ring the aristocracy of genius with that of birth;
it was one of those homely every-day triumphs of intellect, which please
us more than they ought to do, for, after all, they are more common than
the men of courts are willing to believe.

Lord--did not however long leave Aram to the support of his own
unassisted presence of mind and calmness of nerve; he advanced, and led
the conversation, with his usual tact, into a course which might at
once please Aram, and afford him the opportunity to shine. The Earl
had imported from Italy some of the most beautiful specimens of classic
sculpture which this country now possesses. These were disposed
in niches around the magnificent apartment in which the guest were
assembled, and as the Earl pointed them out, and illustrated each from
the beautiful anecdotes and golden allusions of antiquity, he felt that
he was affording to Aram a gratification he could never have experienced
before; and in the expression of which, the grace and copiousness of his
learning would find vent. Nor was he disappointed. The cheek, which
till then had retained its steady paleness, now caught the glow of
enthusiasm; and in a few moments there was not a person in the group,
who did not feel, and cheerfully feel, the superiority of the one who,
in birth and fortune, was immeasurably the lowest of all.

The English aristocracy, whatever be the faults of their education, (and
certainly the name of the faults is legion!) have at least the merit of
being alive to the possession, and easily warmed to the possessor, of
classical attainment: perhaps even from this very merit spring many
of the faults we allude to; they are too apt to judge all talent by
a classical standard, and all theory by classical experience.
Without,--save in very rare instances,--the right to boast of any deep
learning, they are far more susceptible than the nobility of any other
nation to the spiritum Camoenae. They are easily and willingly charmed
back to the studies which, if not eagerly pursued in youth, are still
entwined with all their youth's brightest recollections; the schoolboy's
prize, and the master's praise,--the first ambition, and its first
reward. A felicitous quotation, a delicate allusion, is never lost
upon their ear; and the veneration which at Eton they bore to the best
verse-maker in the school, tinctures their judgment of others throughout
life, mixing I know not what, both of liking and esteem, with their
admirati