MDMD4: Those Damnable Whig Coffee-Houses

[CyrusGeo at netscape.net]

"Dave Monroe" <davidmmonroe at hotmail.com> wrote:
>[...] in order for information to be as full as possible, 
>distinctions of rank were temporarily suspended; anyone sitting in the 
>coffeehouse had a right to talk to anyone else, to enter into any 
>conversation, whether he knew the other people or not, whether he was bidden 
>to speak or not.  It was bad form to even touch on the social origins of 
>other persons when talking to them in the coffeehouse, because the free flow 
>of talk might then be impeded." (p. 81)

Thank you for the quotation, Dave. Now it's clear to me why it's *whig* coffee-houses.

Cyrus


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