him that
I believed that I could sing as loudly as he. He never said a word, but
at once let out his whole voice in a tremendous _aria_. I clapped my
hands to my ears; I verily believed that he would shatter the windows! I
have heard of a singer who actually broke a goblet by vibration, and I
now believe that it is possible. I was once shown in the Hague Museum a
goblet which rang marvellously in accompaniment when one sang to it, and
have met with others like it.

I was invited by a young friend named Hunt (a son of the great Chartist),
who had been a friend of mine in Heidelberg, where he had taken his
degree as doctor of Philosophy, to pass a week in the country at a
charming old Elizabethan place, said to have been the original Bleak
House. Everything there was perfectly delightful. There were two or
three charming young ladies. I remember among them a Miss Oliphaunt.
There was a glorious picnic, to which I and all walked eight miles and
back. I admired on this occasion for the first time the pedestrian
powers of English girls.

I visited Verulamium and St. Alban's Abbey, not then "restored," and
other beautiful places. It all seemed like a fairy-tale, for the charm
of my early reading came over me like enchantment. One night Hunt and I
went into a little wayside inn. There were assembled a number of
peasants--hedgers and ditchers, or such like. We treated them to ale,
and they sang many strange old songs. Then I was called on, and I sang
"Sir Patrick Spens," which was well received.

I returned to London, and found, to my dismay, that I had not enough
money to take me home! I had received a bill of exchange on a merchant
in London, and, in my innocence, never dreamed that it constituted no
claim on him whatever for a further supply. I called at his office, saw
his son, who naturally informed me that they could advance me no more
money, but referred me to his father. The old gentleman seemed to be
amused, and questioned me all about myself. When he found that his
Philadelphia correspondent was very well known to my father, and that the
son of the correspondent was a fellow-student of mine at Heidelberg and
Paris, he asked me how much I wanted. When I replied, "Only enough to
pay my passage," he replied, "Is that all?" and at once gave me the
money. Then he questioned me as to my friends in London, and said, "You
have seen something of the aristocracy, I would like you to see some of
the busine