370 THE POCKET COMPELLER. 



thought he should never smile again. However, the result 

 proved that his anticipations were wrong, for at the conclu 

 sion of the lecture he found that he had been laughing till 

 his eyes ran over with mirth for more than an hour, and 

 that, too, at the faults and foibles of his countrymen. The 

 moment I concluded my address, in the midst of the kind 

 applause bestowed upon me, the men from the body of 

 the room rushed at the platform, took it by storm, and, to 

 my anxiety, for I expected to see Brutus, Druid, and Bar 

 tearing at their legs, vied with each other in shaking me 

 by the hand. The utter astonishment of my faithful dogs 

 was beyond description : they were enraged but mute and 

 motionless, and lost, as it were, among the many legs, on 

 which limb to wreak their vengeance. 



On Friday, the llth, having made one of the most 

 agreeable acquaintances of my life that of Dr Pope I 

 accompanied that gentleman over his lecture-hall and 

 private anatomical museum, as a private collection cer 

 tainly second to none in the United States nor anywhere 

 else, and received from him several curious presents in 

 natural history, as well as the most perfect little "bijou of a 

 revolver I ever saw in my life. The makers of this perfect 

 little weapon, which is highly finished and handsome 

 enough to be worn on a chain at a lady's waist, are Gt 

 Sharp and Co., Philadelphia, and for which in 1852 they 

 had a patent. In size it is so small that I carried it in my 

 waistcoat-pocket, and in execution so effective that at eight 

 yards I could shoot as correctly, if not more so, than I could 

 with my favourite pair of John Manton duelling-pistols, 

 as they used to be called, and the little conical ball pro 

 pelled by cartridge, at ten yards would go through a 

 half-inch deal board. This little pistol is a four-barrel 

 revolver, loading at the breech, but revolving in the 



