forward, from time to time, authenticated accounts of their journeys

and investigations, of their observations of character and manners,

and of the whole of their adventures, together with all tales and

papers to which local scenery or associations may give rise, to the

Pickwick Club, stationed in London.

That this Association cordially recognises the principle of every

member of the Corresponding Society defraying his own travelling

expenses; and that it sees no objection whatever to the members of

the said society pursuing their inquiries for any length of time they

please, upon the same terms.

That the members of the aforesaid Corresponding Society be, and are

hereby informed, that their proposal to pay the postage of their letters,

and the carriage of their parcels, has been deliberated upon by this

Association: that this Association considers such proposal worthy of

the great minds from which it emanated, and that it hereby signifies

its perfect acquiescence therein.'

A casual observer, adds the secretary, to whose notes we are indebted

for the following account - a casual observer might possibly have

remarked nothing extraordinary in the bald head, and circular

spectacles, which were intently turned towards his (the secretary's)

face, during the reading of the above resolutions: to those who knew

that the gigantic brain of Pickwick was working beneath that forehead,

and that the beaming eyes of Pickwick were twinkling behind those

glasses, the sight was indeed an interesting one. There sat the man

who had traced to their source the mighty ponds of Hampstead, and

agitated the scientific world with his Theory of Tittlebats, as calm and

unmoved as the deep waters of the one on a frosty day, or as a solitary

specimen of the other in the inmost recesses of an earthen jar. And

how much more interesting did the spectacle become, when, starting

into full life and animation, as a simultaneous call for 'Pickwick' burst

from his followers, that illustrious man slowly mounted into the

Windsor chair, on which he had been previously seated, and

addressed the club himself had founded. What a study for an artist

did that exciting scene present! The eloquent Pickwick, with one hand

gracefully concealed behind his coat tails, and the other waving in air

to assist his glowing declamation; his elevated position revealing those

tights and gaiters, which, had they clothed an ordinary man, might

have passed without observation, but which, when Pickwick clothed

them - if we may use the expression - inspired involuntary awe and

respect; surrounded by the men who had volunteered to share the

perils of his travels, and who were destined to participate in the

glories of his discoveries. On his right sat Mr Tracy Tupman - the too

susceptible Tupman, who to the wisdom and experience of maturer

years superadded the enthusiasm and ardour of a boy in the most

interesting and pardonable of human weaknesses - love. Time and

The Pickwick Papers