ctly well
acquainted, a remarkable exemplification of the passion of _Vanity_
occurs. I recollect, one evening, he came rushing into a party where I
sat, screaming with the extatic joy of a maniac--'[Greek: Eureka,
Eureka]'; and, throwing down a scroll, rushed as precipitately out of
the room. The scroll was of vellum; the title to the contents of it
was penned in golden letters, and softly-painted bunches of roses
graced each corner. It contained a sonnet to love, and another to
friendship; but a principal mistake which struck us, on the very
threshold of our critical examination, was that he had incorrectly
entitled these sonnets. Friendship should have been called love, and
love, friendship. We had no sooner made the discovery than Gonzalo
returned, expecting to find us in like ecstacies with himself!--We
gravely told him that we stumbled at the very threshold. It was quite
sufficient--he seized his sonnets with avidity--and, crumpling the
roll (after essaying to tear it) thrust it into his pocket, and
retreated. One of the gentlemen in company made the following remarks,
on his leaving us: 'In the conduct of Gonzalo appears a strange
mixture of intellectual strength and intellectual debility; of wit and
dulness; of wisdom and folly; and all this arises chiefly from his
mistaking the means for the end--the instrument of achieving for the
object achieved. The fondest wish of his heart is literary fame: for
this he would sacrifice every thing. He is handsome, generous, an
affectionate son, a merry companion, and is, withal, a very excellent
belles-lettres scholar. Tell him that the ladies admire him, that his
mother doats on him, and that his friends esteem him--and--keeping
back the wished-for eulogy of literary excellence--you tell him of
nothing which he cares for. In truth he might attain some portion of
intellectual reputation, if he would throw aside his ridiculous
habits. He _must_, as soon as the evening shades prevail, burn wax
tapers--he must always have an Argand lamp lighted up before him, to
throw a picturesque effect upon a dark wood painted by Hobbima--his
pens must be made from the crow's wing--his wax must be green--his
paper must be thick and hot-pressed; and he must have a portfolio of
the choicest bits of ancient vellum that can be procured--his body
must recline upon a chintz sofa--his foot must be perched upon an
ottoman--in short he _must_ have every thing for which no man of
common sense would e