The Pickwick Papers


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'
I should like to see his poem,' said Mr Snodgrass.  
I should like to have seen that dog,' said Mr Winkle.  
'
Mr Tupman said nothing; but he thought of Donna Christina, the  
stomach pump, and the fountain; and his eyes filled with tears.  
A private sitting-room having been engaged, bedrooms inspected, and  
dinner ordered, the party walked out to view the city and adjoining  
neighbourhood.  
We do not find, from a careful perusal of Mr Pickwick's notes of the  
four towns, Stroud, Rochester, Chatham, and Brompton, that his  
impressions of their appearance differ in any material point from  
those of other travellers who have gone over the same ground. His  
general description is easily abridged.  
'
The principal productions of these towns,' says Mr Pickwick, 'appear  
to be soldiers, sailors, Jews, chalk, shrimps, officers, and dockyard  
men. The commodities chiefly exposed for sale in the public streets  
are marine stores, hard-bake, apples, flat-fish, and oysters. The  
streets present a lively and animated appearance, occasioned chiefly  
by the conviviality of the military. It is truly delightful to a  
philanthropic mind to see these gallant men staggering along under  
the influence of an overflow both of animal and ardent spirits; more  
especially when we remember that the following them about, and  
jesting with them, affords a cheap and innocent amusement for the  
boy population. Nothing,' adds Mr Pickwick, 'can exceed their good-  
humour. It was but the day before my arrival that one of them had  
been most grossly insulted in the house of a publican. The barmaid  
had positively refused to draw him any more liquor; in return for  
which he had (merely in playfulness) drawn his bayonet, and wounded  
the girl in the shoulder. And yet this fine fellow was the very first to go  
down to the house next morning and express his readiness to overlook  
the matter, and forget what had occurred!  
'
'
The consumption of tobacco in these towns,' continues Mr Pickwick,  
must be very great, and the smell which pervades the streets must be  
exceedingly delicious to those who are extremely fond of smoking. A  
superficial traveller might object to the dirt, which is their leading  
characteristic; but to those who view it as an indication of traffic and  
commercial prosperity, it is truly gratifying.'  
Punctual to five o'clock came the stranger, and shortly afterwards the  
dinner. He had divested himself of his brown paper parcel, but had  
made no alteration in his attire, and was, if possible, more loquacious  
than ever.  


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13 14 15 16 17

Quick Jump
1 198 396 594 792