ADDRESSES.
r « [We extract .the following- lively article frbm Leigh Unnifs London Journal, a periodical' pub* iishftd a few years, since iri London. — EdJ , <f Gfr« fne r y6Ur address !•" i» a very common expression amongst all. people moving in what may be called respectable society ; but, as we a little lower in the scale, wd then bear asked, what just answers the same purpose; " Where dd you live?" Ndw, although the tine VquaMy answers to' the other iri the end, there is yet a very marked and great distinction betwhtt the two. In the former, the person applied 'to gives his address merely as where ltd can be heard of or spoken to, perhaps accompanied by a pareitthesis, " from twelve tb fdfc* b'elbtfk." ■ The latfwyagain, is in general given as the bona fide Residence, name of the street, and number, verbatim. I lately miised on this subject in going to make a call 6n a person living in rather an intricate part of this great metropolis, and having passed street after stfeet and square after square, in whidh". I thought it just as likely he might live as anywhert else-, after -many turnings and windings, I found -him" correctly enough at the place and number gives. It was like 1 the solution of a 1 problem in Euclid, or a question in Dillwortfc — ecjuals to equals— side tb side-^second to the • right, first to the left <for so I was told b/ a baker), on the right 37 will be found,' which accordingly was the point I required. Oh going along, I could not help revolving in my mind this daily and familiar expression, which I think is seldom sufficiently noticed; for, although it is not the " silver r link and silver tie" of the poet, I consider itaa the mighty chain that links the great mass of society, and that binds us all, as it "werej in one body. • . Now, ad Z merely purpose giving a few ideas which keep floating in my mind on this subject, I shall hot enter into the various definitions of the word itself, which might -be used with propriety in a thousand different ways. For instance, we say " He addressed us in so rude a manner we were obliged to leave;" "The king read the address from the throne in a firm and audible voice — My lords and gentlemen/ &c. ;" " He spoke the address on the stage beautifully ;" " He is really goad-looking and handsome, but he has a very awkward address." Again we hear it- said f( She is not considered pretty, but what a pleasing and elegant address J" and if there is anything that the ladies —dear creatures — do not' possess in communion with us, it is that we have the privilege of paying our address, but, to their credit be it spoken, it may oftentimes be ranked .amongst the rejected. .»■ But, confining mySelf to the original idea ■with which I began, that of residence, I shall in the first place notice when a person first comes to London. He proceeds to find -out a good lodging in some respectable < street, in order that he may give "a good address," which really must be considered as a very proper feeling. Others bearing the idea of Johnson in mind (to get the greatest saving), live in a garret, and give their address at a coffee-house hard by. Following this idea a little further, the various club-houses in Waterloo-place and St. James's -street may be considered respectable cards of address, and the subscribers to them merely go there to lounge, read the papers, and dine, at the same time domiciling in some respectable tradesman's first or second floor, according- to their circumstances. Surgeons, lawyers, and other professional men, are fond of- a good addressi such as Harley-street, Wim-pole-street, or Portland-place, although incidentally you may find washerwomen living at the west end, and mechanics in. May-fair. In the second place, there is scarcely anything we should exercise our discretion in 'more strictly than in giving our addressi This I would strongly impress on all, frbm' " buxom youth to- mellow age!" 'It' has sometitrites good results — it very Often has evil. I have known a- conceived insult at the theatre, which would have been resented ■ on the spotj and might have led to shame and confusion of face, very quietly settled by 1* Ytout address, lir." "My card, sir." The parties went home with it in their pockets, slept, and never saw,4ieardj or thought of each again; thiwmoßt courteously preventing duel in Chalk-ferm 6r Battersea-fields. I dface had- an address card put into my hand in dome fepree 4>f this kind, Vheni on looking on the- card afterwards, I found it to: be that of a gentleman belonging to the Treasury, and a friend tny, own> which had been given either by mistake 6r 'design. Had X perceived so on Hht instantj who can tell what might have been the edriß&ft*akce ?■ Perhaps it was pickted aip at •Bohie'iioasfe- 'where he had occasion to call, ,aa I lately could-have filled both pockets at a dress*maker's in Albemarle- street, who had with 'great -seeming industry aboujt a thousand' all round a glass, ds if .to make one believe she was visited by *s all the world aad f his wife." Very often, '»mrirevgr», the effecto, pf giving an are evil, i ,At a .trial at Wfistmiaa^erj within thefee six mionths, in which I wjas./peraonally intiercßteld—^he case was thist-r-Tvep gentlemen coming from Bichmoad were jostled by three fellows'; one, a, i journeyman watchmaker, living in. the purjieujs of.^lerkens^ll, and who then and their feva»nde&rtheir -address which was immediately given Without any cot£H sideration. When it was found to be respgst-' able, they trumped »p ■*. «U»y about losing' watches, and, after a trial of three hours, were scOM^d put of court, but left the gentlemen mo«t.Vjexatioufly -to pay their own posts. This, as. was .justly remarked by one of ike counsel,, -wa« all occasioned by giving an address to parties of their stamp and character. ."■- dating an address «nd having none, are-otber -'evils, i have known many beautifal efrusionß of the heart lost- to the world from
this very e?*^';' and Inov? have a letter before me written in the most affectionate and explanatory terms/ to a young lady by a gentleman, whoi doubtless,, in the ardour of, his love, had not, sufficiently -attended to the, address, consequently fell into my hands,- and was there* fore lost to her purely through a wrong address. It may be the, parties are now wideas the poles asunder j and how often does -it happen when we, walk forth- in, .the populous, streets of .this pity, or when we are perhaps quietly seated inside a stage-coach, going along like the " Jolly young waterman," thinking of nothing at all; we are agreeably joined by blooming cheeks and sparkling eyes, the owner of which, as if by enchantment, almost makes .one's heart, her dwn> ' We feel this — we would instantly declare thia— ?i£ Prudence, did not whisper in a tone of doubt-v'^ You do not know her.adctress." , : I should be inclined, to suggest the propriety of each person* male as well as female, carrying " their address" in some way or other where it might .be, seen and read.i it might save ;a, great dead of unnecessary disappointment, and a great deal of. unnecessary importunity and imprudence, which; the ■ fair sex, I dare say, often endure. I lately had the curiosity to inquire the .object of an old woman, whom I wandering as Adagio, and grave as Jomelliis ghost, simply looking. at every door and number in a street in Westminster. She said she had come up from the country to see her sgn^buf having lost his address, would be forced t0 return again. It is curidus to consider an address in this way. We hear jjerhaps of a friend or st-lady being in town, and wonder much we do not' see them, of* have a call. We write to their friends — a thir-teen-penny-halfpenny comes in return. We set out some fine morning after breakfast, when in good humour' with oneself and all the world j and, after bending one's steps to St. John'swood or Hackney, find the object almost without any trouble, .enjoying all the luxuries and happiness of an English fireside. Thus an address is a complete leading-string to our object, for while we have the -address of < any of our friends wl cafinot say they- are lost to us, although they may be' far, far away. Again, I ever look with suspicion when I find that a person cannot readily give his address, and the inquiry sometimes acts as a kind of touchstone. The tongue falters; you no longer look on a countenance void of expression, a barber's block, or a graven image ; ' but the face assumes a complexion of a kind; which, to the observant eye, cannot.be mistaken for the blush of innocence or hue of health.- No. / Fis because its hf ad reposes on some dirty- pillow in the neighbourhood, of Manilla-place or_ the boundaries of the King's Bench. Though some there are who, lost to every sense of feeling- in thi6 respect, care not who knows their address, and who go on like the Caird in Burns's Jolly Beggars, saying — " Let them cant about decorum Who have character* to lose.*' 1 was lately led into a curious speculation of certain classes of persons, who have no fixed residence, or,. " { address j" such as travellers, soldiers, and sailors : but first of all let me begin with myself. %-, cannot imagine my own company half so delightful as Lord Ogilby's picture of himself when alone, in the Clandestine Marriage. However, I sometimes steal .away for a day or so, and place myself- in the, corner of some inn, in the suburbs, . where I feel a peculiar satisfaction in being beyond the reach of anything like a twopenny-postman's knock, my address being for the time known to no single creature in the world except myself; and there are people in this mighty Babylon, who " live and move and have their, being" no person knows nor cares where (a hermit in London is proverbial) ; who live almost without the aid of the world* and who die (I may say) without an address. Again, a friend goes to visit the falls of Niagara and America. He may* meanwhile, be considered quite out of the world, in regard. to us; suddenly we receiye, to our great joy, a ship. letter containing his address. He thus immediately becomes again one of our kindred. • A friend of mine lately related, to me rather a curious incident of this kind. In the summer of last year, , he left his house in Bond-street, and after visiting various places in the north, during which time (about g^hree weeks') he had not written home, nor heard from thence, lie foundliimself curiously situated and quite alone, on some stepping 6tones, which led a considerable way into a lock, somewhere betwixt Loch -Lomond aod'Loch Tay. It all at once occurred to him that he stood, as it were, .alone in 'the midst of the world. On casting his eyes around, It so happened as if every moving arid creepingthing' on the face of the earth haa< hid itself. .Noj lambkins sported near, nor shepherds pipecToh the. lea. The descending sun cast its long JEjtreaks of light and shade on the scene, shadowing the sides of the mighty hills, deep and motionless, into the waters of the lake, which all jthe ."chalk" and reel" of Salvator Rosa of Claude can give but a faint idea of. As he looked around on this calm and pleasing prospect, he was struck with * tae grandeur of the panorama. The mountains, near "and at' a distance, seemed, "by their profound stillness, to be awaiting some awful event, .that was about to befall. Yet he thought cf '** home "arid beauty." — he thought (of pond? .sjaree);— he thought of scales,' weights., andmea-; .wires— pi the rfany pounds of tea and coffee ft)^liad that nidrfiing been served out to "the . many unwashed housemaids from fbe streets adjacent to his establishment. As' to his young < men, they knew notblng save that bis name) Stood as bright in the gold letters above bis door aa ever, and that Jh'e" shop was kept as '.regularly open from morning till Bight as.before. He' also imagined that as many carnage* .and people would be passing his windows as when beJamiself stood at the doorpf his hcuee. But 3M>w,rWhere was ho? On the- /bounds of eternity J . " Awful thought!" skid he to bin*-
self; " were I to jump a yard, or perhaps stir a foot, I might never again be heard of, my address, being known only to myself; apd having, no relations,, my good* and my chattels, wliat wpuld become of them in all the world 1" Again, we may consider a correct address of the first importance in a commercial point of view. Bat for this, commerce, both by sea and land, would soon stand still; Look at this city, for instance, and at the recent returns of the Post-office, which show such 4 large sued coming yearly into the' hands of Government, from being enveloped in an improper address; and at the West-end, morning visits, evening calls, soirees, and conversaiioties, would be all at an end, but for this one thing. Changing our address is oftentimes attended with bad consequences, both to business and friends. An acquaintance of mine, who had lived in Archangel for some years, did. not receive my last letter to him. When he came td London he called on me as before. I was gone no one knew where j he gave m>, as hopeless, the idea of finding me. But the very day before he sailed again for the Wbite Sea, he met me near Hamlet's, the jeweller's, and accosted me thus : "'My dear fellow, I am truly glad to see you j only think what an extraordinary thing my meeting you amongst ,ope million and half of people without an address!" A wide address. maybe considered as a great object of ambition, and may serve, if duly considered in well-regu-lated minds, to stimulate the youth of the pre-sent-day td more than ordinary exertion. This kind of address has been enjoyed by some of our most eminent men in commerce and literature? thus— Kirkman Finlay, Glasgow — Dr. Brewster, Edinburgh — Henry Brougham, London — Benjamin -Constant, Paris— Washington Irving, America — Dr. Herschel, Europe. To conclude this sketch. Sailors may be considered as having no address, they being so often, as it were, out of the' pale, df society, They may send to vs — we cannot send to them. This circumstance, no doubt, must have grieved the heart of the gallant poet, Dorset, when he wrote that beautiful address " To all you ladies now at land," for no answer could come in return to men whose post was the tide and whose address was the sea.
A Great Man Shocked.— When the. electric ' machine was exhibited at' Shiraz, for the gratin* I cation of Cheragh Ali Khan,- he was satisfied with a few sparks, and some slight 'shocks given .to others. He declined receiving a. shock himielf, though he said he should be. above being startled aa those had beep on whom he had seen the experiment made. The great man having very condescendingly taken a walk into the garden to give his attendants an opportunity of seeing the effect* of the wonderful machine, returned at the moment when they were all encircling the operator (the doctor of the embassy) and holding each other's hands, in expectation of the shook. In Persia, it is deemed very indecorous for any .one to stand with his back turned wken a man of rank enters the room ; but for domestics to do so is a heinous offence. The whole party, however, were in breathless expectation, and were not aware of the entrance of their lord, who in his anger seized one of them by the shoulder. At that instant, whether by^ accident or design, the shock was given ; each quitted hold of his neighbour, and started back ; but Cheragh A}i Khan, who felt it the more from its being unexpected, staggered, against the wall, and looked the very picture of terror. The ambassador, who had entered the room with him, could not repress his mirth ; .the domestics went away tittering ; and their master; after a struggle between his dignity and good sense, yielded to the latter, and wisely joined in the laugh. — Abridged from Sketches of Persia. Pleasant Thought.— l look upon death to be .as necessary to our constitutions as sleep. . We shall rise refreshed in the morning.; — Dr. Franklin. Persian Maxims. — Give not unnecessary pain to any man, but study the happiness of all. — Ground not your, dignity upon you? power to hurt others. — Make it a habit to .be happy, and avoid being out of temper, or thy life will pass inmisery. — Be not the slave of anger ; and in thy contests always leave open the door of conciliation. — Plant a .young tree, or you cannot expect to flpt down an old one. — Stretch your legs no further than the size of your carpet. A Pleasant Choice. — A Gascon, whose appetite was as mighty as his talk, dined at a wretched inn with a friend. He reasonably enough determined to pay no more than half the reckoning, but at the same time ' not quite so reasonably revolved to obtain more than half the dinner. The host made great apologies for the badness &f the cheer, which consisted of three, eggs and a pint of wine. "Ah never mind," said the Gascon, " there will be plenty of wine for us both, for my friend takes none. As to the eggs " — (taking possession of two of them, and turning to his companion) — "you Will take your choice." — " How can I make a choice out Of one ? " said his friend. ; "Oh !"" .said Jhe Gascon, " you can choose whether you will take it or leave it." '
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Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 70, 8 July 1843, Page 280
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3,020ADDRESSES. Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 70, 8 July 1843, Page 280
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