text:  When any of us ventured to criticise _any thing foreign_ he was up in arms and cock-a-hoop for the climate the customs the constitution! He sneered awfully at a simple _gaucherie_ but to make amends had ever an approving wink for the meanest _irreverence_; any intellect however feeble being secure of his praise if it only tried to thwart the end for which it was given