Page:A short history of social life in England.djvu/338

318 iced water. But, like men in all ages, he greatly resented innovation. "Everything is changed," he sighs from time to time. "I do not like dining at nearly six nor beginning the evening at ten at night If one does not conform, one must live alone. &hellip; I am a remnant of the last age. &hellip; I don't care a rush for gold and diamonds, I don't understand horse-racing, I never go to reviews." Wistfully he yearned, as so many had yearned before him, to return to the simplicity of ancient times, "when we were the frugal, temperate, virtuous old English &hellip; before tea and sugar were known."

But if Walpole could not enter into the amusement of horse-racing it was greatly on the increase among his friends, and this period saw the inauguration of the famous Derby Stakes, which started with thirty-six subscribers at £50 each.

Among the refining influences of the times may be included the revival of Shakspere's dramas by Garrick, who purged the English theatre of the coarse and scandalous plays that had so delighted our forefathers throughout the early Hanoverian period. Persons of quality were still accommodated with chairs on the stage, which were retained by footmen in gorgeous livery till they