Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 1, CompleteVarious
General
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 1, Complete
Various
English wit and humor -- Periodicals
The lady must instantly lower her eyelids, and appear to count the
sticks of her fan, which will expressImmensely.
The gentleman then thrusts the thumb of his left-hand into the arm-hole
of his waistcoat, taps three times carelessly with his fingers upon his
chest. By this signal he means to say
How is your little heart?
The lady plucks a leaf out of her bouquet, and flings it playfully over
her left shoulder, meaning thereby to intimate that her vital organ is
as free as that.
The gentleman, encouraged by the last signal, clasps his hands, and by
placing both his thumbs together, protests that Heaven has formed them
for each other.
Whereupon the lady must, unhesitatingly, touch the fourth finger of her
left hand with the index finger of the right; by which emphatic signal
she means to sayNo nonsense, though?
The gentleman instantly repels the idea, by expanding the palms of both
hands, and elevating his eyebrows. This is the point at which he should
make the most important signal in the code. It is done by inserting the
finger and thumb of the right hand into the waistcoat pocket, and
expresses, What metal do you carry? or, more popularly, What is the
amount of your bankers account?
The lady replies by tapping her fan on the back of her left hand; one
distinct tap for every thousand pounds she possesses. If the number of
taps be satisfactory to the gentleman, he must, by a deep inspiration,
inflate his lungs so as to cause a visible heaving of his chest, and
then, fixing his eyes upon the chandelier, slap his forehead with an
expression of suicidal determination. This is a very difficult signal,
which will require some practice to execute properly. It means
Pity my sad state! If you refuse to love me, Ill blow my miserable
brains out. The lady may, by shaking her head incredulously, express a
reasonable doubt that the gentleman possesses any brains.
After a few more preliminary signals, the lover comes to the point by
dropping his gloves on the floor, thereby beseeching the lady to allow
him to offer her his hand and fortune.
To which she, by letting fall her handkerchief, replies
Ask papa and mamma.
This is only an imperfect outline of the code which the inventor asserts
may be introduced with wonderful advantage in the streets, the theatres,
at churches, and dissenting chapels; and, in short, everywhere that the
language of the lips cannot be used.
LABOURS OF THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. A day
on the water, by way of excursion,
A night at the play-house, by way of diversion,
A morning assemblage of elegant ladies,
A chemical lecture on lemon and kalis,
A magnificent dinnerthe venison so tender
Lots of wine, broken glassesthats all I remember.
FITZROY FIPPS, F.R.G.S., MEM. ASS. ADVT. SCIENCE, F.A.S. Plymouth,
August 5.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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