The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 17, No. 478, February 26, 1831Various
General
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 17, No. 478, February 26, 1831
Various
Popular literature -- Great Britain -- Periodicals
* * * * *
ST. JOHN LONG
Has distanced the majesty of British justice in the persons of the
coroner, the bailiffs, and the Bow-street magistrates, after all. We
knew that he would do so; but in this we take no possible credit to
ourselves, for every one knew that he would do so. Public opinion is,
we must confess, still divided as to the place of his retreat, some
pronouncing it America, where his purpose is, to set up a bank with
Rowland Stephenson; others, New South Wales, by a natural and pleasant
anticipation; and others, Paris, which of late years has superseded
Philadelphia, and even New York, as the general receptacle of "the
unfortunate brave," the asylum of those men of genius, who have too much
talent to live in England, the favoured spot of regeneration for those
brilliant speculators whose conceptions equally outrun their credit and
their age. However, the majority are clearly for Paris; and the objects
of the visit are said to be political, and not personal. The friends of
the ex-ministers, it is understood, have succeeded in engaging him;
and he is about to put in operation a very extensive system of
_counter-irritation_ among the _canaille_ of the French capital.
Should his exertions be attended with success, he will, on his return,
be retained by the Home-office, and despatched into the disturbed
districts to _counter-irritate_ the erring disciples of "Swing."
On the whole, we are convinced that St. John Long will be seriously
missed at the West-end. His house was a pleasant lounge; his chocolate
was unimpeachable, whatever his honesty might be; no one could ever
question the strength of his coffee, whatever might be surmised of his
science; and the sandwiches which promenaded the rooms regularly every
half-hour, were a triumphant answer to all the aspersions that his
patients lived upon air. We have no doubt that it was a much pleasanter
place than the bazaars, to which such hosts of old peeresses order their
carriages every day at one, with such matchless punctuality, to buy
sixpence-worth of ribbon, and kill three hours. To this, St. John Long's
promenade was a paradise. The comfortable manner in which all the
comforts of the old ladies were provided for; the pleasantries arising
from the nature of the scene between the various _rubbed_: the
files of young women, with their mouths fixed to gas-pipes, and imbibing
all sorts of vapours; and, never to be forgotten in the catalogue of
attractions, the men of all ages who came to learn the art of being
cured of all calamities, that of the purse inclusive. Then, too, St.
John's own judicious generosity; the presents of invaluable snuff, of
first-growth Champagne, of Mocha coffee to one, and of gunpowder tea to
another, showed a knowledge of women and human nature, that must, but
for the malice of justice, inevitably have led to fortune. What will now
become of the countess, who led her daughters to this palace of Hygeia
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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