Or say, why thus disturb my peaceful home,
Like Macbeth, who doth murder sleep."

Tallyho was unable to reply: he looked down over the banister--he looked
up at the risible features of Tom Dashall, who was almost bursting at
the ludicrous situation in which he found his friend and his servants.
"Come," said Tom, "there are no thieves--all's right"--to the
servants, "you may quiet your minds and go to business. Bob, I'll be
down with you presently." Upon this, the stair-case was cleared in an
instant of all but the unfortunate Tallyho; and peace appeared to
be restored in the family, but not to Bob's mind, conceiving he had
committed a gross violation of good breeding, and shewn but a bad
specimen of his aptitude to become a learner of London manners. It must
be confessed, it was rather an awkward commencement; however, in a few
minutes, recovering himself from the fright, he crawled gently down the
stairs, and took a survey of the devastation he had made--cursed the
lamp, d----d the portmanteau--then snatching it from the ruin before
him, and again placing his luggage on his shoulder, he quietly walked up
stairs to his bed-room.

It is much to be lamented in this wonderful age of discovery and
continual improvement, that our philosophers have not yet found out a
mode of supplying the place of glass (as almost every thing else) with
cast-iron. The substitution of gas for oil has long been talked of, as
one of national importance, even so much so, that one man, whose ideas
were as brilliant as his own experiments, has endeavoured to shew that
its produce would in a short time pay off the national debt!{1}

"A consummation devoutly to be wished;" and experience has taught the
world at large there is nothing impossible, nor is there any one in
existence more credulous than honest John Bull. But we are

1 Mr. Winsor, the original lecturer on the powers of gas, in
Pall Mall.

~50~~digressing from the adventure of the lamp, however it was
occasioned, by clearly proving it was not a _patent safety-lamp_: and
that among the luxuries of the Hon. Tom Dashall's habitation, gas had
not yet been introduced, will speedily be discovered.

Upon arriving in his bed-room, wondering within himself how he should
repair the blundering mistake, of which he had so unluckily been the
unwilling and unconscious author, he found himself in a new dilemma,
as the receptacle of the oil had fallen with the lamp, and plentiful