Nay, you may behold him sometimes in prayer, for a proper delivery
of the great truths he is to utter, humble himself with so very well
turned phrase, and mention his own unworthiness in a way so very
becoming, that the air of the pretty gentleman is preserved under the
lowliness of the preacher.

"I shall end this with a short letter I wrote the other day, to a very
witty man, overrun with the fault I am speaking of.

"DEAR SIR,--I spent some time with you the other day, and must take
the liberty of a friend to tell you of the insufferable affectation
you are guilty of in all you say and do. When I gave you a hint of
it, you asked me whether a man is to be cold to what his friends
think of him. No; but praise is not to be the entertainment of
every moment. He that hopes for it must be able to suspend the
possession of it till proper periods of life or death itself. If
you would not rather be commended than be praiseworthy, contemn
little merits, and allow no man to be so free with you as to praise
you to your face. Your vanity by this means will want its food. At
the same time your passion for esteem will be more fully gratified;
men will praise you in their actions: where you now receive one
compliment, you will then receive twenty civilities. Till then you
will never have of either, farther than,

"Sir, your humble servant,

"T."

X.

_THE STULTILOQUIST._

"Compress the sum into its solid worth,
And if it weigh the importance of a fly,
The scales are false, or algebra a lie."
COWPER.

This is a talker who seems to think that the best use of speech is to
give currency to folly. He deals in thoughts and words which create
laughter rather than convey instruction. The puns and witticisms of the
shop, the street, the theatre, the newspaper, he reserves with
sacredness for repetition in the social party, that he may excite the
risible faculties, and give merriment to the circle. He appears to have
no apprehension of anything that is serious and intelligent. The sum
total of his conversation, weighed in the balance, is lighter than
vanity. "The mouth of fools," says Solomon, "poureth out foolishness."
If he is not true to the character, he is to the sign. He forgets
altogether that there is a time "to weep," and talks in strains which
make one think that he believ