The great distinction between

the animals and the trades, is, that the former run mad with a certain degree of propriety they are very

regular in their irregularities. We know the period at which the emergency will arise, and provide against it

accordingly. If an elephant run mad, we are all ready for him kill or cure pills or bullets, calomel in

conserve of roses, or lead in a musket barrel. If a dog happen to look unpleasantly warm in the summer

months, and to trot about the shady side of the streets with a quarter of a yard of tongue hanging out of his

mouth, a thick leather muzzle, which has been previously prepared in compliance with the thoughtful

injunctions of the Legislature, is instantly clapped over his head, by way of making him cooler, and he either

looks remarkably unhappy for the next six weeks, or becomes legally insane, and goes mad, as it were, by

Act of Parliament. But these trades are as eccentric as comets; nay, worse, for no one can calculate on the

recurrence of the strange appearances which betoken the disease. Moreover, the contagion is general, and the

We will cite two or three cases in illustration of our meaning. Six or eight years ago, the epidemic began to

display itself among the linendrapers and haberdashers. The primary symptoms were an inordinate love of

plateglass, and a passion for gaslights and gilding. The disease gradually progressed, and at last attained a

fearful height. Quiet, dusty old shops in different parts of town, were pulled down; spacious premises with

stuccoed fronts and gold letters, were erected instead; floors were covered with Turkey carpets; roofs

supported by massive pillars; doors knocked into windows; a dozen squares of glass into one; one shopman

into a dozen; and there is no knowing what would have been done, if it had not been fortunately discovered,

just in time, that the Commissioners of Bankruptcy were as competent to decide such cases as the

Commissioners of Lunacy, and that a little confinement and gentle examination did wonders. The disease

abated. It died away. A year or two of comparative tranquillity ensued. Suddenly it burst out again amongst

the chemists; the symptoms were the same, with the addition of a strong desire to stick the royal arms over

the shopdoor, and a great rage for mahogany, varnish, and expensive floorcloth. Then, the hosiers were

infected, and began to pull down their shopfronts with frantic recklessness. The mania again died away, and

the public began to congratulate themselves on its entire disappearance, when it burst forth with tenfold

violence among the publicans, and keepers of 'wine vaults.' From that moment it has spread among them with

unprecedented rapidity, exhibiting a concatenation of all the previous symptoms; onward it has rushed to

every part of town, knocking down all the old publichouses, and depositing splendid mansions, stone

balustrades, rosewood fittings, immense lamps, and illuminated clocks, at the corner of every street.

The extensive scale on which these places are established, and the ostentatious manner in which the business

of even the smallest among them is divided into branches, is amusing. A handsome plate of ground glass in

one door directs you 'To the Countinghouse;' another to the 'Bottle Department; a third to the 'Wholesale

Department;' a fourth to 'The Wine Promenade;' and so forth, until we are in daily expectation of meeting

with a 'Brandy Bell,' or a 'Whiskey Entrance.' Then, ingenuity is exhausted in devising attractive titles for the

different descriptions of gin; and the dramdrinking portion of the community as they gaze upon the gigantic

black and white announcements, which are only to be equalled in size by the figures beneath them, are left in

a state of pleasing hesitation between 'The Cream of the Valley,' 'The Out and Out,' 'The No Mistake,' 'The

Good for Mixing,' 'The real Knock medown,' 'The celebrated Butter Gin,' 'The regular Flareup,' and a

dozen other, equally inviting and wholesome LIQUEURS. Although places of this description are to be met

with in every second street, they are invariably numerous and splendid in precise proportion to the dirt and

poverty of the surrounding neighbourhood. The ginshops in and near DruryLane, Holborn, St. Giles's,

Coventgarden, and Claremarket, are the handsomest in London. There is more of filth and squalid misery

We will endeavour to sketch the bar of a large ginshop, and its ordinary customers, for the edification of

such of our readers as may not have had opportunities of observing such scenes; and on the chance of finding

one well suited to our purpose, we will make for DruryLane, through the narrow streets and dirty courts

which divide it from Oxfordstreet, and that classical spot adjoining the brewery at the bottom of

The filthy and miserable appearance of this part of London can hardly be imagined by those (and there are

many such) who have not witnessed it. Wretched houses with broken windows patched with rags and paper:

every room let out to a different family, and in many instances to two or even three fruit and 'sweetstuff'

manufacturers in the cellars, barbers and redherring vendors in the front parlours, cobblers in the back; a

birdfancier in the first floor, three families on the second, starvation in the attics, Irishmen in the passage, a

'musician' in the front kitchen, and a charwoman and five hungry children in the back one filth everywhere

a gutter before the houses and a drain behind clothes drying and slops emptying, from the windows; girls

of fourteen or fifteen, with matted hair, walking about barefoot, and in white greatcoats, almost their only

covering; boys of all ages, in coats of all sizes and no coats at all; men and women, in every variety of scanty

and dirty apparel, lounging, scolding, drinking, smoking, squabbling, fighting, and swearing.

You turn the corner. What a change! All is light and brilliancy. The hum of many voices issues from that

splendid ginshop which forms the commencement of the two streets opposite; and the gay building with the

fantastically ornamented parapet, the illuminated clock, the plateglass windows surrounded by stucco

rosettes, and its profusion of gaslights in richlygilt burners, is perfectly dazzling when contrasted with the

darkness and dirt we have just left. The interior is even gayer than the exterior. A bar of Frenchpolished

mahogany, elegantly carved, extends the whole width of the place; and there are two sideaisles of great

casks, painted green and gold, enclosed within a light brass rail, and bearing such inscriptions, as 'Old Tom,

549;' 'Young Tom, 360;' 'Samson, 1421' the figures agreeing, we presume, with 'gallons,' understood.

Beyond the bar is a lofty and spacious saloon, full of the same enticing vessels, with a gallery running round

it, equally well furnished. On the counter, in addition to the usual spirit apparatus, are two or three little

baskets of cakes and biscuits, which are carefully secured at top with wickerwork, to prevent their contents

being unlawfully abstracted. Behind it, are two showilydressed damsels with large necklaces, dispensing the

spirits and 'compounds.' They are assisted by the ostensible proprietor of the concern, a stout, coarse fellow in

a fur cap, put on very much on one side to give him a knowing air, and to display his sandy whiskers to the

The two old washerwomen, who are seated on the little bench to the left of the bar, are rather overcome by

the headdresses and haughty demeanour of the young ladies who officiate. They receive their halfquartern

of gin and peppermint, with considerable deference, prefacing a request for 'one of them soft biscuits,' with a

'Jist be good enough, ma'am.' They are quite astonished at the impudent air of the young fellow in a brown

coat and bright buttons, who, ushering in his two companions, and walking up to the bar in as careless a

manner as if he had been used to green and gold ornaments all his life, winks at one of the young ladies with

singular coolness, and calls for a 'kervorten and a threeout glass,' just as if the place were his own. 'Gin for

you, sir?' says the young lady when she has drawn it: carefully looking every way but the right one, to show

that the wink had no effect upon her. 'For me, Mary, my dear,' replies the gentleman in brown. 'My name an't

Mary as it happens,' says the young girl, rather relaxing as she delivers the change. 'Well, if it an't, it ought to

be,' responds the irresistible one; 'all the Marys as ever I see, was handsome gals.' Here the young lady, not

precisely remembering how blushes are managed in such cases, abruptly ends the flirtation by addressing the

female in the faded feathers who has just entered, and who, after stating explicitly, to prevent any subsequent

misunderstanding, that 'this gentleman pays,' calls for 'a glass of port wine and a bit of sugar.'

Those two old men who came in 'just to have a drain,' finished their third quartern a few seconds ago; they

have made themselves crying drunk; and the fat comfortablelooking elderly women, who had 'a glass of

rumsrub' each, having chimed in with their complaints on the hardness of the times, one of the women has

agreed to stand a glass round, jocularly observing that 'grief never mended no broken bones, and as good

people's wery scarce, what I says is, make the most on 'em, and that's all about it!' a sentiment which appears

It is growing late, and the throng of men, women, and children, who have been constantly going in and out,

dwindles down to two or three occasional stragglers cold, wretchedlooking creatures, in the last stage of

emaciation and disease. The knot of Irish labourers at the lower end of the place, who have been alternately

shaking hands with, and threatening the life of each other, for the last hour, become furious in their disputes,

and finding it impossible to silence one man, who is particularly anxious to adjust the difference, they resort

to the expedient of knocking him down and jumping on him afterwards. The man in the fur cap, and the

potboy rush out; a scene of riot and confusion ensues; half the Irishmen get shut out, and the other half get

shut in; the potboy is knocked among the tubs in no time; the landlord hits everybody, and everybody hits the

landlord; the barmaids scream; the police come in; the rest is a confused mixture of arms, legs, staves, torn

coats, shouting, and struggling. Some of the party are borne off to the stationhouse, and the remainder slink

home to beat their wives for complaining, and kick the children for daring to be hungry.

We have sketched this subject very slightly, not only because our limits compel us to do so, but because, if it

were pursued farther, it would be painful and repulsive. Welldisposed gentlemen, and charitable ladies,

would alike turn with coldness and disgust from a description of the drunken besotted men, and wretched

brokendown miserable women, who form no inconsiderable portion of the frequenters of these haunts;

forgetting, in the pleasant consciousness of their own rectitude, the poverty of the one, and the temptation of

the other. Gindrinking is a great vice in England, but wretchedness and dirt are a greater; and until you

improve the homes of the poor, or persuade a halffamished wretch not to seek relief in the temporary

oblivion of his own misery, with the pittance which, divided among his family, would furnish a morsel of

bread for each, ginshops will increase in number and splendour. If Temperance Societies would suggest an

antidote against hunger, filth, and foul air, or could establish dispensaries for the gratuitous distribution of

bottles of Lethe water, ginpalaces would be numbered among the things that were.

Of the numerous receptacles for misery and distress with which the streets of London unhappily abound,

there are, perhaps, none which present such striking scenes as the pawnbrokers' shops. The very nature and

description of these places occasions their being but little known, except to the unfortunate beings whose

profligacy or misfortune drives them to seek the temporary relief they offer. The subject may appear, at first

sight, to be anything but an inviting one, but we venture on it nevertheless, in the hope that, as far as the

limits of our present paper are concerned, it will present nothing to disgust even the most fastidious reader.

There are some pawnbrokers' shops of a very superior description. There are grades in pawning as in

everything else, and distinctions must be observed even in poverty. The aristocratic Spanish cloak and the

plebeian calico shirt, the silver fork and the flat iron, the muslin cravat and the Belcher neckerchief, would

but ill assort together; so, the better sort of pawnbroker calls himself a silver smith, and decorates his shop

with handsome trinkets and expensive jewellery, while the more humble moneylender boldly advertises his

calling, and invites observation. It is with pawnbrokers' shops of the latter class, that we have to do. We have

The pawnbroker's shop is situated near DruryLane, at the corner of a court, which affords a side entrance for

the accommodation of such customers as may be desirous of avoiding the observation of the passersby, or

the chance of recognition in the public street. It is a low, dirtylooking, dusty shop, the door of which stands

always doubtfully, a little way open: half inviting, half repelling the hesitating visitor, who, if he be as yet

uninitiated, examines one of the old garnet brooches in the window for a minute or two with affected

eagerness, as if he contemplated making a purchase; and then looking cautiously round to ascertain that no

one watches him, hastily slinks in: the door closing of itself after him, to just its former width. The shop front

and the windowframes bear evident marks of having been once painted; but, what the colour was originally,

or at what date it was probably laid on, are at this remote period questions which may be asked, but cannot be

answered. Tradition states that the transparency in the front door, which displays at night three red balls on a

blue ground, once bore also, inscribed in graceful waves, the words 'Money advanced on plate, jewels,

wearing apparel, and every description of property,' but a few illegible hieroglyphics are all that now remain

to attest the fact. The plate and jewels would seem to have disappeared, together with the announcement, for

the articles of stock, which are displayed in some profusion in the window, do not include any very valuable

luxuries of either kind. A few old china cups; some modern vases, adorned with paltry paintings of three

Spanish cavaliers playing three Spanish guitars; or a party of boors carousing: each boor with one leg

painfully elevated in the air, by way of expressing his perfect freedom and gaiety; several sets of chessmen,

two or three flutes, a few fiddles, a roundeyed portrait staring in astonishment from a very dark ground;

some gaudilybound prayerbooks and testaments, two rows of silver watches quite as clumsy and almost as

large as Ferguson's first; numerous oldfashioned table and tea spoons, displayed, fanlike, in halfdozens;

strings of coral with great broad gilt snaps; cards of rings and brooches, fastened and labelled separately, like

the insects in the British Museum; cheap silver penholders and snuffboxes, with a masonic star, complete

the jewellery department; while five or six beds in smeary clouded ticks, strings of blankets and sheets, silk

and cotton handkerchiefs, and wearing apparel of every description, form the more useful, though even less

ornamental, part, of the articles exposed for sale. An extensive collection of planes, chisels, saws, and other

carpenters' tools, which have been pledged, and never redeemed, form the foreground of the picture; while

the large frames full of ticketed bundles, which are dimly seen through the dirty casement upstairs the

squalid neighbourhood the adjoining houses, straggling, shrunken, and rotten, with one or two filthy,

unwholesomelooking heads thrust out of every window, and old red pans and stunted plants exposed on the

tottering parapets, to the manifest hazard of the heads of the passersby the noisy men loitering under the

archway at the corner of the court, or about the ginshop next door and their wives patiently standing on

the curbstone, with large baskets of cheap vegetables slung round them for sale, are its immediate

If the outside of the pawnbroker's shop be calculated to attract the attention, or excite the interest, of the

speculative pedestrian, its interior cannot fail to produce the same effect in an increased degree. The front

door, which we have before noticed, opens into the common shop, which is the resort of all those customers

whose habitual acquaintance with such scenes renders them indifferent to the observation of their

companions in poverty. The side door opens into a small passage from which some halfdozen doors (which

may be secured on the inside by bolts) open into a corresponding number of little dens, or closets, which face

the counter. Here, the more timid or respectable portion of the crowd shroud themselves from the notice of

the remainder, and patiently wait until the gentleman behind the counter, with the curly black hair, diamond

ring, and double silver watchguard, shall feel disposed to favour them with his notice a consummation

which depends considerably on the temper of the aforesaid gentleman for the time being.

At the present moment, this elegantlyattired individual is in the act of entering the duplicate he has just

made out, in a thick book: a process from which he is diverted occasionally, by a conversation he is carrying

on with another young man similarly employed at a little distance from him, whose allusions to 'that last

bottle of sodawater last night,' and 'how regularly round my hat he felt himself when the young 'ooman gave

'em in charge,' would appear to refer to the consequences of some stolen joviality of the preceding evening.

The customers generally, however, seem unable to participate in the amusement derivable from this source,

for an old sallowlooking woman, who has been leaning with both arms on the counter with a small bundle

before her, for half an hour previously, suddenly interrupts the conversation by addressing the jewelled

shopman 'Now, Mr. Henry, do make haste, there's a good soul, for my two grandchildren's locked up at

home, and I'm afeer'd of the fire.' The shopman slightly raises his head, with an air of deep abstraction, and

resumes his entry with as much deliberation as if he were engraving. 'You're in a hurry, Mrs. Tatham, this

ev'nin', an't you?' is the only notice he deigns to take, after the lapse of five minutes or so. 'Yes, I am indeed,

Mr. Henry; now, do serve me next, there's a good creetur. I wouldn't worry you, only it's all along o' them

botherin' children.' 'What have you got here?' inquires the shopman, unpinning the bundle 'old concern, I

suppose pair o' stays and a petticut. You must look up somethin' else, old 'ooman; I can't lend you anything

more upon them; they're completely worn out by this time, if it's only by putting in, and taking out again,

three times a week.' 'Oh! you're a rum un, you are,' replies the old woman, laughing extremely, as in duty

bound; 'I wish I'd got the gift of the gab like you; see if I'd be up the spout so often then! No, no; it an't the

petticut; it's a child's frock and a beautiful silk ankecher, as belongs to my husband. He gave four shillin' for

it, the werry same blessed day as he broke his arm.' 'What do you want upon these?' inquires Mr. Henry,

slightly glancing at the articles, which in all probability are old acquaintances. 'What do you want upon

these?' 'Eighteenpence.' 'Lend you ninepence.' 'Oh, make it a shillin'; there's a dear do now?' 'Not

another farden.' 'Well, I suppose I must take it.' The duplicate is made out, one ticket pinned on the parcel,

the other given to the old woman; the parcel is flung carelessly down into a corner, and some other customer

The choice falls on an unshaven, dirty, sottishlooking fellow, whose tarnished papercap, stuck negligently

over one eye, communicates an additionally repulsive expression to his very uninviting countenance. He was

enjoying a little relaxation from his sedentary pursuits a quarter of an hour ago, in kicking his wife up the

court. He has come to redeem some tools: probably to complete a job with, on account of which he has

already received some money, if his inflamed countenance and drunken staggers may be taken as evidence of

the fact. Having waited some little time, he makes his presence known by venting his illhumour on a ragged

urchin, who, being unable to bring his face on a level with the counter by any other process, has employed

himself in climbing up, and then hooking himself on with his elbows an uneasy perch, from which he has

fallen at intervals, generally alighting on the toes of the person in his immediate vicinity. In the present case,

the unfortunate little wretch has received a cuff which sends him reeling to this door; and the donor of the

'What do you strike the boy for, you brute?' exclaims a slipshod woman, with two flat irons in a little basket.

'Do you think he's your wife, you willin?' 'Go and hang yourself!' replies the gentleman addressed, with a

drunken look of savage stupidity, aiming at the same time a blow at the woman which fortunately misses its

object. 'Go and hang yourself; and wait till I come and cut you down.' 'Cut you down,' rejoins the woman, 'I

wish I had the cutting of you up, you wagabond! (loud.) Oh! you precious wagabond! (rather louder.)

Where's your wife, you willin? (louder still; women of this class are always sympathetic, and work

themselves into a tremendous passion on the shortest notice.) Your poor dear wife as you uses worser nor a

dog strike a woman you a man! (very shrill;) I wish I had you I'd murder you, I would, if I died for it!'

'Now be civil,' retorts the man fiercely. 'Be civil, you wiper!' ejaculates the woman contemptuously. 'An't it

shocking?' she continues, turning round, and appealing to an old woman who is peeping out of one of the

little closets we have before described, and who has not the slightest objection to join in the attack,

possessing, as she does, the comfortable conviction that she is bolted in. 'Ain't it shocking, ma'am? (Dreadful!

says the old woman in a parenthesis, not exactly knowing what the question refers to.) He's got a wife,

ma'am, as takes in mangling, and is as 'dustrious and hardworking a young 'ooman as can be, (very fast) as

lives in the back parlour of our 'ous, which my husband and me lives in the front one (with great rapidity)

and we hears him a beaten' on her sometimes when he comes home drunk, the whole night through, and not

only a beaten' her, but beaten' his own child too, to make her more miserable ugh, you beast! and she, poor

creater, won't swear the peace agin him, nor do nothin', because she likes the wretch arter all worse luck!'

Here, as the woman has completely run herself out of breath, the pawnbroker himself, who has just appeared

behind the counter in a gray dressinggown, embraces the favourable opportunity of putting in a word:

'Now I won't have none of this sort of thing on my premises!' he interposes with an air of authority. 'Mrs.

Mackin, keep yourself to yourself, or you don't get fourpence for a flat iron here; and Jinkins, you leave your

ticket here till you're sober, and send your wife for them two planes, for I won't have you in my shop at no

This eloquent address produces anything but the effect desired; the women rail in concert; the man hits about

him in all directions, and is in the act of establishing an indisputable claim to gratuitous lodgings for the

night, when the entrance of his wife, a wretched, wornout woman, apparently in the last stage of

consumption, whose face bears evident marks of recent illusage, and whose strength seems hardly equal to

the burden light enough, God knows! of the thin, sickly child she carries in her arms, turns his cowardly

rage in a safer direction. 'Come home, dear,' cries the miserable creature, in an imploring tone; 'DO come

home, there's a good fellow, and go to bed.' 'Go home yourself,' rejoins the furious ruffian. 'Do come home

quietly,' repeats the wife, bursting into tears. 'Go home yourself,' retorts the husband again, enforcing his

argument by a blow which sends the poor creature flying out of the shop. Her 'natural protector' follows her

up the court, alternately venting his rage in accelerating her progress, and in knocking the little scanty blue

bonnet of the unfortunate child over its still more scanty and fadedlooking face.

In the last box, which is situated in the darkest and most obscure corner of the shop, considerably removed

from either of the gas lights, are a young delicate girl of about twenty, and an elderly female, evidently her

mother from the resemblance between them, who stand at some distance back, as if to avoid the observation

even of the shopman. It is not their first visit to a pawnbroker's shop, for they answer without a moment's

hesitation the usual questions, put in a rather respectful manner, and in a much lower tone than usual, of

'What name shall I say? Your own property, of course? Where do you live? Housekeeper or lodger?'

They bargain, too, for a higher loan than the shopman is at first inclined to offer, which a perfect stranger

would be little disposed to do; and the elder female urges her daughter on, in scarcely audible whispers, to

exert her utmost powers of persuasion to obtain an advance of the sum, and expatiate on the value of the

articles they have brought to raise a present supply upon. They are a small gold chain and a 'Forget me not'

ring: the girl's property, for they are both too small for the mother; given her in better times; prized, perhaps,

once, for the giver's sake, but parted with now without a struggle; for want has hardened the mother, and her

example has hardened the girl, and the prospect of receiving money, coupled with a recollection of the misery

they have both endured from the want of it the coldness of old friends the stern refusal of some, and the

still more galling compassion of others appears to have obliterated the consciousness of selfhumiliation,

In the next box, is a young female, whose attire, miserably poor, but extremely gaudy, wretchedly cold, but

extravagantly fine, too plainly bespeaks her station. The rich satin gown with its faded trimmings, the

wornout thin shoes, and pink silk stockings, the summer bonnet in winter, and the sunken face, where a

daub of rouge only serves as an index to the ravages of squandered health never to be regained, and lost

happiness never to be restored, and where the practised smile is a wretched mockery of the misery of the

heart, cannot be mistaken. There is something in the glimpse she has just caught of her young neighbour, and

in the sight of the little trinkets she has offered in pawn, that seems to have awakened in this woman's mind

some slumbering recollection, and to have changed, for an instant, her whole demeanour. Her first hasty

impulse was to bend forward as if to scan more minutely the appearance of her halfconcealed companions;

her next, on seeing them involuntarily shrink from her, to retreat to the back of the box, cover her face with

There are strange chords in the human heart, which will lie dormant through years of depravity and

wickedness, but which will vibrate at last to some slight circumstance apparently trivial in itself, but

connected by some undefined and indistinct association, with past days that can never be recalled, and with

bitter recollections from which the most degraded creature in existence cannot escape.

There has been another spectator, in the person of a woman in the common shop; the lowest of the low; dirty,

unbonneted, flaunting, and slovenly. Her curiosity was at first attracted by the little she could see of the

group; then her attention. The half intoxicated leer changed to an expression of something like interest, and

a feeling similar to that we have described, appeared for a moment, and only a moment, to extend itself even

Who shall say how soon these women may change places? The last has but two more stages the hospital

and the grave. How many females situated as her two companions are, and as she may have been once, have

terminated the same wretched course, in the same wretched manner! One is already tracing her footsteps with

frightful rapidity. How soon may the other follow her example! How many have done the same!

We shall never forget the mingled feelings of awe and respect with which we used to gaze on the exterior of

Newgate in our schoolboy days. How dreadful its rough heavy walls, and low massive doors, appeared to us

the latter looking as if they were made for the express purpose of letting people in, and never letting them

out again. Then the fetters over the debtors' door, which we used to think were a BONA FIDE set of irons,

just hung up there, for convenience' sake, ready to be taken down at a moment's notice, and riveted on the

limbs of some refractory felon! We were never tired of wondering how the hackneycoachmen on the

opposite stand could cut jokes in the presence of such horrors, and drink pots of half andhalf so near the

Often have we strayed here, in sessions time, to catch a glimpse of the whippingplace, and that dark

building on one side of the yard, in which is kept the gibbet with all its dreadful apparatus, and on the door of

which we half expected to see a brass plate, with the inscription 'Mr. Ketch;' for we never imagined that the

distinguished functionary could by possibility live anywhere else! The days of these childish dreams have

passed away, and with them many other boyish ideas of a gayer nature. But we still retain so much of our

original feeling, that to this hour we never pass the building without something like a shudder.

What London pedestrian is there who has not, at some time or other, cast a hurried glance through the wicket

at which prisoners are admitted into this gloomy mansion, and surveyed the few objects he could discern,

with an indescribable feeling of curiosity? The thick door, plated with iron and mounted with spikes, just low

enough to enable you to see, leaning over them, an illlooking fellow, in a broadbrimmed hat, Belcher

handkerchief and topboots: with a brown coat, something between a greatcoat and a 'sporting' jacket, on

his back, and an immense key in his left hand. Perhaps you are lucky enough to pass, just as the gate is being

opened; then, you see on the other side of the lodge, another gate, the image of its predecessor, and two or

three more turnkeys, who look like multiplications of the first one, seated round a fire which just lights up the

whitewashed apartment sufficiently to enable you to catch a hasty glimpse of these different objects. We have

a great respect for Mrs. Fry, but she certainly ought to have written more romances than Mrs. Radcliffe.

We were walking leisurely down the Old Bailey, some time ago, when, as we passed this identical gate, it

was opened by the officiating turnkey. We turned quickly round, as a matter of course, and saw two persons

They were an elderly woman, of decent appearance, though evidently poor, and a boy of about fourteen or

fifteen. The woman was crying bitterly; she carried a small bundle in her hand, and the boy followed at a

short distance behind her. Their little history was obvious. The boy was her son, to whose early comfort she

had perhaps sacrificed her own for whose sake she had borne misery without repining, and poverty without

a murmur looking steadily forward to the time, when he who had so long witnessed her struggles for

himself, might be enabled to make some exertions for their joint support. He had formed dissolute

connexions; idleness had led to crime; and he had been committed to take his trial for some petty theft. He

had been long in prison, and, after receiving some trifling additional punishment, had been ordered to be

discharged that morning. It was his first offence, and his poor old mother, still hoping to reclaim him, had

We cannot forget the boy; he descended the steps with a dogged look, shaking his head with an air of bravado

and obstinate determination. They walked a few paces, and paused. The woman put her hand upon his

shoulder in an agony of entreaty, and the boy sullenly raised his head as if in refusal. It was a brilliant

morning, and every object looked fresh and happy in the broad, gay sunlight; he gazed round him for a few

moments, bewildered with the brightness of the scene, for it was long since he had beheld anything save the

gloomy walls of a prison. Perhaps the wretchedness of his mother made some impression on the boy's heart;

perhaps some undefined recollection of the time when he was a happy child, and she his only friend, and best

companion, crowded on him he burst into tears; and covering his face with one hand, and hurriedly placing

Curiosity has occasionally led us into both Courts at the Old Bailey. Nothing is so likely to strike the person

who enters them for the first time, as the calm indifference with which the proceedings are conducted; every

trial seems a mere matter of business. There is a great deal of form, but no compassion; considerable interest,

but no sympathy. Take the Old Court for example. There sit the judges, with whose great dignity everybody

is acquainted, and of whom therefore we need say no more. Then, there is the Lord Mayor in the centre,

looking as cool as a Lord Mayor CAN look, with an immense BOUQUET before him, and habited in all the

splendour of his office. Then, there are the Sheriffs, who are almost as dignified as the Lord Mayor himself;

and the Barristers, who are quite dignified enough in their own opinion; and the spectators, who having paid

for their admission, look upon the whole scene as if it were got up especially for their amusement. Look upon

the whole group in the body of the Court some wholly engrossed in the morning papers, others carelessly

conversing in low whispers, and others, again, quietly dozing away an hour and you can scarcely believe

that the result of the trial is a matter of life or death to one wretched being present. But turn your eyes to the

dock; watch the prisoner attentively for a few moments; and the fact is before you, in all its painful reality.

Mark how restlessly he has been engaged for the last ten minutes, in forming all sorts of fantastic figures with

the herbs which are strewed upon the ledge before him; observe the ashy paleness of his face when a

particular witness appears, and how he changes his position and wipes his clammy forehead, and feverish

hands, when the case for the prosecution is closed, as if it were a relief to him to feel that the jury knew the

The defence is concluded; the judge proceeds to sum up the evidence; and the prisoner watches the

countenances of the jury, as a dying man, clinging to life to the very last, vainly looks in the face of his

physician for a slight ray of hope. They turn round to consult; you can almost hear the man's heart beat, as he

bites the stalk of rosemary, with a desperate effort to appear composed. They resume their places a dead

silence prevails as the foreman delivers in the verdict 'Guilty!' A shriek bursts from a female in the gallery;

the prisoner casts one look at the quarter from whence the noise proceeded; and is immediately hurried from

the dock by the gaoler. The clerk directs one of the officers of the Court to 'take the woman out,' and fresh

No imaginary contrast to a case like this, could be as complete as that which is constantly presented in the

New Court, the gravity of which is frequently disturbed in no small degree, by the cunning and pertinacity of

juvenile offenders. A boy of thirteen is tried, say for picking the pocket of some subject of her Majesty, and

the offence is about as clearly proved as an offence can be. He is called upon for his defence, and contents

himself with a little declamation about the jurymen and his country asserts that all the witnesses have

committed perjury, and hints that the police force generally have entered into a conspiracy 'again' him.

However probable this statement may be, it fails to convince the Court, and some such scene as the following

BOY: Yes, my Lord; fifteen gen'lm'n is a vaten outside, and vos a vaten all day yesterday, vich they told me

Here, a stout beadle runs out, and vociferates for the witnesses at the very top of his voice; for you hear his

cry grow fainter and fainter as he descends the steps into the courtyard below. After an absence of five

minutes, he returns, very warm and hoarse, and informs the Court of what it knew perfectly well before

namely, that there are no such witnesses in attendance. Hereupon, the boy sets up a most awful howling;

screws the lower part of the palms of his hands into the corners of his eyes; and endeavours to look the

picture of injured innocence. The jury at once find him 'guilty,' and his endeavours to squeeze out a tear or

two are redoubled. The governor of the gaol then states, in reply to an inquiry from the bench, that the

prisoner has been under his care twice before. This the urchin resolutely denies in some such terms as 'S'elp

me, gen'lm'n, I never vos in trouble afore indeed, my Lord, I never vos. It's all a howen to my having a twin

brother, vich has wrongfully got into trouble, and vich is so exactly like me, that no vun ever knows the

This representation, like the defence, fails in producing the desired effect, and the boy is sentenced, perhaps,

to seven years' transportation. Finding it impossible to excite compassion, he gives vent to his feelings in an

imprecation bearing reference to the eyes of 'old big vig!' and as he declines to take the trouble of walking

from the dock, is forthwith carried out, congratulating himself on having succeeded in giving everybody as

'The force of habit' is a trite phrase in everybody's mouth; and it is not a little remarkable that those who use it

most as applied to others, unconsciously afford in their own persons singular examples of the power which

habit and custom exercise over the minds of men, and of the little reflection they are apt to bestow on subjects

with which every day's experience has rendered them familiar. If Bedlam could be suddenly removed like

another Aladdin's palace, and set down on the space now occupied by Newgate, scarcely one man out of a

hundred, whose road to business every morning lies through Newgatestreet, or the Old Bailey, would pass

the building without bestowing a hasty glance on its small, grated windows, and a transient thought upon the

condition of the unhappy beings immured in its dismal cells; and yet these same men, day by day, and hour

by hour, pass and repass this gloomy depository of the guilt and misery of London, in one perpetual stream of

life and bustle, utterly unmindful of the throng of wretched creatures pent up within it nay, not even

knowing, or if they do, not heeding, the fact, that as they pass one particular angle of the massive wall with a

light laugh or a merry whistle, they stand within one yard of a fellowcreature, bound and helpless, whose

hours are numbered, from whom the last feeble ray of hope has fled for ever, and whose miserable career will

shortly terminate in a violent and shameful death. Contact with death even in its least terrible shape, is

solemn and appalling. How much more awful is it to reflect on this near vicinity to the dying to men in full

health and vigour, in the flower of youth or the prime of life, with all their faculties and perceptions as acute

and perfect as your own; but dying, nevertheless dying as surely with the hand of death imprinted upon

them as indelibly as if mortal disease had wasted their frames to shadows, and corruption had already

It was with some such thoughts as these that we determined, not many weeks since, to visit the interior of

Newgate in an amateur capacity, of course; and, having carried our intention into effect, we proceed to lay

its results before our readers, in the hope founded more upon the nature of the subject, than on any

presumptuous confidence in our own descriptive powers that this paper may not be found wholly devoid of

interest. We have only to premise, that we do not intend to fatigue the reader with any statistical accounts of

the prison; they will be found at length in numerous reports of numerous committees, and a variety of

authorities of equal weight. We took no notes, made no memoranda, measured none of the yards, ascertained

the exact number of inches in no particular room: are unable even to report of how many apartments the gaol

We saw the prison, and saw the prisoners; and what we did see, and what we thought, we will tell at once in

Having delivered our credentials to the servant who answered our knock at the door of the governor's house,

we were ushered into the 'office;' a little room, on the righthand side as you enter, with two windows

looking into the Old Bailey: fitted up like an ordinary attorney's office, or merchant's countinghouse, with

the usual fixtures a wainscoted partition, a shelf or two, a desk, a couple of stools, a pair of clerks, an

almanack, a clock, and a few maps. After a little delay, occasioned by sending into the interior of the prison

for the officer whose duty it was to conduct us, that functionary arrived; a respectablelooking man of about

two or three and fifty, in a broadbrimmed hat, and full suit of black, who, but for his keys, would have

looked quite as much like a clergyman as a turnkey. We were disappointed; he had not even topboots on.

Following our conductor by a door opposite to that at which we had entered, we arrived at a small room,

without any other furniture than a little desk, with a book for visitors' autographs, and a shelf, on which were

a few boxes for papers, and casts of the heads and faces of the two notorious murderers, Bishop and

Williams; the former, in particular, exhibiting a style of head and set of features, which might have afforded

sufficient moral grounds for his instant execution at any time, even had there been no other evidence against

him. Leaving this room also, by an opposite door, we found ourself in the lodge which opens on the Old

Bailey; one side of which is plentifully garnished with a choice collection of heavy sets of irons, including

those worn by the redoubtable Jack Sheppard genuine; and those SAID to have been graced by the sturdy

limbs of the no less celebrated Dick Turpin doubtful. From this lodge, a heavy oaken gate, bound with iron,

studded with nails of the same material, and guarded by another turnkey, opens on a few steps, if we

remember right, which terminate in a narrow and dismal stone passage, running parallel with the Old Bailey,

and leading to the different yards, through a number of tortuous and intricate windings, guarded in their turn

by huge gates and gratings, whose appearance is sufficient to dispel at once the slightest hope of escape that

any newcomer may have entertained; and the very recollection of which, on eventually traversing the place

It is necessary to explain here, that the buildings in the prison, or in other words the different wards form a

square, of which the four sides abut respectively on the Old Bailey, the old College of Physicians (now

forming a part of Newgatemarket), the Sessions house, and Newgatestreet. The intermediate space is

divided into several paved yards, in which the prisoners take such air and exercise as can be had in such a

place. These yards, with the exception of that in which prisoners under sentence of death are confined (of

which we shall presently give a more detailed description), run parallel with Newgatestreet, and

consequently from the Old Bailey, as it were, to Newgatemarket. The women's side is in the right wing of

the prison nearest the Sessionshouse. As we were introduced into this part of the building first, we will

Turning to the right, then, down the passage to which we just now adverted, omitting any mention of

intervening gates for if we noticed every gate that was unlocked for us to pass through, and locked again as

soon as we had passed, we should require a gate at every comma we came to a door composed of thick bars

of wood, through which were discernible, passing to and fro in a narrow yard, some twenty women: the

majority of whom, however, as soon as they were aware of the presence of strangers, retreated to their wards.

One side of this yard is railed off at a considerable distance, and formed into a kind of iron cage, about five

feet ten inches in height, roofed at the top, and defended in front by iron bars, from which the friends of the

female prisoners communicate with them. In one corner of this singularlooking den, was a yellow, haggard,

decrepit old woman, in a tattered gown that had once been black, and the remains of an old straw bonnet,

with faded ribbon of the same hue, in earnest conversation with a young girl a prisoner, of course of

about twoandtwenty. It is impossible to imagine a more povertystricken object, or a creature so borne

down in soul and body, by excess of misery and destitution, as the old woman. The girl was a goodlooking,

robust female, with a profusion of hair streaming about in the wind for she had no bonnet on and a man's

silk pockethandkerchief loosely thrown over a most ample pair of shoulders. The old woman was talking in

that low, stifled tone of voice which tells so forcibly of mental anguish; and every now and then burst into an

irrepressible sharp, abrupt cry of grief, the most distressing sound that ears can hear. The girl was perfectly

unmoved. Hardened beyond all hope of redemption, she listened doggedly to her mother's entreaties,

whatever they were: and, beyond inquiring after 'Jem,' and eagerly catching at the few halfpence her

miserable parent had brought her, took no more apparent interest in the conversation than the most

unconcerned spectators. Heaven knows there were enough of them, in the persons of the other prisoners in

the yard, who were no more concerned by what was passing before their eyes, and within their hearing, than

if they were blind and deaf. Why should they be? Inside the prison, and out, such scenes were too familiar to

them, to excite even a passing thought, unless of ridicule or contempt for feelings which they had long since

A little farther on, a squalidlooking woman in a slovenly, thick bordered cap, with her arms muffled in a

large red shawl, the fringed ends of which straggled nearly to the bottom of a dirty white apron, was

communicating some instructions to HER visitor her daughter evidently. The girl was thinly clad, and

shaking with the cold. Some ordinary word of recognition passed between her and her mother when she

appeared at the grating, but neither hope, condolence, regret, nor affection was expressed on either side. The

mother whispered her instructions, and the girl received them with her pinchedup, halfstarved features

twisted into an expression of careful cunning. It was some scheme for the woman's defence that she was

disclosing, perhaps; and a sullen smile came over the girl's face for an instant, as if she were pleased: not so

much at the probability of her mother's liberation, as at the chance of her 'getting off' in spite of her

prosecutors. The dialogue was soon concluded; and with the same careless indifference with which they had

approached each other, the mother turned towards the inner end of the yard, and the girl to the gate at which

The girl belonged to a class unhappily but too extensive the very existence of which, should make men's

hearts bleed. Barely past her childhood, it required but a glance to discover that she was one of those

children, born and bred in neglect and vice, who have never known what childhood is: who have never been

taught to love and court a parent's smile, or to dread a parent's frown. The thousand nameless endearments of

childhood, its gaiety and its innocence, are alike unknown to them. They have entered at once upon the stern

realities and miseries of life, and to their better nature it is almost hopeless to appeal in aftertimes, by any of

the references which will awaken, if it be only for a moment, some good feeling in ordinary bosoms, however

corrupt they may have become. Talk to THEM of parental solicitude, the happy days of childhood, and the

merry games of infancy! Tell them of hunger and the streets, beggary and stripes, the ginshop, the

Two or three women were standing at different parts of the grating, conversing with their friends, but a very

large proportion of the prisoners appeared to have no friends at all, beyond such of their old companions as

might happen to be within the walls. So, passing hastily down the yard, and pausing only for an instant to

notice the little incidents we have just recorded, we were conducted up a clean and welllighted flight of

stone stairs to one of the wards. There are several in this part of the building, but a description of one is a

It was a spacious, bare, whitewashed apartment, lighted, of course, by windows looking into the interior of

the prison, but far more light and airy than one could reasonably expect to find in such a situation. There was

a large fire with a deal table before it, round which ten or a dozen women were seated on wooden forms at

dinner. Along both sides of the room ran a shelf; below it, at regular intervals, a row of large hooks were

fixed in the wall, on each of which was hung the sleeping mat of a prisoner: her rug and blanket being folded

up, and placed on the shelf above. At night, these mats are placed on the floor, each beneath the hook on

which it hangs during the day; and the ward is thus made to answer the purposes both of a dayroom and

sleeping apartment. Over the fireplace, was a large sheet of pasteboard, on which were displayed a variety of

texts from Scripture, which were also scattered about the room in scraps about the size and shape of the

copyslips which are used in schools. On the table was a sufficient provision of a kind of stewed beef and

brown bread, in pewter dishes, which are kept perfectly bright, and displayed on shelves in great order and

The women rose hastily, on our entrance, and retired in a hurried manner to either side of the fireplace. They

were all cleanly many of them decently attired, and there was nothing peculiar, either in their appearance

or demeanour. One or two resumed the needlework which they had probably laid aside at the commencement

of their meal; others gazed at the visitors with listless curiosity; and a few retired behind their companions to

the very end of the room, as if desirous to avoid even the casual observation of the strangers. Some old Irish

women, both in this and other wards, to whom the thing was no novelty, appeared perfectly indifferent to our

presence, and remained standing close to the seats from which they had just risen; but the general feeling

among the females seemed to be one of uneasiness during the period of our stay among them: which was very

brief. Not a word was uttered during the time of our remaining, unless, indeed, by the wardswoman in reply

to some question which we put to the turnkey who accompanied us. In every ward on the female side, a

wardswoman is appointed to preserve order, and a similar regulation is adopted among the males. The

wardsmen and wardswomen are all prisoners, selected for good conduct. They alone are allowed the privilege

of sleeping on bedsteads; a small stump bedstead being placed in every ward for that purpose. On both sides

of the gaol, is a small receivingroom, to which prisoners are conducted on their first reception, and whence

they cannot be removed until they have been examined by the surgeon of the prison. (2)

Retracing our steps to the dismal passage in which we found ourselves at first (and which, bythebye,

contains three or four dark cells for the accommodation of refractory prisoners), we were led through a

narrow yard to the 'school' a portion of the prison set apart for boys under fourteen years of age. In a

tolerable sized room, in which were writingmaterials and some copybooks, was the schoolmaster, with a

couple of his pupils; the remainder having been fetched from an adjoining apartment, the whole were drawn

up in line for our inspection. There were fourteen of them in all, some with shoes, some without; some in

pinafores without jackets, others in jackets without pinafores, and one in scarce anything at all. The whole

number, without an exception we believe, had been committed for trial on charges of pocketpicking; and

fourteen such terrible little faces we never beheld. There was not one redeeming feature among them not

a glance of honesty not a wink expressive of anything but the gallows and the hulks, in the whole

collection. As to anything like shame or contrition, that was entirely out of the question. They were evidently

quite gratified at being thought worth the trouble of looking at; their idea appeared to be, that we had come to

see Newgate as a grand affair, and that they were an indispensable part of the show; and every boy as he 'fell

in' to the line, actually seemed as pleased and important as if he had done something excessively meritorious

in getting there at all. We never looked upon a more disagreeable sight, because we never saw fourteen such

On either side of the schoolyard is a yard for men, in one of which that towards Newgatestreet

prisoners of the more respectable class are confined. Of the other, we have little description to offer, as the

different wards necessarily partake of the same character. They are provided, like the wards on the women's

side, with mats and rugs, which are disposed of in the same manner during the day; the only very striking

difference between their appearance and that of the wards inhabited by the females, is the utter absence of

any employment. Huddled together on two opposite forms, by the fireside, sit twenty men perhaps; here, a

boy in livery; there, a man in a rough greatcoat and topboots; farther on, a desperatelooking fellow in his

shirtsleeves, with an old Scotch cap upon his shaggy head; near him again, a tall ruffian, in a smockfrock;

next to him, a miserable being of distressed appearance, with his head resting on his hand; all alike in one

respect, all idle and listless. When they do leave the fire, sauntering moodily about, lounging in the window,

or leaning against the wall, vacantly swinging their bodies to and fro. With the exception of a man reading an

old newspaper, in two or three instances, this was the case in every ward we entered.

The only communication these men have with their friends, is through two close iron gratings, with an

intermediate space of about a yard in width between the two, so that nothing can be handed across, nor can

the prisoner have any communication by touch with the person who visits him. The married men have a

separate grating, at which to see their wives, but its construction is the same.

The prison chapel is situated at the back of the governor's house: the latter having no windows looking into

the interior of the prison. Whether the associations connected with the place the knowledge that here a

portion of the burial service is, on some dreadful occasions, performed over the quick and not upon the dead

cast over it a still more gloomy and sombre air than art has imparted to it, we know not, but its appearance

is very striking. There is something in a silent and deserted place of worship, solemn and impressive at any

time; and the very dissimilarity of this one from any we have been accustomed to, only enhances the

impression. The meanness of its appointments the bare and scanty pulpit, with the paltry painted pillars on

either side the women's gallery with its great heavy curtain the men's with its unpainted benches and

dingy front the tottering little table at the altar, with the commandments on the wall above it, scarcely

legible through lack of paint, and dust and damp so unlike the velvet and gilding, the marble and wood, of a

modern church are strange and striking. There is one object, too, which rivets the attention and fascinates

the gaze, and from which we may turn horrorstricken in vain, for the recollection of it will haunt us, waking

and sleeping, for a long time afterwards. Immediately below the readingdesk, on the floor of the chapel, and

forming the most conspicuous object in its little area, is THE CONDEMNED PEW; a huge black pen, in

which the wretched people, who are singled out for death, are placed on the Sunday preceding their

execution, in sight of all their fellowprisoners, from many of whom they may have been separated but a

week before, to hear prayers for their own souls, to join in the responses of their own burial service, and to

listen to an address, warning their recent companions to take example by their fate, and urging themselves,

while there is yet time nearly fourandtwenty hours to 'turn, and flee from the wrath to come!' Imagine

what have been the feelings of the men whom that fearful pew has enclosed, and of whom, between the

gallows and the knife, no mortal remnant may now remain! Think of the hopeless clinging to life to the last,

and the wild despair, far exceeding in anguish the felon's death itself, by which they have heard the certainty

of their speedy transmission to another world, with all their crimes upon their heads, rung into their ears by

At one time and at no distant period either the coffins of the men about to be executed, were placed in

that pew, upon the seat by their side, during the whole service. It may seem incredible, but it is true. Let us

hope that the increased spirit of civilisation and humanity which abolished this frightful and degrading

custom, may extend itself to other usages equally barbarous; usages which have not even the plea of utility in

their defence, as every year's experience has shown them to be more and more inefficacious.

Leaving the chapel, descending to the passage so frequently alluded to, and crossing the yard before noticed

as being allotted to prisoners of a more respectable description than the generality of men confined here, the

visitor arrives at a thick iron gate of great size and strength. Having been admitted through it by the turnkey

on duty, he turns sharp round to the left, and pauses before another gate; and, having passed this last barrier,

The pressyard, well known by name to newspaper readers, from its frequent mention in accounts of

executions, is at the corner of the building, and next to the ordinary's house, in Newgatestreet: running from

Newgatestreet, towards the centre of the prison, parallel with Newgatemarket. It is a long, narrow court, of

which a portion of the wall in Newgatestreet forms one end, and the gate the other. At the upper end, on the

left hand that is, adjoining the wall in Newgatestreet is a cistern of water, and at the bottom a double

grating (of which the gate itself forms a part) similar to that before described. Through these grates the

prisoners are allowed to see their friends; a turnkey always remaining in the vacant space between, during the

whole interview. Immediately on the right as you enter, is a building containing the pressroom, dayroom,

and cells; the yard is on every side surrounded by lofty walls guarded by CHEVAUX DE FRISE; and the

In the first apartment into which we were conducted which was at the top of a staircase, and immediately

over the pressroom were fiveandtwenty or thirty prisoners, all under sentence of death, awaiting the

result of the recorder's report men of all ages and appearances, from a hardened old offender with swarthy

face and grizzly beard of three days' growth, to a handsome boy, not fourteen years old, and of singularly

youthful appearance even for that age, who had been condemned for burglary. There was nothing remarkable

in the appearance of these prisoners. One or two decentlydressed men were brooding with a dejected air

over the fire; several little groups of two or three had been engaged in conversation at the upper end of the

room, or in the windows; and the remainder were crowded round a young man seated at a table, who

appeared to be engaged in teaching the younger ones to write. The room was large, airy, and clean. There was

very little anxiety or mental suffering depicted in the countenance of any of the men; they had all been

sentenced to death, it is true, and the recorder's report had not yet been made; but, we question whether there

was a man among them, notwithstanding, who did not KNOW that although he had undergone the ceremony,

it never was intended that his life should be sacrificed. On the table lay a Testament, but there were no tokens

In the pressroom below, were three men, the nature of whose offence rendered it necessary to separate them,

even from their companions in guilt. It is a long, sombre room, with two windows sunk into the stone wall,

and here the wretched men are pinioned on the morning of their execution, before moving towards the

scaffold. The fate of one of these prisoners was uncertain; some mitigatory circumstances having come to

light since his trial, which had been humanely represented in the proper quarter. The other two had nothing to

expect from the mercy of the crown; their doom was sealed; no plea could be urged in extenuation of their

crime, and they well knew that for them there was no hope in this world. 'The two short ones,' the turnkey

The man to whom we have alluded as entertaining some hopes of escape, was lounging, at the greatest

distance he could place between himself and his companions, in the window nearest to the door. He was

probably aware of our approach, and had assumed an air of courageous indifference; his face was purposely

averted towards the window, and he stirred not an inch while we were present. The other two men were at the

upper end of the room. One of them, who was imperfectly seen in the dim light, had his back towards us, and

was stooping over the fire, with his right arm on the mantelpiece, and his head sunk upon it. The other was

leaning on the sill of the farthest window. The light fell full upon him, and communicated to his pale, haggard

face, and disordered hair, an appearance which, at that distance, was ghastly. His cheek rested upon his hand;

and, with his face a little raised, and his eyes wildly staring before him, he seemed to be unconsciously intent

on counting the chinks in the opposite wall. We passed this room again afterwards. The first man was pacing

up and down the court with a firm military step he had been a soldier in the foot guards and a cloth cap

jauntily thrown on one side of his head. He bowed respectfully to our conductor, and the salute was returned.

The other two still remained in the positions we have described, and were as motionless as statues. (3)

A few paces up the yard, and forming a continuation of the building, in which are the two rooms we have just

quitted, lie the condemned cells. The entrance is by a narrow and obscure stair case leading to a dark

passage, in which a charcoal stove casts a lurid tint over the objects in its immediate vicinity, and diffuses

something like warmth around. From the lefthand side of this passage, the massive door of every cell on the

story opens; and from it alone can they be approached. There are three of these passages, and three of these

ranges of cells, one above the other; but in size, furniture and appearance, they are all precisely alike. Prior to

the recorder's report being made, all the prisoners under sentence of death are removed from the dayroom at

five o'clock in the afternoon, and locked up in these cells, where they are allowed a candle until ten o'clock;

and here they remain until seven next morning. When the warrant for a prisoner's execution arrives, he is

removed to the cells and confined in one of them until he leaves it for the scaffold. He is at liberty to walk in

the yard; but, both in his walks and in his cell, he is constantly attended by a turnkey who never leaves him

We entered the first cell. It was a stone dungeon, eight feet long by six wide, with a bench at the upper end,

under which were a common rug, a bible, and prayerbook. An iron candlestick was fixed into the wall at the

side; and a small high window in the back admitted as much air and light as could struggle in between a

double row of heavy, crossed iron bars. It contained no other furniture of any description.

Conceive the situation of a man, spending his last night on earth in this cell. Buoyed up with some vague and

undefined hope of reprieve, he knew not why indulging in some wild and visionary idea of escaping, he

knew not how hour after hour of the three preceding days allowed him for preparation, has fled with a

speed which no man living would deem possible, for none but this dying man can know. He has wearied his

friends with entreaties, exhausted the attendants with importunities, neglected in his feverish restlessness the

timely warnings of his spiritual consoler; and, now that the illusion is at last dispelled, now that eternity is

before him and guilt behind, now that his fears of death amount almost to madness, and an overwhelming

sense of his helpless, hopeless state rushes upon him, he is lost and stupefied, and has neither thoughts to turn

to, nor power to call upon, the Almighty Being, from whom alone he can seek mercy and forgiveness, and

Hours have glided by, and still he sits upon the same stone bench with folded arms, heedless alike of the fast

decreasing time before him, and the urgent entreaties of the good man at his side. The feeble light is wasting

gradually, and the deathlike stillness of the street without, broken only by the rumbling of some passing

vehicle which echoes mournfully through the empty yards, warns him that the night is waning fast away. The

deep bell of St. Paul's strikes one! He heard it; it has roused him. Seven hours left! He paces the narrow

limits of his cell with rapid strides, cold drops of terror starting on his forehead, and every muscle of his

frame quivering with agony. Seven hours! He suffers himself to be led to his seat, mechanically takes the

bible which is placed in his hand, and tries to read and listen. No: his thoughts will wander. The book is torn

and soiled by use and like the book he read his lessons in, at school, just forty years ago! He has never

bestowed a thought upon it, perhaps, since he left it as a child: and yet the place, the time, the room nay, the

very boys he played with, crowd as vividly before him as if they were scenes of yesterday; and some

forgotten phrase, some childish word, rings in his ears like the echo of one uttered but a minute since. The

voice of the clergyman recalls him to himself. He is reading from the sacred book its solemn promises of

pardon for repentance, and its awful denunciation of obdurate men. He falls upon his knees and clasps his

hands to pray. Hush! what sound was that? He starts upon his feet. It cannot be two yet. Hark! Two quarters

have struck; the third the fourth. It is! Six hours left. Tell him not of repentance! Six hours' repentance for

eight times six years of guilt and sin! He buries his face in his hands, and throws himself on the bench.

Worn with watching and excitement, he sleeps, and the same unsettled state of mind pursues him in his

dreams. An insupportable load is taken from his breast; he is walking with his wife in a pleasant field, with

the bright sky above them, and a fresh and boundless prospect on every side how different from the stone

walls of Newgate! She is looking not as she did when he saw her for the last time in that dreadful place, but

as she used when he loved her long, long ago, before misery and illtreatment had altered her looks, and

vice had changed his nature, and she is leaning upon his arm, and looking up into his face with tenderness

and affection and he does NOT strike her now, nor rudely shake her from him. And oh! how glad he is to

tell her all he had forgotten in that last hurried interview, and to fall on his knees before her and fervently

beseech her pardon for all the unkindness and cruelty that wasted her form and broke her heart! The scene

suddenly changes. He is on his trial again: there are the judge and jury, and prosecutors, and witnesses, just as

they were before. How full the court is what a sea of heads with a gallows, too, and a scaffold and how

The night is dark and cold, the gates have been left open, and in an instant he is in the street, flying from the

scene of his imprisonment like the wind. The streets are cleared, the open fields are gained and the broad,

wide country lies before him. Onward he dashes in the midst of darkness, over hedge and ditch, through mud

and pool, bounding from spot to spot with a speed and lightness, astonishing even to himself. At length he

pauses; he must be safe from pursuit now; he will stretch himself on that bank and sleep till sunrise.

A period of unconsciousness succeeds. He wakes, cold and wretched. The dull, gray light of morning is

stealing into the cell, and falls upon the form of the attendant turnkey. Confused by his dreams, he starts from

his uneasy bed in momentary uncertainty. It is but momentary. Every object in the narrow cell is too

frightfully real to admit of doubt or mistake. He is the condemned felon again, guilty and despairing; and in

It is strange with how little notice, good, bad, or indifferent, a man may live and die in London. He awakens

no sympathy in the breast of any single person; his existence is a matter of interest to no one save himself; he

cannot be said to be forgotten when he dies, for no one remembered him when he was alive. There is a

numerous class of people in this great metropolis who seem not to possess a single friend, and whom nobody

appears to care for. Urged by imperative necessity in the first instance, they have resorted to London in

search of employment, and the means of subsistence. It is hard, we know, to break the ties which bind us to

our homes and friends, and harder still to efface the thousand recollections of happy days and old times,

which have been slumbering in our bosoms for years, and only rush upon the mind, to bring before it

associations connected with the friends we have left, the scenes we have beheld too probably for the last time,

and the hopes we once cherished, but may entertain no more. These men, however, happily for themselves,

have long forgotten such thoughts. Old country friends have died or emigrated; former correspondents have

become lost, like themselves, in the crowd and turmoil of some busy city; and they have gradually settled

We were seated in the enclosure of St. James's Park the other day, when our attention was attracted by a man

whom we immediately put down in our own mind as one of this class. He was a tall, thin, pale person, in a

black coat, scanty gray trousers, little pinched up gaiters, and brown beaver gloves. He had an umbrella in

his hand not for use, for the day was fine but, evidently, because he always carried one to the office in the

morning. He walked up and down before the little patch of grass on which the chairs are placed for hire, not

as if he were doing it for pleasure or recreation, but as if it were a matter of compulsion, just as he would

walk to the office every morning from the back settlements of Islington. It was Monday; he had escaped for

fourandtwenty hours from the thraldom of the desk; and was walking here for exercise and amusement

perhaps for the first time in his life. We were inclined to think he had never had a holiday before, and that he

did not know what to do with himself. Children were playing on the grass; groups of people were loitering

about, chatting and laughing; but the man walked steadily up and down, unheeding and unheeded his spare,

pale face looking as if it were incapable of bearing the expression of curiosity or interest.

There was something in the man's manner and appearance which told us, we fancied, his whole life, or rather

his whole day, for a man of this sort has no variety of days. We thought we almost saw the dingy little back

office into which he walks every morning, hanging his hat on the same peg, and placing his legs beneath the

same desk: first, taking off that black coat which lasts the year through, and putting on the one which did duty

last year, and which he keeps in his desk to save the other. There he sits till five o'clock, working on, all day,

as regularly as the dial over the mantelpiece, whose loud ticking is as monotonous as his whole existence:

only raising his head when some one enters the countinghouse, or when, in the midst of some difficult

calculation, he looks up to the ceiling as if there were inspiration in the dusty skylight with a green knot in the

centre of every pane of glass. About five, or halfpast, he slowly dismounts from his accustomed stool, and

again changing his coat, proceeds to his usual diningplace, somewhere near Bucklersbury. The waiter

recites the bill of fare in a rather confidential manner for he is a regular customer and after inquiring

'What's in the best cut?' and 'What was up last?' he orders a small plate of roast beef, with greens, and

halfapint of porter. He has a small plate today, because greens are a penny more than potatoes, and he

had 'two breads' yesterday, with the additional enormity of 'a cheese' the day before. This important point

settled, he hangs up his hat he took it off the moment he sat down and bespeaks the paper after the next

gentleman. If he can get it while he is at dinner, he eats with much greater zest; balancing it against the

water bottle, and eating a bit of beef, and reading a line or two, alternately. Exactly at five minutes before

the hour is up, he produces a shilling, pays the reckoning, carefully deposits the change in his

waistcoatpocket (first deducting a penny for the waiter), and returns to the office, from which, if it is not

foreign post night, he again sallies forth, in about half an hour. He then walks home, at his usual pace, to his

little back room at Islington, where he has his tea; perhaps solacing himself during the meal with the

conversation of his landlady's little boy, whom he occasionally rewards with a penny, for solving problems in

simple addition. Sometimes, there is a letter or two to take up to his employer's, in Russellsquare; and then,

the wealthy man of business, hearing his voice, calls out from the diningparlour, 'Come in, Mr. Smith:'

and Mr. Smith, putting his hat at the feet of one of the hall chairs, walks timidly in, and being

condescendingly desired to sit down, carefully tucks his legs under his chair, and sits at a considerable

distance from the table while he drinks the glass of sherry which is poured out for him by the eldest boy, and

after drinking which, he backs and slides out of the room, in a state of nervous agitation from which he does

not perfectly recover, until he finds himself once more in the Islingtonroad. Poor, harmless creatures such

men are; contented but not happy; brokenspirited and humbled, they may feel no pain, but they never know

Compare these men with another class of beings who, like them, have neither friend nor companion, but

whose position in society is the result of their own choice. These are generally old fellows with white heads

and red faces, addicted to port wine and Hessian boots, who from some cause, real or imaginary generally

the former, the excellent reason being that they are rich, and their relations poor grow suspicious of

everybody, and do the misanthropical in chambers, taking great delight in thinking themselves unhappy, and

making everybody they come near, miserable. You may see such men as these, anywhere; you will know

them at coffeehouses by their discontented exclamations and the luxury of their dinners; at theatres, by their

always sitting in the same place and looking with a jaundiced eye on all the young people near them; at

church, by the pomposity with which they enter, and the loud tone in which they repeat the responses; at

parties, by their getting cross at whist and hating music. An old fellow of this kind will have his chambers

splendidly furnished, and collect books, plate, and pictures about him in profusion; not so much for his own

gratification, as to be superior to those who have the desire, but not the means, to compete with him. He

belongs to two or three clubs, and is envied, and flattered, and hated by the members of them all. Sometimes

he will be appealed to by a poor relation a married nephew perhaps for some little assistance: and then he

will declaim with honest indignation on the improvidence of young married people, the worthlessness of a

wife, the insolence of having a family, the atrocity of getting into debt with a hundred and twentyfive

pounds a year, and other unpardonable crimes; winding up his exhortations with a complacent review of his

own conduct, and a delicate allusion to parochial relief. He dies, some day after dinner, of apoplexy, having

bequeathed his property to a Public Society, and the Institution erects a tablet to his memory, expressive of

their admiration of his Christian conduct in this world, and their comfortable conviction of his happiness in

But, next to our very particular friends, hackneycoachmen, cabmen and cads, whom we admire in

proportion to the extent of their cool impudence and perfect selfpossession, there is no class of people who

amuse us more than London apprentices. They are no longer an organised body, bound down by solemn

compact to terrify his Majesty's subjects whenever it pleases them to take offence in their heads and staves in

their hands. They are only bound, now, by indentures, and, as to their valour, it is easily restrained by the

wholesome dread of the New Police, and a perspective view of a damp stationhouse, terminating in a

policeoffice and a reprimand. They are still, however, a peculiar class, and not the less pleasant for being

inoffensive. Can any one fail to have noticed them in the streets on Sunday? And were there ever such

harmless efforts at the grand and magnificent as the young fellows display! We walked down the Strand, a

Sunday or two ago, behind a little group; and they furnished food for our amusement the whole way. They

had come out of some part of the city; it was between three and four o'clock in the afternoon; and they were

on their way to the Park. There were four of them, all arminarm, with white kid gloves like so many

bridegrooms, light trousers of unprecedented patterns, and coats for which the English language has yet no

name a kind of cross between a greatcoat and a surtout, with the collar of the one, the skirts of the other,

Each of the gentlemen carried a thick stick, with a large tassel at the top, which he occasionally twirled

gracefully round; and the whole four, by way of looking easy and unconcerned, were walking with a paralytic

swagger irresistibly ludicrous. One of the party had a watch about the size and shape of a reasonable Ribstone

pippin, jammed into his waistcoatpocket, which he carefully compared with the clocks at St. Clement's and

the New Church, the illuminated clock at Exeter 'Change, the clock of St. Martin's Church, and the clock of

the Horse Guards. When they at last arrived in St. James's Park, the member of the party who had the

bestmade boots on, hired a second chair expressly for his feet, and flung himself on this twopennyworth of

sylvan luxury with an air which levelled all distinctions between Brookes's and Snooks's, Crockford's and

We may smile at such people, but they can never excite our anger. They are usually on the best terms with

themselves, and it follows almost as a matter of course, in good humour with every one about them. Besides,

they are always the faint reflection of higher lights; and, if they do display a little occasional foolery in their

own proper persons, it is surely more tolerable than precocious puppyism in the Quadrant, whiskered

Christmas time! That man must be a misanthrope indeed, in whose breast something like a jovial feeling is

not roused in whose mind some pleasant associations are not awakened by the recurrence of Christmas.

There are people who will tell you that Christmas is not to them what it used to be; that each succeeding

Christmas has found some cherished hope, or happy prospect, of the year before, dimmed or passed away;

that the present only serves to remind them of reduced circumstances and straitened incomes of the feasts

they once bestowed on hollow friends, and of the cold looks that meet them now, in adversity and misfortune.

Never heed such dismal reminiscences. There are few men who have lived long enough in the world, who

cannot call up such thoughts any day in the year. Then do not select the merriest of the three hundred and

sixtyfive for your doleful recollections, but draw your chair nearer the blazing fire fill the glass and send

round the song and if your room be smaller than it was a dozen years ago, or if your glass be filled with

reeking punch, instead of sparkling wine, put a good face on the matter, and empty it offhand, and fill

another, and troll off the old ditty you used to sing, and thank God it's no worse. Look on the merry faces of

your children (if you have any) as they sit round the fire. One little seat may be empty; one slight form that

gladdened the father's heart, and roused the mother's pride to look upon, may not be there. Dwell not upon the

past; think not that one short year ago, the fair child now resolving into dust, sat before you, with the bloom

of health upon its cheek, and the gaiety of infancy in its joyous eye. Reflect upon your present blessings of

which every man has many not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some. Fill your glass

again, with a merry face and contented heart. Our life on it, but your Christmas shall be merry, and your new

Who can be insensible to the outpourings of good feeling, and the honest interchange of affectionate

attachment, which abound at this season of the year? A Christmas familyparty! We know nothing in nature

more delightful! There seems a magic in the very name of Christmas. Petty jealousies and discords are

forgotten; social feelings are awakened, in bosoms to which they have long been strangers; father and son, or

brother and sister, who have met and passed with averted gaze, or a look of cold recognition, for months

before, proffer and return the cordial embrace, and bury their past animosities in their present happiness.

Kindly hearts that have yearned towards each other, but have been withheld by false notions of pride and

selfdignity, are again reunited, and all is kindness and benevolence! Would that Christmas lasted the whole

year through (as it ought), and that the prejudices and passions which deform our better nature, were never

The Christmas familyparty that we mean, is not a mere assemblage of relations, got up at a week or two's

notice, originating this year, having no family precedent in the last, and not likely to be repeated in the next.

No. It is an annual gathering of all the accessible members of the family, young or old, rich or poor; and all

the children look forward to it, for two months beforehand, in a fever of anticipation. Formerly, it was held at

grandpapa's; but grandpapa getting old, and grandmamma getting old too, and rather infirm, they have given

up housekeeping, and domesticated themselves with uncle George; so, the party always takes place at uncle

George's house, but grandmamma sends in most of the good things, and grandpapa always WILL toddle

down, all the way to Newgatemarket, to buy the turkey, which he engages a porter to bring home behind

him in triumph, always insisting on the man's being rewarded with a glass of spirits, over and above his hire,

to drink 'a merry Christmas and a happy new year' to aunt George. As to grandmamma, she is very secret and

mysterious for two or three days beforehand, but not sufficiently so, to prevent rumours getting afloat that she

has purchased a beautiful new cap with pink ribbons for each of the servants, together with sundry books, and

penknives, and pencilcases, for the younger branches; to say nothing of divers secret additions to the order

originally given by aunt George at the pastrycook's, such as another dozen of mince pies for the dinner,

On Christmaseve, grandmamma is always in excellent spirits, and after employing all the children, during

the day, in stoning the plums, and all that, insists, regularly every year, on uncle George coming down into

the kitchen, taking off his coat, and stirring the pudding for half an hour or so, which uncle George

goodhumouredly does, to the vociferous delight of the children and servants. The evening concludes with a

glorious game of blindman'sbuff, in an early stage of which grandpapa takes great care to be caught, in

On the following morning, the old couple, with as many of the children as the pew will hold, go to church in

great state: leaving aunt George at home dusting decanters and filling casters, and uncle George carrying

bottles into the diningparlour, and calling for corkscrews, and getting into everybody's way.

When the churchparty return to lunch, grandpapa produces a small sprig of mistletoe from his pocket, and

tempts the boys to kiss their little cousins under it a proceeding which affords both the boys and the old

gentleman unlimited satisfaction, but which rather outrages grandmamma's ideas of decorum, until grandpapa

says, that when he was just thirteen years and three months old, HE kissed grandmamma under a mistletoe

too, on which the children clap their hands, and laugh very heartily, as do aunt George and uncle George; and

grandmamma looks pleased, and says, with a benevolent smile, that grandpapa was an impudent young dog,

on which the children laugh very heartily again, and grandpapa more heartily than any of them.

But all these diversions are nothing to the subsequent excitement when grandmamma in a high cap, and

slatecoloured silk gown; and grandpapa with a beautifully plaited shirtfrill, and white neckerchief; seat

themselves on one side of the drawingroom fire, with uncle George's children and little cousins

innumerable, seated in the front, waiting the arrival of the expected visitors. Suddenly a hackneycoach is

heard to stop, and uncle George, who has been looking out of the window, exclaims 'Here's Jane!' on which

the children rush to the door, and helterskelter down stairs; and uncle Robert and aunt Jane, and the dear

little baby, and the nurse, and the whole party, are ushered upstairs amidst tumultuous shouts of 'Oh, my!'

from the children, and frequently repeated warnings not to hurt baby from the nurse. And grandpapa takes the

child, and grandmamma kisses her daughter, and the confusion of this first entry has scarcely subsided, when

some other aunts and uncles with more cousins arrive, and the grownup cousins flirt with each other, and so

do the little cousins too, for that matter, and nothing is to be heard but a confused din of talking, laughing,

A hesitating double knock at the streetdoor, heard during a momentary pause in the conversation, excites a

general inquiry of 'Who's that?' and two or three children, who have been standing at the window, announce

in a low voice, that it's 'poor aunt Margaret.' Upon which, aunt George leaves the room to welcome the

newcomer; and grandmamma draws herself up, rather stiff and stately; for Margaret married a poor man

without her consent, and poverty not being a sufficiently weighty punishment for her offence, has been

discarded by her friends, and debarred the society of her dearest relatives. But Christmas has come round, and

the unkind feelings that have struggled against better dispositions during the year, have melted away before

its genial influence, like halfformed ice beneath the morning sun. It is not difficult in a moment of angry

feeling for a parent to denounce a disobedient child; but, to banish her at a period of general good will and

hilarity, from the hearth, round which she has sat on so many anniversaries of the same day, expanding by

slow degrees from infancy to girlhood, and then bursting, almost imperceptibly, into a woman, is widely

different. The air of conscious rectitude, and cold forgiveness, which the old lady has assumed, sits ill upon

her; and when the poor girl is led in by her sister, pale in looks and broken in hope not from poverty, for

that she could bear, but from the consciousness of undeserved neglect, and unmerited unkindness it is easy

to see how much of it is assumed. A momentary pause succeeds; the girl breaks suddenly from her sister and

throws herself, sobbing, on her mother's neck. The father steps hastily forward, and takes her husband's hand.

Friends crowd round to offer their hearty congratulations, and happiness and harmony again prevail.

As to the dinner, it's perfectly delightful nothing goes wrong, and everybody is in the very best of spirits,

and disposed to please and be pleased. Grandpapa relates a circumstantial account of the purchase of the

turkey, with a slight digression relative to the purchase of previous turkeys, on former Christmasdays, which

grandmamma corroborates in the minutest particular. Uncle George tells stories, and carves poultry, and takes

wine, and jokes with the children at the sidetable, and winks at the cousins that are making love, or being

made love to, and exhilarates everybody with his good humour and hospitality; and when, at last, a stout

servant staggers in with a gigantic pudding, with a sprig of holly in the top, there is such a laughing, and

shouting, and clapping of little chubby hands, and kicking up of fat dumpy legs, as can only be equalled by

the applause with which the astonishing feat of pouring lighted brandy into mincepies, is received by the

younger visitors. Then the dessert! and the wine! and the fun! Such beautiful speeches, and SUCH songs,

from aunt Margaret's husband, who turns out to be such a nice man, and SO attentive to grandmamma! Even

grandpapa not only sings his annual song with unprecedented vigour, but on being honoured with an

unanimous ENCORE, according to annual custom, actually comes out with a new one which nobody but

grandmamma ever heard before; and a young scapegrace of a cousin, who has been in some disgrace with the

old people, for certain heinous sins of omission and commission neglecting to call, and persisting in

drinking Burton Ale astonishes everybody into convulsions of laughter by volunteering the most

extraordinary comic songs that ever were heard. And thus the evening passes, in a strain of rational

goodwill and cheerfulness, doing more to awaken the sympathies of every member of the party in behalf of

his neighbour, and to perpetuate their good feeling during the ensuing year, than half the homilies that have

Next to Christmasday, the most pleasant annual epoch in existence is the advent of the New Year. There are

a lachrymose set of people who usher in the New Year with watching and fasting, as if they were bound to

attend as chief mourners at the obsequies of the old one. Now, we cannot but think it a great deal more

complimentary, both to the old year that has rolled away, and to the New Year that is just beginning to dawn

There must have been some few occurrences in the past year to which we can look back, with a smile of

cheerful recollection, if not with a feeling of heartfelt thankfulness. And we are bound by every rule of justice

and equity to give the New Year credit for being a good one, until he proves himself unworthy the confidence

This is our view of the matter; and entertaining it, notwithstanding our respect for the old year, one of the few

remaining moments of whose existence passes away with every word we write, here we are, seated by our

fireside on this last night of the old year, one thousand eight hundred and thirtysix, penning this article with

as jovial a face as if nothing extraordinary had happened, or was about to happen, to disturb our good

Hackneycoaches and carriages keep rattling up the street and down the street in rapid succession,

conveying, doubtless, smartly dressed coachfuls to crowded parties; loud and repeated double knocks at the

house with green blinds, opposite, announce to the whole neighbourhood that there's one large party in the

street at all events; and we saw through the window, and through the fog too, till it grew so thick that we rung

for candles, and drew our curtains, pastrycooks' men with green boxes on their heads, and

routfurniturewarehousecarts, with cane seats and French lamps, hurrying to the numerous houses where

We can fancy one of these parties, we think, as well as if we were duly dresscoated and pumped, and had

Take the house with the green blinds for instance. We know it is a quadrille party, because we saw some men

taking up the front drawingroom carpet while we sat at breakfast this morning, and if further evidence be

required, and we must tell the truth, we just now saw one of the young ladies 'doing' another of the young

ladies' hair, near one of the bedroom windows, in an unusual style of splendour, which nothing else but a

The master of the house with the green blinds is in a public office; we know the fact by the cut of his coat, the

tie of his neckcloth, and the selfsatisfaction of his gait the very green blinds themselves have a Somerset

Hark! a cab! That's a junior clerk in the same office; a tidy sort of young man, with a tendency to cold and

corns, who comes in a pair of boots with black cloth fronts, and brings his shoes in his coatpocket, which

shoes he is at this very moment putting on in the hall. Now he is announced by the man in the passage to

The man on the first landing precedes him to the drawingroom door. 'Mr. Tupple!' shouts the messenger.

'How ARE you, Tupple?' says the master of the house, advancing from the fire, before which he has been

talking politics and airing himself. 'My dear, this is Mr. Tupple (a courteous salute from the lady of the

house); Tupple, my eldest daughter; Julia, my dear, Mr. Tupple; Tupple, my other daughters; my son, sir;'

Tupple rubs his hands very hard, and smiles as if it were all capital fun, and keeps constantly bowing and

turning himself round, till the whole family have been introduced, when he glides into a chair at the corner of

the sofa, and opens a miscellaneous conversation with the young ladies upon the weather, and the theatres,

and the old year, and the last new murder, and the balloon, and the ladies' sleeves, and the festivities of the

More double knocks! what an extensive party! what an incessant hum of conversation and general sipping of

coffee! We see Tupple now, in our mind's eye, in the height of his glory. He has just handed that stout old

lady's cup to the servant; and now, he dives among the crowd of young men by the door, to intercept the other

servant, and secure the muffinplate for the old lady's daughter, before he leaves the room; and now, as he

passes the sofa on his way back, he bestows a glance of recognition and patronage upon the young ladies as

Charming person Mr. Tupple perfect ladies' man such a delightful companion, too! Laugh! nobody ever

understood papa's jokes half so well as Mr. Tupple, who laughs himself into convulsions at every fresh burst

of facetiousness. Most delightful partner! talks through the whole set! and although he does seem at first

rather gay and frivolous, so romantic and with so MUCH feeling! Quite a love. No great favourite with the

young men, certainly, who sneer at, and affect to despise him; but everybody knows that's only envy, and

they needn't give themselves the trouble to depreciate his merits at any rate, for Ma says he shall be asked to

every future dinnerparty, if it's only to talk to people between the courses, and distract their attention when

At supper, Mr. Tupple shows to still greater advantage than he has done throughout the evening, and when Pa

requests every one to fill their glasses for the purpose of drinking happiness throughout the year, Mr. Tupple

is SO droll: insisting on all the young ladies having their glasses filled, notwithstanding their repeated

assurances that they never can, by any possibility, think of emptying them and subsequently begging

permission to say a few words on the sentiment which has just been uttered by Pa when he makes one of

the most brilliant and poetical speeches that can possibly be imagined, about the old year and the new one.

After the toast has been drunk, and when the ladies have retired, Mr. Tupple requests that every gentleman

will do him the favour of filling his glass, for he has a toast to propose: on which all the gentlemen cry 'Hear!

hear!' and pass the decanters accordingly: and Mr. Tupple being informed by the master of the house that

they are all charged, and waiting for his toast, rises, and begs to remind the gentlemen present, how much

they have been delighted by the dazzling array of elegance and beauty which the drawingroom has exhibited

that night, and how their senses have been charmed, and their hearts captivated, by the bewitching

concentration of female loveliness which that very room has so recently displayed. (Loud cries of 'Hear!')

Much as he (Tupple) would be disposed to deplore the absence of the ladies, on other grounds, he cannot but

derive some consolation from the reflection that the very circumstance of their not being present, enables him

to propose a toast, which he would have otherwise been prevented from giving that toast he begs to say is

'The Ladies!' (Great applause.) The Ladies! among whom the fascinating daughters of their excellent host, are

alike conspicuous for their beauty, their accomplishments, and their elegance. He begs them to drain a

bumper to 'The Ladies, and a happy new year to them!' (Prolonged approbation; above which the noise of the

ladies dancing the Spanish dance among themselves, overhead, is distinctly audible.)

The applause consequent on this toast, has scarcely subsided, when a young gentleman in a pink

underwaistcoat, sitting towards the bottom of the table, is observed to grow very restless and fidgety, and to

evince strong indications of some latent desire to give vent to his feelings in a speech, which the wary Tupple

at once perceiving, determines to forestall by speaking himself. He, therefore, rises again, with an air of

solemn importance, and trusts he may be permitted to propose another toast (unqualified approbation, and

Mr. Tupple proceeds). He is sure they must all be deeply impressed with the hospitality he may say the

splendour with which they have been that night received by their worthy host and hostess. (Unbounded

applause.) Although this is the first occasion on which he has had the pleasure and delight of sitting at that

board, he has known his friend Dobble long and intimately; he has been connected with him in business he

wishes everybody present knew Dobble as well as he does. (A cough from the host.) He (Tupple) can lay his

hand upon his (Tupple's) heart, and declare his confident belief that a better man, a better husband, a better

father, a better brother, a better son, a better relation in any relation of life, than Dobble, never existed. (Loud

cries of 'Hear!') They have seen him tonight in the peaceful bosom of his family; they should see him in the

morning, in the trying duties of his office. Calm in the perusal of the morning papers, uncompromising in the

signature of his name, dignified in his replies to the inquiries of stranger applicants, deferential in his

behaviour to his superiors, majestic in his deportment to the messengers. (Cheers.) When he bears this

merited testimony to the excellent qualities of his friend Dobble, what can he say in approaching such a

subject as Mrs. Dobble? Is it requisite for him to expatiate on the qualities of that amiable woman? No; he

will spare his friend Dobble's feelings; he will spare the feelings of his friend if he will allow him to have

the honour of calling him so Mr. Dobble, junior. (Here Mr. Dobble, junior, who has been previously

distending his mouth to a considerable width, by thrusting a particularly fine orange into that feature,

suspends operations, and assumes a proper appearance of intense melancholy). He will simply say and he is

quite certain it is a sentiment in which all who hear him will readily concur that his friend Dobble is as

superior to any man he ever knew, as Mrs. Dobble is far beyond any woman he ever saw (except her

daughters); and he will conclude by proposing their worthy 'Host and Hostess, and may they live to enjoy

The toast is drunk with acclamation; Dobble returns thanks, and the whole party rejoin the ladies in the

drawingroom. Young men who were too bashful to dance before supper, find tongues and partners; the

musicians exhibit unequivocal symptoms of having drunk the new year in, while the company were out; and

We have scarcely written the last word of the previous sentence, when the first stroke of twelve, peals from

the neighbouring churches. There certainly we must confess it now is something awful in the sound.

Strictly speaking, it may not be more impressive now, than at any other time; for the hours steal as swiftly on,

at other periods, and their flight is little heeded. But, we measure man's life by years, and it is a solemn knell

that warns us we have passed another of the landmarks which stands between us and the grave. Disguise it as

we may, the reflection will force itself on our minds, that when the next bell announces the arrival of a new

year, we may be insensible alike of the timely warning we have so often neglected, and of all the warm

Mr. Samuel Wilkins was a carpenter, a journeyman carpenter of small dimensions, decidedly below the

middle size bordering, perhaps, upon the dwarfish. His face was round and shining, and his hair carefully

twisted into the outer corner of each eye, till it formed a variety of that description of semicurls, usually

known as 'aggerawators.' His earnings were allsufficient for his wants, varying from eighteen shillings to

one pound five, weekly his manner undeniable his sabbath waistcoats dazzling. No wonder that, with

these qualifications, Samuel Wilkins found favour in the eyes of the other sex: many women have been

captivated by far less substantial qualifications. But, Samuel was proof against their blandishments, until at

length his eyes rested on those of a Being for whom, from that time forth, he felt fate had destined him. He

came, and conquered proposed, and was accepted loved, and was beloved. Mr. Wilkins 'kept company'

Miss Evans (or Ivins, to adopt the pronunciation most in vogue with her circle of acquaintance) had adopted

in early life the useful pursuit of shoebinding, to which she had afterwards superadded the occupation of a

strawbonnet maker. Herself, her maternal parent, and two sisters, formed an harmonious quartett in the most

secluded portion of Camdentown; and here it was that Mr. Wilkins presented himself, one Monday

afternoon, in his best attire, with his face more shining and his waistcoat more bright than either had ever

appeared before. The family were just going to tea, and were SO glad to see him. It was quite a little feast;

two ounces of seven andsixpenny green, and a quarter of a pound of the best fresh; and Mr. Wilkins had

brought a pint of shrimps, neatly folded up in a clean belcher, to give a zest to the meal, and propitiate Mrs.

Ivins. Jemima was 'cleaning herself' upstairs; so Mr. Samuel Wilkins sat down and talked domestic

economy with Mrs. Ivins, whilst the two youngest Miss Ivinses poked bits of lighted brown paper between

'I wos a thinking,' said Mr. Samuel Wilkins, during a pause in the conversation 'I wos a thinking of taking

J'mima to the Eagle to night.' 'O my!' exclaimed Mrs. Ivins. 'Lor! how nice!' said the youngest Miss Ivins.

'Well, I declare!' added the youngest Miss Ivins but one. 'Tell J'mima to put on her white muslin, Tilly,'

screamed Mrs. Ivins, with motherly anxiety; and down came J'mima herself soon afterwards in a white

muslin gown carefully hooked and eyed, a little red shawl, plentifully pinned, a white straw bonnet trimmed

with red ribbons, a small necklace, a large pair of bracelets, Denmark satin shoes, and openworked

stockings; white cotton gloves on her fingers, and a cambric pockethandkerchief, carefully folded up, in her

hand all quite genteel and ladylike. And away went Miss J'mima Ivins and Mr. Samuel Wilkins, and a

dresscane, with a gilt knob at the top, to the admiration and envy of the street in general, and to the high

gratification of Mrs. Ivins, and the two youngest Miss Ivinses in particular. They had no sooner turned into

the Pancrasroad, than who should Miss J'mima Ivins stumble upon, by the most fortunate accident in the

world, but a young lady as she knew, with HER young man! And it is so strange how things do turn out

sometimes they were actually going to the Eagle too. So Mr. Samuel Wilkins was introduced to Miss

J'mima Ivins's friend's young man, and they all walked on together, talking, and laughing, and joking away

like anything; and when they got as far as Pentonville, Miss Ivins's friend's young man WOULD have the

ladies go into the Crown, to taste some shrub, which, after a great blushing and giggling, and hiding of faces

in elaborate pockethandkerchiefs, they consented to do. Having tasted it once, they were easily prevailed

upon to taste it again; and they sat out in the garden tasting shrub, and looking at the Busses alternately, till it

was just the proper time to go to the Eagle; and then they resumed their journey, and walked very fast, for

'How ev'nly!' said Miss J'mima Ivins, and Miss J'mima Ivins's friend, both at once, when they had passed the

gate and were fairly inside the gardens. There were the walks, beautifully gravelled and planted and the

refreshmentboxes, painted and ornamented like so many snuffboxes and the variegated lamps shedding

their rich light upon the company's heads and the place for dancing ready chalked for the company's feet

and a Moorish band playing at one end of the gardens and an opposition military band playing away at the

other. Then, the waiters were rushing to and fro with glasses of negus, and glasses of brandyandwater, and

bottles of ale, and bottles of stout; and gingerbeer was going off in one place, and practical jokes were going

on in another; and people were crowding to the door of the Rotunda; and in short the whole scene was, as

Miss J'mima Ivins, inspired by the novelty, or the shrub, or both, observed 'one of dazzling excitement.' As

to the concertroom, never was anything half so splendid. There was an orchestra for the singers, all paint,

gilding, and plateglass; and such an organ! Miss J'mima Ivins's friend's young man whispered it had cost

'four hundred pound,' which Mr. Samuel Wilkins said was 'not dear neither;' an opinion in which the ladies

perfectly coincided. The audience were seated on elevated benches round the room, and crowded into every

part of it; and everybody was eating and drinking as comfortably as possible. Just before the concert

commenced, Mr. Samuel Wilkins ordered two glasses of rumandwater 'warm with ' and two slices of

lemon, for himself and the other young man, together with 'a pint o' sherry wine for the ladies, and some

sweet carrawayseed biscuits;' and they would have been quite comfortable and happy, only a strange

gentleman with large whiskers WOULD stare at Miss J'mima Ivins, and another gentleman in a plaid

waistcoat WOULD wink at Miss J'mima Ivins's friend; on which Miss Jemima Ivins's friend's young man

exhibited symptoms of boiling over, and began to mutter about 'people's imperence,' and 'swells out o' luck;'

and to intimate, in oblique terms, a vague intention of knocking somebody's head off; which he was only

prevented from announcing more emphatically, by both Miss J'mima Ivins and her friend threatening to faint

The concert commenced overture on the organ. 'How solemn!' exclaimed Miss J'mima Ivins, glancing,

perhaps unconsciously, at the gentleman with the whiskers. Mr. Samuel Wilkins, who had been muttering

apart for some time past, as if he were holding a confidential conversation with the gilt knob of the

dresscane, breathed hardbreathing vengeance, perhaps, but said nothing. 'The soldier tired,' Miss

Somebody in white satin. 'Ancore!' cried Miss J'mima Ivins's friend. 'Ancore!' shouted the gentleman in the

plaid waistcoat immediately, hammering the table with a stout bottle. Miss J'mima Ivins's friend's young

man eyed the man behind the waistcoat from head to foot, and cast a look of interrogative contempt towards

Mr. Samuel Wilkins. Comic song, accompanied on the organ. Miss J'mima Ivins was convulsed with laughter

so was the man with the whiskers. Everything the ladies did, the plaid waistcoat and whiskers did, by way

of expressing unity of sentiment and congeniality of soul; and Miss J'mima Ivins, and Miss J'mima Ivins's

friend, grew lively and talkative, as Mr. Samuel Wilkins, and Miss J'mima Ivins's friend's young man, grew

Now, if the matter had ended here, the little party might soon have recovered their former equanimity; but

Mr. Samuel Wilkins and his friend began to throw looks of defiance upon the waistcoat and whiskers. And

the waistcoat and whiskers, by way of intimating the slight degree in which they were affected by the looks

aforesaid, bestowed glances of increased admiration upon Miss J'mima Ivins and friend. The concert and

vaudeville concluded, they promenaded the gardens. The waistcoat and whiskers did the same; and made

divers remarks complimentary to the ankles of Miss J'mima Ivins and friend, in an audible tone. At length,

not satisfied with these numerous atrocities, they actually came up and asked Miss J'mima Ivins, and Miss

J'mima Ivins's friend, to dance, without taking no more notice of Mr. Samuel Wilkins, and Miss J'mima

'What do you mean by that, scoundrel!' exclaimed Mr. Samuel Wilkins, grasping the giltknobbed

dresscane firmly in his right hand. 'What's the matter with YOU, you little humbug?' replied the whiskers.

'How dare you insult me and my friend?' inquired the friend's young man. 'You and your friend be hanged!'

responded the waistcoat. 'Take that,' exclaimed Mr. Samuel Wilkins. The ferrule of the giltknobbed

dresscane was visible for an instant, and then the light of the variegated lamps shone brightly upon it as it

whirled into the air, cane and all. 'Give it him,' said the waistcoat. 'Horficer!' screamed the ladies. Miss

J'mima Ivins's beau, and the friend's young man, lay gasping on the gravel, and the waistcoat and whiskers

Miss J'mima Ivins and friend being conscious that the affray was in no slight degree attributable to

themselves, of course went into hysterics forthwith; declared themselves the most injured of women;

exclaimed, in incoherent ravings, that they had been suspected wrongfully suspected oh! that they should

ever have lived to see the day and so forth; suffered a relapse every time they opened their eyes and saw

their unfortunate little admirers; and were carried to their respective abodes in a hackneycoach, and a state

We had been lounging one evening, down Oxfordstreet, Holborn, Cheapside, Colemanstreet,

Finsburysquare, and so on, with the intention of returning westward, by Pentonville and the Newroad,

when we began to feel rather thirsty, and disposed to rest for five or ten minutes. So, we turned back towards

an old, quiet, decent publichouse, which we remembered to have passed but a moment before (it was not far

from the Cityroad), for the purpose of solacing ourself with a glass of ale. The house was none of your

stuccoed, Frenchpolished, illuminated palaces, but a modest publichouse of the old school, with a little old

bar, and a little old landlord, who, with a wife and daughter of the same pattern, was comfortably seated in

the bar aforesaid a snug little room with a cheerful fire, protected by a large screen: from behind which the

'Won't you walk into the parlour, sir?' said the young lady, in seductive tones.

'You had better walk into the parlour, sir,' said the little old landlord, throwing his chair back, and looking

'You had much better step into the parlour, sir,' said the little old lady, popping out her head, on the other side

We cast a slight glance around, as if to express our ignorance of the locality so much recommended. The little

old landlord observed it; bustled out of the small door of the small bar; and forthwith ushered us into the

It was an ancient, darklooking room, with oaken wainscoting, a sanded floor, and a high mantelpiece. The

walls were ornamented with three or four old coloured prints in black frames, each print representing a naval

engagement, with a couple of menofwar banging away at each other most vigorously, while another vessel

or two were blowing up in the distance, and the foreground presented a miscellaneous collection of broken

masts and blue legs sticking up out of the water. Depending from the ceiling in the centre of the room, were a

gaslight and bellpull; on each side were three or four long narrow tables, behind which was a

thicklyplanted row of those slippery, shinylooking wooden chairs, peculiar to hostelries of this description.

The monotonous appearance of the sanded boards was relieved by an occasional spittoon; and a triangular

At the furthest table, nearest the fire, with his face towards the door at the bottom of the room, sat a stoutish

man of about forty, whose short, stiff, black hair curled closely round a broad high forehead, and a face to

which something besides water and exercise had communicated a rather inflamed appearance. He was

smoking a cigar, with his eyes fixed on the ceiling, and had that confident oracular air which marked him as

the leading politician, general authority, and universal anecdoterelater, of the place. He had evidently just

delivered himself of something very weighty; for the remainder of the company were puffing at their

respective pipes and cigars in a kind of solemn abstraction, as if quite overwhelmed with the magnitude of the

On his right hand sat an elderly gentleman with a white head, and broadbrimmed brown hat; on his left, a

sharpnosed, lighthaired man in a brown surtout reaching nearly to his heels, who took a whiff at his pipe,

'Very extraordinary!' said the lighthaired man after a pause of five minutes. A murmur of assent ran through

'Not at all extraordinary not at all,' said the redfaced man, awakening suddenly from his reverie, and

'Why should it be extraordinary? why is it extraordinary? prove it to be extraordinary!'

'Come to that!' ejaculated the man with the red face; 'but we MUST come to that. We stand, in these times,

upon a calm elevation of intellectual attainment, and not in the dark recess of mental deprivation. Proof, is

what I require proof, and not assertions, in these stirring times. Every gen'lem'n that knows me, knows what

was the nature and effect of my observations, when it was in the contemplation of the Oldstreet Suburban

Representative Discovery Society, to recommend a candidate for that place in Cornwall there I forget the

name of it. "Mr. Snobee," said Mr. Wilson, "is a fit and proper person to represent the borough in

Parliament." "Prove it," says I. "He is a friend to Reform," says Mr. Wilson. "Prove it," says I. "The

abolitionist of the national debt, the unflinching opponent of pensions, the uncompromising advocate of the

negro, the reducer of sinecures and the duration of Parliaments; the extender of nothing but the suffrages of

the people," says Mr. Wilson. "Prove it," says I. "His acts prove it," says he. "Prove THEM," says I.

'And he could not prove them,' said the redfaced man, looking round triumphantly; 'and the borough didn't

have him; and if you carried this principle to the full extent, you'd have no debt, no pensions, no sinecures, no

negroes, no nothing. And then, standing upon an elevation of intellectual attainment, and having reached the

summit of popular prosperity, you might bid defiance to the nations of the earth, and erect yourselves in the

proud confidence of wisdom and superiority. This is my argument this always has been my argument and

if I was a Member of the House of Commons tomorrow, I'd make 'em shake in their shoes with it. And the

red faced man, having struck the table very hard with his clenched fist, to add weight to the declaration,

'Well!' said the sharpnosed man, in a very slow and soft voice, addressing the company in general, 'I always

do say, that of all the gentlemen I have the pleasure of meeting in this room, there is not one whose

conversation I like to hear so much as Mr. Rogers's, or who is such improving company.'

'Improving company!' said Mr. Rogers, for that, it seemed, was the name of the redfaced man. 'You may say

I am improving company, for I've improved you all to some purpose; though as to my conversation being as

my friend Mr. Ellis here describes it, that is not for me to say anything about. You, gentlemen, are the best

judges on that point; but this I will say, when I came into this parish, and first used this room, ten years ago, I

don't believe there was one man in it, who knew he was a slave and now you all know it, and writhe under

'Why, as to inscribing it on your tomb,' said a little greengrocer with a chubby face, 'of course you can have

anything chalked up, as you likes to pay for, so far as it relates to yourself and your affairs; but, when you

come to talk about slaves, and that there abuse, you'd better keep it in the family, 'cos I for one don't like to be

'You ARE a slave,' said the redfaced man, 'and the most pitiable of all slaves.'

'Werry hard if I am,' interrupted the greengrocer, 'for I got no good out of the twenty million that was paid for

'A willing slave,' ejaculated the redfaced man, getting more red with eloquence, and contradiction

'resigning the dearest birthright of your children neglecting the sacred call of Liberty who, standing

imploringly before you, appeals to the warmest feelings of your heart, and points to your helpless infants, but

'Prove it!' sneered the man with the red face. 'What! bending beneath the yoke of an insolent and factious

oligarchy; bowed down by the domination of cruel laws; groaning beneath tyranny and oppression on every

hand, at every side, and in every corner. Prove it! ' The redfaced man abruptly broke off, sneered melo

dramatically, and buried his countenance and his indignation together, in a quart pot.

'Ah, to be sure, Mr. Rogers,' said a stout broker in a large waistcoat, who had kept his eyes fixed on this

luminary all the time he was speaking. 'Ah, to be sure,' said the broker with a sigh, 'that's the point.'

'Of course, of course,' said divers members of the company, who understood almost as much about the matter

'You had better let him alone, Tommy,' said the broker, by way of advice to the little greengrocer; 'he can tell

what's o'clock by an eightday, without looking at the minute hand, he can. Try it on, on some other suit; it

'What is a man?' continued the redfaced specimen of the species, jerking his hat indignantly from its peg on

the wall. 'What is an Englishman? Is he to be trampled upon by every oppressor? Is he to be knocked down at

everybody's bidding? What's freedom? Not a standing army. What's a standing army? Not freedom. What's

general happiness? Not universal misery. Liberty ain't the windowtax, is it? The Lords ain't the Commons,

are they?' And the redfaced man, gradually bursting into a radiating sentence, in which such adjectives as

'dastardly,' 'oppressive,' 'violent,' and 'sanguinary,' formed the most conspicuous words, knocked his hat

'Great power!' said everybody but the greengrocer. And as they said it, the whole party shook their heads

If we had followed the established precedent in all such instances, we should have fallen into a fit of musing,

without delay. The ancient appearance of the room the old panelling of the wall the chimney blackened

with smoke and age would have carried us back a hundred years at least, and we should have gone

dreaming on, until the pewterpot on the table, or the little beerchiller on the fire, had started into life, and

addressed to us a long story of days gone by. But, by some means or other, we were not in a romantic

humour; and although we tried very hard to invest the furniture with vitality, it remained perfectly unmoved,

obstinate, and sullen. Being thus reduced to the unpleasant necessity of musing about ordinary matters, our

A numerous race are these redfaced men; there is not a parlour, or clubroom, or benefit society, or humble

party of any kind, without its redfaced man. Weakpated dolts they are, and a great deal of mischief they do

to their cause, however good. So, just to hold a pattern one up, to know the others by, we took his likeness at

once, and put him in here. And that is the reason why we have written this paper.

In our rambles through the streets of London after evening has set in, we often pause beneath the windows of

some public hospital, and picture to ourself the gloomy and mournful scenes that are passing within. The

sudden moving of a taper as its feeble ray shoots from window to window, until its light gradually disappears,

as if it were carried farther back into the room to the bedside of some suffering patient, is enough to awaken a

whole crowd of reflections; the mere glimmering of the lowburning lamps, which, when all other

habitations are wrapped in darkness and slumber, denote the chamber where so many forms are writhing with

pain, or wasting with disease, is sufficient to check the most boisterous merriment.

Who can tell the anguish of those weary hours, when the only sound the sick man hears, is the disjointed

wanderings of some feverish slumberer near him, the low moan of pain, or perhaps the muttered,

longforgotten prayer of a dying man? Who, but they who have felt it, can imagine the sense of loneliness

and desolation which must be the portion of those who in the hour of dangerous illness are left to be tended

by strangers; for what hands, be they ever so gentle, can wipe the clammy brow, or smooth the restless bed,

Impressed with these thoughts, we have turned away, through the nearlydeserted streets; and the sight of the

few miserable creatures still hovering about them, has not tended to lessen the pain which such meditations

awaken. The hospital is a refuge and restingplace for hundreds, who but for such institutions must die in the

streets and doorways; but what can be the feelings of some outcasts when they are stretched on the bed of

sickness with scarcely a hope of recovery? The wretched woman who lingers about the pavement, hours after

midnight, and the miserable shadow of a man the ghastly remnant that want and drunkenness have left

which crouches beneath a windowledge, to sleep where there is some shelter from the rain, have little to

bind them to life, but what have they to look back upon, in death? What are the unwonted comforts of a roof

and a bed, to them, when the recollections of a whole life of debasement stalk before them; when repentance

About a twelvemonth ago, as we were strolling through Coventgarden (we had been thinking about these

things overnight), we were attracted by the very prepossessing appearance of a pickpocket, who having

declined to take the trouble of walking to the Police office, on the ground that he hadn't the slightest wish to

go there at all, was being conveyed thither in a wheelbarrow, to the huge delight of a crowd.

Somehow, we never can resist joining a crowd, so we turned back with the mob, and entered the office, in

company with our friend the pickpocket, a couple of policemen, and as many dirtyfaced spectators as could

There was a powerful, illlooking young fellow at the bar, who was undergoing an examination, on the very

common charge of having, on the previous night, illtreated a woman, with whom he lived in some court

hard by. Several witnesses bore testimony to acts of the grossest brutality; and a certificate was read from the

house surgeon of a neighbouring hospital, describing the nature of the injuries the woman had received, and

Some question appeared to have been raised about the identity of the prisoner; for when it was agreed that the

two magistrates should visit the hospital at eight o'clock that evening, to take her deposition, it was settled

that the man should be taken there also. He turned pale at this, and we saw him clench the bar very hard when

the order was given. He was removed directly afterwards, and he spoke not a word.

We felt an irrepressible curiosity to witness this interview, although it is hard to tell why, at this instant, for

we knew it must be a painful one. It was no very difficult matter for us to gain permission, and we obtained it.

The prisoner, and the officer who had him in custody, were already at the hospital when we reached it, and

waiting the arrival of the magistrates in a small room below stairs. The man was handcuffed, and his hat was

pulled forward over his eyes. It was easy to see, though, by the whiteness of his countenance, and the

constant twitching of the muscles of his face, that he dreaded what was to come. After a short interval, the

magistrates and clerk were bowed in by the housesurgeon and a couple of young men who smelt very strong

of tobaccosmoke they were introduced as 'dressers' and after one magistrate had complained bitterly of

the cold, and the other of the absence of any news in the evening paper, it was announced that the patient was

The dim light which burnt in the spacious room, increased rather than diminished the ghastly appearance of

the hapless creatures in the beds, which were ranged in two long rows on either side. In one bed, lay a child

enveloped in bandages, with its body half consumed by fire; in another, a female, rendered hideous by some

dreadful accident, was wildly beating her clenched fists on the coverlet, in pain; on a third, there lay stretched

a young girl, apparently in the heavy stupor often the immediate precursor of death: her face was stained with

blood, and her breast and arms were bound up in folds of linen. Two or three of the beds were empty, and

their recent occupants were sitting beside them, but with faces so wan, and eyes so bright and glassy, that it

was fearful to meet their gaze. On every face was stamped the expression of anguish and suffering.

The object of the visit was lying at the upper end of the room. She was a fine young woman of about two or

three and twenty. Her long black hair, which had been hastily cut from near the wounds on her head,

streamed over the pillow in jagged and matted locks. Her face bore deep marks of the illusage she had

received: her hand was pressed upon her side, as if her chief pain were there; her breathing was short and

heavy; and it was plain to see that she was dying fast. She murmured a few words in reply to the magistrate's

inquiry whether she was in great pain; and, having been raised on the pillow by the nurse, looked vacantly

upon the strange countenances that surrounded her bed. The magistrate nodded to the officer, to bring the

man forward. He did so, and stationed him at the bedside. The girl looked on with a wild and troubled

'Take off his hat,' said the magistrate. The officer did as he was desired, and the man's features were

The girl started up, with an energy quite preternatural; the fire gleamed in her heavy eyes, and the blood

rushed to her pale and sunken cheeks. It was a convulsive effort. She fell back upon her pillow, and covering

her scarred and bruised face with her hands, burst into tears. The man cast an anxious look towards her, but

otherwise appeared wholly unmoved. After a brief pause the nature of the errand was explained, and the oath

'Oh, no, gentlemen,' said the girl, raising herself once more, and folding her hands together; 'no, gentlemen,

for God's sake! I did it myself it was nobody's fault it was an accident. He didn't hurt me; he wouldn't for

Her sight was fast failing her, and her hand groped over the bedclothes in search of his. Brute as the man was,

he was not prepared for this. He turned his face from the bed, and sobbed. The girl's colour changed, and her

'We respect the feelings which prompt you to this,' said the gentleman who had spoken first, 'but let me warn

you, not to persist in what you know to be untrue, until it is too late. It cannot save him.'

'Jack,' murmured the girl, laying her hand upon his arm, 'they shall not persuade me to swear your life away.

He didn't do it, gentlemen. He never hurt me.' She grasped his arm tightly, and added, in a broken whisper, 'I

hope God Almighty will forgive me all the wrong I have done, and the life I have led. God bless you, Jack.

Some kind gentleman take my love to my poor old father. Five years ago, he said he wished I had died a

The nurse bent over the girl for a few seconds, and then drew the sheet over her face. It covered a corpse.

If we had to make a classification of society, there is a particular kind of men whom we should immediately

set down under the head of 'Old Boys;' and a column of most extensive dimensions the old boys would

require. To what precise causes the rapid advance of oldboy population is to be traced, we are unable to

determine. It would be an interesting and curious speculation, but, as we have not sufficient space to devote

to it here, we simply state the fact that the numbers of the old boys have been gradually augmenting within

the last few years, and that they are at this moment alarmingly on the increase.

Upon a general review of the subject, and without considering it minutely in detail, we should be disposed to

subdivide the old boys into two distinct classes the gay old boys, and the steady old boys. The gay old boys,

are paunchy old men in the disguise of young ones, who frequent the Quadrant and Regentstreet in the day

time: the theatres (especially theatres under lady management) at night; and who assume all the foppishness

and levity of boys, without the excuse of youth or inexperience. The steady old boys are certain stout old

gentlemen of clean appearance, who are always to be seen in the same taverns, at the same hours every

There was once a fine collection of old boys to be seen round the circular table at Offley's every night,

between the hours of half past eight and halfpast eleven. We have lost sight of them for some time. There

were, and may be still, for aught we know, two splendid specimens in full blossom at the Rainbow Tavern in

Fleet street, who always used to sit in the box nearest the fireplace, and smoked long cherrystick pipes

which went under the table, with the bowls resting on the floor. Grand old boys they were fat, redfaced,

whiteheaded old fellows always there one on one side the table, and the other opposite puffing and

drinking away in great state. Everybody knew them, and it was supposed by some people that they were both

Mr. John Dounce was an old boy of the latter class (we don't mean immortal, but steady), a retired glove and

braces maker, a widower, resident with three daughters all grown up, and all unmarried in

Cursitorstreet, Chancerylane. He was a short, round, large faced, tubbish sort of man, with a

broadbrimmed hat, and a square coat; and had that grave, but confident, kind of roll, peculiar to old boys in

general. Regular as clockwork breakfast at nine dress and tittivate a little down to the Sir Somebody's

Head a glass of ale and the paper come back again, and take daughters out for a walk dinner at three

glass of grog and pipe nap tea little walk Sir Somebody's Head again capital house delightful

evenings. There were Mr. Harris, the lawstationer, and Mr. Jennings, the robemaker (two jolly young

fellows like himself), and Jones, the barrister's clerk rum fellow that Jones capital company full of

anecdote! and there they sat every night till just ten minutes before twelve, drinking their brandy

andwater, and smoking their pipes, and telling stories, and enjoying themselves with a kind of solemn

Sometimes Jones would propose a halfprice visit to Drury Lane or Covent Garden, to see two acts of a

fiveact play, and a new farce, perhaps, or a ballet, on which occasions the whole four of them went together:

none of your hurrying and nonsense, but having their brandyandwater first, comfortably, and ordering a

steak and some oysters for their supper against they came back, and then walking coolly into the pit, when the

'rush' had gone in, as all sensible people do, and did when Mr. Dounce was a young man, except when the

celebrated Master Betty was at the height of his popularity, and then, sir, then Mr. Dounce perfectly well

remembered getting a holiday from business; and going to the pit doors at eleven o'clock in the forenoon, and

waiting there, till six in the afternoon, with some sandwiches in a pockethandkerchief and some wine in a

phial; and fainting after all, with the heat and fatigue, before the play began; in which situation he was lifted

out of the pit, into one of the dress boxes, sir, by five of the finest women of that day, sir, who

compassionated his situation and administered restoratives, and sent a black servant, six foot high, in blue

and silver livery, next morning with their compliments, and to know how he found himself, sir by G!

Between the acts Mr. Dounce and Mr. Harris, and Mr. Jennings, used to stand up, and look round the house,

and Jones knowing fellow that Jones knew everybody pointed out the fashionable and celebrated Lady

Soand So in the boxes, at the mention of whose name Mr. Dounce, after brushing up his hair, and

adjusting his neckerchief, would inspect the aforesaid Lady SoandSo through an immense glass, and

remark, either, that she was a 'fine woman very fine woman, indeed,' or that 'there might be a little more of

her, eh, Jones?' Just as the case might happen to be. When the dancing began, John Dounce and the other old

boys were particularly anxious to see what was going forward on the stage, and Jones wicked dog that

Jones whispered little critical remarks into the ears of John Dounce, which John Dounce retailed to Mr.

Harris and Mr. Harris to Mr. Jennings; and then they all four laughed, until the tears ran down out of their

When the curtain fell, they walked back together, two and two, to the steaks and oysters; and when they came

to the second glass of brandyandwater, Jones hoaxing scamp, that Jones used to recount how he had

observed a lady in white feathers, in one of the pit boxes, gazing intently on Mr. Dounce all the evening, and

how he had caught Mr. Dounce, whenever he thought no one was looking at him, bestowing ardent looks of

intense devotion on the lady in return; on which Mr. Harris and Mr. Jennings used to laugh very heartily, and

John Dounce more heartily than either of them, acknowledging, however, that the time HAD been when he

MIGHT have done such things; upon which Mr. Jones used to poke him in the ribs, and tell him he had been

a sad dog in his time, which John Dounce with chuckles confessed. And after Mr. Harris and Mr. Jennings

had preferred their claims to the character of having been sad dogs too, they separated harmoniously, and

The decrees of Fate, and the means by which they are brought about, are mysterious and inscrutable. John

Dounce had led this life for twenty years and upwards, without wish for change, or care for variety, when his

whole social system was suddenly upset and turned completely topsyturvy not by an earthquake, or some

other dreadful convulsion of nature, as the reader would be inclined to suppose, but by the simple agency of

Mr. John Dounce was returning one night from the Sir Somebody's Head, to his residence in Cursitorstreet

not tipsy, but rather excited, for it was Mr. Jennings's birthday, and they had had a brace of partridges for

supper, and a brace of extra glasses afterwards, and Jones had been more than ordinarily amusing when his

eyes rested on a newlyopened oystershop, on a magnificent scale, with natives laid, one deep, in circular

marble basins in the windows, together with little round barrels of oysters directed to Lords and Baronets, and

Behind the natives were the barrels, and behind the barrels was a young lady of about fiveandtwenty, all in

blue, and all alone splendid creature, charming face and lovely figure! It is difficult to say whether Mr.

John Dounce's red countenance, illuminated as it was by the flickering gaslight in the window before which

he paused, excited the lady's risibility, or whether a natural exuberance of animal spirits proved too much for

that staidness of demeanour which the forms of society rather dictatorially prescribe. But certain it is, that the

lady smiled; then put her finger upon her lip, with a striking recollection of what was due to herself; and

finally retired, in oysterlike bashfulness, to the very back of the counter. The saddog sort of feeling came

strongly upon John Dounce: he lingered the lady in blue made no sign. He coughed still she came not. He

'Dare say I can, sir,' replied the lady in blue, with playfulness. And Mr. John Dounce eat one oyster, and then

looked at the young lady, and then eat another, and then squeezed the young lady's hand as she was opening

the third, and so forth, until he had devoured a dozen of those at eightpence in less than no time.

'I'll see what I can do for you, sir,' replied the young lady in blue, even more bewitchingly than before; and

'You couldn't manage to get me a glass of brandyandwater, my dear, I suppose?' said Mr. John Dounce,

when he had finished the oysters: in a tone which clearly implied his supposition that she could.

'I'll see, sir,' said the young lady: and away she ran out of the shop, and down the street, her long auburn

ringlets shaking in the wind in the most enchanting manner; and back she came again, tripping over the

coalcellar lids like a whippingtop, with a tumbler of brandyandwater, which Mr. John Dounce insisted

on her taking a share of, as it was regular ladies' grog hot, strong, sweet, and plenty of it.

So, the young lady sat down with Mr. John Dounce, in a little red box with a green curtain, and took a small

sip of the brandyand water, and a small look at Mr. John Dounce, and then turned her head away, and went

through various other seriopantomimic fascinations, which forcibly reminded Mr. John Dounce of the first

time he courted his first wife, and which made him feel more affectionate than ever; in pursuance of which

affection, and actuated by which feeling, Mr. John Dounce sounded the young lady on her matrimonial

engagements, when the young lady denied having formed any such engagements at all she couldn't abear

the men, they were such deceivers; thereupon Mr. John Dounce inquired whether this sweeping

condemnation was meant to include other than very young men; on which the young lady blushed deeply at

least she turned away her head, and said Mr. John Dounce had made her blush, so of course she DID blush

and Mr. John Dounce was a long time drinking the brandyandwater; and, at last, John Dounce went home

to bed, and dreamed of his first wife, and his second wife, and the young lady, and partridges, and oysters,

The next morning, John Dounce was rather feverish with the extra brandyandwater of the previous night;

and, partly in the hope of cooling himself with an oyster, and partly with the view of ascertaining whether he

owed the young lady anything, or not, went back to the oystershop. If the young lady had appeared beautiful

by night, she was perfectly irresistible by day; and, from this time forward, a change came over the spirit of

John Dounce's dream. He bought shirtpins; wore a ring on his third finger; read poetry; bribed a cheap

miniaturepainter to perpetrate a faint resemblance to a youthful face, with a curtain over his head, six large

books in the background, and an open country in the distance (this he called his portrait); 'went on' altogether

in such an uproarious manner, that the three Miss Dounces went off on small pensions, he having made the

tenement in Cursitorstreet too warm to contain them; and in short, comported and demeaned himself in

As to his ancient friends, the other old boys, at the Sir Somebody's Head, he dropped off from them by

gradual degrees; for, even when he did go there, Jones vulgar fellow that Jones persisted in asking 'when

it was to be?' and 'whether he was to have any gloves?' together with other inquiries of an equally offensive

nature: at which not only Harris laughed, but Jennings also; so, he cut the two, altogether, and attached

Now comes the moral of the story for it has a moral after all. The lastmentioned young lady, having

derived sufficient profit and emolument from John Dounce's attachment, not only refused, when matters

came to a crisis, to take him for better for worse, but expressly declared, to use her own forcible words, that

she 'wouldn't have him at no price;' and John Dounce, having lost his old friends, alienated his relations, and

rendered himself ridiculous to everybody, made offers successively to a schoolmistress, a landlady, a

feminine tobacconist, and a housekeeper; and, being directly rejected by each and every of them, was

accepted by his cook, with whom he now lives, a henpecked husband, a melancholy monument of antiquated

Miss Amelia Martin was pale, tallish, thin, and twoandthirty what illnatured people would call plain,

and police reports interesting. She was a milliner and dressmaker, living on her business and not above it. If

you had been a young lady in service, and had wanted Miss Martin, as a great many young ladies in service

did, you would just have stepped up, in the evening, to number fortyseven, Drummondstreet,

Georgestreet, Eustonsquare, and after casting your eye on a brass doorplate, one foot ten by one and a

half, ornamented with a great brass knob at each of the four corners, and bearing the inscription 'Miss Martin;

millinery and dressmaking, in all its branches;' you'd just have knocked two loud knocks at the streetdoor;

and down would have come Miss Martin herself, in a merino gown of the newest fashion, black velvet

bracelets on the genteelest principle, and other little elegancies of the most approved description.

If Miss Martin knew the young lady who called, or if the young lady who called had been recommended by

any other young lady whom Miss Martin knew, Miss Martin would forthwith show her upstairs into the

twopair front, and chat she would SO kind, and SO comfortable it really wasn't like a matter of

business, she was so friendly; and, then Miss Martin, after contemplating the figure and general appearance

of the young lady in service with great apparent admiration, would say how well she would look, to be sure,

in a low dress with short sleeves; made very full in the skirts, with four tucks in the bottom; to which the

young lady in service would reply in terms expressive of her entire concurrence in the notion, and of the

virtuous indignation with which she reflected on the tyranny of 'Missis,' who wouldn't allow a young girl to

wear a short sleeve of an arternoon no, nor nothing smart, not even a pair of earrings; let alone hiding

people's heads of hair under them frightful caps. At the termination of this complaint, Miss Amelia Martin

would distantly suggest certain dark suspicions that some people were jealous on account of their own

daughters, and were obliged to keep their servants' charms under, for fear they should get married first, which

was no uncommon circumstance leastways she had known two or three young ladies in service, who had

married a great deal better than their missises, and THEY were not very goodlooking either; and then the

young lady would inform Miss Martin, in confidence, that how one of their young ladies was engaged to a

young man and was agoing to be married, and Missis was so proud about it there was no bearing of her; but

how she needn't hold her head quite so high neither, for, after all, he was only a clerk. And, after expressing

due contempt for clerks in general, and the engaged clerk in particular, and the highest opinion possible of

themselves and each other, Miss Martin and the young lady in service would bid each other good night, in a

friendly but perfectly genteel manner: and the one went back to her 'place,' and the other, to her room on the

There is no saying how long Miss Amelia Martin might have continued this course of life; how extensive a

connection she might have established among young ladies in service; or what amount her demands upon

their quarterly receipts might have ultimately attained, had not an unforeseen train of circumstances directed

her thoughts to a sphere of action very different from dressmaking or millinery.

A friend of Miss Martin's who had long been keeping company with an ornamental painter and decorator's

journeyman, at last consented (on being at last asked to do so) to name the day which would make the

aforesaid journeyman a happy husband. It was a Monday that was appointed for the celebration of the

nuptials, and Miss Amelia Martin was invited, among others, to honour the weddingdinner with her

presence. It was a charming party; Somerstown the locality, and a front parlour the apartment. The

ornamental painter and decorator's journeyman had taken a house no lodgings nor vulgarity of that kind,

but a house four beautiful rooms, and a delightful little washhouse at the end of the passage which was

the most convenient thing in the world, for the bridesmaids could sit in the front parlour and receive the

company, and then run into the little washhouse and see how the pudding and boiled pork were getting on in

the copper, and then pop back into the parlour again, as snug and comfortable as possible. And such a parlour

as it was! Beautiful Kidderminster carpet six brannew canebottomed stained chairs three wineglasses

and a tumbler on each sideboard farmer's girl and farmer's boy on the mantelpiece: girl tumbling over a

stile, and boy spitting himself, on the handle of a pitchfork long white dimity curtains in the window and,

Then, the dinner. There was baked leg of mutton at the top, boiled leg of mutton at the bottom, pair of fowls

and leg of pork in the middle; porterpots at the corners; pepper, mustard, and vinegar in the centre;

vegetables on the floor; and plumpudding and applepie and tartlets without number: to say nothing of

cheese, and celery, and watercresses, and all that sort of thing. As to the Company! Miss Amelia Martin

herself declared, on a subsequent occasion, that, much as she had heard of the ornamental painter's

journeyman's connexion, she never could have supposed it was half so genteel. There was his father, such a

funny old gentleman and his mother, such a dear old lady and his sister, such a charming girl and his

brother, such a manlylooking young man with such a eye! But even all these were as nothing when

compared with his musical friends, Mr. and Mrs. Jennings Rodolph, from White Conduit, with whom the

ornamental painter's journeyman had been fortunate enough to contract an intimacy while engaged in

decorating the concertroom of that noble institution. To hear them sing separately, was divine, but when

they went through the tragic duet of 'Red Ruffian, retire!' it was, as Miss Martin afterwards remarked,

'thrilling.' And why (as Mr. Jennings Rodolph observed) why were they not engaged at one of the patent

theatres? If he was to be told that their voices were not powerful enough to fill the House, his only reply was,

that he would back himself for any amount to fill Russellsquare a statement in which the company, after

hearing the duet, expressed their full belief; so they all said it was shameful treatment; and both Mr. and Mrs.

Jennings Rodolph said it was shameful too; and Mr. Jennings Rodolph looked very serious, and said he knew

who his malignant opponents were, but they had better take care how far they went, for if they irritated him

too much he had not quite made up his mind whether he wouldn't bring the subject before Parliament; and

they all agreed that it ''ud serve 'em quite right, and it was very proper that such people should be made an

When the conversation resumed its former tone, Mr. Jennings Rodolph claimed his right to call upon a lady,

and the right being conceded, trusted Miss Martin would favour the company a proposal which met with

unanimous approbation, whereupon Miss Martin, after sundry hesitatings and coughings, with a preparatory

choke or two, and an introductory declaration that she was frightened to death to attempt it before such great

judges of the art, commenced a species of treble chirruping containing frequent allusions to some young

gentleman of the name of Henery, with an occasional reference to madness and broken hearts. Mr.

Jennings Rodolph frequently interrupted the progress of the song, by ejaculating 'Beautiful!' 'Charming!'

'Brilliant!' 'Oh! splendid,' and at its close the admiration of himself, and his lady, knew no bounds.

'Did you ever hear so sweet a voice, my dear?' inquired Mr. Jennings Rodolph of Mrs. Jennings Rodolph.

'Don't you think Miss Martin, with a little cultivation, would be very like Signora Marra Boni, my dear?'

'Just exactly the very thing that struck me, my love,' answered Mrs. Jennings Rodolph.

And thus the time passed away; Mr. Jennings Rodolph played tunes on a walkingstick, and then went

behind the parlourdoor and gave his celebrated imitations of actors, edgetools, and animals; Miss Martin

sang several other songs with increased admiration every time; and even the funny old gentleman began

singing. His song had properly seven verses, but as he couldn't recollect more than the first one, he sang that

over seven times, apparently very much to his own personal gratification. And then all the company sang the

national anthem with national independence each for himself, without reference to the other and finally

separated: all declaring that they never had spent so pleasant an evening: and Miss Martin inwardly resolving

Now, 'coming out,' either in acting, or singing, or society, or facetiousness, or anything else, is all very well,

and remarkably pleasant to the individual principally concerned, if he or she can but manage to come out with

a burst, and being out, to keep out, and not go in again; but, it does unfortunately happen that both

consummations are extremely difficult to accomplish, and that the difficulties, of getting out at all in the first

instance, and if you surmount them, of keeping out in the second, are pretty much on a par, and no slight ones

either and so Miss Amelia Martin shortly discovered. It is a singular fact (there being ladies in the case)

that Miss Amelia Martin's principal foible was vanity, and the leading characteristic of Mrs. Jennings

Rodolph an attachment to dress. Dismal wailings were heard to issue from the secondfloor front of number

fortyseven, Drummondstreet, George street, Eustonsquare; it was Miss Martin practising. Half

suppressed murmurs disturbed the calm dignity of the White Conduit orchestra at the commencement of the

season. It was the appearance of Mrs. Jennings Rodolph in full dress, that occasioned them. Miss Martin

studied incessantly the practising was the consequence. Mrs. Jennings Rodolph taught gratuitously now and

Weeks passed away; the White Conduit season had begun, and progressed, and was more than half over. The

dressmaking business had fallen off, from neglect; and its profits had dwindled away almost imperceptibly. A

benefitnight approached; Mr. Jennings Rodolph yielded to the earnest solicitations of Miss Amelia Martin,

and introduced her personally to the 'comic gentleman' whose benefit it was. The comic gentleman was all

smiles and blandness he had composed a duet, expressly for the occasion, and Miss Martin should sing it

with him. The night arrived; there was an immense room ninetyseven sixpenn'orths of ginandwater,

thirtytwo small glasses of brandyandwater, fiveandtwenty bottled ales, and fortyone neguses; and the

ornamental painter's journeyman, with his wife and a select circle of acquaintance, were seated at one of the

sidetables near the orchestra. The concert began. Song sentimental by a lighthaired young gentleman

in a blue coat, and bright basket buttons [applause]. Another song, doubtful, by another gentleman in

another blue coat and more bright basket buttons [increased applause]. Duet, Mr. Jennings Rodolph, and

Mrs. Jennings Rodolph, 'Red Ruffian, retire!' [great applause]. Solo, Miss Julia Montague (positively on

this occasion only) 'I am a Friar' [enthusiasm]. Original duet, comic Mr. H. Taplin (the comic

gentleman) and Miss Martin 'The Time of Day.' 'Brayvo! Brayvo!' cried the ornamental painter's

journeyman's party, as Miss Martin was gracefully led in by the comic gentleman. 'Go to work, Harry,' cried

the comic gentleman's personal friends. 'Taptaptap,' went the leader's bow on the musicdesk. The

symphony began, and was soon afterwards followed by a faint kind of ventriloquial chirping, proceeding

apparently from the deepest recesses of the interior of Miss Amelia Martin. 'Sing out' shouted one

gentleman in a white greatcoat. 'Don't be afraid to put the steam on, old gal,' exclaimed another, 'Sss

ssss'went the fiveandtwenty bottled ales. 'Shame, shame!' remonstrated the ornamental painter's

journeyman's party 'Sss s' went the bottled ales again, accompanied by all the gins, and a majority of

'Turn them geese out,' cried the ornamental painter's journeyman's party, with great indignation.

'Brayvo!' shouted the painter's party. It wouldn't do Miss Amelia Martin left the orchestra, with much less

ceremony than she had entered it; and, as she couldn't sing out, never came out. The general good humour

was not restored until Mr. Jennings Rodolph had become purple in the face, by imitating divers quadrupeds

for half an hour, without being able to render himself audible; and, to this day, neither has Miss Amelia

Martin's good humour been restored, nor the dresses made for and presented to Mrs. Jennings Rodolph, nor

the local abilities which Mr. Jennings Rodolph once staked his professional reputation that Miss Martin

Of all the dancing academies that ever were established, there never was one more popular in its immediate

vicinity than Signor Billsmethi's, of the 'King's Theatre.' It was not in Spring gardens, or Newmanstreet, or

Bernersstreet, or Gowerstreet, or Charlottestreet, or Percystreet, or any other of the numerous streets

which have been devoted time out of mind to professional people, dispensaries, and boardinghouses; it was

not in the West end at all it rather approximated to the eastern portion of London, being situated in the

populous and improving neighbourhood of Gray'sinnlane. It was not a dear dancing academy fourand

sixpence a quarter is decidedly cheap upon the whole. It was VERY select, the number of pupils being

strictly limited to seventy five, and a quarter's payment in advance being rigidly exacted. There was public

tuition and private tuition an assemblyroom and a parlour. Signor Billsmethi's family were always thrown

in with the parlour, and included in parlour price; that is to say, a private pupil had Signor Billsmethi's

parlour to dance IN, and Signor Billsmethi's family to dance WITH; and when he had been sufficiently

Such was the dancing academy of Signor Billsmethi, when Mr. Augustus Cooper, of Fetterlane, first saw an

unstamped advertisement walking leisurely down Holbornhill, announcing to the world that Signor

Billsmethi, of the King's Theatre, intended opening for the season with a Grand Ball.

Now, Mr. Augustus Cooper was in the oil and colour line just of age, with a little money, a little business,

and a little mother, who, having managed her husband and HIS business in his lifetime, took to managing her

son and HIS business after his decease; and so, somehow or other, he had been cooped up in the little back

parlour behind the shop on weekdays, and in a little deal box without a lid (called by courtesy a pew) at

Bethel Chapel, on Sundays, and had seen no more of the world than if he had been an infant all his days;

whereas Young White, at the gasfitter's over the way, three years younger than him, had been flaring away

like winkin' going to the theatre supping at harmonic meetings eating oysters by the barrel drinking

stout by the gallon even out all night, and coming home as cool in the morning as if nothing had happened.

So Mr. Augustus Cooper made up his mind that he would not stand it any longer, and had that very morning

expressed to his mother a firm determination to be 'blowed,' in the event of his not being instantly provided

with a streetdoor key. And he was walking down Holbornhill, thinking about all these things, and

wondering how he could manage to get introduced into genteel society for the first time, when his eyes rested

on Signor Billsmethi's announcement, which it immediately struck him was just the very thing he wanted; for

he should not only be able to select a genteel circle of acquaintance at once, out of the fiveand seventy

pupils at fourandsixpence a quarter, but should qualify himself at the same time to go through a hornpipe

in private society, with perfect ease to himself and great delight to his friends. So, he stopped the unstamped

advertisement an animated sandwich, composed of a boy between two boards and having procured a very

small card with the Signor's address indented thereon, walked straight at once to the Signor's house and

very fast he walked too, for fear the list should be filled up, and the fiveandseventy completed, before he

got there. The Signor was at home, and, what was still more gratifying, he was an Englishman! Such a nice

man and so polite! The list was not full, but it was a most extraordinary circumstance that there was only

just one vacancy, and even that one would have been filled up, that very morning, only Signor Billsmethi was

dissatisfied with the reference, and, being very much afraid that the lady wasn't select, wouldn't take her.

'And very much delighted I am, Mr. Cooper,' said Signor Billsmethi, 'that I did NOT take her. I assure you,

Mr. Cooper I don't say it to flatter you, for I know you're above it that I consider myself extremely

'And I'm sure I hope we shall too, sir,' responded Augustus Cooper. Just then, the door opened, and in came a

young lady, with her hair curled in a crop all over her head, and her shoes tied in sandals all over her ankles.

'Don't run away, my dear,' said Signor Billsmethi; for the young lady didn't know Mr. Cooper was there when

she ran in, and was going to run out again in her modesty, all in confusionlike. 'Don't run away, my dear,'

said Signor Billsmethi, 'this is Mr. Cooper Mr. Cooper, of Fetterlane. Mr. Cooper, my daughter, sir Miss

Billsmethi, sir, who I hope will have the pleasure of dancing many a quadrille, minuet, gavotte,

countrydance, fandango, doublehornpipe, and farinagholkajingo with you, sir. She dances them all, sir;

And Signor Bellsmethi slapped Mr. Augustus Cooper on the back, as if he had known him a dozen years,

so friendly; and Mr. Cooper bowed to the young lady, and the young lady curtseyed to him, and Signor

Billsmethi said they were as handsome a pair as ever he'd wish to see; upon which the young lady exclaimed,

'Lor, pa!' and blushed as red as Mr. Cooper himself you might have thought they were both standing under

a red lamp at a chemist's shop; and before Mr. Cooper went away it was settled that he should join the family

circle that very night taking them just as they were no ceremony nor nonsense of that kind and learn his

positions in order that he might lose no time, and be able to come out at the forthcoming ball.

Well; Mr. Augustus Cooper went away to one of the cheap shoemakers' shops in Holborn, where gentlemen's

dresspumps are sevenand sixpence, and men's strong walking just nothing at all, and bought a pair of the

regular sevenandsixpenny, longquartered, town mades, in which he astonished himself quite as much as

his mother, and sallied forth to Signor Billsmethi's. There were four other private pupils in the parlour: two

ladies and two gentlemen. Such nice people! Not a bit of pride about them. One of the ladies in particular,

who was in training for a Columbine, was remarkably affable; and she and Miss Billsmethi took such an

interest in Mr. Augustus Cooper, and joked, and smiled, and looked so bewitching, that he got quite at home,

and learnt his steps in no time. After the practising was over, Signor Billsmethi, and Miss Billsmethi, and

Master Billsmethi, and a young lady, and the two ladies, and the two gentlemen, danced a quadrille none of

your slipping and sliding about, but regular warm work, flying into corners, and diving among chairs, and

shooting out at the door, something like dancing! Signor Billsmethi in particular, notwithstanding his

having a little fiddle to play all the time, was out on the landing every figure, and Master Billsmethi, when

everybody else was breathless, danced a hornpipe, with a cane in his hand, and a cheeseplate on his head, to

the unqualified admiration of the whole company. Then, Signor Billsmethi insisted, as they were so happy,

that they should all stay to supper, and proposed sending Master Billsmethi for the beer and spirits,

whereupon the two gentlemen swore, 'strike 'em wulgar if they'd stand that;' and were just going to quarrel

who should pay for it, when Mr. Augustus Cooper said he would, if they'd have the kindness to allow him

and they HAD the kindness to allow him; and Master Billsmethi brought the beer in a can, and the rum in a

quart pot. They had a regular night of it; and Miss Billsmethi squeezed Mr. Augustus Cooper's hand under the

table; and Mr. Augustus Cooper returned the squeeze, and returned home too, at something to six o'clock in

the morning, when he was put to bed by main force by the apprentice, after repeatedly expressing an

uncontrollable desire to pitch his revered parent out of the secondfloor window, and to throttle the

Weeks had worn on, and the sevenandsixpenny townmades had nearly worn out, when the night arrived

for the grand dressball at which the whole of the fiveandseventy pupils were to meet together, for the first

time that season, and to take out some portion of their respective fourandsixpences in lampoil and

fiddlers. Mr. Augustus Cooper had ordered a new coat for the occasion a two poundtenner from

Turnstile. It was his first appearance in public; and, after a grand Sicilian shawldance by fourteen young

ladies in character, he was to open the quadrille department with Miss Billsmethi herself, with whom he had

become quite intimate since his first introduction. It WAS a night! Everything was admirably arranged. The

sandwichboy took the hats and bonnets at the streetdoor; there was a turnup bedstead in the back parlour,

on which Miss Billsmethi made tea and coffee for such of the gentlemen as chose to pay for it, and such of

the ladies as the gentlemen treated; red portwine negus and lemonade were handed round at eighteenpence

a head; and in pursuance of a previous engagement with the publichouse at the corner of the street, an extra

potboy was laid on for the occasion. In short, nothing could exceed the arrangements, except the company.

Such ladies! Such pink silk stockings! Such artificial flowers! Such a number of cabs! No sooner had one cab

set down a couple of ladies, than another cab drove up and set down another couple of ladies, and they all

knew: not only one another, but the majority of the gentlemen into the bargain, which made it all as pleasant

and lively as could be. Signor Billsmethi, in black tights, with a large blue bow in his buttonhole, introduced

the ladies to such of the gentlemen as were strangers: and the ladies talked away and laughed they did it

As to the shawldance, it was the most exciting thing that ever was beheld; there was such a whisking, and

rustling, and fanning, and getting ladies into a tangle with artificial flowers, and then disentangling them

again! And as to Mr. Augustus Cooper's share in the quadrille, he got through it admirably. He was missing

from his partner, now and then, certainly, and discovered on such occasions to be either dancing with

laudable perseverance in another set, or sliding about in perspective, without any definite object; but,

generally speaking, they managed to shove him through the figure, until he turned up in the right place. Be

this as it may, when he had finished, a great many ladies and gentlemen came up and complimented him very

much, and said they had never seen a beginner do anything like it before; and Mr. Augustus Cooper was

perfectly satisfied with himself, and everybody else into the bargain; and 'stood' considerable quantities of

spiritsandwater, negus, and compounds, for the use and behoof of two or three dozen very particular

Now, whether it was the strength of the compounds, or the beauty of the ladies, or what not, it did so happen

that Mr. Augustus Cooper encouraged, rather than repelled, the very flattering attentions of a young lady in

brown gauze over white calico who had appeared particularly struck with him from the first; and when the

encouragements had been prolonged for some time, Miss Billsmethi betrayed her spite and jealousy thereat

by calling the young lady in brown gauze a 'creeter,' which induced the young lady in brown gauze to retort,

in certain sentences containing a taunt founded on the payment of fourandsixpence a quarter, which

reference Mr. Augustus Cooper, being then and there in a state of considerable bewilderment, expressed his

entire concurrence in. Miss Billsmethi, thus renounced, forthwith began screaming in the loudest key of her

voice, at the rate of fourteen screams a minute; and being unsuccessful, in an onslaught on the eyes and face,

first of the lady in gauze and then of Mr. Augustus Cooper, called distractedly on the other

threeandseventy pupils to furnish her with oxalic acid for her own private drinking; and, the call not being

honoured, made another rush at Mr. Cooper, and then had her staylace cut, and was carried off to bed. Mr.

Augustus Cooper, not being remarkable for quickness of apprehension, was at a loss to understand what all

this meant, until Signor Billsmethi explained it in a most satisfactory manner, by stating to the pupils, that

Mr. Augustus Cooper had made and confirmed divers promises of marriage to his daughter on divers

occasions, and had now basely deserted her; on which, the indignation of the pupils became universal; and as

several chivalrous gentlemen inquired rather pressingly of Mr. Augustus Cooper, whether he required

anything for his own use, or, in other words, whether he 'wanted anything for himself,' he deemed it prudent

to make a precipitate retreat. And the upshot of the matter was, that a lawyer's letter came next day, and an

action was commenced next week; and that Mr. Augustus Cooper, after walking twice to the Serpentine for

the purpose of drowning himself, and coming twice back without doing it, made a confidante of his mother,

who compromised the matter with twenty pounds from the till: which made twenty pounds four shillings and

sixpence paid to Signor Billsmethi, exclusive of treats and pumps. And Mr. Augustus Cooper went back and

lived with his mother, and there he lives to this day; and as he has lost his ambition for society, and never

goes into the world, he will never see this account of himself, and will never be any the wiser.

There are certain descriptions of people who, oddly enough, appear to appertain exclusively to the

metropolis. You meet them, every day, in the streets of London, but no one ever encounters them elsewhere;

they seem indigenous to the soil, and to belong as exclusively to London as its own smoke, or the dingy

bricks and mortar. We could illustrate the remark by a variety of examples, but, in our present sketch, we will

only advert to one class as a specimen that class which is so aptly and expressively designated as

Now, shabby people, God knows, may be found anywhere, and genteel people are not articles of greater

scarcity out of London than in it; but this compound of the two this shabbygentility is as purely local as

the statue at Charingcross, or the pump at Aldgate. It is worthy of remark, too, that only men are shabby

genteel; a woman is always either dirty and slovenly in the extreme, or neat and respectable, however

povertystricken in appearance. A very poor man, 'who has seen better days,' as the phrase goes, is a strange

We will endeavour to explain our conception of the term which forms the title of this paper. If you meet a

man, lounging up Drury Lane, or leaning with his back against a post in Longacre, with his hands in the

pockets of a pair of drab trousers plentifully besprinkled with greasespots: the trousers made very full over

the boots, and ornamented with two cords down the outside of each leg wearing, also, what has been a

brown coat with bright buttons, and a hat very much pinched up at the side, cocked over his right eye don't

pity him. He is not shabbygenteel. The 'harmonic meetings' at some fourthrate publichouse, or the

purlieus of a private theatre, are his chosen haunts; he entertains a rooted antipathy to any kind of work, and

is on familiar terms with several pantomime men at the large houses. But, if you see hurrying along a

bystreet, keeping as close as he can to the area railings, a man of about forty or fifty, clad in an old rusty

suit of threadbare black cloth which shines with constant wear as if it had been beeswaxed the trousers

tightly strapped down, partly for the look of the thing and partly to keep his old shoes from slipping off at the

heels, if you observe, too, that his yellowishwhite neckerchief is carefully pinned up, to conceal the

tattered garment underneath, and that his hands are encased in the remains of an old pair of beaver gloves,

you may set him down as a shabbygenteel man. A glance at that depressed face, and timorous air of

conscious poverty, will make your heart ache always supposing that you are neither a philosopher nor a

We were once haunted by a shabbygenteel man; he was bodily present to our senses all day, and he was in

our mind's eye all night. The man of whom Sir Walter Scott speaks in his Demonology, did not suffer half the

persecution from his imaginary gentlemanusher in black velvet, that we sustained from our friend in

quondam black cloth. He first attracted our notice, by sitting opposite to us in the readingroom at the British

Museum; and what made the man more remarkable was, that he always had before him a couple of shabby

genteel books two old dog'seared folios, in mouldy wormeaten covers, which had once been smart. He

was in his chair, every morning, just as the clock struck ten; he was always the last to leave the room in the

afternoon; and when he did, he quitted it with the air of a man who knew not where else to go, for warmth

and quiet. There he used to sit all day, as close to the table as possible, in order to conceal the lack of buttons

on his coat: with his old hat carefully deposited at his feet, where he evidently flattered himself it escaped

About two o'clock, you would see him munching a French roll or a penny loaf; not taking it boldly out of his

pocket at once, like a man who knew he was only making a lunch; but breaking off little bits in his pocket,

When we first saw this poor object, we thought it quite impossible that his attire could ever become worse.

We even went so far, as to speculate on the possibility of his shortly appearing in a decent secondhand suit.

We knew nothing about the matter; he grew more and more shabbygenteel every day. The buttons dropped

off his waistcoat, one by one; then, he buttoned his coat; and when one side of the coat was reduced to the

same condition as the waistcoat, he buttoned it over on the other side. He looked somewhat better at the

beginning of the week than at the conclusion, because the neckerchief, though yellow, was not quite so dingy;

and, in the midst of all this wretchedness, he never appeared without gloves and straps. He remained in this

state for a week or two. At length, one of the buttons on the back of the coat fell off, and then the man himself

We were sitting at the same table about a week after his disappearance, and as our eyes rested on his vacant

chair, we insensibly fell into a train of meditation on the subject of his retirement from public life. We were

wondering whether he had hung himself, or thrown himself off a bridge whether he really was dead or had

only been arrested when our conjectures were suddenly set at rest by the entry of the man himself. He had

undergone some strange metamorphosis, and walked up the centre of the room with an air which showed he

was fully conscious of the improvement in his appearance. It was very odd. His clothes were a fine, deep,

glossy black; and yet they looked like the same suit; nay, there were the very darns with which old

acquaintance had made us familiar. The hat, too nobody could mistake the shape of that hat, with its high

crown gradually increasing in circumference towards the top. Long service had imparted to it a

reddishbrown tint; but, now, it was as black as the coat. The truth flashed suddenly upon us they had been

'revived.' It is a deceitful liquid that black and blue reviver; we have watched its effects on many a

shabbygenteel man. It betrays its victims into a temporary assumption of importance: possibly into the

purchase of a new pair of gloves, or a cheap stock, or some other trifling article of dress. It elevates their

spirits for a week, only to depress them, if possible, below their original level. It was so in this case; the

transient dignity of the unhappy man decreased, in exact proportion as the 'reviver' wore off. The knees of the

unmentionables, and the elbows of the coat, and the seams generally, soon began to get alarmingly white. The

hat was once more deposited under the table, and its owner crept into his seat as quietly as ever.

There was a week of incessant small rain and mist. At its expiration the 'reviver' had entirely vanished, and

the shabby genteel man never afterwards attempted to effect any improvement in his outward appearance.

It would be difficult to name any particular part of town as the principal resort of shabbygenteel men. We

have met a great many persons of this description in the neighbourhood of the inns of court. They may be met

with, in Holborn, between eight and ten any morning; and whoever has the curiosity to enter the Insolvent

Debtors' Court will observe, both among spectators and practitioners, a great variety of them. We never went

on 'Change, by any chance, without seeing some shabbygenteel men, and we have often wondered what

earthly business they can have there. They will sit there, for hours, leaning on great, dropsical, mildewed

umbrellas, or eating Abernethy biscuits. Nobody speaks to them, nor they to any one. On consideration, we

remember to have occasionally seen two shabbygenteel men conversing together on 'Change, but our

experience assures us that this is an uncommon circumstance, occasioned by the offer of a pinch of snuff, or

It would be a task of equal difficulty, either to assign any particular spot for the residence of these beings, or

to endeavour to enumerate their general occupations. We were never engaged in business with more than one

shabbygenteel man; and he was a drunken engraver, and lived in a damp backparlour in a new row of

houses at Camdentown, half street, half brickfield, somewhere near the canal. A shabbygenteel man may

have no occupation, or he may be a corn agent, or a coal agent, or a wine merchant, or a collector of debts, or

a broker's assistant, or a brokendown attorney. He may be a clerk of the lowest description, or a contributor

to the press of the same grade. Whether our readers have noticed these men, in their walks, as often as we

have, we know not; this we know that the miserably poor man (no matter whether he owes his distresses to

his own conduct, or that of others) who feels his poverty and vainly strives to conceal it, is one of the most

pitiable objects in human nature. Such objects, with few exceptions, are shabbygenteel people.

Damon and Pythias were undoubtedly very good fellows in their way: the former for his extreme readiness to

put in special bail for a friend: and the latter for a certain trumplike punctuality in turning up just in the very

nick of time, scarcely less remarkable. Many points in their character have, however, grown obsolete.

Damons are rather hard to find, in these days of imprisonment for debt (except the sham ones, and they cost

halfacrown); and, as to the Pythiases, the few that have existed in these degenerate times, have had an

unfortunate knack of making themselves scarce, at the very moment when their appearance would have been

strictly classical. If the actions of these heroes, however, can find no parallel in modern times, their friendship

can. We have Damon and Pythias on the one hand. We have Potter and Smithers on the other; and, lest the

two lastmentioned names should never have reached the ears of our unenlightened readers, we can do no

Mr. Thomas Potter, then, was a clerk in the city, and Mr. Robert Smithers was a ditto in the same; their

incomes were limited, but their friendship was unbounded. They lived in the same street, walked into town

every morning at the same hour, dined at the same slapbang every day, and revelled in each other's company

very night. They were knit together by the closest ties of intimacy and friendship, or, as Mr. Thomas Potter

touchingly observed, they were 'thickandthin pals, and nothing but it.' There was a spice of romance in Mr.

Smithers's disposition, a ray of poetry, a gleam of misery, a sort of consciousness of he didn't exactly know

what, coming across him he didn't precisely know why which stood out in fine relief against the offhand,

dashing, amateurpickpocketsort ofmanner, which distinguished Mr. Potter in an eminent degree.

The peculiarity of their respective dispositions, extended itself to their individual costume. Mr. Smithers

generally appeared in public in a surtout and shoes, with a narrow black neckerchief and a brown hat, very

much turned up at the sides peculiarities which Mr. Potter wholly eschewed, for it was his ambition to do

something in the celebrated 'kiddy' or stagecoach way, and he had even gone so far as to invest capital in the

purchase of a rough blue coat with wooden buttons, made upon the fireman's principle, in which, with the

addition of a lowcrowned, flowerpotsaucershaped hat, he had created no inconsiderable sensation at the

Albion in Little Russellstreet, and divers other places of public and fashionable resort.

Mr. Potter and Mr. Smithers had mutually agreed that, on the receipt of their quarter's salary, they would

jointly and in company 'spend the evening' an evident misnomer the spending applying, as everybody

knows, not to the evening itself but to all the money the individual may chance to be possessed of, on the

occasion to which reference is made; and they had likewise agreed that, on the evening aforesaid, they would

'make a night of it' an expressive term, implying the borrowing of several hours from tomorrow morning,

adding them to the night before, and manufacturing a compound night of the whole.

The quarterday arrived at last we say at last, because quarter days are as eccentric as comets: moving

wonderfully quick when you have a good deal to pay, and marvellously slow when you have a little to

receive. Mr. Thomas Potter and Mr. Robert Smithers met by appointment to begin the evening with a dinner;

and a nice, snug, comfortable dinner they had, consisting of a little procession of four chops and four kidneys,

following each other, supported on either side by a pot of the real draught stout, and attended by divers

When the cloth was removed, Mr. Thomas Potter ordered the waiter to bring in, two goes of his best Scotch

whiskey, with warm water and sugar, and a couple of his 'very mildest' Havannahs, which the waiter did. Mr.

Thomas Potter mixed his grog, and lighted his cigar; Mr. Robert Smithers did the same; and then, Mr.

Thomas Potter jocularly proposed as the first toast, 'the abolition of all offices whatever' (not sinecures, but

countinghouses), which was immediately drunk by Mr. Robert Smithers, with enthusiastic applause. So they

went on, talking politics, puffing cigars, and sipping whiskeyandwater, until the 'goes' most

appropriately so called were both gone, which Mr. Robert Smithers perceiving, immediately ordered in two

more goes of the best Scotch whiskey, and two more of the very mildest Havannahs; and the goes kept

coming in, and the mild Havannahs kept going out, until, what with the drinking, and lighting, and puffing,

and the stale ashes on the table, and the tallowgrease on the cigars, Mr. Robert Smithers began to doubt the

mildness of the Havannahs, and to feel very much as if he had been sitting in a hackneycoach with his back

As to Mr. Thomas Potter, he WOULD keep laughing out loud, and volunteering inarticulate declarations that

he was 'all right;' in proof of which, he feebly bespoke the evening paper after the next gentleman, but finding

it a matter of some difficulty to discover any news in its columns, or to ascertain distinctly whether it had any

columns at all, walked slowly out to look for the moon, and, after coming back quite pale with looking up at

the sky so long, and attempting to express mirth at Mr. Robert Smithers having fallen asleep, by various

galvanic chuckles, laid his head on his arm, and went to sleep also. When he awoke again, Mr. Robert

Smithers awoke too, and they both very gravely agreed that it was extremely unwise to eat so many pickled

walnuts with the chops, as it was a notorious fact that they always made people queer and sleepy; indeed, if it

had not been for the whiskey and cigars, there was no knowing what harm they mightn't have done 'em. So

they took some coffee, and after paying the bill, twelve and twopence the dinner, and the odd tenpence for

the waiter thirteen shillings in all started out on their expedition to manufacture a night.

It was just halfpast eight, so they thought they couldn't do better than go at halfprice to the slips at the City

Theatre, which they did accordingly. Mr. Robert Smithers, who had become extremely poetical after the

settlement of the bill, enlivening the walk by informing Mr. Thomas Potter in confidence that he felt an

inward presentiment of approaching dissolution, and subsequently embellishing the theatre, by falling asleep

Such was the quiet demeanour of the unassuming Smithers, and such were the happy effects of Scotch

whiskey and Havannahs on that interesting person! But Mr. Thomas Potter, whose great aim it was to be

considered as a 'knowing card,' a 'fastgoer,' and so forth, conducted himself in a very different manner, and

commenced going very fast indeed rather too fast at last, for the patience of the audience to keep pace with

him. On his first entry, he contented himself by earnestly calling upon the gentlemen in the gallery to 'flare

up,' accompanying the demand with another request, expressive of his wish that they would instantaneously

'form a union,' both which requisitions were responded to, in the manner most in vogue on such occasions.

'Where have you been a having half a pint of intermediate beer?' cried a second. 'Tailor!' screamed a third.

'Barber's clerk!' shouted a fourth. 'Throw him OVER!' roared a fifth; while numerous voices concurred in

desiring Mr. Thomas Potter to 'go home to his mother!' All these taunts Mr. Thomas Potter received with

supreme contempt, cocking the lowcrowned hat a little more on one side, whenever any reference was made

to his personal appearance, and, standing up with his arms akimbo, expressing defiance melodramatically.

The overture to which these various sounds had been an AD LIBITUM accompaniment concluded, the

second piece began, and Mr. Thomas Potter, emboldened by impunity, proceeded to behave in a most

unprecedented and outrageous manner. First of all, he imitated the shake of the principal female singer; then,

groaned at the blue fire; then, affected to be frightened into convulsions of terror at the appearance of the

ghost; and, lastly, not only made a running commentary, in an audible voice, upon the dialogue on the stage,

but actually awoke Mr. Robert Smithers, who, hearing his companion making a noise, and having a very

indistinct notion where he was, or what was required of him, immediately, by way of imitating a good

example, set up the most unearthly, unremitting, and appalling howling that ever audience heard. It was too

much. 'Turn them out!' was the general cry. A noise, as of shuffling of feet, and men being knocked up with

violence against wainscoting, was heard: a hurried dialogue of 'Come out?' 'I won't!' 'You shall!' 'I

shan't!' 'Give me your card, Sir?' 'You're a scoundrel, Sir!' and so forth, succeeded. A round of applause

betokened the approbation of the audience, and Mr. Robert Smithers and Mr. Thomas Potter found

themselves shot with astonishing swiftness into the road, without having had the trouble of once putting foot

Mr. Robert Smithers, being constitutionally one of the slowgoers, and having had quite enough of

fastgoing, in the course of his recent expulsion, to last until the quarterday then next ensuing at the very

least, had no sooner emerged with his companion from the precincts of Miltonstreet, than he proceeded to

indulge in circuitous references to the beauties of sleep, mingled with distant allusions to the propriety of

returning to Islington, and testing the influence of their patent Bramahs over the streetdoor locks to which

they respectively belonged. Mr. Thomas Potter, however, was valorous and peremptory. They had come out

to make a night of it: and a night must be made. So Mr. Robert Smithers, who was three parts dull, and the

other dismal, despairingly assented; and they went into a winevaults, to get materials for assisting them in

making a night; where they found a good many young ladies, and various old gentlemen, and a plentiful

sprinkling of hackneycoachmen and cabdrivers, all drinking and talking together; and Mr. Thomas Potter

and Mr. Robert Smithers drank small glasses of brandy, and large glasses of soda, until they began to have a

very confused idea, either of things in general, or of anything in particular; and, when they had done treating

themselves they began to treat everybody else; and the rest of the entertainment was a confused mixture of

heads and heels, black eyes and blue uniforms, mud and gaslights, thick doors, and stone paving.

Then, as standard novelists expressively inform us 'all was a blank!' and in the morning the blank was filled

up with the words 'STATIONHOUSE,' and the stationhouse was filled up with Mr. Thomas Potter, Mr.

Robert Smithers, and the major part of their winevault companions of the preceding night, with a

comparatively small portion of clothing of any kind. And it was disclosed at the Policeoffice, to the

indignation of the Bench, and the astonishment of the spectators, how one Robert Smithers, aided and abetted

by one Thomas Potter, had knocked down and beaten, in divers streets, at different times, five men, four

boys, and three women; how the said Thomas Potter had feloniously obtained possession of five

doorknockers, two bellhandles, and a bonnet; how Robert Smithers, his friend, had sworn, at least forty

pounds' worth of oaths, at the rate of five shillings apiece; terrified whole streets full of Her Majesty's

subjects with awful shrieks and alarms of fire; destroyed the uniforms of five policemen; and committed

various other atrocities, too numerous to recapitulate. And the magistrate, after an appropriate reprimand,

fined Mr. Thomas Potter and Mr. Thomas Smithers five shillings each, for being, what the law vulgarly

terms, drunk; and thirtyfour pounds for seventeen assaults at forty shillings ahead, with liberty to speak to

The prosecutors WERE spoken to, and Messrs. Potter and Smithers lived on credit, for a quarter, as best they

might; and, although the prosecutors expressed their readiness to be assaulted twice a week, on the same

We were passing the corner of Bowstreet, on our return from a lounging excursion the other afternoon,

when a crowd, assembled round the door of the Policeoffice, attracted our attention. We turned up the street

accordingly. There were thirty or forty people, standing on the pavement and half across the road; and a few

stragglers were patiently stationed on the opposite side of the way all evidently waiting in expectation of

some arrival. We waited too, a few minutes, but nothing occurred; so, we turned round to an unshorn,

sallowlooking cobbler, who was standing next us with his hands under the bib of his apron, and put the

usual question of 'What's the matter?' The cobbler eyed us from head to foot, with superlative contempt, and

Now, we were perfectly aware that if two men stop in the street to look at any given object, or even to gaze in

the air, two hundred men will be assembled in no time; but, as we knew very well that no crowd of people

could by possibility remain in a street for five minutes without getting up a little amusement among

themselves, unless they had some absorbing object in view, the natural inquiry next in order was, 'What are

all these people waiting here for?' 'Her Majesty's carriage,' replied the cobbler. This was still more

extraordinary. We could not imagine what earthly business Her Majesty's carriage could have at the Public

Office, Bowstreet. We were beginning to ruminate on the possible causes of such an uncommon

appearance, when a general exclamation from all the boys in the crowd of 'Here's the wan!' caused us to raise

The covered vehicle, in which prisoners are conveyed from the policeoffices to the different prisons, was

coming along at full speed. It then occurred to us, for the first time, that Her Majesty's carriage was merely

another name for the prisoners' van, conferred upon it, not only by reason of the superior gentility of the term,

but because the aforesaid van is maintained at Her Majesty's expense: having been originally started for the

exclusive accommodation of ladies and gentlemen under the necessity of visiting the various houses of call

The van drew up at the officedoor, and the people thronged round the steps, just leaving a little alley for the

prisoners to pass through. Our friend the cobbler, and the other stragglers, crossed over, and we followed

their example. The driver, and another man who had been seated by his side in front of the vehicle,

dismounted, and were admitted into the office. The officedoor was closed after them, and the crowd were on

After a few minutes' delay, the door again opened, and the two first prisoners appeared. They were a couple

of girls, of whom the elder could not be more than sixteen, and the younger of whom had certainly not

attained her fourteenth year. That they were sisters, was evident, from the resemblance which still subsisted

between them, though two additional years of depravity had fixed their brand upon the elder girl's features, as

legibly as if a red hot iron had seared them. They were both gaudily dressed, the younger one especially;

and, although there was a strong similarity between them in both respects, which was rendered the more

obvious by their being handcuffed together, it is impossible to conceive a greater contrast than the demeanour

of the two presented. The younger girl was weeping bitterly not for display, or in the hope of producing

effect, but for very shame: her face was buried in her handkerchief: and her whole manner was but too

'How long are you for, Emily?' screamed a redfaced woman in the crowd. 'Six weeks and labour,' replied the

elder girl with a flaunting laugh; 'and that's better than the stone jug anyhow; the mill's a deal better than the

Sessions, and here's Bella agoing too for the first time. Hold up your head, you chicken,' she continued,

boisterously tearing the other girl's handkerchief away; 'Hold up your head, and show 'em your face. I an't

jealous, but I'm blessed if I an't game!' 'That's right, old gal,' exclaimed a man in a paper cap, who, in

common with the greater part of the crowd, had been inexpressibly delighted with this little incident.

'Right!' replied the girl; 'ah, to be sure; what's the odds, eh?' 'Come! In with you,' interrupted the driver.

'Don't you be in a hurry, coachman,' replied the girl, 'and recollect I want to be set down in Cold Bath Fields

large house with a high gardenwall in front; you can't mistake it. Hallo. Bella, where are you going to

you'll pull my precious arm off?' This was addressed to the younger girl, who, in her anxiety to hide herself in

the caravan, had ascended the steps first, and forgotten the strain upon the handcuff. 'Come down, and let's

show you the way.' And after jerking the miserable girl down with a force which made her stagger on the

These two girls had been thrown upon London streets, their vices and debauchery, by a sordid and rapacious

mother. What the younger girl was then, the elder had been once; and what the elder then was, the younger

must soon become. A melancholy prospect, but how surely to be realised; a tragic drama, but how often

acted! Turn to the prisons and police offices of London nay, look into the very streets themselves. These

things pass before our eyes, day after day, and hour after hour they have become such matters of course,

that they are utterly disregarded. The progress of these girls in crime will be as rapid as the flight of a

pestilence, resembling it too in its baneful influence and widespreading infection. Step by step, how many

wretched females, within the sphere of every man's observation, have become involved in a career of vice,

frightful to contemplate; hopeless at its commencement, loathsome and repulsive in its course; friendless,

There were other prisoners boys of ten, as hardened in vice as men of fifty a houseless vagrant, going

joyfully to prison as a place of food and shelter, handcuffed to a man whose prospects were ruined, character

lost, and family rendered destitute, by his first offence. Our curiosity, however, was satisfied. The first group

had left an impression on our mind we would gladly have avoided, and would willingly have effaced.

The crowd dispersed; the vehicle rolled away with its load of guilt and misfortune; and we saw no more of

Mrs. Tibbs was, beyond all dispute, the most tidy, fidgety, thrifty little personage that ever inhaled the smoke

of London; and the house of Mrs. Tibbs was, decidedly, the neatest in all Great Coram street. The area and

the areasteps, and the streetdoor and the streetdoor steps, and the brass handle, and the doorplate, and

the knocker, and the fanlight, were all as clean and bright, as indefatigable whitewashing, and

hearthstoning, and scrubbing and rubbing, could make them. The wonder was, that the brass door plate,

with the interesting inscription 'MRS. TIBBS,' had never caught fire from constant friction, so perseveringly

was it polished. There were meatsafelooking blinds in the parlour windows, blue and gold curtains in the

drawingroom, and spring roller blinds, as Mrs. Tibbs was wont in the pride of her heart to boast, 'all the

way up.' The belllamp in the passage looked as clear as a soapbubble; you could see yourself in all the

tables, and Frenchpolish yourself on any one of the chairs. The banisters were beeswaxed; and the very

Mrs. Tibbs was somewhat short of stature, and Mr. Tibbs was by no means a large man. He had, moreover,

very short legs, but, by way of indemnification, his face was peculiarly long. He was to his wife what the 0 is

in 90 he was of some importance WITH her he was nothing without her. Mrs. Tibbs was always talking.

Mr. Tibbs rarely spoke; but, if it were at any time possible to put in a word, when he should have said nothing

at all, he had that talent. Mrs. Tibbs detested long stories, and Mr. Tibbs had one, the conclusion of which had

never been heard by his most intimate friends. It always began, 'I recollect when I was in the volunteer corps,

in eighteen hundred and six,' but, as he spoke very slowly and softly, and his better half very quickly and

loudly, he rarely got beyond the introductory sentence. He was a melancholy specimen of the storyteller. He

Mr. Tibbs enjoyed a small independence from the pensionlist about 43L. 15S. 10D. a year. His father,

mother, and five interesting scions from the same stock, drew a like sum from the revenue of a grateful

country, though for what particular service was never known. But, as this said independence was not quite

sufficient to furnish two people with ALL the luxuries of this life, it had occurred to the busy little spouse of

Tibbs, that the best thing she could do with a legacy of 700L., would be to take and furnish a tolerable house

somewhere in that partially explored tract of country which lies between the British Museum, and a

remote village called Somerstown for the reception of boarders. Great Coramstreet was the spot pitched

upon. The house had been furnished accordingly; two female servants and a boy engaged; and an

advertisement inserted in the morning papers, informing the public that 'Six individuals would meet with all

the comforts of a cheerful musical home in a select private family, residing within ten minutes' walk of'

everywhere. Answers out of number were received, with all sorts of initials; all the letters of the alphabet

seemed to be seized with a sudden wish to go out boarding and lodging; voluminous was the correspondence

between Mrs. Tibbs and the applicants; and most profound was the secrecy observed. 'E.' didn't like this; 'I.'

couldn't think of putting up with that; 'I. O. U.' didn't think the terms would suit him; and 'G. R.' had never

slept in a French bed. The result, however, was, that three gentlemen became inmates of Mrs. Tibbs's house,

on terms which were 'agreeable to all parties.' In went the advertisement again, and a lady with her two

'Charming woman, that Mrs. Maplesone!' said Mrs. Tibbs, as she and her spouse were sitting by the fire after

breakfast; the gentlemen having gone out on their several avocations. 'Charming woman, indeed!' repeated

little Mrs. Tibbs, more by way of soliloquy than anything else, for she never thought of consulting her

husband. 'And the two daughters are delightful. We must have some fish to day; they'll join us at dinner for

Mr. Tibbs placed the poker at right angles with the fire shovel, and essayed to speak, but recollected he had

'The young ladies,' continued Mrs. T., 'have kindly volunteered to bring their own piano.'

'Pray don't lean your head against the paper,' interrupted Mrs. Tibbs; 'and don't put your feet on the steel

Tibbs took his head from the paper, and his feet from the fender, and proceeded. 'It's very likely one of the

'I beg you won't mention such a thing,' said Mrs. T. 'A marriage, indeed to rob me of my boarders no, not

Tibbs thought in his own mind that the event was by no means unlikely, but, as he never argued with his

wife, he put a stop to the dialogue, by observing it was 'time to go to business.' He always went out at ten

o'clock in the morning, and returned at five in the afternoon, with an exceedingly dirty face, and smelling

mouldy. Nobody knew what he was, or where he went; but Mrs. Tibbs used to say with an air of great

The Miss Maplesones and their accomplished parent arrived in the course of the afternoon in a

hackneycoach, and accompanied by a most astonishing number of packages. Trunks, bonnetboxes, muff

boxes and parasols, guitarcases, and parcels of all imaginable shapes, done up in brown paper, and fastened

with pins, filled the passage. Then, there was such a running up and down with the luggage, such scampering

for warm water for the ladies to wash in, and such a bustle, and confusion, and heating of servants, and

curlingirons, as had never been known in Great Coramstreet before. Little Mrs. Tibbs was quite in her

element, bustling about, talking incessantly, and distributing towels and soap, like a head nurse in a hospital.

The house was not restored to its usual state of quiet repose, until the ladies were safely shut up in their

respective bedrooms, engaged in the important occupation of dressing for dinner.

'Are these gals 'andsome?' inquired Mr. Simpson of Mr. Septimus Hicks, another of the boarders, as they

were amusing themselves in the drawingroom, before dinner, by lolling on sofas, and contemplating their

'Don't know,' replied Mr. Septimus Hicks, who was a tallish, white faced young man, with spectacles, and a

black ribbon round his neck instead of a neckerchief a most interesting person; a poetical walker of the

hospitals, and a 'very talented young man.' He was fond of 'lugging' into conversation all sorts of quotations

from Don Juan, without fettering himself by the propriety of their application; in which particular he was

remarkably independent. The other, Mr. Simpson, was one of those young men, who are in society what

walking gentlemen are on the stage, only infinitely worse skilled in his vocation than the most indifferent

artist. He was as emptyheaded as the great bell of St. Paul's; always dressed according to the caricatures

'I saw a devilish number of parcels in the passage when I came home,' simpered Mr. Simpson.

'Much linen, lace, and several pair Of stockings, slippers, brushes, combs, complete; With other articles of

'No from Byron,' returned Mr. Hicks, with a look of contempt. He was quite sure of his author, because he

had never read any other. 'Hush! Here come the gals,' and they both commenced talking in a very loud key.

'Mrs. Maplesone and the Miss Maplesones, Mr. Hicks. Mr. Hicks Mrs. Maplesone and the Miss

Maplesones,' said Mrs. Tibbs, with a very red face, for she had been superintending the cooking operations

below stairs, and looked like a wax doll on a sunny day. 'Mr. Simpson, I beg your pardon Mr. Simpson

Mrs. Maplesone and the Miss Maplesones' and VICE VERSA. The gentlemen immediately began to slide

about with much politeness, and to look as if they wished their arms had been legs, so little did they know

what to do with them. The ladies smiled, curtseyed, and glided into chairs, and dived for dropped

pockethandkerchiefs: the gentlemen leant against two of the curtainpegs; Mrs. Tibbs went through an

admirable bit of serious pantomime with a servant who had come up to ask some question about the

fishsauce; and then the two young ladies looked at each other; and everybody else appeared to discover

'Julia, my love,' said Mrs. Maplesone to her youngest daughter, in a tone loud enough for the remainder of the

'Don't stoop.' This was said for the purpose of directing general attention to Miss Julia's figure, which was

'We had the most uncivil hackneycoachman today, you can imagine,' said Mrs. Maplesone to Mrs. Tibbs,

'Dear me!' replied the hostess, with an air of great commiseration. She couldn't say more, for the servant

again appeared at the door, and commenced telegraphing most earnestly to her 'Missis.'

'I think hackneycoachmen generally ARE uncivil,' said Mr. Hicks in his most insinuating tone.

'Positively I think they are,' replied Mrs. Maplesone, as if the idea had never struck her before.

'And cabmen, too,' said Mr. Simpson. This remark was a failure, for no one intimated, by word or sign, the

'Robinson, what DO you want?' said Mrs. Tibbs to the servant, who, by way of making her presence known

to her mistress, had been giving sundry hems and sniffs outside the door during the preceding five minutes.

'Please, ma'am, master wants his clean things,' replied the servant, taken off her guard. The two young men

turned their faces to the window, and 'went off' like a couple of bottles of ginger beer; the ladies put their

handkerchiefs to their mouths; and little Mrs. Tibbs bustled out of the room to give Tibbs his clean linen,

Mr. Calton, the remaining boarder, shortly afterwards made his appearance, and proved a surprising promoter

of the conversation. Mr. Calton was a superannuated beau an old boy. He used to say of himself that

although his features were not regularly handsome, they were striking. They certainly were. It was impossible

to look at his face without being reminded of a chubby streetdoor knocker, halflion halfmonkey; and the

comparison might be extended to his whole character and conversation. He had stood still, while everything

else had been moving. He never originated a conversation, or started an idea; but if any commonplace topic

were broached, or, to pursue the comparison, if anybody LIFTED HIM UP, he would hammer away with

surprising rapidity. He had the tic douloureux occasionally, and then he might be said to be muffled,

because he did not make quite as much noise as at other times, when he would go on prosing, rattattat the

same thing over and over again. He had never been married; but he was still on the lookout for a wife with

money. He had a life interest worth about 300L. a year he was exceedingly vain, and inordinately selfish.

He had acquired the reputation of being the very pink of politeness, and he walked round the park, and up

This respectable personage had made up his mind to render himself exceedingly agreeable to Mrs. Maplesone

indeed, the desire of being as amiable as possible extended itself to the whole party; Mrs. Tibbs having

considered it an admirable little bit of management to represent to the gentlemen that she had SOME reason

to believe the ladies were fortunes, and to hint to the ladies, that all the gentlemen were 'eligible.' A little

flirtation, she thought, might keep her house full, without leading to any other result.

Mrs. Maplesone was an enterprising widow of about fifty: shrewd, scheming, and goodlooking. She was

amiably anxious on behalf of her daughters; in proof whereof she used to remark, that she would have no

objection to marry again, if it would benefit her dear girls she could have no other motive. The 'dear girls'

themselves were not at all insensible to the merits of 'a good establishment.' One of them was twentyfive;

the other, three years younger. They had been at different wateringplaces, for four seasons; they had

gambled at libraries, read books in balconies, sold at fancy fairs, danced at assemblies, talked sentiment in

short, they had done all that industrious girls could do but, as yet, to no purpose.

'What a magnificent dresser Mr. Simpson is!' whispered Matilda Maplesone to her sister Julia.

'Splendid!' returned the youngest. The magnificent individual alluded to wore a marooncoloured dresscoat,

with a velvet collar and cuffs of the same tint very like that which usually invests the form of the

distinguished unknown who condescends to play the 'swell' in the pantomime at 'Richardson's Show.'

'Charming!' responded her sister; 'and what hair!' His hair was like a wig, and distinguished by that

insinuating wave which graces the shining locks of those CHEFD'OEUVRES of art surmounting the waxen

images in Bartellot's window in Regentstreet; his whiskers meeting beneath his chin, seemed strings

wherewith to tie it on, ere science had rendered them unnecessary by her patent invisible springs.

'Dinner's on the table, ma'am, if you please,' said the boy, who now appeared for the first time, in a revived

'Oh! Mr. Calton, will you lead Mrs. Maplesone? Thank you.' Mr. Simpson offered his arm to Miss Julia;

Mr. Septimus Hicks escorted the lovely Matilda; and the procession proceeded to the dining room. Mr.

Tibbs was introduced, and Mr. Tibbs bobbed up and down to the three ladies like a figure in a Dutch clock,

with a powerful spring in the middle of his body, and then dived rapidly into his seat at the bottom of the

table, delighted to screen himself behind a souptureen, which he could just see over, and that was all. The

boarders were seated, a lady and gentleman alternately, like the layers of bread and meat in a plate of

sandwiches; and then Mrs. Tibbs directed James to take off the covers. Salmon, lobster sauce, gibletsoup,

and the usual accompaniments were discovered: potatoes like petrifactions, and bits of toasted bread, the

'Soup for Mrs. Maplesone, my dear,' said the bustling Mrs. Tibbs. She always called her husband 'my dear'

before company. Tibbs, who had been eating his bread, and calculating how long it would be before he

should get any fish, helped the soup in a hurry, made a small island on the tablecloth, and put his glass upon

'If you please very little oh! plenty, thank you' (a bit about the size of a walnut put upon the plate).

The knocker gave a single rap. He was busy eating the fish with his eyes: so he only ejaculated, 'Ah!'

'My dear,' said Mrs. Tibbs to her spouse after every one else had been helped, 'what do YOU take?' The

inquiry was accompanied with a look intimating that he mustn't say fish, because there was not much left.

Tibbs thought the frown referred to the island on the tablecloth; he therefore coolly replied, 'Why I'll take

'Yes, dear,' replied the villain, with an expression of acute hunger depicted in his countenance. The tears

almost started to Mrs. Tibbs's eyes, as she helped her 'wretch of a husband,' as she inwardly called him, to the

'James, take this to your master, and take away your master's knife.' This was deliberate revenge, as Tibbs

never could eat fish without one. He was, however, constrained to chase small particles of salmon round and

round his plate with a piece of bread and a fork, the number of successful attempts being about one in

'Take away, James,' said Mrs. Tibbs, as Tibbs swallowed the fourth mouthful and away went the plates like

'I'll take a bit of bread, James,' said the poor 'master of the house,' more hungry than ever.

'Never mind your master now, James,' said Mrs. Tibbs, 'see about the meat.' This was conveyed in the tone in

which ladies usually give admonitions to servants in company, that is to say, a low one; but which, like a

stage whisper, from its peculiar emphasis, is most distinctly heard by everybody present.

A pause ensued, before the table was replenished a sort of parenthesis in which Mr. Simpson, Mr. Calton,

and Mr. Hicks, produced respectively a bottle of sauterne, bucellas, and sherry, and took wine with

Here was an opportunity for Mr. Hicks. He could not resist the singularly appropriate quotation

'But beef is rare within these oxless isles; Goats' flesh there is, no doubt, and kid, and mutton, And when a

'Very ungentlemanly behaviour,' thought little Mrs. Tibbs, 'to talk in that way.'

'Yes; or Paradise and the Peer,' repeated Simpson, who thought he was getting through it capitally.

'It's all very well,' replied Mr. Septimus Hicks, who, as we have before hinted, never had read anything but

Don Juan. 'Where will you find anything finer than the description of the siege, at the commencement of the

'Talking of a siege,' said Tibbs, with a mouthful of bread 'when I was in the volunteer corps, in eighteen

hundred and six, our commanding officer was Sir Charles Rampart; and one day, when we were exercising

on the ground on which the London University now stands, he says, says he, Tibbs (calling me from the

'Tell your master, James,' interrupted Mrs. Tibbs, in an awfully distinct tone, 'tell your master if he WON'T

carve those fowls, to send them to me.' The discomfited volunteer instantly set to work, and carved the fowls

almost as expeditiously as his wife operated on the haunch of mutton. Whether he ever finished the story is

As the ice was now broken, and the new inmates more at home, every member of the company felt more at

ease. Tibbs himself most certainly did, because he went to sleep immediately after dinner. Mr. Hicks and the

ladies discoursed most eloquently about poetry, and the theatres, and Lord Chesterfield's Letters; and Mr.

Calton followed up what everybody said, with continuous double knocks. Mrs. Tibbs highly approved of

every observation that fell from Mrs. Maplesone; and as Mr. Simpson sat with a smile upon his face and said

'Yes,' or 'Certainly,' at intervals of about four minutes each, he received full credit for understanding what

was going forward. The gentlemen rejoined the ladies in the drawingroom very shortly after they had left

the diningparlour. Mrs. Maplesone and Mr. Calton played cribbage, and the 'young people' amused

themselves with music and conversation. The Miss Maplesones sang the most fascinating duets, and

accompanied themselves on guitars, ornamented with bits of ethereal blue ribbon. Mr. Simpson put on a pink

waistcoat, and said he was in raptures; and Mr. Hicks felt in the seventh heaven of poetry or the seventh canto

of Don Juan it was the same thing to him. Mrs. Tibbs was quite charmed with the newcomers; and Mr.

Tibbs spent the evening in his usual way he went to sleep, and woke up, and went to sleep again, and woke

We are not about to adopt the licence of novelwriters, and to let 'years roll on;' but we will take the liberty of

requesting the reader to suppose that six months have elapsed, since the dinner we have described, and that

Mrs. Tibbs's boarders have, during that period, sang, and danced, and gone to theatres and exhibitions,

together, as ladies and gentlemen, wherever they board, often do. And we will beg them, the period we have

mentioned having elapsed, to imagine farther, that Mr. Septimus Hicks received, in his own bedroom (a front

attic), at an early hour one morning, a note from Mr. Calton, requesting the favour of seeing him, as soon as

'Tell Mr. Calton I'll come down directly,' said Mr. Septimus to the boy. 'Stop is Mr. Calton unwell?'

inquired this excited walker of hospitals, as he put on a bedfurniturelooking dressinggown.

'Not as I knows on, sir,' replied the boy. ' Please, sir, he looked rather rum, as it might be.'

'Ah, that's no proof of his being ill,' returned Hicks, unconsciously. 'Very well: I'll be down directly.'

Downstairs ran the boy with the message, and down went the excited Hicks himself, almost as soon as the

message was delivered. 'Tap, tap.' 'Come in.' Door opens, and discovers Mr. Calton sitting in an easy chair.

Mutual shakes of the hand exchanged, and Mr. Septimus Hicks motioned to a seat. A short pause. Mr. Hicks

coughed, and Mr. Calton took a pinch of snuff. It was one of those interviews where neither party knows

'I received a note ' he said, very tremulously, in a voice like a Punch with a cold.

Now, although this dialogue must have been satisfactory, both gentlemen felt there was something more

important to be said; therefore they did as most men in such a situation would have done they looked at the

table with a determined aspect. The conversation had been opened, however, and Mr. Calton had made up his

mind to continue it with a regular double knock. He always spoke very pompously.

'Hicks,' said he, 'I have sent for you, in consequence of certain arrangements which are pending in this house,

'With a marriage!' gasped Hicks, compared with whose expression of countenance, Hamlet's, when he sees

'With a marriage,' returned the knocker. 'I have sent for you to prove the great confidence I can repose in you.'

'And will you betray me?' eagerly inquired Hicks, who in his alarm had even forgotten to quote.

'Never: no one shall know, to my dying day, that you had a hand in the business,' responded the agitated

Hicks, with an inflamed countenance, and his hair standing on end as if he were on the stool of an electrifying

'People must know that, some time or other within a year, I imagine,' said Mr. Calton, with an air of great

'No! how can it?' said the bewildered Hicks. Calton was too much inwrapped in the contemplation of his

happiness to see the equivoque between Hicks and himself; and threw himself back in his chair. 'Oh,

Matilda!' sighed the antique beau, in a lacka daisical voice, and applying his right hand a little to the left of

'Good Heaven!' said Hicks, falling into his chair: 'You marry the mother, and I the daughter!'

'Most extraordinary circumstance!' replied Mr. Calton, 'and rather inconvenient too; for the fact is, that owing

to Matilda's wishing to keep her intention secret from her daughters until the ceremony had taken place, she

doesn't like applying to any of her friends to give her away. I entertain an objection to making the affair

known to my acquaintance just now; and the consequence is, that I sent to you to know whether you'd oblige

'I should have been most happy, I assure you,' said Hicks, in a tone of condolence; 'but, you see, I shall be

acting as bridegroom. One character is frequently a consequence of the other; but it is not usual to act in both

Mr. Septimus Hicks looked up at the ceiling, and down at the floor; at last an idea struck him. 'Let the man of

the house, Tibbs, be the father,' he suggested; and then he quoted, as peculiarly applicable to Tibbs and the

'Oh Powers of Heaven! what dark eyes meets she there? 'Tis 'tis her father's fixed upon the pair.'

'The idea has struck me already,' said Mr. Calton: 'but, you see, Matilda, for what reason I know not, is very

anxious that Mrs. Tibbs should know nothing about it, till it's all over. It's a natural delicacy, after all, you

'He's the bestnatured little man in existence, if you manage him properly,' said Mr. Septimus Hicks. 'Tell

him not to mention it to his wife, and assure him she won't mind it, and he'll do it directly. My marriage is to

be a secret one, on account of the mother and MY father; therefore he must be enjoined to secrecy.'

A small double knock, like a presumptuous single one, was that instant heard at the streetdoor. It was Tibbs;

it could be no one else; for no one else occupied five minutes in rubbing his shoes. He had been out to pay the

'Mr. Tibbs,' called Mr. Calton in a very bland tone, looking over the banisters.

'Certainly, sir,' said Tibbs, delighted to be taken notice of. The bedroomdoor was carefully closed, and

Tibbs, having put his hat on the floor (as most timid men do), and been accommodated with a seat, looked as

astounded as if he were suddenly summoned before the familiars of the Inquisition.

'A rather unpleasant occurrence, Mr. Tibbs,' said Calton, in a very portentous manner, 'obliges me to consult

Tibbs acquiesced, wondering in his own mind what the deuce the other could have done, and imagining that

Mr. Calton resumed; 'I am placed, Mr. Tibbs, in rather an unpleasant situation.'

Tibbs looked at Mr. Septimus Hicks, as if he thought Mr. H.'s being in the immediate vicinity of his

fellowboarder might constitute the unpleasantness of his situation; but as he did not exactly know what to

'Now,' continued the knocker, 'let me beg you will exhibit no manifestations of surprise, which may be

overheard by the domestics, when I tell you command your feelings of astonishment that two inmates of

this house intend to be married tomorrow morning.' And he drew back his chair, several feet, to perceive the

If Tibbs had rushed from the room, staggered downstairs, and fainted in the passage if he had

instantaneously jumped out of the window into the mews behind the house, in an agony of surprise his

behaviour would have been much less inexplicable to Mr. Calton than it was, when he put his hands into his

'Bless you, no, sir,' returned Tibbs; 'after all, its very natural. When two young people get together, you know

'Certainly, certainly,' said Calton, with an indescribable air of selfsatisfaction.

'You don't think it's at all an outoftheway affair then?' asked Mr. Septimus Hicks, who had watched the

'No, sir,' replied Tibbs; 'I was just the same at his age.' He actually smiled when he said this.

'How devilish well I must carry my years!' thought the delighted old beau, knowing he was at least ten years

'Well, then, to come to the point at once,' he continued, 'I have to ask you whether you will object to act as

'Decidedly not,' reiterated Tibbs, still as calm as a pot of porter with the head off.

Mr. Calton seized the hand of the petticoatgoverned little man, and vowed eternal friendship from that hour.

'Now, confess,' asked Mr. Calton of Tibbs, as he picked up his hat, 'were you not a little surprised?'

'I b'lieve you!' replied that illustrious person, holding up one hand; 'I b'lieve you! When I first heard of it.'

'So odd altogether!' said the superannuated lovemaker; and then all three laughed.

'I say,' said Tibbs, shutting the door which he had previously opened, and giving full vent to a hitherto

'Yes; but the best of it is,' said the latter, giggling in his turn, 'I haven't got a father he! he! he!'

'For Heaven's sake, whom do you mean?' inquired Mr. Calton, who, like Septimus Hicks, was all but out of

'I see it all,' said the Byronquoter; 'Simpson marries Julia Maplesone tomorrow morning!'

It would require the pencil of Hogarth to illustrate our feeble pen is inadequate to describe the expression

which the countenances of Mr. Calton and Mr. Septimus Hicks respectively assumed, at this unexpected

announcement. Equally impossible is it to describe, although perhaps it is easier for our lady readers to

imagine, what arts the three ladies could have used, so completely to entangle their separate partners.

Whatever they were, however, they were successful. The mother was perfectly aware of the intended

marriage of both daughters; and the young ladies were equally acquainted with the intention of their

estimable parent. They agreed, however, that it would have a much better appearance if each feigned

ignorance of the other's engagement; and it was equally desirable that all the marriages should take place on

the same day, to prevent the discovery of one clandestine alliance, operating prejudicially on the others.

Hence, the mystification of Mr. Calton and Mr. Septimus Hicks, and the preengagement of the unwary

On the following morning, Mr. Septimus Hicks was united to Miss Matilda Maplesone. Mr. Simpson also

entered into a 'holy alliance' with Miss Julia; Tibbs acting as father, 'his first appearance in that character.' Mr.

Calton, not being quite so eager as the two young men, was rather struck by the double discovery; and as he

had found some difficulty in getting any one to give the lady away, it occurred to him that the best mode of

obviating the inconvenience would be not to take her at all. The lady, however, 'appealed,' as her counsel said

on the trial of the cause, MAPLESONE v. CALTON, for a breach of promise, 'with a broken heart, to the

outraged laws of her country.' She recovered damages to the amount of 1,000L. which the unfortunate

knocker was compelled to pay. Mr. Septimus Hicks having walked the hospitals, took it into his head to walk

off altogether. His injured wife is at present residing with her mother at Boulogne. Mr. Simpson, having the

misfortune to lose his wife six weeks after marriage (by her eloping with an officer during his temporary

sojourn in the Fleet Prison, in consequence of his inability to discharge her little mantuamaker's bill), and

being disinherited by his father, who died soon afterwards, was fortunate enough to obtain a permanent

engagement at a fashionable haircutter's; hairdressing being a science to which he had frequently directed his

attention. In this situation he had necessarily many opportunities of making himself acquainted with the

habits, and style of thinking, of the exclusive portion of the nobility of this kingdom. To this fortunate

circumstance are we indebted for the production of those brilliant efforts of genius, his fashionable novels,

which so long as good taste, unsullied by exaggeration, cant, and quackery, continues to exist, cannot fail to

It only remains to add, that this complication of disorders completely deprived poor Mrs. Tibbs of all her

inmates, except the one whom she could have best spared her husband. That wretched little man returned

home, on the day of the wedding, in a state of partial intoxication; and, under the influence of wine,

excitement, and despair, actually dared to brave the anger of his wife. Since that illfated hour he has

constantly taken his meals in the kitchen, to which apartment, it is understood, his witticisms will be in future

confined: a turnup bedstead having been conveyed there by Mrs. Tibbs's order for his exclusive

accommodation. It is possible that he will be enabled to finish, in that seclusion, his story of the volunteers.

The advertisement has again appeared in the morning papers. Results must be reserved for another chapter.

'Well!' said little Mrs. Tibbs to herself, as she sat in the front parlour of the Coramstreet mansion one

morning, mending a piece of staircarpet off the first Landings; 'Things have not turned out so badly,

either, and if I only get a favourable answer to the advertisement, we shall be full again.'

Mrs. Tibbs resumed her occupation of making worsted latticework in the carpet, anxiously listening to the

twopenny postman, who was hammering his way down the street, at the rate of a penny a knock. The house

was as quiet as possible. There was only one low sound to be heard it was the unhappy Tibbs cleaning the

gentlemen's boots in the back kitchen, and accompanying himself with a buzzing noise, in wretched mockery

The postman drew near the house. He paused so did Mrs. Tibbs. A knock a bustle a letter postpaid.

'T. I. presents compt. to I. T. and T. I. begs To say that i see the advertisement And she will Do Herself the

'T. I. as To apologise to I. T. for the shortness Of the notice But i hope it will not unconvenience you.

Little Mrs. Tibbs perused the document, over and over again; and the more she read it, the more was she

confused by the mixture of the first and third person; the substitution of the 'i' for the 'T. I.;' and the transition

from the 'I. T.' to the 'You.' The writing looked like a skein of thread in a tangle, and the note was ingeniously

folded into a perfect square, with the direction squeezed up into the righthand corner, as if it were ashamed

of itself. The back of the epistle was pleasingly ornamented with a large red wafer, which, with the addition

of divers inkstains, bore a marvellous resemblance to a black beetle trodden upon. One thing, however, was

perfectly clear to the perplexed Mrs. Tibbs. Somebody was to call at twelve. The drawingroom was

forthwith dusted for the third time that morning; three or four chairs were pulled out of their places, and a

corresponding number of books carefully upset, in order that there might be a due absence of formality.

Down went the piece of staircarpet before noticed, and up ran Mrs. Tibbs 'to make herself tidy.'

The clock of New Saint Pancras Church struck twelve, and the Foundling, with laudable politeness, did the

same ten minutes afterwards, Saint something else struck the quarter, and then there arrived a single lady with

a double knock, in a pelisse the colour of the interior of a damson pie; a bonnet of the same, with a regular

conservatory of artificial flowers; a white veil, and a green parasol, with a cobweb border.

The visitor (who was very fat and redfaced) was shown into the drawingroom; Mrs. Tibbs presented

'I called in consequence of an advertisement,' said the stranger, in a voice as if she had been playing a set of

'Yes!' said Mrs. Tibbs, rubbing her hands very slowly, and looking the applicant full in the face two things

'Money isn't no object whatever to me,' said the lady, 'so much as living in a state of retirement and

Mrs. Tibbs, as a matter of course, acquiesced in such an exceedingly natural desire.

'I am constantly attended by a medical man,' resumed the pelisse wearer; 'I have been a shocking unitarian for

Mrs. Tibbs looked at the relict of the departed Bloss, and thought he must have had very little peace in his

'I shall be a good deal of trouble to you,' said Mrs. Bloss; 'but, for that trouble I am willing to pay. I am going

through a course of treatment which renders attention necessary. I have one mutton chop in bed at halfpast

Mrs. Tibbs, as in duty bound, expressed the pity she felt for anybody placed in such a distressing situation;

and the carnivorous Mrs. Bloss proceeded to arrange the various preliminaries with wonderful despatch.

'Now mind,' said that lady, after terms were arranged; 'I am to have the secondfloor front, for my

'And I'll join the company at the breakfasttable on Sunday morning,' said Mrs. Bloss. 'I shall get up on

'Very well,' returned Mrs. Tibbs, in her most amiable tone; for satisfactory references had 'been given and

required,' and it was quite certain that the newcomer had plenty of money. 'It's rather singular,' continued

Mrs. Tibbs, with what was meant for a most bewitching smile, 'that we have a gentleman now with us, who is

in a very delicate state of health a Mr. Gobler. His apartment is the back drawingroom.'

'And when he is up,' said Mrs. Tibbs, 'we never can persuade him to go to bed again.'

'Dear me!' said the astonished Mrs. Bloss, drawing her chair nearer Mrs. Tibbs. 'What is his complaint?'

'Why, the fact is,' replied Mrs. Tibbs, with a most communicative air, 'he has no stomach whatever.'

'Lord bless us! what an extraordinary case!' gasped Mrs. Bloss, as if she understood the communication in its

literal sense, and was astonished at a gentleman without a stomach finding it necessary to board anywhere.

'When I say he has no stomach,' explained the chatty little Mrs. Tibbs, 'I mean that his digestion is so much

impaired, and his interior so deranged, that his stomach is not of the least use to him; in fact, it's an

'Never heard such a case in my life!' exclaimed Mrs. Bloss. 'Why, he's worse than I am.'

'Oh, yes!' replied Mrs. Tibbs; 'certainly.' She said this with great confidence, for the damson pelisse

suggested that Mrs. Bloss, at all events, was not suffering under Mr. Gobler's complaint.

'You have quite incited my curiosity,' said Mrs. Bloss, as she rose to depart. 'How I long to see him!'

'He generally comes down, once a week,' replied Mrs. Tibbs; 'I dare say you'll see him on Sunday.' With this

consolatory promise Mrs. Bloss was obliged to be contented. She accordingly walked slowly down the stairs,

detailing her complaints all the way; and Mrs. Tibbs followed her, uttering an exclamation of compassion at

every step. James (who looked very gritty, for he was cleaning the knives) fell up the kitchenstairs, and

opened the streetdoor; and, after mutual farewells, Mrs. Bloss slowly departed, down the shady side of the

It is almost superfluous to say, that the lady whom we have just shown out at the streetdoor (and whom the

two female servants are now inspecting from the secondfloor windows) was exceedingly vulgar, ignorant,

and selfish. Her deceased betterhalf had been an eminent corkcutter, in which capacity he had amassed a

decent fortune. He had no relative but his nephew, and no friend but his cook. The former had the insolence

one morning to ask for the loan of fifteen pounds; and, by way of retaliation, he married the latter next day;

he made a will immediately afterwards, containing a burst of honest indignation against his nephew (who

supported himself and two sisters on 100L. a year), and a bequest of his whole property to his wife. He felt ill

after breakfast, and died after dinner. There is a mantelpiecelooking tablet in a civic parish church, setting

forth his virtues, and deploring his loss. He never dishonoured a bill, or gave away a halfpenny.

The relict and sole executrix of this nobleminded man was an odd mixture of shrewdness and simplicity,

liberality and meanness. Bred up as she had been, she knew no mode of living so agreeable as a

boardinghouse: and having nothing to do, and nothing to wish for, she naturally imagined she must be ill

an impression which was most assiduously promoted by her medical attendant, Dr. Wosky, and her handmaid

Agnes: both of whom, doubtless for good reasons, encouraged all her extravagant notions.

Since the catastrophe recorded in the last chapter, Mrs. Tibbs had been very shy of younglady boarders. Her

present inmates were all lords of the creation, and she availed herself of the opportunity of their assemblage

at the dinnertable, to announce the expected arrival of Mrs. Bloss. The gentlemen received the

communication with stoical indifference, and Mrs. Tibbs devoted all her energies to prepare for the reception

of the valetudinarian. The second floor front was scrubbed, and washed, and flannelled, till the wet went

through to the drawingroom ceiling. Clean white counterpanes, and curtains, and napkins, waterbottles as

clear as crystal, blue jugs, and mahogany furniture, added to the splendour, and increased the comfort, of the

apartment. The warmingpan was in constant requisition, and a fire lighted in the room every day. The

chattels of Mrs. Bloss were forwarded by instalments. First, there came a large hamper of Guinness's stout,

and an umbrella; then, a train of trunks; then, a pair of clogs and a bandbox; then, an easy chair with an

aircushion; then, a variety of suspicious looking packages; and 'though last not least' Mrs. Bloss and

Agnes: the latter in a cherrycoloured merino dress, openwork stockings, and shoes with sandals: like a

The installation of the Duke of Wellington, as Chancellor of the University of Oxford, was nothing, in point

of bustle and turmoil, to the installation of Mrs. Bloss in her new quarters. True, there was no bright doctor of

civil law to deliver a classical address on the occasion; but there were several other old women present, who

spoke quite as much to the purpose, and understood themselves equally well. The chopeater was so fatigued

with the process of removal that she declined leaving her room until the following morning; so a

muttonchop, pickle, a pill, a pint bottle of stout, and other medicines, were carried upstairs for her

'Why, what DO you think, ma'am?' inquired the inquisitive Agnes of her mistress, after they had been in the

house some three hours; 'what DO you think, ma'am? the lady of the house is married.'

'Married!' said Mrs. Bloss, taking the pill and a draught of Guinness 'married! Unpossible!'

'She is indeed, ma'am,' returned the Columbine; 'and her husband, ma'am, lives he he he lives in the

'Yes, ma'am: and he he he the housemaid says, he never goes into the parlour except on Sundays; and

that Ms. Tibbs makes him clean the gentlemen's boots; and that he cleans the windows, too, sometimes; and

that one morning early, when he was in the front balcony cleaning the drawingroom windows, he called out

to a gentleman on the opposite side of the way, who used to live here "Ah! Mr. Calton, sir, how are you?"'

Here the attendant laughed till Mrs. Bloss was in serious apprehension of her chuckling herself into a fit.

'Yes. And please, ma'am, the servants gives him ginandwater sometimes; and then he cries, and says he

'He wanted to kiss me as I came up the kitchenstairs, just now,' said Agnes, indignantly; 'but I gave it him

This intelligence was but too true. A long course of snubbing and neglect; his days spent in the kitchen, and

his nights in the turn up bedstead, had completely broken the little spirit that the unfortunate volunteer had

ever possessed. He had no one to whom he could detail his injuries but the servants, and they were almost of

necessity his chosen confidants. It is no less strange than true, however, that the little weaknesses which he

had incurred, most probably during his military career, seemed to increase as his comforts diminished. He

The next morning, being Sunday, breakfast was laid in the front parlour at ten o'clock. Nine was the usual

time, but the family always breakfasted an hour later on sabbath. Tibbs enrobed himself in his Sunday

costume a black coat, and exceedingly short, thin trousers; with a very large white waistcoat, white

stockings and cravat, and Blucher boots and mounted to the parlour aforesaid. Nobody had come down, and

A pair of slippers were heard descending the stairs. Tibbs flew to a chair; and a sternlooking man, of about

fifty, with very little hair on his head, and a Sunday paper in his hand, entered the room.

'Good morning, Mr. Evenson,' said Tibbs, very humbly, with something between a nod and a bow.

'How do you do, Mr. Tibbs?' replied he of the slippers, as he sat himself down, and began to read his paper

'Is Mr. Wisbottle in town today, do you know, sir?' inquired Tibbs, just for the sake of saying something.

'I should think he was,' replied the stern gentleman. 'He was whistling "The Light Guitar," in the next room to

Mr. John Evenson was in the receipt of an independent income, arising chiefly from various houses he owned

in the different suburbs. He was very morose and discontented. He was a thorough radical, and used to attend

a great variety of public meetings, for the express purpose of finding fault with everything that was proposed.

Mr. Wisbottle, on the other hand, was a high Tory. He was a clerk in the Woods and Forests Office, which he

considered rather an aristocratic employment; he knew the peerage by heart, and, could tell you, offhand,

where any illustrious personage lived. He had a good set of teeth, and a capital tailor. Mr. Evenson looked on

all these qualifications with profound contempt; and the consequence was that the two were always disputing,

much to the edification of the rest of the house. It should be added, that, in addition to his partiality for

whistling, Mr. Wisbottle had a great idea of his singing powers. There were two other boarders, besides the

gentleman in the back drawingroom Mr. Alfred Tomkins and Mr. Frederick O'Bleary. Mr. Tomkins was a

clerk in a winehouse; he was a connoisseur in paintings, and had a wonderful eye for the picturesque. Mr.

O'Bleary was an Irishman, recently imported; he was in a perfectly wild state; and had come over to England

to be an apothecary, a clerk in a government office, an actor, a reporter, or anything else that turned up he

was not particular. He was on familiar terms with two small Irish members, and got franks for everybody in

the house. He felt convinced that his intrinsic merits must procure him a high destiny. He wore

shepherd'splaid inexpressibles, and used to look under all the ladies' bonnets as he walked along the streets.

'Here comes Mr. Wisbottle,' said Tibbs; and Mr. Wisbottle forthwith appeared in blue slippers, and a shawl

'Good morning, sir,' said Tibbs again. It was almost the only thing he ever said to anybody

'How are you, Tibbs?' condescendingly replied the amateur; and he walked to the window, and whistled

'Pretty air, that!' said Evenson, with a snarl, and without taking his eyes off the paper.

'Don't you think it would sound better, if you whistled it a little louder?' inquired the mastiff.

'I'll tell you what, Wisbottle,' said Evenson, who had been bottling up his anger for some hours 'the next

time you feel disposed to whistle "The Light Guitar" at five o'clock in the morning, I'll trouble you to whistle

it with your head out o' window. If you don't, I'll learn the triangle I will, by '

The entrance of Mrs. Tibbs (with the keys in a little basket) interrupted the threat, and prevented its

Mrs. Tibbs apologised for being down rather late; the bell was rung; James brought up the urn, and received

an unlimited order for dry toast and bacon. Tibbs sat down at the bottom of the table, and began eating

watercresses like a Nebuchadnezzar. Mr. O'Bleary appeared, and Mr. Alfred Tomkins. The compliments of

'God bless me!' exclaimed Tomkins, who had been looking out at the window. 'Here Wisbottle pray come

'Do you see,' said the connoisseur, placing Wisbottle in the right position 'a little more this way: there do

you see how splendidly the light falls upon the left side of that broken chimneypot at No. 48?'

'I never saw an object stand out so beautifully against the clear sky in my life,' ejaculated Alfred. Everybody

(except John Evenson) echoed the sentiment; for Mr. Tomkins had a great character for finding out beauties

'I have frequently observed a chimneypot in Collegegreen, Dublin, which has a much better effect,' said

The assertion was received with obvious incredulity, for Mr. Tomkins declared that no other chimneypot in

the United Kingdom, broken or unbroken, could be so beautiful as the one at No. 48.

The roomdoor was suddenly thrown open, and Agnes appeared, leading in Mrs. Bloss, who was dressed in a

geraniumcoloured muslin gown, and displayed a gold watch of huge dimensions; a chain to match; and a

splendid assortment of rings, with enormous stones. A general rush was made for a chair, and a regular

introduction took place. Mr. John Evenson made a slight inclination of the head; Mr. Frederick O'Bleary, Mr.

Alfred Tomkins, and Mr. Wisbottle, bowed like the mandarins in a grocer's shop; Tibbs rubbed hands, and

went round in circles. He was observed to close one eye, and to assume a clockwork sort of expression with

the other; this has been considered as a wink, and it has been reported that Agnes was its object. We repel the

Mrs. Tibbs inquired after Mrs. Bloss's health in a low tone. Mrs. Bloss, with a supreme contempt for the

memory of Lindley Murray, answered the various questions in a most satisfactory manner; and a pause

'You must have been very much pleased with the appearance of the ladies going to the Drawingroom the

'Gad! I don't know,' said the aristocratic Wisbottle, 'the Dowager Marchioness of Publiccash was most

'I thought so,' growled the radical; 'you never hear of these fellows being presented on their going away

'Unless somebody pervades them with an apintment,' said Mrs. Bloss, joining in the conversation in a faint

'And did it never occur to you,' inquired the radical, who never would be quiet; 'did it never occur to you, that

'It certainly HAS occurred to me,' said Wisbottle, who thought this answer was a poser; 'it HAS occurred to

'Well, and it has occurred to me too,' replied John Evenson, 'and I ain't willing to pay for 'em. Then why

should I? I say, why should I?' continued the politician, laying down the paper, and knocking his knuckles

'May I trouble you to hand this tea to Mr. Tibbs?' said Mrs. Tibbs, interrupting the argument, and

The thread of the orator's discourse was broken. He drank his tea and resumed the paper.

'If it's very fine,' said Mr. Alfred Tomkins, addressing the company in general, 'I shall ride down to Richmond

today, and come back by the steamer. There are some splendid effects of light and shade on the Thames; the

contrast between the blueness of the sky and the yellow water is frequently exceedingly beautiful.' Mr.

'Certainly,' said Mrs. Bloss, delighted to find a subject broached in which she could take part.

'Extraordinary indeed,' returned Mrs. Bloss. 'When Mr. Bloss was alive, he was promiscuously obligated to

go to Ireland on business. I went with him, and raly the manner in which the ladies and gentlemen were

Tibbs, who had been listening to the dialogue, looked aghast, and evinced a strong inclination to ask a

question, but was checked by a look from his wife. Mr. Wisbottle laughed, and said Tomkins had made a

The remainder of the meal passed off as breakfasts usually do. Conversation flagged, and people played with

their teaspoons. The gentlemen looked out at the window; walked about the room; and, when they got near

the door, dropped off one by one. Tibbs retired to the back parlour by his wife's orders, to check the green

grocer's weekly account; and ultimately Mrs. Tibbs and Mrs. Bloss were left alone together.

'Oh dear!' said the latter, 'I feel alarmingly faint; it's very singular.' (It certainly was, for she had eaten four

pounds of solids that morning.) 'Bythebye,' said Mrs. Bloss, 'I have not seen Mr. What'shisname yet.'

'Oh!' said Mrs. Tibbs, 'he is a most mysterious person. He has his meals regularly sent upstairs, and

'I dare say you'll hear him tonight,' replied Mrs. Tibbs; 'he generally groans a good deal on Sunday

'I never felt such an interest in any one in my life,' ejaculated Mrs. Bloss. A little doubleknock interrupted

the conversation; Dr. Wosky was announced, and duly shown in. He was a little man with a red face

dressed of course in black, with a stiff white neckerchief. He had a very good practice, and plenty of money,

which he had amassed by invariably humouring the worst fancies of all the females of all the families he had

ever been introduced into. Mrs. Tibbs offered to retire, but was entreated to stay.

'Ah! we must take care of ourselves; we must, indeed,' said the obsequious Wosky, as he felt the pulse of

'Our friend requires great care,' said Wosky, appealing to Mrs. Tibbs, who of course assented. 'I hope,

however, with the blessing of Providence, that we shall be enabled to make her quite stout again.' Mrs. Tibbs

wondered in her own mind what the patient would be when she was made quite stout.

'We must take stimulants,' said the cunning Wosky 'plenty of nourishment, and, above all, we must keep

our nerves quiet; we positively must not give way to our sensibilities. We must take all we can get,'

'Charming creature indeed quite a lady's man!' said Mrs. Tibbs, and Dr. Wosky rattled away to make fresh

As we had occasion, in a former paper, to describe a dinner at Mrs. Tibbs's; and as one meal went off very

like another on all ordinary occasions; we will not fatigue our readers by entering into any other detailed

account of the domestic economy of the establishment. We will therefore proceed to events, merely

premising that the mysterious tenant of the back drawingroom was a lazy, selfish hypochondriac; always

complaining and never ill. As his character in many respects closely assimilated to that of Mrs. Bloss, a very

warm friendship soon sprung up between them. He was tall, thin, and pale; he always fancied he had a severe

pain somewhere or other, and his face invariably wore a pinched, screwedup expression; he looked, indeed,

like a man who had got his feet in a tub of exceedingly hot water, against his will.

For two or three months after Mrs. Bloss's first appearance in Coramstreet, John Evenson was observed to

become, every day, more sarcastic and more illnatured; and there was a degree of additional importance in

his manner, which clearly showed that he fancied he had discovered something, which he only wanted a

One evening, the different inmates of the house were assembled in the drawingroom engaged in their

ordinary occupations. Mr. Gobler and Mrs. Bloss were sitting at a small cardtable near the centre window,

playing cribbage; Mr. Wisbottle was describing semicircles on the musicstool, turning over the leaves of a

book on the piano, and humming most melodiously; Alfred Tomkins was sitting at the round table, with his

elbows duly squared, making a pencil sketch of a head considerably larger than his own; O'Bleary was

reading Horace, and trying to look as if he understood it; and John Evenson had drawn his chair close to Mrs.

'I can assure you, Mrs. Tibbs,' said the radical, laying his forefinger on the muslin she was at work on; 'I can

assure you, Mrs. Tibbs, that nothing but the interest I take in your welfare would induce me to make this

communication. I repeat, I fear Wisbottle is endeavouring to gain the affections of that young woman, Agnes,

and that he is in the habit of meeting her in the storeroom on the first floor, over the leads. From my

bedroom I distinctly heard voices there, last night. I opened my door immediately, and crept very softly on to

the landing; there I saw Mr. Tibbs, who, it seems, had been disturbed also. Bless me, Mrs. Tibbs, you

'No, no it's nothing,' returned Mrs. T. in a hurried manner; 'it's only the heat of the room.'

'If I thought it was Mr. Wisbottle,' said Mrs. Tibbs, after a pause, 'he should leave this house instantly.'

'And if I thought,' continued the hostess with a most threatening air, 'if I thought he was assisted by Mr. Tibbs

'Oh,' said Evenson, in a most soothing tone he liked to make mischief 'I should hope Mr. Tibbs was not in

'I have generally found him so,' sobbed poor little Mrs. Tibbs; crying like a wateringpot.

'Hush! hush! pray Mrs. Tibbs consider we shall be observed pray, don't!' said John Evenson, fearing

his whole plan would be interrupted. 'We will set the matter at rest with the utmost care, and I shall be most

'When you think every one has retired to rest tonight,' said Evenson very pompously, 'if you'll meet me

without a light, just outside my bedroom door, by the staircase window, I think we can ascertain who the

parties really are, and you will afterwards be enabled to proceed as you think proper.'

Mrs. Tibbs was easily persuaded; her curiosity was excited, her jealousy was roused, and the arrangement

was forthwith made. She resumed her work, and John Evenson walked up and down the room with his hands

in his pockets, looking as if nothing had happened. The game of cribbage was over, and conversation began

'Well, Mr. O'Bleary,' said the hummingtop, turning round on his pivot, and facing the company, 'what did

'Oh, it's very fair,' replied Orson, who had been enthusiastically delighted with the whole exhibition.

'I saw the Count de Canky and Captain Fitzthompson in the Gardens,' said Wisbottle; 'they appeared much

'I think the white bears is partickerlerly well done,' suggested Mrs. Bloss. 'In their shaggy white coats, they

'I think they look a great deal more like omnibus cads on all fours,' replied the discontented one.

'Upon the whole, I should have liked our evening very well,' gasped Gobler; 'only I caught a desperate cold

which increased my pain dreadfully! I was obliged to have several showerbaths, before I could leave my

'Disgusting machines!' rejoined Evenson, who extended his dislike to almost every created object, masculine,

'Disgusting, Mr. Evenson!' said Gobler, in a tone of strong indignation. 'Disgusting! Look at their utility

'Promoting perspiration, indeed,' growled John Evenson, stopping short in his walk across the large squares in

the pattern of the carpet 'I was ass enough to be persuaded some time ago to have one in my bedroom. 'Gad,

I was in it once, and it effectually cured ME, for the mere sight of it threw me into a profuse perspiration for

A titter followed this announcement, and before it had subsided James brought up 'the tray,' containing the

remains of a leg of lamb which had made its DEBUT at dinner; bread; cheese; an atom of butter in a forest of

parsley; one pickled walnut and the third of another; and so forth. The boy disappeared, and returned again

with another tray, containing glasses and jugs of hot and cold water. The gentlemen brought in their

spiritbottles; the housemaid placed divers plated bedroom candlesticks under the card table; and the

Chairs were drawn round the table, and the conversation proceeded in the customary manner. John Evenson,

who never ate supper, lolled on the sofa, and amused himself by contradicting everybody. O'Bleary ate as

much as he could conveniently carry, and Mrs. Tibbs felt a due degree of indignation thereat; Mr. Gobler and

Mrs. Bloss conversed most affectionately on the subject of pilltaking, and other innocent amusements; and

Tomkins and Wisbottle 'got into an argument;' that is to say, they both talked very loudly and vehemently,

each flattering himself that he had got some advantage about something, and neither of them having more

than a very indistinct idea of what they were talking about. An hour or two passed away; and the boarders and

the plated candlesticks retired in pairs to their respective bedrooms. John Evenson pulled off his boots, locked

his door, and determined to sit up until Mr. Gobler had retired. He always sat in the drawingroom an hour

Great Coramstreet was hushed into a state of profound repose: it was nearly two o'clock. A hackneycoach

now and then rumbled slowly by; and occasionally some stray lawyer's clerk, on his way home to

Somerstown, struck his iron heel on the top of the coal cellar with a noise resembling the click of a

smokeJack. A low, monotonous, gushing sound was heard, which added considerably to the romantic

'He must be asleep by this time,' said John Evenson to himself, after waiting with exemplary patience for

nearly an hour after Mr. Gobler had left the drawingroom. He listened for a few moments; the house was

perfectly quiet; he extinguished his rushlight, and opened his bedroom door. The staircase was so dark that it

'Sss!' whispered the mischiefmaker, making a noise like the first indication a catherinewheel gives of

'Here;' and the misty outline of Mrs. Tibbs appeared at the staircase window, like the ghost of Queen Anne in

'This way, Mrs. Tibbs,' whispered the delighted busybody: 'give me your hand there! Whoever these people

are, they are in the storeroom now, for I have been looking down from my window, and I could see that they

accidentally upset their candlestick, and are now in darkness. You have no shoes on, have you?'

'Well; I have taken my boots off, so we can go down, close to the storeroom door, and listen over the

banisters;' and downstairs they both crept accordingly, every board creaking like a patent mangle on a

'It's Wisbottle and somebody, I'll swear,' exclaimed the radical in an energetic whisper, when they had

'Hush pray let's hear what they say!' exclaimed Mrs. Tibbs, the gratification of whose curiosity was now

'Ah! if I could but believe you,' said a female voice coquettishly, 'I'd be bound to settle my missis for life.'

'What does she say?' inquired Mr. Evenson, who was not quite so well situated as his companion.

'She says she'll settle her missis's life,' replied Mrs. Tibbs. 'The wretch! they're plotting murder.'

'I know you want money,' continued the voice, which belonged to Agnes; 'and if you'd secure me the five

'What's that?' inquired Evenson again. He could just hear enough to want to hear more.

'I think she says she'll set the house on fire,' replied the affrighted Mrs. Tibbs. 'But thank God I'm insured in

'The moment I have secured your mistress, my dear,' said a man's voice in a strong Irish brogue, 'you may

'The first thing to be done,' continued the Hibernian, 'is to poison Mr. Gobler's mind.'

'He says she's to mind and poison Mr. Gobler,' replied Mrs. Tibbs, aghast at this sacrifice of human life.

'Hush!' exclaimed Agnes, in a tone of the greatest alarm, just as Mrs. Tibbs was on the extreme verge of a

'Go into the parlour, sir,' said Agnes to her companion. 'You will get there, before whoever it is, gets to the

'The drawingroom, Mrs. Tibbs!' whispered the astonished Evenson to his equally astonished companion;

and for the drawingroom they both made, plainly hearing the rustling of two persons, one coming

'What can it be?' exclaimed Mrs. Tibbs. 'It's like a dream. I wouldn't be found in this situation for the world!'

'Nor I,' returned Evenson, who could never bear a joke at his own expense. 'Hush! here they are at the door.'

'Glorious!' replied his companion, in an equally low tone. This was Alfred Tomkins. 'Who would have

'I told you so,' said Wisbottle, in a most knowing whisper. 'Lord bless you, he has paid her most extraordinary

attention for the last two months. I saw 'em when I was sitting at the piano to night.'

'Not notice it!' continued Wisbottle. 'Bless you; I saw him whispering to her, and she crying; and then I'll

'They're talking of US!' exclaimed the agonised Mrs. Tibbs, as the painful suspicion, and a sense of their

'I know it I know it,' replied Evenson, with a melancholy consciousness that there was no mode of escape.

'What's to be done? we cannot both stop here!' ejaculated Mrs. Tibbs, in a state of partial derangement.

'There they are!' exclaimed the sapient Wisbottle, as a rustling noise was heard in the storeroom.

'Oh, Hagnes!' cried another voice, which clearly belonged to Tibbs, for nobody else ever owned one like it,

'Be quiet, sir I am ashamed of you. Think of your wife, Mr. Tibbs. Be quiet, sir!'

'My wife!' exclaimed the valorous Tibbs, who was clearly under the influence of ginandwater, and a

misplaced attachment; 'I ate her! Oh, Hagnes! when I was in the volunteer corps, in eighteen hundred and '

'I declare I'll scream. Be quiet, sir, will you?' (Another bounce and a scuffle.)

'Ah! you have done it nicely now, sir,' sobbed the frightened Agnes, as a tapping was heard at Mrs. Tibbs's

'Mrs. Tibbs! Mrs. Tibbs!' called out Mrs. Bloss. 'Mrs. Tibbs, pray get up.' (Here the imitation of a

'Oh, dear dear!' exclaimed the wretched partner of the depraved Tibbs. 'She's knocking at my door. We

'What's the matter!' shouted Gobler, bursting out of the back drawingroom, like the dragon at Astley's.

'Oh, Mr. Gobler!' cried Mrs. Bloss, with a proper approximation to hysterics; 'I think the house is on fire, or

'The devil you have!' shouted Gobler again, bouncing back into his den, in happy imitation of the aforesaid

dragon, and returning immediately with a lighted candle. 'Why, what's this? Wisbottle! Tomkins! O'Bleary!

'Astonishing!' said Mrs. Bloss, who had run downstairs, and taken Mr. Gobler's arm.

'Call Mrs. Tibbs directly, somebody,' said Gobler, turning into the front drawingroom. 'What! Mrs. Tibbs

'Mrs. Tibbs and Mr. Evenson!' repeated everybody, as that unhappy pair were discovered: Mrs. Tibbs seated

We must leave the scene that ensued to the reader's imagination. We could tell, how Mrs. Tibbs forthwith

fainted away, and how it required the united strength of Mr. Wisbottle and Mr. Alfred Tomkins to hold her in

her chair; how Mr. Evenson explained, and how his explanation was evidently disbelieved; how Agnes

repelled the accusations of Mrs. Tibbs by proving that she was negotiating with Mr. O'Bleary to influence her

mistress's affections in his behalf; and how Mr. Gobler threw a damp counterpane on the hopes of Mr.

O'Bleary by avowing that he (Gobler) had already proposed to, and been accepted by, Mrs. Bloss; how Agnes

was discharged from that lady's service; how Mr. O'Bleary discharged himself from Mrs. Tibbs's house,

without going through the form of previously discharging his bill; and how that disappointed young

gentleman rails against England and the English, and vows there is no virtue or fine feeling extant, 'except in

Ireland.' We repeat that we COULD tell all this, but we love to exercise our selfdenial, and we therefore

The lady whom we have hitherto described as Mrs. Bloss, is no more. Mrs. Gobler exists: Mrs. Bloss has left

us for ever. In a secluded retreat in Newington Butts, far, far removed from the noisy strife of that great

boardinghouse, the world, the enviable Gobler and his pleasing wife revel in retirement: happy in their

complaints, their table, and their medicine, wafted through life by the grateful prayers of all the purveyors of

We would willingly stop here, but we have a painful duty imposed upon us, which we must discharge. Mr.

and Mrs. Tibbs have separated by mutual consent, Mrs. Tibbs receiving one moiety of 43L. 15S. 10D., which

we before stated to be the amount of her husband's annual income, and Mr. Tibbs the other. He is spending

the evening of his days in retirement; and he is spending also, annually, that small but honourable

independence. He resides among the original settlers at Walworth; and it has been stated, on unquestionable

authority, that the conclusion of the volunteer story has been heard in a small tavern in that respectable

The unfortunate Mrs. Tibbs has determined to dispose of the whole of her furniture by public auction, and to

retire from a residence in which she has suffered so much. Mr. Robins has been applied to, to conduct the

sale, and the transcendent abilities of the literary gentlemen connected with his establishment are now

devoted to the task of drawing up the preliminary advertisement. It is to contain, among a variety of brilliant

matter, seventyeight words in large capitals, and six original quotations in inverted commas.

Mr. Augustus Minns was a bachelor, of about forty as he said of about eightandforty as his friends said.

He was always exceedingly clean, precise, and tidy; perhaps somewhat priggish, and the most retiring man in

the world. He usually wore a brown frockcoat without a wrinkle, light inexplicables without a spot, a neat

neckerchief with a remarkably neat tie, and boots without a fault; moreover, he always carried a brown silk

umbrella with an ivory handle. He was a clerk in Somersethouse, or, as he said himself, he held 'a

responsible situation under Government.' He had a good and increasing salary, in addition to some 10,000L.

of his own (invested in the funds), and he occupied a first floor in Tavistockstreet, Coventgarden, where he

had resided for twenty years, having been in the habit of quarrelling with his landlord the whole time:

regularly giving notice of his intention to quit on the first day of every quarter, and as regularly

countermanding it on the second. There were two classes of created objects which he held in the deepest and

most unmingled horror; these were dogs, and children. He was not unamiable, but he could, at any time, have

viewed the execution of a dog, or the assassination of an infant, with the liveliest satisfaction. Their habits

were at variance with his love of order; and his love of order was as powerful as his love of life. Mr.

Augustus Minns had no relations, in or near London, with the exception of his cousin, Mr. Octavius Budden,

to whose son, whom he had never seen (for he disliked the father), he had consented to become godfather by

proxy. Mr. Budden having realised a moderate fortune by exercising the trade or calling of a cornchandler,

and having a great predilection for the country, had purchased a cottage in the vicinity of Stamfordhill,

whither he retired with the wife of his bosom, and his only son, Master Alexander Augustus Budden. One

evening, as Mr. and Mrs. B. were admiring their son, discussing his various merits, talking over his

education, and disputing whether the classics should be made an essential part thereof, the lady pressed so

strongly upon her husband the propriety of cultivating the friendship of Mr. Minns in behalf of their son, that

Mr. Budden at last made up his mind, that it should not be his fault if he and his cousin were not in future

'I'll break the ice, my love,' said Mr. Budden, stirring up the sugar at the bottom of his glass of

brandyandwater, and casting a sidelong look at his spouse to see the effect of the announcement of his

'Then pray, Budden, write to your cousin at once,' replied Mrs. Budden. 'Who knows, if we could only get

him down here, but he might take a fancy to our Alexander, and leave him his property? Alick, my dear,

'Very true,' said Mr. Budden, musing, 'very true indeed, my love!' On the following morning, as Mr. Minns

was sitting at his breakfasttable, alternately biting his dry toast and casting a look upon the columns of his

morning paper, which he always read from the title to the printer's name, he heard a loud knock at the

streetdoor; which was shortly afterwards followed by the entrance of his servant, who put into his hands a

particularly small card, on which was engraven in immense letters, 'Mr. Octavius Budden, Amelia Cottage

'Budden!' ejaculated Minns, 'what can bring that vulgar man here! say I'm asleep say I'm out, and shall

'But please, sir, the gentleman's coming up,' replied the servant, and the fact was made evident, by an

appalling creaking of boots on the staircase accompanied by a pattering noise; the cause of which, Minns

'Hem show the gentleman in,' said the unfortunate bachelor. Exit servant, and enter Octavius preceded by a

large white dog, dressed in a suit of fleecy hosiery, with pink eyes, large ears, and no perceptible tail.

The cause of the pattering on the stairs was but too plain. Mr. Augustus Minns staggered beneath the shock of

He always spoke at the top of his voice, and always said the same thing halfadozen times.

'How do you do, Mr. Budden? pray take a chair!' politely stammered the discomfited Minns.

'Uncommonly well, thank you,' said Minns, casting a diabolical look at the dog, who, with his hind legs on

the floor, and his fore paws resting on the table, was dragging a bit of bread and butter out of a plate,

'Ah, you rogue!' said Budden to his dog; 'you see, Minns, he's like me, always at home, eh, my boy! Egad,

I'm precious hot and hungry! I've walked all the way from Stamfordhill this morning.'

'Oh, no! came to breakfast with you; so ring the bell, my dear fellow, will you? and let's have another cup

and saucer, and the cold ham. Make myself at home, you see!' continued Budden, dusting his boots with a

'I decidedly never was so hot in my life,' continued Octavius, wiping his forehead; 'well, but how are you,

'Alick my son, you mean; never better never better. But at such a place as we've got at Poplarwalk, you

know, he couldn't be ill if he tried. When I first saw it, by Jove! it looked so knowing, with the front garden,

and the green railings and the brass knocker, and all that I really thought it was a cut above me.'

'Don't you think you'd like the ham better,' interrupted Minns, 'if you cut it the other way?' He saw, with

feelings which it is impossible to describe, that his visitor was cutting or rather maiming the ham, in utter

'No, thank ye,' returned Budden, with the most barbarous indifference to crime, 'I prefer it this way, it eats

short. But I say, Minns, when will you come down and see us? You will be delighted with the place; I know

you will. Amelia and I were talking about you the other night, and Amelia said another lump of sugar,

please; thank ye she said, don't you think you could contrive, my dear, to say to Mr. Minns, in a friendly

way come down, sir damn the dog! he's spoiling your curtains, Minns ha! ha! ha!' Minns leaped

'Come out, sir! go out, hoo!' cried poor Augustus, keeping, nevertheless, at a very respectful distance from

the dog; having read of a case of hydrophobia in the paper of that morning. By dint of great exertion, much

shouting, and a marvellous deal of poking under the tables with a stick and umbrella, the dog was at last

dislodged, and placed on the landing outside the door, where he immediately commenced a most appalling

howling; at the same time vehemently scratching the paint off the two nicelyvarnished bottom panels, until

'A good dog for the country that!' coolly observed Budden to the distracted Minns, 'but he's not much used to

confinement. But now, Minns, when will you come down? I'll take no denial, positively. Let's see, today's

After a great deal of pressing, Mr. Augustus Minns, driven to despair, accepted the invitation, and promised

to be at Poplarwalk on the ensuing Sunday, at a quarter before five to the minute.

'Now mind the direction,' said Budden: 'the coach goes from the Flowerpot, in Bishopsgatestreet, every

half hour. When the coach stops at the Swan, you'll see, immediately opposite you, a white house.'

'Which is your house I understand,' said Minns, wishing to cut short the visit, and the story, at the same

'No, no, that's not mine; that's Grogus's, the great ironmonger's. I was going to say you turn down by the

side of the white house till you can't go another step further mind that! and then you turn to your right, by

some stables well; close to you, you'll see a wall with "Beware of the Dog" written on it in large letters

(Minns shuddered) go along by the side of that wall for about a quarter of a mile and anybody will show

'Yes, I have; thank ye.' And Mr. Octavius Budden departed, leaving his cousin looking forward to his visit on

the following Sunday, with the feelings of a penniless poet to the weekly visit of his Scotch landlady.

Sunday arrived; the sky was bright and clear; crowds of people were hurrying along the streets, intent on their

different schemes of pleasure for the day; everything and everybody looked cheerful and happy except Mr.

The day was fine, but the heat was considerable; when Mr. Minns had fagged up the shady side of

Fleetstreet, Cheapside, and Threadneedlestreet, he had become pretty warm, tolerably dusty, and it was

getting late into the bargain. By the most extraordinary good fortune, however, a coach was waiting at the

Flowerpot, into which Mr. Augustus Minns got, on the solemn assurance of the cad that the vehicle would

start in three minutes that being the very utmost extremity of time it was allowed to wait by Act of

Parliament. A quarter of an hour elapsed, and there were no signs of moving. Minns looked at his watch for

'Coachman, are you going or not?' bawled Mr. Minns, with his head and half his body out of the coach

'Directly, sir,' said the coachman, with his hands in his pockets, looking as much unlike a man in a hurry as

'Bill, take them cloths off.' Five minutes more elapsed: at the end of which time the coachman mounted the

box, from whence he looked down the street, and up the street, and hailed all the pedestrians for another five

'Coachman! if you don't go this moment, I shall get out,' said Mr. Minns, rendered desperate by the lateness

of the hour, and the impossibility of being in Poplarwalk at the appointed time.

'Going this minute, sir,' was the reply; and, accordingly, the machine trundled on for a couple of hundred

yards, and then stopped again. Minns doubled himself up in a corner of the coach, and abandoned himself to

his fate, as a child, a mother, a bandbox and a parasol, became his fellowpassengers.

The child was an affectionate and an amiable infant; the little dear mistook Minns for his other parent, and

'Be quiet, dear,' said the mamma, restraining the impetuosity of the darling, whose little fat legs were kicking,

and stamping, and twining themselves into the most complicated forms, in an ecstasy of impatience. 'Be

'Thank Heaven I am not!' thought Minns, as the first gleam of pleasure he had experienced that morning

Playfulness was agreeably mingled with affection in the disposition of the boy. When satisfied that Mr.

Minns was not his parent, he endeavoured to attract his notice by scraping his drab trousers with his dirty

shoes, poking his chest with his mamma's parasol, and other nameless endearments peculiar to infancy, with

which he beguiled the tediousness of the ride, apparently very much to his own satisfaction.

When the unfortunate gentleman arrived at the Swan, he found to his great dismay, that it was a quarter past

five. The white house, the stables, the 'Beware of the Dog,' every landmark was passed, with a rapidity not

unusual to a gentleman of a certain age when too late for dinner. After the lapse of a few minutes, Mr. Minns

found himself opposite a yellow brick house with a green door, brass knocker, and doorplate, green

windowframes and ditto railings, with 'a garden' in front, that is to say, a small loose bit of gravelled ground,

with one round and two scalene triangular beds, containing a firtree, twenty or thirty bulbs, and an unlimited

number of marigolds. The taste of Mr. and Mrs. Budden was further displayed by the appearance of a Cupid

on each side of the door, perched upon a heap of large chalk flints, variegated with pink conchshells. His

knock at the door was answered by a stumpy boy, in drab livery, cotton stockings and highlows, who, after

hanging his hat on one of the dozen brass pegs which ornamented the passage, denominated by courtesy 'The

Hall,' ushered him into a front drawingroom commanding a very extensive view of the backs of the

neighbouring houses. The usual ceremony of introduction, and so forth, over, Mr. Minns took his seat: not a

little agitated at finding that he was the last comer, and, somehow or other, the Lion of about a dozen people,

sitting together in a small drawingroom, getting rid of that most tedious of all time, the time preceding

'Well, Brogson,' said Budden, addressing an elderly gentleman in a black coat, drab kneebreeches, and long

gaiters, who, under pretence of inspecting the prints in an Annual, had been engaged in satisfying himself on

the subject of Mr. Minns's general appearance, by looking at him over the tops of the leaves 'Well,

'Oh why really, you know, I'm the last person in the world to ask for news. Your cousin, from his

Mr. Minns assured the last speaker, that although he was in Somersethouse, he possessed no official

communication relative to the projects of his Majesty's Ministers. But his remark was evidently received

incredulously; and no further conjectures being hazarded on the subject, a long pause ensued, during which

the company occupied themselves in coughing and blowing their noses, until the entrance of Mrs. Budden

The ceremony of introduction being over, dinner was announced, and downstairs the party proceeded

accordingly Mr. Minns escorting Mrs. Budden as far as the drawingroom door, but being prevented, by

the narrowness of the staircase, from extending his gallantry any farther. The dinner passed off as such

dinners usually do. Ever and anon, amidst the clatter of knives and forks, and the hum of conversation, Mr.

B.'s voice might be heard, asking a friend to take wine, and assuring him he was glad to see him; and a great

deal of byplay took place between Mrs. B. and the servants, respecting the removal of the dishes, during

which her countenance assumed all the variations of a weatherglass, from 'stormy' to 'set fair.'

Upon the dessert and wine being placed on the table, the servant, in compliance with a significant look from

Mrs. B., brought down 'Master Alexander,' habited in a skyblue suit with silver buttons; and possessing hair

of nearly the same colour as the metal. After sundry praises from his mother, and various admonitions as to

'Well, my little fellow you are a fine boy, ain't you?' said Mr. Minns, as happy as a tomtit on birdlime.

'Alexander,' interrupted his mother, 'how dare you ask Mr. Minns how old he is!'

'He asked me how old I was,' said the precocious child, to whom Minns had from that moment internally

resolved that he never would bequeath one shilling. As soon as the titter occasioned by the observation had

subsided, a little smirking man with red whiskers, sitting at the bottom of the table, who during the whole of

dinner had been endeavouring to obtain a listener to some stories about Sheridan, called, out, with a very

'A verb is a word which signifies to be, to do, or to suffer; as, I am I rule I am ruled. Give me an apple,

'I'll give you an apple,' replied the man with the red whiskers, who was an established friend of the family, or

in other words was always invited by Mrs. Budden, whether Mr. Budden liked it or not, 'if you'll tell me what

'Be?' said the prodigy, after a little hesitation 'an insect that gathers honey.'

'I don't think he knows much yet about COMMON substantives,' said the smirking gentleman, who thought

this an admirable opportunity for letting off a joke. 'It's clear he's not very well acquainted with PROPER

'Gentlemen,' called out Mr. Budden, from the end of the table, in a stentorian voice, and with a very important

air, 'will you have the goodness to charge your glasses? I have a toast to propose.'

'Hear! hear!' cried the gentlemen, passing the decanters. After they had made the round of the table, Mr.

'I say, gentlemen, there is an individual present,' resumed the host, 'in whose society, I am sure we must take

great delight and and the conversation of that individual must have afforded to every one present, the

utmost pleasure.' ['Thank Heaven, he does not mean me!' thought Minns, conscious that his diffidence and

exclusiveness had prevented his saying above a dozen words since he entered the house.] 'Gentlemen, I am

but a humble individual myself, and I perhaps ought to apologise for allowing any individual feeling of

friendship and affection for the person I allude to, to induce me to venture to rise, to propose the health of that

person a person that, I am sure that is to say, a person whose virtues must endear him to those who know

'Gentlemen,' continued Budden, 'my cousin is a man who who is a relation of my own.' (Hear! hear!) Minns

groaned audibly. 'Who I am most happy to see here, and who, if he were not here, would certainly have

deprived us of the great pleasure we all feel in seeing him. (Loud cries of hear!) Gentlemen, I feel that I have

already trespassed on your attention for too long a time. With every feeling of with every sentiment of

'Standing, gentlemen!' shouted the indefatigable little man with the whiskers 'and with the honours. Take

your time from me, if you please. Hip! hip! hip! Za! Hip! hip! hip! Za! Hip hip! Zaaa!'

All eyes were now fixed on the subject of the toast, who by gulping down port wine at the imminent hazard

of suffocation, endeavoured to conceal his confusion. After as long a pause as decency would admit, he rose,

but, as the newspapers sometimes say in their reports, 'we regret that we are quite unable to give even the

substance of the honourable gentleman's observations.' The words 'present company honour present

occasion,' and 'great happiness' heard occasionally, and repeated at intervals, with a countenance expressive

of the utmost confusion and misery, convinced the company that he was making an excellent speech; and,

accordingly, on his resuming his seat, they cried 'Bravo!' and manifested tumultuous applause. Jones, who

'Certainly,' replied Budden, adding in an undertone to Minns right across the table, 'Devilish sharp fellow

that: you'll be very much pleased with his speech. He talks equally well on any subject.' Minns bowed, and

'It has on several occasions, in various instances, under many circumstances, and in different companies,

fallen to my lot to propose a toast to those by whom, at the time, I have had the honour to be surrounded, I

have sometimes, I will cheerfully own for why should I deny it? felt the overwhelming nature of the task

I have undertaken, and my own utter incapability to do justice to the subject. If such have been my feelings,

however, on former occasions, what must they be now now under the extraordinary circumstances in

which I am placed. (Hear! hear!) To describe my feelings accurately, would be impossible; but I cannot give

you a better idea of them, gentlemen, than by referring to a circumstance which happens, oddly enough, to

occur to my mind at the moment. On one occasion, when that truly great and illustrious man, Sheridan, was

Now, there is no knowing what new villainy in the form of a joke would have been heaped on the grave of

that very illused man, Mr. Sheridan, if the boy in drab had not at that moment entered the room in a

breathless state, to report that, as it was a very wet night, the nine o'clock stage had come round, to know

whether there was anybody going to town, as, in that case, he (the nine o'clock) had room for one inside.

Mr. Minns started up; and, despite countless exclamations of surprise, and entreaties to stay, persisted in his

determination to accept the vacant place. But, the brown silk umbrella was nowhere to be found; and as the

coachman couldn't wait, he drove back to the Swan, leaving word for Mr. Minns to 'run round' and catch him.

However, as it did not occur to Mr. Minns for some ten minutes or so, that he had left the brown silk

umbrella with the ivory handle in the other coach, coming down; and, moreover, as he was by no means

remarkable for speed, it is no matter of surprise that when he accomplished the feat of 'running round' to the

It was somewhere about three o'clock in the morning, when Mr. Augustus Minns knocked feebly at the

streetdoor of his lodgings in Tavistockstreet, cold, wet, cross, and miserable. He made his will next

morning, and his professional man informs us, in that strict confidence in which we inform the public, that

neither the name of Mr. Octavius Budden, nor of Mrs. Amelia Budden, nor of Master Alexander Augustus

The Miss Crumptons, or to quote the authority of the inscription on the gardengate of Minerva House,

Hammersmith, 'The Misses Crumpton,' were two unusually tall, particularly thin, and exceedingly skinny

personages: very upright, and very yellow. Miss Amelia Crumpton owned to thirtyeight, and Miss Maria

Crumpton admitted she was forty; an admission which was rendered perfectly unnecessary by the

selfevident fact of her being at least fifty. They dressed in the most interesting manner like twins! and

looked as happy and comfortable as a couple of marigolds run to seed. They were very precise, had the

strictest possible ideas of propriety, wore false hair, and always smelt very strongly of lavender.

Minerva House, conducted under the auspices of the two sisters, was a 'finishing establishment for young

ladies,' where some twenty girls of the ages of from thirteen to nineteen inclusive, acquired a smattering of

everything, and a knowledge of nothing; instruction in French and Italian, dancing lessons twice aweek; and

other necessaries of life. The house was a white one, a little removed from the roadside, with close palings in

front. The bedroom windows were always left partly open, to afford a bird'seye view of numerous little

bedsteads with very white dimity furniture, and thereby impress the passerby with a due sense of the

luxuries of the establishment; and there was a front parlour hung round with highly varnished maps which

nobody ever looked at, and filled with books which no one ever read, appropriated exclusively to the

reception of parents, who, whenever they called, could not fail to be struck with the very deep appearance of

'Amelia, my dear,' said Miss Maria Crumpton, entering the school room one morning, with her false hair in

papers: as she occasionally did, in order to impress the young ladies with a conviction of its reality. 'Amelia,

my dear, here is a most gratifying note I have just received. You needn't mind reading it aloud.'

Miss Amelia, thus advised, proceeded to read the following note with an air of great triumph:

'Cornelius Brook Dingwall, Esq., M.P., presents his compliments to Miss Crumpton, and will feel much

obliged by Miss Crumpton's calling on him, if she conveniently can, tomorrow morning at one o'clock, as

Cornelius Brook Dingwall, Esq., M.P., is anxious to see Miss Crumpton on the subject of placing Miss Brook

'A Member of Parliament's daughter!' repeated Miss Maria, with a smile of delight, which, of course, elicited

'It's exceedingly delightful!' said Miss Amelia; whereupon all the young ladies murmured their admiration

So important an announcement at once superseded the business of the day. A holiday was declared, in

commemoration of the great event; the Miss Crumptons retired to their private apartment to talk it over; the

smaller girls discussed the probable manners and customs of the daughter of a Member of Parliament; and the

young ladies verging on eighteen wondered whether she was engaged, whether she was pretty, whether she

The two Miss Crumptons proceeded to the Adelphi at the appointed time next day, dressed, of course, in their

best style, and looking as amiable as they possibly could which, bythebye, is not saying much for them.

Having sent in their cards, through the medium of a redhot looking footman in bright livery, they were

Cornelius Brook Dingwall, Esq., M.P., was very haughty, solemn, and portentous. He had, naturally, a

somewhat spasmodic expression of countenance, which was not rendered the less remarkable by his wearing

an extremely stiff cravat. He was wonderfully proud of the M.P. attached to his name, and never lost an

opportunity of reminding people of his dignity. He had a great idea of his own abilities, which must have

been a great comfort to him, as no one else had; and in diplomacy, on a small scale, in his own family

arrangements, he considered himself unrivalled. He was a county magistrate, and discharged the duties of his

station with all due justice and impartiality; frequently committing poachers, and occasionally committing

himself. Miss Brook Dingwall was one of that numerous class of young ladies, who, like adverbs, may be

On the present occasion, this talented individual was seated in a small library at a table covered with papers,

doing nothing, but trying to look busy, playing at shop. Acts of Parliament, and letters directed to 'Cornelius

Brook Dingwall, Esq., M.P.,' were ostentatiously scattered over the table; at a little distance from which, Mrs.

Brook Dingwall was seated at work. One of those public nuisances, a spoiled child, was playing about the

room, dressed after the most approved fashion in a blue tunic with a black belt a quarter of a yard wide,

fastened with an immense buckle looking like a robber in a melodrama, seen through a diminishing glass.

After a little pleasantry from the sweet child, who amused himself by running away with Miss Maria

Crumpton's chair as fast as it was placed for her, the visitors were seated, and Cornelius Brook Dingwall,

He had sent for Miss Crumpton, he said, in consequence of the high character he had received of her

Miss Crumpton murmured her acknowledgments to him (Muggs), and Cornelius proceeded.

'One of my principal reasons, Miss Crumpton, for parting with my daughter, is, that she has lately acquired

some sentimental ideas, which it is most desirable to eradicate from her young mind.' (Here the little innocent

'Naughty boy!' said his mamma, who appeared more surprised at his taking the liberty of falling down, than at

'Pray don't check him, my love,' said the diplomatist, as soon as he could make himself heard amidst the

unearthly howling consequent upon the threat and the tumble. 'It all arises from his great flow of spirits.' This

'Certainly, sir,' replied the antique Maria: not exactly seeing, however, the connexion between a flow of

Silence was restored, and the M.P. resumed: 'Now, I know nothing so likely to effect this object, Miss

Crumpton, as her mixing constantly in the society of girls of her own age; and, as I know that in your

establishment she will meet such as are not likely to contaminate her young mind, I propose to send her to

The youngest Miss Crumpton expressed the acknowledgments of the establishment generally. Maria was

rendered speechless by bodily pain. The dear little fellow, having recovered his animal spirits, was standing

upon her most tender foot, by way of getting his face (which looked like a capital O in a redlettered

'Of course, Lavinia will be a parlour boarder,' continued the enviable father; 'and on one point I wish my

directions to be strictly observed. The fact is, that some ridiculous love affair, with a person much her inferior

in life, has been the cause of her present state of mind. Knowing that of course, under your care, she can have

no opportunity of meeting this person, I do not object to indeed, I should rather prefer her mixing with

This important statement was again interrupted by the highspirited little creature, in the excess of his

joyousness breaking a pane of glass, and nearly precipitating himself into an adjacent area. James was rung

for; considerable confusion and screaming succeeded; two little blue legs were seen to kick violently in the

'Mr. Brook Dingwall would like Miss Brook Dingwall to learn everything,' said Mrs. Brook Dingwall, who

'And as I trust the plan I have devised will be effectual in weaning my daughter from this absurd idea, Miss

Crumpton,' continued the legislator, 'I hope you will have the goodness to comply, in all respects, with any

The promise was of course made; and after a lengthened discussion, conducted on behalf of the Dingwalls

with the most becoming diplomatic gravity, and on that of the Crumptons with profound respect, it was

finally arranged that Miss Lavinia should be forwarded to Hammersmith on the next day but one, on which

occasion the halfyearly ball given at the establishment was to take place. It might divert the dear girl's mind.

Miss Lavinia was introduced to her future governess, and both the Miss Crumptons pronounced her 'a most

charming girl;' an opinion which, by a singular coincidence, they always entertained of any new pupil.

Courtesies were exchanged, acknowledgments expressed, condescension exhibited, and the interview

Preparations, to make use of theatrical phraseology, 'on a scale of magnitude never before attempted,' were

incessantly made at Minerva House to give every effect to the forthcoming ball. The largest room in the

house was pleasingly ornamented with blue calico roses, plaid tulips, and other equally naturallooking

artificial flowers, the work of the young ladies themselves. The carpet was taken up, the foldingdoors were

taken down, the furniture was taken out, and routseats were taken in. The linendrapers of Hammersmith

were astounded at the sudden demand for blue sarsenet ribbon, and long white gloves. Dozens of geraniums

were purchased for bouquets, and a harp and two violins were bespoke from town, in addition to the grand

piano already on the premises. The young ladies who were selected to show off on the occasion, and do credit

to the establishment, practised incessantly, much to their own satisfaction, and greatly to the annoyance of the

lame old gentleman over the way; and a constant correspondence was kept up, between the Misses Crumpton

The evening came; and then there was such a lacing of stays, and tying of sandals, and dressing of hair, as

never can take place with a proper degree of bustle out of a boardingschool. The smaller girls managed to be

in everybody's way, and were pushed about accordingly; and the elder ones dressed, and tied, and flattered,

and envied, one another, as earnestly and sincerely as if they had actually COME OUT.

'How do I look, dear?' inquired Miss Emily Smithers, the belle of the house, of Miss Caroline Wilson, who

was her bosom friend, because she was the ugliest girl in Hammersmith, or out of it.

'Delightful! you never looked so handsome,' returned the belle, adjusting her own dress, and not bestowing a

'I hope young Hilton will come early,' said another young lady to Miss somebody else, in a fever of

'I'm sure he'd be highly flattered if he knew it,' returned the other, who was practising L'ETE.

'Oh, what DO you think?' said another girl, running into the room; 'Miss Crumpton says her cousin's coming.'

Mr. Theodosius Butler was one of those immortal geniuses who are to be met with in almost every circle.

They have, usually, very deep, monotonous voices. They always persuade themselves that they are wonderful

persons, and that they ought to be very miserable, though they don't precisely know why. They are very

conceited, and usually possess half an idea; but, with enthusiastic young ladies, and silly young gentlemen,

they are very wonderful persons. The individual in question, Mr. Theodosius, had written a pamphlet

containing some very weighty considerations on the expediency of doing something or other; and as every

sentence contained a good many words of four syllables, his admirers took it for granted that he meant a good

'Perhaps that's he,' exclaimed several young ladies, as the first pull of the evening threatened destruction to

An awful pause ensued. Some boxes arrived and a young lady Miss Brook Dingwall, in full ball costume,

with an immense gold chain round her neck, and her dress looped up with a single rose; an ivory fan in her

The Miss Crumptons inquired after the family, with the most excruciating anxiety, and Miss Brook Dingwall

was formally introduced to her future companions. The Miss Crumptons conversed with the young ladies in

the most mellifluous tones, in order that Miss Brook Dingwall might be properly impressed with their

Another pull at the bell. Mr. Dadson the writingmaster, and his wife. The wife in green silk, with shoes and

captrimmings to correspond: the writingmaster in a white waistcoat, black knee shorts, and ditto silk

stockings, displaying a leg large enough for two writingmasters. The young ladies whispered one another,

and the writingmaster and his wife flattered the Miss Crumptons, who were dressed in amber, with long

Repeated pulls at the bell, and arrivals too numerous to particularise: papas and mammas, and aunts and

uncles, the owners and guardians of the different pupils; the singingmaster, Signor Lobskini, in a black wig;

the pianoforte player and the violins; the harp, in a state of intoxication; and some twenty young men, who

stood near the door, and talked to one another, occasionally bursting into a giggle. A general hum of

conversation. Coffee handed round, and plentifully partaken of by fat mammas, who looked like the stout

The popular Mr. Hilton was the next arrival; and he having, at the request of the Miss Crumptons, undertaken

the office of Master of the Ceremonies, the quadrilles commenced with considerable spirit. The young men

by the door gradually advanced into the middle of the room, and in time became sufficiently at ease to

consent to be introduced to partners. The writingmaster danced every set, springing about with the most

fearful agility, and his wife played a rubber in the backparlour a little room with five book shelves,

dignified by the name of the study. Setting her down to whist was a halfyearly piece of generalship on the

part of the Miss Crumptons; it was necessary to hide her somewhere, on account of her being a fright.

The interesting Lavinia Brook Dingwall was the only girl present, who appeared to take no interest in the

proceedings of the evening. In vain was she solicited to dance; in vain was the universal homage paid to her

as the daughter of a member of parliament. She was equally unmoved by the splendid tenor of the inimitable

Lobskini, and the brilliant execution of Miss Laetitia Parsons, whose performance of 'The Recollections of

Ireland' was universally declared to be almost equal to that of Moscheles himself. Not even the

announcement of the arrival of Mr. Theodosius Butler could induce her to leave the corner of the back

'Now, Theodosius,' said Miss Maria Crumpton, after that enlightened pamphleteer had nearly run the gauntlet

Miss Crumpton commenced the introduction in due form. Miss Brook Dingwall languidly raised her head.

'Edward!' she exclaimed, with a halfshriek, on seeing the well known nankeen legs.

Fortunately, as Miss Maria Crumpton possessed no remarkable share of penetration, and as it was one of the

diplomatic arrangements that no attention was to be paid to Miss Lavinia's incoherent exclamations, she was

perfectly unconscious of the mutual agitation of the parties; and therefore, seeing that the offer of his hand for

the next quadrille was accepted, she left him by the side of Miss Brook Dingwall.

'Oh, Edward!' exclaimed that most romantic of all romantic young ladies, as the light of science seated

Mr. Theodosius assured the dear creature, in the most impassioned manner, that he was not conscious of

'Then why why this disguise? Oh! Edward M'Neville Walter, what have I not suffered on your account?'

'Lavinia, hear me,' replied the hero, in his most poetic strain. 'Do not condemn me unheard. If anything that

emanates from the soul of such a wretch as I, can occupy a place in your recollection if any being, so vile,

deserve your notice you may remember that I once published a pamphlet (and paid for its publication)

'That,' continued the lover, 'was a subject to which your father was devoted heart and soul.'

'I knew it,' continued Theodosius, tragically; 'I knew it I forwarded him a copy. He wished to know me.

Could I disclose my real name? Never! No, I assumed that name which you have so often pronounced in

tones of endearment. As M'Neville Walter, I devoted myself to the stirring cause; as M'Neville Walter I

gained your heart; in the same character I was ejected from your house by your father's domestics; and in no

character at all have I since been enabled to see you. We now meet again, and I proudly own that I am

The young lady appeared perfectly satisfied with this argumentative address, and bestowed a look of the most

'May I hope,' said he, 'that the promise your father's violent behaviour interrupted, may be renewed?'

'Let us join this set,' replied Lavinia, coquettishly for girls of nineteen CAN coquette.

'No,' ejaculated he of the nankeens. 'I stir not from this spot, writhing under this torture of suspense. May I

'You know it,' returned the blushing Lavinia. The contortions of the interesting Butler's visage expressed his

We could dilate upon the occurrences that ensued. How Mr. Theodosius and Miss Lavinia danced, and

talked, and sighed for the remainder of the evening how the Miss Crumptons were delighted thereat. How

the writingmaster continued to frisk about with one horse power, and how his wife, from some

unaccountable freak, left the whisttable in the little backparlour, and persisted in displaying her green

headdress in the most conspicuous part of the drawingroom. How the supper consisted of small triangular

sandwiches in trays, and a tart here and there by way of variety; and how the visitors consumed warm water

disguised with lemon, and dotted with nutmeg, under the denomination of negus. These, and other matters of

as much interest, however, we pass over, for the purpose of describing a scene of even more importance.

A fortnight after the date of the ball, Cornelius Brook Dingwall, Esq., M.P., was seated at the same

librarytable, and in the same room, as we have before described. He was alone, and his face bore an

expression of deep thought and solemn gravity he was drawing up 'A Bill for the better observance of

The footman tapped at the door the legislator started from his reverie, and 'Miss Crumpton' was announced.

Permission was given for Miss Crumpton to enter the SANCTUM; Maria came sliding in, and having taken

her seat with a due portion of affectation, the footman retired, and the governess was left alone with the M.P.

Oh! how she longed for the presence of a third party! Even the facetious young gentleman would have been a

Miss Crumpton began the duet. She hoped Mrs. Brook Dingwall and the handsome little boy were in good

'Much obliged to you, Miss Crumpton,' said Cornelius, in his most dignified manner, 'for your attention in

calling this morning. I should have driven down to Hammersmith, to see Lavinia, but your account was so

very satisfactory, and my duties in the House occupy me so much, that I determined to postpone it for a week.

'Very well indeed, sir,' returned Maria, dreading to inform the father that she had gone off.

Here was a favourable opportunity to say that somebody else had been a match for her. But the unfortunate

'You have persevered strictly in the line of conduct I prescribed, Miss Crumpton?'

'But I fear, sir,' said Miss Crumpton, with visible emotion, 'I fear the plan has not succeeded, quite so well as

No!' exclaimed the prophet. 'Bless me! Miss Crumpton, you look alarmed. What has happened?'

The natural yellow of the unfortunate Maria's face changed to all the hues of the rainbow, as she laid a small

He hurriedly opened it. A letter from his daughter, and another from Theodosius. He glanced over their

contents 'Ere this reaches you, far distant appeal to feelings love to distraction bees'wax slavery,'

He dashed his hand to his forehead, and paced the room with fearfully long strides, to the great alarm of the

'Now mind; from this time forward,' said Mr. Brook Dingwall, suddenly stopping at the table, and beating

time upon it with his hand; 'from this time forward, I never will, under any circumstances whatever, permit a

man who writes pamphlets to enter any other room of this house but the kitchen. I'll allow my daughter and

her husband one hundred and fifty pounds ayear, and never see their faces again: and, damme! ma'am, I'll

Some time has elapsed since this passionate declaration. Mr. and Mrs. Butler are at present rusticating in a

small cottage at Ball'spond, pleasantly situated in the immediate vicinity of a brickfield. They have no

family. Mr. Theodosius looks very important, and writes incessantly; but, in consequence of a gross

combination on the part of publishers, none of his productions appear in print. His young wife begins to think

that ideal misery is preferable to real unhappiness; and that a marriage, contracted in haste, and repented at

leisure, is the cause of more substantial wretchedness than she ever anticipated.

On cool reflection, Cornelius Brook Dingwall, Esq., M.P., was reluctantly compelled to admit that the

untoward result of his admirable arrangements was attributable, not to the Miss Crumptons, but his own

diplomacy. He, however, consoles himself, like some other small diplomatists, by satisfactorily proving that

if his plans did not succeed, they ought to have done so. Minerva House is IN STATUS QUO, and 'The

Misses Crumpton' remain in the peaceable and undisturbed enjoyment of all the advantages resulting from

Once upon a time there dwelt, in a narrow street on the Surrey side of the water, within three minutes' walk of

old London Bridge, Mr. Joseph Tuggs a little darkfaced man, with shiny hair, twinkling eyes, short legs,

and a body of very considerable thickness, measuring from the centre button of his waistcoat in front, to the

ornamental buttons of his coat behind. The figure of the amiable Mrs. Tuggs, if not perfectly symmetrical,

was decidedly comfortable; and the form of her only daughter, the accomplished Miss Charlotte Tuggs, was

fast ripening into that state of luxuriant plumpness which had enchanted the eyes, and captivated the heart, of

Mr. Joseph Tuggs in his earlier days. Mr. Simon Tuggs, his only son, and Miss Charlotte Tuggs's only

brother, was as differently formed in body, as he was differently constituted in mind, from the remainder of

his family. There was that elongation in his thoughtful face, and that tendency to weakness in his interesting

legs, which tell so forcibly of a great mind and romantic disposition. The slightest traits of character in such a

being, possess no mean interest to speculative minds. He usually appeared in public, in capacious shoes with

black cotton stockings; and was observed to be particularly attached to a black glazed stock, without tie or

There is perhaps no profession, however useful; no pursuit, however meritorious; which can escape the petty

attacks of vulgar minds. Mr. Joseph Tuggs was a grocer. It might be supposed that a grocer was beyond the

breath of calumny; but no the neighbours stigmatised him as a chandler; and the poisonous voice of envy

distinctly asserted that he dispensed tea and coffee by the quartern, retailed sugar by the ounce, cheese by the

slice, tobacco by the screw, and butter by the pat. These taunts, however, were lost upon the Tuggses. Mr.

Tuggs attended to the grocery department; Mrs. Tuggs to the cheesemongery; and Miss Tuggs to her

One fine spring afternoon, the latter gentleman was seated on a tub of weekly Dorset, behind the little red

desk with a wooden rail, which ornamented a corner of the counter; when a stranger dismounted from a cab,

and hastily entered the shop. He was habited in black cloth, and bore with him, a green umbrella, and a blue

'It's the other Mr. Tuggs,' said the stranger, looking towards the glass door which led into the parlour behind

the shop, and on the inside of which, the round face of Mr. Tuggs, senior, was distinctly visible, peeping over

Mr. Simon gracefully waved his pen, as if in intimation of his wish that his father would advance. Mr. Joseph

Tuggs, with considerable celerity, removed his face from the curtain and placed it before the stranger.

'From the Temple!' said Mrs. Tuggs, flinging open the door of the little parlour and disclosing Miss Tuggs in

'From the Temple,' repeated the man with the bag; 'from Mr. Cower's, the solicitor's. Mr. Tuggs, I

congratulate you, sir. Ladies, I wish you joy of your prosperity! We have been successful.' And the man with

the bag leisurely divested himself of his umbrella and glove, as a preliminary to shaking hands with Mr.

Now the words 'we have been successful,' had no sooner issued from the mouth of the man with the bag, than

Mr. Simon Tuggs rose from the tub of weekly Dorset, opened his eyes very wide, gasped for breath, made

figures of eight in the air with his pen, and finally fell into the arms of his anxious mother, and fainted away

'I'm better now,' said Mr. Simon Tuggs. 'What! successful!' And then, as corroborative evidence of his being

better, he fainted away again, and was borne into the little parlour by the united efforts of the remainder of

To a casual spectator, or to any one unacquainted with the position of the family, this fainting would have

been unaccountable. To those who understood the mission of the man with the bag, and were moreover

acquainted with the excitability of the nerves of Mr. Simon Tuggs, it was quite comprehensible. A

longpending lawsuit respecting the validity of a will, had been unexpectedly decided; and Mr. Joseph Tuggs

A prolonged consultation took place, that night, in the little parlour a consultation that was to settle the

future destinies of the Tuggses. The shop was shut up, at an unusually early hour; and many were the

unavailing kicks bestowed upon the closed door by applicants for quarterns of sugar, or halfquarterns of

bread, or penn'orths of pepper, which were to have been 'left till Saturday,' but which fortune had decreed

'I'll take care of all that,' responded Mr. Joseph Tuggs, complacently. He was, at that very moment, eating

Everybody concurred that this was an indispensable preliminary to being genteel. The question then arose,

'Gravesend?' mildly suggested Mr. Joseph Tuggs. The idea was unanimously scouted. Gravesend was LOW.

'Margate?' insinuated Mrs. Tuggs. Worse and worse nobody there, but tradespeople.

'Brighton?' Mr. Cymon Tuggs opposed an insurmountable objection. All the coaches had been upset, in turn,

within the last three weeks; each coach had averaged two passengers killed, and six wounded; and, in every

case, the newspapers had distinctly understood that 'no blame whatever was attributable to the coachman.'

'Ramsgate?' ejaculated Mr. Cymon, thoughtfully. To be sure; how stupid they must have been, not to have

Two months after this conversation, the City of London Ramsgate steamer was running gaily down the river.

Her flag was flying, her band was playing, her passengers were conversing; everything about her seemed gay

'Charming, ain't it?' said Mr. Joseph Tuggs, in a bottlegreen greatcoat, with a velvet collar of the same, and

'Soulinspiring,' replied Mr. Cymon Tuggs he was entered at the bar. 'Soulinspiring!'

'Delightful morning, sir!' said a stoutish, militarylooking gentleman in a blue surtout buttoned up to his chin,

Mr. Cymon Tuggs took upon himself the responsibility of answering the observation. 'Heavenly!' he replied.

'You are an enthusiastic admirer of the beauties of Nature, sir?' said the military gentleman.

'Not exactly,' replied Mr. Cymon Tuggs in a qualified tone, as if he wished it to be implied that he had gone

'You of course intend your son to make the grand tour, sir?' said the military gentleman, addressing Mr.

As Mr. Joseph Tuggs did not precisely understand what the grand tour was, or how such an article was

manufactured, he replied, 'Of course.' Just as he said the word, there came tripping up, from her seat at the

stern of the vessel, a young lady in a puce coloured silk cloak, and boots of the same; with long black

'Yes, Belinda, my love,' responded the military gentleman to the blackeyed young lady.

'What have you left me alone so long for?' said the young lady. 'I have been stared out of countenance by

'What! stared at?' exclaimed the military gentleman, with an emphasis which made Mr. Cymon Tuggs

withdraw his eyes from the young lady's face with inconceivable rapidity. 'Which young men where?' and

the military gentleman clenched his fist, and glared fearfully on the cigarsmokers around.

'I WILL be calm,' said the military gentleman. 'You speak truly, sir. I thank you for a timely remonstrance,

which may have spared me the guilt of manslaughter.' Calming his wrath, the military gentleman wrung Mr.

'My sister, sir!' said Mr. Cymon Tuggs; seeing that the military gentleman was casting an admiring look

'My wife, ma'am Mrs. Captain Waters,' said the military gentleman, presenting the blackeyed young lady.

'My mother, ma'am Mrs. Tuggs,' said Mr. Cymon. The military gentleman and his wife murmured

'Walter, my dear,' said the blackeyed young lady, after they had sat chatting with the Tuggses some

'Don't you think this gentleman (with an inclination of the head towards Mr. Cymon Tuggs) is very much like

'It struck me, the moment I saw him,' said the young lady, gazing intently, and with a melancholy air, on the

scarlet countenance of Mr. Cymon Tuggs. Mr. Cymon Tuggs looked at everybody; and finding that

everybody was looking at him, appeared to feel some temporary difficulty in disposing of his eyesight.

'If you did,' continued Captain Walter Waters, 'you would feel how much reason you have to be proud of the

'He is he is indeed!' exclaimed Belinda Waters energetically. As her eye caught that of Mr. Cymon Tuggs,

All this was highly gratifying to the feelings of the Tuggses; and when, in the course of farther conversation,

it was discovered that Miss Charlotta Tuggs was the FAC SIMILE of a titled relative of Mrs. Belinda Waters,

and that Mrs. Tuggs herself was the very picture of the Dowager Duchess of Dobbleton, their delight in the

acquisition of so genteel and friendly an acquaintance, knew no bounds. Even the dignity of Captain Walter

Waters relaxed, to that degree, that he suffered himself to be prevailed upon by Mr. Joseph Tuggs, to partake

of cold pigeonpie and sherry, on deck; and a most delightful conversation, aided by these agreeable

'Goodbye, dear!' said Mrs. Captain Waters to Miss Charlotta Tuggs, just before the bustle of landing

commenced; 'we shall see you on the sands in the morning; and, as we are sure to have found lodgings before

'Goodbye!' said Mrs. Captain Waters 'goodbye, Mr. Cymon!' and with a pressure of the hand which

threw the amiable young man's nerves into a state of considerable derangement, Mrs. Captain Waters

disappeared among the crowd. A pair of pucecoloured boots were seen ascending the steps, a white

handkerchief fluttered, a black eye gleamed. The Waterses were gone, and Mr. Cymon Tuggs was alone in a

Silently and abstractedly, did that too sensitive youth follow his revered parents, and a train of smockfrocks

and wheelbarrows, along the pier, until the bustle of the scene around, recalled him to himself. The sun was

shining brightly; the sea, dancing to its own music, rolled merrily in; crowds of people promenaded to and

fro; young ladies tittered; old ladies talked; nursemaids displayed their charms to the greatest possible

advantage; and their little charges ran up and down, and to and fro, and in and out, under the feet, and

between the legs, of the assembled concourse, in the most playful and exhilarating manner. There were old

gentlemen, trying to make out objects through long telescopes; and young ones, making objects of

themselves in open shirtcollars; ladies, carrying about portable chairs, and portable chairs carrying about

invalids; parties, waiting on the pier for parties who had come by the steam boat; and nothing was to be

'Fly, sir?' exclaimed a chorus of fourteen men and six boys, the moment Mr. Joseph Tuggs, at the head of his

'Here's the gen'lm'n at last!' said one, touching his hat with mock politeness. 'Werry glad to see you, sir,

'Nice light fly and a fast trotter, sir,' said another: 'fourteen mile a hour, and surroundin' objects rendered

'Large fly for your luggage, sir,' cried a third. 'Werry large fly here, sir reg'lar bluebottle!'

'Here's YOUR fly, sir!' shouted another aspiring charioteer, mounting the box, and inducing an old grey horse

to indulge in some imperfect reminiscences of a canter. 'Look at him, sir! temper of a lamb and haction of a

Resisting even the temptation of securing the services of so valuable a quadruped as the last named, Mr.

Joseph Tuggs beckoned to the proprietor of a dingy conveyance of a greenish hue, lined with faded striped

calico; and, the luggage and the family having been deposited therein, the animal in the shafts, after

describing circles in the road for a quarter of an hour, at last consented to depart in quest of lodgings.

'How many beds have you got?' screamed Mrs. Tuggs out of the fly, to the woman who opened the door of

the first house which displayed a bill intimating that apartments were to be let within.

'Will you step in, ma'am?' Down got Mrs. Tuggs. The family were delighted. Splendid view of the sea from

the front windows charming! A short pause. Back came Mrs. Tuggs again. One parlour and a mattress.

'Why the devil didn't they say so at first?' inquired Mr. Joseph Tuggs, rather pettishly.

'Wretches!' exclaimed the nervous Cymon. Another bill another stoppage. Same question same answer

'What do they mean by this?' inquired Mr. Joseph Tuggs, thoroughly out of temper.

'Orvis the vay here, sir,' said the driver, by way of accounting for the circumstance in a satisfactory manner;

and off they went again, to make fresh inquiries, and encounter fresh disappointments.

It had grown dusk when the 'fly' the rate of whose progress greatly belied its name after climbing up four

or five perpendicular hills, stopped before the door of a dusty house, with a bay window, from which you

could obtain a beautiful glimpse of the sea if you thrust half of your body out of it, at the imminent peril of

falling into the area. Mrs. Tuggs alighted. One groundfloor sittingroom, and three cells with beds in them

up stairs. A doublehouse. Family on the opposite side. Five children milkandwatering in the parlour,

and one little boy, expelled for bad behaviour, screaming on his back in the passage.

'What's the terms?' said Mrs. Tuggs. The mistress of the house was considering the expediency of putting on

an extra guinea; so, she coughed slightly, and affected not to hear the question.

'Five guineas a week, ma'am, WITH attendance,' replied the lodging house keeper. (Attendance means the

'Rather dear,' said Mrs. Tuggs. 'Oh dear, no, ma'am!' replied the mistress of the house, with a benign smile of

pity at the ignorance of manners and customs, which the observation betrayed. 'Very cheap!'

Such an authority was indisputable. Mrs. Tuggs paid a week's rent in advance, and took the lodgings for a

Mr. Cymon eyed his father with a rebellious scowl, as he emphatically said 'SHRIMPS.'

'Well, then, shrimps,' said Mr. Joseph Tuggs. 'Srimps or shrimps, don't much matter.'

There was pity, blended with malignity, in Mr. Cymon's eye, as he replied, 'Don't matter, father! What would

'Or what would dear Mrs. Captain Waters say,' added Charlotta, 'if she saw mother ma, I mean eating

'It won't bear thinking of!' ejaculated Mr. Cymon, with a shudder. 'How different,' he thought, 'from the

'Very pretty woman, Mrs. Captain Waters, is she not, Cymon?' inquired Miss Charlotta.

A glow of nervous excitement passed over the countenance of Mr. Cymon Tuggs, as he replied, 'An angel of

'Hallo!' said Mr. Joseph Tuggs. 'Hallo, Cymon, my boy, take care. Married lady, you know;' and he winked

'Why,' exclaimed Cymon, starting up with an ebullition of fury, as unexpected as alarming, 'why am I to be

reminded of that blight of my happiness, and ruin of my hopes? Why am I to be taunted with the miseries

which are heaped upon my head? Is it not enough to to to ' and the orator paused; but whether for want

There was an impressive solemnity in the tone of this address, and in the air with which the romantic Cymon,

at its conclusion, rang the bell, and demanded a flat candlestick, which effectually forbade a reply. He stalked

dramatically to bed, and the Tuggses went to bed too, half an hour afterwards, in a state of considerable

If the pier had presented a scene of life and bustle to the Tuggses on their first landing at Ramsgate, it was far

surpassed by the appearance of the sands on the morning after their arrival. It was a fine, bright, clear day,

with a light breeze from the sea. There were the same ladies and gentlemen, the same children, the same

nursemaids, the same telescopes, the same portable chairs. The ladies were employed in needlework, or

watchguard making, or knitting, or reading novels; the gentlemen were reading newspapers and magazines;

the children were digging holes in the sand with wooden spades, and collecting water therein; the nursemaids,

with their youngest charges in their arms, were running in after the waves, and then running back with the

waves after them; and, now and then, a little sailingboat either departed with a gay and talkative cargo of

passengers, or returned with a very silent and particularly uncomfortablelooking one.

'Well, I never!' exclaimed Mrs. Tuggs, as she and Mr. Joseph Tuggs, and Miss Charlotta Tuggs, and Mr.

Cymon Tuggs, with their eight feet in a corresponding number of yellow shoes, seated themselves on four

rushbottomed chairs, which, being placed in a soft part of the sand, forthwith sunk down some two feet and

Mr. Cymon, by an exertion of great personal strength, uprooted the chairs, and removed them further back.

'Why, I'm blessed if there ain't some ladies agoing in!' exclaimed Mr. Joseph Tuggs, with intense

'There IS, my dear,' said Mr. Joseph Tuggs. And, sure enough, four young ladies, each furnished with a towel,

tripped up the steps of a bathingmachine. In went the horse, floundering about in the water; round turned the

machine; down sat the driver; and presently out burst the young ladies aforesaid, with four distinct splashes.

'Well, that's sing'ler, too!' ejaculated Mr. Joseph Tuggs, after an awkward pause. Mr. Cymon coughed

'Why, here's some gentlemen agoing in on this side!' exclaimed Mrs. Tuggs, in a tone of horror.

Three machines three horses three flounderings three turnings round three splashes three

'Well, THAT'S sing'ler!' said Mr. Joseph Tuggs again. Miss Charlotta coughed this time, and another pause

'How d'ye do, dear? We have been looking for you, all the morning,' said a voice to Miss Charlotta Tuggs.

'How d'ye do?' said Captain Walter Waters, all suavity; and a most cordial interchange of greetings ensued.

'Belinda, my love,' said Captain Walter Waters, applying his glass to his eye, and looking in the direction of

'No, I don't think he does' replied the captain. 'Bless my soul, how very singular!'

'There!' said the captain, pointing to one of the young ladies before noticed, who, in her bathing costume,

'So it is, I declare!' exclaimed Mrs. Captain Waters. 'How very curious we should see them both!'

'It's the reg'lar thing here, you see,' whispered Mr. Cymon Tuggs to his father.

'I see it is,' whispered Mr. Joseph Tuggs in reply. 'Queer, though ain't it?' Mr. Cymon Tuggs nodded assent.

'What do you think of doing with yourself this morning?' inquired the captain. 'Shall we lunch at Pegwell?'

'I should like that very much indeed,' interposed Mrs. Tuggs. She had never heard of Pegwell; but the word

'I should think one would be enough,' said Mr. Joseph Tuggs aloud, quite unconscious of the meaning of the

'Well, we can have a fly,' suggested the captain, 'and you can have a couple of donkeys.'

A fresh difficulty arose. Mrs. Captain Waters declared it would be decidedly improper for two ladies to ride

alone. The remedy was obvious. Perhaps young Mr. Tuggs would be gallant enough to accompany them.

Mr. Cymon Tuggs blushed, smiled, looked vacant, and faintly protested that he was no horseman. The

objection was at once overruled. A fly was speedily found; and three donkeys which the proprietor declared

on his solemn asseveration to be 'three parts blood, and the other corn' were engaged in the service.

'Kim up!' shouted one of the two boys who followed behind, to propel the donkeys, when Belinda Waters and

Charlotta Tuggs had been hoisted, and pushed, and pulled, into their respective saddles.

'Hi hi hi!' groaned the other boy behind Mr. Cymon Tuggs. Away went the donkey, with the stirrups

jingling against the heels of Cymon's boots, and Cymon's boots nearly scraping the ground.

'Way way! Wo o o !' cried Mr. Cymon Tuggs as well as he could, in the midst of the jolting.

'Hi hi hi!' groaned both the boys together; and on went the donkeys as if nothing would ever stop them.

Everything has an end, however; even the galloping of donkeys will cease in time. The animal which Mr.

Cymon Tuggs bestrode, feeling sundry uncomfortable tugs at the bit, the intent of which he could by no

means divine, abruptly sidled against a brick wall, and expressed his uneasiness by grinding Mr. Cymon

Tuggs's leg on the rough surface. Mrs. Captain Waters's donkey, apparently under the influence of some

playfulness of spirit, rushed suddenly, head first, into a hedge, and declined to come out again: and the

quadruped on which Miss Tuggs was mounted, expressed his delight at this humorous proceeding by firmly

planting his forefeet against the ground, and kicking up his hindlegs in a very agile, but somewhat

This abrupt termination to the rapidity of the ride, naturally occasioned some confusion. Both the ladies

indulged in vehement screaming for several minutes; and Mr. Cymon Tuggs, besides sustaining intense

bodily pain, had the additional mental anguish of witnessing their distressing situation, without having the

power to rescue them, by reason of his leg being firmly screwed in between the animal and the wall. The

efforts of the boys, however, assisted by the ingenious expedient of twisting the tail of the most rebellious

donkey, restored order in a much shorter time than could have reasonably been expected, and the little party

'Werry well, sir,' replied the boy, with a grin at his companion, as if he understood Mr. Cymon to mean that

Cymon looked full in Belinda's face, as he responded 'Beautiful, indeed!' The lady cast down her eyes, and

suffered the animal she was riding to fall a little back. Cymon Tuggs instinctively did the same.

Mr. Cymon expressed his perfect concurrence in a statement which it was impossible to controvert.

'If I had not been' continued Mrs. Captain Waters 'if, in earlier life, it had been my fate to have known,

and been beloved by, a noble youth a kindred soul a congenial spirit one capable of feeling and

'Heavens! what do I hear?' exclaimed Mr. Cymon Tuggs. 'Is it possible! can I believe my Come up!' (This

last unsentimental parenthesis was addressed to the donkey, who, with his head between his forelegs,

'Hi hi hi,' said the boys behind. 'Come up,' expostulated Cymon Tuggs again. 'Hi hi hi,' repeated the

boys. And whether it was that the animal felt indignant at the tone of Mr. Tuggs's command, or felt alarmed

by the noise of the deputy proprietor's boots running behind him; or whether he burned with a noble

emulation to outstrip the other donkeys; certain it is that he no sooner heard the second series of 'hi hi's,'

than he started away, with a celerity of pace which jerked Mr. Cymon's hat off, instantaneously, and carried

him to the Pegwell Bay hotel in no time, where he deposited his rider without giving him the trouble of

dismounting, by sagaciously pitching him over his head, into the very doorway of the tavern.

Great was the confusion of Mr. Cymon Tuggs, when he was put right end uppermost, by two waiters;

considerable was the alarm of Mrs. Tuggs in behalf of her son; agonizing were the apprehensions of Mrs.

Captain Waters on his account. It was speedily discovered, however, that he had not sustained much more

injury than the donkey he was grazed, and the animal was grazing and then it WAS a delightful party to

be sure! Mr. and Mrs. Tuggs, and the captain, had ordered lunch in the little garden behind: small saucers

of large shrimps, dabs of butter, crusty loaves, and bottled ale. The sky was without a cloud; there were

flowerpots and turf before them; the sea, from the foot of the cliff, stretching away as far as the eye could

discern anything at all; vessels in the distance with sails as white, and as small, as nicelygotup cambric

handkerchiefs. The shrimps were delightful, the ale better, and the captain even more pleasant than either.

Mrs. Captain Waters was in SUCH spirits after lunch! chasing, first the captain across the turf, and among

the flowerpots; and then Mr. Cymon Tuggs; and then Miss Tuggs; and laughing, too, quite boisterously. But

as the captain said, it didn't matter; who knew what they were, there? For all the people of the house knew,

they might be common people. To which Mr. Joseph Tuggs responded, 'To be sure.' And then they went

down the steep wooden steps a little further on, which led to the bottom of the cliff; and looked at the crabs,

and the seaweed, and the eels, till it was more than fully time to go back to Ramsgate again. Finally, Mr.

Cymon Tuggs ascended the steps last, and Mrs. Captain Waters last but one; and Mr. Cymon Tuggs

discovered that the foot and ankle of Mrs. Captain Waters, were even more unexceptionable than he had at

Taking a donkey towards his ordinary place of residence, is a very different thing, and a feat much more

easily to be accomplished, than taking him from it. It requires a great deal of foresight and presence of mind

in the one case, to anticipate the numerous flights of his discursive imagination; whereas, in the other, all you

have to do, is, to hold on, and place a blind confidence in the animal. Mr. Cymon Tuggs adopted the latter

expedient on his return; and his nerves were so little discomposed by the journey, that he distinctly

The library was crowded. There were the same ladies, and the same gentlemen, who had been on the sands in

the morning, and on the pier the day before. There were young ladies, in marooncoloured gowns and black

velvet bracelets, dispensing fancy articles in the shop, and presiding over games of chance in the

concertroom. There were marriageable daughters, and marriagemaking mammas, gaming and

promenading, and turning over music, and flirting. There were some male beaux doing the sentimental in

whispers, and others doing the ferocious in moustache. There were Mrs. Tuggs in amber, Miss Tuggs in

skyblue, Mrs. Captain Waters in pink. There was Captain Waters in a braided surtout; there was Mr. Cymon

Tuggs in pumps and a gilt waistcoat; there was Mr. Joseph Tuggs in a blue coat and a shirtfrill.

'Numbers three, eight, and eleven!' cried one of the young ladies in the marooncoloured gowns.

'Numbers three, eight, and eleven!' echoed another young lady in the same uniform.

'The numbers are all taken now, ladies, if you please,' said the first. The representatives of numbers three,

'Will you throw, ma'am?' said the presiding goddess, handing the dicebox to the eldest daughter of a stout

'Throw, Jane, my dear,' said the stout lady. An interesting display of bashfulness a little blushing in a

'Amelia, my dear, throw for your sister,' said the stout lady; and then she turned to a walking advertisement of

Rowlands' Macassar Oil, who stood next her, and said, 'Jane is so VERY modest and retiring; but I can't be

angry with her for it. An artless and unsophisticated girl is SO truly amiable, that I often wish Amelia was

'Now, my dear!' said the stout lady. Miss Amelia threw eight for her sister, ten for herself.

'And SUCH a spirit! I am like you in that respect. I can NOT help admiring that life and vivacity. Ah! (a sigh)

The young gentleman cordially acquiesced in the sentiment; both he, and the individual first addressed, were

'Who's this?' inquired Mr. Cymon Tuggs of Mrs. Captain Waters, as a short female, in a blue velvet hat and

feathers, was led into the orchestra, by a fat man in black tights and cloudy Berlins.

'Mrs. Tippin, of the London theatres,' replied Belinda, referring to the programme of the concert.

The talented Tippin having condescendingly acknowledged the clapping of hands, and shouts of 'bravo!'

which greeted her appearance, proceeded to sing the popular cavatina of 'Bid me discourse,' accompanied on

the piano by Mr. Tippin; after which, Mr. Tippin sang a comic song, accompanied on the piano by Mrs.

Tippin: the applause consequent upon which, was only to be exceeded by the enthusiastic approbation

bestowed upon an air with variations on the guitar, by Miss Tippin, accompanied on the chin by Master

Thus passed the evening; thus passed the days and evenings of the Tuggses, and the Waterses, for six weeks.

Sands in the morning donkeys at noon pier in the afternoon library at night and the same people

On that very night six weeks, the moon was shining brightly over the calm sea, which dashed against the feet

of the tall gaunt cliffs, with just enough noise to lull the old fish to sleep, without disturbing the young ones,

when two figures were discernible or would have been, if anybody had looked for them seated on one of

the wooden benches which are stationed near the verge of the western cliff. The moon had climbed higher

into the heavens, by two hours' journeying, since those figures first sat down and yet they had moved not.

The crowd of loungers had thinned and dispersed; the noise of itinerant musicians had died away; light after

light had appeared in the windows of the different houses in the distance; blockademan after blockademan

had passed the spot, wending his way towards his solitary post; and yet those figures had remained stationary.

Some portions of the two forms were in deep shadow, but the light of the moon fell strongly on a

pucecoloured boot and a glazed stock. Mr. Cymon Tuggs and Mrs. Captain Waters were seated on that

'Walter will return tomorrow,' said Mrs. Captain Waters, mournfully breaking silence.

Mr. Cymon Tuggs sighed like a gust of wind through a forest of gooseberry bushes, as he replied, 'Alas! he

'Oh, Cymon!' resumed Belinda, 'the chaste delight, the calm happiness, of this one week of Platonic love, is

too much for me!' Cymon was about to suggest that it was too little for him, but he stopped himself, and

'And to think that even this gleam of happiness, innocent as it is,' exclaimed Belinda, 'is now to be lost for

'Oh, do not say for ever, Belinda,' exclaimed the excitable Cymon, as two stronglydefined tears chased each

other down his pale face it was so long that there was plenty of room for a chase. 'Do not say for ever!'

'Why?' urged Cymon, 'oh why? Such Platonic acquaintance as ours is so harmless, that even your husband

'My husband!' exclaimed Belinda. 'You little know him. Jealous and revengeful; ferocious in his revenge a

maniac in his jealousy! Would you be assassinated before my eyes?' Mr. Cymon Tuggs, in a voice broken by

emotion, expressed his disinclination to undergo the process of assassination before the eyes of anybody.

'Then leave me,' said Mrs. Captain Waters. 'Leave me, this night, for ever. It is late: let us return.'

Mr. Cymon Tuggs sadly offered the lady his arm, and escorted her to her lodgings. He paused at the door

'Won't you walk in, sir?' said the servant. Mr. Tuggs hesitated. Oh, that hesitation! He DID walk in.

'Good night!' replied Belinda; 'and, if at any period of my life, I Hush!' The lady paused and stared with a

steady gaze of horror, on the ashy countenance of Mr. Cymon Tuggs. There was a double knock at the

'And my family!' added Cymon Tuggs, as the voices of his relatives floated up the staircase.

'The curtain! The curtain!' gasped Mrs. Captain Waters, pointing to the window, before which some chintz

'The curtain!' reiterated the frantic lady: 'you will be murdered.' This last appeal to his feelings was

irresistible. The dismayed Cymon concealed himself behind the curtain with pantomimic suddenness.

'My dear,' said the captain, 'Lieutenant, Slaughter.' Two iron shod boots and one gruff voice were heard by

Mr. Cymon to advance, and acknowledge the honour of the introduction. The sabre of the lieutenant rattled

heavily upon the floor, as he seated himself at the table. Mr. Cymon's fears almost overcame his reason.

'The brandy, my dear!' said the captain. Here was a situation! They were going to make a night of it! And Mr.

Now, Mr. Cymon Tuggs never could smoke without feeling it indispensably necessary to retire, immediately,

and never could smell smoke without a strong disposition to cough. The cigars were introduced; the captain

was a professed smoker; so was the lieutenant; so was Joseph Tuggs. The apartment was small, the door was

closed, the smoke powerful: it hung in heavy wreaths over the room, and at length found its way behind the

curtain. Cymon Tuggs held his nose, his mouth, his breath. It was all of no use out came the cough.

'Bless my soul!' said the captain, 'I beg your pardon, Miss Tuggs. You dislike smoking?'

Lieutenant Slaughter looked first at one person mysteriously, then at another: then, laid down his cigar, then

approached the window on tiptoe, and pointed with his right thumb over his shoulder, in the direction of the

The lieutenant, in reply, drew back the curtain and discovered Mr. Cymon Tuggs behind it: pallid with

'Aha!' exclaimed the captain, furiously. 'What do I see? Slaughter, your sabre!'

'Water!' exclaimed Joseph Tuggs and Mr. Cymon Tuggs and all the ladies forthwith fainted away, and

Most willingly would we conceal the disastrous termination of the six weeks' acquaintance. A troublesome

form, and an arbitrary custom, however, prescribe that a story should have a conclusion, in addition to a

commencement; we have therefore no alternative. Lieutenant Slaughter brought a message the captain

brought an action. Mr. Joseph Tuggs interposed the lieutenant negotiated. When Mr. Cymon Tuggs

recovered from the nervous disorder into which misplaced affection, and exciting circumstances, had plunged

him, he found that his family had lost their pleasant acquaintance; that his father was minus fifteen hundred

pounds; and the captain plus the precise sum. The money was paid to hush the matter up, but it got abroad

notwithstanding; and there are not wanting some who affirm that three designing impostors never found more

easy dupes, than did Captain Waters, Mrs. Waters, and Lieutenant Slaughter, in the Tuggses at Ramsgate.

'Indeed, my love, he paid Teresa very great attention on the last assembly night,' said Mrs. Malderton,

addressing her spouse, who, after the fatigues of the day in the City, was sitting with a silk handkerchief over

his head, and his feet on the fender, drinking his port; 'very great attention; and I say again, every possible

encouragement ought to be given him. He positively must be asked down here to dine.'

'Why, you know whom I mean, my dear the young man with the black whiskers and the white cravat, who

has just come out at our assembly, and whom all the girls are talking about. Young dear me! what's his

name? Marianne, what IS his name?' continued Mrs. Malderton, addressing her youngest daughter, who

'Oh! yes, to be sure Horatio Sparkins,' said Mrs. Malderton. 'Decidedly the most gentlemanlike young

man I ever saw. I am sure in the beautifullymade coat he wore the other night, he looked like like '

'Like Prince Leopold, ma so noble, so full of sentiment!' suggested Marianne, in a tone of enthusiastic

'You should recollect, my dear,' resumed Mrs. Malderton, 'that Teresa is now eightandtwenty; and that it

Miss Teresa Malderton was a very little girl, rather fat, with vermilion cheeks, but goodhumoured, and still

disengaged, although, to do her justice, the misfortune arose from no lack of perseverance on her part. In vain

had she flirted for ten years; in vain had Mr. and Mrs. Malderton assiduously kept up an extensive

acquaintance among the young eligible bachelors of Camberwell, and even of Wandsworth and Brixton; to

say nothing of those who 'dropped in' from town. Miss Malderton was as well known as the lion on the top of

'I am quite sure you'd like him,' continued Mrs. Malderton, 'he is so gentlemanly!'

'He has a great respect for you, my dear,' said Mrs. Malderton to her husband. Mr. Malderton coughed, and

'Well, well,' returned Mr. Malderton, somewhat flattered; 'if I see him at the assembly tomorrow, perhaps I'll

'I'll see about it,' said Mr. Malderton, composing himself for a nap; 'I'll see about it.'

Mr. Malderton was a man whose whole scope of ideas was limited to Lloyd's, the Exchange, the India House,

and the Bank. A few successful speculations had raised him from a situation of obscurity and comparative

poverty, to a state of affluence. As frequently happens in such cases, the ideas of himself and his family

became elevated to an extraordinary pitch as their means increased; they affected fashion, taste, and many

other fooleries, in imitation of their betters, and had a very decided and becoming horror of anything which

could, by possibility, be considered low. He was hospitable from ostentation, illiberal from ignorance, and

prejudiced from conceit. Egotism and the love of display induced him to keep an excellent table:

convenience, and a love of good things of this life, ensured him plenty of guests. He liked to have clever men,

or what he considered such, at his table, because it was a great thing to talk about; but he never could endure

what he called 'sharp fellows.' Probably, he cherished this feeling out of compliment to his two sons, who

gave their respected parent no uneasiness in that particular. The family were ambitious of forming

acquaintances and connexions in some sphere of society superior to that in which they themselves moved;

and one of the necessary consequences of this desire, added to their utter ignorance of the world beyond their

own small circle, was, that any one who could lay claim to an acquaintance with people of rank and title, had

The appearance of Mr. Horatio Sparkins at the assembly, had excited no small degree of surprise and

curiosity among its regular frequenters. Who could he be? He was evidently reserved, and apparently

melancholy. Was he a clergyman? He danced too well. A barrister? He said he was not called. He used

very fine words, and talked a great deal. Could he be a distinguished foreigner, come to England for the

purpose of describing the country, its manners and customs; and frequenting public balls and public dinners,

with the view of becoming acquainted with high life, polished etiquette, and English refinement? No, he

had not a foreign accent. Was he a surgeon, a contributor to the magazines, a writer of fashionable novels, or

an artist? No; to each and all of these surmises, there existed some valid objection. 'Then,' said

everybody, 'he must be SOMEBODY.' 'I should think he must be,' reasoned Mr. Malderton, within himself,

The night succeeding the conversation we have just recorded, was 'assembly night.' The doublefly was

ordered to be at the door of Oak Lodge at nine o'clock precisely. The Miss Maldertons were dressed in

skyblue satin trimmed with artificial flowers; and Mrs. M. (who was a little fat woman), in ditto ditto,

looked like her eldest daughter multiplied by two. Mr. Frederick Malderton, the eldest son, in fulldress

costume, was the very BEAU IDEAL of a smart waiter; and Mr. Thomas Malderton, the youngest, with his

white dressstock, blue coat, bright buttons, and red watchribbon, strongly resembled the portrait of that

interesting, but rash young gentleman, George Barnwell. Every member of the party had made up his or her

mind to cultivate the acquaintance of Mr. Horatio Sparkins. Miss Teresa, of course, was to be as amiable and

interesting as ladies of eightandtwenty on the lookout for a husband, usually are. Mrs. Malderton would

be all smiles and graces. Miss Marianne would request the favour of some verses for her album. Mr.

Malderton would patronise the great unknown by asking him to dinner. Tom intended to ascertain the extent

of his information on the interesting topics of snuff and cigars. Even Mr. Frederick Malderton himself, the

family authority on all points of taste, dress, and fashionable arrangement; who had lodgings of his own in

town; who had a free admission to Coventgarden theatre; who always dressed according to the fashions of

the months; who went up the water twice aweek in the season; and who actually had an intimate friend who

once knew a gentleman who formerly lived in the Albany, even he had determined that Mr. Horatio

Sparkins must be a devilish good fellow, and that he would do him the honour of challenging him to a game

The first object that met the anxious eyes of the expectant family on their entrance into the ballroom, was

the interesting Horatio, with his hair brushed off his forehead, and his eyes fixed on the ceiling, reclining in a

'Tom don't be an ass!' said his father, who checked him on all occasions, probably with a view to prevent

The elegant Sparkins attitudinised with admirable effect, until the family had crossed the room. He then

started up, with the most natural appearance of surprise and delight; accosted Mrs. Malderton with the utmost

cordiality; saluted the young ladies in the most enchanting manner; bowed to, and shook hands with Mr.

Malderton, with a degree of respect amounting almost to veneration; and returned the greetings of the two

young men in a halfgratified, halfpatronising manner, which fully convinced them that he must be an

'Miss Malderton,' said Horatio, after the ordinary salutations, and bowing very low, 'may I be permitted to

'I don't THINK I am engaged,' said Miss Teresa, with a dreadful affectation of indifference 'but, really so

'I shall be most happy,' simpered the interesting Teresa, at last. Horatio's countenance brightened up, like an

'A very genteel young man, certainly!' said the gratified Mr. Malderton, as the obsequious Sparkins and his

'Yes, he is a prime fellow,' interposed Tom, who always managed to put his foot in it 'he talks just like an

'Tom!' said his father solemnly, 'I think I desired you, before, not to be a fool.' Tom looked as happy as a cock

'How delightful!' said the interesting Horatio to his partner, as they promenaded the room at the conclusion of

the set 'how delightful, how refreshing it is, to retire from the cloudy storms, the vicissitudes, and the

troubles, of life, even if it be but for a few short fleeting moments: and to spend those moments, fading and

evanescent though they be, in the delightful, the blessed society of one individual whose frowns would be

death, whose coldness would be madness, whose falsehood would be ruin, whose constancy would be bliss;

the possession of whose affection would be the brightest and best reward that Heaven could bestow on man?'

'What feeling! what sentiment!' thought Miss Teresa, as she leaned more heavily on her companion's arm.

'But enough enough!' resumed the elegant Sparkins, with a theatrical air. 'What have I said? what have I I

to do with sentiments like these! Miss Malderton' here he stopped short 'may I hope to be permitted to

'Really, Mr. Sparkins,' returned the enraptured Teresa, blushing in the sweetest confusion, 'I must refer you to

'Oh, yes. Indeed, indeed, you know him not!' interrupted Miss Teresa, well knowing there was nothing to

fear, but wishing to make the interview resemble a scene in some romantic novel.

'He cannot object to my offering you a glass of negus,' returned the adorable Sparkins, with some surprise.

'It will give me the greatest pleasure, sir, to see you to dinner at Oak Lodge, Camberwell, on Sunday next at

five o'clock, if you have no better engagement,' said Mr. Malderton, at the conclusion of the evening, as he

'I must confess,' continued the father, offering his snuffbox to his new acquaintance, 'that I don't enjoy these

assemblies half so much as the comfort I had almost said the luxury of Oak Lodge. They have no great

'And after all, sir, what is man?' said the metaphysical Sparkins. 'I say, what is man?'

'We know that we live and breathe,' continued Horatio; 'that we have wants and wishes, desires and appetites

'I say, we know that we exist,' repeated Horatio, raising his voice, 'but there we stop; there, is an end to our

knowledge; there, is the summit of our attainments; there, is the termination of our ends. What more do we

'Nothing,' replied Mr. Frederick than whom no one was more capable of answering for himself in that

particular. Tom was about to hazard something, but, fortunately for his reputation, he caught his father's

'Upon my word,' said Mr. Malderton the elder, as they were returning home in the fly, 'that Mr. Sparkins is a

wonderful young man. Such surprising knowledge! such extraordinary information! and such a splendid

'I think he must be somebody in disguise,' said Miss Marianne. 'How charmingly romantic!'

'He talks very loud and nicely,' timidly observed Tom, 'but I don't exactly understand what he means.'

'I almost begin to despair of your understanding anything, Tom,' said his father, who, of course, had been

'It strikes me, Tom,' said Miss Teresa, 'that you have made yourself very ridiculous this evening.'

'No doubt of it,' cried everybody and the unfortunate Tom reduced himself into the least possible space.

That night, Mr. and Mrs. Malderton had a long conversation respecting their daughter's prospects and future

arrangements. Miss Teresa went to bed, considering whether, in the event of her marrying a title, she could

conscientiously encourage the visits of her present associates; and dreamed, all night, of disguised noblemen,

Various surmises were hazarded on the Sunday morning, as to the mode of conveyance which the

anxiouslyexpected Horatio would adopt. Did he keep a gig? was it possible he could come on horseback?

or would he patronize the stage? These, and other various conjectures of equal importance, engrossed the

attention of Mrs. Malderton and her daughters during the whole morning after church.

'Upon my word, my dear, it's a most annoying thing that that vulgar brother of yours should have invited

himself to dine here today,' said Mr. Malderton to his wife. 'On account of Mr. Sparkins's coming down, I

purposely abstained from asking any one but Flamwell. And then to think of your brother a tradesman it's

insufferable! I declare I wouldn't have him mention his shop, before our new guest no, not for a thousand

pounds! I wouldn't care if he had the good sense to conceal the disgrace he is to the family; but he's so fond

Mr. Jacob Barton, the individual alluded to, was a large grocer; so vulgar, and so lost to all sense of feeling,

that he actually never scrupled to avow that he wasn't above his business: 'he'd made his money by it, and he

'Ah! Flamwell, my dear fellow, how d'ye do?' said Mr. Malderton, as a little spoffish man, with green

Mr. Flamwell was one of those gentlemen of remarkably extensive information whom one occasionally meets

in society, who pretend to know everybody, but in reality know nobody. At Malderton's, where any stories

about great people were received with a greedy ear, he was an especial favourite; and, knowing the kind of

people he had to deal with, he carried his passion of claiming acquaintance with everybody, to the most

immoderate length. He had rather a singular way of telling his greatest lies in a parenthesis, and with an air of

'Why, no, I don't know him by that name,' returned Flamwell, in a low tone, and with an air of immense

'I said a Roman nose, didn't I?' inquired Flamwell. 'He's an elegant young man?'

'Yes, I thought you knew him, if he was anybody,' triumphantly exclaimed Mr. Malderton. 'Who d'ye think he

'Why, from your description,' said Flamwell, ruminating, and sinking his voice, almost to a whisper, 'he bears

a strong resemblance to the Honourable Augustus FitzEdward FitzJohn Fitz Osborne. He's a very

talented young man, and rather eccentric. It's extremely probable he may have changed his name for some

Teresa's heart beat high. Could he be the Honourable Augustus FitzEdward FitzJohn FitzOsborne! What

a name to be elegantly engraved upon two glazed cards, tied together with a piece of white satin ribbon! 'The

Honourable Mrs. Augustus FitzEdward FitzJohn FitzOsborne!' The thought was transport.

'It's five minutes to five,' said Mr. Malderton, looking at his watch: 'I hope he's not going to disappoint us.'

'There he is!' exclaimed Miss Teresa, as a loud doubleknock was heard at the door. Everybody endeavoured

to look as people when they particularly expect a visitor always do as if they were perfectly unsuspicious

'Confound the man!' murmured Malderton. 'Ah! my dear sir, how d'ye do! Any news?'

'Why no,' returned the grocer, in his usual bluff manner. 'No, none partickler. None that I am much aware of.

'Here's Mr. Sparkins!' said Tom, who had been looking out at the window, 'on SUCH a black horse!' There

was Horatio, sure enough, on a large black horse, curvetting and prancing along, like an Astley's

supernumerary. After a great deal of reining in, and pulling up, with the accompaniments of snorting, rearing,

and kicking, the animal consented to stop at about a hundred yards from the gate, where Mr. Sparkins

dismounted, and confided him to the care of Mr. Malderton's groom. The ceremony of introduction was gone

through, in all due form. Mr. Flamwell looked from behind his green spectacles at Horatio with an air of

mysterious importance; and the gallant Horatio looked unutterable things at Teresa.

'Is he the Honourable Mr. Augustus What'shisname?' whispered Mrs. Malderton to Flamwell, as he was

'Hush!' said Flamwell, nodding his head with a grave air, importing that he knew very well; but was

prevented, by some grave reasons of state, from disclosing the important secret. It might be one of the

'Mr. Sparkins,' said the delighted Mrs. Malderton, 'pray divide the ladies. John, put a chair for the gentleman

between Miss Teresa and Miss Marianne.' This was addressed to a man who, on ordinary occasions, acted as

halfgroom, halfgardener; but who, as it was important to make an impression on Mr. Sparkins, had been

forced into a white neckerchief and shoes, and touched up, and brushed, to look like a second footman.

The dinner was excellent; Horatio was most attentive to Miss Teresa, and every one felt in high spirits, except

Mr. Malderton, who, knowing the propensity of his brotherinlaw, Mr. Barton, endured that sort of agony

which the newspapers inform us is experienced by the surrounding neighbourhood when a potboy hangs

'Have you seen your friend, Sir Thomas Noland, lately, Flamwell?' inquired Mr. Malderton, casting a

sidelong look at Horatio, to see what effect the mention of so great a man had upon him.

'All! I hope his lordship is very well?' said Malderton, in a tone of the greatest interest. It is scarcely

necessary to say that, until that moment, he had been quite innocent of the existence of such a person.

'Why, yes; he was very well very well indeed. He's a devilish good fellow. I met him in the City, and had a

long chat with him. Indeed, I'm rather intimate with him. I couldn't stop to talk to him as long as I could wish,

though, because I was on my way to a banker's, a very rich man, and a member of Parliament, with whom I

'I know whom you mean,' returned the host, consequentially in reality knowing as much about the matter as

'Talking of business,' interposed Mr. Barton, from the centre of the table. 'A gentleman whom you knew very

well, Malderton, before you made that first lucky spec of yours, called at our shop the other day, and '

'Barton, may I trouble you for a potato?' interrupted the wretched master of the house, hoping to nip the story

'Certainly,' returned the grocer, quite insensible of his brother inlaw's object 'and he said in a very plain

'FLOURY, if you please,' interrupted Malderton again; dreading the termination of the anecdote, and fearing

'He said, says he,' continued the culprit, after despatching the potato; 'says he, how goes on your business? So

I said, jokingly you know my way says I, I'm never above my business, and I hope my business will

'Mr. Sparkins,' said the host, vainly endeavouring to conceal his dismay, 'a glass of wine?'

'We were talking the other evening,' resumed the host, addressing Horatio, partly with the view of displaying

the conversational powers of his new acquaintance, and partly in the hope of drowning the grocer's stories

'we were talking the other night about the nature of man. Your argument struck me very forcibly.'

'Pray, what is your opinion of woman, Mr. Sparkins?' inquired Mrs. Malderton. The young ladies simpered.

'Man,' replied Horatio, 'man, whether he ranged the bright, gay, flowery plains of a second Eden, or the more

sterile, barren, and I may say, commonplace regions, to which we are compelled to accustom ourselves, in

times such as these; man, under any circumstances, or in any place whether he were bending beneath the

withering blasts of the frigid zone, or scorching under the rays of a vertical sun man, without woman,

'I am very happy to find you entertain such honourable opinions, Mr. Sparkins,' said Mrs. Malderton.

'And I,' added Miss Teresa. Horatio looked his delight, and the young lady blushed.

'I know what you're going to say,' interposed Malderton, determined not to give his relation another

'I am sorry to differ from you, Barton,' said the host, in as positive a manner as if he really were contradicting

a position which the other had laid down, 'but I cannot give my assent to what I consider a very monstrous

'You never can convince me,' said Malderton, with an air of obstinate determination. 'Never.'

'And I,' said Mr. Frederick, following up his father's attack, 'cannot entirely agree in Mr. Sparkins's argument.'

'What!' said Horatio, who became more metaphysical, and more argumentative, as he saw the female part of

the family listening in wondering delight 'what! Is effect the consequence of cause? Is cause the precursor

'Because, if effect is the consequence of cause, and if cause does precede effect, I apprehend you are wrong,'

'At least, I apprehend that to be the just and logical deduction?' said Sparkins, in a tone of interrogation.

'I don't exactly see it now,' thought the grocer; 'but I suppose it's all right.'

'How wonderfully clever he is!' whispered Mrs. Malderton to her daughters, as they retired to the

'Oh, he's quite a love!' said both the young ladies together; 'he talks like an oracle. He must have seen a great

The gentlemen being left to themselves, a pause ensued, during which everybody looked very grave, as if

they were quite overcome by the profound nature of the previous discussion. Flamwell, who had made up his

mind to find out who and what Mr. Horatio Sparkins really was, first broke silence.

'Excuse me, sir,' said that distinguished personage, 'I presume you have studied for the bar? I thought of

entering once, myself indeed, I'm rather intimate with some of the highest ornaments of that distinguished

'But you have been much among the silk gowns, or I mistake?' inquired Flamwell, deferentially.

The question was thus pretty well settled in the mind of Mr. Flamwell. He was a young gentleman 'about to

'I shouldn't like to be a barrister,' said Tom, speaking for the first time, and looking round the table to find

'Tom, I beg you will not make yourself ridiculous,' said his father. 'Pray listen, and improve yourself by the

'Very well, father,' replied the unfortunate Tom, who had not spoken a word since he had asked for another

'Well, Tom,' observed his goodnatured uncle, 'never mind! I think with you. I shouldn't like to wear a wig.

Mr. Malderton coughed violently. Mr. Barton resumed 'For if a man's above his business '

The cough returned with tenfold violence, and did not cease until the unfortunate cause of it, in his alarm, had

'Mr. Sparkins,' said Flamwell, returning to the charge, 'do you happen to know Mr. Delafontaine, of

'I have exchanged cards with him; since which, indeed, I have had an opportunity of serving him

considerably,' replied Horatio, slightly colouring; no doubt, at having been betrayed into making the

'You are very lucky, if you have had an opportunity of obliging that great man,' observed Flamwell, with an

'I don't know who he is,' he whispered to Mr. Malderton, confidentially, as they followed Horatio up to the

drawingroom. 'It's quite clear, however, that he belongs to the law, and that he is somebody of great

The remainder of the evening passed away most delightfully. Mr. Malderton, relieved from his apprehensions

by the circumstance of Mr. Barton's falling into a profound sleep, was as affable and gracious as possible.

Miss Teresa played the 'Fall of Paris,' as Mr. Sparkins declared, in a most masterly manner, and both of them,

assisted by Mr. Frederick, tried over glees and trios without number; they having made the pleasing discovery

that their voices harmonised beautifully. To be sure, they all sang the first part; and Horatio, in addition to the

slight drawback of having no ear, was perfectly innocent of knowing a note of music; still, they passed the

time very agreeably, and it was past twelve o'clock before Mr. Sparkins ordered the

mourningcoachlooking steed to be brought out an order which was only complied with, on the distinct

'But, perhaps, Mr. Sparkins will form one of our party tomorrow evening?' suggested Mrs. M. 'Mr.

Malderton intends taking the girls to see the pantomime.' Mr. Sparkins bowed, and promised to join the party

'We will not tax you for the morning,' said Miss Teresa, bewitchingly; 'for ma is going to take us to all sorts

of places, shopping. I know that gentlemen have a great horror of that employment.' Mr. Sparkins bowed

again, and declared that he should be delighted, but business of importance occupied him in the morning.

At twelve o'clock on the following morning, the 'fly' was at the door of Oak Lodge, to convey Mrs.

Malderton and her daughters on their expedition for the day. They were to dine and dress for the play at a

friend's house. First, driving thither with their band boxes, they departed on their first errand to make some

purchases at Messrs. Jones, Spruggins, and Smith's, of Tottenhamcourtroad; after which, they were to go

to Redmayne's in Bondstreet; thence, to innumerable places that no one ever heard of. The young ladies

beguiled the tediousness of the ride by eulogising Mr. Horatio Sparkins, scolding their mamma for taking

them so far to save a shilling, and wondering whether they should ever reach their destination. At length, the

vehicle stopped before a dirtylooking ticketed linendraper's shop, with goods of all kinds, and labels of all

sorts and sizes, in the window. There were dropsical figures of seven with a little threefarthings in the

corner; 'perfectly invisible to the naked eye;' three hundred and fifty thousand ladies' boas, FROM one

shilling and a penny halfpenny; real French kid shoes, at two and ninepence per pair; green parasols, at an

equally cheap rate; and 'every description of goods,' as the proprietors said and they must know best 'fifty

'Lor! ma, what a place you have brought us to!' said Miss Teresa; 'what WOULD Mr. Sparkins say if he

'Pray be seated, ladies. What is the first article?' inquired the obsequious master of the ceremonies of the

establishment, who, in his large white neckcloth and formal tie, looked like a bad 'portrait of a gentleman' in

'Pray make haste, Mr. Smith,' said the M.C. 'You never are to be found when you're wanted, sir.'

Mr. Smith, thus enjoined to use all possible despatch, leaped over the counter with great agility, and placed

himself before the newlyarrived customers. Mrs. Malderton uttered a faint scream; Miss Teresa, who had

been stooping down to talk to her sister, raised her head, and beheld Horatio Sparkins!

'We will draw a veil,' as novelwriters say, over the scene that ensued. The mysterious, philosophical,

romantic, metaphysical Sparkins he who, to the interesting Teresa, seemed like the embodied idea of the

young dukes and poetical exquisites in blue silk dressinggowns, and ditto ditto slippers, of whom she had

read and dreamed, but had never expected to behold, was suddenly converted into Mr. Samuel Smith, the

assistant at a 'cheap shop;' the junior partner in a slippery firm of some three weeks' existence. The dignified

evanishment of the hero of Oak Lodge, on this unexpected recognition, could only be equalled by that of a

furtive dog with a considerable kettle at his tail. All the hopes of the Maldertons were destined at once to melt

away, like the lemon ices at a Company's dinner; Almack's was still to them as distant as the North Pole; and

Miss Teresa had as much chance of a husband as Captain Ross had of the northwest passage.

Years have elapsed since the occurrence of this dreadful morning. The daisies have thrice bloomed on

Camberwellgreen; the sparrows have thrice repeated their vernal chirps in Camberwellgrove; but the Miss

Maldertons are still unmated. Miss Teresa's case is more desperate than ever; but Flamwell is yet in the zenith

of his reputation; and the family have the same predilection for aristocratic personages, with an increased

One winter's evening, towards the close of the year 1800, or within a year or two of that time, a young

medical practitioner, recently established in business, was seated by a cheerful fire in his little parlour,

listening to the wind which was beating the rain in pattering drops against the window, or rumbling dismally

in the chimney. The night was wet and cold; he had been walking through mud and water the whole day, and

was now comfortably reposing in his dressinggown and slippers, more than half asleep and less than half

awake, revolving a thousand matters in his wandering imagination. First, he thought how hard the wind was

blowing, and how the cold, sharp rain would be at that moment beating in his face, if he were not comfortably

housed at home. Then, his mind reverted to his annual Christmas visit to his native place and dearest friends;

he thought how glad they would all be to see him, and how happy it would make Rose if he could only tell

her that he had found a patient at last, and hoped to have more, and to come down again, in a few months'

time, and marry her, and take her home to gladden his lonely fireside, and stimulate him to fresh exertions.

Then, he began to wonder when his first patient would appear, or whether he was destined, by a special

dispensation of Providence, never to have any patients at all; and then, he thought about Rose again, and

dropped to sleep and dreamed about her, till the tones of her sweet merry voice sounded in his ears, and her

There WAS a hand upon his shoulder, but it was neither soft nor tiny; its owner being a corpulent

roundheaded boy, who, in consideration of the sum of one shilling per week and his food, was let out by the

parish to carry medicine and messages. As there was no demand for the medicine, however, and no necessity

for the messages, he usually occupied his unemployed hours averaging fourteen a day in abstracting

'What lady?' cried our friend, starting up, not quite certain that his dream was an illusion, and half expecting

'THERE, sir!' replied the boy, pointing to the glass door leading into the surgery, with an expression of alarm

The surgeon looked towards the door, and started himself, for an instant, on beholding the appearance of his

It was a singularly tall woman, dressed in deep mourning, and standing so close to the door that her face

almost touched the glass. The upper part of her figure was carefully muffled in a black shawl, as if for the

purpose of concealment; and her face was shrouded by a thick black veil. She stood perfectly erect, her figure

was drawn up to its full height, and though the surgeon felt that the eyes beneath the veil were fixed on him,

she stood perfectly motionless, and evinced, by no gesture whatever, the slightest consciousness of his having

'Do you wish to consult me?' he inquired, with some hesitation, holding open the door. It opened inwards,

and therefore the action did not alter the position of the figure, which still remained motionless on the same

The figure moved a step forward; and then, turning its head in the direction of the boy to his infinite horror

'Leave the room, Tom,' said the young man, addressing the boy, whose large round eyes had been extended to

their utmost width during this brief interview. 'Draw the curtain, and shut the door.'

The boy drew a green curtain across the glass part of the door, retired into the surgery, closed the door after

him, and immediately applied one of his large eyes to the keyhole on the other side.

The surgeon drew a chair to the fire, and motioned the visitor to a seat. The mysterious figure slowly moved

towards it. As the blaze shone upon the black dress, the surgeon observed that the bottom of it was saturated

'And you are ill?' added the surgeon, compassionately, for the tone was that of a person in pain.

'I am,' was the reply 'very ill; not bodily, but mentally. It is not for myself, or on my own behalf,' continued

the stranger, 'that I come to you. If I laboured under bodily disease, I should not be out, alone, at such an

hour, or on such a night as this; and if I were afflicted with it, twentyfour hours hence, God knows how

gladly I would lie down and pray to die. It is for another that I beseech your aid, sir. I may be mad to ask it

for him I think I am; but, night after night, through the long dreary hours of watching and weeping, the

thought has been ever present to my mind; and though even I see the hopelessness of human assistance

availing him, the bare thought of laying him in his grave without it makes my blood run cold!' And a shudder,

such as the surgeon well knew art could not produce, trembled through the speaker's frame.

There was a desperate earnestness in this woman's manner, that went to the young man's heart. He was young

in his profession, and had not yet witnessed enough of the miseries which are daily presented before the eyes

'If,' he said, rising hastily, 'the person of whom you speak, be in so hopeless a condition as you describe, not a

moment is to be lost. I will go with you instantly. Why did you not obtain medical advice before?'

'Because it would have been useless before because it is useless even now,' replied the woman, clasping her

The surgeon gazed, for a moment, on the black veil, as if to ascertain the expression of the features beneath it:

'You ARE ill,' he said, gently, 'although you do not know it. The fever which has enabled you to bear, without

feeling it, the fatigue you have evidently undergone, is burning within you now. Put that to your lips,' he

continued, pouring out a glass of water 'compose yourself for a few moments, and then tell me, as calmly as

you can, what the disease of the patient is, and how long he has been ill. When I know what it is necessary I

should know, to render my visit serviceable to him, I am ready to accompany you.'

The stranger lifted the glass of water to her mouth, without raising the veil; put it down again untasted; and

'I know,' she said, sobbing aloud, 'that what I say to you now, seems like the ravings of fever. I have been told

so before, less kindly than by you. I am not a young woman; and they do say, that as life steals on towards its

final close, the last short remnant, worthless as it may seem to all beside, is dearer to its possessor than all the

years that have gone before, connected though they be with the recollection of old friends long since dead,

and young ones children perhaps who have fallen off from, and forgotten one as completely as if they had

died too. My natural term of life cannot be many years longer, and should be dear on that account; but I

would lay it down without a sigh with cheerfulness with joy if what I tell you now, were only false, or

imaginary. To morrow morning he of whom I speak will be, I KNOW, though I would fain think otherwise,

beyond the reach of human aid; and yet, to night, though he is in deadly peril, you must not see, and could

'I am unwilling to increase your distress,' said the surgeon, after a short pause, 'by making any comment on

what you have just said, or appearing desirous to investigate a subject you are so anxious to conceal; but there

is an inconsistency in your statement which I cannot reconcile with probability. This person is dying

tonight, and I cannot see him when my assistance might possibly avail; you apprehend it will be useless

tomorrow, and yet you would have me see him then! If he be, indeed, as dear to you, as your words and

manner would imply, why not try to save his life before delay and the progress of his disease render it

'God help me!' exclaimed the woman, weeping bitterly, 'how can I hope strangers will believe what appears

incredible, even to myself? You will NOT see him then, sir?' she added, rising suddenly.

'I did not say that I declined to see him,' replied the surgeon; 'but I warn you, that if you persist in this

extraordinary procrastination, and the individual dies, a fearful responsibility rests with you.'

'The responsibility will rest heavily somewhere,' replied the stranger bitterly. 'Whatever responsibility rests

'As I incur none,' continued the surgeon, 'by acceding to your request, I will see him in the morning, if you

'You must excuse my pressing these inquiries,' said the surgeon. 'But is he in your charge now?'

'Then, if I gave you instructions for his treatment through the night, you could not assist him?'

Finding that there was but little prospect of obtaining more information by prolonging the interview; and

anxious to spare the woman's feelings, which, subdued at first by a violent effort, were now irrepressible and

most painful to witness; the surgeon repeated his promise of calling in the morning at the appointed hour. His

visitor, after giving him a direction to an obscure part of Walworth, left the house in the same mysterious

It will be readily believed that so extraordinary a visit produced a considerable impression on the mind of the

young surgeon; and that he speculated a great deal and to very little purpose on the possible circumstances of

the case. In common with the generality of people, he had often heard and read of singular instances, in

which a presentiment of death, at a particular day, or even minute, had been entertained and realised. At one

moment he was inclined to think that the present might be such a case; but, then, it occurred to him that all

the anecdotes of the kind he had ever heard, were of persons who had been troubled with a foreboding of

their own death. This woman, however, spoke of another person a man; and it was impossible to suppose

that a mere dream or delusion of fancy would induce her to speak of his approaching dissolution with such

terrible certainty as she had spoken. It could not be that the man was to be murdered in the morning, and that

the woman, originally a consenting party, and bound to secrecy by an oath, had relented, and, though unable

to prevent the commission of some outrage on the victim, had determined to prevent his death if possible, by

the timely interposition of medical aid? The idea of such things happening within two miles of the metropolis

appeared too wild and preposterous to be entertained beyond the instant. Then, his original impression that

the woman's intellects were disordered, recurred; and, as it was the only mode of solving the difficulty with

any degree of satisfaction, he obstinately made up his mind to believe that she was mad. Certain misgivings

upon this point, however, stole upon his thoughts at the time, and presented themselves again and again

through the long dull course of a sleepless night; during which, in spite of all his efforts to the contrary, he

The back part of Walworth, at its greatest distance from town, is a straggling miserable place enough, even in

these days; but, five andthirty years ago, the greater portion of it was little better than a dreary waste,

inhabited by a few scattered people of questionable character, whose poverty prevented their living in any

better neighbourhood, or whose pursuits and mode of life rendered its solitude desirable. Very many of the

houses which have since sprung up on all sides, were not built until some years afterwards; and the great

majority even of those which were sprinkled about, at irregular intervals, were of the rudest and most

The appearance of the place through which he walked in the morning, was not calculated to raise the spirits

of the young surgeon, or to dispel any feeling of anxiety or depression which the singular kind of visit he was

about to make, had awakened. Striking off from the high road, his way lay across a marshy common, through

irregular lanes, with here and there a ruinous and dismantled cottage fast falling to pieces with decay and

neglect. A stunted tree, or pool of stagnant water, roused into a sluggish action by the heavy rain of the

preceding night, skirted the path occasionally; and, now and then, a miserable patch of gardenground, with a

few old boards knocked together for a summerhouse, and old palings imperfectly mended with stakes

pilfered from the neighbouring hedges, bore testimony, at once to the poverty of the inhabitants, and the little

scruple they entertained in appropriating the property of other people to their own use. Occasionally, a

filthylooking woman would make her appearance from the door of a dirty house, to empty the contents of

some cooking utensil into the gutter in front, or to scream after a little slipshod girl, who had contrived to

stagger a few yards from the door under the weight of a sallow infant almost as big as herself; but, scarcely

anything was stirring around: and so much of the prospect as could be faintly traced through the cold damp

mist which hung heavily over it, presented a lonely and dreary appearance perfectly in keeping with the

After plodding wearily through the mud and mire; making many inquiries for the place to which he had been

directed; and receiving as many contradictory and unsatisfactory replies in return; the young man at length

arrived before the house which had been pointed out to him as the object of his destination. It was a small low

building, one story above the ground, with even a more desolate and unpromising exterior than any he had

yet passed. An old yellow curtain was closely drawn across the window upstairs, and the parlour shutters

were closed, but not fastened. The house was detached from any other, and, as it stood at an angle of a narrow

When we say that the surgeon hesitated, and walked a few paces beyond the house, before he could prevail

upon himself to lift the knocker, we say nothing that need raise a smile upon the face of the boldest reader.

The police of London were a very different body in that day; the isolated position of the suburbs, when the

rage for building and the progress of improvement had not yet begun to connect them with the main body of

the city and its environs, rendered many of them (and this in particular) a place of resort for the worst and

most depraved characters. Even the streets in the gayest parts of London were imperfectly lighted, at that

time; and such places as these, were left entirely to the mercy of the moon and stars. The chances of detecting

desperate characters, or of tracing them to their haunts, were thus rendered very few, and their offences

naturally increased in boldness, as the consciousness of comparative security became the more impressed

upon them by daily experience. Added to these considerations, it must be remembered that the young man

had spent some time in the public hospitals of the metropolis; and, although neither Burke nor Bishop had

then gained a horrible notoriety, his own observation might have suggested to him how easily the atrocities to

which the former has since given his name, might be committed. Be this as it may, whatever reflection made

him hesitate, he DID hesitate: but, being a young man of strong mind and great personal courage, it was only

A low whispering was audible, immediately afterwards, as if some person at the end of the passage were

conversing stealthily with another on the landing above. It was succeeded by the noise of a pair of heavy

boots upon the bare floor. The doorchain was softly unfastened; the door opened; and a tall, illfavoured

man, with black hair, and a face, as the surgeon often declared afterwards, as pale and haggard, as the

The surgeon did so, and the man having secured the door again, by the chain, led the way to a small back

'Too soon!' replied the man. The surgeon turned hastily round, with a gesture of astonishment not unmixed

'If you'll step in here, sir,' said the man, who had evidently noticed the action 'if you'll step in here, sir, you

The surgeon at once walked into the room. The man closed the door, and left him alone.

It was a little cold room, with no other furniture than two deal chairs, and a table of the same material. A

handful of fire, unguarded by any fender, was burning in the grate, which brought out the damp if it served no

more comfortable purpose, for the unwholesome moisture was stealing down the walls, in long sluglike

tracks. The window, which was broken and patched in many places, looked into a small enclosed piece of

ground, almost covered with water. Not a sound was to be heard, either within the house, or without. The

young surgeon sat down by the fireplace, to await the result of his first professional visit.

He had not remained in this position many minutes, when the noise of some approaching vehicle struck his

ear. It stopped; the streetdoor was opened; a low talking succeeded, accompanied with a shuffling noise of

footsteps, along the passage and on the stairs, as if two or three men were engaged in carrying some heavy

body to the room above. The creaking of the stairs, a few seconds afterwards, announced that the

newcomers having completed their task, whatever it was, were leaving the house. The door was again

Another five minutes had elapsed, and the surgeon had resolved to explore the house, in search of some one

to whom he might make his errand known, when the roomdoor opened, and his last night's visitor, dressed

in exactly the same manner, with the veil lowered as before, motioned him to advance. The singular height of

her form, coupled with the circumstance of her not speaking, caused the idea to pass across his brain for an

instant, that it might be a man disguised in woman's attire. The hysteric sobs which issued from beneath the

veil, and the convulsive attitude of grief of the whole figure, however, at once exposed the absurdity of the

The woman led the way upstairs to the front room, and paused at the door, to let him enter first. It was

scantily furnished with an old deal box, a few chairs, and a tent bedstead, without hangings or crossrails,

which was covered with a patchwork counterpane. The dim light admitted through the curtain which he had

noticed from the outside, rendered the objects in the room so indistinct, and communicated to all of them so

uniform a hue, that he did not, at first, perceive the object on which his eye at once rested when the woman

Stretched upon the bed, closely enveloped in a linen wrapper, and covered with blankets, lay a human form,

stiff and motionless. The head and face, which were those of a man, were uncovered, save by a bandage

which passed over the head and under the chin. The eyes were closed. The left arm lay heavily across the bed,

'Oh! don't say so, sir,' she exclaimed, with a burst of passion, amounting almost to frenzy. 'Oh! don't say so,

sir! I can't bear it! Men have been brought to life, before, when unskilful people have given them up for lost;

and men have died, who might have been restored, if proper means had been resorted to. Don't let him lie

here, sir, without one effort to save him! This very moment life may be passing away. Do try, sir, do, for

Heaven's sake!' And while speaking, she hurriedly chafed, first the forehead, and then the breast, of the

senseless form before her; and then, wildly beat the cold hands, which, when she ceased to hold them, fell

'It is of no use, my good woman,' said the surgeon, soothingly, as he withdrew his hand from the man's breast.

'I darkened the room on purpose,' said the woman, throwing herself before him as he rose to undraw it. 'Oh!

sir, have pity on me! If it can be of no use, and he is really dead, do not expose that form to other eyes than

'This man died no natural or easy death,' said the surgeon. 'I MUST see the body!' With a motion so sudden,

that the woman hardly knew that he had slipped from beside her, he tore open the curtain, admitted the full

'There has been violence here,' he said, pointing towards the body, and gazing intently on the face, from

which the black veil was now, for the first time, removed. In the excitement of a minute before, the female

had thrown off the bonnet and veil, and now stood with her eyes fixed upon him. Her features were those of a

woman about fifty, who had once been handsome. Sorrow and weeping had left traces upon them which not

time itself would ever have produced without their aid; her face was deadly pale; and there was a nervous

contortion of the lip, and an unnatural fire in her eye, which showed too plainly that her bodily and mental

'There has been violence here,' said the surgeon, preserving his searching glance.

'That I call God to witness he has,' said the woman, passionately; 'pitilessly, inhumanly murdered!'

The surgeon turned his face towards the bed, and bent over the body which now lay full in the light of the

window. The throat was swollen, and a livid mark encircled it. The truth flashed suddenly upon him.

'This is one of the men who were hanged this morning!' he exclaimed, turning away with a shudder.

It was true. A companion, equally guilty with himself, had been acquitted for want of evidence; and this man

had been left for death, and executed. To recount the circumstances of the case, at this distant period, must be

unnecessary, and might give pain to some persons still alive. The history was an everyday one. The mother

was a widow without friends or money, and had denied herself necessaries to bestow them on her orphan

boy. That boy, unmindful of her prayers, and forgetful of the sufferings she had endured for him incessant

anxiety of mind, and voluntary starvation of body had plunged into a career of dissipation and crime. And

this was the result; his own death by the hangman's hands, and his mother's shame, and incurable insanity.

For many years after this occurrence, and when profitable and arduous avocations would have led many men

to forget that such a miserable being existed, the young surgeon was a daily visitor at the side of the harmless

mad woman; not only soothing her by his presence and kindness, but alleviating the rigour of her condition

by pecuniary donations for her comfort and support, bestowed with no sparing hand. In the transient gleam of

recollection and consciousness which preceded her death, a prayer for his welfare and protection, as fervent

as mortal ever breathed, rose from the lips of this poor friendless creature. That prayer flew to Heaven, and

was heard. The blessings he was instrumental in conferring, have been repaid to him a thousandfold; but,

amid all the honours of rank and station which have since been heaped upon him, and which he has so well

earned, he can have no reminiscence more gratifying to his heart than that connected with The Black Veil.

Mr. Percy Noakes was a law student, inhabiting a set of chambers on the fourth floor, in one of those houses

in Gray'sinnsquare which command an extensive view of the gardens, and their usual adjuncts flaunting

nurserymaids, and townmade children, with parenthetical legs. Mr. Percy Noakes was what is generally

termed 'a devilish good fellow.' He had a large circle of acquaintance, and seldom dined at his own

expense. He used to talk politics to papas, flatter the vanity of mammas, do the amiable to their daughters,

make pleasure engagements with their sons, and romp with the younger branches. Like those paragons of

perfection, advertising footmen out of place, he was always 'willing to make himself generally useful.' If any

old lady, whose son was in India, gave a ball, Mr. Percy Noakes was master of the ceremonies; if any young

lady made a stolen match, Mr. Percy Noakes gave her away; if a juvenile wife presented her husband with a

blooming cherub, Mr. Percy Noakes was either godfather, or deputygodfather; and if any member of a

friend's family died, Mr. Percy Noakes was invariably to be seen in the second mourning coach, with a white

handkerchief to his eyes, sobbing to use his own appropriate and expressive description 'like winkin'!'

It may readily be imagined that these numerous avocations were rather calculated to interfere with Mr. Percy

Noakes's professional studies. Mr. Percy Noakes was perfectly aware of the fact, and had, therefore, after

mature reflection, made up his mind not to study at all a laudable determination, to which he adhered in the

most praiseworthy manner. His sittingroom presented a strange chaos of dressgloves, boxinggloves,

caricatures, albums, invitationcards, foils, cricketbats, cardboard drawings, paste, gum, and fifty other

miscellaneous articles, heaped together in the strangest confusion. He was always making something for

somebody, or planning some party of pleasure, which was his great FORTE. He invariably spoke with

'Splendid idea, 'pon my life!' soliloquised Mr. Percy Noakes, over his morning coffee, as his mind reverted to

a suggestion which had been thrown out on the previous night, by a lady at whose house he had spent the

'Yes, sir,' replied a dirty old woman with an inflamed countenance, emerging from the bedroom, with a barrel

'Oh! Mrs. Stubbs, I'm going out. If that tailor should call again, you'd better say you'd better say I'm out of

town, and shan't be back for a fortnight; and if that bootmaker should come, tell him I've lost his address, or

I'd have sent him that little amount. Mind he writes it down; and if Mr. Hardy should call you know Mr.

'Ah! the funny gentleman. If Mr. Hardy should call, say I've gone to Mrs. Taunton's about that waterparty.'

'And if any fellow calls, and says he's come about a steamer, tell him to be here at five o'clock this afternoon,

Mr. Percy Noakes brushed his hat, whisked the crumbs off his inexpressibles with a silk handkerchief, gave

the ends of his hair a persuasive roll round his forefinger, and sallied forth for Mrs. Taunton's domicile in

Great Marlboroughstreet, where she and her daughters occupied the upper part of a house. She was a good

looking widow of fifty, with the form of a giantess and the mind of a child. The pursuit of pleasure, and some

means of killing time, were the sole end of her existence. She doted on her daughters, who were as frivolous

A general exclamation of satisfaction hailed the arrival of Mr. Percy Noakes, who went through the ordinary

salutations, and threw himself into an easy chair near the ladies' worktable, with the ease of a regularly

established friend of the family. Mrs. Taunton was busily engaged in planting immense bright bows on every

part of a smart cap on which it was possible to stick one; Miss Emily Taunton was making a watchguard;

Miss Sophia was at the piano, practising a new song poetry by the young officer, or the police officer, or

'You good creature!' said Mrs. Taunton, addressing the gallant Percy. 'You really are a good soul! You've

'I should rather suspect I had,' replied Mr. Noakes, triumphantly. 'Now, come here, girls, and I'll tell you all

'Now,' continued Mr. Percy Noakes, 'it seems to me that the best way will be, to have a committee of ten, to

make all the arrangements, and manage the whole setout. Then, I propose that the expenses shall be paid by

'Excellent, indeed!' said Mrs. Taunton, who highly approved of this part of the arrangements.

'Then, my plan is, that each of these ten fellows shall have the power of asking five people. There must be a

meeting of the committee, at my chambers, to make all the arrangements, and these people shall be then

named; every member of the committee shall have the power of blackballing any one who is proposed; and

one black ball shall exclude that person. This will ensure our having a pleasant party, you know.'

'Yes, I think it'll do,' replied Mr. Percy Noakes, who was now quite in his element. 'I think it'll do. Then you

know we shall go down to the Nore, and back, and have a regular capital cold dinner laid out in the cabin

before we start, so that everything may be ready without any confusion; and we shall have the lunch laid out,

on deck, in those little teagardenlooking concerns by the paddleboxes I don't know what you call 'em.

Then, we shall hire a steamer expressly for our party, and a band, and have the deck chalked, and we shall be

able to dance quadrilles all day; and then, whoever we know that's musical, you know, why they'll make

themselves useful and agreeable; and and upon the whole, I really hope we shall have a glorious day, you

The announcement of these arrangements was received with the utmost enthusiasm. Mrs. Taunton, Emily,

'Well, but tell me, Percy,' said Mrs. Taunton, 'who are the ten gentlemen to be?'

'Oh! I know plenty of fellows who'll be delighted with the scheme,' replied Mr. Percy Noakes; 'of course we

'Mr. Hardy!' interrupted the servant, announcing a visitor. Miss Sophia and Miss Emily hastily assumed the

'How are you?' said a stout gentleman of about forty, pausing at the door in the attitude of an awkward

harlequin. This was Mr. Hardy, whom we have before described, on the authority of Mrs. Stubbs, as 'the

funny gentleman.' He was an AstleyCooperish Joe Miller a practical joker, immensely popular with

married ladies, and a general favourite with young men. He was always engaged in some pleasure excursion

or other, and delighted in getting somebody into a scrape on such occasions. He could sing comic songs,

imitate hackneycoachmen and fowls, play airs on his chin, and execute concertos on the Jews'harp. He

always eat and drank most immoderately, and was the bosom friend of Mr. Percy Noakes. He had a red face,

'How ARE you?' said this worthy, laughing, as if it were the finest joke in the world to make a morning call,

and shaking hands with the ladies with as much vehemence as if their arms had been so many pumphandles.

'You're just the very man I wanted,' said Mr. Percy Noakes, who proceeded to explain the cause of his being

'Ha! ha! ha!' shouted Hardy, after hearing the statement, and receiving a detailed account of the proposed

excursion. 'Oh, capital! glorious! What a day it will be! what fun! But, I say, when are you going to begin

Writing materials were laid before Mr. Percy Noakes, and the names of the different members of the

committee were agreed on, after as much discussion between him and Mr. Hardy as if the fate of nations had

depended on their appointment. It was then agreed that a meeting should take place at Mr. Percy Noakes's

chambers on the ensuing Wednesday evening at eight o'clock, and the visitors departed.

Wednesday evening arrived; eight o'clock came, and eight members of the committee were punctual in their

attendance. Mr. Loggins, the solicitor, of Boswellcourt, sent an excuse, and Mr. Samuel Briggs, the ditto of

Furnival's Inn, sent his brother: much to his (the brother's) satisfaction, and greatly to the discomfiture of Mr.

Percy Noakes. Between the Briggses and the Tauntons there existed a degree of implacable hatred, quite

unprecedented. The animosity between the Montagues and Capulets, was nothing to that which prevailed

between these two illustrious houses. Mrs. Briggs was a widow, with three daughters and two sons; Mr.

Samuel, the eldest, was an attorney, and Mr. Alexander, the youngest, was under articles to his brother. They

resided in Portlandstreet, Oxford street, and moved in the same orbit as the Tauntons hence their mutual

dislike. If the Miss Briggses appeared in smart bonnets, the Miss Tauntons eclipsed them with smarter. If

Mrs. Taunton appeared in a cap of all the hues of the rainbow, Mrs. Briggs forthwith mounted a toque, with

all the patterns of the kaleidoscope. If Miss Sophia Taunton learnt a new song, two of the Miss Briggses came

out with a new duet. The Tauntons had once gained a temporary triumph with the assistance of a harp, but the

Briggses brought three guitars into the field, and effectually routed the enemy. There was no end to the

Now, as Mr. Samuel Briggs was a mere machine, a sort of selfacting legal walkingstick; and as the party

was known to have originated, however remotely, with Mrs. Taunton, the female branches of the Briggs

family had arranged that Mr. Alexander should attend, instead of his brother; and as the said Mr. Alexander

was deservedly celebrated for possessing all the pertinacity of a bankruptcycourt attorney, combined with

the obstinacy of that useful animal which browses on the thistle, he required but little tuition. He was

especially enjoined to make himself as disagreeable as possible; and, above all, to blackball the Tauntons at

The proceedings of the evening were opened by Mr. Percy Noakes. After successfully urging on the

gentlemen present the propriety of their mixing some brandyandwater, he briefly stated the object of the

meeting, and concluded by observing that the first step must be the selection of a chairman, necessarily

possessing some arbitrary he trusted not unconstitutional powers, to whom the personal direction of the

whole of the arrangements (subject to the approval of the committee) should be confided. A pale young

gentleman, in a green stock and spectacles of the same, a member of the honourable society of the Inner

Temple, immediately rose for the purpose of proposing Mr. Percy Noakes. He had known him long, and this

he would say, that a more honourable, a more excellent, or a better hearted fellow, never existed. (Hear,

hear!) The young gentleman, who was a member of a debating society, took this opportunity of entering into

an examination of the state of the English law, from the days of William the Conqueror down to the present

period; he briefly adverted to the code established by the ancient Druids; slightly glanced at the principles

laid down by the Athenian lawgivers; and concluded with a most glowing eulogium on picnics and

Mr. Alexander Briggs opposed the motion. He had the highest esteem for Mr. Percy Noakes as an individual,

but he did consider that he ought not to be intrusted with these immense powers (oh, oh!) He believed

that in the proposed capacity Mr. Percy Noakes would not act fairly, impartially, or honourably; but he

begged it to be distinctly understood, that he said this, without the slightest personal disrespect. Mr. Hardy

defended his honourable friend, in a voice rendered partially unintelligible by emotion and brandy

andwater. The proposition was put to the vote, and there appearing to be only one dissentient voice, Mr.

The business of the meeting now proceeded with rapidity. The chairman delivered in his estimate of the

probable expense of the excursion, and every one present subscribed his portion thereof. The question was

put that 'The Endeavour' be hired for the occasion; Mr. Alexander Briggs moved as an amendment, that the

word 'Fly' be substituted for the word 'Endeavour'; but after some debate consented to withdraw his

opposition. The important ceremony of balloting then commenced. A teacaddy was placed on a table in a

dark corner of the apartment, and every one was provided with two backgammon men, one black and one

The chairman with great solemnity then read the following list of the guests whom he proposed to

introduce: Mrs. Taunton and two daughters, Mr. Wizzle, Mr. Simson. The names were respectively balloted

for, and Mrs. Taunton and her daughters were declared to be blackballed. Mr. Percy Noakes and Mr. Hardy

'It is,' replied Alexander, delivering in the following: 'Mrs. Briggs and three daughters, Mr. Samuel Briggs.'

The previous ceremony was repeated, and Mrs. Briggs and three daughters were declared to be blackballed.

Mr. Alexander Briggs looked rather foolish, and the remainder of the company appeared somewhat overawed

The balloting proceeded; but, one little circumstance which Mr. Percy Noakes had not originally foreseen,

prevented the system from working quite as well as he had anticipated. Everybody was black balled. Mr.

Alexander Briggs, by way of retaliation, exercised his power of exclusion in every instance, and the result

was, that after three hours had been consumed in hard balloting, the names of only three gentlemen were

found to have been agreed to. In this dilemma what was to be done? either the whole plan must fall to the

ground, or a compromise must be effected. The latter alternative was preferable; and Mr. Percy Noakes

therefore proposed that the form of balloting should be dispensed with, and that every gentleman should

merely be required to state whom he intended to bring. The proposal was acceded to; the Tauntons and the

The next Wednesday was fixed for the eventful day, and it was unanimously resolved that every member of

the committee should wear a piece of blue sarsenet ribbon round his left arm. It appeared from the statement

of Mr. Percy Noakes, that the boat belonged to the General Steam Navigation Company, and was then lying

off the Customhouse; and, as he proposed that the dinner and wines should be provided by an eminent city

purveyor, it was arranged that Mr. Percy Noakes should be on board by seven o'clock to superintend the

arrangements, and that the remaining members of the committee, together with the company generally,

should be expected to join her by nine o'clock. More brandyandwater was despatched; several speeches

were made by the different law students present; thanks were voted to the chairman; and the meeting

The weather had been beautiful up to this period, and beautiful it continued to be. Sunday passed over, and

Mr. Percy Noakes became unusually fidgety rushing, constantly, to and from the Steam Packet Wharf, to

the astonishment of the clerks, and the great emolument of the Holborn cabmen. Tuesday arrived, and the

anxiety of Mr. Percy Noakes knew no bounds. He was every instant running to the window, to look out for

clouds; and Mr. Hardy astonished the whole square by practising a new comic song for the occasion, in the

Uneasy were the slumbers of Mr. Percy Noakes that night; he tossed and tumbled about, and had confused

dreams of steamers starting off, and gigantic clocks with the hands pointing to a quarterpast nine, and the

ugly face of Mr. Alexander Briggs looking over the boat's side, and grinning, as if in derision of his fruitless

attempts to move. He made a violent effort to get on board, and awoke. The bright sun was shining cheerfully

into the bedroom, and Mr. Percy Noakes started up for his watch, in the dreadful expectation of finding his

It was just five o'clock. He calculated the time he should be a good halfhour dressing himself; and as it

was a lovely morning, and the tide would be then running down, he would walk leisurely to Strandlane, and

He dressed himself, took a hasty apology for a breakfast, and sallied forth. The streets looked as lonely and

deserted as if they had been crowded, overnight, for the last time. Here and there, an early apprentice, with

quenchedlooking sleepy eyes, was taking down the shutters of a shop; and a policeman or milkwoman

might occasionally be seen pacing slowly along; but the servants had not yet begun to clean the doors, or

light the kitchen fires, and London looked the picture of desolation. At the corner of a bystreet, near

Templebar, was stationed a 'streetbreakfast.' The coffee was boiling over a charcoal fire, and large slices of

bread and butter were piled one upon the other, like deals in a timberyard. The company were seated on a

form, which, with a view both to security and comfort, was placed against a neighbouring wall. Two young

men, whose uproarious mirth and disordered dress bespoke the conviviality of the preceding evening, were

treating three 'ladies' and an Irish labourer. A little sweep was standing at a short distance, casting a longing

eye at the tempting delicacies; and a policeman was watching the group from the opposite side of the street.

The wan looks and gaudy finery of the thinlyclad women contrasted as strangely with the gay sunlight, as

did their forced merriment with the boisterous hilarity of the two young men, who, now and then, varied their

Mr. Percy Noakes walked briskly by, and when he turned down Strand lane, and caught a glimpse of the

glistening water, he thought he had never felt so important or so happy in his life.

'Boat, sir?' cried one of the three watermen who were mopping out their boats, and all whistling. 'Boat, sir?'

'No,' replied Mr. Percy Noakes, rather sharply; for the inquiry was not made in a manner at all suitable to his

'Would you prefer a wessel, sir?' inquired another, to the infinite delight of the 'Jackinthewater.'

'Did you want to be put on board a steamer, sir?' inquired an old firemanwaterman, very confidentially. He

was dressed in a faded red suit, just the colour of the cover of a very old Courtguide.

'Endeavour!' cried the man who had convulsed the 'Jack' before. 'Vy, I see the Endeavour go up half an hour

'So did I,' said another; 'and I should think she'd gone down by this time, for she's a precious sight too full of

Mr. Percy Noakes affected to disregard these representations, and stepped into the boat, which the old man,

by dint of scrambling, and shoving, and grating, had brought up to the causeway. 'Shove her off!' cried Mr.

Percy Noakes, and away the boat glided down the river; Mr. Percy Noakes seated on the recently mopped

seat, and the watermen at the stairs offering to bet him any reasonable sum that he'd never reach the

'Here she is, by Jove!' said the delighted Percy, as they ran alongside the Endeavour.

'Hold hard!' cried the steward over the side, and Mr. Percy Noakes jumped on board.

'Hope you will find everything as you wished, sir. She looks uncommon well this morning.'

'She does, indeed,' replied the manager, in a state of ecstasy which it is impossible to describe. The deck was

scrubbed, and the seats were scrubbed, and there was a bench for the band, and a place for dancing, and a pile

of campstools, and an awning; and then Mr. Percy Noakes bustled down below, and there were the

pastrycook's men, and the steward's wife, laying out the dinner on two tables the whole length of the cabin;

and then Mr. Percy Noakes took off his coat and rushed backwards and forwards, doing nothing, but quite

convinced he was assisting everybody; and the steward's wife laughed till she cried, and Mr. Percy Noakes

panted with the violence of his exertions. And then the bell at Londonbridge wharf rang; and a Margate boat

was just starting; and a Gravesend boat was just starting, and people shouted, and porters ran down the steps

with luggage that would crush any men but porters; and sloping boards, with bits of wood nailed on them,

were placed between the outside boat and the inside boat; and the passengers ran along them, and looked like

so many fowls coming out of an area; and then, the bell ceased, and the boards were taken away, and the

boats started, and the whole scene was one of the most delightful bustle and confusion.

The time wore on; halfpast eight o'clock arrived; the pastry cook's men went ashore; the dinner was

completely laid out; and Mr. Percy Noakes locked the principal cabin, and put the key in his pocket, in order

that it might be suddenly disclosed, in all its magnificence, to the eyes of the astonished company. The band

Ten minutes to nine, and the committee embarked in a body. There was Mr. Hardy, in a blue jacket and

waistcoat, white trousers, silk stockings, and pumps in full aquatic costume, with a straw hat on his head,

and an immense telescope under his arm; and there was the young gentleman with the green spectacles, in

nankeen inexplicables, with a ditto waistcoat and bright buttons, like the pictures of Paul not the saint, but

he of Virginia notoriety. The remainder of the committee, dressed in white hats, light jackets, waistcoats, and

Nine o'clock struck, and the company arrived in shoals. Mr. Samuel Briggs, Mrs. Briggs, and the Misses

Briggs, made their appearance in a smart private wherry. The three guitars, in their respective dark green

cases, were carefully stowed away in the bottom of the boat, accompanied by two immense portfolios of

music, which it would take at least a week's incessant playing to get through. The Tauntons arrived at the

same moment with more music, and a lion a gentleman with a bass voice and an incipient red moustache.

The colours of the Taunton party were pink; those of the Briggses a light blue. The Tauntons had artificial

flowers in their bonnets; here the Briggses gained a decided advantage they wore feathers.

'How d'ye do, dear?' said the Misses Briggs to the Misses Taunton. (The word 'dear' among girls is frequently

'Quite well, thank you, dear,' replied the Misses Taunton to the Misses Briggs; and then, there was such a

kissing, and congratulating, and shaking of hands, as might have induced one to suppose that the two families

were the best friends in the world, instead of each wishing the other overboard, as they most sincerely did.

Mr. Percy Noakes received the visitors, and bowed to the strange gentleman, as if he should like to know who

he was. This was just what Mrs. Taunton wanted. Here was an opportunity to astonish the Briggses.

'Oh! I beg your pardon,' said the general of the Taunton party, with a careless air. 'Captain Helves Mr.

Mr. Percy Noakes bowed very low; the gallant captain did the same with all due ferocity, and the Briggses

'Our friend, Mr. Wizzle, being unfortunately prevented from coming,' resumed Mrs. Taunton, 'I did myself

the pleasure of bringing the captain, whose musical talents I knew would be a great acquisition.'

'In the name of the committee I have to thank you for doing so, and to offer you welcome, sir,' replied Percy.

(Here the scraping was renewed.) 'But pray be seated won't you walk aft? Captain, will you conduct Miss

'Where could they have picked up that military man?' inquired Mrs. Briggs of Miss Kate Briggs, as they

'I can't imagine,' replied Miss Kate, bursting with vexation; for the very fierce air with which the gallant

captain regarded the company, had impressed her with a high sense of his importance.

Boat after boat came alongside, and guest after guest arrived. The invites had been excellently arranged: Mr.

Percy Noakes having considered it as important that the number of young men should exactly tally with that

of the young ladies, as that the quantity of knives on board should be in precise proportion to the forks.

'Now, is every one on board?' inquired Mr. Percy Noakes. The committee (who, with their bits of blue ribbon,

looked as if they were all going to be bled) bustled about to ascertain the fact, and reported that they might

'Go on!' echoed the boy, who was stationed over the hatchway to pass the directions down to the engineer;

and away went the vessel with that agreeable noise which is peculiar to steamers, and which is composed of a

'Hoioioioioioioiii!' shouted halfadozen voices from a boat, a quarter of a mile astern.

'Noakes,' exclaimed Hardy, who had been looking at every object far and near, through the large telescope,

'I say, it would be a good joke to pretend not to see 'em, wouldn't it?' suggested Hardy, to the immense delight

of the company generally. A council of war was hastily held, and it was resolved that the newcomers should

be taken on board, on Mr. Hardy solemnly pledging himself to tease the children during the whole of the day.

'Stop her!' repeated the boy; whizz went the steam, and all the young ladies, as in duty bound, screamed in

concert. They were only appeased by the assurance of the martial Helves, that the escape of steam consequent

Two men ran to the side; and after some shouting, and swearing, and angling for the wherry with a

boathook, Mr. Fleetwood, and Mrs. Fleetwood, and Master Fleetwood, and Mr. Wakefield, and Mrs.

Wakefield, and Miss Wakefield, were safely deposited on the deck. The girl was about six years old, the boy

about four; the former was dressed in a white frock with a pink sash and dog'seared looking little spencer:

a straw bonnet and green veil, six inches by three and a half; the latter, was attired for the occasion in a

nankeen frock, between the bottom of which, and the top of his plaid socks, a considerable portion of two

small mottled legs was discernible. He had a light blue cap with a gold band and tassel on his head, and a

damp piece of gingerbread in his hand, with which he had slightly embossed his countenance.

The boat once more started off; the band played 'Off she goes:' the major part of the company conversed

cheerfully in groups; and the old gentlemen walked up and down the deck in pairs, as perseveringly and

gravely as if they were doing a match against time for an immense stake. They ran briskly down the Pool; the

gentlemen pointed out the Docks, the Thames Policeoffice, and other elegant public edifices; and the young

ladies exhibited a proper display of horror at the appearance of the coalwhippers and ballastheavers. Mr.

Hardy told stories to the married ladies, at which they laughed very much in their pockethandkerchiefs, and

hit him on the knuckles with their fans, declaring him to be 'a naughty man a shocking creature' and so

forth; and Captain Helves gave slight descriptions of battles and duels, with a most bloodthirsty air, which

made him the admiration of the women, and the envy of the men. Quadrilling commenced; Captain Helves

danced one set with Miss Emily Taunton, and another set with Miss Sophia Taunton. Mrs. Taunton was in

ecstasies. The victory appeared to be complete; but alas! the inconstancy of man! Having performed this

necessary duty, he attached himself solely to Miss Julia Briggs, with whom he danced no less than three sets

consecutively, and from whose side he evinced no intention of stirring for the remainder of the day.

Mr. Hardy, having played one or two very brilliant fantasias on the Jews'harp, and having frequently

repeated the exquisitely amusing joke of slily chalking a large cross on the back of some member of the

committee, Mr. Percy Noakes expressed his hope that some of their musical friends would oblige the

'Perhaps,' he said in a very insinuating manner, 'Captain Helves will oblige us?' Mrs. Taunton's countenance

lighted up, for the captain only sang duets, and couldn't sing them with anybody but one of her daughters.

'Oh! not the slightest,' returned the young lady, in a tone which clearly showed she had the greatest possible

'Shall I accompany you, dear?' inquired one of the Miss Briggses, with the bland intention of spoiling the

'Very much obliged to you, Miss Briggs,' sharply retorted Mrs. Taunton, who saw through the manoeuvre;

'Perhaps,' said Mrs. Taunton, reddening, for she guessed the tenor of the observation, though she had not

heard it clearly 'Perhaps it would be as well for some people, if their voices were not quite so audible as

'And, perhaps, if gentlemen who are kidnapped to pay attention to some persons' daughters, had not sufficient

discernment to pay attention to other persons' daughters,' returned Mrs. Briggs, 'some persons would not be

so ready to display that illtemper which, thank God, distinguishes them from other persons.'

'Hush! hush!' interrupted Mr. Percy Noakes, who was one of the very few by whom this dialogue had been

After a great deal of preparatory crowing and humming, the captain began the following duet from the opera

of 'Paul and Virginia,' in that grunting tone in which a man gets down, Heaven knows where, without the

remotest chance of ever getting up again. This, in private circles, is frequently designated 'a bass voice.'

'See (sung the captain) from ocean rising Bright flames the orb of day. From yon groove, the varied

Here, the singer was interrupted by varied cries of the most dreadful description, proceeding from some grove

Mr. Fleetwood, accompanied by several gentlemen, here rushed to the quarter from whence the noise

proceeded, and an exclamation of horror burst from the company; the general impression being, that the little

'What is the matter?' shouted the agonised father, as he returned with the child in his arms.

'What is the matter, dear?' inquired the father once more hastily stripping off the nankeen frock, for the

purpose of ascertaining whether the child had one bone which was not smashed to pieces.

'Oh! he's been making such dreadful faces at me,' cried the boy, relapsing into convulsions at the bare

'Oh! him!' replied the child, pointing at Hardy, who affected to be the most concerned of the whole group.

The real state of the case at once flashed upon the minds of all present, with the exception of the Fleetwoods

and the Wakefields. The facetious Hardy, in fulfilment of his promise, had watched the child to a remote part

of the vessel, and, suddenly appearing before him with the most awful contortions of visage, had produced

his paroxysm of terror. Of course, he now observed that it was hardly necessary for him to deny the

accusation; and the unfortunate little victim was accordingly led below, after receiving sundry thumps on the

This little interruption having been adjusted, the captain resumed, and Miss Emily chimed in, in due course.

The duet was loudly applauded, and, certainly, the perfect independence of the parties deserved great

commendation. Miss Emily sung her part, without the slightest reference to the captain; and the captain sang

so loud, that he had not the slightest idea what was being done by his partner. After having gone through the

last few eighteen or nineteen bars by himself, therefore, he acknowledged the plaudits of the circle with that

air of selfdenial which men usually assume when they think they have done something to astonish the

'Now,' said Mr. Percy Noakes, who had just ascended from the fore cabin, where he had been busily

engaged in decanting the wine, 'if the Misses Briggs will oblige us with something before dinner, I am sure

One of those hums of admiration followed the suggestion, which one frequently hears in society, when

nobody has the most distant notion what he is expressing his approval of. The three Misses Briggs looked

modestly at their mamma, and the mamma looked approvingly at her daughters, and Mrs. Taunton looked

scornfully at all of them. The Misses Briggs asked for their guitars, and several gentlemen seriously damaged

the cases in their anxiety to present them. Then, there was a very interesting production of three little keys for

the aforesaid cases, and a melodramatic expression of horror at finding a string broken; and a vast deal of

screwing and tightening, and winding, and tuning, during which Mrs. Briggs expatiated to those near her on

the immense difficulty of playing a guitar, and hinted at the wondrous proficiency of her daughters in that

mystic art. Mrs. Taunton whispered to a neighbour that it was 'quite sickening!' and the Misses Taunton

At length, the Misses Briggs began in real earnest. It was a new Spanish composition, for three voices and

three guitars. The effect was electrical. All eyes were turned upon the captain, who was reported to have once

passed through Spain with his regiment, and who must be well acquainted with the national music. He was in

raptures. This was sufficient; the trio was encored; the applause was universal; and never had the Tauntons

'Pretty! isn't it, sir?' inquired Mr. Samuel Briggs, with the air of a selfsatisfied showman. Bythebye, these

were the first words he had been heard to utter since he left Boswellcourt the evening before.

'Delightful!' returned the captain, with a flourish, and a military cough; 'delightful!'

'Sweet instrument!' said an old gentleman with a bald head, who had been trying all the morning to look

through a telescope, inside the glass of which Mr. Hardy had fixed a large black wafer.

'Did YOU ever hear a tomtom, sir?' sternly inquired the captain, who lost no opportunity of showing off his

'When I was in the East Indies,' replied the captain (here was a discovery he had been in the East Indies!)

'when I was in the East Indies, I was once stopping a few thousand miles up the country, on a visit at the

house of a very particular friend of mine, Ram Chowdar Doss Azuph Al Bowlar a devilish pleasant fellow.

As we were enjoying our hookahs, one evening, in the cool verandah in front of his villa, we were rather

surprised by the sudden appearance of thirtyfour of his Kitmagars (for he had rather a large establishment

there), accompanied by an equal number of Consumars, approaching the house with a threatening aspect,

' Started up and drew a pistol. "Helves," said he, "my boy," he always called me, my boy "Helves," said

he, "do you hear that tomtom?" "I do," said I. His countenance, which before was pale, assumed a most

frightful appearance; his whole visage was distorted, and his frame shaken by violent emotions. "Do you see

that gumgum?" said he. "No," said I, staring about me. "You don't?" said he. "No, I'll be damned if I do,"

said I; "and what's more, I don't know what a gumgum is," said I. I really thought the Ram would have

dropped. He drew me aside, and with an expression of agony I shall never forget, said in a low whisper '

'Will you allow me?' said the captain, immediately suiting the action to the word, and escorting Miss Julia

'What an extraordinary circumstance!' ejaculated the same old gentleman, preserving his listening attitude.

'What a singular name!' exclaimed the gentlemen, rather confused by the coolness of the whole affair.

'I wish he had finished the story,' said an old lady. 'I wonder what a gumgum really is?'

'By Jove!' exclaimed Hardy, who until now had been lost in utter amazement, 'I don't know what it may be in

India, but in England I think a gumgum has very much the same meaning as a humbug.'

'How illiberal! how envious!' cried everybody, as they made for the cabin, fully impressed with a belief in the

captain's amazing adventures. Helves was the sole lion for the remainder of the day impudence and the

The party had by this time reached their destination, and put about on their return home. The wind, which had

been with them the whole day, was now directly in their teeth; the weather had become gradually more and

more overcast; and the sky, water, and shore, were all of that dull, heavy, uniform leadcolour, which house

painters daub in the first instance over a streetdoor which is gradually approaching a state of convalescence.

It had been 'spitting' with rain for the last halfhour, and now began to pour in good earnest. The wind was

freshening very fast, and the waterman at the wheel had unequivocally expressed his opinion that there would

shortly be a squall. A slight emotion on the part of the vessel, now and then, seemed to suggest the possibility

of its pitching to a very uncomfortable extent in the event of its blowing harder; and every timber began to

creak, as if the boat were an overladen clothesbasket. Seasickness, however, is like a belief in ghosts

every one entertains some misgivings on the subject, but few will acknowledge any. The majority of the

company, therefore, endeavoured to look peculiarly happy, feeling all the while especially miserable.

'Don't it rain?' inquired the old gentleman before noticed, when, by dint of squeezing and jamming, they were

'I think it does a little,' replied Mr. Percy Noakes, who could hardly hear himself speak, in consequence of

'No, I don't think it does,' responded Hardy, sincerely wishing that he could persuade himself that it did not;

'No doubt of it!' said the remainder of the company, whose attention was now pretty well engrossed by the

The throbbing motion of the engine was but too perceptible. There was a large, substantial, cold boiled leg of

mutton, at the bottom of the table, shaking like blancmange; a previously hearty sirloin of beef looked as if it

had been suddenly seized with the palsy; and some tongues, which were placed on dishes rather too large for

them, went through the most surprising evolutions; darting from side to side, and from end to end, like a fly

in an inverted wine glass. Then, the sweets shook and trembled, till it was quite impossible to help them,

and people gave up the attempt in despair; and the pigeonpies looked as if the birds, whose legs were stuck

outside, were trying to get them in. The table vibrated and started like a feverish pulse, and the very legs were

convulsed everything was shaking and jarring. The beams in the roof of the cabin seemed as if they were

put there for the sole purpose of giving people headaches, and several elderly gentlemen became ill

tempered in consequence. As fast as the steward put the fireirons up, they WOULD fall down again; and the

more the ladies and gentlemen tried to sit comfortably on their seats, the more the seats seemed to slide away

from the ladies and gentlemen. Several ominous demands were made for small glasses of brandy; the

countenances of the company gradually underwent most extraordinary changes; one gentleman was observed

suddenly to rush from table without the slightest ostensible reason, and dart up the steps with incredible

swiftness: thereby greatly damaging both himself and the steward, who happened to be coming down at the

The cloth was removed; the dessert was laid on the table; and the glasses were filled. The motion of the boat

increased; several members of the party began to feel rather vague and misty, and looked as if they had only

just got up. The young gentleman with the spectacles, who had been in a fluctuating state for some time at

one moment bright, and at another dismal, like a revolving light on the seacoast rashly announced his

wish to propose a toast. After several ineffectual attempts to preserve his perpendicular, the young gentleman,

having managed to hook himself to the centre leg of the table with his left hand, proceeded as follows:

'Ladies and gentlemen. A gentleman is among us I may say a stranger (here some painful thought seemed

to strike the orator; he paused, and looked extremely odd) whose talents, whose travels, whose cheerfulness

'I beg your pardon, Edkins,' hastily interrupted Mr. Percy Noakes, 'Hardy, what's the matter?'

'Nothing,' replied the 'funny gentleman,' who had just life enough left to utter two consecutive syllables.

'No!' replied Hardy in a tone of great indignation, and looking as comfortable as Templebar in a Scotch

'No, I will NOT.' This was said with a most determined air, and in a voice which might have been taken for

'I beg your pardon, Edkins,' said the courteous Percy; 'I thought our friend was ill. Pray go on.'

'I beg your pardon, sir,' said the steward, running up to Mr. Percy Noakes, 'I beg your pardon, sir, but the

gentleman as just went on deck him with the green spectacles is uncommon bad, to be sure; and the

young man as played the wiolin says, that unless he has some brandy he can't answer for the consequences.

He says he has a wife and two children, whose werry subsistence depends on his breaking a wessel, and he

expects to do so every moment. The flageolet's been werry ill, but he's better, only he's in a dreadful

All disguise was now useless; the company staggered on deck; the gentlemen tried to see nothing but the

clouds; and the ladies, muffled up in such shawls and cloaks as they had brought with them, lay about on the

seats, and under the seats, in the most wretched condition. Never was such a blowing, and raining, and

pitching, and tossing, endured by any pleasure party before. Several remonstrances were sent down below, on

the subject of Master Fleetwood, but they were totally unheeded in consequence of the indisposition of his

natural protectors. That interesting child screamed at the top of his voice, until he had no voice left to scream

with; and then, Miss Wakefield began, and screamed for the remainder of the passage.

Mr. Hardy was observed, some hours afterwards, in an attitude which induced his friends to suppose that he

was busily engaged in contemplating the beauties of the deep; they only regretted that his taste for the

picturesque should lead him to remain so long in a position, very injurious at all times, but especially so, to

The party arrived off the Customhouse at about two o'clock on the Thursday morning dispirited and worn

out. The Tauntons were too ill to quarrel with the Briggses, and the Briggses were too wretched to annoy the

Tauntons. One of the guitarcases was lost on its passage to a hackneycoach, and Mrs. Briggs has not

scrupled to state that the Tauntons bribed a porter to throw it down an area. Mr. Alexander Briggs opposes

vote by ballot he says from personal experience of its inefficacy; and Mr. Samuel Briggs, whenever he is

asked to express his sentiments on the point, says he has no opinion on that or any other subject.

Mr. Edkins the young gentleman in the green spectacles makes a speech on every occasion on which a

speech can possibly be made: the eloquence of which can only be equalled by its length. In the event of his

not being previously appointed to a judgeship, it is probable that he will practise as a barrister in the New

Captain Helves continued his attention to Miss Julia Briggs, whom he might possibly have espoused, if it had

not unfortunately happened that Mr. Samuel arrested him, in the way of business, pursuant to instructions

received from Messrs. Scroggins and Payne, whose towndebts the gallant captain had condescended to

collect, but whose accounts, with the indiscretion sometimes peculiar to military minds, he had omitted to

keep with that dull accuracy which custom has rendered necessary. Mrs. Taunton complains that she has been

much deceived in him. He introduced himself to the family on board a Gravesend steampacket, and

The little town of Great Winglebury is exactly fortytwo miles and threequarters from Hyde Park corner. It

has a long, straggling, quiet Highstreet, with a great black and white clock at a small red Townhall,

halfway up a marketplace a cage an assembly room a church a bridge a chapel a theatre a

library an inn a pump and a Postoffice. Tradition tells of a 'Little Winglebury,' down some crossroad

about two miles off; and, as a square mass of dirty paper, supposed to have been originally intended for a

letter, with certain tremulous characters inscribed thereon, in which a lively imagination might trace a remote

resemblance to the word 'Little,' was once stuck up to be owned in the sunny window of the Great

Winglebury Postoffice, from which it only disappeared when it fell to pieces with dust and extreme old age,

there would appear to be some foundation for the legend. Common belief is inclined to bestow the name upon

a little hole at the end of a muddy lane about a couple of miles long, colonised by one wheelwright, four

paupers, and a beershop; but, even this authority, slight as it is, must be regarded with extreme suspicion,

inasmuch as the inhabitants of the hole aforesaid, concur in opining that it never had any name at all, from the

The Winglebury Arms, in the centre of the Highstreet, opposite the small building with the big clock, is the

principal inn of Great Winglebury the commercialinn, postinghouse, and exciseoffice; the 'Blue' house

at every election, and the judges' house at every assizes. It is the headquarters of the Gentlemen's Whist

Club of Winglebury Blues (so called in opposition to the Gentlemen's Whist Club of Winglebury Buffs, held

at the other house, a little further down): and whenever a juggler, or waxwork man, or concertgiver, takes

Great Winglebury in his circuit, it is immediately placarded all over the town that Mr. Soandso, 'trusting to

that liberal support which the inhabitants of Great Winglebury have long been so liberal in bestowing, has at

a great expense engaged the elegant and commodious assemblyrooms, attached to the Winglebury Arms.'

The house is a large one, with a red brick and stone front; a pretty spacious hall, ornamented with evergreen

plants, terminates in a perspective view of the bar, and a glass case, in which are displayed a choice variety of

delicacies ready for dressing, to catch the eye of a newcomer the moment he enters, and excite his appetite

to the highest possible pitch. Opposite doors lead to the 'coffee' and 'commercial' rooms; and a great wide,

rambling staircase, three stairs and a landing four stairs and another landing one step and another

landing halfadozen stairs and another landing and so on conducts to galleries of bedrooms, and

labyrinths of sittingrooms, denominated 'private,' where you may enjoy yourself, as privately as you can in

any place where some bewildered being walks into your room every five minutes, by mistake, and then walks

Such is the Winglebury Arms, at this day, and such was the Winglebury Arms some time since no matter

when two or three minutes before the arrival of the London stage. Four horses with cloths on change for a

coach were standing quietly at the corner of the yard surrounded by a listless group of postboys in shiny

hats and smockfrocks, engaged in discussing the merits of the cattle; half a dozen ragged boys were

standing a little apart, listening with evident interest to the conversation of these worthies; and a few loungers

The day was hot and sunny, the town in the zenith of its dulness, and with the exception of these few idlers,

not a living creature was to be seen. Suddenly, the loud notes of a keybugle broke the monotonous stillness

of the street; in came the coach, rattling over the uneven paving with a noise startling enough to stop even the

largefaced clock itself. Down got the outsides, up went the windows in all directions, out came the waiters,

up started the ostlers, and the loungers, and the postboys, and the ragged boys, as if they were electrified

unstrapping, and unchaining, and unbuckling, and dragging willing horses out, and forcing reluctant horses

in, and making a most exhilarating bustle. 'Lady inside, here!' said the guard. 'Please to alight, ma'am,' said

the waiter. 'Private sittingroom?' interrogated the lady. 'Certainly, ma'am,' responded the chambermaid.

'Nothing but these 'ere trunks, ma'am?' inquired the guard. 'Nothing more,' replied the lady. Up got the

outsides again, and the guard, and the coachman; off came the cloths, with a jerk; 'All right,' was the cry; and

away they went. The loungers lingered a minute or two in the road, watching the coach until it turned the

corner, and then loitered away one by one. The street was clear again, and the town, by contrast, quieter than

'Letter just been left for the gentleman in number nineteen. Boots at the Lion left it. No answer.'

'Letter for you, sir,' said Thomas, depositing the letter on number nineteen's table.

'For me?' said number nineteen, turning from the window, out of which he had been surveying the scene just

'Yes, sir,' (waiters always speak in hints, and never utter complete sentences,) 'yes, sir, Boots at the

Lion, sir, Bar, sir, Missis said number nineteen, sir Alexander Trott, Esq., sir? Your card at the bar,

'My name IS Trott,' replied number nineteen, breaking the seal. 'You may go, waiter.' The waiter pulled down

the windowblind, and then pulled it up again for a regular waiter must do something before he leaves the

room adjusted the glasses on the sideboard, brushed a place that was NOT dusty, rubbed his hands very

There was, evidently, something in the contents of the letter, of a nature, if not wholly unexpected, certainly

extremely disagreeable. Mr. Alexander Trott laid it down, and took it up again, and walked about the room on

particular squares of the carpet, and even attempted, though unsuccessfully, to whistle an air. It wouldn't do.

'Sir. Immediately on discovering your intentions, I left our countinghouse, and followed you. I know the

'I have no friend here, just now, on whose secrecy I can rely. This shall be no obstacle to my revenge. Neither

shall Emily Brown be exposed to the mercenary solicitations of a scoundrel, odious in her eyes, and

contemptible in everybody else's: nor will I tamely submit to the clandestine attacks of a base

'Sir. From Great Winglebury church, a footpath leads through four meadows to a retired spot known to the

townspeople as Stiffun's Acre.' [Mr. Trott shuddered.] 'I shall be waiting there alone, at twenty minutes

before six o'clock tomorrow morning. Should I be disappointed in seeing you there, I will do myself the

'PS. There is a gunsmiths in the Highstreet; and they won't sell gunpowder after dark you understand me.

'PPS. You had better not order your breakfast in the morning until you have met me. It may be an

'Desperateminded villain! I knew how it would be!' ejaculated the terrified Trott. 'I always told father, that

once start me on this expedition, and Hunter would pursue me like the Wandering Jew. It's bad enough as it

is, to marry with the old people's commands, and without the girl's consent; but what will Emily think of me,

if I go down there breathless with running away from this infernal salamander? What SHALL I do? What

CAN I do? If I go back to the city, I'm disgraced for ever lose the girl and, what's more, lose the money

too. Even if I did go on to the Browns' by the coach, Hunter would be after me in a postchaise; and if I go to

this place, this Stiffun's Acre (another shudder), I'm as good as dead. I've seen him hit the man at the

Pallmall shootinggallery, in the second buttonhole of the waistcoat, five times out of every six, and when

he didn't hit him there, he hit him in the head.' With this consolatory reminiscence Mr. Alexander Trott again

Long and weary were his reflections, as, burying his face in his hand, he sat, ruminating on the best course to

be pursued. His mental directionpost pointed to London. He thought of the 'governor's' anger, and the loss of

the fortune which the paternal Brown had promised the paternal Trott his daughter should contribute to the

coffers of his son. Then the words 'To Brown's' were legibly inscribed on the said directionpost, but Horace

Hunter's denunciation rung in his ears; last of all it bore, in red letters, the words, 'To Stiffun's Acre;' and

First and foremost, he despatched the underboots to the Blue Lion and Stomachwarmer, with a

gentlemanly note to Mr. Horace Hunter, intimating that he thirsted for his destruction and would do himself

the pleasure of slaughtering him next morning, without fail. He then wrote another letter, and requested the

attendance of the other boots for they kept a pair. A modest knock at the room door was heard. 'Come in,'

said Mr. Trott. A man thrust in a red head with one eye in it, and being again desired to 'come in,' brought in

the body and the legs to which the head belonged, and a fur cap which belonged to the head.

'Yes, I am the upperboots,' replied a voice from inside a velveteen case, with motherofpearl buttons

'that is, I'm the boots as b'longs to the house; the other man's my man, as goes errands and does odd jobs.

'Rather,' replied the boots, significantly, as if he had some good reason to remember it.

'But this letter,' said Trott, holding a deformed note with a paralytic direction in one hand, and five shillings

'Oh! I see,' responded the reg'lar, with a knowing wink, but without evincing the slightest disinclination to

undertake the charge 'I see bit o' Sving, eh?' and his one eye wandered round the room, as if in quest of a

dark lantern and phosphorusbox. 'But, I say!' he continued, recalling the eye from its search, and bringing it

to bear on Mr. Trott. 'I say, he's a lawyer, our mayor, and insured in the County. If you've a spite agen him,

you'd better not burn his house down blessed if I don't think it would be the greatest favour you could do

If Mr. Alexander Trott had been in any other situation, his first act would have been to kick the man

downstairs by deputy; or, in other words, to ring the bell, and desire the landlord to take his boots off. He

contented himself, however, with doubling the fee and explaining that the letter merely related to a breach of

the peace. The topboots retired, solemnly pledged to secrecy; and Mr. Alexander Trott sat down to a fried

sole, maintenon cutlet, Madeira, and sundries, with greater composure than he had experienced since the

The lady who alighted from the London coach had no sooner been installed in number twentyfive, and made

some alteration in her travellingdress, than she indited a note to Joseph Overton, esquire, solicitor, and

mayor of Great Winglebury, requesting his immediate attendance on private business of paramount

importance a summons which that worthy functionary lost no time in obeying; for after sundry openings of

his eyes, divers ejaculations of 'Bless me!' and other manifestations of surprise, he took his broadbrimmed

hat from its accustomed peg in his little front office, and walked briskly down the Highstreet to the

Winglebury Arms; through the hall and up the staircase of which establishment he was ushered by the

'Show the gentleman in,' said the stranger lady, in reply to the foremost waiter's announcement. The

The lady rose from the sofa; the mayor advanced a step from the door; and there they both paused, for a

minute or two, looking at one another as if by mutual consent. The mayor saw before him a buxom,

richlydressed female of about forty; the lady looked upon a sleek man, about ten years older, in drab shorts

'That's very unfair of you, Overton,' replied Miss Julia, 'for I have known you, long enough, not to be

'You wouldn't have me actually run away with an old one, I presume?' was the cool rejoinder.

'And then to ask me me of all people in the world a man of my age and appearance mayor of the town

to promote such a scheme!' pettishly ejaculated Joseph Overton; throwing himself into an arm chair, and

producing Miss Julia's letter from his pocket, as if to corroborate the assertion that he HAD been asked.

'Now, Overton,' replied the lady, 'I want your assistance in this matter, and I must have it. In the lifetime of

'Who was to have married you, and didn't, because he died first; and who left you his property unencumbered

'Well,' replied Miss Julia, reddening slightly, 'in the lifetime of the poor old dear, the property had the

incumbrance of your management; and all I will say of that, is, that I only wonder it didn't die of consumption

Mr. Joseph Overton was a man of the world, and an attorney; and as certain indistinct recollections of an odd

thousand pounds or two, appropriated by mistake, passed across his mind he hemmed deprecatingly, smiled

blandly, remained silent for a few seconds; and finally inquired, 'What do you wish me to do?'

'I'll tell you,' replied Miss Julia 'I'll tell you in three words. Dear Lord Peter '

'That's the young Nobleman,' replied the lady, with a great stress on the last word. 'Dear Lord Peter is

considerably afraid of the resentment of his family; and we have therefore thought it better to make the match

a stolen one. He left town, to avoid suspicion, on a visit to his friend, the Honourable Augustus Flair, whose

seat, as you know, is about thirty miles from this, accompanied only by his favourite tiger. We arranged that I

should come here alone in the London coach; and that he, leaving his tiger and cab behind him, should come

'Very well,' observed Joseph Overton, 'and then he can order the chaise, and you can go on to Gretna Green

together, without requiring the presence or interference of a third party, can't you?'

'No,' replied Miss Julia. 'We have every reason to believe dear Lord Peter not being considered very

prudent or sagacious by his friends, and they having discovered his attachment to me that, immediately on

his absence being observed, pursuit will be made in this direction: to elude which, and to prevent our being

traced, I wish it to be understood in this house, that dear Lord Peter is slightly deranged, though perfectly

harmless; and that I am, unknown to him, awaiting his arrival to convey him in a postchaise to a private

asylum at Berwick, say. If I don't show myself much, I dare say I can manage to pass for his mother.'

The thought occurred to the mayor's mind that the lady might show herself a good deal without fear of

detection; seeing that she was about double the age of her intended husband. He said nothing, however, and

'With the whole of this arrangement dear Lord Peter is acquainted; and all I want you to do, is, to make the

delusion more complete by giving it the sanction of your influence in this place, and assigning this as a

reason to the people of the house for my taking the young gentleman away. As it would not be consistent

with the story that I should see him until after he has entered the chaise, I also wish you to communicate with

'Then how am I to know!' inquired the mayor. 'Of course he will not give his own name at the bar.'

'I begged him, immediately on his arrival, to write you a note,' replied Miss Manners; 'and to prevent the

possibility of our project being discovered through its means, I desired him to write anonymously, and in

'Bless me!' exclaimed the mayor, rising from his seat, and searching his pockets 'most extraordinary

circumstance he has arrived mysterious note left at my house in a most mysterious manner, just before

yours didn't know what to make of it before, and certainly shouldn't have attended to it. Oh! here it is.'

And Joseph Overton pulled out of an inner coatpocket the identical letter penned by Alexander Trott. 'Is this

'Oh yes,' replied Julia; 'good, punctual creature! I have not seen it more than once or twice, but I know he

writes very badly and very large. These dear, wild young noblemen, you know, Overton '

'Ay, ay, I see,' replied the mayor. 'Horses and dogs, play and wine grooms, actresses, and cigars the

stable, the greenroom, the saloon, and the tavern; and the legislative assembly at last.'

'Here's what he says,' pursued the mayor; '"Sir, A young gentleman in number nineteen at the Winglebury

Arms, is bent on committing a rash act tomorrow morning at an early hour." (That's good he means

marrying.) "If you have any regard for the peace of this town, or the preservation of one it may be two

'That he's so anxious for the ceremony, he will expire if it's put off, and that I may possibly do the same,'

'Oh! I see not much fear of that; well "two human lives, you will cause him to be removed tonight."

(He wants to start at once.) "Fear not to do this on your responsibility: for tomorrow the absolute necessity

of the proceeding will be but too apparent. Remember: number nineteen. The name is Trott. No delay; for life

and death depend upon your promptitude." Passionate language, certainly. Shall I see him?'

'Do,' replied Miss Julia; 'and entreat him to act his part well. I am half afraid of him. Tell him to be cautious.'

'Very well,' said the mayor once more; and, ruminating on the absurdity of the situation in which fate and old

acquaintance had placed him, he desired a waiter to herald his approach to the temporary representative of

The announcement, 'Gentleman to speak with you, sir,' induced Mr. Trott to pause halfway in the glass of

port, the contents of which he was in the act of imbibing at the moment; to rise from his chair; and retreat a

few paces towards the window, as if to secure a retreat, in the event of the visitor assuming the form and

appearance of Horace Hunter. One glance at Joseph Overton, however, quieted his apprehensions. He

courteously motioned the stranger to a seat. The waiter, after a little jingling with the decanter and glasses,

consented to leave the room; and Joseph Overton, placing the broadbrimmed hat on the chair next him, and

bending his body gently forward, opened the business by saying in a very low and cautious tone,

'Eh?' said Mr. Alexander Trott, in a loud key, with the vacant and mystified stare of a chilly somnambulist.

'Hush hush!' said the cautious attorney: 'to be sure quite right no titles here my name is Overton, sir.'

'Yes: the mayor of this place you sent me a letter with anonymous information, this afternoon.'

'I, sir?' exclaimed Trott with illdissembled surprise; for, coward as he was, he would willingly have

'Yes, you, sir; did you not?' responded Overton, annoyed with what he supposed to be an extreme degree of

unnecessary suspicion. 'Either this letter is yours, or it is not. If it be, we can converse securely upon the

'Stay, stay,' said Trott, 'it IS mine; I DID write it. What could I do, sir? I had no friend here.'

'To be sure, to be sure,' said the mayor, encouragingly, 'you could not have managed it better. Well, sir; it will

be necessary for you to leave here tonight in a postchaise and four. And the harder the boys drive, the

'Bless me!' exclaimed Trott, in an agony of apprehension, 'can such things happen in a country like this? Such

unrelenting and cold blooded hostility!' He wiped off the concentrated essence of cowardice that was oozing

'It certainly is a very hard case,' replied the mayor with a smile, 'that, in a free country, people can't marry

whom they like, without being hunted down as if they were criminals. However, in the present instance the

'Lady willing,' repeated Trott, mechanically. 'How do you know the lady's willing?'

'Come, that's a good one,' said the mayor, benevolently tapping Mr. Trott on the arm with his broadbrimmed

hat; 'I have known her, well, for a long time; and if anybody could entertain the remotest doubt on the

'Oh ah, I forgot. Mr. Trott, then Trott very good, ha! ha! Well, sir, the chaise shall be ready at

'And what is to become of me until then?' inquired Mr. Trott, anxiously. 'Wouldn't it save appearances, if I

'Ah!' replied Overton, 'very good thought capital idea indeed. I'll send somebody up directly. And if you

make a little resistance when we put you in the chaise it wouldn't be amiss look as if you didn't want to be

'Well, my lord,' said Overton, in a low tone, 'until then, I wish your lordship a good evening.'

'Lord lordship?' ejaculated Trott again, falling back a step or two, and gazing, in unutterable wonder, on the

'Haha! I see, my lord practising the madman? very good indeed very vacant look capital, my lord,

'That mayor's decidedly drunk,' soliloquised Mr. Trott, throwing himself back in his chair, in an attitude of

'He is a much cleverer fellow than I thought him, that young nobleman he carries it off uncommonly well,'

thought Overton, as he went his way to the bar, there to complete his arrangements. This was soon done.

Every word of the story was implicitly believed, and the oneeyed boots was immediately instructed to repair

to number nineteen, to act as custodian of the person of the supposed lunatic until halfpast twelve o'clock. In

pursuance of this direction, that somewhat eccentric gentleman armed himself with a walkingstick of

gigantic dimensions, and repaired, with his usual equanimity of manner, to Mr. Trott's apartment, which he

entered without any ceremony, and mounted guard in, by quietly depositing himself on a chair near the door,

where he proceeded to beguile the time by whistling a popular air with great apparent satisfaction.

'What do you want here, you scoundrel?' exclaimed Mr. Alexander Trott, with a proper appearance of

The boots beat time with his head, as he looked gently round at Mr. Trott with a smile of pity, and whistled

'Do you attend in this room by Mr. Overton's desire?' inquired Trott, rather astonished at the man's

'Keep yourself to yourself, young feller,' calmly responded the boots, 'and don't say nothing to nobody.' And

'Now mind!' ejaculated Mr. Trott, anxious to keep up the farce of wishing with great earnestness to fight a

duel if they'd let him. 'I protest against being kept here. I deny that I have any intention of fighting with

anybody. But as it's useless contending with superior numbers, I shall sit quietly down.'

'You'd better,' observed the placid boots, shaking the large stick expressively.

'Under protest, however,' added Alexander Trott, seating himself with indignation in his face, but great

'Oh, certainly!' responded the boots; 'anything you please. If you're happy, I'm transported; only don't talk too

'You'd better be quiet, young feller,' remarked the boots, going through a threatening piece of pantomime

'Or mad!' said Mr. Trott, rather alarmed. 'Leave the room, sir, and tell them to send somebody else.'

'Leave the room!' shouted Trott, ringing the bell violently: for he began to be alarmed on a new score.

'Leave that 'ere bell alone, you wretched loonattic!' said the boots, suddenly forcing the unfortunate Trott

back into his chair, and brandishing the stick aloft. 'Be quiet, you miserable object, and don't let everybody

'He IS a madman! He IS a madman!' exclaimed the terrified Mr. Trott, gazing on the one eye of the

'Madman!' replied the boots, 'dam'me, I think he IS a madman with a vengeance! Listen to me, you

unfortunate. Ah! would you?' [a slight tap on the head with the large stick, as Mr. Trott made another move

'I don't want your life,' replied the boots, disdainfully, 'though I think it 'ud be a charity if somebody took it.'

'No, no, it wouldn't,' interrupted poor Mr. Trott, hurriedly, 'no, no, it wouldn't! I I'd rather keep it!'

'O werry well,' said the boots: 'that's a mere matter of taste ev'ry one to his liking. Hows'ever, all I've got to

say is this here: You sit quietly down in that chair, and I'll sit hoppersite you here, and if you keep quiet and

don't stir, I won't damage you; but, if you move hand or foot till halfpast twelve o'clock, I shall alter the

expression of your countenance so completely, that the next time you look in the glass you'll ask vether

you're gone out of town, and ven you're likely to come back again. So sit down."

'I will I will,' responded the victim of mistakes; and down sat Mr. Trott and down sat the boots too, exactly

Long and dreary were the hours that followed. The bell of Great Winglebury church had just struck ten, and

For half an hour, the noise occasioned by shutting up the shops in the street beneath, betokened something

like life in the town, and rendered Mr. Trott's situation a little less insupportable; but, when even these

ceased, and nothing was heard beyond the occasional rattling of a postchaise as it drove up the yard to

change horses, and then drove away again, or the clattering of horses' hoofs in the stables behind, it became

almost unbearable. The boots occasionally moved an inch or two, to knock superfluous bits of wax off the

candles, which were burning low, but instantaneously resumed his former position; and as he remembered to

have heard, somewhere or other, that the human eye had an unfailing effect in controlling mad people, he

kept his solitary organ of vision constantly fixed on Mr. Alexander Trott. That unfortunate individual stared

at his companion in his turn, until his features grew more and more indistinct his hair gradually less red

and the room more misty and obscure. Mr. Alexander Trott fell into a sound sleep, from which he was

awakened by a rumbling in the street, and a cry of 'Chaiseandfour for number twentyfive!' A bustle on

the stairs succeeded; the room door was hastily thrown open; and Mr. Joseph Overton entered, followed by

four stout waiters, and Mrs. Williamson, the stout landlady of the Winglebury Arms.

'Mr. Overton!' exclaimed Mr. Alexander Trott, jumping up in a frenzy. 'Look at this man, sir; consider the

situation in which I have been placed for three hours past the person you sent to guard me, sir, was a

'Poor dear!' said the compassionate Mrs. Williamson, 'mad people always thinks other people's mad.'

'Poor dear!' ejaculated Mr. Alexander Trott. 'What the devil do you mean by poor dear! Are you the landlady

'Yes, yes,' replied the stout old lady, 'don't exert yourself, there's a dear! Consider your health, now; do.'

'Exert myself!' shouted Mr. Alexander Trott; 'it's a mercy, ma'am, that I have any breath to exert myself with!

I might have been assassinated three hours ago by that oneeyed monster with the oakum head. How dare

you have a madman, ma'am how dare you have a madman, to assault and terrify the visitors to your house?'

'I'll never have another,' said Mrs. Williamson, casting a look of reproach at the mayor.

'Capital, capital,' whispered Overton again, as he enveloped Mr. Alexander Trott in a thick travellingcloak.

'Capital, sir!' exclaimed Trott, aloud; 'it's horrible. The very recollection makes me shudder. I'd rather fight

four duels in three hours, if I survived the first three, than I'd sit for that time face to face with a madman.'

'Keep it up, my lord, as you go downstairs,' whispered Overton, 'your bill is paid, and your portmanteau in

At this signal, the waiters crowded round Mr. Alexander Trott. One took one arm; another, the other; a third,

walked before with a candle; the fourth, behind with another candle; the boots and Mrs. Williamson brought

up the rear; and downstairs they went: Mr. Alexander Trott expressing alternately at the very top of his

voice either his feigned reluctance to go, or his unfeigned indignation at being shut up with a madman.

Mr. Overton was waiting at the chaisedoor, the boys were ready mounted, and a few ostlers and stable

nondescripts were standing round to witness the departure of 'the mad gentleman.' Mr. Alexander Trott's foot

was on the step, when he observed (which the dim light had prevented his doing before) a figure seated in the

'Yes, yes; you'll soon find that out, before you go far, I should think but make a noise, you'll excite

'I won't go in this chaise!' shouted Mr. Alexander Trott, all his original fears recurring with tenfold violence.

'But I won't go,' exclaimed Mr. Trott. 'Help here, help! They're carrying me away against my will. This is a

'Now, boys, put 'em along,' cried the mayor, pushing Trott in and slamming the door. 'Off with you, as quick

'Horses are paid, Tom,' screamed Mrs. Williamson; and away went the chaise, at the rate of fourteen miles an

hour, with Mr. Alexander Trott and Miss Julia Manners carefully shut up in the inside.

Mr. Alexander Trott remained coiled up in one corner of the chaise, and his mysterious companion in the

other, for the first two or three miles; Mr. Trott edging more and more into his corner, as he felt his

companion gradually edging more and more from hers; and vainly endeavouring in the darkness to catch a

'We may speak now,' said his fellowtraveller, at length; 'the postboys can neither see nor hear us.'

'Dear Lord Peter!' said Miss Julia, most winningly: putting her arm on Mr. Trott's shoulder. 'Dear Lord Peter.

'Yours!' ejaculated Miss Julia Manners; 'a strange man! Gracious heaven! How came you here!'

'Whoever you are, you might have known that I came against my will, ma'am,' replied Alexander, 'for I made

'Confound Lord Peter,' replied Trott pettishly. 'I don't know any Lord Peter. I never heard of him before

tonight, when I've been Lord Peter'd by one and Lord Peter'd by another, till I verily believe I'm mad, or

'How should I know, ma'am?' replied Trott with singular coolness; for the events of the evening had

'Stay, my dear ma'am!' said Mr. Trott, pulling the glasses up again with one hand, and gently squeezing Miss

Julia's waist with the other. 'There is some mistake here; give me till the end of this stage to explain my share

of it. We must go so far; you cannot be set down here alone, at this hour of the night.'

The lady consented; the mistake was mutually explained. Mr. Trott was a young man, had highly promising

whiskers, an undeniable tailor, and an insinuating address he wanted nothing but valour, and who wants

that with three thousand ayear? The lady had this, and more; she wanted a young husband, and the only

course open to Mr. Trott to retrieve his disgrace was a rich wife. So, they came to the conclusion that it would

be a pity to have all this trouble and expense for nothing; and that as they were so far on the road already,

they had better go to Gretna Green, and marry each other; and they did so. And the very next preceding entry

in the Blacksmith's book, was an entry of the marriage of Emily Brown with Horace Hunter. Mr. Hunter took

his wife home, and begged pardon, and WAS pardoned; and Mr. Trott took HIS wife home, begged pardon

too, and was pardoned also. And Lord Peter, who had been detained beyond his time by drinking champagne

and riding a steeplechase, went back to the Honourable Augustus Flair's, and drank more champagne, and

rode another steeplechase, and was thrown and killed. And Horace Hunter took great credit to himself for

practising on the cowardice of Alexander Trott; and all these circumstances were discovered in time, and

carefully noted down; and if you ever stop a week at the Winglebury Arms, they will give you just this

Most extensive were the preparations at Rose Villa, Clapham Rise, in the occupation of Mr. Gattleton (a

stockbroker in especially comfortable circumstances), and great was the anxiety of Mr. Gattleton's

interesting family, as the day fixed for the representation of the Private Play which had been 'many months in

preparation,' approached. The whole family was infected with the mania for Private Theatricals; the house,

usually so clean and tidy, was, to use Mr. Gattleton's expressive description, 'regularly turned out o'

windows;' the large diningroom, dismantled of its furniture, and ornaments, presented a strange jumble of

flats, flies, wings, lamps, bridges, clouds, thunder and lightning, festoons and flowers, daggers and foil, and

various other messes in theatrical slang included under the comprehensive name of 'properties.' The

bedrooms were crowded with scenery, the kitchen was occupied by carpenters. Rehearsals took place every

other night in the drawingroom, and every sofa in the house was more or less damaged by the perseverance

and spirit with which Mr. Sempronius Gattleton, and Miss Lucina, rehearsed the smothering scene in 'Othello'

it having been determined that that tragedy should form the first portion of the evening's entertainments.

'When we're a LEETLE more perfect, I think it will go admirably,' said Mr. Sempronius, addressing his

CORPS DRAMATIQUE, at the conclusion of the hundred and fiftieth rehearsal. In consideration of his

sustaining the trifling inconvenience of bearing all the expenses of the play, Mr. Sempronius had been, in the

most handsome manner, unanimously elected stagemanager. 'Evans,' continued Mr. Gattleton, the younger,

addressing a tall, thin, pale young gentleman, with extensive whiskers 'Evans, you play RODERIGO

'Beautifully,' echoed the three Miss Gattletons; for Mr. Evans was pronounced by all his lady friends to be

'quite a dear.' He looked so interesting, and had such lovely whiskers: to say nothing of his talent for writing

'But I think,' added the manager, 'you are hardly perfect in the fall in the fencingscene, where you are

'It's very difficult,' said Mr. Evans, thoughtfully; 'I've fallen about, a good deal, in our countinghouse lately,

for practice, only I find it hurts one so. Being obliged to fall backward you see, it bruises one's head a good

'But you must take care you don't knock a wing down,' said Mr. Gattleton, the elder, who had been appointed

prompter, and who took as much interest in the play as the youngest of the company. 'The stage is very

'Oh! don't be afraid,' said Mr. Evans, with a very selfsatisfied air; 'I shall fall with my head "off," and then I

'But, egad,' said the manager, rubbing his hands, 'we shall make a decided hit in "Masaniello." Harleigh sings

Everybody echoed the sentiment. Mr. Harleigh smiled, and looked foolish not an unusual thing with him

hummed' Behold how brightly breaks the morning,' and blushed as red as the fisherman's nightcap he was

'Let's see,' resumed the manager, telling the number on his fingers, 'we shall have three dancing female

peasants, besides FENELLA, and four fishermen. Then, there's our man Tom; he can have a pair of ducks of

mine, and a check shirt of Bob's, and a red nightcap, and he'll do for another that's five. In the choruses, of

course, we can sing at the sides; and in the marketscene we can walk about in cloaks and things. When the

revolt takes place, Tom must keep rushing in on one side and out on the other, with a pickaxe, as fast as he

can. The effect will be electrical; it will look exactly as if there were an immense number of 'em. And in the

eruptionscene we must burn the red fire, and upset the teatrays, and make all sorts of noises and it's sure

'Sure! sure!' cried all the performers UNA VOCE and away hurried Mr. Sempronius Gattleton to wash the

burnt cork off his face, and superintend the 'setting up' of some of the amateurpainted, but

Mrs. Gattleton was a kind, goodtempered, vulgar soul, exceedingly fond of her husband and children, and

entertaining only three dislikes. In the first place, she had a natural antipathy to anybody else's unmarried

daughters; in the second, she was in bodily fear of anything in the shape of ridicule; lastly almost a

necessary consequence of this feeling she regarded, with feelings of the utmost horror, one Mrs. Joseph

Porter over the way. However, the good folks of Clapham and its vicinity stood very much in awe of scandal

and sarcasm; and thus Mrs. Joseph Porter was courted, and flattered, and caressed, and invited, for much the

same reason that induces a poor author, without a farthing in his pocket, to behave with extraordinary civility

'Never mind, ma,' said Miss Emma Porter, in colloquy with her respected relative, and trying to look

unconcerned; 'if they had invited me, you know that neither you nor pa would have allowed me to take part in

'Just what I should have thought from your high sense of propriety,' returned the mother. 'I am glad to see,

Emma, you know how to designate the proceeding.' Miss P., bythebye, had only the week before made 'an

exhibition' of herself for four days, behind a counter at a fancy fair, to all and every of her Majesty's liege

subjects who were disposed to pay a shilling each for the privilege of seeing some four dozen girls flirting

'There!' said Mrs. Porter, looking out of window; 'there are two rounds of beef and a ham going in clearly

for sandwiches; and Thomas, the pastrycook, says, there have been twelve dozen tarts ordered, besides

blancmange and jellies. Upon my word! think of the Miss Gattletons in fancy dresses, too!'

'I'll manage to put them a little out of conceit with the business, however,' said Mrs. Porter; and out she went

'Well, my dear Mrs. Gattleton,' said Mrs. Joseph Porter, after they had been closeted for some time, and

when, by dint of indefatigable pumping, she had managed to extract all the news about the play, 'well, my

dear, people may say what they please; indeed we know they will, for some folks are SO illnatured. Ah, my

dear Miss Lucina, how d'ye do? I was just telling your mamma that I have heard it said, that '

'Mrs. Porter is alluding to the play, my dear,' said Mrs. Gattleton; 'she was, I am sorry to say, just informing

'Oh, now pray don't mention it,' interrupted Mrs. Porter; 'it's most absurd quite as absurd as young

What'shisname saying he wondered how Miss Caroline, with such a foot and ankle, could have the vanity

'Certainly, my dear,' chimed in the delighted Mrs. Porter; 'most undoubtedly! Because, as I said, if Miss

Caroline DOES play FENELLA, it doesn't follow, as a matter of course, that she should think she has a pretty

foot; and then such puppies as these young men are he had the impudence to say, that '

How far the amiable Mrs. Porter might have succeeded in her pleasant purpose, it is impossible to say, had

not the entrance of Mr. Thomas Balderstone, Mrs. Gattleton's brother, familiarly called in the family 'Uncle

Tom,' changed the course of conversation, and suggested to her mind an excellent plan of operation on the

Uncle Tom was very rich, and exceedingly fond of his nephews and nieces: as a matter of course, therefore,

he was an object of great importance in his own family. He was one of the besthearted men in existence:

always in a good temper, and always talking. It was his boast that he wore topboots on all occasions, and

had never worn a black silk neckerchief; and it was his pride that he remembered all the principal plays of

Shakspeare from beginning to end and so he did. The result of this parrotlike accomplishment was, that he

was not only perpetually quoting himself, but that he could never sit by, and hear a misquotation from the

'Swan of Avon' without setting the unfortunate delinquent right. He was also something of a wag; never

missed an opportunity of saying what he considered a good thing, and invariably laughed until he cried at

'Well, girls!' said Uncle Tom, after the preparatory ceremony of kissing and howd'yedoing had been gone

through 'how d'ye get on? Know your parts, eh? Lucina, my dear, act II., scene I place, leftcue

"The heavens forbid But that our loves and comforts should increase Even as our days do grow!"'

'Make a pause here and there,' said the old gentleman, who was a great critic. '"But that our loves and

comforts should increase" emphasis on the last syllable, "crease," loud "even," one, two, three, four;

then loud again, "as our days do grow;" emphasis on DAYS. That's the way, my dear; trust to your uncle for

'Very well, thankee, uncle,' returned Mr. Sempronius, who had just appeared, looking something like a

ringdove, with a small circle round each eye: the result of his constant corking. 'Of course we see you on

'What a pity it is your nephew didn't think of making you prompter, Mr. Balderstone!' whispered Mrs. Joseph

'Well, I flatter myself, I SHOULD have been tolerably up to the thing,' responded Uncle Tom.

'I must bespeak sitting next you on the night,' resumed Mrs. Porter; 'and then, if our dear young friends here,

should be at all wrong, you will be able to enlighten me. I shall be so interested.'

'I don't know how it is,' said Mrs. Gattleton to her daughters, as they were sitting round the fire in the

evening, looking over their parts, 'but I really very much wish Mrs. Joseph Porter wasn't coming on

'She can't make us ridiculous, however,' observed Mr. Sempronius Gattleton, haughtily.

The longlookedfor Thursday arrived in due course, and brought with it, as Mr. Gattleton, senior,

philosophically observed, 'no disappointments, to speak of.' True, it was yet a matter of doubt whether

CASSIO would be enabled to get into the dress which had been sent for him from the masquerade warehouse.

It was equally uncertain whether the principal female singer would be sufficiently recovered from the

influenza to make her appearance; Mr. Harleigh, the MASANIELLO of the night, was hoarse, and rather

unwell, in consequence of the great quantity of lemon and sugarcandy he had eaten to improve his voice;

and two flutes and a violoncello had pleaded severe colds. What of that? the audience were all coming.

Everybody knew his part: the dresses were covered with tinsel and spangles; the white plumes looked

beautiful; Mr. Evans had practised falling until he was bruised from head to foot and quite perfect; IAGO was

sure that, in the stabbingscene, he should make 'a decided hit.' A selftaught deaf gentleman, who had

kindly offered to bring his flute, would be a most valuable addition to the orchestra; Miss Jenkins's talent for

the piano was too well known to be doubted for an instant; Mr. Cape had practised the violin accompaniment

with her frequently; and Mr. Brown, who had kindly undertaken, at a few hours' notice, to bring his

Seven o'clock came, and so did the audience; all the rank and fashion of Clapham and its vicinity was fast

filling the theatre. There were the Smiths, the Gubbinses, the Nixons, the Dixons, the Hicksons, people with

all sorts of names, two aldermen, a sheriff in perspective, Sir Thomas Glumper (who had been knighted in the

last reign for carrying up an address on somebody's escaping from nothing); and last, not least, there were

Mrs. Joseph Porter and Uncle Tom, seated in the centre of the third row from the stage; Mrs. P. amusing

Uncle Tom with all sorts of stories, and Uncle Tom amusing every one else by laughing most immoderately.

Ting, ting, ting! went the prompter's bell at eight o'clock precisely, and dash went the orchestra into the

overture to 'The Men of Prometheus.' The pianoforte player hammered away with laudable perseverance; and

the violoncello, which struck in at intervals, 'sounded very well, considering.' The unfortunate individual,

however, who had undertaken to play the flute accompaniment 'at sight,' found, from fatal experience, the

perfect truth of the old adage, 'ought of sight, out of mind;' for being very nearsighted, and being placed at a

considerable distance from his musicbook, all he had an opportunity of doing was to play a bar now and

then in the wrong place, and put the other performers out. It is, however, but justice to Mr. Brown to say that

he did this to admiration. The overture, in fact, was not unlike a race between the different instruments; the

piano came in first by several bars, and the violoncello next, quite distancing the poor flute; for the deaf

gentleman TOOTOO'D away, quite unconscious that he was at all wrong, until apprised, by the applause of

the audience, that the overture was concluded. A considerable bustle and shuffling of feet was then heard

upon the stage, accompanied by whispers of 'Here's a pretty go! what's to be done?' The audience

applauded again, by way of raising the spirits of the performers; and then Mr. Sempronius desired the

Ting, ting, ting! went the bell again. Everybody sat down; the curtain shook; rose sufficiently high to display

Ting, ting, ting! went the bell again. The curtain was violently convulsed, but rose no higher; the audience

tittered; Mrs. Porter looked at Uncle Tom; Uncle Tom looked at everybody, rubbing his hands, and laughing

with perfect rapture. After as much ringing with the little bell as a muffinboy would make in going down a

tolerably long street, and a vast deal of whispering, hammering, and calling for nails and cord, the curtain at

length rose, and discovered Mr. Sempronius Gattleton SOLUS, and decked for OTHELLO. After three

distinct rounds of applause, during which Mr. Sempronius applied his right hand to his left breast, and bowed

'Ladies and Gentlemen I assure you it is with sincere regret, that I regret to be compelled to inform you,

that IAGO who was to have played Mr. Wilson I beg your pardon, Ladies and Gentlemen, but I am

naturally somewhat agitated (applause) I mean, Mr. Wilson, who was to have played IAGO, is that is, has

been or, in other words, Ladies and Gentlemen, the fact is, that I have just received a note, in which I am

informed that IAGO is unavoidably detained at the Postoffice this evening. Under these circumstances, I

trust a a amateur performance a another gentleman undertaken to read the part request indulgence

for a short time courtesy and kindness of a British audience.' Overwhelming applause. Exit Mr. Sempronius

The audience were, of course, exceedingly goodhumoured; the whole business was a joke; and accordingly

they waited for an hour with the utmost patience, being enlivened by an interlude of routcakes and

lemonade. It appeared by Mr. Sempronius's subsequent explanation, that the delay would not have been so

great, had it not so happened that when the substitute IAGO had finished dressing, and just as the play was on

the point of commencing, the original IAGO unexpectedly arrived. The former was therefore compelled to

undress, and the latter to dress for his part; which, as he found some difficulty in getting into his clothes,

occupied no inconsiderable time. At last, the tragedy began in real earnest. It went off well enough, until the

third scene of the first act, in which OTHELLO addresses the Senate: the only remarkable circumstance

being, that as IAGO could not get on any of the stage boots, in consequence of his feet being violently

swelled with the heat and excitement, he was under the necessity of playing the part in a pair of Wellingtons,

which contrasted rather oddly with his richly embroidered pantaloons. When OTHELLO started with his

address to the Senate (whose dignity was represented by, the DUKE, A carpenter, two men engaged on the

recommendation of the gardener, and a boy), Mrs. Porter found the opportunity she so anxiously sought.

'"Most potent, grave, and reverend signiors, My very noble and approv'd good masters, That I have ta'en

'What's wrong, uncle?' demanded OTHELLO, quite forgetting the dignity of his situation.

'Oh, ah!' said Mr. Sempronius, endeavouring to hide his confusion as much and as ineffectually as the

audience attempted to conceal their halfsuppressed tittering, by coughing with extraordinary violence

'"true I have married her; The very head and front of my offending Hath this extent; no more."

'Because I've mislaid my spectacles,' said poor Mr. Gattleton, almost dead with the heat and bustle.

'Yes, I know it is,' returned the unfortunate manager, proceeding with his part.

It would be useless and tiresome to quote the number of instances in which Uncle Tom, now completely in

his element, and instigated by the mischievous Mrs. Porter, corrected the mistakes of the performers; suffice

it to say, that having mounted his hobby, nothing could induce him to dismount; so, during the whole

remainder of the play, he performed a kind of running accompaniment, by muttering everybody's part as it

was being delivered, in an undertone. The audience were highly amused, Mrs. Porter delighted, the

performers embarrassed; Uncle Tom never was better pleased in all his life; and Uncle Tom's nephews and

nieces had never, although the declared heirs to his large property, so heartily wished him gathered to his

Several other minor causes, too, united to damp the ardour of the DRAMATIS PERSONAE. None of the

performers could walk in their tights, or move their arms in their jackets; the pantaloons were too small, the

boots too large, and the swords of all shapes and sizes. Mr. Evans, naturally too tall for the scenery, wore a

black velvet hat with immense white plumes, the glory of which was lost in 'the flies;' and the only other

inconvenience of which was, that when it was off his head he could not put it on, and when it was on he could

not take it off. Notwithstanding all his practice, too, he fell with his head and shoulders as neatly through one

of the side scenes, as a harlequin would jump through a panel in a Christmas pantomime. The pianoforte

player, overpowered by the extreme heat of the room, fainted away at the commencement of the

entertainments, leaving the music of 'Masaniello' to the flute and violoncello. The orchestra complained that

Mr. Harleigh put them out, and Mr. Harleigh declared that the orchestra prevented his singing a note. The

fishermen, who were hired for the occasion, revolted to the very life, positively refusing to play without an

increased allowance of spirits; and, their demand being complied with, getting drunk in the eruptionscene as

naturally as possible. The red fire, which was burnt at the conclusion of the second act, not only nearly

suffocated the audience, but nearly set the house on fire into the bargain; and, as it was, the remainder of the

In short, the whole affair was, as Mrs. Joseph Porter triumphantly told everybody, 'a complete failure.' The

audience went home at four o'clock in the morning, exhausted with laughter, suffering from severe

headaches, and smelling terribly of brimstone and gunpowder. The Messrs. Gattleton, senior and junior,

retired to rest, with the vague idea of emigrating to Swan River early in the ensuing week.

Rose Villa has once again resumed its wonted appearance; the diningroom furniture has been replaced; the

tables are as nicely polished as formerly; the horsehair chairs are ranged against the wall, as regularly as ever;

Venetian blinds have been fitted to every window in the house to intercept the prying gaze of Mrs. Joseph

Porter. The subject of theatricals is never mentioned in the Gattleton family, unless, indeed, by Uncle Tom,

who cannot refrain from sometimes expressing his surprise and regret at finding that his nephews and nieces

appear to have lost the relish they once possessed for the beauties of Shakspeare, and quotations from the

Matrimony is proverbially a serious undertaking. Like an over weening predilection for brandyandwater,

it is a misfortune into which a man easily falls, and from which he finds it remarkably difficult to extricate

himself. It is of no use telling a man who is timorous on these points, that it is but one plunge, and all is over.

They say the same thing at the Old Bailey, and the unfortunate victims derive as much comfort from the

Mr. Watkins Tottle was a rather uncommon compound of strong uxorious inclinations, and an unparalleled

degree of anticonnubial timidity. He was about fifty years of age; stood four feet six inches and

threequarters in his socks for he never stood in stockings at all plump, clean, and rosy. He looked

something like a vignette to one of Richardson's novels, and had a clean cravatish formality of manner, and

kitchenpokerness of carriage, which Sir Charles Grandison himself might have envied. He lived on an

annuity, which was well adapted to the individual who received it, in one respect it was rather small. He

received it in periodical payments on every alternate Monday; but he ran himself out, about a day after the

expiration of the first week, as regularly as an eightday clock; and then, to make the comparison complete,

Mr. Watkins Tottle had long lived in a state of single blessedness, as bachelors say, or single cursedness, as

spinsters think; but the idea of matrimony had never ceased to haunt him. Wrapt in profound reveries on this

neverfailing theme, fancy transformed his small parlour in Cecilstreet, Strand, into a neat house in the

suburbs; the halfhundredweight of coals under the kitchenstairs suddenly sprang up into three tons of the

best Wallsend; his small French bedstead was converted into a regular matrimonial fourposter; and in the

empty chair on the opposite side of the fireplace, imagination seated a beautiful young lady, with a very little

independence or will of her own, and a very large independence under a will of her father's.

'Who's there?' inquired Mr. Watkins Tottle, as a gentle tap at his roomdoor disturbed these meditations one

'Tottle, my dear fellow, how DO you do?' said a short elderly gentleman with a gruffish voice, bursting into

'Told you I should drop in some evening,' said the short gentleman, as he delivered his hat into Tottle's hand,

'Delighted to see you, I'm sure,' said Mr. Watkins Tottle, wishing internally that his visitor had 'dropped in' to

the Thames at the bottom of the street, instead of dropping into his parlour. The fortnight was nearly up, and

'Quite well, thank you,' replied Mr. Gabriel Parsons, for that was the name the short gentleman revelled in.

Here there was a pause; the short gentleman looked at the left hob of the fireplace; Mr. Watkins Tottle stared

'Quite well,' repeated the short gentleman, when five minutes had expired. 'I may say remarkably well.' And

he rubbed the palms of his hands as hard as if he were going to strike a light by friction.

'What will you take?' inquired Tottle, with the desperate suddenness of a man who knew that unless the

'Why,' replied Tottle, very slowly, for all this was gaining time, 'I HAD some capital, and remarkably strong

'Is much beyond proof; or, in other words, impossible to be proved,' said the short gentleman; and he laughed

very heartily, and seemed quite glad the whiskey had been drunk. Mr. Tottle smiled but it was the smile of

despair. When Mr. Gabriel Parsons had done laughing, he delicately insinuated that, in the absence of

whiskey, he would not be averse to brandy. And Mr. Watkins Tottle, lighting a flat candle very

ostentatiously; and displaying an immense key, which belonged to the streetdoor, but which, for the sake of

appearances, occasionally did duty in an imaginary wine cellar; left the room to entreat his landlady to

charge their glasses, and charge them in the bill. The application was successful; the spirits were speedily

called not from the vasty deep, but the adjacent winevaults. The two short gentlemen mixed their grog;

'Tottle,' said Mr. Gabriel Parsons, 'you know my way offhand, open, say what I mean, mean what I say,

hate reserve, and can't bear affectation. One, is a bad domino which only hides what good people have about

'em, without making the bad look better; and the other is much about the same thing as pinking a white cotton

Here, the little gentleman paused, and took a long pull at his brandyandwater. Mr. Watkins Tottle took a

'It's of no use humming and ha'ing about the matter,' resumed the short gentleman. 'You want to get

'Why,' replied Mr. Watkins Tottle evasively; for he trembled violently, and felt a sudden tingling throughout

'Won't do,' said the short gentleman. 'Plain and free or there's an end of the matter. Do you want money?'

'Then you shall be. There's an end of that.' Thus saying, Mr. Gabriel Parsons took a pinch of snuff, and mixed

'Let me entreat you to be more explanatory,' said Tottle. 'Really, as the party principally interested, I cannot

'I'll tell you,' replied Mr. Gabriel Parsons, warming with the subject, and the brandyandwater 'I know a

lady she's stopping with my wife now who is just the thing for you. Well educated; talks French; plays

the piano; knows a good deal about flowers, and shells, and all that sort of thing; and has five hundred a year,

'I'll pay my addresses to her,' said Mr. Watkins Tottle. 'She isn't VERY young is she?'

'Egad, I hardly recollect,' replied Gabriel, with coolness. 'Perhaps I ought to have observed, at first, she wears

'One of those things with curls, along here,' said Parsons, drawing a straight line across his forehead, just over

his eyes, in illustration of his meaning. 'I know the front's black; I can't speak quite positively about her own

hair; because, unless one walks behind her, and catches a glimpse of it under her bonnet, one seldom sees it;

but I should say that it was RATHER lighter than the front a shade of a greyish tinge, perhaps.'

Mr. Watkins Tottle looked as if he had certain misgivings of mind. Mr. Gabriel Parsons perceived it, and

Mr. Watkins Tottle blushed up to the eyes, and down to the chin, and exhibited a most extensive combination

'I suppose you popped the question, more than once, when you were a young I beg your pardon a younger

'Never in my life!' replied his friend, apparently indignant at being suspected of such an act. 'Never! The fact

is, that I entertain, as you know, peculiar opinions on these subjects. I am not afraid of ladies, young or old

far from it; but, I think, that in compliance with the custom of the present day, they allow too much freedom

of speech and manner to marriageable men. Now, the fact is, that anything like this easy freedom I never

could acquire; and as I am always afraid of going too far, I am generally, I dare say, considered formal and

'I shouldn't wonder if you were,' replied Parsons, gravely; 'I shouldn't wonder. However, you'll be all right in

this case; for the strictness and delicacy of this lady's ideas greatly exceed your own. Lord bless you, why,

when she came to our house, there was an old portrait of some man or other, with two large, black, staring

eyes, hanging up in her bedroom; she positively refused to go to bed there, till it was taken down, considering

'And then, the other night I never laughed so much in my life' resumed Mr. Gabriel Parsons; 'I had driven

home in an easterly wind, and caught a devil of a faceache. Well; as Fanny that's Mrs. Parsons, you know

and this friend of hers, and I, and Frank Ross, were playing a rubber, I said, jokingly, that when I went to

bed I should wrap my head in Fanny's flannel petticoat. She instantly threw up her cards, and left the room.'

'Quite right!' said Mr. Watkins Tottle; 'she could not possibly have behaved in a more dignified manner. What

'Devil a bit. Next morning at breakfast, we talked it over. She contended that any reference to a flannel

petticoat was improper; men ought not to be supposed to know that such things were. I pleaded my

'Changed her ground, and said that Frank being a single man, its impropriety was obvious.'

A gleam of placid satisfaction shone on the circular face of Mr. Watkins Tottle, as he heard the prophecy.

'There's one thing I can't understand,' said Mr. Gabriel Parsons, as he rose to depart; 'I cannot, for the life and

soul of me, imagine how the deuce you'll ever contrive to come together. The lady would certainly go into

convulsions if the subject were mentioned.' Mr. Gabriel Parsons sat down again, and laughed until he was

weak. Tottle owed him money, so he had a perfect right to laugh at Tottle's expense.

Mr. Watkins Tottle feared, in his own mind, that this was another characteristic which he had in common

with this modern Lucretia. He, however, accepted the invitation to dine with the Parsonses on the next day

but one, with great firmness: and looked forward to the introduction, when again left alone, with tolerable

The sun that rose on the next day but one, had never beheld a sprucer personage on the outside of the

Norwood stage, than Mr. Watkins Tottle; and when the coach drew up before a cardboard looking house

with disguised chimneys, and a lawn like a large sheet of green letterpaper, he certainly had never lighted to

The coach stopped, and Mr. Watkins Tottle jumped we beg his pardon alighted, with great dignity. 'All

right!' said he, and away went the coach up the hill with that beautiful equanimity of pace for which 'short'

Mr. Watkins Tottle gave a faltering jerk to the handle of the gardengate bell. He essayed a more energetic

tug, and his previous nervousness was not at all diminished by hearing the bell ringing like a fire alarum.

'Is Mr. Parsons at home?' inquired Tottle of the man who opened the gate. He could hardly hear himself

'Here I am,' shouted a voice on the lawn, and there was Mr. Gabriel Parsons in a flannel jacket, running

backwards and forwards, from a wicket to two hats piled on each other, and from the two hats to the wicket,

in the most violent manner, while another gentleman with his coat off was getting down the area of the house,

after a ball. When the gentleman without the coat had found it which he did in less than ten minutes he

ran back to the hats, and Gabriel Parsons pulled up. Then, the gentleman without the coat called out 'play,'

very loudly, and bowled. Then Mr. Gabriel Parsons knocked the ball several yards, and took another run.

Then, the other gentleman aimed at the wicket, and didn't hit it; and Mr. Gabriel Parsons, having finished

running on his own account, laid down the bat and ran after the ball, which went into a neighbouring field.

'Tottle, will you "go in?"' inquired Mr. Gabriel Parsons, as he approached him, wiping the perspiration off his

Mr. Watkins Tottle declined the offer, the bare idea of accepting which made him even warmer than his

'Then we'll go into the house, as it's past four, and I shall have to wash my hands before dinner,' said Mr.

Gabriel Parsons. 'Here, I hate ceremony, you know! Timson, that's Tottle Tottle, that's Timson; bred for the

church, which I fear will never be bread for him;' and he chuckled at the old joke. Mr. Timson bowed

carelessly. Mr. Watkins Tottle bowed stiffly. Mr. Gabriel Parsons led the way to the house. He was a rich

sugarbaker, who mistook rudeness for honesty, and abrupt bluntness for an open and candid manner; many

Mrs. Gabriel Parsons received the visitors most graciously on the steps, and preceded them to the

drawingroom. On the sofa, was seated a lady of very prim appearance, and remarkably inanimate. She was

one of those persons at whose age it is impossible to make any reasonable guess; her features might have

been remarkably pretty when she was younger, and they might always have presented the same appearance.

Her complexion with a slight trace of powder here and there was as clear as that of a wellmade wax

doll, and her face as expressive. She was handsomely dressed, and was winding up a gold watch.

'Miss Lillerton, my dear, this is our friend Mr. Watkins Tottle; a very old acquaintance I assure you,' said

Mrs. Parsons, presenting the Strephon of Cecilstreet, Strand. The lady rose, and made a deep courtesy; Mr.

Mr. Timson advanced, and Mr. Watkins Tottle began to hate him. Men generally discover a rival,

'May I beg,' said the reverend gentleman, 'May I beg to call upon you, Miss Lillerton, for some trifling

'Put my name down, for two sovereigns, if you please,' responded Miss Lillerton.

'You are truly charitable, madam,' said the Reverend Mr. Timson, 'and we know that charity will cover a

multitude of sins. Let me beg you to understand that I do not say this from the supposition that you have

many sins which require palliation; believe me when I say that I never yet met any one who had fewer to

Something like a bad imitation of animation lighted up the lady's face, as she acknowledged the compliment.

Watkins Tottle incurred the sin of wishing that the ashes of the Reverend Charles Timson were quietly

'I'll tell you what,' interrupted Parsons, who had just appeared with clean hands, and a black coat, 'it's my

'You are so severe,' replied Timson, with a Christian smile: he disliked Parsons, but liked his dinners.

'Certainly,' observed Tottle. The lady looked up; her eyes met those of Mr. Watkins Tottle. She withdrew

them in a sweet confusion, and Watkins Tottle did the same the confusion was mutual.

'Why,' urged Mr. Parsons, pursuing his objections, 'what on earth is the use of giving a man coals who has

nothing to cook, or giving him blankets when he hasn't a bed, or giving him soup when he requires

substantial food? "like sending them ruffles when wanting a shirt." Why not give 'em a trifle of money, as I

do, when I think they deserve it, and let them purchase what they think best? Why? because your

subscribers wouldn't see their names flourishing in print on the churchdoor that's the reason.'

'Really, Mr. Parsons, I hope you don't mean to insinuate that I wish to see MY name in print, on the

'I hope not,' said Mr. Watkins Tottle, putting in another word, and getting another glance.

'Certainly not,' replied Parsons. 'I dare say you wouldn't mind seeing it in writing, though, in the church

'Why, the register of marriages, to be sure,' replied Parsons, chuckling at the sally, and glancing at Tottle. Mr.

Watkins Tottle thought he should have fainted for shame, and it is quite impossible to imagine what effect the

joke would have had upon the lady, if dinner had not been, at that moment, announced. Mr. Watkins Tottle,

with an unprecedented effort of gallantry, offered the tip of his little finger; Miss Lillerton accepted it

gracefully, with maiden modesty; and they proceeded in due state to the dinnertable, where they were soon

deposited side by side. The room was very snug, the dinner very good, and the little party in spirits. The

conversation became pretty general, and when Mr. Watkins Tottle had extracted one or two cold observations

from his neighbour, and had taken wine with her, he began to acquire confidence rapidly. The cloth was

removed; Mrs. Gabriel Parsons drank four glasses of port on the plea of being a nurse just then; and Miss

Lillerton took about the same number of sips, on the plea of not wanting any at all. At length, the ladies

retired, to the great gratification of Mr. Gabriel Parsons, who had been coughing and frowning at his wife, for

halfanhour previously signals which Mrs. Parsons never happened to observe, until she had been pressed

to take her ordinary quantum, which, to avoid giving trouble, she generally did at once.

'What do you think of her?' inquired Mr. Gabriel Parsons of Mr. Watkins Tottle, in an undertone.

'The ladies!' said Mr. Watkins Tottle, emptying his glass. In the fulness of his confidence, he felt as if he

'Ah!' said Mr. Gabriel Parsons, 'I remember when I was a young man fill your glass, Timson.'

'I remember,' resumed Mr. Gabriel Parsons, 'when I was a younger man, with what a strange compound of

feelings I used to drink that toast, and how I used to think every woman was an angel.'

'Oh! certainly,' replied Mr. Gabriel Parsons. 'I have never thought so since; and a precious milksop I must

have been, ever to have thought so at all. But, you know, I married Fanny under the oddest, and most

'What were they, if one may inquire?' asked Timson, who had heard the story, on an average, twice a week

for the last six months. Mr. Watkins Tottle listened attentively, in the hope of picking up some suggestion

'I spent my weddingnight in a backkitchen chimney,' said Parsons, by way of a beginning.

'Yes, it wasn't very pleasant,' replied the small host. 'The fact is, Fanny's father and mother liked me well

enough as an individual, but had a decided objection to my becoming a husband. You see, I hadn't any money

in those days, and they had; and so they wanted Fanny to pick up somebody else. However, we managed to

discover the state of each other's affections somehow. I used to meet her, at some mutual friends' parties; at

first we danced together, and talked, and flirted, and all that sort of thing; then, I used to like nothing so well

as sitting by her side we didn't talk so much then, but I remember I used to have a great notion of looking at

her out of the extreme corner of my left eye and then I got very miserable and sentimental, and began to

write verses, and use Macassar oil. At last I couldn't bear it any longer, and after I had walked up and down

the sunny side of Oxfordstreet in tight boots for a week and a devilish hot summer it was too in the hope

of meeting her, I sat down and wrote a letter, and begged her to manage to see me clandestinely, for I wanted

to hear her decision from her own mouth. I said I had discovered, to my perfect satisfaction, that I couldn't

live without her, and that if she didn't have me, I had made up my mind to take prussic acid, or take to

drinking, or emigrate, so as to take myself off in some way or other. Well, I borrowed a pound, and bribed the

'And what was the reply?' inquired Timson, who had found, before, that to encourage the repetition of old

'Oh, the usual one! Fanny expressed herself very miserable; hinted at the possibility of an early grave; said

that nothing should induce her to swerve from the duty she owed her parents; implored me to forget her, and

find out somebody more deserving, and all that sort of thing. She said she could, on no account, think of

meeting me unknown to her pa and ma; and entreated me, as she should be in a particular part of Kensington

'Didn't I? Of course I did. There she was, with the identical housemaid in perspective, in order that there

might be no interruption. We walked about, for a couple of hours; made ourselves delightfully miserable; and

were regularly engaged. Then, we began to "correspond" that is to say, we used to exchange about four

letters a day; what we used to say in 'em I can't imagine. And I used to have an interview, in the kitchen, or

the cellar, or some such place, every evening. Well, things went on in this way for some time; and we got

fonder of each other every day. At last, as our love was raised to such a pitch, and as my salary had been

raised too, shortly before, we determined on a secret marriage. Fanny arranged to sleep at a friend's, on the

previous night; we were to be married early in the morning; and then we were to return to her home and be

pathetic. She was to fall at the old gentleman's feet, and bathe his boots with her tears; and I was to hug the

old lady and call her "mother," and use my pockethandkerchief as much as possible. Married we were, the

next morning; two girlsfriends of Fanny's acting as bridesmaids; and a man, who was hired for five

shillings and a pint of porter, officiating as father. Now, the old lady unfortunately put off her return from

Ramsgate, where she had been paying a visit, until the next morning; and as we placed great reliance on her,

we agreed to postpone our confession for fourandtwenty hours. My newlymade wife returned home, and

I spent my weddingday in strolling about Hampsteadheath, and execrating my fatherinlaw. Of course, I

went to comfort my dear little wife at night, as much as I could, with the assurance that our troubles would

soon be over. I opened the gardengate, of which I had a key, and was shown by the servant to our old place

of meeting a back kitchen, with a stonefloor and a dresser: upon which, in the absence of chairs, we used

'Make love upon a kitchendresser!' interrupted Mr. Watkins Tottle, whose ideas of decorum were greatly

'Ah! On a kitchendresser!' replied Parsons. 'And let me tell you, old fellow, that, if you were really over

headandears in love, and had no other place to make love in, you'd be devilish glad to avail yourself of

'Oh ah! Well, here I found poor Fanny, quite disconsolate and uncomfortable. The old boy had been very

cross all day, which made her feel still more lonely; and she was quite out of spirits. So, I put a good face on

the matter, and laughed it off, and said we should enjoy the pleasures of a matrimonial life more by contrast;

and, at length, poor Fanny brightened up a little. I stopped there, till about eleven o'clock, and, just as I was

taking my leave for the fourteenth time, the girl came running down the stairs, without her shoes, in a great

fright, to tell us that the old villain Heaven forgive me for calling him so, for he is dead and gone now!

prompted I suppose by the prince of darkness, was coming down, to draw his own beer for supper a thing

he had not done before, for six months, to my certain knowledge; for the cask stood in that very back kitchen.

If he discovered me there, explanation would have been out of the question; for he was so outrageously

violent, when at all excited, that he never would have listened to me. There was only one thing to be done.

The chimney was a very wide one; it had been originally built for an oven; went up perpendicularly for a few

feet, and then shot backward and formed a sort of small cavern. My hopes and fortune the means of our

joint existence almost were at stake. I scrambled in like a squirrel; coiled myself up in this recess; and, as

Fanny and the girl replaced the deal chimneyboard, I could see the light of the candle which my

unconscious fatherinlaw carried in his hand. I heard him draw the beer; and I never heard beer run so

slowly. He was just leaving the kitchen, and I was preparing to descend, when down came the infernal

chimneyboard with a tremendous crash. He stopped and put down the candle and the jug of beer on the

dresser; he was a nervous old fellow, and any unexpected noise annoyed him. He coolly observed that the

fireplace was never used, and sending the frightened servant into the next kitchen for a hammer and nails,

actually nailed up the board, and locked the door on the outside. So, there was I, on my weddingnight, in the

light kerseymere trousers, fancy waistcoat, and blue coat, that I had been married in in the morning, in a

backkitchen chimney, the bottom of which was nailed up, and the top of which had been formerly raised

some fifteen feet, to prevent the smoke from annoying the neighbours. And there,' added Mr. Gabriel

Parsons, as he passed the bottle, 'there I remained till halfpast seven the next morning, when the

housemaid's sweetheart, who was a carpenter, unshelled me. The old dog had nailed me up so securely, that,

to this very hour, I firmly believe that no one but a carpenter could ever have got me out.'

'And what did Mrs. Parsons's father say, when he found you were married?' inquired Watkins Tottle, who,

although he never saw a joke, was not satisfied until he heard a story to the very end.

'Why, the affair of the chimney so tickled his fancy, that he pardoned us offhand, and allowed us something

to live on till he went the way of all flesh. I spent the next night in his second floor front, much more

comfortably than I had spent the preceding one; for, as you will probably guess '

'Please, sir, missis has made tea,' said a middleaged female servant, bobbing into the room.

'That's the very housemaid that figures in my story,' said Mr. Gabriel Parsons. 'She went into Fanny's service

when we were first married, and has been with us ever since; but I don't think she has felt one atom of respect

for me since the morning she saw me released, when she went into violent hysterics, to which she has been

'By all means,' added the obsequious Mr. Timson; and the trio made for the drawingroom accordingly.

Tea being concluded, and the toast and cups having been duly handed, and occasionally upset, by Mr.

Watkins Tottle, a rubber was proposed. They cut for partners Mr. and Mrs. Parsons; and Mr. Watkins

Tottle and Miss Lillerton. Mr. Timson having conscientious scruples on the subject of cardplaying, drank

brandyandwater, and kept up a running spar with Mr. Watkins Tottle. The evening went off well; Mr.

Watkins Tottle was in high spirits, having some reason to be gratified with his reception by Miss Lillerton;

and before he left, a small party was made up to visit the Beulah Spa on the following Saturday.

'It's all right, I think,' said Mr. Gabriel Parsons to Mr. Watkins Tottle as he opened the garden gate for him.

But fortune had decreed that Mr. Watkins Tottle should not be down by the first coach on Saturday. His

adventures on that day, however, and the success of his wooing, are subjects for another chapter.

'The first coach has not come in yet, has it, Tom?' inquired Mr. Gabriel Parsons, as he very complacently

paced up and down the fourteen feet of gravel which bordered the 'lawn,' on the Saturday morning which had

'No, sir; I haven't seen it,' replied a gardener in a blue apron, who let himself out to do the ornamental for

'Time Tottle was down,' said Mr. Gabriel Parsons, ruminating 'Oh, here he is, no doubt,' added Gabriel, as a

cab drove rapidly up the hill; and he buttoned his dressinggown, and opened the gate to receive the expected

visitor. The cab stopped, and out jumped a man in a coarse Petersham greatcoat, whitybrown neckerchief,

faded black suit, gambogecoloured topboots, and one of those largecrowned hats, formerly seldom met

'Mr. Parsons?' said the man, looking at the superscription of a note he held in his hand, and addressing

'I've brought this here note,' replied the individual in the painted tops, in a hoarse whisper: 'I've brought this

'I expected the gentleman at my house,' said Parsons, as he broke the seal, which bore the impression of her

'I've no doubt the gen'lm'n would ha' been here, replied the stranger, 'if he hadn't happened to call at our

house first; but we never trusts no gen'lm'n furder nor we can see him no mistake about that there' added

the unknown, with a facetious grin; 'beg your pardon, sir, no offence meant, only once in, and I wish you

Mr. Gabriel Parsons was not remarkable for catching anything suddenly, but a cold. He therefore only

bestowed a glance of profound astonishment on his mysterious companion, and proceeded to unfold the note

of which he had been the bearer. Once opened and the idea was caught with very little difficulty. Mr. Watkins

Tottle had been suddenly arrested for 33L. 10S. 4D., and dated his communication from a lockup house in

'Tom!' exclaimed Parsons, after a few minutes' consideration, 'just put the horse in, will you? Tell the

gentleman that I shall be there almost as soon as you are,' he continued, addressing the sheriffofficer's

'Werry well,' replied that important functionary; adding, in a confidential manner, 'I'd adwise the gen'lm'n's

friends to settle. You see it's a mere trifle; and, unless the gen'lm'n means to go up afore the court, it's hardly

worth while waiting for detainers, you know. Our governor's wide awake, he is. I'll never say nothin' agin

him, nor no man; but he knows what's o'clock, he does, uncommon.' Having delivered this eloquent, and, to

Parsons, particularly intelligible harangue, the meaning of which was eked out by divers nods and winks, the

gentleman in the boots reseated himself in the cab, which went rapidly off, and was soon out of sight. Mr.

Gabriel Parsons continued to pace up and down the pathway for some minutes, apparently absorbed in deep

meditation. The result of his cogitations seemed to be perfectly satisfactory to himself, for he ran briskly into

the house; said that business had suddenly summoned him to town; that he had desired the messenger to

inform Mr. Watkins Tottle of the fact; and that they would return together to dinner. He then hastily equipped

himself for a drive, and mounting his gig, was soon on his way to the establishment of Mr. Solomon Jacobs,

situate (as Mr. Watkins Tottle had informed him) in Cursitorstreet, Chancerylane.

When a man is in a violent hurry to get on, and has a specific object in view, the attainment of which depends

on the completion of his journey, the difficulties which interpose themselves in his way appear not only to be

innumerable, but to have been called into existence especially for the occasion. The remark is by no means a

new one, and Mr. Gabriel Parsons had practical and painful experience of its justice in the course of his drive.

There are three classes of animated objects which prevent your driving with any degree of comfort or celerity

through streets which are but little frequented they are pigs, children, and old women. On the occasion we

are describing, the pigs were luxuriating on cabbage stalks, and the shuttlecocks fluttered from the little deal

battledores, and the children played in the road; and women, with a basket in one hand, and the streetdoor

key in the other, WOULD cross just before the horse's head, until Mr. Gabriel Parsons was perfectly savage

with vexation, and quite hoarse with hoiing and imprecating. Then, when he got into Fleetstreet, there was

'a stoppage,' in which people in vehicles have the satisfaction of remaining stationary for half an hour, and

envying the slowest pedestrians; and where policemen rush about, and seize hold of horses' bridles, and back

them into shopwindows, by way of clearing the road and preventing confusion. At length Mr. Gabriel

Parsons turned into Chancerylane, and having inquired for, and been directed to Cursitorstreet (for it was a

locality of which he was quite ignorant), he soon found himself opposite the house of Mr. Solomon Jacobs.

Confiding his horse and gig to the care of one of the fourteen boys who had followed him from the other side

of Blackfriarsbridge on the chance of his requiring their services, Mr. Gabriel Parsons crossed the road and

knocked at an inner door, the upper part of which was of glass, grated like the windows of this inviting

The knock was answered by a sallowfaced, redhaired, sulky boy, who, after surveying Mr. Gabriel Parsons

through the glass, applied a large key to an immense wooden excrescence, which was in reality a lock, but

which, taken in conjunction with the iron nails with which the panels were studded, gave the door the

'It's the gentleman that come in this morning, Jem,' screamed a voice from the top of the kitchenstairs, which

belonged to a dirty woman who had just brought her chin to a level with the passage floor. 'The gentleman's

'Upstairs, sir,' said the boy, just opening the door wide enough to let Parsons in without squeezing him, and

doublelocking it the moment he had made his way through the aperture 'First floor door on the left.'

Mr. Gabriel Parsons thus instructed, ascended the uncarpeted and illlighted staircase, and after giving

several subdued taps at the beforementioned 'door on the left,' which were rendered inaudible by the hum of

voices within the room, and the hissing noise attendant on some frying operations which were carrying on

below stairs, turned the handle, and entered the apartment. Being informed that the unfortunate object of his

visit had just gone up stairs to write a letter, he had leisure to sit down and observe the scene before him.

The room which was a small, confined den was partitioned off into boxes, like the commonroom of

some inferior eatinghouse. The dirty floor had evidently been as long a stranger to the scrubbingbrush as to

carpet or floorcloth: and the ceiling was completely blackened by the flare of the oillamp by which the

room was lighted at night. The gray ashes on the edges of the tables, and the cigar ends which were

plentifully scattered about the dusty grate, fully accounted for the intolerable smell of tobacco which

pervaded the place; and the empty glasses and halfsaturated slices of lemon on the tables, together with the

porter pots beneath them, bore testimony to the frequent libations in which the individuals who honoured Mr.

Solomon Jacobs by a temporary residence in his house indulged. Over the mantelshelf was a paltry

lookingglass, extending about half the width of the chimneypiece; but by way of counterpoise, the ashes

From this cheerful room itself, the attention of Mr. Gabriel Parsons was naturally directed to its inmates. In

one of the boxes two men were playing at cribbage with a very dirty pack of cards, some with blue, some

with green, and some with red backs selections from decayed packs. The cribbage board had been long ago

formed on the table by some ingenious visitor with the assistance of a pocketknife and a twopronged fork,

with which the necessary number of holes had been made in the table at proper distances for the reception of

the wooden pegs. In another box a stout, heartylooking man, of about forty, was eating some dinner which

his wife an equally comfortablelooking personage had brought him in a basket: and in a third, a

genteellooking young man was talking earnestly, and in a low tone, to a young female, whose face was

concealed by a thick veil, but whom Mr. Gabriel Parsons immediately set down in his own mind as the

debtor's wife. A young fellow of vulgar manners, dressed in the very extreme of the prevailing fashion, was

pacing up and down the room, with a lighted cigar in his mouth and his hands in his pockets, ever and anon

puffing forth volumes of smoke, and occasionally applying, with much apparent relish, to a pint pot, the

'Fourpence more, by gum!' exclaimed one of the cribbageplayers, lighting a pipe, and addressing his

adversary at the close of the game; 'one 'ud think you'd got luck in a peppercruet, and shook it out when you

'Well, that a'n't a bad un,' replied the other, who was a horse dealer from Islington.

'No; I'm blessed if it is,' interposed the jollylooking fellow, who, having finished his dinner, was drinking

out of the same glass as his wife, in truly conjugal harmony, some hot ginandwater. The faithful partner of

his cares had brought a plentiful supply of the antitemperance fluid in a large flat stone bottle, which looked

like a halfgallon jar that had been successfully tapped for the dropsy. 'You're a rum chap, you are, Mr.

'Thank'ee, sir,' replied Mr. Walker, leaving his box, and advancing to the other to accept the proffered glass.

'Here's your health, sir, and your good 'ooman's here. Gentlemen all yours, and better luck still. Well, Mr.

Willis,' continued the facetious prisoner, addressing the young man with the cigar, 'you seem rather down

today floored, as one may say. What's the matter, sir? Never say die, you know.'

'Shall you, though?' inquired the other. 'Damme, I wish I could say the same. I am as regularly over head and

ears as the Royal George, and stand about as much chance of being BAILED OUT. Ha! ha! ha!'

'Why,' said the young man, stopping short, and speaking in a very loud key, 'look at me. What d'ye think I've

''Cause you couldn't get out, I suppose,' interrupted Mr. Walker, winking to the company. 'Not that you're

exactly obliged to stop here, only you can't help it. No compulsion, you know, only you must eh?'

'A'n't he a rum un?' inquired the delighted individual, who had offered the ginandwater, of his wife.

'Oh, he just is!' replied the lady, who was quite overcome by these flashes of imagination.

'Why, my case,' frowned the victim, throwing the end of his cigar into the fire, and illustrating his argument

by knocking the bottom of the pot on the table, at intervals, 'my case is a very singular one. My father's a

'That's a very strange circumstance!' interrupted the jocose Mr. Walker, EN PASSANT.

' I am his son, and have received a liberal education. I don't owe no man nothing not the value of a

farthing, but I was induced, you see, to put my name to some bills for a friend bills to a large amount, I may

say a very large amount, for which I didn't receive no consideration. What's the consequence?'

'Why, I suppose the bills went out, and you came in. The acceptances weren't taken up, and you were, eh?'

'To be sure,' replied the liberally educated young gentleman. 'To be sure; and so here I am, locked up for a

'Why don't you ask your old governor to stump up?' inquired Walker, with a somewhat sceptical air.

'Oh! bless you, he'd never do it,' replied the other, in a tone of expostulation 'Never!'

'Well, it is very odd to be sure,' interposed the owner of the flat bottle, mixing another glass, 'but I've been

in difficulties, as one may say, now for thirty year. I went to pieces when I was in a milkwalk, thirty year

ago; arterwards, when I was a fruiterer, and kept a spring wan; and arter that again in the coal and 'tatur line

but all that time I never see a youngish chap come into a place of this kind, who wasn't going out again

directly, and who hadn't been arrested on bills which he'd given a friend and for which he'd received nothing

'Oh! it's always the cry,' said Walker. 'I can't see the use on it; that's what makes me so wild. Why, I should

have a much better opinion of an individual, if he'd say at once in an honourable and gentlemanly manner as

'Ay, to be sure,' interposed the horsedealer, with whose notions of bargain and sale the axiom perfectly

coincided, 'so should I.' The young gentleman, who had given rise to these observations, was on the point of

offering a rather angry reply to these sneers, but the rising of the young man before noticed, and of the female

who had been sitting by him, to leave the room, interrupted the conversation. She had been weeping bitterly,

and the noxious atmosphere of the room acting upon her excited feelings and delicate frame, rendered the

There was an air of superiority about them both, and something in their appearance so unusual in such a

place, that a respectful silence was observed until the WHIRR R BANG of the spring door announced

'Poor creetur!' said she, quenching a sigh in a rivulet of ginand water. 'She's very young.'

'What's he in for, Ikey?' inquired Walker, of an individual who was spreading a cloth with numerous blotches

of mustard upon it, on one of the tables, and whom Mr. Gabriel Parsons had no difficulty in recognising as

'Vy,' responded the factotum, 'it's one of the rummiest rigs you ever heard on. He come in here last Vensday,

which bythebye he's agoing over the water tonight hows'ever that's neither here nor there. You see

I've been a going back'ards and for'ards about his business, and ha' managed to pick up some of his story from

the servants and them; and so far as I can make it out, it seems to be summat to this here effect '

'Cut it short, old fellow,' interrupted Walker, who knew from former experience that he of the topboots was

'Let me alone,' replied Ikey, 'and I'll ha' wound up, and made my lucky in five seconds. This here young

gen'lm'n's father so I'm told, mind ye and the father o' the young voman, have always been on very bad,

outandout, rig'lar knockmedown sort o' terms; but somehow or another, when he was a wisitin' at some

gentlefolk's house, as he knowed at college, he came into contract with the young lady. He seed her several

times, and then he up and said he'd keep company with her, if so be as she vos agreeable. Vell, she vos as

sweet upon him as he vos upon her, and so I s'pose they made it all right; for they got married 'bout six

months arterwards, unbeknown, mind ye, to the two fathers leastways so I'm told. When they heard on it

my eyes, there was such a combustion! Starvation vos the very least that vos to be done to 'em. The young

gen'lm'n's father cut him off vith a bob, 'cos he'd cut himself off vith a wife; and the young lady's father he

behaved even worser and more unnat'ral, for he not only blow'd her up dreadful, and swore he'd never see her

again, but he employed a chap as I knows and as you knows, Mr. Valker, a precious sight too well to go

about and buy up the bills and them things on which the young husband, thinking his governor 'ud come

round agin, had raised the vind just to blow himself on vith for a time; besides vich, he made all the interest

he could to set other people agin him. Consequence vos, that he paid as long as he could; but things he never

expected to have to meet till he'd had time to turn himself round, come fast upon him, and he vos nabbed. He

vos brought here, as I said afore, last Vensday, and I think there's about ah, halfadozen detainers agin

him downstairs now. I have been,' added Ikey, 'in the purfession these fifteen year, and I never met vith such

'Poor creeturs!' exclaimed the coaldealer's wife once more: again resorting to the same excellent prescription

for nipping a sigh in the bud. 'Ah! when they've seen as much trouble as I and my old man here have, they'll

'The young lady's a pretty creature,' said Walker, 'only she's a little too delicate for my taste there ain't

enough of her. As to the young cove, he may be very respectable and what not, but he's too down in the

'Game!' exclaimed Ikey, who had been altering the position of a greenhandled knife and fork at least a

dozen times, in order that he might remain in the room under the pretext of having something to do. 'He's

game enough ven there's anything to be fierce about; but who could be game as you call it, Mr. Walker, with

a pale young creetur like that, hanging about him? It's enough to drive any man's heart into his boots to see

'em together and no mistake at all about it. I never shall forget her first comin' here; he wrote to her on the

Thursday to come I know he did, 'cos I took the letter. Uncommon fidgety he was all day to be sure, and in

the evening he goes down into the office, and he says to Jacobs, says he, "Sir, can I have the loan of a private

room for a few minutes this evening, without incurring any additional expense just to see my wife in?" says

he. Jacobs looked as much as to say "Strike me bountiful if you ain't one of the modest sort!" but as the

gen'lm'n who had been in the back parlour had just gone out, and had paid for it for that day, he says werry

grave "Sir," says he, "it's agin our rules to let private rooms to our lodgers on gratis terms, but," says he,

"for a gentleman, I don't mind breaking through them for once." So then he turns round to me, and says,

"Ikey, put two mould candles in the back parlour, and charge 'em to this gen'lm'n's account," vich I did. Vell,

byandby a hackneycoach comes up to the door, and there, sure enough, was the young lady, wrapped up

in a hoperacloak, as it might be, and all alone. I opened the gate that night, so I went up when the coach

come, and he vos a waitin' at the parlour door and wasn't he a trembling, neither? The poor creetur see him,

and could hardly walk to meet him. "Oh, Harry!" she says, "that it should have come to this; and all for my

sake," says she, putting her hand upon his shoulder. So he puts his arm round her pretty little waist, and

leading her gently a little way into the room, so that he might be able to shut the door, he says, so kind and

'Here's the gentleman you want,' said Ikey, abruptly breaking off in his story, and introducing Mr. Gabriel

Parsons to the crest fallen Watkins Tottle, who at that moment entered the room. Watkins advanced with a

wooden expression of passive endurance, and accepted the hand which Mr. Gabriel Parsons held out.

'I want to speak to you,' said Gabriel, with a look strongly expressive of his dislike of the company.

'This way,' replied the imprisoned one, leading the way to the front drawingroom, where rich debtors did the

'Well, here I am,' said Mr. Watkins, as he sat down on the sofa; and placing the palms of his hands on his

'Yes; and here you're likely to be,' said Gabriel, coolly, as he rattled the money in his unmentionable pockets,

Mr. Gabriel Parsons walked up and down the room for a few seconds, before he could make up his mind to

disclose the plan he had formed; he was accustomed to drive hard bargains, but was always most anxious to

conceal his avarice. At length he stopped short, and said, 'Tottle, you owe me fifty pounds.'

'Then,' said Mr. Gabriel Parsons, 'listen: here's my proposition. You know my way of old. Accept it yes or

no I will or I won't. I'll pay the debt and costs, and I'll lend you 10L. more (which, added to your annuity,

will enable you to carry on the war well) if you'll give me your note of hand to pay me one hundred and fifty

'Stop a minute on one condition; and that is, that you propose to Miss Lillerton at once.'

'It's for you to consider, not me. She knows you well from reputation, though she did not know you

personally until lately. Notwithstanding all her maiden modesty, I think she'd be devilish glad to get married

out of hand with as little delay as possible. My wife has sounded her on the subject, and she has confessed.'

'Why,' replied Parsons, 'to say exactly what she has confessed, would be rather difficult, because they only

spoke in hints, and so forth; but my wife, who is no bad judge in these cases, declared to me that what she

had confessed was as good as to say that she was not insensible of your merits in fact, that no other man

'I have,' and they shook hands most cordially. The note of hand was given the debt and costs were paid

Ikey was satisfied for his trouble, and the two friends soon found themselves on that side of Mr. Solomon

Jacobs's establishment, on which most of his visitors were very happy when they found themselves once

'Now,' said Mr. Gabriel Parsons, as they drove to Norwood together 'you shall have an opportunity to make

'How I should like to see you together,' ejaculated Mr. Gabriel Parsons. 'What fun!' and he laughed so long

and so loudly, that he disconcerted Mr. Watkins Tottle, and frightened the horse.

'There's Fanny and your intended walking about on the lawn,' said Gabriel, as they approached the house.

'Never fear,' replied Watkins, resolutely, as he made his way to the spot where the ladies were walking.

'Here's Mr. Tottle, my dear,' said Mrs. Parsons, addressing Miss Lillerton. The lady turned quickly round, and

acknowledged his courteous salute with the same sort of confusion that Watkins had noticed on their first

interview, but with something like a slight expression of disappointment or carelessness.

'Why, I really thought she looked as if she would rather have seen somebody else,' replied Tottle.

'Pooh, nonsense!' whispered Parsons again 'it's always the way with the women, young or old. They never

show how delighted they are to see those whose presence makes their hearts beat. It's the way with the whole

sex, and no man should have lived to your time of life without knowing it. Fanny confessed it to me, when

'Well, now, you'd better begin to pave the way,' said Parsons, who, having invested some money in the

'Say something to her, man,' urged Parsons again. 'Confound it! pay her a compliment, can't you?'

'No! not till after dinner,' replied the bashful Tottle, anxious to postpone the evil moment.

'Well, gentlemen,' said Mrs. Parsons, 'you are really very polite; you stay away the whole morning, after

promising to take us out, and when you do come home, you stand whispering together and take no notice of

'We were talking of the BUSINESS, my dear, which detained us this morning,' replied Parsons, looking

'Dear me! how very quickly the morning has gone,' said Miss Lillerton, referring to the gold watch, which

'I can only impute it to my unavoidable absence from your society, madam,' said Watkins, 'and that of Mrs.

'What the deuce did you stick Fanny into that last compliment for?' inquired Parsons, as they followed

'Oh! it really would have been too broad without,' replied Watkins Tottle, 'much too broad!'

'He's mad!' Parsons whispered his wife, as they entered the drawingroom, 'mad from modesty.'

'You'll find we have quite a family dinner, Mr. Tottle,' said Mrs. Parsons, when they sat down to table: 'Miss

Mr. Watkins Tottle expressed a hope that the Parsons family never would make a stranger of him; and wished

internally that his bashfulness would allow him to feel a little less like a stranger himself.

'Take off the covers, Martha,' said Mrs. Parsons, directing the shifting of the scenery with great anxiety. The

order was obeyed, and a pair of boiled fowls, with tongue and et ceteras, were displayed at the top, and a fillet

of veal at the bottom. On one side of the table two green saucetureens, with ladles of the same, were setting

to each other in a green dish; and on the other was a curried rabbit, in a brown suit, turned up with lemon.

Watkins started trembled helped the rabbit and broke a tumbler. The countenance of the lady of the

'Extremely sorry,' stammered Watkins, assisting himself to currie and parsley and butter, in the extremity of

'Not the least consequence,' replied Mrs. Parsons, in a tone which implied that it was of the greatest

consequence possible, directing aside the researches of the boy, who was groping under the table for the

'I presume,' said Miss Lillerton, 'that Mr. Tottle is aware of the interest which bachelors usually pay in such

Mr. Gabriel Parsons gave his friend an admonitory tread on the toe. Here was a clear hint that the sooner he

ceased to be a bachelor and emancipated himself from such penalties, the better. Mr. Watkins Tottle viewed

the observation in the same light, and challenged Mrs. Parsons to take wine, with a degree of presence of

'Tottle, will you assist Miss Lillerton, and pass the decanter. Thank you.' (The usual pantomimic ceremony of

'Tottle, were you ever in Suffolk?' inquired the master of the house, who was burning to tell one of his seven

'No,' responded Watkins, adding, by way of a saving clause, 'but I've been in Devonshire.'

'Ah!' replied Gabriel, 'it was in Suffolk that a rather singular circumstance happened to me many years ago.

Mr. Watkins Tottle HAD happened to hear his friend mention it some four hundred times. Of course he

expressed great curiosity, and evinced the utmost impatience to hear the story again. Mr. Gabriel Parsons

forthwith attempted to proceed, in spite of the interruptions to which, as our readers must frequently have

observed, the master of the house is often exposed in such cases. We will attempt to give them an idea of our

'Take off the fowls first, Martha,' said Mrs. Parsons. 'I beg your pardon, my dear.'

'When I was in Suffolk,' resumed Mr. Parsons, with an impatient glance at his wife, who pretended not to

observe it, 'which is now years ago, business led me to the town of Bury St. Edmund's. I had to stop at the

principal places in my way, and therefore, for the sake of convenience, I travelled in a gig. I left Sudbury one

dark night it was winter time about nine o'clock; the rain poured in torrents, the wind howled among the

trees that skirted the roadside, and I was obliged to proceed at a footpace, for I could hardly see my hand

'John,' interrupted Mrs. Parsons, in a low, hollow voice, 'don't spill that gravy.'

'Fanny,' said Parsons impatiently, 'I wish you'd defer these domestic reproofs to some more suitable time.

'How very absurd you are, my love! I must give directions to the servants; I am quite sure that if I sat here

and allowed John to spill the gravy over the new carpet, you'd be the first to find fault when you saw the stain

'Well,' continued Gabriel with a resigned air, as if he knew there was no getting over the point about the

carpet, 'I was just saying, it was so dark that I could hardly see my hand before me. The road was very lonely,

and I assure you, Tottle (this was a device to arrest the wandering attention of that individual, which was

distracted by a confidential communication between Mrs. Parsons and Martha, accompanied by the delivery

of a large bunch of keys), I assure you, Tottle, I became somehow impressed with a sense of the loneliness of

'Now, pray, my dear,' remonstrated Parsons once more, very pettishly. Mrs. P. turned up her hands and

eyebrows, and appealed in dumb show to Miss Lillerton. 'As I turned a corner of the road,' resumed Gabriel,

'the horse stopped short, and reared tremendously. I pulled up, jumped out, ran to his head, and found a man

lying on his back in the middle of the road, with his eyes fixed on the sky. I thought he was dead; but no, he

was alive, and there appeared to be nothing the matter with him. He jumped up, and putting his hand to his

'Oh! it's no use,' exclaimed the host, now rendered desperate. 'Here, Tottle; a glass of wine. It's useless to

This attack was received in the usual way. Mrs. Parsons talked TO Miss Lillerton and AT her better half;

expatiated on the impatience of men generally; hinted that her husband was peculiarly vicious in this respect,

and wound up by insinuating that she must be one of the best tempers that ever existed, or she never could

put up with it. Really what she had to endure sometimes, was more than any one who saw her in everyday

life could by possibility suppose. The story was now a painful subject, and therefore Mr. Parsons declined

to enter into any details, and contented himself by stating that the man was a maniac, who had escaped from a

The cloth was removed; the ladies soon afterwards retired, and Miss Lillerton played the piano in the

drawingroom overhead, very loudly, for the edification of the visitor. Mr. Watkins Tottle and Mr. Gabriel

Parsons sat chatting comfortably enough, until the conclusion of the second bottle, when the latter, in

proposing an adjournment to the drawingroom, informed Watkins that he had concerted a plan with his

'I say,' said Tottle, as they went upstairs, 'don't you think it would be better if we put it off

'Don't YOU think it would have been much better if I had left you in that wretched hole I found you in this

'Well well I only made a suggestion,' said poor Watkins Tottle, with a deep sigh.

Tea was soon concluded, and Miss Lillerton, drawing a small work table on one side of the fire, and placing

a little wooden frame upon it, something like a miniature claymill without the horse, was soon busily

'God bless me!' exclaimed Parsons, starting up with wellfeigned surprise, 'I've forgotten those confounded

If Tottle had been a free agent, he would have allowed no one to leave the room on any pretence, except

himself. As it was, however, he was obliged to look cheerful when Parsons quitted the apartment.

He had scarcely left, when Martha put her head into the room, with 'Please, ma'am, you're wanted.'

Mrs. Parsons left the room, shut the door carefully after her, and Mr. Watkins Tottle was left alone with Miss

For the first five minutes there was a dead silence. Mr. Watkins Tottle was thinking how he should begin,

and Miss Lillerton appeared to be thinking of nothing. The fire was burning low; Mr. Watkins Tottle stirred

'Hem!' coughed Miss Lillerton; Mr. Watkins Tottle thought the fair creature had spoken. 'I beg your pardon,'

'There are some books on the sofa, Mr. Tottle, if you would like to look at them,' said Miss Lillerton, after the

'No, thank you,' returned Watkins; and then he added, with a courage which was perfectly astonishing, even

'To me!' said Miss Lillerton, letting the silk drop from her hands, and sliding her chair back a few paces.

'To you, madam and on the subject of the state of your affections.' The lady hastily rose and would have left

the room; but Mr. Watkins Tottle gently detained her by the hand, and holding it as far from him as the joint

length of their arms would permit, he thus proceeded: 'Pray do not misunderstand me, or suppose that I am

led to address you, after so short an acquaintance, by any feeling of my own merits for merits I have none

which could give me a claim to your hand. I hope you will acquit me of any presumption when I explain that

I have been acquainted through Mrs. Parsons, with the state that is, that Mrs. Parsons has told me at least,

not Mrs. Parsons, but ' here Watkins began to wander, but Miss Lillerton relieved him.

'Am I to understand, Mr. Tottle, that Mrs. Parsons has acquainted you with my feeling my affection I

'Then, what?' inquired Miss Lillerton, averting her face, with a girlish air, 'what could induce YOU to seek

such an interview as this? What can your object be? How can I promote your happiness, Mr. Tottle?'

Here was the time for a flourish 'By allowing me,' replied Watkins, falling bump on his knees, and breaking

two bracebuttons and a waistcoatstring, in the act 'By allowing me to be your slave, your servant in

short, by unreservedly making me the confidant of your heart's feelings may I say for the promotion of your

own happiness may I say, in order that you may become the wife of a kind and affectionate husband?'

'Disinterested creature!' exclaimed Miss Lillerton, hiding her face in a white pockethandkerchief with an

Mr. Watkins Tottle thought that if the lady knew all, she might possibly alter her opinion on this last point.

He raised the tip of her middle finger ceremoniously to his lips, and got off his knees, as gracefully as he

could. 'My information was correct?' he tremulously inquired, when he was once more on his feet.

'It was.' Watkins elevated his hands, and looked up to the ornament in the centre of the ceiling, which had

'Our situation, Mr. Tottle,' resumed the lady, glancing at him through one of the eyeletholes, 'is a most

'Oh!' he said, recollecting Parsons's assurance that she had known him from report, 'I understand. But, my

dear madam, pray, consider. The longer this acquaintance has existed, the less reason is there for delay now.

'It has been represented to me again and again that this is the course I ought to pursue,' replied Miss Lillerton,

'but pardon my feelings of delicacy, Mr. Tottle pray excuse this embarrassment I have peculiar ideas on

such subjects, and I am quite sure that I never could summon up fortitude enough to name the day to my

'I should like to fix it myself,' replied Miss Lillerton, bashfully, 'but I cannot do so without at once resorting

'A third party!' thought Watkins Tottle; 'who the deuce is that to be, I wonder!'

'Mr. Tottle,' continued Miss Lillerton, 'you have made me a most disinterested and kind offer that offer I

'After what has passed between us,' responded Miss Lillerton, still averting her head, 'you must understand

'Mr. Timson, the clergyman!' ejaculated Watkins Tottle, in a state of inexpressible beatitude, and positive

'I'll prepare it immediately,' said Miss Lillerton, making for the door; 'the events of this day have flurried me

so much, Mr. Tottle, that I shall not leave my room again this evening; I will send you the note by the

'Stay, stay,' cried Watkins Tottle, still keeping a most respectful distance from the lady; 'when shall we

'Oh! Mr. Tottle,' replied Miss Lillerton, coquettishly, 'when WE are married, I can never see you too often,

Mr. Watkins Tottle flung himself into an armchair, and indulged in the most delicious reveries of future

bliss, in which the idea of 'Five hundred pounds per annum, with an uncontrolled power of disposing of it by

her last will and testament,' was somehow or other the foremost. He had gone through the interview so well,

and it had terminated so admirably, that he almost began to wish he had expressly stipulated for the

'At his uncle's,' replied Gabriel, 'just round the lane. He's waiting for a living, and has been assisting his uncle

here for the last two or three months. But how well you have done it I didn't think you could have carried it

Mr. Watkins Tottle was proceeding to demonstrate that the Richardsonian principle was the best on which

love could possibly be made, when he was interrupted by the entrance of Martha, with a little pink note

'Miss Lillerton's compliments,' said Martha, as she delivered it into Tottle's hands, and vanished.

'Do you observe the delicacy?' said Tottle, appealing to Mr. Gabriel Parsons. 'COMPLIMENTS, not LOVE,

Mr. Gabriel Parsons didn't exactly know what reply to make, so he poked the forefinger of his right hand

'Come,' said Watkins, when the explosion of mirth, consequent on this practical jest, had subsided, 'we'll be

'Capital!' echoed Gabriel Parsons; and in five minutes they were at the gardengate of the villa tenanted by

'Is Mr. Charles Timson at home?' inquired Mr. Watkins Tottle of Mr. Charles Timson's uncle's man.

'Mr. Charles IS at home,' replied the man, stammering; 'but he desired me to say he couldn't be interrupted,

'Is Mr. Charles writing a sermon, Tom?' inquired Parsons, thrusting himself forward.

'No, Mr. Parsons, sir; he's not exactly writing a sermon, but he is practising the violoncello in his own

'Say I'm here,' replied Gabriel, leading the way across the garden; 'Mr. Parsons and Mr. Tottle, on private and

They were shown into the parlour, and the servant departed to deliver his message. The distant groaning of

the violoncello ceased; footsteps were heard on the stairs; and Mr. Timson presented himself, and shook