| FROM 'THE NINETEENTH CENTURY' REVIEW. |
| THE MIDWAY INN |
| THE CRITIC ON THE HEARTH |
| SHAM ADMIRATION IN LITERATURE |
| THE PINCH OF POVERTY |
| THE LITERARY CALLING AND ITS FUTURE |
| STORY-TELLING |
| PENNY FICTION |
| FROM 'THE TIMES.' |
| HOTELS |
| MAID-SERVANTS |
| MEN-SERVANTS |
| WHIST-PLAYERS |
| RELATIONS |
| INVALID LITERATURE |
| WET HOLIDAYS |
| TRAVELLING COMPANIONS |
'The hidden but the common thought of all.'
The thoughts I am about to set down are not mythoughts, for, as my friends say, I have givenup the practice of thinking, or it may be, as myenemies say, I never had it. They are the thoughtsof an acquaintance who thinks for me. I call him anacquaintance, though I pass as much of my time withhim as with my nearest and dearest; perhaps at theclub, perhaps at the office, perhaps in metaphysicaldiscussion, perhaps at billiards—what does it matter?Thousands of men in town have such acquaintances,in whose company they spend, by necessity or custom,half the sum of their lives. It is not rational, doubtless;but then 'Consider, sir,' said the great talkingphilosopher, 'should we become purely rational, howour friendships would be cut off. We form many suchwith bad men because they have agreeable qualities,or may be useful to us. We form many such bymistake, imagining people to be different from whatthey really are.' And he goes on complacently toobserve that we shall either have the satisfaction ofmeeting these gentlemen in a future state, or besatisfied without meeting them.
For my part, I do not feel that the scheme of futurehappiness, which ought by rights to be in preparationfor me, will be at all interfered with by my notmeeting again the man I have in my. mind. To haveseen him in the flesh is sufficient for me. In the spiritI cannot imagine him; the consideration is too subtle;for, unlike the little man who had (for certain) a littlesoul,' I don't believe he has a soul at all.
He is middle-aged, rich, lethargic, sententious,dogmatic, and, in short, the quintessence of thecommonplace. I need not say, therefore, that he iscredited by the world with unlimited common-sense.And for once the world is right. He has nothing-originalabout him, save so much of sin as he mayhave inherited from our first parents; there is nomore at the back of him than at the back of a looking-glass—indeedl