LIFE OF MVTTON. 



It is a great accomplishment to be able to tell 

 a story well, but here Mr. Mytton did not suc- 

 ceed. In the first place, his sense of hearing was 

 deficient, a great disadvantage in society. In the 

 next, it was often difficult to determine whether he 

 were in earnest or in jest, so fond was he of acting a 

 part in the comedy of life. Again, he was very epi- 

 grammatic in his discourse, his sentences containing 

 few words, and often leaving his hearers to guess 

 what he really meant. All, however, was in the 

 essence of good-humour ; and a more inoffensive 

 companion, in the strict acceptation of that term, no 

 man with his flow of spirits could possibly be. If, in 

 the moment of convivial mirth, he let slip a word 

 which he feared might wound the feelings of any 

 person, he instantly made reparation, nor would he 

 rest satisfied until it was fully acknowledged and 

 atoned for. It is warmth of heart like this that dis- 

 tinguishes the friend from the companion, and assimi- 

 lates friendship to love. As to his politics, although 

 he once was in Parliament, it would be absurd in me 

 to attempt to decide what they were, for, during all 

 the years I was acquainted with him, I never once 

 heard him give an opinion upon the subject. It 

 always struck me as not one of the maddest of his 



