decided refusal.

"Since he came to town, he has, by his convivial powers, his good stories,
good songs, and knack of mimicry, made himself so _famous_, that he has
more invitations to dinner than he can accept. He has wit and talents fit
for more than being the buffoon or mocking-bird of a good dinner and a
pleasant party; but he seems so well contented with this _reputation de
salon_, that I am afraid his ambition will not rise to any thing higher.
After leading this idle life, and enjoying this cheap-earned praise, he
will never submit to the seclusion and application necessary for the
attainment of the great prizes of professional excellence. I doubt whether
he will even persevere so far as to be called to the bar; though the other
day when I met him in Bond-street, he assured me, and bid me assure you,
that he is getting on _famously_, and eating his terms with a prodigious
appetite. He seemed heartily glad to see me, and expressed warm gratitude
for your having saved his conscience, and having prevented his father from
forcing him, as he said, to be a disgrace to the church.

"Rosamond asks what sort of girls the Miss Falconers are, and whether the
Falconers have been civil to me since I settled in town?--Yes; pretty well.
The girls are mere _show_ girls--like a myriad of others--sing, play,
dance, dress, flirt, and _all that_. Georgiana is _beautiful sometimes_;
Arabella, _ugly always_. I don't like either of them, and they don't like
me, for I am not an eldest son. The mother was prodigiously pleased with
me at first, because she mistook me for Godfrey, or rather she mistook me
for the heir of our branch of the Percys. I hear that Mrs. Falconer has
infinite address, both as a political and hymeneal _intrigante_: but I have
not time to study her. Altogether, the family, though they live in constant
gaiety, do not give me the idea of being happy among one another. I have
no particular reason for saying this. I judge only from the tact on this