Beauty will change, intellect may be too much for
you, but ugliness will be true to you as to itself; besides its
advantage of preserving you from the effects of conjugal frailty.
A judge's wig is a Delphic mystery, whether brains be in it or not. It
is a of sublunary wisdom--an umbrella over an oracle.
When you dine at a public dinner, always take your seat opposite a
favourite dish. Carve it yourself, and select the choicest bits, then
leave it to your right-hand neighbour to help the rest of the company.
Always stick your napkin in your button-hole at the dinner table, if you
admit such French superfluities at all. Eat with the sharp edge of your
knife towards your mouth; forks won't take up gravy. Never wipe your
lips when you take wine with a lady, and fill both her glass and your
own until daylight is not visible through the crystal.
When Mrs. Bull is obstreperous, go to the coffee-house and call for your
glass. It is an excellent cure for her complaint, and you will get the
latest news retailed in the most engaging manner, with the pleasure of
knowing she is biting her lips at home in vexation.
Never hold any intercourse with people of whom the world speaks ill.
'Tis true they may be, and generally are, among the very best of
mankind, but as they are not reputed to be so, what is that to you?
Some persons cant about the wickedness of the times: believe them not;
this is the most saintly of ages, the most pure of generations,
considering its temptations.
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