is the point, and I will tell you; for a stranger is never to blame
for doing wrong when he thinks he is doing right!" said he, with
great earnestness of manner. And he drew his chair closer, and
tapped me impressively on the arm with the fore finger of his right
hand. "And you read my name, Giles Sheridan, on the pink poster. I
am well known in some parts of the world, and not so well known in
others. Thanks to a merciful God, I am not the worst man in the
world, and yet I am deformed; and as the world praises most the
beauty that adorns the surface, so few think of me, care for me, or
say, 'Giles Sheridan, there is meat and wine at my house, where you
will be welcome.' Thinking even a cripple might find favor and
fortune in the country, I came over not long since, and sought the
city of Boston, it being, as many had told me, the great center of
America's learning and refinement. There I gave a lecture or two;
but being a stranger, and deformed withal, the reception I met was
cold and discouraging. Against such men as Lowell, and Curtis, men
born on the soil, and of such goodly person as made them the pets of
the petticoats and pantaletts, I could not hope to succeed. In
truth, I gave up, sick at heart, clean only in pocket, and with the
alternative of a garret and a crust staring me in the face, in a
land of plenty. At length a friendly hand came to my succor, and
through it I was invited by a committee, composed of the tavern
keeper, the schoolmaster, the Unitarian clergyman, and the milkman,
(who had a relish for letters,) to deliver three lectures in this
town, for which they promised to pay me five dollars a lecture, and
my victuals. Yes, sir, my victuals. Five dollars and victuals for a
learned lecture was something for a man whose pocket stood much in
need of replenishing. I came, disposed to do to the best of my
ability; and the victuals I have had, and they are good. I chose
Crabbe for the subject of my lecture, in deference to my own taste,