according to the measures of those times. It was a sort of
banishment to people accustomed to the stream of life in London; and
though the consequence and importance derived from being raised to
the ranks of the Squirearchy were agreeable, they were a dear
purchase at the cost of being out of reach of all our friends and
acquaintances, as well as of other advantages.

To my father, however, the retirement from his many years of
drudgery was really welcome, and he had preserved enough of country
tastes to rejoice that it was, as he said, a clear duty to reside on
his estate and look after his property. My mother saw his relief in
the prospect, and suppressed her sighs at the dislocation of her
life-long habits, and the loss of intercourse with the acquaintance
whom separation raised to the rank of intimate friends, even her
misgivings as to butchers, bakers, and grocers in the wilderness,
and still worse, as to doctors for me.

'Humph!' said the Admiral, 'the boy will be all the better without
them.'

And so I was; I can't say they were the subject of much regret, but
I was really sorry to leave our big neighbour, the British Museum,
where there were good friends who always made me welcome, and
encouraged me in studies of coins and heraldry, which were great
resources to me, so that I used to spend hours there, and was by no
means willing to resign my ambition of obtaining an appointment
there, when I heard my father say that he was especially thankful
for his good fortune because it enabled him to provide for me.
There were lessons, too, from masters in languages, music, and
drawing, which Emily and I shared, and which she had just begun to