THE EUROPEAN JOURNALS 259 



and my friends all spoke as if a mountain of sovereigns 

 had dropped in an ample purse at once, and for me. The 

 Duchess of Clarence also subscribed. I attended to my 

 business closely, but my agents neither attended to it nor 

 to my orders to them ; and at last, nearly at bay for means 

 to carry on so heavy a business, I decided to make a sortie 

 for the purpose of collecting my dues, and to augment my 

 subscribers, and for that reason left London this day fort- 

 night past for Manchester, where I was received by my 

 friends d. bras ouverts. I lived and lodged at friend Ser- 

 geant's, collected all my money, had an accession of nine 

 subscribers, found a box of beautiful bird-skins sent 

 Bentley by my dear boy Johnny, ^ left in good spirits, and 

 here I am at Leeds. On my journey hither in the coach 

 a young sportsman going from London to York was my 

 companion ; he was about to join a shooting expedition, 

 and had two dogs with him in a basket on top of the 

 coach. We spoke of game, fish, and such topics, and 

 presently he said a work on ornithology was being pub- 

 lished in London by an American (he told me later he 

 took me for a Frenchman) named Audubon, and spoke of 

 my industry and regretted he had not seen them, as his 

 sisters had, and spoke in raptures of them, etc. I could 

 not of course permit this, so told him my name, when he 

 at once shook hands, and our conversation continued 

 even more easily than before. I am in the same lodgings 

 as formerly. My landlady was talking with a meagre- 

 looking child, who told a sad story of want, which my good 

 landlady confirmed. I never saw greater pleasure than 

 sparkled in that child's face as I gave her a few pieces of 

 silver for her mother. I never thought it necessary to be 

 rich to help those poorer than ourselves ; I have considered 

 it a duty to God, and to grow poorer in so doing is a 

 blessing to me. I told the good landlady to send for one 

 of the child's brothers, who was out of work, to do my 

 1 Then a boy not fifteen, who was at Bayou Sara with his mother. 



