Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1861-01-22
John u. Coughs Lecture,

Smith Il NixOn's Hall was crowded to its
utmost last evening on the occasion of Mr..
Coughs second lecture before the Storrs'
Association. The worldwide reputation
which the lecturer has acquired as an advo-
cate of Temperance stimulated the public
curiosity to hear him on other topics, and
long before the hour appointed for the lee
ture, every available place in the Hall was
occupied, and hundreds turned back unable
to gain entrance.
The subject, as announced in the advertise
ment, was Life in London" and the design
OF the lecturer was to convey to an audience,
accustomed to totally different customs and
circumstances, some idea of this mighty and
in many respects anomalous city. London
is an epitome of the world. Thee are found
the representatives of every race and nation
of the globe; each retaining his own peculiar
habits and customs and to a great extent
his own language. The pathological differ
ences which the traveller encounters in
traversiDg the continent of Europe are
hardly greater than he will meet in going
from one portion of London to another.
And with all this variety of life and charac-
ter, the conservative disposition of London
is remarkable.
Prevailing customs may be traced back to
TIE time of the Norman conquest. The Jew
Of Houndsditch ald Petticoat-laue is the
counterpart of his ancestor in Edward the
Confessor's time. The thieves vocabulary
OF to-day was good English in Shakspeare's
time. The lines Of demarcation between
| classes are deeply drawn and rigidly adhered
| to. Go TO Hyde park in a pleasant after
noon ain the season" This is the great
| phblic louuging- place, the neutral ground
| whereon all ranks meet. Around the broad
| drive in long procession, six or eight deep,
come the magnificent equipages of the noble,
| the titled, the famous and the wealthy. That
hon in ho1 FY,fli 4
with curious badges and ribbons on the
breast of his coat, Is 8 Duke. He has royal
blood in his veins. He can trace his ances-
| try back for centuries. He holds high rank
in the British Army.
| The small keen eyed man sitting restlessly
on the splendid cushions of the gorgeous
| carriage Just beyond, is probably a successful
| merchant or manufacturer, who has worked
| his way from nowhere and don't know that
he ever had a grandfather.
| But in that portion allotted to pedestrians
| is seen the strangest mingling of classes.
Here peers of the realm, officers of the army
and navy, authors, poets, journalists, poll
tieians, tradesmen, dandies, snobs, mechanics,
pickpoekets and beggars, crowd and hustle
one another in strange confusion.
Probably no city in the world exhibits
such strange contrasts Of wealth and pow
erty. When Blucher was in London. he is
said to have exclaimed, "What a city for
plunder;" and yet 500 women annually drown
themselves in the Thames to escape the
alternative of starvation
The lecturer quoted some. statistics, which
gave a better idea of the size of London
than most OF the audience probably pos
sessed before, and we regret that our limited
space will not allow us to reproduce them;
and also a sketch of some Of the peculiar
classes of London society seldom seen by
ordinary travellers, but of whom Mr. G. gave
highly interesting account.
The lecture will be. continued this even
ing, when those who were last night unable
to gain admission will have an opportunity
of bearing certainly one of the most enter
tanning and instructive lectures of the season