, 1875-06-23

The opposite of these figures we ind in men
of a tall, slim frame, with profound depth of
thought visaged in their countenance aud
solidity of purpose in their mien. Their
speech is silver, but their silence is gold. This
is the Silent Importance. The possessors there
of have great power to make themselves and
others believe, that they have a deep fund of
~learniag-(they find science" in every thing,
even in billiards)-lud their views are unerriug.
If you should contradict them, a naughty smile
%impriats itself on their face but they never
undertake to %refute, at al events not by argu-
ment, what you say. Their supreme Impor-
tance takes a pride in being as crushing as pos
sible, so that their opponents must faint on tho
spot and give in. They possess an admirable
gift to make it appear on all occasions that they
are the donors and we the recipients. If we
salute them on the street, why. it is a pleasure
they do US to return the salutation If they
borrow one of our books, It Il they who do US
a service by borrowing it if they pay us a
visit, it is they who show us fr1endliness. Nay,
more, even when you succeed in proving that
they talk twaddle, they man@Nver 50 s'yly,
that it ultimately gets the appearance, that
they Of course were perfectly and thoroughly
masters of the subject at issue, but had wiItully
expressed themselves incorrectly, in order that
we, big children as we are, might once in our
life have the pleasure Of being right. Every
thing concerning them or connected with them
is of far more Importance than what concerns
other mortals. If they chance to have travel
led, they will have seen md experienced what
no one else has seen or experienced if they
chance to have read a popular work, it gets
an additional drgree of interest, merely from
that fact, If any one of US should experience
the misfortune to break a leg on a chair of
theirs, the event is far more interesting than
any other broken leg in the whole world, and
it affords stuff for long.winded and
tial variations for weeks and months after, and
as they 20 on relating, they manifest the stir
ring and firm belief that you are at all times
bound to listen with devout attention.
The Military Importance must not be for
gotten. The caste like seclusion, with which
a Military Man separates himself from and
rises above the profane casualties of private,
civil life the thorough-going discipline which
macbinizes the organic cruda.stuff and which
knows no difference between things essential
and things worthless, but attaches the same
weight on the matter of a plated contribution
being shine, as in the manipulating of a musket
or cannon the constant handling of the
most queer apparatuses 10 the most in-
Conceivable localities, creates and engSnders
the feeling of a mysterious art, and this again
brings on Importance. The Military Impor-
lance has afforded gratuitous and remunerative
material for the pen Of many a poet for, you
know, this sort Of Importance does not, like
some simple ore, require to pass through the
furnace first ; it comes ready for use from
Natures hand like a precious metal. We need
only call to mind the prevailing mania for Drill.
With all respect to this military caste, we are
unable to see why its honour should be more
sensitive than the honour of other good folks
but, the Military Importance demands 1t to be
so. A Civilian seeks his right at the Courts
of Justice, provided he does not prefer the
more speedy mode of procedure which the use
of his fists admits of; but if he were to resort
to this mode of adjustment, we would look
upon it as a demonstration OF Natural Law
which always prefers the shortest road
Not so with Military men every offence to ono
of them is an offence to the whole Order,
and the Importance Of the whole Order de-
mands a sacrifice, which can only be made in
the form of a duel. The challenge, seconds,
place of meeting, the secrecy observed, but
above all, the logical force of the fact of redeem
ing sullied honour by plunging a piece OF cold
steel into the bowels of the otfender,-these are
some of the peculiarities with which Military
Importance contents itself. But it is good
that is SO,
II you announce yourself in an aristocratic
house-in aristocratic houses you can't gain
admittance except through a memorial or
solicitation-you will find Importance represent
ed in the superlative degree By the SERVANTS.
The domestics of aristocratic families are