PUECHASINO HOESES. 31 



I am quite aware that I may be accused of sup- 

 posing an extreme case, as regards the young gentle- 

 man commencing his career as keeping an establish- 

 ment. It may be said, Why should a young man of 

 common sense assume a military or racing prestige ? 

 Why should he get a horse for his cabriolet that sub- 

 jected him to being taken for an undertaker ? I will 

 endeavour to answer such observation. First as re- 

 gards his sense : there are very few young men who 

 have sense enough to prefer the being thought sen- 

 sible to the being held fashionable ; there are few 

 who would hold the mere being thought gentlemanly 

 anything bordering on an equivalent to the being 

 held dashing fellows. Notoriety is their watchword, 

 and this they will seek at the expense of sense, even 

 if they know it to be so. But our hero did not 

 know this. He thought that in assuming a parti- 

 cular style, he was doing something out of the com- 

 mon way — a something few did — and, we vrill sup- 

 pose, exclaimed with Norval, " Dear or alive, let me 

 but be renowned ! '* 



It may be asked, Why not suppose him to have 



