.
"Why so, sir?" was inquired by one who knew him. "Because it has hung
rather too long to be sightly." "You should not have left out the chains
in that joke, Sam," said his friend; "they would have linked it well
together, and sealed the subject." "Who takes port?" inquired the
chairman. "I must sherry directly after dinner, gentlemen," said one.
"What," retorted the company, "boxing the wine bin! committing treason,
by making a sovereign go farther than he is required by law. Fine
him, Mr. Chairman." "Gentlemen, it is not in my power; he is a bottle
conjuror, I assure you, 'a good man and true;' he only retires to bleed
a patient, and will return instanter." "Happy to take a glass of wine
with you, sir." "What do you think of that port, sir?" "Excellent." "Ay,
I knew you would say so; the house of Barnaby Blackstrap, Brothers, and
Company, of Upper Thames Street, have always been famous for selling
wines of the choicest vintage. Do me the honour, sir, of putting a card
of ours in your pocket: I sent this wine into this house in Jennings's
time, for the grand dinner, when the first stone of the new rooms over
the way was laid, and John Kelly, the proprietor, took the chair. You
are lucky, sir, in meeting me here; they always pull out an odd bottle
from the family bin, marked A--1, when I visit them." "Yes, and some
_odd sort_ of wine at any other time," grumbled out a queer-looking
character at a side table opposite. "That's nothing but spleen, Mr.
Sable," said the knight of the ruby countenance: "you and I have met
occasionally at this house together now for three and twenty years; and
although I never ~254~~come a journey without taking an order from them,
I thank heaven, I never knew you to receive one yet: many a dead man
have we seen in this room, but none of them requiring a coffin plate
to tell their age, and very few of them that were like to receive the
benefit of resurrection." "I shall book you inside, Mr. Blackstrap,''
replied Sable, "for joking on my articles of trade, which is contrary to
the established usage of a commercial room." "Do any thing you like but
bury me," said the _bon vivant_." Gentlemen, as chairman, it is my duty
to put an end to all grave subjects. Will you be kind enough to dissect
that turkey?" "I don't see the bee's wing in this port, Mr.
Blackstrap, that you are bouncing about," said a London traveller to
a timber-merchant. "No, sir," said the humorist, "it is not to be seen
until you