Over the 'nom de guerre' of 'Papyrius Cursor,' a real Roman
name, but as happy in its applicability as Thackeray's 'Manlius
Pennialinus,' Whitefoord contributed many specimens of this
mechanic wit to 'The Public Advertiser'. The 'Cross Readings'
were obtained by taking two or three columns of a newspaper
horizontally and 'onwards' instead of 'vertically' and
downwards, thus:--
Colds caught at this season are
The Companion to the Playhouse.
or
To be sold to the best Bidder,
My seat in Parliament being vacated.
A more elaborate example is
On Tuesday an address was presented;
it unhappily missed fire and the villain made off,
when the honour of knighthood was conferred on him
to the great joy of that noble family
Goldsmith was hugely delighted with Whitefoord's 'lucky
inventions' when they first became popular in 1766.
Pages:
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402