efully as one of these, nor with phrases so well-chosen, or
so correctly pronounced, but what he said was always cunningly adapted
to the character of the person whom he desired to move. He had "a deal
of candied courtesy," especially for the women; and though his sturdy
manhood and the excellent opinion of himself--both of which came to him
from his ancestry--usually preserved him from the charge of servility,
he was sometimes a "cozener" whose conscience annoyed him with very few
scruples. Occasionally he might be seen fawning upon the rich; but it
was not with him--as it usually is with the parasites of wealthy
men--because he thought Dives more respectable, but more _useful_, on
account of his money: the opulent possessed what the indigent wanted,
and the shortest road to the goal of Cupidity, lay through the region of
Vanity. There was none of that servility which Mr. Carlyle has attempted
to dignify with the name of "hero-worship," for the rich man was rather
a bird to be plucked, than a "hero" to be worshipped. And though it may
seem that I do the schoolmaster little honor by the distinction, I can
not but think cupidity a more manly trait than servility: the beast of
prey a more respectable animal than the hound.

But the schoolmaster's obsequiousness was more in manner than in
inclination, and found its excuse in the dependence of his
circumstances. It has been immemorially the custom of the world,
practically to undervalue his services, and in all time teaching and
poverty have been inseparable companions. Nobody ever cared how poorly
he was clad, how laborious his life, or how few his comforts; and if he
failed to attend to his own interests by all the arts in his power, no
one, certainly, would perform the office for him. He was expected to
make himself generally useful without being particular about his
compensation: he was willing to do the one, but was, very naturally,
rather averse to the other: that which justice would not give him, he
managed to procure by stratagem.

His manners thus acquired the characteristics we have enumerated, with
also others. He was, for example, very officious; a peculiarity which
might, perhaps, be derived from his parentage, but which was never
repressed by his occupation. The desire to make himself agreeable, and
his high opinion of his ability to do so, rendered his tone and bearing
very familiar; but this was, also, a trait which he shared with his
race, and one which ha