us made a show of business."

John Timbs, in his _Clubs and Club Life in London_, has a host of
anecdotes and stories of the old London coffee houses, among them the
following:

Garraway's noted coffee-house, situated in Change-alley, Cornhill,
had a threefold celebrity; tea was first sold in England here; it
was a place of great resort in the time of the South Sea Bubble;
and was later a place of great mercantile transactions. The
original proprietor was Thomas Garway, tobacconist and coffee-man,
the first who retailed tea, recommending it as a cure of all
disorders.

[Illustration: "HIS WARMEST WELCOME AT AN INN"

The George Inn of today has retained a portion of its old
galleries, the original of which completely surrounded the
courtyard in typical "Dickens Inn" style. The visitor can imagine
Mr. Pickwick emerging from the door of one of the bedrooms and
calling into the yard to Sam Weller. In the old-fashioned coffee
room on the ground floor one may still lunch and dine enclosed in
high bench seats]

Ogilby, the compiler of the _Britannia_, had his standing lottery
of books at Mr. Garway's Coffee-house from April 7, 1673, till
wholly drawn off. And, in the "Journey through England," 1722,
Garraway's, Robins's, and Joe's are described as the three
celebrated coffee-houses: "In the first, the People of Quality, who
have business in the City, and the most considerable and wealthy
citizens frequent. In the second the Foreign Banquiers, and often
even Foreign Ministers. And in the third, the buyers and sellers of
stock."

Wines were sold at Garraway's in 1673, "by the candle", that is, by
auction, while an inch of candle burns. In the _Tatler_, No. 147,
we read: "Upon my coming home last night, I found a very handsome
present of French wine, left for me, as a taste of 216 hogshead,
which are to be put on sale at 20L a hogshead, at Garraway's
Coffee-house, in Exchange alley" etc. The sale by candle is not,
however, by candlelight, but during the day. At the commencement of
the sale, when the auctioneer has read a description of the
property, and the conditions on which it is to be disposed of, a
piece of candle, usually an inch long, is lighted, and he who is
the last bidder at the time the light goes out is declared the
purchaser.

Sw