e cry of, "Oh! there is nothing
like gentility," ratted bodily. Newspaper and public turned against the
victim, scouted him, apologised for the--what should they be called?--who
were not only admitted into the most respectable society, but courted to
come, the spots not merely of wine on their military clothes giving them
a kind of poignancy. But there is a God in heaven; the British glories
are tarnished--Providence has never smiled on British arms since that
case--oh! Balaklava! thy name interpreted is net of fishes, and well dost
thou deserve that name. How many a scarlet golden fish has of late
perished in the mud amidst thee, cursing the genteel service, and the
genteel leader which brought him to such a doom.

Whether the rage for gentility is most prevalent amongst the upper,
middle, or lower classes it is difficult to say; the priest in the text
seems to think that it is exhibited in the most decided manner in the
middle class; it is the writer's opinion, however, that in no class is it
more strongly developed than in the lower: what they call being well born
goes a great way amongst them, but the possession of money much farther,
whence Mr. Flamson's influence over them. Their rage against, and scorn
for, any person who by his courage and talents has advanced himself in
life, and still remains poor, are indescribable; "he is no better than
ourselves," they say, "why should he be above us?"--for they have no
conception that anybody has a right to ascendency over themselves except
by birth or money. This feeling amongst the vulgar has been, to a
certain extent, the bane of the two services, naval and military. The
writer does not make this assertion rashly; he observed this feeling at
work in the army when a child, and he has good reason for believing that
it was as strongly at work in the navy at the same time, and is still as
prevalent in both. Why are not brave men raised from the ranks? is
frequently the cry; why are not brave sailors promoted? The Lord help
brave soldiers and sailors who are promoted; they have less to undergo
from the high airs of their brother officers, and those are hard enough
to endure, than from the insolence of the men. Soldiers and sailors
promoted to command are said to be in general tyrants; in nine cases out
of ten, when they are tyrants, they have been obliged to have recourse to
extreme severity in order to protect themselves from the insolence and
mutinous spirit of the