English Jests and Anecdotes, Collected from Various Sources — John Shaqi
English Jests and Anecdotes, Collected from Various SourcesVarious
General
English Jests and Anecdotes, Collected from Various Sources
Various
Anecdotes -- England; English wit and humor
“I cannot conceive,” said one English nobleman to another, “how it is
that you manage. I am convinced you are not of a temper to spend more
than your income; and yet though your estate is less than mine, I could
not afford to live at the rate you do.” “My Lord,” said the other, “I
have a place.” “A place! you amaze me. I never heard of it till now.
Pray what place?” “_I am my own steward._”
CURE FOR LOVE.
When Mrs. Rogers, the actress, was young and handsome, the Lord North
and Grey used to dangle after her; and one night being behind the
scenes, standing with his arms folded, in the posture of a desponding
lover, he asked her, with a sigh, “What was a cure for love?” “Your
lordship,” said she, “the best in the world.”
LORD RICHARDSON AND THE CARMAN.
Lord Richardson, riding abroad in his coach to take the air, and
passing by a carman whose horses were of unequal fatness, called out,
“Sirrah, sirrah, resolve me one question: why is your foremost horse
so lusty and pampered, and the rest such lean jades?” The carman, not
knowing the judge, but deeming him a lawyer, from his habit, answered,
“Whoy, the reason is plain enough; my fore horse is the counsellor, and
all the rest his clients.”
A POT I CARRY.
A fat apothecary having got drunk at a tavern in Fleet Street, was
sent home by his companions in a porter’s basket. When the man came to
Temple Bar, he was asked by the keeper within what was his business. “A
thing of great weight,” was the answer. After being admitted, he was
asked what was in his basket. “A pot I carry,” replied the porter.
GROSVENOR HOUSE.
When Grosvenor House, Millbank, was the extreme house on one of the
ways leading out of London, somebody asked another, in passing, “Who
lived in it?” “Lord Grosvenor,” was the reply. “I do not know what
estate his lordship has,” said the querist; “but he ought to have a
good one; for nobody lives beyond him in the whole town.”
A JOINT CONCERN.
Mrs. Sheridan was anxious to secure an income by her vocal powers; and
she earnestly entreated her husband to relax from his opposition,
so far as to allow of her occasional performance, until their
circumstances should render it unnecessary. But he still continued
inflexible, though it was with great difficulty he could raise the
necessary supplies for the ordinary purposes of life, and that by
very equivocal means. One of his sources was that of writing for the
fugitive publications of the day, in which he was materially assisted
by his wife; and many years after his entrance into the sphere of
politics, he has been heard to say, if he had stuck to the law, he
believed he should have done as much as his friend, Tom Erskine; “but,”
continued he, “I had no time for such studies. Mrs. Sheridan and myself
were often obliged to keep writing for our daily leg or shoulder of
mutton, otherwise we should have had no dinner.” One of his friends, to
whom he confessed this, wittily replied, “Then, I perceive, it was a
_joint concern_.”
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