'
It is strange, 'passing strange,' that one so rich and fond of society,
and well-descended withal, should choose thus to ape the ridiculous; a
man, too, if report speaks truly, of no ordinary talents as a writer
on finance, and an expounder of the solar system. Vanity! vanity! what
strange fantasies and eccentric fooleries dost thou sometimes fill the
brain of the biped with, confining thy freaks, however, to that strange
animal--man. The countenance of our eccentric is placid and agreeable,
and, provided it was cleared of a load of snuff, which weighs down the
upper lip, might be said to be, although in the sear o' the leaf, highly
intellectual; but the old Scotch cloak, the broad-brimmed hat of the
covenanter, the loose under vest, the thread-bare coat shaking in
the wind, like the unmeasured garment of the scarecrow, and the
colour-driven nankeens, grown short by age and frequent hard rubbings;
then, too, the flowing locks of iron gray straggling over the shoulders
like the withered tendrils of a blighted vine--all conspire to arrest
the attention of an inquisitive eye; yet the Chelts know but little
~233~~about his history, beyond his being a man of good property, the
proprietor of the Vittoria boarding-house, inoffensive in manners,
obliging in disposition, and intelligent in conversation.
Pages:
770
771
772
773
774
775
776
777
778
779
780
781
782
783
784
785
786
787
788
789
790
791
792
793
794