These points gained, the autocrat laid down rules for the employment of
the visitors' time, and these, from setting the fashion to some, soon
became a law to all. The first thing to be done was, sensibly enough,
the _ostensible_ object of their residence in Bath, the use of the
baths. At an early hour four lusty chairmen waited on every lady to
carry her, wrapped in flannels, in
'A little black box, just the size of a coffin,'
to one of the five baths. Here, on entering, an attendant placed beside
her a floating tray, on which were set her handkerchief, bouquet, and
_snuff-box_, for our great-great-grandmothers _did_ take snuff; and here
she found her friends in the same bath of naturally hot water. It was,
of course, a reunion for society on the plea of health; but the early
hours and exercise secured the latter, whatever the baths may have done.
A walk in the Pump-room, to the music of a tolerable band, was the next
measure; and there, of course, the gentlemen mingled with the ladies. A
coffee-house was ready to receive those of either sex; for that was a
time when madame and miss lived a great deal in public, and English
people were not ashamed of eating their breakfast in public company.
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