Portraits of Children of the MobilityLeigh, Percival
General
Portraits of Children of the Mobility
Leigh, Percival
Caricatures and cartoons -- Great Britain; London (England) -- Social life and customs -- Pictorial works
We intimated that Master Joe Smart is what is vernacularly termed a
_tiger_: and he is sharp enough, were he a child of an order higher
than the Mobility, for a _lion_. His jacket has no stripes upon it,
certainly; which perhaps (at times, at least) it deserves to have: but
his waistcoat has. He belongs to a menagerie, consisting chiefly of
individuals of the equine and canine species. It will be seen at a
glance what striking advantages our young tiger has derived from his
contact with aristocracy. His attitude, gestures, and expression of
countenance, indicate a knowledge of the world and of the usages of
Society much beyond that of his comrades; and although it is undoubtedly
very improper to smoke cigars, as he is doing, yet there is a certain
air of committing an offence, which greatly palliates its enormity; and
such an air he displays. A cigar, too, is infinitely preferable to a
nasty pipe. He is moreover wearing what we at once recognise as a hat,
coat, intervening garments, and boots, whereas rude imitations of these
articles of attire are all that most Children of the Mobility appear
in. The cultivation which his intellectual faculties have received,
has given him a vast superiority over his acquaintance. None of them
dare--we have already explained the word,--to "chaff" him. His felicity
of expression, particularly as regards terms of raillery, would render
the contest hopeless; even if the aggressor were not, at the first
onset, disarmed by his speaking eye. We mean, his left eye, which he
causes to speak very eloquently on proper occasions, by closing it in a
peculiar manner.
The best place for the social education of youth is the drawing-room.
PLATE VI. Master Bob White and Master Nick Baggs.
[Illustration: 058]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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