The activity of his mind being diverted from the genuine field of utility and distinction, showed itself in the rude tricks of an overgrown lubber.

Here, as in all his other qualifications, he rose above his competitors; and if it had been possible to overlook the callous and unrelenting disposition which they manifested, one could scarcely have denied his applause to the invention these freaks displayed, and the rough, sarcastic wit with which they were accompanied.
Mr.Tyrrel was by no means inclined to permit these extraordinary merits to rust in oblivion.

There was a weekly assembly at the nearest market-town, the resort of all the rural gentry.

Here he had hitherto figured to the greatest advantage as grand master of the _coterie_, no one having an equal share of opulence, and the majority, though still pretending to the rank of gentry, greatly his inferior in this essential article.

The young men in this circle looked up to this insolent bashaw with timid respect, conscious of the comparative eminence that unquestionably belonged to the powers of his mind; and he well knew how to maintain his rank with an inflexible hand.