Great Britain -- Social conditions -- 19th century; London (England) -- Description and travel
There is another kind of tramp, whom you encounter this bright summer
day—say, on a road with the sea-breeze making its dust lively, and sails
of ships in the blue distance beyond the slope of Down. As you walk
enjoyingly on, you descry in the perspective at the bottom of a steep
hill up which your way lies, a figure that appears to be sitting airily
on a gate, whistling in a cheerful and disengaged manner. As you
approach nearer to it, you observe the figure to slide down from the
gate, to desist from whistling, to uncock its hat, to become tender of
foot, to depress its head and elevate its shoulders, and to present all
the characteristics of profound despondency. Arriving at the bottom of
the hill and coming close to the figure, you observe it to be the figure
of a shabby young man. He is moving painfully forward, in the direction
in which you are going, and his mind is so preoccupied with his
misfortunes that he is not aware of your approach until you are close
upon him at the hill-foot. When he is aware of you, you discover him to
be a remarkably well-behaved young man, and a remarkably well-spoken
young man. You know him to be well-behaved, by his respectful manner of
touching his hat: you know him to be well-spoken, by his smooth manner of
expressing himself. He says in a flowing confidential voice, and without
punctuation, ‘I ask your pardon sir but if you would excuse the liberty
of being so addressed upon the public Iway by one who is almost reduced
to rags though it as not always been so and by no fault of his own but
through ill elth in his family and many unmerited sufferings it would be
a great obligation sir to know the time.’ You give the well-spoken young
man the time. The well-spoken young man, keeping well up with you,
resumes: ‘I am aware sir that it is a liberty to intrude a further
question on a gentleman walking for his entertainment but might I make so
bold as ask the favour of the way to Dover sir and about the distance?’
You inform the well-spoken young man that the way to Dover is straight
on, and the distance some eighteen miles. The well-spoken young man
becomes greatly agitated. ‘In the condition to which I am reduced,’ says
he, ‘I could not ope to reach Dover before dark even if my shoes were in
a state to take me there or my feet were in a state to old out over the
flinty road and were not on the bare ground of which any gentleman has
the means to satisfy himself by looking Sir may I take the liberty of
speaking to you?’ As the well-spoken young man keeps so well up with you
that you can’t prevent his taking the liberty of speaking to you, he goes
on, with fluency: ‘Sir it is not begging that is my intention for I was
brought up by the best of mothers and begging is not my trade I should
not know sir how to follow it as a trade if such were my shameful wishes
for the best of mothers long taught otherwise and in the best of omes
though now reduced to take the present liberty on the Iway Sir my
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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