DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.70267#0134
112
JOHN RICHARDS, A BLIND MAN ;
Richards, who was regarded by his competitors in the
cringe as a queer file, was nevertheless so far from a
bad chaunt or singer, that he was frequently called upon
from the chair to amuse the company. But he was not the
only one, who, after being in the practice of a self-denying-
silence all day, rioted in a contrary extreme at night.—
For, at the evening meetings, at which he, with many
others, attended in the neighbourhood of Dyot-streety
St. Giles’s, it seemed as if a daily, and a universal miracle
had been wrought. Scarcely had these jovial companies
assembled together in one place, and with one accord; or
rather scarcely had the liquor appeared upon the table,
when the blind could see—the dumb speak—the deaf hear
—and the lame begin to walk ! Here, indeed, as Pope
has said, one might
“ See the blind beggar dance, the cripple sing.”
Or, as he has nearly said upon a more solemn occasion,
“ Hear the dumb sing ; the lame his crutch forego,
“ And leap, exulting, like the bounding roe.”
However, to descend from the imitation of these poetic
strains, of such assemblies * as we have just described, John
Richards was a visiting member; and as a beggar’s life is
avowedly made up of extremes, from these midnight orgies
he used to adjourn to a miserable twopenny lodging, in the
neighbour-
* From some such meetings as these, we conceive the following Club Bill'
to have been issued :—
The Company of all Mumpers, Cadgers, Match-makers, Dandelion-dig-
gers, Dragon Fogrutn Gatherers, Water-cress Fishers, and others, is earnestly
requested, to-morrow evening, at the Old Blind Beak’s Head, in Dyot-street,
St. Giles’s, at nine o’clock precisely. As the house has been altered, the
company will be accommodated with a large room up stairs ; butthose who
are not really lame, are desired to leave their sticks and crutches at the bar,
to prevent mischief. After the admission of new members the President will’
give directions from the chair, for avoiding of Beadles and all other unlucky
persons; point out, for the benefit of Country members, the best parts for
strolling, the method of making artificial sores, &c.
Mr. Nick-froth, the Landlord, also informs his friends and customers, that,
on account of the many Evening Lectures, and Methodist Meetings in the
Winter
JOHN RICHARDS, A BLIND MAN ;
Richards, who was regarded by his competitors in the
cringe as a queer file, was nevertheless so far from a
bad chaunt or singer, that he was frequently called upon
from the chair to amuse the company. But he was not the
only one, who, after being in the practice of a self-denying-
silence all day, rioted in a contrary extreme at night.—
For, at the evening meetings, at which he, with many
others, attended in the neighbourhood of Dyot-streety
St. Giles’s, it seemed as if a daily, and a universal miracle
had been wrought. Scarcely had these jovial companies
assembled together in one place, and with one accord; or
rather scarcely had the liquor appeared upon the table,
when the blind could see—the dumb speak—the deaf hear
—and the lame begin to walk ! Here, indeed, as Pope
has said, one might
“ See the blind beggar dance, the cripple sing.”
Or, as he has nearly said upon a more solemn occasion,
“ Hear the dumb sing ; the lame his crutch forego,
“ And leap, exulting, like the bounding roe.”
However, to descend from the imitation of these poetic
strains, of such assemblies * as we have just described, John
Richards was a visiting member; and as a beggar’s life is
avowedly made up of extremes, from these midnight orgies
he used to adjourn to a miserable twopenny lodging, in the
neighbour-
* From some such meetings as these, we conceive the following Club Bill'
to have been issued :—
The Company of all Mumpers, Cadgers, Match-makers, Dandelion-dig-
gers, Dragon Fogrutn Gatherers, Water-cress Fishers, and others, is earnestly
requested, to-morrow evening, at the Old Blind Beak’s Head, in Dyot-street,
St. Giles’s, at nine o’clock precisely. As the house has been altered, the
company will be accommodated with a large room up stairs ; butthose who
are not really lame, are desired to leave their sticks and crutches at the bar,
to prevent mischief. After the admission of new members the President will’
give directions from the chair, for avoiding of Beadles and all other unlucky
persons; point out, for the benefit of Country members, the best parts for
strolling, the method of making artificial sores, &c.
Mr. Nick-froth, the Landlord, also informs his friends and customers, that,
on account of the many Evening Lectures, and Methodist Meetings in the
Winter