and me afore the congregation in the
kirk yard, but I carried it off in spite of her, and now send it to
you, hopping you will put a letter in the newspaper of Lundon
cleering the karacter of me and my wiffe Peggy, and my Inn of the
Golden Arms. As for Miss Jeny ye may mak her as black as auld nick,
for over and above Peggies half pund of tea, and your Bowa, Jeny (I
hae good reason to believe) is no better than she should be. I am,
Madum, your vera humbel sarvint,

"John ---."

It will hardly be credited that at the commencement of 1837 there was
only one railway running out of London, and that was the Greenwich
railway, which, however, only went as far as Deptford, where it deposited
its passengers in the midst of market gardens, leaving them to walk or
ride to Greenwich. But there were several running in the midlands (six
railways in all England), and what was then called "The Grand Junction
Railway," from Liverpool to Birmingham, was opened on the 4th July of
this year. Cognate with railways is the practical working of the
Electric Telegraph, now so necessary to their being. On 12 June, 1837, a
patent was granted (No. 7390) to William Fothergill Cooke, of Breeds
Place, Hastings, and Charles Wheatstone, of Conduit Street, Hanover
Square, for their invention of "Improvements in giving signals and
sounding alarums at distant places by means of electric currents
transmitted through metallic circuits." This hitherto scientific toy was
first tried on 25 July by permission of the London and North Western
Railway (then in progress) between Euston and Camden Town stations, and
its successful operation was witnessed with delight by Fox and R.
Stephenson, amongst many others.

A great feature in this year was the "Tom and Jerryism" (so called from
Pierce Egan's "Life in London," 1821) that existed, especially among the
upper class of young men. Foremost of all was the Marquis of Waterford,
whose delight was in the company of prize fighters, _et hoc genus omne_,
and whose idea of amusement consisted in visiting the lowest public
houses, and treating everybody with liquor, even pails full of gin being
distributed to whoever would partake of it--being never so happy as when
the debauch ended in a fight. Knocker wrenching and similar pranks were
his delight, and _Punch_, at the very commencement of vol. i., gives a
suggestion for a