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"I will tell you what, my friend; you and your fine spoken brethren want one thing-you do not suspect it, and I shall astonish you-you want common sense."

LA BRUYERE.

"There are in most societies a set of self-important young men, who borrow consequence from singularity, and take precedency in wisdom from the unfeeling use of the ludicrous; this is at best a shallow quality; in objects of eternal moment, it is poisonous to society."

MACKENZIE.

Characters of this description are very com mon in society, perhaps there is no poison society drinks so freely of as affectation; I have always made this distinction between conceit and affectation, the former as regarding manner or behaviour, the latter as regarding speech, but the one generally accompanies the other. The affected man is really a very despicable creature, and in every society he is one of the first to be discovered; talk with him on any literary subject, ask him if he likes Novel reading, and ten to one if he does not tell you, only those sprinkled with sentiment, elopements, or duels ; Waverley he considers vulgar, and prefers Eugene Aram, or

Earnest Maltravers to Guy Mannering or Ivanhoe. In Earnest Maltravers, (which I consider a most interesting novel) there is an enchanting picture drawn at the beginning of the book, in which virtue is easily lost. In Ivanhoe in the scene with the Templar, Rebecca proves herself a strictly virtuous girl, still, he prefers Alice in Maltravers, and says the one book is much more moral than the other. If you ask his opinion concerning the weather, he will perhaps answer, the air is productive of a divine warmth, and the Thermometer 89° according to Fahrenheit. If you ask him to take a glass of wine at dinner, he leans forward and says, "with the greatest pleasure," then he only touches the wine with his lips; to drink more than '08 of an inch is contrary to the established rules of Lord Chesterfield: a man of this description is frequently a very clever creature, well read &c., and can easily put down a fool in argument, well he knows that "an air, a tone of voice, a composure of countenance to mildness and softness, which are all easily acquired, do the business." Such is the affected man. In young men, especially young officers in the army, conceit and affectation are frequently found, and the quantity of these delightful qualities seems to differ according to the crackness or quality of

their Corps. For instance I have seen young Officers strut about and look down upon their brethren, with a most contemptuous air, which only proved that their dress was more valuable to the state, than their brains. A man may be a splendid dashing fellow, without affectation, still many of the Officers of the army do not think so. There was no conceit or affectation in George the Third,-who on Johnson's conversing with him, was named by the moralist, as "the finest gentleman he had ever seen." Were Charles the Twelfth, Peter the Great, John Sobieski, conceited or affected men?—I answer no or they could not have done what they have done; affectation is foreign to the character of a great soldier, and what is more, it is foreign to the character of a good man." For my part (says Steele) I could never consider this preposterous repugnancy to nature any otherwise, than not only as the greatest folly, but also one of the most heinous crimes, since it is a direct opposition to the disposition of Providence, and as Tully expresses it, like the sin of the giants, an actual rebellion against heaven."

In the Merchant of Venice, there is a fine picture of a would-be-thought great young man, with which I shall conclude this paper.

PORTIA TO NERISSA.

........" I'll hold thee any wager,
When we are both accoutred like young men,
I'll prove the prettier fellow of the two,
And wear my dagger, with the braver grace;
And speak, between the change of man and boy
With a rude voice; and turn two mincing steps
Into a manly stride; and speak of frays

Like a fine bragging youth; and tell quaint lies,
How honourable ladies sought my love,
Which I denying, they fell sick and died;

I could not do with all; then I'll repent

And wish for all that, that I had not killed them:
And twenty of these puny lies I'll tell."

POLYPHILUS.

Tuesday, March 12, 1844.

No. 31.

An Essay on Tea.*

"Strong tea and scandal-Bless me, how refreshing !"

Garrick.

"No kind of drink is so refreshing after a journey or fatigue as tea."

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Chambers.

"Mr. A- will you come in, and take tea this evening"?" I shall be very happy"! is the immediate reply; off drives the carriage, and the sub continues to wend his way slowly along the road on horseback; now, what is he thinking about? is he looking forward to enjoying a good cup of tea, with the many dainties which frequently appear at the Indian Tea-table? No! such thoughts have never crossed his mind. He is anticipating a very pleasant evening, to be spent in turning over the leaves of the music book, for some gentle votaress of Euterpe, he will be sure to meet there; in tendering civilities to the lady of the house, in gaining for himself an additional mark of admiration! and all this comes from being asked merely to tea. Delicious essence of the divine leaf, how often dost thou cause through thy refreshing powers, scandal to fly from the mouths of lovely women, which

This Essay did not appear in the Athenæum.

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