252 GOSSIP. 



that brusque and familiar air which 

 generally characterises females brought up 

 in an Inn at the same time not assum- 

 ing a particle of the affected importance 

 common with good-looking landladies. 



The time of my daily sojourn that is, 

 from two or half-past in the day till 

 the following forenoon passed agreeably 

 enough ; sometimes at my hotel, where I 

 met a Fellow of one of the colleges, who 

 was well known for a singular propensity 

 he possessed to dive into the secrets and 

 intrigues of the coaching community. This 

 was a sort of morbid curiosity, which he 

 inherited, perhaps, from his unfortunate 

 ancestor, the Bishop of Rochester who 

 exercised the same feeling in more im- 

 portant concerns. He would almost daily 

 come and chat with me. At other times 

 perambulating the streets, or gossiping 

 with the different tradesmen, or examin- 

 ing at my leisure the colleges and halls, 



