CHARACTERS. 



757 



iivliom the common people join so 

 heartily in laughing at this kind of 

 ■wit, must be advanced in cultiva- 

 tion a step farther than many other 

 nations. But let us go on to his 

 neighbour, who carefully watches 

 till the wit, whom wc have just 

 left, makes a pause — when he im- 

 mediately calls out with a loud voice, 

 *' Gentlemen, while my neighbour 

 is taking breath, permit me to 

 show you a most remarkable expe- 

 riment;" without waiting for an 

 answer, he carries round a box from 

 which he desires the people to draw 

 questions, relative to money, health, 

 love, the constancy or inconstancy 

 of a beloved object, legacies ex- 

 pe6led. Sic. &c. While the ques- 

 tion is taking out of the bo\, the 

 professor of a thousand arts stands 

 at a distance to prove that he needs 

 not be acquainted with the subje6t 

 of it. Then upon receiving two 

 sous in ready cash, he first answers 

 the question, and, in the next 

 place gives a complete character of 

 the inquirer, his temper, his good 

 and bad qualities, and adds some 

 good advice respecting the regula- 

 tion of his future conduft. Third- 

 ly, and lastly, he gives the five 

 numbers which will come out at the 

 next drawing; the whole printed 

 on pretty good paper. 



I cannot indeed conceive how this 

 man, considering the expcnce he 

 is at, can still have sufficient profit 

 lolt out of two pence to support 

 this merry life ; this thought fre- 

 quently occurs to me. Listen to 

 that man further on, who oilers 

 ■vv ith a loud voice, and for two pence, 

 fo every passenger, the rulfs of 

 l)icjuct. The little book consists of 

 about two sheets ; and though I 

 cannot sec any person who buys a 

 single copy of hiju, yet 1 Invyc found 



him on the same spot for this fort- 

 night, and he still lives. 



Attend to that girl crying till she 

 is hoarse, " Fifty tooth-picks for 

 two sous, cinquante cure-dents pour 

 deux sous .'" She sells but little of 

 her goods ; she is ugly, nobody will 

 bay; and yet she lives. I prefer 

 those cunning wits, whose industry 

 speculates upon that inexhaustible 

 fund, the curiosity of mankind. 

 Here stands an old Avoman, who 

 reads, with a harsh voice, from a 

 printed sheet of blotting paper ; 

 what has happened in the last sit- 

 ting of the council of state. She 

 hardly closes her mouth before her 

 more aged neighbour opens her 

 faded lips, pours forth a torrent of 

 printed eloquence against the per- 

 fidy of the English ; pointing, at the 

 same time, to a wooden cut which 

 decorates her hand-bill, and in which 

 his Britannic majesty is very ill- 

 treated. The droll delivery of ths 

 two old women is heard gratis, 

 and their hand-bills cost only one 

 sous. 



Let us quit these haggard figures 

 for yon pretty round-faced wench, 

 who has set up a table, on which 

 stands about half a dozen of tin or 

 plated candlesticks. She holds a 

 woollen rag in her hand, which she 

 dips into a red powder, and, while 

 she rubs the candlesticks quite 

 bright, she extols, in a mellifluous 

 tone, and with dimples in her 

 cheeks, the admirable qualities of 

 her powder. She asks the bystand« 

 ers for thimbll'S or shoe-buckles, 

 gives them back as bright as ncAv, 

 and even promises to cure pimples 

 in the face with her powder ; but 

 no one offers his face for this expe- 

 riment, A merry soldier goes by, 

 shews her a scar on his check, and 

 launhing, asks whether slie can rc- 



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