THE SPORTING WORLD. 51 



acts of kindness have probably been repaid by- 

 ingratitude, and many of what people are apt to 

 call misfortunes have been found to have been 

 the mere natural result of folly, extravagance, 

 and perhaps depravity ; thus the feelings become 

 hardened to similar representations, and thus with 

 apparent churlish indifference hear of, or see the 

 deprivations of others with stoical apathy. 



xlnother cause is, there is a time of life 

 when the amusements, the pleasures, and vanities 

 of life lose their hold on the mind. At thirty 

 if a man hears that another has lost the means 

 of mixing with the fashionable world, and in- 

 dulging in luxurious habits, he has his sincere 

 commiseration, nay, he probably in some way or 

 other, by personal exertion of interest or money, 

 alleviates the blow. He feels that the other 

 being obliged to give up his parties, his dinners, 

 his equipages, and the various acts and pursuits 

 that are necessary to keep his place among the 



fashionable and luxurious, must be the direst 

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