The hour of twelve
Brien Moon , Esq. is particularly fond of the ludicrous , is ever ready to appreciate a good joke , and well known for his happy mode of disposing of dead dogs and cats , which , with anonymous letters , are in great numbers entrusted to his care by certain waggish gentlemen , who desire he will `` hold an inquest over the deceased , and not forget the fees . '' It is said-the aristocracy , however , look upon the charge with contempt-that Brien Moon , Esq. makes a small per centage by selling those canine remains to the governor of the workhouse , which very humane gentleman pays from his own pocket the means of transferring them into giblet-pies for the inmates . It may be all scandal about Mr. Moon making so large an amount from his office ; but it is nevertheless true that sad disclosures have of late been made concerning the internal affairs of the workhouse . The hour of twelve has arrived ; and since eight in the morning Mr. Moon 's time has been consumed in preliminaries necessary to the organisation of a coroner 's jury . The reader we know will excuse our not entering into the minuti ` of the organisation . Eleven jurors have answered the summons , but a twelfth seems difficult to procure . John , the good Coroner 's negro servant , has provided a sufficiency of brandy and cigars , which , since the hour of eleven , have been discussed without stint .