e women,
were so great that they seemed absolutely inconsistent with the behavior
of a pretty fellow, much less of one in a red coat; and yet, besides
having been eleven years in the army, he had had, as his uncle informed
me, an education in France. This, I own, would have appeared to have
been absolutely thrown away had not his animal spirits, which were
likewise thrown away upon him in great abundance, borne the visible
stamp of the growth of that country. The character to which he had an
indisputable title was that of a merry fellow; so very merry was he that
he laughed at everything he said, and always before he spoke. Possibly,
indeed, he often laughed at what he did not utter, for every speech
begun with a laugh, though it did not always end with a jest. There was
no great analogy between the characters of the uncle and the nephew,
and yet they seemed entirely to agree in enjoying the honor which the
red-coat did to his family. This the uncle expressed with great pleasure
in his countenance, and seemed desirous of showing all present the honor
which he had for his nephew, who, on his side, was at some pains to
convince us of his concurring in this opinion, and at the same time of
displaying the contempt he had for the parts, as well as the occupation
of his uncle, which he seemed to think reflected some disgrace on
himself, who was a member of that profession which makes every man a
gentleman. Not that I would be understood to insinuate that the nephew
endeavored to shake off or disown his uncle, or indeed to keep him
at any distance. On the contrary, he treated him with the utmost
familiarity, often calling him Dick, and dear Dick, and old Dick, and
frequently beginning an oration with D--n me, Dick.

All this condescension on the part of the young man was received with
suitable marks of complaisance and obligation by the old one; especially
when it was attended with evidences of the same familiarity with general
officers and other persons of rank; one of whom, in particular, I know
to have the pride and insolence of the devil himself, and who, without
some strong bias of interest, is no more liable to converse familiarly
with a lieutenant than of being mistaken in his judgment of a fool;
which was not, perhaps, so certainly the case of the worthy lieutenant,
who, in declaring to us the qualifications which recommended men to his
countenance and conversation, as well as what effectually set a bar
to all hopes of