IV.] MELANCHOLY HOURS. 341 



than those attendant on friend-making. Show a man 

 that you court his society, and it is a signal for him to 

 treat you with neglect and contumely. Humour his pas- 

 sions, and he despises you as a sycophant. Pay implicit 

 deference to his opinions, and he laughs at you for your 

 foil}'. In all he views you with contempt, as the creature 

 of his will, as the slave of his caprice. I remember I 

 once solicited the acquaintance and coveted the friend- 

 ship of one man, and thank God, I can yet say (and I hope 

 on my deatlihed I shall he able to say the same), of only 

 one man. 



Germanicus was a character of considerable eminence 

 in the literary world. He had the reputation not only 

 of an enlightened understanding and refined taste, but 

 of openness of heart and goodness of disposition. His 

 name ahvays carried with it that weight and authority 

 which are due to learning and genius in every situation. 

 His manners were polished and his conversation elegant. 

 In short, he possessed every qualification which could 

 render him an enviable addition to the circle of every 

 man's friends. With such a character, as I was then very 

 young, I could not fail to feel an ambition of becoming 

 acquainted, when the opportunity offered, and in a short 

 time we were upon terms of familiarity. To ripen this 

 familiarity into friendship, as far as the most awkward 

 diffidence would permit, was my strenuous endeavour. 

 If his opinions contradicted mine, I immediately, without 

 reasoning on the subject, conceded the point to him, as 

 a matter of course that he must be right, and by conse- 

 quence that I must be wrong. Did he utter a witticism, 

 I was sure to laugh ; and if he looked grave, though 

 nobody could tell why, it was mine to groan. By thus 

 conforming myself to his humour, I flattered myself I 

 was making some progress in his good graces, but I was 

 soon undeceived. A man seldom cares much for that 

 which cost him no pains to procure. Whether Ger- 

 manicus found me a troublesome visitor, or whether he 

 was really displeased with something I had unwittingly 

 said or done, certain it is, that when I met him one day, 

 in compan}' with persons of apparent figure, he had lost 



