it, stay or go, sit in a chair or sprawl with children on the floor, or stand on their head, or what else soever, in a new and aboriginal way:  and that strong will is always in fashion, let who will be unfashionable.  All that fashion demands is composure, and self-content.  A circle of men perfectly well-bred would be a company of sensible persons, in which every man’s native manners and character appear.  If the fashionist have not this quality, he is nothing.  We are such lovers of self-reliance, that we excuse in man many sins, if he will show us a complete satisfaction in his position, which asks no leave to be of mine, or any man’s good opinion.  But any deference to some eminent man or woman of the world, forfeits all privilege of nobility.  He is an underling:  I have nothing to do with him; I will speak with his master.  A man should not go where he cannot carry his whole sphere or society with him,—­not bodily, the whole circle of his friends, but atmospherically.  He should preserve in a new company the same attitude of mind and reality of relation, which his daily associates draw him to, else he is shorn of his best beams, and will be an orphan in the merriest club.  “If you could see Vich Ian Vohr with his tail on![411]—­” But Vich Ian Vohr must always carry his belongings in some fashion, if not added as honor, then severed as disgrace.

10.  There will always be in society certain persons who are mercuries[412] of its approbation, and whose glance will at any time determine for the curious their standing in the world.  These are the chamberlains of the lesser gods.  Accept their coldness as an omen of grace with the loftier deities, and allow them all their privilege.  They are clear in their office, nor could they be thus formidable, without their own merits.  But do not measure the importance of this class by their pretension, or imagine that a fop can be the dispenser of honor and shame.  They pass also at their just rate; for how can they otherwise, in circles which exist as a sort of herald’s office[413] for the sifting of character?

11.  As the first thing man requires of man is reality, so that appears in all the forms of society.  We pointedly, and by name, introduce the parties to each other.  Know you before all heaven and earth, that this is Andrew, and this is Gregory;—­they look each other in the eye; they grasp each other’s hand, to identify and signalize each other.  It is a great satisfaction.  A gentleman never dodges; his eyes look straight forward, and he assures the other party, first of all, that he has been met.  For what is it that we seek, in so many visits and hospitalities?  Is it your draperies, pictures, and decorations?  Or, do we not insatiably ask.  Was a man in the house?  I may easily go into a great household where there is much substance, excellent provision for comfort, luxury, and taste, and yet not encounter there any Amphitryon,[414] who shall subordinate these appendages.  I may go into a