In April 1770, he left Bristol and came to London, in hopes of advancing his fortune by his talents for writing, of which, by this time, he had conceived a very high opinion.  In the prosecution of this scheme, he appears to have almost entirely depended upon the patronage of a set of gentlemen, whom an eminent author long ago pointed out, as not the very worst judges or rewarders of merit, the booksellers of this great city.  At his first arrival indeed he was so unlucky as to find two of his expected Maecenases, the one in the King’s Bench, and the other in Newgate.  But this little disappointment was alleviated by the encouragement which he received from other quarters; and on the 14th of May he writes to his mother, in high spirits upon the change in his situation, with the following sarcastic reflection upon his former patrons at Bristol. “As to Mr.——­, Mr.——­, Mr.——­, &c. &c. they rate literary lumber so low, that I believe an author, in their estimation, must be poor indeed!  But here matters are otherwise.  Had Rowley been a Londoner instead of a Bristowyan, I could have lived by copying his works.”

In a letter to his sister, dated 30 May, he informs her, that he is to be employed “in writing a voluminous history of London, to appear in numbers the beginning of next winter.”  In the mean time, he had written something in praise of the Lord Mayor (Beckford), which had procured him the honour of being presented to his lordship.  In the letter just mentioned he gives the following account of his reception, with some curious observations upon political writing:  “The Lord Mayor received me as politely as a citizen could.  But the devil of the matter is, there is no money to be got of this side of the question.—­But he is a poor author who cannot write on both sides.—­Essays on the patriotic side will fetch no more than what the copy is sold for.  As the patriots themselves are searching for a place, they have no gratuity to spare.—­On the other hand, unpopular essays will not even be accepted; and you must pay to have them printed:  but then you seldom lose by it, as courtiers are so sensible of their deficiency in merit, that they generously reward all who know how to dawb them with the appearance of it.”

Notwithstanding his employment on the History of London, he continued to write incessantly in various periodical publications.  On the 11th of July he tells his sister that he had pieces last month in the Gospel Magazine; the Town and Country, viz. Maria Friendless; False Step; Hunter of Oddities; To Miss Bush, &c. Court and City; London; Political Register &c. But all these exertions of his genius brought in so little profit, that he was soon reduced to real indigence; from which he was relieved by death (in what manner is not certainly known), on the 24th of August, or thereabout, when he wanted near three months to complete his eighteenth year.  The floor of his chamber was covered with written papers, which he had torn into small pieces; but there was no appearance (as the Editor has been credibly informed) of any writings on parchment or vellum.]