combined with a never-failing courtesy which, amid all the difficult and complex nature of the system, secured to him. the esteem and respectful co-operation of his vast staff scattered throughout the land. Allen it was who initiated the great postal reform; he it was by whom the foundation was laid for future improvements, and to him and such as him we owe, in great measure, one of the greatest luxuries and blessings of modern times—a quick, a cheap, and an effective postal system.

SOCIAL AND PRIVATE LIFE OF RALPH ALLEN AT

PRIOR PARK.

In dealing with the private and social life of Ralph Allen, we are bound to confess that we are wholly at a loss to tell our readers how he got through such a prodigious amount of difficult labour. There were two large stone quarries, involving not simply a close inspection and careful supervision, but all the trading details which of necessity followed. There were all the complicated details of the postal business, with its ramifications, extending over England and Scotland, with staffs of clerks and executives spread over the land. There was a considerable home estate, much of which, having been neglected for a century, was denuded of its timber, its fencing destroyed, and its population demoralized. There were houses he was building in the city needing much care and supervision, besides the constant additions to, and alterations in, his large mansion; and from first to last, on his plantations, Jones tells us he expended £55,000. Yet, withal, nothing escaped his observation or his careful inspection. He was always calm and collected, always finding time for works of kindness, whether in relation to institutions or individuals; and at

1 The staff in the Bath Office, under Allen's own direction, by whom the supreme orders were issued, consisted of only four or five clerks.

the head of his own hospitable and princely board not a guest failed to receive his courteous notice and kindly smile. We do not mean to say that Allen could work impossibilities; but, in all cases, he was able to accomplish so much by reason of his clear and rapid perception of what was best to be done, and by an equally clear and concise method of giving his directions, whether orally or in writing. Mr. Joyce quotes many illustrations of this peculiar and valuable gift. Allen knew his own mind; and if he did at any time make mistakes, he did not waste time by grieving over them, thus adding to the loss. He never seemed to allow his mind to be oppressed, and in all his intercourse with citizens or strangers, he left the impression that the subject matter of conversation alone occupied his mind.

When Ralph Allen, in 1742, entered into possession of Prior Park there was no " society" in Bath; none, as Burke has it, amongst whom "the sentiments which beautify and soften private society were to be found." There was no sympathy; no bond of union, amongst the various classes that then came to Bath. Every person who visited Bath, from the highest to the lowest rank, i.e., from the wealthy aristocrat to the lowborn adventurer, cared nothing about society in the ordinary sense of the word. The assemblies were characterized by intrigue, libertinism, and vulgar gossip.

As Smollett wrote: "We have music in the pump-room every morning, cotillions every forenoon in the rooms, balls twice a week, and concerts every other night;" and later, he adds, "this place, which Nature and Providence seems to have intended as a resource from distemper and disquiet, is become the very centre of racket and dissipation . . . . Instead of that peace, tranquillity, and ease, so necessary to those who labour under bad health, weak nerves, and irregular spirits, we have nothing but noise, tumult, and hurry, with the fatigue and slavery of maintaining a ceremonial, more stiff, formal, and

oppressive than the etiquette of a German Elector." Here was the pith of the whole matter. This was the formality under the shadow of which the gambling was organised, the victims spotted", and the modus operandi arranged. There was literally no such thing as social intercourse-the confidential intermingling of persons to cultivate the "exercise of those graces which adorn the sociable life", which was really the ideal at which Allen aimed at Prior Park for upwards of twenty years.

SOCIAL LIFE AT PRIOR PARK.

HE period from 1742 to 1763 in Bath abounds with an interest all its own. The social life at Prior Park was unique, giving to it a special and peculiar historical significance. Allen effaced all the stiff and preposterous barriers and conventionalities by which society was kept asunder. The gambler of the highest social rank of either sex would meet the most disreputable knave at Lady Hawley's or Wiltshire's Rooms, to lose a fortune; but they had not learned to tolerate the faintest distinction of social rank in ordinary life.1 Allen brought together men and women of various ranks and grades

"And so, in grateful interchange

Of teacher and of hearer,

Their lives their true distinctions keep

While daily drawing nearer."

In this, Allen displayed all his tact, and showed no little knowledge of mankind. At Prior Park he never lost or

desired to lose touch with his old middle-class friends. Statesmen, lawyers, "lords and ladies of high degree", met members

1 It may also be remarked that, in the Assemblies, the same absurd exclusiveness prevailed. There were benches for the duchesses, benches for ladies of lower rank, and benches for the commonalty.

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of the corporation, and others, on all occasions; and if, like Philip Thicknesse, they fed from off Dresden china, they did not afterwards, like that gentleman, vilify the master of the feast. All Bath guests invited to Prior Park for concerts or to dine, or for any other social purpose, were expected to sleep at the mansion; but in the winter, if for special reasons any of them desired to return home, they were accompanied by private watchmen and link-boys. Allen was an early riser, always ready to welcome his guests. Fielding speaks of him, "as walking forth on his terrace in the morning, when the sun was rising in the full blaze of his majesty," than which, he says, "one object in the lower creation could be more glorious, and that Mr. Allworthy presented; a human being replete with benevolence, meditating in what manner he might prove himself most acceptable to his Creator by doing most good to his creatures." The domain offered temptations of pleasure and gratification to some; the picture gallery to others. There was no stately, repelling, ostentation towards guests, who saw and felt the hearty welcome of their host.

It was in 1728 that the Princess Amelia, when she was quite a young woman, visited the city. In 1752 she revisited Bath, staying with the Duke and Duchess of Bedford in Queen Square, and afterwards resumed her old quarters at the Westgate House. On this occasion she was accompanied by her brother, the Duke of York. They, with the Duke of Bedford, and many other distinguished guests, were entertained at Prior Park. The visit ended by Allen offering his mansion and establishment to the royal pair, which offer was accepted, he and Mrs. Allen, Warburton, and Mrs. Warburton, going for the time down to Weymouth, where Allen had a house.

Gainsborough and Garrick often met at Prior Park; and 1 Princess Buildings (corrupted into Prince's Buildings), and York House and Buildings, were respectively called after these two personages.