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On The Absurdity, Folly, And Inconsistency Of Various Fashionable Customs And Ceremonies
Our most celebrated painters had certainly an eye toward these profligate orgies , when they drew those riotous scenes of Silenus , the Fauns , and Satyrs ; wherein the drunken crew are excellentl y depicted with the horns and hoofs of the most lewd and noxious brutes ; by which Titian always meant to satyrize Man , who is a mere brute when drunk . What 1 mean by these observations is , to banish the stale custom of drinking common healths . I would not wish to
banish the toast that celebrates a bloomi-ng wench , nor forget the hero , or the memorable event . These serve to stimulate to great and glorious actions , and they g ive a zest to the wine , which often without them would lose its flavour , and tire upon : the palate : It is the Hero ' s name , and blooming Lass , '" That give new flavour to the circling glass .
There is yet another custom which , of all others , tires the senses , and stupifies the fancy . This is the absurd parade of asking some pouting Miss to sing , who will bear teazing for a full hour before she complies ; and then in a . most wretched squall she disturbs your ears for an hour : for when . once set off , she rattles away like the clack of a mill , while all the company are under the necessity of praising this screaming devil for the very torture she has given them . Others , again , are plaguing some dull he-animal ; for a song ; who
begins braying in a most dissonant tone , without , ope requisite to please ; and if you do not keep renewing your solicitation for the continuance of his noise , he thinks himself used very ill . There are a set of men in this Town who have . a few . songs ready cut and dried , and are uneasy until they have shot them all off upon the company . ****** j a ja < j 0 f this kind ; he has no conversation ; so that all the entertainment which you can promise yourself
in his company is the songs that he g ives you : these you must keep demanding , until lie has twittered away all his . stock . Whenever a lad y or a gentleman has a fine voice ,. it is natural to ask them to sing , and it is good-natured when they comply ; but when the resolution is made of a whole company singing alternately , it is enough to confound one ' s senses , and make a philosopher vow , that
he will never go into the society of men more . Besides , I have ever made it an invariable observation , that these singing companies in general consist of impenetrable blockheads , who have neither fancy , nor education , nor sense ,, to furnish out an evening ' s entertainment witli any sensible conversation ; indeed , wherever such singing is introduced , it is sure to destroy all conversation ; so that you are under the necessity of proceeding from ballad to ballad till your coach relieves you .
What ear , ye Siren ? , can endure the pest Of a man roaring like a storm at West ? Or who can bear , that hath an ear at all , To hear some hoyden Miss for ev ' nings squall ? Give me , ye Cods ! my cabbin free from care , . And jugging ' Nightingales in darkling- air . . ;; N ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Absurdity, Folly, And Inconsistency Of Various Fashionable Customs And Ceremonies
Our most celebrated painters had certainly an eye toward these profligate orgies , when they drew those riotous scenes of Silenus , the Fauns , and Satyrs ; wherein the drunken crew are excellentl y depicted with the horns and hoofs of the most lewd and noxious brutes ; by which Titian always meant to satyrize Man , who is a mere brute when drunk . What 1 mean by these observations is , to banish the stale custom of drinking common healths . I would not wish to
banish the toast that celebrates a bloomi-ng wench , nor forget the hero , or the memorable event . These serve to stimulate to great and glorious actions , and they g ive a zest to the wine , which often without them would lose its flavour , and tire upon : the palate : It is the Hero ' s name , and blooming Lass , '" That give new flavour to the circling glass .
There is yet another custom which , of all others , tires the senses , and stupifies the fancy . This is the absurd parade of asking some pouting Miss to sing , who will bear teazing for a full hour before she complies ; and then in a . most wretched squall she disturbs your ears for an hour : for when . once set off , she rattles away like the clack of a mill , while all the company are under the necessity of praising this screaming devil for the very torture she has given them . Others , again , are plaguing some dull he-animal ; for a song ; who
begins braying in a most dissonant tone , without , ope requisite to please ; and if you do not keep renewing your solicitation for the continuance of his noise , he thinks himself used very ill . There are a set of men in this Town who have . a few . songs ready cut and dried , and are uneasy until they have shot them all off upon the company . ****** j a ja < j 0 f this kind ; he has no conversation ; so that all the entertainment which you can promise yourself
in his company is the songs that he g ives you : these you must keep demanding , until lie has twittered away all his . stock . Whenever a lad y or a gentleman has a fine voice ,. it is natural to ask them to sing , and it is good-natured when they comply ; but when the resolution is made of a whole company singing alternately , it is enough to confound one ' s senses , and make a philosopher vow , that
he will never go into the society of men more . Besides , I have ever made it an invariable observation , that these singing companies in general consist of impenetrable blockheads , who have neither fancy , nor education , nor sense ,, to furnish out an evening ' s entertainment witli any sensible conversation ; indeed , wherever such singing is introduced , it is sure to destroy all conversation ; so that you are under the necessity of proceeding from ballad to ballad till your coach relieves you .
What ear , ye Siren ? , can endure the pest Of a man roaring like a storm at West ? Or who can bear , that hath an ear at all , To hear some hoyden Miss for ev ' nings squall ? Give me , ye Cods ! my cabbin free from care , . And jugging ' Nightingales in darkling- air . . ;; N ,