income, or one who has a talent for elocution or singing. Our author, after exhausting his list, admits that the young gentlemen who advertise in the penny journals are far less mercenary than the young ladies. "The latter betray quite a rapacity with regard to a good income, are very explicit about it, and put down in plain figures the precise sum which they think their charms are worth. By what means the acquaintanceship begun in these advertising columns is continued and completed we are unable to say. As a preliminary the editor kindly undertakes the charge of photographs; but of the steps by which the contracting parties advance to the goal of their wishes we know nothing. We should think that the proprietors of the journal ought to keep an attorney on the premises, to see that the gentlemen who offer £8000 are acting in good faith." Had further inspection been given to the page in which these requisitions appear, the critic would have learned that, when second steps are taken, communication is made through a newspaper belonging to the same proprietary as the penny journal, and would have seen that "all advertisements must be prepaid." But we are beginning at the wrong end, and must retrace our steps for the purpose of renewing acquaintance with our old friend Houghton, the father of English advertising, who, in his Collection of July 19, 1695, says :

** I have undertaken to advertize all sorts of Things that are honourable, and what follows is not otherwise, and I am well paid for it:

☞ A Gentleman about 30 Years of Age, that says he has a Derp Good Estate, would willingly Match Himself to some Houng Gentlewoman that has a Fortune of £3000 or thereabout, And he will make Settlement to content.

When it shall appear that I am candid and no otherwise concerned than in bringing two Elderly Persons to a Treaty; and the nine Days Wonder and Laughter (usually attending new Things) are over, and that Nobody shall know Anything of the Matter, but where I shall reasonably believe they are in good earnest; then 'tis probable such Advertisements may prove very useful.

A Young Man about 25 Years of Age, in a very good Trade, and

whose Father will make him worth £1000, would willingly embrace a suitable Match. He has been brought up a Dissenter with his Parents, and is a sober Man.

It seems the public either did not believe in the reality of these advertisements, or were suspicious of the advertisers, for a few weeks after the editor thought necessary to declare again :—

**These Proposals for Matches are real, and I do promise to manage

them and such like with so much Secresie and Prudence that none shall discourse with their best Friends, with more Confidence of Fidelity than with me, let them be of what Rank soever.

Notwithstanding these honest statements, Houghton appears to have been sadly teased on account of this innovation, for shortly after the above he once more attempted an explanation :

I thought what I said before about Matches, was very intelligible, but I find otherwise: The Case is thus:

A. comes to me and says: his Friend has a Kinsman that he would be glad to have match'd, and he is a sober, well-bred, comely, understanding Man, and in so good an Employment, that with his Fortune he shall deserve a vertuous, well-bred, discreet, comely Wife with a Fortune of £1000, but his Kinsman has not much Acquaintance and is bashful. This I publish and then comes B. and says his Friend has a Kinswoman qualified as above, and he would gladly match her to such if it be real. Upon this I bring the two that speak to me, together, and if they can understand each other they carry on the Match: and if it succeed, I shall expect some small Consideration, and this is what I intend to be concerned in the Matter.

This explanation seems to have been thought satisfactory, and no doubt eligible parties left their names and addresses with him, for a few weeks after the Collection for Improvement of Husbandry and Trade contained the following:

I know of several Men and Women whose Friends would gladly have them match'd, which I'll endeavour to do, as from Time to Time I shall hear of such whose Circumstances are likely to agree; and I'll assure such as will come to me it shall be done with all the Honour

and Secrecy imaginable. Their own Parents shall not manage it more to their Satisfaction, and the more comes to me the better I shall be able to serve them.

We have already, in an early portion of this book, dilated on the claims Houghton has on the gratitude of past and present advertisers, and so we will pass on to the next specimen on our list, which appears in the Gazetteer of December 14, 1771

A

TO GENTLEMEN OF FORTUNE.

MOST advantageous Opportunity now offers to any young Gentleman of Character and independent Fortune; the Advertiser. of this will introduce such to a most accomplished young Lady of For tune, and greater Expectancy. None but a real Gentleman will suc ceed therefore it is desired no other would apply. Letters directed to P. L. at the Nottingham Coffee-house, opposite Great Turnstile, Holborn, mentioning their present Condition, and where to inquire of the specified Particulars, signed with their own Name, will have due Regard and Honour, and Secrecy observed as it is required.

From this and kindred notices in the papers of a hundred years ago or so, it would appear that certain young ladies were kept, like the fabled damsels of old, each in an enchanted castle, until some knight should appear to break the spell. With just this difference, that not chivalry but cheque-books was the requisition, and that the dragon, instead of being punished by the avenging sword, was rewarded with the "usual percentage." In 1775 the following handbill must have been pretty familiar to residents in London :

No. 2, Dover Street, St. James's.

MARRIAGE TREATIES

Carried on, and solely calculated for such Persons as can give the best Proof of being (totally) at their own Disposal.

THE open undisguised Manner in which this truly important Busi

ness is pursued, will best appear by the following Plan, which is humbly submitted to the Judgment of the Public. Negociation of Money is also transacted at the House, where widow Ladies, Clergy, and other Gentlemen, may possibly be accommodated with Sums on granting Annuities, or otherwise, as may be agreed upon.

The great Utility of this Undertaking, especially that Department of it relative to Marriage, is so very striking, that it seems to bespeak the Approbation of this great Metropolis, where Business may almost be said to have rivall'd Marriage; for it not only robs the Gentlemen of their Time, but the Ladies of their Lovers. Now this House in Dover Street is established to supply the Time that is wanting; and Courtships may be carried on by Way of Proxy to their final Issue : thus will the Gentleman save his Time, and the Lady gain a Husband; and it will be readily allowed that happy Marriages are the very Cement of Society, the Promoters of Virtue, and may be truly said to strike at the very Root of Dissipation.

Upon these honourable, these eligible Principles, it is that the Managers of this Undertaking ground all their Hopes; nor have they ventured to announce it to the Public without the maturest Deliberation, after having considered it in every Point of View; and dare assure the World, that the most upright Conduct, greatest Delicacy and inviolable Secrecy shall be observed in all their Proceedings; and as this Plan bids fair for the Happiness of Thousands, so will it soon put a Stop to those futile, trifling (not to say dangerous) Advertisements that so frequently invade the public Ear, and which seem but too often calculated to deceive.

As to the Proprietors themselves, some of them are well known in the City, and others are not totally Strangers in the polite Circle ; which puts it still more in their Power to promote the Design, and that not more upon the Principles of Love and Honour, than those of Sense and Discretion.

Each Person who appears at Dover Street (aforesaid) will be shown into a separate Apartment, Such as cannot attend in Person, are requested to signify their Intention by their Friend in Writing; and it is hoped and presumed that such Recital will be made with the utmost Exactness; and not only the Situation in Life, but the Age, Constitution, and Religion of the Party set forth with all possible Accuracy and Candour.

It hardly seems needful to add, that so much Time and Thought cannot be supposed to have been laid out without a reasonable Recompense; therefore it will be quite necessary, when the Principals do not appear (which may not unfrequently happen), that their Agents shall have been apprised that the Terms upon which this truly important Matter is commenced, is no more than FIVE GUINEAS, to be paid to the Managers on taking down the Minutes of the Business; and no more is to be paid till after the Matter is completed, either by supplying the Sum of Money according to Agreement, or by the Marriage of the Parties in Question and although the Managers claim no more than FIVE GUINEAS, yet (it is presumed) so small a Sum will not be

deemed an adequate Compensation, when Business of Consequence is to be done, and Persons of Condition and liberal Sentiment concerned. The Proprietors are to be spoken with from eleven in the Morning till four in the Afternoon, and from seven in the Evening till ten at Night (as many cannot attend before that Time) every Day, Sunday excepted; and as it is manifest that many Gentlemen both in Court and City, are so absorbed in Business, that though they are happy in the Thought of Marriage, and every Way qualified to engage in it, yet may have neither Time nor Temper for the tedious Forms of Courtship; and as it is also manifest that many excellent Women are, in a great Measure, lost to Society, lost (as we may say) to the tender Joys of Hymen; and who, tied down by Custom to be passive, cannot be first Movers in a Point so delicate; to shun, therefore, all unnecessary Forms (for true Sincerity, we know, cannot exist with too much Ceremony), it is hoped that the above Expedient will be adopted, and that each Person, in Town or Country, who employs an Agent, will signify their Intention so clearly, and candidly, that the Managers may have it in their Power to compleat the Business, and that as soon as possible. And although it is said above that the Ladies cannot be first Movers in some certain Points, yet, sure, they are not debarred the use of Agents; nor does true Modesty demand the Sacrifice of Sense.

Note, Sums of Money, from Five Hundred Pounds to any Amount whatsoever, may be had, and that upon the shortest Notice, and most equitable Terms. Every Proposal that is practicable will be compleated without Trifling or Delay.

It would be superfluous to trouble the Public about the Characters of the Proprietors of this House for Honour and Delicacy, as it could not possibly subsist without such a Foundation; therefore the Nobility, Gentry, and other Persons may depend on being accommodated with any Sum, as above, without Loss of Time.

Persons who have Monies to lend, as well as those who have Occasion to borrow, may both be accommodated at Dover Street aforesaid.

These handbills being largely circulated, and advertisements being inserted in the principal newspapers at the same time, the establishment enjoyed its full share of notice. At a masked ball given by Mrs Cornelys,* on the 16th of

*This Mrs Cornelys was a notoriety of the period. She lived at Carlisle House, Soho Square, where she, coming from Germany, of which country she was a native, settled in or about 1756. Her business was to entertain "the votaries of fashion of both sexes " with masked