第31章

There are Jerry and Tom, with their tights and little cocked hats, coming from the opera--very much as gentlemen in waiting on royalty are habited now.There they are at Almack's itself, amidst a crowd of high-bred personages, with the Duke of Clarence himself looking at them dancing.Now, strange change, they are in Tom Cribb's parlor, where they don't seem to be a whit less at home than in fashion's gilded halls: and now they are at Newgate, seeing the irons knocked off the malefactors' legs previous to execution.What hardened ferocity in the countenance of the desperado in yellow breeches! What compunction in the face of the gentleman in black (who, I suppose, has been forging), and who clasps his hands, and listens to the chaplain! Now we haste away to merrier scenes: to Tattersall's (ah gracious powers! what a funny fellow that actor was who performed Dicky Green in that scene at the play!); and now we are at a private party, at which Corinthian Tom is waltzing (and very gracefully, too, as you must confess,) with Corinthian Kate, whilst Bob Logic, the Oxonian, is playing on the piano!

"After," the text says, "THE OXONIAN had played several pieces of lively music, he requested as a favor that Kate and his friend Tom would perform a waltz.Kate without any hesitation immediately stood up.Tom offered his hand to his fascinating partner, and the dance took place.The plate conveys a correct representation of the 'gay scene' at that precise moment.The anxiety of THE OXONIAN to witness the attitudes of the elegant pair had nearly put a stop to their movements.On turning round from the pianoforte and presenting his comical MUG, Kate could scarcely suppress a laugh."And no wonder; just look at it now (as I have copied it to the best of my humble ability), and compare Master Logic's countenance and attitude with the splendid elegance of Tom! Now every London man is weary and blase.There is an enjoyment of life in these young bucks of 1823 which contrasts strangely with our feelings of 1860.

Here, for instance, is a specimen of their talk and walk."'If,'

says LOGIC--'if ENJOYMENT is your MOTTO, you may make the most of an evening at Vauxhall, more than at any other place in the metropolis.

It is all free and easy.Stay as long as you like, and depart when you think proper.'--'Your description is so flattering,' replied JERRY, 'that I do not care how soon the time arrives for us to start.' LOGIC proposed a 'BIT OF A STROLL' in order to get rid of an hour or two, which was immediately accepted by Tom and Jerry.ATURN or two in Bond Street, a STROLL through Piccadilly, a LOOK INat TATTERSALL'S, a RAMBLE through Pall Mall, and a STRUT on the Corinthian path, fully occupied the time of our heroes until the hour for dinner arrived, when a few glasses of TOM'S rich wines soon put them on the qui vive.VAUXHALL was then the object in view, and the TRIO started, bent upon enjoying the pleasures which this place so amply affords."This refers to an illustrated edition of the work.

How nobly those inverted commas, those italics, those capitals, bring out the writer's wit and relieve the eye! They are as good as jokes, though you mayn't quite perceive the point.Mark the varieties of lounge in which the young men indulge--now A STROLL, then A LOOK IN, then A RAMBLE, and presently A STRUT.When George, Prince of Wales, was twenty, I have read in an old Magazine, "the Prince's lounge" was a peculiar manner of walking which the young bucks imitated.At Windsor George III.had A CAT'S PATH--a sly early walk which the good old king took in the gray morning before his household was astir.What was the Corinthian path here recorded? Does any antiquary know? And what were the rich wines which our friends took, and which enabled them to enjoy Vauxhall?

Vauxhall is gone, but the wines which could occasion such a delightful perversion of the intellect as to enable it to enjoy ample pleasures there, what were they?

So the game of life proceeds, until Jerry Hawthorn, the rustic, is fairly knocked up by all this excitement and is forced to go home, and the last picture represents him getting into the coach at the "White Horse Cellar," he being one of six inside; whilst his friends shake him by the hand; whilst the sailor mounts on the roof; whilst the Jews hang round with oranges, knives, and sealing-wax: whilst the guard is closing the door.Where are they now, those sealing-wax venders? where are the guards? where are the jolly teams? where are the coaches? and where the youth that climbed inside and out of them; that heard the merry horn which sounds no more; that saw the sun rise over Stonehenge; that rubbed away the bitter tears at night after parting as the coach sped on the journey to school and London;that looked out with beating heart as the milestones flew by, for the welcome corner where began home and holidays?

It is night now: and here is home.Gathered under the quiet roof elders and children lie alike at rest.In the midst of a great peace and calm, the stars look out from the heavens.The silence is peopled with the past; sorrowful remorses for sins and short-comings--memories of passionate joys and griefs rise out of their graves, both now alike calm and sad.Eyes, as I shut mine, look at me, that have long ceased to shine.The town and the fair landscape sleep under the starlight, wreathed in the autumn mists.Twinkling among the houses a light keeps watch here and there, in what may be a sick chamber or two.The clock tolls sweetly in the silent air.

Here is night and rest.An awful sense of thanks makes the heart swell, and the head bow, as I pass to my room through the sleeping house, and feel as though a hushed blessing were upon it.