magazine.

And sticking his cigar in his mouth, he left the house; even in the
street he forgot to light it, and strolled along, turning his weed
between his lips, and revolving no very pleasant thoughts in his mind:
"All the way to England, down to Wales, then the Isle of Wight, seeing
no end of people,--lawyers, milliners, agents, proctors, jewellers, and
dressmakers--eternal explainings and expostulatings, begging for this,
deprecating that; asking this man to be active and the other to be
patient; and then back again over the whole breadth of Europe in
atrocious weather, sea-sick and land-sick, tossed, Jolted, and
shaken,--and all for what,--ay, for what? To be snubbed, outraged,
and insulted, treated like a lackey,--no, but ten times worse than any
lackey would bear. And why should I bear it? That's the question. Why
should I? Does it signify a brass farthing to me whether the noble house
of Lackington quarters its arms with the cogged dice and the marked king
of the Davises? What do I care about their tarnished shield? It's rather
cool of my lady to turn upon _me!_" Well reasoned and true, Mr. Spicer;
you have but forgotten one small item in the account, which is the
consideration accorded to you by your own set, because you were seen to
mingle with those so much above you.

We are told that when farthings are shaken up a sufficiently long time
with guineas in a bag, they acquire a sort of yellow lustre, which,
though by no means enabling them to pass for guineas, still makes them
wonderfully bright farthings, and doubtless would render them very
intolerant in the company of their equals. Such was, in a measure, what
had happened to Mr. Spicer; and though at first sight the process
would seem a gain, it is in reality the reverse, since, after this mock
gilding, the coin--whether it be man or farthing--has lost its stamp
of truthfulness, and will not "pass" for even the humble value it once
represented.

"At all events," thought Mr. Spicer, as he went along, "her Ladyship
has not come off scot free for all her impertinence. I have given her
materials for a very miserable morning, and irritated the very sorest
spot in all her mind. It was just the very lesson she wanted; there's
nothing will do her so much good in the world."

It is by no means an uncommon delusion for ill-natured people to fancy
that they are great moral physicians, and that the bitters they drop
into _your_ wine-glass and _my_ teacup are admir