repeal of the act, was enthusiastically greeted by the crowd in May,
1766. Here, too, for several years the fishermen set up May poles.

Bradford gave up the coffee house when he joined the newly formed
Revolutionary army as major, later becoming a colonel. When the British
entered the city in September, 1777, the officers resorted to the London
coffee house, which was much frequented by Tory sympathizers. After the
British had evacuated the city, Colonel Bradford resumed proprietorship;
but he found a change in the public's attitude toward the old resort,
and thereafter its fortunes began to decline, probably hastened by the
keen competition offered by the City tavern, which had been opened a few
years before.

Bradford gave up the lease in 1780, transferring the property to John
Pemberton, who leased it to Gifford Dally. Pemberton was a Friend, and
his scruples about gambling and other sins are well exhibited in the
terms of the lease in which said Dally "covenants and agrees and
promises that he will exert his endeavors as a Christian to preserve
decency and order in said house, and to discourage the profanation of
the sacred name of God Almighty by cursing, swearing, etc., and that the
house on the first day of the week shall always be kept closed from
public use." It is further covenanted that "under a penalty of L100 he
will not allow or suffer any person to use, or play at, or divert
themselves with cards, dice, backgammon, or any other unlawful game."

[Illustration: THE CITY TAVERN, BUILT IN 1773, AND KNOWN AS THE
MERCHANTS COFFEE HOUSE

The tavern (at the left) was regarded as the largest inn of the colonies
and stood next to the Bank of Pennsylvania (center). From a print made
from a rare Birch engraving]

It would seem from the terms of the lease that what Pemberton thought
were ungodly things, were countenanced in other coffee houses of the
day. Perhaps the regulations were too strict; for a few years later the
house had passed into the hands of John Stokes, who used it as dwelling
and a store.

_City Tavern or Merchants Coffee House_

The last of the celebrated coffee houses in Philadelphia was built in
1773 under the name of the City tavern, which later became known as the
Merchants coffee house, possibly after the house of the same name that
was then famous in New York. It stood in Second Street near Walnut
Street, and in some respects was even more noted than Bradford's London
coffee house,