The Steam-Packet: A Tale of the River and the Ocean — page 69: what you’re looking at

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

moment—lI will just ascertain this point.’ He accordingly hurried into the hall, and gave some directions to his domestic, who was embellished with a gorgeous suit of livery, and who looked like the second edition of a book, ‘“‘ revised, conrcclaaaa considerably improved.”’ It is not our intention to dwell upon the particulars which engrossed the hour previous to the departure for the wharf at London Bridge. There was much running backwards and forwards, up and down, and to and fro, throughout the house:—the cook couldn’t find any mus- tard for the sandwiches ; the maid couldn’t wait upon four ladies all at once; and the cat couldn’t find a corner wherein she might pick in tranquillity the wing of a chicken which she had stolen from the break- fast table. Mr. Pifpaf went up to the top story, ‘‘to see all safe,” and then came down again, not a whit more sapient than before;—Mrs. Pifpaf bustled about in all directions, under the impression that she was wanted every where, whereas she was required nowhere ;—and the daughters found, as most ladies do under similar circumstances, that they had done wrong to leave almost every thing until the last minute. At length the preliminaries were completed:—the baggage was des- patched, under Tom Gibbins’s care, to the wharf, on a truck ;—Lord Noodleton (so supposed) gave his arm to Miss Belinda; the captain took Miss Aramintha under his care; Mr. Pifpaf, with his wife and youngest daughter, followed; the maid-servant closed the rear;—and in this manner did the cavalcade proceed to the London Bridge wharf. The weather was superb. The sun shone upon the bosom of the stream, which, as well as its banks, was swarming with life. London Bridge was Browaed with passengers and vehicles; and over the parapet, looking down the river, were hundreds of faces turned towards the point of departure for thie Margate and Ramsgate steam- ' vessels. London has no one feature of architectural magnificence by “9 which she is so conspicuously distinguished amidst all the mighty . capitals of the world, as her bridges. She is almost destitute of fine public buildings, and entirely deficient in great sites; but still her continental rivals have no structures to compare with the gigantic arms which she flings across old Thames, to link together those por- tions of her mighty whole which its waters have divided in vain. The splendid views of the *‘ multitudinous”’ metropolis, which are obtained from her bridges, will give the spectator a notion of the strikmg pro- spects that would be opened up, if a line of broad and stately quays, like those of Paris, were pushed along the two shores of her magni- ficent river. No city in the world would have a grander site than 44 THE STEAM PACKET bounds from a shovel placed over a fire: ‘‘ excuse me for one Gomicbooks:.c