Whether it be some Visigothic chieftain raised on a shield above the shoulders of his shouting warriors, some Roi Fainéant of the Merovingian race, a listless, pallid, long-haired kingling, dragged languidly through the streets in a painted wagon by sleek oxen, […] it seems clear to me that we must have some sort of a show, and a pageant, and a ‘barbaric pomp’ of procession.

aficionados (or at least the more aesthetically minded among them) sometimes refer to this as an 'Apollo's belt' or 'Adonis girdle' – a classic case of reality mirroring art, rather than the other way round.

This towel's dry. Could you wet it and cover the chicken so it doesn't go dry as it cooks?

You will not surely live to solicit ( as many a fine fellow , alas ! did but last year ) the votes , not even of the people , but merely of the snobocracy , on the ground of your having neither policy nor principles , nor even opinions , upon any matter in heaven or earth