ment of the intended visit till to-morrow.

He

answered that it was not at all out of our way. I was hurried along rapidly towards the left; we soon fell into an animated discussion respecting the nature of the virtue of the Romans, which in some measure beguiled the weary way. Whilst he was talking with much vehemence, and a total disregard of the people who thronged the streets, he suddenly wheeled about, and pushed me through a narrow door; to my infinite surprise I found myself in a pawnbroker's shop. It was in the neighbourhood of Newgate street, for he had no idea whatever, in practice, either of time or space, nor did he in any degree regard method in the conduct of business. There were several women in the shop in brown and grey cloaks, with squalling children, some of them were attempting to persuade the children to be quiet, or, at least, to scream with moderation; others were enlarging and pointing out the beauties of certain coarse and dirty sheets that lay before them, to a man on the other side of the

counter.

I bore this substitute for our proposed tea for some minutes with great patience, but, as the call did not promise to terminate speedily, I said to Shelley in a whisper, 'Is not this almost as bad as the Roman virtue?" Upon this he approached the pawnbroker: it was long before he obtained a hearing, and he did not find civility; the man was unwilling to part with a valuable pledge so soon, or perhaps he hoped to retain it eventually, or it might be the obliquity of his nature disqualified him for respectful behaviour. A pawnbroker is frequently an important witness in criminal proceedings; it has happened to me, therefore, to see many specimens of this kind of banker; they sometimes appeared not less respectable than other tradesmen-and sometimes I have been forcibly reminded of the first I ever met with by an equally ill-conditioned fellow. I was so little pleased with the introduction, that I stood aloof in the shop, and did not hear what passed between him and Shelley. On our way to Covent Garden, I expressed my surprise and

dissatisfaction at our strange visit, and I learned that when he came to London before, in the course of the summer, some old man had related to him a tale of distress-of a calamity which could only be alleviated by the timely application of ten pounds; five of them he drew from his pocket, and to raise the other five he had pawned his beautiful solar microscope! He related this act of beneficence simply and briefly as if it were a matter of course, and such indeed it was to him. I was ashamed of my impatience, and we strode along in silence.

"It was past ten when we reached the hotel, some excellent tea and a liberal supply of hot muffins in the coffee-room, now quiet and solitary, were the more grateful after the wearisome delay and vast deviation. Shelley often turned his head, and cast eager glances towards the door; and whenever the waiter replenished our teapot, or approached our box, he was interrogated whether any one had called. At last the desired summons was brought; Shelley drew forth some

bank notes, hurried to the bar, and returned as hastily, bearing in triumph under his arm a mahogany box, followed by the officious waiter, with whose assistance he placed it upon the bench by his side. He viewed it often with evident satisfaction, and sometimes patted it affectionately in the course of calm conversation. The solar microscope was always a favourite plaything, or instrument of scientific inquiry; whenever he entered a house his first care was to choose some window of a southern aspect, and if permission could be obtained by prayer or purchase, straightway cut a hole through the shutter to receive it. His regard for the solar microscope was as lasting as it was strong; for he retained it several years after this adventure, and long after he had parted with all the rest of his philosophical apparatus."

But to return to Zion House, and perhaps I have dwelt long enough on the first epoch of the life of the Poet. I was removed to a public school, with only one regret-to part from him; and Shelley shortly afterwards

was sent to Eton. So much did we mutually hate Sion House, that we never alluded to it in after life; nor shall I have much to say about Eton. The pure system of fagging was here, as it still is, carried on in all its rankness; and, as it is the maxim of jurisprudence, that custom makes law-that tradition stands in the place of, and has the force of law-has continued to defy all attempts to put it down. By the way, in one of the military colleges, hardly a year ago, a young man was rolled up in a snow-ball, and left in his room during the time the other cadets were at church. The consequence was, that though restored to animation, he still is, and is likely to ramain all his life, a cripple. The authorities, to whom an appeal was made against this barbarous treatment, refused to interfere. Shelley, Mrs. Shelley says, "refusing to fag at Eton, was treated with revolting cruelty by masters and boys. This roused, instead of taming his spirit, and he rejected the duty of obedience, when it was enforced by menaces and punishment."