time, inspire mankind. Perhaps, even in this
age, he may come to be revered: in the next
he will have a statue.

The distinction between the genuine Golden
Mean, and the alloyed kind may be stated
thus. The one is the harmony which subsists
between a man's virtues; the other is the
compromise between his virtues and his
interest. The personification of this latter
class is generally an individual in whom a
fair amount of good nature and susceptibility
are combined with a strong attachment to
Number One, and a marvellous instinct in
purveying comforts for that unit. My
prosperous friend Wetherby is an average example
of the species. In youth, good animal spirits,
the novelty of life, a mind and senses
tolerably open to pleasant impressions, and that
amiability which takes its rise from good
humour and good digestion, betrayed him
occasionally into adventure and sentiment,
and could he always have remained young, I
have doubts whether he would have fallen into
the ranks of the spurious Golden Mean. In
his early days he has been known to absent
himself from the counting-house for weeks
together; to take his five-barred gate, hedge,
and ditch in rapid succession, and, in the
evening to accompany Miss Belinda Thwaites
or her sisters on his flute with very creditable
taste. In the Thwaites family is still
preserved, on a faded page of Belinda's album,
that record of love and despair with a
dim intimation of suicide, which Wetherby
penned one fine morning thirty years ago
before putting on his shooting jacket. It is
true that his stanzas are headed, To ———,
and signed Ignotus; but I do not agree with
those who suggest that the omission of real
names was intentional, and that it was
designed to protect him from the legal
consequences of an offer of marriage. I am of
opinion that he was really attached to the
lady; and that, in spite of her small dowry,
as one of seven sisters, he was inclined to
propose. By some chance, however, the rash
word was never spoken. The young
merchant was found more frequently at his desk,
and more rarely at the meet. By degrees he
ceased to quote Byron and L. E. L.; and
eventually, when I touched delicately upon
the subject of his penchant, he replied, that
love was an excellent thing; but that it
might be carried too far. I saw at once that
his course was taken, and that he had
enlisted for life under the banner of the mock
Golden Mean.

The doctrine which he then announced,
has ever since been the motto of his life. He
assents in theory to liberal and humanising
views; but warns you that they may be
carried too far. He is a friend to progress,
but averse to rash change. He accepts
premises on the distinct understanding that
they shall not lead to conclusions, and his
respect for an abstract principle is only
equalled by his fear that it should take effect.
Yet he believes in the fact accomplished, and
upholds all reforms that have become matters
of history. Shrewd and not ungenial, he will
descant over his walnuts with pleasant
raillery upon the abuses and superstitions of
the past. He is severe upon the Spanish
Inquisition, and thinks that the old feudal
barons were unjustifiably harsh towards their
vassals. He is happy that that system is done
away with, and that we live in days of civil
and religious liberty. He looks enlightened
opinion personified as he utters this sentiment.
His ample chest is gently dilated with bland
emotion, and his bald polished forehead
brightens beneath the dining-room
chandelier. Yet, if you suggest to him that there
are other persecutors beside Inquisitors and
Grand Seigneurs, and instance A, who ceases
to deal with B on account of an election vote,
or C, who cuts D for an adverse theological
opinion, — Wetherby will observe, that you
are right in the main, but that, on the other
hand, property and sound views should have
a legitimate influence. He has no doubt that
William Tell was a patriot; but I question if
he would think so of his double were he now
to arise somewhere abroad. He is perfectly
aware that the true claim to distinction is
merit: but, if you urge that promotion should
be awarded solely upon that ground, he is
not sure that the time is ripe for it. When,
however, the period of maturity arrives — that
is to say, when the views which sundry
pioneers have maintained through stigma and
sacrifice have won general consent — Wetherby
will certainly find that those views have all
along corresponded with his private convictions.
It is one of the cleverest feats of
Wetherby's intellect that he always escapes
the odium of a prospective change by
pronouncing it unseasonable, while he gains the
credit of it when achieved, because he has
always sympathised with it as an idea. Happy
Wetherby, who has never been in any of
the great minorities of the world; who has
risked no capital of popularity, yet always
received the dividends of public approval,
and shared the prize money of Victorious
Opinion without once engaging in its
battles!

The popularity of this gentleman is
nothing less than amazing. The most opposite
parties meet at his board; the one assured
that Wetherby is with it in principle, the
other satisfied that Wetherby is with it in
practice. In the days of the Anti-Corn-Law
League, I have seen him supported on the
right by a veteran in powdered hair and top-
boots from Norfolk, and on the left by a
gentleman of an acute physiognomy and double-
breasted tartan waistcoat, direct from
Manchester. The low-church vicar of the parish
says grace before meat; the Puseyite minister
of the proprietary chapel gives thanks before
dessert. That dignitary with square, port-
flushed face, and hair iron-grey, short and
stiff as a three days' beard, is a sugar-broker