Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 1, CompleteVarious
General
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 1, Complete
Various
English wit and humor -- Periodicals
It is reserved for me to do justice to his memory, and one short
sentence will be sufficient for the purposehe has left me five thousand
pounds! I have determined that his benevolence shall not want an
imitator, and I have resolved, at a great personal sacrifice, to benefit
that portion of my fellow creatures who are denominated ugly. I am
particularly so. My complexion is a bright snuff-colour; my eyes are
grey, and unprotected by the usual verandahs of eye-lashes; my nose is
retroussé, and if it has a bridge, it must be of the suspension order,
for it is decidedly concave. I wish Rennie would turn his attention to
the state of numerous noses in the metropolis. I am sure a lucrative
company might he established for the purpose of erecting bridges to
noses that, like my own, have been unprovided by nature. I should be
happy to become a director. Revenons nousmy mouth is decidedly large,
and my teeth singularly irregular. My father was violently opposed to
Dr. Jenners repeal of the small-pox,44. Baylis. and would not have me
vaccinated; the consequence of which has been that my chin is full of
little dells, thickly studded with dark and stunted bristles. I have
bunions and legs that (as the right line of beautys a curve) are the
perfection of symmetry. My poor mother used to lament what she, in the
plenitude of her ignorance, was pleased to denominate my disadvantages.
She knew not the power of genius. To me thesewell, Ill call them
defectshave been the source of great profit. For years I have walked
about the great metropolis without any known or even conjectural means
of subsistence; my coat has always been without a patchmy linen without
spot!
Ugly brothers, I am about to impart to you the secret of my existence! I
have lived by the fine artsyes, by sitting as
A model for door-knockers and cherubim for tomb-stones.
The latter may perhaps surprise you, but the contour of my countenance
is decidedly infantilefor when had a babby a bridge?and the addition
of a penny trumpet completes the full-blown expression of the light-
headed things known to stone-masons as cherubim.
But it is to the art of knocker-designing that I flatter myself I have
been of most service. By the elevation of my chin, and the assistance of
a long wig, I can present an excellent resemblance of a lion, with this
great advantage over the real animalI can vary the expression according
to circumstances
As mild as milk, or raging as the storm.
So that nervous single ladies need not be terrified out of their senses
every time they knock at their door, by the grim personification of a
Nero at feeding time; or a tender-hearted poor-law guardian be pestered
during dinner by invitations afforded to the starving poor by the
benevolent expression of his knocker.
Ugly ones! I have now imparted to you my secret.
ON THE POPULARITY OF MR. CHS KN. Oh, Mr. Punch! what glorious times
Are these, for humbly gifted mimes;
When, spite of each detracter,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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