power he possesses of detecting the grammatical errors of the speakers. He has a high opinion of Macinwhangle's talents, and is always delighted with his speeches, which, of course makes him a prodigious favourite with that gentleman."

"The next is Mr. Dick Gallol.

His fa

ther is a proprietor, about twenty miles from Homeston. I should have not known him, but his father and my mother are intimate, and on that account, I became his acquaintance. He is passing his apprenticeship with a writer in town, but it is nearly expired. Dick is a good-humoured fellow, takes no offence at any thing that is said to him, but laughs it off by a hearty joke. He is pretty well informed, but, in his speeches, there is always a portion of sense and nonsense intermixed. Notwithstanding his careless, jocular disposition, he makes himself a favourite with Macinwhangle and Snappish."

"The next is Mr. Dolly Old-daddy, the youngest I believe of any of us. He is an

apprentice in the same office with Dick Gallol. Mr. Dolly, as I have been informed,

was a bashful boy at home, and his father sent him to Edinburgh, that he might get some of the devil put into him, and for that purpose gave him full liberty to frequent as many places of amusement and associate with as many companions as he pleased. You can distinguish Mr. Dolly Old-daddy among a multitude. His face is pale, his eyes are languid, and his countenance exhibits a sort of doleful sincerity. His voice is extremely feminine and shrill, and, what is rather surprising, he is an orator. It is some times ridiculous enough to see Mr. Dolly deliver his essay-he does it with such ardour and sincerity. If your risible faculties happen to be much moved at his manner, you must restrain them, as it makes him blush exceedingly, and get confused in his speech, which, you must understand, is not extemporary, but regularly composed and committed, to memory. Macinwhangle criticises his performance most severely. He thinks, and I dare say justly, that his eloquence is of the bombastic species. He told him, last debateing night, that his speech was nothing but

In

noise and nonsense. Though Dolly is timorous, he is never displeased with any thing that is said to him. He tells us that his father told him, before he left Kitlinghall, the name of his residence, that if any thing thwarted him, not to be cast down, but always to strive and hope for the best. obedience to his father's commands, he participates in all our carousals, and drinks as much as any of us, which generally makes him very sick, and, on one occasion, had nearly given him a quietus. It is highly diverting to us to see the fellow doing so much harm, under an impression that he is doing himself a great deal of good. All the lenity we show him, when he happens to be with us, and in that condition, is to put him below the table, and indulge ourselves, in fits of uncontrollable laughter at the idiot's folly. There we allowed him to remain, and if we did not happen to forget, at our departure, the place of his abode, we consigned him to the charge of two chairmen, to bear him to his lodgings. But if it happened that we forgot him, he was allowed to remain

till he was rather rudely awakened by an accidental pinch from the foot of the waiter, when in the act of rubbing or folding down the table. In general he speaks but little, and it is only when he is half-seas over, that we get him to tell us all his mind: but he is soon knocked up, as he is yet but green, and cannot drink one-third of what we do."

"The last of our members, at least the last of all that I expect here to-night, is Mr. Logan Macquarry, who is one of our own countrymen. You perhaps know him already."

"I have seen Mr. Macquarry," answered James, "but have never spoken to him."

"His character is briefly described," resumed Mr. Stays. "You may perhaps know his father, Hart Macquarry, who is, I believe, Fishery Agent, some few miles from Homeston. If I am not mistaken, Logan served his time with your old employer, Mr. Maclaren. He has been with a writer here for some years past. You would observe that Macquarry, though a young fellow, has an abdomen of pretty con

siderable rotundity. He walks the streets with grave dignity, with a cane in his hand. He is a fellow of low birth, and wishes, of course, by his conduct, to make himself appear as a person of some note. His behaviour is excessively stiff and disgustingly formal; and he imagines that he makes himself a man of consequence, and commands deference, by speaking little; but, in fact, his speeches, at any time, are miserably destitute of scholastic knowledge and common veracity. The theatre is a prodigious favourite of his; but I don't quarrel with him for that. He pretends to criticise the drama, and, when this subject is started, his speechifying powers begin to operate; but this, indeed, seldom takes place till he has emptied six glasses of toddy down his throat. He attends our society meetings, not for the purpose of speaking, but to swallow the contents of the supper, which he devours with avidity. Macquarry is not very popular among the other members. It was I who introduced him to the society, as being a countryman. But I