110 PRECEPT AND PEACTICE. 



A FAIE BEGINNING. 



Theee are certain situations in which a man may be 

 placed that, without their being in any way anything 

 uncommon or difficult in themselves, are to the 

 uninitiated most embarrassing. We will instance a 

 few. A man having to come on the stage merely as 

 a walking gentleman, has nothing in it that need 

 alarm any one accustomed to society. Let the drop- 

 scene be down, he will enter with perfect propriety ; 

 raise it before his entry, his self-possession is all 

 gone. He, in figurative phrase, scarcely knows 

 *' whether he is standing on his head or on his heels," 

 unless he convinces us of his consciousness of the 

 latter being the case by (as has been done) taking to 



