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sion of chapters on fashionable Life—Costume—Marriage Customs—Public Amusements—Street Fairs—Trade and Commerce—Servants—Literature ¦— Newspapers—the Drama—Gambling—Duelling—State of the Roads—Public Conveyances—and so forth , which contain details piquant enough , and suggest strange reflections . As a writer , Mr . Andrews , never excellent , is sometimes facetious , and then he is hilarious with puns of this quality : — The fashionable world will Lave to take refuge in the Arctic regions , where it will certainly be ice-elated enough , and whence it can send its fashions in" furs and other novelties of the-winter season , " by the returning whale-ships . Or this : — "Meirie Islington" presented -all the appearance of a fair throughout the year ; it might , ia . fact , be said to be a complete fedr-y land . " Describing the " Rake ' s Progress , " Mr . Andrews says : <—Here the man of fashion , in his dishabille , is surrounded by professors—the dancingmaster , the French teacher of the small-sword , the English master of quarterstafly the landscape-gardener , anxious to get the . rake in his hauds .
In each case the italics are the author ' s , and they kindly point out to us that a joke is meant . There are several such facetiae in the volume . They clid not greatly amuse us . Mr . Andrews not wnfrequently falls into a laxity of language peculiar to those who write much and tliink little , but at no time agreeable to read , yvbich would in France be severely criticized , because in Prance writers are jealous of the purity of their language / What a sentence is this ; for example : — ~ . ¦ ¦ ¦ .. ; . ' , - .. . ¦' ¦ ¦ : . " . . ¦ . ¦¦ .: . An anecdote 13 told of Garrick ' s visit to the fair , when -we should opine that David ' s vanity must have sustained a little mortification . \ Pascal admirably says there are desmots dMerminantstctqidfontjuger cle Y esprit d ? un homme ; there are also determining sentences , which gauge the style of a writer ; the sentence just quoted is one : it is not the worst in . Mr . Andre-ws ' s volume , but it is typical of the laxity into which he occasionally sinks . ' ¦ ' ' ¦•¦ ¦ -. " " ' ¦ ' ¦ . " .. ¦ . ¦' . ¦ . ¦ ¦ " ¦¦ . - ¦ .. ' ¦ \ ¦ : ¦ .- . '¦ ¦ . ' . ' ¦
for > ou these three hours , and will be paid by you or that gentleman before you That gentleman , ' says she , recovering horself , 'is worthy a "better fortune mine , a « d begged hard to be gone . But Doctor Wryneck swore she should Z , ried , or if she Wd not ho would still have his fee , and register the marria g e that night The lady finding she could not escape . without money or a i ) l « i £ them she liked the gentleman so well she would certainly meet him to-morrow 5 i and gave them jxrLngas a pledge , < which , ' says she , : < was my mother ' s gift or deathbed , - enjoining that , if ever I luarried , it should be my weddin-rlur ° which cunning contrivance she was delivered from the - "black doctor ami his ' ta The lady who gives tins account of the hazardous adventure of her friend curious to seesomethingof these Fleet marriages . "So" she " sometime '
, says , tins 1 went with this lady and her brother , in a coach , to Ludgate-hill in the davf to see the manner of their picking-up people to be married . As soon as our c stopped near Fleet-bridge , up comes one of the myrmidons . 'Madam ' savs lie < want a parson ? ' ' Who are you ? ' says I . 'I am- ' the clerk and registrar of Fleet . ' Show me the chapel . ' At . which comes a second , desiring me to " 0 a with him . Says he , ' That fellow will carry you to a puddling alehouse . ' " S * i third , < Go with me—he will carry you to a brandy-shop . ' In the Interim come < doctor : . ' Madam , ' says he , « I'll do your job for you presently . ' 'Well , "entlen says I , ' since you can ' t agree , and I cau ' t be married quiutlv , I'll put it ofi another time ; ' so drove a-way . "
; The open manner in which these things were done , as well as the competition isting among the several parsons , are shown in the following advertisement , of w scores of a similar kind appeared in the newspapers : " Marriages with a license , certificate , and a crown stamp , at a guinea , at the chapel , next door to the ' china-shop , near Fleet-bridge , London ,, by a regular- ] clergyman , and not by a Tleet parson , as is intimated in the public ; papers : and , the town may be freed of mistakes , no clergyman , being a prisoner in the rules ol Fleet , dare many , and , to obviate all doubts , the chapel is not . in the verge of Fleet , but kept by a gentleman who was lately chaplain on board one of his Maje men-of-war , and likewise who had gloriously distinguished him sell" hi defence o ' i king and country , and Ls above committing those little mean actions that / some impose on people , being determined to have everything ¦ conducted with " ' the ut decency and regularity , such as shall all be supported iu- ' la ' wUiul equity . " This worthy , while he indignantly repels the * insinuation that he was a ] parson , was , by his own confession at least , a chaplain in t / iejlect . With the flavour of this last joke in their mouths our . readers' may from the Eighteenth Cenlv . ru .
To readers of fine culture ^ therefore , we cannot commend this Eighteenth Century ; nor to readers desirous of accurate and exhaustive information . Much of the material has "been picked up from very common places ; Mr . Harrison Ainsworth is actually cited as an authority in one case 1 and where the information is derived from less accessible sources , we do not feel that confidence in the ample knowledge of the writer which / would assure us that the matter was thoroughly trustworthy . But , we repeat , the mass of readers feeing both ignorant and uncritical , will probably find in tins volume much that is both novel and interesting ; at any rate " there ' s ao offence in ' t . " We will select a passage or two : — -
" " ' .-:.. ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ . ¦ ¦ .... - ¦ . ¦ - , - ¦ ¦¦ - . ¦¦ MUFFS . . . . ;¦ .. ¦ . - - ¦ ¦ ¦ . . ¦ ¦;¦ ¦ . . ; The large muffs which were in vogue about the middle of the century , must , one would think , have given the gentlemen somewhat of an effeminate appearance , and ¦ were in ludicrous contrast to the warlike sword that was girt about their waists . In two of Hogarth ' s pictures we have examples from which to judge of the effect of these appendages of winter dress , namely , in "Taste in High . lafe , " and in the * Arrest for Debt" sceue of the " Rake ' s Progress . " They appear to have been most in fashion about 1760-70 , and only exceptional at other periods of the century . The sporting Earl of March writes thus in 1766 . to
George Selwyn , at Paris : "The muff you sent me by the Duke of RichmondHike prodigiously ; vastly better than if it had been of tigre " , or of any glaring colourseveral are now making after it . " And again : " Pray bring me two or tliree bottles of perfume to put amongst powder , and some patterns for velvets that are new and pretty . " Might we not fancy it was a lady ' s letter , instead of a young nobleman ' s ? —in after-years the infamous " Old Q . " of Piccadilly . " Might we not fancy ? " asks Mr . Andrews . Fancy has wide latitude , indeed , but its privileges scarcely extend to such complete emancipation from syntax as this of a lady ' s letter becoming in after-y ^ ears the infamous " OldQ . "
FLEET MARRIAGES . Idlers about Fleet Market were often amused by the sight of a carriage , surrounded fcy the parsons and their "touters , " as coaches near the theatres are besieged by vendors of play-billa , while the cries rang round of "A parson , sir ? " " I am the clerk and registrar of the Meet . " " This way , madam , that fellow will carry you to a little puddling alohouse . " "Come with me ! he will take you to a brandyshop ! " &c . Hero we must again quote Mr . Knight for a graphic account of the marriage ceremony which ensued : — " As the party ascend the prison stairs , and pass along the gallery , they receive various invitations to stop . A coal-heaver is
especially pressing .: ' This , ' says he , « is the famous Lord Mayor's chapel ; you -will get married cheaper here than in any other part of the Fleet ! ' The parson who has got the job looks daggers at him , but receives a horse-laugh in reply ; and , by-thcby , the pair are fortunate—their worthy conductor is sober to-day . They enter his rooms . There is a hint about brandy and wine , which the excollent priest deals in , as ¦ well as wedlock , « nd both , are called for ; and the ceremony now proceeds , and is performed , on . the whole , decently enough . " "But , " says Mr . Knight , with great significance , " woe betide tbe bridegroom if he has not made up his mind to pay handsomely , even according to the Fleet standard , otherwise ho will not soon forget the Fleet parson ' s lesson in 'Billingsgate . ' "
Mr . Andrews quotes from the Grub Street Journal the following :- — "Since Midsummer last , a young lady of birth and fortune was deluded and forced from her fHends , and , by the assistance of a wi'j ' -necked swearing parson , married to an atheistical wretch , whose life ia a constant practice of vice and debauchery . And , fiinco the ruin of my relation , another lady of my acquaintance ] iad like to have been trepanned in the following manner : The lady had appointed to meet a gentlewoman at tho old playhouse in Drury-lane , but extraordinary business prevented her coming . Being alone , when the play was over , she bade a boy call a coach for the City . One dresBcd like a gentleman helps her into it and jumps in after her . ' Madam , ' says he , ? this coach was called for meand since the weather is so badand there ia no
, , -other , I beg leave to bear you company . I am going into tho City , and will sot you down -wher « ver you . please . ' Tho lady begged to bo excused , but he bade the coachman drive on . Being come to Ludgate-hill , ho told her his sister , who waito % hia coming flv « Mioor 8 up the court , would go with her in two minutes . Ho went imd returned with hla pretended sister , who asked her to step in but one minute , and she would wait upon h « r In the coach . Tho poor lady foolishly followed her into tho liouso , when instantl y the sister vanished , and a tawny fellow in a black coat and a black wig appeared , * Madaan , you are come in good time : tho doctor was juat a-going . ' lho doctor ! roya ehe , horridly frighted , fearing it wis a madhouse ; ' what has the doctor to do with mo ? ' "Jo marry you to that gentleman : tho doctor has waited
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THE CAMEL IN" PEACE AND WAR . The Camel : h is Orga n ization , Habits and Uses , considered with refer en ce to h is I dtiction into the United States . By George P . Marsh . Trii A grant of thirty thousand dollars was made last year by the Crovcrnn of the United States , for the introduction of a camel train into the Airier army . I" * or a . long period the practicability of this scheme had been c < dered—by Mr . G . P . Marsh especially , who during a protracte residence the Turkish territories , entered into a series of investigations iii conne with his favourite idea . ¦ . ¦ He journeyed in Egypt , Nubia , Arabia tetroca , Syria , saw the Turcoman camel ? , and others of northern breeds , empl
in Asia Minor , and at Constantinople , consulted the works of naturi and' travellers , and convinced himself that camels . might advantageous ] introduced into the United States , not for military purposes only . It unnecessary , perhaps , in support of this conclusion , to . Login so vigor ( ah oro as to urge that the lirst command addressed to the human specie the Creator , enjoined it to liuvc dominion over all other orders of li things . Some writers , American writers particularly , will have u so ] exordium ; but we arc talking ; about camels , and it is afflicting to stm with an introductory chapter which might have been , composed by ! Kaimo or Goguet , or by young Rousseau , in an eccentric mood .
With respect to camels , he is , perhaps , not unjustifiably prolix" .-Gardiner Wilkinson , in his bold book on Egypt , denies that tlio Oric call this animal the Ship of . the Desert , and Hitter confirms his assertion . Marsh is well read upon that point . One after another he huvls at Sir diner and Ritter , Sir William . Jones , Langles , Daumas , an anonymous poet , and Hummer-Purgstall , so that we consider Wilkinson and Kittoi i ' uted . Hut , not to idle among the generalities of the subject , where Marsh is pleased too long to linger , it maybe interesting lo surve ; grounds upon which it is hold that the camel may be successfully inlroi into the United States . The regions to the west of tbe il ksi . s . sipj principally kept in vaew in this discussion . So far as mere es . trcini'soi perature arc concerned they present none more violent than arc to bo
in tlie oldest homes of the camel , no fiercer or more continuous he withered deserts than those in which the Arabian species thrives in perfo no colder latitudes tlian those in which the liactrian species Iwis boon feotly naturalized . It is true that the western continent has , genera moiater climate , subject to more frequent rains , than the eastern ; an camel thrives principally in ¦ countries which , during a long season at are dry . Yet they are found in the valley of the lower Danube , a several Northern Asiatic districts subject to very similar climatic condi In the cold and damp provinces of Russia they arc less liable to discas attain greater longevity than , in any other purls of the world . In tho C they are not used during the hot months , their services being most va during tho bleak winters of that peninsula .
Moreover , tbosu portions of the North American continent in wine proposed to naturalize the camel arc exceptions to the generally nioi Uuence of the climate . They comprise tho driest and least fertile , sin —the Great Plain which forms the eastern slope of the Rocky Mom and the Great Basin of the interior . The first division includes nuar entire valley of the Rio Grando , and stretches to the northernmost boi of tho Union . Throughout this vast space , which has an area consul greater than that of all the American states east of the Allcghanies , tli annual precipitation nowhere exceeds twenty-five inches , and onlj limited district attains that average . In the Great Basin the precin ia less . Large tracts , indeed , closely resemble the deserts of Arabia , I they are less sandy , pasturage being afforded in-adequate quantities , 1 the supplies of water are rare . There is , however , says Mr . Mar
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> 26 THE Iji . Dj R , . '¦' . . . [ No . 344 , Sattopav
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 25, 1856, page 1026, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2164/page/18/
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