This compelled him to resume the
occupation of a tutor, first to the young ladies attending a
boarding-school in Queen Square, Bloomsbury, and then to several young
gentlemen who were prosecuting the study of the classics.
When about twenty-seven years of age, he renewed his acquaintance with
Robert Lloyd, the son of Dr Lloyd, one of the masters of Westminster
School, and who had been an early chum of Churchill's. This young man had
discovered very promising abilities, alike at Westminster and at
Cambridge, and had been appointed usher in his father's seminary; but,
sick of the drudgery, and infected with a fierce thirst both for fame and
pleasure, had flung himself upon the literary arena. Although far
inferior to Churchill in genius, and indeed little better than a clever
copyist of his manner, he exerted a very pernicious influence on his
friend's conduct. He borrowed inspiration from Churchill, and gave him
infamy in exchange. The poet could do nothing by halves. Along with
Lloyd, he rushed into a wild career of dissipation. He became a nightly
frequenter of the theatres, taverns, and worse haunts.
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