ACCOUNT OF THE AUTHOR.
 

It was sometime, if I recollect right, in the
early part of the autumn of 1808, that a stranger
applied for lodgings at the Independent Colum¬
bian Hotel in Mulberry-street, of which I am
landlord. He was a small, brisk looking old gen¬
tleman, dressed in a rusty black coat, a pair of
olive velvet breeches, and a small cocked hat. He
had a few gray hairs plaited and clubbed behind,
and his beard seemed to be of some eight and for¬
ty hours growth. The only piece of finery which
he bore about him, was a bright pair of square
silver shoe buckles, and all his baggage was con¬
tained in a pair of saddle-bags, which he carried
under his arm. His whole appearance was some¬
thing out of the common run; and my wife, who
is a very shrewd body, at once set him down for
some eminent country schoolmaster.

As the Independent Columbian Hotel is a very

small house, I was a little puzzled at first where

to put him; but my wife, who seemed taken with

his looks, would needs put him in her best cham*

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