have been out of deference to
me; for when asked what I would "take?" I answered, "Nothing beyond a
glass of ale or porter." It may be that our friend the Doctor was a
little disappointed, or that "Ebony," knowing his weakness upon that
point, was unwilling to show him up altogether, on whiskey-punch, or old
Port, before a stranger; for, instead of talking freely and pleasantly,
and keeping up appearances, the Doctor grew shy and reserved, and
answered the simplest questions with an air of embarrassment, as if he
were afraid of being entrapped. In short, he disappointed me. There was
nothing in his language, look, or manner to justify his reputation as
"Ensign O'Doherty"; nor was there anything in the little that he said or
did to indicate the lamentable tendency of his gifted nature, which
ended within a few months, or a year or two at most, in his utter
degradation and ruin. He had the air and manners of a gentleman, though
not of one who had seen much of the world; with a mild, pleasant
expression of countenance, and a dash of seriousness. He seemed to be
about five-and-twenty, according to my present recollection, of middling
stature, and of a decidedly intellectual type; but he said nothing to be
remembered while we were together; and I have since had an intimation
that he was never himself when sober, and that Mr. Blackwood had just
taken him out of a sponging-house to meet me. Otherwise, our dinner
passed off in a very agreeable, unpretending fashion, and we separated,
never to meet again,--with a settled conviction on my part, however,
that I understood the characters of both as well as if we had been
dining together for a twelvemonth.

Soon after this, Mr. Millar, the first publisher of the "Sketch-Book,"
engaged me to write for the "European Magazine," New Series, without
allowing me to know that the "John Bull" newspaper and Theodore Hook
were at the bottom of the affair. I wrote for it month after month, upon
American matters, until I discovered the truth, and had just got through
a sharp controversy with Mathews, when I found it necessary to knock
off: the "John Bull" constantly abusing America, and Theodore Hook
losing no opportunity of saying the most offensive and brutal things of
us,--as, for example, that Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Adams both died drunk
on the 4th of July.

I had also contributed a series of papers to the "London Magazine,"
under the title of "Yankee Notions," and was showing up John Dunn