lour.--from the
"Red-nosed innkeeper of Dav'ntry,"[5] and the "Malmsy-nosed knave,
Bardolph,"[6] to him in Henry V., "whose nose was sharp as a pen!"

[4] Lear.

[5] 1 Henry IV. iv. 2.

[6] 2 Henry IV. ii. 1.

This celebrated "Malmsy-nose" possessed properties unknown to the same
feature now-a-days. It was adapted to practical utility, in its application
to domestic purposes, and moral instruction, by that great admirer and
competent judge of its virtues, Sir John Falstaff, to whose sheets it did
the office of a warming-pan;[7] and who made as good use of it as some men
do of a death's head, or a _memento mori:_ "I never see it," said he, "but
I think upon hell fire." It stands almost unrivalled in history, and ranks
at least with that which gave a cognomen to Ovid,[8] and the one to which
the celebrated violoncello player, Cervetto, owed the _sobriquet_ of
_Nosey_. This epithet reminds me of another nose of theatrical notoriety,
whose rubicund tint, when it interfered with the costume of a sober
character which its owner was enacting, was moderated by his wife, who,
with laudable anxiety to keep down its "rosy hue," was constantly behind
the scenes with a powder puff, which she was accustomed to apply,
ejaculating, "'Od rot it, George! how you do rub your poor nose! Come here,
and let me powder it. Do you think Alexander the Great had such a nose?"

[7] Henry V. ii. 1.

[8] "Ovidius Naso was the man: and why, indeed, Naso; but for
smelling out the odoriferous flowers of fancy?" says Holofernes,
the school-master, in Love's Labour Lost.

Nor would I omit to mention one, contemporary almost with the above, by
which the public peace was said to be endangered, as recorded by a poet of
the day, who states,--

"Amongst the crowds, not one in ten
Ere saw a thing so rare;
Its size surpriseth all the men,
Its charms attract the fair.

'Tis wonderful to see the folk,
Who at the nose do gaze;
All grin and laugh, and sneer and joke,
And gape in such amaze.

The children, whom the sight doth please,
Their little fingers point;
Wishing to give it one good squeeze,
And pull it out of joint."

Much more is said by the poet in its praise; at last he falls into a moral
strain:

"For many, as you may suppose,
'Gainst nature loudly bawl,--
That one man should have such a nose,
Whilst some have none at all."

And then concludes with s