114 SHARP TRACTICE. 



HEADS, HANDS, AND HEELS. 



On reading the heading of the following pages many 

 may indulge in a little satire, and say, " Oh ! we see 

 IIie'over is driven to extremities." Now, if I were 

 under any engagement or even promise to supply a 

 certain quantity of pages to my rublisher, I have not 

 a sufficiently good opinion of the fecundity of my 

 brain to doubt for a minute that I should very shortly 

 be driven to extremity ; but as this is in no way the 

 case, I beg to assure any one who has made such a 

 remark, that the shaft of his satire falls perfectly 

 innocuous, and though I do select the extremities 

 of the human body as subjects to make a few observa- 

 tions upon, it is not the extremity of the case that 

 induces me to do so. 



The head, par excellence^ is generally considered as 

 entitled to more respect than those other extremities 

 to which I have alluded ; not that I consider it is by 

 any means always entitled to this pre-eminence, for 

 we very often find it to be the least effective part of 

 many people. We have people with weak heads, and 

 shallow heads (and these great people too) ; nay, we 

 have had such things as even ministers with such 

 heads ; and, " infandum Regina jubes renovare dolorem^'' 

 we have had kings and queens without any heads at 

 all; though, as I conclude, after the little ceremony 

 of decapitation had been gone through, the sovereignty 

 probably ceased. I must therefore most \villingly 

 recall my assertion of there ha\dng been kings and 



