27
lounger as a harmless observer , whose only crime is occasionally making ‘ injudicious observations ’ which are recorded within his common-place book that he carries around his person . 35 The lounger is also presented as being obsessed by the pursuit of novelty , whether it be through reading newspapers or conversing about a trend in fashion . The lounger could even be portrayed with a certain fondness – an article within The Monthly Ledger ( 1773 ) describes the coffee-house lounger as a ‘ whimsical creature ’, so caught up within themselves that they do not realise their own ridiculousness . 36 The lounger was for many , a harmless but amusing addition to any coffee-house .
Other periodicals were not quite so neutral on the position of the lounger . In fact , the second issue of “ The Coffee-house ” ( 1781 ) published a letter that sought to dismiss any fondness for individuals ‘ born to a title or a good estate ’. 37 Members of the gentry , as well as loungers , actively detracted from the coffee-house as a space of polite sociability . 38 They frequently used their privileges , particularly within the coffee-house , to undermine those who possessed genuine wisdom and insight . To demonstrate this , the letter relays a conversation overheard between a doctor , ‘ much respected for his learning ’ and a certain lord who rudely interrupts the doctor during a conversation on Hippocrates and Boerhaave . So insulted is the lord that he chases the doctor from the coffee-house with a cane . 39 This bizarre anecdote serves to paint the lounger as reprehensible and anti-intellectual , rather than as a keen observer ready to absorb knowledge from the coffee-house environment . The very validity of these titles and estates are also questioned , as the essay even suggests that the origin of their privileges derive from a ‘ great-grand-mother having been a royal prostitute , or their father a political pimp and venal parasite .’ 40 Few critiques of coffee-house loungers went quite so far as this , most were only concerned with their disruptive potential . An essay written by the ‘ Anti-Lounger ’, asserted that all loungers should sequester themselves into their own ‘ coffee-house which , to prevent strangers intruding amongst them , should be inscribed ‘ The
35
Ibid ., 23 . The conversations that are printed within the first issue of ‘ The Coffee-house ’ derive from the common-place notebook of Jack Dale , a ‘ professed lounger ’, who misplaces his notebook which is subsequently picked up by the author of the article .
36
37
38
Ibid ., 76-77 .
39
Ibid ., 76-77 .
40
Ibid ., 76 .