But I have been digressing a little too far and fast, for I ought, before giving such a full, true, and particular account of the obsequies of my minority—to have told the benign reader of the manner in which I spent the interval between my summer tour, for the benefit of my hopes in trade, and that event. It was a most felicitous period; the season was propitious; more sunny days than usual blessed the holms and fields, and if the blight that had fallen on the industry of the city, in some measure thinned the canopy of smoke that overhung its spires and chimney-tops, the spirit of those who could afford to have nothing to do revelled lighter; and that of those who could find no work, undoubtedly breathed a freer air, which, under a great variety of circumstances, is the best sort of medicine.

I generally rose betimes, and having been bred amidst rural scenery, and inheriting from Nature a taste for her fields and flowers, and other imagery of country freedom and calm, I solaced myself with a walk, sometimes on the Green, but oftener on the banks of the Molindinar and the environs of the cathedral, where, in the dewy stillness of the morning, and the ancient aspect of the building, I always found an innocent inexplicable delight. After breakfast I visited, sometimes the muslin warehouses of my acquaintances, examined new patterns, and was sedulous about prices.