We strive ineffectually to be the self-sufficing invulnerable being, the teres atque rotundus of the poet;--the stoical exemption which philosophy affects to give us over the pains and vexations of human life, is as imaginary as the state of mystical quietism and perfection aimed at by some crazy enthusiasts." "And Heaven forbid that it should be otherwise!" said Lovel, warmly--"Heaven forbid that any process of philosophy were capable so to sear and indurate our feelings, that nothing should agitate them but what arose instantly and immediately out of our own selfish interests! I would as soon wish my hand to be as callous as horn, that it might escape an occasional cut or scratch, as I would be ambitious of the stoicism which should render my heart like a piece of the nether millstone." The Antiquary regarded his youthful companion with a look half of pity, half of sympathy, and shrugged up his shoulders as he replied--"Wait, young man--wait till your bark has been battered by the storm of sixty years of mortal vicissitude: you will learn by that time, to reef your sails, that she may obey the helm;--or, in the language of this world, you will find distresses enough, endured and to endure, to keep your feelings and sympathies in full exercise, without concerning yourself more in the fate of others than you cannot possibly avoid." "Well, Mr.Oldbuck, it may be so;--but as yet I resemble you more in your practice than in your theory, for I cannot help being deeply interested in the fate of the family we have just left." "And well you may," replied Oldbuck.

"Sir Arthur's embarrassments have of late become so many and so pressing, that I am surprised you have not heard of them.

And then his absurd and expensive operations carried on by this High-German landlouper, Dousterswivel"-- "I think I have seen that person, when, by some rare chance, I happened to be in the coffee-room at Fairport;--a tall, beetle-browed, awkward-built man, who entered upon scientific subjects, as it appeared to my ignorance at least, with more assurance than knowledge--was very arbitrary in laying down and asserting his opinions, and mixed the terms of science with a strange jargon of mysticism.

A simple youth whispered me that he was an Illumine', and carried on an intercourse with the invisible world." "O, the same--the same.

He has enough of practical knowledge to speak scholarly and wisely to those of whose intelligence he stands in awe; and, to say the truth, this faculty, joined to his matchless impudence, imposed upon me for some time when I first knew him.