To this, St. John Long's
promenade was a paradise. The comfortable manner in which all the
comforts of the old ladies were provided for; the pleasantries arising
from the nature of the scene between the various _rubbed_: the
files of young women, with their mouths fixed to gas-pipes, and imbibing
all sorts of vapours; and, never to be forgotten in the catalogue of
attractions, the men of all ages who came to learn the art of being
cured of all calamities, that of the purse inclusive. Then, too, St.
John's own judicious generosity; the presents of invaluable snuff, of
first-growth Champagne, of Mocha coffee to one, and of gunpowder tea to
another, showed a knowledge of women and human nature, that must, but
for the malice of justice, inevitably have led to fortune. What will now
become of the countess, who led her daughters to this palace of Hygeia
as regularly as the day came; and with a spirit worthy of the great
cause, declared that, if she had twenty daughters, she would take every
one of them every day to the same place, for the same rubbing? What
will become of the heavy hours of him who declared St.
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