frequenters foregathered by the fire, or in some particular part of
the general room, or in an inner room. At "Will's" in Russell Street,
Covent Garden, where Mr. Pepys used to drop in to hear the talk,
Dryden, the centre of the literary circle which there assembled, had
his big arm-chair in winter by the fireside, and in summer on the
balcony. Around him gathered many men of letters, including Addison,
Wycherley, Congreve, and the juvenile Pope, and all who aspired to
be known as "wits." On the outskirts of the charmed circle hovered
the more humble and modest frequenters of the coffee-room, who were
proud to obtain the honour even of a pinch of snuff from the poet's
box. Across the road at "Button's," a trifle later, Addison became the
centre of a similar circle, though here the tone was political quite
as much as literary. Whig men of letters discussed politics as well as
books. Steele, Tickell, Budgell, Rowe, and Ambrose Phillips were among
the leading figures in this coterie. Pope was of it for a time, but
withdrew after his quarrel with Addison.
Whig politicians met at the "St. James's"; and Addison, in a
_Spectator_ of 1712, pictures the scene. A rumour of the death of Louis
XIV. had set the tongues going of all the gossips and quidnuncs in
town; and the essayist relates how he made a tour of the town to hear
how the news was received, and to catch the drift of popular opinion
on so momentous an event. In the course of his peregrinations the
silent gentleman visited the "St. James's," where he found the whole
outer room in a buzz of politics. The quality of the talk improved as
he advanced from the door to the upper end of the room; but the most
thorough-going politicians were to be found "in the inner room, with
the steam of the coffee-pot," and in this sanctum, says the humorist,
"I heard the whole Spanish monarchy disposed of, and all the line of
Bourbon provided for, in less than a quarter of an hour."
In later days coffee-house clubs became more exclusive. The members of
a club or coterie were allotted a room of their own, to which admission
ceased to be free and open, and thus was marked the beginning of the
transition from the coffee-house of the old style to the club-house
of the new. In _The Gentleman's Magazine_ for 1841 (Part II., pp.
265-9) is printed a paper of proposals, dated January 23rd, 1768, for
enlarging the accommodation for the club accustomed to meet at Tom's
Coffee-house, Great Russell Street, Covent Garden, by taking into the
coffee-room the first floor of the adjoining house. Admission to this
club was obtained by ballot.
Coffee-houses were frequented for various purposes besides coffee,
conversation, and business--professional or otherwise. The refreshments
supplied were by no means confined to such innocuous beverages
as tea and coffee and chocolate. Wines and spirits were freely
consumed--"laced" coffee, or coffee dashed with brandy, being decidedly
popular. Swift relates how on the occasion of his christening the
child of Elliot, the proprietor of the "St. James's," he sat at the
coffee-house among some "scurvy companions" over a bowl of punch so
late that when he came home he had no time to write to Stella. The
prolonged sittings and too copious libations of the company at Button's
Coffee-house gave the feeble and delicate Pope many a headache; and
Addison, who was notoriously a hard drinker, did not, we may feel
sure, confine himself during those prolonged sittings to coffee.
The coffee-houses were also public reading-rooms. There could be read
the newspapers and other periodical publications of the day. When Sir
Roger de Coverley entered "Squire's," near Gray's Inn Gate, he "called
for a clean pipe, a paper of tobacco, a dish of coffee, a wax candle,
and _The Supplement_."
Mackay, in his _Journey through England_, already quoted, says that "in
all the Coffee-houses you have not only the foreign prints, but several
English ones with the Foreign Occurrences, besides papers of morality
and party disputes." Swift, writing to Stella, November 18th, 1711,
says, "Do you read the _Spectators_? I never do; they never come in my
way; I go to no coffee-houses"; and when _The Tatler_ had disappeared,
a little earlier, Gay wrote that "the coffee-houses began to be
sensible that the Esquire's lucubrations alone had brought them more
customers than all their other newspapers put together." Periodical
publications were filed for reference; and at all the better houses
_The London Gazette_, and, during the session, the Parliamentary Votes
could be seen. At least one house possessed a library. This was the
"Chapter," in Paternoster Row, already referred to as a literary haunt.
Dr. Thomas Campbell, the author of a _Diary of a Visit to England in
1775_, which was published at Sydney in 1854, says that he had heard
that the "Chapter" was remarkable for a large collection of books and a
reading society.
The coffee-houses served as writing-rooms as well as reading-rooms.
Many of Steele's numerous love-letters to "dear Prue," the lady who
became his wife, the lovely Mary Scurlock, written both before and
after his marriage, are dated from the "St. James's," the "Tennis
Court," "Button's," or other coffee-house. But a popular coffee-room
could hardly have been an ideal place for either reading or writing. A
poet of 1690 says that
"The murmuring buzz which thro' the room was sent,
Did bee-hives' noise exactly represent,
And like a bee-hive, too, 'twas filled, and thick,
All tasting of the Honey Politick
Called 'News,' which they all greedily sucked in."
And many years later, Gilly Williams, in a letter to George Selwyn,
dated November 1st, 1764, says: "I write this in a full coffee-house,
and with such materials, that you have good luck if you can read two
lines of it."
A curious proof of the close and intimate way in which the
coffee-houses were linked with social life is to be seen in the
occasional references, both in dramatic and prose literature, to
some of the well-known servants of the coffee-houses. Steele, in the
first number of _The Tatler_, refers familiarly to Humphrey Kidney,
the waiter and keeper of book debts at the "St. James's"--he "has the
ear of the greatest politicians that come hither"--and when Kidney
resigned, it was advertised that he had been "succeeded by John
Sowton, to whose place of caterer of messages and first coffee-grinder
William Bird is promoted, and Samuel Bardock comes as shoe-cleaner in
the room of the said Bird." "Robin, the Porter who waits at Will's
Coffee-house," plays a prominent part in a little romance narrated in
No. 398 of _The Spectator_. He is described as "the best man in the
town for carrying a billet; the fellow has a thin body, swift step,
demure looks, sufficient sense, and knows the town." A waiter of the
same name at Locket's, in Spring Gardens, is alluded to in Congreve's
_The Way of the World_, where the fashionable Lady Wishfort, when she
threatens to marry a "drawer" (or waiter), says, "I'll send for Robin
from Locket's immediately."
The coffee-houses were employed as agencies for the sale of many
things other than their own refreshments. Most of them sold the quack
medicines that were staringly advertised on their walls. Some sold
specific proprietary articles. A newspaper advertisement of 1711 says
that the water of Epsom Old Well was "pumped out almost every night,
that you may have the new mineral every morning," and that "the water
is sold at Sam's Coffee-house in Ludgate Street, Hargrave's at the
Temple Gate, Holtford's at the lower end of Queen's Street near Thames
Street, and nowhere else in London." A "Ticket of the seal of the
Wells" was affixed, so that purchasers "might not be cheated in their
waters." The "Royal" Coffee-house at Charing Cross, which flourished in
the time of Charles II., sold "Anderson's Pills"--a compound of cloves,
jalap, and oil of aniseed. At the same house were to be had tickets for
the various county feasts, then popular, which were an anticipation of
the annual dinners of county associations so common nowadays.
Razor-strops of a certain make were to be bought in 1705 at John's
Coffee-house, Exchange Alley. In 1742 it was advertised that "silver
tickets" (season tickets) for Ranelagh Gardens were to be had at any
hour of the day at Forrest's Coffee-house, near Charing Cross. "All
Sorts of the newest fashion'd Tye Perukes, made of fresh string, Humane
Hair, far exceeding any Country Work," were advertised in 1725 as to be
bought at Brown's Coffee-house in Spring Gardens.
House agents, professional men, and other folk of more questionable
kind, were all wont to advertise that they could be seen by clients
at this or that coffee-house. The famous and impudent Mrs. Mapp, "the
bone-setter," drove into town daily from Epsom in her own carriage,
and was to be seen (and heard) at the "Grecian." Most of the houses
were willing to receive letters in answer to advertisements, and
from the nature of the latter must often, it is pretty certain, have
been assisting parties to fraud and chicanery of various kind. At
some houses, besides those like Lloyd's specially devoted to auction
business, sales were held. A black boy was advertised to be sold at
Denis's Coffee-house in Finch Lane in 1708. In the middle of the
eighteenth century sales were often held at the "Apollo" Coffee-house,
just within Temple Bar, and facing Temple Gate. Picture sales were
usually held at coffee-houses. The catalogue of one such sale, held at
the "Barbadoes" Coffee-house in February, 1689/90, contains a glowing
address on the art of painting by Millington, the Auctioneer, written
in the style made famous later by George Robins. Says the eloquent
Millington:
"This incomparable art at the same time informs the Judgment,
pleases the Fancy, recreates the Eye, and touches the Soul,
entertains the Curious with silent Instruction, by expressing
our most noble Passions, and never fails of rewarding its
admirers with the greatest Pleasures, so Innocent and
Ravishing, that the severest Moralists, the Morosest _Stoicks_
cannot be offended therewith,"
and so on and so on.
Many of the early book sales, too, were held at coffee-houses. The
third book auction in England, that of the library of the Rev. William
Greenhill, was held on February 18th, 1677/78, "in the House of
Ferdinand Stable, Coffee-Seller, at the Sign of the 'Turk's Head,'" in
Bread Street. When sales were held elsewhere, catalogues could usually
be had at some of the leading coffee-houses.
Besides serving as reading, writing and sale rooms, they seem sometimes
to have been used as lecture rooms. William Whiston, in his _Memoirs_
written by himself (1749), says:
"Mr. Addison, with his friend Sir Richard Steele, brought me
upon my banishment from Cambridge, to have many astronomical
lectures at Mr. Button's coffee-house, near Covent Garden, to
the agreeable entertainment of a great number of persons, and
the procuring me and my family some comfortable support under
my banishment."
Some of the houses, as an additional attraction to visitors, offered
exhibitions of collections of curiosities. The most famous collection
of this kind was that to be seen for many years at Don Saltero's
Coffee-house at Chelsea. Don Saltero, by the way, was simply plain
James Salter disguised. Some of his exhibits were supplied by his
former master, Sir Hans Sloane, and by other scientific friends and
patrons. But mixed with things of genuine interest were to be seen all
sorts of rubbish. Steele made fun of the collection in _The Tatler_.
But people came to see the "piece of nun's skin tanned," "Job's tears,
which grow on a tree, and of which anodyne necklaces are made," a
"waistcoat to prevent sweating," and the many other strange articles
which were shown side by side with the wooden shoe (of doubtful
authenticity, one would think) which was placed under Mr. Speaker's
chair in the time of James II., the King of Morocco's tobacco pipe,
Oliver Cromwell's sword, and the like "historical" curiosities; and
Mr. Salter had no reason to be dissatisfied with the results of his
ingenuity. The most interesting association of this coffee-house,
perhaps, is Pennant's story of how it was frequented by Richard
Cromwell, the quondam Lord Protector, described in his peaceful age as
"a little and very neat old man, with a most placid countenance, the
effect of his innocent and unambitious life."
Not far from Don Saltero's was the old Chelsea Bun-house, which also
contained a museum. The last relics of this collection were sold in
April, 1839, and included a few pictures, plaster casts, a model of
the bun-house, another, in cut paper, of St. Mary Redcliff Church, and
other things of a still more trumpery character.
Richard Thoresby tells us that when he was in London, in the summer
of 1714, he met his "old friend Dr. Sloane at the coffee-house of Mr.
Miers, who hath a handsome collection of curiosities in the room where
the virtuosi meet." As the name of the proprietor only is given, it is
not easy to identify this house, but possibly it was the "Grecian" in
Devereux Court, which was a favourite resort of the learned. It was
at the "Grecian," by the way, that Goldsmith, in the latter years of
his life, was often the life and soul of the Templars who were wont
to meet there. In their company he sometimes amused himself with the
flute, or with whist--"neither of which he played very well." When he
took what he called a "Shoemaker's holiday," Goldsmith, after his day's
excursion, "concluded by supping at the 'Grecian' or 'Temple-Exchange'
Coffee-house, or at the 'Globe' in Fleet Street."
A word must be said as to the manners of the frequenters of
coffee-houses. The author of _A Trip through London_, 1728, tells
of fops who stare you out of countenance, and describes one man as
standing with his back to the fire "in a great coffee-house near the
Temple," and there spouting poetry--a remarkable specimen, indeed, of
the bore; but on the whole the evidence goes to show that bad manners
were usually resented by the rest of the company, and that good humour
and good manners were marked characteristics of coffee-house life.
There were exceptional incidents, of course. A fatal duel once resulted
from a heated argument at the "Grecian" about a Greek accent. One
day, soon after the first appearance of _The Tatler_, two or three
well-dressed men walked into the coffee-room of the "St. James's,"
and began in a loud, truculent manner to abuse Steele as the author
of that paper. One of them at last swore that he would cut Steele's
throat or teach him better manners. Among the company present was Lord
Forbes, with two friends, officers of high rank in the army. When the
cut-throat had uttered his threat, Lord Forbes said significantly,
"In this country you will find it easier to cut a purse than to cut a
throat," and with the aid of the military gentlemen the bullies were
ignominiously turned out of the house. Many years later, in 1776, the
"St. James's" was the scene of a singular act of senseless violence. It
is tersely described in a letter from Lord Carlisle to George Selwyn.
He writes:
"The Baron de Lingsivy ran a French officer through the body
on Thursday for laughing in the St. James's Coffee-house. I
find he did not pretend that he himself was laughed at, but at
that moment he chose that the world should be grave. The man
won't die, and the baron will not be hanged."
Incidents of this kind, however, were of rare occurrence.
But it is impossible to attempt to exhaust the subject of the Old
London Coffee-houses in one brief chapter. For a hundred years they
focussed the life of the town. Within their hospitable walls men of
all classes and occupations, independently, or in clubs and coteries,
met not only for refreshment, but for social intercourse--to read and
hear the news, to discuss the topics of the day, to entertain and be
entertained. This was the chief end they served. Incidentally, as we
have seen, they served a number of other subsidiary and more of less
useful purposes. They died slowly. Gradually the better-class houses
became more exclusive, and were merged in clubs of the modern kind.
The inferior houses were driven from public favour by the taverns and
public-houses, or, degenerating from their former condition, lingered
on as coffee-houses still, but of the lower type, which is not yet
quite extinct.
THE LEARNED SOCIETIES OF LONDON
BY SIR EDWARD BRABROOK, C.B., F.S.A.
In a sense some of the City Guilds are entitled to be called "learned
societies"--as the Apothecaries, the Parish Clerks, the Stationers,
and the Surgeons--but they are dealt with under their proper head. By
the learned societies of London, we mean here those voluntary bodies
existing with or without royal patronage, but relying wholly for
support on the contributions of their members, which have taken upon
themselves the promotion of knowledge in one or more of its branches.
The earliest which we have been able to trace is that Society of
Antiquaries which was founded in 1572, the fourteenth year of Queen
Elizabeth, at the house of Sir Robert Cotton, under the presidency of
Archbishop Parker. It counted among its members Lancelot Andrewes,
Bishop of Winchester, William Camden, Sir William Dethicke, Garter,
William Lambarde, James Ley, Earl of Marlborough, John Stow, Mr.
Justice Whitelock, and other antiquaries of distinction. It is said
that James I. became alarmed for the arcana of his Government and, as
some thought, for the established Church, and accordingly put an end to
the existence of the society in 1604.
His grandson, Charles II., founded the Royal Society of London for
improving natural knowledge in the year 1660, and thus gave effect to a
project which had been in the minds of many learned men for some time,
is expounded by Bacon in his scheme of Solomon's house, and is perhaps
best embodied in a letter which was addressed by John Evelyn to the
Hon. Robert Boyle on September 1, 1659. The first meeting recorded in
the journals of the society was held on November 28, 1660, and Evelyn
was elected a member on December 26 of that year. Sir R. Moray was the
first president. Graunt aptly called the society "The King's Privy
Council for Philosophy." Statutes were duly framed by the society, and
received the King's approval in January, 1662-3. For many years it held
its meetings at Gresham College, with an interval of about four years
(1669-1673), when it occupied Chelsea College. Its charters (dated
1662, 1663, and 1669) gave it many privileges, among others that of
using a mace, and it was formerly said that the one used by the society
was the identical mace or "bauble" of the Long Parliament, but that is
an error. The society began in 1663 the excellent practice, which has
continued to the present day, of celebrating the anniversary by dining
together on St. Andrew's Day (November 30). It began on February 21,
1665-6, the formation of its museum, a catalogue of which was published
in 1681. Many of its meetings were devoted to practical experiment;
thus, on November 14, 1666, the operation of the transfusion of blood
from one dog to another was performed in the presence of the members.
In 1671 Isaac Newton sent his reflecting telescope to the society, and
on January 11, 1671-2, he was elected a fellow. On April 28, 1686,
the manuscript of his _Principia_ was presented to the society, and
it was published by the society in the following year. Many great men
have been presidents of the society. Among them may be mentioned Sir
Christopher Wren, elected president January 12, 1680-1; Samuel Pepys,
1684; Lord Somers, Chancellor of England, 1698; Isaac Newton, 1703; Sir
Hans Sloane, on the death of Newton, 1726-7; Martin Folkes, who was
also a well-remembered President of the Society of Antiquaries, 1741;
the Earl of Macclesfield, 1753; succeeded on his death by the Earl of
Morton, 1764; James West, 1768; James Barrow, and shortly afterwards,
Sir John Pringle, 1772; Sir Joseph Banks, 1777; Wollaston, 1820; Davies
Gilbert, 1826. In 1830, a contested election took place between the
Duke of Sussex and Herschel the astronomer, when His Royal Highness was
elected by 119 votes to 111.
The Government have frequently availed themselves of the existence
of the Royal Society to entrust it with important public duties. On
December 12, 1710, the fellows of the society were appointed visitors
of the Royal Observatory. On February 7, 1712/3, the King requested
the society to supply enquiries for his ambassadors. In 1742, and
afterwards, it assisted in the determination of the standards. In 1780
its public services were recognised by the grant of apartments in
Somerset House. In 1784 it undertook a geodetical survey. Recently it
has been entrusted by Parliament with a sum of £4,000 a year, which it
allots towards encouraging scientific research. It has promoted many
public movements, such as Arctic expeditions, magnetic observations,
and the like. Originally its members were drawn from two classes--the
working-men of science and the patrons of science; and the idea is
even now maintained by certain privileges in respect of election given
to privy councillors and peers; but the recent tendency has been to
restrict its fellowship to persons eminent in physical science. The
Royal Society Club was founded in 1743, and still flourishes.
After the summary proceedings of James I., in 1604, the antiquaries
seem to have allowed the whole of the seventeenth century to pass
without any further attempt at organisation, though we learn from Mr.
Ashmole that on July 2, 1659, an antiquaries' feast was held, and many
renowned antiquaries, such as Dugdale, Spelman, Selden, and Anthony à
Wood flourished at that time. On November 5, 1707, three antiquaries
met at the "Bear" Tavern in the Strand, and agreed to hold a weekly
meeting at the same place on Fridays at 6 o'clock, "and sit till ten at
farthest." Other antiquaries joined them, and they removed next year to
the "Young Devil" Tavern in Fleet Street, where Le Neve became their
president.
[Illustration:
THE
ROYAL SOCIETY'S
LETTER.
I have (by Order of the Royal Society) seen and examined the Method
used by Mr JOHN MARSHALL, for grinding Glasses; and find that he
performs the said Work with greater Ease and Certainty than hitherto
has been practised; by means of an Invention which I take to be
his own, and New; and whereby he is enabled to make a great number
of Optick-Glasses at one time, and all exactly alike; which having
reported to the Royal Society, they were pleased to approve thereof, as
an Invention of great use; and highly to deserve Encouragement.
Lond. Jan. 18. By the Command of the
1693, 4. Royal Society.
EDM. HALLEY.
_Note_, There are several Persons who pretend to have the Approbation
of the ROYAL SOCIETY; but none has, or ever had it, but my self; as my
Letter can testifie.
_Marshall_s True SPECTACLES.
AN EARLY LETTER OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY, DATED JANUARY 18TH, 1693-4.]
In 1717 they resolved to form themselves into a society, which is the
Society of Antiquaries now existing. Its minutes have been regularly
kept since January 1, 1718. The first volume bears the motto:
"Nec veniam antiquis, sed honorem et præmia posci.
"Stukeley, secr., 1726";
and the whole of the volume appears to be in Stukeley's autograph.
In a quaint preliminary memorandum, he enumerates the "antient
monuments" the society was to study, as:
"Old Citys, Stations, Camps, public Buildings, Roads, Temples,
Abbys, Churches, Statues, Tombs, Busts, Inscriptions,
Castles, Ruins, Altars, Ornaments, Utensils, Habits, Seals,
Armour, Pourtraits, Medals, Urns, Pavements, Mapps, Charts,
Manuscripts, Genealogy, Historys, Observations, Emendations of
Books, already published, and whatever may properly belong to
the History of Bryttish Antiquitys."
The earlier publications of the society consisted of a series of
fine prints engraved by George Vertue. In 1747 it began the issue of
_Vetusta Monumenta_, and in 1770 the first edition of the first volume
of _Archæologia, or Miscellaneous Tracts relating to Antiquity_,
appeared. The Society's resources were modest. In the year 1736 its
income was only £61, but its expenditure was not more than £11, and its
accumulated funds amounted to £134. In 1752 it obtained from George
II., who declared himself to be the founder and patron of the society,
a Royal Charter of Incorporation, reciting that: