The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 127: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

ala by the passers-by—not a hand was stretched out to their relief. If a carriage stopped near the place where the 1 poor family had taken their stand, and if the | elder boy ventured to creep towards the door with shivering limbs, naked feet, and tears rolling down his sunken cheeks, the rough stern voice of a flan- | key wearing the ostentatious garb of a vile servi- tude, sent him back again cowering to his mother’s side ;—and the elegantly-dressed ladies in the vé. hicle would remark amongst themselves “ how dis- agreeable it was to have the streets so terribly in- “ested with beggars ” | And yet one poor sixpence from ‘the purse of } either of those magnificent dames would have been received with thankfulness—Oh! such thankful- ness ! The shades of evening were already beginning to gather upon the mighty Babylon, when a poor female servant, out of place and seeking a situation, took | compassion upoa the wretched family ; and having’ asked the mother .a few questions, thrust a shilling into her hand. Mra, Mélmoth saw only one ether shilling remaining fn the tender-hearted young wo- man's purse; snd she was loath to receive suoh gemrous alms from a good creature who was her- | ‘elf standing on thé threshold of watt: But the servant-inaid darted away with tears streaming from her eyes;—and Mrs. Melnspéle wae enabled to prédure a morsel of bread for tee-ehiidren and an em for the night. | ut where was: that nightrpassed ? In | ‘ene of those filthy low lodging-housts whfeh | by thieves, tramps, and mendicdénts, and to WHR goverty compels the honest toresert! Forced to herd with the vilest of the vile add the most des ‘Proved of afl soefety'’s innumerable outcasts, Mrs. elmeth gathered her children around her in a | gorner of the room which was filled to auffuostion aud-the atmosphere of which was fotid enough to oréilie 4 pestitence ;—aud while the young ones slept @Mrdugh steer exhaastion, she could vot with- | draw her looks from that terrible aud tremendous future into which they nevertheless plunged with. hurror and dismay. For, what was to become of herself anJ children ? Even if they remained begyars and subsisted by egging,—even if the wretched avocatioa of men- | dicancy should raise up a slight barrier between tiemselves and actual starvatiou,—what prospects were there for thé poor innoctits who now slept iu ser arms or With their heads upon hertap? Had the trade of the street-becwar no contamination ? — was it not the apprenticeship for the more finished and perifows pursuits Of the thief?—and How could ‘she hope that Aer ehildren would pass: uftharmed threuyh the terrible ordeal ? Oh! her anvetsh: knew wo Bounds when -shé thought of all this: and she wept in silence over hér sleeping children——-but, great God! what bitter, tears were those which she thus shed in torrents! Talk of the pains of the rack—the question by water—the thumb-screw—and the iron boot;—talk of the agony ettendant -upon the most fearful sur gical operations which are knowao to men;—talk of hb neaited eteradiavien dadured ut thé instant When fe cttvainal sténds Upon the ‘drep with the exeeu. tioner fastening the hatter-ebduchis néek +—talk of ‘fue rapid gush ef poignant fcbtings whith traverse ‘ghe brtin of the drewaing wtetth,—-—Oh! all hae were an enviable paradise compared with the rend. ing misery which that poor woman suffered while thus she foreshadowed the appalling pictures of the fature. A night of brain-searing sensations’ was that which she passed;—and on the morrow she turnea out into the streets again, holding the babe in her arms and with the other three children clinging to her scanty vesture. Presently an old lady, followed by a handsome footmay in gorgeous livery, passed slowly down Whitehall. The flunkey.-carried a French poodle {in his arms—for the beast was so pampered as to be unable to walk; and the old lady would rather ‘have heard that an entire city with hundreds of thousands of human creatures had been swal- lowed up by an earthquake, than that her obese poodie suffered the slightest ill-treatment. With stately step did the flunkey march behind his mis ‘trees: for he too was fat and sleek with good living —and there was acertain alr of conscious import- ance about him, as if he were something more to the old lady than a mere footmask. And justat the very moment that he was passing the poor family, he took a piece of rich cake from his poeket and held it conveniently to the dog’s-mrouth eo tlds thé brute might eat it withedt tee necessity of moving anything but its jaws ;—ated the old Yay, glancing behind her, threw a look Of epproval upon tite do- mestic when she.saw how eareful he was of lier bes loved poodle. But, -Gh! what farmished, eager, husgry looks (fa. thé pest children east on that piece of nite rith cake Whith the dog ate so lazily aad with @ctcindiffererwe! Then Mrs. Melmoth #dvenced-—tiatdly advanced, with her sickly babe in-hee arwns—awd besought the lady to give her a few pence for thie -fege of God! ‘But the old dame absolutely shrek in disgust to Ure very edge of the pavement; 2n4@ turaisg round to the @ememic, bade him erry dn, “i@t the dog should catty verttin or some nasty Hseave from those filthy beggars !” Such were her words;-and yet the poor woman and her children wete as cleanly as poverty would allow them to be—aye, and although they had neither shoes nor stockings on their feet! And the wealthy dame, who expended gold upon her beloved dog, passed rapidly on—followed by her pampered menial ;—and on arriving at the house whither she was proceeding to pay a morning visit. she Jaunched forth in a pathetic strain upos the shocking increase of beggars! Anor there came a Bishop down Whitehall. His Leréship was 62 foot that day, because he had lent. oe of his carriages to the mistféss whom he pen- wionéd magnificently, and another to e@ married daughter whose prosfitution to a Minister had ob- tained tle teverend old gentleman his see. With an air half-dignified and half-sah¢tinonions did the | Bishop advance, — weiring that soft ‘of humility which seems to say, “ Look at my meekness /”—andé with a Burtch of gold seals dangling over his alk apron, ~Heving bestowed a haughty bedd of the ‘h¥ad upon a poor.curate‘who buwed to the earth as he passed by,—this same cyrate performing more dtities fn a week at the rate of forty pounds a-year than the Bishop bad done t all his lifé;—his Lord- mee eyes fell upon the poor family. Timidly and. ally —dragging herself Along with a paintuiness: that was as evident asthe mii Shining over-head— 4 Mrs. Melmoth accust tie proud prelate. Ba: ElOOO® SS a