Pickwick Abroad: or, The Tour in France — page 281: what you’re looking at

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

PECK WIGK ABROAD. 231 selves with u glass of liqueur and a biscuit, and, in the plenitude of their good humour, did not hesitate to recount their ident to Mr. Samuel Weller, whose superior wisdom and foresight they had lately learned to prize in no ordinary degree. “ Wery narrow escape it where too,” observed Mr. Weller: ‘‘ and wery much to your credit, gen’lemen, is the whole affair, both vith regard to your ex-perience in the vorid, and the vay you prudently resolves to chuck your,money about, seein’ that now-a-days people has got a wery con-siderable degree too much o’ that ’ere commodity. ut you charitable folks must find a object, as the church-varden said ven he adwertised for a nuss to take care o’ the basket o’ children as vos left at the church-door.” * Charity is one of the most amiable of Christian virtues, Sam,” said Mr. Tupman, smacking his lips, immediately after having imbibed a second glass of the curagoa. ‘So it is,” coincided Mr. Weller, ‘‘ ven the charitable von isn’t used like the gen’leman in the Park.” ‘ What was that, Sam ?” demanded Mr. Winkle, with a patronising smile. . ‘‘ Gentleman, Sir,” began Mr. Weller, very prudently eschewing all reface and introduction, an example that ought to be more generally imitated by authors and journalists,—*‘ gen'leman vos valkin’ near the Serpentine river, von fine arter-noon, vith only a solitary half-crown in his pocket. Credit vos at a low ebb vith him at that period; and as he lounged back’ards and for’ards, he composed a letter in his head to a friend at Ipsvich to en-treat the loan of twenty pounds, and for vich letter he knew he must pay the postige. He looked at his coin— it vos vorth two bob and a tanner—and pursued his melancholy valk. It vos twilight, an’ a cold—cuttin’—bleak-lookin’ evening it where, too—all nature appearing to say ‘No’ tohim. Nobody vouldn’t valk for pleasure on sich a night; so that the gen’leman had thaé side o’ the Park at least to his-self. A beggar at length broke in upon his meditations —a Jean—long—shufflin, shamblin’ feller, vith a sharp all- gvlar, half-starved face, the wery hemblim o’ misery an’ distress. van e steps up to the gen’leman, and entreats him to have compassion upon him—to give him a tanner—a brown—a farden, or any thing. Gen‘leman vos deaf—poverty made him hard-hearted. Atevery vord he uttered, gen’leman clutched his half-crown the more tighter. At length, tired and irritated vith the beggar’s himportunities, the gen’le- man turns round and says in a awful woice, ‘ Get along vith ye, my fine feller—lI ain’t got nothin’ to give avay ;’ vich vos the blessed truth, as you might wery vell suppose. The beggar’s countenance and manners fell di-rectly.—‘ God for-give ye, Sir, for your hard-heartedness, and me too as is driven to that vich I’ve so long endeavoured to awoid ;-— and he runs avay like bricks to the Serpentine. The gen’leman vos then wery much alarmed at vot had happened, and bitterly dep-plored his stinginess in not havin’ gived his last half-crown. It vosn’t too late—the gen’leman run and catched the beggar on the wery edge 0’ the stream, and shoves the half-crown into his fist—‘ An’ now, my fine feller,’ says the gen'leman, vith the intention 0’ preachin’ him a wery fine discourse, in vich his own self-denial vouldn’t ha’ gone fn nothin’, ‘ vot vos it you must ha’ done, and vich you’ve so long bin a S 5} a OO cS (CO)