Category: Humour

Ups and Downs in the Life of a Distressed Gentleman

Wherein the Author discourses of cycles, of which he enumerates a great variety, illustrates the uses of some, and speaks of the genesis of others. As to the intent or application of this chapter, the reader will be kept in the dark for a time 13

Chapters

32. Chapter 32

One of the most amusing, and, indeed, one of the best pictures of Sir Joshua Reynolds, is that of Garrick, between comedy and tragedy. On the one side, with her mask in hand, st...

31. Chapter 31

In a frequented establishment, each day unfolds an ample catalogue of sorrow, misery, and guilt, developed in forms and combinations almost innumerable; and if the history of ea...

29. Chapter 29

How little do one half of the world know how the other half live! And how just the remark of Goldsmith, that they who would know the miseries of the poor, must see life and endu...

24. Chapter 24

"And as for the Bastile,--the terror is in the word.--Make the most of it you can, said I to myself, the Bastile is but another word for a tower;--and a tower is but another wor...

28. Chapter 28

It may well be imagined that the appearance of such a flourishing literary manifesto as that set forth in the preceding chapter, created an uncommon sensation in the village. Th...

27. Chapter 27

The mellifluous bard of Twickenham was egregiously mistaken when he pronounced "a little learning" to be "a dangerous thing." Had it not been for the modicum of letters, small a...

25. Chapter 25

Nearly a year elapsed after his release from the old _don-jon_, before I was enabled again to rejoice in a meeting with my friend Wheelwright; and our interview happened on this...

20. Chapter 20

"You do ill to teach the child such words: he teaches him to hick and to hack, which they'll do fast enough of themselves; and to call horum; fye upon you!"--_Idem._

26. Chapter 26

The year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-two, is yet freshly remembered in New-York, as being the last, (thus far,) in which that metropolis was visited by the...

30. Chapter 30

Never in my life, in any place, or under any circumstances, had I before entered a human abode of such perfect and entire destitution as that of poor Wheelwright! It was a wretc...

22. Chapter 22

Having thus "thrown physic to the dogs," the next important subject of consideration was the choice of some new occupation or pursuit, not of a professional character. His mothe...

21. Chapter 21

Having thus completed his classical studies, and come off, as we have seen, with the customary academic honors, the next subject of consideration at the domestic fireside was th...

23. Chapter 23

The succeeding stage in the life of my hero and friend, was marked by no very striking or extraordinary event; but the incidents attending it were nevertheless quite characteris...

16. Chapter 16

Dilemma of Garrick and the author hereof--Evils of prosperity--Message from a gentleman in Bridewell--Account of a domestic civil war--Tribulations of matrimony--Gallantry of a...

18. Chapter 18

There being no herald's college in this free and happy country, where equality was declared by the revolutionary congress to be as self-evident as our right to independence, I h...

17. Chapter 17

The horse at the cider-mill; the mules in the press-room of the American Tract Society; and the watchman who walks his drowsy round until he falls asleep; are not the only being...

19. Chapter 19

Daniel Wheelwright grew up a tall and stately youth; and to do him justice, his personal appearance was not a little in his favor. I have before intimated that the city in which...

15. Chapter 15

Continuation of the subject--Pawn-brokers' shops good schools of study for the philosopher--Illustration of intemperance--A loving husband--How to provide for one's household--A...

14. Chapter 14

Visit to the abode of Famine--Unexampled state of destitution--A spectacle that would have melted the heart of Shylock--Singular affection of a wife who loved her husband too we...

9. Chapter 9

Unexpected morning scene at the foot of Courtlandt-street--An agreeable surprise--Some things can be done as well as others--Fashionable travelling--Touches of the sublime and b...

13. Chapter 13

Reflections on poverty--Mistakes of country people concerning the supposed wealth and comfort of every body that lives in town--The narrative resumed--Visit from the hero in a s...

1. Chapter 1

Wherein the Author discourses of cycles, of which he enumerates a great variety, illustrates the uses of some, and speaks of the genesis of others. As to the intent or applicati...

8. Chapter 8

Ancient edifice--Brief lecture upon the arts--of architecture in particular--Summons from a gentleman in distress--Poppy Lownds--Prison discipline--Not improved since the days o...

6. Chapter 6

Easy methods of pulpit preparation--Revival of ancient pulpit eloquence--Style of living--The mercantile profession not incompatible with genius--Parallel between Burke and the...

5. Chapter 5

The learned professions--Why a man should not be a lawyer--Contention respecting the birthplace of Homer--Any body can be a doctor--_Bas bleus_--Medical studies and lectures--A...

12. Chapter 12

Village excitement and ambition--A pattern seminary--Beautiful embroidery and blending of languages--Flight of a flock of girls--A touch of the brogue--An explosion--Miss Fortun...

11. Chapter 11

Mistake of Mr. Pope--Anticipation--Value of editorial assistance in the march of mind--Female education--Model of a modern prospectus--Advantages of travel in the art of imparti...

4. Chapter 4

10. Chapter 10

7. Chapter 7

2. Chapter 2

3. Chapter 3