think anything right or wrong till they had looked to me for the cue, were heard to decide for themselves, to differ with me, to argue, and to make their case good. I was considered a vapid composition of small beer, with a little froth when I was first poured out, and nothing but deleterious drugs behind. Parties were given to which I was not invited, and I felt that general opinion denounced me as a stupid dog, and that all who had been so lavish of their praises were obliged to retrieve their credit by retracting every word.

This, it will be said, was a gradual decline, and that I had, at all events, the comfort of preparing for its termination, as folks usually do for a natural death; but I was doomed to die more deaths than one, and some of them were shockingly sudden. I had been intreated, in my outset, to suffer my name to be put up as a candidate for various literary clubs; had been pampered with delightful descriptions of the wit and harmony of the gifted brotherhood; and had boasted to all my acquaintance of my intention to belong to them. There was, however, a fatal regulation that all names should

be placarded a certain time before election, that people might have an opportunity of seeing whether there was any "just cause or impediment" against them. I really forgot upon how many of these Newgate calendars I stood for trial, but I remember perfectly well that, when the several ordeals arrived, I had more black balls than white in every one of them. I was so crest-fallen that, for a long time afterwards, I hardly dared show my visage in a common chop-house, for fear of being kicked out. All the world thought I had done something wrong, and my current name in society was the Knave of Clubs.

Not only did I hate to be seen, but I was doomed to be informed that I was not fit to be seen, for a celebrated painter, who had requested that I would add to his reputation by giving him a few sittings for the next exhibition, found it necessary to regret, in the politest manner possible, that his press of business obliged him to put me off sine die. This was another bitter blow, for we had made arrangements for a beautiful mezzotinto engraving, of which, in my fulness of pride, I had promised

a copy to every young lady I knew, and I had luxuriated in the contemplation of all the new discoveries of wit, sentiment, and sagacity, which would be made in my editorial expression. How my heart panted to see myself staring out of a gilt frame in a shop window, with a score or two of pickpockets standing round to attract a crowd! How comfortably had I made up my mind to join the throng and hear the opinions passed upon me! Alas! in a short month, I would as soon have seen myself in the pillory!

All this was beyond human endurance; and it was a matter of choice whether I should retire from the world of letters or hang myself. My ambition was entirely gone, and I set myself seriously to consider the evanescence and the vanity of fame, which he who obtains it living is pretty sure to survive, and to which he who receives the amends of its posthumous justice is insensible. I called to mind that the greatest genius in the world had described it as a bubble, and that the wit of Falstaff himself could discover no one who possessed it but "he that

died o' Wednesday." My resolution was made

up.

Sae I gat paper in a blink,

An' down gaed stumpie in the ink,

and, in another minute, away went the following appeal to the tender heart of my publisher. Had I waited another post, I have no doubt he would have taken measures to spare me the trouble.

"Dear Sir,

"It is with deep regret that I feel myself under the necessity of resigning my high and honourable post, which requires qualifications to which I have no pretensions; for I have neither the quills of the porcupine nor the hide of the rhinoceros. Should the gentleman whom you may be pleased to appoint as my successor be desirous of any hints descriptive of the community over which he is destined to preside, I shall have great pleasure in gratifying him; it will also be a heart-felt satisfaction to turn over to him a large pile of contributions, which I trust will suit his purpose, for I really have not nerve to send them back to

their owners. If any one should inquire for me at your house, pray be good enough to have him bound over to keep the peace. The state of my health renders it absolutely necessary that I should go to some retired watering-place, where I may enjoy, without molestation, the benefits of sea-bathing and ass's milk.

Believe me, dear sir,