204 MEMOIR OP GEORGE WILSON. CHAP. IV. 



tion of the heavens, when aunt's letter arrived, and certified me 

 that you had at last been put in possession of the great object 

 of your ambition. And what was that ? Two letters of the 

 alphabet ! Nor would this reward which you proposed to your- 

 self have been so contemptible, if those said letters had been 

 out-of-the-way ones, an A and a Q, two Q'S, etc., but as for an 

 M and a D, two of the most commonplace members of the ABC, 

 to think that they should have been so desired, I should say 

 you were the victim of monomania, though I could scarcely de- 

 signate by the term mcwomania what is equalled in its melan- 

 choly nature only by its universality. But when we pass from 

 the mere letters to what they may imply, how much truth do 

 we find contained in them ! Passing over the common explica- 

 tion, Doctor of Medicine, we have firstly (synonymous with it), 

 Man of Decoctions ; secondly, Dedicated to Manslaughter, De- 

 liverer of Many, Deluder of More, Death of Most, and lastly a 

 more agreeable truth, that being a Doctor you are Marriageable. 

 These, especially those preceding the last, I would present to 

 your attention, hoping that the consciousness of what is thus 

 implied in the Degree you have obtained may, like oil upon the 

 waters, serve to moderate the feelings of your joy, and ever, like 

 the aforesaid oil, remain uppermost in your mind. You will 

 now be able, nay, in a manner be compelled to take to other 

 and more congenial studies, for the moment you are struck with 

 the black cap, it is signified that this is the last step you can 

 mount in this department of the Temple of Fame; and the 

 buffet is a gentle hint to move off to some other staircase, where 

 your progress is unimpeded by any such restrictions. 



" Wishing you all possible joy of your pair of letters, I re- 

 main your affectionate cousin, J. R" 



To which George sends in reply an epistle " hazy, because his 

 tobacco is all done," in which he dilates on the troubles of the 

 intermediate state between passing the last examination and 

 obtaining the title of doctor. Of smoking he was very fond, 

 and only abandoned its pleasures when compelled by his broken 

 health so to do. It was no uncommon thing to find the room 

 in which he and a friend or two were assembled so denselv filled 



