The Merry Past 



treated her with ridicule and neglect ; but she 

 seriously asserted her claim, and referred to the men 

 at the turnpike gate, who vouched for the fact that 

 within their own knowledge she had lived unmolested 

 in that place for several years. The young lawyer 

 then drew his pen, and threatened the Chancellor 

 that if he did not make satisfactory reparation, he 

 would take such steps, in his own court, as would 

 stop the building till the complainant was satisfied. 

 His lordship saw clearly how the matter really lay, 

 but finding he was legally caught, thought it would be 

 better to give the old lady a sum of money than 

 suffer the inconvenience of having the progress of 

 his building interrupted, for which reason he paid 

 a certain amount on the spot in full satisfaction for 

 the loss of her dwelling. 



The changes of fashion as regards locality in London 

 are very curious. 



When King George the Second kept his court at 

 St. James's, his son Frederick, Prince of Wales, 

 kept his court, in opposition, at Leicester House, 

 then standing in Leicester Square, and the neigh- 

 bourhood was crowded with persons of considerable 

 rank and importance, whilst the taverns and houses of 

 entertainment were popular. Among them was then 

 (at the west end of Cecil's Court, in St. Martin's 

 Lane), a house known by the name of Pons' Coffee 

 House. In its most flourishing days it was frequented 

 by the best class of foreigners, principally French, 

 who were then in London. For their accommodation 

 Monsieur Pons established the first table d'hote a la 



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