Page:Fitzgerald - Pickwickian manners and customs (1897).djvu/24

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PICKWICKIAN MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.

when he wore a great-coat, does he appear without them. Bantam's snuff was "Prince's mixture," so named after the Regent, and his scent "Bouquet du Roi." "Prince's mixture" is still made, but "Bouquet du Roi" is supplanted.

Perker's dress is also that of the stage attorney, as we have him now, and recognize him. He would not be the attorney without that dress. He was "all in black, with boots as shiny as his eyes, a low white neckcloth, and a clean shirt with a frill to it." This, of course, meant that he put on one every day, and is yet a slight point of contact with Johnson, who described someone as being only able to go out "on clean shirt days;" a gold watch and seals depended from his Fob. "Depended" is a curious use of the word, and quite gone out.

Another startling change is in the matter of duels. The duels in Pickwick come about quite as a matter of course, and as a common social incident. In the "forties" I recall a