And when the waiter had retired I took a second glass of the wine,which I found excellent;and,observing a newspaper lying near me,I took it up and began perusing it.It has been observed somewhere that people who are in the habit of reading newspapers every day are not unfrequently struck with the excellence of style and general talent which they display.Now,if that be the case,how must I have been surprised,who was reading a newspaper for the first time,and that one of the best of the London journals!Yes,strange as it may seem,it was nevertheless true that,up to the moment of which I am speaking,I had never read a newspaper of any deion.I of course had frequently seen journals,and even handled them;but,as for reading them,what were they to me?I cared not for news.But here I was now with my claret before me,perusing,perhaps,the best of all the London journals;it was not the-,and I was astonished:an entirely new field of literature appeared to be opened to my view.It was a discovery,but I confess rather an unpleasant one;for I said to myself,If literary talent is so very common in London,that the journals,things which,as their very name denotes,are ephemeral,are written in a style like the article I have been perusing,how can I hope to distinguish myself in this big town,when,for the life of me,I don't think I could write anything half so clever as what I have been reading?And then I laid down the paper,and fell into deep musing;rousing myself from which,I took a glass of wine,and,pouring out another,began musing again.What I have been reading,thought I,is certainly very clever and very talented;but talent and cleverness I think I have heard some one say are very commonplace things,only fitted for everyday occasions.I question whether the man who wrote the book I saw this day on the bridge was a clever man;but,after all,was he not something much better?I don't think he could have written this article,but then he wrote the book which I saw on the bridge.Then,if he could not have written the article on which I now hold my forefinger-and I do not believe he could-why should I feel discouraged at the consciousness that I,too,could not write it?I certainly could no more have written the article than he could;but then,like him,though I would not compare myself to the man who wrote the book Isaw upon the bridge,I think I could-and here I emptied the glass of claret-write something better.
Thereupon I resumed the newspaper;and,as I was before struck with the fluency of style and the general talent which it displayed,Iwas now equally so with its commonplaceness and want of originality on every subject;and it was evident to me that,whatever advantage these newspaper-writers might have over me in some points,they had never studied the Welsh bards,translated Kaempe Viser,or been under the pupilage of Mr.Petulengro and Tawno Chikno.
And as I sat conning the newspaper three individuals entered the room,and seated themselves in the box at the farther end of which I was.They were all three very well dressed;two of them elderly gentlemen,the third a young man about my own age,or perhaps a year or two older:they called for coffee;and,after two or three observations,the two eldest commenced a conversation in French,which,however,though they spoke it fluently enough,I perceived at once was not their native language;the young man,however,took no part in their conversation,and when they addressed a portion to him,which indeed was but rarely,merely replied by a monosyllable.
I have never been a listener,and I paid but little heed to their discourse,nor indeed to themselves;as I occasionally looked up,however,I could perceive that the features of the young man,who chanced to be seated exactly opposite to me,wore an air of constraint and vexation.This circumstance caused me to observe him more particularly than I otherwise should have done:his features were handsome and prepossessing;he had dark brown hair and a high-arched forehead.After the lapse of half an hour,the two elder individuals,having finished their coffee,called for the waiter,and then rose as if to depart,the young man,however,still remaining seated in the box.The others,having reached the door,turned round,and,finding that the youth did not follow them,one of them called to him with a tone of some authority;whereupon the young man rose,and,pronouncing half audibly the word 'botheration,'rose and followed them.I now observed that he was remarkably tall.All three left the house.In about ten minutes,finding nothing more worth reading in the newspaper,I laid it down,and though the claret was not yet exhausted,I was thinking of betaking myself to my lodgings,and was about to call the waiter,when I heard a step in the passage,and in another moment the tall young man entered the room,advanced to the same box,and,sitting down nearly opposite to me,again pronounced to himself,but more audibly than before,the same word.
'A troublesome world this,sir,'said I,looking at him.
'Yes,'said the young man,looking fixedly at me;'but I am afraid we bring most of our troubles on our own heads-at least I can say so of myself,'he added,laughing.Then,after a pause,'I beg pardon,'he said,'but am I not addressing one of my own country?'
'Of what country are you?'said I.
'Ireland.'
'I am not of your country,sir;but I have an infinite veneration for your country,as Strap said to the French soldier.Will you take a glass of wine?'
'Ah,de tout mon coeur,as the parasite said to Gil Blas,'cried the young man,laughing.'Here's to our better acquaintance!'
And better acquainted we soon became;and I found that,in making the acquaintance of the young man,I had indeed made a valuable acquisition;he was accomplished,highly connected,and bore the name of Francis Ardry.Frank and ardent he was,and in a very little time had told me much that related to himself,and in return I communicated a general outline of my own history;he listened with profound attention,but laughed heartily when I told him some particulars of my visit in the morning to the publisher,whom he had frequently heard of.
We left the house together.
'We shall soon see each other again,'said he,as we separated at the door of my lodging.
