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Show 122 IUCUAIW llUIWIS. the deuce," thought I, to myself," Lrin;;s such people into Litis country 1 Such gewgaws arc not only in bad taste anywhere, but nowhere in such bad taste ns in a wild nml poor couutry such ns ours. Of course, they can not be gentlemen; that sort of ostentation is totnlly incompn.tiblc with gentility." 'rhcir first overtures did not impress me more f.tvorably towanl them. They '\'ere disposed to be famili:tr at tltc strnt. There was :m assumed composure, a laborious case about them, which showed them to Lc practising a part. '!'here is no difliculty in discovering whether a mn.n h~ts Leon bred n. gentleman or not. There is no acquiring gentility at a late dny; ancl but few, not lwbituated to it from the first, can C\'Cr, by nny art, study, or emlcav· or, acquire, in a subsequent lhy, those nice details of manners, that exquisite considC'rat.ion of the claims and peculiarities of those in their neighborhood, which curly educnlion alone can certn.inly gh·e. Our chamber companions evidently strove at seJf.complaccncy. rl'l1ere was a desperate ostentation of sang· froitl, a most lavish freedom of nir about them, which made their fmnilinrit.y obtrusiYeness, and their case swagger. .A glance told me what they were, so far as manners went; and I never bclieYed in the sympathy between bad manners m1d mor· als. They may exist together. There's some such possibility ; yet I never saw them united. A man ·with Intel manners may not steal, nor lie, but he can not be amiaLle; l1e can not often be just; l1c will be tyrannical if you suffer him; and tl10 cloven hoof of the beast must n1>pear, though it makes its exhibition on a Brussels carpeting. These fellows had a good many questions to ask us, and a good many remarks to make, before we got to sleep that nigllt. Nor was this very much amiss. 'l'lle cu:;tom of tile country is to ask questions, and to ask them with directness. Tbere tho south· west differs from the eastern country. 'l'he Yankee obtains his knowledge by circumlocution; and his modes of getting it, are as ingeniously indirect as the cow.pnths of Boston. lie pro· coeds as if he thought it impertinent to gratify his desire, oraud, perhaps, this is the better reason-as if he were conscious of motives for his curiosity, other than those which he ncknowlcdges. rrhe southwestern man, living remotely from the great cities, and anxious for intelligence of regions of which he has TilE Tlt.\\"ELLEHS FALL A!IIONG 'l' UIE:VJ.S. l ittle personal acquaintance, taxes, in plain terms, the resources of every stranger whom he meets. lie is quite as williug to an· swer, as to ask, and this readiness acquits him, or should acquit l1im, of any cl1arge of rudeness. \V e found no fault with the curiosity of our companions, but I so little relished tl1cir mtm· ucrs, as to forbear questioning til em in return. Carrington was less scrupulous, however ; l1c nw.dc sundry inquiries to wl1ich l1c received unsatisfactory rej>lies, and toward midnight, I was pleased to find that the chattering was fairly over. \Ve slept without interruption, <lnd awakened before tho strangers. It was Lro;td daylight, and, hasteuing our toilets, we descended to the breakfast·room. There we were soon 101. lowed by the two, and my observation by day, rather confirmed my imiJrcssions of the preceding night. rrhey were quite too 11icc in tl1eir deportment to be wise; they found f:.mlt with the arrangements of the table-their breakfast did not suit themthe eggs were too much or too little done, and they turned up their noses at the coflCc with exquisite distaste. 'l'l10 landlord reddened, but bore it with tolerable patience for a rcpublica11 ; nnd the matter passed ofi" without :~ squall, though I momently looked for one. Little th ings arc a11t to annoy little people; and I have usually found those persons most apt to be dissatis· Jied with tlic world, whose beginnings in it have been most mean and contemptible. rrhc whole conduct of the stnmgers increased my reserve toward them. 'fo us, however, they were civil enough. 'l1llCir }Jolicy was in it. They spoke to us us if we were 110t merely friends, but bed.fcllows; aml in a style of gentility exceedingly new to us, one of them put his arm about the neck of my friend. I almost rxpected to sec him knocked down; for, with all his gentleness of mood, Carrington was a very devil when his blood was up, and hated every sort of impertinence; but whether he thought it wiser to forbear in a strange place, or was curious to sec how far the fellow would go, he said nothing, but smiled pntieutly till the speech which accompanied the embrace was fairly over, and then quietly withrlrcw from its affectionate control. The day was rainy and squally-to snch a degree that we could not go out. H ow to amuse ourselves was a question not so easily auswerC'cl in n. strange country·tavern where we had |
