Westminster, and when the Houses do not sit late, return home to
dinner. Others that are not members of either House, and have no
particular business to attend, are found in the chocolate-houses
near the Court, or in the park, and many more do not stir from their
houses till after dinner. As to the ladies, who seldom rise till
about noon, the first part of their time is spent, after the duties
of the closet, either at the tea-table or in dressing, unless they
take a turn to Covent Garden or Ludgate Hill, and tumble over the
mercers' rich silks, or view some India or China trifle, some
prohibited manufacture, or foreign lace.

Thus, the business of the day being despatched before dinner, both
by the ladies and gentlemen, the evening is devoted to pleasure; all
the world get abroad in their gayest equipage between four and five
in the evening, some bound to the play, others to the opera, the
assembly, the masquerade, or music-meeting, to which they move in
such crowds that their coaches can scarce pass the streets.

The merchants and tradesmen of the first-rate make no mean figure in
London; they have many of them houses equal to those of the
nobility, with great gates and courtyards before them, and seats in
the country, whither they retire the latter end of the week,
returning to the city again on Mondays or Tuesdays; they keep their
coaches, saddle-horses, and footmen; their houses are richly and
beautifully furnished; and though their equipage be not altogether
so shining and their servants so numerous as those of the nobility,
they generally abound in wealth and plenty, and are generally
masters of a larger cash than they have occasion to make use of in
the way of trade, whereby they are always provided against
accidents, and are enabled to make an advantageous purchase when it