XX 
A FEW MEMOIRS OF 
—as the French would say—with some other scene, in 
other lands, and among other languages, so that his return 
to present realities, and the use of vernacular English, 
required a mental effort which might easily be mistaken 
for lack of courtesy. There need be no doubt of this, for 
in his writings the magnetic chord of attraction is never 
interrupted between him and his readers, or between 
them and him. Nor does he make any parade of learned 
lore, either by allusion or quotation, except as they would 
suggest themselves to those scholars who can revel in 
similar flights of classic exploration and poetic adaptation. 
And yet, of all the writers ever gifted to charm all 
classes, we know of no one who has more uniformly kept 
in view the old maxim that— verbum dulce multiplicat 
amicos , etc.—sweet language will multiply friends, and a 
fair-speaking tongue will multiply kind greetings. 
These considerations and circumstances remind us of 
the often mentioned difference implied by the exhorta¬ 
tion—“Do as I preach , no matter what I may do” 
While at college, Herbert had so rapidly acquired a rest¬ 
less and reckless way of living, that his parents could 
exercise little or no control over him. He' plunged 
deeper and deeper into debt after coming of age; and, on 
being “ whitewashed ” for the third time by the insolvency 
process, the usual sentence of outlawry for debt was pub¬ 
lished. Herbert then voluntarily went to Brussels, and 
afterwards to Paris; but neither the Continent, nor Eu¬ 
rope itself, were large enough for his peculiar ideas, and 
“ no pent-up Utica ” could satisfy him; nothing short of 
“ a boundless continent,” like that of America, seemed 
worthy of his notice. 
Herbert landed in this country about November, 1831, 
and the few hundred pounds he brought with him having 
been soon expended, he was compelled to turn his atten¬ 
tion to business. He readily obtained an engagement as 
