[The Book of Snobs by William Makepeace Thackeray]@TWC D-Link book
The Book of Snobs

CHAPTER VIII--GREAT CITY SNOBS
6/8

I like to see an old aristocrat, swelling with pride of race, the descendant of illustrious Norman robbers, whose blood has been pure for centuries, and who looks down upon common Englishmen as a free American does on a nigger,--I like to see old Stiffneck obliged to bow down his head and swallow his infernal pride, and drink the cup of humiliation poured out by Pump and Aldgate's butler.

'Pump and Aldgate, says he, 'your grandfather was a bricklayer, and his hod is still kept in the bank.

Your pedigree begins in a workhouse; mine can be dated from all the royal palaces of Europe.

I came over with the Conqueror; I am own cousin to Charles Martel, Orlando Furioso, Philip Augustus, Peter the Cruel, and Frederick Barbarossa.
I quarter the Royal Arms of Brentford in my coat.

I despise you, but I want money; and I will sell you my beloved daughter, Blanche Stiffneck, for a hundred thousand pounds, to pay off my mortgages.


<<Back  Index  Next>>

D-Link book Top

TWC mobile books