turning to me with a smile, 'And I would give a thousand, young
gentleman (said he) that I could gratify your longing.' My uncle
and he are perfectly agreed in their estimate of life; which Quin
says, would stink in his nostrils, if he did not steep it in
claret.

I want to see this phenomenon in his cups; and have almost
prevailed upon uncle to give him a small turtle at the Bear. In
the mean time, I must entertain you with an incident, that seems
to confirm the judgment of those two cynic philosophers. I took
the liberty to differ in opinion from Mr Bramble, when he
observed, that the mixture of people in the entertainments of
this place was destructive of all order and urbanity; that it
rendered the plebeians insufferably arrogant and troublesome, and
vulgarized the deportment and sentiments of those who moved in
the upper spheres of life. He said such a preposterous coalition
would bring us into contempt with all our neighbours; and was
worse, in fact, than debasing the gold coin of the nation. I
argued, on the contrary, that those plebeians who discovered such
eagerness to imitate the dress and equipage of their superiors,
would likewise, in time, adopt their maxims and their manners, be
polished by their conversation, and refined by their example; but
when I appealed to Mr Quin, and asked if he did not think that
such an unreserved mixture would improve the whole mass? 'Yes
(said he) as a plate of marmalade would improve a pan of
sirreverence.'

I owned I was not much conversant in high-life, but I had seen
what were called polite assemblies in London and elsewhere; that
those of Bath seemed to be as decent as any; and that, upon the