The congregation was large, and there was an air of intellectuality about the people that betokened keen appreciation and accurate comprehension. If those who were there will glance at each other's companion, this exceptional gathering of long and well-shaped noses will be easily discerned. The occasion was supposed to be a humorous one.
Long noses indicate serious intelligence.
It may be because the entertainment was a church performance, the true character of it was not suspected. When he mounted the pulpit, he looked like an elf, save his big head, long pointed brown beard and Vandyke moustache. He was dressed in conventional black, with clawhammer coat. His sloping, narrow shoulders and diminutive height, set off by his big head and full face, give him a pompous air, which is increased by an assumed dignity of speech and put-on deepness of voice that tends to make the irreverent laugh. He began by doing a silly thing, which was followed by his co-partner in this enterprise of advertising each other's books.