DR. HUNT. 223 



He talked of their frivolity and vanity, and said 

 that unlike men, they were never so happy as 

 when they were looking at themselves in a glass. 

 Mrs. Hastings very quietly and slyly remarked 

 that in St. James 1 time men looked in the glass, 

 alluding to the verse, ' like a man beholding his 

 ' natural face in a glass.' This reply seemed to 

 meet with the approbation of Dr. Hastings, who 

 gave his wife a significant look of commendation, 

 although it produced a kind of groan from Dr. 

 Hunt. He muttered in the words of Benedict 

 ' She speaks poniards, and every word stabs ; if 

 ' her breath were as terrible as her terminations, 

 ' there were no living near her.' He then turned 

 to Dr. Hastings, and said ' here's a dish I love not ; 

 ' I cannot endure my lady tongue.' Dr. and Mrs. 

 Hastings knew the humour of their guest too well, 

 and his aptitude to quote his favourite author, not 

 to feel amused by his apparent rudeness. * Good 

 6 wits will be jangling,' said Dr. Hastings, ' you, 

 ' my old friend, affect a roughness, though you 

 ' feel it not, although 



' the world's large tongue 



' Proclaims you for a man replete with mocks ; 

 ' Full of comparisons, and wounding flouts ; 

 ' Which you on all estates will execute, 

 ' That lie within the mercy of your wit.' 



The fact was that Dr. Hunt liked to be thought 

 an eccentric man, and he neither spoke or acted 



