20 Sample of some Gentleman s Autobiography. 



would occur to me, without thinking about it. When, however, I had 

 readied the neighbourhood of the Inns of Court, I was still at fault. What 

 could I do ? She was doubtless gone out for her morning's drive j it was 

 therefore useless to return to her house ; time, for her views, seemed pre- 

 cious j so that I deemed it most expedient to put the matter into the 

 hands of a friend of mine in Thavies' Inn, a godly man, who preached 

 the gospel thrice a week at Elisha Chapel, and lived holily. To speak 

 the truth, he was a pious Christian, utterly devoid of guile, although an 

 attorney j and so unsuspicious of evil, that, unconsciously to himself, he 

 was made the agent of more mischief than any rascal in the metropolis. 

 I produced my document, and in three hours Mrs. Robinson was arrested. 

 Her protector became, by management, accidentally apprised of the fact ; 

 and he found her in the spunging-house, busily occupied with a pawn- 

 broker, in chaffering, as it were, for a loan on her jewels. A contest of 

 some duration ensued : she would not be beholden to him for her libera- 

 tion, and he warmly protested against her preventing him from enjoying 

 that felicity. At length he conquered ; and, by privately pawning his plate, 

 including a king's cup, which his jockey, to keep him a little longer on the 

 turf, had allowed him to win, raised enough to procure her deliverance. 

 The honest man of Thavies' Inn, contrary to the practice of many of his 

 craft, paid the 5001. , without deduction or drawback, within an hour after 

 he had received it ; and I was already in the heart of Gloucestershire so 

 frail is my memory before I recollected the arrangement about ten 

 shillings in the pound being paid over to Mrs. Robinson. 



It is one of the calamities of this country, that, however much one may 

 wish to avoid society, it is almost impossible, if one is at all known, to 

 remain private, even in the most secluded and select of spots. Some low 

 fellow, whom one has known somewhere, sees one accidentally, and then, 

 without acquainting one with his intentions, goes and prates of one's 

 whereabout ; so that one's connexions pounce upon one like hawks. This, 

 to many men is disagreeable ; to me, a dead bore. As a matter of policy, 

 I always do the intruders, if I can. Generally speaking, I have some 

 kind of a presentiment of their swoop ; I become on a sudden disgusted 

 with my location, and move. If they follow, it becomes a matter of 

 pride to defeat them. I had scarcely left London a fortnight, when an 

 extract, which I saw in a local paper, from The Hue and Cry Gazette, 

 raised a glimmering suspicion in my mind, that the privacy T had chosen 

 was about to be invaded. This annoyed me ; for the Redstart, a snug pub- 

 lic-house, where I had taken up my temporary abode, being situate on the 

 brow of a high hill, afforded a delightful view of the surrounding country. 

 A cross-road, in bad condition, ran before the door j and the house having 

 a south aspect, the front windows were provided with neat Venetian 

 blinds, which not only produced a pleasant effect, but allowed one the 

 pleasure of looking at those who passed, without being stared out of coun- 

 tenance by the rude. The landlord, too, had a telescope, with which he 

 used to sweep the roads to the right and left, and give notice to his post- 

 boys when he saw a chaise approaching, so that their horses were always 

 in readiness by the time the vehicle came up. With this instrument I fre- 

 quently amused myself. Just before dinner on the day after I had seen the 

 extract from The Hue and Cry, with the aid of the glass I perceived a post- 

 chariot, coming at a rapid pace across the ridge of the hill. A maYi was 

 seated on the box, whose mode of taking off his hat, and wiping his bald, 



