lli; for which reason every man of a liberal turn must, in spite of all
his poetical merit, despise him as a rancorous knave. If this
disingenuous conduct cannot be forgiven in a writer of his superior
genius, who will pardon it in you whose name is not half emerged from
obscurity?"

"Hark ye, friend," replied the bard, "keep your pardon and your counsel
for those who ask it; or, if you will force them upon people, take one
piece of advice in return. If you don't like your present situation,
apply for a committee without delay. They'll find you too much of a fool
to have the least tincture of madness; and you'll be released without
further scruple. In that case I shall rejoice in your deliverance; you
will be freed from confinement, and I shall be happily deprived of your
conversation."

So saying, he flew off at a tangent, and our knight could not help
smiling at the peculiar virulence of his disposition. Sir Launcelot then
endeavoured to enter into conversation with his attendant, by asking how
long Mr. Distich had resided in the house; but he might as well have
addressed himself to a Turkish mute. The fellow either pretended
ignorance, or refused an answer to every question that was proposed. He
would not even disclose the name of his landlord, nor inform him
whereabouts the house was situated.

Finding himself agitated with impatience and indignation, he returned to
his apartment, and the door being locked upon him, began to review, not
without horror, the particulars of his fate. "How little reason," said
he to himself, "have we to boast of the blessings enjoyed by the British
subject, if he holds them on such a precarious tenure; if a man of rank
and property may be thus kidnapped even in the midst of the capital; if
he may be seized by ruffians, insulted, robbed, and conveyed to such a
prison as this, from which there seems to be no possibility of escape!
Should I be indulged with pen, ink, and paper, and appeal to my
relations, or to the magistrates of my country, my letters would be
intercepted by those who superintend my confinement. Should I try to
alarm the neighbourhood, my cries would be neglected as those of some
unhappy lunatic under necessary correction. Should I employ the force
which Heaven has lent me, I might imbrue my hands in blood, and after all
find it impossible to escape through a number of successive doors, locks,
bolts, and sentinels. Should I endeavour to tamper with the servan