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Notes of a Journey From Cornhill to Grand Cairo, by M.a. Titmarsh (w.m. Thackeray).
Notes of a Journey From Cornhill to Grand Cairo by Ma Titmarsh - w.m. Thackeray Author:William Makepeace Thackeray General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1846 Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million book... more »s for free. Excerpt: LISBON. -- CADIZ. Gr R E A T misfortune which befals a man who has but a single day to stay in a town, is that fatal duty which superstition entails upon him of visiting the chief lions of the city in which he may happen to be. You must go through the ceremony, however much you may sigh to avoid it; and however much you know that the lions in one capital roar very much like the lions in another; that the churches are more or less large and splendid; the palaces pretty spacious, all the world over; and that there is scarcely a capital city in this Europe but has its pompous bronze statue or two of some periwigged, hook-nosed emperor, in a Roman habit, waving his bronze baton on his broad-flanked brazen charger. We only saw these state old lions in Lisbon, whose roar has long sinceceased to frighten one. First we went to the church of St. Roch, to see a famous piece of mosaic work there. It is a famous work of art, and was bought by I do n't know what king, for I do n't know how much money. All this information may be perfectly relied on, though the fact is we did not see the mosaic work; the sacristan, who guards it, was yet in bed; and it was veiled from our eyes in a side chapel by great dirty damask curtains, which could not be removed, except when the sacristan's toilette was done, and at the price of a dollar. So we were spared this mosaic exhibition; and I think I always feel relieved when such an event occurs. I feel I have done my duty in coming to see the enormous animal -- if he is not at home, Virtute med me,« less