Page:Paul Clifford Vol 3.djvu/180

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172
PAUL CLIFFORD.

that? I looked carelessly round for some wealthier convenience than the paternal hoard; I found it in a Lord Mauleverer; he had been at college with me, and I endured him easily as a companion,—for he had accomplishments, wit, and good-nature; I made him wish to go abroad, and I made him think he should die of ennui if I did not accompany him. To his request to that effect, I reluctantly agreed, and saw every thing in Europe, which he neglected to see, at his expense. What amused me the most, was the perception, that I, the parasite, was respected by him, and he, the patron, was ridiculed by me! it would not have been so, if I had depended on 'my virtue.' Well, sweetest Julia, the world, as I have said, gave to my college experience a sacred authority. I returned to England, and my father died, leaving to me not a sixpence, and to my brother an estate so mortgaged, that he could not enjoy it, and so restricted, that he could not sell it. It was now the time for me to profit by the experience I boasted of. I saw that it was necessary I should take some profession. Professions are the masks to your pauper-rogue; they give respectability to