for want of a liking for light and air. I am a German. I have seen
plains and mountains in my time. If I had been a fool, there I should
have remained a bear-shooter; if I were a fool here, I should act like
others of the breed, and be a fox-hunter. But I had other game in view,
and now I could sell half the estates in England, call half the
'Honourable House' to my levee, brush down an old loan, buy up a new
one, and shake the credit of every thing but the Bank of England."

This was bold speaking, and at another time I should have laughed at it;
but the times were bold, the language of the streets was bold, the
country was bold, and I, too, was bold. There was something singular in
the man; even the hovel round him had a look which added to his
influence. I listened to the Jew as one might listen to a revealer of
those secrets which find an echo in every bosom, when they are once
discovered, and on which still deeper secrets seem to depend. My
acquiescence, not the less effective for its being expressed more in
looks than words, warmed even the stern spirit of the Israelite towards
me, and he actually went the length of ordering some refreshments to be
put on the table. We eat and drank together; a new source of cordiality.
Our conversation continued long. I shall have more to say of him, and
must now proceed to other things; but it ended in my acceptance of his
invitation to his villa at Brighton, which he termed "a small thing,
simply for a week's change of air," and where he promised to give me
some curious explanations of his theory--that money was the master of
all things, men, manners, and opinions.

On one of the finest mornings of autumn, I was on the box of the Royal
Sussex Stage.

I had full leisure to admire the country, for our progress occupied