Life, 1883-03-01 · page 11 of 16
Life — March 1, 1883 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Explanation for Modern Readers This page contains three distinct satirical pieces: **"Our Anglomaniac No. IV"** mocks an American who imitates English customs absurdly. The cartoon shows a man riding an impractically low sleigh (copying English practice for deep snow) that obstructs his view and strains the horse—satirizing blind imitation of foreign ways without considering context. **"The Brand New Arabian Nights"** is a multi-part satirical story. Here, a humble "pale youth" describes attending a fashionable church where an eloquent preacher dramatically denounces sinners and demands repentance—then refuses the youth's dinner invitation and shows no actual interest in helping save souls. The satire targets religious hypocrisy: clergy who perform piety for congregation and social standing while avoiding genuine moral action. The scattered aphorisms above mock pseudointellectual pretension and absurd "scientific" reasoning common to the era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
a CURIOUS MYTH OF THE ___ MIDDLE AGES.—That a (GEES woman ever grows any [Ag older after thirty. It Is SINGULAR that £ the dead poets never write across Styx. ‘THE WEAKENING 0} the chemical market has |° enabled the telegraph companies to reduce their nitrates. Young Chemist: No; sugar cannot be made from a policeman's beat. ' SPECTRUM ANALYSIS reveals dark lines in butter. DEPRESSING = STATE- |//) MENT.—That the end of love is matrimony. SCIENTIFIC — DEFINI- T10N.—Lunar caustic is a preparation of distilled moonbeams, chemically extracted from early cu- cumbers. OUR ANGLOMANIAC. NO. Iv. Why does he ride in a sleigh so low that it makes his principal view that of his No INTELLIGENT Law- Aorse's hind quarters, and increases that worthy beast's difficulty of traction? YER will ever take the BECAUSE IN AN ENGLISH PROVINCE WHERE THE SNOWS ARE THREE, TIMES AS will for the deed. DEEP AS OURS, THEY HAVE TO USE LOW SLEIGHS TO KEEP FROM UPSETTING. THE BRAND NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS. “Tam only a man,” said the Boss, modestly; “1 . claim no worship.” II. “Your mightiness misapprehends "—began the pale youth, “ Fire ahead !”’ said the Boss, sternly. “Not long ago,” said the pale youth, “it was my privilege to attend divine service at the sanctuary which is consecrated by the patronage of fashion. An eminent doctor of divinity held a vast congregation spell-bond with his eloquence. He described the THE STORY OF THE PALE YOUTH frightful iniquities in which thousands of sinners IN| SPECTACLES. wallowed. He besought us to step forward and save “May it please your mighti- them, Then he wiped his streaming eyes, and blessed ness,” began the pale youth, “I the company with a convulsive sob. have always been a_ regular “Filled with enthusiam, I sought him in the vestry, church-goer.”” where he was doffing his surplice. He received me “T have learned to know,” with courtesy, remarking that his engagements would remarked the Boss, “that the not permit him to dine with me before Tuesday fort- fact you mention has no bearing night. I remarked that he had misapprehended the “cc UM,” said the Boss mys- teriously, when the In- dian Chiropodist had just fin- ished his story, “I would fain know now what that pale youth in spectacles has to say.” on lifein general.” object of my visit. ‘I have come,’ I said, ‘to learn “The words you speak,” said how I may save those who wallow in iniquity.’ the pale youth, “are words of “*Let me shake your hand,’ he rejoined, ‘I have wisdom. None the lessis ittrue often heard of men like you, but I have never seen = that the habit of church goinghas__ one.” ; brought me at this moment into your august presence.” “After much hand-shaking, I repeated my question. comicbooks.com