The Adventures of Roderick Random

Through Flanders

The narrator and Strap set out for England through Flanders, passing through Brussels, Ghent, and Bruges. They take shipping at Ostend.

Arrival in London

From Ostend, they arrive at Deal in fourteen hours, hire a postchaise, and reach London in twelve more hours, having sent their heavy baggage by waggon.

KAPITEL XLV.

The narrator arrives in London and dispatches Strap to Wapping to find his Uncle Bowling, only to learn that his uncle has gone to sea as mate of a merchant ship, having failed to secure reinstatement at the Admiralty. He hires handsome lodgings near Charing Cross, attends the play where he behaves foolishly trying to attract attention and has a misadventure with a woman of ill-repute, and finally dines at an ordinary where he becomes acquainted with Medlar and Doctor Wagtail during heated political debates among a predominantly pro-French company.

Uncle’s Departure and Charing Cross Lodgings

Upon arriving at the inn, the narrator sends Strap to inquire for his uncle at the Union Flag in Wapping. Strap returns with news that Mr. Bowling has gone to sea as mate of a merchant ship, after a long and unsuccessful attendance at the Admiralty, where his interest was insufficient to reinstate him or recover the pay owed to him from the Thunder. The next day, the narrator hires very handsome lodgings not far from Charing Cross.

Playhouse Adventure and Improper Lady Encounter

In the evening, the narrator dresses in a plain suit of the true Paris cut and appears in a front box at the play, where he behaves with absurd coquetries—rising, sitting, displaying his watch, snuff-box, cane, and sword-knot—in hopes of obtaining the character of a pretty fellow, though he is checked by a natural reserve and jealous sensibility. After the play, he offers his services to a handsome genteelly dressed lady, sends Strap unsuccessfully for a chair, and escorts her to a tavern. There, he suspects her of being a courtesan, and when he kisses her, he is nearly suffocated by the steams of Geneva, confirming her character. She attempts to lure him to her home, claiming Sir John is abed, but he rebuffs her; she then pops her head from the coach and howls abuse at him for not paying the coach-hire. Strap, delighted at first, later compares her to a devil incarnate and a painted sepulchre, and the narrator resolves to shun such commerce in future.

Ordinary Dinner and Political Debates

The narrator frequents a coffee-house noted for good company and dines upstairs at the ordinary, finding himself at a table of thirteen, mostly French-speaking and pro-French. The conversation turns on politics: a foreign ambassador vindicates the Queen of Spain’s claim to the Austrian dominions in Italy, a young gentleman in green (suspected by the narrator to be a prince, later named the Prince of Vandemont) justifies the French king’s breach of the Pragmatic Sanction, and an old martial general recounts the Battle of Dettingen to French advantage. A testy old English patriot opposes them, ultimately threatening the “young prince” with the laws against seditious discourse, which silences the pro-French faction. A self-important doctor, who had shown partiality, is rebuked for despising England while living among the English. The narrator proposes wine to smooth over disputes, and the general recounts exploits including a tale about the siege of Namur, though he refuses to explain the term “epaulement”—which the narrator later learns was due to his ignorance. Through these events the narrator becomes acquainted with Medlar and Doctor Wagtail.

KAPITEL XLV.

The narrator and his fellow-labourer, after dining, adjourn to the coffee-room, where the fellow-labourer (revealed to be Mr. Medlar) discloses the true identities of the upper-dining guests. An absurdly dressed “doctor” then interrupts, confides a trivial oyster anecdote meant for Medlar, and rambles on about coffee and the etymology of drinking terms. The narrator corrects the doctor’s classical scholarship, astonishing him, and the two converse fluently in Latin for two hours, after which the doctor proposes introducing the narrator to wealthy young gentlemen at the Bedford coffee house.