The fact
is, his sphere of useful influence was much enlarged by his single
state; as a married man, he could only have reformed his wife; as a
bachelor, he exercised undisputed power over every spinster in his
neighbourhood. He was, indeed, unconscious of, or ungratified by the
deference and incense he received; but the generality of men are less
insensible, and half the homage he so carefully rejected would have been
sufficient to intoxicate with delight and self-complacency the greater
part of his fraternity. What object in nature is more pitiable than a
London old bachelor, of moderate fortune and moderate parts? whose
conversational powers do not secure him invitations to dinners, when
stiffness of limb and a growing formality have obliged him to retreat
from quadrilles. The rich, we know, thrive everywhere, and at all
seasons, safe from neglect, secure from ridicule. I speak of those less
strongly fortified against the effects of time; those who, scarcely
considered good speculations in their best days, are now utterly
insignificant, concealed and jostled by a crowd of younger aspirants,
overlooked by mammas, except when needed to execute some troublesome
commission; and without a chance of receiving a single word or glance
from their daughters unmarked by that provoking ease and compassionate
familiarity, which tell them, better than words, that their day of
influence has closed for ever.
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