542 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1805. 



*' of ray own cleverness : and Ihat I 

 *' therefore ought not lo judge 

 *' others too hastily. A few mo- 

 *' ment after I espied my friend the 

 *' secretary, at the end of the long 

 " gallery : I hastened to him : he 

 *' exjiressed his surprise at finding 

 " me there, and told me that he was 

 *' just going to the duke's apartment 

 *' to look for me; he returned with 

 " me, and opened a door that I had 

 " knocked at several times, without 

 *' venturing to open it, which led to 

 *' the stair- case, and on my telling 

 " him so, he laughed and said, 'ay! 

 '' ay ! that's often the rase; ne fre- 

 " quently miss the right path, by 

 " onr too great circumspection and 

 " fear of going wrong.' lie con- 

 " ducted me to a seat, and then left 

 '" me. 



" I now began to breathe freely, 

 " and flattered myself with the 

 *' pleasing hope that my disasters 

 " were entirely over, and that the 

 " harmony which would soon greet 

 '' my ear, Mould reward me for it, 

 " and make me forget the thirst 

 " that tormented me. But my 

 " parched tongue reminded me, 

 " erery moment, that it would be 

 " infinitely more agreeable to drink 

 '' first and hear afterwards, and I 

 " could not help thinking, that it 

 *' was strange, very strange indeed ! 

 " to be invited, in a formal manner, 

 '• to a royal palace, without being 

 " refreshed Avith a glass of wine or 

 *' even water. 



" Ay ! thought I, as I looked at 

 *' my watch, if I was at my friend 

 " Thompson's now, I should be 

 " sitting with him and his amiable 

 " family at tea, in the great honcy- 

 *' suckle arbour. 



" During this monologue, I por- 

 " ceivcd that every persoa in the 

 *'■' room wa« in motion, andageu- 



" tleman, who stood near me, 

 " jogged me with his elbow, and 

 " said, 'the duke! the duke!' I 

 " turned round, and perceived the 

 " duke, leading a strange lady, 

 " followed by the duchess, and a 

 " swarm of courtiers close to me. 

 " 1 unluckily fancied it wasmy duty 

 " to make a profound reverence, 

 " and stepping forward, as 1 am 

 " accustomed to do, when I make a 

 " bow, I almost impeded the duke's 

 " passage. 



" 'What does theman want:' said 

 " the duches, (v.ho certainly took 

 " me fop a bLggar^ in alow voice, 

 " but loud enough for me to hear. 

 " I started back with a vacant stare 

 " like a person who is disturbed iu 

 " a dream. Man}' persons smiled, 

 " others whispered, and 1 returned 

 " to my seat, v.ithout knowing how 

 " I got thither. This was worse, 

 " a thousand times worse than all 

 " the rest! What malignant demon 

 " urges me to do %vhatever I wish 

 " to avoid to-day ? sure there never 

 " was such a blundering, stupid 

 " blockhead as I am ! What will 

 " the duke, what will every person 

 " in the room think of me ? These 

 " were my thoughts, as I wiped 

 " away the large drops of sweat J 

 " from my forehead, with a vio- 

 " lence that made it smart. 



" What does the man want ? 

 " sounded continually in my ear, 

 " My pride was hurt by those 

 " words: and I felt how wretched- 

 '' \y he acts his part, who, without 

 " intending to ask a favour, gives 

 '• others reason to suppose he does ; 

 " atrd how mortifying it is to be 

 " refused that which we never 

 " thought of requesting. I made 

 " a number of sagacious re- 

 " marks on the occasion : butpru. 

 " dencc and I were ut variance at 



«' the 



