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Article LONDON PLATITUDES. ← Page 4 of 13 →
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London Platitudes.
learned tome , prying into pewter basins and conversant with lazy smokes ! The good brothers must have thought their comrade benighted into insanity ; we may imagine their curious looks as , perhaps , they peered after him through some rat-hole , and gathered his flitting semblances in the twili ght , until they not only made them up a wholebut converted that
, whole into the very identity of their erring housemate . What but curiosity drove Alexander hither and thither over the continent of Asia ? What brought the Queen of Sheba to the foot of Solomon ' s throne ? What sent the Caliph Iiaroun Alraschid peeping about those streets and blind alleys of Bagdad ? That same fatal curiosity was the cause of the fall
of not only Bluebeard , but the fall of Bluebeard ' s head . And w e avow and make asseveration that if curiosity can be forgiven in anybody , it can in a woman . I was so curiously occupied one fine morning at about four past meridian , when London was in the height of its season , and its carriages proportionably enraged . It thus happened
that I essayed the crossing at Charing-Cross in an unfortunate obliviousness as to there being aught besides myself and the sun to share the glories of as fine an afternoon as ever shone out of heaven . I had just made the turn off from Northumberland House , and with my eye fixed upon a sparrow which had just taken the liberty of alihting on the head of
g King Charles , was adventuring a passage which common sense commonly assumes as dangerous . I was sensible of some impediment as I stepped off the pavement , and was recalled to a sense of it , as well as to a persuasion of my danger , in recognising a crossing-sweeper whose broom was the warrant of his character .
" For Lord s sake , master , stop a bit , and let them carriages go by !" " With all my heart , my friend , " I thought , though ( being proud ) I did not say it . I looked at the utterer of this wellintentioned caution , and saw that he was diminutive , even of his calling , which breeds the dumpy .
There was a pert vivacity in his face which seemed to have grown by what it fed on , namely , the heedlessness of the public to him . His garments were nondescript ; his head was small , which was all the better , as he had a shrivelled hat , or rather a rim and crown . I did not dare to count his buttons , for I feared them . His broom , the ensign of his dignity , was a scrubby broom which had seen better days , and had perhaps swept Pall-Mali .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
London Platitudes.
learned tome , prying into pewter basins and conversant with lazy smokes ! The good brothers must have thought their comrade benighted into insanity ; we may imagine their curious looks as , perhaps , they peered after him through some rat-hole , and gathered his flitting semblances in the twili ght , until they not only made them up a wholebut converted that
, whole into the very identity of their erring housemate . What but curiosity drove Alexander hither and thither over the continent of Asia ? What brought the Queen of Sheba to the foot of Solomon ' s throne ? What sent the Caliph Iiaroun Alraschid peeping about those streets and blind alleys of Bagdad ? That same fatal curiosity was the cause of the fall
of not only Bluebeard , but the fall of Bluebeard ' s head . And w e avow and make asseveration that if curiosity can be forgiven in anybody , it can in a woman . I was so curiously occupied one fine morning at about four past meridian , when London was in the height of its season , and its carriages proportionably enraged . It thus happened
that I essayed the crossing at Charing-Cross in an unfortunate obliviousness as to there being aught besides myself and the sun to share the glories of as fine an afternoon as ever shone out of heaven . I had just made the turn off from Northumberland House , and with my eye fixed upon a sparrow which had just taken the liberty of alihting on the head of
g King Charles , was adventuring a passage which common sense commonly assumes as dangerous . I was sensible of some impediment as I stepped off the pavement , and was recalled to a sense of it , as well as to a persuasion of my danger , in recognising a crossing-sweeper whose broom was the warrant of his character .
" For Lord s sake , master , stop a bit , and let them carriages go by !" " With all my heart , my friend , " I thought , though ( being proud ) I did not say it . I looked at the utterer of this wellintentioned caution , and saw that he was diminutive , even of his calling , which breeds the dumpy .
There was a pert vivacity in his face which seemed to have grown by what it fed on , namely , the heedlessness of the public to him . His garments were nondescript ; his head was small , which was all the better , as he had a shrivelled hat , or rather a rim and crown . I did not dare to count his buttons , for I feared them . His broom , the ensign of his dignity , was a scrubby broom which had seen better days , and had perhaps swept Pall-Mali .