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mark the distinction more pointedly, they were to one another all

"Nods, and becks, and wreathed smiles."

Then, at the upper end of the room, the only halfdozen arm-chairs possessed by the town hall, formed into a circle which no one not of the vraie noblesse dared approach, were allotted to as many dowagers or matrons of quality, all decked in brocades and jewels, which added strangely to my infatuation upon this occasion. Oh how I envied every human being who was permitted to enter this charmed circle, with the happy privilege of apparent equality! What demigods I thought the squires of the neighbourhood, and even the militia subalterns, who were allowed at pleasure to enjoy the converse of these high exclusives. And here I must own all my poignant mortification, brought on, I confess, by such an infatuation as no one but such a greenhorn could have felt, much less displayed. And yet I know not that I can say it was out of nature, though certainly out of all bounds of conventional law. In a word, totally ignorant of this law, and thinking that all persons who met together in the same room, for the same purpose, and had paid their money, had a right to, nay, would be desirous of, a little cheerful intercourse together, and, above all, smitten with the ambition of being allowed to make one in this great presence, I had the courage (it was called impudence) to address myself to a knight's lady in one of the arm-chairs which conferred such dignity upon its possessors.

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observed therefore, with some hesitation indeed, but yet with something like resolution, that it was very warm. The lady, raising her eyes from vacancy, or which she seemed to have fixed them, turned to see who the stranger was who had been so rash as, without the license of acquaintance, to address her; but soon turned back again, with a look of most supercilious coldness, while I distinctly heard a lady who was twirling her fan in the next arm-chair, and had observed my attempt, exclaim to her neighbour, " How forward and ill-bred! One of the tradespeople's sons of the town, I suppose." On which the knight's lady, after coolly scanning me again with her glass, turned her back upon me still more decidedly. This left me in a most mortifying state of humiliation at this proof of my inferiority; while, to complete my disgrace, the Honourable Mr. Fitzstephen, walking up to the chairs with a most enviable confidence, the whispers of both ladies to him, and the laugh they all gave when he returned their whisper, after directing his eyes to me, convinced me that it was at my expense. I can myself now laugh at the feeling of shame which this affront to my aspiring spirit occasioned, but indeed it was bitter, and I could willingly have challenged Fitzstephen to a boxing match, but was restrained by a sense of his superior rank, of which, much as I hated him for it, I could not divest myself. The effect was fatal to my peace for the rest of the evening. I felt myself disgraced and degraded, because I was not admitted where I had no right or business to be. Instead of seeking Miss Betsy again, as I was expected

to do, I looked upon her as one of the proscribed as well as myself, and (shall I confess it?) felt unwilling to confirm the notion of the squirearchy as to my inferiority by dancing with her again, and actually quitted the assembly in a paroxysm of disgust.

It is inconceivable how long the derangement of mind occasioned by this ridiculous incident lasted. I was no longer the same lad whose good spirits made him every where so welcome. Indeed I did nothing but mope in holes and corners about the house, and neglected (for I hated) the shop and brown sleeves more than ever. Even a cousin Sukey, who lived with us, and whom, in my natural days, I had used to romp with, and regard with a degree of pleasure, became hateful to me too, on account of a vulgarity which had never struck me before. Indeed I had begun to be indifferent to her ever since I had read "Evelina," but I was now completely estranged, and could not bear her to call me Dick Danvers, as she everlastingly did. I stole every moment I could from my father's eye in the shop, and passed hours in reading in my bedroom, which faced the street, and allowed me to add to the spleen which devoured me, not merely from its solitude, but by showing me from the window every gentleman's carriage that passed, filling me with envy of those that were in them. this way of passing the time I was any thing but cured, when another incident, by laying still stronger hold of my vitiated mind, made me more unhappy than ever. The account of this I shall reserve till I hear whether you think what I have already written

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is worth reading; certainly, whether it falls in with the plan of your dreams for the improvement of the world. Adieu, then, till I receive your verdict. Meantime I am proud to sign myself your friend, RICHARD DANVERS.

I beg to say I highly approve of this communication from my old friend, and trust that it may be continued. The result cannot but be favourable to a knowledge of themselves, and do good to all mistaken young men.

No. VIII.

"Choked with ambition of the meaner sort."

SHAKSPEARE: 1 Hen. VI.

PERCEIVING that my last Number has not been displeasing to many of my readers, nay, has by some of them been highly approved, as conducing to an improvement of mind, particularly among the young, I proceed with my friend Danvers' narrative, as he gave it in another letter, as follows.

My dear Somnolent,

Coll., Oxon.

As you have so encouraged me, I will proceed with my story, though it will require not a little firmness to confess all the silly weakness which disgraced the earlier part of my life.

I who, in my natural days of good spirits, and ignorance of the difference of ranks, had never cared what part of the house I was in, when at home, and thought the shop an amusing place, where I used to quiz the customers, had now come to loathe it. I could hardly tell why, and did not like to inquire. But it was too true that, after the assembly adventure, I never condescended to sit any where but in a room up stairs, dignified with the name of the "dining-room."

As I have observed, my professional destination

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