Good manners
developed for all occasions, with much less swearing and less
rudeness. By gentlemen's agreements, men did favors for each other
without a monetary price, but with the expectancy of a favor in
return. The love of one man for another was recognized as the
highest and noblest of human passions. People of high social
standing left their country estates to spend the winter season in
their townhouses in London with its many recreations such as
receptions, routs, levies, masquerades, balls, dinner parties,
clubs, pleasure gardens, theaters, shops, shows, taverns, and
chocolate and coffee houses. Coffee houses provided Turkish
coffee, West Indian sugar and cocoa, Chinese tea, Virginia
tobacco, and newspapers. They were frequented by learned scholars
and wits, dandies, politicians, and professional newsmongers. Men
of fashion often engaged in wagers and gambling at their clubs and
coffee houses. There were wagers on such matters as the longevity
of friends and prominent people, fertility of female friends,
wartime actions, and political matters. Carriage by sedan-chair
was common. Gentlemen often had valets. In 1776, Buckingham House
was bought as a palace for the royal couple.
People from different parts of London differed in ways of
thinking, conversation, customs, manners, and interests. For
instance there were sections where sailors lived, and where
weavers, watchmakers, and cow keepers each lived and worked.
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