his father, was to join me in town, as well as my humbler Cumberland
colleagues.

As my uncle and I were both of one mind upon the question of economy, we
took up our quarters at a lodging-house in the City; and there it was that
I first made acquaintance with a part of London of which few of my politer
readers even pretend to be cognizant. I do not mean any sneer at the City
itself, my dear alderman,--that jest is worn out. I am not alluding to
streets, courts, and lanes; what I mean may be seen at the West-end--not
so well as at the East, but still seen very fairly,--I mean The House-Tops!


(1) Dante here evidently associates Fortune with the planetary
influences of judicial astrology. It is doubtful whether Schiller ever
read Dante; but in one of his most thoughtful poems he undertakes the
same defence of Fortune, making the Fortunate a part of the Beautiful.




CHAPTER II.


The House-Tops! What a soberizing effect that prospect produces on the
mind. But a great many requisites go towards the selection of the right
point of survey. It is not enough to secure a lodging in the attic; you
must not be fobbed off with a front attic that faces the street. First,
your attic must be unequivocally a back attic; secondly, the house in
which it is located must be slightly elevated above its neighbors;
thirdly, the window must not lie slant on the roof, as is common with