Fragments of Two Centuries | Page 2

. . . . . 103
CHAPTER XI.
Royston in 1800-25.--Its Surroundings, its Streets, and its
People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
CHAPTER XII.
Public Worship and Education.--Morals and Music . . . . . . 117
CHAPTER XIII.
Sports and Pastimes.--Cricket, Hunting, Racing, and
Prize-Fighting.--The Butcher and the Baronet, and other
Champions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
CHAPTER XIV.
Old Coaching Days.--Stage Wagons and Stage Coaches . . . . . 142
CHAPTER XV.
New Wine and Old Bottles.--A Parochial Revolution.--The Old
Poor-House and the New "Bastille" . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
CHAPTER XVI.
When the Policeman Came.--When the Railway Came.--Curious and
Memorable Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
CHAPTER XVII.
Then and Now.--Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

ERRATA--Page 16, lines 9 and 29, for Dr. Monsey, read Dr. Mowse.
[Transcriber's note: These changes have been incorporated into this
e-book.]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
Portrait of King George III. . . . . . . . . . . . . Frontispiece
Old Stage Wagon, A.D. 1800 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
The "Fox and Hounds," Barley, Herts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Lady in Reign of George III. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Old Jockey House--King James' Stables--Near Royston . . . . . 22
Staircase into Royston Cave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Illustration of a portion of the Interior of Royston Cave . . 37
Dogberry "On Duty" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Napoleon Buonaparte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Tinder-Box, Flint, Steel, and Matches . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
A Lady of the Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
The Old Parish Stocks at Meldreth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Reading the News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
The Hunt Breakfast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Third-Class to London . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
A Cambridge Election Party . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Triumphal Arch at Buntingford .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Triumphal Arch at Royston . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Wimpole Mansion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

{1}
FRAGMENTS OF TWO CENTURIES.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION.--"THE GOOD OLD TIMES."
The Jubilee Monarch, King George III., and his last name-sake, had
succeeded so much that was unsettled in the previous hundred years,
that the last half of the 18th Century was a period almost of
comparative quiet in home affairs. Abroad were stirring events in
abundance in which England played its part, for the century gives, at a
rough calculation, 56 years of war to 44 years of peace, while the reign
of George III. had 37 years of war and 23 years of peace--the longest
period of peace being 10 years, and of war 24 years (1793-1816). But
in all these stirring events, there was, in the greater part of the reign, at
least, and notwithstanding some murmurings, the appearance of a
solidity in the Constitution which has somehow settled down into the
tradition of "the good old times." A cynic might have described the