Page:Madras in the olden time Volume 1.djvu/27



Old Madras! What a multitude of associations are called up by the simple words; what curious pictures of the past flash before our eyes. Those who are old themselves will recall the days of their youth; the good old times of Elliot, of Munro, or of Lushington, when Hotels and Clubs were not, but when boundless hospitality, aristocratic exclusiveness, choice scandal, and occasional duels were the order of the day. But our present object would rather be to recall Madras in an age long antecedent to these comparatively tranquil times. We would endeavour to picture Madras as it was some two centuries ago; when Members of Council rode about in bullock bandies, and the guards of the President were armed with bows and arrows, swords and shields; when gentlemen wore large hose, “peasecod bellied” doublets, preposterous breeches, and hats with conical crowns and bunches of feathers; when the ladies, very few in number, wore long waisted stomachers and powerfully starched ruffs; when the Fort was nothing more than a fortified Factory, in which the Factors and Merchants bought and sold, gave their orders, and made their payments, just like