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nion, an elderly gentleman, with me in the inside; and before the end of this stage I had learned that we were to be partners to Scarborough: his name I never found out; but as he happened to know mine, that was sufficient for all the purposes of occasional conversation by the way: he was just such company as I like in such a case; he neither bored me with his eternal talk, nor expected me to entertain him with mine, straining to be heard against the grinding of wheels, the ringing of harness, and the clattering of hoofs:— but I must run back some dozen lines to bring up the sense, which is often left behind when I am running away with words. — I beg their pardon, I mean when words are running away with me, as they are at this moment, even while I am complaining of their legerdemain ;— I must therefore break through, at a right angle, from this labyrinth of digression:— the fog was so dense when we landed at R. that, without a quibble, it bade fair to be a foul day. Just as I stept upon the pavement before the sign of the Ram, a gentleman, with locks which Time had blanched, and a countenance which he had furrowed without spoiling; — nay, some faces and ringlets are mightily improved by the touches and colouring of that hand which finally obliterates every thing; — this gentleman, so mellowed by years, looked earnestly in my face, and grasping my arm with the cordial violence of good nature, insisted, in spite of my stammering excuses, that I should go and breakfast with him and his lady, — being old acquaintance,— till the coach, which was not expected for an hour, came in from the north. I went, and was kindly welcomed by Mrs. *****, whom I am afraid I hurried beyond her convenience, to suit my haste. That, however, was her good man's business, and no doubt for his sake, if not for mine, she was glad for once to be put out of her way. I had long known him as an ingenious painter, but was surprised to find that he had latterly turned his hand to modelling. He showed me several creditable specimens of his proficiency, particularly busts of Dr. C. and Mr. Southey. At parting, he asked a favour of me, (as he termed it,) which I felt little ambition to grant, though the request implied a compliment far above my merits. It was,—that he might be allowed to make a model from my head. What sort of a head must his own be, for such a thought to come into it? He would not be said nay, and when I pleaded that mine was not a skull for an exhibition, he was pleased to say, "It is enough for me that it is Mr. * * * * *'s." This of course put me to silence. However, as it was not convenient to leave the original in his hands, expecting that I might possibly have occasion for such a thing as a head before my journey's end, I carried it away on my shoulders, promising him the reversion of it when I could better spare it.—N.B. Whatever I may permit Mr. ***** to do with the outside of my head, he shall make no model of the inside, I'll promise him;— one peep into that little Bedlam would satisfy any of my friends, that their ignoranee of me is sometimes very much to their advantage, as well as to mine; — in what manner, it becomes not me to say.—But my journal will be as long as the Universal History at this rate; I must be brief henceforward; indeed, on recollection of the memorabilia of this day, I find that the most interesting events occurred in the morning; so I may finish the notices of it in the log-book style, with the simple record of matters of fact. We entered the coach;— we were five now, my comrade and myself being joined, in the inside, by a young gentleman and two ladies, one of whom I believe was his wife, the other her sister; most probably a wedding-party, but this did not occur to me till the day after, when I had the good fortune to fall in with another pair newly manacled with fetters, a thousand times pleasanter to wear than to walk at liberty by one's self. The gentleman from the few words which he spoke (in my hearing), in the course of two or three and twenty statute miles, may be English-born, but the ladies, who did not talk much more, must be Scotch by their accent, their physiognomy, and a certain sprightly simplicity, much too homely, and at the same time graceful, to be called by a French name, (nai-vetel) and there is no word for it in the language of either side of the Tweed; but the thing itself is one of the beautiful and inimitable characteristics of our modest and not too highly cultivated north-country women. I, as usual, lay by, and did not attempt to make myself particularly ami

Vol. II.—B

able to them, though I was placed opposite her, whom I now imagine to have been the bridemaid, and who was fair, and young, and no doubt wise enough to drop the latter half of that elegant compound term, and make any reasonable man happy by becoming the first to him. Indeed I lost an opportunity, which probably will never recur, of saying something very trite and very fine to the fair travellers; for having occasion to wait half an hour at the next small town, I strolled into the church-yard, — as one generally does in a strange place, — to make acquaintance with the dead, where one knows not a soul living, except by the sign-boards over shops and ale-houses, which are not half so interesting to look upon as grave-stones with their epitaphs ;— when, lo! just as I had completed the circumambulation of the church, the two ladies, without their 'squire, had entered the yard, and were stepping from tomb to tomb in quest of such records as might be expected there, with the certainty of not being disappointed. Something came into my mind to address to them on-^qn:—on—-why every one knows what; but as it was not uttered, I cannot take upon me to say, whether it concerned this world or the next, though I have a confused notion that it referred to both. It is lost for ever, like many a good thought of mine, for want of courage to speak it; — and, by one of those unmannerly evasions, at which I have acquired a little dexterity, from being necessitated to practise them, when a certain constitutional shyness, inveterate and invincible, seizes me, and paralyzes my spirit itself, I neither presumed to accost nor even to notice them. And yet I should not wonder if they put me down for a proud piece of living affectation. How many opportunities of making myself agreeable or ridiculous, have I thus thrown away in the course of my life, by being blind, and deaf, and dumb, when, if I had had ten senses, I could have found exercise for them all to support the character which I have wished to hold in the eyes of others, —whether friends or strangers, — for one would not choose to be hated or despised by any body. At two o'clock we arrived at Booth-Ferry. Here we dined, — but I can make nothing of the dinner in my journal, because it was a good one; had it been otherwise, I might have occupied a page with invective, — for there is no subject on which travellers are wont to be more eloquent than bad dinners. We afterwards crossed the river in the usual way. The boat contained, besides the two rowers, the following passengers and their baggage, — myself and my first companion, the aforementioned young gentleman, the two young ladies, and three outsides of our sex; but by far the most important personage on board,—in my eyes at least, — was a stout coach-horse, which a groom held at the head, while our driver stood at his side, ready to lay hands on him, if he should attempt to plunge either on board or over-board. The poor animal behaved as well as could be expected, though I kept watching his heels very suspiciously, wishing most fervently, that if he made any im

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