e would
probably have found his strong love of pleasure and irregular habits a
great impediment in his path to fame; but these blemishes in his
character were only additional reasons why he yearned after a London
life, in which he imagined he could obtain every stimulant to his already
vigorous intellect, while at the same time he would have a license of
action to be found only in crowded cities. Thus his whole nature was
attracted towards the metropolis; and many an hour must he have spent
poring over the map of London, to judge from an anecdote which has been
told me. Some traveller for a London house of business came to Haworth
for a night; and according to the unfortunate habit of the place, the
brilliant "Patrick" was sent for to the inn, to beguile the evening by
his intellectual conversation and his flashes of wit. They began to talk
of London; of the habits and ways of life there; of the places of
amusement; and Branwell informed the Londoner of one or two short cuts
from point to point, up narrow lanes or back streets; and it was only
towards the end of the evening that the traveller discovered, from his
companion's voluntary confession, that he had never set foot in London at
all.

At this time the young man seemed to have his fate in his own hands. He
was full of noble impulses, as well as of extraordinary gifts; not
accustomed to resist temptation, it is true, from any higher motive than
strong family affection, but showing so much power of attachment to all
about him that they took pleasure in believing that, after a time, he
would "right himself," and that they should have pride and delight in the
use he would then make of his splendid talents. His aunt especially made
him her great favourite. There are always peculiar trials in the life of
an only boy in a family of girls. He is expected to act a part in life;
to _do_, while they are only to _be_; and the necessity of their giving
way to him in some things, is too often exaggerated into their giving way
to him in all, and thus rendering him utterly selfish. In the family
about whom I am writing, while the rest were almost ascetic in their
habits, Branwell was allowed to grow up self-indulgent; but, in early
youth, his power of attracting and attaching people was so great, that
few came in contact with him who were not so much dazzled by him as to be
desirous of gratifying whatever wishes he expressed. Of course, he was
careful enough not to revea