frock-coats. He had a neat little house in
some suburb, where every thing was looked after
carefully, where "the tuitions" found meat
and found drink, and clothes and comforts for
himself and for his sisters. Dim notions of
this remarkable struggle reached me then,
but, I am afraid, were not appreciated with
the delicacy and forbearance they deserved.
He was one of the enemies, the hostile tribes
that were brought to the house, and subsidised
to harass me. His weary toil and honest
motives were nothing to me. We had many
a ferocious encounter. The neatest of men; a
penknife always about his person, with which
he cut his pencil to the finest and truest point.
I always admired, even envied, his dexterity in
that, foeman as he was (my own heavier and
perhaps clumsy touch invariably broke off the
lead at an early stage; I cut away too much).
His calligraphy was perfect. There was a little
manuscript volume, yclept A Judgment Book,
or his Judgment Book, divided and subdivided
and ruled with surprising neatness. In this a
daily " finding " was set down for the several
departments: for Greek, the grammar,
Thucydides, &c.; for Latin, the grammar and Virgil;
for syntax, prosody, &c. In French he was
scarcely so strong. In this classical direction
we got on tolerably; it was over Euclid and
the mathematics that fearful scenes took place.
"So you have not written that fourteenth
problem as I told you?" No answer, Mr.
Blackstone sitting back in his chair, and a pink
tone coming into his face. No answer. "You
have not done your work?" No answer.
"Eh?" Pause; then, in a suddenly loud
burst: "What is the meaning of all this, sir—
this continued insolence? Ah! ah!"—starting
up, and his fist trembling close to my face—
"if I had you at a school, sir, I should flog you
while I could stand over you. But I'll make
you speak out before I have done with you."
Once, and once only, Mr. Blackstone so far
forgot his restraint as to indulge himself with a
sound box on my ear. It was on an occasion
of great aggravation. But ordinarily he felt
himself in the relation of the ecclesiastical
tribunals, who, after dealing with any prisoner
subject to this authority, would hand him over
to the civil power for punishment. "Very well,
sir," he would say; "I shall give you the
worst mark in my power. You shall have the
pleasure of presenting to your family, this
evening, bad marks for every one of your tasks.
Go on, sir; persevere in this course, and you
will grow up a credit indeed."

Later in the day—a little before dinner—
it was customary to summon the pupil
"to bring the judgment book." And on rare
days it was easy to know, by the flow of spirits
and universal cheerfulness that reigned through
the mansion, that "Sidney had nothing but
good marks." As an acknowledgment, and at
the same time an encouragement to renewed
exertion, wine—two glasses even—was served
to the winner of such honours. He was neither
modest nor elated unduly, for he knew how
precarious was this sunshine. It almost invariably
fell out that this "spurt," as it might be called,
was followed by an immediate and almost
disgraceful relapse; and it was almost a certainty
that on the next day the pupil, on being
summoned, would present himself and his book,
with a well-known sullen and dogged bearing,
which, to experienced and anxious observers,
betokened the worst.

I see, in connexion with Mr. Blackstone, two
young gentlemen whom he attended regularly
before he came to me, and from whom to me he
proceeded straight—William and Arthur. The
coming into human life of those model,
well-brought-up, and virtuous youths, was a matter
which I a thousand times wished conld have been
otherwise arranged. Arthur and William were
too perfect and too well brought up. Arthur
was the elder and taller, though, as for that
matter, had there been a fair field, and the
domestic police tolerant, I should have
handsomely waived my own inferiority in stature.
The general thirst for knowledge, and the model
behaviour, of these appalling youths, was quoted
to me a thousand times. It was now driven
into me like a needle, now hurled heavily on
my head like a club. Every step of the decorous
progress of those two young gentlemen was
marked for me as with milestones with agonies
of all descriptions, and for them was represented
as sure to culminate, not merely in the
highest civic honours, as in the instance of the
virtuous apprentice, but in wealth, and ermine,
and an illustrious alliance; while for me there-
was a life of dishonour, with that discreditable
scene at the end to close all. Those odious
Arthur and William Goodmans! If "your new
green frock, sir," was discovered to be stained,
or perhaps torn up the back, while the
punishment settled by statute was being inflicted, the
victim heard that "Arthur Goodman would cut
off his little finger before he would do such a
thing!" (the only result from which lesson was,
a fiendish desire on my part to officiate as
operator). Was I arrested, red-handed, as it
were, or rather red-mouthed, stealing away,
when the jam-pot had been feloniously broken
into, when brought before the magistrate and
sentenced, was not the punishment invariably
accompanied with the taunt, "It would be long
before William Goodman would do so mean
and ungentlemanly a thing. He would have
let his right hand be cut off," &c., &c.

We used to meet these well brought-up
youths of a sudden, on the way to church, they
politely walking together arm in arm; our
families would join, and they would be invited to
fraternise, which / did with suspicion and
defiance. The Sunday's meal would afterwards be
seasoned with odious comparisons, "so
gentlemanly, such charming manners! When
would I be anything like that? But I was
utterly hopeless, nothing would ever be made
of me."

Nor was Mr. Blackstone behindhand in
respect to these boys of accursed virtue. As he
sat down, and moved his throat in his snowy