plained the age, height, weight,
species, size, power, and propensities of the animal, and then departed
on their road towards Temple Bar,--on passing through which, they were
overtaken again by Sir Francis, in a gig drawn by a dun-coloured
horse, with his puppy between his legs, and a servant by his side, and
immediately renewed the previous conversation.

"There he goes again," said Sparkle, "and a rare fellow he is too."

"I should think so," said Bob; "he must have quacked to some good
purpose, to obtain the honour of knighthood."

~108~~"Not positively that," continued Sparkle; "for to obtain and to
deserve are not synonymous, and, if report say true, there is not much
honour attached to his obtaining it.

"----In the modesty of fearful duty,

I read as much as from the rattling tongue
Of saucy and audacious eloquence:
Love, therefore, and tongue-tied simplicity,
At least speak most to my capacity."

And, according to my humble conception, he who talks much about himself,
or pays others to talk or write about him, is generally most likely to
be least deserving of public patronage; for if a man possesses real and
evident abilities in any line of profession, the public will not be
long in making a discovery of its existence, and the bounty, as is most
usually the case, would quickly follow upon the heels of approbation.
But many a meritorious man in the Metropolis is pining away his
miserable existence, too proud to beg, and too honest to steal, while
others, with scarcely more brains than a sparrow, by persevering in
a determination to leave no stone unturned to make themselves appear
ridiculous, as a first step to popularity; and having once excited
attention, even though it is merely to be laughed at by the thinking
part of mankind, he finds it no great difficulty to draw the money out
of their pockets while their eyes are riveted on a contemplation of his
person or conduct. And there are not wanting instances of effrontery
that have elevated men of little or no capacity to dignified situations.
If report say true, the present Secretary of the Admiralty, who is
admirable for his poetry also, was originally a hair-dresser, residing
somewhere in Blackfriar's or Westminster-road; but then you must
recollect he was a man who knew it was useless to lose a single
opportunity; and probably such has been the case with Sir Daniel
Harlequin, who, from keeping a small shop in Wa