CHAPTER XIV

COFFEE-HOUSE LIFE IN LONDON

Coffee was probably introduced from Abyssinia into the Arabian

Peninsula towards the end of the fifteenth century. Coffee-drinking
became common among the Arabians and soon spread to Europe where
coffee-houses became popular in the course of the seventeenth century.
In the city of London, coffee-houses were for the first time introduced
in the days or the Commonwealth and were very popular for decades.
By the beginning of the eighteenth century, that is, in the reign of Queen
Anne, the coffee-house was the centre of social life in the city. In London
alone there were as many as five hundred coffee-houses. Macaulay in
his History of England states that the coffee-house was the thing which
distinguished the city of London from all other cities of England. He
goes on to add that it was something like the Londoner’s home. Those
who wished to find a particular gentleman usually asked, not whether he
lived in Fleet Street or Chancery Lane but whether he frequented the
“Grecian” or the “Rainbow”.

Almost every man of the upper or middle class frequented his

favourite coffee-house either for more social contact or to transact
business, or both. People of different political creeds, religious beliefs
and professions had their separate coffee-houses. Thus the Tories went
to their favourite “Cocoa Tree Chocolate House” and the Whigs to “St.
James’s Coffee House.” No doubt politics was discussed with
extraordinary heat and energy by the partisans who gathered in these
places.

The favourite resort of the learned literary men was the much
celebrated “Will’s Coffee House,” which was situated between Covent
Garden and Bow Street. Obviously literary topics like poetic justice or
the three classical unities were discussed at their meetings. Animated
by hot coffee another group discussed the propriety of Paradise Lost
being written in rhyme. By about 1685 the most esteemed literary genius
who visited this coffee-house was John Dryden. He was in those days
so famous a literary figure that one considered it a privilege to have a
 COFFEE-HOUSE LIFE IN LONDON 85
seat near him. In winter Dryden’s seat in the coffee-house was the
warmest nook by the fire, but in summer it was in the balcony. Smoking
was common in all the coffee-houses and particularly at Will’s. Macaulay
points out that the coffee rooms without exception incessantly reeked
with tobacco. Casual visitors to these centres of social contact sometimes
expressed surprise that so many people should leave their own firesides
to sit in the midst of so much smoke and stench. Another coffeehouse
which was something like a rival to Will’s was “Button’s Coffee” which
stood in Russel Street near Covent Garden. It was called so because it
was founded by one Mr. Button, an old servant of Joseph Addison.
Chief among the literary luminaries who patronized it were Dryden,
Addison, Richard Steele and Alexander Pope. “The Grecian Coffee
House” which stood in Essex Street near the Strand was patronized by
scholars and critics.

The doctors of the city had their own favourite coffee-houses.

Dr. John Radcliffe, the doctor with the largest practice in England towards
the end of the Restoration period, used to come to the coffee-house
named “Garraway’s.” During the fixed hours of his visit he was very
much in demand both by patients and by men of his own profession who
wanted to seek his advice. Situated in Change Alley, Comhill; the coffee­
house was founded by one Thomas Garway, a dealer in tea, coffee and
tobacco. This was also the meeting place of the business magnates
whose object in coming there was to transact business.

The clergy had their own favourite coffee-house known as

“Truby’s.” There were separate coffee-houses for Roman Catholics,
Puritans and Jews. Some of the pious Protestants sincerely believed
that the Catholics met in their Coffee-houses only to conspire against
the Government. A very remarkable thing about the Puritan coffee­
house was that swearing was totally banned there. Over a cup of coffee
they discussed with interest and at times with anxiety the outcome of
the impending election. The Jews, when they met in their coffee-house,
were chiefly concerned about exploring ways and means of investing
their money at the highest possible rates of interest.
86___________ SOCIAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND_________
Coffee-houses played a prominent part in promoting social life in
the country. Certain circumstances were responsible for this. Those
were days when public meetings and newspapers were unheard of. In
such circumstances the only place where people could meet and
exchange views on matters of common interest was the coffee-house.
In a sense the coffee-house can be called the cradle of British democracy,
as it was the only place where people of all ranks met and moved freely
without any inhibition.

The coffee-houses were centres of free discussion on all things

under the sky particularly politics and religion. Right from the Restoration,
Government was feeling rather uneasy about their popularity. An attempt
was made during Danby’s administration to close down all the coffee­
houses, but the outcry against it was so much that the Government was
forced to revoke the prohibition. However, more than a century later,
during the French Revolution the coffee-houses became centres of heated
discussion against the Government’s attitude to the Revolutionary
movement. It had, therefore, no other option but to order the closure of
all coffee-houses in me city. It war, only many years after the Napoleonic
Wars that the political climate became favourable for their revival.
 CHAPTER XV

THE UNION OF ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND

England and Scotland came under the rule of one monarch when
James VI of Scotland became King of England in 1603. Right from the
beginning it was an uneasy Union which did no good to either country.
Not only that, there were frequent quarrels. So it became necessary to
do something more constructive so that the fruits of Union might be
enjoyed by the partners. The result of a prolonged consideration was the
Act of Union which was passed on 1st May 1707. According to this the
two countries became one, having a common Parliament which sat at
Westminster. It was agreed that Scotland would be represented by forty-
five members in the House of Commons and sixteen peers in the House
of Lords.

Prior to the Union, that is when England and Scotland were under
a nominal Crown, the contact between the people of the two countries
was very little. The Scots had more contact with European countries
than with England. The Presbyterian clergy and lawyers always went to
the Dutch universities for their higher education and seldom came to
Oxford or Cambridge. As far as business was concerned, the Scottish
overseas merchants had transactions with Holland and Scandinavia but
not with England or the English colonies.

At first the Union was popular neither in England nor in Scotland.

Even after 1707, the estranged relationship continued for at least one
generation or more. That was why the Old Pretender in 1715 and the
Young Pretender in 1745 were able to get a large number of supporters,
especially from the Highlands of Scotland. The marriage of England and
Scotland was not the result of love at first sight. On the other hand, it
was a well-thought out alliance which was intended to bring about a
union of hearts as well as heads. So in spite of the initial difficulties and
misunderstandings, as years passed by there was better understanding
and co-operation between the partners which proved beneficial to both
the parties. For instance, before the Union, agriculture in Scotland had
been antiquated and miserable, but after the Union she was aLie to
88___________ SOCIAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND_________
initiate England’s agricultural methods. A few English ploughmen and
farmers from South Britain were employed by the Scottish landlords to
teach them better methods of cultivation. The agricultural experiments
conducted in Scotland were so remarkable that by the time of the
Napoleonic wars, she was in a position to teach new things to England.

After the Union there was considerable improvement in the standard

of living of the Scottish people. In the earlier years low wages, poor
living and periodic famine were the sad lot of the people. Things changed
for the better in the course of the eighteenth century. Potatoes, vegetables,
cheese and occasionally meat, were added to the porridge and milk
which was the staple diet of the poor in Scotland. A great change for the
better took place to Scottish housing also. In some regions, solid stone
farms and cottages with one or two rooms, with chimneys, glass windows,
beds, furniture and outside privies replaced the hovels which the peasants
of Scotland used to share with their cattle. Thus the sturdy Scots of the
time of Robert Bums (1759-1796) looked a different race from their
grandfathers whom want of food, clothing and warmth had too often
made haggard and dull looking.

The main religion of Scotland was Presbyterianism, i.e., a Church

governed by elders and ministers all of equal rank. These elders very
often interfered even in the everyday life of individuals. The punishment
they inflicted on sins of immorality was exasperating and even ludicrous.
An adulterer or a fornicator, for example, was exposed on the stool of
repentance in the church to the merriment of all and particularly the
young members of the congregation. To avoid this intolerable humiliation,
poor girls often resorted to concealment of pregnancy and sometimes
to child murder. This narrow-minded bigotry on the part of the elders
died out in course of time and slowly they became more broad-minded
and tolerant. This was no doubt the result of their contact with the English.
The rival religious group was the Episcopalians. The gentry of the
Lowlands were divided more or less equally into Presbyterian and
Episcopalian. In the course of the century the Episcopalians dwindled
and Presbyterianism became the acknowledged religion of Scotland.
 7

THE UNION OF ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND 89

Social contact between the two countries before the Union was
deplorably poor. It is true of the Scottish that cattle dealers sold their
cattle in the fairs of North England. But apart from this the business
transacted between Scotland and England was so little that the London
mail-bag sometimes brought only one letter to Edinburgh. Perhaps not
more than a dozen people from England visited Scotland in a year for
pleasure. Political hostility was not the only reason for this state of affairs.
The few English travelers who went to Scotland always complained
about lack of accommodation in the slovenly inns. Nor was the landscape
beautiful enough for the tourists. No Englishman then admired the wild
moorland scenery which the highly patriotic Scots no doubt loved in their
innermost hearts. The southerner despised the low land scenery as
divided between melancholy wastes and ill-managed fields of oats. As
to the Highlands, they looked horrid and frightful to English eyes. Towards
the end of the century, as a result of improved methods of cultivation the
landscape looked so beautiful that it inspired Wordsworth to write some
of this very famous poems like “The Solitary Reaper”. This new outlook
was also the outcome of improved social contacts inaugurated by the
Union. These contacts had the effect of dispelling the mist of national
prejudices which had prevented the peoples of both the countries from
seeing the good in each other. As a matter of fact all great literary men
of England visited Scotland at least once. In 1773, Dr. Johnson who was
highly prejudiced against the Scots undertook a long journey through the
Scottish Highlands and Hebrides, accompanied by his admirer and
biographer James Boswell.

The Union of 1707 was not without benefit for English literature. It
was enriched by the generous contributions of Scottish literary geniuses
like Robert Bums, George Smollett, Sir Walter Scott and Thomas Carlyle.
Incidentally, it may be mentioned that the greatest biography in English,
The life of Dr Johnson was also written by a Scot. Equally great was
the contribution which Scottish intellectuals made to the thought of the
world as a whole. David Hume, the Scottish philosopher, became famous
not only in England but also in France, with the publication of his book
Political Discourses. His friend and countryman Adam Smith
revolutionized the economic theories of the day when he brought out his
masterpiece, “An Enquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth
90 SOCIAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND
of Nations Other intellectuals who won international fame were
William Robertson the historiographer and Dugald Steward, the famous
professor of Moral Philosophy.

The beneficial result of the Union was seen elsewhere also. Even
into the early part of the Seventeenth century the evils of Feudalism had
survived in both Lowlands and Highlands. But the latter remained much
more primitive. For centuries together the shackles of Feudalism kept
them inactive and discontented. Shut up in the prison of poverty, the
tribal Highlanders did not know the ways and means to improve their
economic condition. The Union with England gave them an opportunity
to become partakers in the overseas trade and also to emigrate to foreign
countries like Canada. The Highlanders with their inborn fighting spirit,
by being absorbed into the British army, were able to play responsible
parts in British wars abroad.

There was a phenomenal change in the field of education too. In

the century preceding the Union, Scottish education was miserably poor.
Both out of thrift and of patriotism the idea of sending of Scottish
gentleman’s son to an English public school or university was unthinkable.
At the same time the educational institutions in Scotland did not maintain
an encouraging academic atmosphere. Even Glasgow at the time of the
Union was a market and University town with a small population ofjust
12,500. By the year 1800 the population rose to 80,000 with spectacular
improvement in the living conditions. The University became famous
also in Europe through Professor Adam Smith, the economist. Though
Edinburgh ceased to be the capital of Scotland after the Union, it
continued to be the legal, fashionable and intellectual centre of the country.
The city was famous throughout Europe for its philosophers, lawyers
and academicians.

The Union opened a new avenue for the activities of the Scottish
missionaries in many parts of the British Empire, including South India.
In addition to doing missionary work, they established a network of
educational institutions which in subsequent years were able to mould
some of the outstanding leaders of the country. On the whole it may be
said without much exaggeration that the latter part of the 18th century
marked the golden age of Scotland.
 CHAPTER XVI

THE AGRARIAN REVOLUTION

The term “Agrarian Revolution” implies the great changes that

took place in the agricultural methods of England during the second half
of the seventeenth century and the first half of the eighteenth century.
In the course of this Revolution the open field system disappeared,
rotation of crops was introduced and scientific methods were applied to
agriculture. Large farms superseded small holdings.

The causes for the revolution were many. First of all the old open
field system was wasteful of land because, according to this arrangement,
every year one of the three fields was to be out of cultivation. Secondly,
the old system of distribution of land was wasteful of time. A farmer’s
holdings were scattered and so he had to walk considerable distances to
reach the remoter strips of his land. Thirdly, there was the necessity of
conforming to the customs of the village and this made experiments in
agricultural methods impossible. There were other causes also. In the
eighteenth century population was increasing and so more food was
needed. But the yield could not be enlarged under the old system of
cultivation which therefore had to give place to another. Owing to the
scarcity of food materials there was a rise in prices. The old-fashioned
fanners thought that they could get more money if they produced more.
This idea was an incentive for them to improve their agricultural methods.

For the reallocation of lands in consolidated blocks which could be

enclosed, a number of Enclosure Acts were passed in the reign of George
Il and George III. When an Enclosure Act was passed a commissioner
was appointed to visit the village concerned and carry out the work of
reallocating the land. There were many cases of the poor peasants being
not satisfied with the reallocation. Such people sold away their small
holdings to wealthy businessmen of the city who were eager to possess
lands of their own. The final result of this tendency was that the class or
rural inhabitants known as yeomen disappeared.
92 SOCIAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND
One of the advantages of the enclosure system was that it gave
scope for many enterprising people to make experiments. One such
person who made some pioneering work in the field of agricultural
improvement was Jethro Tull of Berkshire. He was the inventor of a
drill for sowing seeds. He did much important experimental work in
connection with the depth to which seed should be sown and the amount
which should be sown per acre. He also emphasized the necessity of
careful selection of seed if good crops were to be obtained.

Another pioneer was Walpole’s brother-in-law, Charles Townshend

of Norfolk. He adopted Tull’s principles in working his estate at Rainham
and paid much attention to the question of rotation of crops. He introduced
the four-course rotation of turnips, barley, cloves and rye-grass and wheat.
These measures prevented lands from lying unproductive and fallow
and enabled him to carry more stock on his lands, and more stock meant
more manure, which in its turn led to still better crops and therefore to
still more stock. His innovations made Norfolk a leading agricultural
country, with the result that in thirty years the rental of one farm rose
from 180 pounds to 800 pounds a year. (

The work of Townshend was continued by Thomas Coke of

Hoikham in Norfolk. He followed the precepts of Tull and in addition fed
the soil with manure including bones. As a matter of fact, he was one of
the first farmers to use bones as manure. He also introduced new artificial
foods such as oil-cake and led the way in fattening cattle for the London
markets. He held yearly meeting of farmers at his house, and at these
meetings farming topics were discussed and much advice was given
and received. He changed the appearance of the countryside, by planting
trees upon his land. It is estimated that the annual rental of his estate
rose from 2,200 pounds in 1776 to 20,000 pounds in 1816.

While Norfolk landlords were thus making great improvements in

arable farming, a Leicestershire farmer, Robert Bakewell was
revolutionising English methods of stock breeding. Up to this time sheep
had been valued chiefly for their wool and the production of mutton had
been only secondary. Bakewell was the first to turn his attention to the
production of meat as the main consideration of stock breeders. By
 THE AGRARIAN REVOLUTION 93
patient choice and experiment he succeeded in producing a new breed
of sheep which fattened quickly. His success attracted the attention of
many. Farmers from far and wide visited his farm at Dishley and became
converts to his new methods. Others who did pioneering work in this
field were George Culley, Charles Colling and John Ellman.

Royal patronage was also given to the movement of revolutionising

these agricultural methods. George III, affectionately known to his
subjects as Farmer George, established a model farm at Windsor. Much
of the success of the movement was due to the writings of agricultural
writers, the most famous of whom was Arthur Young. When a Board of
Agriculture was established in 1793, Young was made its secretary. He
made a vigorous crusade in favour of enclosures, large farms and longer
leases, and made the new methods more widely known with his writings.

With the advent of the enclosure system the English banking system
also grew, for even the wealthy landlords did not have enough money to
do the fencing and to effect other improvements. So they had to borrow
money from the banks. The enclosure system also forced many small
independent farmers to sell their lands. They either became paid labourers
or went to the cities, hoping to get employment. But they were
disappointed and thus added to the army of paupers and unemployed. In
accordance with the system even the Commons were enclosed. Though
this measure was very desirable from the point of view of national
production, it had a harmful effect on the poor peasant. The system
deprived him of his privilege of grazing his cattle and cutting wood for
fuel from the Commons.
 CHAPTER XVII

THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

During the second half of the eighteenth century and the first half
of the nineteenth century British industry underwent great changes.
These changes were so remarkable that the term Industrial Revolution
has been applied to them. The word “Revolution” has the connotation of
suddenness and violence. But the term Revolution also implies
fundamental change. It is in this second sense that the terms is applicable
to the English industries because there was a fundamental and drastic
change in the industrial methods of England. Before the Industrial
Revolution goods were produced in limited quantities by human hands in
the houses of the workers; but after the Revolution goods were produced
in large quantities by machines in factories.

The Industrial Revolution started in Great Britain earlier than in

other European countries chiefly because of the political and financial
stability which she enjoyed after the Glorious Revolution. It is true that
England was involved in most of the wars of the 18th century but they
were all fought outside on the Continent or elsewhere. The fact that
England was free from foreign invasion also contributed to the industrial
development of the country. There was an accumulation of capital which
was available for investment in industry due to the profit made by the
trading companies. Capital was accumulated also as a result of
abstinence and frugality practiced from religious motives by people like
the Puritans. Great Britain’s geographical position was peculiarly suitable
for world trade, as no part of the world was inaccessible to her ships.
Her coastline offered excellent harbours and her many navigable rivers
offered means of internal communication. Her climate was invigorating
and promoted habits of industry. Natural resources were abundant and
the vast supplies of coal and iron in close proximity to each other and to
the coast were vital to industrial development.
During the Industrial Revolution, textile, coal and iron industries
and transportation underwent a thorough change. Before the Industrial
Revolution, textile work was done in the cottages by people who were
 THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 95
also engaged in agriculture, and it was done by hand or with the help of
handworked implements. In this cottage textile work, men, women and
children were all engaged. Carding of the fibre was undertaken by
children, and the straightened fibres of wool or cotton were spun into
continuous yam by women. Weaving on a handloom was usually done
by men. The supplementary processes such as dyeing or bleaching, fulling,
printing and finishing were carried on in establishments maintained by
the clothier. The system had many defects. The worst defect was that
production was deplorably slow and could not meet the ever-increasing
demand abroad for English textile goods. Some change, therefore, was
necessary in the method of spinning if production was to be increased.
In the course of time a series of inventions brought about an entire
transformation of the Textile industry.
The first mechanical invention to be made was the flying shuttle by
John Kay in 1733. The mechanism enabled cloths of any width to be
made by a single weaver and also doubled the pace at which the weaving
could be done. To keep the weavers engaged they had to be supplied
with a sufficient quantity of yam. Attention was therefore turned to the
question of spinning and in 1764 a carpenter named James Hargreaves
made the spinning-jenny which speeded up the making of yam. In 1769
a still better machine was invented by Richard Arkwright, a barber.
Arkwright put his machine to use with water-power and so it became
known as the water-frame. Its great advantage over the spinning jenny
was that it produced stronger yam. In 1779 Samuel Crompton combined
the jenny and the water-frame in his “mule” and added a contrivance to
prevent the frequent breaking of the yarn which occurred when spinning
with the jenny. The result was that a yarn much finer and stronger could
be produced. The power-loom made by Edmund Cartwright in 1785
helped to increase the speed of weaving.

By the middle of the eighteenth century there was an increased

use of iron. In 1779 the world’s first iron bridge was made spanning the
River Severn. The development of iron trade was closely associated
with the coal industry because a new method of smelting iron with coal
was devised. The great development in the iron and coal industry took
place in the early nineteenth century in places like South Wales, South
Yorkshire and Tyneside regions where coal and iron were found together,
96___________ SOCIAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND_________
either near the sea or with easy access to it by river or canal. Inventions
connected with this trade were made by people like Newcomen and
James Watt. In 1705 Newcomen created a steam engine to pump water
out of coal mines. Later, in 1763, a young mathematical instrument maker
named James Watt perfected this steam engine.

The Revolution took place in transportation also. Before the

Revolution there was no effective highway authority and most foolishly
the upkeep of high roads was entrusted to the parish. Naturally enough
the roads were in very bad condition. As a result of the Industrial
Revolution, when goods were produced on a large scale, the need was
felt for transporting goods to cities and seaports. After 1750 hundreds of
Road Acts were passed and many turnpike trustees formed. Telford
made many miles of good roads and many large towns were reached by
coaches. In 1815 Macadam taught the art of road draining and perfected
the surface of the road. By 1840 there were 22,000 miles of good turnpike
roads in England with nearly 8,000 tollgates.

The improvement of inland navigation was as important as the

improvement of roads in opening the way to industrial change. The first
half of the 18 century had been a period of much activity in deepening
the navigable rivers. The second half of the century saw the construction
of new artificial waterways. The Duke of Bridgewater, who is known
as the Father of inland navigation, connected his collieries with
Manchester by canal. The canal movement began in the rapidly
developing industrial region of South Yorkshire and West Midlands and
soon spread over the whole country. The canals and the turnpike roads
did more than stimulate the exchange of goods inside the island; they
also hastened the growth of overseas trade. Goods were distributed in
much greater quantities throughout the length and breadth of the country.

George Stephenson invented the first locomotive, and the first

railway line between Stockton and Darlington was opened in 1825,
Liverpool and Manchester were linked by railway in 1830; London and
Birmingham in 1838. Steam was also used for water transport. The first
successful steamboat in Europe was Bell’s Content, which began to run
between Glasgow and Greenock in 1812. A service was established
 THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 97
between Dublin and Holyhead in 1820. The first steam-boat reached
Liverpool from America in 1825 and two vessels steamed out from the
British Isles to New York in 1838. Since that time there has been
remarkable progress in all matters connected with ocean navigation.

The Industrial Revolution had good as well as bad results. During

the period of Industrial Revolution the population of England increased
to a very great extent. It is estimated that in 1710 the population of
England was five and a half millions; but by 1750 it had increased to six
millions. During the next fifty years there was an increase of 50 per
cent. Thus the Census of 1801 revealed a population of nine millions.
This was again doubled by 1851 and doubled again by 1901. Many new
industrial towns like Sheffield, Biriningham and Manchester and Leeds
developed with startling rapidity. The people clustered together in these
smoky towns where lack of proper sanitation caused many kinds of
diseases. The Industrial Revolution had yet another bad result. Although
the new methods led to greatly increased wealth, that did not always led
to greater comfort and happiness. The old personal relations of the
employer and the employee which in earlier days had kept master and
worker on fairly friendly terms now disappeared in many cases. This
does not mean that the Industrial Revolution was without good results.
In the first place England became the workshop of the world. The
production of goods on a large scale paved the way for fall in prices.
This led to increased demand for goods and in the end there was
employment for more people.