"I can't help it," said I; "I used my best powers of discrimination; I looked both full in the face, and the one struck me as being an honest man, whilst the other had the very look of a slave driver." "In the face? Bless me! But you looked at their dress, I suppose? You looked at Sir Edward's dress?" "No," said I, "I merely looked at his countenance." "Which you thought looked like that of a slave driver. Well, he's been in the Indies, where he made his fortune; so, perhaps, you may not be so far out. However, be more cautious in future; look less at people's countenances and more at their--I dare say you understand me: admit every decent person, and if you turn away anybody, pray let it be the poet Parkinson . . ." Keeping the admonition of my principal in view, I admitted without word or comment, provided the possessors had a decent coat to their backs, all kinds of countenances--honest countenances, dishonest countenances, and those which were neither. Amongst all these, some of which belonged to naval and military officers, notaries public, magistrates, bailiffs, and young ecclesiastics--the latter with spotless neck-cloths and close-shaven chins--there were three countenances which particularly pleased me: the first being that of an ancient earl, who wore a pig-tail, and the back of whose coat was white with powder; the second, that of a yeoman ninety years old and worth 90,000 pounds, who, dressed in an entire suit of whitish corduroy, sometimes slowly trotted up the court on a tall heavy steed, which seemed by no means unused to the plough. The third was that of the poet Parkinson. I am not quite sure that I remember the business which brought this last individual so frequently to our office, for he paid us a great many visits. I am inclined to believe, however, that he generally carried in his pocket a bundle of printed poems of his own composition, on the sale of which he principally depended for his subsistence. He was a man of a singular, though to me by no means unpleasant countenance; he wore an old hat and a snuff-coloured greatcoat, and invariably carried in his hand a stout cudgel like a man much in the habit of walking, which he probably was, from the circumstance of his being generally covered with dust in summer, and in winter splashed with mud from head to foot. "You cannot see the principal to-day, Mr. Parkinson," said I to him once, as unannounced he entered the room where I sat alone; "he is gone out and will not return for some time." "Well, that's unfortunate, for I want to consult him on some particular business." "What business is it? Perhaps I can be of service to you. Does it relate to the common law?" "I suppose so, for I am told it is a common assault; but I had better wait till the gentleman comes home. You are rather too young; and besides I have other matters to consult him about; I have two or three papers in my pocket . . ."