a Sir John
Stepney, a Sir William Hamilton, and many others, as our ambassadors,
representing our nation as the best bred in the world; and by their
grace and amiability, gaining the admiration of the whole continent.
We had, in remoter times, our Lords Bolingbroke, Chesterfield, and
Lyttleton, our Steele, &c, the celebrated poets, authors, and patterns
of fashion and elegance of the age. We had our Argyle,
'The state's whole thunder form'd to wield,
And shake at once the senate and the field.'
We had our virtuosi of the highest rank, our rich and noble authors
in abundance. The departed Byron stood alone to fill their place. The
classics were cultivated, not by the learned profession only, but by
the votaries of fashion. Now, our Greek scholars are of ~213~~another
cast.{6} In earlier days the chivalrous foe met his opponent in open
combat, and broke a lance for the amusement of the spectators, while he
revenged his injuries in public. Now, the practice of duelling{7}
has become almost a profession, and the privacy with which it is of
necessity conducted renders it always subject to suspicion (see plate);
independent of which, the source of quarrel is too often beneath the
dignity of gentlemen, and the wanton sacrifice of life rather an act of
bravado than of true courage.{7}
6 "Adeipe nunc Danaum insidiai, et----ab uno, Disce
omnes!"
The Greek population of the fashionable world comprises a
very large portion of society, including among its members
names and persons of illustrious and noble title, whose
whole life and pleasure in life appears to "rest upon the
hazard of a die." The modern Greek, though he cannot boast
much resemblance to Achilles, Ajax, Patroclus, or Nestor,
is, nevertheless, a close imitator of the equally renowned
chief of Ithaca. To describe his person, habits, pursuits,
and manners, would be to sketch the portrait of one or more
_finished roues_, who are to be found in most genteel
societies. The mysteries of his art are manifold, and
principally consist in the following rules and regulations,
put forth by an old member of the corps, whose conscience
returned to torture him when his reign of earthly vice was
near its close.
ELEMENTS OF GREEKING. 1. A Greek should be like a mole,
visible only at night. 2. He should be a niggard of his
speech, and a profligate with his
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