ELUSION. 173 



corded by far more able pens than mine. 

 He was domiciled then at the latter place, 

 and being at the same time the lessee of 

 the Olympic, was frequently backward 

 and forward. I had some slight know- 

 ledge of him before, having met him at 

 a dinner-party in London, consisting chiefly 

 of theatricals. At our first interview on 

 the coach-box he recognized me, and ex- 

 pressed himself glad to renew the acquaint- 

 ance ; and his conversation teeming with 

 anecdotes of authors and actors of his 

 time, his harmless satire and his turn for 

 mimicry and ridicule, made his company 

 at all times agreeable. The gratification 

 he professed to have in my society made 

 me look forward, with pleasurable an- 

 ticipation, to the time of having him for 

 my box companion. He was always in 

 good spirits, and had something fresh 

 to communicate from the literary world. 

 He had, some how or other, become 



