![Arthur Murphy, ‘[Account of Jonathan’s Coffee-House] Numb. 5, November 3, 1753’, pp. 31–6; ‘[Proposal for a Female Coffee-House] Numb. 15, January 5, 1754’, pp. 85–90, in The Gray’s Inn Journal. By Charles Ranger (London, printed by W. Faden and J. Bouquet, [1753–4]), 52v.; 2°. BL: Burney. ESTCP1786. Extract, pp. 31–6, 85–90](https://images.tandf.co.uk/common/jackets/crclarge/978131509/9781315094632.jpg "Arthur Murphy, ‘[Account of Jonathan’s Coffee-House] Numb. 5, November 3, 1753’, pp. 31–6; ‘[Proposal for a Female Coffee-House] Numb. 15, January 5, 1754’, pp. 85–90, in The Gray’s Inn Journal. By Charles Ranger (London, printed by W. Faden and J. Bouquet, [1753–4]), 52v.; 2°. BL: Burney. ESTCP1786. Extract, pp. 31–6, 85–90")
ABSTRACT
Two essays from a satirical essay-periodical written by Arthur Murphy (1727–1805) using the persona of Charles Ranger. The periodical in general offered a wide-ranging and gentle satire on the follies and peccadilloes of London society, especially those of literary and theatrical interest. The essays excerpted here both have their focus in coffee-house sociabilities of the early 1750s. Murphy follows the model established by Addison and Steele in The Tatler and The Spectator, by using a narrative persona — in this case Charles Ranger — as an organising structure for the diversity of material. But Murphy’s essays diverge from the Spectatorial focus on the moral reform of society, and instead each offers a sharpened satire against particular subjects. The first, extracted here, satirises the mysteries of the securities market in stocks and shares conducted at Jonathan’s Coffee-house in the City, especially the role of Jewish stock-jobbers in providing liquidity in the market. The second is directed specifically against Arthur Macklin’s scheme for a reformed and genteel coffee-house and lecture room (later known as the British Inquisition, and located in Covent Garden), and more generally ridicules Macklin’s notion that women might take an active part in the political and intellectual public. In addition, each essay is suffixed by a more miscellaneous collection of satirical portraits, collected under the title ‘True Intelligence’, in parody of the form of contemporary newspapers.
