_Eger_. At my own ignorance, sir;--for I understand neither the philosophy nor the morality of your doctrine. _Sir Per_. I know you do not, sir,--and, what is worse--you never wull, understand it, as you proceed: in one word, Charles, I have often told you, and now again I tell you, once for aw, that the manoeuvres of pliability are as necessary to rise in the world, as wrangling and logical subtlety are to rise at the bar: why you see, sir, I have acquired a noble fortune, a princely fortune--and how do you think I raised it? _Eger_. Doubtless, sir, by your abilities. _Sir Per_. Doubtless, sir, you are a blockhead:--nai, sir, I'll tell you how I raised it. Sir, I raised it--by bowing; [_Bows ridiculously low._] by bowing: sir, I never could stand straight in the presence of a great man, but always bowed, and bowed, and bowed--as it were by instinct. _Eger_. How do you mean by instinct, sir? _Sir Per_. How do I mean by instinct? why, sir, I mean by--by--by the instinct of interest, sir, which is the universal instinct of mankind. Sir, it is wonderful to think, what a cordial, what an amicable, nay, what an infallible influence, bowing has upon the pride and vanity of human nature. Charles, answer me sincerely, have you a mind to be convinced of the force of my doctrine, by example and demonstration? _Eger_. Certainly, sir. _Sir Per_. Then, sir, as the greatest favour I can confer upon you, I'll give you a short sketch of the stages of my bowing,--as an excitement, and a landmark for you to bow be--and as an infallible nostrum to rise in the world. _Eger_. Sir, I shall be proud to profit by your experience. _Sir Per_. Vary weel, sir: sit ye down then, sit you down here: _[They sit down_.]--and now, sir, you must recall to your thoughts, that your grandfather was a man, whose penurious income of half pay was the sum total of his fortune;--and, sir, aw my provision fra him was a modicum of Latin, an expertness in arithmetic, and a short system of worldly counsel; the principal ingredients of which were, a persevering industry, a rigid economy, a smooth tongue, a pliability of temper, and a constant attention to make every man well pleased with himself. _Eger_. Very prudent advice, sir. _Sir Per_. Therefore, sir, I lay it before you.--Now, sir, with these materials I set out a raw-boned stripling fra the north, to try my fortune with them here in the south; and my first step intill the world was, a beggarly clerkship in Sawney Gordon's counting house, here in the city of London, which you'll say afforded but a barren sort of a prospect. _Eger_. It was not a very fertile one indeed, sir.