"At Ranelagh House, on the 12th of May, 1767," says the Gentleman's Magazine, "were performed (in the new orchestra) the much admired catches and glees, selected from the curious collection of the Catch Club; being the first of the kind publickly exhibited in this or any other kingdom. The entertainments consisted of the favourite catches and glees, composed by the most eminent masters of the last and present age, by a considerable number of the best vocal and instrumental performers. The choral and instrumental parts were added, to give the the catches and glees their proper effect in so large an amphitheatre; being composed for that purpose by Dr. Arne."
The Rotunda, or amphitheatre, was 185 feet in diameter, with an orchestra in the centre, and tiers of boxes all round. The chief amusement was promenading (as it was called) round and round the circular area below, and taking refreshments in the boxes while the orchestra and vocalists executed different pieces of music. It was a kind of 'Vauxhall under cover,' warmed with coal fires. The rotunda is said to have been projected by Lacy, the patentee of Drury Lane Theatre. "The coup d'œil," Dr. Johnson declared, "was the finest thing he had ever seen."
The last great event in the history of Ranelagh was the installation ball of the knights of the Bath, in 1802, shortly after which the place was pulled down.
THE FIRST EAST INDIA HOUSE.
The tradition is, that the East India Company, incorporated December 31st, 1600, first transacted their business in the great room of the Nag's Head Inn, opposite St. Botolph's Church, Bishopsgate Street. The maps of London, soon after the Great Fire of 1666, place the India House on a part of its present site in Leadenhall Street. Here originally stood the mansion of Alderman Kerton, built in the reign of Edward VI., rebuilt on the accession of Elizabeth, and enlarged by its next purchaser, Sir W. Craven, Lord Mayor in 1610. Here was born the great Lord Craven, who, in 1701, leased his house and a tenement in Lime Street to the Company at £100 a year. A scarce Dutch etching, in the British Museum, of which the annexed engraving is a correct copy, shows this house to have been half timbered, its lofty gable surmounted with two dolphins and a figure of a mariner, or, as some say, of the first governor; beneath are mecrhant ships at sea, the royal arms, and those of the Company. This grotesque structure was taken down in 1726, and upon its site was erected the old East India House, portions of which yet remain; although the present stone front, 200 feet long, and a great part of the house, were built in 1798 and 1799, and subsequently enlarged by Cockerell, R.A., and Wilkins, R.A.
ADVERTISEMENTS IN THE LAST CENTURY.
The following strange advertisements have been culled at random from magazines and newspapers circa 1750. They give us a good idea of the manners and tastes of that period:—
"Whereas a tall young Gentleman above the common size, dress'd in a yellow-grounded flowered velvet (supposed to be a Foreigner), with a Solitair round his neck and a glass in his hand, was narrowly observed and much approved of by a certain young lady at the last Ridotto. This is to acquaint the said young Gentleman, if his heart is entirely disengaged, that if he will apply to A. B. at Garaway's Coffee House in Exchange Alley, he may be directed to have an interview with the said young lady, which may prove greatly to his advantage. Strict secresy on the Gentleman's side will be depended on."