Page:Table-Talk, vol. 2 (1822).djvu/118

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108
ON THE ARISTOCRACY OF LETTERS.

he will hardly be allowed to write English or to spell his own name. To be well spoken of, he must enlist under some standard; he must belong to some coterie. He must get the esprit de corps on his side: he must have literary bail in readiness. Thus they prop up one another’s rickety heads at Murray— — —’s shop, and a spurious reputation, like false argument, runs in a circle. Cro— — —ke— — —r affirms that Gi— — —ffo— — —rd is sprightly, and Gi— — —ffo— — —rd that Cro— — —ke— — —r is genteel; D’Israeli— — — that Ja— — —co— — —b is wise, and Ja— — —co— — —b that D’Israeli— — — is good-natured. A Member of Parliament must be answerable that you are not dangerous or dull before you can be of the entrée. You must commence toad-eater to have your observations attended to; if you are independent, unconnected, you will be regarded as a poor creature. Your opinion is honest, you will say; then ten to one it is not profitable. It is at any rate your own. So much the worse; for then it is not the world’s. Tom Hill— — — is a very tolerable barometer in this respect. He knows nothing, hears everything, and repeats just what he hears; so that you may guess pretty well from this round-faced echo what is said by others! Almost everything goes by presumption and appearances. “Did you not think Mr. B{{{1}}}— — —’s language very elegant?”—I thought he bowed