47G 



CHARACTERS AND PASSIONS OF LIFE. 



and industry ; its chief feelings, cheerfulness, content, and good-wiii : if 

 they know little of the subhmer, they know nothing of the turbulent 

 passions 



Far from the maddening crowd's ignoble strifcj 

 ' Their sober wishes never learn to stray ; 

 Along the cool sequester 'd vale of life 

 They keep the noiseless tenour of their way. ' 



At the same time, we shall find an evident distinction of national cha- 

 racter ; the first of these tribes evincing an enthusiastic fondness for the 

 shadowy traditions and the antiquated, perhaps the fabulous heroes of 

 their country, froni some of whom every one beheves himself to be lineally 

 descended ; the second, an ardent attachment to their respective lairds, 

 and the hardy individuals that compose their respective clans ; and the 

 third, an elastic and ebullient vivacity, that seems to fit them for happiness 

 in any country, and almost under any circumstances. 



If from these scenes of simple life and ingenuous manners, we pass to 

 the crowded capital of refinement and luxury, we shall see more, perhaps, 

 to admire, but certainly more t6 disrehsh and weep over ; a strange in- 

 termixture of the noblest virtues and the foulest vices ; the mind in some 

 instances drawn forth to its utmost stretch of elevation and genius, and in 

 others sunk into infamy and ruin ; a courtesy of attention that enters into 

 all our feehngs, and anticipates all our wants ; dehcacy of taste ; puncti- 

 lious honour ; sprightly gallantry ; splendour and magnificence ; wit, 

 mirth, gayety, and pleasure of every kind. Of national character, how- 

 ever, we find little or nothing : like the pebbles in a river, all roughnesses 

 are smoothed away by mutual friction into one common polish. It is 

 easy, indeed, to perceive that every thing tends to an extreme ; the Jaded 

 taste becomes fastidious, iand is perpetually hunting for something new ; 

 gallantry degenerates into seduction ; fine, trembhng honour, into an irri- 

 table thirst to avenge trifles ; the heart is full of restlessness and fevei:. 

 In the general pursuit of happiness, contentment is altogether unknown ; 

 no one is satisfied with his actual rank and condition, and is perpetually 

 striving to surpass or supplant his neighbour ; and striving, too, by all the 

 machinery he can bring into play. Hence, in the more refined ranks, 

 all is flattery, servility, and corruption ; in the busy walks of traflic and 

 commerce, all is wild venture, speculation, and hazard ; the bosom is dis- 

 tracted with the civil warfare of avarice, ambition, pride, envy, and sullen 

 rancour ; the whole surface is at length hollow and showy, and the face 

 becomes no index to the feelings. There is no necessity for dwelling on 

 those open and atrocious villains, that, hke verniin on a putrid carcass, 

 such a state of things must indispensably generate and fatten ; — the hag- 

 gard tribe of anxiety, vexation, and disappointment — the downfal of 

 Splendour — the mortification of pride — the failure of friendship — the 

 sting of ingratitude — the violation of sacred trusts — blasted expectations 

 and disconcerted projects — the cup of joy dashed from the lips that are 

 sipping it— hope shipwrecked on the verge of possession — the agony of 

 the mighty adventurer, who for months beforehand sees the tempest of his 

 ruin rolling towards him ; sees it, but dares not meet it ; sees it, but per- 

 haps cannot avert it— harrowed through every nerve by the gaunt spectres 

 of approaching shame, by the lamentations of his own family reduced to 

 beggary, and the cutting rebukes of other families whom a misplaced con- 

 fidence has involved in one cqmnipn destructipri— the demon train af 



