boy, who came to his shop about the _Original Poetry_ that was not original, the original readers of the _Budget_ would have derided him, and denounced his _Budget_. Though he says civil things of Shelley, to heighten the effect of the uncivil things said of Shelley's father, Stockdale forbears to descant on his affection for the future poet. It is enough for him to say, 'Even from these boyish trifles' (_i.e._ _St. Irvyne_, and the _Victor-and-Cazire Book_), 'assisted by my personal intercourse with the author, I at once formed an opinion that he was not an everyday author.' In saying this (as he meant the ambiguous words to be construed in the way most complimentary to the poet) the budgeteer told a lie,--but a lie not too outrageous to be believed. Further (to insult Sir Timothy Shelley, who in the scribbler's opinion had refused to discharge 'every honest claim upon him'), the libeller spoke highly of the poet's 'honour and rectitude,' declaring him a man to 'vegetate, rather than live, to effect the discharge of every honest claim upon him.' But to speak of a man in this style is not to show signs of loving him. I know an author who certainly is no 'everyday author,' and would (I am sure) be at great pains to pay his creditors twenty shillings in the pound; but far from loving him, I would any day rather go without my dinner than eat it in his company. Truth to tell, the 'traces of a sincere affection for the young author,' which Mr. Garnett has discovered in Stockdale's words about Shelley, are so far from being distinctly apparent, that I have vainly sought for them in the pages, where they are so manifest to the author of _Shelley in Pall Mall_. I think Mr. Garnett goes a little too far in saying-- 'Percy Shelley captivated all hearts: the roughest were subdued by his sweetness, the most reserved won by his affectionate candour.... In spite of his disappointment, Stockdale really appears to have been captivated by Shelley, and to have been not more forcibly impressed by the energy of his intellect than by the loveliness of his character.' Gentlemen given to gushing often say more than they mean. I cannot conceive Mr. Garnett means all he says in his perplexing article. I have vainly worked through Stockdale's _Budget_ in search for the proofs, that Stockdale was forcibly impressed by the intellectual energy and moral loveliness of the author of _St. Irvyne_. But the 'Shelleyan enthusiasts' are so apt to weaken their case by exaggeration; they are so excessive in their statements. The notion that Stockdale the Libeller was a man to be captivated by moral beauty is comical. CHAPTER XII. MR. MACCARTHY'S DISCOVERIES TOUCHING THE OXONIAN SHELLEY.