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X
‘J1
1030
indeed ; and by the time the tea and coiiee arrived (with
sweet preserves, and cunning teacakes in its train), was
,in a highly genial 7 state, much esteemed by the
Jvholefaulilyh .‘ I V. T .. I‘ 3' ; H‘ .15 5 g ix...
,2,;Another delightful circumstance turned up before the
first cup of-tea was drunk. The whole family had been
in England: There .was a pleasant thing I ., But Martin
was not quite so glad of . this, when he fonnd.that. they.
knew all the teat dukes, lords, viscounts,.rnarquesses,
duchesse.s,. knights, and -baronets, quite affectionately,
iindlwere beyond eV:1I;ythingI1lntel'eSted‘11]1;2;i(?t1i:5J);S:s]f$1‘(i
ticu ar, concerning em. ,, owever. a V’ 1 V , ,
after, the We1Z]11'l‘:’1' Kit this or that c(pr‘opr:ts, i;Iii)(l. ind
' . at in answere : . ’ -
ilftiig ‘ziriid ivhen tliey- said ‘his’lordship’S.in0:Ch8Y:-the
.duchess,.was she much changed? Martin said, Oh dear
no, they would know her anywhere, if they saw he1'.t0-
morrow :' and so got on pretty well. In like manner
’ when the young ladies questioned hilip toaichinlgthe Glgltl
Fish in.that Grecian fountain in suc an sue a no e-
man’s conservatory, and whether there, were as many as
there used to be, he gravely reported, afterinature. con-
sideration, that there, must be at least twice asvmany:
"and as to the exotics, ‘ Oh I well I it was of no use talk-
ing about them: they must be-seen to be believed ; ’
,which improved state -of circumstances reminded the
famiIy.of,the splendour of thatgbrilliant festival (com-
prehending the whole British Peerage and Court,Calen-
dar) to whiclrthey wereVspeciallyinvited, and which
indeed had been partly given in their honour : and rec-
ollections of what ,Mr. Norris the father.had said to the
inarquess, and of what Mrs.‘ Norris the mother had said
to the rnarchioness, and 'of;wha.t,the marquessand mar-
‘chioness hail both said, whenhtl(ileyl" Isaidg that upon, thlpir
;words'and onours, they wis e - r. orris t e fat er
‘and Mrs. Norris the mother, and , the-Misses Norris; the
daughteri, and Mr. Norris Junior,‘ thfe: son, avoulg only
take up t eir permanent residence in nglan , an ive
them the pleasure of .- their‘ everlasting friendship, Ogden-
pied a very considerable time. v, ., , , ‘ K ' .. < ,2
. Martin thought it rather strange, andin some sort
inconsistent, that during the whole of these narrations,
and in the very meridian of their, enjoyment thereof,
both Mr. , Norris theifather,‘ and. Mr. Norris, Junior, the
son (who corresponded,,every post, with four members
of the English Peerage), enlarged upon the inestimable
advantage of having no, such arbitrary, distinctions in .
"that enlightened land, where there were no noblemen but
riature’s noblemen,-and where all society was based on
one broad level of brotherly love and natural equality.
indeed Mr. Norris the father gradually expandinginto
an oration on this swelling theme was becoming" tedious,
when Mr. Bevan diverted his thoughts, by happening to
-make some casual inquiry relative to the occupier of the
next house : in reply to which, this same Mr. Norris the
father, observed, that “that person entertained religious
opinions of which he couldn’t approve ; and therefore
he hadn’t the honour of knowing the gentleman”, Mrs.
Norris the mother added another reason of ‘her own, the
same in effect, but varying in words; to wit, that she
believed the people were well enough in their way, but
they, were not genteel. , , . V. V. , , , g - ,, H
Anotherlittle trait came out, which impresseditself on
Martin forcibly. Mr. Bevan‘ toldthem about Mark and
the negro, andthen. it appeared that all the, Norrises
were abolitionists. It was a great relief to hear this, and
Martin was .so much, encouraged on, finding himself in
such company, that he expressed his sympathy with the
oppressed and wretched blacks. .. Now, one of the young
ladies-the prettiest and most delicate,one-was might-
ily amused at the earnestness with which he spoke; and
on his craving leave to ask her why, was quite unable for
a time to speak for laughing. - As .soon howeveras he
could, she told them that the negroes were such a funny
people ; so excessively ludicrous in tlieirrmanners and
appearance: that it was wholly impossible for those who
know them well, to associate anyserious ideas with such
a. very absurd part of the creation. ‘ Mr. Norris the father,
‘and Mrs. Norris the mother, and Miss Norris the sister,
and Mr. Norris Junior the brother, and even Mrs. Norris
Senior the grandmother, were all of this opinion, and
laid it down as an absolute matter of fact-as if there were
orrAIzLEs;.D101i'Eiv3% '.WORKS.
nothing in. suffering. and slaveryrgrimv enough to cast a
solemn air on‘ any. human animaliyathough.itawcre,as
ridiculous, physically, as the most grotesque of apes; or,
morally, as the mildest hirnrod among tuft-hunting 11'8-
publicanslm. ‘ v; -3". . - '1 -'j.: 1 "
“.In"short," said Mr. horris the father, settlingtlic
questioi; comfortably’, “ there is a natural 0.l1lClpZ[ltl1)"l)0‘
tween t ie races.” . ‘ " i ‘7"".‘?,
x. “ Extending,” said , Martin’s friend, in :9 3 low .,voice,
“ to the cruellest of tortures, and the bargain and sale of
unborn generations.f’,..-. , <- . . H r 3 ’ T -w:=
:: Mr. Norris the son S2ll(1‘X10tlllIlg', but he madera-wry
face, and dusted his-fingers as. Ilainlet might after get-
ting rid of Yorick’s skull : just as though he had ,that
momenip t011Cll1(]3.(l. la.-ndegro, and some of the black had
comeo n on is ian s. ‘ 2 ml?
x In orderiihat theirtalk might fall again into its former
pleasant channel, Martin dropped the 'subJect,' with. 8-
shrewd suspicion that it would be a.dangerous,tlie'me to
revive under the best of circumstances: and again-'ad-
dressed himself to the young ladies, whonvere very -g0r-
geously attired in very beautiful colours, and had eyery
article of dress on the same extensive scale; as thelittle
shoes .; and the‘ thin, silk stockings. ,,,’l‘liis:suggcsted
to him that they were great proiicientsgin ,the breach
fashions, which soon turned out to be the case, for though
their information appeared to be none of the newestrlt
was very extensive :.and the eldest sister in particular.
who was distinguished by a talent, for metapliysics; the
laws of hydraulic pressure, and the rights of human
kind, had a novel way of coinbiningtlicse acquirementsv
and bringing them to bear on.any subject -from:‘M1l'
linery to the Millennium, both inclusive,whicl.i W352 at
once improving and remarkable,-so much so, in short.
that it was usually observed to reduce foreignersjoxll
state of temporary insanity in five minutes. - r I "
rMartin felt his reason going ;‘and as a means of Sn)’-
ing himself, besought the other sister (seeing a piaii0.1“
the room) to sing. ;,With this .]'8ql1eSt,Sll8 willingly com-
plied; and abravura concertgsolely sustained by the
‘Misses,Norrisnpresently began. r They sang in all lan-
guages-except their own.1 German," French, Italian.
Spanish, Portuguese. Swiss ; but nothing native ; nothing
so low, as native- For, in;this -respect,’ languages are
like many other travellers-ordinary, and commo,I1-P1309
enough at home, but ’specially genteel abroad. ix.
There is little doubt that in course of time the M15505
Norris would have come to Hebrew, if tliey"tl)S1d“I)0l5
been interrupted byfan announcenientifroinltlio Irish-
man, who iiingingx-open the door, cried in aloud V'QlC,e“'
; “Jiniral Fladdocl-:1” .. .. ’ ‘ I '
- .f‘ My I.” cried the sisters,
general come backl’? .: .>. 1.1.:-‘i;H
As they made tlioexclauiation, the general,‘ attired in
full uniform for a ball, c'ame.darting- in with sncli
precipitnncy: that, hitching his boot.in tlio.,carpet, and
getting his sword between his legs, he came down
headlong, and presented n.,curious little bald place 0“
the crown of his head to the eyes of ihe nstonished,C0m‘
pany. Nor was this the worst of it ;‘ for being rather
corpulent and very tight, the general, being down, could
not get up again, but lay there, writhing -and,’,d0l!12'
such things with his boots, as there is no other instance
of, in military history. , i . . .-,u ‘ a '
W Of course there was an immediate rush to his assist-
ance; and the general was promptly raised.’-, But his
uniform was so fearfully, and wonderfully, IIli1(le,l.lltll'.'l.l9
came up stiff [and without,a bend in him, like a dead
Clown, and had no command whatever, of himself Jlutll
he was put quite tiat upon the soles of his feet, axliexl
he became animated as ‘by a miracle, und,moving,edg9:
wise that he might go in a narroworqcompass, and ‘D9
in less danger,of fraying the ,gold -lace on this .epau-
lettes by brushing them against anything, advanced with
a smiling visage to salute the lady of the house. .0 .: vii
.To,be sure, itvwould have-been irnpossible;f0I'i1h9
family to testify purer delight and joy than’ at this 11!!-
looked-for appearance of General Fladdock l.,'Tl1e. 39"’
eral was as warmly received as if New, York liadpeen
in astate of; siege and no other7general,was to be 3'03
for love or’ money. , He, shook hands with tho,N0r,l'l.S05
.‘ ;.- .,,,,. . , 4, ‘ 'yI>'
esisting suddenly, . “-The
rthreei times all-round, and then reviewed ‘them'.from‘f1!