quickly as possible, as if there were danger even in alluding to it; and, after informing him that Miss Beverning was on a visit to him at his country-house, near Hampton court, he pleaded an appointment with Sir Josiah Child, respecting some of the new East India Stock, and wished him good morning.

As he was returning from Aldersgate-street, he observed himself to be dogged by two men, whom he presently recognised to be bailiffs, and who, by their motions, were evidently holding him in pursuit. Unacquainted as he was with the City, he had little hope of eluding them by availing himself of the intricacy of the streets; but he had such good confidence in the activity of his legs, as not to be afraid of any competitor in a fair contest of speed. He turned down the first street that offered, and again out of that into another, walking as fast as he could, for he would not condescend to run until the danger became more pressing. This period was not long deferred; his pursuers, who had no such delicacy as to their pace, not only kept sight of him as he threaded the streets, but gained upon him so rapidly that he was soon put to his speed. Unfortunately for the beaux of those days, they were much more conspicuous in their attire, and consequently had much less chance of escape, than their modern successors. Jocelyn wore a richly-embroidered doublet of deer-coloured velvet, with silver buttons and loops, the collar standing on end with plaiting of the same metal; his philamott, or gold-coloured cloak, was edged with a deep lace; a Buckingham or Montero hat covered his dark-flowing and scented periwig; his band was

trimmed with pointe d'Espagne, and a profusion of well-gummed satin ribbons, of orange-colour, red, and tawney, decorated his hat, his sword, the knees of his black cannon hose, his russet shoes, his periwig, and, in short, every part of his person to which they could be attached; such silken trappings being at that moment an indispensible appendage to every man of fashion. I

Such a gaudy apparition, rustling and fluttering through the air like a huge painted butterfly, was not likely to be lost to the inquiries of his pursuers, even if he escaped for a few moments from their sight: and, as he was obliged every now and then to stop and take breath, the bailiffs, tracking him with the patient perseverance of hounds, were sure to appear just as he had flattered himself that they were fairly distanced and at fault. After keeping up this sort of flight through a variety of streets, with the names of which he was unacquainted, he at length found himself in the Artillery-walk, adjoining Bunhill Fields, and being nearly exhausted with his efforts, he turned suddenly up a passage, resolved to seek shelter in the first house that should offer, and thus take the chance of eluding his

It was a fine silken thing which I spied walking the other day through Westminster Hall, that had as much ribbon about him as would have plundered six shops, and set up twenty country pedlars; all his body was drest like a maypole or a Tom o' Bedlam's cap. A frigate, newly rigged, kept not half such a clatter in a storm, as this puppet's streamers did when the wind was in his shrouds; the motion was wonderful to behold, and the well chosen colours were red, orange, and blue, of well-gum'd satin, which argued a happy fancy.»-Evelyn's Tyrannus, or the Mode.

T

pursuers. A side-door presenting itself at the entrance of the passage, he pulled the latch; it opened; he entered as quietly as possible, again closed the door, and found himself in a small ante-room, hung round with shelves of dark old-fashioned looking books, most of them in folio or quarto. In one corner was a small recess, in which stood an open organ, the appearance of which indicated that it was an old possession of its proprietor, and was in habitual use. On a circular table in the middle of the chamber were two folio bibles, one in Hebrew and one in English : and on the mantel-shelf were several pipes, with a tea-cup containing tobacco; the smell of the room, as well as its dusky hue, sufficiently attesting that it was often fumigated by the use of that fragrant herb. From these appearances, it might be conjectured, that the house belonged to a man of mean condition and studious habits; and while Jocelyn was speculating upon the probable profession of its owner, a deep, solemn, and sonorous voice from an adjoining chamber exclaimed aloud :—

Under

The floating vessel swam

Uplifted, and, secure with beaked prow,

Rode tilting o'er the waves; all dwellings else

Flood overwhelm'd, and them, with all their pomp,

Deep under water roll'd; sea cover'd sea,

Sea without shore; and in their palaces,

Where luxury late reign'd, sea-monsters whelp'd
And stabled.»

any

other circumstances he would have continued a delighted listener to this sublime strain; but just at this moment he saw his pursuers making inqui

ries at the opposite side of the street; and observing that, from the lowness of the window, they might look into the room and discover him, he determined to wave all ceremony; and accordingly, opening the door of communication, he stepped into the adjoining apartment. It was larger and lighter than the one he had quitted, and the books it contained were scattered about with greater confusion. Fronting him, in an arm-chair, there sat a venerable-looking blind old man, his curling grey hair falling down upon either shoulder, and his sightless orbs upturned to heaven, as in the enthusiasm of the moment he continued his recitation, apparently unconscious of the intrusion. By his side was a young female seated at a desk and writing, behind whom was another, with her back towards Jocelyn, as she stood upon a chair to reach down a book.

These figures were Milton, dictating the Paradise Lost to his daughters. Although several years had elapsed since Jocelyn had seen him in the library of Hampton Court, the peculiar and striking physiognomy of the bard were not to be mistaken, and he recognised him immediately. He who had been the inmate of a palace, the friend and counsellor of a sovereign, and presented to foreign ambassadors as the ornament of his court, was now in this obscure retreat, living in comparative poverty and neglect, and only indebted to the oblivion into which he had fallen, for his escape from persecution and danger. Yet the moral grandeur of his present humble station atoned to him for all the worldly distinctions he had lost, for he felt assured that he was laying the foundations of an immortality upon

earth. The Genius of Puritanism, surviving in his bosom, was preparing to assert its powers, to avenge its fame; and this lofty conviction not only upheld him in his reverses, but imparted to them a character of superiority and triumph.

The daughter, who had been writing, gazed upon Jocelyn as he entered with a mute astonishment; the other, who had been taking down the book, no sooner beheld him as she turned round, than she uttered a faint cry of alarm.-«What ails thee, Mary, my child?» inquired the bard.-« Speak, Deborah," he continued, after a short pause, «and tell me, since I am disobeyed by your sister, what means this brawling interruption of my meditations?"

With many apologies for his intrusion, Jocelyn now briefly explained the circumstances that had led to it, imploring protection for a short time, but offering to retire immediately should his longer presence be deemed inadmissible. The bard declared, that as his humble residence had been a Zoar and a place of refuge to himself, so should it prove to the pilgrim and the wayfarer that sought the protection of its roof, beneath which he invited Jocelyn to remain until the danger had passed away, but concluded by ordering both his daughters to retire instantly to their own apartment. This injunction they appeared to obey with some hesitation, casting sundry glances at their uninvited visitant, whose striking figure, not less than the inordinate finery of his dress, were calculated to excite no small admiration in young ladies who had for a long time been habituated only to such homely and me