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INDTANASTATE NORMALLIBRARYThe Normal AdvamcVolume XVIII.TERRE HAUTE, IND., APRIL, 1913.Number 7.is>porte anb &mu£ementg in tije ^tme of (JBueen &tmeHESTER R. HOFFMAN(Senior in the Training High School)With the accession of Queen Anne we comeupon a date of talkers, tea drinkers, coffeehouses, snuff and scandal. Though Queen Annewas very moderate herself in her pleasures, andtried to restrict manjr of the practices of hertime, she could by no means restrict herpleasure loving court. AVith the restoring ofCharles II. all the passions of the polite society, held in check by the Commonwealth,broke forth. From the extreme forced piety,the beaux and belles of the English court, ledby their Merry Monarch, turned to the mostunbridled pursuit of enjoyment. The pace setby Charles II was continued through the reignsof James II and William and Mary, and wasnot in any way lessened by the coming of Anne.The excessive love of company among the idleclasses was thus bemoaned by the FemaleSpectator: Ladies run galloping in troopsevery evening to masquerades, balls, and assemblies in winter, and in the summer to Vauxhall.Ranelagh, Cupers Gardens, Mary-le-Bow, Sadlers Wells, both old and new, GoodmansFields, and twenty other such like places, whichin this age of luxury serve as decoys to drawthe thoughtless and unwary together.Breakfasts, auctions, dinners, dances andcards filled up the day of the fashionableworld. Never were politics of a keener, moreabsorbing interest never was news from townto town more breathlessly awaited yet it is notwith the doings at Westminster, with the talkon the Exchange or in St. Pauls Walk, thatwe must concern ourselves, but rather with theplays, the masques, the pageants, the shows andthe various arts with which men killed time.These were many and suited to a variety oftastes, for London was a city of pleasure noless than a city of business indeed, businessseems to have been considerably less encroaching as to hours than it is now, since plays, ballsand pageants took place in the afternoons bydaylight.The day of the fashionable London gallant,upon whose class the heavy responsibility ofsetting the fashion depended, rarely began before nine oclock in the morning, when a cupof chocolate was taken in bed. The morningworld was then forgotten, until twelve oclockwhen the gallant languidly arose, drank a cupof bohea, and began the task of dressing. Thisoccupied a great deal of time, and it was notuntil those duties had been religiously performed that the serious work of the day oegan.Every point of his toilet being punctiliouslycorrect, he then repaired to the Mall in St.Jamess Park, or perhaps the more ceremoniousparade in Hyde Park, where he paid his courtto some frail and jilting beauty. He nextsauntered into the boudoir of some favoritenymph—the ladies were all known as nymphs—who had spent her morning at embroideringa corner of her flower handkerchief and sittingbefore a mirror to determine a patch. He waswelcomed gladly at the boudoir and the timewas dawdled away with forfeits, with playingat toys, with puzzles, or with music anddancing.During this time, all the public gardens andplaces of common resort were alive and astirwith all sorts of conditions, both of men andwomen. The wearisome relaxation of the |
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http://indstate.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/isuarchive/id/34614 |
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Indiana State University Archives |
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