I merely looked at his countenance."

"Which you thought looked like that of a slave driver. Well, he's been
in the Indies, where he made his fortune; so, perhaps, you may not be so
far out. However, be more cautious in future; look less at people's
countenances and more at their--I dare say you understand me: admit every
decent person, and if you turn away anybody, pray let it be the poet
Parkinson . . ."

Keeping the admonition of my principal in view, I admitted without word
or comment, provided the possessors had a decent coat to their backs, all
kinds of countenances--honest countenances, dishonest countenances, and
those which were neither. Amongst all these, some of which belonged to
naval and military officers, notaries public, magistrates, bailiffs, and
young ecclesiastics--the latter with spotless neck-cloths and
close-shaven chins--there were three countenances which particularly
pleased me: the first being that of an ancient earl, who wore a pig-tail,
and the back of whose coat was white with powder; the second, that of a
yeoman ninety years old and worth 90,000 pounds, who, dressed in an
entire suit of whitish corduroy, sometimes slowly trotted up the court on
a tall heavy steed, which seemed by no means unused to the plough. The
third was that of the poet Parkinson.

I am not quite sure that I remember the business which brought this last
individual so frequently to our office, for he paid us a great many
visits.

I am inclined to believe, however, that he generally carried in his
pocket a bundle of printed poems of his own composition, on the sale of
which he principally depended for his subsistence. He was a man of a
singular, though to me by no means unpleasant countenance; he wore an old
hat and a snuff-coloured greatcoat, and invariably carried in his hand a
stout cudgel like a man much in the habit of walking, which he probably
was, from the circumstance of his being generally covered with dust in
summer, and in winter splashed with mud from head to foot.

"You cannot see the principal to-day, Mr. Parkinson," said I to him once,
as unannounced he entered the room where I sat alone; "he is gone out and
will not return for some time."

"Well, that's unfortunate, for I want to consult him on some particular
business."

"What business is it? Perhaps I can be of service to you. Does it
relate to the common law?"

"I suppose so, for I am told it is a common assault; but I had better
wait t