- ever artfully dressed or disguised, they will all conspire
against you, and you will be disappointed of the very end you aim at. [Same date.]
Scandal—Mimicry—Swearing—Laughter.—Neither
retail nor receive scandal willingly; for
though the defamation of others may for the present
gratify the malignity of the pride of our hearts,
cool reflection will draw very disadvantageous conclusions
from such a disposition; and in the case of
scandal, as in that of robbery, the receiver is always
thought as bad as the thief.
Mimicry, which is the common and favorite amusement of little, low minds, is in the utmost contempt with great ones. It is the lowest and most illiberal of all buffoonery. Pray neither practise it yourself, nor applaud it in others. Besides that, the person mimicked is insulted; and as I have often observed to you before, an insult is never forgiven.
I need not (I believe) advise you to adapt your conversation to the people you are conversing with; for I suppose you would not, without this caution, have talked upon the same subject and in the same manner to a minister of state, a bishop, a philosopher, a captain, and a woman. A man of the world must, like the chameleon (sic), be able to take every different hue; which is by no means a criminal or
