FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   34   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   >>  
se they _must_ be turned out." "Why are Colonel Sibthorp and Mr. Peter Borthwick like the covering of the dancing-master's toes?"--"Because they are a _pair of pumps_." "Why are the Whigs and Tories like the scarlet fever and the measles?"--"Because there's no telling which is the worst." * * * * * A HINT TO THE UGLY. My uncle Septimus Snagglegrable is no more! Excellent old man! no one knew his worthiness whilst he was of the living, for every one called him a scoundrel. It is reserved for me to do justice to his memory, and one short sentence will be sufficient for the purpose--he has left me five thousand pounds! I have determined that his benevolence shall not want an imitator, and I have resolved, at a great personal sacrifice, to benefit that portion of my fellow creatures who are denominated ugly. I am particularly so. My complexion is a bright snuff-colour; my eyes are grey, and unprotected by the usual verandahs of eye-lashes; my nose is _retrousse_, and if it has a bridge, it must be of the suspension order, for it is decidedly concave. I wish Rennie would turn his attention to the state of numerous noses in the metropolis. I am sure a lucrative company might he established for the purpose of erecting bridges to noses that, like my own, have been unprovided by nature. I should be happy to become a director. _Revenons nous_--my mouth is decidedly large, and my teeth singularly irregular. My father was violently opposed to Dr. Jenner's "repeal of the small-pox,"[4] and would not have me vaccinated; the consequence of which has been that my chin is full of little dells, thickly studded with dark and stunted bristles. I have bunions and legs that (as "the right line of beauty's a curve") are the perfection of symmetry. My poor mother used to lament what she, in the plenitude of her ignorance, was pleased to denominate my disadvantages. She knew not the power of genius. To me these--well, I'll call them _defects_--have been the source of great profit. For years I have walked about the great metropolis without any known or even conjectural means of subsistence; my coat has always been without a patch--my linen without spot! [4] Baylis. Ugly brothers, I am about to impart to you the secret of my existence! I have lived by the fine arts--yes, by sitting as A model for door-knockers and cherubim for tomb-stones. The latter may perhaps surprise you, but the co
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   34   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   >>  



Top keywords:
purpose
 

decidedly

 
Because
 

metropolis

 
stunted
 
bristles
 
mother
 

lament

 

symmetry

 

perfection


beauty

 

bunions

 

vaccinated

 

singularly

 

irregular

 

father

 

violently

 

director

 

Revenons

 

opposed


thickly

 

studded

 

consequence

 

repeal

 
Jenner
 
existence
 

secret

 

impart

 

brothers

 

Baylis


sitting

 
surprise
 
knockers
 

cherubim

 

stones

 

genius

 

ignorance

 

pleased

 

denominate

 
disadvantages

defects
 
conjectural
 

subsistence

 

profit

 
source
 

walked

 

plenitude

 

concave

 

living

 
whilst