rs of present though
minor importance. I offer no apology to you for the digression, for it
brings me very naturally to the subject of change, which is the very
subject of which I desire to treat.
In fact, my child, you have changed hands. Henceforth I resign you to
the guardianship and protection of one of my most intimate and valued
friends, Mr. Ainsworth, with whom, and with you, my best wishes and
warmest feelings will ever remain. I reap no gain or profit by parting
from you, nor will any conveyance of your property be required, for, in
this respect, you have always been literally 'Bentley's' Miscellany, and
never mine.
Unlike the driver of the old Manchester mail, I regard this altered state
of things with feelings of unmingled pleasure and satisfaction.
Unlike the guard of the new Manchester mail, _your_ guard is at home in
his new place, and has roystering highwaymen and gallant desperadoes ever
within call. And if I might compare you, my child, to an engine; (not a
Tory engine, nor a Whig engine, but a brisk and rapid locomotive;) your
friends and patrons to passengers; and he who now stands towards you _in
loco parentis_ as the skilful engineer and supervisor of the whole, I
would humbly crave leave to postpone the departure of the train on its
new and auspicious course for one brief instant, while, with hat in hand,
I approach side by side with the friend who travelled with me on the old
road, and presume to solicit favour and kindness in behalf of him and his
new charge, both for their sakes and that of the old coachman,
BOZ.
Footnotes:
{122} This paper was written before the practice of exhibiting Members
of Parliament, like other curiosities, for the small charge of
half-a-crown, was abolished.
{161} The regulations of the prison relative to the confinement of
prisoners during the day, their sleeping at night, their taking their
meals, and other matters of gaol economy, have been all altered-greatly
for the better--since this sketch was first published. Even the
construction of the prison itself has been changed.
{165} These two men were executed shortly afterwards. The other was
respited during his Majesty's pleasure.
{429} [In its original form.]
***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SKETCHES BY BOZ***
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