with twenty pounds in his pocket, entitled to more
respect than Mr. Flamson flaming in his coach with a million? And is not
even the honest jockey at Horncastle, who offers a fair price to Lavengro
for his horse, entitled to more than the scoundrel lord, who attempts to
cheat him of one-fourth of its value?

Millions, however, seem to think otherwise, by their servile adoration of
people whom without rank, wealth, and fine clothes they would consider
infamous, but whom possessed of rank, wealth, and glittering habiliments
they seem to admire all the more for their profligacy and crimes. Does
not a blood-spot, or a lust-spot, on the clothes of a blooming emperor,
give a kind of zest to the genteel young god? Do not the pride,
superciliousness, and selfishness of a certain aristocracy make it all
the more regarded by its worshippers? and do not the clownish and gutter-
blood admirers of Mr. Flamson like him all the more because they are
conscious that he is a knave? If such is the case--and alas! is it not
the case?--they cannot be too frequently told that fine clothes, wealth,
and titles adorn a person in proportion as he adorns them; that if worn
by the magnanimous and good they are ornaments indeed, but if by the vile
and profligate they are merely _san benitos_, and only serve to make
their infamy doubly apparent; and that a person in seedy raiment and
tattered hat, possessed of courage, kindness, and virtue, is entitled to
more respect from those to whom his virtues are manifested than any
cruel, profligate emperor, selfish aristocrat, or knavish millionaire in
the world.

The writer has no intention of saying that all in England are affected
with the absurd mania for gentility; nor is such a statement made in the
book; it is shown therein that individuals of various classes can prize a
gentleman, notwithstanding seedy raiment, dusty shoes, or tattered
hat,--for example, the young Irishman, the rich genius, the postillion,
and his employer. Again, when the life of the hero is given to the
world, amidst the howl about its lowness and vulgarity, raised by the
servile crew whom its independence of sentiment has stung, more than one
powerful voice has been heard testifying approbation of its learning and
the purity of its morality. That there is some salt in England, minds
not swayed by mere externals, he is fully convinced; if he were not, he
would spare himself the trouble of writing; but to the fact that the
g