ard to
him from our vigilance; and as the chancellor dines with us to-morrow, I
think of asking him if he couldn't be punished some way. Transportation,
they tell me, has already nearly got rid of the gypsies. As for
yourself, make your arrangements to return immediately; for, although
your father knows nothing about it, I intend to ask Sir Henry Gordon to
call on the Duke of York, and contrive an exchange for you. How I hate
this secret adviser of yours! how I detest the Rooneys! how I abhor
the Irish! You have only to come back with long hair, and the frightful
accent, to break the heart of your affectionate but afflicted mother.

'Your cousin Julia desires her regards. I must say she has not shown a
due respect to my feelings since the arrival of this sad intelligence;
it is only this minute she has finished a caricature of you making love
to a wild Irish girl with wings. This is not only cruel towards me, but
an unbecoming sarcasm towards a wretched people, to whom the visitations
of Providence should not be made matters of reproach.'

Thus concluded this famous epistle, at which, notwithstanding that
every line offended me deeply, I could not refrain from bursting into
laughter. My opinion of Lord Dudley had certainly not been of the
highest; but yet was I totally unprepared for the apparent depth of
villainy his character possessed. But I knew not, then, how strong an
alloy of cunning exists in every fool; and how, almost invariably, a
narrow intellect and a malevolent disposition are associated in the same
individual.

There is no prejudice more popular, nor is there any which is better
worth refuting, than that which attributes to folly certain good
qualities of heart, as a kind of compensation for the deficiency in
those of the head. Now, although there are of course instances to the
contrary, yet will the fact be found generally true, that mediocrity of
mind has its influence in producing a mischievous disposition. Unable to
carry on any lengthened chain of reasoning, the man of narrow intellect
looks for some immediate result; and in his anxiety to attain his
object, forgetful of the value of both character and credit, he is
prepared to sacrifice the whole game of life, provided he secure but the
odd trick. Besides, the very insufficiency of his resources leads
him out of himself for his enjoyments and his occupations. Watching,
therefore, the game of life, he gradually acquires a certain low and
underhand