Echoes Of The Last Century.

ECHOES OF THE LAST CENTURY .

BY WILLIAM ANDEEWS , F . R . H . S ., Honorary Secretary of the Hull Literary Club . Author of " The Book of Oddities , " "Punishments in the Olden Times , " eta . rpHE mannersthe sentimentstastesand employments of a nation undergo

, , , - * - the most marvellous changes with inconceivable rapidity , not , it is true , by any instantaneous process , but by almost imperceptible gradations that are operating every day of our lives . We find the habits and ideas of a people of one century totally unlike those of the next , the paths pursued by each generation diverging more and more widely in the differences from that of their progenitors . At no period are the immense differences to be observed to

be more marked than the rapid transitions which have taken place since the eighteenth century . The great reason for this is undoubtedly the advance of science , which by the very nature of its manifestations , necessarily brings in its train an entire alteration in all that comes under its influence , and does away , in a more or less complete degree , with the superstition , crudeness , and easy content which go with an undeveloped condition . Steam , gas , and

electricity are the magicians which have transformed every phase and circumstance of our life . Travelling of every sort , improved printing , and the wide dissemination thereby of every description of knowledge , the building and lighting of our towns and cities , the laws and the administration of justice ; in fact , the whole network of human affairs is as different in feature now from that of the last century as though we were examining the contrast between two separate countries . We will listen to a few of the echoes of the last

century , and hear what they have to tell us of the lives , pursuits , and employments of our ancestors of that period . We listen vainly for any echo from the homes of the people ; the nearest approach to such a place for the display of human nature being the coffee-houses and chocolate-houses which were daily visited by Steele , Pope , Tickell , Ambrose Phillips , ancl many others of note . A few of the London clubs of the eighteenth century , were the Ug ly Club

, the Surly Club , the Split Farthing Club , the Mock Heroes' Club , the Quack Club , the Beef Steak Club , ancl the Small Coalman ' s Music Club . The club life- was for the male sex the most social part of their existence . Here they met to exchange the salutations of the day , to discuss politics and read the papers ( for which privilege they paid one penny ) , though they were not uncommonly the scenes of riot and bacchanalian orgies . Leaving the subject

of clubs , we will glance at one or two features of the more serious business of commerce . In those days the rich merchants , not yet migrated to the Westend , occupied premises adjoining their places of' business , but with this exception , the merchant of yore much resembled his representative of to-day . In the lower branches of trade , the thrifty ( or otherwise ) shopkeeper we find greater difference . Shops and banks were distinguished bsi which were

y gns , of immense size and weight , ancl which threatened the destruction of the citizen who passed beneath . Of the bankers' signs , it may be remarked that Child ' s ( near Temple Bar ) was a "Marygold , " ancl Hoares the " Leather Bottle , " and the cheques of the latter still bear its mark . In 1764 , the swinging signs were abolished by order of Council .

The coinage of the period consisted of most of our modern values , and in addition , guineas , half-guineas , quarter-guineas , seven-shilling pieces , and dollars captured from the Spaniards . The pence were silver , as not until