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diff --git a/41516-8.txt b/41516-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 3547ba3..0000000 --- a/41516-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,11336 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's Club Life of London, Volume II (of 2), by John Timbs - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Club Life of London, Volume II (of 2) - With Anecdotes of the Clubs, Coffee-Houses and Taverns of - the Metropolis During the 17th, 18th, and 19th Centuries - -Author: John Timbs - -Release Date: November 30, 2012 [EBook #41516] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CLUB LIFE OF LONDON, VOLUME II *** - - - - -Produced by Melissa McDaniel and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - - -Transcriber's Note: - - Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have - been preserved. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. - - Italic text is denoted by _underscores_. - - On page 31, either 1660 or 1669 is a possible typo. - - On page 131, "The 4th Edward IV." is possibly a typo. - - On page 154, "Dan Rowlandson" should possibly be "Dan Rawlinson". - - On page 262, "Belvidere" is a possible typo for "Belvedere". - - - - - CLUB LIFE OF LONDON - - WITH - - ANECDOTES OF THE CLUBS, COFFEE-HOUSES - AND TAVERNS OF THE METROPOLIS - DURING THE 17TH, 18TH, AND 19TH CENTURIES. - - BY JOHN TIMBS, F.S.A. - - [Illustration] - - IN TWO VOLUMES.--VOL. II. - - LONDON: - RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET - - Publisher in Ordinary to Her Majesty. - 1866. - - - - - PRINTED BY - JOHN EDWARD TAYLOR, LITTLE QUEEN STREET, - LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS. - - - - -CONTENTS. - - - Coffee-houses. - - Page - EARLY COFFEE-HOUSES 1 - - GARRAWAY'S COFFEE-HOUSE 6 - - JONATHAN'S COFFEE-HOUSE 11 - - RAINBOW COFFEE-HOUSE 14 - - NANDO'S COFFEE-HOUSE 18 - - DICK'S COFFEE-HOUSE 20 - - THE "LLOYD'S" OF THE TIME OF CHARLES II 21 - - LLOYD'S COFFEE-HOUSE 24 - - THE JERUSALEM COFFEE-HOUSE 30 - - BAKER'S COFFEE-HOUSE 30 - - COFFEE-HOUSES OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 31 - - COFFEE-HOUSE SHARPERS IN 1776 42 - - DON SALTERO'S COFFEE-HOUSE 44 - - SALOOP-HOUSES 48 - - THE SMYRNA COFFEE-HOUSE 49 - - ST. JAMES'S COFFEE-HOUSE 50 - - THE BRITISH COFFEE-HOUSE 55 - - WILL'S COFFEE-HOUSE 56 - - BUTTON'S COFFEE-HOUSE 64 - - DEAN SWIFT AT BUTTON'S 73 - - TOM'S COFFEE-HOUSE 75 - - THE BEDFORD COFFEE-HOUSE, IN COVENT GARDEN 76 - - MACKLIN'S COFFEE-HOUSE ORATORY 82 - - TOM KING'S COFFEE-HOUSE 84 - - PIAZZA COFFEE-HOUSE 87 - - THE CHAPTER COFFEE-HOUSE 88 - - CHILD'S COFFEE-HOUSE 90 - - LONDON COFFEE-HOUSE 92 - - TURK'S HEAD COFFEE-HOUSE, IN CHANGE ALLEY 93 - - SQUIRE'S COFFEE-HOUSE 96 - - SLAUGHTER'S COFFEE-HOUSE 99 - - WILL'S AND SERLE'S COFFEE-HOUSES 104 - - THE GRECIAN COFFEE-HOUSE 105 - - GEORGE'S COFFEE-HOUSE 107 - - THE PERCY COFFEE-HOUSE 108 - - PEELE'S COFFEE-HOUSE 109 - - - Taverns. - - THE TAVERNS OF OLD LONDON 110 - - THE BEAR AT THE BRIDGE-FOOT 122 - - MERMAID TAVERNS 124 - - THE BOAR'S HEAD TAVERN 124 - - THREE CRANES IN THE VINTRY 128 - - LONDON STONE TAVERN 128 - - THE ROBIN HOOD 129 - - PONTACK'S, ABCHURCH LANE 130 - - POPE'S HEAD TAVERN 131 - - THE OLD SWAN, THAMES-STREET 132 - - COCK TAVERN, THREADNEEDLE-STREET 133 - - CROWN TAVERN, THREADNEEDLE-STREET 134 - - THE KING'S HEAD TAVERN, IN THE POULTRY 135 - - THE MITRE, IN WOOD-STREET 141 - - THE SALUTATION AND CAT TAVERN 142 - - "SALUTATION" TAVERNS 144 - - QUEEN'S ARMS, ST. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD 145 - - DOLLY'S, PATERNOSTER ROW 146 - - ALDERSGATE TAVERNS 147 - - "THE MOURNING CROWN" 150 - - JERUSALEM TAVERNS, CLERKENWELL 150 - - WHITE HART TAVERN, BISHOPSGATE WITHOUT 152 - - THE MITRE, IN FENCHURCH-STREET 154 - - THE KING'S HEAD, FENCHURCH-STREET 155 - - THE ELEPHANT, FENCHURCH-STREET 156 - - THE AFRICAN, ST. MICHAEL'S ALLEY 157 - - THE GRAVE MAURICE TAVERN 159 - - MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY, SPITALFIELDS 160 - - GLOBE TAVERN, FLEET-STREET 161 - - THE DEVIL TAVERN 162 - - THE YOUNG DEVIL TAVERN 169 - - COCK TAVERN, FLEET-STREET 170 - - THE HERCULES' PILLARS TAVERNS 171 - - HOLE-IN-THE-WALL TAVERNS 173 - - THE MITRE, IN FLEET-STREET 175 - - SHIP TAVERN, TEMPLE BAR 177 - - THE PALSGRAVE HEAD, TEMPLE BAR 178 - - HEYCOCK'S, TEMPLE BAR 178 - - THE CROWN AND ANCHOR, STRAND 179 - - THE CANARY-HOUSE, IN THE STRAND 180 - - THE FOUNTAIN TAVERN 181 - - TAVERN LIFE OF SIR RICHARD STEELE 182 - - CLARE MARKET TAVERNS 184 - - THE CRAVEN HEAD, DRURY LANE 185 - - THE COCK TAVERN, IN BOW-STREET 187 - - THE QUEEN'S HEAD, BOW-STREET 188 - - THE SHAKSPEARE TAVERN 189 - - SHUTER, AND HIS TAVERN PLACES 191 - - THE ROSE TAVERN, COVENT GARDEN 192 - - EVANS'S, COVENT GARDEN 194 - - THE FLEECE, COVENT GARDEN 196 - - THE BEDFORD HEAD, COVENT GARDEN 197 - - THE SALUTATION, TAVISTOCK STREET 197 - - THE CONSTITUTION TAVERN, COVENT GARDEN 199 - - THE CIDER CELLAR 199 - - OFFLEY'S, HENRIETTA-STREET 201 - - THE RUMMER TAVERN 202 - - SPRING GARDEN TAVERNS 204 - - "HEAVEN" AND "HELL" TAVERNS, WESTMINSTER 206 - - "BELLAMY'S KITCHEN" 208 - - A COFFEE-HOUSE CANARY BIRD 210 - - STAR AND GARTER, PALL MALL 211 - - THATCHED HOUSE TAVERN 217 - - "THE RUNNING FOOTMAN," MAY FAIR 219 - - PICCADILLY INNS AND TAVERNS 221 - - ISLINGTON TAVERNS 224 - - COPENHAGEN HOUSE 229 - - TOPHAM, THE STRONG MAN, AND HIS TAVERNS 232 - - THE CASTLE TAVERN, HOLBORN 234 - - MARYLEBONE AND PADDINGTON TAVERNS 236 - - KENSINGTON AND BROMPTON TAVERNS 242 - - KNIGHTSBRIDGE TAVERNS 249 - - RANELAGH GARDENS 255 - - CREMORNE TAVERN AND GARDENS 257 - - THE MULBERRY GARDEN 258 - - PIMLICO TAVERNS 259 - - LAMBETH,--VAUXHALL TAVERNS AND GARDENS, ETC. 260 - - FREEMASONS' LODGES 263 - - WHITEBAIT TAVERNS 267 - - THE LONDON TAVERN 274 - - THE CLARENDON HOTEL 279 - - FREEMASONS' TAVERN, GREAT QUEEN-STREET 280 - - THE ALBION, ALDERSGATE-STREET 283 - - ST. JAMES'S HALL 284 - - THEATRICAL TAVERNS 285 - - - APPENDIX. - - BEEFSTEAK SOCIETY 286 - - WHITE'S CLUB 287 - - THE ROYAL ACADEMY CLUB 289 - - DESTRUCTION OF TAVERNS BY FIRE 290 - - THE TZAR OF MUSCOVY'S HEAD, TOWER-STREET 291 - - ROSE TAVERN, TOWER-STREET 292 - - THE NAG'S HEAD TAVERN, CHEAPSIDE 293 - - THE HUMMUMS, COVENT GARDEN 295 - - ORIGIN OF TAVERN SIGNS 296 - - - INDEX TO THE FIRST VOLUME 305 - - INDEX TO THE SECOND VOLUME 313 - - [Illustration: "The Lion's Head," at Button's Coffee-House.] - - - - -CLUB LIFE OF LONDON. - - - - -Coffee-houses. - - -EARLY COFFEE-HOUSES. - -Coffee is thus mentioned by Bacon, in his _Sylva Sylvarum_:--"They -have in _Turkey_ a _drink_ called _Coffee_, made of a _Berry_ of the -same name, as Black as _Soot_, and of a _Strong Sent_, but not -_Aromatical_; which they take, beaten into Powder, in _Water_, as Hot -as they can _Drink_ it; and they take it, and sit at it in their -_Coffee Houses_, which are like our _Taverns_. The _Drink_ comforteth -the _Brain_, and _Heart_, and helpeth _Digestion_." - -And in Burton's _Anatomy of Melancholy_, part i., sec. 2, occurs, -"Turks in their coffee-houses, which much resemble our taverns." The -date is 1621, several years before coffee-houses were introduced into -England. - -In 1650, Wood tells us, was opened at Oxford, the first coffee-house, -by Jacobs, a Jew, "at the Angel, in the parish of St. Peter in the -East; and there it was, by some who delighted in novelty, drank." - -There was once an odd notion prevalent that coffee was unwholesome, -and would bring its drinkers to an untimely end. Yet, Voltaire, -Fontenelle, and Fourcroy, who were great coffee-drinkers, lived to a -good old age. Laugh at Madame de Sévigné, who foretold that coffee and -Racine would be forgotten together! - -A manuscript note, written by Oldys, the celebrated antiquary, states -that "The use of coffee in England was first known in 1657. [It will -be seen, as above, that Oldys is incorrect.] Mr. Edwards, a Turkey -merchant, brought from Smyrna to London one Pasqua Rosee, a Ragusan -youth, who prepared this drink for him every morning. But the novelty -thereof drawing too much company to him, he allowed his said servant, -with another of his son-in-law, to sell it publicly, and they set up -the first coffee-house in London, in St. Michael's alley, in Cornhill. -The sign was Pasqua Rosee's own head." Oldys is slightly in error -here; Rosee commenced his coffee-house in 1652, and one Jacobs, a Jew, -as we have just seen, had established a similar undertaking at Oxford, -two years earlier. One of Rosee's original shop or hand-bills, the -only mode of advertising in those days, is as follows:-- - - "THE VERTUE OF THE COFFEE DRINK, - - "_First made and publickly sold in England by Pasqua Rosee._ - - "The grain or berry called coffee, groweth upon little trees - only in the deserts of Arabia. It is brought from thence, - and drunk generally throughout all the Grand Seignour's - dominions. It is a simple, innocent thing, composed into a - drink, by being dried in an oven, and ground to powder, and - boiled up with spring water, and about half a pint of it to - be drunk fasting an hour before, and not eating an hour - after, and to be taken as hot as possibly can be endured; - the which will never fetch the skin off the mouth, or raise - any blisters by reason of that heat. - - "The Turks' drink at meals and other times is usually water, - and their diet consists much of fruit; the crudities whereof - are very much corrected by this drink. - - "The quality of this drink is cold and dry; and though it be - a drier, yet it neither heats nor inflames more than hot - posset. It so incloseth the orifice of the stomach, and - fortifies the heat within, that it is very good to help - digestion; and therefore of great use to be taken about - three or four o'clock afternoon, as well as in the morning. - It much quickens the spirits, and makes the heart lightsome; - it is good against sore eyes, and the better if you hold - your head over it and take in the steam that way. It - suppresseth fumes exceedingly, and therefore is good against - the head-ache, and will very much stop any defluxion of - rheums, that distil from the head upon the stomach, and so - prevent and help consumptions and the cough of the lungs. - - "It is excellent to prevent and cure the dropsy, gout,[1] - and scurvy. It is known by experience to be better than any - other drying drink for people in years, or children that - have any running humours upon them, as the king's evil, &c. - It is a most excellent remedy against the spleen, - hypochondriac winds, and the like. It will prevent - drowsiness, and make one fit for business, if one have - occasion to watch, and therefore you are not to drink of it - after supper, unless you intend to be watchful, for it will - hinder sleep for three or four hours. - - "It is observed that in Turkey, where this is generally - drunk, that they are not troubled with the stone, gout, - dropsy, or scurvy, and that their skins are exceeding clear - and white. It is neither laxative nor restringent. - - "_Made and sold in St. Michael's-alley, in Cornhill, by - Pasqua Rosee, at the sign of his own head._" - -The new beverage had its opponents, as well as its advocates. The -following extracts from _An invective against Coffee_, published about -the same period, informs us that Rosee's partner, the servant of Mr. -Edwards's son-in-law, was a coachman; while it controverts the -statement that hot coffee will not scald the mouth, and ridicules the -broken English of the Ragusan:-- - - "A BROADSIDE AGAINST COFFEE. - - "A coachman was the first (here) coffee made, - And ever since the rest drive on the trade: - '_Me no good Engalash!_' and sure enough, - He played the quack to salve his Stygian stuff; - '_Ver boon for de stomach, de cough, de phthisick._' - And I believe him, for it looks like physic. - Coffee a crust is charred into a coal, - The smell and taste of the mock china bowl; - Where huff and puff, they labour out their lungs, - Lest, Dives-like, they should bewail their tongues. - And yet they tell ye that it will not burn, - Though on the jury blisters you return; - Whose furious heat does make the water rise, - And still through the alembics of your eyes. - Dread and desire, you fall to 't snap by snap, - As hungry dogs do scalding porridge lap. - But to cure drunkards it has got great fame; - Posset or porridge, will 't not do the same? - Confusion hurries all into one scene, - Like Noah's ark, the clean and the unclean. - And now, alas! the drench has credit got, - And he's no gentleman that drinks it not; - That such a dwarf should rise to such a stature! - But custom is but a remove from nature. - A little dish and a large coffee-house, - What is it but a mountain and a mouse?" - -Notwithstanding this opposition, coffee soon became a favourite drink, -and the shops, where it was sold, places of general resort. - -There appears to have been a great anxiety that the Coffee-house, -while open to all ranks, should be conducted under such restraints as -might prevent the better class of customers from being annoyed. -Accordingly, the following regulations, printed on large sheets of -paper, were hung up in conspicuous positions on the walls:-- - - "_Enter, Sirs, freely, but first, if you please, - Peruse our civil orders, which are these._ - - First, gentry, tradesmen, all are welcome hither, - And may without affront sit down together: - Pre-eminence of place none here should mind, - But take the next fit seat that he can find: - Nor need any, if finer persons come, - Rise up for to assign to them his room; - To limit men's expense, we think not fair, - But let him forfeit twelve-pence that shall swear: - He that shall any quarrel here begin, - Shall give each man a dish t' atone the sin; - And so shall he, whose compliments extend - So far to drink in coffee to his friend; - Let noise of loud disputes be quite forborne, - Nor maudlin lovers here in corners mourn, - But all be brisk and talk, but not too much; - On sacred things, let none presume to touch, - Nor profane Scripture, nor saucily wrong - Affairs of state with an irreverent tongue: - Let mirth be innocent, and each man see - That all his jests without reflection be; - To keep the house more quiet and from blame, - We banish hence cards, dice, and every game; - Nor can allow of wagers, that exceed - Five shillings, which ofttimes do troubles breed; - Let all that's lost or forfeited be spent - In such good liquor as the house doth vent. - And customers endeavour, to their powers, - For to observe still, seasonable hours. - Lastly, let each man what he calls for pay, - And so you're welcome to come every day." - -In a print of the period, five persons are shown in a coffee-house, -one smoking, evidently, from their dresses, of different ranks of -life; they are seated at a table, on which are small basins without -saucers, and tobacco-pipes, while a waiter is serving the coffee. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[1] In the French colonies, where Coffee is more used than in the -English, Gout is scarcely known. - - -GARRAWAY'S COFFEE-HOUSE. - -This noted Coffee-house, situated in Change-alley, Cornhill, has a -threefold celebrity: tea was first sold in England here; it was a -place of great resort in the time of the South Sea Bubble; and has -since been a place of great mercantile transactions. The original -proprietor was Thomas Garway, tobacconist and coffee-man, the first -who retailed tea, recommending for the cure of all disorders; the -following is the substance of his shop bill:--"Tea in England hath -been sold in the leaf for six pounds, and sometimes for ten pounds the -pound weight, and in respect of its former scarceness and dearness, -it hath been only used as a regalia in high treatments and -entertainments, and presents made thereof to princes and grandees till -the year 1651." The said Thomas Garway did purchase a quantity -thereof, and first publicly sold the said tea in leaf and drink, made -according to the directions of the most knowing merchants and -travellers into those Eastern countries; and upon knowledge and -experience of the said Garway's continued care and industry in -obtaining the best tea, and making drink thereof, very many noblemen, -physicians, merchants, and gentlemen of quality, have ever since sent -to him for the said leaf, and daily resort to his house in -Exchange-alley, aforesaid, to drink the drink thereof; and to the end -that all persons of eminence and quality, gentlemen, and others, who -have occasion for tea in leaf, may be supplied, these are to give -notice that the said Thomas Garway hath tea to sell from "sixteen to -fifty shillings per pound." (See the document entire in Ellis's -_Letters_, series iv. 58.) - -Ogilby, the compiler of the _Britannia_, had his standing lottery of -books at Mr. Garway's Coffee-house from April 7, 1673, till wholly -drawn off. And, in the _Journey through England_, 1722, Garraway's, -Robins's, and Joe's, are described as the three celebrated -Coffee-houses: in the first, the People of Quality, who have business -in the City, and the most considerable and wealthy citizens, frequent. -In the second the Foreign Banquiers, and often even Foreign Ministers. -And in the third, the Buyers and Sellers of Stock. - -Wines were sold at Garraway's in 1673, "by the candle," that is, by -auction, while an inch of candle burns. In _The Tatler_, No. 147, we -read: "Upon my coming home last night, I found a very handsome present -of French wine left for me, as a taste of 216 hogsheads, which are to -be put to sale at 20_l._ a hogshead, at Garraway's Coffee-house, in -Exchange-alley," &c. The sale by candle is not, however, by -candle-light, but during the day. At the commencement of the sale, -when the auctioneer has read a description of the property, and the -conditions on which it is to be disposed of, a piece of candle, -usually an inch long, is lighted, and he who is the last bidder at the -time the light goes out is declared the purchaser. - -Swift, in his "Ballad on the South Sea Scheme," 1721, did not forget -Garraway's:-- - - "There is a gulf, where thousands fell, - Here all the bold adventurers came, - A narrow sound, though deep as hell, - 'Change alley is the dreadful name. - - "Subscribers here by thousands float, - And jostle one another down, - Each paddling in his leaky boat, - And here they fish for gold and drown. - - "Now buried in the depths below, - Now mounted up to heaven again, - They reel and stagger to and fro, - At their wits' end, like drunken men. - - "Meantime secure on Garway cliffs, - A savage race, by shipwrecks fed, - Lie waiting for the founder'd skiffs, - And strip the bodies of the dead." - -Dr. Radcliffe, who was a rash speculator in the South Sea Scheme, was -usually planted at a table at Garraway's about Exchange time, to watch -the turn of the market; and here he was seated when the footman of his -powerful rival, Dr. Edward Hannes, came into Garraway's and inquired, -by way of a puff, if Dr. H. was there. Dr. Radcliffe, who was -surrounded with several apothecaries and chirurgeons that flocked -about him, cried out, "Dr. Hannes was not there," and desired to know -"who wanted him?" the fellow's reply was, "such a lord and such a -lord;" but he was taken up with the dry rebuke, "No, no, friend, you -are mistaken; the Doctor wants those lords." One of Radcliffe's -ventures was five thousand guineas upon one South Sea project. When he -was told at Garraway's that 'twas all lost, "Why," said he, "'tis but -going up five thousand pair of stairs more." "This answer," says Tom -Brown, "deserved a statue." - -As a Coffee-house, and one of the oldest class, which has withstood, -by the well-acquired fame of its proprietors, the ravages of time, and -the changes that economy and new generations produce, none can be -compared to Garraway's. This name must be familiar with most people in -and out of the City; and, notwithstanding our disposition to make -allowance for the want of knowledge some of our neighbours of the -West-end profess in relation to men and things east of Temple Bar, it -must be supposed that the noble personage who said, when asked by a -merchant to pay him a visit in one of these places, "that he willingly -would, if his friend could tell him where to change horses," had -forgotten this establishment, which fostered so great a quantity of -dishonoured paper, when in other City coffee-houses it had gone -begging at 1_s._ and 2_s._ in the pound.[2] - -Garraway's has long been famous as a sandwich and drinking room, for -sherry, pale ale, and punch. Tea and coffee are still served. It is -said that the sandwich-maker is occupied two hours in cutting and -arranging the sandwiches before the day's consumption commences. The -sale-room is an old fashioned first-floor apartment, with a small -rostrum for the seller, and a few commonly grained settles for the -buyers. Here sales of drugs, mahogany, and timber are periodically -held. Twenty or thirty property and other sales sometimes take place -in a day. The walls and windows of the lower room are covered with -sale placards, which are unsentimental evidences of the mutability of -human affairs. - -"In 1840 and 1841, when the tea speculation was at its height, and -prices were fluctuating 6_d._ and 8_d._ per pound, on the arrival of -every mail, Garraway's was frequented every night by a host of the -smaller fry of dealers, when there was more excitement than ever -occurred on 'Change when the most important intelligence arrived. -Champagne and anchovy toasts were the order of the night; and every -one came, ate and drank, and went, as he pleased without the least -question concerning the score, yet the bills were discharged; and this -plan continued for several months."--_The City._ - -Here, likewise, we find this redeeming picture:--"The members of the -little _coterie_, who take the dark corner under the clock, have for -years visited this house; they number two or three old, steady -merchants, a solicitor, and a gentleman who almost devotes the whole -of his time and talents to philanthropic objects,--for instance, the -getting up of a Ball for Shipwrecked Mariners and their families; or -the organization of a Dinner for the benefit of the Distressed -Needlewomen of the Metropolis; they are a very quiet party, and enjoy -the privilege of their _séance_, uninterrupted by visitors." - -We may here mention a tavern of the South Sea time, where the "Globe -_permits_" fraud was very successful. These were nothing more than -square pieces of card on which was a wax seal of the sign of the Globe -Tavern, situated in the neighbourhood of Change-alley, with the -inscription, "Sail-cloth Permits." The possessors enjoyed no other -advantage from them than permission to subscribe at some future time -to a new sail-cloth manufactory projected by one who was known to be a -man of fortune, but who was afterwards involved in the peculation and -punishment of the South Sea Directors. These Permits sold for as much -as sixty guineas in the Alley. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[2] _The City_, 2nd edition. - - -JONATHAN'S COFFEE-HOUSE. - -This is another Change-alley Coffee-house, which is described in the -_Tatler_, No. 38, as "the general mart of stock-jobbers;" and the -_Spectator_, No. 1, tells us that he "sometimes passes for a Jew in -the assembly of stock-jobbers at Jonathan's." This was the rendezvous, -where gambling of all sorts was carried on; notwithstanding a formal -prohibition against the assemblage of the jobbers, issued by the City -of London, which prohibition continued unrepealed until 1825. - -In the _Anatomy of Exchange Alley_, 1719, we read:--"The centre of the -jobbing is in the kingdom of Exchange-alley and its adjacencies. The -limits are easily surrounded in about a minute and a half: viz. -stepping out of Jonathan's into the Alley, you turn your face full -south; moving on a few paces, and then turning due east, you advance -to Garraway's; from thence going out at the other door, you go on -still east into Birchin-lane; and then halting a little at the -Sword-blade Bank, to do much mischief in fewest words, you immediately -face to the north, enter Cornhill, visit two or three petty provinces -there in your way west; and thus having boxed your compass, and sailed -round the whole stock-jobbing globe, you turn into Jonathan's again; -and so, as most of the great follies of life oblige us to do, you end -just where you began." - -Mrs. Centlivre, in her comedy of _A Bold Stroke for a Wife_, has a -scene from Jonathan's at the above period: while the stock-jobbers are -talking, the coffee-boys are crying "Fresh coffee, gentlemen, fresh -coffee! Bohea tea, gentlemen!" - -Here is another picture of Jonathan's, during the South Sea mania; -though not by an eye-witness, it groups, from various authorities, the -life of the place and the time:--"At a table a few yards off sat a -couple of men engaged in the discussion of a newly-started scheme. -Plunging his hand impatiently under the deep silver-buttoned flap of -his frock-coat of cinnamon cloth and drawing out a paper, the more -business-looking of the pair commenced eagerly to read out figures -intended to convince the listener, who took a jewelled snuff-box from -the deep pocket of the green brocade waistcoat which overflapped his -thigh, and, tapping the lid, enjoyed a pinch of perfumed Turkish as he -leaned back lazily in his chair. Somewhat further off, standing in the -middle of the room, was a keen-eyed lawyer, counting on his fingers -the probable results of a certain speculation in human hair, to which -a fresh-coloured farmer from St. Albans, on whose boots the mud of the -cattle market was not dry, listened with a face of stolid avarice, -clutching the stag-horn handle of his thonged whip as vigorously as if -it were the wealth he coveted. There strode a Nonconformist divine, -with S. S. S. in every line of his face, greedy for the gold that -perisheth; here a bishop, whose truer place was Garraway's, edged his -cassock through the crowd; sturdy ship-captains, whose manners smack -of blustering breezes, and who hailed their acquaintance as if through -a speaking-trumpet in a storm--booksellers' hacks from Grub-street, -who were wont to borrow ink-bottles and just one sheet of paper at the -bar of the Black Swan in St. Martin's-lane, and whose tarnished lace, -when not altogether torn away, showed a suspicious coppery redness -underneath--Jews of every grade, from the thriving promoter of a -company for importing ashes from Spain or extracting stearine from -sunflower seeds to the seller of sailor slops from Wapping-in-the-Wose, -come to look for a skipper who had bilked him--a sprinkling of -well-to-do merchants--and a host of those flashy hangers-on to the -skirts of commerce, who brighten up in days of maniacal speculation, -and are always ready to dispose of shares in some unopened mine or -some untried invention--passed and repassed with continuous change and -murmur before the squire's eyes during the quarter of an hour that he -sat there."--_Pictures of the Periods, by W. F. Collier LL.D._ - - -RAINBOW COFFEE-HOUSE. - -The Rainbow, in Fleet-street, appears to have been the second -Coffee-house opened in the metropolis. - -"The first Coffee-house in London," says Aubrey (MS. in the Bodleian -Library), "was in St. Michael's-alley, in Cornhill, opposite to the -church, which was set up by one ---- Bowman (coachman to Mr. Hodges, a -Turkey merchant, who putt him upon it), in or about the yeare 1652. -'Twas about four yeares before any other was sett up, and that was by -Mr. Farr." This was the Rainbow. - -Another account states that one Edwards, a Turkey merchant, on his -return from the East, brought with him a Ragusian Greek servant, named -Pasqua Rosee, who prepared coffee every morning for his master, and -with the coachman above named set up the first Coffee-house in St. -Michael's-alley; but they soon quarrelled and separated, the coachman -establishing himself in St. Michael's churchyard.--(See pp. 2 and 4, -_ante._) - -Aubrey wrote the above in 1680, and Mr. Farr had then become a person -of consequence. In his _Lives_, Aubrey notes:--"When coffee first came -in, Sir Henry Blount was a great upholder of it, and hath ever since -been a great frequenter of coffee-houses, especially Mr. Farre's, at -the Rainbowe, by Inner Temple Gate." - -Farr was originally a barber. His success as a coffee-man appears to -have annoyed his neighbours; and at the inquest at St. Dunstan's, Dec. -21st, 1657, among the presentments of nuisances were the -following:--"We present James Farr, barber, for making and selling of -a drink called coffee, whereby in making the same he annoyeth his -neighbours by evill smells; and for keeping of fire for the most part -night and day, whereby his chimney and chamber hath been set on fire, -to the great danger and affrightment of his neighbours." However, Farr -was not ousted; he probably promised reform, or amended the alleged -annoyance: he remained at the Rainbow, and rose to be a person of -eminence and repute in the parish. He issued a token, date 1666--an -arched rainbow based on clouds, doubtless, from the Great Fire--to -indicate that with him all was yet safe, and the Rainbow still -radiant. There is one of his tokens in the Beaufoy collection, at -Guildhall, and so far as is known to Mr. Burn, the rainbow does not -occur on any other tradesman's token. The house was let off into -tenements: books were printed here at this very time "for Samuel -Speed, at the sign of the Rainbow, near the Inner Temple Gate, in -Fleet-street." The Phoenix Fire Office was established here about -1682. Hatton, in 1708, evidently attributed Farr's nuisance to the -_coffee itself_ saying: "Who would have thought London would ever have -had three thousand such nuisances, and that coffee would have been (as -now) so much drank by the best of quality, and physicians?" The -nuisance was in Farr's chimney and carelessness, not in the coffee. -Yet, in our statute-book anno 1660 (12 Car. II. c. 24), a duty of -4_d._ was laid upon every gallon of coffee made and sold. A statute of -1663 directs that all Coffee-houses should be licensed at the Quarter -Sessions. And in 1675, Charles II. issued a proclamation to shut up -the Coffee-houses, charged with being seminaries of sedition; but in a -few days he suspended this proclamation by a second. - -The _Spectator_, No. 16, notices some gay frequenters of the -Rainbow:--"I have received a letter desiring me to be very satirical -upon the little muff that is now in fashion; another informs me of a -pair of silver garters buckled below the knee, that have been lately -seen at the Rainbow Coffee-house in Fleet-street." - -Mr. Moncrieff, the dramatist, used to tell that about 1780, this house -was kept by his grandfather, Alexander Moncrieff, when it retained its -original title of "The Rainbow Coffee-house." The old Coffee-room had -a lofty bay-window, at the south end, looking into the Temple: and the -room was separated from the kitchen only by a glazed partition: in the -bay was the table for the elders. The house has long been a tavern; -all the old rooms have been swept away, and a large and lofty -dining-room erected in their place. - -In a paper read to the British Archĉological Association, by Mr. E. B. -Price, we find coffee and canary thus brought into interesting -comparison, illustrated by the exhibition of one of Farr's Rainbow -tokens; and another inscribed "At the Canary House in the Strand, -1_d_., 1665," bearing also the word "Canary" in the monogram. Having -noticed the prosecution of Farr, and his triumph over his -fellow-parishioners, Mr. Price says:--"The opposition to coffee -continued; people viewed it with distrust, and even with alarm: and we -can sympathize with them in their alarm: when we consider that they -entertained a notion that coffee would eventually put an end to the -species; that the _genus homo_ would some day or other be utterly -extinguished. With our knowledge of the beneficial effect of this -article on the community, and its almost universal adoption in the -present day, we may smile, and wonder while we smile, at the bare -possibility of such a notion ever having prevailed. That it did so, we -have ample evidence in the "Women's Petition against Coffee," in the -year 1674, cited by D'Israeli, _Curiosities of Literature_, vol. iv., -and in which they complain that coffee "made men as unfruitful as the -deserts whence that unhappy berry is said to be brought: that the -offspring of our mighty ancestors would dwindle into a succession of -apes and pigmies," etc. The same authority gives us an extract from a -very amusing poem of 1663, in which the writer wonders that any man -should prefer Coffee to Canary, terming them English apes, and proudly -referring them to the days of Beaumont and Fletcher and Ben Jonson. -_They_, says he, - - "Drank pure nectar as the gods drink too - Sublimed with rich _Canary_; say, shall then - These less than coffee's self, these coffee-men, - These sons of nothing, that can hardly make - Their broth for laughing how the jest does take, - Yet grin, and give ye for the vine's pure blood - A loathsome potion--not yet understood, - Syrup of soot, or essence of old shoes, - Dasht with diurnals or the book of news?" - -One of the weaknesses of "rare Ben" was his _penchant_ for Canary. And -it would seem that the Mermaid, in Bread-street, was the house in -which he enjoyed it most: - - "But that which most doth take my muse and me, - Is a pure cup of rich _Canary wine_, - Which is the Mermaid's now, but shall be mine." - -Granger states that Charles I. raised Ben's pension from 100 marks to -100 pounds, and added a tierce of canary, which salary and its -appendage, he says, have ever since been continued to poets laureate. - -Reverting to the Rainbow (says Mr. Price), "it has been frequently -remarked by 'tavern-goers,' that many of our snuggest and most -comfortable taverns are hidden from vulgar gaze, and unapproachable -except through courts, blind alleys, or but half-lighted passages." Of -this description was the house in question. But few of its many -nightly, or rather midnightly patrons and frequenters, knew aught of -it beyond its famed "stewed cheeses," and its "stout," with the -various "et ceteras" of good cheer. They little dreamed, and perhaps -as little cared to know, that, more than two centuries back, the -Rainbow flourished as a bookseller's shop; as appears by the -title-page of Trussell's _History of England_, which states it to be -"printed by M. D., for Ephraim Dawson, and are to bee sold in Fleet -Street, at the signe of the Rainbowe, neere the Inner-Temple Gate, -1636." - - -NANDO'S COFFEE-HOUSE - -Was the house at the east corner of Inner Temple-lane, No. 17, -Fleet-street, and next-door to the shop of Bernard Lintot, the -bookseller; though it has been by some confused with Groom's house, -No. 16. Nando's was the favourite haunt of Lord Thurlow, before he -dashed into law practice. At this Coffee-house a large attendance of -professional loungers was attracted by the fame of the punch and the -charms of the landlady, which, with the small wits, were duly admired -by and at the bar. One evening, the famous cause of Douglas _v._. the -Duke of Hamilton was the topic of discussion, when Thurlow being -present, it was suggested, half in earnest, to appoint him junior -counsel, which was done. This employment brought him acquainted with -the Duchess of Queensberry, who saw at once the value of a man like -Thurlow, and recommended Lord Bute to secure him by a silk gown. - -The house, formerly Nando's, has been for many years a hair-dresser's. -It is inscribed "Formerly the palace of Henry VIII. and Cardinal -Wolsey." The structure is of the time of James I., and has an enriched -ceiling inscribed P (triple plumed). - -This was the office in which the Council for the Management of the -Duchy of Cornwall Estates held their sittings; for in the Calendar of -State Papers, edited by Mrs. Green, is the following entry, of the -time of Charles, created Prince of Wales four years after the death of -Henry:--"1619, Feb. 25; Prince's _Council Chamber, Fleet-street_. ---Council of the Prince of Wales to the Keepers of Brancepeth, Raby, -and Barnard Castles: The trees blown down are only to be used for -mending the pales, and no wood to be cut for firewood, nor browse for -the deer." - - -DICK'S COFFEE-HOUSE. - -This old Coffee-house, No. 8, Fleet-street (south side, near Temple -Bar), was originally "Richard's," named from Richard Torner, or -Turner, to whom the house was let in 1680. The Coffee-room retains -its olden paneling, and the staircase its original balusters. - -The interior of Dick's Coffee-house is engraved as a frontispiece to a -drama, called _The Coffee-house_, performed at Drury-lane Theatre in -1737. The piece met with great opposition on its representation, owing -to its being stated that the characters were intended for a particular -family (that of Mrs. Yarrow and her daughter), who kept Dick's, the -coffee-house which the artist had inadvertently selected as the -frontispiece. - -It appears that the landlady and her daughter were the reigning toast -of the Templars, who then frequented Dick's; and took the matter up so -strongly that they united to condemn the farce on the night of its -production; they succeeded, and even extended their resentment to -every thing suspected to be this author's (the Rev. James Miller) for -a considerable time after. - -Richard's, as it was then called, was frequented by Cowper, when he -lived in the Temple. In his own account of his insanity, Cowper tells -us: "At breakfast I read the newspaper, and in it a letter, which, the -further I perused it, the more closely engaged my attention. I cannot -now recollect the purport of it; but before I had finished it, it -appeared demonstratively true to me that it was a libel or satire upon -me. The author appeared to be acquainted with my purpose of -self-destruction, and to have written that letter on purpose to secure -and hasten the execution of it. My mind, probably, at this time began -to be disordered; however it was, I was certainly given to a strong -delusion. I said within myself, 'Your cruelty shall be gratified; you -shall have your revenge,' and flinging down the paper in a fit of -strong passion, I rushed hastily out of the room; directing my way -towards the fields, where I intended to find some house to die in; or, -if not, determined to poison myself in a ditch, where I could meet -with one sufficiently retired." - -It is worth while to revert to the earlier tenancy of the -Coffee-house, which was, wholly or in part, the original printing -office of Richard Tottel, law-printer to Edward VI., Queens Mary and -Elizabeth; the premises were attached to No. 7, Fleet-street, which -bore the sign of "The Hand and Starre," where Tottel lived, and -published the law and other works he printed. No. 7 was subsequently -occupied by Jaggard and Joel Stephens, eminent law-printers, temp. -Geo. I.-III.; and at the present day the house is most appropriately -occupied by Messrs. Butterworth, who follow the occupation Tottel did -in the days of Edward VI., being law-publishers to Queen Victoria; and -they possess the original leases, from the earliest grant, in the -reign of Henry VIII., the period of their own purchase. - - -THE "LLOYD'S" OF THE TIME OF CHARLES II. - -During the reign of Charles II., Coffee-houses grew into such favour, -that they quickly spread over the metropolis, and were the usual -meeting-places of the roving cavaliers, who seldom visited home but to -sleep. The following song, from Jordan's _Triumphs of London_, 1675, -affords a very curious picture of the manners of the times, and the -sort of conversation then usually met with in a well-frequented house -of the sort,--the "Lloyd's" of the seventeenth century:-- - - "You that delight in wit and mirth, - And love to hear such news - That come from all parts of the earth, - Turks, Dutch, and Danes, and Jews: - I'll send ye to the rendezvous, - Where it is smoaking new; - Go hear it at a coffee-house, - It cannot but be true. - - "There battails and sea-fights are fought, - And bloudy plots displaid; - They know more things than e'er was thought, - Or ever was bewray'd: - No money in the minting-house - Is half so bright and new; - And coming from the _Coffee-House_, - It cannot but be true. - - "Before the navies fell to work, - They knew who should be winner; - They there can tell ye what the Turk - Last Sunday had to dinner. - Who last did cut Du Ruiter's[3] corns, - Amongst his jovial crew; - Or who first gave the devil horns, - Which cannot but be true. - - "A fisherman did boldly tell, - And strongly did avouch, - He caught a shole of mackerell, - They parley'd all in Dutch; - And cry'd out _Yaw, yaw, yaw, mine hare_, - And as the draught they drew, - They stunk for fear that Monk[4] was there: - This sounds as if 'twere true. - - "There's nothing done in all the world, - From monarch to the mouse; - But every day or night 'tis hurl'd - Into the coffee-house: - What Lilly[5] what Booker[6] cou'd - By art not bring about, - At Coffee-house you'll find a brood, - Can quickly find it out. - - "They know who shall in times to come, - Be either made or undone, - From great St. Peter's-street in Rome, - To Turnbal-street[7] in London. - - "They know all that is good or hurt, - To damn ye or to save ye; - There is the college and the court, - The country, camp, and navy. - So great an university, - I think there ne'er was any; - In which you may a scholar be, - For spending of a penny. - - "Here men do talk of everything, - With large and liberal lungs, - Like women at a gossiping, - With double tire of tongues, - They'll give a broadside presently, - 'Soon as you are in view: - With stories that you'll wonder at, - Which they will swear are true. - - "You shall know there what fashions are, - How perriwigs are curl'd; - And for a penny you shall hear - All novels in the world; - Both old and young, and great and small, - And rich and poor you'll see; - Therefore let's to the Coffee all, - Come all away with me." - -FOOTNOTES: - -[3] The Dutch admiral who, in June, 1667, dashed into the Downs with a -fleet of eighty sail, and many fire-ships, blocked up the mouths of -the Medway and Thames, destroyed the fortifications at Sheerness, cut -away the paltry defences of booms and chains drawn across the rivers, -and got to Chatham, on the one side, and nearly to Gravesend on the -other; the king having spent in debauchery the money voted by -Parliament for the proper support of the English navy. - -[4] General Monk and Prince Rupert were at this time commanders of the -English fleet. - -[5] Lilly was the celebrated astrologer of the Protectorate, who -earned great fame at that time by predicting, in June, 1645, "if now -we fight, a victory stealeth upon us:" a lucky guess, signally -verified in the King's defeat at Naseby. Lilly thenceforth always saw -the stars favourable to the Puritans. - -[6] This man was originally a fishing-tackle-maker in Tower-street, -during the reign of Charles I.; but turning enthusiast, he went about -prognosticating "the downfall of the King and Popery;" and as he and -his predictions were all on the popular side, he became a great man -with the superstitious "godly brethren" of that day. - -[7] Turnbal, or Turnbull-street as it is still called, had been for a -century previous of infamous repute. In Beaumont and Fletcher's play, -the _Knight of the Burning Pestle_, one of the ladies who is -undergoing penance at the barber's, has her character sufficiently -pointed out to the audience, in her declaration, that she had been -"stolen from her friends in Turnbal-street." - - -LLOYD'S COFFEE-HOUSE. - -Lloyd's is one of the earliest establishments of the kind; it is -referred to in a poem printed in the year 1700, called the _Wealthy -Shopkeeper, or Charitable Christian_: - - "Now to Lloyd's coffee-house he never fails, - To read the letters, and attend the sales." - -In 1710, Steele (_Tatler_, No. 246,) dates from Lloyd's his Petition -on Coffee-house Orators and Newsvendors. And Addison, in _Spectator_, -April 23, 1711, relates this droll incident:--"About a week since -there happened to me a very odd accident, by reason of which one of -these my papers of minutes which I had accidentally dropped at Lloyd's -Coffee-house, where the auctions are usually kept. Before I missed it, -there were a cluster of people who had found it, and were diverting -themselves with it at one end of the coffee-house. It had raised so -much laughter among them before I observed what they were about, that -I had not the courage to own it. The boy of the coffee-house, when -they had done with it, carried it about in his hand, asking everybody -if they had dropped a written paper; but nobody challenging it, he was -ordered by those merry gentlemen who had before perused it, to get up -into the auction-pulpit, and read it to the whole room, that if -anybody would own it, they might. The boy accordingly mounted the -pulpit, and with a very audible voice read what proved to be minutes, -which made the whole coffee-house very merry; some of them concluded -it was written by a madman, and others by somebody that had been -taking notes out of the _Spectator_. After it was read, and the boy -was coming out of the pulpit, the Spectator reached his arm out, and -desired the boy to give it him; which was done according. This drew -the whole eyes of the company upon the Spectator; but after casting a -cursory glance over it, he shook his head twice or thrice at the -reading of it, twisted it into a kind of match, and lighted his pipe -with it. 'My profound silence,' says the Spectator, 'together with the -steadiness of my countenance, and the gravity of my behaviour during -the whole transaction, raised a very loud laugh on all sides of me; -but as I had escaped all suspicion of being the author, I was very -well satisfied, and applying myself to my pipe and the _Postman_, took -no further notice of anything that passed about me.'" - -Nothing is positively known of the original Lloyd; but in 1750, there -was issued an Irregular Ode, entitled _A Summer's Farewell to the -Gulph of Venice, in the Southwell Frigate_, Captain Manly, jun., -commanding, stated to be "printed for Lloyd, well-known for obliging -the public with the Freshest and Most Authentic Ship News, and sold by -A. More, near St. Paul's, and at the Pamphlet Shops in London and -Westminster, MDCCL." - -In the _Gentleman's Magazine_, for 1740, we read:--"11 March, 1740, -Mr. Baker, Master of Lloyd's Coffee-house, in Lombard-street, waited -on Sir Robert Walpole with the news of Admiral Vernon's taking -Portobello. This was the first account received thereof, and proving -true, Sir Robert was pleased to order him a handsome present." - -Lloyd's is, perhaps, the oldest collective establishment in the City. -It was first under the management of a single individual, who started -it as a room where the underwriters and insurers of ships' cargoes -could meet for refreshment and conversation. The Coffee-house was -originally in Lombard-street, at the corner of Abchurch-lane; -subsequently in Pope's-head-alley, where it was called "New Lloyd's -Coffee-house;" but on February 14th, 1774, it was removed to the -north-west corner of the Royal Exchange, where it remained until the -destruction of that building by fire. - -In rebuilding the Exchange, a fine suite of apartments was provided -for Lloyd's "Subscription Rooms," which are the rendezvous of the most -eminent merchants, ship-owners, underwriters, insurance, stock, and -exchange brokers. Here is obtained the earliest news of the arrival -and sailing of vessels, losses at sea, captures, recaptures, -engagements, and other shipping intelligence; and proprietors of ships -and freights are insured by the underwriters. The rooms are in the -Venetian style, with Roman enrichments. They are--1. The Subscribers' -or Underwriters', the Merchants', and the Captains' Room. At the -entrance of the room are exhibited the Shipping Lists, received from -Lloyd's agents at home and abroad, and affording particulars of -departures or arrivals of vessels, wrecks, salvage, or sale of -property saved, etc. To the right and left are "Lloyd's Books," two -enormous ledgers: right hand, ships "spoken with," or arrived at their -destined ports; left hand: records of wrecks, fires, or severe -collisions, written in a fine Roman hand, in "double lines." To assist -the underwriters in their calculations, at the end of the room is an -Anemometer, which registers the state of the wind day and night; -attached is a rain-gauge. - -The life of the underwriter is one of great anxiety and speculation. -"Among the old stagers of the room, there is often strong antipathy to -the insurance of certain ships. In the case of one vessel it was -strangely followed out. She was a steady trader, named after one of -the most venerable members of the room; and it was a curious -coincidence that he invariably refused to 'write her' for 'a single -line.' Often he was joked upon the subject, and pressed to 'do a -little' for his namesake; but he as often declined, shaking his head -in a doubtful manner. One morning the subscribers were reading the -'double lines,' or the losses, and among them was this identical ship, -which had gone to pieces, and become a total wreck."--_The City_, _2nd -edit._, 1848. - -The Merchants' Room is superintended by a master, who can speak -several languages: here are duplicate copies of the books in the -underwriters' room, and files of English and foreign newspapers. - -The Captains' Room is a kind of coffee-room, where merchants and -ship-owners meet captains, and sales of ships, etc. take place. - -The members of Lloyd's have ever been distinguished by their loyalty -and benevolent spirit. In 1802, they voted 2000_l._ to the Life-boat -subscription. On July 20, 1803, at the invasion panic, they commenced -the Patriotic Fund with 20,000_l._ 3-per-cent. Consols; besides -70,312_l._ 7_s._ individual subscriptions, and 15,000_l._ additional -donations. After the battle of the Nile, in 1798, they collected for -the widows and wounded seamen 32,423_l._; and after Lord Howe's -victory, June 1, 1794, for similar purposes, 21,281_l._ They have also -contributed 5000_l._ to the London Hospital; 1000_.l_ for the -suffering inhabitants of Russia in 1813; 1000_l._ for the relief of -the militia in our North American colonies, 1813; and 10,000_l._ for -the Waterloo subscription, in 1815. The Committee vote medals and -rewards to those who distinguish themselves in saving life from -shipwreck. - -Some years since, a member of Lloyd's drew from the books the -following lines of names contained therein:-- - - "A Black and a White, with a Brown and a Green, - And also a Gray at Lloyd's room may be seen; - With Parson and Clark, then a Bishop and Pryor, - And Water, how Strange adding fuel to fire; - While, at the same time, 'twill sure pass belief, - There's a Winter, a Garland, Furze, Bud, and a Leaf; - With Freshfield, and Greenhill, Lovegrove, and a Dale; - Though there's never a Breeze, there's always a Gale. - No music is there, though a Whistler and Harper; - There's a Blunt and a Sharp, many flats, but no sharper. - There's a Danniell, a Samuel, a Sampson, an Abell; - The first and the last write at the same table. - Then there's Virtue and Faith there, with Wylie and Rasch, - Disagreeing elsewhere, yet at Lloyd's never clash, - There's a Long and a Short, Small, Little, and Fatt, - With one Robert Dewar, who ne'er wears his hat: - No drinking goes on, though there's Porter and Sack, - Lots of Scotchmen there are, beginning with Mac; - Macdonald, to wit, Macintosh and McGhie, - McFarquhar, McKenzie, McAndrew, Mackie. - An evangelized Jew, and an infidel Quaker; - There's a Bunn and a Pye, with a Cook and a Baker, - Though no Tradesmen or Shopmen are found, yet herewith - Is a Taylor, a Saddler, a Paynter, a Smyth; - Also Butler and Chapman, with Butter and Glover, - Come up to Lloyd's room their bad risks to cover. - Fox, Shepherd, Hart, Buck, likewise come every day; - And though many an ass, there is only one Bray. - There is a Mill and Miller, A-dam and a Poole, - A Constable, Sheriff, a Law, and a Rule. - There's a Newman, a Niemann, a Redman, a Pitman, - Now to rhyme with the last, there is no other fit man. - These, with Young, Cheap, and Lent, Luckie, Hastie, and Slow, - With dear Mr. Allnutt, Allfrey, and Auldjo, - Are all the queer names that at Lloyd's I can show." - -Many of these individuals are now deceased; but a frequenter of -Lloyd's in former years will recognize the persons mentioned. - - -THE JERUSALEM COFFEE-HOUSE, - -Cornhill, is one of the oldest of the City news-rooms, and is -frequented by merchants and captains connected with the commerce of -China, India, and Australia. - -"The subscription-room is well-furnished with files of the principal -Canton, Hongkong, Macao, Penang, Singapore, Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, -Sydney, Hobart Town, Launceston, Adelaide, and Port Phillip papers, -and Prices Current: besides shipping lists and papers from the various -intermediate stations or ports touched at, as St. Helena, the Cape of -Good Hope, etc. The books of East India shipping include arrivals, -departures, casualties, etc. The full business is between two and -three o'clock, p.m. In 1845, John Tawell, the Slough murderer, was -captured at [traced to] the Jerusalem, which he was in the habit of -visiting, to ascertain information of the state of his property in -Sydney."--_The City_, 2nd edit., 1848. - - -BAKER'S COFFEE-HOUSE, - -Change-alley, is remembered as a tavern some forty years since. The -landlord, after whom it is named, may possibly have been a descendant -from "Baker," the master of Lloyd's Rooms. It has been, for many -years, a chop-house, with direct service from the gridiron, and upon -pewter; though on the first-floor, joint dinners are served: its -post-prandial punch was formerly much drunk. In the lower room is a -portrait of James, thirty-five years waiter here. - - -COFFEE-HOUSES OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. - -Of Ward's _Secret History_ of the Clubs of his time we have already -given several specimens. Little is known of him personally. He was, -probably, born in 1660, and early in life he visited the West Indies. -Sometime before 1669, he kept a tavern and punch-house, next door to -Gray's Inn, of which we shall speak hereafter. His works are now -rarely to be met with. His doggrel secured him a place in the -_Dunciad_, where not only his elevation to the pillory is mentioned, -but the fact is also alluded to that his productions were extensively -shipped to the Plantations or Colonies of those days,-- - - "Nor sail with Ward to ape-and-monkey climes, - Where vile mundungus trucks for viler rhymes," - -the only places, probably, where they were extensively read. In return -for the doubtful celebrity thus conferred upon his rhymes, he attacked -the satirist in a wretched production, intituled _Apollo's Maggot in -his Cups_; his expiring effort, probably, for he died, as recorded in -the pages of our first volume, on the 22nd of June, 1731. His remains -were buried in the churchyard of Old St. Pancras, his body being -followed to the grave solely by his wife and daughter, as directed by -him in his poetical will, written some six years before. We learn -from Noble that there are no less than four engraved portraits of Ned -Ward. The structure of the _London Spy_, the only work of his that at -present comes under our notice, is simple enough. The author is -self-personified as a countryman, who, tired with his "tedious -confinement to a country hutt," comes up to London; where he -fortunately meets with a quondam school-fellow,--a "man about town," -in modern phrase,--who undertakes to introduce him to the various -scenes, sights, and mysteries of the, even then, "great metropolis:" -much like the visit, in fact, from Jerry Hawthorn to Corinthian Tom, -only anticipated by some hundred and twenty years. "We should not be -at all surprised (says the _Gentleman's Magazine_,) to find that the -stirring scenes of Pierce Egan's _Life in London_ were first suggested -by more homely pages of the _London Spy_." - -At the outset of the work we have a description--not a very flattering -one, certainly--of a common coffee-house of the day, one of the many -hundreds with which London then teemed. Although coffee had been only -known in England some fifty years, coffee-houses were already among -the most favourite institutions of the land; though they had not as -yet attained the political importance which they acquired in the days -of the _Tatler_ and _Spectator_, some ten or twelve years later:-- - -"'Come,' says my friend, 'let us step into this coffee-house here; as -you are a stranger in the town, it will afford you some diversion.' -Accordingly in we went, where a parcel of muddling muckworms were as -busy as so many rats in an old cheese-loft; some going, some coming, -some scribbling, some talking, some drinking, some smoking, others -jangling; and the whole room stinking of tobacco, like a Dutch scoot -[schuyt], or a boatswain's cabin. The walls were hung round with gilt -frames, as a farrier's shop with horse-shoes; which contained -abundance of rarities, viz., Nectar and Ambrosia, May-dew, Golden -Elixirs, Popular Pills, Liquid Snuff, Beautifying Waters, Dentifrices, -Drops, and Lozenges; all as infallible as the Pope, 'Where every one -(as the famous Saffolde has it) above the rest, Deservedly has gain'd -the name of best:' every medicine being so catholic, it pretends to -nothing less than universality. So that, had not my friend told me -'twas a coffee-house, I should have taken it for Quacks' Hall, or the -parlour of some eminent mountebank. We each of us stuck in our mouths -a pipe of sotweed, and now began to look about us." - -A description of Man's Coffee-house, situate in Scotland-yard, near -the water-side, is an excellent picture of a fashionable coffee-house -of the day. It took its name from the proprietor, Alexander Man, and -was sometimes known as Old Man's, or the Royal Coffee-house, to -distinguish it from Young Man's and Little Man's minor establishments -in the neighbourhood:-- - -"We now ascended a pair of stairs, which brought us into an -old-fashioned room, where a gaudy crowd of odoriferous _Tom-Essences_ -were walking backwards and forwards with their hats in their hands, -not daring to convert them to their intended use, lest it should put -the foretops of their wigs into some disorder. We squeezed through -till we got to the end of the room, where, at a small table, we sat -down, and observed that it was as great a rarity to hear anybody call -for a dish of _Politician's porridge_, or any other liquor, as it is -to hear a beau call for a pipe of tobacco; their whole exercise being -to charge and discharge their nostrils, and keep the curls of their -periwigs in their proper order. The clashing of their snush-box lids, -in opening and shutting, made more noise than their tongues. Bows and -cringes of the newest mode were here exchanged, 'twixt friend and -friend, with wonderful exactness. They made a humming like so many -hornets in a country chimney, not with their talking, but with their -whispering over their new _Minuets_ and _Bories_, with their hands in -their pockets, if only freed from their snush-box. We now began to be -thoughtful of a pipe of tobacco; whereupon we ventured to call for -some instruments of evaporation, which were accordingly brought us, -but with such a kind of unwillingness, as if they would much rather -have been rid of our company; for their tables were so very neat, and -shined with rubbing, like the upper-leathers of an alderman's shoes, -and as brown as the top of a country housewife's cupboard. The floor -was as clean swept as a Sir Courtly's dining-room, which made us look -round, to see if there were no orders hung up to impose the forfeiture -of so much Mop-money upon any person that should spit out of the -chimney-corner. Notwithstanding we wanted an example to encourage us -in our porterly rudeness, we ordered them to light the wax-candle, by -which we ignified our pipes and blew about our whiffs; at which -several Sir Foplins drew their faces into as many peevish wrinkles, as -the beaux at the Bow-street Coffee-house, near Covent-garden did, when -the gentleman in masquerade came in amongst them, with his -oyster-barrel muff and turnip-buttons, to ridicule their fopperies." - - -A cabinet picture of the Coffee-house life of a century and a half -since is thus given in the well-known _Journey through England_ in -1714: "I am lodged," says the tourist, "in the street called Pall -Mall, the ordinary residence of all strangers, because of its vicinity -to the Queen's Palace, the Park, the Parliament House, the Theatres, -and the Chocolate and Coffee-houses, where the best company frequent. -If you would know our manner of living, 'tis thus: we rise by nine, -and those that frequent great men's levees, find entertainment at them -till eleven, or, as in Holland, go to tea-tables; about twelve the -_beau monde_ assemble in several Coffee or Chocolate houses: the best -of which are the Cocoa-tree and White's Chocolate-houses, St. James's, -the Smyrna, Mrs. Rochford's, and the British Coffee-houses; and all -these so near one another, that in less than an hour you see the -company of them all. We are carried to these places in chairs (or -sedans), which are here very cheap, a guinea a week, or a shilling per -hour, and your chairmen serve you for porters to run on errands, as -your gondoliers do at Venice. - -"If it be fine weather, we take a turn into the Park till two, when we -go to dinner; and if it be dirty, you are entertained at piquet or -basset at White's, or you may talk politics at the Smyrna or St. -James's. I must not forget to tell you that the parties have their -different places, where, however, a stranger is always well received; -but a Whig will no more go to the Cocoa-tree or Ozinda's, than a Tory -will be seen at the Coffee-house, St. James's. - -"The Scots go generally to the British, and a mixture of all sorts to -the Smyrna. There are other little Coffee-houses much frequented in -this neighbourhood,--Young Man's for officers, Old Man's for -stock-jobbers, pay-masters, and courtiers, and Little Man's for -sharpers. I never was so confounded in my life as when I entered into -this last: I saw two or three tables full at faro, heard the box and -dice rattling in the room above stairs, and was surrounded by a set of -sharp faces, that I was afraid would have devoured me with their eyes. -I was glad to drop two or three half crowns at faro to get off with a -clear skin, and was overjoyed I so got rid of them. - -"At two, we generally go to dinner; ordinaries are not so common here -as abroad, yet the French have set up two or three good ones for the -convenience of foreigners in Suffolk-street, where one is tolerably -well served; but the general way here is to make a party at the -Coffee-house to go to dine at the tavern, where we sit till six, when -we go to the play; except you are invited to the table of some great -man, which strangers are always courted to, and nobly entertained." - -We may here group the leading Coffee-houses,[8] the principal of which -will be more fully described hereafter: - -"Before 1715, the number of Coffee-houses in London was reckoned at -two thousand. Every profession, trade, class, party, had its favourite -Coffee-house. The lawyers discussed law or literature, criticized the -last new play, or retailed the freshest Westminster Hall "bite" at -Nando's or the Grecian, both close on the purlieus of the Temple. Here -the young bloods of the Inns-of-Court paraded their Indian gowns and -lace caps of a morning, and swaggered in their lace coats and Mechlin -ruffles at night, after the theatre. The Cits met to discuss the rise -and fall of stocks, and to settle the rate of insurance, at Garraway's -or Jonathan's; the parsons exchanged university gossip, or commented -on Dr. Sacheverel's last sermon at Truby's or at Child's in St. Paul's -Churchyard; the soldiers mustered to grumble over their grievances at -Old or Young Man's, near Charing Cross; the St. James's and the Smyrna -were the head-quarters of the Whig politicians, while the Tories -frequented the Cocoa-tree or Ozinda's, all in St. James's-street; -Scotchmen had their house of call at Forrest's, Frenchmen at Giles's -or Old Slaughter's, in St. Martin's-lane; the gamesters shook their -elbows in White's and the Chocolate-houses round Covent Garden; the -_virtuosi_ honoured the neighbourhood of Gresham College; and the -leading wits gathered at Will's, Button's, or Tom's, in Great -Russell-street, where after the theatre was playing at piquet and the -best of conversation till midnight. At all these places, except a few -of the most aristocratic Coffee or Chocolate-houses of the West-End, -smoking was allowed. A penny was laid down at the bar on entering, and -the price of a dish of tea or coffee seems to have been two-pence: -this charge covered newspapers and lights. The established frequenters -of the house had their regular seats, and special attention from the -fair lady at the bar, and the tea or coffee boys. - -"To these Coffee-houses men of all classes, who had either leisure or -money, resorted to spend both; and in them, politics, play, scandal, -criticism, and business, went on hand-in-hand. The transition from -Coffee-house to Club was easy. Thus Tom's, a Coffee-house till 1764, -in that year, by a guinea subscription, among nearly seven hundred of -the nobility, foreign ministers, gentry, and geniuses of the age, -became the place of meeting for the subscribers exclusively.[9] In the -same way, White's and the Cocoa-tree changed their character from -Chocolate-house to Club. When once a house had customers enough of -standing and good repute, and acquainted with each other, it was quite -worth while--considering the characters who, on the strength of -assurance, tolerable manners, and a laced coat, often got a footing in -these houses while they continued open to the public, to purchase -power of excluding all but subscribers." - -Thus, the chief places of resort were at this period Coffee and -Chocolate-houses, in which some men almost lived, as they do at the -present day, at their Clubs. Whoever wished to find a gentleman -commonly asked, not where he resided, but which coffee-house he -frequented. No decently attired idler was excluded, provided he laid -down his penny at the bar; but this he could seldom do without -struggling through the crowd of beaux who fluttered round the lovely -bar-maid. Here the proud nobleman or country squire was not to be -distinguished from the genteel thief and daring highwayman. "Pray, -sir," says Aimwell to Gibbet, in Farquhar's _Beaux Stratagem_, "ha'n't -I seen your face at Will's Coffee-house?" The robber's reply is: "Yes, -Sir, and at White's too." - -Three of Addison's papers in the _Spectator_, (Nos. 402, 481, and -568,) are humorously descriptive of the Coffee-houses of this period. -No. 403 opens with the remark that "the courts of two countries do not -so much differ from one another, as the Court and the City, in their -peculiar ways of life and conversation. In short, the inhabitants of -St. James's, notwithstanding they live under the same laws, and speak -the same language, are a distinct people from those of Cheapside, who -are likewise removed from those of the Temple on the one side, and -those of Smithfield on the other, by several climates and degrees in -their way of thinking and conversing together." For this reason, the -author takes a ramble through London and Westminster, to gather the -opinions of his ingenious countrymen upon a current report of the King -of France's death. "I know the faces of all the principal politicians -within the bills of mortality; and as every Coffee-house has some -particular statesman belonging to it, who is the mouth of the street -where he lives, I always take care to place myself near him, in order -to know his judgment on the present posture of affairs. And, as I -foresaw, the above report would produce a new face of things in -Europe, and many curious speculations in our British Coffee-houses, I -was very desirous to learn the thoughts of our most eminent -politicians on that occasion. - -"That I might begin as near the fountain-head as possible, I first of -all called in at St. James's, where I found the whole outward room in -a buzz of politics; the speculations were but very indifferent towards -the door, but grew finer as you advanced to the upper end of the room, -and were so much improved by a knot of theorists, who sat in the inner -room, within the steams of the coffee-pot, that I there heard the -whole Spanish monarchy disposed of, and all the line of Bourbons -provided for in less than a quarter of an hour. - -"I afterwards called in at Giles's, where I saw a board of French -gentlemen sitting upon the life and death of their grand monarque. -Those among them who had espoused the Whig interest very positively -affirmed that he had departed this life about a week since, and -therefore, proceeded without any further delay to the release of their -friends in the galleys, and to their own re-establishment; but, -finding they could not agree among themselves, I proceeded on my -intended progress. - -"Upon my arrival at Jenny Man's I saw an alert young fellow that -cocked his hat upon a friend of his, who entered just at the same time -with myself, and accosted him after the following manner: 'Well, Jack, -the old prig is dead at last. Sharp's the word. Now or never, boy. Up -to the walls of Paris, directly;' with several other deep reflections -of the same nature. - -"I met with very little variation in the politics between Charing -Cross and Covent Garden. And, upon my going into Will's, I found their -discourse was gone off, from the death of the French King, to that of -Monsieur Boileau, Racine, Corneille, and several other poets, whom -they regretted on this occasion as persons who would have obliged the -world with very noble elegies on the death of so great a prince, and -so eminent a patron of learning. - -"At a Coffee-house near the Temple, I found a couple of young -gentlemen engaged very smartly in a dispute on the succession to the -Spanish monarchy. One of them seemed to have been retained as advocate -for the Duke of Anjou, the other for his Imperial Majesty. They were -both for regarding the title to that kingdom by the statute laws of -England: but finding them going out of my depth, I pressed forward to -Paul's Churchyard, where I listened with great attention to a learned -man, who gave the company an account of the deplorable state of France -during the minority of the deceased King. - -"I then turned on my right hand into Fish-street, where the chief -politician of that quarter, upon hearing the news, (after having taken -a pipe of tobacco, and ruminated for some time,) 'If,' says he, 'the -King of France is certainly dead, we shall have plenty of mackerel -this season: our fishery will not be disturbed by privateers, as it -has been for these ten years past.' He afterwards considered how the -death of this great man would affect our pilchards, and by several -other remarks infused a general joy into his whole audience. - -"I afterwards entered a by-coffee-house that stood at the upper end of -a narrow lane, where I met with a conjuror, engaged very warmly with a -laceman who was the great support of a neighbouring conventicle. The -matter in debate was whether the late French King was most like -Augustus Cĉsar, or Nero. The controversy was carried on with great -heat on both sides, and as each of them looked upon me very frequently -during the course of their debate, I was under some apprehension that -they would appeal to me, and therefore laid down my penny at the bar, -and made the best of my way to Cheapside. - -"I here gazed upon the signs for some time before I found one to my -purpose. The first object I met in the coffee-room was a person who -expressed a great grief for the death of the French King; but upon his -explaining himself, I found his sorrow did not arise from the loss of -the monarch, but for his having sold out of the Bank about three days -before he heard the news of it. Upon which a haberdasher, who was the -oracle of the Coffee-house, and had his circle of admirers about him, -called several to witness that he had declared his opinion, above a -week before, that the French King was certainly dead; to which he -added, that, considering the late advices we had received from France, -it was impossible that it could be otherwise. As he was laying these -together, and debating to his hearers with great authority, there came -a gentleman from Garraway's, who told us that there were several -letters from France just come in, with advice that the King was in -good health, and was gone out a hunting the very morning the post came -away; upon which the haberdasher stole off his hat that hung upon a -wooden peg by him, and retired to his shop with great confusion. This -intelligence put a stop to my travels, which I had prosecuted with so -much satisfaction; not being a little pleased to hear so many -different opinions upon so great an event, and to observe how -naturally, upon such a piece of news, every one is apt to consider it -to his particular interest and advantage." - -FOOTNOTES: - -[8] From the National Review, No. 8. - -[9] We question whether the Coffee-house general business was entirely -given up immediately after the transition. - - -COFFEE-HOUSE SHARPERS IN 1776. - -The following remarks by Sir John Fielding[10] upon the dangerous -classes to be found in our metropolitan Coffee-houses three-quarters -of a century since, are described as "necessary Cautions to all -Strangers resorting thereto." - -"A stranger or foreigner should particularly frequent the -Coffee-houses in London. These are very numerous in every part of the -town; will give him the best insight into the different characters of -the people, and the justest notion of the inhabitants in general, of -all the houses of public resort these are the least dangerous. Yet, -some of these are not entirely free from sharpers. The deceivers of -this denomination are generally descended from families of some -repute, have had the groundwork of a genteel education, and are -capable of making a tolerable appearance. Having been equally profuse -of their own substance and character, and learned, by having been -undone, the ways of undoing, they lie in wait for those who have more -wealth and less knowledge of the town. By joining you in discourse, by -admiring what you say, by an officiousness to wait upon you, and to -assist you in anything you want to have or know, they insinuate -themselves into the company and acquaintance of strangers, whom they -watch every opportunity of fleecing. And if one finds in you the least -inclination to cards, dice, the billiard-table, bowling-green, or any -other sort of gaming, you are morally sure of being taken in. For this -set of gentry are adepts in all the arts of knavery and tricking. If, -therefore, you should observe a person, without any previous -acquaintance, paying you extraordinary marks of civility; if he puts -in for a share of your conversation with a pretended air of deference; -if he tenders his assistance, courts your acquaintance, and would be -suddenly thought your friend, avoid him as a pest; for these are the -usual baits by which the unwary are caught." - -FOOTNOTE: - -[10] 'The Magistrate: Description of London and Westminster,' 1776. - - -DON SALTERO'S COFFEE-HOUSE. - -Among the curiosities of Old Chelsea, almost as well known as its -china, was the Coffee-house and Museum, No. 18, Cheyne Walk, opened by -a barber, named Salter, in 1695. Sir Hans Sloane contributed some of -the refuse gimcracks of his own collection; and Vice-Admiral Munden, -who had been long on the coast of Spain, where he had acquired a -fondness for Spanish titles, named the keeper of the house _Don -Saltero_, and his coffee-house and museum, _Don Saltero's_. - -The place, however, would, in all probability, have enjoyed little -beyond its local fame, had not Sir Richard Steele immortalized the Don -and Don Saltero's in _The Tatler_, No. 34, June 28, 1700; wherein he -tells us of the necessity of travelling to know the world by his -journey for fresh air, no further than the village of Chelsea, of -which he fancied that he could give an immediate description, from the -five fields, where the robbers lie in wait, to the Coffee-house, where -the literati sit in council. But he found, even in a place so near -town as this, there were enormities and persons of eminence, whom he -before knew nothing of. - -The Coffee-house was almost absorbed by the Museum. "When I came into -the Coffee-house," says Steele, "I had not time to salute the company, -before my eyes were diverted by ten thousand gimcracks round the room, -and on the ceiling. When my first astonishment was over, comes to me a -sage of thin and meagre countenance, which aspect made me doubt -whether reading or fretting had made it so philosophic; but I very -soon perceived him to be of that sort which the ancients call -'gingivistee,' in our language 'tooth-drawers,' I immediately had a -respect for the man; for these practical philosophers go upon a very -practical hypothesis, not to cure, but to take away the part affected. -My love of mankind made me very benevolent to Mr. Salter, for such is -the name of this eminent barber and antiquary." - -The Don was famous for his punch and his skill on the fiddle; he also -drew teeth, and wrote verses; he described his museum in several -stanzas, one of which is-- - - "Monsters of all sorts are seen: - Strange things in nature as they grew so; - Some relicks of the Sheba Queen, - And fragments of the fam'd Bob Crusoe." - -Steele then plunges into a deep thought why barbers should go further -in hitting the ridiculous than any other set of men; and maintains -that Don Saltero is descended in a right line, not from John -Tradescant, as he himself asserts, but from the memorable companion of -the Knight of Mancha. Steele then certifies that all the worthy -citizens who travel to see the Don's rarities, his double-barrelled -pistols, targets, coats of mail, his sclopeta, and sword of Toledo, -were left to his ancestor by the said Don Quixote, and by his ancestor -to all his progeny down to Saltero. Though Steele thus goes far in -favour of Don Saltero's great merit, he objects to his imposing -several names (without his licence) on the collection he has made, to -the abuse of the good people of England; one of which is particularly -calculated to deceive religious persons, to the great scandal of the -well-disposed, and may introduce heterodox opinions. [Among the -curiosities presented by Admiral Munden was a coffin, containing the -body or relics of a Spanish saint, who had wrought miracles.] "He -shows you a straw hat, which," says Steele, "I know to be made by -Madge Peskad, within three miles of Bedford; and tells you 'It is -Pontius Pilate's wife's chambermaid's sister's hat.' To my knowledge -of this very hat, it may be added that the covering of straw was never -used among the Jews, since it was demanded of them to make bricks -without it. Therefore, this is nothing but, under the specious -pretence of learning and antiquities, to impose upon the world. There -are other things which I cannot tolerate among his rarities, as, the -china figure of the lady in the glass-case; the Italian engine, for -the imprisonment of those who go abroad with it; both of which I -hereby order to be taken down, or else he may expect to have his -letters patent for making punch superseded, be debarred wearing his -muff next winter, or ever coming to London without his wife." -Babillard says that Salter had an old grey muff, and that, by wearing -it up to his nose, he was distinguishable at the distance of a quarter -of a mile. His wife was none of the best, being much addicted to -scolding; and Salter, who liked his glass, if he could make a trip to -London by himself, was in no haste to return. - -Don Saltero's proved very attractive as an exhibition, and drew crowds -to the coffee-house. A catalogue was published, of which were printed -more than forty editions. Smollett, the novelist, was among the -donors. The catalogue, in 1760, comprehended the following -rarities:--Tigers' tusks; the Pope's candle; the skeleton of a -Guinea-pig; a fly-cap monkey; a piece of the true Cross; the Four -Evangelists' heads cut on a cherry-stone; the King of Morocco's -tobacco-pipe; Mary Queen of Scots' pincushion; Queen Elizabeth's -prayer-book; a pair of Nun's stockings; Job's ears, which grew on a -tree; a frog in a tobacco-stopper; and five hundred more odd relics! -The Don had a rival, as appears by "A Catalogue of the Rarities to be -seen at Adams's, at the Royal Swan, in Kingsland-road, leading from -Shoreditch Church, 1756." Mr. Adams exhibited, for the entertainment -of the curious, "Miss Jenny Cameron's shoes; Adam's eldest daughter's -hat; the heart of the famous Bess Adams, that was hanged at Tyburn -with Lawyer Carr, January 18, 1736-7; Sir Walter Raleigh's -tobacco-pipe; Vicar of Bray's clogs; engine to shell green peas with; -teeth that grew in a fish's belly; Black Jack's ribs; the very comb -that Abraham combed his son Isaac and Jacob's head with; Wat Tyler's -spurs; rope that cured Captain Lowry of the head-ach, ear-ach, -tooth-ach, and belly-ach; Adam's key of the fore and back door of the -Garden of Eden, &c., &c." These are only a few out of five hundred -others equally marvellous. - -The Don, in 1723, issued a curious rhyming advertisement of his -Curiosities, dated "Chelsea Knackatory," and in one line he calls it -"My Museum Coffee-house." - -In Dr. Franklin's _Life_ we read:--"Some gentlemen from the country -went by water to see the College, and Don Saltero's Curiosities, at -Chelsea." They were shown in the coffee-room till August, 1799, when -the collection was mostly sold or dispersed; a few gimcracks were left -until about 1825, when we were informed on the premises, they were -thrown away! The house is now a tavern, with the sign of "The Don -Saltero's Coffee-house." - -The success of Don Saltero, in attracting visitors to his -coffee-house, induced the proprietor of the Chelsea Bun-house to make -a similar collection of rarities, to attract customers for the buns; -and to some extent it was successful. - - -SALOOP-HOUSES. - -What was, in our time, occasionally sold at stalls in the streets of -London, with this name, was a decoction of sassafras; but it was -originally made from Salep, the roots of _Orchis mascula_, a common -plant of our meadows, the tubers of which, being cleaned and peeled, -are lightly browned in an oven. Salep was much recommended in the last -century by Dr. Percival, who stated that salep had the property of -concealing the taste of salt water, which property it was thought -might be turned to account in long sea-voyages. The root has been -considered as containing the largest portion of nutritious matter in -the smallest space; and when boiled, it was much used in this country -before the introduction of tea and coffee, and their greatly reduced -prices. Salep is now almost entirely disused in Great Britain; but we -remember many saloop-stalls in our streets. We believe the last house -in which it was sold, to have been Read's Coffee-house, in -Fleet-street. The landlord of the noted Mug-house, in Salisbury-square, -was one Read. (See CLUBS, p. 52.) - - -THE SMYRNA COFFEE-HOUSE, - -In Pall Mall, was, in the reign of Queen Anne, famous for "that -cluster of wise-heads" found sitting every evening, from the left side -of the fire to the door. The following announcement in the _Tatler_, -No. 78, is amusing: "This is to give notice to all ingenious gentlemen -in and about the cities of London and Westminster, who have a mind to -be instructed in the noble sciences of music, poetry, and politics, -that they repair to the Smyrna Coffee-house, in Pall Mall, betwixt the -hours of eight and ten at night, where they may be instructed gratis, -with elaborate essays by word of mouth," on all or any of the -above-mentioned arts. The disciples are to prepare their bodies with -three dishes of bohea, and to purge their brains with two pinches of -snuff. If any young student gives indication of parts, by listening -attentively, or asking a pertinent question, one of the professors -shall distinguish him, by taking snuff out of his box in the presence -of the whole audience. - -"N.B. The seat of learning is now removed from the corner of the -chimney, on the left hand towards the window, to the round table in -the middle of the floor over against the fire; a revolution much -lamented by the porters and chairmen, who were much edified through a -pane of glass that remained broken all the last summer." - -Prior and Swift were much together at the Smyrna: we read of their -sitting there two hours, "receiving acquaintance;" and one entry of -Swift's tells us that he walked a little in the Park till Prior made -him go with him to the Smyrna Coffee-house. It seemed to be the place -to _talk politics_; but there is a more agreeable record of it in -association with our "Poet of the Year," thus given by Cunningham: "In -the printed copy of Thomson's proposals for publishing, by -subscription, the Four Seasons, with a Hymn on their succession, the -following note is appended:--'Subscriptions now taken in by the -author, at the Smyrna Coffee-house, Pall Mall.'"[11] We find the -Smyrna in a list of Coffee-Houses in 1810. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[11] The Dane Coffee-house, between the Upper and Lower Malls, -Hammersmith, was frequented by Thomson, who wrote here a part of his -_Winter_. On the Terrace resided, for many years, Arthur Murphy, and -Loutherbourg, the painter. The latter died there, in 1812. - - -ST. JAMES'S COFFEE-HOUSE. - -This was the famous Whig Coffee-house from the time of Queen Anne till -late in the reign of George III. It was the last house but one on the -south-west corner of St. James's-street, and is thus mentioned in No. -1 of the _Tatler_: "Foreign and Domestic News you will have from St. -James's Coffee-house." It occurs also in the passage quoted at page -39, from the _Spectator_. The St. James's was much frequented by -Swift; letters for him were left here. In his Journal to Stella he -says: "I met Mr. Harley, and he asked me how long I had learnt the -trick of writing to myself? He had seen your letter through the glass -case at the Coffee-house, and would swear it was my hand." The letters -from Stella were enclosed under cover to Addison. - -Elliot, who kept the coffee-house, was, on occasions, placed on a -friendly footing with his guests. Swift, in his Journal to Stella, -Nov. 19, 1710, records an odd instance of this familiarity: "This -evening I christened our coffee-man Elliot's child; when the rogue had -a most noble supper, and Steele and I sat amongst some scurvy company -over a bowl of punch." - -In the first advertisement of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu's _Town -Eclogues_, they are stated to have been read over at the St. James's -Coffee-house, when they were considered by the general voice to be -productions of a Lady of Quality. From the proximity of the house to -St. James's Palace, it was much frequented by the Guards; and we read -of its being no uncommon circumstance to see Dr. Joseph Warton at -breakfast in the St. James's Coffee-house, surrounded by officers of -the Guards, who listened with the utmost attention and pleasure to his -remarks. - -To show the order and regularity observed at the St. James's, we may -quote the following advertisement, appended to the _Tatler_, No. -25:--"To prevent all mistakes that may happen among gentlemen of the -other end of the town, who come but once a week to St. James's -Coffee-house, either by miscalling the servants, or requiring such -things from them as are not properly within their respective -provinces; this is to give notice that Kidney, keeper of the -book-debts of the outlying customers, and observer of those who go off -without paying, having resigned that employment, is succeeded by John -Sowton; to whose place of enterer of messages and first -coffee-grinder, William Bird is promoted; and Samuel Burdock comes as -shoe-cleaner in the room of the said Bird." - -But the St. James's is more memorable as the house where originated -Goldsmith's celebrated poem, _Retaliation_. The poet belonged to a -temporary association of men of talent, some of them members of the -Club, who dined together occasionally here. At these dinners he was -generally the last to arrive. On one occasion, when he was later than -usual, a whim seized the company to write epitaphs on him as "the late -Dr. Goldsmith," and several were thrown off in a playful vein. The -only one extant was written by Garrick, and has been preserved, very -probably, by its pungency:-- - - "Here lies poet Goldsmith, for shortness called Noll; - He wrote like an angel, but talked like poor Poll." - -Goldsmith did not relish the sarcasm, especially coming from such a -quarter; and, by way of _retaliation_, he produced the famous poem, of -which Cumberland has left a very interesting account, but which Mr. -Forster, in his _Life of Goldsmith_, states to be "pure romance." The -poem itself, however, with what was prefixed to it when published, -sufficiently explains its own origin. What had formerly been abrupt -and strange in Goldsmith's manners, had now so visibly increased, as -to become matter of increased sport to such as were ignorant of its -cause; and a proposition made at one of the dinners, when he was -absent, to write a series of epitaphs upon him (his "country dialect" -and his awkward person) was agreed to and put in practice by several -of the guests. The active aggressors appear to have been Garrick, -Doctor Bernard, Richard Burke, and Caleb Whitefoord. Cumberland says -he, too, wrote an epitaph; but it was complimentary and grave, and -hence the grateful return he received. Mr. Forster considers Garrick's -epitaph to indicate the tone of all. This, with the rest, was read to -Goldsmith when he next appeared at the St. James's Coffee-house, where -Cumberland, however, says he never again met his friends. But "the -Doctor was called on for Retaliation," says the friend who published -the poem with that name, "and at their next meeting, produced the -following, which I think adds one leaf to his immortal wreath." -"_Retaliation_," says Sir Walter Scott, "had the effect of placing the -author on a more equal footing with his Society than he had ever -before assumed." - -Cumberland's account differs from the version formerly received, which -intimates that the epitaphs were written before Goldsmith arrived: -whereas the pun, "the late Dr. Goldsmith," appears to have suggested -the writing of the epitaphs. In the _Retaliation_, Goldsmith has not -spared the characters and failings of his associates, but has drawn -them with satire, at once pungent and good-humoured. Garrick is -smartly chastised; Burke, the Dinner-bell of the House of Commons, is -not let off; and of all the more distinguished names of the Club, -Thomson, Cumberland, and Reynolds alone escape the lash of the -satirist. The former is not mentioned, and the two latter are even -dismissed with unqualified and affectionate applause. - -Still, we quote Cumberland's account of the _Retaliation_, which is -very amusing from the closely circumstantial manner in which the -incidents are narrated, although they have so little relationship to -truth:--"It was upon a proposal started by Edmund Burke, that a party -of friends who had dined together at Sir Joshua Reynolds's and my -house, should meet at the St. James's Coffee-house, which accordingly -took place, and was repeated occasionally with much festivity and -good fellowship. Dr. Bernard, Dean of Derry; a very amiable and old -friend of mine, Dr. Douglas, since Bishop of Salisbury; Johnson, David -Garrick, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Oliver Goldsmith, Edmund and Richard -Burke, Hickey, with two or three others, constituted our party. At one -of these meetings an idea was suggested of extemporary epitaphs upon -the parties present: pen and ink were called for, and Garrick, -off-hand, wrote an epitaph with a good deal of humour, upon poor -Goldsmith, who was the first in jest, as he proved to be in reality, -that we committed to the grave. The Dean also gave him an epitaph, and -Sir Joshua illuminated the Dean's verses with a sketch of his bust in -pen-and-ink, inimitably caricatured. Neither Johnson nor Burke wrote -anything, and when I perceived that Oliver was rather sore, and seemed -to watch me with that kind of attention which indicated his -expectation of something in the same kind of burlesque with theirs; I -thought it time to press the joke no further, and wrote a few couplets -at a side-table, which, when I had finished, and was called upon by -the company to exhibit, Goldsmith, with much agitation, besought me to -spare him; and I was about to tear them, when Johnson wrested them out -of my hand, and in a loud voice read them at the table. I have now -lost recollection of them, and, in fact, they were little worth -remembering; but as they were serious and complimentary, the effect -upon Goldsmith was the more pleasing, for being so entirely -unexpected. The concluding line, which was the only one I can call to -mind, was:-- - - "'All mourn the poet, I lament the man.' - -This I recollect, because he repeated it several times, and seemed -much gratified by it. At our next meeting he produced his epitaphs, -as they stand in the little posthumous poem above mentioned, and this -was the last time he ever enjoyed the company of his friends."[12] - -Mr. Cunningham tells us that the St. James's was closed about 1806; -and a large pile of building looking down Pall Mall, erected on its -site. - -The globular oil-lamp was first exhibited by its inventor, Michael -Cole, at the door of the St. James's Coffee-house, in 1709; in the -patent he obtained, it is mentioned as "a new kind of light." - -FOOTNOTE: - -[12] _Cumberland's Memoirs_, vol. i. - - -THE BRITISH COFFEE-HOUSE, - -In Cockspur-street, "long a house of call for Scotchmen," has been -fortunate in its landladies. In 1759, it was kept by the sister of -Bishop Douglas, so well known for his works against Lauder and Bower, -which may explain its Scottish fame. At another period it was kept by -Mrs. Anderson, described in Mackenzie's _Life of Home_ as "a woman of -uncommon talents, and the most agreeable conversation."[13] - -The British figures in a political faction of 1750, at which date -Walpole writes to Sir Horace Mann: "The Argyll carried all the Scotch -against the turnpike; they were willing to be carried, for the Duke of -Bedford, in case it should have come into the Lords, had writ to the -sixteen Peers, to solicit their votes; but with so little difference, -that he enclosed all the letters under one cover directed to the -British Coffee-house." - -FOOTNOTE: - -[13] _Cunningham's Walpole_, vol. ii. p. 196, note. - - -WILL'S COFFEE-HOUSE.[14] - -Will's, the predecessor of Button's, and even more celebrated than -that Coffee-house, was kept by William Urwin, and was the house on the -north side of Russell-street at the end of Bow-street--the corner -house--now occupied as a ham and beef shop, and numbered twenty-three. -"It was Dryden who made Will's Coffee-house the great resort of the -wits of his time." (_Pope_ and _Spence_). The room in which the poet -was accustomed to sit was on the first floor; and his place was the -place of honour by fire-side in the winter; and at the corner of the -balcony, looking over the street, in fine weather; he called the two -places his winter and his summer seat. This was called the dining-room -floor in the last century. The company did not sit in boxes, as -subsequently, but at various tables which were dispersed through the -room. Smoking was permitted in the public room: it was then so much in -vogue that it does not seem to have been considered a nuisance. Here, -as in other similar places of meeting, the visitors divided themselves -into parties; and we are told by Ward, that the young beaux and wits, -who seldom approached the principal table, thought it a great honour -to have a pinch out of Dryden's snuff-box. - -Dean Lockier has left this life-like picture of his interview with the -presiding genius at Will's:--"I was about seventeen when I first came -up to town," says the Dean, "an odd-looking boy, with short rough -hair, and that sort of awkwardness which one always brings up at first -out of the country with one. However, in spite of my bashfulness and -appearance, I used, now and then, to thrust myself into Will's, to -have the pleasure of seeing the most celebrated wits of that time, who -then resorted thither. The second time that ever I was there, Mr. -Dryden was speaking of his own things, as he frequently did, -especially of such as had been lately published. 'If anything of mine -is good,' says he, ''tis _Mac-Flecno_; and I value myself the more -upon it, because it is the first piece of ridicule written in -heroics.' On hearing this I plucked up my spirit so far as to say, in -a voice but just loud enough to be heard, 'that _Mac-Flecno_ was a -very fine poem, but that I had not imagined it to be the first that -was ever writ that way.' On this, Dryden turned short upon me, as -surprised at my interposing; asked me how long 'I had been a dealer in -poetry;' and added, with a smile, 'Pray, Sir, what is it that you did -imagine to have been writ so before?'--I named Boileau's _Lutrin_, and -Tassoni's _Secchia Rapita_, which I had read, and knew Dryden had -borrowed some strokes from each. ''Tis true,' said Dryden, 'I had -forgot them.' A little after, Dryden went out, and in going, spoke to -me again, and desired me to come and see him the next day. I was -highly delighted with the invitation; went to see him accordingly; and -was well acquainted with him after, as long as he lived." - -Will's Coffee-house was the open market for libels and lampoons, the -latter named from the established burden formerly sung to them:-- - - "Lampone, lampone, camerada lampone." - -There was a drunken fellow, named Julian, who was a characterless -frequenter of Will's, and Sir Walter Scott has given this account of -him and his vocation:-- - -"Upon the general practice of writing lampoons, and the necessity of -finding some mode of dispersing them, which should diffuse the scandal -widely while the authors remained concealed, was founded the -self-erected office of Julian, Secretary, as he calls himself, to the -Muses. This person attended Will's, the Wits' Coffee-house, as it was -called; and dispersed among the crowds who frequented that place of -gay resort copies of the lampoons which had been privately -communicated to him by their authors. 'He is described,' says Mr. -Malone, 'as a very drunken fellow, and at one time was confined for a -liable.' Several satires were written, in the form of addresses to him -as well as the following. There is one among the _State Poems_ -beginning-- - - "'Julian, in verse, to ease thy wants I write, - Not moved by envy, malice, or by spite, - Or pleased with the empty names of wit and sense, - But merely to supply thy want of pence: - This did inspire my muse, when out at heel, - She saw her needy secretary reel; - Grieved that a man, so useful to the age, - Should foot it in so mean an equipage; - A crying scandal that the fees of sense - Should not be able to support the expense - Of a poor scribe, who never thought of wants, - When able to procure a cup of Nantz.' - -"Another, called a 'Consoling Epistle to Julian,' is said to have been -written by the Duke of Buckingham. - -"From a passage in one of the _Letters from the Dead to the Living_, -we learn, that after Julian's death, and the madness of his successor, -called Summerton, lampoon felt a sensible decay; and there was no more -that brisk spirit of verse, that used to watch the follies and vices -of the men and women of figure, that they could not start new ones -faster than lampoons exposed them." - -How these lampoons were concocted we gather from Bays, in the _Hind -and the Panther transversed_:--"'Tis a trifle hardly worth owning; I -was 'tother day at Will's, throwing out something of that nature; and, -i' gad, the hint was taken, and out came that picture; indeed, the -poor fellow was so civil as to present me with a dozen of 'em for my -friends; I think I have here one in my pocket.... Ay, ay, I can do it -if I list, tho' you must not think I have been so dull as to mind -these things myself; but 'tis the advantage of our Coffee-house, that -from their talk, one may write a very good polemical discourse, -without ever troubling one's head with the books of controversy." - -Tom Brown describes "a Wit and a Beau set up with little or no -expense. A pair of red stockings and a sword-knot set up one, and -peeping once a day in at Will's, and two or three second-hand sayings, -the other." - -Pepys, one night, going to fetch home his wife, stopped in Covent -Garden, at the Great Coffee-house there, as he called Will's, where he -never was before: "Where," he adds, "Dryden, the poet (I knew at -Cambridge), and all the Wits of the town, and Harris the player, and -Mr. Hoole of our College. And had I had time then, or could at other -times, it will be good coming thither, for there, I perceive, is very -witty and pleasant discourse. But I could not tarry; and, as it was -late, they were all ready to go away." - -Addison passed each day alike, and much in the manner that Dryden did. -Dryden employed his mornings in writing, dined _en famille_, and then -went to Will's, "only he came home earlier o' nights." - -Pope, when very young, was impressed with such veneration for Dryden, -that he persuaded some friends to take him to Will's Coffee-house, and -was delighted that he could say that he had seen Dryden. Sir Charles -Wogan, too, brought up Pope from the Forest of Windsor, to dress _à la -mode_, and introduce at Will's Coffee-house. Pope afterwards described -Dryden as "a plump man with a down look, and not very conversible;" -and Cibber could tell no more "but that he remembered him a decent old -man, arbitor of critical disputes at Will's." Prior sings of-- - - "the younger Stiles, - Whom Dryden pedagogues at Will's!" - -Most of the hostile criticisms on his Plays, which Dryden has noticed -in his various Prefaces, appear to have been made at his favourite -haunt, Will's Coffee-house. - -Dryden is generally said to have been returning from Will's to his -house in Gerard-street, when he was cudgelled in Rose-street by three -persons hired for the purpose by Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, in the -winter of 1679. The assault, or "the Rose-alley Ambuscade," certainly -took place; but it is not so certain that Dryden was on his way from -Will's, and he then lived in Long Acre, not Gerard-street. - -It is worthy of remark that Swift was accustomed to speak -disparagingly of Will's, as in his _Rhapsody on Poetry_:-- - - "Be sure at Will's the following day - Lie snug, and hear what critics say; - And if you find the general vogue - Pronounces you a stupid rogue, - Damns all your thoughts as low and little; - Sit still, and swallow down your spittle." - -Swift thought little of the frequenters of Will's: he used to say, -"the worst conversation he ever heard in his life was at Will's -Coffee-house, where the wits (as they were called) used formerly to -assemble; that is to say, five or six men, who had writ plays or at -least prologues, or had a share in a miscellany, came thither, and -entertained one another with their trifling composures, in so -important an air as if they had been the noblest efforts of human -nature, or that the fate of kingdoms depended on them." - -In the first number of the _Tatler_, Poetry is promised under the -article of Will's Coffee-house. The place, however, changed after -Dryden's time: "you used to see songs, epigrams, and satires in the -hands of every man you met; you have now only a pack of cards; and -instead of the cavils about the turn of the expression, the elegance -of the style, and the like, the learned now dispute only about the -truth of the game." "In old times, we used to sit upon a play here, -after it was acted, but now the entertainment's turned another way." - -The _Spectator_ is sometimes seen "thrusting his head into a round of -politicians at Will's, and listening with great attention to the -narratives that are made in these little circular audiences." Then, we -have as an instance of no one member of human society but that would -have some little pretension for some degree in it, "like him who came -to Will's Coffee-house upon the merit of having writ a posie of a -ring." And, "Robin, the porter who waits at Will's, is the best man in -town for carrying a billet: the fellow has a thin body, swift step, -demure looks, sufficient sense, and knows the town."[15] - -After Dryden's death in 1701, Will's continued for about ten years to -be still the Wits' Coffee-house, as we see by Ned Ward's account, and -by that in the _Journey through England_ in 1722. - -Pope entered with keen relish into society, and courted the -correspondence of the town wits and coffee-house critics. Among his -early friends was Mr. Henry Cromwell, one of the _cousinry_ of the -Protector's family: he was a bachelor, and spent most of his time in -London; he had some pretensions to scholarship and literature, having -translated several of Ovid's Elegies, for Tonson's Miscellany. With -Wycherley, Gay, Dennis, the popular actors and actresses of the day, -and with all the frequenters of Will's, Cromwell was familiar. He had -done more than take a pinch out of Dryden's snuff-box, which was a -point of high ambition and honour at Will's; he had quarrelled with -him about a frail poetess, Mrs. Elizabeth Thomas, whom Dryden had -christened Corinna, and who was also known as Sappho. Gay -characterized this literary and eccentric beau as - - "Honest, hatless Cromwell, with red breeches;" - -it being his custom to carry his hat in his hand when walking with -ladies. What with ladies and literature, rehearsals and reviews, and -critical attention to the quality of his coffee and Brazil snuff, -Henry Cromwell's time was fully occupied in town. Cromwell was a -dangerous acquaintance for Pope at the age of sixteen or seventeen, -but he was a very agreeable one. Most of Pope's letters to his friend -are addressed to him at the Blue Ball, in Great Wild-street, near -Drury-lane; and others to "Widow Hambledon's Coffee-house at the end -of Princes-street, near Drury-lane, London." Cromwell made one visit -to Binfield; on his return to London, Pope wrote to him, "referring to -the ladies in particular," and to his favourite coffee: - - "As long as Mocha's happy tree shall grow, - While berries crackle, or while mills shall go; - While smoking streams from silver spouts shall glide - Or China's earth receive the sable tide, - While Coffee shall to British nymphs be dear, - While fragrant steams the bended head shall cheer, - Or grateful bitters shall delight the taste, - So long her honours, name, and praise shall last." - -Even at this early period Pope seems to have relied for relief from -headache to the steam of coffee, which he inhaled for this purpose -throughout the whole of his life.[16] - -The Taverns and Coffee-houses supplied the place of the Clubs we have -since seen established. Although no exclusive subscription belonged to -any of these, we find by the account which Colley Cibber gives of his -first visit to Will's, in Covent Garden, that it required an -introduction to this Society not to be considered as an impertinent -intruder. There the veteran Dryden had long presided over all the -acknowledged wits and poets of the day, and those who had the -pretension to be reckoned among them. The politicians assembled at the -St. James's Coffee-house, from whence all the articles of political -news in the first _Tatlers_ are dated. The learned frequented the -Grecian Coffee-house in Devereux-court. Locket's, in Gerard-street, -Soho, and Pontac's, were the fashionable taverns where the young and -gay met to dine: and White's and other chocolate houses seem to have -been the resort of the same company in the morning. Three o'clock, or -at latest four, was the dining-hour of the most fashionable persons in -London, for in the country no such late hours had been adopted. In -London, therefore, soon after six, the men began to assemble at the -coffee-house they frequented if they were not setting in for hard -drinking, which seems to have been much less indulged in private -houses than in taverns. The ladies made visits to one another, which -it must be owned was a much less waste of time when considered as an -amusement for the evening, than now, as being a morning occupation. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[14] Will's Coffee-house first had the title of the Red Cow, then of -the Rose, and, we believe, is the same house alluded to in the -pleasant story in the second number of the _Tatler_:-- - - "Supper and friends expect we at the Rose." - -The Rose, however, was a common sign for houses of public -entertainment. - -[15] _The Spectator_, No. 398. - -[16] Carruthers: Life of Pope. - - -BUTTON'S COFFEE-HOUSE. - -Will's was the great resort for the wits of Dryden's time, after whose -death it was transferred to Button's. Pope describes the houses as -"opposite each other, in Russell-street, Covent Garden," where Addison -established Daniel Button, in a new house, about 1712; and his fame, -after the production of _Cato_, drew many of the Whigs thither. Button -had been servant to the Countess of Warwick. The house is more -correctly described as "over against Tom's, near the middle of the -south side of the street." - -Addison was the great patron of Button's; but it is said that when he -suffered any vexation from his Countess, he withdrew the company from -Button's house. His chief companions, before he married Lady Warwick, -were Steele, Budgell, Philips, Carey, Davenant, and Colonel Brett. He -used to breakfast with one or other of them in St. James's-place, dine -at taverns with them, then to Button's, and then to some tavern again, -for supper in the evening; and this was the usual round of his life, -as Pope tells us, in Spence's _Anecdotes_; where Pope also says: -"Addison usually studied all the morning, then met his party at -Button's, dined there, and stayed five or six hours; and sometimes far -into the night. I was of the company for about a year, but found it -too much for me: it hurt my health, and so I quitted it." Again: -"There had been a coldness between me and Mr. Addison for some time, -and we had not been in company together for a good while anywhere but -at Button's Coffee-house, where I used to see him almost every day." - -Here Pope is reported to have said of Patrick, the lexicographer, that -"a dictionary-maker might know the meaning of one word, but not of two -put together." - -Button's was the receiving-house for contributions to _The Guardian_, -for which purpose was put up a lion's head letter-box, in imitation of -the celebrated lion at Venice, as humorously announced. Thus:-- - -"N.B.--Mr. Ironside has, within five weeks last past, muzzled three -lions, gorged five, and killed one. On Monday next the skin of the -dead one will be hung up, _in terrorem_, at Button's Coffee-house, -over against Tom's in Covent Garden."[17] - - "Button's Coffee-house,-- - -"Mr. Ironside, I have observed that this day you make mention of -Will's Coffee-house, as a place where people are too polite to hold a -man in discourse by the button. Everybody knows your honour frequents -this house, therefore they will take an advantage against me, and say -if my company was as civil as that at Will's. You would say so. -Therefore pray your honour do not be afraid of doing me justice, -because people would think it may be a conceit below you on this -occasion to name the name of your humble servant, Daniel Button.--The -young poets are in the back room, and take their places as you -directed."[18] - -"I intend to publish once every week the roarings of the Lion, and -hope to make him roar so loud as to be heard over all the British -nation. - -"I have, I know not how, been drawn into tattle of myself, _more -majorum_, almost the length of a whole _Guardian_. I shall therefore -fill up the remaining part of it with what still relates to my own -person, and my correspondents. Now I would have them all know that on -the 20th instant it is my intention to erect a Lion's Head, in -imitation of those I have described in Venice, through which all the -private commonwealth is said to pass. This head is to open a most wide -and voracious mouth, which shall take in such letters and papers as -are conveyed to me by my correspondents, it being my resolution to -have a particular regard to all such matters as come to my hands -through the mouth of the Lion. There will be under it a box, of which -the key will be in my own custody, to receive such papers as are -dropped into it. Whatever the Lion swallows I shall digest for the use -of the publick. This head requires some time to finish, the workmen -being resolved to give it several masterly touches, and to represent -it as ravenous as possible. It will be set up in Button's -Coffee-house, in Covent Garden, who is directed to shew the way to the -Lion's Head, and to instruct any young author how to convey his works -into the mouth of it with safety and secrecy."[19] - -"I think myself obliged to acquaint the publick, that the Lion's Head, -of which I advertised them about a fortnight ago, is now erected at -Button's Coffee-house, in Russell-street, Covent Garden, where it -opens its mouth at all hours for the reception of such intelligence as -shall be thrown into it. It is reckoned an excellent piece of -workmanship, and was designed by a great hand in imitation of the -antique Egyptian lion, the face of it being compounded out of that of -a lion and a wizard. The features are strong and well furrowed. The -whiskers are admired by all that have seen them. It is planted on the -western side of the Coffee-house, holding its paws under the chin, -upon a box, which contains everything that he swallows. He is, indeed, -a proper emblem of knowledge and action, being all head and paws."[20] - -"Being obliged, at present, to attend a particular affair of my own, I -do empower my printer to look into the arcana of the lion, and select -out of them such as may be of publick utility; and Mr. Button is -hereby authorized and commanded to give my said printer free ingress -and egress to the lion, without any hindrance, lest, or molestation -whatsoever, until such time as he shall receive orders to the -contrary. And, for so doing, this shall be his warrant."[21] - -"My Lion, whose jaws are at all times open to intelligence, informs -me that there are a few enormous weapons still in being; but that they -are to be met with only in gaming-houses and some of the obscure -retreats of lovers, in and about Drury-lane and Covent Garden."[22] - -This memorable Lion's Head was tolerably well carved: through the -mouth the letters were dropped into a till at Button's; and beneath -were inscribed these two lines from Martial:-- - - "Cervantur magnis isti Cervicibus ungues: - Non nisi delictâ pascitur ille ferâ." - -The head was designed by Hogarth, and is etched in Ireland's -_Illustrations_. Lord Chesterfield is said to have once offered for -the Head fifty guineas. From Button's it was removed to the -Shakspeare's Head Tavern, under the Piazza, kept by a person named -Tomkyns; and in 1751, was, for a short time, placed in the Bedford -Coffee-house immediately adjoining the Shakspeare, and there employed -as a letter-box by Dr. John Hill, for his _Inspector_. In 1769, -Tomkyns was succeeded by his waiter, Campbell, as proprietor of the -tavern and lion's head, and by him the latter was retained until Nov. -8, 1804, when it was purchased by Mr. Charles Richardson, of -Richardson's Hotel, for £17. 10_s._, who also possessed the original -sign of the Shakspeare's Head. After Mr. Richardson's death in 1827, -the Lion's Head devolved to his son, of whom it was bought by the Duke -of Bedford, and deposited at Woburn Abbey, where it still remains. - -Pope was subjected to much annoyance and insult at Button's. Sir -Samuel Garth wrote to Gay, that everybody was pleased with Pope's -Translation, "but a few at Button's;" to which Gay adds, to Pope, "I -am confirmed that at Button's your character is made very free with, -as to morals, etc." - -Cibber, in a letter to Pope, says:--"When you used to pass your hours -at Button's, you were even there remarkable for your satirical itch of -provocation; scarce was there a gentleman of any pretension to wit, -whom your unguarded temper had not fallen upon in some biting epigram, -among which you once caught a pastoral Tartar, whose resentment, that -your punishment might be proportionate to the smart of your poetry, -had stuck up a birchen rod in the room, to be ready whenever you might -come within reach of it; and at this rate you writ and rallied and -writ on, till you rhymed yourself quite out of the coffee-house." The -"pastoral Tartar" was Ambrose Philips, who, says Johnson, "hung up a -rod at Button's, with which he threatened to chastise Pope." - -Pope, in a letter to Craggs, thus explains the affair:--"Mr. Philips -did express himself with much indignation against me one evening at -Button's Coffee-house, (as I was told,) saying that I was entered into -a cabal with Dean Swift and others, to write against the Whig -interest, and in particular to undermine his own reputation and that -of his friends, Steele and Addison; but Mr. Philips never opened his -lips to my face, on this or any like occasion, though I was almost -every night in the same room with him, nor ever offered me any -indecorum. Mr. Addison came to me a night or two after Philips had -talked in this idle manner, and assured me of his disbelief of what -had been said, of the friendship we should always maintain, and -desired I would say nothing further of it. My Lord Halifax did me the -honour to stir in this matter, by speaking to several people to -obviate a false aspersion, which might have done me no small prejudice -with one party. However, Philips did all he could secretly to continue -the report with the Hanover Club, and kept in his hands the -subscriptions paid for me to him, as secretary to that Club. The heads -of it have since given him to understand, that they take it ill; but -(upon the terms I ought to be with such a man,) I would not ask him -for this money, but commissioned one of the players, his equals, to -receive it. This is the whole matter; but as to the secret grounds of -this malignity, they will make a very pleasant history when we meet." - -Another account says that the rod was hung up at the bar of Button's, -and that Pope avoided it by remaining at home--"his usual custom." -Philips was known for his courage and superior dexterity with the -sword: he afterwards became justice of the peace, and used to mention -Pope, whenever he could get a man in authority to listen to him, as an -enemy to the Government. - -At Button's the leading company, particularly Addison and Steele, met -in large flowing flaxen wigs. Sir Godfrey Kneller, too, was a -frequenter. - -The master died in 1731, when in the _Daily Advertiser_, Oct. 5, -appeared the following:--"On Sunday morning, died, after three days' -illness, Mr. Button, who formerly kept Button's Coffee-house, in -Russell-street, Covent Garden; a very noted house for wits, being the -place where the Lyon produced the famous _Tatlers_ and _Spectators_, -written by the late Mr. Secretary Addison and Sir Richard Steele, -Knt., which works will transmit their names with honour to posterity." -Mr. Cunningham found in the vestry-books of St. Paul's, Covent Garden: -"1719, April 16. Received of Mr. Daniel Button, for two places in the -pew No. 18, on the south side of the north Isle,--2_l._ 2_s._" J. T. -Smith states that a few years after Button, the Coffee-house declined, -and Button's name appeared in the books of St. Paul's, as receiving an -allowance from the parish. - -Button's continued in vogue until Addison's death and Steele's -retirement into Wales, after which the house was deserted; the -coffee-drinkers went to the Bedford Coffee-house, the dinner-parties -to the Shakspeare. - -Among other wits who frequented Button's were Swift, Arbuthnot, -Savage, Budgell, Martin Folkes, and Drs. Garth and Armstrong. In 1720, -Hogarth mentions "four drawings in Indian ink" of the characters at -Button's Coffee-house. In these were sketches of Arbuthnot, Addison, -Pope, (as it is conjectured,) and a certain Count Viviani, identified -years afterwards by Horace Walpole, when the drawings came under his -notice. They subsequently came into Ireland's possession.[23] - -Jemmy Maclaine, or M'Clean, the fashionable highwayman, was a frequent -visitor at Button's. Mr. John Taylor, of the _Sun_ newspaper, -describes Maclaine as a tall, showy, good-looking man. A Mr. Donaldson -told Taylor that, observing Maclaine paid particular attention to the -bar-maid of the Coffee-house, the daughter of the landlord, he gave a -hint to the father of Maclaine's dubious character. The father -cautioned the daughter against the highwayman's addresses, and -imprudently told her by whose advice he put her on her guard; she as -imprudently told Maclaine. The next time Donaldson visited the -Coffee-room, and was sitting in one of the boxes, Maclaine entered, -and in a loud tone said, "Mr. Donaldson, I wish to _spake_ to you in a -private room." Mr. D. being unarmed, and naturally afraid of being -alone with such a man, said, in answer, that as nothing could pass -between them that he did not wish the whole world to know, he begged -leave to decline the invitation. "Very well," said Maclaine, as he -left the room, "we shall meet again." A day or two after, as Mr. -Donaldson was walking near Richmond, in the evening, he saw Maclaine -on horseback; but, fortunately, at that moment, a gentleman's carriage -appeared in view, when Maclaine immediately turned his horse towards -the carriage, and Donaldson hurried into the protection of Richmond as -fast as he could. But for the appearance of the carriage, which -presented better prey, it is probable that Maclaine would have shot -Mr. Donaldson immediately. - -Maclaine's father was an Irish Dean; his brother was a Calvinist -minister in great esteem at the Hague. Maclaine himself has been a -grocer in Welbeck-street, but losing a wife that he loved extremely, -and by whom he had one little girl, he quitted his business with two -hundred pounds in his pocket, which he soon spent, and then took to -the road with only one companion, Plunket, a journeyman apothecary. - -Maclaine was taken in the autumn of 1750, by selling a laced waistcoat -to a pawnbroker in Monmouth-street, who happened to carry it to the -very man who had just sold the lace. Maclaine impeached his companion, -Plunket, but he was not taken. The former got into verse: Gray, in his -_Long Story_, sings: - - "A sudden fit of ague shook him; - He stood as mute as poor M'Lean." - -Button's subsequently became a private house, and here Mrs. Inchbald -lodged, probably, after the death of her sister, for whose support she -practised such noble and generous self-denial. Mrs. Inchbald's income -was now 172_l._ a year, and we are told that she now went to reside in -a boarding-house, where she enjoyed more of the comforts of life. -Phillips, the publisher, offered her a thousand pounds for her -Memoirs, which she declined. She died in a boarding-house at -Kensington, on the 1st of August, 1821; leaving about 6000_l._ -judiciously divided amongst her relatives. Her simple and parsimonious -habits were very strange. "Last Thursday," she writes, "I finished -scouring my bedroom, while a coach with a coronet and two footmen -waited at my door to take me an airing." - -"One of the most agreeable memories connected with Button's," says -Leigh Hunt, "is that of Garth, a man whom, for the sprightliness and -generosity of his nature, it is a pleasure to name. He was one of the -most amiable and intelligent of a most amiable and intelligent class -of men--the physicians." - -FOOTNOTES: - -[17] _The Guardian_, No. 71. - -[18] _The Guardian_, No. 85. - -[19] _The Guardian_, No. 93. - -[20] _The Guardian_, No. 114. - -[21] _The Guardian_, No. 142. - -[22] _The Guardian_, No. 171. - -[23] From Mr. Sala's vivid "William Hogarth;" Cornhill Magazine, vol. -i. p. 428. - - -DEAN SWIFT AT BUTTON'S. - -It was just after Queen Anne's accession that Swift made acquaintance -with the leaders of the wits at Button's. Ambrose Philips refers to -him as the strange clergyman whom the frequenters of the Coffee-house -had observed for some days. He knew no one, no one knew him. He would -lay his hat down on a table, and walk up and down at a brisk pace for -half an hour without speaking to any one, or seeming to pay attention -to anything that was going forward. Then he would snatch up his hat, -pay his money at the bar, and walk off, without having opened his -lips. The frequenters of the room had christened him "the mad parson." -One evening, as Mr. Addison and the rest were observing him, they saw -him cast his eyes several times upon a gentleman in boots, who seemed -to be just come out of the country. At last, Swift advanced towards -this bucolic gentleman, as if intending to address him. They were all -eager to hear what the dumb parson had to say, and immediately quitted -their seats to get near him. Swift went up to the country gentleman, -and in a very abrupt manner, without any previous salute, asked him, -"Pray, Sir, do you know any good weather in the world?" After staring -a little at the singularity of Swift's manner and the oddity of the -question, the gentleman answered, "Yes, Sir, I thank God I remember a -great deal of good weather in my time."--"That is more," replied -Swift, "than I can say; I never remember any weather that was not too -hot or too cold, too wet or too dry; but, however God Almighty -contrives it, at the end of the year 'tis all very well." - -Sir Walter Scott gives, upon the authority of Dr. Wall, of Worcester, -who had it from Dr. Arbuthnot himself, the following anecdote--less -coarse than the version generally told. Swift was seated by the fire -at Button's: there was sand on the floor of the coffee-room, and -Arbuthnot, with a design to play upon this original figure, offered -him a letter, which he had been just addressing, saying at the same -time, "There--sand that."--"I have got no sand," answered Swift, "but -I can help you to a little _gravel_." This he said so significantly, -that Arbuthnot hastily snatched back his letter, to save it from the -fate of the capital of Lilliput. - - -TOM'S COFFEE-HOUSE, - -In Birchin-lane, Cornhill, though in the main a mercantile resort, -acquired some celebrity from its having been frequented by Garrick, -who, to keep up an interest in the City, appeared here about twice in -a winter at 'Change time, when it was the rendezvous of young -merchants. Hawkins says: "After all that has been said of Mr. Garrick, -envy must own that he owed his celebrity to his merit; and yet, of -that himself seemed so diffident, that he practised sundry little but -innocent arts, to insure the favour of the public:" yet, he did more. -When a rising actor complained to Mrs. Garrick that the newspapers -abused him, the widow replied, "You should write your own criticisms; -David always did." - -One evening, Murphy was at Tom's, when Colley Cibber was playing at -whist, with an old general for his partner. As the cards were dealt to -him, he took up every one in turn, and expressed his disappointment at -each indifferent one. In the progress of the game he did not follow -suit, and his partner said, "What! have you not a spade, Mr. Cibber?" -The latter, looking at his cards, answered, "Oh yes, a thousand;" -which drew a very peevish comment from the general. On which, Cibber, -who was shockingly addicted to swearing, replied, "Don't be angry, for ----- I can play ten times worse if I like." - - -THE BEDFORD COFFEE-HOUSE, IN COVENT GARDEN. - -This celebrated resort once attracted so much attention as to have -published, "Memoirs of the Bedford Coffee-house," two editions, 1751 -and 1763. It stood "under the Piazza, in Covent Garden," in the -north-west corner, near the entrance to the theatre, and has long -ceased to exist. - -In _The Connoisseur_, No. 1, 1754, we are assured that "this -Coffee-house is every night crowded with men of parts. Almost every -one you meet is a polite scholar and a wit. Jokes and bon-mots are -echoed from box to box: every branch of literature is critically -examined, and the merit of every production of the press, or -performance of the theatres, weighed and determined." - -And in the above-named _Memoirs_, we read that "this spot has been -signalized for many years as the emporium of wit, the seat of -criticism, and the standard of taste.--Names of those who frequented -the house:--Foote, Mr. Fielding, Mr. Woodward, Mr. Leone, Mr. Murphy, -Mopsy, Dr. Arne. Dr. Arne was the only man in a suit of velvet in the -dog-days." - -Stacie kept the Bedford when John and Henry Fielding, Hogarth, -Churchill, Woodward, Lloyd, Dr. Goldsmith, and many others met there -and held a gossiping shilling rubber club. Henry Fielding was a very -merry fellow. - -The _Inspector_ appears to have given rise to this reign of the -Bedford, when there was placed here the Lion from Button's, which -proved so serviceable to Steele, and once more fixed the dominion of -wit in Covent Garden. - -The reign of wit and pleasantry did not, however, cease at the Bedford -at the demise of the _Inspector_. A race of punsters next succeeded. A -particular box was allotted to this occasion, out of the hearing of -the lady at the bar, that the _double entendres_, which were sometimes -very indelicate, might not offend her. - -The Bedford was beset with scandalous nuisances, of which the -following letter, from Arthur Murphy to Garrick, April 10, 1769, -presents a pretty picture: - -"Tiger Roach (who used to bully at the Bedford Coffee-house because -his name was Roach) is set up by Wilkes's friends to burlesque Luttrel -and his pretensions. I own I do not know a more ridiculous -circumstance than to be a joint candidate with the Tiger. O'Brien used -to take him off very pleasantly, and perhaps you may, from his -representation, have some idea of this important wight. He used to sit -with a half-starved look, a black patch upon his cheek, pale with the -idea of murder, or with rank cowardice, a quivering lip, and a -downcast eye. In that manner he used to sit at a table all alone, and -his soliloquy, interrupted now and then with faint attempts to throw -off a little saliva, was to the following effect:--'Hut! hut! a -mercer's 'prentice with a bag-wig;--d--n my s--l, if I would not -skiver a dozen of them like larks! Hut! hut! I don't understand such -airs!--I'd cudgel him back, breast, and belly, for three skips of a -louse!--How do you do, Pat! Hut! hut! God's blood--Larry, I'm glad to -see you;--'Prentices! a fine thing indeed!--Hut! hut! How do you, -Dominick!--D--n my s--l, what's here to do!' These were the -meditations of this agreeable youth. From one of these reveries he -started up one night, when I was there, called a Mr. Bagnell out of -the room, and most heroically stabbed him in the dark, the other -having no weapon to defend himself with. In this career the Tiger -persisted, till at length a Mr. Lennard brandished a whip over his -head, and stood in a menacing attitude, commanding him to ask pardon -directly. The Tiger shrank from the danger, and with a faint voice -pronounced--'Hut! what signifies it between you and me? Well! well! I -ask your pardon,' 'Speak louder, sir; I don't hear a word you say.' -And indeed he was so very tall, that it seemed as if the sound, sent -feebly from below, could not ascend to such a height. This is the hero -who is to figure at Brentford." - -Foote's favourite Coffee-house was the Bedford. He was also a constant -frequenter of Tom's, and took a lead in the Club held there, and -already described.[24] - -Dr. Barrowby, the well-known newsmonger of the Bedford, and the -satirical critic of the day, has left this whole-length sketch of -Foote:--"One evening (he says), he saw a young man extravagantly -dressed out in a frock suit of green and silver lace, bag-wig, sword, -bouquet, and point-ruffles, enter the room (at the Bedford), and -immediately join the critical circle at the upper end. Nobody -recognised him; but such was the ease of his bearing, and the point of -humour and remark with which he at once took up the conversation, that -his presence seemed to disconcert no one, and a sort of pleased buzz -of 'who is he?' was still going round the room unanswered, when a -handsome carriage stopped at the door; he rose, and quitted the room, -and the servants announced that his name was Foote, that he was a -young gentleman of family and fortune, a student of the Inner Temple, -and that the carriage had called for him on its way to the assembly of -a lady of fashion." Dr. Barrowby once turned the laugh against Foote -at the Bedford, when he was ostentatiously showing his gold repeater, -with the remark--"Why, my watch does not go!" "It soon _will go_," -quietly remarked the Doctor. Young Collins, the poet, who came to town -in 1744 to seek his fortune, made his way to the Bedford, where Foote -was supreme among the wits and critics. Like Foote, Collins was fond -of fine clothes, and walked about with a feather in his hat, very -unlike a young man who had not a single guinea he could call his own. -A letter of the time tells us that "Collins was an acceptable -companion everywhere; and among the gentlemen who loved him for a -genius, may be reckoned the Doctors Armstrong, Barrowby, Hill, Messrs. -Quin, Garrick, and Foote, who frequently took his opinion upon their -pieces before they were seen by the public. He was particularly -noticed by the geniuses who frequented the Bedford and Slaughter's -Coffee-houses."[25] - -Ten years later (1754) we find Foote again supreme in his critical -corner at the Bedford. The regular frequenters of the room strove to -get admitted to his party at supper; and others got as nearly as they -could to the table, as the only humour flowed from Foote's tongue. The -Bedford was now in its highest repute. - -Foote and Garrick often met at the Bedford, and many and sharp were -their encounters. They were the two great rivals of the day. Foote -usually attacked, and Garrick, who had many weak points, was mostly -the sufferer. Garrick, in early life, had been in the wine trade, and -had supplied the Bedford with wine; he was thus described by Foote as -living in Durham-yard, with three quarts of vinegar in the cellar, -calling himself a wine-merchant. How Foote must have abused the -Bedford wine of this period! - -One night, Foote came into the Bedford, where Garrick was seated, and -there gave him an account of a most wonderful actor he had just seen. -Garrick was on the tenters of suspense, and there Foote kept him a -full hour. At last Foote, compassionating the suffering listener, -brought the attack to a close by asking Garrick what he thought of Mr. -Pitt's histrionic talents, when Garrick, glad of the release, declared -that if Pitt had chosen the stage, he might have been the first actor -upon it. - -One night, Garrick and Foote were about to leave the Bedford together, -when the latter, in paying the bill, dropped a guinea; and not finding -it at once, said, "Where on earth can it be gone to?"--"Gone to the -devil, I think," replied Garrick, who had assisted in the -search.--"Well said, David!" was Foote's reply; "let you alone for -making a guinea go further than anybody else." - -Churchill's quarrel with Hogarth began at the shilling rubber club, in -the parlour of the Bedford; when Hogarth used some very insulting -language towards Churchill, who resented it in the _Epistle_. This -quarrel showed more venom than wit:--"Never," says Walpole, "did two -angry men of their abilities throw mud with less dexterity." - -Woodward, the comedian, mostly lived at the Bedford, was intimate with -Stacie, the landlord, and gave him his (W.'s) portrait, with a mask in -his hand, one of the early pictures by Sir Joshua Reynolds. Stacie -played an excellent game at whist. One morning, about two o'clock, one -of his waiters awoke him to tell him that a nobleman had knocked him -up, and had desired him to call his master to play a rubber with him -for one hundred guineas. Stacie got up, dressed himself, won the -money, and was in bed and asleep, all within an hour. - -Of two houses in the Piazza, built for Francis, Earl of Bedford, we -obtain some minute information from the lease granted in 1634, to Sir -Edmund Verney, Knight Marshal to King Charles I.; these two houses -being just then erected as part of the Piazza. There are also included -in the lease the "yardes, stables, coach-houses, and gardens now layd, -or hereafter to be layd, to the said messuages," which description of -the premises seems to identify them as the two houses at the southern -end of the Piazza, adjoining to Great Russell-street, and now occupied -as the Bedford Coffee-house and Hotel. They are either the same -premises, or they immediately adjoin the premises, occupied a century -later as the Bedford Coffee-house. (Mr. John Bruce, _Archĉologia_, -XXXV. 195.) The lease contains a minute specification of the -landlord's fittings and customary accommodations of what were then -some of the most fashionable residences in the metropolis. In the -attached schedule is the use of the wainscot, enumerating separately -every piece of wainscot on the premises. The tenant is bound to keep -in repair the "Portico Walke" underneath the premises; he is at all -times to have "ingresse, egresse and regresse" through the Portico -Walk; and he may "expel, put, or drive away out of the said walke any -youth or other person whatsoever which shall eyther play or be in the -said Portico Walke in offence or disturbance to the said Sir Edmund -Verney." - - The inventory of the fixtures is curious. It enumerates - every apartment, from the beer-cellar, and the strong - beer-cellar, the scullery, the pantry, and the buttery, to - the dining and withdrawing-rooms. Most of the rooms had - casement windows, but the dining-room next Russell-street, - and other principal apartments, had "shutting windowes." The - principal rooms were also "double creasted round for - hangings," and were wainscoted round the chimney-pieces, and - doors and windows. In one case, a study, "south towards - Russell-street, the whole room was wainscoted, and the hall - in part." Most of the windows had "soil-boards" attached; - the room-doors had generally "stock locks," in some places - "spring plate locks" and spring bolts. There is not - mentioned anything approaching to a fire-grate in any of the - rooms, except perhaps in the kitchen, where occurs "a - travers barre for the chimney." - -FOOTNOTES: - -[24] See "Club at Tom's Coffee-house," vol. i. pp. 159-164. - -[25] Memoir by Moy Thomas, prefixed to Collins's Poetical Works. Bell -and Daldy, 1858. - - -MACKLIN'S COFFEE-HOUSE ORATORY. - -After Macklin had retired from the stage, in 1754, he opened that -portion of the Piazza-houses, in Covent Garden, which is now the -Tavistock Hotel. Here he fitted up a large coffee-room, a theatre for -oratory, and other apartments. To a three-shilling ordinary he added a -shilling lecture, or "School of Oratory and Criticism;" he presided at -the dinner-table, and carved for the company; after which he played a -sort of "Oracle of Eloquence." Fielding has happily sketched him in -his _Voyage to Lisbon_: "Unfortunately for the fishmongers of London, -the Dory only resides in the Devonshire seas; for could any of this -company only convey one to the Temple of luxury under the Piazza, -where Macklin, the high priest, daily serves up his rich offerings, -great would be the reward of that fishmonger." - -In the Lecture, Macklin undertook to make each of his audience an -orator, by teaching him how to speak. He invited hints and -discussions; the novelty of the scheme attracted the curiosity of -numbers; and this curiosity he still further excited by a very -uncommon controversy, which now subsisted either in imagination or -reality, between him and Foote, who abused one another very -openly--"Squire Sammy" having for his purpose engaged the Little -Theatre in the Haymarket. - -Besides this personal attack, various subjects were debated here in -the manner of the Robin Hood Society, which filled the orator's -pocket, and proved his rhetoric of some value. - -Here is one of his combats with Foote. The subject was Duelling in -Ireland, which Macklin had illustrated as far as the reign of -Elizabeth. Foote cried "Order;" he had a question to put. "Well, Sir," -said Macklin, "what have you to say upon this subject?" "I think, -Sir," said Foote, "this matter might be settled in a few words. What -o'clock is it, Sir?" Macklin could not possibly see what the clock had -to do with a dissertation upon Duelling, but gruffly reported the hour -to be half-past nine. "Very well," said Foote, "about this time of the -night every gentleman in Ireland that can possibly afford it is in his -third bottle of claret, and therefore in a fair way of getting drunk; -and from drunkenness proceeds quarrelling, and from quarrelling, -duelling, and so there's an end of the chapter." The company were -much obliged to Foote for his interference, the hour being considered; -though Macklin did not relish the abridgment. - -The success of Foote's fun upon Macklin's Lectures, led him to -establish a summer entertainment of his own at the Haymarket. He took -up Macklin's notion of applying Greek Tragedy to modern subjects, and -the squib was so successful that Foote cleared by it 500_l._, in five -nights, while the great Piazza Coffee-room in Covent Garden was shut -up, and Macklin in the _Gazette_ as a bankrupt. - -But when the great plan of Mr. Macklin proved abortive, when as he -said in a former prologue, upon a nearly similar occasion-- - - "From scheming, fretting, famine, and despair, - We saw to grace restor'd an exiled player;" - -when the town was sated with the seemingly-concocted quarrel between -the two theatrical geniuses, Macklin locked up his doors, all -animosity was laid aside, and they came and shook hands at the -Bedford; the group resumed their appearance, and, with a new master, a -new set of customers was seen. - - -TOM KING'S COFFEE-HOUSE. - -This was one of the old night-houses of Covent Garden Market: it was a -rude shed immediately beneath the portico of St. Paul's Church, and -was one "well known to all gentlemen to whom beds are unknown." -Fielding in one of his Prologues says: - - "What rake is ignorant of King's Coffee-house?" - -It is in the background of Hogarth's print of _Morning_, where the -prim maiden lady, walking to church, is soured with seeing two fuddled -_beaux_ from King's Coffee-house caressing two frail women. At the -door there is a drunken row, in which swords and cudgels are the -weapons. - -Harwood's _Alumni Etonenses_, p. 293, in the account of the Boys -elected from Eton to King's College, contains this entry: "A.D. 1713, -Thomas King, born at West Ashton, in Wiltshire, went away scholar in -apprehension that his fellowship would be denied him; and afterwards -kept that Coffee-house in Covent Garden, which was called by his own -name." - -Moll King was landlady after Tom's death: she was witty, and her house -was much frequented, though it was little better than a shed. -"Noblemen and the first _beaux_," said Stacie, "after leaving Court, -would go to her house in full dress, with swords and bags, and in rich -brocaded silk coats, and walked and conversed with persons of every -description. She would serve chimney-sweepers, gardeners, and the -market-people in common with her lords of the highest rank. Mr. -Apreece, a tall thin man in rich dress, was her constant customer. He -was called Cadwallader by the frequenters of Moll's." It is not -surprising that Moll was often fined for keeping a disorderly house. -At length, she retired from business--and the pillory--to Hampstead, -where she lived on her ill-earned gains, but paid for a pew in church, -and was charitable at appointed seasons, and died in peace in 1747. - -It was at that period that Mother Needham, Mother Douglass (_alias_, -according to Foote's _Minor_, Mother Cole), and Moll King, the -tavern-keepers and the gamblers, took possession of premises abdicated -by people of fashion. Upon the south side of the market-sheds was the -noted "Finish," kept by Mrs. Butler, open all night, the last of the -Garden taverns, and only cleared away in 1829. This house was -originally the Queen's Head. Shuter was pot-boy here. Here was a -picture of the Hazard Club, at the Bedford: it was painted by Hogarth, -and filled a panel of the Coffee-room. - -Captain Laroon, an amateur painter of the time of Hogarth, who often -witnessed the nocturnal revels at Moll King's, made a large and -spirited drawing of the interior of her Coffee-house, which was at -Strawberry Hill. It was bought for Walpole, by his printer, some -seventy years since. There is also an engraving of the same room, in -which is introduced a whole-length of Mr. Apreece, in a full -court-dress: an impression of this plate is extremely rare. - -Justice Welsh used to say that Captain Laroon, his friend Captain -Montague, and their constant companion, Little Casey, the Link-boy, -were the three most troublesome of all his Bow-street visitors. The -portraits of these three heroes are introduced in Boitard's rare print -of "the Covent Garden Morning Frolic." Laroon is brandishing an -artichoke. C. Montague is seated, drunk, on the top of Bet Careless's -sedan, which is preceded by Little Casey, as a link-boy. - -Captain Laroon also painted a large folding-screen; the figures were -full of broad humour, two representing a Quack Doctor and his Merry -Andrew, before the gaping crowd. - -Laroon was deputy-chairman, under Sir Robert Walpole, of a Club, -consisting of six gentlemen only, who met, at stated times, in the -drawing-room of Scott, the marine painter, in Henrietta-street, Covent -Garden; and it was unanimously agreed by the members, that they should -be attended by Scott's wife only, who was a remarkable witty woman. -Laroon made a beautiful conversation drawing of the Club, which is -highly prized by J. T. Smith. - - -PIAZZA COFFEE-HOUSE. - -This establishment, at the north-eastern angle of Covent Garden -Piazza, appears to have originated with Macklin's; for we read in an -advertisement in the _Public Advertiser_, March, 5, 1756: "the Great -Piazza Coffee-room, in Covent-Garden." - -The Piazza was much frequented by Sheridan; and here is located the -well-known anecdote told of his coolness during the burning of -Drury-lane Theatre, in 1809. It is said that as he sat at the Piazza, -during the fire, taking some refreshment, a friend of his having -remarked on the philosophical calmness with which he bore his -misfortune, Sheridan replied: "A man may surely be allowed to take a -glass of wine _by his own fireside_." - -Sheridan and John Kemble often dined together at the Piazza, to be -handy to the theatre. During Kemble's management, Sheridan had -occasion to make a complaint, which brought a "nervous" letter from -Kemble, to which Sheridan's reply is amusing enough. Thus, he writes: -"that the management of a theatre is a situation capable of becoming -_troublesome_, is information which I do not want, and a discovery -which I thought you had made long ago." Sheridan then treats Kemble's -letter as "a nervous flight," not to be noticed seriously, adding his -anxiety for the interest of the theatre, and alluding to Kemble's -touchiness and reserve; and thus concludes: - -"If there is anything amiss in your mind not arising from the -_troublesomeness_ of your situation, it is childish and unmanly not to -disclose it. The frankness with which I have dealt towards you -entitles me to expect that you should have done so. - -"But I have no reason to believe this to be the case; and attributing -your letter to a disorder which I know ought not to be indulged, I -prescribe that thou shalt keep thine appointment at the Piazza -Coffee-house, to-morrow at five, and, taking four bottles of claret -instead of three, to which in sound health you might stint yourself, -forget that you ever wrote the letter, as I shall that I ever received -it. - - "R. B. SHERIDAN." - -The Piazza façade, and interior, were of Gothic design. The house has -been taken down, and in its place was built the Floral Hall, after the -Crystal Palace model. - - -THE CHAPTER COFFEE-HOUSE. - -In our first volume, pp. 179-186, we described this as a literary -place of resort in Paternoster Row, more especially in connection -with the Wittinagemot of the last century. - -A very interesting account of the Chapter, at a later period, (1848,) -is given by Mrs. Gaskell. The Coffee-house is thus described:-- - -"Paternoster Row was for many years sacred to publishers. It is a -narrow flagged street, lying under the shadow of St. Paul's; at each -end there are posts placed, so as to prevent the passage of carriages, -and thus preserve a solemn silence for the deliberations of the -'fathers of the Row.' The dull warehouses on each side are mostly -occupied at present by wholesale stationers; if they be publishers' -shops, they show no attractive front to the dark and narrow street. -Halfway up on the left-hand side is the Chapter Coffee-house. I -visited it last June. It was then unoccupied; it had the appearance of -a dwelling-house two hundred years old or so, such as one sometimes -sees in ancient country towns; the ceilings of the small rooms were -low, and had heavy beams running across them; the walls were -wainscoted breast-high; the staircase was shallow, broad, and dark, -taking up much space in the centre of the house. This then was the -Chapter Coffee-house, which, a century ago, was the resort of all the -booksellers and publishers, and where the literary hacks, the critics, -and even the wits used to go in search of ideas or employment. This -was the place about which Chatterton wrote, in those delusive letters -he sent to his mother at Bristol, while he was starving in London. - -"Years later it became the tavern frequented by university men, and -country clergymen, who were up in London for a few days, and, having -no private friends or access into society, were glad to learn what was -going on in the world of letters, from the conversation which they -were sure to hear in the coffee-room. It was a place solely frequented -by men; I believe there was but one female servant in the house. Few -people slept there: some of the stated meetings of the trade were held -in it, as they had been for more than a century; and occasionally -country booksellers, with now and then a clergyman, resorted to it. In -the long, low, dingy room upstairs, the meetings of the trade were -held. The high narrow windows looked into the gloomy Row; nothing of -motion or of change could be seen in the grim dark houses opposite, so -near and close, although the whole breadth of the Row was between. The -mighty roar of London was round, like the sound of an unseen ocean, -yet every foot-fall on the pavement below might be heard distinctly, -in that unfrequented street." - -Goldsmith frequented the Chapter, and always occupied one place, -which, for many years after was the seat of literary honour there. - -There are Leather Tokens of the Chapter Coffee-house in existence. - - -CHILD'S COFFEE-HOUSE, - -In St. Paul's Churchyard, was one of the _Spectator's_ houses. -"Sometimes," he says, "I smoke a pipe at Child's, and whilst I seem -attentive to nothing but the _Postman_, overhear the conversation of -every table in the room." It was much frequented by the clergy; for -the _Spectator_, No. 609, notices the mistake of a country gentleman -in taking all persons in scarfs for Doctors of Divinity, since only a -scarf of the first magnitude entitles him to "the appellation of -Doctor from his landlady and the _Boy at Child's_." - -Child's was the resort of Dr. Mead, and other professional men of -eminence. The Fellows of the Royal Society came here. Whiston relates -that Sir Hans Sloane, Dr. Halley, and he were once at Child's, when -Dr. H., asked him, W., why he was not a member of the Royal Society? -Whiston answered, because they durst not choose a heretic. Upon which -Dr. H. said, if Sir Hans Sloane would propose him, W., he, Dr. H., -would second it, which was done accordingly. - -The propinquity of Child's to the Cathedral and Doctors' Commons, made -it the resort of the clergy, and ecclesiastical loungers. In one -respect, Child's was superseded by the Chapter, in Paternoster Row. - - -LONDON COFFEE-HOUSE. - -This Coffee-house was established previous to the year 1731, for we -find of it the following advertisement:-- - -"May, 1731. - -"Whereas, it is customary for Coffee-houses and other Public-houses, -to take 8_s._ for a quart of Arrack, and 6_s._ for a quart of Brandy -or Rum, made into Punch: - -"This is to give Notice, - -"That James Ashley has opened, on Ludgate Hill, the London -Coffee-house, Punch-house, Dorchester Beer and Welsh Ale Warehouse, -where the finest and best old Arrack, Rum, and French Brandy is made -into Punch, with the other of the finest ingredients--viz., A quart -of Arrack made into Punch for six shillings; and so in proportion to -the smallest quantity, which is half-a-quartern for fourpence -halfpenny. A quart of Rum or Brandy made into Punch for four -shillings; and so in proportion to the smallest quantity, which is -half-a-quartern for fourpence halfpenny; and gentlemen may have it as -soon made as a gill of Wine can be drawn." - -The premises occupy a Roman site; for, in 1800, in the rear of the -house, in a bastion of the City Wall, was found a sepulchral monument, -dedicated to Claudina Martina by her husband, a provincial Roman -soldier; here also were found a fragment of a statue of Hercules, and -a female head. In front of the Coffee-house, immediately west of St. -Martin's church, stood Ludgate. - -The London Coffee-house (now a tavern) is noted for its publishers' -sales of stock and copyrights. It was within the rules of the Fleet -prison: and in the Coffee-house are "locked up" for the night such -juries from the Old Bailey Sessions, as cannot agree upon verdicts. -The house was long kept by the grandfather and father of Mr. John -Leech, the celebrated artist. - -A singular incident occurred at the London Coffee-house, many years -since: Mr. Brayley, the topographer, was present at a party here, when -Mr. Broadhurst, the famous tenor, by singing a high note, caused a -wine-glass on the table to break, the bowl being separated from the -stem. - -At the bar of the London Coffee-house was sold Rowley's British -Cephalic Snuff. - - -TURK'S HEAD COFFEE HOUSE - -IN CHANGE ALLEY. - -From _The Kingdom's Intelligencer_, a weekly paper, published by -authority, in 1662, we learn that there had just been opened a "new -Coffee-house," with the sign of the Turk's Head, where was sold by -retail "the right Coffee-powder," from 4_s._ to 6_s._ 8_d._ per pound; -that pounded in a mortar, 2_s._; East India berry, 1_s._ 6_d._; and -the right Turkie berry, well garbled, at 3_s._ "The ungarbled for -lesse, with directions how to use the same." Also Chocolate at 2_s._ -6_d._ per pound; the perfumed from 4_s._ to 10_s._; "also, Sherbets -made in Turkie, of lemons, roses, and violets perfumed; and Tea, or -Chaa, according to its goodness. The house seal was Morat the Great. -Gentlemen customers and acquaintances are (the next New Year's Day) -invited to the sign of the Great Turk at this new Coffee-house, where -Coffee will be on free cost." The sign was also Morat the Great. Morat -figures as a tyrant in Dryden's _Aurung Zebe_. There is a token of -this house, with the Sultan's head, in the Beaufoy collection. - -Another token, in the same collection, is of unusual excellence, -probably by John Roettier. It has on the obverse, Morat ye Great Men -did mee call,--Sultan's head; reverse, Where eare I came I conquered -all.--In the field, Coffee, Tobacco, Sherbet, Tea, Chocolat, Retail in -Exchange Alee. "The word Tea," says Mr. Burn, "occurs on no other -tokens than those issued from 'the Great Turk' Coffee-house, in -Exchange-Alley;" in one of its advertisements, 1662, tea is from -6_s._ to 60_s._ a pound. - -Competition arose. One Constantine Jennings in Threadneedle-street, -over against St. Christopher's Church, advertised that coffee, -chocolate, sherbet, and tea, the right Turkey berry, may be had as -cheap and as good of him as is any where to be had for money; and that -people may there be taught to prepare the said liquors gratis. - -Pepys, in his _Diary_, tells, Sept. 25, 1669, of his sending for "a -cup of Tea, a China Drink, he had not before tasted." Henry Bennet, -Earl of Arlington, about 1666, introduced tea at Court. And, in his -Sir Charles Sedley's _Mulberry Garden_, we are told that "he who -wished to be considered a man of fashion always drank wine-and-water -at dinner, and a dish of tea afterwards." These details are condensed -from Mr. Burn's excellent _Beaufoy Catalogue_. 2nd edition, 1855. - -In Gerard-street, Soho, also, was another Turk's Head Coffee-house, -where was held a Turk's Head Society; in 1777, we find Gibbon writing -to Garrick: "At this time of year, (Aug. 14,) the Society of the -Turk's Head can no longer be addressed as a corporate body, and most -of the individual members are probably dispersed: Adam Smith in -Scotland; Burke in the shades of Beaconsfield; Fox, the Lord or the -devil knows where." - -This place was a kind of head-quarters for the Loyal Association -during the Rebellion of 1745. - -Here was founded "The Literary Club," already described in Vol. I., -pp. 204-219. - -In 1753, several Artists met at the Turk's Head, and from thence, -their Secretary, Mr. F. M. Newton, dated a printed letter to the -Artists to form a select body for the Protection and Encouragement of -Art. Another Society of Artists met in Peter's-court, St. -Martin's-lane, from the year 1739 to 1769. After continued squabbles, -which lasted for many years, the principal Artists met together at the -Turk's Head, where many others having joined them, they petitioned the -King (George III.) to become patron of a Royal Academy of Art. His -Majesty consented; and the new Society took a room in Pall Mall, -opposite to Market-lane, where they remained until the King, in the -year 1771, granted them apartments in Old Somerset House.--_J. T. -Smith._ - -The Turk's Head Coffee-house, No. 142, in the Strand, was a favourite -supping-house with Dr. Johnson and Boswell, in whose Life of Johnson -are several entries, commencing with 1763--"At night, Mr. Johnson and -I supped in a private room at the Turk's Head Coffee-house, in the -Strand; 'I encourage this house,' said he, 'for the mistress of it is -a good civil woman, and has not much business.'" Another entry is--"We -concluded the day at the Turk's Head Coffee-house very socially." And, -August 3, 1673--"We had our last social meeting at the Turk's Head -Coffee-house, before my setting out for foreign parts." - -The name was afterwards changed to "The Turk's Head, Canada and Bath -Coffee-house," and was a well frequented tavern and hotel: it was -taken down, and a very handsome lofty house erected upon the site, at -the cost of, we believe, eight thousand pounds; it was opened as a -tavern and hotel, but did not long continue. - -At the Turk's Head, or Miles's Coffee-house, New Palace-yard, -Westminster, the noted Rota Club met, founded by Harrington, in 1659: -where was a large oval table, with a passage in the middle, for Miles -to deliver his coffee. (See _Clubs_, Vol. I., pp. 15, 16). - - -SQUIRE'S COFFEE-HOUSE. - -In Fulwood's (_vulgo_ Fuller's) Rents, in Holborn, nearly opposite -Chancery-lane, in the reign of James I., lived Christopher Fulwood, in -a mansion of some pretension, of which an existing house of the period -is said to be the remains. "Some will have it," says Hatton, 1708, -"that it is called from being a _woody_ place before there were -buildings here; but its being called Fullwood's Rents (as it is in -deeds and leases), shows it to be the rents of one called Fullwood, -the owner or builder thereof." Strype describes the Rents, or court, -as running up to Gray's-Inn, "into which it has an entrance through -the gate; a place of good resort, and taken up by coffee-houses, -ale-houses, and houses of entertainment, by reason of its vicinity to -Gray's-Inn. On the east side is a handsome open place, with a handsome -freestone pavement, and better built, and inhabited by private -house-keepers. At the upper end of this court is a passage into the -Castle Tavern, a house of considerable trade, as is the Golden Griffin -Tavern, on the West side." - -Here was John's, one of the earliest Coffee-houses; and adjoining -Gray's-Inn gate is a deep-coloured red-brick house, once Squire's -Coffee-house, kept by Squire, "a noted man in Fuller's Rents," who -died in 1717. The house is very roomy; it has been handsome, and has -a wide staircase. Squire's was one of the receiving-houses of the -_Spectator_: in No. 269, January 8, 1711-1712, he accepts Sir Roger de -Coverley's invitation to "smoke a pipe with him over a dish of coffee -at Squire's. As I love the old man, I take delight in complying with -everything that is agreeable to him, and accordingly waited on him to -the Coffee-house, where his venerable figure drew upon us the eyes of -the whole room. He had no sooner seated himself at the upper end of -the high table, but he called for a clean pipe, a paper of tobacco, a -dish of coffee, a wax candle, and the _Supplement_ [a periodical paper -of that time], with such an air of cheerfulness and good humour, that -all the boys in the coffee-room, (who seemed to take pleasure in -serving him,) were at once employed on his several errands, insomuch -that nobody else could come at a dish of tea, until the Knight had got -all his conveniences about him." Such was the coffee-room in the -_Spectator's_ day. - -Gray's-Inn Walks, to which the Rents led, across Field-court, were -then a fashionable promenade; and here Sir Roger could "clear his -pipes in good air;" for scarcely a house intervened thence to -Hampstead. Though Ned Ward, in his _London Spy_, says--"I found none -but a parcel of superannuated debauchees, huddled up in cloaks, frieze -coats, and wadded gowns, to protect their old carcases from the -sharpness of Hampstead air; creeping up and down in pairs and leashes -no faster than the hand of a dial, or a county convict going to -execution: some talking of law, some of religion, and some of -politics. After I had walked two or three times round, I sat myself -down in the upper walk, where just before me, on a stone pedestal, we -fixed an old rusty horizontal dial, with the gnomon broke short off." -Round the sun-dial, seats were arranged in a semicircle. - -Gray's-Inn Gardens were resorted to by dangerous classes. Expert -pickpockets and plausible ring-droppers found easy prey there on -crowded days; and in old plays the Gardens are repeatedly mentioned as -a place of negotiation for clandestine lovers, which led to the walks -being closed, except at stated hours. - -Returning to Fulwood's Rents, we may here describe another of its -attractions, the Tavern and punch-house, within one door of -Gray's-Inn, apparently the King's Head. From some time before 1699, -until his death in 1731, Ward kept this house, which he thus -commemorates, or, in another word, puffs, in his _London Spy_: being a -vintner himself, we may rest assured that he would have penned this in -praise of no other than himself: - - "To speak but the truth of my honest friend Ned, - The best of all vintners that ever God made; - He's free of the beef, and as free of his bread, - And washes both down with his glass of rare red, - That tops all the town, and commands a good trade; - Such wine as will cheer up the drooping King's head, - And brisk up the soul, though our body's half dead; - He scorns to draw bad, as he hopes to be paid; - And now his name's up, he may e'en lie abed; - For he'll get an estate--there's no more to be said." - -We ought to have remarked, that the ox was roasted, cut up, and -distributed gratis; a piece of generosity which, by a poetic fiction, -is supposed to have inspired the above limping balderdash. - - -SLAUGHTER'S COFFEE-HOUSE. - -This Coffee-house, famous as the resort of painters and sculptors, in -the last century, was situated at the upper end of the west side of -St. Martin's-lane, three doors from Newport-street. Its first landlord -was Thomas Slaughter, 1692. Mr. Cunningham tells us that a second -Slaughter's (New Slaughter's), was established in the same street -about 1760, when the original establishment adopted the name of "Old -Slaughter's," by which designation it was known till within a few -years of the final demolition of the house to make way for the new -avenue between Long-acre and Leicester-square, formed 1843-44. For -many years previous to the streets of London being completely paved, -"Slaughter's" was called "The Coffee-house on the Pavement." In like -manner, "The Pavement," Moor fields, received its distinctive name. -Besides being the resort of artists, Old Slaughter's was the house of -call for Frenchmen. - -St. Martin's-lane was long one of the head-quarters of the artists of -the last century. "In the time of Benjamin West," says J. T. Smith, -"and before the formation of the Royal Academy, Greek-street, St. -Martin's-lane, and Gerard-street, was their colony. Old Slaughter's -Coffee-house, in St. Martin's-lane, was their grand resort in the -evenings, and Hogarth was a constant visitor." He lived at the Golden -Head, on the eastern side of Leicester Fields, in the northern half -of the Sabloniere Hotel. The head he cut out himself from pieces of -cork, glued and bound together; it was placed over the street-door. At -this time, young Benjamin West was living in chambers, in -Bedford-street, Covent Garden, and had there set up his easel; he was -married, in 1765, at St. Martin's Church. Roubiliac was often to be -found at Slaughter's in early life; probably before he gained the -patronage of Sir Edward Walpole, through finding and returning to the -baronet the pocket-book of bank-notes, which the young maker of -monuments had picked up in Vauxhall Gardens. Sir Edward, to remunerate -his integrity, and his skill, of which he showed specimens, promised -to patronize Roubiliac through life, and he faithfully performed this -promise. Young Gainsborough, who spent three years amid the works of -the painters in St. Martin's-lane, Hayman, and Cipriani, who were all -eminently convivial, were, in all probability, frequenters of -Slaughter's. Smith tells us that Quin and Hayman were inseparable -friends, and so convivial, that they seldom parted till daylight. - -Mr. Cunningham relates that here, "in early life, Wilkie would enjoy a -small dinner at a small cost. I have been told by an old frequenter of -the house, that Wilkie was always the last dropper-in for a dinner, -and that he was never seen to dine in the house by daylight. The truth -is, he slaved at his art at home till the last glimpse of daylight had -disappeared." - -Haydon was accustomed in the early days of his fitful career, to dine -here with Wilkie. In his _Autobiography_, in the year 1808, Haydon -writes: "This period of our lives was one of great happiness: painting -all day, then dining at the Old Slaughter Chop-house, then going to -the Academy until eight, to fill up the evening, then going home to -tea--that blessing of a studious man--talking over our respective -exploits, what he [Wilkie] had been doing, and what I had done, and -then, frequently to relieve our minds fatigued by their eight and -twelve hours' work, giving vent to the most extraordinary absurdities. -Often have we made rhymes on odd names, and shouted with laughter at -each new line that was added. Sometimes lazily inclined after a good -dinner, we have lounged about, near Drury-lane or Covent Garden, -hesitating whether to go in, and often have I (knowing first that -there was nothing I wished to see) assumed a virtue I did not possess, -and pretending moral superiority, preached to Wilkie on the weakness -of not resisting such temptations for the sake of our art and our -duty, and marched him off to his studies, when he was longing to see -Mother Goose." - -J. T. Smith has narrated some fifteen pages of characteristic -anecdotes of the artistic visitors of Old Slaughter's, which he refers -to as "formerly the rendezvous of Pope, Dryden, and other wits, and -much frequented by several eminently clever men of his day." - -Thither came Ware, the architect, who, when a little sickly boy, was -apprenticed to a chimney-sweeper, and was seen chalking the -street-front of Whitehall, by a gentleman, who purchased the remainder -of the boy's time; gave him an excellent education; then sent him to -Italy, and, upon his return, employed him, and introduced him to his -friends as an architect. Ware was heard to tell this story, while he -was sitting to Roubiliac for his bust. Ware built Chesterfield House -and several other noble mansions, and compiled a Palladio, in folio: -he retained the soot in his skin to the day of his death. He was very -intimate with Roubiliac, who was an opposite eastern neighbour of Old -Slaughter's. Another architect, Gwynn, who competed with Mylne for -designing and building Blackfriars Bridge, was also a frequent visitor -at Old Slaughter's, as was Gravelot, who kept a drawing-school in the -Strand, nearly opposite to Southampton-street. - -Hudson, who painted the Dilettanti portraits; M'Ardell, the -mezzotinto-scraper; and Luke Sullivan, the engraver of Hogarth's March -to Finchley, also frequented Old Slaughter's; likewise Theodore -Gardell, the portrait painter, who was executed for the murder of his -landlady; and Old Moser, keeper of the Drawing Academy in -Peter's-court. Richard Wilson, the landscape painter, was not a -regular customer here: his favourite house was the Constitution, -Bedford-street, Covent Garden, where he could indulge in a pot of -porter more freely, and enjoy the fun of Mortimer, the painter. - -Parry, the Welsh harper, though totally blind, was one of the first -draught-players in England, and occasionally played with the -frequenters of Old Slaughter's; and here, in consequence of a bet, -Roubiliac introduced Nathaniel Smith (father of John Thomas), to play -at draughts with Parry; the game lasted about half an hour: Parry was -much agitated, and Smith proposed to give in; but as there were bets -depending, it was played out, and Smith won. This victory brought -Smith numerous challenges; and the dons of the Barn, a public-house, -in St. Martin's-lane, nearly opposite the church, invited him to -become a member; but Smith declined. The Barn, for many years, was -frequented by all the noted players of chess and draughts; and it was -there that they often decided games of the first importance, played -between persons of the highest rank, living in different parts of the -world. - -T. Rawle,[26] the inseparable companion of Captain Grose, the -antiquary, came often to Slaughter's. - -It was long asserted of Slaughter's Coffee-house that there never had -been a person of that name as master of the house, but that it was -named from its having been opened for the use of the men who -slaughtered the cattle for the butchers of Newport Market, in an open -space then adjoining. "This," says J. T. Smith, "may be the fact, if -we believe that coffee was taken as refreshment by slaughtermen, -instead of purl or porter; or that it was so called by the -neighbouring butchers in derision of the numerous and fashionable -Coffee-houses of the day; as, for instance, 'The Old Man's -Coffee-house,' and 'The Young Man's Coffee-house.' Be that as it may, -in my father's time, and also within memory of the most aged people, -this Coffee-house was called '_Old_ Slaughter's,' and not The -Slaughter, or The Slaughterer's Coffee-house." - -In 1827, there was sold by Stewart, Wheatley, and Adlard, in -Piccadilly, a picture attributed to Hogarth, for 150 guineas; it was -described A Conversation over a Bowl of Punch, at _Old_ Slaughter's -Coffee-house, in St. Martin's-lane, and the figures were said to be -portraits of the painter, Doctor Monsey, and the landlord, _Old_ -Slaughter. But this picture, as J. T. Smith shows, was painted by -Highmore, for his father's godfather, Nathaniel Oldham, and one of the -artist's patrons; "it is neither a scene at Old Slaughter's, nor are -the portraits rightly described in the sale catalogue, but a scene at -Oldham's house, at Ealing, with an old schoolmaster, a farmer, the -artist Highmore, and Oldham himself." - -FOOTNOTE: - -[26] Rawle was one of his Majesty's accoutrement makers; and after his -death, his effects were sold by Hutchins, in King-street, Covent -Garden. Among the lots were a helmet, a sword, and several letters, of -Oliver Cromwell; also the doublet in which Cromwell dissolved the Long -Parliament. Another singular lot was a large black wig, with long -flowing curls, stated to have been worn by King Charles II.: it was -bought by Suett, the actor, who was a great collector of wigs. He -continued to act in this wig for many years, in _Tom Thumb_, and other -pieces, till it was burnt when the theatre at Birmingham was destroyed -by fire. Next morning, Suett, meeting Mrs. Booth, the mother of the -lively actress S. Booth, exclaimed, "Mrs. Booth, my wig's gone!" - - -WILL'S AND SERLE'S COFFEE-HOUSES. - -At the corner of Serle-street and Portugal-street, most invitingly -facing the passage to Lincoln's Inn New-square, was Will's, of old -repute, and thus described in the _Epicure's Almanack_, 1815: "This -is, indubitably, a house of the first class, which dresses very -desirable turtle and venison, and broaches many a pipe of mature port, -double voyaged Madeira, and princely claret; wherewithal to wash down -the dust of making law-books, and take out the inky blots from rotten -parchment bonds; or if we must quote and parodize Will's, 'hath a -sweet oblivious antidote which clears the cranium of that perilous -stuff that clouds the cerebellum.'" The Coffee-house has some time -being given up. - -Serle's Coffee-house is one of those mentioned in No. 49, of the -_Spectator_: "I do not know that I meet in any of my walks, objects -which move both my spleen and laughter so effectually as those young -fellows at the Grecian, Squire's, Serle's, and all other Coffee-houses -adjacent to the Law, who rise for no other purpose but to publish -their laziness." - - -THE GRECIAN COFFEE-HOUSE, - -Devereux-court, Strand, (closed in 1843,) was named from Constantine, -of Threadneedle-street, the _Grecian_ who kept it. In the _Tatler_ -announcement, all accounts of learning are to be "under the title of -the Grecian;" and, in the _Tatler_, No. 6: "While other parts of the -town are amused with the present actions, [Marlborough's,] we -generally spend the evening at this table [at the Grecian], in -inquiries into antiquity, and think anything new, which gives us new -knowledge. Thus, we are making a very pleasant entertainment to -ourselves in putting the actions of Homer's Iliad into an exact -journal." - -The _Spectator's_ face was very well-known at the Grecian, a -Coffee-house "adjacent to the law." Occasionally, it was the scene of -learned discussion. Thus Dr. King relates that one evening, two -gentlemen, who were constant companions, were disputing here, -concerning the accent of a Greek word. This dispute was carried to -such a length, that the two friends thought proper to determine it -with their swords: for this purpose they stepped into Devereux-court, -where one of them (Dr. King thinks his name was Fitzgerald) was run -through the body, and died on the spot. - -The Grecian was Foote's morning lounge. It was handy, too, for the -young Templar, Goldsmith, and often did it echo with Oliver's -boisterous mirth; for "it had become the favourite resort of the Irish -and Lancashire Templars, whom he delighted in collecting around him, -in entertaining with a cordial and unostentatious hospitality, and in -occasionally amusing with his flute, or with whist, neither of which -he played very well!" Here Goldsmith occasionally wound up his -"Shoemaker's Holiday" with supper. - -It was at the Grecian that Fleetwood Shephard told this memorable -story to Dr. Tancred Robinson, who gave Richardson permission to -repeat it. "The Earl of Dorset was in Little Britain, beating about -for books to his taste: there was _Paradise Lost_. He was surprised -with some passages he struck upon, dipping here and there and bought -it; the bookseller begged him to speak in its favour, if he liked it, -for they lay on his hands as waste paper. Jesus!--Shephard was -present. My Lord took it home, read it, and sent it to Dryden, who in -a short time returned it. 'This man,' says Dryden, 'cuts us all out, -and the ancients too!'" - -The Grecian was also frequented by Fellows of the Royal Society. -Thoresby, in his _Diary_, tells us, 22 May, 1712, that "having bought -each a pair of black silk stockings in Westminster Hall, they returned -by water, and then walked, to meet his friend, Dr. Sloane, the -Secretary of the Royal Society, at the Grecian Coffee-house, by the -Temple." And, on June 12th, same year, "Thoresby attended the Royal -Society, where were present, the President, Sir Isaac Newton, both the -Secretaries, the two Professors from Oxford, Dr. Halley and Kell, with -others, whose company we after enjoyed at the Grecian Coffee-house." - -In Devereux-court, also, was Tom's Coffee-house, much resorted to by -men of letters; among whom were Dr. Birch, who wrote the History of -the Royal Society; also Akenside, the poet; and there is in print a -letter of Pope's, addressed to Fortescue, his "counsel learned in the -law," at this coffee-house. - - -GEORGE'S COFFEE-HOUSE, - -No. 213, Strand, near Temple Bar, was a noted resort in the last and -present century. When it was a coffee-house, one day, there came in -Sir James Lowther, who after changing a piece of silver with the -coffee-woman, and paying twopence for his dish of coffee, was helped -into his chariot, for he was very lame and infirm, and went home: some -little time afterwards, he returned to the same coffee-house, on -purpose to acquaint the woman who kept it, that she had given him a -bad half-penny, and demanded another in exchange for it. Sir James had -about 40,000_l._ per annum, and was at a loss whom to appoint his -heir. - -Shenstone, who found - - "The warmest welcome at an inn," - -found George's to be economical. "What do you think," he writes, "must -be my expense, who love to pry into everything of the kind? Why, truly -one shilling. My company goes to George's Coffee-house, where, for -that small subscription I read all pamphlets under a three shillings' -dimension; and indeed, any larger would not be fit for coffee-house -perusal." Shenstone relates that Lord Orford was at George's, when -the mob that were carrying his Lordship in effigy, came into the box -where he was, to beg money of him, amongst others: this story Horace -Walpole contradicts, adding that he supposes Shenstone thought that -after Lord Orford quitted his place, he went to the coffee-house to -learn news. - -Arthur Murphy frequented George's, "where the town wits met every -evening." Lloyd, the law-student, sings:-- - - "By law let others toil to gain renown! - Florio's a gentleman, a man o' the town. - He nor courts clients, or the law regarding, - Hurries from Nando's down to Covent Garden, - Yet, he's a scholar; mark him in the pit, - With critic catcall sound the stops of wit! - Supreme at George's, he harangues the throng, - Censor of style, from tragedy to song." - - -THE PERCY COFFEE-HOUSE, - -Rathbone-place, Oxford-street, no longer exists; but it will be kept -in recollection for its having given name to one of the most popular -publications, of its class, in our time, namely, the _Percy -Anecdotes_, "by Sholto and Reuben Percy, Brothers of the Benedictine -Monastery of Mont Benger," in 44 parts, commencing in 1820. So said -the title pages, but the names and the locality were _supposé_. Reuben -Percy was Thomas Byerley, who died in 1824; he was the brother of Sir -John Byerley, and the first editor of the _Mirror_, commenced by John -Limbird, in 1822. Sholto Percy was Joseph Clinton Robertson, who died -in 1852; he was the projector of the _Mechanics' Magazine_, which he -edited from its commencement to his death. The name of the collection -of Anecdotes was not taken, as at the time supposed, from the -popularity of the _Percy Reliques_, but from the Percy Coffee-house, -where Byerley and Robertson were accustomed to meet to talk over their -joint work. The _idea_ was, however, claimed by Sir Richard Phillips, -who stoutly maintained that it originated in a suggestion made by him -to Dr. Tilloch and Mr. Mayne, to cut the anecdotes from the many -years' files of the _Star_ newspaper, of which Dr. Tilloch was the -editor, and Mr. Byerley assistant editor; and to the latter -overhearing the suggestion, Sir Richard contested, might the _Percy -Anecdotes_ be traced. They were very successful, and a large sum was -realized by the work. - - -PEELE'S COFFEE-HOUSE, - -Nos. 177 and 178, Fleet-street, east corner of Fetter-lane, was one of -the Coffee-houses of the Johnsonian period; and here was long -preserved a portrait of Dr. Johnson, on the key-stone of a -chimney-piece, stated to have been painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds. -Peele's was noted for files of newspapers from these dates: _Gazette_, -1759; _Times_, 1780; _Morning Chronicle_, 1773; _Morning Post_, 1773; -_Morning Herald_, 1784; _Morning Advertiser_, 1794; and the evening -papers from their commencement. The house is now a tavern. - - - - -Taverns. - - -THE TAVERNS OF OLD LONDON. - -The changes in the manners and customs of our metropolis may be -agreeably gathered from such glimpses as we gain of the history of -"houses of entertainment" in the long lapse of centuries. Their -records present innumerable pictures in little of society and modes, -the interest of which is increased by distance. They show us how the -tavern was the great focus of news long before the newspaper fully -supplied the intellectual want. Much of the business of early times -was transacted in taverns, and it is to some extent in the present -day. According to the age, the tavern reflects the manners, the social -tastes, customs, and recreations; and there, in days when travelling -was difficult and costly, and not unattended with danger, the -traveller told his wondrous tale to many an eager listener; and the -man who rarely strayed beyond his own parish, was thus made acquainted -with the life of the world. Then, the old tavern combined, with much -of the comfort of an English home, its luxuries, without the -forethought of providing either. Its come-and-go life presented many a -useful lesson to the man who looked beyond the cheer of the moment. -The master, or taverner, was mostly a person of substance, often of -ready wit and cheerful manners--to render his public home attractive. - -The "win-hous," or tavern, is enumerated among the houses of -entertainment in the time of the Saxons; and no doubt existed in -England much earlier. The peg-tankard, a specimen of which we see in -the Ashmolean Collection at Oxford, originated with the Saxons; the -pegs inside denoted how deep each guest was to drink: hence arose the -saying, "he is a peg too low," when a man was out of spirits. The -Danes were even more convivial in their habits than the Saxons, and -may be presumed to have multiplied the number of "guest houses," as -the early taverns were called. The Norman followers of the Conqueror -soon fell into the good cheer of their predecessors in England. -Although wine was made at this period in great abundance from -vineyards in various parts of England, the trade of the taverns was -principally supplied from France. The traffic for Bordeaux and the -neighbouring provinces is said to have commenced about 1154, through -the marriage of Henry II. with Eleanor of Aquitaine. The Normans were -the great carriers, and Guienne the place whence most of our wines -were brought; and which are described in this reign to have been sold -in the ships and in the wine-cellars near the public place of cookery, -on the banks of the Thames. We are now speaking of the customs of -seven centuries since; of which the public wine-cellar, known to our -time as _the Shades_, adjoining old London Bridge, was unquestionably -a relic. - -The earliest dealers in wines were of two descriptions: the -_vintners_, or importers; and the _taverners_, who kept taverns for -them, and sold the wine by retail to such as came to the tavern to -drink it, or fetched it to their own homes. - -In a document of the reign of Edward II., we find mentioned a -tenement called Pin Tavern, situated in the Vintry, where the Bordeaux -merchants _craned_ their wines out of lighters, and other vessels on -the Thames; and here was the famous old tavern with the sign of the -_Three Cranes_. Chaucer makes the apprentice of this period loving -better the tavern than the shop:-- - - "A prentis whilom dwelt in our citee,-- - At ev'ry bridale would he sing and hoppe; - He loved bet' the _tavern_ than the shoppe, - For when ther any riding was in Chepe, - Out of the shoppe thider would he lepe; - And til that he had all the sight ysein - And dancid wil, he wold not com agen." - -Thus, the idle City apprentice was a great tavern haunter, which was -forbidden in his indenture; and to this day, the apprentice's -indenture enacts that he shall not "haunt taverns." - -In a play of 1608, the apprentices of old Hobson, a rich citizen, in -1560, frequent the _Rose and Crown_, in the Poultry, and the _Dagger_, -in Cheapside. - - "_Enter Hobson, Two Prentices, and a Boy._ - - "1 PREN. Prithee, fellow Goodman, set forth the ware, and - looke to the shop a little. I'll but drink a cup of wine - with a customer, at the Rose and Crown in the Poultry, and - come again presently. - - "2 PREN. I must needs step to the _Dagger in Cheape_, to - send a letter into the country unto my father. Stay, boy, - you are the youngest prentice; look you to the shop." - -In the reign of Richard II., it was ordained by statute that "the -wines of Gascoine, of Osey, and of Spain," as well as Rhenish wines, -should not be sold above sixpence the gallon; and the taverners of -this period frequently became very rich, and filled the highest civic -offices, as sheriffs and mayors. The fraternity of vintners and -taverners, anciently the Merchant Wine Tonners of Gascoyne, became the -Craft of Vintners, incorporated by Henry VI. as the Vintners' Company. - -The curious old ballad of London Lyckpenny, written in the reign of -Henry V., by Lydgate, a monk of Bury, confirms the statement of the -prices in the reign of Richard II. He comes to Cornhill, when the -wine-drawer of the Pope's Head tavern, standing without the -street-door, it being the custom of drawers thus to waylay passengers, -takes the man by the hand, and says,--"Will you drink a pint of wine?" -whereunto the countryman answers, "A penny spend I may," and so drank -his wine. "For bread nothing did he pay"--for that was given in. This -is Stow's account: the ballad makes the taverner, not the drawer, -invite the countryman; and the latter, instead of getting bread for -nothing, complains of having to go away hungry:-- - - "The taverner took me by the sleeve, - 'Sir,' saith he, 'will you our wine assay?' - I answered, 'That cannot much me grieve, - A penny can do no more than it may;' - I drank a pint, and for it did pay; - Yet, sore a-hungered from thence I yede, - And, wanting money, I could not speed," etc. - -There was no eating at taverns at this time, beyond a crust to relish -the wine; and he who wished to dine before he drank, had to go to the -cook's. - -The furnishing of the Boar's Head, in Eastcheap, with sack, in Henry -IV., is an anachronism of Shakspeare's; for the vintners kept neither -sacks, muscadels, malmseys, bastards, alicants, nor any other wines -but white and claret, until 1543. All the other sweet wines before -that time, were sold at the apothecaries' shops for no other use but -for medicine. - -Taking it as the picture of a tavern a century later, we see the -alterations which had taken place. The single drawer or taverner of -Lydgate's day is now changed to a troop of waiters, besides the under -skinker, or tapster. Eating was no longer confined to the cook's row, -for we find in Falstaff's bill "a capon 2_s._ 2_d._; sack, two -gallons, 5_s._ 8_d._; anchovies and sack, after supper, 2_s._ 6_d._; -bread, one halfpenny." And there were evidently _different rooms_[27] -for the guests, as Francis[28] bids a brother waiter "Look down in the -Pomgranite;" for which purpose they had windows, or loopholes, -affording a view from the upper to the lower apartments. The custom of -naming the principal rooms in taverns and hotels is usual to the -present day. - -Taverns and wine-bibbing had greatly increased in the reign of Edward -VI., when it was enacted by statute that no more than 8_d._ a gallon -should be taken for any French wines, and the consumption limited in -private houses to ten gallons each person yearly; that there should -not be "any more or great number of taverns in London of such tavernes -or wine sellers by retaile, above the number of fouretye tavernes or -wyne sellers," being less than two, upon an average to each parish. -Nor did this number much increase afterwards; for in a return made to -the Vintners' Company, late in Elizabeth's reign, there were only one -hundred and sixty-eight taverns in the whole city and suburbs. - -It seems to have been the fashion among old ballad-mongers, street -chroniclers, and journalists, to sing the praises of the taverns in -rough-shod verse, and that lively rhyme which, in our day, is termed -"patter." Here are a few specimens, of various periods. - -In a black-letter poem of Queen Elizabeth's reign, entitled _Newes -from Bartholomew Fayre_, there is this curious enumeration: - - "There hath been great sale and utterance of Wine, - Besides Beere, and Ale, and Ipocras fine, - In every country, region, and nation, - But chiefly in Billingsgate, at the _Salutation_; - And the _Bore's Head_, near London Stone; - The _Swan_ at Dowgate, a tavern well knowne; - The _Miter_ in Cheape, and then the _Bull Head_; - And many like places that make noses red; - The _Bore's Head_ in Old Fish-street; _Three Cranes_ in the Vintry; - And now, of late, St. Martins in the Sentree; - The _Windmill_ in Lothbury; the _Ship_ at th' Exchange; - _King's Head_ in New Fish-street, where roysterers do range; - The _Mermaid_ in Cornhill; _Red Lion_ in the Strand; - _Three Tuns_ in Newgate Market; Old Fish-street at the _Swan_." - -This enumeration omits the Mourning Bush, adjoining Aldersgate, -containing divers large rooms and lodgings, and shown in Aggas's plan -of London, in 1560. There are also omitted The Pope's Head, The London -Stone, The Dagger, The Rose and Crown, etc. Several of the above -_Signs_ have been continued to our time in the very places mentioned; -but nearly all the original buildings were destroyed in the Great Fire -of 1666; and the few which escaped have been re-built, or so altered, -that their former appearance has altogether vanished. - -The following list of taverns is given by Thomas Heywood, the author -of the fine old play of _A Woman killed with Kindness_. Heywood, who -wrote in 1608, is telling us what particular houses are frequented by -particular classes of people:-- - - "The Gentry to the King's Head, - The nobles to the Crown, - The Knights unto the Golden Fleece, - And to the Plough the Clown. - The churchman to the Mitre, - The shepherd to the Star, - The gardener hies him to the Rose, - To the Drum the man of war; - To the Feathers, ladies you; the Globe - The seaman doth not scorn; - The usurer to the Devil, and - The townsman to the Horn. - The huntsman to the White Hart, - To the Ship the merchants go, - But you who do the Muses love, - The sign called River Po. - The banquerout to the World's End, - The fool to the Fortune Pie, - Unto the Mouth the oyster-wife, - The fiddler to the Pie. - The punk unto the Cockatrice, - The Drunkard to the Vine, - The beggar to the Bush, then meet, - And with Duke Humphrey dine." - -In the _British Apollo_ of 1710, is the following doggrel:-- - - "I'm amused at the signs, - As I pass through the town, - To see the odd mixture-- - A Magpie and Crown, - The Whale and the Crow, - The Razor and the Hen, - The Leg and Seven Stars, - The Axe and the Bottle, - The Tun and the Lute, - The Eagle and Child, - The Shovel and Boot." - -In _Look about You_, 1600, we read that "the drawers kept sugar folded -up in paper, ready for those who called for _sack_;" and we further -find in another old tract, that the custom existed of bringing two -cups of _silver_ in case the wine should be wanted diluted; and this -was done by rose-water and sugar, generally about a pennyworth. A -sharper in the _Bellman of London_, described as having decoyed a -countryman to a tavern, "calls for two pintes of sundry wines, the -drawer setting the wine with _two cups_, as the custome is, the -sharper tastes of one pinte, no matter which, and finds fault with the -wine, saying, ''tis too hard, but rose-water and sugar would send it -downe merrily'--and for that purpose takes up one of the cups, telling -the stranger he is well acquainted with the boy at the barre, and can -have two-pennyworth of rose-water for a penny of him; and so steps -from his seate: the stranger suspects no harme, because the fawne -guest leaves his cloake at the end of the table behind him,--but the -other takes good care not to return, and it is then found that he -hath stolen ground, and out-leaped the stranger more feet than he can -recover in haste, for the cup is leaped with him, for which the -wood-cock, that is taken in the springe, must pay fifty shillings, or -three pounds, and hath nothing but an old threadbare cloake not worth -two groats to make amends for his losses." - -Bishop Earle, who wrote in the first half of the seventeenth century, -has left this "character" of a tavern of his time. "A tavern is a -degree, or (if you will) a pair of stairs above an alehouse, where men -are drunk with more credit and apology. If the vintner's nose be at -the door, it is a sign sufficient, but the absence of this is supplied -by the ivy-bush. It is a broacher of more news than hogsheads, and -more jests than news, which are sucked up here by some spungy brain, -and from thence squeezed into a comedy. Men come here to make merry, -but indeed make a noise, and this music above is answered with a -clinking below. The drawers are the civilest people in it, men of good -bringing up, and howsoever we esteem them, none can boast more justly -of their high calling. 'Tis the best theatre of natures, where they -are truly acted, not played, and the business as in the rest of the -world up and down, to wit, from the bottom of the cellar to the great -chamber. A melancholy man would find here matter to work upon, to see -heads, as brittle as glasses, and often broken; men come hither to -quarrel, and come here to be made friends; and if Plutarch will lend -me his simile, it is even Telephus's sword that makes wounds, and -cures them. It is the common consumption of the afternoon, and the -murderer or the maker away of a rainy day. It is the torrid zone that -scorches the face, and tobacco the gunpowder that blows it up. Much -harm would be done if the charitable vintner had not water ready for -the flames. A house of sin you may call it, but not a house of -darkness, for the candles are never out; and it is like those -countries far in the north, where it is as clear at midnight as at -mid-day. After a long sitting it becomes like a street in a dashing -shower, where the spouts are flushing above, and the conduits running -below, etc. To give you the total reckoning of it, it is the busy -man's recreation, the idle man's business, the melancholy man's -sanctuary, the stranger's welcome, the inns-of-court man's -entertainment, the scholar's kindness, and the citizen's courtesy. It -is the study of sparkling wits, and a cup of comedy their book, whence -we leave them." - -The conjunction of vintner and victualler had now become common, and -would require other accommodation than those mentioned by the Bishop, -as is shown in Massinger's _New Way to pay Old Debts_, where Justice -Greedy makes Tapwell's keeping no victuals in his house as an excuse -for pulling down his sign: - - "Thou never hadst in thy house to stay men's stomachs, - A piece of Suffolk cheese, or gammon of bacon, - Or any esculent as the learned call it, - For their emolument, but _sheer drink only_. - For which gross fault I here do damn thy licence, - Forbidding thee henceforth to tap or draw; - For instantly I will in mine own person, - Command the constable to pull down thy sign, - And do't before I eat." - -And the decayed vinter, who afterwards applies to Wellborn for payment -of his tavern score, answers, on his inquiring who he is: - - "A decay'd vintner, Sir; - That might have thriv'd, but that your worship broke me - With trusting you with muscadine and eggs, - And _five-pound suppers_, with your after-drinkings, - When you lodged upon the Bankside." - -Dekker tells us, near this time, of regular ordinaries of three kinds: -1st. An ordinary of the longest reckoning, whither most of your -courtly gallants do resort: 2nd. A twelvepenny ordinary, frequented by -the justice of the peace, a young Knight; and a threepenny ordinary, -to which your London usurer, your stale bachelor, and your thrifty -attorney, doth resort. Then Dekker tells us of a custom, especially in -the City, to send presents of wine from one room to another, as a -complimentary mark of friendship. "Inquire," directs he, "what -gallants sup in the next room; and if they be of your acquaintance, do -not, after the City fashion, send them in a pottle of wine and your -name." Then, we read of Master Brook sending to the Castle Inn at -Windsor, a morning draught of sack. - -Ned Ward, in the _London Spy_, 1709, describes several famous taverns, -and among them the Rose, anciently, the Rose and Crown, as famous for -good wine. "There was no parting," he says, "without a glass; so we -went into the Rose Tavern in the Poultry, where the wine, according to -its merit, had justly gained a reputation; and there, in a snug room, -warmed with brash and faggot, over a quart of good claret, we laughed -over our night's adventure." - -"From hence, pursuant to my friend's inclination, we adjourned to the -sign of the Angel, in Fenchurch-street, where the vintner, like a -double-dealing citizen, condescended as well to draw carmen's comfort -as the consolatory juice of the vine. - -"Having at the King's Head well freighted the hold of our vessels with -excellent food and delicious wine, at a small expense, we scribbled -the following lines with chalk upon the wall." (See page 98.) - -The tapster was a male vendor, not "a woman who had the care of the -tap," as Tyrwhitt states. In the 17th century ballad, _The Times_, -occurs: - - "The bar-boyes and the tapsters - Leave drawing of their beere, - And running forth in haste they cry, - 'See, where Mull'd Sack comes here!'" - -The ancient drawers and tapsters were now superseded by the barmaid, -and a number of waiters: Ward describes the barmaid as "all ribbon, -lace, and feathers, and making such a noise with her bell and her -tongue together, that had half-a-dozen paper-mills been at work within -three yards of her, they'd have signified no more to her clamorous -voice than so many lutes to a drum, which alarmed two or three nimble -fellows aloft, who shot themselves downstairs with as much celerity as -a mountebank's mercury upon a rope from the top of a church-steeple, -every one charged with a mouthful of coming, coming, coming." The -barmaid (generally the vintner's daughter) is described as "bred at -the dancing-school, becoming a bar well, stepping a minuet finely, -playing sweetly on the virginals, 'John come kiss me now, now, now,' -and as proud as she was handsome." - -Tom Brown sketches a flirting barmaid of the same time, "as a fine -lady that stood pulling a rope, and screaming like a peacock against -rainy weather, pinned up by herself in a little pew, all people bowing -to her as they passed by, as if she was a goddess set up to be -worshipped, armed with the chalk and sponge, (which are the principal -badges that belong to that honourable station you beheld her in,) was -the _barmaid_." - -Of the nimbleness of the waiters, Ward says in another place--"That -the chief use he saw in the Monument was, for the improvement of -vintners' boys and drawers, who came every week to exercise their -supporters, and learn the tavern trip, by running up to the balcony -and down again." - -Owen Swan, at the Black Swan tavern, Bartholomew Lane, is thus -apostrophized by Tom Brown for the goodness of his wine:-- - - "Thee, _Owen_, since the God of wine has made - Thee steward of the gay carousing trade, - Whose art decaying nature still supplies, - Warms the faint pulse, and sparkles in our eyes. - Be bountiful like him, bring t'other _flask_, - Were the stairs wider we would have the _cask_. - This pow'r we from the God of wine derive, - Draw such as this, and I'll pronounce thou'lt live." - - -THE BEAR AT THE BRIDGE FOOT. - -This celebrated tavern, situated in Southwark, on the west side of the -foot of London Bridge, opposite the end of St. Olave's or -Tooley-street, was a house of considerable antiquity. We read in the -accounts of the Steward of Sir John Howard, March 6th, 1463-4 (Edward -IV.), "Item, payd for red wyn at the Bere in Southwerke, iij_d._" -Garrard, in a letter to Lord Strafford, dated 1633 intimates that -"all back-doors to taverns on the Thames are commanded to be shut up, -only the Bear at Bridge Foot is exempted, by reason of the passage to -Greenwich," which Mr. Burn suspects to have been "the avenue or way -called Bear Alley." - -The Cavaliers' Ballad on the funeral pageant of Admiral Deane, killed -June 2nd, 1653, while passing by water to Henry the Seventh's Chapel, -Westminster, has the following allusion:-- - - "From Greenwich towards the Bear at Bridge foot, - He was wafted with wind that had water to't, - But I think they brought the devil to boot, - Which nobody can deny." - -Pepys was told by a waterman, going through the bridge, 24th Feb. -1666-7, that the mistress of the Beare Tavern, at the Bridge foot, -"did lately fling herself into the Thames, and drown herself." - -The Bear must have been a characterless house, for among its -gallantries was the following, told by Wycherley to Major Pack, "just -for the oddness of the thing." It was this: "There was a house at the -Bridge Foot where persons of better condition used to resort for -pleasure and privacy. The liquor the ladies and their lovers used to -drink at these meetings was canary; and among other compliments the -gentlemen paid their mistresses, this it seems was always one, to take -hold of the bottom of their smocks, and pouring the wine through that -filter, feast their imaginations with the thought of what gave the -zesto, and so drink a health to the toast." - -The Bear Tavern was taken down in December, 1761, when the labourers -found gold and silver coins, of the time of Elizabeth, to a -considerable value. The wall that enclosed the tavern was not cleared -away until 1764, when the ground was cleared and levelled quite up to -Pepper Alley stairs. There is a Token of the Bear Tavern, in the -Beaufoy cabinet, which, with other rare Southwark tokens, was found -under the floors in taking down St. Olave's Grammar School in 1839. - - -MERMAID TAVERNS. - -The celebrated Mermaid, in Bread-street, with the history of "the -Mermaid Club," has been described in Vol. I. pp. 8-10; its interest -centres in this famous company of Wits. - -There was another Mermaid, in Cheapside, next to Paul's Gate, and -still another in Cornhill. Of the latter we find in Burn's Beaufoy -Catalogue, that the vintner, buried in St. Peter's, Cornhill, in 1606, -"gave forty shillings yearly to the parson for preaching four sermons -every year, so long as the lease of the Mermaid, in Cornhill, (the -tavern so called,) should endure. He also gave to the poor of the said -parish thirteen penny loaves every Sunday, during the aforesaid -lease." There are tokens of both these taverns in the Beaufoy -Collection. - - -THE BOAR'S HEAD TAVERN. - -This celebrated Shakspearean tavern was situated in Great Eastcheap, -and is first mentioned in the time of Richard II.; the scene of the -revels of Falstaff and Henry V., when Prince of Wales, in -Shakspeare's Henry IV., Part 2. Stow relates a riot in "the cooks' -dwellings" here on St. John's eve, 1410, by Princes John and Thomas. -The tavern was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666, but was rebuilt in -two years, as attested by a boar's head cut in stone, with the -initials of the landlord, I. T., and the date 1668, above the -first-floor window. This sign-stone is now in the Guildhall library. -The house stood between Small-alley and St. Michael's-lane, and in the -rear looked upon St. Michael's churchyard, where was buried a -_drawer_, or waiter, at the tavern, d. 1720: in the church was -interred John Rhodoway, "Vintner at the Bore's Head," 1623. - -Maitland, in 1739, mentions the Boar's Head, as "the chief tavern in -London" under the sign. Goldsmith (_Essays_), Boswell (_Life of Dr. -Johnson_), and Washington Irving (_Sketch-book_), have idealized the -house as the identical place which Falstaff frequented, forgetting its -destruction in the Great Fire. The site of the Boar's Head is very -nearly that of the statue of King William IV. - -In 1834, Mr. Kempe, F.S.A., exhibited to the Society of Antiquaries a -carved oak figure of Sir John Falstaff, in the costume of the 16th -century; it had supported an ornamental bracket over one side of the -door of the Boar's Head, a figure of Prince Henry sustaining that on -the other. The Falstaff was the property of one Shelton, a brazier, -whose ancestors had lived in the shop he then occupied in Great -Eastcheap, since the Great Fire. He well remembered the last -Shakspearean grand dinner-party at the Boar's Head, about 1784: at an -earlier party, Mr. Wilberforce was present. A boar's head, with tusks, -which had been suspended in a room of the tavern, perhaps the -Half-Moon or Pomegranate, (see Henry IV. act ii. sc. 4,) at the Great -Fire, fell down with the ruins of the house, and was conveyed to -Whitechapel Mount, where, many years after, it was recovered, and -identified with its former locality. At a public house, No. 12, -Miles-lane, was long preserved a tobacco-box, with a painting of the -original Boar's Head Tavern on the lid.[29] - -In High-street, Southwark, in the rear of Nos. 25 and 26, was formerly -the _Boar's Head Inn_, part of Sir John Falstolf's benefaction to -Magdalen College, Oxford. Sir John was one of the bravest generals in -the French wars, under the fourth, fifth, and sixth Henries; but he is -not the Falstaff of Shakspeare. In the _Reliquiĉ Hearnianĉ_, edited by -Dr. Bliss, is the following entry relative to this bequest:-- - - "1721. June 2.--The reason why they cannot give so good an - account of the benefaction of Sir John Fastolf to Magd. - Coll. is, because he gave it to the founder, and left it to - his management, so that 'tis suppos'd 'twas swallow'd up in - his own estate that he settled it upon the college. However, - the college knows this, that the _Boar's Head_ in Southwark, - which was then an inn, and still retains the name, tho' - divided into several tenements (which bring the college - about 150_l._ per ann.), was part of Sir John's gift." - -The above property was for many years sublet to the family of the -author of the present Work, at the rent of 150_l._ per annum; the -cellar, finely vaulted, and excellent for wine, extended beneath the -entire court, consisting of two rows of tenements, and two end houses, -with galleries, the entrance being from the High-street. The premises -were taken down for the New London Bridge approaches. There was also -a noted Boar's Head in Old Fish-street. - -Can he forget who has read Goldsmith's nineteenth Essay, his reverie -at the Boar's Head?--when, having confabulated with the landlord till -long after "the watchman had gone twelve," and suffused in the potency -of his wine a mutation in his ideas, of the person of the host into -that of Dame Quickly, mistress of the tavern in the days of Sir John, -is promptly effected, and the liquor they were drinking seemed shortly -converted into sack and sugar. Mrs. Quickly's recital of the history -of herself and Doll Tearsheet, whose frailties in the flesh caused -their being both sent to the house of correction, charged with having -allowed the famed Boar's Head to become a low brothel; her speedy -departure to the world of Spirits; and Falstaff's impertinences as -affecting Madame Proserpine; are followed by an enumeration of persons -who had held tenancy of the house since her time. The last hostess of -note was, according to Goldsmith's account, Jane Rouse, who, having -unfortunately quarrelled with one of her neighbours, a woman of high -repute in the parish for sanctity, but as jealous as Chaucer's Wife of -Bath, was by her accused of witchcraft, taken from her own bar, -condemned, and executed accordingly!--These were times, indeed, when -women could not scold in safety. These and other prudential -apophthegms on the part of Dame Quickly, seem to have dissolved -Goldsmith's stupor of ideality; on his awaking, the landlord is really -the landlord, and not the hostess of a former day, when "Falstaff was -in fact an agreeable old fellow, forgetting age, and showing the way -to be young at sixty-five. Age, care, wisdom, reflection, begone! I -give you to the winds. Let's have t'other bottle. Here's to the -memory of Shakspeare, Falstaff, and all the merry men of -Eastcheap."[30] - -FOOTNOTES: - -[27] This negatives a belief common in our day that a Covent Garden -tavern was the first divided into rooms for guests. - -[28] A successor of Francis, a waiter at the Boar's Head, in the last -century, had a tablet with an inscription in St. Michael's -Crooked-lane churchyard, just at the back of the tavern; setting forth -that he died, "drawer at the Boar's Head Tavern, in Great Eastcheap," -and was noted for his honesty and sobriety; in that-- - - "Tho' nurs'd among full hogsheads he defied - The charms of wine, as well as others' pride." - -He also practised the singular virtue of drawing good wine and of -taking care to "fill his pots," as appears by the closing lines of the -inscription:-- - - "Ye that on Bacchus have a like dependance, - Pray copy Bob in measure and attendance.'" - - -[29] _Curiosities of London_, p. 265. - -[30] _Burn's Catalogue of the Beaufoy Tokens._ - - -THREE CRANES IN THE VINTRY. - -This was one of Ben Jonson's taverns, and has already been -incidentally mentioned. Strype describes it as situate in "New -Queen-street, commonly called the Three Cranes in the Vintry, a good -open street, especially that part next Cheapside, which is best built -and inhabited. At the lowest end of the street, next the Thames, is a -pair of stairs, the usual place for the Lord Mayor and Aldermen to -take water at, to go to Westminster Hall, for the new Lord Mayor to be -sworn before the Barons of the Exchequer. This place, with the Three -Cranes, is now of some account for the costermongers, where they have -their warehouse for their fruit." In Scott's _Kenilworth_ we hear much -of this Tavern. - - -LONDON STONE TAVERN. - -This tavern, situated in Cannon-street, near the Stone, is stated, but -not correctly, to have been the oldest in London. Here was formed a -society, afterwards the famous Robin Hood, of which the history was -published in 1716, where it is stated to have originated in a meeting -of the editor's grandfather with the great Sir Hugh Myddelton, of New -River memory. King Charles II. was introduced to the society, -disguised, by Sir Hugh, and the King liked it so well, that he came -thrice afterwards. "He had," continues the narrative, "a piece of -black silk over his left cheek, which almost covered it; and his -eyebrows, which were quite black, he had, by some artifice or other, -converted to a light brown, or rather flaxen colour; and had otherwise -disguised himself so effectually in his apparel and his looks, that -nobody knew him but Sir Hugh, by whom he was introduced." This is very -circumstantial, but is very doubtful; since Sir Hugh Myddelton died -when Charles was in his tenth year. - - -THE ROBIN HOOD. - -Mr. Akerman describes a Token of the Robin Hood Tavern:--"IOHN -THOMLINSON AT THE. An archer fitting an arrow to his bow; a small -figure behind, holding an arrow.--Rx. IN CHISWELL STREET, 1667. In -the centre, HIS HALFE PENNY, and I. S. T." Mr. Akerman continues: - -"It is easy to perceive what is intended by the representation on the -obverse of this token. Though 'Little John,' we are told, stood -upwards of six good English feet without his shoes, he is here -depicted to suit the popular humour--a dwarf in size, compared with -his friend and leader, the bold outlaw. The proximity of -Chiswell-street to Finsbury-fields may have led to the adoption of the -sign, which was doubtless at a time when archery was considered an -elegant as well as an indispensable accomplishment of an English -gentleman. It is far from obsolete now, as several low public-houses -and beer-shops in the vicinity of London testify. One of them -exhibits Robin Hood and his companion dressed in the most approved -style of 'Astley's,' and underneath the group is the following -irresistible invitation to slake your thirst:-- - - "Ye archers bold and yeomen good, - Stop and drink with Robin Hood: - If Robin Hood is not at home, - Stop and drink with little John. - -"Our London readers could doubtless supply the variorum copies of this -elegant distich, which, as this is an age for 'Family Shakspeares,' -modernized Chaucers, and new versions of 'Robin Hood's Garland,' we -recommend to the notice of the next editor of the ballads in praise of -the Sherwood freebooter." - - -PONTACK'S, ABCHURCH LANE. - -After the destruction of the White Bear Tavern, in the Great Fire of -1666, the proximity of the site for all purposes of business, induced -M. Pontack, the son of the President of Bordeaux, owner of a famous -claret district, to establish a tavern, with all the novelties of -French cookery, with his father's head as a sign, whence it was -popularly called "Pontack's Head." The dinners were from four or five -shillings a head "to a guinea, or what sum you pleased." - -Swift frequented the tavern, and writes to Stella:--"Pontack told us, -although his wine was so good, he sold it cheaper than others; he took -but seven shillings a flask. Are not these pretty rates?" In the -_Hind and Panther Transversed_, we read of drawers:-- - - "Sure these honest fellows have no knack - Of putting off stum'd claret for Pontack." - -The Fellows of the Royal Society dined at Pontack's until 1746, when -they removed to the Devil Tavern. There is a Token of the White Bear -in the Beaufoy collection; and Mr. Burn tells us, from _Metamorphoses -of the Town_, a rare tract, 1731, of Pontack's "guinea ordinary," -"ragout of fatted snails," and "chickens not two hours from the -shell." In January, 1735, Mrs. Susannah Austin, who lately kept -Pontack's, and had acquired a considerable fortune, was married to -William Pepys, banker, in Lombard-street. - - -POPE'S HEAD TAVERN. - -This noted tavern, which gave name to Pope's Head Alley, leading from -Cornhill to Lombard-street, is mentioned as early as the 4th Edward -IV. (1464) in the account of a wager between an Alicant goldsmith and -an English goldsmith; the Alicant stranger contending in the tavern -that "Englishmen were not so cunning in workmanship of goldsmithry as -Alicant strangers;" when work was produced by both, and the Englishman -gained the wager. The tavern was left in 1615, by Sir William Craven -to the Merchant Tailors' Company. Pepys refers to "the fine painted -room" here in 1668-9. In the tavern, April 14, 1718, Quin, the actor, -killed in self-defence, his fellow-comedian, Bowen, a clever but -hot-headed Irishman, who was jealous of Quin's reputation: in a moment -of great anger, he sent for Quin to the tavern, and as soon as he had -entered the room, Bowen placed his back against the door, drew his -sword, and bade Quin draw his. Quin, having mildly remonstrated to no -purpose, drew in his own defence, and endeavoured to disarm his -antagonist. Bowen received a wound, of which he died in three days, -having acknowledged his folly and madness, when the loss of blood had -reduced him to reason. Quin was tried and acquitted. (_Cunningham, -abridged._) The Pope's Head Tavern was in existence in 1756. - - -THE OLD SWAN, THAMES-STREET, - -Was more than five hundred years ago a house for public entertainment: -for, in 1323, 16 Edw. II., Rose Wrytell bequeathed "the tenement of -olde tyme called the Swanne on the Hope in Thames-street," in the -parish of St. Mary-at-hill, to maintain a priest at the altar of St. -Edmund, King and Martyr, "for her soul, and the souls of her husband, -her father, and mother:" and the purposes of her bequest were -established; for, in the parish book, in 1499, is entered a -disbursement of fourpence, "for a cresset to Rose Wrytell's chantry." -Eleanor Cobham, Duchess of Gloucester, in 1440, in her public penance -for witchcraft and treason, landed at Old Swan, bearing a large taper, -her feet bare, etc. - -Stow, in 1598, mentions the Old Swan as a great brew-house. Taylor, -the Water-poet, advertised the professor and author of the Barmoodo -and Vtopian tongues, dwelling "at the Old Swanne, neare London Bridge, -who will teach them at are willing to learne, with agility and -facility." - -In the scurrilous Cavalier ballad of Admiral Deane's Funeral, by -water, from Greenwich to Westminster, in June, 1653, it is said:-- - - "The Old Swan, as he passed by, - Said she would sing him a dirge, lye down and die: - Wilt thou sing to a bit of a body? quoth I, - Which nobody can deny." - -The Old Swan Tavern and its landing-stairs were destroyed in the Great -Fire; but rebuilt. Its Token, in the Beaufoy Collection, is one of the -rarest, of large size. - - -COCK TAVERN, THREADNEEDLE-STREET. - -This noted house, which faced the north gate of the old Royal -Exchange, was long celebrated for the excellence of its soups, which -were served at an economical price, in silver. One of its proprietors -was, it is believed, John Ellis, an eccentric character, and a writer -of some reputation, who died in 1791. Eight stanzas addressed to him -in praise of the tavern, commenced thus:-- - - "When to Ellis I write, I in verse must indite, - Come Phoebus, and give me a knock, - For on Fryday at eight, all behind 'the 'Change gate,' - Master Ellis will be at 'The Cock.'" - -After comparing it to other houses, the Pope's Head, the King's Arms, -the Black Swan, and the Fountain, and declaring the Cock the best, it -ends: - - "'Tis time to be gone, for the 'Change has struck one: - O 'tis an impertinent clock! - For with Ellis I'd stay from December to May; - I'll stick to my Friend, and 'The Cock!'" - -This house was taken down in 1841; when, in a claim for compensation -made by the proprietor, the trade in three years was proved to have -been 344,720 basins of various soups--viz. 166,240 mock turtle, 3,920 -giblet, 59,360 ox-tail, 31,072 bouilli, 84,128 gravy and other soups: -sometimes 500 basins of soup were sold in a day. - - -CROWN TAVERN, THREADNEEDLE-STREET. - -Upon the site of the present chief entrance to the Bank of England, in -Threadneedle-street, stood the Crown Tavern, "behind the 'Change:" it -was frequented by the Fellows of the Royal Society, when they met at -Gresham College hard by. The Crown was burnt in the Great Fire, but -was rebuilt; and about a century since, at this tavern, "it was not -unusual to draw a butt of mountain wine, containing 120 gallons, in -gills, in a morning."--_Sir John Hawkins._ - -Behind the Change, we read in the _Connoisseur_, 1754, a man worth a -plum used to order a twopenny mess of broth with a boiled chop in it; -placing the chop between the two crusts of a half-penny roll, he would -wrap it up in his check handkerchief, and carry it away for the -morrow's dinner. - - -THE KING'S HEAD TAVERN, IN THE POULTRY. - -This Tavern, which stood at the western extremity of the Stocks' -Market, was not first known by the sign of the King's Head, but the -Rose: Machin, in his Diary, Jan. 5, 1560, thus mentions it: "A -gentleman arrested for debt; Master Cobham, with divers gentlemen and -serving-men, took him from the officers, and carried him to the Rose -Tavern, where so great a fray, both the sheriffs were feign to come, -and from the Rose Tavern took all the gentlemen and their servants, -and carried them to the Compter." - -The house was distinguished by the device of a large, well-painted -Rose, erected over a doorway, which was the only indication in the -main street of such an establishment. In the superior houses of the -metropolis in the sixteenth century, room was gained in the rear of -the street-line, the space in front being economized, so that the line -of shops might not be interrupted. Upon this plan, the larger taverns -in the City were constructed, wherever the ground was sufficiently -spacious behind: hence it was that the Poultry tavern of which we are -speaking, was approached through a long, narrow, covered passage, -opening into a well-lighted quadrangle, around which were the -tavern-rooms. The sign of the Rose appears to have been a costly work, -since there was the fragment of a leaf of an old account-book -preserved, when the ruins of the house were cleared after the Great -Fire, on which were written these entries:--"Pd. to Hoggestreete, the -Duche Paynter, for ye Picture of a Rose, with a Standing-bowle and -Glasses, for a Signe, xx_li._ besides Diners and Drinkings. Also for a -large Table of Walnut-tree, for a Frame; and for Iron-worke and -Hanging the Picture, v_li._" The artist who is referred to in this -memorandum, could be no other than Samuel Van Hoogstraten, a painter -of the middle of the seventeenth century, whose works in England are -very rare. He was one of the many excellent artists of the period, -who, as Walpole contemptuously says, "painted still-life, oranges and -lemons, plate, damask curtains, cloth-of-gold, and that medley of -familiar objects that strike the ignorant vulgar." - -But, beside the claims of the painter, the sign of the Rose cost the -worthy tavern-keeper, a still further outlay, in the form of divers -treatings and advances made to a certain rather loose man of letters -of his acquaintance, possessed of more wit than money, and of more -convivial loyalty than either discretion or principle. Master Roger -Blythe frequently patronized the Rose Tavern as his favourite -ordinary. Like Falstaff, he was "an infinite thing" upon his host's -score; and, like his prototype also, there was no probability of his -ever discharging the account. When the Tavern-sign was about to be -erected, this Master Blythe contributed the poetry to it, after the -fashion of the time, which he swore was the envy of all the Rose -Taverns in London, and of all the poets who frequented them. "There's -your Rose at Temple Bar, and your Rose in Covent-garden, and the Rose -in Southwark: all of them indifferent good for wits, and for drawing -neat wines too; but, smite me, Master King," he would say, "if I know -one of them all fit to be set in the same hemisphere with yours! No! -for a bountiful host, a most sweet mistress, unsophisticated wines, -honest measures, a choicely-painted sign, and a witty verse to set it -forth withal,--commend me to the Rose Tavern in the Poultry!" - -Even the tavern-door exhibited a joyous frontispiece; since the -entrance was flanked by two columns twisted with vines carved in wood, -which supported a small square gallery over the portico surrounded by -handsome iron-work. On the front of this gallery was erected the sign, -in a frame of similar ornaments. It consisted of a central compartment -containing the Rose, behind which appeared a tall silver cup, called -in the language of the time "a standing-bowl," with drinking-glasses. -Beneath the painting was this inscription:-- - - "THIS IS - THE ROSE TAVERNE - IN THE POULTREY: - KEPT BY - WILLIAM KING, - CITIZEN AND VINTNER. - - "This Taverne's like its Signe--a lustie Rose, - A sight of joy that sweetness doth enclose: - The daintie Flow're well-pictur'd here is seene, - But for its rarest sweetes--Come, Searche Within!" - -The authorities of St. Peter-upon-Cornhill soon determined, on the -10th of May, 1660, in Vestry, "that the King's Arms, in painted-glass, -should be refreshed, and forthwith be set up by the Churchwarden at -the parish-charges; with whatsoever he giveth to the glazier as a -gratuity, for his care in keeping of them all this while." - -The host of the Rose resolved at once to add a Crown to his sign, with -the portrait of Charles, wearing it in the centre of the flower, and -openly to name his tavern "The Royal Rose and King's Head." He -effected his design, partly by the aid of one of the many excellent -pencils which the time supplied, and partly by the inventive muse of -Master Blythe, which soon furnished him with a new poesy. There is not -any further information extant concerning the painting, but the -following remains of an entry on another torn fragment of the old -account-book already mentioned, seem to refer to the poetical -inscription beneath the picture:-- ... "_on ye Night when he made ye -Verses for my new Signe, a Soper, and v. Peeces_." The verses -themselves were as follow:-- - - "Gallants, Rejoice!--This Flow're is now full-blowne; - 'Tis a Rose--Noble better'd by a Crowne; - All you who love the Embleme and the Signe, - Enter, and prove our Loyaltie and Wine." - -Beside this inscription, Master King also recorded the auspicious -event referred to, by causing his painter to introduce into the -picture a broad-sheet, as if lying on the table with the cup and -glasses--on which appeared the title "_A Kalendar for this Happy Yeare -of Restauration 1660, now newly Imprinted_." - -As the time advanced when Charles was to make his entry into the -metropolis, the streets were resounding with the voices of -ballad-singers pouring forth loyal songs, and declaring, with the -whole strength of their lungs, that - - "The King shall enjoy his own again." - -Then, there were also to be heard, the ceaseless horns and -proclamations of hawkers and flying-stationers, publishing the latest -passages or rumours touching the royal progress; which, whether -genuine or not, were bought and read, and circulated, by all parties. -At length all the previous pamphlets and broad-sheets were swallowed -up by a well-known tract, still extant, which the newsmen of the time -thus proclaimed:--"Here is _A True Accompt and Narrative--of his -Majestie's safe Arrival in England--as 'twas reported to the House of -Commons, on Friday, the 25th day of this present May--with the -Resolutions of both Houses thereupon:--Also a Letter very lately writ -from Dover--relating divers remarkable Passages of His Majestie's -Reception there_." - -On every side the signs and iron-work were either refreshed, or newly -gilt and painted: tapestries and rich hangings, which had engendered -moth and decay from long disuse, were flung abroad again, that they -might be ready to grace the coming pageant. The paving of the streets -was levelled and repaired for the expected cavalcade; and scaffolds -for spectators were in the course of erection throughout all the line -of march. Floods of all sorts of wines were consumed, as well in the -streets as in the taverns; and endless healths were devotedly and -energetically swallowed, at morning, noon, and night. - -At this time Mistress Rebecca King was about to add another member to -Master King's household: she received from hour to hour accounts of -the proceedings as they occurred, which so stimulated her curiosity, -that she declared, first to her gossips, and then to her husband, that -she "must see the King pass the tavern, or matters might go cross with -her." - -A kind of arbour was made for Mistress Rebecca in the small iron -gallery surmounting the entrance to the tavern. This arbour was of -green boughs and flowers, hung round with tapestry and garnished with -silver plate; and here, when the guns at the Tower announced that -Charles had entered London, Mistress King took her seat, with her -children and gossips around her. All the houses in the main streets -from London-bridge to Whitehall, were decorated like the tavern with -rich silks and tapestries, hung from every scaffold, balcony, and -window; which, as Herrick says, turned the town into a park, "made -green and trimmed with boughs." The road through London, so far as -Temple-Bar, was lined on the north side by the City Companies, dressed -in their liveries, and ranged in their respective stands, with their -banners; and on the south by the soldiers of the trained-bands. - -One of the wine conduits stood on the south side of the Stocks' -Market, over which Sir Robert Viner subsequently erected a triumphal -statue of Charles II. About this spot, therefore, the crowd collected -in the Market-place, aided by the fierce loyalty supplied from the -conduit, appears for a time to have brought the procession to a full -stop, at the moment when Charles, who rode between his brothers the -Dukes of York and Gloucester, was nearly opposite to the newly-named -King's Head Tavern. In this most favourable interval, Master Blythe, -who stood upon a scaffold in the doorway, took the opportunity of -elevating a silver cup of wine and shouting out a health to his -Majesty. His energetical action, as he pointed upwards to the gallery, -was not lost; and the Duke of Buckingham, who rode immediately before -the King with General Monk, directed Charles's attention to Mistress -Rebecca, saying, "Your Majesty's return is here welcomed even by a -subject as yet unborn." As the procession passed by the door of the -King's Head Tavern, the King turned towards it, raised himself in his -stirrups, and gracefully kissed his hand to Mistress Rebecca. -Immediately such a shout was raised from all who beheld it or heard of -it, as startled the crowd up to Cheapside conduit; and threw the poor -woman herself into such an ecstasy, that she was not conscious of -anything more, until she was safe in her chamber and all danger -happily over.[31] - -The Tavern was rebuilt after the Great Fire, and flourished many -years. It was long a depôt in the metropolis for turtle; and in the -quadrangle of the Tavern might be seen scores of turtle, large and -lively, in huge tanks of water; or laid upward on the stone floor, -ready for their destination. The Tavern was also noted for large -dinners of the City Companies and other public bodies. The house was -refitted in 1852, but has since been closed. - -Another noted Poultry Tavern was the Three Cranes, destroyed in the -Great Fire, but rebuilt, and noticed in 1698, in one of the many paper -controversies of that day. A fulminating pamphlet, entitled "_Ecclesia -et Factio_: a Dialogue between Bow Church Steeple and the Exchange -Grasshopper," elicited "An Answer to the Dragon and Grasshopper: in a -Dialogue between an Old Monkey and a Young Weasel, at the Three Cranes -Tavern, in the Poultry." - -FOOTNOTE: - -[31] Abridged from an Account of the Tavern, by an Antiquary. - - -THE MITRE, IN WOOD STREET, - -Was a noted old Tavern. Pepys, in his _Diary_, Sept. 18, 1660, records -his going "to the Mitre Tavern, in Wood-street, (a house of the -greatest note in London,) where I met W. Symons, D. Scoball, and -their wives. Here some of us fell to handicap, a sport I never knew -before, which was very good." The tavern was destroyed in the Great -Fire. - - -THE SALUTATION AND CAT TAVERN, - -No. 17, Newgate-street (north side), was, according to the tradition -of the house, the tavern where Sir Christopher Wren used to smoke his -pipe, whilst St. Paul's was re-building. There is more positive -evidence of its being a place well frequented by men of letters at the -above period. Thus, there exists a poetical invitation to a social -feast held here on June 19, 1735-6, issued by the two stewards, Edward -Cave and William Bowyer: - - "Saturday, Jan. 17, 1735-6. - - "Sir, - - "You're desir'd on Monday next to meet - At Salutation Tavern, Newgate-street. - Supper will be on table just at eight, - [_Stewards_] One of St. John's [Bowyer], 'tother of St. John's - Gate [Cave]." - -This brought a poetical answer from Samuel Richardson, the novelist, -printed _in extenso_ in Bowyer's _Anecdotes_: - - "For me, I'm much concerned I cannot meet - 'At Salutation Tavern, Newgate-street.' - Your notice, like your verse, so sweet and short! - If longer, I'd sincerely thank you for it. - Howe'er, receive my wishes, sons of verse! - May every man who meets, your praise rehearse! - May mirth, as plenty, crown your cheerful board, - And ev'ry one part happy--as a lord! - That when at home, (by such sweet verses fir'd) - Your families may think you all inspir'd. - So wishes he, who pre-engag'd, can't know - The pleasures that would from your meeting flow." - -The proper sign is the Salutation and Cat,--a curious combination, but -one which is explained by a lithograph, which some years ago hung in -the coffee-room. An aged dandy is saluting a friend whom he has met in -the street, and offering him a pinch out of the snuff-box which forms -the top of his wood-like cane. This box-nob was, it appears, called a -"cat"--hence the connection of terms apparently so foreign to each -other. Some, not aware of this explanation, have accounted for the -sign by supposing that a tavern called "the Cat" was at some time -pulled down, and its trade carried to the Salutation, which -thenceforward joined the sign to its own; but this is improbable, -seeing that we have never heard of _any_ tavern called "the Cat" -(although we _do_ know of "the Barking Dogs") as a sign. Neither does -the _Salutation_ take its name from any scriptural or sacred source, -as the _Angel and Trumpets_, etc. - -More positive evidence there is to show of the "little smoky room at -the _Salutation and Cat_," where Coleridge and Charles Lamb sat -smoking Oronoko and drinking egg-hot; the first discoursing of his -idol, Bowles, and the other rejoicing mildly in Cowper and Burns, or -both dreaming of "Pantisocracy, and golden days to come on earth." - - -"SALUTATION" TAVERNS. - -The sign Salutation, from scriptural or sacred source, remains to be -explained. Mr. Akerman suspects the original sign to have really -represented the Salutation of the Virgin by the Angel--"Ave Maria, -gratia plena"--a well-known legend on the jettons of the Middle Ages. -The change of representation was properly accommodated to the times. -The taverns at that period were the "gossiping shops" of the -neighbourhood; and both Puritan and Churchman frequented them for the -sake of hearing the news. The Puritans loved the good things of this -world, and relished a cup of Canary, or Noll's nose lied, holding the -maxim-- - - "Though the devil trepan - The Adamical man, - The saint stands uninfected." - -Hence, perhaps, the Salutation of the Virgin was exchanged for the -"booin' and scrapin'" scene (two men bowing and greeting), represented -on a token which still exists, the tavern was celebrated in the days -of Queen Elizabeth. In some old black-letter doggrel, entitled _News -from Bartholemew Fayre_ it is mentioned for wine:-- - - "There hath been great sale and utterance of wine, - Besides beere, and ale, and Ipocras fine; - In every country, region, and nation, - But chiefly in Billingsgate, _at the Salutation_." - -_The Flower-pot_ was originally part of a symbol of the Annunciation -to the Virgin. - - -QUEEN'S ARMS, ST. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD. - -Garrick appears to have kept up his interest in the City by means of -clubs, to which he paid periodical visits. We have already mentioned -the Club of young merchants, at Tom's Coffee-house, in Cornhill. -Another Club was held at the Queen's Arms Tavern, in St. Paul's -Churchyard, where used to assemble: Mr. Samuel Sharpe, the surgeon; -Mr. Paterson, the City solicitor; Mr. Draper, the bookseller; Mr. -Clutterbuck, the mercer; and a few others. - -Sir John Hawkins tells us that "they were none of them drinkers, and -in order to make a reckoning, called only for French wine." These were -Garrick's standing council in theatrical affairs. - -At the Queen's Arms, after a thirty years' interval, Johnson renewed -his intimacy with some of the members of his old Ivy-lane Club. - -Brasbridge, the old silversmith of Fleet-street, was a member of the -Sixpenny Card-Club held at the Queen's Arms: among the members was -Henry Baldwyn, who, under the auspices of Bonnel Thornton, Colman the -elder, and Garrick, set up the _St. James's Chronicle_, which once had -the largest circulation of any evening paper. This worthy -newspaper-proprietor was considerate and generous to men of genius: -"Often," says Brasbridge, "at his hospitable board I have seen needy -authors, and others connected with his employment, whose abilities, -ill-requited as they might have been by the world in general, were by -him always appreciated." Among Brasbridge's acquaintance, also, were -John Walker, shopman to a grocer and chandler in Well-street, Ragfair, -who died worth 200,000_l._, most assuredly not gained by lending money -on doubtful security; and Ben Kenton, brought up at a charity-school, -and who realized 300,000_l._, partly at the Magpie and Crown, in -Whitechapel. - - -DOLLY'S, PATERNOSTER ROW. - -This noted tavern, established in the reign of Queen Anne, has for its -sign, the cook Dolly, who is stated to have been painted by -Gainsborough. It is still a well-appointed chop-house and tavern, and -the coffee-room, with its projecting fireplaces, has an olden air. -Nearly on the site of Dolly's, Tarlton, Queen Elizabeth's favourite -stage-clown, kept an ordinary, with the sign of the Castle. The house, -of which a token exists, was destroyed in the Great Fire, but was -rebuilt; there the "Castle Society of Music" gave their performances. -Part of the old premises were subsequently the Oxford Bible Warehouse, -destroyed by fire in 1822, and rebuilt. - -The entrance to the Chop-house is in Queen's Head passage; and at -Dolly's is a window-pane painted with the head of Queen Anne, which -may explain the name of the court. - -At Dolly's and Horsman's beef-steaks were eaten with gill-ale. - - -ALDERSGATE TAVERNS. - -Two early houses of entertainment in Aldersgate were the Taborer's Inn -and the Crown. Of the former, stated to have been of the time of -Edward II., we know nothing but the name. The Crown, more recent, -stood at the End of Duck-lane, and is described in Ward's _London -Spy_, as containing a noble room, painted by Fuller, with the Muses, -the Judgment of Paris, the Contention of Ajax and Ulysses, etc. "We -were conducted by the jolly master," says Ward, "a true kinsman of the -bacchanalian family, into a large stately room, where at the first -entrance, I discerned the master-strokes of the famed Fuller's pencil; -the whole room painted by that commanding hand, that his dead figures -appeared with such lively majesty that they begat reverence in the -spectators towards the awful shadows. We accordingly bade the -complaisant waiter oblige us with a quart of his richest claret, such -as was fit only to be drank in the presence of such heroes, into whose -company he had done us the honour to introduce us. He thereupon gave -directions to his drawer, who returned with a quart of such inspiring -juice, that we thought ourselves translated into one of the houses of -the heavens, and were there drinking immortal nectar with the gods and -goddesses: - - "Who could such blessings when thus found resign? - An honest vintner faithful to the vine; - A spacious room, good paintings, and good wine." - -Far more celebrated was the Mourning Bush Tavern, in the cellars of -which have been traced the massive foundations of Aldersgate, and the -portion of the City Wall which adjoins them. This tavern, one of the -largest and most ancient in London, has a curious history. - -The Bush Tavern, its original name, took for its sign the _Ivy-bush_ -hung up at the door. It is believed to have been the house referred to -by Stowe, as follows:--"This gate (Aldersgate) hath been at sundry -times increased with building; namely, on the south or _inner side_, a -great frame of timber, (or house of wood lathed and plastered,) hath -been added and set up containing divers large rooms and lodgings," -which were an enlargement of the Bush. Fosbroke mentions the Bush as -the chief sign of taverns in the Middle Ages, (it being ready to -hand,) and so it continued until superseded by "a thing to resemble -one containing three or four tiers of hoops fastened one above another -with vine leaves and grapes, richly carved and gilt." He adds: "the -owner of the Mourning Bush, Aldersgate, was so affected at the -decollation of Charles I., that he _painted his bush black_." From -this period the house is scarcely mentioned until the year 1719, when -we find its name changed to the Fountain, whether from political -feeling against the then exiled House of Stuart, or the whim of the -proprietor, we cannot learn; though it is thought to have reference to -a spring on the east side of the gate. Tom Brown mentions the Fountain -satirically, with four or five topping taverns of the day, whose -landlords are charged with doctoring their wines, but whose trade was -so great that they stood fair for the alderman's gown. And, in a -letter from an old vintner in the City to one newly set up in Covent -Garden, we find the following in the way of advice: "as all the world -are wholly supported by hard and unintelligible names, you must take -care to christen your wines by some hard name, the further fetched so -much the better, and this policy will serve to recommend the most -execrable scum in your cellar. I could name several of our brethren to -you, who now stand fair to sit in the seat of justice, and sleep in -their golden chain at churches, that had been forced to knock off long -ago, if it had not been for this artifice. It saved the Sun from being -eclipsed; the Crown from being abdicated; the Rose from decaying; and -the Fountain from being dry; as well as both the Devils from being -confined to utter darkness." - -Twenty years later, in a large plan of Aldersgate Ward, 1739-40, we -find the Fountain changed to the original Bush. The Fire of London had -evidently, at this time, curtailed the ancient extent of the tavern. -The exterior is shown in a print of the south side of Aldersgate; it -has the character of the larger houses, built after the Great Fire, -and immediately adjoins the gate. The last notice of the Bush, as a -place of entertainment, occurs in Maitland's _History of London_, ed. -1722, where it is described as "the Fountain, commonly called the -Mourning Bush, which has a back door into St. Anne's-lane, and is -situated near unto Aldersgate." The house was refitted in 1830. In the -basement are the original wine-vaults of the old Bush; many of the -walls are six feet thick, and bonded throughout with Roman brick. A -very agreeable account of the tavern and the antiquities of -neighbourhood was published in 1830. - - -"THE MOURNING CROWN." - -In Phoenix Alley, (now Hanover Court,) Long Acre, John Taylor, the -Water Poet, kept a tavern, with the sign of "the Mourning Crown," but -this being offensive to the Commonwealth (1652), he substituted for a -sign his own head with this inscription-- - - "There's many a head stands for a sign; - Then, gentle reader, why not mine?" - -He died here in the following year; and his widow in 1658. - - -JERUSALEM TAVERNS, CLERKENWELL. - -These houses took their name from the Knights of St. John of -Jerusalem, around whose Priory, grew up the village of Clerkenwell. -The Priory Gate remains. At the Suppression, the Priory was -undermined, and blown up with gunpowder; the Gate also would probably -have been destroyed, but for its serving to define the property. In -1604, it was granted to Sir Roger Wilbraham for his life. At this time -Clerkenwell was inhabited by people of condition. Forty years later, -fashion had travelled westward; and the Gate became the -printing-office of Edward Cave, who, in 1731, published here the first -number of the _Gentleman's Magazine_, which to this day bears the Gate -for its vignette. Dr. Johnson was first engaged upon the magazine -here by Cave in 1737. At the Gate Johnson first met Richard Savage; -and here in Cave's room, when visitors called, he ate his plate of -victuals behind the screen, his dress being "so shabby that he durst -not make his appearance." Garrick, when first he came to London, -frequently called upon Johnson at the Gate. Goldsmith was also a -visitor here. When Cave grew rich, he had St. John's Gate painted, -instead of his arms, on his carriage, and engraven on his plate. After -Cave's death in 1753, the premises became the "Jerusalem" -public-house, and the "Jerusalem Tavern." - -There was likewise another Jerusalem Tavern, at the corner of Red -Lion-street on Clerkenwell-green, which was the original; St. John's -Gate public-house, having assumed the name of "Jerusalem Tavern" in -consequence of the old house on the Green giving up the tavern -business, and becoming the "merchants' house." In its dank and -cobwebbed vaults John Britton served an apprenticeship to a -wine-merchant; and in reading at intervals by candle-light, first -evinced that love of literature which characterized his long life of -industry and integrity. He remembered Clerkenwell in 1787, with St. -John's Priory-church and cloisters; when Spafields were pasturage for -cows; the old garden-mansions of the aristocracy remained in -Clerkenwell-close; and Sadler's Wells, Islington Spa, Merlin's Cave, -and Bagnigge Wells, were nightly crowded with gay company. - -In a friendly note, Sept. 11, 1852, Mr. Britton tells us: "Our house -sold wines in _full_ quarts, _i.e._ twelve held three gallons, wine -measure; and each bottle was marked with four lines cut by a diamond -on the neck. Our wines were famed, and the character of the house was -high, whence the Gate imitated the bottles and name." - -In 1845, by the aid of "the Freemasons of the Church," and Mr. W. P. -Griffith, architect, the north and south fronts were restored. The -gateway is a good specimen of groining of the 15th century, with -moulded ribs, and bosses ornamented with shields of the arms of the -Priory, Prior Docwra, etc. The east basement is the tavern-bar, with a -beautifully moulded ceiling. The stairs are Elizabethan. The principal -room over the arch has been despoiled of its window-mullions and -groined roof. The foundation-wall of the Gate face is 10 feet 7 inches -thick, and the upper walls are nearly 4 feet, hard red brick, -stone-cased: the view from the top of the staircase-turret is -extensive. In excavating there have been discovered the original -pavement, three feet below the Gate; and the Priory walls, north, -south, and west. In 1851, there was published, by B. Foster, -proprietor of the Tavern, _Ye History of ye Priory and Gate of St. -John_. In the principal room of the Gate, over the great arch, meet -the Urban Club, a society, chiefly of authors and artists, with whom -originated the proposition to celebrate the tercentenary of the birth -of Shakespeare, in 1864. - - -WHITE HART TAVERN, BISHOPSGATE WITHOUT. - -About forty years since there stood at a short distance north of St. -Botolph's Church, a large old _hostelrie_, according to the date it -bore (1480), towards the close of the reign of Edward IV. Stow, in -1598, describes it as "a fair inn for receipt of travellers, next unto -the Parish Church of St. Botolph without Bishopsgate." It preserved -much of its original appearance, the main front consisting of three -bays of two storeys, which, with the interspaces, had throughout -casements; and above which was an overhanging storey or attic, and the -roof rising in three points. Still, this was not the original front, -which was altered in 1787: upon the old inn yard was built White Hart -Court. In 1829, the Tavern was taken down, and rebuilt, in handsome -modern style; when the entrance into Old Bedlam, and formerly called -Bedlam Gate, was widened, and the street re-named Liverpool-street. A -lithograph of the old Tavern was published in 1829. - -Somewhat lower down, is the residence of Sir Paul Pindar, now -wine-vaults, with the sign of Paul Pindar's Head, corner of -Half-moon-alley, No. 160, Bishopsgate-street Without. Sir Paul was a -wealthy merchant, contemporary with Sir Thomas Gresham. The house was -built towards the end of the 16th century, with a wood-framed front -and caryatid brackets; and the principal windows bayed, their lower -fronts enriched with panels of carved work. In the first-floor front -room is a fine original ceiling in stucco, in which are the arms of -Sir Paul Pindar. In the rear of these premises, within a garden, was -formerly a lodge, of corresponding date, decorated with four -medallions, containing figures in Italian taste. In Half-moon-alley, -was the Half-moon Brewhouse, of which there is a token in the Beaufoy -Collection. - - -THE MITRE, IN FENCHURCH STREET, - -Was one of the political taverns of the Civil War, and was kept by -Daniel Rawlinson, who appears to have been a staunch royalist: his -Token is preserved in the Beaufoy collection. Dr. Richard Rawlinson, -whose Jacobite principles are sufficiently on record, in a letter to -Hearne, the nonjuring antiquary at Oxford, says of "Daniel Rawlinson, -who kept the Mitre Tavern in Fenchurch-street, and of whose being -suspected in the Rump time, I have heard much. The Whigs tell this, -that upon the King's murder, January 30th, 1649, he hung his sign in -mourning: he certainly judged right; the honour of the mitre was much -eclipsed by the loss of so good a parent to the Church of England; -these rogues [the Whigs] say, this endeared him so much to the -Churchmen, that he strove amain, and got a good estate." - -Pepys, who expressed great personal fear of the Plague, in his Diary, -August 6, 1666, notices that notwithstanding Dan Rowlandson's being -all last year in the country, the sickness in a great measure past, -one of his men was then dead at the Mitre of the pestilence; his wife -and one of his maids both sick, and himself shut up, which, says -Pepys, "troubles me mightily. God preserve us!" - -Rawlinson's tavern, the Mitre, appears to have been destroyed in the -Great Fire, and immediately after, rebuilt; as Horace Walpole, from -Vertue's notes, states that "Isaac Fuller was much employed to paint -the great taverns in London; particularly the Mitre, in -Fenchurch-street, where he adorned all the sides of a great room, in -panels, as was then the fashion;" "the figures being as large as life; -over the chimney, a Venus, Satyr, and sleeping Cupid; a boy riding a -goat, and another fallen down:" this was, he adds, "the best part of -the performance. Saturn devouring a child, the colouring raw, and the -figure of Saturn too muscular; Mercury, Minerva, Diana, and Apollo; -Bacchus, Venus, and Ceres, embracing; a young Silenus fallen down, and -holding a goblet into which a boy was pouring wine. The Seasons -between the windows, and on the ceiling, in a large circle, two angels -supporting a mitre." - -Yet, Fuller was a wretched painter, as borne out by Elsum's _Epigram -on a Drunken Sot_:-- - - "His head does on his shoulder lean, - His eyes are sunk, and hardly seen: - Who sees this sot in his own colour - Is apt to say, 'twas done by Fuller." - - _Burn's Beaufoy Catalogue._ - - -THE KING'S HEAD, FENCHURCH STREET. - -No. 53 is a place of historic interest; for, the Princess Elizabeth, -having attended service at the church of Allhallows Staining, in -Langbourn Ward, on her release from the Tower, on the 19th of May, -1554, dined off pork and peas afterwards, at the King's Head in -Fenchurch Street, where the metal dish and cover she is said to have -used are still preserved. The Tavern has been of late years enlarged -and embellished, in taste accordant with its historical association; -the ancient character of the building being preserved in the -smoking-room, 60 feet in length, upon the walls of which are displayed -corslets, shields, helmets, and knightly arms. - - -THE ELEPHANT, FENCHURCH STREET. - -In the year 1826 was taken down the old Elephant Tavern, which was -built before the Great Fire, and narrowly escaped its ravages. It -stood on the north side of Fenchurch-street, and was originally the -Elephant and Castle. Previous to the demolition of the premises there -were removed from the wall two pictures, which Hogarth is said to have -painted while a lodger there. About this time, a parochial -entertainment which had hitherto been given at the Elephant, was -removed to the King's Head (Henry VIII.) Tavern nearly opposite. At -this Hogarth was annoyed, and he went over to the King's Head, when an -altercation ensued, and he left, threatening to _stick them all up_ on -the Elephant taproom; this he is said to have done, and on the -opposite wall subsequently painted the Hudson's Bay Company's Porters -going to dinner, representing Fenchurch-street a century and a half -ago. The first picture was set down as Hogarth's first idea of his -Modern Midnight Conversation, in which he is supposed to have -represented the parochial party at the King's Head, though it differs -from Hogarth's print. There was a third picture, Harlequin and -Pierrot, and on the wall of the _Elephant_ first-floor was found a -picture of Harlow Bush Fair, coated over with paint. - -Only two of the pictures were claimed as Hogarth's. The _Elephant_ has -been engraved; and at the foot of the print, the information as to -Hogarth having executed these paintings is rested upon the evidence of -Mrs. Hibbert, who kept the house between thirty and forty years, and -received her information from persons at that time well acquainted -with Hogarth. Still, his biographers do not record his abode in -Fenchurch-street. The Tavern has been rebuilt. - - -THE AFRICAN, ST. MICHAEL'S ALLEY. - -Another of the Cornhill taverns, the African, or Cole's Coffee-house, -is memorable as the last place at which Professor Porson appeared. He -had, in some measure, recovered from the effects of the fit in which -he had fallen on the 19th of September, 1808, when he was brought in a -hackney-coach to the London Institution, in the Old Jewry. Next -morning he had a long discussion with Dr. Adam Clarke, who took leave -of him at its close; and this was the last conversation Porson was -ever capable of holding on any subject. - -Porson is thought to have fancied himself under restraint, and to -convince himself of the contrary, next morning, the 20th, he walked -out, and soon after went to the African, in St. Michael's Alley, which -was one of his City resorts. On entering the coffee-room, he was so -exhausted that he must have fallen, had he not caught hold of the -curtain-rod of one of the boxes, when he was recognized by Mr. J. P. -Leigh, a gentleman with whom he had frequently dined at the house. A -chair was given him; he sat down, and stared around, with a vacant and -ghastly countenance, and he evidently did not recollect Mr. Leigh. He -took a little wine, which revived him, but previously to this his head -lay upon his breast, and he was continually muttering something, but -in so low and indistinct a tone as scarcely to be audible. He then -took a little jelly dissolved in warm brandy-and-water, which -considerably roused him. Still he could make no answer to questions -addressed to him, except these words, which he repeated, probably, -twenty times:--"The gentleman said it was a lucrative piece of -business, and _I_ think so too,"--but in a very low tone. A coach was -now brought to take him to the London Institution, and he was helped -in, and accompanied by the waiter; he appeared quite senseless all the -way, and did not utter a word; and in reply to the question where they -should stop, he put his head out of the window, and waved his hand -when they came opposite the door of the Institution. Upon this Dr. -Clarke touchingly observes: "How quick the transition from the highest -degree of intellect to the lowest apprehensions of sense! On what a -precarious tenure does frail humanity hold even its choicest and most -necessary gifts." - -Porson expired on the night of Sunday, September 20, with a deep -groan, exactly as the clock struck twelve, in the forty-ninth year of -his age. - - -THE GRAVE MAURICE TAVERN. - -There are two taverns with this name,--in St. Leonard's-road, and -Whitechapel-road. The history of the sign is curious. Many years ago -the latter house had a written sign, "The Grave Morris," but this has -been amended. - -But the original was the famous Prince of Orange, Grave Maurice, of -whom we read in Howel's _Familiar Letters_. In Junius's -_Etymologicon_, Grave is explained to be Comes, or Count, as Palsgrave -is Palatine Count; of which we have an instance in Palsgrave Count, or -Elector Palatine, who married Princess Elizabeth, daughter of James I. -Their issue were the Palsgrave Charles Louis, the Grave Count or -Prince Palatine Rupert, and the Grave Count or Prince Maurice, who -alike distinguished themselves in the Civil Wars. - -The two princes, Rupert and Maurice, for their loyalty and courage, -were after the Restoration, very popular; which induced the author of -the _Tavern Anecdotes_ to conjecture: "As we have an idea that the -Mount at Whitechapel was raised to overawe the City, Maurice, before -he proceeded to the west, might have the command of the work on the -east side of the metropolis, and a temporary residence on the spot -where his sign was so lately exhibited." At the close of the troubles -of the reign, the two princes retired. In 1652, they were endeavouring -to annoy the enemies of Charles II. in the West Indies; when the Grave -Maurice lost his life in a hurricane. - -The sign of the Grave Maurice remained against the house in the -Whitechapel-road till the year 1806, when it was taken down to be -repainted. It represented a soldier in a hat and feather, and blue -uniform. The tradition of the neighbourhood is, that it is the -portrait of a prince of Hesse, who was a great warrior, but of so -inflexible a countenance, that he was never seen to smile in his life; -and that he was, therefore, most properly termed _Grave_. - - -MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY, SPITALFIELDS. - -It is curious to find that a century and a half since, science found a -home in Spitalfields, chiefly among the middle and working classes; -they met at small taverns in that locality. It appears that a -Mathematical Society, which also cultivated electricity, was -established in 1717, and met at the Monmouth's Head in Monmouth-street, -until 1725, when they removed to the White Horse Tavern, in -Wheeler-street; from thence, in 1735, to Ben Jonson's Head in -Pelham-street; and next to Crispin-street, Spitalfields. The members -were chiefly tradesmen and artisans; among those of higher rank were -Canton, Dollond, Thomas Simpson, and Crossley. The Society lent their -instruments (air-pumps, reflecting telescopes, reflecting microscopes, -electrical machines, surveying-instruments, etc.) with books for the -use of them, on the borrowers giving a note of hand for the value -thereof. The number of members was not to exceed the square of seven, -except such as were abroad or in the country; but this was increased -to the squares of eight and nine. The members met on Saturday -evenings: each present was to employ himself in some mathematical -exercise, or forfeit one penny; and if he refused to answer a question -asked by another in mathematics, he was to forfeit twopence. The -Society long cherished a taste for exact science among the residents -in the neighbourhood of Spitalfields, and accumulated a library of -nearly 3000 volumes; but in 1845, when on the point of dissolution, -the few remaining members made over their books, records, and -memorials to the Royal Astronomical Society, of which these members -were elected Fellows.[32] This amalgamation was chiefly negotiated by -Captain, afterwards Admiral Smyth. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[32] Curiosities of London, p. 678. - - -GLOBE TAVERN, FLEET-STREET. - -In the last century, when public amusements were comparatively few, -and citizens dwelt in town, the Globe in Fleet-street was noted for -its little clubs and card-parties. Here was held, for a time, the -Robin Hood Club, a Wednesday Club, and later, Oliver Goldsmith and his -friends often finished their Shoemaker's Holiday by supping at the -Globe. Among the company was a surgeon, who, living on the Surrey side -of the Thames (Blackfriars Bridge was not then built), had to take a -boat every night, at 3_s._ or 4_s._ expense, and the risk of his life; -yet, when the bridge was built, he grumbled at having a penny to pay -for crossing it. Other frequenters of the Globe were Archibald -Hamilton, "with a mind fit for a lord chancellor;" Carnan, the -bookseller, who defeated the Stationers' Company upon the almanac -trial; Dunstall, the comedian; the veteran Macklin; Akerman, the -keeper of Newgate, who always thought it most prudent not to venture -home till daylight; and William Woodfall, the reporter of the -parliamentary debates. Then there was one Glover, a surgeon, who -restored to life a man who had been hung in Dublin, and who ever after -was a plague to his deliverer. Brasbridge, the silversmith of -Fleet-street, was a frequenter of the Globe. In his eightieth year he -wrote his _Fruits of Experience_, full of pleasant gossip about the -minor gaieties of St. Bride's. He was more fond of following the -hounds than his business, and failure was the ill consequence: he -tells of a sporting party of four--that he and his partner became -bankrupt; the third, Mr. Smith, became Lord Mayor; and the fourth fell -into poverty, and was glad to accept the situation of patrol before -the house of his Lordship, whose associate he had been only a few -years before. Smith had 100,000_l._ of bad debts on his books, yet -died worth one-fourth of that sum. We remember the Globe, a -handsomely-appointed tavern, some forty years since; but it has long -ceased to be a tavern. - - -THE DEVIL TAVERN. - -This celebrated Tavern is described in the present work, Vol. I., pp. -10-15, as the meeting-place of the Apollo Club. Its later history is -interesting. - -Mull Sack, _alias_ John Cottington, the noted highwayman of the time -of the Commonwealth, is stated to have been a constant visitor at the -Devil Tavern. In the garb and character of a man of fashion, he -appears to have levied contributions on the public as a pick-pocket -and highwayman, to a greater extent than perhaps any other individual -of his fraternity on record. He not only had the honour of picking the -pocket of Oliver Cromwell, when Lord Protector, but he afterwards -robbed King Charles II., then living in exile at Cologne, of plate -valued at £1500. Another of his feats was his robbing the wife of the -Lord General Fairfax. "This lady," we are told, "used to go to a -lecture on a weekday, to Ludgate Church, where one Mr. Jacomb -preached, being much followed by the precisians. Mull Sack, observing -this,--and that she constantly wore her watch hanging by a chain from -her waist,--against the next time she came there, dressed himself like -an officer in the army; and having his comrades attending him like -troopers, one of them takes out the pin of a coach-wheel that was -going upwards through the gate, by which means, it falling off, the -passage was obstructed; so that the lady could not alight at the -church-door, but was forced to leave her coach without. Mull Sack, -taking advantage of this, readily presented himself to her ladyship; -and having the impudence to take her from her gentleman usher, who -attended her alighting, led her by the arm into the church; and by the -way, with a pair of keen or sharp scissors for the purpose, cut the -chain in two, and got the watch clear away: she not missing it till -sermon was done, when she was going to see the time of the day." At -the Devil Tavern Mull Sack could mix with the best society, whom he -probably occasionally relieved of their watches and purses. There is -extant a very rare print of him, in which he is represented partly in -the garb of a chimney-sweep, his original avocation, and partly in the -fashionable costume of the period.[33] - -In the Apollo chamber, at the Devil Tavern, were rehearsed, with -music, the Court-day Odes of the Poets Laureate: hence Pope, in the -_Dunciad_: - - "Back to the Devil the loud echoes roll, - And 'Coll!' each butcher roars at Hockley Hole." - -The following epigram on the Odes rehearsals is by a wit of those -times: - - "When Laureates make Odes, do you ask of what sort? - Do you ask if they're good, or are evil? - You may judge--From the Devil they come to the Court, - And go from the Court to the Devil." - -St. Dunstan's, or the Devil Tavern, is mentioned as a house of old -repute, in the interlude, _Jacke Jugeler_, 1563, where Jack, having -persuaded his cousin Jenkin, - - "As foolish a knave withall, - As any is now, within London wall," - -that he was not himself, thrusts him from his master's door, and in -answer to Jenkin's sorrowful question--where his master and he were to -dwell, replies, - - "At the Devyll yf you lust, I can not tell!" - -Ben Jonson being one night at the Devil Tavern, a country gentleman in -the company was obtrusively loquacious touching his land and -tenements; Ben, out of patience, exclaimed, "What signifies to us your -dirt and your clods? Where you have an acre of land I have ten acres -of wit!" "Have you so," retorted the countryman, "good Mr. Wise-acre?" -"Why, how now, Ben?" said one of the party, "you seem to be quite -stung!" "I was never so pricked by a hobnail before," grumbled Ben. - -There is a ludicrous reference to this old place in a song describing -the visit of James I. to St. Paul's Cathedral on Sunday, 26th of -March, 1620: - - "The Maior layd downe his mace, and cry'd, - 'God save your Grace, - And keepe our King from all evill!' - With all my hart I then wist, the good mace had been in my fist, - To ha' pawn'd it for supper at the _Devill_!" - -We have already given the famous Apollo "Welcome," but not immortal -Ben's Rules, which have been thus happily translated by Alexander -Brome, one of the wits who frequented the Devil, and who left _Poems -and Songs_, 1661: he was an attorney in the Lord Mayor's Court: - -"_Ben Jonson's Sociable Rules for the Apollo._ - - "Let none but guests, or clubbers, hither come. - Let dunces, fools, sad sordid men keep home. - Let learned, civil, merry men, b' invited, - And modest too; nor be choice ladies slighted. - Let nothing in the treat offend the guests; - More for delight than cost, prepare the feast. - The cook and purvey'r must our palates know; - And none contend who shall sit high or low. - Our waiters must quick-sighted be, and dumb, - And let the drawers quickly hear and come. - Let not our wine be mix'd, but brisk and neat, - Or else the drinkers may the vintners beat. - And let our only emulation be, - Not drinking much, but talking wittily. - Let it be voted lawful to stir up - Each other with a moderate chirping cup; - Let not our company be, or talk too much; - On serious things, or sacred, let's not touch - With sated heads and bellies. Neither may - Fiddlers unask'd obtrude themselves to play. - With laughing, leaping, dancing, jests, and songs, - And whate'er else to grateful mirth belongs, - Let's celebrate our feasts; and let us see - That all our jests without reflection be. - Insipid poems let no man rehearse, - Nor any be compelled to write a verse. - All noise of vain disputes must be forborne, - And let no lover in a corner mourn. - To fight and brawl, like hectors, let none dare, - Glasses or windows break, or hangings tear. - Whoe'er shall publish what's here done or said - From our society must be banishèd; - Let none by drinking do or suffer harm, - And, while we stay, let us be always warm." - -We must now say something of the noted hosts. Simon Wadlow appears for -the last time, as a licensed vintner, in the Wardmote return, of -December, 1626; and the burial register of St. Dunstan's records: -"March 30th, 1627, Symon Wadlowe, vintner, was buried out of -Fleet-street." On St. Thomas's Day, in the last-named year, the name -of "the widow Wadlowe" appears; and in the following year, 1628, of -the eight licensed victuallers, five were widows. The widow Wadlowe's -name is returned for the last time by the Wardmote on December 21st, -1629. - -The name of John Wadlow, apparently the son of old Simon, appears -first as a licensed victualler, in the Wardmote return, December 21, -1646. He issued his token, showing on its obverse St. Dunstan holding -the devil by his nose, his lower half being that of a satyr, the devil -on the signboard was as usual, _sable_; the origin of the practice -being thus satisfactorily explained by Dr. Jortin: "The devils used -often to appear to the monks in the figure of Ethiopian boys or men; -thence probably the painters learned to make the devil black." -Hogarth, in his print of the Burning of the Rumps, represents the -hanging of the effigy against the sign-board of the Devil Tavern. - -In a ludicrous and boasting ballad of 1650, we read: - - "Not the Vintry Cranes, nor St. Clement's Danes, - Nor the Devill can put us down-a." - -John Wadlow's name occurs for the last time in the Wardmote return of -December, 1660. After the Great Fire, he rebuilt the Sun Tavern, -behind the Royal Exchange: he was a loyal man, and appears to have -been sufficiently wealthy to have advanced money to the Crown; his -autograph was attached to several receipts among the Exchequer -documents lately destroyed. - -Hollar's Map of London, 1667, shows the site of the Devil Tavern, and -its proximity to the barrier designated Temple Bar, when the house had -become the resort of lawyers and physicians. In the rare volume of -_Cambridge Merry Jests_, printed in the reign of Charles II., the will -of a tavern-hunter has the bequeathment of "ten pounds to be drank by -lawyers and physicians at the Devil's Tavern, by Temple Bar." - -_The Tatler_, October 11, 1709, contains Bickerstaff's account of the -wedding entertainment at the Devil Tavern, in honour of his sister -Jenny's marriage. He mentions "the Rules of Ben's Club in gold -letters over the chimney;" and this is the latest notice of this -celebrated ode. When, or by whom, the board was taken from "over the -chimney," Mr. Burn has failed to discover. - -Swift tells Stella that Oct. 12, 1710, he dined at the Devil Tavern -with Mr. Addison and Dr. Garth, when the doctor treated. - -In 1746, the Royal Society held here their Annual Dinner; and in 1752, -concerts of vocal and instrumental music were given in the great room. - -A view of the exterior of the Devil Tavern, with its gable-pointed -front, engraved from a drawing by Wale, was published in Dodsley's -_London and its Environs_, 1761. The sign-iron bears its pendent -sign--the Saint painted as a half-length, and the devil behind him -grinning grimly over his shoulder. On the removal of projecting signs, -by authority, in 1764, the Devil Tavern sign was placed flat against -the front, and there remained till the demolition of the house. - -Brush Collins, in March, 1775, delivered for several evenings, in the -great room, a satirical lecture on Modern Oratory. In the following -year, a Pandemonium Club was held here; and, according to a notice in -Mr. Burn's possession, "the first meeting was to be on Monday, the 4th -of November, 1776. These devils were lawyers, who were about -commencing term, to the annoyance of many a hitherto happy -_bon-vivant_." - -From bad to worse, the Devil Tavern fell into disuse, and Messrs. -Child, the bankers, purchased the freehold in 1787, for £2800. It was -soon after demolished, and the site is now occupied by the houses -called Child's-place. - -We have selected and condensed these details from Mr. Burn's -exhaustive article on the Devil Tavern, in the Beaufoy Catalogue. - -There is a token of this tavern, which is very rare. The initials -stand for Simon Wadloe, embalmed in Squire Western's favourite air -"Old Sir Simon the King:"--"AT THE D. AND DVNSTANS. The representation -of the saint standing at his anvil, and pulling the nose of the 'D.' -with his pincers.--R. WITHIN TEMPLE BARRE. In the field, I. S. W." - -FOOTNOTE: - -[33] Jesse's 'London and its Celebrities.' - - -THE YOUNG DEVIL TAVERN. - -The notoriety of the Devil Tavern, as common in such cases, created an -opponent on the opposite side of Fleet-street, named "The Young -Devil." The Society of Antiquaries, who had previously met at the Bear -Tavern, in the Strand, changed their rendezvous Jan. 9, 1707-8, to the -Young Devil Tavern; but the host failed, and as Browne Willis tells -us, the Antiquaries, in or about 1709, "met at the Fountain Tavern, as -we went down into the Inner Temple, against Chancery Lane." - -Later, a music-room, called the Apollo, was attempted, but with no -success: an advertisement for a concert, December 19, 1737, intimated -"tickets to be had at Will's Coffee-house, formerly the Apollo, in -Bell Yard, near Temple Bar." This may explain the Apollo Court, in -Fleet-street, unless it is found in the next page. - - -COCK TAVERN, FLEET-STREET. - -The Apollo Club, at the Devil Tavern, is kept in remembrance by Apollo -Court, in Fleet-street, nearly opposite; next door eastward of which -is an old tavern nearly as well known. It is, perhaps, the most -primitive place of its kind in the metropolis: it still possesses a -fragment of decoration of the time of James I., and the writer -remembers the tavern half a century ago, with considerably more of its -original panelling. It is just two centuries since (1665), when the -Plague was raging, the landlord shut up his house, and retired into -the country; and there is preserved one of the farthings referred to -in this advertisement:--"This is to certify that the master of the -Cock and Bottle, commonly called the Cock Alehouse, at Temple Bar, -hath dismissed his servants, and shut up his house, for this long -vacation, intending (God willing) to return at Michaelmas next; so -that all persons whatsoever who may have any accounts with the said -master, or _farthings belonging to the said house_, are desired to -repair thither before the 8th of this instant, and they shall receive -satisfaction." Three years later, we find Pepys frequenting this -tavern: "23rd April, 1668. Thence by water to the Temple, and there to -the Cock Alehouse, and drank, and eat a lobster, and sang, and -mightily merry. So almost night, I carried Mrs. Pierce home, and then -Knipp and I to the Temple again, and took boat, it being now night." -The tavern has a gilt signbird over the passage door, stated to have -been carved by Gibbons. Over the mantelpiece is some carving, at -least of the time of James I.; but we remember the entire room -similarly carved, and a huge black-and-gilt clock, and settle. The -head-waiter of our time lives in the verse of Laureate Tennyson--"O -plump head-waiter of the Cock!" apostrophizes the "Will Water-proof" -of the bard, in a reverie wherein he conceives William to have -undergone a transition similar to that of Jove's cup-bearer:-- - - "And hence (says he) this halo lives about - The waiter's hands, that reach - To each his perfect pint of stout, - His proper chop to each. - He looks not with the common breed, - That with the napkin dally; - I think he came, like Ganymede, - From some delightful valley." - -And of the redoubtable bird, who is supposed to have performed the -eagle's part in this abduction, he says:-- - - "The Cock was of a larger egg - Than modern poultry drop, - Stept forward on a firmer leg, - And cramm'd a plumper crop." - - -THE HERCULES' PILLARS TAVERNS. - -Hercules Pillars Alley, on the south side of Fleet-street, near St. -Dunstan's Church, is described by Strype as "altogether inhabited by -such as keep Publick Houses for entertainment, for which it is of -note." - -The token of the Hercules Pillars is thus described by Mr. -Akerman:--"ED. OLDHAM AT Y HERCVLES. A crowned male figure standing -erect, and grasping a pillar with each hand.--Rx. PILLERS IN FLEET -STREET. In the field, HIS HALF PENNY, E. P. O." "From this example," -illustratively observes Mr. Akerman, "it would seem that the locality, -called Hercules Pillars Alley, like other places in London, took its -name from the tavern. The mode of representing the pillars of Hercules -is somewhat novel; and, but for the inscription, we should have -supposed the figure to represent Samson clutching the pillars of -temple of Dagon. At the trial of Stephen Colledge, for high-treason, -in 1681, an Irishman named Haynes, swore that he walked to the -Hercules Pillars with the accused, and that in a room upstairs -Colledge spoke of his treasonable designs and feeling. On another -occasion the parties walked from Richard's coffee-house[34] to this -tavern, where it was sworn they had a similar conference. Colledge, in -his defence, denies the truth of the allegation, and declares that the -walk from the coffee-house to the tavern is not more than a bow-shot, -and that during such walk the witness had all the conversation to -himself, though he had sworn that treasonable expressions had been -made use of on their way thither. - -"Pepys frequented this tavern: in one part of his _Diary_ he says, -'With Mr. Creed to Hercules Pillars, where we drank.' In another, 'In -Fleet-street I met with Mr. Salisbury, who is now grown in less than -two years' time so great a limner that he is become excellent and gets -a great deal of money at it. I took him to Hercules Pillars to -drink.'" - -Again: "After the play was done, we met with Mr. Bateller and W. -Hewer, and Talbot Pepys, and they followed us in a hackney-coach; and -we all supped at Hercules Pillars; and there I did give the best -supper I could, and pretty merry; and so home between eleven and -twelve at night." "At noon, my wife came to me at my tailor's, and I -sent her home, and myself and Tom dined at Hercules Pillars." - -Another noted "Hercules Pillars" was at Hyde Park Corner, near -Hamilton-place, on the site of what is now the pavement opposite Lord -Willoughby's. "Here," says Cunningham, "Squire Western put his horses -up when in pursuit of Tom Jones; and here Field Marshal the Marquis of -Gransby was often found." And Wycherley, in his _Plain Dealer_, 1676, -makes the spendthrift, Jerry Blackacre, talk of picking up his -mortgaged silver "out of most of the ale-houses between Hercules -Pillars and the Boatswain in Wapping." - -Hyde Park Corner was noted for its petty taverns, some of which -remained as late as 1805. It was to one of these taverns that Steele -took Savage to dine, and where Sir Richard dictated and Savage wrote a -pamphlet, which he went out and sold for two guineas, with which the -reckoning was paid. Steele then "returned home, having retired that -day only to avoid his creditors, and composed the pamphlet only to -discharge his reckoning." - -FOOTNOTE: - -[34] Subsequently "Dick's." - - -HOLE-IN-THE-WALL TAVERNS. - -This odd sign exists in Chancery-lane, at a house on the east side, -immediately opposite the old gate of Lincoln's-Inn; "and," says Mr. -Burn, "being supported by the dependants on legal functionaries, -appears to have undergone fewer changes than the law, retaining all -the vigour of a new establishment." There is another "Hole in the -Wall" in St. Dunstan's-court, Fleet-street, much frequented by -printers. - -Mr. Akerman says:--"It was a popular sign, and several taverns bore -the same designation, which probably originated in a certain tavern -being situated in some umbrageous recess in the old City walls. Many -of the most popular and most frequented taverns of the present day are -located in twilight courts and alleys, into which Phoebus peeps at -Midsummer-tide only when on the meridian. Such localities may have -been selected on more than one account: they not only afforded good -skulking 'holes' for those who loved drinking better than work; but -beer and other liquors keep better in the shade. These haunts, like -Lady Mary's farm, were-- - - 'In summer shady, and in winter warm.' - -Rawlins, the engraver of the fine and much coveted Oxford Crown, with -a view of the city under the horse, dates a quaint supplicatory letter -to John Evelyn, 'from the Hole in the Wall, in St. Martin's;' no -misnomer, we will be sworn, in that aggregation of debt and -dissipation, when debtors were imprisoned with a very remote chance of -redemption. In the days of Rye-house and Meal-Tub plots, philanthropy -overlooked such little matters; and Small Debts Bills were not dreamt -of in the philosophy of speculative legislators. Among other places -which bore the designation of the Hole in the Wall, there was one in -Chandos-street, in which the famous Duval, the highwayman, was -apprehended after an attack on--two bottles of wine, probably drugged -by a 'friend' or mistress." - - -THE MITRE, IN FLEET-STREET. - -This was the true Johnsonian Mitre, so often referred to in _Boswell's -Life_; but it has earlier fame. Here, in 1640, Lilly met Old Will -Poole, the astrologer, then living in Ram-alley. The Royal Society -Club dined at the Mitre from 1743 to 1750, the Society then meeting in -Crane-court, nearly opposite. The Society of Antiquaries met some time -at the Mitre. Dr. Macmichael, in _The Gold-headed Cane_, makes Dr. -Radcliffe say:--"I never recollect to have spent a more delightful -evening than that at the Mitre Tavern, in Fleet-street, where my good -friend Billy Nutly, who was indeed the better half of me, had been -prevailed upon to accept of a small temporary assistance, and joined -our party, the Earl of Denbigh, Lords Colepeper and Stowel, and Mr. -Blackmore." - -The house has a token:--WILLIAM PAGET AT THE. A mitre.--Rx. MITRE IN -FLEET STREET. In the field, W. E. P. - -Johnson's Mitre is commonly thought to be the tavern with that sign, -which still exists in Mitre-court, over against Fetter-lane; where is -shown a cast of Nollekens' bust of Johnson, in confirmation of this -house being his resort. Such was not the case; Boswell distinctly -states it to have been the Mitre Tavern _in_ _Fleet-street_; and the -records by Lilly and the Royal Society, alike specify "in -Fleet-street," which Mr. Burn, in his excellent account of the Beaufoy -Tokens, explains was the house, No. 39, Fleet-street, that Macklin -opened, in 1788, as the Poet's Gallery; and lastly, Saunders's -auction-rooms. It was taken down to enlarge the site for Messrs. -Hoares' new banking-house. The now Mitre Tavern, in Mitre-court, was -originally called Joe's Coffee-house; and on the shutting up of the -old Mitre, in Fleet-street, took its name; this being four years after -Johnson's death. - -The Mitre was Dr. Johnson's favourite supper-house, the parties -including Goldsmith, Percy, Hawkesworth, and Boswell; there was -planned the tour to the Hebrides. Johnson had a strange nervous -feeling, which made him uneasy if he had not touched every post -between the Mitre and his own lodgings. Johnson took Goldsmith to the -Mitre, where Boswell and the Doctor had supped together in the -previous month, when Boswell spoke of Goldsmith's "very loose, odd, -scrambling kind of life," and Johnson defended him as one of our first -men as an author, and a very worthy man;--adding, "he has been loose -in his principles, but he is coming right." Boswell was impatient of -Goldsmith from the first hour of their acquaintance. Chamberlain -Clarke, who died in 1831, aged 92, was the last surviving of Dr. -Johnson's Mitre friends. Mr. William Scott, Lord Stowell, also -frequented the Mitre. - -Boswell has this remarkable passage respecting the house:--"We had a -good supper, and port-wine, of which he (Johnson) sometimes drank a -bottle. The orthodox high-church sound of THE MITRE--the figure and -manner of the celebrated SAMUEL JOHNSON--the extraordinary power and -precision of his conversation, and the pride arising from finding -myself admitted as his companion, produced a variety of sensations, -and a pleasing elevation of mind, beyond what I had ever experienced." - - -SHIP TAVERN, TEMPLE BAR. - -This noted Tavern, the site of which is now denoted by Ship-yard, is -mentioned among the grants to Sir Christopher Hatton, 1571. There is, -in the Beaufoy Collection, a Ship token, dated 1649, which is evidence -that the inner tavern of that sign was then extant. It was also called -the Drake, from the ship painted as the sign being that in which Sir -Francis Drake voyaged round the world. Faithorne, the celebrated -engraver, kept shop, next door to the Drake. "The Ship Tavern, in the -Butcher-row, near Temple Bar," occurs in an advertisement so late as -June, 1756. - -The taverns about Temple Bar were formerly numerous; and the folly of -disfiguring sign-boards was then, as at a later date, a street frolic. -"Sir John Denham, the poet, when a student at Lincoln's-Inn, in 1635, -though generally temperate as a drinker, having stayed late at a -tavern with some fellow-students, induced them to join him in 'a -frolic,' to obtain a pot of ink and a plasterer's brush, and blot out -all the signs between Temple Bar and Charing Cross. Aubrey relates -that R. Estcourt, Esq., carried the ink-pot: and that next day it -caused great confusion; but it happened Sir John and his comrades were -discovered, and it cost them some moneys." - - -THE PALSGRAVE HEAD, TEMPLE BAR. - -This once celebrated Tavern, opposite the Ship, occupied the site of -Palsgrave-place, on the south side of the Strand, near Temple Bar. The -Palsgrave Frederick, afterwards King of Bohemia, was affianced to the -Princess Elizabeth (only daughter of James I.), in the old banqueting -house at Whitehall, December 27, 1612, when the sign was, doubtless, -set up in compliment to him. There is a token of the house in the -Beaufoy Collection. (See _Burn's Catalogue_, p. 225.) - -Here Prior and Montague, in _The Hind and Panther Transversed_, make -the Country Mouse and the City Mouse bilk the Hackney Coachman: - - "But now at Piccadilly they arrive, - And taking coach, t'wards Temple Bar they drive, - But at St. Clement's eat out the back; - And slipping through the Palsgrave, bilkt poor hack." - - -HEYCOCK'S, TEMPLE BAR, - -Near the Palsgrave's Head tavern, was Heycock's Ordinary, much -frequented by Parliament men and gallants. Andrew Marvell usually -dined here: one day, having eaten heartily of boiled beef, with some -roasted pigeons and asparagus, he drank his pint of port; and on the -coming in of the reckoning, taking a piece of money out of his -pocket, held it up, and addressing his associates, certain members of -Parliament, known to be in the pay of the Crown, said, "Gentlemen, who -would lett himself out for hire, while he can have such a dinner for -half-a-crown?" - - -THE CROWN AND ANCHOR, STRAND. - -This famous tavern extended from Arundel-street eastward to -Milford-lane, in the rear of the south side of the Strand, and -occupied the site of an older house with the same sign. Strype, in -1729, described it as "the Crown Tavern; a large and curious house, -with good rooms and other conveniences fit for entertainments." Here -was instituted the Academy of Music in 1710; and here the Royal -Society Club, who had previously met at the Mitre in Fleet-street, -removed in 1780, and dined here for the first time on December 21, and -here they continued until the tavern was converted into a club-house -in 1847. - -The second tavern was built in 1790. Its first landlord was Thomas -Simpkin, a very corpulent man, who, in superintending the serving of a -large dinner, leaned over a balustrade, which broke, when he fell from -a considerable height to the ground, and was killed. The sign appears -to have been originally "The Crown," to which may have been added the -Anchor, from its being the emblem of St. Clement's, opposite; or from -the Lord High Admiral having once resided on the site. The tavern -contained a ball-room, 84 feet by 35 feet 6 inches; in 1798, on the -birthday of C. J. Fox, was given in this house, a banquet to 2000 -persons, when the Duke of Norfolk presided. The large room was noted -for political meetings in the stormy Tory and Radical times; and the -Crown and Anchor was long the rallying-point of the Westminster -electors. The room would hold 2500 persons: one of the latest popular -orators who spoke here was Daniel O'Connell, M.P. There was originally -an entrance to the house from the Strand, by a long passage, such as -was the usual approach to our old metropolitan taverns. The premises -were entirely destroyed by fire, in 1854, but have been rebuilt.[35] - -Here Johnson and Boswell occasionally supped; and here Johnson -quarrelled with Percy about old Dr. Monsey. Thither was brought the -altar-piece (St. Cecilia), painted by Kent for St. Clement's Church, -whence it was removed, in 1725, by order of Bishop Gibson, on the -supposition that the picture contained portraits of the Pretender's -wife and children. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[35] See Whittington Club, Vol. I. p. 313. - - -THE CANARY-HOUSE, IN THE STRAND. - -There is a rare Token of this house, with the date, 1665. The locality -of the "Canary House in the Strande," says Mr. E. B. Price, "is now, -perhaps, impossible to trace; and it is, perhaps, as vain to attempt a -description of the wine from which it took its name, and which was so -celebrated in that and the preceding century. Some have erroneously -identified it with sack. We find it mentioned among the various -drinks which Gascoyne so virtuously inveighs against in his _Delicate -Diet for daintie mouthde Droonkardes_, published in 1576: "_We_ must -have March beere, dooble-dooble Beere, Dagger ale, Bragget, Renish -wine, White wine, French wine, Gascoyne wine, Sack, Hollocke, Canaria -wine, _Vino greco_, _Vinum amabile_, and al the wines that may be -gotten. Yea, wine of its selfe is not sufficient; but Suger, Limons, -and sundry sortes of Spices must be drowned therein." The bibbers of -this famed wine were wont to be termed "Canary birds." Of its -qualities we can perhaps form the best estimate from the colloquy -between "mine hostess of the Boar's Head and Doll Tearsheet;" in which -the former charges the latter with having "drunk too much _Canaries_; -and that's a _marvellous searching wine, and it perfumes the blood ere -one can say, What's this?_"[36] - -FOOTNOTE: - -[36] We learn from Collier's _Roxburghe Ballads_ (_Lit. Gaz._ No. -1566) that in the reign of James I. "sparkling sack" was sold at 1_s._ -6_d._ per quart, and "Canary--pure French wine," at 7 pence. - - -THE FOUNTAIN TAVERN, - -Strand, now the site of Nos. 101 and 102, Ries's Divan, gave the name -to the Fountain Club, composed of political opponents of Sir Robert -Walpole. Strype describes it as "a very fine Tavern, with excellent -vaults, good rooms for entertainment, and a curious kitchen for -dressing of meat, which, with the good wine there sold, make it well -resorted to." Dennis, the Critic, describes his supping here with -Loggan, the painter, and others, and that after supper they "drank Mr. -Wycherley's health by name of Captain Wycherley." - -Here, Feb. 12, 1742, was held a great meeting, at which near 300 -members of both Houses of Parliament were present, to consider the -ministerial crisis, when the Duke of Argyll observed to Mr. Pulteney, -that a grain of honesty was worth a cart-load of gold. The meeting was -held too late to be of any avail, to which Sir Charles Hanbury -Williams alludes in one of his odes to Pulteney, invoking his Muse -thus:-- - - "Then enlarge on his cunning and wit; - Say, how he harang'd at the Fountain; - Say, how the old patriots were bit, - And a mouse was produc'd by a mountain." - -Upon the Tavern site was a Drawing Academy, of which Cosway and -Wheatley were pupils; here also was the lecture-room of John Thelwall, -the political elocutionist. At No. 101, Ackermann, the printseller, -illuminated his gallery with cannel coal, when gas-lighting was a -novelty. - -In Fountain-court, named from the Tavern, is the Coal-hole Tavern, -upon the site of a coal-yard; it was much resorted to by Edmund Kean, -and was one of the earliest night taverns for singing. - - -TAVERN LIFE OF SIR RICHARD STEELE. - -Among the four hundred letters of Steele's preserved in the British -Museum, are some written from his tavern haunts, a few weeks after -marriage, to his "Dearest being on earth:" - - "_Eight o'clock, Fountain Tavern, Oct. 22, 1707._ - - "My dear, - - "I beg of you not to be uneasy; for I have done a great deal - of business to-day very successfully, and wait an hour or - two about my _Gazette_." - -In the next, he does "not come home to dinner, being obliged to attend -to some business abroad." Then he writes from the Devil Tavern, Temple -Bar, January 3, 1707-8, as follows:-- - - "I have partly succeeded in my business, and enclose two - guineas as earnest of more. Dear Prue, I cannot come home to - dinner; I languish for your welfare, and will never be a - moment careless more. - - "Your faithful husband," etc. - -Within a few days, he writes from a Pall Mall tavern:-- - - "Dear Wife, - - "Mr. Edgecombe, Ned Ask, and Mr. Lumley, have desired me to - sit an hour with them at the George, in Pall Mall, for which - I desire your patience till twelve o'clock, and that you - will go to bed," etc. - -When money-matters were getting worse, Steele found it necessary to -sleep away from home for a day or two, and he writes:-- - - "_Tennis-court Coffee-house, May 5, 1708._ - - "Dear Wife, - - "I hope I have done this day what will be pleasing to you; - in the meantime shall lie this night at a baker's, one Leg, - over against the Devil Tavern, at Charing Cross. I shall be - able to confront the fools who wish me uneasy, and shall - have the satisfaction to see thee cheerful and at ease. - - "If the printer's boy be at home, send him hither; and let - Mr. Todd send by the boy my night-gown, slippers, and clean - linen. You shall hear from me early in the morning," etc. - -He is found excusing his coming home, being "invited to supper at Mr. -Boyle's." "Dear Prue," he says on this occasion, "do not send after -me, for I shall be ridiculous." There were _Caudles_ in those -days.[37] - -FOOTNOTE: - -[37] Lives of Wits and Humourists, vol. i. p. 134. - - -CLARE MARKET TAVERNS. - -Clare Market lying between the two great theatres, its butchers were -the arbiters of the galleries, the leaders of theatrical rows, the -musicians at actresses' marriages, the chief mourners at players' -funerals. In and around the market were the signs of the Sun; the Bull -and Butcher, afterwards Spiller's Head; the Grange; the Bull's Head, -where met "the Shepherd and his Flock Club," and where Dr. Radcliffe -was carousing when he received news of the loss of his 5000_l._ -venture. Here met weekly a Club of Artists, of which society Hogarth -was a member, and he engraved for them a silver tankard with a -shepherd and his flock. Next is the Black Jack in Portsmouth-street, -the haunt of Joe Miller, the comedian, and where he uttered his -time-honoured "Jests:" the house remains, but the sign has -disappeared. Miller died in 1738, and was buried in St. Clement's -upper ground, in Portugal-street, where his gravestone was inscribed -with the following epitaph, written by Stephen Duck: "Here lie the -remains of honest Joe Miller, who was a tender husband, a sincere -friend, a facetious companion, and an excellent comedian. He departed -this life the 15th day of August, 1738, aged 54 years. - - "If humour, wit, and honesty could save - The humorous, witty, honest, from the grave, - This grave had not so soon its tenant found, - With honesty, and wit, and humour crown'd. - Or could esteem and love preserve our health, - And guard us longer from the stroke of Death, - The stroke of Death on him had later fell, - Whom all mankind esteem'd and loved so well." - -The stone was restored by the parish grave-digger at the close of the -last century; and in 1816, a new stone was set up by Mr. Jarvis Buck, -churchwarden, who added S. Duck to the epitaph. The burial-ground has -been cleared away, and the site has been added to the grounds of -King's College Hospital. - -At the Black Jack, also called the Jump, (from Jack Sheppard having -once jumped out of a first-floor window, to escape his pursuers, the -thief-takers,) a Club known as "the Honourable Society of Jackers," -met until 1816. The roll of the fraternity "numbers many of the -popular actors since the time of Joe Miller, and some of the wits; -from John Kemble, Palmer, and Theodore Hook down to Kean, Liston, and -the mercurial John Pritt Harley. Since the dissolution of this last -relic of the sociality of the Joe Miller age, 'wit-combats' have been -comparatively unknown at the Old Black Jack."[38] - -FOOTNOTE: - -[38] Jo. Miller; a Biography, 1848. - - -THE CRAVEN HEAD, DRURY LANE. - -This modern Tavern was part of the offices of Craven House, and the -adjoining stabling belonged to the mansion; the extensive cellars -still remain, though blocked up. - -Craven House was built for William Lord Craven, the hero of -Creutznach, upon part of the site of Drury House, and was a large -square pile of brick, four storeys high, which occupied the site of -the present Craven-buildings, built in 1723. That portion of the -mansion abutting on Magpie-alley, now Newcastle-street, was called -Bohemia House, and was early in the last century, converted into a -tavern, with the sign of the head of its former mistress, the Queen of -Bohemia. But a destructive fire happening in the neighbourhood, the -tavern was shut up, and the building suffered to decay; till, at -length, in 1802, what remained of the dilapidated mansion was pulled -down, and the materials sold; and upon the ground, in 1803, Philip -Astley erected his Olympic Pavilion, which was burnt down in 1849. - -The Craven Head was some time kept by William Oxberry, the comedian, -who first appeared on the stage in 1807; he also edited a large -collection of dramas. Another landlord of the Craven Head was Robert -Hales, "the Norfolk Giant" (height 7 ft. 6 in.), who, after visiting -the United States, where Barnum made a speculation of the giant, and -28,000 persons flocked to see him in ten days,--in January, 1851, -returned to England, and took the Craven Head Tavern. On April 11th -Hales had the honour of being presented to the Queen and Royal Family, -when Her Majesty gave him a gold watch and chain, which he wore to the -day of his death. His health had been much impaired by the close -confinement of the caravans in which he exhibited. He died in 1863, of -consumption. Hales was cheerful and well-informed. He had visited -several Continental capitals, and had been presented to Louis -Philippe, King of the French. - - -THE COCK TAVERN, IN BOW-STREET. - -This Tavern, of indecent notoriety, was situated about the middle of -the east side of Bow-street, then consisting of very good houses, well -inhabited, and resorted to by gentry for lodgings. Here Wycherley and -his first wife, the Countess of Drogheda, lodged over against the -Cock, "whither, if he at any time were with his friends, he was -obliged to leave the windows open, that the lady might see there was -no woman in the company, or she would be immediately in a downright -raving condition." (_Dennis's Letters._) - -The Cock Tavern was the resort of the rakes and Mohocks of that day, -when the house was kept by a woman called "Oxford Kate." Here took -place the indecent exposure, which has been told by Johnson, in his -life of Sackville, Lord Dorset. "Sackville, who was then Lord -Buckhurst, with Sir Charles Sedley, and Sir Thomas Ogle, got drunk at -the Cock, in Bow-street, by Covent-garden, and going into the balcony, -exposed themselves to the company in very indecent postures. At last, -as they grew warmer, Sedley stood forth naked, and harangued the -populace in such profane language, that the public indignation was -awakened; the crowd attempted to force the door, and being repulsed, -drove in the performers with stones, and broke the windows of the -house. For this misdemeanour they were indicted, and Sedley was fined -five hundred pounds; what was the sentence of the others is not known. -Sedley employed Killegrew and another to procure a remission of the -King, but (mark the friendship of the dissolute!) they begged the fine -for themselves, and exacted it to the last groat." - -Sir John Coventry had supped at the Cock Tavern, on the night when, in -his way home, his nose was cut to the bone, at the corner of -Suffolk-street, in the Haymarket, "for reflecting on the King, who, -therefore, determined to _set a mark_ upon him:" he was watched; when -attacked, he stood up to the wall, and snatched the flambeau out of -the servant's hands, and with that in one hand, and the sword in the -other, he defended himself, but was soon disarmed, and his nose was -cut to the bone; it was so well sewed up, that the scar was scarce to -be discerned. This attempt at assassination occasioned the Coventry -Act, 22 and 23 Car. II. c. 1, by which specific provisions were made -against the offence of maiming, cutting off, or disabling, a limb or -member. - - -THE QUEEN'S HEAD, BOW-STREET. - -This Tavern, in Duke's Court, was once kept by a facetious person, -named Jupp, and is associated with a piece of humour, which may either -be matter of fact, or interpreted as a pleasant satire upon -etymological fancies. One evening, two well-known characters, Annesley -Shay and Bob Todrington (the latter caricatured by Old Dighton), met -at the Queen's Head, and at the bar asked for "half a quartern" each, -with a little cold water. They continued to drink until they had -swallowed four-and-twenty half-quarterns in water, when Shay said to -the other, "Now, we'll go." "Oh, no," replied he, "we'll have another, -and then go." This did not satisfy the Hibernians, and they continued -drinking on till three in the morning, when they both agreed to go; so -that under the idea of going they made a long stay, and this was the -origin of drinking, or calling for, goes of liquor; but another, -determined to eke out the measure his own way, used to call for a -quartern at a time, and these, in the exercise of his humour, he -called _stays_. We find the above in the very pleasant _Etymological -Compendium_, third edition, revised and improved by Merton A. Thoms, -1853. - - -THE SHAKSPEARE TAVERN. - -Of this noted theatrical tavern, in the Piazza, Covent Garden, several -details were received by Mr. John Green, in 1815, from Twigg, who was -apprentice at the Shakspeare. They had generally fifty turtles at a -time; and upon an average from ten to fifteen were dressed every week; -and it was not unusual to send forty quarts of turtle soup a-week into -the country, as far as Yorkshire. - -The sign of Shakspeare, painted by Wale, cost nearly 200_l._: it -projected at the corner, over the street, with very rich iron-work. -Dick Milton was once landlord; he was a great gamester, and once won -40,000_l._ He would frequently start with his coach-and-six, which he -would keep about six months, and then sell it. He was so much -reduced, and his credit so bad, at times, as to send out for a dozen -of wine for his customers; it was sold at 16s. a bottle. This is -chronicled as the first tavern in London that had rooms; and from this -house the other taverns were supplied with waiters. Here were held -three clubs--the Madras, Bengal, and Bombay. - -Twigg was cook at the Shakspeare. The largest dinner ever dressed here -consisted of 108 made-dishes, besides hams, etc., and vegetables; this -was the dinner to Admiral Keppel, when he was made First Lord of the -Admiralty. Twigg told of another dinner to Sir Richard Simmons, of -Earl's Court, Mr. Small, and three other gentlemen; it consisted of -the following dishes:--A turbot, of 40lb., a Thames salmon, a haunch -of venison, French beans and cucumbers, a green goose, an apricot -tart, and green peas. The dinner was dressed by Twigg, and it came to -about seven guineas a head. - -The Shakspeare is stated to have been the first tavern in Covent -Garden. Twigg relates of Tomkins, the landlord, that his father had -been a man of opulence in the City, but failed for vast sums. Tomkins -kept his coach and his country-house, but was no gambler, as has been -reported. He died worth 40,000_l._ His daughter married Mr. Longman, -the music-seller. Tomkins had never less than a hundred pipes of wine -in his cellar; he kept seven waiters, one cellar-man, and a boy. Each -waiter was smartly dressed in his ruffles, and thought it a bad week -if he did not make 7_l._ Stacie, who partly served his apprenticeship -to Tomkins, told Twigg, that he had betted nearly 3000_l._ upon one of -his racehorses of the name of Goldfinder. Stacie won, and afterwards -sold the horse for a large sum. - -There was likewise a Shakspeare Tavern in Little Russell-street, -opposite Drury-lane Theatre; the sign was altered in 1828, to the -Albion. - - -SHUTER, AND HIS TAVERN-PLACES. - -Shuter, the actor, at the age of twelve, was pot-boy at the Queen's -Head (afterwards Mrs. Butler's), in Covent Garden, where he was so -kind to the rats in the cellar, by giving them sops from porter, (for, -in his time, any person might have a toast in his beer,) that they -would creep about him and upon him; he would carry them about between -his shirt and his waistcoat, and even call them by their names. Shuter -was next pot-boy at the Blue Posts, opposite Brydges-street, then kept -by Ellidge, and afterwards by Carter, who played well at billiards, on -account of the length of his arms. Shuter used to carry beer to the -players, behind the scenes at Drury-lane Theatre, and elsewhere, and -being noticed by Hippisley, was taken as his servant, and brought on -the stage. He had also been at the house next the Blue Posts,--the -Sun, in Russell-street, which was frequented by Hippisley. Mr. -Theophilus Forrest, when he paid Shuter his money, allowed him in his -latter days, two guineas per week, found him calling for gin, and his -shirt was worn to half its original size. Latterly, he was hooted by -the boys in the street: he became a Methodist, and died at King John's -Palace, Tottenham Court Road. - - -THE ROSE TAVERN, COVENT GARDEN. - -This noted Tavern, on the east side of Brydges-street, flourished in -the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and from its contiguity to -Drury-lane Theatre, and close connection with it, was frequented by -courtiers and men of letters, of loose character, and other gentry of -no character at all. The scenes of _The Morning Ramble, or the Town -Humour_, 1672, are laid "at the Rose Tavern, in Covent Garden," which -was constantly a scene of drunken broils, midnight orgies, and -murderous assaults, by men of fashion, who were designated "Hectors," -and whose chief pleasure lay in frequenting taverns for the running -through of some fuddled toper, whom wine had made valiant. Shadwell, -in his comedy of the _Scowrers_, 1691, written at a time when -obedience to the laws was enforced, and these excesses had in -consequence declined, observes of these cowardly ruffians: "They were -brave fellows, indeed! In those days a man could not go from the Rose -Tavern to the Piazza once, but he must venture his life twice." - -Women of a certain freedom of character frequented taverns at the -commencement of the last century, and the Rose, doubtless, resembled -the box-lobby of a theatre. In the _Rake Reformed_, 1718, this tavern -is thus noticed: - - "Not far from thence appears a pendent sign, - Whose bush declares the product of the vine, - Whence to the traveller's sight the full-blown Rose - Its dazzling beauties doth in gold disclose; - And painted faces flock in tally'd clothes." - -Dramatists and poets resorted to the house, and about 1726, Gay and -other wits, by clubbing verses, concocted the well-known love ditty, -entitled _Molly Mogg of the Rose_, in compliment to the then barmaid -or waitress. The Welsh ballad, _Gwinfrid Shones_, printed in 1733, has -also this tribute to Molly Mogg, as a celebrated toast: - - "Some sing Molly Mogg of the Rose, - And call her the Oakingham pelle; - Whilst others does farces compose, - On peautiful Molle Lepelle." - -Hogarth's third print of the Rake's Progress, published in 1735, -exhibits a principal room in the Rose Tavern: Lethercoat, the fellow -with a bright pewter dish and a candle, is a portrait; he was for many -years a porter attached to the house. - -Garrick, when he enlarged Drury-lane Theatre, in 1776, raised the new -front designed by Robert Adam, took in the whole of the tavern, as a -convenience to the theatre, and retained the sign of the Rose in an -oval compartment, as a conspicuous part of the decoration, which is -shown in a popular engraving by J. T. Smith. - -In D'Urfey's Songs, 1719, we find these allusions to the Rose: - - "_A Song in Praise of Chalk, by W. Pettis._ - - "We the lads at the Rose - A patron have chose, - Who's as void as the best is of thinking; - And without dedication, - Will assist in his station, - And maintains us in eating and drinking." - - "_Song.--The Nose._ - - "Three merry lads met at the Rose, - To speak in the praises of the nose: - The flat, the sharp, the Roman snout, - The hawk's nose circled round about; - The crooked nose that stands awry, - The ruby nose of scarlet dye; - The brazen nose without a face, - That doth the learned college grace. - Invention often barren grows, - Yet still there's matter in the nose." - - -EVANS'S, COVENT GARDEN. - -At the north-west corner of Covent Garden Market is a lofty edifice, -which, with the building that preceded it, possesses a host of -interesting associations. Sir Kenelm Digby came to live here after the -Restoration of Charles II.: here he was much visited by the -philosophers of his day, and built in the garden in the rear of the -house a laboratory. The mansion was altered, if not rebuilt, for the -Earl of Orford, better known as Admiral Russell, who, in 1692, -defeated Admiral de Tourville, and ruined the French fleet. The façade -of the house originally resembled the forecastle of a ship. The fine -old staircase is formed of part of the vessel Admiral Russell -commanded at La Hogue; it has handsomely carved anchors, ropes, and -the coronet and initials of Lord Orford. The Earl died here in 1727; -and the house was afterwards occupied by Thomas, Lord Archer, until -1768; and by James West, the great collector of books, etc., and -President of the Royal Society, who died in 1772. - -Mr. Twigg recollected Lord Archer's garden (now the site of the -singing-room), at the back of the Grand Hotel, about 1765, well -stocked; mushrooms and cucumbers were grown there in high perfection. - -In 1774, the house was opened by David Low as an hotel; the first -family hotel, it is said, in London. Gold, silver, and copper medals -were struck, and given by Low, as advertisements of his house; the -gold to the princes, silver to the nobility, and copper to the public -generally. About 1794, Mrs. Hudson, then proprietor, advertised her -hotel, "with stabling for one hundred noblemen and horses." The next -proprietors were Richardson and Joy. - -At the beginning of the present century, and some years afterwards, -the hotel was famous for its large dinner- and coffee-room. This was -called the "Star," from the number of men of rank who frequented it. -One day a gentleman entered the dining-room, and ordered of the waiter -two lamb-chops; at the same time inquiring, "John, have you a -cucumber?" The waiter replied in the negative--it was so early in the -season; but he would step into the market, and inquire if there were -any. The waiter did so, and returned with--"There are a few, but they -are half-a-guinea apiece." "Half-a-guinea apiece! are they small or -large?" "Why, rather small." "Then buy two," was the reply. This -incident has been related of various epicures; it occurred to Charles -Duke of Norfolk, who died in 1815. - -Evans, of Covent-Garden Theatre, removed here from the Cider Cellar in -Maiden-lane, and, using the large dining-room for a singing-room, -prospered until 1844, when he resigned the property to Mr. John -Green. Meanwhile, the character of the entertainment, by the selection -of music of a higher class than hitherto, brought so great an -accession of visitors, that Mr. Green built, in 1855, on the site of -the old garden (Digby's garden) an extremely handsome hall, to which -the former singing-room forms a sort of vestibule. The latter is hung -with the collection of portraits of celebrated actors and actresses, -mostly of our own time, which Mr. Green has been at great pains to -collect. - -The _spécialité_ of this very agreeable place is the olden music, -which is sung here with great intelligence and spirit; the visitors -are of the better and more appreciative class, and often include -amateurs of rank. The reserved gallery is said to occupy part of the -site of the cottage in which the Kembles occasionally resided during -the zenith of their fame at Covent-Garden Theatre; and here the gifted -Fanny Kemble is said to have been born. - - -THE FLEECE, COVENT GARDEN. - -The Restoration did not mend the morals of the taverns in Covent -Garden, but increased their licentiousness, and made them the resort -of bullies and other vicious persons. The Fleece, on the west side of -Brydges-street, was notorious for its tavern broils; L'Estrange, in -his translation of Quevedo's _Visions_, 1667, makes one of the Fleece -hectors declare he was never well but either at the Fleece Tavern or -Bear at Bridge-foot, stuffing himself "with food and tipple, till the -hoops were ready to burst." According to Aubrey, the Fleece was "very -unfortunate for homicides;" there were several killed there in his -time; it was a private house till 1692. Aubrey places it in -York-street, so that there must have been a back or second way to the -tavern--a very convenient resource. - - -THE BEDFORD HEAD, COVENT GARDEN. - -Was a luxurious refectory, in Southampton-street, whose epicurism is -commemorated by Pope:-- - - "Let me extol a cat on oysters fed, - I'll have a party at the Bedford Head." - - _2nd Sat. of Horace, 2nd Bk._ - - "When sharp with hunger, scorn you to be fed - Except on pea-chicks, at the Bedford Head?" - - _Pope, Sober Advice.___ - -Walpole refers to a great supper at the Bedford Head, ordered by Paul -Whitehead, for a party of gentlemen dressed like sailors and masked, -who, in 1741, on the night of Vernon's birthday, went round Covent -Garden with a drum, beating up for a volunteer mob; but it did not -take. - - -THE SALUTATION, TAVISTOCK STREET. - -This was a noted tavern in the last century, at the corner of -Tavistock-court, Covent Garden. Its original sign was taken down by -Mr. Yerrel, the landlord, who informed J. T. Smith, that it consisted -of two gentlemen saluting each other, dressed in flowing wigs, and -coats with square pockets, large enough to hold folio books, and -wearing swords, this being the dress of the time when the sign was put -up, supposed to have been about 1707, the date on a stone at the -Covent Garden end of the court. - -Richard Leveridge, the celebrated singer, kept the Salutation after -his retirement from the stage; and here he brought out his _Collection -of Songs_, with the music, engraved and printed for the author, 1727. - -Among the frequenters of the Salutation was William Cussans, or -Cuzzons, a native of Barbadoes, and a most eccentric fellow, who lived -upon an income allowed him by his family. He once hired himself as a -potman, and then as a coal-heaver. He was never seen to smile. He -personated a chimney-sweeper at the Pantheon and Opera-house -masquerades, and wrote the popular song of Robinson Crusoe: - - "He got all the wood - That ever he could, - And he stuck it together with glue so; - And made him a hut, - And in it he put - The carcase of Robinson Crusoe." - -He was a bacchanalian customer at the Salutation, and his nightly -quantum of wine was liberal: he would sometimes take eight pints at a -sitting, without being the least intoxicated. - - -THE CONSTITUTION TAVERN, COVENT GARDEN. - -In Bedford-street, near St. Paul's church-gate, was an old tavern, the -Constitution (now rebuilt), noted as the resort of working men of -letters, and for its late hours; indeed, the sittings here were -perennial. Among other eccentric persons we remember to have seen -here, was an accomplished scholar named Churchill, who had travelled -much in the East, smoked and ate opium to excess, and was full of -information. Of another grade were two friends who lived in the same -house, and had for many years "turned night into day;" rising at eight -o'clock in the evening, and going to bed at eight next morning. They -had in common some astrological, alchemical, and _spiritual_ notions, -and often passed the whole night at the Constitution. This was the -favourite haunt of Wilson, the landscape-painter, who then lived in -the Garden; he could, at the Constitution, freely indulge in a pot of -porter, and enjoy the fun of his brother-painter, Mortimer, who -preferred this house, as it was near his own in Church-passage. - - -THE CIDER CELLAR. - -This strange place, upon the south side of Maiden-lane, Covent Garden, -was opened about 1730, and is described as a "Midnight Concert Room," -in _Adventures Underground_, 1750. Professor Porson was a great lover -of cider, the patronymic drink for which the cellar was once famed; it -became his nightly haunt, for wherever he spent the evening, he -finished the night at the Cider Cellar. One night, in 1795, as he sat -here smoking his pipe, with his friend George Gordon, he abruptly said, -"Friend George, do you think the widow Lunan an agreeable sort of -personage, as times go?" Gordon assented. "In that case," replied -Porson, "you must meet me to-morrow morning at St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, -at eight o'clock;" and without saying more, Porson paid his reckoning, -and went home. Next morning, Gordon repaired to the church, and there -found Porson with Mrs. Lunan and a female friend, and the parson -waiting to begin the ceremony. The service being ended, the bride and -her friend retired by one door of the church, and Porson and Gordon by -another. The bride and bridegroom dined together with friends, but -after dinner Porson contrived to slip away, and passed the rest of the -day with a learned friend, and did not leave till the family were -about to retire for the night, when Porson adjourned to the Cider -Cellar, and there stayed till eight o'clock next morning. One of his -companions here is said to have shouted before Porson, "Dick can beat -us all: he can drink all night and spout all day," which greatly -pleased the Professor. - -We remember the place not many years after Porson's death, when it -was, as its name implied, _a cellar_, and the fittings were rude and -rough: over the mantelpiece was a large mezzotint portrait of Porson, -framed and glazed, which we take to be the missing portrait named by -the Rev. Mr. Watson, in his Life of the Professor. The Cider Cellar -was subsequently enlarged; but its exhibitions grew to be too -sensational for long existence. - - -OFFLEY'S, HENRIETTA-STREET. - -This noted tavern, of our day, enjoyed great and deserved celebrity, -though short-lived. It was No. 23, on the south side of -Henrietta-street, Covent Garden, and its fame rested upon Burton ale, -and the largest supper-room in this theatrical neighbourhood; with no -pictures, placards, paper-hangings, or vulgar coffee-room finery, to -disturb one's relish of the good things there provided. Offley, the -proprietor, was originally at Bellamy's, and "as such, was privileged -to watch, and occasionally admitted to assist, the presiding priestess -of the gridiron at the exercise of her mysteries." Offley's chop was -thick and substantial; the House of Commons' chop was small and thin, -and honourable Members sometimes ate a dozen at a sitting. Offley's -chop was served with shalots shred, and warmed in gravy, and -accompanied by nips of Burton ale, and was a delicious after-theatre -supper. The large room at that hour was generally crowded with a -higher class of men than are to be seen in taverns of the present day. -There was excellent dining up-stairs, with wines really worth -drinking--all with a sort of Quakerly plainness, but solid comfort. -The fast men came to the great room, where the _spécialité_ was -singing by amateurs upon one evening of the week; and to prevent the -chorus waking the dead in their cerements in the adjoining churchyard, -the coffee-room window was double. The "professionals" stayed away. -Francis Crew sang Moore's melodies, then in their zenith; sometimes, -in a spirit of waggery, an amateur would sing "Chevy Chase" in full; -and now and then Offley himself trolled out one of Captain Morris's -lyrics. Such was this right joyously convivial place some -five-and-forty years since upon the singing night. Upon other -evenings, there came to a large round table (a sort of privileged -place) a few well-to-do, substantial tradesmen from the neighbourhood, -among whom was the renowned surgical-instrument maker from the Strand, -who had the sagacity to buy the iron from off the piles of old London -Bridge, and convert it (after it had lain for centuries under water) -into some of the finest surgical instruments of the day. Offley's, -however, declined: the singing was discontinued; Time had thinned the -ranks and groups of the bright and buoyant; the large room was mostly -frequented by quiet, orderly persons, who kept good hours; the -theatre-suppers grew few and far between; the merry old host -departed,--when it was proposed to have his portrait painted--but in -vain; success had ebbed away, and at length the house was closed.[39] - -Offley's was sketched with a free hand, in _Horĉ Offleanĉ, Bentley's -Miscellany_, March, 1841. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[39] Walks and Talks about London, 1865, pp. 180-182. - - -THE RUMMER TAVERN. - -The locality of this noted tavern is given by Cunningham, as "two -doors from Locket's, between Whitehall and Charing Cross, removed to -the water-side of Charing Cross, in 1710, and burnt down Nov. 7th, -1750. It was kept in the reign of Charles II., by Samuel Prior, uncle -of Matthew Prior, the poet, who thus wrote to Fleetwood Shephard: - - "My uncle, rest his soul! when living, - Might have contriv'd me ways of thriving: - Taught me with cider to replenish - My vats, or ebbing tide of Rhenish. - So when for hock I drew prickt white-wine, - Swear't had the flavour, and was right wine." - -The Rummer is introduced by Hogarth into his picture of "Night." Here -Jack Sheppard committed his first robbery by stealing two silver -spoons. - -The Rummer, in Queen-street, was kept by Brawn, a celebrated cook, of -whom Dr. King, in his _Art of Cookery_, speaks in the same way as -Kit-Kat and Locket. - -King, also, in his _Analogy between Physicians, Cooks, and -Playwrights_, thus describes a visit:-- - -"Though I seldom go out of my own lodgings, I was prevailed on the -other day to dine with some friends at the Rummer in Queen-street.... -Sam Trusty would needs have me go with him into the kitchen, and see -how matters went there.... He assured me that Mr. Brawn had an art, -etc. I was, indeed, very much pleased and surprised with the -extraordinary splendour and economy I observed there; but above all -with the great readiness and dexterity of the man himself. His motions -were quick, but not precipitate; he in an instant applied himself from -one stove to another, without the least appearance of hurry, and in -the midst of smoke and fire preserved an incredible serenity of -countenance." - -Beau Brummel, according to Mr. Jesse, spoke with a relish worthy a -descendant of "the Rummer," of the savoury pies of his aunt Brawn, who -then resided at Kilburn; she is said to have been the widow of a -grandson of the celebrity of Queen-street, who had himself kept the -public-house at the old Mews Gate, at Charing Cross.--See _Notes and -Queries_, 2nd S., no. xxxvi. - -We remember an old tavern, "the Rummer," in 1825, which was taken down -with the lower portion of St. Martin's-lane, to form Trafalgar-square. - - -SPRING GARDEN TAVERNS. - -Spring Garden is named from its water-spring or fountain, set playing -by the spectator treading upon its hidden machinery--an eccentricity -of the Elizabethan garden. Spring Garden, by a patent which is extant, -in 1630 was made a bowling-green by command of Charles I. "There was -kept in it an ordinary of six shillings a meal (when the king's -proclamation allows but two elsewhere); continual bibbing and drinking -wine all day under the trees; two or three quarrels every week. It was -grown scandalous and insufferable; besides, my Lord Digby being -reprehended for striking in the king's garden, he said he took it for -a common bowling-place, where all paid money for their coming -in."--_Mr. Garrard to Lord Strafford._ - -In 1634 Spring Garden was put down by the King's command, and ordered -to be hereafter no common bowling-place. This led to the opening of "a -New Spring Garden" (Shaver's Hall), by a gentleman-barber, a servant -of the lord chamberlain's. The old garden was, however, re-opened; for -13th June, 1649, says Evelyn, "I treated divers ladies of my -relations in Spring Gardens;" but 10th May, 1654, he records that -Cromwell and his partisans had shut up and seized on Spring Gardens, -"w'ch till now had been ye usual rendezvous for the ladys and -gallants at this season." - -Spring Garden was, however, once more re-opened; for, in _A Character -of England_, 1659, it is described as "The inclosure not disagreeable, -for the solemnness of the grove, the warbling of the birds, and as it -opens into the spacious walks at St. James's.... It is usual to find -some of the young company here till midnight; and the thickets of the -garden seem to be contrived to all advantages of gallantry, after they -have refreshed with the collation, which is here seldom omitted, at a -certain cabaret in the middle of this paradise, where the forbidden -fruits are certain trifling tarts, neats' tongues, salacious meats, -and bad Rhenish." - -"The New Spring Garden" at Lambeth (afterwards Vauxhall) was -flourishing in 1661-3; when the ground at Charing Cross was built -upon, as "Inner Spring Garden" and "Outer Spring Garden." -Buckingham-court is named from the Duke of Buckingham, one of the -rakish frequenters of the Garden; and upon the site of Drummond's -banking-house was "Locket's Ordinary, a house of entertainment much -frequented by gentry," and a relic of the Spring Garden gaiety: - - "For Locket's stands where gardens once did spring." - - Dr. King's _Art of Cookery_, 1709. - -Here the witty and beautiful dramatist, Mrs. Centlivre, died, December -1, 1723, at the house of her third husband, Joseph Centlivre, "Yeoman -of the Mouth" (head cook) "to Queen Anne."[40] In her Prologue to -_Love's Contrivances_, 1703, we have - - "At Locket's, Brown's, and at Pontack's enquire - What modish kickshaws the nice beaux desire, - What famed ragouts, what new invented sallad, - Has best pretensions to regain the palate." - -Locket's was named from its first landlord:[41] its fame declined in -the reign of Queen Anne, and expired early in the next reign. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[40] Curiosities of London, pp. 678, 679. - -[41] Edward Locket, in 1693, took the Bowling-green House, on Putney -Heath, where all gentlemen might be entertained. In a house built on -the site of the above, died, Jan. 23, 1806, the Rt. Hon. William Pitt. - - -"HEAVEN" AND "HELL" TAVERNS, WESTMINSTER. - -At the north end of Lindsay-lane, upon the site of the Committee-rooms -of the House of Commons, was a tavern called "Heaven;" and under the -old Exchequer Chamber were two subterraneous passages called "Hell" -and "Purgatory." Butler, in _Hudibras_, mentions the first as - - "False Heaven at the end of the Hell;" - -Gifford, in his notes on Ben Jonson, says: "Heaven and Hell were two -common alehouses, abutting on Westminster Hall. Whalley says that they -were standing in his remembrance. They are mentioned together with a -third house, called Purgatory, in a grant which I have read, dated in -the first year of Henry VII." - -Old Fuller quaintly says of Hell: "I could wish it had another name, -seeing it is ill jesting with edged tools. I am informed that formerly -this place was appointed a prison for the King's debtors, who never -were freed thence until they had paid their uttermost due demanded of -them. This proverb is since applied to moneys paid into the Exchequer, -which thence are irrecoverable, upon what plea or pretence whatever." - -Peacham describes Hell as a place near Westminster Hall, "where very -good meat is dressed all the term time;" and the Company of Parish -Clerks add, it is "very much frequented by lawyers." According to Ben -Jonson, Hell appears to have been frequented by lawyers' clerks; for, -in his play of the _Alchemist_, Dapper is forbidden - - "To break his fast in Heaven or Hell." - -Hugh Peters, on his Trial, tells us that he went to Westminster to -find out some company to dinner with him, and having walked about an -hour in Westminster Hall, and meeting none of his friends to dine with -him, he went "to that place called Heaven, and dined there." - -When Pride "purged" the Parliament, on Dec. 6, 1648, the forty-one he -excepted were shut up for the night in the Hell tavern, kept by a Mr. -Duke (_Carlyle_); and which Dugdale calls "their great victualling-house -near Westminster Hall, where they kept them all night without any -beds." - -Pepys, in his _Diary_, thus notes his visit: "28 Jan. 1659-60. And so -I returned and went to Heaven, where Ludlin and I dined." Six years -later, at the time of the Restoration, four days before the King -landed, in one of these taverns, Pepys spent the evening with Locke -and Purcell, hearing a variety of brave Italian and Spanish songs, and -a new canon of Locke's on the words, "Domine salvum fac Regem." "Here, -out of the windows," he says, "it was a most pleasant sight to see the -City, from one end to the other, with a glory about it, so high was -the light of the bonfires, and thick round the City, and the bells -rang everywhere." - -After all, "Hell" may have been so named from its being a prison of -the King's debtors, most probably a very bad one: it was also called -the Constabulary. Its Wardenship was valued yearly at the sum of -11_s._, and Paradise at 4_l._ - -Purgatory appears also to have been an ancient prison, the keys of -which, attached to a leathern girdle, says Walcot's _Westminster_, are -still preserved. Herein were kept the ducking-stools for scolds, who -were placed in a chair fastened on an iron pivot to the end of a long -pole, which was balanced at the middle upon a high trestle, thus -allowing the culprit's body to be _ducked_ in the Thames. - - -"BELLAMY'S KITCHEN." - -In a pleasantly written book, entitled _A Career in the Commons_, we -find this sketch of the singular apartment, in the vicinity of the -(Old) House of Commons called "the Kitchen." "Mr. Bellamy's beer may -be unexceptionable, and his chops and steaks may be unrivalled, but -the legislators of England delight in eating a dinner in the place -where it is cooked, and in the presence of the very fire where the -beef hisses and the gravy runs! Bellamy's kitchen seems, in fact, a -portion of the British Constitution. A foreigner, be he a Frenchman, -American, or Dutchman, if introduced to the 'kitchen,' would stare -with astonishment if you told him that in this plain apartment, with -its immense fire, meatscreen, gridirons, and a small tub under the -window for washing the glasses, the statesmen of England very often -dine, and men, possessed of wealth untold, and with palaces of their -own, in which luxury and splendour are visible in every part, are -willing to leave their stately dining-halls and powdered attendants, -to be waited upon, while eating a chop in Bellamy's kitchen, by two -unpretending old women. Bellamy's kitchen, I repeat, is part and -parcel of the British Constitution. Baronets who date from the -Conquest, and squires of every degree, care nothing for the unassuming -character of the 'kitchen,' if the steak be hot and good, if it can be -quickly and conveniently dispatched, and the tinkle of the -division-bell can be heard while the dinner proceeds. Call England a -proud nation, forsooth! Say that the House of Commons is aristocratic! -Both the nation and its representatives must be, and are, -unquestionable patterns of republican humility, if all the pomp and -circumstance of dining can be forgotten in Bellamy's kitchen!"[42] - -FOOTNOTE: - -[42] At the noted Cat and Bagpipes tavern, at the south-west corner of -Downing-street, George Rose used to eat his mutton-chop; he -subsequently became Secretary to the Treasury. - - -A COFFEE-HOUSE CANARY-BIRD. - -Of "a great Coffee-house" in Pall Mall we find the following amusing -story, in the _Correspondence of Gray and Mason_, edited by Mitford: - -"In the year 1688, my Lord Peterborough had a great mind to be well -with Lady Sandwich, Mrs. Bonfoy's old friend. There was a woman who -kept a great Coffee-house in Pall Mall, and she had a miraculous -canary-bird that piped twenty tunes. Lady Sandwich was fond of such -things, had heard of and seen the bird. Lord Peterborough came to the -woman, and offered her a large sum of money for it; but she was rich, -and proud of it, and would not part with it for love or money. -However, he watched the bird narrowly, observed all its marks and -features, went and bought just such another, sauntered into the -coffee-room, took his opportunity when no one was by, slipped the -wrong bird into the cage and the right into his pocket, and went off -undiscovered to make my Lady Sandwich happy. This was just about the -time of the Revolution; and, a good while after, going into the same -coffee-house again, he saw his bird there, and said, 'Well, I reckon -you would give your ears now that you had taken my money.' 'Money!' -says the woman, 'no, nor ten times that money now, dear little -creature! for, if your lordship will believe me (as I am a Christian, -it is true), it has moped and moped, and never once opened its pretty -lips since the day that the poor king went away!" - - -STAR AND GARTER, PALL MALL. FATAL DUEL. - -Pall Mall has long been noted for its taverns, as well as for its -chocolate- and coffee-houses, and "houses for clubbing." They were -resorted to by gay nobility and men of estate; and, in times when -gaming and drinking were indulged in to frightful excess, these -taverns often proved hot-beds of quarrel and fray. One of the most -sanguinary duels on record--that between the Duke of Hamilton and Lord -Mohun--was planned at the Queen's Arms, in Pall Mall, and the Rose in -Covent Garden; at the former, Lord Mohun supped with his second on the -two nights preceding the fatal conflict in Hyde Park. - -Still more closely associated with Pall Mall was the fatal duel -between Lord Byron and Mr. Chaworth, which was _fought in a room_ of -the Star and Garter, when the grand-uncle of the poet Lord killed in a -duel, or rather scuffle, his relation and neighbour, "who was run -through the body, and died next day." The duellists were neighbours in -the country, and were members of the Nottinghamshire Club, which met -at the Star and Garter once a month. - -The meeting at which arose the unfortunate dispute that produced the -duel, was on the 26th of January, 1765, when were present Mr. John -Hewet, who sat as chairman; the Hon. Thomas Willoughby; Frederick -Montagu, John Sherwin, Francis Molyneux, Esqrs., and Lord Byron; -William Chaworth, George Donston, and Charles Mellish, junior, Esq.; -and Sir Robert Burdett; who were all the company. The usual hour of -dining was soon after four, and the rule of the Club was to have the -bill and a bottle brought in at seven. Till this hour all was jollity -and good-humour; but Mr. Hewet, happening to start some conversation -about the best method of preserving game, setting the laws for that -purpose out of the question, Mr. Chaworth and Lord Byron were of -different opinions; Mr. Chaworth insisting on severity against -poachers and unqualified persons; and Lord Byron declaring that the -way to have most game was to take no care of it at all. Mr. Chaworth, -in confirmation of what he had said, insisted that Sir Charles Sedley -and himself had more game on five acres than Lord Byron had on all his -manors. Lord Byron, in reply, proposed a bet of 100 guineas, but this -was not laid. Mr. Chaworth then said, that were it not for Sir Charles -Sedley's care, and his own, Lord Byron would not have a hare on his -estate; and his Lordship asking with a smile, what Sir Charles -Sedley's manors were, was answered by Mr. Chaworth,--Nuttall and -Bulwell. Lord Byron did not dispute Nuttall, but added, Bulwell was -his; on which Mr. Chaworth, with some heat, replied: "If you want -information as to Sir Charles Sedley's manors, he lives at Mr. -Cooper's, in Dean Street, and, I doubt not, will be ready to give you -satisfaction; and, as to myself, your Lordship knows where to find me, -in Berkeley Row." - -The subject was now dropped; and little was said, when Mr. Chaworth -called to settle the reckoning, in doing which the master of the -tavern observed him to be flurried. In a few minutes, Mr. Chaworth -having paid the bill, went out, and was followed by Mr. Donston, whom -Mr. C. asked if he thought he had been short in what he had said; to -which Mr. D. replied, "No; he had gone rather too far upon so trifling -an occasion, but did not believe that Lord Byron or the company would -think any more of it." Mr. Donston then returned to the club-room. -Lord Byron now came out, and found Mr. Chaworth still on the stairs: -it is doubtful whether his Lordship called upon Mr. Chaworth, or Mr. -Chaworth called upon Lord Byron; but both went down to the first -landing-place--having dined upon the second floor--and both called a -waiter to show an empty room, which the waiter did, having first -opened the door, and placed a small tallow-candle, which he had in his -hand, on the table; he then retired, when the gentlemen entered, and -shut the door after them. - -In a few minutes the affair was decided: the bell was rung, but by -whom is uncertain: the waiter went up, and perceiving what had -happened, ran down very frightened, told his master of the -catastrophe, when he ran up to the room, and found the two antagonists -standing close together: Mr. Chaworth had his sword in his left hand, -and Lord Byron his sword in his right; Lord Byron's left hand was -round Mr. Chaworth, and Mr. Chaworth's right hand was round Lord -Byron's neck, and over his shoulder. Mr. C. desired Mr. Fynmore, the -landlord, to take his sword, and Lord B. delivered up his sword at the -same moment: a surgeon was sent for, and came immediately. In the -meantime, six of the company entered the room; when Mr. Chaworth said -that "he could not live many hours; that he forgave Lord Byron, and -hoped the world would; that the affair had passed in the dark, only a -small tallow-candle burning in the room; that Lord Byron asked him, if -he addressed the observation on the game to Sir Charles Sedley, or to -him?--to which he replied, 'If you have anything to say, we had better -shut the door;' that while he was doing this, Lord Byron bid him draw, -and in turning he saw his Lordship's sword half-drawn, on which he -whipped out his own sword and made the first pass; that the sword -being through my Lord's waistcoat, he thought that he had killed him; -and, asking whether he was not mortally wounded, Lord Byron, while he -was speaking, shortened his sword, and stabbed him in the belly." - -When Mr. Mawkins, the surgeon, arrived, he found Mr. Chaworth sitting -by the fire, with the lower part of his waistcoat open, his shirt -bloody, and his hand upon his belly. He inquired if he was in -immediate danger, and being answered in the affirmative, he desired -his uncle, Mr. Levinz, might be sent for. In the meantime, he stated -to Mr. Hawkins, that Lord Byron and he (Mr. Chaworth) entered the room -together; that his Lordship said something of the dispute, on which -he, Mr. C., fastened the door, and turning round, perceived his -Lordship with his sword either drawn or nearly so; on which he -instantly drew his own and made a thrust at him, which he thought had -wounded or killed him; that then perceiving his Lordship shorten his -sword to return the thrust, he thought to have parried it with his -left hand, at which he looked twice, imagining that he had cut it in -the attempt; that he felt the sword enter his body, and go deep -through his back; that he struggled, and being the stronger man, -disarmed his Lordship, and expressed his apprehension that he had -mortally wounded him; that Lord Byron replied by saying something to -the like effect; adding that he hoped now he would allow him to be as -brave a man as any in the kingdom. - -After a little while, Mr. Chaworth seemed to grow stronger, and was -removed to his own house: additional medical advice arrived, but no -relief could be given him: he continued sensible till his death. Mr. -Levinz, his uncle, now arrived with an attorney, to whom Mr. Chaworth -gave very sensible and distinct instructions for making his will. The -will was then executed, and the attorney, Mr. Partington, committed to -writing the last words Mr. Chaworth was heard to say. This writing was -handed to Mr. Levinz, and gave rise to a report that a paper was -written by the deceased, and sealed up, not to be opened till the time -that Lord Byron should be tried; but no paper was written by Mr. -Chaworth, and that written by Mr. Partington was as follows: "Sunday -morning, the 27th of January, about three of the clock, Mr. Chaworth -said, that my Lord's sword was half-drawn, and that he, knowing the -man, immediately, or as quick as he could, whipped out his sword, and -had the first thrust; that then my Lord wounded him, and he disarmed -my Lord, who then said, 'By G--, I have as much courage as any man in -England.'" - -Lord Byron was committed to the Tower, and was tried before the House -of Peers, in Westminster Hall, on the 16th and 17th of April, 1765. -Lord Byron's defence was reduced by him into writing, and read by the -clerk. The Peers present, including the High Steward, declared Lord -Byron, on their honour, to be not guilty of murder, but of -manslaughter; with the exception of four Peers, who found him not -guilty generally. On this verdict being given, Lord Byron was called -upon to say why judgment of manslaughter should not be pronounced upon -him. His Lordship immediately claimed the benefit of the 1st Edward -VI. cap. 12, a statute, by which, whenever a Peer was convicted of -any felony for which a commoner might have Benefit of Clergy, such -Peer, on praying the benefit of that Act, was always to be discharged -without burning in the hand, or any penal consequence whatever. The -claim of Lord Byron being accordingly allowed, he was forthwith -discharged on payment of his fees. This singular privilege was -supposed to be abrogated by the 7 & 8 Geo. IV. cap. 28, s. 6, which -abolished Benefit of Clergy; but some doubt arising on the subject, it -was positively put an end to by the 4 & 5 Vict. cap. 22. (See -_Celebrated Trials connected with the Aristocracy_, by Mr. Serjeant -Burke.) - -Mr. Chaworth was the descendant of one of the oldest houses in -England, a branch of which obtained an Irish peerage. His grand-niece, -the eventual heiress of the family, was Mary Chaworth, the object of -the early unrequited love of Lord Byron, the poet. Singularly enough, -there was the same degree of relationship between that nobleman and -the Lord Byron who killed Mr. Chaworth, as existed between the latter -unfortunate gentleman and Mr. Chaworth.[43] - -Several stories are told of the high charges of the Star and Garter -Tavern, even in the reign of Queen Anne. The Duke of Ormond, who gave -here a dinner to a few friends, was charged twenty-one pounds, six -shillings, and eight pence, for four, that is, first and second -course, without wine or dessert. - -From the _Connoisseur_ of 1754, we learn that the fools of quality of -that day "drove to the Star and Garter to regale on macaroni, or -piddle with an ortolan at White's or Pontac's." - -At the Star and Garter, in 1774, was formed the first Cricket Club. -Sir Horace Mann, who had promoted cricket in Kent, and the Duke of -Dorset and Lord Tankerville, leaders of the Surrey and Hants Eleven, -conjointly with other noblemen and gentlemen, formed a committee under -the presidency of Sir William Draper. They met at the Star and Garter, -and laid down the first rules of cricket, which very rules form the -basis of the laws of cricket of this day. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[43] Abridged from the Romance of London, vol. i. pp. 225-232. - - -THATCHED-HOUSE TAVERN, ST. JAMES'S-STREET. - - "Come and once more together let us greet - The long-lost pleasures of St. James's-street."--_Tickell._ - -Little more than a century and a half ago the parish of St. James was -described as "all the houses and grounds comprehended in a place -heretofore called 'St. James's Fields' and the confines thereof." -Previously to this, the above tavern was most probably a _thatched -house_. St. James's-street dates from 1670: the poets Waller and Pope -lived here; Sir Christopher Wren died here, in 1723; as did Gibbon, -the historian, in 1794, at Elmsley's, the bookseller's, at No. 76, at -the corner of Little St. James's-street. Fox lived next to Brookes's -in 1781; and Lord Byron lodged at No. 8, in 1811. At the south-west -end was the St. James's Coffee-house, taken down in 1806; the foreign -and domestic news house of the _Tatler_, and the "fountain-head" of -the _Spectator_. Thus early, the street had a sort of literary -fashion favourable to the growth of taverns and clubs. - -The Thatched House, which was taken down in 1844 and 1863, had been -for nearly two centuries celebrated for its club meetings, its large -public room, and its public dinners, especially those of our -universities and great schools. It was one of Swift's favourite -haunts: in some birthday verses he sings:-- - - "The Deanery-house may well be matched, - Under correction, with the Thatch'd." - -The histories of some of the principal Clubs which met here, will be -found in Vol. I.; as the Brothers, Literary, Dilettanti, and others; -(besides a list, page 318.) - -The Royal Naval Club held its meetings at the Thatched House, as did -some art societies and kindred associations. The large club-room faced -St. James's-street, and when lit in the evening with wax-candles in -large old glass chandeliers, the Dilettanti pictures could be seen -from the pavement of the street. Beneath the tavern front was a range -of low-built shops, including that of Rowland, or Rouland, the -fashionable coiffeur, who charged five shillings for cutting hair, and -made a large fortune by his "incomparable _Huile_ Macassar." Through -the tavern was a passage to Thatched House-court, in the rear; and -here, in Catherine-Wheel-alley, in the last century, lived the good -old widow Delany, after the Doctor's death, as noted in her -Autobiography, edited by Lady Llanover. Some of Mrs. Delany's -fashionable friends then resided in Dean-street, Soho. - -Thatched House-court and the alley have been swept away. Elmsley's was -removed for the site of the Conservative Club, In an adjoining house -lived the famous Betty, "the queen of apple-women," whom Mason has -thus embalmed in his _Heroic Epistle_:-- - - "And patriot Betty fix her fruitshop here." - -It was a famous place for gossip. Walpole says of a story much about, -"I should scruple repeating it, if Betty and the waiters at Arthur's -did not talk of it publicly." Again, "Would you know what officer's on -guard in Betty's fruitshop?" - -The Tavern, which has disappeared, was nearly the last relic of old -St. James's-street, although its memories survive in various modern -Club-houses, and the Thatched House will be kept in mind by the -graceful sculpture of the Civil Service Clubhouse, erected upon a -portion of the site. - - -"THE RUNNING FOOTMAN," MAY FAIR. - -This sign, in Charles-street, Berkeley Square, carries us back to the -days of bad roads, and journeying at snail's pace, when the travelling -equipage of the nobility required that one or more men should run in -front of the carriage, chiefly as a mark of the rank of the traveller; -they were likewise sent on messages, and occasionally for great -distances. - -The running footman required to be a healthy and active man; he wore a -light black cap, a jockey-coat, and carried a pole with at the top a -hollow ball, in which he kept a hard-boiled egg and a little white -wine, to serve as refreshment on his journey; and this is supposed to -be the origin of the footman's silver-mounted cane. The Duke of -Queensberry, who died in 1810, kept a running footman longer than his -compeers in London; and Mr. Thoms, in _Notes and Queries_, relates an -amusing anecdote of a man who came to be hired for the duty by the -Duke. His Grace was in the habit of trying their paces, by seeing how -they could run up and down Piccadilly, he watching them and timing -them from his balcony. The man put on a livery before the trial; on -one occasion, a candidate, having run, stood before the balcony. "You -will do very well for me," said the Duke. "And your livery will do -very well for me," replied the man, and gave the Duke a last proof of -his ability by running away with it. - -The sign in Charles-street represents a young man, dressed in a kind -of livery, and a cap with a feather in it; he carries the usual pole, -and is running; and beneath is "I am the only running Footman," which -may relate to the superior speed of the runner, and this may be a -portrait of a celebrity. - -Kindred to the above is the old sign of "The Two Chairmen," in -Warwick-street, Charing Cross,[44] recalling the sedans or chairs of -Pall Mall; and there is a similar sign on Hay Hill. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[44] The old Golden Cross Inn, Charing Cross, stood a short distance -west of the present Golden Cross Hotel, No. 452, Strand. Of the former -we read: "April 23, 1643. It was at this period, by order of the -Committee or Commission appointed by the House, the sign of a tavern, -the Golden Cross, at Charing Cross, was taken down, as superstitious -and idolatrous."--In Suffolk-street, Haymarket, was the Tavern before -which took place "the Calves' Head Club" riot.--See Vol. I., p. 27. - - -PICCADILLY INNS AND TAVERNS. - -Piccadilly was long noticed for the variety and extent of its Inns and -Taverns, although few remain. At the east end were formerly the Black -Bear and White Bear (originally the Fleece), nearly opposite each -other. The Black Bear was taken down 1820. The White Bear remains: it -occurs in St. Martin's parish-books, 1685: here Chatelain and -Sullivan, the engravers, died; and Benjamin West, the painter, lodged, -the first night after his arrival from America. Strype mentions the -White Horse Cellar in 1720; and the booking-office of the New White -Horse Cellar is to this day in "the cellar." The Three Kings stables -gateway, No. 75, had two Corinthian pilasters, stated by Disraeli to -have belonged to Clarendon House: "the stable-yard at the back -presents the features of an old galleried inn-yard, and it is noted as -the place from which General Palmer started the first Bath -mail-coach." (J. W. Archer: _Vestiges_, part vi.) The Hercules' -Pillars (a sign which meant that no habitation was to be found beyond -it) stood a few yards west of Hamilton-place, and has been mentioned. -The Hercules' Pillars, and another roadside tavern, the Triumphant -Car, were standing about 1797, and were mostly frequented by soldiers. -Two other Piccadilly inns, the White Horse and Half Moon, both of -considerable extent, have given names to streets. - -The older and more celebrated house of entertainment was Piccadilly -Hall, which appears to have been built by one Robert Baker, in "the -fields behind the Mews," leased to him by St. Martin's parish, and -sold by his widow to Colonel Panton, who built Panton-square and -Panton-street. Lord Clarendon, in his _History of the Rebellion_, -speaks of "Mr. Hyde going to a house called Piccadilly for -entertainment and gaming:" this house, with its gravel-walks and -bowling-greens, extended from the corner of Windmill-street and the -site of Panton-square, as shown in Porter and Faithorne's Map, 1658. -Mr. Cunningham found (see _Handbook_, 2nd edit. p. 396), in the parish -accounts of St. Martin's, "Robt Backer, of Pickadilley Halle;" and the -receipts for Lammas money paid for the premises as late as 1670. Sir -John Suckling, the poet, was one of the frequenters; and Aubrey -remembered Suckling's "sisters coming to the Peccadillo bowling-green, -crying, for the feare he should lose all their portions." The house -was taken down about 1685: a tennis-court in the rear remained to our -time, upon the site of the Argyll Rooms, Great Windmill-street. The -Society of Antiquaries possess a printed proclamation (_temp._ Charles -II. 1671) against the increase of buildings in Windmill-fields and the -fields adjoining Soho; and in the Plan of 1658, Great Windmill-street -consists of straggling houses, and a windmill in a field west. - -Colonel Panton, who is named above, was a celebrated gamester of the -time of the Restoration, and in one night, it is said, he won as many -thousands as purchased him an estate of above 1500_l._ a year. "After -this good fortune," says Lucas, "he had such an aversion against all -manner of games, that he would never handle cards or dice again; but -lived very handsomely on his winnings to his dying day, which was in -the year 1681." He was the last proprietor of Piccadilly Hall, and was -in possession of land on the site of the streets and buildings which -bear his name, as early as the year 1664. Yet we remember to have -seen it stated that Panton-street was named from a particular kind of -horse-shoe called a _panton_; and from its contiguity to the -Haymarket, this origin was long credited. - -At the north-east end of the Haymarket stood the Gaming-house built by -the barber of the Earl of Pembroke, and hence called Shaver's Hall: it -is described by Garrard, in a letter to Lord Strafford in 1635, as "a -new Spring Gardens, erected in the fields beyond the Mews:" its -tennis-court remains in James-street. - -From a Survey of the Premises, made in 1650, we gather that Shaver's -Hall was strongly built of brick, and covered with lead: its large -"seller" was divided into six rooms; above these four rooms, and the -same in the first storey, to which was a balcony, with a prospect -southward to the bowling-alleys. In the second storey were six rooms; -and over the same a walk, leaded, and enclosed with rails, "very -curiously carved and wrought," as was also the staircase, throughout -the house. On the west were large kitchens and coal-house, with lofts -over, "as also one faire Tennis Court," of brick, tiled, "well -accommodated with all things fitting for the same;" with upper rooms; -and at the entrance gate to the upper bowling-green, a parlour-lodge; -and a double flight of steps descending to the lower bowling alley; -there was still another bowling alley, and an orchard-wall, planted -with choice fruit-trees; "as also one pleasant banqueting house, and -one other faire and pleasant Roome, called the Greene Roome, and one -other Conduit-house, and 2 other Turrets adjoininge to the walls. The -ground whereon the said buildings stand, together with 2 fayre Bowling -Alleys, orchard gardens, gravily walks, and other green walks, and -Courts and Courtyards, containinge, by estimacion, 3 acres and 3 -qrs., lying betweene a Roadway leading from Charinge Crosse to -Knightsbridge west, now in the possession of Captayne Geeres, and is -worth per ann. clli."[45] - -FOOTNOTE: - -[45] In Jermyn-street, Haymarket, was the One Tun Tavern, a haunt of -Sheridan's; and, upon the site of "the Little Theatre," is the Café de -l'Europe. - - -ISLINGTON TAVERNS. - -If you look at a Map of London, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the -openness of the northern suburbs is very remarkable. Cornhill was then -a clear space, and the ground thence to Bishopsgate-street was -occupied as gardens. The Spitalfields were entirely open, and -Shoreditch church was nearly the last building of London in that -direction. Moorfields were used for drying linen; while cattle grazed, -and archers shot, in Finsbury Fields, at the verge of which were three -windmills. On the western side of Smithfield was a row of trees. -Goswell-street was a lonely road, and Islington church stood in the -distance, with a few houses and gardens near it. St. Giles's was also -a small village, with open country north and west. - -The ancient Islington continued to be a sort of dairy-farm for the -metropolis. Like her father, Henry VIII., Elizabeth paid frequent -visits to this neighbourhood, where some wealthy commoners dwelt; and -her partiality to the place left many evidences in old houses, and -spots traditionally said to have been visited by the Queen, whose -delight it was to go among her people. - -Islington retained a few of its Elizabethan houses to our times; and -its rich dairies were of like antiquity: in the entertainment given to -Queen Elizabeth at Kenilworth Castle, in 1575, the Squier Minstrel of -Middlesex glorifies Islington with the motto, "_Lac caseus infans_;" -and it is still noted for its cow-keepers. It was once as famous for -its cheese-cakes as Chelsea for its buns; and among its other -notabilities were custards and stewed "pruans," its mineral spa and -its ducking-ponds; Ball's Pond dates from the time of Charles I. At -the lower end of Islington, in 1611, were eight inns, principally -supported by summer visitors: - - "Hogsdone, _Islington_, and Tothnam Court, - For cakes and creame had then no small resort." - - Wither's _Britain's Remembrancer_, 1628. - -Among the old inns and public-houses were the Crown apparently of the -reign of Henry VII., and the Old Queen's Head of about the same date: - - "The Queen's Head and Crown in Islington town, - Bore, for its brewing, the brightest renown." - -Near the Green, the Duke's Head, was kept by Topham, "the strong man -of Islington;" in Frog-lane, the Barley-mow, where George Morland -painted; at the Old Parr's Head, in Upper-street, Henderson the -tragedian first acted; the Three Hats, near the turnpike, was taken -down in 1839; and of the Angel, originally a galleried inn, a drawing -may be seen at the present inn. Timber gables and rudely-carved -brackets are occasionally to be seen in house-fronts; also here and -there an old "house of entertainment," which, with the little -remaining of "the Green," remind one of Islington village. - -The Old Queen's Head was the finest specimen in the neighbourhood of -the domestic architecture of the reign of Henry VII. It consisted of -three storeys, projecting over each other in front, with bay-windows -supported by brackets, and figures carved in wood. The entrance was by -a central porch, supported by caryatides of oak, bearing Ionic -scrolls. To the left was the Oak Parlour, with carved mantelpiece, of -chest-like form; and caryatid jambs, supporting a slab sculptured with -the story of Diana and Actĉon. The ceiling was a shield, bearing J. M. -in a glory, with cherubim, two heads of Roman emperors, with fish, -flowers, and other figures, within wreathed borders, with bosses of -acorns. - -White Conduit House was first built in the fields, in the reign of -Charles I., and was named from a stone conduit, 1641, which supplied -the Charterhouse with water by a leaden pipe. The tavern was -originally a small ale and cake house: Sir William Davenant describes -a City wife going to the fields to "sop her cake in milke;" and -Goldsmith speaks of tea-drinking parties here with hot-rolls and -butter. White Conduit rolls were nearly as famous as Chelsea buns. The -Wheel Pond close by was a noted place for duck-hunting. - -In May, 1760, a poetical description of White Conduit House appeared -in the _Gentleman's Magazine_. A description of the old place, in -1774, presents a general picture of the tea-garden of that period: "It -is formed into walks, prettily disposed. At the end of the principal -one is a painting which seems to render it (the walk) in appearance -longer than it really is. In the centre of the garden is a fish-pond. -There are boxes for company, curiously cut into hedges, adorned with -Flemish and other paintings. There are two handsome tea-rooms, and -several inferior ones." To these were added a new dancing and -tea-saloon, called the Apollo Room. In 1826, the gardens were opened -as a minor Vauxhall; and here the charming vocalist, Mrs. Bland, last -sang in public. In 1832, the original tavern was taken down, and -rebuilt upon a much larger plan: in its principal room 2000 persons -could dine. In 1849, these premises were also taken down, the tavern -rebuilt upon a smaller scale, and the garden-ground let on building -leases. - -Cricket was played here by the White Conduit Club, as early as 1799; -and one of its attendants, Thomas Lord, subsequently established the -Marylebone Club. - -White Conduit House was for some years kept by Mr. Christopher -Bartholomew, at one time worth 50,000_l._ He had some fortunate hits -in the State Lottery, and celebrated his good fortune by a public -breakfast in his gardens. He was known to spend upwards of 2000 -guineas a day for insurance: fortune forsook him, and he passed the -latter years of his life in great poverty, partly subsisting on -charity. But his gambling propensity led him, in 1807, to purchase -with a friend a sixteenth of a lottery-ticket, which was drawn a prize -of 20,000_l._, with his moiety of which he purchased a small annuity, -which he soon sold, and died in distress, in 1809. - -Bagnigge Wells, on the banks of the Fleet brook, between Clerkenwell -and old St. Pancras church, was another tavern of this class. We -remember its concert-room and organ, its grottoes, fountain and -fishpond, its trim trees, its grotesque costumed figures, and its bust -of Nell Gwynne to support the tradition that she had a house here. - -A comedy of the seventeenth century has its scene laid at the -Saracen's Head, an old hostelrie, which in Queen Mary's reign had been -hallowed by secret Protestant devotion, and stood between River Lane -and the City Road. - -Highbury Barn, upon the site of the barn of the monks of Canonbury, -was another noted tavern.[46] Nearly opposite Canonbury Tower are the -remains of a last-century tea-garden; and in Barnsbury is a similar -relic. And on the entrance of a coppice of trees is Hornsey Wood -House, a tavern with a delightful prospect. - -Islington abounds in chalybeate springs, resembling the Tunbridge -Wells water; one of which was rediscovered in 1683, in the garden of -Sadler's music-house, subsequently Sadler's Wells Theatre; and at the -Sir Hugh Myddelton's Head tavern was formerly a conversation-picture -with twenty-eight portraits of the Sadler's Wells Club. In Spa Fields, -was held "Gooseberry Fair," where the stalls of gooseberry-fool vied -with the "threepenny tea-booths," and the beer at "my Lord Cobham's -Head," which denotes the site of the mansion of Sir John Oldcastle, -the Wickliffite, burnt in 1417. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[46] Canonbury Tavern was in the middle of the last century a small -ale-house. It was taken by a Mr. Lane, who had been a private soldier: -he improved the house, but its celebrity was gained by the widow -Sutton, who kept the place from 1785 to 1808, and built new rooms, and -laid out the bowling-green and tea-gardens. An Assembly was first -established here in the year 1810. Nearly the entire premises, which -then occupied about four acres, were situated within the old park wall -of the Priory of St. Bartholomew; it formed, indeed, a part of the -eastern side of the house; the ancient fish-pond was also connected -with the grounds. The Tavern has been rebuilt. - - -COPENHAGEN HOUSE. - -This old suburban tavern, which stood in Copenhagen Fields, Islington, -was cleared away in forming the site of the New Cattle Market. - -The house had a curious history. In the time of Nelson, the historian -of Islington (1811), it was a house of considerable resort, the -situation affording a fine prospect over the western part of the -metropolis. Adjoining the house was a small garden, furnished with -seats and tables for the accommodation of company; and a fives ground. -The principal part of Copenhagen House, although much altered, was -probably as old as the time of James I., and is traditionally said to -have derived its name from having been the residence of a Danish -prince or ambassador during the Great Plague of 1665. Hone, in 1838, -says: "It is certain that Copenhagen House has been licensed for the -sale of beer, wine, and spirits, upwards of a century; and for -refreshments, and as a tea-house, with garden and ground for skittles -and Dutch pins, it has been greatly resorted to by Londoners." The -date of this hostelry must be older than stated by Hone. Cunningham -says: "A public-house or tavern in the parish of Islington, is called -Coopenhagen in the map before Bishop Gibson's edition of Camden, -1695." - -About the year 1770 this house was kept by a person named Harrington. -At his decease the business was continued by his widow, wherein she -was assisted for several years by a young woman from Shropshire. This -female assistant afterwards married a person named Tomes, from whom -Hone got much information respecting Copenhagen-house. In 1780--the -time of the London Riots--a body of the rioters passed on their way to -attack the seat of Lord Mansfield at Caen-wood; happily, they passed -by without doing any damage, but Mrs. Harrington and her maid were so -much alarmed that they dispatched a man to Justice Hyde, who sent a -party of soldiers to garrison the place, where they remained until the -riots were ended. From this spot the view of the nightly -conflagrations in the metropolis must have been terrific. Mrs. Tomes -says she saw nine fires at one time. On the New Year's-day previous to -this, Mrs. Harrington was not so fortunate. After the family had -retired to rest, a party of burglars forced the kitchen window, and -mistaking the salt-box, in the chimney corner, for a man's head, fired -a ball through it. They then ran upstairs with a dark lantern, tied -the servants, burst the lower panel of Mrs. Harrington's room -door--while she secreted 50_l._ between her bed and the -mattresses--and three of them rushed to her bed-side, armed with a -cutlass, crowbar, and a pistol, while a fourth kept watch outside. -They demanded her money, and as she denied that she had any, they -wrenched her drawers open with the crowbar, refusing to use the keys -she offered to them. In these they found about 10_l._ belonging to her -daughter, a little child, whom they threatened to murder unless she -ceased crying; while they packed up all the plate, linen, and clothes, -which they carried off. They then went into the cellar, set all the -ale barrels running, broke the necks of the wine bottles, spilt the -other liquors, and slashed a round of beef with their cutlasses. From -this wanton destruction they returned to the kitchen, where they ate, -drank, and sung; and eventually frightened Mrs. Harrington into -delivering up the 50_l._ she had secreted, and it was with difficulty -she escaped with her life. Rewards were offered by Government and the -parish of Islington for the apprehension of the robbers; and in May -following one of them, named Clarkson, was discovered, and hopes of -mercy tendered to him if he would discover his accomplices. This man -was a watchmaker of Clerkenwell; the other three were tradesmen. They -were tried and executed, and Clarkson pardoned. He was, however, -afterwards executed for another robbery. In a sense, this robbery was -fortunate to Mrs. Harrington. A subscription was raised, which more -than covered the loss, and the curiosity of the Londoners induced them -to throng to the scene of the robbery. So great was the increase of -business that it became necessary to enlarge the premises. Soon -afterwards the house was celebrated for fives-playing. This game was -our old _hand tennis_, and is a very ancient game. This last addition -was almost accidental. "I made the first fives-ball," says Mrs. Tomes, -"that was ever thrown up against Copenhagen House. One Hickman, a -butcher at Highgate, a countryman of mine, called, and, seeing me -counting, we talked about our country sports, and, amongst the rest, -_fives_. I told him we'd have a game some day. I laid down the stone -myself, and against he came again made a ball. I struck the ball the -first blow, he gave it the second--and so we played--and as there was -company, they liked the sport, and it got talked of." This was the -beginning of fives-play which became so famous at Copenhagen House. - - -TOPHAM, THE STRONG MAN, AND HIS TAVERNS. - -In Upper-street, Islington, was formerly a house with the sign of the -Duke's Head, at the south-east corner of Gadd's Row, (now St. Alban's -Place), which was remarkable, towards the middle of the last century, -on account of its landlord, Thomas Topham, "the strong man of -Islington." He was brought up to the trade of a carpenter, but -abandoned it soon after his apprenticeship had expired; and about the -age of twenty-four became the host of the Red Lion, near the old -Hospital of St. Luke, in which house he failed. When he had attained -his full growth, his stature was about five feet ten inches, and he -soon began to give proof of his superior strength and muscular power. -The first public exhibition of his extraordinary strength was that of -pulling against a horse, lying upon his back, and placing his feet -against the dwarf wall that divided Upper and Lower Moorfields. - -By the strength of his fingers, he rolled up a very strong and large -pewter dish, which was placed among the curiosities of the British -Museum, marked near the edge, "April, 3, 1737, Thomas Topham, of -London, carpenter, rolled up this dish (made of the hardest pewter) by -the strength of his hands, in the presence of Dr. John Desaguliers," -etc. He broke seven or eight pieces of a tobacco-pipe, by the force of -his middle finger, having laid them on his first and third fingers. -Having thrust the bowl of a strong tobacco-pipe under his garter, his -legs being bent, he broke it to pieces by the tendons of his hams, -without altering the position of his legs. Another bowl of this kind -he broke between his first and second finger, by pressing them -together sideways. He took an iron kitchen poker, about a yard long, -and three inches round, and bent it nearly to a right angle, by -striking upon his bare left arm between the elbow and the wrist. -Holding the ends of a poker of like size in his hands, and the middle -of it against the back of his neck, he brought both extremities of it -together before him; and, what was yet more difficult, pulled it -almost straight again. He broke a rope of two inches in circumference; -though, from his awkward manner, he was obliged to exert four times -more strength than was necessary. He lifted a rolling stone of eight -hundred pounds' weight with his hands only, standing in a frame above -it, and taking hold of a chain fastened thereto. - -But his grand feat was performed in Coldbath Fields, May 28, 1741, in -commemoration of the taking of Porto Bello, by Admiral Vernon. At this -time Topham was landlord of the Apple-tree, nearly facing the entrance -to the House of Correction; here he exhibited the exploit of lifting -three hogsheads of water, weighing one thousand eight hundred and -thirty-one pounds: he also pulled against one horse, and would have -succeeded against two, or even four, had he taken a proper position; -but in pulling against two, he was jerked from his seat, and had one -of his knees much hurt. Admiral Vernon was present at the above -exhibition, in the presence of thousands of spectators; and there is a -large print of the strange scene. - -Topham subsequently removed to Hog-lane, Shoreditch. His wife proved -unfaithful to him, which so distressed him that he stabbed her, and so -mutilated himself that he died, in the flower of his age. - -Many years since, there were several signs in the metropolis, -illustrative of Topham's strength: the last was one in East -Smithfield, where he was represented as "the Strong Man pulling -against two Horses." - - -THE CASTLE TAVERN, HOLBORN. - -This noted tavern, described by Strype, a century and a half ago, as a -house of considerable trade, has been, in our time, the head-quarters -of the Prize Ring, kept by two of its heroes, Tom Belcher and Tom -Spring. Here was instituted the Daffy Club; and the long room was -adorned with portraits of pugilistic heroes, including Jem Belcher, -Burke, Jackson, Tom Belcher, old Joe Ward, Dutch Sam, Gregson, -Humphreys, Mendoza, Cribb, Molyneux, Gulley, Randall, Turner, Martin, -Harmer, Spring, Neat, Hickman, Painter, Scroggins, Tom Owen, etc.; and -among other sporting prints, the famous dog, Trusty, the present of -Lord Camelford to Jem Belcher, and the victor in fifty battles. In -_Cribb's Memorial to Congress_ is this picture of the great room:-- - - "Lent Friday night a bang-up set - Of milling blades at Belcher's met, - All high-bred heroes of the Ring, - Whose very gammon would delight one; - Who, nurs'd beneath the Fancy's wing, - Show all her feathers but the white one. - Brave Tom, the Champion, with an air - Almost Corinthian, took the chair, - And kept the coves in quiet tune, - By showing such a fist of mutton - As on a point of order soon - Would take the shine from Speaker Sutton. - And all the lads look'd gay and bright, - And gin and genius flashed about; - And whosoe'er grew unpolite, - The well-bred Champion serv'd him out." - -In 1828, Belcher retired from the tavern and was succeeded by Tom -Spring (Thomas Winter), the immediate successor of Cribb, as Champion -of England. Spring prospered at the Castle many years. He died August -17, 1851, in his fifty-sixth year; he was highly respected, and had -received several testimonials of public and private esteem; among -which were these pieces of plate:--1. The Manchester Cup, presented in -1821. 2. The Hereford Cup, 1823. 3. A noble tankard and a purse, value -upwards of five hundred pounds. 4. A silver goblet, from Spring's -early patron, Mr. Sant. - -Spring's figure was an extremely fine one, and his face and forehead -most remarkable. His brow had something of the Greek Jupiter in it, -expressing command, energy, determination, and cool courage. Its -severity was relieved by the lower part of his countenance, the -features of which denoted mildness and playfulness. His actual height -was five feet eleven inches and a half; but he could stretch his neck -so as to make his admeasurement more than six feet. - - -MARYLEBONE AND PADDINGTON TAVERNS. - -Smith, in his very amusing _Book for a Rainy Day_, tells us that in -1772, beyond Portland Chapel, (now St. Paul's,) the highway was -irregular, with here and there a bank of separation; and having -crossed the New Road, there was a turnstile, at the entrance of a -meadow leading to a little old public-house--the Queen's Head and -Artichoke--an odd association: the sign was much weather-beaten, -though perhaps once a tolerably good portrait of Queen Elizabeth: the -house was reported to have been kept by one of Her Majesty's -gardeners. - -A little beyond was another turnstile opening also into the fields, -over which was a walk to the Jew's Harp Tavern and Tea Gardens. It -consisted of a large upper room, ascended by an outside staircase for -the accommodation of the company on ball-nights. There were a -semicircular enclosure of boxes for tea and ale drinkers; and tables -and seats for the smokers, guarded by deal-board soldiers between -every box, painted in proper colours. There were trap-ball and tennis -grounds, and skittle-grounds. South of the tea-gardens were -summer-houses and gardens, where the tenant might be seen on Sunday -evening, in a bright scarlet waistcoat, ruffled shirt, and silver -shoe-buckles, comfortably taking his tea with his family, honouring a -Seven Dials friend with a nod on his peregrination to the famed Wells -of Kilburn. Such was the suburban rural enjoyment of a century since -on the borders of Marylebone Park. - -There is a capital story told of Mr. Speaker Onslow, who, when he -could escape from the heated atmosphere of the House of Commons, in -his long service of thirty-three years, used to retire to the Jew's -Harp. He dressed himself in plain attire, and preferred taking his -seat in the chimney-corner of the kitchen, where he took part in the -passing joke, and ordinary concerns of the landlord, his family and -customers! He continued this practice for a year or two, and thus -ingratiated himself with his host and his family, who, not knowing his -name, called him "the gentleman," but from his familiar manners, -treated him as one of themselves. It happened, however, one day, that -the landlord of the Jew's Harp was walking along Parliament-street, -when he met the Speaker, in his state-coach, going up with an address -to the throne; and looking narrowly at the chief personage, he was -astonished and confounded at recognising the features of the -gentleman, his constant customer. He hurried home and communicated the -extraordinary intelligence to his wife and family, all of whom were -disconcerted at the liberties which, at different times, they had -taken with so important a person. In the evening, Mr. Onslow came as -usual to the Jew's Harp, with his holiday face and manners, and -prepared to take his seat, but found everything in a state of peculiar -preparation, and the manners of the landlord and his wife changed from -indifference and familiarity to form and obsequiousness: the children -were not allowed to climb upon him, and pull his wig as heretofore, -and the servants were kept at a distance. He, however, took no notice -of the change, but, finding that his name and rank had by some means -been discovered, he paid his reckoning, civilly took his departure, -and never visited the house afterwards. - -The celebrated Speaker is buried in the family vault of the Onslows, -at Merrow; and in Trinity Church, Guildford, is a memorial of -him--"the figure of the deceased in a _Roman habit_," and he is -resting upon volumes of the Votes and Journals of the House of -Commons. The monument is overloaded with inscriptions and armorial -displays: we suspect that "the gentleman" of the Jews' Harp -chimney-corner would rather that such indiscriminate ostentation had -been spared, especially "the Roman habit." If we remember rightly, -Speaker Onslow presented to the people of Merrow, for their church, a -cedar-wood pulpit, which the Churchwardens ordered to be _painted -white_! - -To return to the taverns. Wilson, our great landscape-painter, was -fond of playing at skittles, and frequented the Green Man -public-house, in the New-road, at the end of Norton-street, originally -known under the appellation of the "Farthing Pye-house;" where bits of -mutton were put into a crust shaped like a pie, and actually sold for -a farthing. This house was kept by a facetious man named Price, of -whom there is a mezzotinto portrait: he was an excellent salt-box -player, and frequently accompanied the famous Abel, when playing on -the violoncello. Wilkes was a frequenter of this house to procure -votes for Middlesex, as it was visited by many opulent freeholders. - -The Mother Redcap, at Kentish Town, was a house of no small terror to -travellers in former times. It has been stated that Mother Redcap was -the "Mother Damnable" of Kentish Town; and that it was at her house -that the notorious Moll Cutpurse, the highway-woman of the time of -Oliver Cromwell, dismounted, and frequently lodged. - -Kentish Town has had some of its old taverns rebuilt. Here was the -Castle Tavern, which had a Perpendicular stone chimney-piece; the -house was taken down in 1849: close to its southern wall was a -sycamore planted by Lord Nelson, when a boy, at the entrance to his -uncle's cottage; the tree has been spared. Opposite were the old -Assembly-rooms, taken down in 1852: here was a table with an -inscription by an invalid, who recovered his health by walking to this -spot every morning to take his breakfast in front of the house. - -Bowling-greens were also among the celebrities of Marylebone: where, -says the grave John Locke (_Diary_, 1679), a curious stranger "may see -several persons of quality bowling, two or three times a week, all the -summer." The bowling-green of the Rose of Normandy Tavern and -Gaming-house in High-street is supposed to be that referred to in Lady -Mary Wortley Montagu's memorable line; and it is one of the scenes of -Captain Macheath's debaucheries, in Gay's _Beggar's Opera_. - -The Rose was built some 230 years ago, and was the oldest house in -Marylebone parish: it was originally a detached building, used as a -house of entertainment in connection with the bowling-green at the -back; and in 1659 the place was described as a square brick wall, set -with fruit-trees, gravel walks, and the bowling-green; "all, except -the first, double set with quickset hedges, full-grown, and kept in -excellent order, and indented like town walls." In a map of the Duke -of Portland's estate, of 1708, there are shown two bowling-greens, one -near the top of High-street, and abutting on the grounds of the Old -Manor House; the other at the back of this house: in connection with -the latter was the Rose Tavern, once much frequented by persons of the -first rank, but latterly in much disrepute, and supposed to be -referred to by Pennant, who, when speaking of the Duke of Buckingham's -minute description of the house afterwards the Queen's Palace, says: -"He has omitted his constant visits to the noted Gaming-house at -Marybone; the place of assemblage of all the infamous sharpers of the -time;" to whom his Grace always gave a dinner at the conclusion of the -season; and his parting toast was, "May as many of us as remain -unhanged next spring meet here again." - -These Bowling-greens were afterwards incorporated with the well-known -Marylebone Gardens, upon the site of which are now built -Beaumont-street, part of Devonshire-street, and Devonshire-place. The -principal entrance was in High-street. Pepys was here in 1688: "Then -we abroad to Marrowbone, and there walked in the Gardens: the first -time I was ever there, and a pretty place it is." In the _London -Gazette_, 1691, we read of "Long's Bowling-green, at the Rose, at -Marylebone, half a mile distant from London." The Gardens were at -first opened gratis to all classes; after the addition of the -bowling-greens, the company became more select, by one shilling -entrance-money being charged, an equivalent being allowed in viands. - -An engraving of 1761 shows the Gardens in their fullest splendour: the -centre walk had rows of trees, with irons for the lamps in the stems; -on either side, latticed alcoves; and on the right, the bow-fronted -orchestra with balustrades, supported by columns; with a projecting -roof, to keep the musicians and singers free from rain; on the left -is a room for balls and suppers. In 1763, the Gardens were taken by -Lowe, the singer; he kept them until 1769, when he conveyed the -property by assignment, to his creditors; the deed we remember to have -seen in Mr. Sampson Hodgkinson's Collection at Acton Green: from it we -learn that the premises of Rysbrack, the sculptor, were formerly part -of the Gardens. Nan Cattley and Signor Storace were among the singers. -James Hook, father of Theodore Hook, composed many songs for the -Gardens; and Dr. Arne, catches and glees; and under his direction was -played Handel's music, followed by fireworks; and in 1772, a -model-picture of Mount Etna, in eruption. Burlettas from Shakspeare -were recited here in 1774. In 1775, Baddeley, the comedian, gave here -his Modern Magic Lantern, including Punch's Election; next, George -Saville Carey his Lecture on Mimicry; and in 1776, fantoccini, sleight -of hand, and representations of the Boulevards at Paris and Pyramids -of Egypt. - -Chatterton wrote for the Gardens _The Revenge_, a burletta, the -manuscript of which, together with Chatterton's receipt, given to -Henslow, the proprietor of the Gardens, for the amount paid for the -drama, was found by Mr. Upcott, at a cheesemonger's shop, in the City; -it was published, but its authenticity was at the time doubted by many -eminent critics. (_Crypt_, November, 1827.) - -Paddington was long noted for its old Taverns. The White Lion, -Edgware-road, dates 1524, the year when hops were first imported. At -the Red Lion, near the Harrow-road, tradition says, Shakspeare acted; -and another Red Lion, formerly near the Harrow-road bridge over the -Bourn, is described in an inquisition of Edward VI. In this road is -also an ancient Pack-horse; and the Wheatsheaf, Edgware-road, was a -favourite resort of Ben Jonson.[47] - -Kilburn Wells, a noted tea-drinking tavern and garden, sprang up from -the fame of the spring of mineral water there. - -Bayswater had, within memory, its tea-garden taverns, the most -extensive of which were the "physic gardens" of Sir John Hill, who -here cultivated his medicinal plants, and prepared from them his -tinctures, essences, etc. The ground is now the site of noble -mansions. The Bayswater springs, reservoirs, and conduits, in olden -times, brought here thousands of pleasure-seekers; as did Shepherd's -Bush, with its rural name. Acton, with its wells of mineral water, -about the middle of the last century, were in high repute; the -assembly-room was then a place of great fashionable resort, but on its -decline was converted into tenements. The two noted taverns, the Hats, -at Ealing, were much resorted to in the last century, and early in the -present. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[47] Robins's _Paddington, Past and Present_. - - -KENSINGTON AND BROMPTON TAVERNS. - -Kensington, on the Great Western road, formerly had its large inns. -The coffee-house west of the Palace Road was much resorted to as a -tea-drinking place, handy to the gardens. - -Kensington, to this day, retains its memorial of the residence of -Addison at Holland House, from the period of his marriage. The -thoroughfare from the Kensington Road to Notting Hill is named Addison -Road. At Holland House are shown the table upon which the Essayist -wrote; his reputed portrait; and the chamber in which he died. - -It has been commonly stated and believed that Addison's marriage with -the Countess of Warwick was a most unhappy match; and that, to drown -his sorrow, and escape from his termagant wife, he would often slip -away from Holland House to the White Horse Inn, which stood at the -corner of Lord Holland's Lane, and on the site of the present Holland -Arms Inn. Here Addison would enjoy his favourite dish of a fillet of -veal, his bottle, and perhaps a friend. He is also stated to have had -another way of showing his spite to the Countess, by withdrawing the -company from Button's Coffee-house, set up by her Ladyship's old -servant. Moreover, Addison is accused of having taught Dryden to -drink, so as to hasten his end: how doubly "glorious" old John must -have been in his cups. Pope also states that Addison kept such late -hours that he was compelled to quit his company. But both these -anecdotes are from Spence, and are doubted; and they have done much -injury to Addison's character. Miss Aikin, in her _Life of Addison_, -endeavours to invalidate these imputations, by reference to the -sobriety of Addison's early life. He had a remarkably sound -constitution, and could, probably, sit out his companions, and stop -short of actual intoxication; indeed, it was said that he was only -warmed into the utmost brilliancy of table conversation, by the time -that Steele had rendered himself nearly unfit for it. Miss Aikin -refers to the tone and temper, the correctness of taste and judgment -of Addison's writings, in proof of his sobriety; and doubts whether a -man, himself stained with the vice of intoxication, would have dared -to stigmatize it as in his 569th _Spectator_. The idea that domestic -unhappiness led him to contract this dreadful habit, is then -repudiated; and the opposite conclusion supported by the bequest of -his whole property to his lady. "Is it conceivable," asks Miss Aikin, -"that any man would thus 'give and hazard all he had,' even to his -precious only child, in compliment to a woman who should have rendered -his last years miserable by her pride and petulance, and have driven -him out from his home, to pass his comfortless evenings in the gross -indulgence of a tavern." Our amiable biographer, therefore, equally -discredits the stories of Addison's unhappy marriage, and of his -intemperate habits. - -The White Horse was taken down many years since. The tradition of its -being the tavern frequented by Addison, was common in Kensington when -Faulkner printed his _History_, in 1820. - -There was a celebrated visitor at Holland House who, many years later, -partook of "the gross indulgence." Sheridan was often at Holland House -in his latter days; and Lady Holland told Moore that he used to take a -bottle of wine and a book up to bed with him always; the _former_ -alone intended for use. In the morning, he breakfasted in bed, and had -a little brandy or rum in his tea or coffee; made his appearance -between one or two, and pretending important business, used to set out -for town, but regularly stopped at the Adam and Eve public-house for a -dram, and there ran up a long bill, which Lord Holland had to pay. -This was the old roadside inn, long since taken down. - -When the building for the Great Exhibition of 1851 was in course of -construction, Alexis Soyer, the celebrated cook from the Reform Club, -hired for a term, Gore House, and converted Lady Blessington's -well-appointed mansion and grounds into a sort of large _restaurant_, -which our poetical cook named "the Symposium." The house was ill -planned for the purpose, and underwent much grotesque decoration and -_bizarre_ embellishment, to meet Soyer's somewhat unorthodox taste; -for his chief aim was to show the public "something they had never -seen before." The designation of the place--Symposium--led to a -dangerous joke: "Ah! I understand," said a wag, "impose-on-'em." Soyer -was horrified, and implored the joker not to name his witticism upon -'Change in the City, but he disregarded the _restaurateur's_ request, -and the pun was often repeated between Cornhill and Kensington. - -In the reconstruction and renovation of the place, Soyer was assisted -by his friend Mr. George Augustus Sala, who, some years after, when he -edited _Temple Bar_, described in his very clever manner, what he saw -and thought, whilst for "many moons he slept, and ate, and drank, and -walked, and talked, in Gore House, surrounded by the very strangest of -company":-- - - "From February to mid-March a curious medley of carpenters, - scene-painters, plumbers, glaziers, gardeners, - town-travellers for ironmongers, wine-merchants, and - drapers, held high carnival in the place. By-and-by came - dukes and duchesses, warriors and statesmen, ambassadors, - actors, artists, authors, quack-doctors, ballet-dancers, - journalists, Indian princes, Irish members, nearly all that - was odd and all that was distinguished, native or foreign, - in London town. They wandered up and down the staircases, - and in and out of the saloons, quizzing, and talking, and - laughing, and flirting sometimes in sly corners. They - signed their names in a big book, blazing with gold and - morocco, which lay among shavings on a carpenter's bench in - the library. Where is that wondrous collection of - autographs, that _Libro d'Oro_, now? Mr. Keeley's signature - followed suit to that of Lord Carlisle. Fanny Cerito - inscribed her pretty name, with that of 'St. Leon' added, - next to the signature of the magnificent Duchess of - Sutherland. I was at work with the whitewashers on the - stairs, and saw Semiramis sweep past. Baron Brunnow met - Prof. Holloway on the neutral ground of a page of - autographs. Jules Janin's name came close to the laborious - _paraphe_ of an eminent pugilist. Members of the American - Congress found themselves in juxtaposition with Frederick - Douglas and the dark gentleman who came as ambassador from - Hayti. I remember one Sunday, during that strange time, - seeing Mr. Disraeli, Madame Doche, the Author of _Vanity - Fair_, a privy councillor, a Sardinian attaché, the Marquis - of Normanby, the late Mr. Flexmore the clown, the Editor of - _Punch_, and the Wizard of the North, all pressing to enter - the whilom boudoir of the Blessington. - - "Meanwhile, I and the whitewashers were hard at work. We - summoned upholsterers, carvers and gilders to our aid. - Troops of men in white caps and jackets began to flit about - the lower regions. The gardeners were smothering themselves - with roses in the adjacent parterres. Marvellous erections - began to rear their heads in the grounds of Gore House. The - wilderness had become, not exactly a paradise, but a kind of - Garden of Epicurus, in which some of the features of that - classical bower of bliss were blended with those of the - kingdom of Cockaigne, where pigs are said to run about ready - roasted with silver knives and forks stuck in them, and - crying, 'Come, eat us; our crackling is delicious, and the - sage-and-onions with which we are stuffed distils an odour - as sweet as that of freshly gathered violets.' Vans laden - with wines, with groceries, with plates and dishes, with - glasses and candelabra, and with bales of calico, and still - more calico, were perpetually arriving at Gore House. The - carriages of the nobility and gentry were blocked up among - railway goods-vans and Parcels Delivery carts. The - authorities of the place were obliged to send for a - detective policeman to mount permanent guard at the Gore, - for the swell-mob had found us out, and flying squadrons of - felonry hung on the skirts of our distinguished visitors, - and harassed their fobs fearfully. Then we sent forth - advertisements to the daily papers, and legions of mothers, - grandmothers, and aunts brought myriads of newly-washed - boys; some chubby and curly-haired, some lanky and - straight-locked, from whom we selected the comelier youths, - and put them into picturesque garbs, confected for us by Mr. - Nicoll. Then we held a competitive examination of pretty - girls; and from those who obtained the largest number of - marks (of respect and admiration) we chose a bevy of Hebes, - whose rosy lips, black eyes and blue eyes, fair hair and - dark hair, very nearly drove me crazy in the spring days of - 1851. - - "And by the end of April we had completely metamorphosed - Gore House. I am sure that poor Lady Blessington would not - have known her coquettish villa again had she visited it; - and I am afraid she would not have been much gratified to - see that which the upholsterers, the whitewashers, the - hangers of calico, and your humble servant, had wrought. As - for the venerable Mr. Wilberforce, who, I believe, occupied - Gore House some years before Lady Blessington's tenancy, he - would have held up his hands in pious horror to see the - changes we had made. A madcap masquerade of bizarre taste - and queer fancies had turned Gore House completely inside - out. In honest truth, we had played the very dickens with - it. The gardens were certainly magnificent; and there was a - sloping terrace of flowers in the form of a gigantic shell, - and literally crammed with the choicest roses, which has - seldom, I believe, been rivalled in ornamental gardening. - But the house itself! The library had been kindly dealt by, - save that from the ceiling were suspended a crowd of - quicksilvered glass globes, which bobbed about like the - pendent ostrich-eggs in an Eastern mosque. There was a room - called the 'Floriana,' with walls and ceiling fluted with - blue and white calico, and stuck all over with spangles. - There was the 'Doriana,' also in calico, pink and white, and - approached by a portal called the 'door of the dungeon of - mystery,' which was studded with huge nails, and garnished - with fetters in the well-known Newgate fashion. Looking - towards the garden were the Alhambra Terrace and the - Venetian Bridge. The back drawing-room was the Night of - Stars, or the _Rêverie de l'Etoile polaire_; the night - being represented by a cerulean ceiling painted over with - fleecy clouds, and the firmament by hangings of blue gauze - spangled with stars cut out of silver-foil paper! Then there - was the vestibule of Jupiter Tonans, the walls covered with - a salmagundi of the architecture of all nations, from the - Acropolis to the Pyramids of Egypt, from Temple Bar to the - Tower of Babel. The dining-room became the Hall of Jewels, - or the _Salon des Larmes de Danaë_, and the 'Shower of - Gems,' with a grand arabesque perforated ceiling, gaudy in - gilding and distemper colours. Upstairs there was a room - fitted up as a Chinese pagoda, another as an Italian cottage - overlooking a vineyard and the Lake of Como; another as a - cavern of ice in the Arctic regions, with sham columns - imitating icebergs, and a stuffed white fox--bought cheap at - a sale--in the chimney. The grand staircase belonged to me, - and I painted its walls with a grotesque nightmare of - portraits of people I had never seen, and hundreds more upon - whom I had never set eyes save in the print-shops, till I - saw the originals grinning, or scowling, or planted in blank - amazement before the pictorial libels on the walls. - - "In the gardens Sir Charles Fox built for us a huge barrack - of wood, glass, and iron, which we called the 'Baronial - Hall,' and which we filled with pictures and lithographs, - and flags and calico, in our own peculiar fashion. We hired - a large grazing-meadow at the back of the gardens, from a - worthy Kensington cowkeeper, and having fitted up another - barrack at one end of it, called it the 'Pré D'Orsay.' We - memorialized the Middlesex magistrates, and, after a great - deal of trouble, got a licence enabling us to sell wines and - spirits, and to have music and dancing if we so chose. We - sprinkled tents and alcoves all over our gardens, and built - a gipsies' cavern, and a stalactite pagoda with double - windows, in which gold and silver fish floated. And finally, - having engaged an army of pages, cooks, scullions, waiters, - barmaids, and clerks of the kitchen, we opened this - monstrous place on the first of May, 1851, and bade all the - world come and dine at SOYER'S SYMPOSIUM." - -However, the ungrateful public disregarded the invitation, and poor -Alexis Soyer is believed to have lost 4000_l._ by this enterprise. He -died a few years after, at the early age of fifty. His friend Mr. -Sala has said of him with true pathos:--"He was a vain man; but he was -good and kind and charitable. There are paupers and beggars _even -among French cooks_, and Alexis always had his pensioners and his -alms-duns, to whom his hand was ever open. He was but a cook, but he -was my dear and good friend." - -We remember to have heard Soyer say of the writer of these truthful -words, in reply to an inquiry as to the artist of the figures upon the -staircase-walls, "He is a very clever fellow, of whom you will hear -much,"--a prediction which has been fully verified. - -Brompton, with its two centuries of Nursery fame, lasted to our time; -southward, among "the Groves," were the Florida, Hoop and Toy, and -other tea-garden taverns; there remains the Swan, with its -bowling-green. - - -KNIGHTSBRIDGE TAVERNS. - -Knightsbridge was formerly a noted "Spring-Garden," with several -taverns, of gay and questionable character. Some of the older houses -have historical interest. The Rose and Crown, formerly the Oliver -Cromwell, has been licensed above three hundred years. It is said to -be the house which sheltered Wyat, while his unfortunate Kentish -followers rested on the adjacent green. A tradition of the locality -also is that Cromwell's body-guard was once quartered here, the -probability of which is carefully examined in Davis's _Memorials of -Knightsbridge_. The house has been much modernized of late years; -"but," says Mr. Davis, "enough still remains in its peculiar chimneys, -oval-shaped windows, the low rooms, large yard, and extensive -stabling, with the galleries above, and office-like places beneath, to -testify to its antiquity and former importance." The Rising Sun, hard -by, is a seventeenth century red-brick house, which formerly had much -carved work in the rooms, and a good staircase remains. - -The Fox and Bull is the third house that has existed under the same -sign. The first was Elizabethan with carved and panelled rooms, -ornamented ceiling; and it was not until 1799, that the immense -fireplaces and dog-irons were removed for stove-grates. This house was -pulled down about 1836, and the second immediately built upon its -site; this stood till the Albert-gate improvements made the removal of -the tavern business to its present situation.[48] - -The original Fox and Bull is traditionally said to have been used by -Queen Elizabeth on her visits to Lord Burghley, at Brompton. Its -curious sign is said to be the only one of the kind existing. Here for -a long time was maintained that Queen Anne style of society, where -persons of parts and reputation were to be met with in public rooms. -Captain Corbet was for a long time its head; Mr. Shaw, of the War -Office, supplied the _London Gazette_; and Mr. Harris, of Covent -Garden, his play-bills. Sir Joshua Reynolds is said to have been -occasionally a visitor; as also Sir W. Wynn, the patron of Ryland. -George Morland, too, was frequently here. The sign was once painted by -Sir Joshua, and hung till 1807, when it was blown down and destroyed -in a storm. The house is referred to in the _Tatler_, No. 259. - -At about where William-street joins Lowndes-square was "an excellent -Spring Garden." Among the entries of the Virtuosi, or St. Luke's Club, -established by Vandyke, is the following: "Paid and spent at Spring -Gardens, by Knightsbridge, forfeiture, 3_l._ 15_s._" Pepys being at -Kensington, "on a frolic," June 16, 1664, "lay in his drawers, and -stockings, and waistcoat, till five of the clock, and so up, walked to -Knightsbridge, and there eat a mess of cream, and so to St. James's," -etc. And, April 24, 1665, the King being in the Park, and sly Pepys -being doubtful of being seen in any pleasure, stepped out of the Park -to Knightsbridge, and there ate and drank in the coach. - -Pepys also speaks of "the World's End," at Knightsbridge, which Mr. -Davis thinks could only have been the sign adopted for the Garden; and -Pepys, being too soon to go into Hyde Park, went on to Knightsbridge, -and there ate and drank at the World's End; and elsewhere the road -going "to the World's End, a drinking-house by the Park, and there -merry, and so home late." Congreve, in his _Love for Love_, alludes, -in a woman's quarrel, to the place, between Mrs. Frail and Mrs. -Foresight, in which the former says: "I don't doubt but you have -thought yourself happy in a hackney-coach before now. If I had gone to -Knightsbridge, or to Chelsea, or to Spring Garden, or Barn Elms, with -a man alone, something might have been said." The house belonging to -this Garden stood till about 1826. - -Knightsbridge Grove, approached through a stately avenue of trees from -the road, was a sporting-house. Here the noted Mrs. Cornelys -endeavoured to retrieve her fortunes, after her failure at Carlisle -House. In 1785, she gave up her precarious trade. "Ten years after," -says Davis's _Memorials of Knightsbridge_, "to the great surprise of -the public, she re-appeared at Knightsbridge as Mrs. Smith, a retailer -of asses' milk. A suite of breakfast-rooms was opened; but her former -influence could not be recovered. The speculation utterly failed; and -at length she was confined to the Fleet Prison. There she ended her -shallow career, dying August 19, 1797." - -A once notorious house, the Swan, still exists on the -Knightsbridge-road, a little beyond the Green. It is celebrated by Tom -Brown. In Otway's _Soldier's Fortune_, 1681, Sir Davy Dunce says:-- - - "I have surely lost, and ne'er shall find her more. She - promised me strictly to stay at home till I came back again; - for ought I know, she may be up three pair of stairs in the - Temple now, or, it may be, taking the air as far as - Knightsbridge, with some smooth-faced rogue or another; - 'tis a damned house that Swan,--that Swan at Knightsbridge - is a confounded house." - -To the Feathers, which stood to the south of Grosvenor-row, an odd -anecdote is attached. A Lodge of Odd Fellows, or some similar society, -was in the habit of holding its meetings in a room at the Feathers; -and on one occasion, when a new member was being initiated in the -mysteries thereof, in rushed two persons, whose abrupt and -unauthorized entrance threw the whole assemblage into an uproar. -Summary punishment was proposed by an expeditious kick into the -street; but, just as it was about to be bestowed, the secretary -recognized one of the intruders as George, Prince of Wales, afterwards -George IV. Circumstances instantly changed: it indeed was he, out on a -nocturnal excursion; and accordingly it was proposed and carried that -the Prince and his companion should be admitted members. The Prince -was chairman the remainder of the evening; and the chair in which he -sat, ornamented, in consequence, with the plume, is still preserved in -the parlour of the modern inn in Grosvenor-street West, and over it -hangs a coarsely-executed portrait of the Prince in the robes of the -order. The inn, the hospital, and various small tenements were removed -in 1851, when the present stately erections were immediately -commenced. On the ground being cleared away, various coins, old -horse-shoes, a few implements of warfare, and some human remains were -discovered.[49] - -Jenny's Whim, another celebrated place of entertainment, has only just -entirely disappeared; it was on the site of St. George's-row. Mr. -Davis thinks it to have been named from the fantastic way in which -Jenny, the first landlady, laid out the garden. Angelo says, it was -established by a firework-maker, in the reign of George I. There was a -large breakfast-room, and the grounds comprised a bowling-green, -alcoves, arbours, and flower-beds; a fish-pond, a cock-pit, and a pond -for duck-hunting. In the _Connoisseur_, May 15, 1775, we read: "The -lower sort of people had their Ranelaghs and their Vauxhalls as well -as the quality. Perrot's inimitable grotto may be seen, for only -calling for a pint of beer; and the royal diversion of duck-hunting -may be had into the bargain, together with a decanter of Dorchester, -for your sixpence, at Jenny's Whim." The large garden here had some -amusing deceptions; as by treading on a spring--taking you by -surprise--up started different figures, some ugly enough to frighten -you--a harlequin, a Mother Shipton, or some terrific animal. In a -large piece of water facing the tea-alcoves, large fish or mermaids -were showing themselves above the surface. Horace Walpole, in his -Letters, occasionally alludes to Jenny's Whim; in one to Montagu he -spitefully says--"Here (at Vauxhall) we picked up Lord Granby, arrived -very drunk from Jenny's Whim." - -Towards the close of the last century, Jenny's Whim began to decline; -its morning visitors were not so numerous, and opposition was also -powerful. It gradually became forgotten, and at last sank to the -condition of a beer-house, and about 1804 the business altogether -ceased.[50] - -Jenny's Whim has more than once served the novelist for an -illustration; as in _Maids of Honour, a Tale of the Times of George -the First_:--"There were gardens," says the writer, mentioning the -place, "attached to it, and a bowling-green; and parties were -frequently made, composed of ladies and gentlemen, to enjoy a day's -amusement there in eating strawberries and cream, syllabubs, cake, and -taking other refreshments, of which a great variety could be procured, -with cider, perry, ale, wine, and other liquors in abundance. The -gentlemen played at bowls--some employed themselves at skittles; -whilst the ladies amused themselves at a swing, or walked about the -garden, admiring the sunflowers, hollyhocks, the Duke of Marlborough -cut out of a filbert-tree, and the roses and daisies, currants and -gooseberries, that spread their alluring charms in every path. - -"This was a favourite rendezvous for lovers in courting time--a day's -pleasure at Jenny's Whim being considered by the fair one the most -enticing enjoyment that could be offered her; and often the hearts of -the most obdurate have given way beneath the influence of its -attractions. Jenny's Whim, therefore, had always, during the season, -plenty of pleasant parties of young people of both sexes. Sometimes -all its chambers were filled, and its gardens thronged by gay and -sentimental visitors."[51] - -FOOTNOTES: - -[48] Stolen Marriages were the source of the old Knightsbridge tavern -success; and ten books of marriages and baptisms solemnized here, 1658 -to 1752, are preserved. Trinity Chapel, the old edifice, was one of -the places where these irregular marriages were solemnized. Thus, in -Shadwell's _Sullen Lovers_, Lovell is made to say, "Let's dally no -longer; there is a person at Knightsbridge that yokes all stray people -together; we'll to him, he'll dispatch us presently, and send us away -as lovingly as any two fools that ever yet were condemned to -marriage." Some of the entries in this marriage register are -suspicious enough--"secrecy for life," or "great secrecy," or "secret -for fourteen years" being appended to the names. Mr. Davis, in his -_Memorials of Knightsbridge_, was the first to exhume from this -document the name of the adventuress "Mrs. Mary Aylif," whom Sir -Samuel Morland married as his fourth wife, in 1697. Readers of Pepys -will remember how pathetically Morland wrote, eighteen days after the -wedding, that when he had expected to marry an heiress, "I was, about -a fortnight since, led as a fool to the stocks, and married a -coachman's daughter not worth a shilling." - -[49] Davis's _Memorials of Knightsbridge_. - -[50] The last relic of "Jenny's Whim" was removed in November, 1865. - -[51] In 1755, a quarto satirical tract was published, entitled -"Jenny's Whim; or, a Sure Guide to the Nobility, Gentry, and other -Eminent Persons in this Metropolis." - - -RANELAGH GARDENS. - -This famous place of entertainment was opened in 1742, on the site of -the gardens of Ranelagh House, eastward of Chelsea Hospital. It was -originally projected by Lacy, the patentee of Drury Lane Theatre, as -a sort of Winter Vauxhall. There was a Rotunda, with a Doric portico, -and arcade and gallery; a Venetian pavilion in a lake, to which the -company were rowed in boats; and the grounds were planted with trees -and _allées vertes_. The several buildings were designed by Capon, the -eminent scene-painter. There were boxes for refreshments, and in each -was a painting: in the centre was a heating apparatus, concealed by -arches, porticoes and niches, paintings, etc.; and supporting the -ceiling, which was decorated with celestial figures, festoons of -flowers, and arabesques, and lighted by circles of chandeliers. The -Rotunda was opened with a public breakfast, April 5, 1742. Walpole -describes the high fashion of Ranelagh: "The prince, princess, duke, -much nobility, and much mob besides, were there." "My Lord -Chesterfield is so fond of it, that he says he has ordered all his -letters to be directed thither." The admission was one shilling; but -the ridottos, with supper and music, were one guinea. Concerts were -also given here: Dr. Arne composed the music, Tenducci and Mara sang; -and here were first publicly performed the compositions of the Catch -Club. Fireworks and a mimic Etna were next introduced; and lastly -masquerades, described in Fielding's _Amelia_, and satirized in the -_Connoisseur_, No. 66, May 1, 1755; wherein the Sunday-evening's -tea-drinkings at Ranelagh being laid aside, it is proposed to exhibit -"the story of the Fall of Man in a Masquerade." - -But the promenade of the Rotunda, to the music of the orchestra and -organ, soon declined. "There's your famous Ranelagh, that you make -such a fuss about; why, what a dull place is that!" says Miss Burney's -_Evelina_. In 1802, the Installation Ball of the Knights of the Bath -was given here; and the Pic-nic Society gave here a breakfast to 2000 -persons, when Garnerin ascended in his balloon. After the Peace Fête, -in 1803, for which allegorical scenes were painted by Capon, Ranelagh -was deserted, and in 1804, the buildings were removed. - -There was subsequently opened in the neighbourhood a New Ranelagh. - - -CREMORNE TAVERN AND GARDENS. - -This property was formerly known as Chelsea Farm, and in 1803, -devolved to the Viscount Cremorne, after whom it was named, and who -employed Wyatt to build the elegant and commodious mansion. In the -early part of the present century, Cremorne was often visited by -George III., and Queen Charlotte, and the Prince of Wales. In 1825, -the house and grounds devolved to Mr. Granville Penn, by whom they -were much improved. Next, the beauty of the spot, and its fitness for -a pleasure-garden, led to its being opened to the public as "the -Stadium." After this, the estate fell into other hands, and was -appropriated to a very different object. At length, under the -proprietorship of Mr. T. B. Simpson, the grounds were laid out with -taste, and the tavern enlarged; and the place has prospered for many -years as a sort of Vauxhall, with multitudinous amusements, in variety -far outnumbering the old proto-gardens. - - -THE MULBERRY GARDEN, - -Upon the site of which is built the northern portion of Buckingham -Palace, was planted by order of James I., in 1609, and in the next two -reigns became a public garden. Evelyn describes it in 1654 as "ye -only place of refreshment about ye towne for persons of ye best -quality to be exceedingly cheated at;" and Pepys refers to it as "a -silly place," but with "a wilderness somewhat pretty." It is a -favourite locality in the gay comedies of Charles II.'s reign. - -Dryden frequented the Mulberry Garden; and according to a -contemporary, the poet ate tarts there with Mrs. Anne Reeve, his -mistress. The company sat in arbours, and were regaled with -cheesecakes, syllabubs, and sweetened wine; wine-and-water at dinner, -and a dish of tea afterwards. Sometimes the ladies wore masks. "The -country ladys, for the first month, take up their places in the -Mulberry Garden as early as a citizen's wife at a new play."--Sir -Charles Sedley's _Mulberry Garden_, 1668. - - "A princely palace on that space does rise, - Where Sedley's noble muse found mulberries."--_Dr. King._ - -Upon the above part of the garden site was built _Goring House_, let -to the Earl of Arlington in 1666, and thence named _Arlington House_: -in this year the Earl brought from Holland, for 60_s._, the first -pound of tea received in England; so that, in all probability, _the -first cup of tea made in England was drunk upon the site of Buckingham -Palace_. - - -PIMLICO TAVERNS. - -Pimlico is a name of gardens of public entertainment, often mentioned -by our early dramatists, and in this respect resembles "Spring -Garden." In a rare tract, _Newes from Hogsdon_, 1598, is: "Have at -thee, then, my merrie boys, and hey for old Ben Pimlico's nut-browne!" -and the place, in or near Hoxton, was afterwards named from him. Ben -Jonson has: - - "A second Hogsden, - In days of Pimlico and eye-bright."--_The Alchemist._ - -"Pimlico-path" is a gay resort of his _Bartholomew Fair_; and -Meercraft, in _The Devil is an Ass_, says: - - "I'll have thee, Captain Gilthead, and march up - And take in Pimlico, and kill the bush - At every tavern." - -In 1609, was printed a tract entitled _Pimlyco_, or _Prince Red Cap, -'tis a Mad World at Hogsden_. Sir Lionel Hash, in Green's _Tu Quoque_, -sends his daughter "as far as Pimlico for a draught of Derby ale, that -it may bring colour into her cheeks." Massinger mentions, - - "Eating pudding-pies on a Sunday, - At Pimlico or Islington."--_City Madam._ - -Aubrey, in his _Surrey_, speaks of "a Pimlico Garden on Bankside." - -Pimlico, the district between Knightsbridge and the Thames, and St. -James's Park and Chelsea, was noted for its public gardens: as the -Mulberry Garden, now part of the site of Buckingham Palace; the Dwarf -Tavern and Gardens, afterwards Spring Gardens, between Ebury-street -and Belgrave-terrace; the Star and Garter, at the end of -Five-Fields-row, famous for its equestrianism, fireworks, and dancing; -and the Orange, upon the site of St. Barnabas' church. Here, too, were -Ranelagh and New Ranelagh. But the largest garden in Pimlico was -Jenny's Whim, already described. In later years it was frequented by -crowds from bull-baiting in the adjoining fields. Among the existing -old signs are, the Bag o' Nails, Arabella-row, from Ben Jonson's -"Bacchanals;" the Compasses, of Cromwell's time (near Grosvenor-row); -and the Gun Tavern and Tea-gardens, Queen's-row, with its harbours and -costumed figures taken down for the Buckingham Gate improvements. -Pimlico is still noted for its ale-breweries. - - -LAMBETH,--VAUXHALL TAVERNS AND GARDENS, ETC. - -On the south bank of the Thames, at the time of the Restoration, were -first laid out the New Spring Gardens, at Lambeth (Vauxhall), so -called to distinguish them from Spring Garden, Charing Cross. Nearly -two centuries of gay existence had Vauxhall Gardens, notwithstanding -the proverbial fickleness of our climate, and its ill-adaptation for -out-door amusements. The incidents of its history are better known -than those of Marylebone or Ranelagh Gardens; so that we shall not -here repeat the Vauxhall programmes. The gardens were finally closed -in 1859, and the ground is now built upon: a church, of most beautiful -design, and a school of art, being the principal edifices. - -"Though Vauxhall Gardens retained their plan to the last, the lamps -had long fallen off in their golden fires; the punch got weaker, the -admission-money less; and the company fell in a like ratio of -respectability, and grew dingy, not to say raffish,--a sorry -falling-off from the Vauxhall crowd of a century since, when it -numbered princes and ambassadors; 'on its tide and torrent of fashion -floated all the beauty of the time; and through its lighted avenues of -trees glided cabinet ministers and their daughters, royal dukes and -their wives, and all the red-heeled macaronies.' Even fifty years ago, -the evening costume of the company was elegant: head-dresses of -flowers and feathers were seen in the promenade, and the entire place -sparkled as did no other place of public amusement. But low prices -brought low company. The conventional wax-lights got fewer; the punch -gave way to fiery brandy or doctored stout. The semblance of Vauxhall -was still preserved in the orchestra printed upon the plates and mugs; -and the old fire-work bell tinkled as gaily as ever. But matters grew -more seedy; the place seemed literally worn out; the very trees were -scrubby and singed; and it was high time to say, as well as see, in -letters of lamps, 'Farewell for ever!'"[52] - -Several other taverns and gardens have existed at different times in -this neighbourhood. Cumberland Gardens' site is now Vauxhall -Bridge-road, and Cuper's Garden was laid out with walks and arbours by -Boydell Cuper, gardener to Thomas, Earl of Arundel, who gave him some -of the mutilated Arundelian marbles (statues), which Cuper set up in -his ground: it was suppressed in 1753: the site is now crossed by -Waterloo Bridge Road. Belvidere House and Gardens adjoined Cuper's -Garden, in Queen Anne's reign. - -The Hercules Inn and Gardens occupied the site of the Asylum for -Female Orphans, opened in 1758; and opposite were the Apollo Gardens -and the Temple of Flora, Mount-row, opened 1788. A century earlier -there existed, in King William's reign, Lambeth Wells, in Three Coney -Walk, now Lambeth Walk; it was reputed for its mineral waters, sold at -a penny a quart, "the same price paid by St. Thomas's Hospital." About -1750 a Musical Society was held here, and lectures and experiments -were given on natural philosophy by Erasmus King, who had been -coachman to Dr. Desaguliers. In Stangate-lane, Carlisle-street, is the -Bower Saloon, with its theatre and music-room, a pleasure-haunt of our -own time. Next is Canterbury Hall, the first established of the great -Music Halls of the metropolis. - -The Dog and Duck was a place of entertainment in St. George's Fields, -where duck-hunting was one of its brutal amusements. The house was -taken down upon the rebuilding of Bethlehem Hospital; and the -sign-stone, representing a dog squatting upon his haunches, with a -duck in his mouth, with the date 1617, is imbedded in the brick wall -of the Hospital garden, upon the site of the entrance to the old -tavern; and at the Hospital is a drawing of the Dog and Duck: it was a -resort of Hannah More's "Cheapside Apprentice." - -Bermondsey Spa, a chalybeate spring, discovered about 1770, was -opened, in 1780, as a minor Vauxhall, with fireworks, pictures of -still life, and a picture-model of the Siege of Gibraltar, painted by -Keyse, the entire apparatus occupying about four acres. He died in -1800, and the garden was shut up about 1805. There are Tokens of the -place extant, and the Spa-road is named from it. - -A few of the old Southwark taverns have been described. From its being -the seat of our early Theatres, the houses of entertainment were here -very numerous, in addition to the old historic Inns, which are fast -disappearing. In the Beaufoy collection are several Southwark Tavern -Tokens; as--The Bore's Head, 1649 (between Nos. 25 and 26 -High-street). Next also is a Dogg and Dvcke token, 1651 (St. George's -Fields); the Greene Man, 1651 (which remains in Blackman-street); ye -Bull Head Taverne, 1667, mentioned by Edward Alleyn, founder of -Dulwich College, as one of his resorts; Duke of Suffolk's Head, 1669; -and the Swan with Two Necks. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[52] See the Descriptions of Vauxhall Gardens in _Curiosities of -London_, pp. 745-748. _Walks and Talks about London_, pp. 16-30. -_Romance of London_, vol. iii. pp. 34-44. - - -FREEMASONS' LODGES. - -Mr. Elmes, in his admirable work, _Sir Christopher Wren and his -Times_, 1852, thus glances at the position of Freemasonry in the -Metropolis two centuries since, or from the time of the Great Fire: - -"In 1666 Wren was nominated deputy Grand Master under Earl Rivers, and -distinguished himself above all his predecessors in legislating for -the body at large, and in promoting the interests of the lodges under -his immediate care. He was Master of the St. Paul's Lodge, which, -during the building of the Cathedral, assembled at the Goose and -Gridiron in St. Paul's Churchyard, and is now the Lodge of Antiquity, -acting by immemorial prescription, and regularly presided at its -meetings for upwards of eighteen years. During his presidency he -presented that Lodge with three mahogany candlesticks, beautifully -carved, and the trowel and mallet which he used in laying the first -stone of the Cathedral, June 21, 1675, which the brethren of that -ancient and distinguished Lodge still possess and duly appreciate. - -"During the building of the City, Lodges were held by the fraternity -in different places, and several new ones constituted, which were -attended by the leading architects and the best builders of the day, -and amateur brethren of the mystic craft. In 1674 Earl Rivers resigned -his grand-mastership, and George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, was -elected to the dignified office. He left the care of the Grand Lodge -and the brotherhood to the deputy Grand Master Wren and his Wardens. -During the short reign of James II., who tolerated no secret societies -but the Jesuits, the Lodges were but thinly attended; but in 1685, Sir -Christopher Wren was elected Grand Master of the Order, and nominated -Gabriel Cibber, the sculptor, and Edward Strong, the master mason at -St. Paul's and other of the City churches, as Grand Wardens. The -Society has continued with various degrees of success to the present -day, particularly under the grand-masterships of the Prince of Wales, -afterwards King George IV.,[53] and his brother, the late Duke of -Sussex, and since the death of the latter, under that of the Earl of -Zetland; and Lodges under the constitution of the Grand Lodge of -England are held in every part of the habitable globe, as its -numerically and annually-increasing lists abundantly show." - -Sir Francis Palgrave, in an elaborate paper in the _Edinburgh Review_, -April, 1839, however, takes another view of the subject, telling us -that "the connexion between the operative masons,[54] and those whom, -without disrespect, we must term a convivial society of good fellows, -met at the 'Goose and Gridiron, in St. Paul his Churchyard,' appears -to have been finally dissolved about the beginning of the eighteenth -century. The theoretical and mystic, for we dare not say ancient, -Freemasons, separated from the Worshipful Company of Masons and -Citizens of London about the period above mentioned. It appears from -an inventory of the contents of the chest of the London Company, that -not very long since, it contained 'a book wrote on parchment, and -bound or stitched in parchment, containing 113 annals of the -antiquity, rise, and progress of the art and mystery of Masonry.' But -this document is not now to be found." - -There is in existence, and known to persons who take an interest in -the History of Freemasonry, a copperplate List of Freemasons' Lodges -in London in the reign of Queen Anne, with a representation of the -Signs, and some Masonic ceremony, in which are eleven figures of -well-dressed men, in the costume of the above period. There were then -129 Lodges, of which 86 were in London, 36 in English cities, and -seven abroad. - -Freemasonry evidently sprang up in London at the building of St. -Paul's; and many of the oldest Lodges are in the neighbourhood. But -the head-quarters of Freemasonry, are the Grand Hall, in the rear of -Freemasons' Tavern, 62, Great Queen-street, Lincoln's Inn Fields: it -was commenced May 1, 1775, from the designs of Thomas Sandby, R.A., -Professor of Architecture in the Royal Academy: 5000_l._ was raised by -a Tontine towards the cost; and the Hall was opened and dedicated in -solemn form, May 23, 1776; Lord Petre, Grand-Master. "It is the first -house built in this country with the appropriate symbols of masonry, -and with the suitable apartments for the holding of lodges, the -initiating, passing, raising, and exalting of brethren." Here are held -the Grand and other lodges, which hitherto assembled in the Halls of -the City Companies. - -Freemasons' Hall, as originally decorated, is shown in a print of the -annual procession of Freemasons' Orphans, by T. Stothard, R.A. It is a -finely-proportioned room, 92 feet by 43 feet, and 60 feet high; and -will hold 1500 persons: it was re-decorated in 1846: the ceiling and -coving are richly decorated; above the principal entrance is a large -gallery, with an organ; and at the opposite end is a coved recess, -flanked by a pair of fluted Ionic columns, and Egyptian doorways; the -sides are decorated with fluted Ionic pilasters; and throughout the -room in the frieze are masonic emblems, gilt upon a transparent blue -ground. In the intercolumniations are full-length royal and other -masonic portraits, including that of the Duke of Sussex, as -Grand-Master, by Sir W. Beechey, R.A. In the end recess is a marble -statue of the Duke of Sussex, executed for the Grand Lodge, by E. H. -Baily, R.A. The statue is seven feet six inches high, and the pedestal -six feet; the Duke wears the robes of a Knight of the Garter, and the -Guelphic insignia: at his side is a small altar, sculptured with -masonic emblems. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[53] The Prince was initiated in a Lodge at the Key and Garter, No. -26, Pall Mall. - -[54] Hampton Court Palace was built by Freemasons, as appears from the -very curious accounts of the expenses of the fabric, extant among the -public records of London. - - -WHITEBAIT TAVERNS. - -At what period the lovers of good living first went to eat Whitebait -at "the taverns contiguous to the places where the fish is taken," is -not very clear. At all events, the houses did not resemble the -Brunswick, the West India Dock, the Ship, or the Trafalgar, of the -present day, these having much of the architectural pretension of a -modern club-house. - -Whitebait have long been numbered among the delicacies of our tables; -for we find "six dishes of Whitebait" in the funeral feast of the -munificent founder of the Charterhouse, given in the Hall of the -Stationers' Company, on May 28, 1612--the year before the Globe -Theatre was burnt down, and the New River completed. For aught we know -these delicious fish may have been served up to Henry VIII. and Queen -Elizabeth in their palace at Greenwich, off which place, and Blackwall -opposite, Whitebait have been for ages taken in the Thames at -flood-tide. To the river-side taverns we must go to enjoy a "Whitebait -dinner," for, one of the conditions of success is that the fish should -be directly netted out of the river into the cook's cauldron. - -About the end of March, or early in April, Whitebait make their -appearance in the Thames, and are then small, apparently but just -changed from the albuminous state of the young fry. During June, July, -and August, immense quantities are consumed by visitors to the -different taverns at Greenwich and Blackwall. - -Pennant says: Whitebait "are esteemed very delicious when fried with -fine flour, and occasion during the season a vast resort of the _lower -order of epicures_ to the taverns contiguous to the places where they -are taken." If this account be correct, there must have been a strange -change in the grade of the epicures frequenting Greenwich and -Blackwall since Pennant's days; for at present, the fashion of eating -Whitebait is sanctioned by the highest authorities, from the Court of -St. James's Palace in the West, to the Lord Mayor and _his_ court in -the East; besides the philosophers of the Royal Society, and her -Majesty's Cabinet Ministers. Who, for example, does not recollect such -a paragraph as the following, which appeared in the _Morning Post_ of -the day on which Mr. Yarrell wrote his account of Whitebait, September -10th, 1835?-- - -"Yesterday, the Cabinet Ministers went down the river in the Ordnance -barges to Lovegrove's West India Dock Tavern, Blackwall, to partake of -their annual fish dinner. Covers were laid for thirty-five gentlemen." - -For our own part, we consider the Ministers did not evince their usual -good policy in choosing so late a period as September; the Whitebait -being finer eating in July or August; so that their "annual fish -dinner" must rather be regarded as a sort of prandial wind-up of the -parliamentary session than as a specimen of refined epicurism. - -We remember many changes in matters concerning Whitebait at Greenwich -and Blackwall. Formerly, the taverns were mostly built with -weather-board fronts, with bow-windows, so as to command a view of -the river. The old Ship, and the Crown and Sceptre, taverns at -Greenwich were built in this manner; and some of the Blackwall houses -were of humble pretensions: these have disappeared, and handsome -architectural piles have been erected in their places. Meanwhile, -Whitebait have been sent to the metropolis, by railway, or steamer, -where they figure in fishmongers' shops, and tavern _cartes_ of almost -every degree. - -Perhaps the famed delicacy of Whitebait rests as much upon its skilful -cookery as upon the freshness of the fish. Dr. Pereira has published -the mode of cooking in one of Lovegrave's "bait-kitchens" at -Blackwall. The fish should be dressed within an hour after being -caught, or they are apt to cling together. They are kept in water, -from which they are taken by a skimmer as required; they are then -thrown upon a layer of flour, contained in a large napkin, in which -they are shaken until completely enveloped in flour; they are then put -into a colander, and all the superfluous flour is removed by sifting; -the fish are next thrown into hot lard contained in a copper cauldron -or stew-pan placed over a charcoal fire; in about two minutes they are -removed by a tin skimmer, thrown into a colander to drain, and served -up instantly, by placing them on a fish-drainer in a dish. The -rapidity of the cooking process is of the utmost importance; and if it -be not attended to, the fish will lose their crispness, and be -worthless. At table, lemon juice is squeezed over them, and they are -seasoned with Cayenne pepper; brown bread and butter is substituted -for plain bread; and they are eaten with iced champagne, or punch. - -The origin of the Ministers' Fish Dinner, already mentioned, has been -thus pleasantly narrated: - -Every year, the approach of the close of the Parliamentary Session is -indicated by what is termed "the Ministerial Fish Dinner," in which -Whitebait forms a prominent dish; and Cabinet Ministers are the -company. The Dinner takes place at a principal tavern, usually at -Greenwich, but sometimes at Blackwall: the dining-room is decorated -for the occasion, which partakes of a state entertainment. Formerly, -however, the Ministers went down the river from Whitehall in an -Ordnance gilt barge: now, a government steamer is employed. The origin -of this annual festivity is told as follows. On the banks of Dagenham -Lake or Reach, in Essex, many years since, there stood a cottage, -occupied by a princely merchant named Preston, a baronet of Scotland -and Nova Scotia, and sometime M.P. for Dover. He called it his -"fishing cottage," and often in the spring he went thither, with a -friend or two, as a relief to the toils of parliamentary and -mercantile duties. His most frequent guest was the Right Hon. George -Rose, Secretary of the Treasury, and an Elder Brother of the Trinity -House. Many a day did these two worthies enjoy at Dagenham Reach; and -Mr. Rose once intimated to Sir Robert, that Mr. Pitt, of whose -friendship they were both justly proud, would, no doubt, delight in -the comfort of such a retreat. A day was named, and the Premier was -invited; and he was so well pleased with his reception at the "fishing -cottage"--they were all two if not three bottle men--that, on taking -leave, Mr. Pitt readily accepted an invitation for the following year. - -For a few years, the Premier continued a visitor to Dagenham, and was -always accompanied by Mr. George Rose. But the distance was -considerable; the going and coming were somewhat inconvenient for the -First Minister of the Crown. Sir Robert Preston, however, had his -remedy, and he proposed that they should in future dine nearer London. -Greenwich was suggested: we do not hear of Whitebait in the Dagenham -dinners, and its introduction, probably, dates from the removal to -Greenwich. The party of three was now increased to four; Mr. Pitt -being permitted to bring Lord Camden. Soon after, a fifth guest was -invited--Mr. Charles Long, afterwards Lord Farnborough. All were still -the guests of Sir Robert Preston; but, one by one, other notables were -invited,--all Tories--and, at last, Lord Camden considerately -remarked, that, as they were all dining at a tavern, it was but fair -that Sir Robert Preston should be relieved from the expense. It was -then arranged that the dinner should be given, as usual, by Sir Robert -Preston, that is to say, at his invitation; and he insisted on still -contributing a buck and champagne: the rest of the charges were -thenceforth defrayed by the several guests; and, on this plan, the -meeting continued to take place annually till the death of Mr. Pitt. - -Sir Robert was requested, next year, to summon the several guests, the -list of whom, by this time, included most of the Cabinet Ministers. -The time for meeting was usually after Trinity Monday, a short period -before the end of the Session. By degrees, the meeting, which was -originally purely gastronomic, appears to have assumed, in consequence -of the long reign of the Tories, a political, or semi-political -character. Sir Robert Preston died; but Mr. Long, now Lord -Farnborough, undertook to summon the several guests, the list of whom -was furnished by Sir Robert Preston's private secretary. Hitherto, the -invitations had been sent privately: now they were dispatched in -Cabinet boxes, and the party was, certainly, for some time, limited to -the Members of the Cabinet. A dinner lubricates ministerial as well as -other business; so that the "Ministerial Fish Dinner" may "contribute -to the grandeur and prosperity of our beloved country." - -The following Carte is from the last edition of the _Art of Dining_, -in Murray's _Railway Reading_:-- - - _Fish Dinner at Blackwall or Greenwich._ - - La tortue à l'Anglaise. - La bisque d'écrevisses. - Le consommé aux quenelles de merlan. - De tortue claire. - Les casseroles de green fat feront le tour de la table. - Les tranches de saumon (crimped). - Le poisson de St. Pierre à la crême. - Le zoutchet de perches. - " de truites. - " de flottons. - " de soles (crimped). - " de saumon. - " d'anguilles. - Les lamproies à la Worcester. - Les croques en bouches de laitances de maquereau. - Les boudins de merlans à la reine. - Garnis { Les soles menues frites. - de { Les petits carrelets frites. - persil { Croquettes de homard. - frit. { Les filets d'anguilles. - La truite saumonée à la Tartare. - Le whitebait: _id._ à la diable. - - _Second Service._ - - Les petits poulets au cresson--le jambonneau aux épinards. - - La Mayonnaise de filets de soles--les filets de merlans à - l'Arpin. - - Les petits pois à l'Anglaise--les artichauts à la Barigoule. - - La gelée de Marasquin aux fraises--les pets de nonnes. - - Les tartelettes aux cerises--les célestines à la fleur - d'orange. - - Le baba à la compôte d'abricots--le fromage Plombière. - -Mr. Walker, in his _Original_, gives an account of a dinner he -ordered, at Lovegrove's, at Blackwall, where if you never dined, so -much the worse for you:-- - - "The party will consist of seven men besides myself, and - every guest is asked for some reason--upon which good - fellowship mainly depends; for people brought together - unconnectedly had, in my opinion, better be kept separately. - Eight I hold the golden number, never to be exceeded without - weakening the efficacy of concentration. The dinner is to - consist of turtle, followed by no other fish but Whitebait, - which is to be followed by no other meat but grouse, which - are to be succeeded simply by apple-fritters and jelly, - pastry on such occasions being quite out of place. With the - turtle, of course, there will be punch; with the Whitebait, - champagne; and with the grouse, claret; the two former I - have ordered to be particularly well iced, and they will all - be placed in succession upon the table, so that we can help - ourselves as we please. I shall permit no other wines, - unless, perchance, a bottle or two of port, if particularly - wanted, as I hold variety of wines a great mistake. With - respect to the adjuncts, I shall take care that there is - cayenne, with lemons cut in halves, not in quarters, within - reach of every one, for the turtle, and that brown bread and - butter in abundance is set upon the table for the Whitebait. - It is no trouble to think of these little matters - beforehand, but they make a vast difference in convivial - contentment. The dinner will be followed by ices, and a good - dessert, after which coffee and one glass of liqueur each, - and no more; so that the present may be enjoyed without - inducing retrospective regrets. If the master of a feast - wish his party to succeed, he must know how to command; and - not let his guests run riot, each according to his own wild - fancy." - - -THE LONDON TAVERN, - -Situated about the middle of the western side of Bishopsgate-street. -Within, presents in its frontage a mezzanine-storey, and lofty -Venetian windows, reminding one of the old-fashioned assembly-room -façade. The site of the present tavern was previously occupied by the -White Lion Tavern, which was destroyed in an extensive fire on the 7th -of November, 1765; it broke out at a peruke-maker's opposite; the -flames were carried by a high wind across the street, to the house -immediately adjoining the tavern, the fire speedily reaching the -corner; the other angles of Cornhill, Gracechurch-street, and -Leadenhall-street, were all on fire at the same time, and fifty houses -and buildings were destroyed and damaged, including the White Lion and -Black Lion Taverns. - -Upon the site of the former was founded "The London Tavern," on the -Tontine principle; it was commenced in 1767, and completed and opened -in September, 1768; Richard B. Jupp, architect. The front is more than -80 feet wide by nearly 70 feet in height. - -The Great Dining-room, or "Pillar-room," as it is called, is 40 feet -by 33 feet, decorated with medallions and garlands, Corinthian columns -and pilasters. At the top of the edifice is the ball-room, extending -the whole length of the structure, by 33 feet in width and 30 feet in -height, which may be laid out as a banqueting-room for 300 feasters; -exclusively of accommodating 150 ladies as spectators in the galleries -at each end. The walls are throughout hung with paintings; and the -large room has an organ. - -The Turtle is kept in large tanks, which occupy a whole vault, where -two tons of turtle may sometimes be seen swimming in one vat. We have -to thank Mr. Cunningham for this information, which is noteworthy, -independently of its epicurean association,--that "turtles will live -in cellars for three months in excellent condition if kept in the same -water in which they were brought to this country. To change the water -is to lessen the weight and flavour of the turtle." Turtle does not -appear in bills of fare of entertainments given by Lord Mayors and -Sheriffs between the years 1761 and 1766; and it is not till 1768 that -turtle appears by name, and then in the bill of the banquet at the -Mansion House to the King of Denmark. The cellars, which consist of -the whole basement storey, are filled with barrels of porter, pipes of -port, butts of sherry, etc. Then there are a labyrinth of walls of -bottle ends, and a region of bins, six bottles deep; the catacombs of -Johannisberg, Tokay, and Burgundy. "Still we glide on through rivers -of sawdust, through embankments of genial wine. There are twelve -hundred of champagne down here; there are between six and seven -hundred dozen of claret; corked up in these bins is a capital of from -eleven to twelve thousand pounds; these bottles absorb, in simple -interest at five per cent., an income amounting to some five or six -hundred pounds per annum."[55] "It was not, however, solely for -uncovering these floods of mighty wines, nor for luxurious feasting -that the London Tavern was at first erected, nor for which it is still -exclusively famous, since it was always designed to provide a -spacious and convenient place for public meetings. One of the earliest -printed notices concerning the establishment is of this character, it -being the account of a meeting for promoting a public subscription for -John Wilkes, on the 12th of February, 1769, at which 3000_l._ were -raised, and local committees appointed for the provinces. In the -Spring season such meetings and committees of all sorts are equally -numerous and conflicting with each other, for they not unfrequently -comprise an interesting charitable election or two; and in addition -the day's entertainments are often concluded with more than one large -dinner, and an evening party for the lady spectators. - -"Here, too, may be seen the hasty arrivals of persons for the meetings -of the Mexican Bondholders on the second-floor; of a Railway assurance -'up-stairs, and first to the left;' of an asylum election at the end -of the passage; and of the party on the 'first-floor to the right,' -who had to consider of 'the union of the Gibbleton line to the -Great-Trunk-Due-Eastern-Junction.' - -"For these business meetings the rooms are arranged with benches, and -sumptuously Turkey-carpeted; the end being provided with a long table -for the directors, with an imposing array of papers and pens, - -"'The morn, the noon, the day is pass'd' in the reports, the speeches, -the recriminations and defences of these parties, until it is nearly -five o'clock. In the very same room the Hooping Cough Asylum Dinner is -to take place at six; and the Mexican Bondholders are stamping and -hooting above, on the same floor which in an hour is to support the -feast of some Worshipful Company which makes it their hall. The feat -appears to be altogether impossible; nevertheless, it must and will be -most accurately performed." - -The Secretary has scarcely bound the last piece of red tape round his -papers, when four men rush to the four corners of the Turkey carpet, -and half of it is rolled up, dust and all. Four other men with the -half of a clean carpet bowl it along in the wake of the one displaced. -While you are watching the same performance with the remaining half of -the floor, a battalion of waiters has fitted up, upon the new half -carpet, a row of dining-tables and covered them with table-cloths. -While in turn you watch them, the entire apartment is tabled and -table-clothed. Thirty men are at this work upon a system, strictly -departmental. Rinse and three of his followers lay the knives; Burrows -and three more cause the glasses to sparkle on the board. You express -your wonder at this magical celerity. Rinse moderately replies that -the same game is going on in the other four rooms; and this happens -six days out of the seven in the dining-room. - -When the Banquet was given to Mr. Macready in February, 1851, the -London Tavern could not accommodate all the company, because there -were seven hundred and odd; and the Hall of Commerce was taken for the -dinner. The merchants and brokers were transacting business there at -four o'clock; and in two hours, seats, tables, platforms, dinner, -wine, gas, and company, were all in. By a quarter before six -everything was ready, and a chair placed before each plate. Exactly at -six, everything was placed upon the table, and most of the guests were -seated. - -For effecting these wonderful evolutions, it will be no matter of -surprise that we are told that an army of servants, sixty or seventy -strong, is retained on the establishment; taking on auxiliary legions -during the dining season. - -The business of this gigantic establishment is of such extent as to be -only carried on by this systematic means. Among the more prominent -displays of its resources which take place here are the annual -Banquets of the officers of some twenty-eight different regiments, in -the month of May. There are likewise given here a very large number of -the annual entertainments of the different Charities of London. -Twenty-four of the City Companies hold their Banquets here, and -transact official business. Several Balls take place here annually. -Masonic Lodges are held here; and almost innumerable Meetings, Sales, -and Elections for Charities alternate with the more directly festive -business of the London Tavern. Each of the departments of so vast an -establishment has its special interest. We have glanced at its -dining-halls, and its turtle and wine cellars.[56] To detail its -kitchens and the management of its stores and supplies, and -consumption, would extend beyond our limit, so that we shall end by -remarking that upon no portion of our metropolis is more largely -enjoyed the luxury of doing good, and the observance of the rights and -duties of goodfellowship, than at the London Tavern. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[55] _Household Words_, 1852. - -[56] The usual allowance at what is called a Turtle-Dinner, is 6 lb. -live weight per head. At the Spanish-Dinner, at the City of London -Tavern, in 1808, four hundred guests attended, and 2500lb. of turtle -were consumed. - -For the Banquet at Guildhall, on Lord Mayor's Day, 250 tureens of -turtle are provided. - -Turtle may be enjoyed in steaks, cutlets, or fins, and as soup, clear -and _purée_, at the Albion, London, and Freemasons', and other large -taverns. "The Ship and Turtle Tavern," Nos. 129 and 130, -Leadenhall-street, is especially famous for its turtle; and from this -establishment several of the West-end Club-houses are supplied. - - -THE CLARENDON HOTEL. - -This sumptuous hotel, the reader need scarcely be informed, takes its -name from its being built upon a portion of the gardens of Clarendon -House gardens, between Albemarle and Bond streets, in each of which -the hotel has a frontage. The house was, for a short term, let to the -Earl of Chatham, for his town residence. - -The Clarendon contains series of apartments, fitted for the reception -of princes and their suites, and for nobility. Here are likewise given -official banquets on the most costly scale. - -Among the records of the house is the _menu_ of the dinner given to -Lord Chesterfield, on his quitting the office of Master of the -Buckhounds, at the Clarendon. The party consisted of thirty; the price -was six guineas a head; and the dinner was ordered by Count D'Orsay, -who stood almost without a rival amongst connoisseurs in this -department of art:-- - - "_Premier Service._ - - "_Potages._--Printanier: à la reine: _turtle_. - - "_Poissons._--Turbot (_lobster and Dutch sauces_): saumon à - la Tartare: rougets à la cardinal: friture de morue: - _whitebait_. - - "_Relevés._--Filet de boeuf à la Napolitaine: dindon à la - chipolata: timballe de macaroni: _haunch of venison_. - - "_Entrées._--Croquettes de volaille: petits pâtés aux - huîtres: côtelettes d'agneau: purée de champignons: - côtelettes d'agneau aux points d'asperge: fricandeau de veau - à l'oseille: ris de veau piqué aux tomates: côtelettes de - pigeons à la Dusselle: chartreuse de légumes aux faisans: - filets de cannetons à la Bigarrade: boudins à la Richelieu: - sauté de volaille aux truffes: pâté de mouton monté. - - "_Côté._--Boeuf rôti: jambon: salade. - - "_Second Service._ - - "_Rôts._--Chapons, quails, turkey poults, _green goose_. - - "_Entremets._--Asperges: haricot à la Française: mayonnaise - de homard: gelée Macédoine: aspics d'oeufs de pluvier: - Charlotte Russe: gelée au Marasquin: crême marbre: corbeille - de pâtisserie: vol-au-vent de rhubarb: tourte d'abricots: - corbeille des meringues: dressed crab: salade au - gélantine.--Champignons aux fines herbes. - - "_Relevés._--Soufflé à la vanille: Nesselrode pudding: - Adelaide sandwiches: fondus. Pièces montées," etc. - -The reader will not fail to observe how well the English -dishes,--turtle, whitebait, and venison,--relieve the French in this -dinner: and what a breadth, depth, solidity, and dignity they add to -it. Green goose, also, may rank as English, the goose being held in -little honour, with the exception of its liver, by the French; but we -think Comte D'Orsay did quite right in inserting it. The execution is -said to have been pretty nearly on a par with the conception, and the -whole entertainment was crowned with the most inspiriting success. The -price was not unusually large.[57] - -FOOTNOTE: - -[57] _The Art of Dining._ Murray, 1852. - - -FREEMASONS' TAVERN, GREAT QUEEN-STREET. - -This well-appointed tavern, built by William Tyler, in 1786, and since -considerably enlarged, in addition to the usual appointments, -possesses the great advantage of Freemasons' Hall, wherein take place -some of our leading public festivals and anniversary dinners, the -latter mostly in May and June. Here was given the farewell dinner to -John Philip Kemble, upon his retirement from the stage, in 1817; the -public dinner, on his birthday, to James Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd, -in 1832; Mollard, who has published an excellent _Art of Cookery_, was -many years _Maître d'Hôtel_, and proprietor of the Freemasons' Tavern. - -In the Hall meet the Madrigal Society, the Melodists' and other -musical clubs: and the annual dinners of the Theatrical Fund, Artists' -Societies, and other public institutions, are given here. - -Freemasons' Hall has obtained some notoriety as the arena in which -were delivered and acted the Addresses at the Anniversary Dinners of -the Literary Fund, upon whose eccentricities we find the following -amusing note in the latest edition of the _Rejected Addresses_:-- - -"The annotator's first personal knowledge of William Thomas -Fitzgerald, was at Harry Greville's Pic-Nic Theatre, in -Tottenham-street, where he personated Zanga in a wig too small for his -head. The second time of seeing him was at the table of old Lord -Dudley, who familiarly called him Fitz, but forgot to name him in his -will. The Viscount's son, however, liberally supplied the omission by -a donation of five thousand pounds. The third and last time of -encountering him was at an anniversary dinner of the Literary Fund, at -the Freemasons' Tavern. Both parties, as two of the stewards, met -their brethren in a small room about half-an-hour before dinner. The -lampooner, out of delicacy, kept aloof from the poet. The latter, -however, made up to him, when the following dialogue took place: - -"Fitzgerald (with good humour). 'Mr. ----, I mean to recite after -dinner,' - -"Mr. ----. 'Do you?' - -"Fitzgerald. 'Yes: you'll have more of God bless the Regent and the -Duke of York!' - -"The whole of this imitation, (one of the Rejected Addresses,) after a -lapse of twenty years, appears to the authors too personal and -sarcastic; but they may shelter themselves under a very broad -mantle:-- - - "Let hoarse Fitzgerald bawl - His creaking couplets in a tavern-hall."--_Byron._ - -"Fitzgerald actually sent in an address to the Committee on the 31st -of August, 1812. It was published among the other _Genuine Rejected -Addresses_, in one volume, in that year. The following is an -extract:-- - - "The troubled shade of Garrick, hovering near, - Dropt on the burning pile a pitying tear." - -"What a pity that, like Sterne's recording angel, it did not succeed -in blotting the fire out for ever! That falling, why not adopt -Gulliver's remedy?" - -Upon the "Rejected," the _Edinburgh Review_ notes:--"The first piece, -under the name of the loyal Mr. Fitzgerald, though as good we suppose -as the original, is not very interesting. Whether it be very like Mr. -Fitzgerald or not, however, it must be allowed that the vulgarity, -servility, and gross absurdity of the newspaper scribblers is well -rendered." - - -THE ALBION, ALDERSGATE-STREET. - -This extensive establishment has long been famed for its good dinners, -and its excellent wines. Here take place the majority of the banquets -of the Corporation of London, the Sheriffs' Inauguration Dinners, as -well as those of Civic Companies and Committees, and such festivals, -public and private, as are usually held at taverns of the highest -class. - -The farewell Dinners given by the East India Company to the -Governors-General of India, usually take place at the Albion. "Here -likewise (after dinner) the annual trade sales of the principal London -publishers take place," revivifying the olden printing and book -glories of Aldersgate and Little Britain. - -The _cuisine_ of the Albion has long been celebrated for its -_recherché_ character. Among the traditions of the tavern it is told -that a dinner was once given here, under the auspices of the -_gourmand_ Alderman Sir William Curtis, which cost the party between -thirty and forty pounds apiece. It might well have cost twice as much, -for amongst other acts of extravagance, they dispatched a special -messenger to Westphalia to choose a ham. There is likewise told a bet -as to the comparative merits of the Albion and York House (Bath) -dinners, which was to have been formally decided by a dinner of -unparalleled munificence, and nearly equal cost at each; but it became -a drawn bet, the Albion beating in the first course, and the York -House in the second. Still, these are reminiscences on which, we -frankly own, no great reliance is to be placed. - -Lord Southampton once gave a dinner at the Albion, at ten guineas a -head; and the ordinary price for the best dinner at this house -(including wine) is three guineas.[58] - -FOOTNOTE: - -[58] _The Art of Dining._--Murray, 1852. - - -ST. JAMES'S HALL. - -This new building which is externally concealed by houses, except the -fronts, in Piccadilly and Regent-street, consists of a greater Hall -and two minor Halls, which are let for Concerts, Lectures, etc., and -also form part of the Tavern establishment, two of the Halls being -used as public dining-rooms. The principal Hall, larger than St. -Martin's, but smaller than Exeter Hall, is 140 feet long, 60 feet -wide, and 60 feet high. At one end is a semicircular recess, in which -stands the large organ. The noble room has been decorated by Mr. Owen -Jones with singularly light, rich, and festive effect: the grand -feature being the roof, which is blue and white, red and gold, in -Alhambresque patterns. The lighting is quite novel, and consists of -gas-stars, depending from the roof, which thus appears spangled. - -The superb decoration and effective lighting, render this a truly -festive Hall, with abundant space to set off the banquet displays. The -first Public Dinner was given here on June 2, 1858, when Mr. Robert -Stephenson, the eminent engineer, presided, and a silver salver and -claret-jug, with a sum of money--altogether in value 2678_l._--were -presented to Mr. F. Petit Smith, in recognition of his bringing into -general use the System of Screw Propulsion; the testimonial being -purchased by 138 subscribers, chiefly eminent naval officers, -ship-builders, ship-owners, and men of science. - -In the following month, (20th of July,) a banquet was given here to -Mr. Charles Kean, F.S.A., in testimony of his having exalted the -English theatre--of his public merits and private virtues. The Duke of -Newcastle presided: there was a brilliant presence of guests, and -nearly four hundred ladies were in the galleries. Subsequently, in the -Hall was presented to Mr. Kean the magnificent service of plate, -purchased by public subscription. - -The success of these intellectual banquets proved a most auspicious -inauguration of St. James's Hall for-- - - "The feast of reason and the flow of soul." - - -THEATRICAL TAVERNS. - -Among these establishments, the Eagle, in the City-road, deserves -mention. It occupies the site of the Shepherd and Shepherdess, a -tavern and tea-garden of some seventy-five years since. To the Eagle -is annexed a large theatre. - -Sadler's Wells was, at one period, a tavern theatre, where the -audience took their wine while they sat and witnessed the -performances. - - - - -APPENDIX. - - -BEEFSTEAK SOCIETY. - -(Vol. I. page 149.) - -We find in Smith's _Book for a Rainy Day_ the following record -respecting the Beefsteak Society, or, as he calls it, in an unorthodox -way, Club:-- - -"Mr. John Nixon, of Basinghall-street, gave me the following -information. Mr. Nixon, as Secretary, had possession of the original -book. Lambert's Club was first held in Covent Garden theatre [other -accounts state, in the Lincoln's-Inn-Fields theatre,] in the upper -room called the 'Thunder and Lightning;' then in one even with the -two-shilling gallery; next in an apartment even with the boxes; and -afterwards in a lower room, where they remained until the fire. After -that time, Mr. Harris insisted upon it, as the playhouse was a new -building, that the Club should not be held there. They then went to -the Bedford Coffee-house, next-door. Upon the ceiling of the -dining-room they placed Lambert's original gridiron, which had been -saved from the fire. They had a kitchen, a cook, a wine-cellar, etc., -entirely independent of the Bedford Hotel. - -"There was also a Society held at Robins's room, called 'The Ad -Libitum,' of which Mr. Nixon had the books; but it was a totally -different Society, quite unconnected with the Beefsteak Club." - - -WHITE'S CLUB. - -(Vol. I. page 121.) - -The following humorous Address was supposed to have been written by -Colonel Lyttelton, brother to Sir George Lyttelton, in 1752, on His -Majesty's return from Hanover, when numberless Addresses were -presented. White's was then a Chocolate-house, near St. James's -Palace, and was the famous gaming-house, where most of the nobility -had meetings and a Society:-- - - "_The Gamesters' Address to the King._ - - "Most Righteous Sovereign, - - "May it please your Majesty, we, the Lords, Knights, etc., - of the Society of White's, beg leave to throw ourselves at - your Majesty's feet (our honours and consciences lying under - the _table_, and our fortunes being ever at stake), and - congratulate your Majesty's happy return to these kingdoms - which assemble us together, to the great advantage of some, - the ruin of others, and the unspeakable satisfaction of all, - both us, our wives, and children. We beg leave to - acknowledge your Majesty's great goodness and lenity, in - allowing us to break those laws, which we ourselves have - made, and you have sanctified and confirmed: while your - Majesty alone religiously observes and regards them. And we - beg leave to assure your Majesty of our most unfeigned - loyalty and attachment to your sacred person; and that next - to the Kings of Diamonds, Clubs, Spades, and Hearts, we - love, honour, and adore you." - -To which His Majesty was pleased to return this most gracious -answer:-- - - "My Lords and Gentlemen, - - "I return you my thanks for your loyal address; but while I - have such rivals in your affection, as you tell me of, I can - neither think it worth preserving or regarding. I look upon - you yourselves as a _pack_ of _cards_, and shall _deal_ with - you accordingly."--_Cole's MSS._ vol. xxxi. p. 171,--in the - British Museum. - -In _Richardsoniana_ we read: "Very often the taste of running -perpetually after diversions is not a mark of any pleasure taken in -them, but of none taken in ourselves. This sallying abroad is only -from uneasiness at home, which is in every one's self. Like a -gentleman who overlooking them at White's at piquet, till three or -four in the morning: on a dispute they referred to him; when he -protested he knew nothing of the game; 'Zounds,' say they, 'and sit -here till this time?'--'Gentlemen, I'm married!'--'Oh! Sir, we beg -pardon.'" - - -THE ROYAL ACADEMY CLUB. - -This Club consisted exclusively of Members of the Royal Academy. -Nollekens, the sculptor, for many years, made one at the table; and so -strongly was he bent upon saving all he could privately conceal, that -he did not mind paying two guineas a year for his admission-ticket, in -order to indulge himself with a few nutmegs, which he contrived to -pocket privately; for as red-wine negus was the principal beverage, -nutmegs were used. Now, it generally happened, if another bowl was -wanted, that the nutmegs were missing. Nollekens, who had frequently -been seen to pocket them, was one day requested by Rossi the sculptor, -to see if they had not fallen under the table; upon which Nollekens -actually went crawling beneath, upon his hands and knees, pretending -to look for them, though at that very time they were in his -waistcoat-pocket. He was so old a stager at this monopoly of nutmegs, -that he would sometimes engage the maker of the negus in conversation, -looking him full in the face, whilst he, slyly and unobserved, as he -thought, conveyed away the spice; like the fellow who is stealing the -bank-note from the blind man, in Hogarth's admirable print of the -Royal Cockpit.--_Smith's Nollekens and his Times_, vol. i. p. 225. - - -DESTRUCTION OF TAVERNS BY FIRE. - -On the morning of the 25th of March, 1748, a most calamitous and -destructive fire commenced at a peruke-maker's, named Eldridge, in -Exchange Alley, Cornhill; and within twelve hours totally destroyed -between 90 and 100 houses, besides damaging many others. The flames -spread in three directions at once, and extending into Cornhill, -consumed about twenty houses there, including the London Assurance -Office; the Fleece and the Three Tuns Taverns; and Tom's and the -Rainbow Coffee-houses. In Exchange Alley, the Swan Tavern, with -Garraway's, Jonathan's and the Jerusalem Coffee-houses, were burnt -down; and in the contiguous avenues and Birchin-lane, the George and -Vulture Tavern, with several other coffee-houses, underwent a like -fate. Mr. Eldridge, with his wife, children, and servants, all -perished in the flames. The value of the effects and merchandise -destroyed was computed at 200,000_l._, exclusive of that of the -numerous buildings. - -In the above fire was consumed the house in which was born the poet -Gray; and the injury which his property sustained on the occasion, -induced him to sink a great part of the remainder in purchasing an -annuity: his father had been an Exchange broker. The house was within -a few doors of Birchin-lane. - - -THE TZAR OF MUSCOVY'S HEAD, TOWER-STREET. - -Close to Tower-hill, and not far from the site of the Rose tavern, is -a small tavern, or public-house, which received its sign in -commemoration of the convivial eccentricities of an Emperor, one of -the most extraordinary characters that ever appeared on the great -theatre of the world--"who gave a polish to his nation and was himself -a savage." - -Such was Peter the Great, who, with his suite, consisting of -Menzikoff, and some others, came to London on the twenty-first of -January, 1698, principally with the view of acquiring information on -matters connected with naval architecture. We have little evidence -that during his residence here Peter ever worked as a shipwright in -Deptford Dockyard, as is generally believed. He was, however, very -fond of sailing and managing boats and a yacht on the Thames; and his -great delight was to get a small decked-boat, belonging to the -Dockyard, and taking only Menzikoff, and three or four others of his -suite, to work the vessel with them, he being the helmsman. Now, the -great failing of Peter was his love of strong liquors. He and his -companions having finished their day's work, used to resort to a -public-house in Great Tower-street, close to Tower-hill, to smoke -their pipes, and drink beer and brandy. The landlord, in gratitude for -the imperial custom, had the Tzar of Muscovy's head painted, and put -up for his sign, which continued till the year 1808, when a person of -the name of Waxel took a fancy to the old sign, and offered the then -occupier of the house to paint him a new one for it. A copy was -accordingly made from the original, as the sign of "The Tzar of the -Muscovy," looking like a Tartar. The house has, however, been rebuilt, -and the sign removed, but the name remains. - - -ROSE TAVERN, TOWER-STREET. - -In Tower-street, before the Great Fire, was the Rose tavern, which, -upon the 4th of January, 1649, was the scene of a memorable explosion -of gunpowder, and miraculous preservation. It appears that -over-against the wall of Allhallows Barking churchyard, was the house -of a ship-chandler, who, about seven o'clock at night, being busy in -his shop, barreling up gunpowder, it took fire, and in the twinkling -of an eye, blew up not only that, but all the houses thereabout, to -the number (towards the street and in back alleys) of fifty or sixty. -The number of persons destroyed by this blow could never be known, for -the next house but one was the Rose tavern, a house never (at that -time of night) but full of company; and that day the parish-dinner was -at the house. And in three or four days, after digging, they -continually found heads, arms, legs, and half bodies, miserably torn -and scorched; besides many whole bodies, not so much as their clothes -singed. - -In the course of this accident, says the narrator (Mr. Leybourne, in -Strype), "I will instance two; the one a dead, the other a living -monument. In the digging (strange to relate) they found the mistress -of the house of the Rose tavern, sitting in her bar, and one of the -drawers standing by the bar's side, with a pot in his hand, only -stifled with dust and smoke; their bodies being preserved whole by -means of great timbers falling across one another. This is one. -Another is this:--The next morning there was found upon the upper -leads of Barking church, a young child lying in a cradle, as newly -laid in bed, neither the child nor the cradle having the least sign of -any fire or other hurt. It was never known whose child it was, so that -one of the parish kept it as a memorial; for in the year 1666 I saw -the child, grown to be then a proper maiden, and came to the man that -kept her at that time, where he was drinking at a tavern with some -other company then present. And he told us she was the child so found -in the cradle upon the church leads as aforesaid." - -According to a tablet which hangs beneath the organ gallery of the -church, the quantity of gunpowder exploded in this catastrophe was -twenty-seven barrels. Tower-street was wholly destroyed in the Great -Fire of 1666. - - -THE NAG'S HEAD TAVERN, CHEAPSIDE. - -As you pass through Cheapside, you may observe upon the front of the -old house, No. 39, the sign-stone of a "Nag's Head:" this is presumed -to have been the sign of the Nag's Head Tavern, which is described as -at the Cheapside corner of Friday-street. This house obtained some -notoriety from its having been the pretended scene of the consecration -of Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury, in the reign of Queen -Elizabeth, at that critical period when the English Protestant or -Reformed Church was in its infancy. Pennant thus relates the -scandalous story. "It was pretended by the adversaries of our -religion, that a certain number of ecclesiastics, in their hurry to -take possession of the vacant see, assembled here, where they were to -undergo the ceremony from Anthony Kitchen, alias Dunstan, bishop of -Landaff, a sort of occasional conformist who had taken the oaths of -supremacy to Elizabeth. Bonner, Bishop of London, (then confined in -the Tower,) hearing of it, sent his chaplain to Kitchen, threatening -him with excommunication, in case he proceeded. The prelate therefore -refused to perform the ceremony: on which, say the Roman Catholics, -Parker and the other candidates, rather than defer possession of their -dioceses, determined to consecrate one another; which, says the story, -they did without any sort of scruple, and Scorey began with Parker, -who instantly rose Archbishop of Canterbury. The refutation of this -tale may be read in Strype's _Life of Archbishop Parker_, at p. 57. A -view of the Nag's Head Tavern and its sign, is preserved in La Serre's -prints, Entrée de la Reyne Mère du Roy, 1638, and is copied in -Wilkinson's _Londina Illustrata_. - -The Roman Catholics laid the scene in the tavern: the real -consecration took place in the adjoining church of St. Mary-le-Bow. As -the form then adopted has been the subject of much controversy, the -following note, from a letter of Dr. Pusey, dated Dec. 4, 1865, may be -quoted here: - - "The form adopted at the _confirmation_ of Archbishop - Parker was carefully framed on the old form used in the - _confirmations_ by Archbishop Chichele" (which was the point - for which I examined the registers in the Lambeth library). - The words used in the _consecrations_ of the bishops - confirmed by Chichele do not occur in the registers. The - words used by the consecrators of Parker, "_Accipe Spiritum - Sanctum_," were used in the later Pontificals, as in that of - Exeter, Lacy's (_Maskell, Monumenta Ritualia_, iii. 258). - Roman Catholic writers admit that _that_ only is essential - to consecration which the English service-book - retained--prayer during the service, which should have - reference to the office of bishops, and the imposition of - hands. And in fact Cardinal Pole engaged to retain in their - orders those who had been so ordained under Edward VI., and - his act was confirmed by Paul IV. (_Sanders de Schism. - Angl._, L. iii. 350). - - -THE HUMMUMS, COVENT GARDEN. - -"Hammam" is the Arabic word for a bagnio, or bath, such as was -originally "The Hummums," in Covent Garden, before it became an hotel. - -There is a marvellous ghost story connected with this house, where -died Parson Ford, who makes so conspicuous a figure in Hogarth's -_Midnight Modern Conversation_. The narrative is thus given in -Boswell's _Johnson_ by Croker:-- - -"_Boswell._ Was there not a story of Parson Ford's ghost having -appeared? - -"_Johnson._ Sir, it was believed. A waiter at the Hummums, in which -house Ford died, had been absent for some time, and returned, not -knowing that Ford was dead. Going down to the cellar, according to the -story, he met him; going down again, he met him a second time. When -he came up, he asked some people of the house what Ford could be doing -there. They told him Ford was dead. The waiter took a fever, in which -he lay for some time. When he recovered, he said he had a message to -deliver to some woman from Ford; but he was not to tell what or to -whom. He walked out; he was followed; but somewhere about St. Paul's -they lost him. He came back and said he had delivered it, and the -women exclaimed, 'Then we are all undone.' Dr. Pallet, who was not a -credulous man, inquired into the truth of this story, and he said the -evidence was irresistible. My wife went to the Hummums; (it is a place -where people get themselves cupped.) I believe she went with intention -to hear about this story of Ford. At first they were unwilling to tell -her; but after they had talked to her, she came away satisfied that it -was true. To be sure, the man had a fever; and this vision may have -been the beginning of it. But if the message to the women, and their -behaviour upon it, were true, as related, there was something -supernatural. That rests upon his word, and there it remains." - - -ORIGIN OF TAVERN SIGNS. - -The cognisances of many illustrious persons connected with the Middle -Ages are still preserved in the signs attached to our taverns and -inns. Thus the White Hart with the golden chain was the badge of King -Richard II.; the Antelope was that of King Henry IV.; the Feathers was -the cognisance of Henry VI.; and the White Swan was the device of -Edward of Lancaster, his ill-fated heir slain at the battle of -Tewkesbury. - -Before the Great Fire of London, in 1666, almost all the liveries of -the great feudal lords were preserved at these houses of public -resort. Many of their heraldic signs were then unfortunately lost: but -the Bear and Ragged Staff, the ensign of the famed Warwick, still -exists as a sign: while the Star of the Lords of Oxford, the -brilliancy of which decided the fate of the battle of Barnet; the Lion -of Norfolk, which shone so conspicuously on Bosworth field; the Sun of -the ill-omened house of York, together with the Red and White Rose, -either simply or conjointly, carry the historian and the antiquary -back to a distant period, although now disguised in the gaudy -colouring of a freshly-painted sign-board. - -The White Horse was the standard of the Saxons before and after their -coming into England. It was a proper emblem of victory and triumph, as -we read in Ovid and elsewhere. The White Horse is to this day the -ensign of the county of Kent, as we see upon hop-pockets and bags; and -throughout the county it is a favourite inn-sign. - -The Saracen's Head inn-sign originated in the age of the Crusades. By -some it is thought to have been adopted in memory of the father of St. -Thomas à Becket, who was a Saracen. Selden thus explains it: "Do not -undervalue an enemy by whom you have been worsted. When our countrymen -came home from fighting with the Saracens, and were beaten by them, -they pictured them with huge, big, terrible faces (as you still see -the sign of the Saracen's Head is), when in truth they were like other -men. But this they did to save their own credit." Still more direct is -the explanation in Richard the Crusader causing a Saracen's head to be -served up to the ambassadors of Saladin. May it not also have some -reference to the Saracen's Head of the Quintain, a military exercise -antecedent to jousts and tournaments? - -The custom of placing a Bush at Tavern doors has already been noticed; -we add a few notes:--In the preface to the _Law of Drinking_, keeping -a public-house is called the trade of the ivy-bush: the bush was a -sign so very general, that probably from thence arose the proverb -"good wine needs no bush," or indication as to where it was sold. In -_Good Newes and Bad Newes_, 1622, a host says:-- - - "I rather will take down my bush and sign - Than live by means of riotous expense." - -The ancient method of putting a bough of a tree upon anything, to -signify that it was for disposal, is still exemplified by an old besom -(or birch broom) being placed at the mast-head of a vessel that is -intended for sale. In Dekker's _Wonderful Yeare_, 1603, is the passage -"Spied a bush at the end of a pole, the ancient badge of a countrey -ale-house." And in Harris's _Drunkard's Cup_, p. 299, "Nay, if the -house be not with an ivie bush, let him have his tooles about him, -nutmegs, rosemary, tobacco, with other the appurtenances, and he knows -how of puddle ale to make a cup of English wine." From a passage in -_Whimzies, or a new Cast of Characters_, 1631, it would seem that -signs in alehouses succeeded birch poles. - -It is usual in some counties, particularly Staffordshire, to hang a -bush at the door of an ale-house, or mug-house. Sir Thomas Browne -considers that the human faces depicted on sign-boards, for the sun -and moon, are relics of paganism, and that they originally meant -Apollo and Diana. This has been noticed in Hudibras-- - - "Tell me but what's the nat'ral cause - Why on a sign no painter draws - The full moon ever, but the half." - -A Bell sign-stone may be seen on the house-front, No. 26, Great -Knight-Rider-street: it bears the date 1668, and is boldly carved; -whether it is of tavern or other trade it is hard to say: the house -appears to be of the above date. - -The Bell, in Great Carter-lane, in this neighbourhood, has been taken -down: it was an interesting place, for, hence, October 25, 1598, -Richard Quiney addressed to his "loveing good ffrend and countryman, -Mr. Wm. Schackespere," (then living in Southwark, near the -Bear-garden), a letter for a loan of thirty pounds; which letter we -have seen in the possession of Mr. R. Bell Wheler, at Stratford-upon-Avon: -it is believed to be the only existing letter addressed to Shakspere. - -The Bull, Bishopsgate, is noteworthy; for the yard of this inn -supplied a stage to our early actors, before James Burbadge and his -fellows obtained a patent from Queen Elizabeth for erecting a -permanent building for theatrical entertainments. Tarleton often -played here. Anthony Bacon, the brother of Francis, lived in a house -in Bishopsgate-street, not far from the Bull Inn, to the great concern -of his mother, who not only dreaded that the plays and interludes -acted at the Bull might corrupt his servants, but on her own son's -account objected to the parish as being without a godly clergyman. - -Gerard's Hall, Basing-lane, had the fine Norman crypt of the ancient -hall of the Sisars for its wine-cellar; besides the tutelar effigies -of "Gerard the gyant," a fair specimen of a London sign, _temp._ -Charles II. Here also was shown the staff used by Gerard in the wars, -and a ladder to ascend to the top of the staff; and in the -neighbouring church of St. Mildred, Bread-street, hangs a huge -tilting-helmet, said to have been worn by the said giant. The staff, -Stow thinks, may rather have been used as a May-pole, and to stand in -the hall decked with evergreens at Christmas; the ladder serving for -decking the pole and hall-roof. - -Fosbroke says, that the Bell Savage is a strange corruption of the -Queen of Sheba; the Bell Savage, of which the device was a savage man -standing by a bell, is supposed to be derived from the French, Belle -Sauvage, on account of a beautiful savage having been once shown -there; by others it is considered, with more probability, to have been -so named in compliment to some ancient landlady of the celebrated inn -upon Ludgate-hill, whose surname was Savage, as in the Close-rolls of -the thirty-first year of the reign of Henry VI. is an entry of a grant -of that inn to "John Frensch, gentilman," and called "Savage's Ynne," -_alias_ the "Bell on the Hoof." - -The token of the house is--"HENRY YOVNG AT YE. An Indian woman -holding an arrow and a bow.--Rx ON LVDGATE HILL. In the field, H. M. -Y." - -"There is a tradition [Mr. Akerman writes] that the origin of this -sign, and not only of the inn, but also of the name of the court in -which it is situate, was derived from that of Isabella Savage, whose -property they once were, and who conveyed them by deed to the Cutlers' -Company. This, we may observe, is a mistake. The name of the person -who left the Bell Savage to the Cutlers' Company was Craythorne, not -Savage." - -In Flecknoe's _Ĉnigmatical Characters_, 1665, in alluding to "your -fanatick reformers," he says, "as for the signs, they have pretty well -begun the reformation already, changing the sign of the Salutation of -the Angel and our Lady into the Shouldier and Citizen, and the -Catherine Wheel into the Cat and Wheel, so that there only wants their -making the Dragon to kill St. George, and the Devil to tweak St. -Dunstan by the nose, to make the reformation compleat. Such ridiculous -work they make of their reformation, and so zealous are they against -all mirth and jollity, as they would pluck down the sign of the Cat -and Fiddle, too, if it durst but play so loud as they might hear it." - -The sign In God is our Hope is still to be seen at a public-house on -the western road between Cranford and Slough. Coryatt mentions the Ave -Maria, with verses, as the sign of an alehouse abroad, and a street -where all the signs on one side were of birds. The Swan with Two -Nicks, or Necks, as it is commonly called, was so termed from the two -nicks or marks, to make known that it was a swan of the Vintners' -Company; the swans of that company having two semicircular pieces cut -from the upper mandible of the swan, one on each side, which are -called nicks. The origin of the Bolt-in-Tun is thus explained. The -bolt was the arrow shot from a cross-bow, and the tun or barrel was -used as the target, and in this device the bolt is painted sticking in -the bunghole. It appears not unreasonable to conclude, that hitting -the bung was as great an object in crossbow-shooting as it is to a -member of a Toxophilite Club to strike the target in the bull's eye. -The sign of the Three Loggerheads is two grotesque wooden heads, with -the inscription "Here we three Loggerheads be," the reader being the -third. The Honest Lawyer is depicted at a beershop at Stepney; the -device is a lawyer with his head under his arm, to prevent his telling -lies. - -The Lamb and Lark has reference to a well-known proverb that we should -go to bed with the lamb and rise with the lark. The Eagle and Child, -_vulgo_ Bird and Baby, is by some persons imagined to allude to -Jupiter taking Ganymede; others suppose that it merely commemorates -the fact of a child having been carried off by an eagle; but this sign -is from the arms of the Derby family (eagle and child) who had a house -at Lambeth, where is the Bird and Baby. - -The Green Man and Still should be a green man (or man who deals in -_green herbs_) with a bundle of peppermint or pennyroyal under his -arm, which he brings to be distilled. - -Upon the modern building of the Bull and Mouth has been conferred the -more elegant name of the Queen's Hotel. Now the former is a corruption -of Boulogne Mouth, and the sign was put up to commemorate the -destruction of the French flotilla at the mouth of Boulogne harbour in -the reign of Henry VIII. This absurd corruption has been perpetuated -by a carving in stone of a bull and a human face with an enormous -mouth. The Bull and Gate, palpably, has the like origin; as at the -_Gate_ of Boulogne the treaty of capitulation to the English was -signed. - -The Spread Eagle, which constitutes the arms of Austria and Russia, -originated with Charlemagne, and was in England introduced out of -compliment to some German potentate. - -The oddest sign we know is now called The Mischief, in Oxford-street, -and our remembrance of this dates over half a century, when the street -was called Oxford-road, then unpaved, is truly Hogarthian. It was at -that time called the Man loaded with Mischief, _i.e._ a wife, two -squalling brats, a monkey, a cat, a jackdaw, etc. The perpetrator of -this libel on the other sex, we suppose, was some poor henpecked -individual.[59] - -On the subject of sign combinations, a writer in _Notes and Queries_ -says:--"This subject has been taken up by a literary contemporary, and -some ingenious but farfetched attempts at explanation have been made, -deduced from languages the publican is not likely to have heard of. -The following seem at least to be undoubtedly English: The Sun and -Whalebone, Cock and Bell, Ram and Teazle, Cow and Snuffers, Crow and -Horseshoe, Hoop and Pie,--_cum multis aliis_. I have some remembrance -of a very simple solution of the cause of the incongruity, which was -this: The lease being out of (say) the sign of The Ram, or the tenant -had left for some cause, and gone to the sign of The Teazle; wishing -to be known, and followed by as many of his old connexion as possible, -and also to secure the new, he took his old sign with him, and set it -up beside the other, and the house soon became known as The Ram and -Teazle. After some time the signs required repainting or renewing, and -as one board was more convenient than two, the 'emblems,' as poor Dick -Tinto calls them, were depicted together, and hence rose the puzzle." - -There have been some strange guesses. Some have thought the Goat and -Compasses to be a corruption of "God encompasseth us," but it has -been much more directly traced as follows, by Sir Edmund Head, who has -communicated the same to Mr. P. Cunningham: "At Cologne, in the church -of Santa Maria in Capitolio, is a flat stone on the floor, professing -to be the Grabstein der Brüder und Schwester eines ehrbaren Wein- und -Fass-Ampts, Anno 1693; that is, I suppose, a vault belonging to the -Wine Coopers' Company. The arms exhibit a shield with a pair of -compasses, an axe, and a dray, or truck, with goats for supporters. In -a country, like England, dealing so much at one time in Rhenish wine, -a more likely origin for such a sign could hardly be imagined." - -The Pig in the Pound might formerly be seen towards the east end of -Oxford-street, not far from "The Mischief." - -The Magpie and Horseshoe may be seen in Fetter-lane: the ominous -import attached to the bird and the shoe may account for this -association in the sign: we can imagine ready bibbers going to houses -with this sign "for luck." - -The George, Snow-hill, is a good specimen of a carved sign-stone of-- - - "St. George that swing'd the dragon, - And sits on horseback at mine hoste's door." - -FOOTNOTE: - -[59] Communicated to the _Builder_ by Mr. Rhodes. - - - - -INDEX - -TO THE FIRST VOLUME. - - - Alfred Club, the, 237. - - Allen, King, his play, 287. - - Almack's Assembly Rooms, 86-89. - - Almack's, by Capt. Gronow, 316. - - Almack's Club, 83-86. - - Almack's Rooms, 88. - - Anacreontic _Ad Poculum_, by Morris, 150. - - Angling Club Anecdotes, 301. - - Antiquarian Club, 306. - - Army and Navy Club, 278. - - Apollo Club, 10. - - Arms for White's, 115. - - Arnold and the Steaks, 145, 146. - - Arthur's Club, 107. - - Athenĉum established, 212. - - Athenĉum Club, the, 241-247. - - Athenĉum Club-house described, 242, 243. - - - Barry's Reform Club-house, 267. - - Barry's Travellers' Club-house, 233, 234. - - Beef-steak Club, the, 123. - - Beef-steak Club, Ivy-lane, 159. - - Beef-steak Clubs, various, 158. - - Beef-steak Society, History of the, 123-149. - - Beef-steaks, Ward's Address to, 129. - - Bell Tavern Beef-steak Club, 159. - - Betting, extraordinary, at White's, 111, 116, 117. - - Bibliomania, what is it?, 192. - - Bickerstaffe and his Club, 64, 65. - - Bishops and Judges at the Alfred, 239. - - Blasphemous Clubs, 44. - - Blue-stocking Club, at Mrs. Montague's, 199. - - Blue-stocking Clubs, ancient, 198. - - Bolland at the Steaks, 146. - - Boodle's Club, 121. - - Boodle's Club-house and Pictures, 122. - - Bowl, silver, presented by the Steaks to Morris, 154. - - Box of the Past Overseers' Society, Westminster, 193-196. - - Brookes's Club, 19, 20, 22, 23, 89-102. - - Brookes, the Club-house proprietor, 89, 90. - - Brougham, Lord, at the Steaks, 146. - - Brummel and Alderman Combe at Brookes's, 101, 102. - - Brummel and Bligh at Watier's, 168. - - Buchan, Dr., at the Chapter, 181. - - Burke and Johnson at the Literary Club, 208. - - Burke at the Robin Hood, 197. - - Busby, Dr., at the Chapter, 184. - - Byron and Dudley, Lords, at the Alfred, 208. - - - Calves' Head Club, 25-34. - - Calves' Head Club Laureat, 30, - - Calves' Head Club, Origin of, 27, 28, 32. - - Canning, Mr., at the Clifford-street Club, 169-171. - - Carlton Club, the, 273. - - Carlton Club-house, new, 273. - - Cavendish and the Royal Society Club, 79. - - Celebrities of the Alfred, 238. - - Celebrities of Brookes's, 90. - - Celebrities of the Literary Club, 214, 215. - - Celebrities of the Royal Naval Club, 231. - - Celebrities of the Royal Society Club, 75, 76. - - Celebrities at the Steaks, 132, 133. - - Celebrities of Tom's Coffee-house Club, 162, 163. - - Celebrities of White's, early, 110. - - Chapter Coffee-house Club, 179. - - Chatterton at the Chapter, 180. - - Chess Clubs, 313. - - Child's Coffee-house and the Royal Society Club, 66. - - Churchill at the Steaks, 133. - - Cibber, Colley, at White's, 112. - - Civil Club in the City, 5. - - Clark, Alderman, at the Essex Head, 204. - - Clifford-street Club, the, 169. - - Club defined by Johnson, 6. - - Club, the term, 2, 4. - - Clubs of the Ancients, 2. - - Clubs, influences of, 270-272, 274. - - Club Life experiences, 252, 253. - - Clubs, Origin of, 1. - - Clubs of 1814, by Capt. Gronow, 321. - - Club System, advantages of, 241. - - Clubs at the Thatched House, 318. - - Coachmanship, anecdotes of, 293, 294. - - Cobb and Old Walsh at the Steaks, 139. - - Cocoa-tree Club, the, 81-83. - - Conservative Club, 275. - - Colman at the Literary Club, 213. - - Colman at the Steaks, 135. - - Commons of the Royal Society Club, 74. - - Covent Garden Celebrities, 256, 257. - - Covent Garden old Taverns, 159. - - Covent Garden, by Thackeray, 255. - - Covent Garden Theatre and the Steaks, 296. - - Coventry Club, the, 305. - - Coverley, Sir Roger, and Mohocks, 42. - - Crockford's start in life, 281. - - Crockford's Club, 281-286. - - Crockford's fishmonger's-shop, at Temple Bar, 286. - - Crown and Anchor Club, and Royal Society Club, 69. - - Curran and Capt. Morris, 157. - - Curran at the King of Clubs, 166, 167. - - Curran and Lord Norbury, 167. - - - Daniel, G., of Canonbury, his list of Clubs, 177. - - Darty's Ham-pies at the Kit-kat, 319. - - Davies, Scrope, play of, 288. - - Devil Tavern and Royal Society Club, 68. - - Dibdin, Dr., and the Roxburghe Club, 192. - - Dilettanti between 1770 and 1790, 226. - - Dilettanti, their object and name, 224, 225. - - Dilettanti Portraits, 228, 229. - - Dilettanti Society, the, 222-230. - - Dilettanti Society's Journeys, 223. - - Dilettanti Society's Publications, 227. - - Dinner, memorable, at the Royal Society Club, 78. - - Dinners of the Roxburghe Club, 186-191. - - Dinners of the Royal Society Club, 70, 71, 73, 81. - - Dunning, Lord Ashburton at Brookes's, 98. - - - Eccentric Club, 173-178. - - Eccentrics, the, 307. - - Economy of the Athenĉum Club, 244, 245. - - Economy of Clubs, 248. - - Epicurism at White's, 120, 121. - - Erectheum Club, 305. - - Essex Head Club, the, 202. - - Estcourt, and the Beef-Steak Club, 123, 124, 125. - - Everlasting Club, the, 173-175. - - - Faro at White's, 113. - - Fielding, Sir John, on Street Clubs, 38. - - "Fighting Fitzgerald" at Brookes's, 102-107. - - Fines of the Dilettanti, 226. - - Fire at White's Chocolate House, 109. - - Foote, at Tom's Coffee-house Club, 162. - - Fordyce and Gower, Dr., at the Chapter, 182. - - Forster, Mr., his account of the Literary Club, 206. - - Four-in-hand Club, the, 289-294. - - Fox at Brookes's, 93. - - Fox's love of Play, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97. - - Fox's play at White's, 114, 115. - - Francis, Sir Philip, at Brookes's, 92. - - Friday-Street Club, 3. - - - Gaming at Almack's, 84, 85. - - Gaming at White's, 113. - - Gaming-Houses kept by Ladies, 323. - - Garrick and the Literary Club, 210. - - Garrick Club-house, New, 258. - - Garth and Steele, at the Kit-kat Club, 61. - - Gibbon at Boodle's, 122. - - Gibbon at the Cocoa-tree, 81, 82. - - Giffard on the Mermaid Club, 9. - - Gin Punch at the Garrick, 263. - - Globe Tavern Clubs, 219, 220. - - Glover the Poet, at White's, 111. - - "Golden Ball," the, 287. - - Golden Fleece Club, Cornhill, 172. - - Goldsmith and Annet, at the Robin Hood, 197, 198. - - Goldsmith, Beauclerk, and Langton, at the Literary Club, 209, 210. - - Goldsmith's Clubs, 219. - - Goldsmith at the Crown, Islington, 221. - - Goosetree's, in Pall Mall, 85. - - Gore, Mrs., on Clubs, 248. - - Gourmands at Crockford's, 285. - - Green Ribbon Club, 35, 36. - - Gridiron of the Steaks Society, 140. - - Gridiron, Silver, and the Steaks, 143. - - Grub-street account of the Calves' Head Club, 29. - - Guards' Club, the, 278. - - - Harrington's _Oceana_, 15. - - Haslewood's account of the Roxburghe Club Dinners, 190. - - Hawkins and Burke at the Literary Club, 207, 208. - - Hazard at the Cocoa-tree, 82. - - Hell-fire Club, 44. - - Hill, Sir John, and the Royal Society, 76. - - Hill, Thomas, at the Garrick, 263, 264, 265. - - Hippisley, Sir John, at the Steaks, 143, 144. - - Hoadly, Bishop, at the Kit-kat Club, 61, 62. - - Hoax, Calves' Head Club, 34. - - Hood, Thomas, on Clubs, 249. - - Hook, Theodore, at the Athenĉum, 245, 246, 247. - - Hook, Theodore, at Crockford's, 286. - - Hook, Theodore, at the Garrick, 263. - - Hoyle's Treatise on Whist, 295. - - - Ionian Antiquities, Walpole on, 224. - - Ivy-lane Club, the, 200. - - - Jacob and Waithman, Aldermen, at the Chapter, 185. - - Jacobite Club, 178. - - Jacobite and Loyal Mobs, 49. - - Jerrold, Douglas, at his Clubs, 308-313. - - Johnson Club, the, 216. - - Johnson, Dr., and the Ivy-lane Club, 200. - - Johnson, Dr., and Boswell at the Essex Head, 203, 204. - - Johnson, Dr., founds the Literary Club, 205. - - Johnson, Dr., last at the Literary Club, 213. - - Jonson, Ben, his Club, 11, 13, 14. - - - Kemble, John, at the Steaks, 152. - - King Club and Club of Kings, 35. - - King of Clubs, the, 165-168. - - King's Head Club, 35. - - Kit-kat Club, 55-63. - - Kit-kat, epigram on, 58. - - Kit-kat, origin of, 56. - - Kit-kat Pictures, 60. - - - Ladies' Club at Almack's, 87. - - Ladies' Club, the farce, 251. - - Lambert and the Beef-steak Society, 131. - - Lawyers' Club, the, 175. - - Lennox celebration at the Devil Tavern, 201. - - Lewis, the bookseller, Covent Garden, 160. - - Library of the Athenĉum, 243. - - "Life's a Fable," by Morris, 155. - - Linley, William, at the Steaks, 137. - - Literary Club, the, 204-218. - - Literary Club dates, 205, 206. - - Little Club, the, 176. - - London Club Architecture, 234, 235. - - Long Acre Mug-house Club, 45. - - Loyal Society Club, 48, 49, 50. - - Lyceum Theatre, the Steaks, at, 145. - - Lying Club, Westminster, 173. - - Lynedoch, Lord, at the United Service, 236. - - - Macaulay, Lord, his pictures of the Literary Club, 217. - - Mackreth, and Arthur's Club, 107, 108. - - M'Clean, the highwayman, at White's, 118. - - March Club, 18. - - Mathews, Charles, his collection of Pictures, 258, 261, 262. - - Mermaid Club, 4, 8, 9. - - Middlesex, Lord, and Calves' Head Club, 32. - - Mitre Tavern and Royal Society Club, 67, 68. - - Mohocks, history of the, 38-44. - - Mohun, Lord, at the Kit-kat Club, 59, 60. - - Morris, Capt., Bard of the Beef-steak Society, 142, 149, 157. - - Morris's Farewell to the Steaks, 153. - - Morris making Punch at the Steaks, 156, 157. - - Morris, recollections of, 156. - - Morris's _Songs_, Political and Convivial, 150. - - Mountford, Lord, tragic end of, 113. - - Mug-house Club, history of, 45-55. - - Mug-house Riots, 52. - - Mug-houses in London, 47. - - Mug-house Politics, 48. - - Mug-house Songs, 50, 55. - - Mug-houses suppressed, 54. - - Mulberry Club, the, 309. - - Murphy and Kemble at the Steaks, 142. - - - Norfolk, Duke of, and Capt. Morris, 152. - - Norfolk, Duke of, at the Steaks, 142. - - Noviomagians, the, 306. - - - October Club, 17. - - One of a Trade Club, 5. - - Onslow, Lord, the celebrated whip, 291. - - Onslow, Tommy, epigram on, 290. - - Oriental Club, the, 239, 240. - - Oxford and Cambridge Club, 277. - - - P. P., Clerk of the Parish, 24. - - Pall Mall Tavern Clubs, 7. - - Palmerston, Lord, at the Reform, 269. - - Parthenon Club, 305. - - Parliamentary Clubs, 17. - - Past Overseers Society, Westminster, 193-196. - - Peterborough, Lord, and the Beef-steak Society, 130. - - Phillidor at St. James's Chess Club, 314. - - Phillips and Chalmers, at the Chapter, 183. - - Pictures at the United Service, 237. - - Pictures at the Garrick Club, 258. - - Pitt and Wilberforce at Goosetree's, 87. - - Political Clubs, Early, 15. - - Pontack's, Royal Society Club at, 68. - - Pope-burning Processions, 37. - - Presents to the Royal Society Club, 73. - - Pretender, the, and Cocoa-tree Chocolate-house, 81. - - Prince's Club Racquet Courts, 298-301. - - Prince of Wales at Brookes's, 91. - - Prince of Wales at the Steaks, 141. - - - Queen's Arms Club, St. Paul's Churchyard, 202. - - - Racquet Courts, Prince's Club, 298-301. - - Read's Mug-house, Salisbury-square, 52, 53, 54. - - Red Lions, the, 303. - - Reform Club, the, 266-272. - - Rich and the Beef-steak Society, 129. - - Richards, Jack, at the Steaks, 136. - - Rigby at White's, 119. - - Robinson, "Long Sir Thomas," 161. - - Robin Hood, the, in Essex-street, 196. - - Rota Club, 4, 5, 15, 16. - - Roxburghe Club Dinners, the, 186-193. - - _Roxburghe Revels_, the, 187. - - Royal Society Club, 65-81. - - Royal Naval Club, 230. - - Rumbold at White's, 119. - - Rump-steak, or Liberty Club, 159. - - - St. James's Palace Clock, anecdote of, 276. - - St. Leger at White's, 118. - - Salisbury-square Mug-house, 47, 52, 53, 54. - - Saturday Club, 19. - - Scowrers, the, 39, 41. - - Scriblerus Club, 23. - - Sealed Knot, 16. - - Secret History of the Calves' Head Club, 25, 26, 27. - - Selwyn's account of Sheridan at Brookes's, 100. - - Selwyn at White's, 117. - - Sharp, Richard, at the King of Clubs, 165. - - Sheridan and Whitbread at Brookes's, 99, 91, 92, 101. - - Shilling Whist Club at the Devil Tavern, 219. - - Shire-lane and the Kit-kat Club, 57. - - Shire-lane and the Trumpet Tavern, 63, 65. - - Short Whist, its origin, 298. - - Smith, Albert, at the Garrick, 266. - - Smith, Bobus, at the King of Clubs, 165. - - Smith, James, at the Union, 254. - - Smyth, Admiral, his History of the Royal Society Club, 79, 80. - - Soyer at the Reform Club, 269. - - Spectator Clubs, 7, 173. - - _Spectator_ on the Mohocks, 43. - - Steaks, early Members of, 147, 148. - - Steaks' table-linen, and plate, 149. - - Steele's tribute to Estcourt, 125. - - Stephens, Alexander, at the Chapter, 180. - - Stevenson, Rowland, at the Steaks, 140. - - Stewart, Admiral, and Fighting Fitzgerald, 102. - - Stillingfleet and the Blue-stocking Club, 199, 200. - - Street Clubs, 38. - - Sublime Society of Steaks, 129. - - Sweaters and Tumblers, 40. - - Swift at the Brothers Club, 20. - - Swift and the Mohocks, 41. - - Swift at the October, 8. - - Swift's account of White's, 110, 111. - - - Talleyrand at the Travellers', 233. - - Tatler's Club, in Shire-lane, 63-65. - - Temperance Corner at the Athenĉum, 247. - - Tennis Courts in London, 299. - - Thatched House, Dilettanti at, 228-230. - - Thursday's Club of Royal Philosophers, 67. - - Toasting-glasses, Verses written on, 58, 59. - - Tom's Coffee-house, Club at, 159-164. - - Tonson, Jacob, defended, 62. - - Tonson, Jacob, at Kit-kat Club, 57. - - Toasts at the Roxburghe Club Dinners, 191. - - Travellers' Club, the, 233-236. - - Treason Clubs, 6. - - Turtle and Venison at the Royal Society Club, 70, 71. - - Twaddlers, the, in Shire-lane, 63-64. - - - Ude at Crockford's, 284. - - United Service Club, the, 236. - - United Service Club, Junior, 280. - - University Club, the, 247, 253. - - - Walker, Mr., his account of the Athenĉum, 243. - - Ward's account of the Beef-steaks, 126, 127, 128. - - Ward, and Calves' Head Club, 25, 31. - - Ward's account of the Kit-kat Club, 56, 128. - - Ward's account of the Royal Society Club, 76. - - Ward's _Secret History of Clubs_, 172. - - Watier's Club, 168. - - Watier's Club, by Capt. Gronow, 320. - - Welcome, Ben Jonson's, 11, 12. - - Wednesday Club, at the Globe, 6, 220. - - Wet Paper Club, the, 180. - - Whigs and Kit-kat Club, 55. - - Whist Clubs, 295. - - Whist, Laws of, 296. - - White's Chocolate-house, 108, 109. - - White's Club, 108-121. - - White's and the _Tatler_, 110. - - White's early Rules of, 112, 113. - - White's present Club-house, 120. - - Whittington Club, 315. - - Wilberforce at Brookes's, 91. - - Wilkes at the Steaks, 134. - - Willis's Rooms, 81. - - Wilson, Dick, at the Steaks, 138. - - Wittinagemot of the Chapter Coffee-house, 179-186. - - Woffington, Peg, and Beef-steak Club, 158. - - World, the, 7. - - Wyndham, Mr., Character of, 232. - - Wyndham Club, the, 232. - - - - -INDEX - -TO THE SECOND VOLUME. - - -Coffee-houses. - - - Addison at Button's, 64, 73. - - Artists' Meeting, at the Turks' Head, 94. - - Artists at Slaughter's Coffee-house, 99. - - - Baker's Coffee-house, 30. - - Barrowby, Dr., at the Bedford, 78, 79. - - Bedford Coffee-house, 76-82. - - British Coffee-house and the Scots, 56. - - Broadside against Coffee, 4. - - Button's Coffee-house, 64-73. - - - Celebrities at Button's, 71. - - Chapter Coffee-house described by Mrs. Gaskell, 89. - - Charles the Second's Wig, worn by Suett, 103. - - Child's Coffee-house, 90. - - Chocolate-houses and Coffee-houses, 1714, 35. - - Churchill's quarrel with Hogarth, 80. - - Cibber, Colley, at Will's, 63. - - Club of Six Members, 87. - - Coffee and Canary compared, 16. - - Coffee, earliest mention of, 1. - - Coffee first sold in London, 2. - - Coffee-houses, early, 1. - - Coffee-houses, 18th century, 31. - - Coffee-house Politics, 41. - - Coffee-house sharpers, 1776, 42. - - Coffee-houses in 1714, 35. - - Conversation Picture of Old Slaughter's, 104. - - Covent Garden Piazza in 1634, 81, 82. - - Curiosities, Saltero's, at Chelsea, 46, 47. - - - Dick's Coffee-house, 19. - - Dryden at Will's, 57, 60. - - - Farr and the Rainbow Coffee-house, 15. - - Foote at the Bedford, 78. - - Foote at the Grecian, 105. - - Fulwood's Rents, Holborn, 96. - - - Garraway's Coffee-house, 7-11. - - Garrick at the Bedford, 80. - - Garrick at Tom's, 75. - - George's Coffee-house, 107. - - Giles's and Jenny Man's Coffee-houses, 40. - - Goldsmith at the Chapter, 90. - - Goldsmith at the Grecian, 106. - - Goldsmith's _Retaliation_ and the St. James's, 52-54. - - Gray's Inn Walks described by Ward, 97. - - Grecian Coffee-house, 105. - - _Guardian_ Lion's Head, 65-68. - - - Haydon and Wilkie, anecdotes of, 100. - - Hazard Club, painted by Hogarth, 86. - - Hogarth designs Button's Lion's Head, 68. - - Hogarth's drawings from Button's, 71. - - - Inchbald, Mrs., in Russell-street, Covent Garden, 72, 73. - - _Inspector_ at the Bedford, 76. - - - Jerusalem Coffee-house, 30. - - Jonathan's Coffee-house, 11-13. - - Julian at Will's, 59. - - - King, Moll, some account of, 85, 86. - - King, Tom, his Coffee-house, 84. - - - Laroon, Capt., and King's Coffee-house, 86, 87. - - Lion's Head at Button's, 65-68. - - Lloyd's Coffee-house, Royal Exchange, 24. - - Lloyd's Members in verse, 28. - - Lloyd's Subscription Rooms, 26. - - Lloyd's, _temp._ Charles II., a Song, 23. - - Lockier, Dean, at Will's, 57. - - London Coffee-house and Punch-house, 91. - - - Macklin's Coffee-house Oratory, 82-84. - - Macklin and Foote quarrel, 83. - - Maclaine, the highwayman, at Button's, 71. - - Man's Coffee-house, 33. - - Murphy at George's, 108. - - Murphy and Cibber at Tom's, 75. - - - Nando's Coffee-house, 18. - - - Parry the Welsh Harper, 102. - - Pasqua Rosee's Coffee-house, 2. - - Peele's Coffee-house, 109. - - Pepys's first Cup of Tea, 94. - - Pepys at Will's, 59. - - Percy Coffee-house, and _Percy Anecdotes_, 108. - - Philips, Ambrose, at Button's, 69. - - Piazza Coffee-house, 87. - - Pope on Coffee, 63. - - Pope cudgelled in Rose-alley, 60, 62. - - Pope at Will's, 60. - - Prince's Council Chamber in Fleet-street, 19. - - Prior and Swift at the Smyrna, 49 - - - Rainbow Coffee-house, Fleet-street, 14-18. - - Richard's Coffee-house, 20. - - Rod hung up at Button's, 69, 70. - - - St. James's Coffee-house, 39, 50-55. - - St. Martin's-lane, Artists in, 100. - - Sail-cloth Permits, 11. - - Sale by the Candle at Garraway's, 7. - - Saloop Houses, 48. - - Saltero's Coffee-house and Museum, at Chelsea, 44-48. - - Scene at Jonathan's, 12. - - Serle's Coffee-house, 104. - - Shenstone at George's, 107. - - Sheridan and Kemble at the Piazza, 87. - - Slaughter's Coffee-house, 99-104. - - Smyrna Coffee-house, 49. - - South Sea Scheme, 8. - - _Spectator_, Coffee-houses described in, 39. - - _Spectator_ at Lloyd's, 25. - - _Spectator_ at Squire's, 97. - - _Spectator_ at Will's, 61. - - Squire's Coffee-house, Fulwood's Rents, 96. - - Swift at Button's, 73. - - Swift at the St. James's, 51. - - Swift and the wits at Will's, 61. - - - Tea, early sale of, 94, 95. - - Tea first sold at Garway's, 6. - - Thurlow at Nando's, 18. - - Tiger Roach at the Bedford, 77. - - Token of the Rainbow, 15. - - Tom's Coffee-house, Cornhill, 75. - - Tom's Coffee-house, Devereux-court, 107. - - Tottel's Printing Office, 21. - - Turk's Head Coffee-house, Change-alley, 93. - - Turk's Head Coffee-house, Gerard-street, 94. - - Turk's Head Coffee-house, Strand, 94. - - Turk's Head Coffee-house, Westminster, 96. - - - Ward's account of early Coffee-houses, 32. - - Ward's Punch-house, Fulwood's Rents, 98. - - Ware, the architect, at Slaughter's, 101. - - Will's Coffee-house, 56-64. - - Will's Coffee-house, Lincoln's Inn, 104. - - Woodward at the Bedford, 81. - - -Taverns. - - Adam and Eve, Kensington-road, 244. - - African Tavern, St. Michael's Alley, 157. - - Aikin, Miss, her defence of Addison, 243. - - Albion Tavern, Aldersgate-street, 283. - - Aldersgate Taverns, 147-149. - - Apollo Chamber at the Devil Tavern, 164. - - Apollo Sociable Rules, 165. - - Apple-tree, Topham at the, 234. - - - Bagnigge Wells Tavern, 227. - - Bayswater Taverns, 243. - - Bear at the Bridge-foot Tavern, 122. - - Bedford Head, Covent Garden, 197. - - Beefsteak Society, 286. - - Bellamy's Kitchen, 208. - - Bermondsey Spa, 262. - - Betty's Fruit-shop, St. James's-street, 219. - - Black Jack, or Jump, Clare Market, 185. - - Blackwall and Greenwich Whitebait Taverns, 267-269. - - Boar's Head Tavern, Eastcheap, 124-128. - - Boar's Head waiters, 114. - - Boar's Head, Southwark, 126. - - Brasbridge the Silversmith, at the Globe, 162. - - Brompton Taverns, 249. - - Brummel and the Rummer Tavern, 203. - - Bush, the, Aldersgate-street, 147-149. - - Byron, Lord, and Mr. Chaworth, Duel between, 211. - - - Canary House in the Strand, 180. - - Canonbury Tavern, 228. - - Castle Tavern, Holborn, 234. - - Centlivre, Mrs., anecdote of, 205. - - Chairmen, the Two, 220. - - Chatterton and Marylebone Gardens, 241. - - Cider Cellar, the, 199. - - Clare Market Taverns, 183. - - Clarendon Hotel, the, 278. - - Clubs at the Queen's Arms, 145. - - Coal-hole Tavern, Fountain-court, 182. - - Cock Tavern, Bow-street, 187. - - Cock Tavern, Fleet-street, 170. - - Cock Tavern, Threadneedle-street, 133. - - Coffee-house Canary-bird, 229. - - Coleridge and Lamb, at the Salutation and Cat, 143. - - Colledge, Stephen, and the Hercules Pillars, 172. - - Constitution Tavern, Covent Garden, 199. - - Copenhagen House Tavern, 210. - - Cornelys, Mrs., last of, 252. - - Coventry Act, origin of the, 188. - - Craven Head Tavern, Drury-lane, 185. - - Craven House, Drury-lane, 186. - - Cremorne Tavern and Gardens, 257. - - Cricket at White Conduit House, 225. - - Crown, the, Aldersgate-street, 147. - - Crown Tavern, Threadneedle-street, 134. - - Crown and Anchor Tavern, Strand, 179. - - Cumberland and Cuper's Gardens, 261. - - - Dagger in Cheapside, 112. - - Devil Tavern, Fleet-street, 162-169. - - Devil Tavern, Views of, 168. - - Devil Tavern Token, rare, 169. - - Dog and Duck, St. George's Fields, 262. - - Dolly's, Paternoster-row, 146. - - Drawers and tapsters, waiters, and barmaids, 121. - - Dryden and Pepys at the Mulberry Garden, 258. - - Duke's Head, Islington, 225. - - D'Urfey's Songs of the Rose, 193. - - - Elephant Tavern, Fenchurch-street, 156. - - Evans's, Covent Garden, 194. - - - Feathers Tavern, Grosvenor-road, 253. - - Fish Dinner carte at Blackwall or Greenwich, 272. - - Fitzgerald at Freemasons' Hall, 281. - - Fives at Copenhagen House, 231. - - Fleece, Covent Garden, 196. - - Fountain Tavern, Strand, 181. - - Fox and Bull, Knightsbridge, 250. - - Freemasons' Hall, 266. - - Freemasons' Lodges, 263. - - Freemasons' Lodges in Queen Anne's reign, 265. - - Freemasons' Tavern, 280. - - French Wine-trade in 1154, 111. - - - Globe Tavern, Fleet-street, 161. - - Golden Cross Sign, 220. - - Goldsmith at the Boar's Head, 127. - - Goldsmith at the Globe, 161. - - Goose and Gridiron, 263, 265. - - Grave Maurice Taverns, 159, 160. - - Green Man Tavern, 238. - - - Hales, the giant, landlord of the Craven Head, 186. - - "Heaven" and "Hell" Taverns, 206. - - Hercules and Apollo Gardens, 262. - - Hercules' Pillars Taverns, 171. - - Hercules' Pillars, Hyde Park corner, 173. - - Heycock's Ordinary, Temple Bar, 178. - - Highbury Barn Tavern, 228. - - Hole-in-the-Wall, Chandos-street, 174. - - Hole-in-the-Wall, St. Martin's, 174. - - Hole-in-the-Wall Taverns, 173. - - Hummums, Covent Garden, 295. - - Hyde Park Corner Taverns, 173. - - - Islington Taverns, 224. - - - Jackers, the Society of, 185. - - Jerusalem Taverns, Clerkenwell, 150-152. - - Jenny's Whim Tavern, 253, 254. - - Jerusalem Tavern, Clerkenwell Green, 151. - - Jew's Harp Tavern, 236. - - Joe Miller, his Grave, 184, 185. - - - Kent's St. Cecilia picture, 180. - - Kensington Taverns, 242. - - Kentish Town Taverns, 239. - - Kilburn Wells, 242. - - King's Head Tavern, Fenchurch-street, 155. - - King's Head Tavern, Poultry, 135-141. - - Knightsbridge Taverns, 249. - - Knightsbridge Grove Tavern, 252. - - - Leveridge's Songs, 198. - - Locket's Tavern, 206. - - London Stone Tavern, 148. - - London Tavern, the, 276. - - Lovegrove's, dinner at, 275. - - Lowe's Hotel, 195. - - Lydgate's Ballad on Taverns, 113. - - - Mathematical Society, Spitalfields, 160. - - Marylebone Gardens, account of, 240, 241. - - Marylebone Taverns, 236. - - Mermaid Taverns, three, 124. - - Ministerial Fish Dinner, origin of, 270. - - Mitre, Dr. Johnson and his friends at, 176. - - Mitre Painted Room, 154. - - Mitre Tavern, Fenchurch-street, 154. - - Mitre Tavern, Fleet-street, 175. - - Mitre Tavern, Wood-street, 141. - - Molly Mogg of the Rose, 193. - - Mother Redcap Tavern, 239. - - Mourning Bush Tavern, Aldersgate, 147-149. - - Mourning Crown Tavern and Taylor, the Water-poet, 150. - - Mulberry Garden, the, 257. - - Mull Sack at the Devil Tavern, 163. - - Myddelton's Head Tavern, 228. - - - Nag's Head Tavern, Cheapside, 293. - - - Offley's, Henrietta-street, 201. - - Old Swan Tavern, Thames-street, 132. - - One Tun Tavern, Jermyn-street, 224. - - Onslow, Speaker, at the Jew's Harp, 237. - - Oxford Kate, of the Cock Tavern, 187. - - - Paddington Taverns, 241. - - Paintings at the Elephant, Fenchurch-street, 156. - - Palsgrave Head Tavern, Temple Bar, 178. - - Panton, Col., the gamester, 222. - - Paul Pindar's Head Tavern, Bishopsgate, 153. - - Pepys at the Cock Tavern, 170. - - Pepys at the Hercules' Pillars, 172. - - Piccadilly Hall, 221. - - Piccadilly Inns and Taverns, 221. - - Pimlico Taverns, 259. - - Politics at the Crown and Anchor, 180. - - Pontack's, Abchurch-lane, 130. - - Pope's Head, Cornhill, 113, 131. - - Porson at the Cider Cellar, 200. - - Porson taken ill at the African, 157. - - Portraits, Theatrical, 196. - - Prince of Wales an Odd Fellow, 253. - - Purgatory Tavern, 207. - - - Queen's Arms Tavern, St. Paul's Churchyard, 145. - - Queen's Head, Islington, 226. - - Queen's Head Tavern, Bow-street, 188. - - - Ranelagh Gardens described, 256. - - Relics of the Boar's Head, 125. - - Robin Hood Tavern, Chiswell-street, 129. - - Rose Tavern and Drury-lane Theatre, 193. - - Rose Tavern, Covent Garden, 192. - - Rose Tavern, Marylebone, 239. - - Rose Tavern, Poultry, 120, 135-141. - - Rose Tavern, Tower-street, 292. - - Royal Academy Club, 289. - - Royal Naval Club, 218. - - Rummer Tavern, Charing Cross, 202. - - "Running Footman," May Fair, 219. - - - Sadler's Wells, 228. - - St. John's Gate Tavern, 152. - - St. John's Gate, Johnson at, 151. - - Sala, Mr., his account of Soyer's Symposium, 245. - - Salutation Taverns, 144. - - Salutation and Cat, Newgate-street, 142. - - Salutation, Tavistock-street, 197. - - Shakspeare Tavern, Covent Garden, 189. - - Shaver's Hall, Haymarket, 223. - - Shepherd and his Flock Club, Clare Market, 184. - - Ship Tavern, (Drake,) Temple Bar, 177. - - Shuter, and his tavern places, 191. - - Sign-boards, disfiguring, an old frolic, 177. - - Southwark Tavern Tokens, 263. - - Soyer's Symposium, Gore House, 245. - - Spring Garden Taverns, 205. - - Spring's Tavern, Holborn, 235. - - Spring Garden, Knightsbridge, 251. - - Star Dining-room, 195. - - Star and Garter Tavern, Pall Mall, 211. - - Stolen Marriages at Knightsbridge, 250. - - St. James's Hall, 284. - - Sugar and Sack, 117. - - Swift at the Devil Tavern, 168. - - - Tavern, characterized by Bishop Earle, 118. - - Tavern Life of Sir Richard Steele, 182. - - Tavern Signs, Origin of, 296-304. - - Taverns of Old London, 110-122. - - Taverns in 1608 and 1710, 116. - - Taverns, _temp._ Edward VI., 114. - - Taverns, _temp._ Elizabeth, 115. - - Taverns destroyed by fire, 290. - - Thatched House Tavern, St. James's-street, 217. - - Theatrical Taverns, 285. - - Three Cranes Tavern, Poultry, 141. - - Three Cranes in the Vintry, 112, 128. - - Tom Brown on Taverns, 121, 122. - - Topham, the Strong Man, his Taverns, 225, 232, 233. - - Turtle at the London Tavern, 273. - - Tzar of Muscovy's Head, 291. - - - Vauxhall Gardens, last of, 261. - - Vintner, the, by Massinger, 119. - - - Wadlows, hosts of the Devil Tavern, 167, 168. - - White Conduit House, 226, 227. - - White Hart Tavern, Bishopsgate Without, 152. - - Whitebait Taverns, 267-269. - - White Horse, Kensington, 243. - - White's Club, 287. - - Win-hous, Saxon, 112. - - Wines by old measure, 151. - - - Young Devil Tavern, 169. - - -THE END. - - - JOHN EDWARD TAYLOR, PRINTER, - LITTLE QUEEN STREET, LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS. - 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