Part 86 (1/2)

1 ”Mighty.”--This high sounding t.i.tle has recently been given to a full gla.s.s of ale,--the usual quant.i.ty of what is termed a gla.s.s being half a pint, generally supplied in a large gla.s.s which would hold more--and which when filled is consequently subjected to an additional charge.

2 To those who are in the habit of frequenting the house, this gentleman will immediately be known, as he usually smokes his pipe there of an afternoon and evening.

”With his friend and his pipe puffing sorrow away, And with honest old stingo still soaking his clay.”

With a certain demonstration before him of the mortality of human life, he deposits the bodies of his friends and neighbours in the earth, and buries the recollection of them in a cloud, determined, it should seem, to verify the words of the song, that

”The right end of life is to live and be jolly.”

His countenance and manners seldom fail to excite risibility, not-withstanding the solemnity of his calling, and there can be little doubt but he is the finisher of many, after the Finish; he is, however, generally good humoured, communicative, and facetious, and seldom refuses to see any person in company for a mighty, usually concluding the result with a mirthful ditty, or a doleful countenance, according to the situation in which he is left as a winner or a loser; and in either case accompanied with a brightness of visage, or a dull dismal countenance, indicative of the event, which sets description at defiance, and can only be judged of by being seen.

3 ”Surely not,” are words in such constant use by one gentleman who is frequently to be met in this room, that the character alluded to can scarcely be mistaken: he is partial to a pinch of snuff, but seldom carries a box of his own. He is a resident in the neighbour-hood, up to snuff, and probably, like other men, sometimes snuffy; this, however, without disparagement to his general character, which is that of a respectable tradesman. He is fond of a lark, a bit of gig, and an argument; has a partiality for good living, a man of feeling, and a dealer in felt, who wishes every one to wear the cap that fits him.

~~221~~~ ”Never mind,” continued Jemmy, ”I take my chance in this life, and sing _toll de roll loll_.”

By this time our friends, being supplied with mighties, joined in the laugh which was going round at the witty sallies of the speakers.

”It is possible I may go first,” said the undertaker, resuming his pipe; ”and if I should, I can't help it.”

”Surely not,--but I tell you what, Jemmy, if you are not afraid, I'll see you for two more mighties before I go, and I summons you to shew cause.”

”D------n your summons,”{1} cried the former unsuccessful opponent of the risible undertaker, who at the word summons burst into a hearty laugh, in which he was immediately joined by all but the last speaker.

”The summons is a sore place,” said Jemmy.

”Surely not. I did not speak to him, I spoke to you, Sir; and I have a right to express myself as I please: if that gentleman has an antipathy to a summons, am I to be tongue-tied? Although he may sport with sovereigns, he must be accountable to plebeians; and if I summons you to shew cause, I see no reason why he should interrupt our conversation.”

1 ”D-----n your summons.” This, as one of the company afterwards remarked, was a sore place, and uttered at a moment when the irritation was strong on the affected part.

The speaker is a well known extensive dealer in the pottery, Staffords.h.i.+re, and gla.s.s line, who a short time since in a playful humour caught a sovereign, tossed up by another frequenter of the room, and pa.s.sed it to a third. The original possessor sought rest.i.tution from the person who took the sovereign from his hand, but was referred to the actual possessor, but refused to make the application. The return of the money was formally demanded of the man of porcelain, pitchers, and pipkins, without avail. In this state of things the loser obtained a summons against the taker, and the result, as might be expected, was compulsion to restore the lost sovereign to the loving subject, together with the payment of the customary expenses, a circ.u.mstance which had the effect of causing great anger in the mind of the dealer in brittle wares. Whether he broke any of the valuable articles in his warehouse in consequence has not been ascertained, but it appears for a time to have broken a friends.h.i.+p between the parties concerned: such breaches, however, are perhaps easier healed than broken or cracked crockery.

~~222~~~ ”Surely not,” was reverberated round the room, accompanied with a general laugh against the interrupter, who seizing the paper, appeared to read without noticing what was pa.s.sing.

The company was now interrupted by the entrance of several strangers, and our two friends departed on their return homeward for the evening.

CHAPTER XVII

”Roam where you will, o'er London's wide domains, The mind new source of various feeling gains; Explore the giddy town, its squares, its streets, The 'wildered eye still fresh attraction greets; Here spires and towers in countless numbers rise, And lift their lofty summits to the skies; Wilt thou ascend? then cast thine eyes below, And view the motley groupes of joy and woe: Lo! they whom Heaven with affluence hath blest, Scowl with cold contumely on those distrest; And Pleasure's maze the wealthy caitiffs thread, While care-worn Merit asks in vain for bread; Yet short their weal or woe, a general doom On all awaits,--oblivion in the tomb!”

~~223~~~ Our heros next morning determined on a visit to their Hibernian friend and his aunt, whom they found had not yet forgot the entertainment at the Mansion-house, and which still continued to be the favorite topic of conversation. Sir Felix expressed his satisfaction that the worthy Citizens of London retained with increasing splendor their long established renown of pre-eminent distinction in the art of good living.

”And let us hope,” said Dashall, ”that they will not at any future period be reduced to the lamentable necessity of restraining the progress of epicurism, as in the year 1543, when the Lord Mayor and Common Council enacted a sumptuary law to prevent luxurious eating; by which it was ordered, that the Mayor should confine himself to seven, Aldermen and Sheriffs to six, and the Sword-bearer to four dishes at dinner or supper, under the penalty of forty s.h.i.+llings for each supernumerary dis.h.!.+”

”A law,” rejoined the Baronet, ”which voluptuaries of the present times would find more difficult of observance than any enjoined by the decalogue.”

The Squire suggested the expediency of a similar enactment, with a view to productive results; for were the ~~224~~~ wealthy citizens (he observed) prohibited the indulgence of luxurious eating, under certain penalties, the produce would be highly beneficial to the civic treasury.

The Fine Arts claiming a priority of notice, the party determined on visiting a few of the private and public Exhibitions.

London is now much and deservedly distinguished for the cultivation of the fine arts. The commotions on the continent operated as a hurricane on the productions of