the mysteries of glorious English law. Ah! would that I
could describe the good gentleman in the manner which he deserves; he has
long since sunk to his place in a respectable vault, in the aisle of a
very respectable church, whilst an exceedingly respectable marble slab
against the neighbouring wall tells on a Sunday some eye wandering from
its prayer-book that his dust lies below; to secure such respectabilities
in death, he passed a most respectable life. Let no one sneer, he
accomplished much; his life was peaceful, so was his death. Are these
trifles? I wish I could describe him, for I loved the man, and with
reason, for he was ever kind to me, to whom kindness has not always been
shown; and he was, moreover, a choice specimen of a class which no longer
exists--a gentleman lawyer of the old school. I would fain describe him,
but figures with which he has nought to do press forward and keep him
from my mind's eye; there they pass, Spaniard and Moor, Gypsy, Turk, and
livid Jew. But who is that? what that thick pursy man in the loose,
snuff-coloured greatcoat, with the white stockings, drab breeches, and
silver buckles on his shoes; that man with the bull neck, and singular
head, immense in the lower part, especially about the jaws, but tapering
upward like a pear; the man with the bushy brows, small gray eyes replete
with catlike expression, whose grizzled hair is cut close, and whose ear-
lobes are pierced with small golden rings? Oh! that is not my dear old
master, but a widely different personage. Bon jour, Monsieur Vidocq!
expressions de ma part a Monsieur Le Baron Taylor. But here he comes at
last, my veritable old master!

A more respectable-looking individual was never seen; he really looked
what he was, a gentleman of the law--there was nothing of the pettifogger
about him: somewhat under the middle size, and somewhat rotund in person,
he was always dressed in a full suit of black, never worn long enough to
become threadbare. His face was rubicund, and not without keenness; but
the most remarkable thing about him was the crown of his head, which was
bald, and shone like polished ivory, nothing more white, smooth, and
lustrous. Some people have said that he wore false calves, probably
because his black silk stockings never exhibited a wrinkle; they might
just as well have said that he waddled, because his shoes creaked; for
these last, which were always without a speck, and polished as his crown,
th