London at the End of the Century:A Book of Gossip
a Beckett, Arthur William
1900
THE SURVIVAL OF THE SNOB.
And now before considering how a holiday may be enjoyed without the company of the ubiquitous one, it may be as well to examine 'Arry as he lives at the end of the nineteenth century. He is not altogether a modern creature, in spite of the portrait | |
259 | that has been painted of him by Mr. . (to give the licensed jester of the Press one of his favourite titles) has drawn him as a slangy, pretentious fellow, well up in the politics of the day, and, in fact, a person of considerable general information. It is interesting to note that 'Arry is the survival of the snob that Albert Smith imagined in the pages of long before had seized upon the term and completely altered its significance. The snob of the early forties was a quieter specimen of the genus cad than his descendant 'Arry. He was given to wearing costumes, but was dignified rather than noisy. His one idea was to copy his betters, and as the swell of the period was celebrated for his gravity, the snob was sedate, not to say solemn. In the hands of the explorer of Mont Blanc the little Cockney became quite a creation. He was, so to speak, too large for , and expanded into the pages of a supplementary publication. If I am not mistaken, the snob was the subject of one of those sixpenny books that Albert Smith brought out shortly after seceding from the company of 85, , or rather Wellington Street, Strand. Perhaps my friend Mr. Ashby Sterry, who is a great authority upon these remarkable little works, will say his say upon the subject. Did the author of ever write of That is the question I |
260 | put to the erudite author of Whether he did or not does not alter the fact that the snob of the forties was the 'Arry of the nineties -with a difference. That difference may be aptly termed a time allowance. Things change and with them 'Arrys. |
