MISCELLANEOUS ESSAYS. 957 



*' eyebrows, as if he was curious to 

 " know if any still greater absur- 

 " dity would follow ; the other 

 " smiled ; and 1 stood as much out 

 " of countenance, as a child that 

 " has just broke a glass. That 

 '' was foolish, very foolish indeed, 

 " thought I, and I felt as if I ought 

 " to make an apology formyseem- 

 *' iiig rudeness. I stammered some- 

 *' thing, that was intended to cir- 

 " cumscribe my former unlimited 

 " assertion, which, as well as I am 

 " able to recollect, was not much 

 " wiser than what I said before ; 

 *' and I felt so depressed, and so 

 " much out of humoiir with myself, 

 " that I was not able to turn my 

 " eyes towards the window, nor to 

 " look at the prospect, the fatal 

 " cause of my present confusion, 

 " again, which must have made the 

 " gentlemen fancy my former vio- 

 " lent admiration either aftectcd, 

 " or very transient. They, how- 

 " ever, did all in their power to 

 " keep up the conversation, and 

 " asked me a number of questions 

 '• about the village 1 lived in, and 

 " my house, garden, and family— - 

 " subjects that were totally indif- 

 " ferent to them ; nor would they 

 '' probably have made any en- 

 " quiries of the kind, if they had 

 " not seen, and wished to relieve, 

 " my distress. 



*' My replies were frequently in- 

 " coherent and foreign to the pur- 

 " pose ; and 1 once so entirely for- 

 " got myself, that I talked about ray 

 *' neighbour, John Morris, witli a 

 " prolixity as if the man had been 

 " their cousin. I then recollected 

 " that I was tedious, and, to avoid 

 " that fault, ran into the contrary 

 " extreme ; for my answers were so 

 " short and unconnected, that I am 

 " certain I must ha^ve beeu utterly 

 2 



" unintelligible to them. In short, I 

 " every moment committed some 

 " fresh blunder, and my endeavours 

 " to repair my fault never failed 

 " leading me into new ones. My 

 " thoughts continually wandered 

 " from the society of strangers I 

 " was in, to that of my old ac- 

 " quaintance, and from the duke's 

 " place to my own village; it was, 

 " therefore, an impossibility for ma 

 " to be entertained, or entertain- 



«' : 



HIS. 



" This company does not suit 

 <i me ! — Was a thought that fre- 

 '• quetly started into my mind ; but 

 " 1 now perceive how much I was 

 " in the wrong, and that the noble- 

 " men were quite in the right if 

 " they said, as soon as my back 

 " was turned, — this man does not 

 " suit us! for it was I alone who 

 " was in fault. 



" Our mutual reserve increased ; 

 *' and the conversation at last be- 

 " came so insipid and trilling, that 

 " the monosyllables in which it 

 " chiefly consisted, seemed to be 

 " rather an attempt to conceal a 

 " yawn, and keep ourselves awake, 

 " than any tiling else. 



" One of the gentlemen fixed his 

 " eyes upon a picture, and the 

 " other walked slowly up and 

 " down the room, and adjusted his 

 " cravat or the frill of his shirt, at-' 

 " though they were both in the 

 " nicest order ; and my looks were 

 '" rivctted on the dark clouds, 

 " (those emblems tf my mind) that 

 " were gathering in the sky, with 

 " inward discontent ; and 1 wished 

 " myself at home, or at ray friend 

 " Thompson's. 



" If the communication of idaas 

 " cannot unite the minds of men, 

 " who knows if a pinch of snuff 

 " may not be able to do so !- were 



" probably 



