J832.] [ 195 ] 



".f OTW.? m * <j a ^ 11 ^w 



jtreifeqqR eij[ WARRIOR OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 



;3f{ fttUTJ fit jftal/O(I.t t :! 



IGNORANCE of the common affairs of the world in which they live, and 

 a deficiency of memory truly deplorable, have been long considered 

 as afflictions almost peculiar to the " higher classes." I do not mean 

 those convenient lapses of memory which have been the characteristic 

 failing of great men in all ages ; but inherited constitutional defects, fos- 

 tered by education and example. Men possessing a greater abundance of 

 the good things of this life, think little and know less of the affairs of 

 others ; however, it is some consolation to those of humbler pretensions, 

 that they can occasionally enjoy a laugh at the expense of the privileged ; 

 while it is not discreditable to the good humour of the others that they 

 are generally disposed to join in the mirth which their peculiarities 

 create. Many amusing instances of affected forgetfulness are related ; 

 but the affectation of ignorance is even more amusing than that of loss 

 of memory. To corroborate my assertion, I shall adduce for example as 

 pretty a bit of coxcombry, in this particular department of exquisitism, 

 as it has ever been my fortune to witness. And, be it understood, what 

 I am about to relate is no fiction ; but the narration of a scene which 

 actually occurred, without pledging myself, however, to the very words 

 used on the occasion, though certainly to the spirit of them. 



On one of those 'very hot days in the summer before last, I called 

 on a friend who holds an appointment in the Tower. For the con- 

 venience of attending to his duties he has a house within the fortress, 

 and thither I repaired to await his usual time of returning home. 



I seated myself by an open window ; and, gazing at the White Tower, 

 the visions of past ages were speedily conjured up, and would have 

 taken entire possession of my faculties had they not been put to flight 

 by a vision of a very different nature. Directly opposite the window at 

 which I had placed myself, there is a shady avenue of lime-trees which 

 stretches across the parade. My attention was attracted by the appear- 

 ance of two young men emerging from the umbrageous shelter of the 

 trees, and sauntering listlessly along until they nearly reached the win- 

 dow at which I was seated. One was an officer of the Guards, then on 

 duty at the Tower. He was dressed with all the elaborate minuteness 

 of a finished exquisite. Not the slightest crease or wrinkle was dis- 

 cernible in his well-cut regimental coat ; it seemed actually pasted on 

 him. Buttoned up to the throat his waist contracted to the smallest 

 possible dimensions the sun shining fiercely on his bright red regi- 

 mentals, and reflected from the glittering gilded ornaments with which 

 he was bedecked his face flushed with heat almost to surfeit he seemed 

 almost an object of compassion ; it put one in a fever to gaze at him ; 

 he looked like a red-hot man, a very Phoenix amidst the flames ! His 

 companion was attired in mufti, that is, as men dress who are not 

 military. The two gentlemen drew still closer to my window, when 

 the guardsman halted and took up a position against a stone pillar, or 

 wall, I forget which, apparently overpowered with exertion. He 

 twitched a small riding-whip backwards and forwards with a most 

 laudable degree of perseverance, and looked stedfastly on the ground 

 or perhaps it might have been at his boots, I can't say as it seemed, in 

 profound meditation. His companion stood with his arms folded, and 

 in an attitude equally contemplative with his friend. If one might 



O 2 



