CHAPTER IX. BISHOPGATE 257

Pecuniary Difficulties and Resources--Choice of a Profession-- Shelley walking a Hospital--Dropt by Acquaintances--Birth of Mary Godwin’s first Child--Sir Bysshe Shelley’s Death-- Differences and Tiffs between Mary and Claire--Characteristics of the Sisters--Trip to South Devon--At Work on _Alastor_-- Publication of the Poem--_Essay on Christianity_--Life at Bishopgate--Shelley’s Idolatry of Byron--Birth of Mary Godwin’s first-born Son--Claire and Byron--Second Trip to Switzerland--Shelley’s Pretext for leaving England--Strange Scene between Shelley and Peacock--Semi-Delusions--Another Hallucination.