It seems history, we've already seen, is to blame; here, Stephen is obliged to teach history, toward which he holds a certain aversion, as will soon be established. A widespread re-evaluation of history and its significance concerned many modernist artists, including James Joyce. History therefore becomes an important motif in Ulysses.
This is one of the best in-jokes in the book. The actual MP, Sir John Blackwood reportedly *died* in the act of putting on his boots to go to vote *against* the act of Union. (see Jeri Johnson, p. 779)
A guinea was an old gold coin, worth slightly more than one pound sterling (21 shillings - 1.05 pound). The coin itself was not in circulation at that time but it was still used as a unit in betting on horses and in "aristocratic" contracts. Joyce himself made a point of borrowing in gentlemanly guineas, and so does Stephen. The subtlety of a contract in guineas being more upper class is also present in "A Mother" in Dubliners.
