Real Life In London, Volumes I. and II.: Or, The Rambles and Adventures of Bob Tallyho, Esq., and His Cousin, the Hon. Tom Dashall, Through the Metropolis; Exhibiting a Living Picture of Fashionable Characters, Manners, and Amusements in High and Low Life (1821)Badcock, John, active 1816-1830
General
Real Life In London, Volumes I. and II.: Or, The Rambles and Adventures of Bob Tallyho, Esq., and His Cousin, the Hon. Tom Dashall, Through the Metropolis; Exhibiting a Living Picture of Fashionable Characters, Manners, and Amusements in High and Low Life (1821)
Badcock, John, active 1816-1830
London (England) -- Social life and customs -- 19th century
The broken figure has since been exhibited in his old
station, and excited considerable notice; but we apprehend
he is not yet able to afford all the attractions of his
occupation, for he has formerly been seen inviting his
friends to a pinch of snuff gratis, by holding a box
actually containing that recreating powder in his hand, in
the most obliging and condescending manner--a mark of
politeness and good breeding well worthy of respectful
attention.
“Come,” said Sparkle, “we are now in one of the principal thoroughfares
of the Metropolis, Fleet Street, of which you have already heard much,
and is at all times thronged with multitudes of active and industrious
persons, in pursuit of their various avocations, like a hive of bees,
and keeping up, like them, a ceaseless hum. Nor is it less a scene of
Real Life worth viewing, than the more refined haunts of the noble, the
rich, and the great, many of whom leave their splendid habitations in
the West in the morning, to attend the money-getting, ~113~~commercial
men of the City, and transact their business.--The dashing young
spendthrift, to borrow at any interest; and the more prudent, to buy or
to sell. The plodding tradesman, the ingenious mechanic, are exhausting
their time in endeavours to realize property, perhaps to be left for
the benefit of a Son, who as ardently sets about, after his Father's
decease, to get rid of it--nay, perhaps, pants for an opportunity of
doing this before he can take possession; for the young Citizen, having
lived just long enough to conceive himself superior to his father, in
violation of filial duty and natural authority, affects an aversion to
every thing that is not novel, expensive, and singular. He is a lad of
high spirit; he calls the city a poor dull prison, in which he cannot
bear to be confined; and though he may not intend to mount his nag,
stiffens his cravat, whistles a sonata, to which his whip applied to the
boot forms an accompaniment; while his spurs wage war with the flounces
of a fashionably-dressed belle, or come occasionally in painful contact
with the full-stretched stockings of a gouty old gentleman; by all
which he fancies he is keeping” up the dignity and importance of his
character. He does not slip the white kid glove from his hand without
convincing the spectator that; his hand is the whiter skin; nor
twist his fingers for the introduction of a pinch of Maccaba, without
displaying to the best advantage his beautifully chased ring and
elegantly painted snuff-box lid; nor can the hour of the day be
ascertained without discovering his engine-turned repeater, and hearing
its fascinating music: then the fanciful chain, the precious stones
in golden robes, and last of all, the family pride described in true
heraldic taste and naïveté. Of Peter Pindar's opinion, that
“Care to our coffin adds a nail,
But every grin so merry draws one out,”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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