Old times

Of the period of which this book treats, there have been political histories, and scurrilous books written anent the Royal Family, _ad nauseam_: and the Diaries which have been...

_Extract of a letter from Chatham, May 5._--"Yesterday morning, between six and seven o'clock, an express arrived from the Lords of the Admiralty to Commodore Pasley, at this po...

The French Revolution, no doubt, stirred up the discontented, and disaffected, in England: the perusal of Paine's "Rights of Man" in no ways tended to soothe a rebellious feelin...

Nor was it money only, that our forefathers gave. In October 195,000 men were voted for the land service for the year 1797, and 120,000 seamen and marines for the navy. There wa...

The latter part of the last century was noticeable for the great, and grave, mutations which took place in masculine attire, and, most particularly, during the times here treate...

"The general fashion of wearing _Spencers_, reminds us of a wager laid by Lord _March_, who betted several years ago a considerable sum with some of his friends, that he would b...

"_High heels_ are once more the rage; there is, however, no scarcity of _flats_. During the reign of the _flat sole_, the Ladies make more faux-pas than ever, so that we need en...

"We stated several days since, that it had been determined by Mr. Pitt to alter, very materially, the Bill now before the House of Commons, for manning the navy. The principal a...

"A melancholy accident happened yesterday, about one o'clock, at the Recruiting Office, Angel Court, Charing Cross. A sergeant having kidnapped a man, for the better securing hi...

Kelsey's was a famous fruiterer's, &c., in St. James's Street, and we are here presented with one of the boy officers, whose legs cannot reach the ground, and who has not yet lo...

"The proposed plan of a new Penny Post is no longer talked of:--It is every day more, and more, wanted, as the present mode is extremely irregular, and insufficient. According t...

All articles of luxury, and very many of absolute necessity, were taxed to supply the drain of the war--and, doubtless, people had to be economical--but the following advertisem...

"The Court then proceeded to take into consideration the Resolutions of his Majesty's Hon. Privy Council, recommending the use of standard wheaten Bread (see the Advertisement i...

"HIGH PRICE OF MEAT. This alarming circumstance is not owing to any real scarcity of oxen, sheep, or hogs, but, partly, to a combination among the carcass-butchers in the wholes...

The following notices will show that, what with over-crowding, and bad roads, accidents were as frequent by road as they are now by rail--indeed, the per centage, considering th...

"The Play-house is the first place of resort, which from the frequency of his visits, instead of being an instructive amusement, or a moral lesson, turns out a rendezvous of int...

"A _Mr. Marston_, of the Borough, has laid a bet of 2000 guineas, that he will, in the course of the ensuing week, go into one of the great wheels of the water-works at London B...

"Annual tickets, and orders are accompanied with a very great inconvenience: the side boxes are filled, at present, with butlers, and valets-de-chambre. It is not that these per...

"The Opera.--The Public are acquainted, that on Saturday se'nnight there was a violent disturbance at the Opera House, in consequence of the Subscribers shewing great dissatisfa...

"At the Duchess of Marlborough's Gala, on Wednesday evening, one of the principal ornaments was the _statute_ of Precedency, elegantly illuminated, in variegated lamps over the...

In 1796, there was an extraordinary scarcity of silver, which taxed severely, the resources of the Government to meet. The difficulty was met, to some extent, by the issue of Sp...

Indeed, even before that, and as far back as May, 1788, a Mrs. Smith had been stabbed in the upper part of her thigh by a man in Fleet Street, and was even followed by him to a...

What finally became of him is not known. Mr. Angerstein offered the reward to Miss Porter, as it was by her instrumentality that the Monster was captured, but she refused it.

"The Prosecutor was a Jew, and a common informer, in which character he had gone, on the above mentioned day, to the Fleet Prison, to serve the wife of Mr. Richards, with a noti...

"There are no patriotic gifts now made for carrying on the war in France!--no bodkins, scissors, thimbles, rings, and necklaces! The Army is left to shift for itself: and, if th...

"Some of the cream-coloured horses formerly attached to the Royal Coach, and which were only used on state days, are now employed in the daily drudgery of hackney coaches. The p...

"Away posted the Lady and purchased a piece of ground, just large enough to swing a Cat in, at the new burial ground in Mary-le-bonne. The charge was trifling, only two guineas;...

"Advt.--DOG AND DUCK SPA AND BATH, St. Georges Fields.--J. Hedger respectfully informs the Public, that the Gardens of the above Spa are open for the reception of those who wish...

"The late determination of several of the Publicans, to alter the established mode of serving their outdoor customers, with quart, and pint pots, seems to have been copied from...

"In respect to the quantity of their allowance, we state, on the most certain authority, that their subsistence is a pound of bread, and half a pound of good fresh beef, _every...

George III., his illness in 1788, 3; his recovery, 6; thanksgiving, goes to St. Paul's, 7; stone thrown at his coach, 10; message to Parliament declaring war with France, 18; in...