s_. He does not approve
of the promotion of his friend to any honour above himself. He is afraid
lest it should exalt him beyond measure. Besides, he does not see that
he is any more qualified or deserving than he. He is surprised at the
judgment of the "powers that be" when they placed Mr. So-and-So in such
a responsible office. They could not certainly have known that he was
not the man for the office, nor the office for the man. He must have
been a favourite. He had helped them into their position, and, "One good
turn deserves another, you know." He knows how these sort of things are
managed, "Kissing goes by favour, you know." He happened to be out of
their "good books," and they were determined to punish him. Had his
esteemed friend, Squire Impartial, been in authority, he didn't doubt
for a moment but he would have been promoted to the place where
So-and-So now stands. Well, he congratulates himself that his time
_will_ come, and when it does he will make everybody wonder and regret
that he wasn't advanced before.

"Do you know," said he one day to Mr. Content, "how it is that people
talk so much about the superior abilities of our town councillor, Mr.
Workman? For my part, I see nothing in him which is above mediocrity."

"Mr. Workman is, indeed, generally reputed as being a clever man, and I
certainly think he is," said Mr. Content.

"He may be clever, but I do not think that he is any cleverer than most
ordinary men."

"I have every opportunity of judging, and I do most candidly think that
we could not have found his equal in the entire town," said Mr. Content
again.

"That may be your opinion, and the opinion of others; but still my
opinion is the same, and I am amazed at his reputation," replied Mr.
Grumbler.

7. The grumbling talker _is often long-lived_. The philosophy of the
fact, if fact it be, I will not attempt to explain. It is a pity it
should be so, but it does sometimes occur that the least desirable men
are continued, while the most lovable are taken away. Were Providence to
suspend or change the law which protracts the grumbler's existence
beyond the length of better men, I am sure no one would complain of it
except the grumbler himself.

8. The grumbling talker _is found everywhere in some one or all of his
developments_. He seems to be endowed with a spirit of ubiquity. You
find him in all ages of time, in all ages of persons, in all places of
resort, in all circumstances of life, in al