In the end he was
obliged to put up his shutters. Unhappily for him, he had never been
a very ardent attendant at any of the places of religious worship in
the town, and he had therefore no organisation to help him. Not
being master of any craft, he was in a pitiable plight, and was
slowly sinking, when he applied to the solicitor of the political
party for which he had always voted to assist him. The solicitor
applied to the member, and the member, much regretting the difficulty
of obtaining places for grown-up men, and explaining the pressure
upon the Treasury, wrote to say that the only post at his disposal
was that of labourer. He would have liked to offer a messengership,
but the Treasury had hundreds of applications from great people who
wished to dispose of favourite footmen whose services they no longer
required. Our friend Taylor had by this time been brought very low,
or he would have held out for something better, but there was nothing
to be done. He was starving, and he therefore accepted; came to
London; got a room, one room only, near Clare Market, and began his
new duties. He was able to pick up a shilling or two more weekly by
going on errands for the clerks during his slack time in the day, so
that altogether on the average he made up about eighteen shillings.
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