And what was the consequence?
Why, the concern lost--actually lost, sir--by his patronage.

A queer old fellow is Nicholas, and as completely a part of the building as the house itself.
We wonder he ever left the old place, and fully expected to see in the papers, the morning after the fire, a pathetic account of an old gentleman in black, of decent appearance, who was seen at one of the upper windows when the flames were at their height, and declared his resolute intention of falling with the floor.

He must have been got out by force.

However, he was got out--here he is again, looking as he always does, as if he had been in a bandbox ever since the last session.
There he is, at his old post every night, just as we have described him: and, as characters are scarce, and faithful servants scarcer, long may he be there, say we! Now, when you have taken your seat in the kitchen, and duly noticed the large fire and roasting-jack at one end of the room--the little table for washing glasses and draining jugs at the other--the clock over the window opposite St.Margaret's Church--the deal tables and wax candles--the damask table-cloths and bare floor--the plate and china on the tables, and the gridiron on the fire; and a few other anomalies peculiar to the place--we will point out to your notice two or three of the people present, whose station or absurdities render them the most worthy of remark.
It is half-past twelve o'clock, and as the division is not expected for an hour or two, a few Members are lounging away the time here in preference to standing at the bar of the House, or sleeping in one of the side galleries.

That singularly awkward and ungainly-looking man, in the brownish-white hat, with the straggling black trousers which reach about half-way down the leg of his boots, who is leaning against the meat-screen, apparently deluding himself into the belief that he is thinking about something, is a splendid sample of a Member of the House of Commons concentrating in his own person the wisdom of a constituency.
Observe the wig, of a dark hue but indescribable colour, for if it be naturally brown, it has acquired a black tint by long service, and if it be naturally black, the same cause has imparted to it a tinge of rusty brown; and remark how very materially the great blinker-like spectacles assist the expression of that most intelligent face.