MARKET HILL. 17 



I resolved, therefore, to shake off my ac- 

 quaintance with them; in furtherance of 

 which I took private lodgings, though I 

 had some little difficulty in procuring 

 apartments that I liked, as, contrary to the 

 custom at Oxford, the undergraduates were, 

 and are still, allowed to reside without the 

 walls of their different colleges; and the 

 benefits arising to the lodging-house keepers 

 from the self - allotted perquisites, which 

 might truly be called black-mail, levied on 

 their thoughtless and unsuspicious inmates, 

 caused them to look with disfavour on any 

 strange applicant not being a member of 

 the University. 



However, by dint of perseverance, I suc- 

 ceeded in establishing myself in one of the 

 narrow though principal streets, leading from 

 the Market Hill as a small open space in 

 front of a mean and dingy-looking building 

 which served for a Town-hall was called. 



Here in the morning I performed my 

 toilet for the day, and was walking delibe- 



VOL. III. C 



