In this, as in all things else, there was a
quaintness of manner in Houghton's dealings
with his readers. If he touted for advertisements,
he did it in very gentle and candid
manner.  "Whether," says he, "'tis worth
while to give an account of ships set in for
lading, or ships arrived; with the like for
coaches and carriers; or to give notice of
approaching fairs, and what commodities are
chiefly sold there, I must submit to the
judgment of those concerned."  And if his
dealings in this way at any time fell short in
quantity, he announced the plain fact without
quirk or quibble:—"For want of enough
advertisements by reason 'tis long vacation, I
shall omit them this week, but go on again
as they shall come in."

The advertisements which appear in a
public journal take rank among the most
significant indications of the state of society
at that time and place.  The wants, the
wishes, the means, the employments, the
books, the amusements, the medicines, the
trade, the economy of domestic households,
the organisation of wealthy establishments,
the relation between masters and servants,
the wages paid to workmen, the rents paid
for houses, the prices charged for commodities,
the facilities afforded for travelling, the
materials and fashions for dress, the furniture
and adornments of houses, the varieties
and systems of schools, the appearance and
traffic of towns—all receive illustration
from such sources.  It would be possible to
write a very good social history of England
during the last two centuries, from the
information furnished by advertisements
alone.

When John Houghton first put forth his
extra sheet or leaf, the advertisements sent
to him related chiefly to books—either new
ones to be published, or old ones for sale.
Occasionally we meet with announcements of
works which have since become classical;
frequently the polemical spirit bursts forth;
and little less frequently is the sermon-
writing taste of that age illustrated, as in
Mr. George Hutchinson's Forty-five Sermons
on the Hundred and Thirtieth Psalm.  But
the large majority of works, as may be
expected, have long been forgotten; witness
the Essay on Unequal Marriages, by S.
Bufford, Gent., in which the author argues
against old persons marrying with young;
against persons marrying without friends'
consent; and against persons marrying
without their own consent.

Very shortly, however, lottery advertisements
became plentiful.  Thomas Neale,
Esquire, Groom Porter to their Majesties
(William and Mary), announced that in the
lotteries carried on at that time in Venice,
more than thirty-three per cent. was detained
for the use of the undertakers; whereas in a
lottery about to be established by him, only
ten per cent. would be deducted, to pay for
all trouble, hazard, and charges.  This lottery
was to contain one prize of three thousand
pounds, and other golden treasures; and
among the trustees named were Sir Francis
Child and Richard Hoare, names perpetuated
to this day within bell-sound of St. Dunstan's.
Lotteries became announced for all sorts of
objects, generally as a means of getting off a
large stock of some particular kind of goods.
One will suffice as an example of all:— "At
the Indian warehouse, at the sign of the
Black Bell, in Bedford Street, Covent Garden,
by Joseph Rose and Elizabeth Madox, will
be delivered out twelve thousand tickets at
half-a-crown each; and there shall be also
twelve thousand blank tickets prepared, two
hundred and fifty whereof shall be made
benefits; which said benefits shall contain in
goods to the value above mentioned."   The
benefits in prizes varied from two pounds to
a hundred and fifty pounds value; and as
their aggregate amount equalled the amount
to be paid for all the tickets, we may
charitably conclude that a very remunerative
price was set upon the Japan goods, china
jars, Indian silks, fans, muslins, screens, and
cabinets, that constituted the collection—a
principle not unknown to the concocters of
modern distributions.

Next, the miscellaneous advertisements
began to appear, in all their wonted variety.
The Vauxhall pottery, well known to
connoisseurs, is brought to our notice in the
following advertisement:  "There is found
near Faux Hall, in Surrey, a sort of clay
used to make all sorts of tea-pots, well-
approved on by most toy-shops about the
Exchange, and are hardly discerned from
China and other pots from beyond sea, being
very exact in colour, strength, and shape, and
lately applied to this use by two Dutch
brothers, whose names are Eelin."
Matrimonial advertisements were not scarce, such
as one from "A gentleman about thirty years
of age, who has a very good estate, would
willingly match himself to some good young
gentlewoman that has a fortune of three
thousand pounds or thereabouts."  Sometimes,
the mode of obtaining what is wanted, or
getting rid of what is not wanted, is very
droll.  Of the latter class, the following is an
example:  "A witty, arch boy, that is apt to
play by the way when he goes of errands,
would be disposed to a captain or master of
ship, if any wants such."  One remarkable
advertisement relates to a new stage-coach
set up between London and Norwich, started
and supported by a joint-stock company of
two hundred persons, on the ground that
"no single person, or five or six in company,
would venture to set up a new stage;" the
enterprise was called for because "the stage
coaches that are driven between London and
Norwich have, for several years last past, been
so ill performed that the passengers travelling
therein have been very much incommoded,
and the journeying of the said coaches
rendered very irksome and burdensome."  All