uld by
no means comprehend when a uniform was in question.

The gentleman upon whom Mr. Gresham called had three sons who were all
to be at this archery meeting, and they unanimously assured him, in the
presence of Hal and Ben, that they had not thought of buying uniforms
for this grand occasion, and that, amongst the number of their
acquaintance, they knew of but three boys whose friends intended to be
at such an _unnecessary_ expense. Hal stood amazed.

'Such are the varieties of opinion upon all the grand affairs of life,'
said Mr. Gresham, looking at his nephews. 'What amongst one set of
people you hear asserted to be absolutely necessary, you will hear from
another set of people is quite unnecessary. All that can be done, my
dear boys, in these difficult cases, is to judge for yourselves which
opinions and which people are the most reasonable.'

Hal, who had been more accustomed to think of what was fashionable than
of what was reasonable, without at all considering the good sense of
what his uncle said to him, replied with childish petulance:

'Indeed, sir, I don't know what other people think; but I only know what
Lady Diana Sweepstakes said.'

The name of Lady Diana Sweepstakes, Hal thought, must impress all
present with respect. He was highly astonished when, as he looked round,
he saw a smile of contempt upon everyone's countenance; and he was yet
further bewildered when he heard her spoken of as a very silly,
extravagant, ridiculous woman, whose opinion no prudent person would ask
upon any subject, and whose example was to be shunned instead of being
imitated.

'Ay, my dear Hal,' said his uncle, smiling at his look of amazement,
'these are some of the things that young people must learn from
experience. All the world do not agree in opinion about characters. You
will hear the same person admired in one company and blamed in another;
so that we must still come round to the same point--_Judge for
yourself_.'

Hal's thoughts were, however, at present too full of the uniform to
allow his judgment to act with perfect impartiality. As soon as their
visit was over, and all the time they walked down the hill from
Prince's Buildings towards Bristol, he continued to repeat nearly the
same arguments which he had formerly used respecting necessity, the
uniform, and Lady Diana Sweepstakes. To all this Mr. Gresham made no
reply, and longer had the young gentleman expatiated upon the subject,
which had so strongly