Not a farthing could be raised on the responsibility of any of his immediate associates; the whole of the party were actually in a state of the deepest poverty; and Major Hanger, in the history of his life, mentions a circumstance in which he, Sheridan, Fox, _an illustrious individual_, and a Mr. Berkeley, repaired to a celebrated tavern then known by the name of the Staffordshire Arms, where after carousing with some dashing Cyprians who were sent for on the occasion, the combined resources of the whole of the party could not defray the expenses of the evening. On this occasion, Sheridan got so intoxicated that he was put to bed, and on awakening in the morning, he found himself in the character of a hostage for the expenses of the previous night’s debauch.[231] It must, however, be admitted, that when once upon the throne, he had the rare capability of uniting dignity with hilarity. An incident in connection with a public _toast_ is worthy of narration. When the King visited Scotland, a banquet was given by the Lord Provost of Edinburgh in the Parliament House. The King, in returning thanks for the reception given him, said:-- I take this opportunity, my Lords and Gentlemen, of proposing the health of the Lord Provost, _Sir_ William Arbuthnot, _Baronet_, and the Corporation of Edinburgh. Thus did the King confer the baronetcy upon the president. A complication of disease terminated his reign in 1880. The Public-house Regulation Act of 1758 was in force till 1828, when a consolidating Act was passed, with an appeal to justices in quarter sessions. Its chief provisions are:-- 1. Licences to be granted _only from year to year_, at a special session of magistrates; with power of applicant to appeal to the quarter sessions in case of refusal of licence: and the refusing justices not to vote there. 2. Applicants for licence to affix notice of their intention of applying, on the door of the house, and of the church of the parish in which it is situated, for three prior Sundays, and serve a copy on one of the overseers and one of the peace officers. 3. In case of actual or apprehended tumult, two justices may direct the publican to close his house: disobedience to be esteemed as disorder. 4. The licence stipulates that the publican shall not adulterate his liquors, _or allow drunkenness, gaming, or disorder_; that he shall not suffer persons of notoriously bad character to assemble therein; and that he shall not, _save to travellers_, open his house during Divine Service on Sundays and holy-days. 5. Heavy and increasing penalties for repeated offences against the terms and tenor of the licence; magistrates at sessions being empowered to punish an alehouse-keeper, convicted by a jury of a third offence, by a fine of 100_l._, or to adjudge the licence to be forfeited.