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diff --git a/old/54693-0.txt b/old/54693-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 8a47111..0000000 --- a/old/54693-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,14706 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Book for a Rainy Day, by John Thomas Smith - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: A Book for a Rainy Day - or, Recollections of the Events of the Years 1766-1833 - -Author: John Thomas Smith - -Editor: Wilfred Whitten - -Release Date: May 9, 2017 [EBook #54693] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BOOK FOR A RAINY DAY *** - - - - -Produced by MWS and the Online Distributed Proofreading -Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from -images generously made available by The Internet -Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - - - - - -A BOOK FOR A RAINY DAY - - - - -[Illustration: JOHN THOMAS SMITH - -AUTHOR OF “NOLLEKENS AND HIS TIMES,” “A BOOK FOR A RAINY DAY,” ETC.] - - - - - A BOOK - FOR A RAINY DAY - - OR RECOLLECTIONS OF THE - EVENTS OF THE YEARS 1766-1833 - - BY - JOHN THOMAS SMITH - - EDITED, WITH AN INTRODUCTION AND NOTES - BY - WILFRED WHITTEN - - WITH ILLUSTRATIONS FROM CONTEMPORARY PRINTS - - METHUEN & CO. - 36 ESSEX STREET W.C. - LONDON - - _This Edition was first Published in 1905_ - - - - -AUTHOR’S PREFACE - - -The highly flattering manner in which my work, entitled _Nollekens and -his Times_, was generally received, induced me to collect numerous -scattered biographical papers, which I have considerably augmented with a -variety of subjects, arranged chronologically, according to the years of -my life. - -Some may object to my vanity, in expecting the reader of the following -pages to be pleased with so heterogeneous a dish. It is, I own, what -ought to be called a salmagundi, or it may be likened to various suits -of clothes, made up of remnants of all colours. One promise I can make, -that as my pieces are mostly of new cloth, they will last the longer. Dr. -Johnson has said: - -“All knowledge is of itself of some value. There is nothing so minute or -inconsiderable, that I would not rather know, than not.” - -Lord Orrery, in a letter to Dr. Birch, dated November, 1741, makes the -following observation: - -“I look upon anecdotes as debts due to the public, which every man, when -he has that kind of cash by him, ought to pay.” - - J. T. SMITH. - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS - - - JOHN THOMAS SMITH _Frontispiece_ - From an Engraving by WILLIAM SKELTON of - the Drawing by JOHN JACKSON, R.A. - - NANCY DAWSON _Facing page_ 10 - From a Contemporary Print. - - ROYAL ACADEMICIANS REFLECTING ON THE TRUE LINE OF - BEAUTY AT THE LIFE ACADEMY, SOMERSET HOUSE. ” ” 14 - From a Drawing by ROBERT CRUIKSHANK. - - THE DELIGHTS OF ISLINGTON ” ” 17 - From the Engraving by CHARLES BRETHERTON - of the Caricature by HENRY WILLIAM - BUNBURY. - - “SING TANTARARA--VAUXHALL! VAUXHALL!” ” ” 24 - From the Drawing by ROWLANDSON (_Microcosm - of London_). - - GEORGE WHITEFIELD ” ” 32 - From a Painting by NATHANIEL HONE, mezzotinted - by GRENWOODE. - - JOHN RANN ” ” 38 - From a Contemporary Print. - - LONDON BEGGARS: JOHN MACNALLY ” ” 45 - From an Etching by JOHN THOMAS SMITH. - - LONDON BEGGARS: A SILVER-HAIRED MAN ” ” 52 - From an Etching by JOHN THOMAS SMITH. - - LONDON MATCH BOYS ” ” 58 - From an Etching by JOHN THOMAS SMITH. - - IMAGES ” ” 63 - From an Etching by JOHN THOMAS SMITH. - - THE ROYAL COCKPIT ” ” 68 - From a Drawing by PUGIN and ROWLANDSON. - - DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON ” ” 78 - From the Drawing by THOMAS TROTTER, done - from life, and engraved by PRISCOTT. - - “PERDITA” ROBINSON ” ” 83 - Transcriber’s Note: this picture was omitted - from the original book’s list of - illustrations, and has here been added. - - MRS. SIDDONS ” ” 85 - From the Portrait by JOHN KEYSE SHERWIN, - engraved by the painter. - - BENJAMIN WEST, P.R.A. ” ” 91 - From the Painting by GILBERT STUART in the - National Portrait Gallery. - - CAPTAIN FRANCIS GROSE ” ” 105 - From the Drawing by DANCE, engraved by - RIDLEY. - - COVENT GARDEN ” ” 108 - From the Print, “Morning,” by HOGARTH. - - UMBRELLAS TO MEND ” ” 115 - From an Etching by JOHN THOMAS SMITH. - - CHRISTIE’S AUCTION ROOM ” ” 120 - From the Drawing by PUGIN and ROWLANDSON - (_Microcosm of London_). - - AN OLD LONDON WATCH-HOUSE ” ” 126 - From the Drawing by PUGIN and ROWLANDSON - (_Microcosm of London_). - - SIR HARRY DINSDALE AND SIR JEFFERY DUNSTAN ” ” 129 - From Contemporary Prints. - - ELIZABETH CANNING’S IMPOSTURE ” ” 135 - From a Contemporary Print. - - RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN ” ” 147 - From the Painting by JOHN RUSSELL, R.A., - in the National Portrait Gallery. - - J. W. M. TURNER, R.A. ” ” 152 - From a Water-Colour Drawing by JOHN - THOMAS SMITH in the British Museum - Print Room. - - GEORGE MORLAND ” ” 157 - From a Drawing by ROWLANDSON. - - THE REV. ROWLAND HILL ” ” 161 - From a Drawing by THOMAS CLARK, engraved - by WILLIAM BOND. - - JAMES BARRY, R.A. ” ” 168 - From the Portrait painted by himself, in the - National Portrait Gallery. - - THE OLD HOUSE OF COMMONS ” ” 173 - From the Drawing by PUGIN and ROWLANDSON - (_Microcosm of London_). - - NEWGATE CHAPEL ON THE EVE OF SEVERAL EXECUTIONS ” ” 178 - From the Drawing by PUGIN and ROWLANDSON - (_Microcosm of London_). - - THOMAS AUGUSTINE ARNE ” ” 181 - From a Caricature (based upon a Drawing by - BARTOLOZZI) in the National Portrait - Gallery. - - LADY HAMILTON ” ” 184 - After a Painting by ROMNEY. - - GIOVANNI BATTISTA BELZONI ” ” 188 - From the Painting by WILLIAM BROCKEDON - in the National Portrait Gallery. - - BARTHOLOMEW FAIR ” ” 193 - From the Drawing by PUGIN and ROWLANDSON - (_Microcosm of London_). - - CHARLES TOWNLEY ” ” 198 - From a Painting by JOHANN ZOFFANY, R.A., - engraved by WORTHINGTON. - - JAMES NORTHCOTE, R.A. ” ” 205 - From a Drawing by JAMES LONSDALE. - - WILLIAM HUNTINGTON, “S.S.” ” ” 212 - From the Painting by DOMENICO PELLEGRINI - in the National Portrait Gallery. - - MRS. JORDAN IN THE CHARACTER OF THE COUNTRY GIRL ” ” 222 - From the Painting by ROMNEY, engraved by - JOHN OGBOURNE. - - HENRY CONSTANTINE JENNINGS (OR NOEL) ” ” 233 - From a Contemporary Print. - - DAVID GARRICK AND HIS WIFE ” ” 243 - From the Painting by HOGARTH, engraved by - H. BOURNE. - - DR. OLIVER GOLDSMITH ” ” 257 - From the Drawing by HENRY WILLIAM BUNBURY, - engraved by BRETHERTON. - - THE WIG IN ENGLAND: A MACARONI READY FOR - THE PANTHEON ” ” 265 - From a Contemporary Print. - - MATS TO SELL ” ” 281 - From an Etching by JOHN THOMAS SMITH. - - CHARLES DIBDEN ” ” 292 - From the Painting by THOMAS PHILLIPS, R.A., - in the National Portrait Gallery. - - A PARTY ON THE RIVER ” ” 298 - From a Drawing by ROBERT CRUIKSHANK. - - SIR EDMUND BERRY GODFREY ” ” 303 - From an Engraving by P. VANDREBANE. - - JOHN FLAXMAN, R.A., MODELLING THE BUST OF HAYLEY ” ” 309 - From the Painting by ROMNEY in the National - Portrait Gallery. - - THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH, R.A. ” ” 317 - From the Painting by himself in the Royal - Academy. - - - - -THIS EDITION - - -The first two editions of _A Book for a Rainy Day_ appeared in 1845, -twelve years after John Thomas Smith’s death, and a third appeared in -1861. As these editions do not contain half a dozen notes other than -Smith’s own, this may claim to be the first annotated edition. It is also -the first in which numerous original misprints have been (as I hope) -corrected. - -The lapse of seventy years has made many notes necessary. I have -endeavoured to write these in the spirit of the book, making them -something more than brief categorical answers to questions suggested -by Smith’s journal. His own notes were interesting after-thoughts, and -for this reason, and to avoid confusion, the great majority are now -incorporated in his text. Where any are retained as footnotes, Smith’s -authorship is indicated. If my additions to the book seem profuse, I can -only plead that the _Rainy Day_ offers to the annotator that abundance of -material which has long pleased and bewildered its “Grangerisers.” And -our climate has not improved. - -I wish to acknowledge the use I have made of the _Dictionary of -National Biography_, _Notes and Queries_, Mr. Wheatley’s _London Past -and Present_, Mr. George Clinch’s _Bloomsbury and St. Giles’s_, and -his _Marylebone and St. Pancras_, Mr. Warwick Wroth’s _London Pleasure -Gardens of the Eighteenth Century_, Mr. Percy Fitzgerald’s _Life of -Garrick_, Mr. Austin Dobson’s _Hogarth_, Mr. Laurence Binyon’s _Catalogue -of Drawings by British Artists in the Print Department_, the _Gentleman’s -Magazine_, the works of Cunningham and Redgrave, and such autobiographies -as those of Henry Angelo, Thomas Dibdin, John Taylor, W. H. Pyne, Sir -Nathaniel Wraxhall, B. R. Haydon, Madam D’Arblay, Dr. Trusler, and -Letitia Hawkins. It is remarkable how John Thomas Smith’s own books -supplement each other. His _Nollekens and his Times_ is an inexhaustible -budget of facts, and its usefulness has been increased by the index -provided in Mr. Gosse’s edition of 1895. - -It should be remembered that the year-dates which Smith uses as chapter -headings do not represent the times at which the respective chapters were -written. I judge that Smith was engaged on the _Rainy Day_ only in the -last three years of his life. His chronology is rather happy-go-lucky. -For example, it must not be supposed that Dr. Burgess, of Mortimer -Street, wore his cocked hat and deep ruffles in 1816, or that in that -year Alderman Boydell might have been seen putting his head under the -pump in Ironmonger Lane. These men died some years earlier. In accordance -with the text of the third edition, Smith’s curious mention of the death -of Dr. Johnson will be found under the year 1803. - - W. W. - -_June 1905._ - - - - -JOHN THOMAS SMITH - - -John Thomas, or “Rainy Day,” Smith was born in a London hackney coach, on -the evening of the 23rd of June 1766. His mother had spent the evening -at the house of her brother, Mr. Edward Tarr, a convivial glass-grinder -of Earl Street, Seven Dials, and the coach was conveying her back with -necessary haste to her home at No. 7 Great Portland Street. Sixty-seven -years later, the man who had entered thus hurriedly into the world left -it with almost equal unexpectedness in his house, No. 22 University -Street, after holding for seventeen years the post of Keeper of the -Prints at the British Museum. - -As a writer John Thomas Smith takes no high rank; but he is a delightful -gossip, full of his two subjects: London and Art. We know him when he -exclaims to a visitor in the Print Room, “What I tell you is the fact, -and sit down, and I’ll tell ye the whole story.” Smith’s narrative manner -is always that: “Sit down, and I’ll tell ye the whole story.” Such -historians are often found in life, mighty recollectors before the Lord, -who talk books which no one can inspire them to write. And it is well -that when Smith did write he took small pains to be fine or literary. -Writing as a man, and not as the scribes, he produced in his _Nollekens -and his Times_ one of the most entertaining harum-scarum biographies ever -seen, and in his _Book for a Rainy Day, or Recollections of the Events of -the Years 1766-1833_, a budget of memories which has perhaps been less -read and more quoted than any book of its kind. - -Smith’s valuable quality is his interest in the life he lived and saw -lived. He was zealous to record those trivial facts of to-day which -become piquant to-morrow, a habit that reveals itself in the way he -mentions his birth as happening “whilst Maddox was balancing a straw at -the Little Theatre in the Haymarket, and Marylebone Gardens re-echoed the -melodious notes of Tommy Lowe.” In a friend’s album he wrote-- - -“I can boast of seven events, some of which great men would be proud of: - -“I received a kiss when a boy from the beautiful Mrs. Robinson; - -“Was patted on the head by Dr. Johnson; - -“Have frequently held Sir Joshua Reynolds’s spectacles; - -“Partook of a pint of porter with an elephant; - -“Saved Lady Hamilton from falling when the melancholy news arrived of -Lord Nelson’s death; - -“Three times conversed with King George the Third; - -“And was shut up in a room with Mr. Kean’s lion.” - -These events are more curious than fateful, and, indeed, Smith’s career -is little more than a record of plates etched and books published. He is -entertaining because he was out and about in London for sixty years, and -looked upon anecdotes as “debts due to the public.” - -Almost as soon as Mrs. Smith’s hackney coach had brought her to No. 7 -Great Portland Street--a house whose site is now covered, as I reckon, -by No. 38--Dr. William Hunter, brother of the great John Hunter, -arrived from Jermyn Street, and performed his duties with the skill -of a Physician-Extraordinary to the Queen. The attendance of such a -man proves the material comfort of the Smith family. Nathaniel Smith, -the flustered father, was principal assistant to Joseph Nollekens, the -sculptor, and he had worked for Joseph Wilton and the great Roubiliac. -For Wilton he carved three of the nine masks, representing Ocean and -eight British rivers, now seen on the Strand front of Somerset House. He -had taken to wife a Miss Tarr, a Quakeress. Their boy’s christening was -dictated by family history. He was named John after his grandfather, a -Shropshire clothier, whose bust, modelled by Nathaniel Smith, was the -first publicly exhibited by the Associated Artists at Spring Gardens; and -Thomas after his great-uncle, Admiral Thomas Smith, who had earned in -Portsmouth Harbour (more cheaply, perhaps, than Smith would have allowed) -the name of “Tom of Ten Thousand.” - -Smith early went into training to be a gossiping topographer. Old -Nollekens, already a Royal Academician, and the most sought-after -sculptor of portrait busts (“Well, sir, I think my friend Joe Nollekens -can chop out a head with any of them,” was Dr. Johnson’s tribute to -his genius), often took his assistant’s little son for a ramble round -the streets. One day he led Thomas to the Oxford Road to see Jack Rann -go by on the cart to Tyburn, where he was to be hanged for robbing Dr. -William Bell of his watch and eighteenpence. The boy remembered all -his life the criminal’s pea-green coat, his nankin small-clothes, and -the immense nosegay that had been presented to him at St. Sepulchre’s -steps. In another walk, Mr. Nollekens showed him the ruins of the Duke of -Monmouth’s house in Soho Square. In a Sunday morning ramble they watched -the boys bathing in Marylebone Basin, on the site of Portland Place. And, -again, they stood at the top of Rathbone Place, while Nollekens recalled -the mill from which Windmill Street was named, and the halfpenny hatch -which had admitted people to the miller’s grounds. - -In the sculptor’s studio, at No. 9 Mortimer Street, where at the age of -twelve he began to help his father, Smith met sundry great people. One -day, Mr. Charles Townley, the collector of the Townley marbles, noticed -him, and “pouched” him half a guinea to purchase paper and chalk. Dr. -Johnson, who was sitting for his bust, once looked at the boy’s drawings, -and, laying his hand heavily on his head, croaked, “Very well, very -well.” On a February day in 1779, that wag Johnny Taylor, who was to -be Smith’s life-long friend, put his head in at the studio door and -shouted the news that Garrick’s funeral had just left Adelphi Terrace for -Westminster Abbey. Away flew Smith to see the procession, and to record -it, in his old age, in the _Rainy Day_. - -As a youth, Smith wished to learn engraving under Bartolozzi, but the -great Italian declined a pupil, and it was through the influence of Dr. -Hinchliffe, Bishop of Peterborough, one of his father’s patrons, that he -entered the studio of John Keyse Sherwin, the engraver. Here he received -his kiss from the beautiful “Perdita” Robinson; and when Mrs. Siddons -sat to Sherwin for her portrait as the Grecian Daughter, he raised and -lowered the window curtains to obtain the effect of light desired by his -master. - -Three years later Smith launched out as young drawing-master, -pencil-portrait draughtsman, and topographical engraver. He found -a patron in Mr. Richard Wyatt, of Milton Place, Egham. Through this -gentleman he obtained commissions as a topographical artist from -influential collectors like the Duke of Roxburgh, Lord Leicester, and -Horace Walpole. Moreover, Sir Joshua Reynolds and Benjamin West sometimes -engaged him to bid for them at print auctions. At this time he was a -frequent visitor to the drawing-room of Mrs. Mathew, in Rathbone Place, -where Flaxman was often found, and where William Blake read aloud his -early poems. - -The small artist, and particularly the topographical artist, had his -chance in the second half of the eighteenth century. The productions -of Wilson, Reynolds, Romney, and Gainsborough had stirred up the arts -of engraving, which allied themselves closely to literature and life. -It was the age of portly topographies and county histories, with their -ceremonious array of plates; of itinerant portrait and view painting; -and of night-sales of books and prints at which sociable collectors sat -under eccentric auctioneers, and at which noblemen were as commonly seen -as they were at boxing and trotting matches fifty years later. Shops -abounded for the sale of new prints, and auctions were frequent for the -distribution of old. Human types were produced of which we know little -to-day. Smith has drawn some of them with easy and natural touches in -his chapter on the print-buyers who attended Langford’s and Hutchins’ -sale rooms, in Covent Garden, in 1783. There he was in his element. Not -much passed in the art world in the fifty years following that date that -Smith did not know. - -When twenty-two, he married. The girl of his choice was Anne Maria -Pickett, who belonged to a respectable family at Streatham, and who, -after forty-five years of married life, was left his widow. They had -one son and two daughters. The son died at the Cape in the same year as -his father, 1833. One daughter was married to Mr. Smith, a sculptor, -and the other to Mr. Paul Fischer, a miniature painter. Soon after -his marriage he was invited by Sir James Winter Lake to take up his -residence at Edmonton, where he taught drawing to their daughter, and -doubtless had other pupils. When he applied (unsuccessfully) for the -post of drawing-master to Christ’s Hospital, Sir James and Lady Lake’s -testimonial made a point of the fact that he had never touched up their -daughter’s work, “a practice too often followed by drawing-masters -in general.” At this period Smith practised as an itinerant portrait -painter, a branch of art which then had its vogue, and was to number -William Hazlitt among its professors. At Edmonton it was that he -“_profiled, three-quartered, full-faced_, and _buttoned up_ the retired -embroidered weavers, their crummy wives and tight-laced daughters.” At -Edmonton, too, he watched the reception of his first book, the -_Antiquities of London and its Environs_. Smith’s career for the next -thirty years may be conveniently sketched in a list of his residences -and the work he accomplished in each. - -In 1797 he was at No. 40 Frith Street, Soho, a house which still -exists, with its ground floor converted into a French wine shop. There -he published his _Remarks on Rural Scenery_, consisting of etching -of cottage and village scenes in the neighbourhood of London, with a -preliminary essay on drawing. - -In 1800 he was living with his father at 18 May’s Buildings, or the -“Rembrandt Head,” as it was styled, in St. Martin’s Lane. In this -year the discovery of curious paintings during the alterations to St. -Stephen’s Chapel for the enlargement of the House of Commons, attracted -Smith’s attention, and, after making careful copies of these relics, he -projected his _Antiquities of Westminster_. - -In February 1806, Smith published an etching of the scene on the Thames -when Nelson’s remains were brought from Greenwich to Whitehall. He tells -us that on showing it to Lady Hamilton she swooned in his arms. The plate -is inscribed: “Published February 15, 1806, by John Thomas Smith, at No. -36 Newman Street.” This house remains unaltered. - -In 1807 he issued his _Antiquities of Westminster_, his address appearing -in the imprint as 31 Castle Street East, Oxford Street. - -In 1810, May’s Buildings reappears in the imprint of his _Antient -Topography of London_, but it may be that this address was not -residential. The site of this house is merged in Messrs. Harrison’s -printing works. - -In 1815-17, Smith lived at No. 4 Chandos Street, Covent Garden, whence he -issued his _Vagabondiana, or Anecdotes of Mendicant Wanderers through the -Streets of London_. - -In 1816 he succeeded William Alexander as Keeper of the Prints, and it -is probable that he soon afterwards took up his residence at No. 22 -University Street.[1] He was living here in 1828, when he published, -through Henry Colburn, of New Burlington Street, “_Nollekens and his -Times_: comprehending a Life of that celebrated Sculptor; and Memoirs -of Several Contemporary Artists, from the time of Roubiliac, Hogarth, -and Reynolds, to that of Fuseli, Flaxman, and Blake.” This, his most -ambitious work, must be noticed more particularly because of its -bearing on Smith’s life and character. Mr. Gosse, who has edited it, -with the addition of a graceful essay on Georgian Sculpture, describes -it as “perhaps the most candid biography ever published in the English -language.” In its pages Smith exposes the domestic privacies and miserly -habits of the sculptor and his wife. There are pages of sordid gossip -which a dismissed charwoman might probably have found unacceptable to her -cronies and supporters. Yet the book cannot be described as venomous. It -is cheerily and unscrupulously candid, and this even in the matter of -the author’s own disappointment. Nollekens, he assures us, had again and -again given him reason to believe that he would be handsomely remembered -in his will. “That you may depend upon, Tom,” were his words. It is easy -to see that Smith may have come to expect this as the bright event of -his later years. His Museum appointment had lifted him out of drudgery, -and the promised legacy may have presented itself to him as the final -deliverance from care. Nollekens had been kind to him as a boy, and -had remained his friend through life. He was a widower, childless, and -enormously rich. No artist had known better how to make art profitable. -His purchases of antiques in Rome had been most prudent; so, also, his -investments. As a sculptor of portrait busts he stood alone, and in his -long working life he had “chopped out” the heads of many hundreds of -wealthy and illustrious persons. When he died in April 1823, no one was -surprised that his estate was declared to be of the value of £300,000. -But very little of it went to “Tom,” who, to his intense chagrin, -received a bare hundred pounds as one of the three executors. - -Five years later, Smith brought out his hit-back biography. Its general -veracity cannot be doubted. It is a veracity sharpened, not deflected, by -malice. But it is clear that Smith found other satisfactions in writing -the book than that of exposing the weaknesses of his old friend. He -enjoyed the long and minute chronicle of life in Mortimer Street and in -the studios and galleries he had frequented. Nollekens comes and goes in -a world of gossip about London, art, and people. True, at any moment a -mischievous gust may blow aside the veils to show us Mrs. Nollekens, in -second-hand finery, beating down the price of a new broom or a chicken -with cunning affability, or the sculptor pocketing nutmegs at the Royal -Academy dinners to be added to the Mortimer Street larder. If you protest -against these and worse freedoms, you are grateful for the hundred little -touches of locality and custom that accompany them. The daily life of the -eighteenth century is before you: the parlour, the street, the print shop. - -Of Smith’s reign in the Print Room not much can be gathered. He was -much liked and respected by those who consulted him in his department. -We are told that he was kind to young artists of promise, and gently -candid to those of no promise. His recollections and anecdotes were the -delight of his visitors, one of whom has left us a racy specimen of his -flow of humour and gossip. I refer to the following passage of Boswellian -reminiscence, appended to the second and third edition, of the RAINY DAY. - - “His two old friends, Mr. Packer, who had been a partner in - Combe’s brewery, and Colonel Phillips, who had accompanied - Captain Cooke in one of his voyages round the world, were - constant attendants in the Print Room, and contributed towards - the general amusement. Of the former of these gentlemen, who - died in 1828, at the advanced age of ninety, Mr. Smith used - to tell a remarkable story, which we are rather surprised not - to find recorded in his Reminiscences. It was our fortune to - be the first to communicate to Mr. Smith the fact of his old - friend’s decease, and that he had bequeathed to him a legacy - of £100. ‘Ah, Sir!’ he said, in a very solemn manner, after a - long pause, ‘poor fellow, he pined to death on account of a - rash promise of marriage he had made.’ We humbly ventured to - express our doubts, having seen him not long before looking - not only very un-Romeo like, but very hale and hearty; and - besides, we begged to suggest that other reasons might be given - for the decease of a respectable gentleman of ninety. ‘No, - Sir,’ said Mr. Smith; ‘what I tell you is the fact, and _sit - ye down, and I’ll tell ye the whole story_. Many years ago, - when Mr. Packer was a young man employed in the brew-house in - which he afterwards became a partner, he courted, and promised - marriage to, a worthy young woman in his own sphere of life. - But, as his circumstances improved, he raised his ideas, and, - not to make a long story of it, married another woman with a - good deal of money. The injured fair one was indignant, but, - as she had no written promise to show, was, after some violent - scenes, obliged to put up with a verbal assurance that she - should be the next Mrs. Packer. After a few years the first - Mrs. P. died, and she then claimed the fulfilment of his - promise, but was again deceived in the same way, and obliged - to put up with a similar pledge. A _second_ time he became a - widower, and a _third_ time he deceived his unfortunate _first_ - love, who, indignant and furious beyond measure, threatened all - sorts of violent proceedings. To pacify her, Mr. P. gave her - a written promise that, if a widower, he would marry her when - he attained the age of one hundred years! Now he had lost his - last wife some time since, and every time he came to see me at - the Museum, he fretted and fumed because he should be obliged - to marry that awful woman at last. This could not go on long, - and, as you tell me, he has just dropped off. If it hadn’t been - for this, he would have lived as long as Old Parr. And now,’ - finished Mr. Smith, with the utmost solemnity, ‘let this be a - warning to you. Don’t make rash promises to women; but if you - will do so, _don’t make them in writing_.’” - -Had John Thomas Smith been granted the scriptural span of life, he might -have read the _Pickwick Papers_. But the implacable call came in March -1833, and he left various enterprises unfinished. He had collected the -materials for a gossipping history of Covent Garden; these have never -been edited. The well-known _Antiquarian Rambles in the Streets of -London_, published in 1846, originated in Smith’s notes, but four-fifths -of the book was certainly written by its editor, Dr. Charles Mackay. - -The book from which Smith has his sobriquet was published in 1845. _A -Book for a Rainy Day_ places its author in that line of London’s watchful -lovers which began with John Stow and has not ended with Sir Walter -Besant. Now, when London’s streets are changing as they have not changed -since the Great Fire, he lies in that bare field of the dead behind the -Bayswater Road, where, on the grave of a greater writer, you read the -words, “Alas! poor Yorick.” - - W. W. - - - - -A BOOK FOR A RAINY DAY - - -The Reader is requested to keep in mind that those events which I relate -of myself when “mewling in my nurse’s arms,” and until my fourth year, -were communicated to me by my parents, and that my statements from that -period are mostly from my own memory;--Miranda proved to Prospero that -she recollected an event in her fourth year. - - -1766. - -My father informed me, that in the evening of the 23rd of June 1766, -which must have been much about the time when Marylebone Gardens echoed -the melodious notes of Tommy Lowe,[2] and whilst there was _The Devil -to Pay_ at Richmond with Mr. and Mrs. Love,[3] my mother, on returning -from a visit to her brother, Mr. Edward Tarr,[4] became so seriously -indisposed, that she most strenuously requested him to allow her to -return home in a hackney coach, whilst he went to Jermyn Street for Dr. -Hunter.[5] Upon that gentleman’s arrival at my father’s door, No. 7, in -Great Portland Street,[6] Marylebone, he assisted the nurse in conveying -my mother and myself to her chamber. Although I dare not presume to -suppose that the vehicle in which I was born had been the equipage of -the great John Duke of Marlborough, or Sarah his Duchess, at all events -I probably may be correct in the conjecture that the hack was in some -degree similar to those introduced by Kip, in his Plates for Strype’s -edition of Stowe.[7] - -Hackney chairs were then so numerous, that their stands extended round -Covent Garden, and often down the adjacent streets;[8] these vehicles -frequently enabled physicians to approach their patients in a warm state. -The forms of those to which I allude are also given in Kip’s prints above -mentioned; and who knows but that they, in their turn, have conveyed -Voltaire from the theatre to his lodging in Maiden Lane?[9] - -That sedans were of ancient use I make no doubt, as I find one introduced -in Sir George Staunton’s Embassy to China.[10] Pliny has stated that -his uncle was much accustomed to be carried abroad in a chair.[11] -My parents, after a fireside debate, agreed that I should have two -Christian names: John, after my grandfather, a Shropshire clothier, whose -bust, modelled by my father, was one of the first publicly exhibited by -the Associated Artists in 1763, before the establishment of the Royal -Academy;[12] and Thomas, to the honour of our family, in remembrance of -my great-uncle, Admiral Smith, better known under the appellation of “Tom -of Ten Thousand,”[13] of whom I have a spirited half-length portrait, -painted by the celebrated Richard Wilson, the landscape painter, previous -to his visiting Rome, when he resided in the apartments on the north -side of Covent Garden, which had been occupied first by Sir Peter Lely, -and afterwards by Sir Godfrey Kneller.[14] From this picture there is an -excellent engraving in mezzotinto, by Faber. - -I have heard my mother relate, that when at Greenwich this year for the -benefit of her health, an aged pie and cheesecake woman lived there, who -was accompanied through the town by a goose, who regularly stopped at her -customer’s door, and commenced a loud cackling; but that whenever the -words “Not to-day” were uttered, off it waddled to the next house, and so -on till the business of the day was ended. My mother also remarked, that -when ladies walked out, they carried nosegays in their hands, and wore -three immense lace ruffle cuffs on each elbow.[15] - -In the month of March, this year, died Mary Mogg, at Oakingham, the woman -who gave rise to Gay’s celebrated ballad of “Molly Mogg.”[16] - -In all ages there has been a fashion in amusements, as well as in dress: -grottoes, which were numerous round London, appear by the advertisements -to have been places of great resort, but above all Finch’s, in St. -George’s Fields, was the favourite. The following is a copy of one of the -musical announcements:-- - - “6th of May, 1766. - - “MR. HOUGHTON AND MR. MITCHELL’S NIGHT. - - “AT FINCH’S GROTTO Garden, This Day, will be performed a - Concert of VOCAL and INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC. SINGING as usual. - - “N.B. For that Night only, the Band will be enlarged. - Tickets to be had at the Bar of the Gardens. Admittance One - Shilling.”[17] - - -1767. - -Being frequently thrown into my cradle by the servant, as a cross little -brat, the care of my tender mother induced her to purchase one of Mr. -Burchell’s anodyne necklaces, so strongly recommended by two eminent -physicians, Dr. Tanner, the inventor, and Dr. Chamberlen, to whom he had -communicated the prescription; and it was agreed by most of my mother’s -gossiping friends, that the effluvia arising from it when warm acted in -so friendly a manner, that my fevered gums were considerably relieved.[18] - -Go-carts, the old appendages of our nurseries, continuing in use, I was -occasionally placed in one; and as its advantages have been noticed in -my work entitled _Nollekens and his Times_, I shall now only refer the -reader for its form to Number 186 of “Rembrandt’s Etchings;”[19] that -being similar, as my father informed me, to those used in London in my -infantine days.[20] - -The cradle having of late years been in a great degree superseded by what -is called a cot,[21] and its shape not being remarkable, I shall for a -moment beg leave to deal in a foreign market, in order to gratify the -indefatigable organ of inquisitiveness of some of my readers, who may -wish to know in what sort of cradle Stratford’s sweet Willy slumbered. -Possibly it might in some respects have accorded with the representation -of one in a small plate by Israel Von Meckenen,[22] and this conjecture -is not improbable, as that plate was engraved about the sixteenth -century; and it is well known that in most articles of furniture, as -well as dress, we had long borrowed from our continental neighbours, -whether good, bad, or indifferent. It gives me great pleasure to observe -that, owing to the vast improvements made by our draughtsmen for English -upholsterers, in every article of domestic decorative furniture, England -has now little occasion to borrow from other nations. - -[Illustration: NANCY DAWSON - - “See how she comes to give surprise - With joy and pleasure in her eyes.” - -_Old Song, “Nancy Dawson”_] - -Nancy Dawson, the famous hornpipe dancer, died this year, May 27th, at -Hampstead; she was buried behind the Foundling Hospital, in the ground -belonging to St. George the Martyr, where there is a tombstone to her -memory, simply stating, “Here lies Nancy Dawson.” Every verse of a song -in praise of her, declares the poet to be dying for Nancy Dawson; and -its tune, which many of my readers must recollect, is, in my opinion, -as lively as that of “Sir Roger de Coverley.” I have been informed that -Nancy, when a girl, set up the skittles at a tavern in High Street, -Marylebone.[23] Sir William Musgrave, in his _Adversaria_ (No. 5719), in -the British Museum, says that “Nancy Dawson was the wife of a publican -near Kelso, on the borders of Scotland.”[24] - - -1768. - -At the age when most children place things on their heads and cry “Hot -pies!” I displayed a black pudding upon mine, which my mother, careful -soul, had provided for its protection in case I should fall. This is -another article mentioned in _Nollekens and his Times_; and having there -stated that Rubens, in a picture at Blenheim, had painted one on the head -of a son of his, walking with his wife Elenor,[25] and as the mothers of -future days may wish to know its shape, I beg to inform them that there -is an engraving of it by MacArdell. But as the receipt for a pet pudding -would be of little use to the maker were one ingredient omitted, it would -be equally difficult to produce a similar black pudding to mine, were I -not to state that it was made of a long narrow piece of black silk or -satin, padded with wadding, and then formed to the head according to the -taste of the parent, or similar to that of little Rubens.[26] - -In this year the Royal Academy was founded, consisting of members who -had agreed to withdraw themselves from various clubs, not only in order -to be more select as to talent, but perfectly correct as to gentlemanly -conduct. It would have been a valuable acquisition to the History of -the Fine Arts in England, had Mr. Howard favoured us with the Rise and -Progress of the Royal Academy.[27] - -Perhaps no one could have been more talked of than Mr. Wilkes, -particularly on May 10th, when a riot took place on account of his -imprisonment.[28] His popularity was carried to so great an extent, that -his friends in all classes displayed some article on which his effigy was -portrayed, such as salad or punch bowls, ale or milk jugs, plate, dishes, -and even heads of canes. The squib engravings of him, published from the -commencement of his notoriety to his silent state when Chamberlain of -London, would extend to several volumes. Hogarth’s portrait of him, which -by the collectors was considered a caricature, my father recommended as -the best likeness. - -The following memoranda respecting Henry Fuseli, R.A., are extracted from -the Mitchell Manuscripts in the British Museum. The letter is from Mr. -Murdock, of Hampstead, to a friend at Berlin, dated Hampstead, 12th June -1764:-- - -“I like Fuseli very much; he comes out to see us at times, and is just -now gone from this with your letter to A. Ramsay, and another from me. He -is of himself disposed to all possible economy; but to be decently lodged -and fed, in a decent family, cannot be for less than three shillings a -day, which he pays. He might, according to Miller’s wish, live a little -cheaper; but then he must have been lodged in some garret, where nobody -could have found their way, and must have been thrown into ale-houses -and eating-houses, with company every way unsuitable, or, indeed, -insupportable to a stranger of any taste; especially as the common people -are of late brutalised. - -“Some time hence, I hope, he may do something for himself; his talent at -grouping figures, and his faculty of execution, being really surprising.” - -In the same volume, in a letter dated Hampstead, 12th Jan. 1768, the same -writer says to the same friend-- - -“Fuseli goes to Italy next spring, by the advice of Reynolds (our -Apelles), who has a high opinion of his genius, and sees what is wanting -to make him a first-rate.”[29] - -[Illustration: R.A.’S REFLECTING ON THE TRUE LINE OF BEAUTY AT THE LIFE -ACADEMY, SOMERSET HOUSE.] - -In another, dated Hampstead, 13th December 1768: “Fuseli is still here; -but proposes to set out for Italy as soon as his friends can secure to -him fifty pounds yearly, for a few years. Dr. Armstrong,[30] who admires -his genius, has taxed himself at ten pounds, and has taken us in for as -much more; and indeed it were shameful that such talents should be sunk -for want of a little pecuniary aid.” - -The ladies this year wore half a flat hat as an eye-shade. - - -1769. - -Lord North, in a letter addressed to Sir Eardley Wilmot from Downing -Street, bearing date this year, April 1st, says-- - - “My friend Colonel Luttrell having informed me that many - persons depending upon the Court of Common Pleas are - freeholders of Middlesex, etc., not having the honour of being - acquainted with you himself, desires me to apply to you for - your interest with your friends in his behalf. It is manifest - how much it is for the honour of Parliament, and the quiet - of this country in future times, that Mr. Wilkes should have - an antagonist at the next Brentford election; and that his - antagonist should meet with a respectable support. The state of - the country has been examined, and there is the greatest reason - to believe that the Colonel will have a very considerable show - of legal votes, nay, even a majority, if his friends are not - deterred from appearing at the poll. It is the game of Mr. - Wilkes and his friends to increase those alarms, but they - cannot frighten the _candidate_ from his purpose; and I am very - confident that the voters will run no risk. I hope, therefore, - you will excuse this application. There is nothing, I imagine, - that every true friend of this country must wish more than to - see Mr. Wilkes disappointed in his projects; and nothing, I am - convinced, will defeat them more effectually, than to fill up - the vacant seat for Middlesex, especially if it can be done for - a fair majority of legal votes. - - “I am, Sir, with the greatest truth and respect, your most - faithful, humble servant, - - “NORTH.” - -The Judge, in his answer, dated on the following day, observed, “It would -be highly improper for me to interfere in any shape in that election.” -(See the Wilmot Letters, in the British Museum.)[31] - -This year ladies continued to walk with fans in their hands. - - -1770. - -Most of the citizens who had saved money were very fond of retiring -to some country-house, at a short distance from the Metropolis, and -more particularly to Islington, that being a selected and favourite -spot. Charles Bretherton, Jun., made an etching, from a drawing by -Mr. Bunbury,[32] of a Londoner, of the above description, whose -waistcoat-pockets were large enough to convey a couple of fowls from a -City feast home to his family. The print is entitled, “The Delights of -Islington,” and bears the following inscription at the top:-- - - WHEREAS my new Pagoda has been clandestinely carried off, and a - new pair of Dolphins taken from the top of the Gazebo, by some - Bloodthirsty Villains; and whereas a great deal timber has been - cut down and carried away from the Old Grove, that was planted - last Spring, and Pluto and Proserpine thrown into my Basin: - from henceforth, Steel Traps and spring guns will be constantly - set for the better extirpation of such a nest of villains, - - By me, JEREMIAH SAGO. - -[Illustration: “THE DELIGHTS OF ISLINGTON”] - -On a garden notice-board, in another print, also after Bunbury, published -at the same time, is inscribed, - - THE NEW PARADISE. - - No Gentlemen or Ladies to be admitted with nails in their - shoes.[33] - -For the information of the collectors of Bunbury’s prints, I beg to -state that there is in Mrs. Banks’s collection of visiting cards, etc., -in the British Museum, a small etching said to have been his very first -attempt when at Westminster School. It represents a fellow riding a hog, -brandishing a birch-broom by way of a baster, with another at a short -distance, hallooing. - -As Mr. Walpole is silent as to Jonathan Richardson’s place of interment, -the biographical collector will find the following inscription in the -burial-ground behind the Foundling Hospital, belonging to the parish of -St. George the Martyr:-- - - Elizabeth Richardson, - Died 24th Dec. 1767, - Aged 74 years. - Jonathan Richardson, - Died 10th June, 1771, - Aged 77; both of this parish.[34] - - -1771. - -The gaiety during the merry month of May was to me most delightful; my -feet, though I knew nothing of the positions, kept pace with those of the -blooming milkmaids, who danced round their garlands of massive plate, -hired from the silversmiths to the amount of several hundreds of pounds, -for the purpose of placing round an obelisk, covered with silk fixed upon -a chairman’s horse. The most showy flowers of the season were arranged -so as to fill up the openings between the dishes, plates, butter-boats, -cream-jugs, and tankards. This obelisk was carried by two chairmen in -gold-laced hats, six or more handsome milkmaids in pink and blue gowns, -drawn through the pocket-holes, for they had one on either side: yellow -or scarlet petticoats, neatly quilted, high-heeled shoes, mob-caps, with -lappets of lace resting on their shoulders; nosegays in their bosoms, -and flat Woffington hats, covered with ribbons of every colour. But what -crowned the whole of the display was a magnificent silver tea-urn which -surmounted the obelisk, the stand of which was profusely decorated with -scarlet tulips. A smart, slender fellow of a fiddler, commonly wearing -a sky-blue coat, with his hat profusely covered with ribbons, attended; -and the master of the group was accompanied by a constable, to protect -the plate from too close a pressure of the crowd, when the maids danced -before the doors of his customers.[35] - -One of the subjects selected by Mr. Jonathan Tyers, for the artists who -decorated the boxes for supper-parties in Vauxhall Gardens,[36] was that -of Milkmaids on May-day. In that picture (which, with the rest painted -by Hayman and his pupils, has lately disappeared) the garland of plate -was carried by a man on his head; and the milkmaids, who danced to the -music of a wooden-legged fiddler, were extremely elegant. They had -ruffled cuffs, and their gowns were not drawn through their pocket-holes -as in my time; their hats were flat, and not unlike that worn by Peg -Woffington, but bore a nearer shape to those now in use by some of the -fish-women at Billingsgate. In Captain M. Laroon’s _Cries of London_, -published by Tempest, there is a female entitled “A Merry Milkmaid.”[37] -She is dancing with a small garland of plate upon her head; and from her -dress I conclude that the Captain either made his drawing in the latter -part of King William III.’s reign, or at the commencement of that of -Queen Anne. - - -1772. - -My dear mother’s declining state of health urged my father to consult Dr. -Armstrong,[38] who recommended her to rise early and take milk at the -cowhouse. I was her companion then; and I well remember that, after we -had passed Portland Chapel, there were fields all the way on either side. -The highway was irregular, with here and there a bank of separation; -and that when we had crossed the New Road, there was a turnstile (called -in an early plan, which I have seen since, “The White House”), at the -entrance of a meadow leading to a little old public-house, the sign of -the “Queen’s Head and Artichoke”: it 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.[39] - -A little beyond a nest of small houses contiguous, was another turnstile -opening also into fields, over which we walked to the Jew’s Harp House, -Tavern and Tea Gardens.[40] It consisted of a large upper room, ascended -by an outside staircase, for the accommodation of the company on ball -nights; and in this room large parties dined. At the south front of -these premises was a large semicircular enclosure with boxes for tea and -ale drinkers, guarded by deal-board soldiers between every box, painted -in proper colours. In the centre of this opening were tables and seats -placed for the smokers. On the eastern side of the house there was a -trapball-ground; the western side served for a tennis-hall; there were -also public and private skittle-grounds. Behind this tavern were several -small tenements, with a pretty good portion of ground to each. On the -south of the tea-gardens a number of summer-houses and gardens, fitted up -in the truest Cockney taste; for on many of these castellated edifices -wooden cannons were placed; and at the entrance of each domain, of about -the twentieth part of an acre, the old inscription of “Steel-traps and -spring-guns _all over_ these grounds,” with an “N.B. Dogs trespassing -will be shot.” - -In these rural retreats the tenant was usually 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-Dial friend -with a nod on his peregrination to the famed Wells of Kilburn. Willan’s -farm,[41] the extent of my mother’s walk, stood at about a quarter of a -mile south; and I remember that the room in which she sat to take the -milk was called “Queen Elizabeth’s Kitchen,” and that there was some -stained glass in the windows. - -On our return we crossed the New Road; and, after passing the back of -Marylebone Gardens,[42] entered London immediately behind the elegant -mansions on the north side of Cavendish Square. This Square was enclosed -by a dwarf brick wall, surmounted by heavy wooden railing. Harley Fields -had for years been resorted to by thousands of people, to hear the -celebrated Mr. George Whitefield, whose wish, like that of Wesley, when -preaching on execution days at Kennington Common, was to catch the ears -of the idlers. I should have noticed Kendall’s farm,[43] which in 1746 -belonged to a farmer of the name of Bilson, a pretty large one, where I -have seen eight or ten immense hay-ricks all on a row; it stood on the -site of the commencement of the present Osnaburg Street, nearly opposite -the “Green Man,” originally called the “Farthing Pie House.”[44] - -[Illustration: “SING _TANTARARA_--VAUXHALL! VAUXHALL!”] - -To the honour of our climate, which is often abused, perhaps no country -can produce instances of longevity equal to those of England of this -year, viz.:--at 100, 2; 101, 5; 102, 6; 103, 3; 105, 4; 106, 3; 107, 4; -108, 5; 109, 4; 110, 2; 111, 2; 112, 3; 114, 1; 118, 1; 125, Rice, a -cooper in Southwark; 133, Mrs. Keithe, at Newnham, in Gloucestershire; -138, the widow Chun, at Ophurst, near Lichfield.[45] - - -1773. - -The “Mother Red-cap,” at Kentish Town, was a house of no small terror -to travellers in former times. This house was lately taken down, and -another inn built on its site; however, the old sign of “Mother Red-cap” -is preserved on the new building. It has been stated that Mother Red-cap -was the “Mother Damnable” of Kentish Town in early days; and that it was -at her house the notorious “Moll Cut-purse,” the highway-woman of the -time of Oliver Cromwell, dismounted and frequently lodged.[46] - -As few persons possess so retentive a memory as myself, I make no doubt -that many will be pleased with my recollections of the state of Tottenham -Court Road at this time. I shall commence at St. Giles’s churchyard, in -the northern wall of which there was a gateway of red and brown brick. -Over this gate, under its pediment, was a carved composition of the Last -Judgment, not borrowed from Michael Angelo, but from the workings of -the brain of some ship-carver.[47] This was and is still admired by the -generality of ignorant observers, as much as Mr. Charles Smith[48] the -sculptor’s “Love among the Roses” is by the well-informed; and, perhaps, -a more correct assertion was never made than that by the late worthy Rev. -James Bean,[49] when speaking of an itinerant musician, “that bad music -was as agreeable to a bad ear as that of Corelli or Pergolesi was to -persons who understood the science.” - -At this gate stood for many years an eccentric but inoffensive old man -called “Simon,” some account of whom will be found in a future page. -Nearly on the site of the new gate, in which this _basso relievo_ has -been most conspicuously placed, stood a very small old house towards -Denmark Street, tottering for several years whenever a heavy carriage -rolled through the street, to the great terror of those who were at the -time passing by. - -I must not forget to observe that I recollect the building of most of the -houses at the north end of New Compton Street (Dean Street and Compton -Street, Soho, were named in compliment to Bishop Compton, Dean of St. -Paul’s, who held the living of St. Anne), and I also remember a row of -six small almshouses, surrounded by a dwarf brick wall, standing in the -middle of High Street.[50] - -On the left-hand of High Street, passing on to Tottenham Court Road, -there were four handsomely finished brick houses, with grotesque masks -on the key-stones above the first-floor windows, probably erected in -the reign of Queen Anne. These houses have lately been rebuilt without -the masks; fortunately my reader may be gratified with a sight of such -ornaments in Queen Square, Westminster.[51] There is a set of engravings -of masks, of a small quarto size, considered as the designs of Michael -Angelo; and in the sale of Mr. Moser, the first keeper of the Royal -Academy, which took place at Hutchinson’s in 1783, were several plaster -casts, considered to be taken from models by him. The next object of -notoriety is a large circular boundary stone, let into the pavement in -the middle of the highway, exactly where Oxford Street and Tottenham -Court Road meet in a right angle. When the charity boys of St. Giles’s -parish walk the boundaries, those who have deserved flogging are whipped -at this stone, in order that, as they grow up, they may remember the -place, and be competent to give evidence should any dispute arise with -the adjoining parishes. Near this stone stood St. Giles’s Pound.[52] -Two old houses stood near this spot on the eastern side of the street, -where the entrance gates of Meux’s brewery have been erected: between the -second-floor windows of one of them the following inscription was cut in -stone: “Opposite this house stood St. Giles’s Pound.” This spot has been -rendered popular by a song, attributed to the pen of a Mr. Thompson, an -actor of the Drury Lane Company: - - “On Newgate steps Jack Chance was found, - Bred up near St. Giles’s Pound.”[53] - -The ground behind the north-west end of Russell Street was occupied by a -farm occupied by two old maiden sisters of the name of Capper. They wore -riding-habits, and men’s hats; one rode an old grey mare, and it was her -spiteful delight to ride with a large pair of shears after boys who were -flying their kites, purposely to cut their strings; the other sister’s -business was to seize the clothes of the lads who trespassed on their -premises to bathe.[54] - -From Capper’s farm were several straggling houses; but the principal part -of the ground to the “King’s Head,” at the end of the road, was unbuilt -upon. The “Old King’s Head” forms a side object in Hogarth’s beautiful -and celebrated picture of the “March to Finchley,” which may be seen with -other fine specimens of art in the Foundling Hospital, for the charitable -donation of one shilling. - -I shall now recommence on the left-hand side of the road, noticing that -on the front of the first house, No. 1, in Oxford Street, near the -second-floor windows, is the following inscription cut in stone: OXFORD -STREET, 1725. In Aggas’s plan of London, engraved in the beginning of the -reign of Queen Elizabeth, the commencement of this street is designated -“The Waye to Uxbridge”; farther on in the same plan the highway is called -“Oxford Road.” Hanway Street, better known by the vulgar people under -the name of HANOVER YARD, was at this time the resort of the highest -fashion for mercery and other articles of dress. The public-house, the -sign of the “Blue Posts,” at the corner of Hanway Street, in Tottenham -Court Road, was once kept by a man of the name of Sturges, deep in the -knowledge of chess, upon which game he published a little work, as is -acknowledged on his tombstone in St. James’s burial-ground, Hampstead -Road.[55] From the “Blue Posts” the houses were irregularly built to a -large space called Gresse’s Gardens, thence to Windmill Street, strongly -recommended by physicians for the salubrity of the air. The premises -occupied by the French charity children were held by the founders of the -Middlesex Hospital, which were established in 1755, where the patients -remained until the present building was erected in Charles Street. -Colvill Court, parallel with Windmill Street northward, was built in -1766; and Goodge Street,[56] farther on, was, I conjecture, erected -much about the same time. Mr. Whitefield’s chapel was built in 1754, -upon the site of an immense pond, called THE LITTLE SEA. This pond, so -called, is inserted in Pine and Tinney’s plan of London, published in -1742, and also in the large one issued by the same persons in 1746.[57] -Beyond the chapel[58] the four dwellings, then called “Paradise Row,” -almost terminated the houses on that side. A turnstile opened into -Crab-tree Fields.[59] They extended to the “Adam and Eve” public-house, -the original appearance of which Hogarth has also introduced into his -picture of the “March to Finchley.” It was at this house that the famous -pugilistic skill of Broughton and Slack was publicly exhibited, upon an -uncovered stage, in a yard open to the North Road.[60] - -[Illustration: GEORGE WHITEFIELD - -“Fain would I die preaching.”] - -The rare and beautiful etching of the before-mentioned picture by Hogarth -was the production of Luke Sullivan,[61] a native of Ireland, but how -he acquired his knowledge of art I have not been able to learn; most -probably he was of Dame Nature’s school, where pupils can be taught -gratis the whole twenty-four hours of every day as long as the world -lasts. Sullivan’s talents were not confined to the art of engraving; -he was, in my humble opinion, the most extraordinary of all miniature -painters. I have three or four of his productions, one of which was so -particularly fine, that I could almost say I have it on my retina at -this moment. It was the portrait of a most lovely woman as to features, -flesh, and blood. She was dressed in a pale green silk gown, lapelled -with straw-coloured satin; and in order to keep up a sweetness of tone, -the artist had placed primroses in her stomacher; the sky was of a warm -green, which blended harmoniously with the carnations of her complexion; -her hair was jet, and her necklace of pearls. - -Lord Orford, whose early attachment to the sleepy-eyed beauties of King -Charles II.’s Court, and those with the lascivious leer of that of Louis -XIV., as may be inferred by their numerous portraits in the cabinets at -Strawberry Hill, would no doubt have preferred his favourites, Cooper -and Petitot--names eternally, and many times unjustly, extolled by the -admirers of their works to the injury of our artists, whose talents -equal, if not surpass, those of every country put together, in, I think -I may say, every branch of the fine arts. Upon this too general opinion -of the pre-eminence of Petitot, I have now and then had a battle with Mr. -Paul Fischer, the miniature painter, who certainly has produced some most -highly finished and excellent likenesses of the Royal Family and several -persons of fashion, particularly of King George IV. and Sir Wathen -Waller, Bart.[62] - -Notwithstanding Tottenham Court Road was so infested by the lowest order, -who kept what they called a Gooseberry Fair,[63] it was famous at certain -times of the year, particularly in summer, for its booths of regular -theatrical performers, who deserted the empty benches of Drury Lane -Theatre, under the mismanagement of Mr. Fleetwood,[64] and condescended -to admit the audience at sixpence each. Mr. Yates, and several other -eminent performers, had their names painted on their booths. - -The whole of the ground north from Capper’s farm, at the back of the -British Museum, so often mentioned as being frequented by duellists, was -in irregular patches, many fields with turnstiles. The pipes of the New -River Company were propped up in several parts to the height of six and -eight feet, so that persons walked under them to gather watercresses, -which grew in great abundance and perfection, or to visit the “Brothers’ -Steps,” well known to the Londoners. Of these steps there are many -traditionary stories; the one generally believed is, that two brothers -were in love with a lady, who would not declare a preference for either, -but coolly sat upon a bank to witness the termination of a duel, which -proved fatal to both. The bank, it is said, on which she sat, and the -footmarks of the brothers when pacing the ground, never produced grass -again. The fact is that these steps were so often trodden that it was -impossible for the grass to grow. I have frequently passed over them; -they were in a field on the site of Mr. Martin’s chapel, or very nearly -so, and not on the spot as communicated to Miss Porter, who has written -an entertaining novel on the subject.[65] - -Aubrey, in his _Miscellanies_, states: “The last summer, on the day of -St. John Baptist (1694), I accidentally was walking in the pasture behind -Montague House; it was twelve o’clock. I saw there about two or three and -twenty young women, most of them well habited, on their knees very busie, -as if they had been weeding. I could not presently learn what the matter -was; at last a young man told me that they were looking for a coal under -the root of a plantain to put under their heads that night, and they -should dream who would be their husbands. It was to be found that day and -hour.”[66] - -[Illustration: JOHN RANN - -“Sixteen String Jack.”] - - -1774. - -I well remember when, in my eighth year, my father’s playfellow, Mr. -Joseph Nollekens, leading me by the hand to the end of John Street, to -see the notorious terror of the king’s highways, John Rann, commonly -called Sixteen-string Jack, on his way to execution at Tyburn, for -robbing Dr. Bell, Chaplain to the Princess Amelia, in Gunnesbury Lane. -The Doctor died a Prebendary of Westminster. It was pretty generally -reported that the sixteen strings worn by this freebooter at his -knees were in allusion to the number of times he had been acquitted. -Fortunately for the Boswell illustrators, there is an etched portrait -of him; for, be it known, thief as he was, he had the honour of being -recorded by Dr. Johnson.[67] Rann was a smart fellow, a great favourite -with a certain description of _ladies_, and had been coachman to Lord -Sandwich, when his Lordship resided in the south-east corner-house of -Bedford Row. The malefactor’s coat was a bright pea-green; he had an -immense nosegay, which he had received from the hand of one of the frail -sisterhood, whose practice it was in those days to present flowers to -their favourites from the steps of St. Sepulchre’s church, as the -last token of what they called their attachment to the condemned,[68] -whose worldly accounts were generally brought to a close at Tyburn, in -consequence of their associating with abandoned characters. On our return -home, Mr. Nollekens, stooping close to my ear, assured me that, had his -father-in-law, Mr. Justice Welch, been high constable, we could have -walked all the way to Tyburn by the side of the cart.[69] - -At this time houses in High Street, Marylebone, particularly on the -western side, continued to be inhabited by families who kept their -coaches, and who considered themselves as living in the country, and -perhaps their family affairs were as well known as they could have been -had they resided at Kilburn.[70] In Marylebone, great and wealthy people -of former days could hardly stir an inch without being noticed; indeed, -so lately as the year 1728, the _Daily Journal_ assured the public that -“many persons arrived in London from their country-houses in Marylebone”; -and the same publication, dated October 15th, conveys the following -intelligence:-- - -“The Right Hon. Sir Robert Walpole comes to town this day from Chelsea.” - -The following lines were inserted by the late Sir William Musgrave, in -his _Adversaria_ (No. 5721):-- - - “Sir Robert Walpole in great haste - Cryed, ‘Where’s my fellow gone?’ - It was answered by a man of taste, - ‘Your fellow, Sir, there’s none.’” - -One Sunday morning my mother allowed me, before we entered the little -church[71] in High Street, Marylebone, to stand to see the young -gentlemen of Mr. Fountayne’s boarding-school cross the road, while the -bell was chiming for sacred duties. I remember well a summer’s sun shone -with full refulgence at the time, and my youthful eyes were dazzled with -the various colours of the dresses of the youths, who walked two and -two, some in pea-green, others sky-blue, and several in the brightest -scarlet; many of them wore gold-laced hats, while the flowing locks of -others, at that time allowed to remain uncut at schools, fell over -their shoulders. To the best of my recollection, the scholars amounted -to about one hundred. As the pleasurable and often idle scenes of my -schoolboy days are pictured upon my retina whenever Crouch End, or the -name of my venerable master, Norton,[72] are mentioned, and as others may -feel similar delight with respect to the places at which they received -their early education, I shall endeavour to gratify a few of my readers -by a description of the house and playground of Mr. Fountayne’s academy. -For this purpose it may not be irrelevant to notice something of the -antiquity of that once splendid mansion, in which so many persons have -passed their early and innocent hours. - -Topographers who mention Marylebone Park inform us that foreign -ambassadors were in the time of Queen Elizabeth and James I. amused there -by hunting, and that the oldest parts of this school were the remains of -the palace in which they were entertained. The earliest topographical -representation which I am enabled to instance, is a drawing made by -Joslin, dated 1700, formerly in the possession of his Grace the Duke -of Buckingham, of which I published an etching. It comprehends the -field-gate and palace, its surrounding walls and adjacent buildings in -Marylebone to the south-west, including a large mansion, which in all -probability had been Oxford House, the grand receptacle of the Harleian -Library. Fortune, I am sorry to say, has not favoured me with the power -of continuing the declining history of the palace to the period at which -it became an academy, nor can I discover the time in which Monsieur de -la Place first occupied it.[73] A daughter of De la Place married the -Rev. Mr. Fountayne,[74] whose name the school retained until its final -demolition in 1791, at which period I remember seeing the large stone -balls taken from the brick piers of the gates. - -Of this house, when a school, I recollect a miserably executed plate -by Roberts, probably for some magazine; there is also a quarto plate -displaying a knowledge in perspective, engraved by G. T. Parkyns, from -a drawing by J. C. Barrow;[75] but the most interesting, and I must -consider the most correct, are four drawings made by Michael Angelo -Rooker,[76] formerly in my possession, but now in the illustrated copy -of Pennant’s _London_ in the British Museum.[77] These have enabled me -to insert the following description of a few parts of the mansion. -The first drawing is a view of the principal and original front of the -palace, or manor-house, with other buildings open to the playground; -it was immediately within the wall on the east side of the road, then -standing upon the site of the present Devonshire Mews. This house -consisted of an immense body and two wings, a projecting porch in -the front, and an enormously deep dormer roof, supported by numerous -cantilevers, in the centre of which there was, within a very bold -pediment, a shield surmounted by foliage with labels below it. The second -drawing exhibits the back, or garden front, which consisted of a flat -face with a bay window at each end, glazed in quarries;[78] the wall of -the back front terminated with five gables. In the midst of some shrubs -stands a tall, lusty gentleman dressed in black, with a white Busby-wig -and a three-cornered hat, possibly intended for the figure of the Rev. -Mr. Fountayne, as he is directing the gardener to distribute some plants. -The third drawing, which is taken from the hall, exhibits the grand -staircase, the first flight of which consisted of sixteen steps; the -hand-rails were supported with richly carved perforated foliage, from its -style, probably of the period of Inigo Jones. The fourth drawing consists -of the decorations of the staircase, which was tessellated. This mansion -was wholly of brick, and surmounted by a large turret containing the -clock and bell. Mr. Fountayne was noticed by Handel as well as Clarke, -the celebrated Greek scholar.[79] These gentlemen frequently indulged -in musical parties, which were attended by persons of rank and worth, as -well as fashion and folly. - -[Illustration: LONDON BEGGARS - -ETCHED BY J. T. SMITH - -John Mac Nally … “well known about Parliament Street, and the Surrey foot -of Westminster Bridge.”] - -Mrs. Fountayne was a vain, dashing woman, extremely fond of appearing -at Court, for which purpose, as was generally known, she borrowed Lady -Harrington’s jewels.[80] Indeed, her passion for display was carried -to such an extreme, that she kept her carriage, and that without the -knowledge of her husband, by the following artful manœuvre. As the -scholars were mostly sons of persons of title and large fortunes, she -professed to have many favourites, _who had behaved so well_ that she -was often tempted to take them to the play, which so pleased the parents -that they liberally reimbursed her in the coach and theatrical expenses, -though she actually obtained orders upon those occasions from her friend -Mrs. Yates, by which contrivance she was enabled to keep the vehicle in -which they were conveyed to the theatres; Mrs. Yates,[81] however, was -amply repaid for her orders by the number of tickets which Mrs. Fountayne -prevailed on the parents of the scholars to take at her benefits.[82] - -Previous to a consultation of physicians respecting the doubtful case of -a young gentleman boarder, one of Mr. Fountayne’s daughters overheard -something like the following dialogue by placing herself behind the -window hangings:--_Doctor_: “You look better.”--“Yes, sir; I now eat -suppers, and wear a double flannel jacket.” At this time the lady behind -the curtains tittered. “Hark! what noise is that?” interrogated an old -member of Warwick Lane’s far-famed college.[83] “Oh,” said another of the -faculty, “it’s only the sneezing of a cat.” After this, instead of saying -a word about magnesia, Gaskin’s powder, or oil of sweet almonds, they -resumed their conversation upon their indulgences, and finally ended with -some severe philippic upon Lord North’s administration. This occupied a -considerable portion of their time before the house-apothecary (who had -called them in) was questioned as to what he had given the patient. His -draught being perfectly consistent with the college pharmacopœia, they -all agreed that he could not do better than repeat it as often as he -thought proper; and thus the important consultation ended. - -In the hall of this house was a parrot, so aged that its few remaining -feathers were for years confined to its wrinkled skin by a flannel -jacket, which in very cold weather received an additional broadcloth -covering of the brightest scarlet, so that Poll, like the Lord Mayor, -had her scarlet days. Poll, who had been long accustomed to hear her -mistress’s general invitation to strangers who called to inquire after -the boarders, relieved her of that ceremony by uttering, as soon as they -entered, “Do pray walk into the parlour and take a glass of wine!” but -this she finally did with so little discrimination, that when a servant -came with a letter or a card for her mistress, or a fellow with a summons -from the Court of Conscience, he was greeted by the bird with equal -liberality and politeness. - -In this year the houses of the north end of Newman Street commanded -a view of the fields over hillocks of ground now occupied by Norfolk -Street,[84] and the north and east outer sides of Middlesex Hospital -garden-wall were entirely exposed. From the east end of Union Street, -where Locatelli the sculptor subsequently had his studio,[85] the ground -was very deep; and much about that spot, more to the east, stood a -cottage with a garden before it, with its front to the south. This was -kept by John Smith, one of Mr. Wilton the sculptor’s oldest labourers; -immediately behind this cottage was a rope-walk, which extended north to -a considerable distance under the shade of two magnificent rows of elms. -Here I have often seen Richard Wilson the landscape painter and Baretti -walk.[86] At the right-hand side of this rope-walk there was a pathway -on a bank, commencing from the site of the foundation of the present -workhouse, belonging to St. Paul’s, Covent Garden. This house was then -planned out, and finished in the ensuing year, according to the date on -its western front. - -The bank extended northwards to the “Farthing Pie House,” now the sign -of the “Green Man,” and was kept by a person of the name of Price, a -famous player on the salt-box.[87] Of this highly respectable publican -there is an excellent mezzotinto engraving by Jones, after a picture by -Lawranson. It commanded views of the old “Queen’s Head and Artichoke,” -the old “Jew’s-Harp House,” and the distant hills of Highgate, Hampstead, -Primrose, and Harrow. I was then in my eighth year, and frequently played -at trap-ball between the above-mentioned sombre elms. - -The south and east ends of Queen Anne[88] and Marylebone Streets were -then unbuilt, and the space consisted of fields to the west corner of -Tottenham Court Road; thence to the extreme of High Street, Marylebone -Gardens, Marylebone Bason, and another pond called Cockney-ladle.[89] - -I recollect the building of the north side of Marylebone Street, the -whole of that portion of Portland Street north of Portland Chapel, the -site of Cockney-ladle, Duke Street, Portland Place, and the greatest part -of Harley Street, Wimpole Street, and Portland Place, and Devonshire -Place when Marylebone Bason was the terror of many a mother.[90] Of -this Bason Chatelain executed a spirited etching, of a quarto size, -which is now considered by the topographical collectors a great rarity. -The carriage and principal entrance to Marylebone Gardens was in High -Street; the back entrance was from the fields, beyond which, north, -was a narrow, winding passage, with garden-palings on either side, -leading into High Street. In this passage were numerous openings into -small gardens, divided for the recreation of various cockney florists, -their wives, children, and Sunday smoking visitors. These were called -the “French Gardens,” in consequence of having been cultivated by -refugees who fled their country after the Edict of Nantes.[91] I well -remember my grandmother taking me through this passage to Marylebone -Gardens, to see the fireworks, and thinking them prodigiously grand. -As the following notices of Marylebone Gardens have given me no small -pleasure in collecting, and as they afford more information of that once -fashionable place of recreation than has hitherto been brought together, -or perhaps known to any other individual, I without hesitation offer my -gleanings[92] to the reader, chronologically arranged, commencing with -Pepys’s visit in - -1668.--“When we abroad to Marrowbone, and there walked in the garden; the -first time I ever was there, and a pretty place it is.”[93] - -1691.--Long’s bowling-green at the “Rose,” at Marylebone, half a mile -distant from London, is mentioned in the _London Gazette_, January 11.[94] - -1718.--“This is to give notice to all persons of quality, ladies -and gentlemen, that there having been illuminations in Marybone -bowling-greens on his Majesty’s birthday every year since his happy -accession to the throne; the same is (for this time) put off till Monday -next, and will be performed, with a _consort_ of musick, in the middle -green, by reason there is a Ball in the gardens at Kensington with -illuminations, and at Richmond also.” (See the _Daily Courant_, Thursday, -May 29.) - -1738-9.--Mr. Gough enlarged the gardens, built an orchestra, and issued -silver tickets at 12s. for the season, each ticket to admit two persons. -From every one without a ticket 6d. was demanded for the evening; but -afterwards, as the season advanced, the admission was 1s. for a lady and -gentleman. The gardens were open from six till ten. - -1740.--An organ, built by Bridge, was added to the band, admittance 6d. -each; but afterwards, when the new room was erected, the admission was -increased to 1s. - -1741. May 23.--A grand martial composition of music was performed by Mr. -Lampe, in honour of Admiral Vernon, for taking Carthagena. - -[Illustration: LONDON BEGGARS - -ETCHED BY J. T. SMITH - -“A silver haired man of the name of Lilly.”] - -1742.--The proprietor of the Mulberry Garden, Clerkenwell, indulged in -the following remarks upon five places of similar amusement:-- - -“_Ruckhoult_ has found one day and night’s alfresco in the week to be -inconvenient.[95] - -“_Ranelagh House_, supported by a giant, whose legs will scarcely support -him.[96] - -“_Mary le Bon Gardens_ down on their marrow-bones. - -“_New Wells_ at low water.[97] - -“_At Cuper’s_ the fire almost out.”[98] (See the _Daily Post_, July 28.) - -1743.--The holders of Marybone Garden tickets let them out at reduced -prices for the evening. Ranelagh tickets were also advertised to be had -at Old Slaughter’s Coffee-house at 1s. 3d. each, admitting two persons. -Vauxhall tickets were likewise to be had at the same place at 1s. each, -admitting two persons. (See the _Daily Advertiser_ for April 23.) - -1744.--Miss Scott was a singer, Mr. Knerler played the violin, and Mr. -Ferrand an instrument called the Pariton.[99] - -1746.--Robberies were now so frequent and the thieves so desperate, that -the proprietor of the gardens was obliged to have a guard of soldiers to -protect the company to and from London. The best plan of the gardens has -been given in Plate I. of Rocque’s Plan of London, published in 1746. - -1747.--Miss Falkner, singer;[100] Henry Rose, first violin; and Mr. -Philpot, organist.--Admittance to the garden, 6d.; to the concert, 2s. - -1748.--Miss Falkner, singer. No persons to be admitted to the balls -unless in full dress. - -1749.--It appears by the advertisements that dress-balls and concerts -were the only amusements of this year. - -1750.--Miss Falkner, Mr. Lowe, and Master Phillips, were the singers. - -1751.--John Trusler was sole proprietor of the Gardens.[101] Singers, -Miss Falkner, Master Phillips, and Master Arne. On the 30th of August -there was a ball; and as the road had been repaired, coaches drove up -to the door--a ten-and-sixpenny ticket admitted two persons. The doors -opened at nine o’clock. - -1752.--Miss Falkner and Mr. Wilder singers. - -1753.--The _Public Advertiser_ of May 25, June 20, September 10 and -24, states that the gardens were much more extensive by taking in the -bowling-green, and considerably improved by several additional walks; -that lights had been erected in the coach-way from Oxford Road, and also -on the footpath from Cavendish Square to the entrance to the gardens; -and that the fireworks were splendid beyond conception. A large sun -was exhibited at the top of a picture, a cascade, and shower of fire, -and grand _air-balloons_ (perhaps these were the first air-balloons in -England) were also most magnificently displayed; and likewise that _red_ -fire was introduced. This is the earliest instance of _Red_ fire I have -been able to meet with. Mrs. Chambers and Master Moore were singers. - -1756.--Two rooms were opened for dinner-parties. Trusler, the proprietor -of the gardens, was a cook. - -1757.--Mr. Thomas Glanville, Mr. Kear, Mr. Reinhold, and Mr. Champneys -were singers. - -1758.--The Gardens opened on May the 16th; the singers were, Signora -Saratina, Miss Glanvil, and Mr. Kear. No persons were admitted to the -ball-rooms without five-shilling tickets, which admitted a gentleman and -two ladies; and only twenty-six tickets were delivered for each night. -Mr. Trusler’s son produced the first burletta that was performed in the -Gardens; it was entitled “LA SERVA PADRONA,” for which he only received -the profits of the printed books.[102] - -1759.--The Gardens were opened for breakfasting; and Miss Trusler made -the cakes. Mr. Reinhold and Mr. Gaudrey were the singers. - -1760.--The Gardens, greatly improved, opened on Monday, May 26th, with -the usual musical entertainments. The Gardens were opened also every -Sunday evening after five o’clock, where genteel company were admitted to -walk gratis, and were accommodated with coffee, tea, cakes, etc. - -The following announcement appears in the _Daily Advertiser_ of May 6th, -this year:-- - -“Mr. Trusler’s daughter begs leave to inform the Nobility and Gentry, -that she intends to make Fruit-Tarts during the fruit Season; and -hopes to give equal satisfaction as with the rich Cakes, and Almond -Cheesecakes. The Fruit will always be fresh gathered, having great -quantities in the Garden; and none but Loaf Sugar used, and the finest -Epping Butter. Tarts of a Twelvepenny size will be made every day from -One to Three o’clock; and those who want them of larger sizes to fill a -Dish, are desired to speak for them, and send their dish or the size of -it, and the Cake shall be made to fit. - -“The Almond Cheesecakes will be always hot at one o’clock as usual; and -the rich Seed and Plum-cakes sent to any part of the town, at 2s. 6d. -each. Coffee, Tea, and Chocolate, at any time of the day; and fine Epping -Butter may also be had.”[103] - -1761.--An excellent half-sheet engraving, after a drawing made by J. -Donowell, published this year, represents Marybone Gardens, probably in -their fullest splendour. The centre of this view exhibits the longest -walk, with regular rows of young trees on either side, the stems of -which received the irons for the lamps at about the height of seven -feet from the ground. On either side this walk were latticed alcoves: -on the right hand of the walk, according to this view, stood the -bow-fronted orchestra with balustrades, supported by columns. The roof -was extended considerably over the erection, to keep the musicians and -singers free from rain. On the left hand of the walk was a room, possibly -for balls and suppers. The figures in this view are so well drawn and -characteristic of the time, that I am tempted to recommend the particular -attention of my reader to it. - -The Gardens were opened gratis this year, and the organ was played while -the company took their tea. - -1762.--The Gardens were in fine order this year, and visited by the -Cherokee Kings--admittance sixpence.[104] Mr. Trusler took care to keep -out improper company; Miss Trusler continued to make the cakes. - -1763.--The Gardens were taken by the famous Tommy Lowe,[105] who engaged -Mrs. Vincent, Mrs. Lampe, Jun., Miss Mays, Miss Hyat, Miss Catley, and -Mr. Squibb, as singers. - -August 12th, Mr. Storace had a benefit;[106] the singers were, Brother -Lowe, Miss Catley, Miss Smit, and Miss Plenius. Music. Mr. Samuel Arnold. -A large room was cleared in the great house for the brethren to dress in. - -Miss Catley’s night was on the 16th of August. Tickets were sold at Miss -Catley’s, facing the Gardens.[107] - -1764.--The Gardens opened on the 9th May; singers, Mr. Lowe, Mrs. -Vincent, Mrs. Lampe, Jun., Miss Moyse, Miss Hyat, and Mr. Squibb. Mr. -Trusler left the Gardens this year, and went to reside in Boyle Street, -where his daughter continued to make her cakes, etc. - -Mr. Lowe returned public thanks to the nobility and gentry for -patronising the Gardens. - -[Illustration: LONDON STREET MERCHANTS: MATCH BOYS - -ETCHED BY J. T. SMITH] - -This year a stop was put to tea-drinking in the Gardens on Sunday -evenings. - -Mr. Lowe offered a reward of ten guineas for the apprehension of any -highwayman found on the road to the Gardens.[108] - -1765.--This year, Mrs. Collett, Miss Davis, and Mrs. Taylor were the -singers. - -1766.--£1, 11s. 6d. was the subscription for two persons for the season. -The doors opened on the 1st of May, at six o’clock, and the Gardens -closed on the 4th of October, for the season. The principal singers -were, Tommy Lowe, Taylor, Raworth, Vincent, and Miss Davis. I have an -engraving of a Subscription Ticket, inscribed “No. 222, Marybone, admit -two, 1766.” As this ticket is adorned by two palm-branches, surmounted -with two French-horns, and has also a music book, I conclude it must -have been used on a concert night. This year an exhibition of bees took -place in the Gardens, and the public were again accommodated with tea at -eightpence per head. - -1767.--Mrs. Gibbons was a singer there this season. - -1768.--Lowe gave up the Gardens, declaring his loss in the concern to -have been considerable.[109] - -Mr. Phillips, a singer, in the announcement of his benefit this season, -states that tickets were to be had at his house, the “Ring and Pearl,” -St. Martin’s Court; and also at Young Slaughter’s Coffee-house, in St. -Martin’s Lane. The following are the titles of a few of the Marybone -Garden songs of this year:-- - - Young Colin. - Dolly’s Petition. - The Invitation. - The Rose. - The Moth. - Polly. - A Hunting Song. - Jockey--a favourite Scotch song. - Freedom is a real Treasure. - Jenny charming, but a Woman. - Oh, how vain is every Blessing. - Damon and Phillis. - -The composers of the above songs were Heron and James Hook (father of -Theodore Hook); the singers, Reynoldson, Taylor, and Miss Froud. During -the time I was collecting the titles of these and other songs, I noticed -an immense number which were dedicated to Chloe. Of this I took the -titles of no fewer than thirty-five published between the years 1724 and -1740. Why to Chloe? I have no Stephen Weston now to apply to.[110] Dibdin -tells us, when praising the good ship _Nancy_, that Nancy was his wife, -and that being the fact, accounts for the number of songs he has left us -of his “Charming Nan.”[111] - -[1769.--In this year, omitted by Smith, the Gardens were taken over -by Dr. Samuel Arnold, the musician. The years 1769-73 were their best -period.] - -1770.--On June 18th, there was a concert of vocal and instrumental -music. First violin, and a concerto, by Mr. Barthelemon; concerto organ, -Mr. Hook. The fireworks were under the direction of Signor Rossi. The -principal singers this season were, Mr. Reinhold, Mr. Bannister,[112] -Mrs. Thompson, Mrs. Barthelemon, and Master Cheney. The music by Signor -Pergolesi,[113] with alterations and additional songs by Mr. Arnold. In -July, an awning was erected in the garden for the better accommodation of -the visitors; and books of the performance were sold at the bar, price -sixpence. - -1771.--Mr. Bannister, Mrs. Thompson, Miss Catley, and the highly -respected Mrs. John Bannister (then Miss Harper) were the singers of this -year. - -1772.--This season the singers were, Mr. Bannister, Mr. Reinhold, Mrs. -Calvert, Mrs. Forbes, Mrs. Cartwright, and Mrs. Thompson. Music by Signor -Giardani,[114] Mr. Hook, and Mr. Arnold. - -For the convenience of the visitors, coaches were allowed to stand in the -field before the back entrance. Mr. Arnold was indicted at Bow Street for -the fireworks.[115] Torré, the fire-worker, divided the receipts at the -door with the proprietor. - -1773.--Proposals were issued for a subscription evening to be held every -Thursday during the summer, for which tickets were delivered to admit two -persons. The Gardens were opened for general admission three evenings in -the week only. On Thursday, May 27th, _Acis and Galatea_ was performed, -in which Mr. Bannister, Mr. Reinhold, Mr. Phillips, and Miss Wilde were -singers. Signor Torré, the fire-worker, was assisted by Monsieur Caillot -of Ranelagh Gardens. - -On Friday, September 15th, Dr. Arne conducted his celebrated catches and -glees. On the 16th of September, Mr. Clitherow was the fire-worker, for -the benefit of the waiters, who parted with their unsold tickets at the -doors of the Gardens for whatever they could get. Mr. Winston was in -possession of an impression of an admission ticket for this season. - -[Illustration: LONDON STREET MERCHANTS: IMAGES - -ETCHED BY J. T. SMITH] - -1774.--The Gardens opened on May 20th. The principal singers were, Mr. -Dubellamy, Miss Wewitzer (sister of the dramatic performer), and Miss -Trelawny. The Gardens were opened this year on Sunday evenings for -walking recreation, admittance sixpence. The receipts of one evening were -at the Town-gate £10, 7s. 6d., at the Field-gate £11, 7s.[116] This year -Signor Torré, one of the fire-workers of the Gardens, had a benefit; the -admission was 3s. 6d.[117] Signor Caillot was then also a fire-worker in -the Gardens; and I find by two shop-bills, in Miss Banks’s collection in -the British Museum, that Benjamin Clitherow and Samuel Clanfield had also -been employed as fire-workers. - -Doctor Kenrick delivered his lectures on Shakspeare in these Gardens this -year.[118] - -1775.--After frequent inquiries, and a close examination of the -newspapers of this year, I could not find any advertisement like those -of preceding times with singing and fireworks. The Gardens are thus -mentioned during the first part of the season, in the _Morning Chronicle_ -and _London Advertiser_ of Monday, May 29th:-- - - “AT MARYBONE GARDENS, - - To-morrow, the 30th instant, will be presented - - THE MODERN MAGIC LANTERN, - - “In three Parts, being an attempt at a sketch of the Times - in a variety of Caricatures, accompanied with a whimsical and - satirical Dissertation on each Character. - - By R. BADDELEY, Comedian.[119] - - “BILL OF FARE. - - EXORDIUM. - - PART THE FIRST. - - A Sergeant at Law. - Andrew Marvel, Lady Fribble. - A bilking Courtesan. - A Modern Widow. - A Modern Patriot. - A Duelling Apothecary, and - A Foreign Quack. - - PART THE SECOND. - - A Man of Consequence. - A Hackney Parson. - A Macaroni Parson. - A Hair-dresser. - A Robin Hood Orator. - Lady Tit for Tat. - An Italian Tooth-drawer - High Life in St. Giles’s. - A Jockey, and - A Jew’s Catechism. - - And Part the Third will consist of a short Magic Sketch called - - “PUNCH’S ELECTION. - - “Admittance 2s. 6d. each, Coffee or Tea included. The doors - to be opened at seven, and the Exordium to be spoken at eight - o’clock. - - “Vivant Rex et Regina.” - -At the foot of Mr. Baddeley’s subsequent bills the Gardens are announced -to be still open on a Sunday evening for company to walk in. Some of -the papers of this year declare, under Mr. Baddeley’s advertisements, -that “no person going into the Gardens with subscription tickets will be -entitled to tea or coffee.” - -The next advertisement was on Tuesday, June 20th. - - “MARYBONE GARDENS. - - This Evening will be delivered - - A LECTURE ON MIMICRY, - - BY GEORGE SAVILLE CARY.[120] - - In which will be introduced - - “A Dialogue between Small Cole and Fiddle-stick; Billy Bustle, - Jerry Dowlas, and Patent; with the characters of Jerry Sneak - in Richard the Third, Shylock in Macbeth, Juno in her Cups, - Momus in his Mugs, and the Warwickshire Lads. To conclude with - a dialogue between Billy Buckram and Aristophanes, in which - Nick Nightingal, or the Whistler of the Woods, will make his - appearance, as he was lately shown at the Theatre Royal, in the - character of a Crow. - - “Admittance 2s. 6d., coffee or tea included. - - “The Lecture will be repeated To-morrow, Thursday, and - Saturday.” - - “June 21st. - - MARYBONE GARDENS. - - This Evening will be delivered - - A LECTURE ON MIMICRY, - - by - - GEORGE SAVILLE CARY. - - “After a new Poetical Exordium, a variety of THEATRICAL - DELINEATIONS will be introduced. - - “Mr. Fiddle-stick, Mr. Small Coal, Mrs. Artichoke, Mrs. - H--l--y; Bustle the Bookseller; Mr. Patent, Mr. G----k; Jerry - Sneak, Richard III., Mr. W----; another Richard, Mr. S--th; - Shylock, in Macbeth, M--n--. - - “‘What, alas! shall Orpheus do?’ Sig. M--ll--o; ‘Juno in her - Cups,’ Miss C--t--y; ‘The Early Horn,’ Mr. M. D---- B----y; - ‘This is, Sir, a Jubilee,’ Mr. B--n--r; ‘Where, Which, and - Wherefore,’ Sig. L--at--ni; ‘Within my Breast,’ Mr. V.; ‘Sweet - Willy O,’ Mrs. B--d--y; ‘The Mulberry Tree,’ M--k--r; ‘Ye - Warwickshire Lads,’ Mr. V. and Mr. D. - - Scene in Harlequin’s Invasion, Mr. D----d, Mr. P----ns, and Mr. - B--n--by. - - Othello, Mr. B----y; Nurse, Mrs. P----t; Cymbeline, Mr. - H----st; Iachimo, Mr. P----r; Mr. Posthumous, Mr. R----h; - Pantomime, Mr. F----t and Mr. W----n.[121] - - The Doors to be opened at Seven o’clock, and to begin at Eight. - - “Admittance 2s. 6d. each, coffee or tea included. - - “The Lecture will be repeated to-morrow and Saturday next.” - - “June 23rd. - - MARYBONE GARDENS. - - “By Virtue of a Licence from the Board of Ordnance, a - - MOST MAGNIFICENT FIREWORK - - will be exhibited on Tuesday next at - - MARYBONE GARDENS, - - In honour of His Majesty’s Birthday. - - “Further particulars will be advertised on Monday next.” - -“Indeed, Sir!” is the general exclamation of a passenger in a stage -coach, whenever any one observes that he had seen Garrick perform; at -least, such an observation has fallen from many of my fellow-travellers, -when I have asserted that I had had the pleasure of seeing that great -actor. On the 25th of November, 1775, my father first took me to a play, -and it was with one of Mr. Garrick’s orders, when he performed in _The -Alchemist_.[122] - -1776.--Marylebone Gardens opened this year on the 11th of May, by -authority. The “Forge of Vulcan” was represented.[123] On the 16th of the -same month the Fantoccini was introduced; on June 3rd Breslaw exhibited -his sleight of hand, and also his company of singers, upon which occasion -handbills were publicly distributed. Admittance 2s.[124] On the 25th Mrs. -Stuart had a ball, and Signor Rebecca (well known for his productions at -the Pantheon) painted some of the transparencies.[125] - -Subscription tickets to the Gardens were issued at £1, 11s. 6d. to admit -two persons every evening of performance. The Gardens were opened on -Sunday evenings, with tea, coffee, and Ranelagh rolls. Caillot was the -fire-worker this season. - -[Illustration: THE ROYAL COCKPIT, WESTMINSTER] - -This, as well as the preceding year, was particularly famous for the -breed of Canary birds, consisting of Junks, Mealies, Turncrowns, and the -Swallow-throats. They were all “fine in feather and full in song,” and -could sing in the highest perfection many delightful strains, such as the -nightingale’s, titlark’s, and woodlark’s, by candle-light as well as day. -The breeders lived in Norwich, Colchester, Ipswich, etc. The sellers in -London were principally publicans, and those most in vogue kept the signs -of the “Queen’s Arms,” Newgate Street; the “Green Dragon,” Narrow Wall, -Lambeth; the “Crown and Horse-shoe,” Holborn; the “Wheatsheaf,” Fleet -Market; the “Marquis of Granby,” Fleet Market; the “Old George,” Little -Drury Lane; and the “Black Swan,” Brown’s Lane, Spitalfields.[126] - -It appears by the various advertisements from the numerous owners of -cockpits, that the cruel sport of cock-fighting afforded high amusement -this year to the unfeeling part of London’s inhabitants. Of the number of -cockpits half a dozen will be quite enough to be recorded on this page. - -1. The “Royal Cockpit,” in the Birdcage Walk, St. James’s Park. This -Royal Cockpit afforded Hogarth characters for one of his worst of -subjects, though best of plates. - -2. In Bainbridge Street, St. Giles’s. - -3. Near Gray’s Inn Lane. - -4. In Pickled-Egg Walk. - -5. At the New Vauxhall Gardens, in St. George’s in the East. - -6. That at the “White Horse,” Old Gravel Lane, near Hughes’s late -riding-school, at the foot of Blackfriars Bridge.[127] - -Disputes having frequently occurred as to the characters in which Garrick -last appeared, by persons not sufficiently in possession of documents -at hand to enable them to decide their controversies, I am induced to -conclude that such disputants will be pleased to see a statement of the -nights of his acting, the titles of the plays in which he performed, and -the names of the characters which he represented, as well as those of the -principal actresses who performed with him during the last year of his -appearance on the stage. The original play-bills of the time, collected -by the late Dr. Burney, now in the British Museum, have enabled me to -give this information in the following chronological order:-- - - Nights of Title of Play. Names of - Acting. Characters. - - Jan. 18. The Alchemist. Abel Drugger, Mr. Garrick. - (Doll Common, by Mrs. - Hopkins.) - - 20. The Discovery Sir Anthony Branville. - (Lady Flutter, by Mrs. - Abington.) - - 22. Ditto. Ditto. - - 24. Ditto. Ditto. - - 26. Ditto. Ditto. - - 29. Ditto. Ditto. - - 30. The Provoked Wife Sir John Brute. (Lady - Brute, by Miss Younge.) - - 31. Ditto. Ditto. - - Feb. 3. Zara Lusignan. (Zara, by Miss - Younge.) - - 5. The Provoked Wife Sir John Brute. (Lady - Brute, by Miss Younge.) - - 7. The Discovery Sir Anthony Branville. - (Lady Flutter, by Mrs. - Abington.) - - 9. Every Man in his Kitely. (Mrs. Kitely, Mrs. - Humour. Greville.) - - 12. Much Ado about Benedict. (Beatrice, by Mrs. - Nothing. Abington.) - - 14. Rule a Wife and Leon. (Estifania, by Mrs. - have a Wife. Abington.) - - March 6. Zara Lusignan. (Zara, by Miss - Younge.) - - 7. Zara Lusignan. (Zara, by Miss - Younge.) - - April 11. The Alchemist. Abel Drugger. (Doll Common, - by Mrs. Hopkins.) - - 16. Much Ado about Benedict. (Beatrice, by Mrs. - Nothing. Abington.) - - 25. Every Man in his Kitely. (Mrs. Kitely, by Mrs. - Humour. Greville.) - - 27. Hamlet Hamlet. (Ophelia, by Mrs. - Smith.) - - 30. The Provoked Sir John Brute. (Lady - Wife. Brute, Miss Younge.) - - May 2. Rule a Wife and Leon. (Estifania, Mrs. Abington) - have a Wife. - - 7. The Stratagem. Archer. (Mrs. Sullen, Mrs. - Abington.) - - 9. Much Ado about Benedict. (Beatrice, by Mrs. - Nothing. Abington.) - - 13. King Lear King Lear. (Cordelia, Miss - Younge.) - - 16. The Wonder Don Felix. (Violante, by - Mrs. Yates.) - - 21. King Lear King Lear. (Cordelia, by - Miss Younge.) - - 23. The Suspicious Ranger. (Mrs. Strickland, - Husband. Mrs. Siddons; Clarinda, - Mrs. Abington.) - - 27. King Richard the King Richard. (Lady Anne - Third. (first time), Mrs. Siddons.) - - 30. Hamlet Hamlet. (Ophelia, by Mrs. - Smith.) - - 31. The Suspicious Ranger. (Mrs. Strickland, - Husband. Mrs. Siddons; Clarinda, - Mrs. Abington.) - - June 1. Ditto. Ditto. - - 3. King Richard the King Richard. (Lady Anne, - Third. by Mrs. Siddons.) - - 5. King Richard the King Richard. (Lady Anne, - Third. by Mrs. Siddons.) By - command of their Majesties. - - 8. King Lear King Lear. (Cordelia, Mrs. - Younge.) - - 10. The Wonder Don Felix. (Violante, by - Mrs. Yates.)[128] - -Notwithstanding it has been said that Mr. Garrick spoke slightingly of -Mrs. Siddons’s talents, the above list incontrovertibly proves that -he considered her powers sufficiently great to appear in principal -characters with him no fewer than _six_ nights of the last _nine_ in -which he performed. - -I shall now subjoin a similar list of Mrs. Siddons’s nights of -performance at Drury Lane Theatre, during the last year of Mr. Garrick’s -acting.[129] - - Jan. 13, 15, 17. Epicœne, or The Silent Woman (as a Collegiate Lady). - - Feb. 1, 2, 3. The Blackamoor Washed White. - - Between Feb. 15 - and April 18 - (22 nights). The Runaway (as Miss Morley). - - May 23. The Suspicious Husband (as Mrs. Strickland). - - 24. The Runaway (as Miss Morley). - - 27. King Richard the Third (as Lady Anne). - - 31. The Suspicious Husband (as Mrs. Strickland). - - June 1. - - 3. King Richard the Third (as Lady Anne). - - 5. Ditto. Ditto. - - By command of their Majesties. - -Of six plays of which there were no bills in the Burney collection, I was -enabled to add instances of the performance of Mrs. Siddons on those -nights from a portion of that truly rare and valuable library purchased -by Government of the late Dr. Burney’s son for the British Museum. - -Ladies this year wore goloshes, four distinct falls of lace from the -hat to the shoulders, and rolled curls on either side of the neck: they -continued to carry fans.[130] - - -1777. - -I remember well that in an autumn evening of this year, during the time -my father lived in Norton Street,[131] going with him and his pupils on -a sketching party to what is now called Pancras Old Church; and that -Whitefield’s Chapel in Tottenham Court Road, Montague House, Bedford -House, and Baltimore House,[132] were then uninterruptedly seen from the -churchyard, which was at that time so rural that it was only enclosed -by a low and very old hand-railing, in some parts entirely covered with -docks and nettles. I recollect also that the houses on the north side -of Ormond Street commanded views of Islington, Highgate, and Hampstead, -including in the middle distance Copenhagen-house, Mother Red-cap’s, the -Adam and Eve, the Farthing Pie House, the Queen’s Head and Artichoke, and -the Jew’s Harp House.[133] - -Early in this year Spiridione Roma,[134] who had cleaned the pictures -of the Judges then hanging in Guildhall, published a prospectus for -Bartolozzi’s print from the portrait of Mary Queen of Scots in Drapers’ -Hall, said to have been painted by Zucchero.[135] - - -1778. - -At this period I began to think there was something in a -prognostication announced to my dear mother by an old _star-gazer_ and -_tea-grouter_,[136] that, through life, I should be favoured by persons -of high rank; for, in this year, Charles Townley, Esq. (the collector -of the valuable marbles which now bear his name in the British Museum), -first noticed me when drawing in Mr. Nollekens’ studio, and pouched -me half a guinea to purchase paper and chalk.[137] This kindness was -followed up by Dr. Samuel Johnson, who was then sitting for his bust. The -Doctor, after looking at my drawing, then at the bust I was copying, put -his hand heavily upon my head, pronouncing “Very well, very well.” Here -I frequently saw him, and recollect his figure and dress with tolerable -correctness. He was tall, and must have been, when young, a powerful man: -he stooped, with his head inclined to the right shoulder: heavy brows, -sleepy eyes, nose very narrow between the eye-brows, but broad at the -bottom; lips enormously thick; chin, wide and double. He wore a stock -and wristbands; his wig was what is called a “_Busby_,” but often wanted -powder. His hat, a three-cornered one; coats, one a dark mulberry, the -other brown, inclining to the colour of Scotch snuff, large brass or gilt -buttons; black waistcoat and small-clothes--sometimes the latter were -corduroy; black stockings, large easy shoes, with buckles; his gait was -wide and awkwardly sprawling; latterly he used a _hooked_ walking-stick, -in consequence of his having saved the life of a young man as he was -crossing from Queenhithe to Bankside. - -One of the Doctor’s sticks of this shape brought me into a scrape. It -was given to me by the late William Tunnard, Esq., of Bankside;[138] he -received it from his friend Mr. Perkins;[139] it was one of many that the -Doctor kept at Thrale’s. This stick I promised to my worthy and liberal -friend the Rev. James Beresford, of Kibworth, Market Harborough;[140] -but, alas! when I went to “stick-corner” somebody had walked it off. -However, if this page should meet the eye of its present possessor, I -hope, even should the “Bannister” I now rest upon be deemed useless by -Time’s sandy-glass, his conscience may order the Johnsonian relic to -be delivered to the above-named gentleman, whose property I declare it -unquestionably to be. My present strong stick, named “_Bannister_,” -was given to me when afflicted with the gout, by a fellow-sufferer, -universally known under the friendly appellation of “_Honest Jack_.” - -I once saw him follow a sturdy thief, who had stolen his handkerchief in -Grosvenor Square, seize him by the collar with both hands, and shake him -violently, after which he quickly let him loose; and then, with his open -hand, gave him so powerful a smack on the face, that sent him off the -pavement staggering. - -[Illustration: DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON - -“Pockets which might have almost held the two volumes of his folio -dictionary.”] - -Ladies appeared for the first time in riding-habits of men’s cloth, only -descending to the feet; they also walked with whips like short canes, -with a thong at the end. The elderly ladies continued to wear goloshes. -Fans were in general use. - -For the honour of female genius, be it here recorded, that, in the -_Ladies’ Pocket-book_, published this year, an engraved group of nine -whole-length female figures was published, viz. Miss Carter, Mrs. -Barbauld, Angelica Kauffman, Mrs. Sheridan, Mrs. Lenox, Mrs. Montague, -Miss More, Mrs. Macaulay, and Mrs. Griffith, each lady in the character -of a Muse. Four Pocket-books appeared this year, entitled _Ladies’ -Pocket-book_, _Ladies’ own Memorandum Book_, _Ladies’ Annual Journal_, -and _Ladies’ Complete Pocket-book_.[141] - - -1779. - -On Monday, February 1st, Taylor, the facetious pupil of Frank Hayman, and -the old friend of Jonathan Tyers, lifted Nollekens’ studio door-latch, -put in his head, and announced, “For the information of some of the sons -of Phidias, I beg to observe, that David Garrick is now on his way to -pay his respects to Poet’s Corner. I left him just as he was quitting -the boards of the Adelphi.”[142] I am now employing the exact words he -made use of, though certainly the levity was misapplied on so solemn an -occasion. - -I begged of my father, who then carved for Mr. Nollekens, to allow me -to go to Charing Cross to see the funeral pass, which he did with some -reluctance. I was there in a few minutes, followed him to the Abbey, -heard the service, and saw him buried.[143] - -Mr. Garrick died on the 20th of January, in the back room of the first -floor, in his house in the Adelphi. The ceiling of the drawing-room -was painted by Zucchi: the subject, Venus attired by the Graces. The -chimneypiece in this room is said to have cost £800.[144] - -On a night when Mr. Garrick was acting the part of Lear, one of the -soldiers who stood on the stage blubbered like a child. Mr. Garrick, who -was as fond of a compliment as most men, when the play was over, sent -for the man to his room, and gave him half a crown. It was the custom -formerly for two soldiers to stand on the stage during the time of -performance, one at either end of the proscenium. - -This year the Grotto Garden, Rosamond Row, near the London Spa, was kept -by Jackson, a man famous for grottoes and fireworks. He had made great -additions to it, viz. a new Mounted Fountain, etc. The admittance was -sixpence.[145] - -[Illustration: “PERDITA” ROBINSON - -“She imprinted a kiss on my cheek, and said, ‘There, you little rogue.’” - -_J. T. Smith_] - - -1781. - -Although I could model and carve a little, I longed to be an engraver, -and wished much to be placed under Bartolozzi, who then lived in Bentinck -Street, Berwick Street.[146] My father took me to him, with a letter -of introduction from Mr. Wilton, the sculptor. Mr. Bartolozzi, after -looking at my imitations of several of Rembrandt and Ostade’s etchings, -declared that he should have been glad some years previous to take such a -youth, but that, in consequence of ill-treatment from some of his pupils, -he had made up his mind to take no more. The Bishop of Peterborough -(Dr. Hinchliffe),[147] one of my father’s patrons, then prevailed on -Sherwin to let me in at half-price; and under his roof I remained for -nearly three years. Here I saw all the beautiful women of the day; and, -being considered a lively lad, I was noticed by several of them. Here I -received a kiss from the beautiful Mrs. Robinson. - -This impression was made upon me nearly as I can recollect in the -following way:--It fell to my turn that morning, as a pupil, to attend -the visitors, and Mrs. Robinson came into the room singing. She asked to -see a drawing which Mr. Sherwin had made of her, which he had placed in -an upper room. When I assured her that Mr. Sherwin was not at home, “Do -try to find the drawing of me, and I will reward you, my little fellow,” -said she. I, who had seen Rosetta, in _Love in a Village_, the preceding -evening, hummed to myself, as I went upstairs, “With a kiss, a kiss, and -I’ll reward you with a kiss.” - -I had no sooner entered the room with the drawing in my hand, than she -imprinted a kiss on my cheek, and said, “There, you little rogue.” I -remember that Mrs. Darby, her mother, accompanied her, and had brought -a miniature, painted by Cosway, set in diamonds, presented by a high -personage, of whom Mrs. Robinson spoke with the highest respect to -the hour of her dissolution.[148] The colour of her carriage was a -light blue, and upon the centre of each panel a basket of flowers was -so artfully painted, that as she drove along it was mistaken for a -coronet.[149] - - -1782. - -Early in the month of December, this year, Sherwin painted, engraved, -and published a glorious portrait of Mrs. Siddons, in the character of -the Grecian Daughter. That lady sat in the front room of his house, St. -James’s Street. I obeyed Mr. Sherwin’s orders in raising and lowering the -centre window-curtains, the shutters of the extreme ones being closed for -the adjustment of that fine light and shade upon her face which he has so -beautifully displayed in the print. This print, in consequence of a purse -having been presented to Mrs. Siddons by her admirers in the profession -of the Law, was dedicated to “The Gentlemen of the Bar.”[150] - -[Illustration: MRS. SIDDONS - -“A glorious portrait.”] - -By the liberality of my amiable friend, William Henderson, Esq.,[151] I -am in possession of a cast taken by Lochee, the modeller, from the face -of this wonderful actress, which I intend leaving to that invaluable -gallery of theatrical portraits, so extensively formed by that favourite -offspring of Nature, Charles Mathews,[152] Esq., at Kentish Town; but -should that collection ever be dispersed, which I most heartily trust it -never will be, then I desire that it may go to the Green-room of Drury -Lane Theatre. To this bequest I subscribe my name, - -Witnesses to this my declaration, - - John Thomas Smith. - John Bannister. - -- Harley.[153] - - -1783. - -One of the numerous subjects which I drew this year for Mr. Crowle,[154] -was the old brick gateway entrance to St. Giles’s churchyard, then -standing opposite to Mr. Remnent’s timber-yard, in which drawing I -introduced the figure of old Simon, a very remarkable beggar, who, -together with his dog, generally took their station against one of the -gate-piers. This man, who wore several hats, at the same time suffered -his beard to grow, which was of a dirty yellow-white. Upon his fingers -were numerous brass rings. He had several waistcoats, and as many -coats, increasing in size, so that he was enabled by the extent of the -uppermost garment to cover the greater part of the bundles, containing -rags of various colours; and distinct parcels with which he was girded -about, consisting of books, canisters containing bread, cheese, and -other articles of food; matches, a tinder-box, and meat for his dog; -cuttings of curious events from old newspapers; scraps from Fox’s _Book -of Martyrs_, and three or four dog’s-eared and greasy thumbed numbers of -the _Gentleman’s Magazine_. - -From these and such like productions he gained a great part of the -information with which he sometimes entertained those persons who stopped -to look at him. - -When I knew him,--for he was one of my pensioners,--he and his dog -lodged under a staircase in an old shattered building called “Rats’ -Castle,” in Dyot Street, mentioned in _Nollekens and his Times_ as that -artist’s rendezvous to discover models for his Venuses. Dyot Street has -disappeared, and George Street is built on its site.[155] His walks -extended to the entrances only of the adjacent streets, whither he either -went to make a purchase at the baker’s or the cook’s shops. Rowlandson -drew and etched him several times; in one instance Simon had a female -placed before him, which the artist called “Simon and Iphigenia.” There -is a large whole-length print of him, published by John Seago, with the -following inscription:-- - -SIMON EDY, born at Woodford, near Thrapston, Northamptonshire, in 1709: -died May 18, 1783.[156] - -Respecting his last dog, for he had possessed several, which wicked boys -had beguiled from him, or the skinners of those animals had snatched up, -the following anecdote is interesting:--A Smithfield drover, whose dog’s -left eye had been much injured by a bullock, solicited Simon to take him -under his care till he got well. The mendicant cheerfully consented, and -forthwith, with a piece of string, confined him to his arm; and when, by -being more quiet, he had regained his health sufficiently to resume his -services to his master, old Simon, with the most affectionate reluctance, -gave him up, and was obliged to content himself with the pleasure of -patting his sides on a market-day, when he followed his master’s drove -to the slaughter-house in Union Street. These tender and stolen caresses -from the hand which had bathed his wound, Rover would regularly stop to -receive at St. Giles’s porch, and then hastily run to get up with the -bullocks. Poor Simon, after missing the dog as well as his master for -some weeks, was one morning most agreeably surprised to see the faithful -animal crouch behind his feet, and with an uplifted and sorrowful eye, -for he had entirely lost the blemished one, implore his protection by -licking his beard, as a successor to his departed and lamented keeper. -Rover followed Simon, according to Dr. Gardner’s idea, to “his last and -best bedroom”;[157] or, according to Funeral Weever,[158] his “bed of -ease.” Shortly before Simon’s death, I related to Mrs. Nollekens several -instances of Rover’s attachment. “I think, Sir,” observed that lady, “you -once told me that he had been a shepherd’s dog from Harrow-on-the-Hill. -I don’t like a shepherd’s dog: it has no tail,[159] and its coat is -as rough as the bristles of a cocoanut. No, Sir, my little French -dog is my pet.” However, fortunately for poor Simon, the Hon. Daines -Barrington[160] was present when Dr. Johnson’s Pekuah[161] made this -silly remark, for he never after passed the kind-hearted mendicant -without giving him sixpence. There was an elegy printed for poor Simon, -with a woodcut portrait of him. - -[Illustration: BENJAMIN WEST, P.R.A. - -“Sir, I was once a Quaker, and have never left their principles.”] - -Ugly and deficient in sight and tail as Rover certainly was, it is also -as equally unquestionable that Simon never had occasion to carry him to -Fox Court, St. James’s Street, for the recovery of his health, under -the direction of Dr. Norman,[162] the canine physician, so strenuously -recommended upon all occasions by George Keate, the poet,[163] and -far-famed connoisseur. No, poor Rover was kept in health by being -allowed to range the streets from six till nine, the hours in which the -nightly stealers of the canine race, and the dexterous of all dentists, -were on their way to Austin’s, at Islington,[164] to dispose of their -cruel depredations upon many a true friend to the indigent blind, “to -whom the blackbird sings as sweetly as to the fairest lady in the land.” - - -1784. - -Mr. West, to whom I had sat for the head of St. John in his picture of -the Last Supper, for the altar of St. George’s Chapel, Windsor,[165] -frequently engaged me to bid for him at auctions, an honour also -occasionally conferred on me for similar services by Sir Joshua Reynolds. -It was during one of these commissions in this year, that the late -Richard Wyatt, Esq., of Milton Place, Egham, Surrey, noticed me; he was -then starting as a collector of pictures, prints, and drawings.[166] That -gentleman kindly invited me to his house, and not only introduced me to -his amiable family, but to his most intimate neighbours. He allowed me -the use of a horse, to enable me more readily to visit the beauties of -Windsor Park and Forest, the scenery of which so attracted and delighted -me, that during one month’s stay I made nearly one hundred studies. The -two Sandbys were visitors to my patron; and to Thomas, then Deputy Ranger -of Windsor Great Park, a situation given to him by his Royal Highness -William, Duke of Cumberland (Thomas Sandby had been engineer draughtsman -to his Royal Highness at the battle of Culloden), I am indebted for -my knowledge of lineal perspective. The Misses Wyatt were delightful -persons, and much noticed at the Egham Balls, for one or two of which -occasions I had the pleasure of painting butterflies on a muslin dress, -and also imitating the “Sir Walter Raleigh,” the “Pride of Culloden,” and -other curious and rare carnations, on tiffany, for their bouquets, which -were then scented and much worn. - -I was here introduced to Viscount Maynard, to whom Mr. Wyatt had been -guardian. His Lordship married the celebrated Nancy Parsons,[167] and -was a most spirited draughtsman of a horse. Among other gentlemen, I -was also introduced to the late Sir Richard Colt Hoare, Bart.,[168] -and the late Rev. George Huddesford,[169] of Oxford, Kett’s satirist, -and the witty author of poems entitled _Salmagundi_, dedicated to Mr. -Wyatt. Several of these I have often heard him most humorously sing, -particularly those of “the renowned History and rare Achievements of John -Wilkes.” The chorus ran thus:-- - - “John Wilkes he was for Middlesex, - They chose him knight of the shire; - And he made a fool of Alderman Bull, - And call’d Parson Horne a liar.” - -“The Barber’s Nuptials,” which may be seen in the _Elegant Extracts_, and -almost every other collection of fugitive poetry, was also written by -him.[170] - -Mr. Huddesford had studied under Sir Joshua Reynolds, and had copied many -of the President’s pictures with tolerable ability, with an intention -of pursuing the arts, but his master-talent was more conspicuously -displayed in compositions of fruit, in which his representations of ripe -and melting peaches, and the rich transparent grape, were inimitable. -The late Sir George Beaumont, Bart., with whom Mr. Huddesford had been -extremely intimate, was in possession of a remarkably fine specimen by -him, which the worthy baronet frequently allowed to be copied. - -Huddesford, after the death of Warton, chalked on the walls of the -College-- - - “The glorious sun of Trinity is set, - And nothing left but farthing-candle Kett.”[171] - -He published _The Elements of General Knowledge_, which were called, at -Oxford “The Elements of General Ignorance”; and his last work, _Emily_, -procured him the name of Emily Kett. His supposed resemblance to a horse -was the occasion of much academical waggery:--his letter-box was often -filled with oats; and when he wished to have his portrait taken, he was -sent to the famous Stubbs,[172] the horse painter, who, on receiving him, -and expecting to hear whether his commission was to be for a filly or a -colt, was much surprised to find Kett pompously announce that he expected -the likeness to be in full canonicals. - -Samuel Woodforde (afterwards a Royal Academician)[173] was employed by -Mr. Wyatt, in consequence of an introduction by Sir Richard Colt Hoare, -Bart., to paint trees and landscapes on the panels of his drawing-room, -mostly from scenes in Windsor Park and Forest. Mr. Wyatt was one of -Opie’s early friends. He painted for that gentleman several of the -Burrell and Hoare family; indeed, he was instrumental in bringing that -artist out of his humble and modest lodging in Orange Court, Leicester -Fields,[174] to his house in Queen Street, next door to that for many -years occupied by that comic and most exemplary child of Nature, the -late Miss Pope,[175] whose inimitable acting as Miss Allscrip, in _The -Heiress_, not only delighted the public, but was deservedly complimented -by its author, General Burgoyne, who at one time lived in Hertford -Street, May Fair, in the house that had been inhabited by Lord Sandwich, -and subsequently by R. B. Sheridan and Mr. Dent.[176] - -This year, Mr. Flaxman, who then lived in Wardour Street, introduced me -to one of his early patrons, the Rev. Henry Mathew, of Percy Chapel, -Charlotte Street, which was built for him;[177] he was also afternoon -preacher at St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields. At that gentleman’s house, in -Rathbone Place, I became acquainted with Mrs. Mathew and her son, the -late John Hunter’s favourite pupil. With that gentleman, in his youthful -days, I had many an innocent frolic. I was obliged to him in several -instances, and can safely say no one could excel him as an amiable -friend, a dutiful son, or excellent husband. At Mrs. Mathew’s most -agreeable conversaziones I first met the late William Blake,[178] the -artist, to whom she and Mr. Flaxman had been truly kind. There I have -often heard him read and sing several of his poems. He was listened to by -the company with profound silence, and allowed by most of the visitors -to possess original and extraordinary merit. A time will come when the -numerous, though now very rare, works of Blake (in consequence of his -taking very few impressions from the plates before they were rubbed out -to enable him to use them for other subjects) will be sought after with -the most intense avidity.[179] He was considered by Stothard and Flaxman -(and will be by those of congenial minds, if we can reasonably expect -such again) with the highest admiration. These artists allowed him their -most unqualified praise, and were ever anxious to recommend him and -his productions to the patrons of the Arts; but alas! they were not so -sufficiently appreciated as to enable Blake, as every one could wish, -to provide an independence for his surviving partner Kate, who adored -his memory. The late Sir Thomas Lawrence has been heard to declare that -England would be for ever immortalized by the productions of Sir Joshua -Reynolds, Flaxman, and Stothard. - -Mrs. Mathew was not only a great encourager of musical composers, -particularly the Italians, but truly kind to young artists. She -patronized Oram, Loutherbourg’s assistant: he was the son of _Old_ Oram, -of the Board of Works, an artist whose topographical pictures possess -considerable merit, and whose name is usually introduced in picture -catalogues under the appellation of “_Old_ Oram.”[180] - -Mr. Flaxman, in return for the favours he had received from the Mathew -family, decorated the back parlour of their house, which was their -library, with models (I think they were in putty and sand) of figures in -niches, in the Gothic manner; and Oram painted the window in imitation of -stained glass; the bookcases, tables, and chairs were also ornamented to -accord with the appearance of those of antiquity. - -Rathbone Place, at this time, entirely consisted of private houses, and -its inhabitants were all of high respectability. I have heard Mrs. -Mathew say that the three rebel lords, Lovat, Kilmarnock, and Balmerino, -had at different times resided in it; and that she had also been informed -that the floor of her parlours, which is now some steps above the street, -was even with the floor of the recess under the front pediment of St. -Paul’s Cathedral. - - -1785. - -Many a summer’s evening, when I have been enjoying Runnymede, and its -far surrounding variegated meadows, from the wooden seat of Cooper’s -Hill (upon which were engraven numerous initials of lovers, and the -dates of their eternal vows), little did I think that in my future -days it would be in my power to state that I had made drawings of most -of the parish churches as well as family mansions which were then in -view, for the topographical collections of the Duke of Roxborough, Lord -Leicester, the Hon. Horace Walpole, Mr. Bull, Mr. Storer, Dr. Lort, -Mr. Haughton James, Mr. Crowle, and Sir James Winter Lake, Bart.[181] -Several of these, which have since been distributed, I now and then -meet with in the portfolios of more modern illustrators, and they bring -to my recollection some truly pleasing periods. It was in the old house -at Ankerwycke that I was introduced by Lady Lake to Lady Shouldham. -It was at Old Windsor that I dined with Mrs. Vassal, and at Staines -Bridge with the beautiful Miss Towry, since Lady Ellenborough. It was -at Chertsey I was first introduced to Mr. Douglas, Colonel St. Paul, -and those truly kind-hearted characters, Mr. Fox and Mrs. Chamberlain -Clark. At Staines I was benefited by the skill of Dr. Pope;--at -Harrow made known to Dr. Drury;--at Southgate to Alderman Curtis;--at -Trent Park to Mr. Wigston;--at Forty Hill, Enfield, to the antiquary -Gough;--at Bull’s Cross to the facetious Captain Horsley, brother to the -Bishop of Rochester, and the Boddams;--at the “Firs,” Edmonton, to my -ever-to-be-revered friend the late Sir James Winter Lake, Bart.;--at Weir -Hall to the benevolent and highly esteemed Mr. Robert Jones, Mr. Webster -and his friendly son;--at Bruce Castle to Mr. Townsend;--at Tottenham -to Mr. John Snell, and to Mr. Samuel Salt. This gentleman informed me -that he was one of the four who buried Sterne.[182] Of the friendly -inhabitants of these houses, and many others to whom I had the pleasure -of being known, within the extensive view from Cooper’s Hill, very few -are now living. - -During the Races on Runnymede, I have often seen their late Majesties -George the Third and Queen Charlotte driving about in an open -four-wheeled chaise, enjoying the pleasures of the course on equal -terms with the visitors. I remember to have been spoken to three times -by his Majesty; once on a very foggy morning at a stile near Clewer, -when I stepped back to give a gentleman, who had nearly approached it -in the adjoining field, the preference of coming over first; but upon -his saying, “Come over, come over,” I knew the voice to be the King’s, -consequently I took off my hat, and obeyed. His Majesty observed in his -quick manner, when getting over, “A thick fog, thick fog.” Another time, -when I was drawing an old oak in Windsor Park, the King and Queen drove -very near me in their chaise, and one of his Majesty’s horses shied at my -paper; upon which the King called out to me, “Shut your book, sir, shut -your book!” - -The last time I was noticed by the King, I must say his Majesty appeared -to be a little startled, as well he might. It was under the following -circumstances. Wishing to make a drawing of one of the original stalls -in St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, before they were finally taken down, -a shilling prevailed upon one of the workmen to lock me in during his -dinner-hour. However, it so happened that his Majesty, who frequently -let himself into the Chapel at that time to look at the progress of the -works, did not perceive me, as I stood in a corner, but on his return -from the altar, he asked, “Who are you, sir? Oh! you startled my horse in -the park the other day. What are you about?” I then held up my drawing; -and his Majesty, who must have noticed my embarrassment, did me the -honour to say, “Very correct; I believe you are at Mr. Wyatt’s,--a very -good man;--I have a high regard for him and all his family.” - -During the time I was studying the scenery of Windsor Park, Mr. Thomas -Sandby, who was busily engaged in placing the numerous stones to form -the representation of rocks and caverns at the head of the Virginia -Water, in Windsor Park, frequently dug for stones in Bagshot Heath. -Fortunately he discovered one of an immense size, which he thought would -afford him a massive breadth in his composition, but it was so large he -was under the necessity of breaking it with gunpowder; however, fortune -favoured his design by blowing it into two nearly equal parts, so that -he was enabled to join them on their destined spot to great advantage as -to general effect. This was Mr. Thomas Sandby’s second attempt at the -water-head;[183] he had in the first instance failed by using only sand -and clay, for which failure that worthy man was not only nicknamed “Tommy -Sandbank,” but roughly scourged by the throng of Huddesford, who composed -a song upon the occasion, from which I have selected the following -verses:-- - - 1. - - When Tom was employ’d to construct the Pond Head, - As he ponder’d the task, to himself thus he said: - “Since a head I must make, what’s a head but a noddle? - So I think I had best take my own for a model.” - Derry down, etc. - - 2. - - Then his work our projector began out of hand, - The outside he constructed with rubbish and sand; - But brains on this head had been quite thrown away, - Those he kept for himself, so he lined it with clay. - - 5. - - But the water at length, to his utter dismay, - A bankruptcy made, and his head ran away;-- - ’Twas a thick head for certain; but, had it been thicker, - No head can endure that is always in liquor. - - 12. - - Hence, by way of a Moral, the fallacy’s shown - Of the maxim that two heads are better than one;-- - For none e’er was so scurvily dealt with before, - By the head that he made and the head that he wore. - Derry down, etc. - -[Illustration: FRANCIS GROSE - -“A chiel’s amang ye takin’ notes.”] - -For many years the back parlour of the “Feathers”[184] public-house -(a sign complimentary to its neighbour, Frederick, Prince of Wales, -who inhabited Leicester House), which stood on the side of Leicester -Fields, had been frequented by artists, and several well-known amateurs. -Among the former were Stuart,[185] the Athenian traveller; Scott,[186] -the marine painter; old Oram, of the Board of Works;[187] Luke -Sullivan,[188] the miniature painter, who engraved that inimitable print -from Hogarth’s picture of the “March to Finchley,” now in the Foundling -Hospital; Captain Grose,[189] the author of _Antiquities of England_, -_History of Armour_,[190] etc.; Mr. Hearne,[191] the elegant and correct -draughtsman of many of England’s Antiquities (so beautifully engraved -by his amiable friend Byrne), Nathaniel Smith, my father, etc. The -amateurs were Henderson, the actor; Mr. Morris, a silversmith; Mr. John -Ireland, then a watchmaker in Maiden Lane, and since editor of Boydell’s -edition of Dr. Trusler’s work, _Hogarth Moralized_; and Mr. Baker, -of St. Paul’s Churchyard, whose collection of Bartolozzi’s works was -unequalled.[192] When this house, the sign of the “Feathers,” was taken -down to make way for Dibdin’s Theatre, called the “Sans Souci,” several -of its frequenters adjourned to the “Coach and Horses” public-house in -Castle Street, Leicester Fields; but in consequence of their not proving -customers sufficiently expensive for that establishment, the landlord one -evening venturing to light them out with a farthing candle, they betook -themselves to Gerard Street, and thence to the “Blue Posts” in Dean -Street, where the club dwindled into two or three members, viz. Edridge, -the portrait draughtsman; Alexander, of the British Museum; and Edmunds, -the upholsterer, who had been undertaker to the greater part of the -club.[193] - -Mr. Baker, the gentleman before mentioned, being a single man, and -sometimes keeping rather late hours, was now and then accompanied by a -friend half way home, by way of a walk. It was on one of these nights, -that, just as he and I were approaching Temple Bar, about one o’clock, -a most unaccountable appearance claimed our attention,--it was no -less an object than an elephant, whose keepers were coaxing it to pass -through the gateway. He had been accompanied by several persons from the -Tower Wharf with tall poles, but was principally guided by two men with -ropes, each walking on either side of the street, to keep him as much -as possible in the middle on his way to the menagerie, Exeter Change; -to which destination, after passing St. Clement’s Church, he steadily -trudged on with strict obedience to the commands of his keepers. I had -the honour afterwards of partaking of a pot of Barclay’s Entire with this -same elephant, which high mark of his condescension was bestowed when -I accompanied my friend the late Sir James Winter Lake, Bart., to view -the rare animals in Exeter Change--that gentleman being assured by the -elephant’s keeper that if he would offer the beast a shilling, he would -see the noble animal nod his head and drink a pot of porter. The elephant -no sooner had taken the shilling, which he did in the mildest manner from -the palm of Sir James’s hand, than he gave it to the keeper, and eagerly -watched his return with the beer. The elephant then, after placing his -proboscis to the top of the tankard, drew up nearly the whole of the then -good beverage. The keeper observed, “You will hardly believe, gentlemen, -but the little he has left is quite warm;” upon this we were tempted to -taste it, and it really was so. This animal was afterwards disposed of -for the sum of one thousand guineas.[194] - -[Illustration: COVENT GARDEN THROUGH HOGARTH’S EYES - -“The first square inhabited by the great.” - -_J. T. Smith_] - - -1786. - -Possibly the present frequenters of print sales may receive some little -entertainment from a description of a few of the most singular of those -who constantly attended the auctions during my boyish days. The elder -Langford, of Covent Garden, introduced by Foote as Mr. Puff, in his farce -of _The Minor_,[195] I well remember; yet by reason of my being obliged -to attend more regularly the subsequent evening sales at Paterson’s -and Hutchins’s--next-door-neighbour auctioneers, on the north side of -King Street, Covent Garden,[196] I am better enabled to speak to the -peculiarities of their visitors than those of Mr. Langford. - -It was in 1783, during the sales of the extensive collection of Mr. -Moser, the first keeper of the Royal Academy,[197] and Mr. Millan, -bookseller at Charing Cross,[198] that I noticed the following remarkable -characters. I shall, however, first endeavour to describe the person of -Paterson, a man much respected by all who really knew him; but perhaps -by none with more sincerity than Doctor Johnson, who had honoured him -by standing godfather to his son Samuel, and whom he continued to -notice as he grew up with the most affectionate regard, as appears in -the letters which the doctor wrote in his favour to his friends Sir -Joshua Reynolds and Mr. Humphrey, printed by Boswell.[199] Mr. Paterson -was in height about five feet eight inches, and stooped a little in -the shoulders. When I first knew him, he was a spare man, and wore a -powdered clubwig, similar to that worn by Tom Davies, the bookseller and -biographer of Garrick, of whom there is an engraved portrait. Paterson -was really a walking library, and of manners precisely coinciding with -the old school. I remember that by a slight impediment in his speech, -he always pronounced the letter R as a V; for instance, Dart’s _History -of Canterbe_v_y_, and a dromedary, he pronounced a d_wa_mmeda_v_y; -notwithstanding this defect, he publicly lectured on the beauties of -Shakspeare. - -Mr. Gough,[200] the Editor of Camden’s _Britannia_, was the constant -frequenter of his book-sales. This antiquary was about the same height -as the auctioneer, but in a wig very different, as he wore, when I knew -him, a short shining curled one. His coat was of “formal cut,” but he -had no round belly; and his waistcoat and smallclothes were from the same -piece. He was mostly in boots, and carried a swish-whip when he walked. -His temper I know was not good, and he seldom forgave those persons who -dared to bid stoutly against him for a lot at an auction: his eyes, which -were small and of the winky-pinky sort, fully announced the fretful -being. As for his judgment in works of art, if he had any it availed him -little, being as much satisfied with the dry and monotonous manner of Old -Basire,[201] as our late President West was with the beautiful style of -Woollett and Hall. - -Dr. Lort,[202] the constant correspondent of Old Cole,[203] was a man -of his own stamp, broad and bony, in height nearly six feet, of manners -equally morose, and in every respect just as forbidding. His wig was a -large _Busby_, and usually of a brown appearance, for want of a dust of -powder. He was chaplain to the Duke of Devonshire; and as he wore thick -worsted stockings, and walked anyhow through the mud, considered himself -in no way obliged to give the street-sweepers a farthing. He had some -wit, however, but it was often displayed in a cowardly manner, being -mostly directed towards his little opponent, Doctor Gossett,[204] who -was unfortunately much afflicted by deformity, and of a temper easily -roused by too frequent a repetition of threepenny biddings at Paterson’s. -Paterson sold his books singly, and took threepence at a bidding. - -Hutchins was about five feet nine inches, but in appearance much shorter -by reason of his corpulency. His high forehead, when compared with a -perpendicular, was at an angle of forty-five. He was what Spurzheim -would call a _simple_ honest man: his wife was of the same build, but -most powerfully possessed the organ of inquisitiveness, which induced -her to be a constant occupant of a pretty large and easy chair, by the -side of the fire in the auction-room, in order that she might see how -business was going on. Mr. and Mrs. Hutchins appeared so affectionately -mutual in all their public conclusions, that Caleb Whitefoord, the witty -wine-merchant, one of the print-sale visitors, attempted to flourish off -the following observation as one of his invention: “You see,” said he to -Captain Baillie, “Cocker is not always correct; _one_ and _one_ do not in -this instance make _two_.”[205] - -Caleb Whitefoord[206] was what is usually called a slight-built man, -and much addicted when in conversation to shrug up his shoulders. He had -a thin face, with little eyes; his deportment was gentlemanly, though -perhaps sometimes too high for his situation in life. His dress, upon -which he bestowed great attention, was in some instances singular, -particularly in his hat and wig, which were remarkable as being solitary -specimens of the Garrick School. He considered himself _a first-rate_ -judge of pictures, always preferring those by the _old masters_, but -which he endeavoured to improve by touching up; and when in this -conceited employment, I have frequently seen him fall back in his chair, -and turn his head from one shoulder to the other, with as much admiration -of what he had done, as Hogarth’s sign-painter of the Barley-mow in his -inimitable print of Beer Street. - -[Illustration: LONDON STREET MERCHANTS: UMBRELLAS TO MEND - -ETCHED BY J. T. SMITH] - -Captain William Baillie[207] was also an amateur in art; he suffered -from an asthma, which often stood his friend by allowing a lengthened fit -of coughing to stop a sentence whenever he found himself in want of words -to complete it. When not engaged in his duties as a commissioner of the -Stamp Office, he for years amused himself in what he called _etching_; -but in what Rembrandt, as well as every true artist, would call -scratching. He could not draw, nor had he an eye for effect. To prove -this assertion, I will “_end him at a blow_,” by bringing to my informed -reader’s recollection the captain’s execrable plate, which he considered -to be an improvement upon Rembrandt’s “Three Trees.” Mr. West classed -him amongst the conceited men.--“Sir,” said the venerable President, -“when I requested him to show me a fine impression of Rembrandt’s Hundred -Guilder print, he placed one of his own _restored_ impressions before -me, with as much confidence as my little friend Edwards[208] attempts to -teach Perspective in the Royal Academy.” Captain Baillie commonly wore a -camlet coat, and walked so slowly and with such measured steps, that he -appeared like a man heavily laden with jack-boots and Munchausen spurs; -and whenever he entered an auction-room, he generally permitted his cough -to announce his arrival. - -Mr. Baker,[209] an opulent dealer in lace, was nightly to be found -bidding for the choicest impressions, which he seldom allowed any -antagonist, however powerful, to carry away. He was well-proportioned, -and though sometimes singular in his manner, and too negligent in his -dress, was a most honourable man. - -Mr. Woodhouse, of Tokenhouse Yard, was also a bidder for fine things; -he did not possess so much of the milk of human kindness as Mr. Baker; -indeed, his manners were at times a little repulsive, although he had -been many years principal cashier in Sir George Prescott’s banking-house. -He was an extensive collector of Cipriani’s drawings.[210] - -Mr. Musgrave,[211] of Norfolk Street, frequently attended auctions of -prints, but particularly those of pictures; he was an accomplished -gentleman in his address, and most feelingly benevolent in his actions. -His figure was short, his features pleasing, and he seldom went abroad -without a rose in his button-hole. When I state that no man could have -had fewer enemies, I think even the descendants of “Vinegar Tom”[212] -will never haunt my bedside. - -There was another truly polite and kind-hearted attendant at Hutchins’s -sales, Mr. Pitt, of Westminster. The manners of this gentleman were -precise, and he wore a large five-story white wig. - -The next collector at this period was Mr. Wodhull,[213] the translator of -Euripides. He was very thin, with a long nose and thick lips; of manners -perfectly gentlemanly. The great singularity of his appearance arose, -perhaps, from his closing his coat from the first button, immediately -under his chin, to the last, nearly extending to the bottom of his -deep-flap waistcoat-pockets. He seldom spoke, nor would he exceed one -sixpence beyond the sum which he had put down in his catalogue, to give -for the articles he intended to bid for; and though he frequently went -away without purchasing a single lot, or even speaking to any one during -the whole evening, he always took off his hat, and bowed low to the -company before he left the auction-room. - -Mr. Rawle, an accoutrement-maker, then living in the Strand, was a -visitor: he was the friend of Captain Grose, and the executor of -Thomas Worlidge,[214] the etcher. In his early days he had collected -many curious and valuable articles. His cabinets contained numerous -interesting portraits in miniature of Elizabethan characters. He was -a professed Commonwealth man, and possessed many of the Protector’s, -or, according to some writers, the usurper’s letters. He also prided -himself upon having the leathern doublet, sword, and hat in which -Oliver dissolved the Parliament, and showed a helmet that he could -incontrovertibly prove had belonged to him. He likewise frequently -expatiated for a considerable time upon a magnificent wig, which he said -had been worn by that Merry Monarch, King Charles the Second.[215] This -singular character never would allow more than a halfpenny-worth of -vegetables to be put upon his table, though they were ever so cheap; and -when they were above his price, he went without.[216] - -Another singular character of the name of Beauvais, who at one time had -flourished at Tunbridge Wells as a miniature-painter,[217] attended the -evening auctions. This man, who was short and rather lumpy in stature, -indeed nearly as wide as he was high, was a native of France, and through -sheer idleness became so filthily dirty in his person and dress, that -few of the company would sit by him. Yet I have seen him in a black suit -with his sword and bag, in the evening of the day on which he had been -at Court, where for years he was a constant attendant. This “Sack of -Sand,” as Suett the actor generally called him, sat at the lower end of -the table; and as he very seldom made purchases, few persons ventured to -converse with him. He frequently much annoyed Hutchins by the loudest of -all snoring; and now and then Doctor Wolcot would ask him a question, -in order to indulge in a laugh at his mode of uttering an answer, which -Peter Pindar declared to be more like the gobbling of a turkey-cock than -anything human. He lived in a two-pair-of-stairs back room in St. James’s -Market; and, after his death, Hutchins sold his furniture. I recollect -his spinet, music-stool, and a few dog’s-eared sheets of lessons sold for -three-and-sixpence. - -Mr. Matthew Mitchell,[218] the banker, frequently joined these parties, -and seldom went away without a purchase of prints under his arm. He was -extremely well-proportioned, and walked in what I have often heard the -ladies of the _old school_ style a portly manner. He was remarkable -for a width of chin, which was full as large as Titus Oates’s, and a -set of large white teeth. His features altogether, however, bespoke a -good-natured and liberal man. This gentleman was very kind to me when -I was a boy, and I never hear his name mentioned but with unspeakable -pleasure. - -[Illustration: CHRISTIE’S AS “RAINY DAY” SMITH KNEW IT] - -Mr. Mitchell had a most serious antipathy to a kitten. He could sit in -a room without experiencing the least emotion from a cat; but directly -he perceived a kitten, his flesh shook on his bones, like a snail in -vinegar. I once relieved him from one of these paroxysms, by taking a -kitten out of the room; on my return he thanked me, and declared his -feelings to be insupportable upon such an occasion. Long subsequently I -asked him whether he could in any way account for this agitation. He said -he could not, adding that he experienced no such sensations upon seeing -a full-grown cat; but that a kitten, after he had looked at it for a -minute or two, in his imagination grew to the size of an overpowering -elephant. - -At this period Hogarth’s prints were in such high request, that whenever -anything remarkable appeared, it was stoutly contested: for Mr. Packer, -of Combe’s Brewhouse, was one of the most enterprising of the Hogarth -collectors. This gentleman, though his manners sometimes appeared blunt, -was highly respected by all who really knew him: it was at this time he -became my friend.[219] - -He was tall, of good proportion, and well-favoured. He had his -peculiarities in dress, particularly as to his hat, which was an -undoubted original. Mr. Packer’s opponents in Hogarth prints were two -persons, one of the name of Vincent, a tall, half-starved-looking man, -who walked with a high gilt chased-headed cane (he had been a chaser of -milk-pots, watch-cases, and heads of canes, and he always walked with -this cane as a show-article), and the other of the name of Powell, better -known under the appellation of “_Old black wig_.” - -Henderson, the player,[220] who was also a collector of Hogarth’s works, -seldom made his appearance on these boards--John Ireland being his -deputy-manager.[221] - -I must not omit to mention another singular but most honourable -character, of the name of Heywood, nicknamed “Old Iron Wig.” His dress -was precise, and manner of walking rather stiff. He was an extensive -purchaser of every kind of article in art, particularly Rowlandson’s -drawings; for this purpose he employed the merry and friendly Mr. -Seguier,[222] the picture-dealer, a schoolfellow of my father’s, to bid -for him. - -I shall now close this list by observing that my early friend and -fellow-pupil, Rowlandson, who has frequently made drawings of Hutchins -and his print-auctions, has produced a most spirited etching, in which -not only many of the above-described characters are introduced, but also -most of the printsellers of the day. There is another, though it must -be owned very indifferent, plate, containing what the publisher called -“Portraits of Printsellers,” from a monotonous drawing by the late -Silvester Harding, whose manner of delineation made persons appear to -be all of one family, particularly his sleepy-eyed and gaudily-coloured -drawings of ladies. - - -1787. - -At this time my mimic powers induced Delpini the clown,[223] who had -often been amused with several of my imitations of public characters, -to mention me to Mr. John Palmer,[224] who, after listening to my -specimens, promised me an engagement at the Royalty Theatre, which was -then erecting; but as that gentleman was too sanguine, and failed in -procuring a licence, I, as well as many other strutting heroes, was -disappointed. - -After this my friends advised me to resume the arts; and, with the usual -confidence of an unskilful beginner, I at once presumed to style myself -“drawing-master.” However, my slender abilities, or rather industry, -were noticed by my kind patrons, who soon recommended me to pupils, and -by that pursuit I was enabled, with some increase of talent, to support -myself for several years. It is rather extraordinary that mimicry with -me was not confined to the voice, for I could in many instances throw -my features into a resemblance of the person whose voice I imitated. -Indeed, so ridiculous were several of these gesticulations, that I -remember diverting one of my companions by endeavouring to look like the -various lion-headed knockers as we passed through a long street. Skilful, -however, as I was declared to be in some of my attempts, I could not in -any way manage the dolphin knockers in Dean Street, Fetter Lane. Their -ancient and fish-like appearance was certainly many fathoms beyond my -depth; and as much by reason of my being destitute of gills, and the nose -of that finny tribe, extending nearly in width to its tremendous mouth, I -was obliged to give up the attempt. - -When first I saw these knockers, which were all of solid brass, seventeen -of the doors of the four-and-twenty houses in Dean Street were adorned -with them, and the good housewives’ care was to keep them as bright as -the chimney-sweeper’s ladle on May-day. As my mind from my earliest -remembrance was of an inquisitive nature, my curiosity urged me to learn -why this street, above all others, was thus adorned; and my inquiry was, -as I then thought, at once answered satisfactorily. - -This ground and the houses upon it belong to the Fishmongers’ Company, -was the answer returned by one of the oldest inhabitants; and the -heraldic reader will recollect that the arms of that worshipful and -ancient body are dolphins. Not being satisfied with this assertion, -however, I went to Fishmongers’ Hall, and was there assured that the -Company never had any property in Dean Street, Fetter Lane. On the 17th -of May, 1829, I visited this street in order to see how many of my -brazen-faced acquaintances exposed themselves, and I found that Dean -Street was nearly as deficient in its dolphin knockers as a churchyard is -of its earliest tombstones, for out of seventeen only three remained.[225] - -In the commencement of this year I took lodgings in Gerrard Street, and -acquiesced in the regulations of my landlady; one of the principal of -which was, that I never was to expect to be let in after twelve o’clock, -unless the servant was apprised of my staying out later, and then she -was to be permitted to sit up for me. Being in my twenty-first year, of -a lively disposition, and moreover fond of theatrical representations, -I did not at all times “remember twelve”; for although Mrs. Siddons -sounded it so emphatically upon my ear, I could never quit the theatre -till half an hour after. My finances at this period being sometimes too -slender to afford an additional lodging for the night, and not often -venturing to expose myself to insult, or the artful and designing, by -perambulating the city, unless the moon invited me, I fortunately hit -upon the following expedient, which not only sheltered me from rain, -but afforded me a seat by the fireside. I either used to go to the -watch-house of St. Paul, Covent Garden, or that of St. Anne, Soho; so, -having made myself free of both by agreeing with the watch-house keeper -to stand the expense of two pots of porter upon every nocturnal visit, I -was enabled to see what is called “life and human nature.” - -[Illustration: A LONDON WATCH HOUSE] - -One of the curious scenes witnessed upon a more recent occasion afforded -me no small amusement. Sir Harry Dinsdale, usually called Dimsdale, a -short, feeble little man, was brought in to St. Anne’s watch-house, -charged by two colossal guardians of the night with conduct most unruly. -“What have you, Sir Harry, to say to all this?” asked the Dogberry of -St. Anne. The knight, who had been roughly handled, commenced like a -true orator, in a low tone of voice, “May it please ye, my magistrate, -I am not drunk; it is _languor_. A parcel of the bloods of the Garden -have treated me cruelly, because I would not treat them. This day, Sir, -I was sent for by Mr. Sheridan to make my speech upon the table at the -Shakspeare Tavern, in _Common_ Garden; he wrote the speech for me, and -always gives me half a guinea, when he sends for me to the tavern. You -see I didn’t go in my Royal robes; I only put ’um on when I stand to be -member.” Constable--“Well, but Sir Harry, why are you brought here?” One -of the watchmen then observed, “That though Sir Harry was but a little -_shambling_ fellow, he was so _upstroppolus_ and kicked him about at such -a rate, that it was as much as he and his comrade could do to bring him -along.” As there was no one to support the charge, Sir Harry was advised -to go home, which, however, he swore he would not do at midnight without -an escort. “Do you know,” said he, “there’s a parcel of _raps_ now on the -outside waiting for me.” - -The constable of the night gave orders for him to be protected to the -public-house opposite the west end of St. Giles’s Church, where he then -lodged. Sir Harry hearing a noise in the street, muttered, “I shall catch -it; I know I shall.” “See the conquering hero comes” (_cries without_). -“Ay, they always use that tune when I gain my election at Garrett.” - -Although many of my readers may recollect Sir Harry Dinsdale, yet it -may be well for the information of others to state who and what he was. -Before I commence his history, however, I should observe that the death -of Sir Jeffery Dunstan, a dealer in old wigs, who had been for many years -returned member for Garrett, first gave popularity to Harry Dinsdale, -who, from the moment he stood as candidate, received mock knighthood, -and was ever after known under the appellation of “Sir Harry.”[226] -There are several portraits of this singular little object, by some -called “Honeyjuice,” as well as of his more whimsical predecessor, Sir -Jeffery Dunstan, better known as “Old Wigs.” Sir Harry exercised the -itinerant trade of a muffinman in the afternoon; he had a little bell, -which he held to his ear, smiling ironically at its tingling. His cry -was “Muffins! muffins! ladies come buy _me_! pretty, handsome, blooming, -smiling maids.” Flaxman the sculptor, and Mrs. Mathew, of blue-stocking -memory, equipped him as a hardware man, and as such I made two etchings -of him. - -[Illustration: SIR HARRY DINSDALE - -MAYOR OF GARRAT AND EMPEROR ANTI-NAPOLEON] - -[Illustration: SIR JEFFERY DUNSTAN - -“His first appearance on any stage.”] - -Many a time when I had no inclination to go to bed at the dawn of day, -I have looked down from my window to see whether the author of the -_Sublime and Beautiful_ had left his drawing-room, where I had seen that -great orator during many a night after he had left the House of Commons, -seated at a table covered with papers, attended by an amanuensis who -sat opposite to him.[227] Major Money, who had nearly been lost at sea -with his balloon, at that time lodged in the same house. Of the Major’s -perilous situation at sea, the elder Reinagle made a spirited picture, -of which there is an engraving.[228] - -In this year I had the honour for the first time of exhibiting at the -Royal Academy. My production was a portrait of the venerable beech-tree -which stood within memory at a short distance from Sand-pit Gate, in -Windsor Forest, and which tree has been so admirably painted by West. -This picture, which measures five feet in height and seven in length, was -sold by auction at Mr. West’s house, in May 23rd, 1829. My drawing, as -well as many of my studies made from that delightful display of forest -scenery, was highly finished in black chalk; it was purchased by the late -Earl of Warwick, who was not only an admirable draughtsman himself, but -kind to young artists. By that nobleman I was introduced to the Hon. F. -Charles Greville [the Earl’s brother and a Vice-President of the Royal -Society], whose taste for the Fine Arts is too well known to need any -eulogium from me.[229] This gentleman gave Cipriani above one hundred -guineas for an elaborate drawing of the famous Barberini vase, brought -to England by Sir William Hamilton.[230] Several learned writers have -given their conjectures as to the subject so beautifully sculptured on -this vase; but I understand that nothing has been adduced as yet that -sufficiently elucidates it. This vase is deposited in the British Museum. - -This grey and silver beech was the loftiest in the forest, and -particularly beautiful when the sun shone upon its ancient limbs; his -capacious and hollow trunk, with a small additional hut, afforded -accommodation for a woodman, his wife, four children, a sow and a -numerous litter of pigs. This happy family retreat, which had frequently -been noticed by King George III., was at last unavoidably obliged, -from the symptoms it exhibited of falling, to submit to the woodman’s -axe--that woodman whose family had weathered many a storm, and had been -screened from the scorching sunbeams under its majestic branches, several -of which, by reason of its “bald and high antiquity,” had not issued -foliage for many a summer. The King, however, who never suffered the -humblest of his subjects whose industry he had noticed, to sigh under -calamity, ordered a snug, neat brick cottage to be built for the honest -occupant and his dependents, which was erected in the same forest, and at -as short a distance as possible from the former residence. - -One curious and interesting discovery resulted from the demolition of -this venerable tree. The woodman, who had allowed the smoke from his -peat-piled fire to pass through one of the hollow limbs of the tree for -several years without sweeping it, had, by accumulated incrustations, -produced a mass of the finest brown colour, resembling the present -appearance of that used by Rembrandt, so much coveted by the English -artists. The discovery was made by Mr. Paul Sandby, who was fortunately -passing at the time the timber was on the ground, who immediately secured -a tolerable quantity to enable him to prove that the smoke from forest -fuel, united with the heated branch of a hollow and aged beech, produced -the finest bistre: his son, the present Mr. Sandby, gave me a lump of it, -which I presented to the late Sir George Beaumont.[231] Having mentioned -this bistre to several Roman artists, they informed me that a strong -decoction of the sap of the ilex, or evergreen oak, produces a colour -nearly similar; and of this I have had satisfactory proof. These, and -suchlike bistres, would be much safer for the artist to use than that -called sepia, which is made from the ink of the cuttle-fish, which, being -a marine production, ever retains its saline and pernicious qualities, -as may be seen in several of the numerous drawings made by Guercino, -where the colour has left a blot, which has completely eaten through the -paper. However, after all the trials of our experimentalists to match the -present tint of Rembrandt’s drawings, and however pleasingly ingenious -their discoveries have been, still I am inclined to believe that much, if -not the whole, of the effect of old drawings is owing to that produced -by time; and in this idea I am borne out by a small drawing which the -ever-to-be-revered Flaxman made with a pen in common writing-ink: he drew -it when I was a lad, and it is now a deep rich brown. May we not also -fairly conclude, from the brown tint of most of our old manuscripts, -that time has thus operated upon the ink? if so, the question is, what -will the future colour of that which we now use in imitation, consisting -of many ingredients, be, after fifty-five years, the elapsed time since -I received my drawing from the kind hand of Flaxman? It is a curious -fact, however, that the ink used by the ancient Egyptians on nearly two -hundred specimens of the written inscriptions on papyrus collected by Mr. -Salt,[232] now in the British Museum, are as jet a black as Cozens’s[233] -blotting-ink, or Day and Martin’s far-famed blacking. - - -1788. - -Although not considered an Adonis by the ladies, yet most of those to -whom I had the pleasure to be known, noticed me as a favourite, and by -some my appearance in company was cordially greeted. “Friend Thomas,” -asked one, “pray what play didst thou see last night?” With this -appellation I was frequently addressed, in consequence of my mother -having been a member of the Society of Friends. “_Love’s Labour Lost_,” -being my answer to the pre-engaged fair one, uttered perhaps with a -smile, she was induced to rejoin, “If you had not hitherto been so blind -a son of Venus, you would not have lost my smiles.” After this rebuke, -my pursuit became brisker, and I at last fixed my heart upon my first -wife.[234] Upon becoming a Benedict, I partly recovered the use of my -senses, gave up my clubs, dissolved many connections, and in order to -be faithful to my pledge, “to love and to cherish,” I applied myself -steadily to my etching-table, and commenced a series of quarto plates, -to illustrate Mr. Pennant’s truly interesting account of our great city -(entitled _Some Account of London_), which I dedicated to my patron, Sir -James Winter Lake, Bart. - -Sir James was a governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company,--a situation, it is -well known, he filled with credit to himself as well as the satisfaction -of every one connected with that highly-respected body. Sir James most -kindly invited me to take a house near him at Edmonton, where I had the -honour, for the space of seven years, of enjoying the steady friendship -of himself and family. Lady Lake, who then retained much of her youthful -beauty, by her elegance of language and extreme affability charmed every -one. To clever people of every description she was kind, and benevolent -to the poor. - -The Lake family consisted of Sir James, his lady, their sons, James, -Willoughby, Atwill, and Andrew,--their daughters, Mary, Charlotte, and -Anne.[235] Their residence, which had long been their family mansion, -was distant about a mile from the Angel Inn, and was called “The Firs,” -in consequence of the approach to the house being planted on either side -with double rows of that tree. - -[Illustration: ELIZABETH CANNING - -“For my own part, I am not at all brought to believe her story.” - -_Horace Walpole_] - - -1789. - -This year proved more lucrative to me than any preceding, for at this -time I professed portrait painting both in oils and crayons; but, alas! -after using a profusion of carmine, and placing many an eye straight -that was misdirected, before another season came, my exertions were -mildewed by a decline of orders, owing not only to the salubrity of the -air of Edmonton, but to the regularity of those who had sat to me, for -they would neither die nor quit their mansions, but kept themselves snug -within their King-William iron gates and red-brick-crested piers, so that -there was no accommodation for new-comers; nor would the red land-owners -allow one inch of ground to the Tooley Street Camomile Cottage -builders.[236] However, I experienced enough to convince me that, had I -diverged along the cross-roads towards the Bald-faced Stag, the highway -to the original Tulip-tree at Waltham Abbey, or the green lanes to -Hornsey Wood House, I might have considerably increased my income; but -this would have been impossible without a conveyance. Nevertheless, as -it was, the reader will hardly believe that my marches of fame were far -more extensive than those of Major Sturgeon;[237] his were confined to -marches and counter-marches, from Ealing to Acton, and from Acton to -Ealing, next-door neighbours: now, my doves took a circuitous flight from -Tottenham to “Kicking Jenny” at Southgate; then to Enfield, ay, even to -its very Wash, rendered notorious by Mary Squires and Bet Canning;[238] -thence over Walton’s famed river Lea: thence up to Chingford’s -ivy-mantled tower; down again, crossing the Lea with the lowing herd, to -Tottenham High Cross, finishing where they put up on the embattlements of -the once noble Castle of Bruce. - -It was in the centre of the above vicinities, at “Edmonton so gay,” -the rendezvous of Shakspeare’s merry devil,[239] that _I profiled, -three-quartered, full-faced_, and _buttoned up_ the retired -embroidered weavers, their crummy wives, and tightly-laced daughters. -Ay, those were the days! my friends of the loom, as Tom King declared in -the prologue to _Bon Ton_, when Mother Fussock could ride in a one-horse -chaise, warm from Spitalfields, on a Sunday![240] - - -1790. - -Many a rural walk have I and my beloved enjoyed, accompanied by our -uninvited, playful, tailed butterfly-hunter, through the lonely -honeysuckled lanes to the “Widow Colley’s,” whose nut-brown, mantling -home-brewed could have stood the test with that of Skelton’s far-famed -Elyn--the ale-wife of England, upon whose October skill Henry VIII.’s -Poet Laureate sang.[241] Sometimes our strolls were extended to old -Matthew Cook’s Ferry, by the side of the Lea, so named after him, and -well known to many a Waltonian student. Matthew generally contrived to -keep sixteen cats, all of the finest breed, and, as cats go, of the -best of tempers, all of whom he had taught distinct tricks; but it was -his custom morning and evening to make them regularly, one after the -other, leap over his hands joined as high as his arms could reach: and -this attention to his cats, which occupied nearly the whole of his -time, afforded him as much pleasure as Hartry, the cupper in May’s -Buildings,[242] and his assistant could receive in phlebotomizing, in -former days, above one hundred customers on a Sunday morning, that being -the only leisure time the industrious mechanic could spare for the -operation. - -Melancholy as Cook’s Ferry is during the winter, it is still more so -in the time of an inundation, when it is almost insupportable; and -had not Matty enjoyed the society of his cats, who certainly kept the -house tolerably free from rats and mice, at the accustomed time of a -high flood he must have been truly wretched. In this year, during one -of these visitations, in order to gratify my indefatigable curiosity, -I visited him over the meadows, partly in a cart and partly in a boat, -conducted by his baker and Tom Fogin, his barber. We found him standing -in a washing-tub, dangling a bit of scrag of mutton before the best fire -existing circumstances could produce, in a room on the ground floor, -knee-deep in water, whilst he ever and anon raised his voice to his cats -in the room above, where he had huddled them for safety. - -The baker, after delivering his bread in at the window, and I, after -fastening our skiff to the shutter-hook, waited the return of Fogin, who -had launched himself into a tub to shave Matthew, who had perched himself -on the coroneted top of a tall Queen Anne’s chair, and drawn his feet as -much under him as possible, and then, with the palms of his hands flat -upon his knees to keep the balance true, was prepared to suck in Fogin’s -tales in the tub during his shave. Tom retailed all the scandal he had -been able to collect during the preceding week from the surrounding -villages; how Dolly _alias_ Matthew Booth, a half-witted fellow, was -stoutly caned by old John Adams, the astronomical schoolmaster, for -calling him “a moon-hauler,”--how Mr. Wigston trespassed on Miss -Thoxley’s waste,--of the sisters Tatham being called the “wax dolls” -of Edmonton, whose chemises Bet Nun had declared only measured sixteen -inches in diameter,--of old Fuller, the banker, riding to Ponder’s End -with a stone in his mouth to keep it moist, in order to save the expense -of drink,--upon Farmer Bellows’s and old Le Grew’s psalm-singing,--of -Alderman Curtis and his Southgate grapery, and of his neighbour, a divine -gentlem--_man_, I had very nearly called him, who had horsewhipped his -wife. - - -1791. - -I remember on a midsummer morn of this year making one of a party of -pleasure, consisting of the worthy baronet Sir James Lake, the elder John -Adams,[243] schoolmaster of Edmonton, Samuel Ireland,[244] author of the -_Thames_, _Medway_, etc. We started from my cottage at Edmonton, and took -the road north. The first house we noticed was an old brick mansion at -the extreme end of the town, erected at about the time of King Charles -I., opposite butcher Wright’s. This dilapidated fabric was let out in -tenements, and the happiest of its inmates was a gay old woman who lived -in one of its numerous attics. She gained her bread by spinning, and as -we ascended she was singing the old song of “Little boy blue, come blow -me your horn” to a neighbour’s child, left to her care for the day. -“Well, Mary,” quoth the a-b-c-darian, “you are always gay; what is your -opinion of the lads and lasses of the present time, compared with those -of your youthful days?” “I’ faith,” answered Mary, “they are pretty much -the same.” She was then considerably beyond her eightieth year. We then -proceeded to Ponder’s End, where I conducted my fellow-travellers to a -field on the left, behind the Goat public-house, to see “King Ringle’s -Well,” but why so called even Mr. Gough has declared he was unable to -discover.[245] - -The next place we visited consisted of extensive moated premises, called -“Durance,” on the right of the public road. This house, as tradition -reported, had been the residence of Judge Jeffreys; and here it is said -that he exercised some severities upon the Protestants.[246] - -We then returned through Green Street; and at a cottage we discovered -an Elizabethan door, profusely studded with flat-headed nails. This -piece of antiquity Samuel Ireland stopped to make a drawing of, which -circumstance I beg the reader will keep in mind, as it will be mentioned -hereafter. We then, after descanting upon the beauties of Waltham Cross, -proposed to visit the father of the Tulip-trees, an engraving of which -appeared in Farmer’s _History of Waltham Abbey_.[247] We looked in vain -for a portion of King Harold’s tomb. There were remains of it in Strutt’s -early days: he made a drawing of them. Our next visit was to a small -ancient elliptic bridge in a field a little beyond the pin-manufactory; -this bridge has ever been held as a great curiosity, and one of high -antiquity. As we returned through Cheshunt, we rummaged over a basket of -old books placed at the door of the barber’s shop, where Sir James Lake -bought an excellent copy of Brooke’s _Camden’s Errors_ for sixpence, -and also an imperfect copy of Burton’s _Anatomy of Melancholy_, for the -sake of a remarkably fine impression of a portrait of its author on -the title-page. After dining at the Red Lion, we visited another old -moated mansion, the property of Dr. Mayo, said to have been originally -a house belonging to Cardinal Wolsey, or in which he had at one time -resided.[248] After crossing a drawbridge, and passing through the iron -gates, the gardener ushered us into a spacious hall, and showed us a -curiously constructed chair, in which he said the Cardinal’s porter -usually sat. Of this singular chair above mentioned I made a drawing, and -had the honour to furnish the late Marquis of Lansdowne with a copy, to -enable his Lordship to have a set made from it. In an adjoining room was -a bedstead and furniture, considered to be that in which the Cardinal -had slept; it was of a drab-coloured cloth, profusely worked over with -large flowers in variously coloured silks. We were then conducted to an -immense room filled with old portraits. I recollect noticing one in very -excellent preservation of Sir Hugh Myddelton, with an inscription on the -background totally differing from the one by Cornelius Janssen, engraved -by Vertue.[249] Thus ended this pleasant excursion. - - -1792. - -That Vandyke did not possess that liberal patron in King Charles I. -which his biographers have hitherto stated, is unquestionably a fact, -which can be proved by a long bill which I have lately seen (by the -friendly indulgence of Mr. Lemon[250] and his son), in the State Paper -Office, docketed by the King’s own hand. For instance, the picture of his -Majesty dressed for the chase (which I conjecture to be the one engraved -by Strange),[251] for which Vandyke had charged £200, the King, after -erasing that sum, inserted £100; and down in proportion, nay, in some -instances they suffered a further reduction. Of several of the works -charged in the bill, which his Majesty marked as intended presents to his -friends, I recollect one of two that were to be given to Lord Holland was -reduced to the sum of £60. Other pictures in the bill the King marked -with a cross, which is explained at the back by Endymion Porter, that as -those were to be paid for by the Queen, the King had left them for her -Majesty to reduce at pleasure. - -That a daughter of Vandyke was allowed a pension for sums owing by -King Charles I. to her father, is also true, as there is a petition -in consequence of its being discontinued still preserved in the State -Paper Office, in which that lady declares herself to be plunged into the -greatest distress, adding that she had been cheated by the purchaser of -her late father’s estate, who never paid for it.[252] - -It would be the height of vanity in me to offer anything beyond what the -author of _The Sublime and Beautiful_ has said of Sir Joshua Reynolds, -who died this year at his house in Leicester Square.[253] As Mr. Burke’s -character of this most powerful of painters may not be in the possession -of all my readers, I shall here reprint it.[254] - - “The illness of Sir Joshua Reynolds was long, but borne with - a mild and cheerful fortitude, without the least mixture of - anything irritable or querulous, agreeably to the placid and - even tenor of his whole life. - - “He had, from the beginning of his malady, a distinct view - of his dissolution; and he contemplated it with that entire - composure which nothing but the innocence, integrity, and - usefulness of his life, and unaffected submission to the will - of Providence, could bestow. In this situation he had every - consolation from family tenderness, which his own kindness to - his family had indeed well deserved. - - “Sir Joshua Reynolds was, on very many accounts, one of the - most memorable men of his time. He was the first Englishman - who added the praise of the elegant arts to the other glories - of his country. In taste, in grace, in facility, in happy - invention, and in the richness and harmony of colouring, he was - equal to the great masters of the renowned ages. In portrait he - was beyond them; for he communicated to that description of the - art, in which English artists are the most engaged, a variety, - a fancy, and a dignity derived from the higher branches, which - even those who professed them in a superior manner did not - always preserve, when they delineated individual nature. His - portraits remind the spectator of the invention of history and - the amenity of landscape. In painting portraits, he appeared - not to be raised upon that platform, but to descend to it from - a higher sphere. His paintings illustrate his lessons; and his - lessons seem to be derived from his paintings. He possessed the - theory as perfectly as the practice of his art. To be such a - painter, he was a profound and penetrating philosopher. - - “In full happiness of foreign and domestic fame, admired by - the expert in art, and by the learned in science, courted by - the great, caressed by sovereign powers, and celebrated by - distinguished poets, his native humility, modesty, and candour - never forsook him, even on surprise or provocation, nor was the - least degree of arrogance or assumption visible to the most - scrutinising eye, in any part of his conduct or discourse. - - “His talents of every kind, powerful from nature, and not - meanly cultivated by letters--his social virtues in all the - relations and in all the habitudes of life--rendered him the - centre of a very great and unparalleled variety of agreeable - societies, which will be dissipated by his death. He had too - much merit not to excite some jealousy, too much innocence to - provoke any enmity. The loss of no man of his time can be felt - with more sincere, general, and unmixed sorrow. ‘Hail! and - farewell!’” - -The following letter was addressed to me by my worthy friend Colonel -Phillips:[255]-- - - “DEAR SIR,--If it was not for having you older than your - friends would wish you, I should be glad you had been of the - party, where I heard an argument between Dr. Johnson and Sir - Joshua Reynolds, on the wonderful power of the human eye. Dr. - Johnson made a quotation which I do not remember. ‘Sir,’ said - Sir Joshua, in reply, ‘that divine effect is produced by the - parts appertaining to the eye, and not from its globe, as is - generally supposed; the skull must be justly proportioned.’ - - “_Mrs. Cholmondeley._[256]--‘My dear Sir Joshua, was there - nothing in the magic of Garrick’s eye? its comicality. The Duke - of Richmond, the Duke of Dorset, and young Sheridan[257] have - superb eyes; but I don’t know what effect they would have on - the stage.’ - - “_Sir Joshua._--‘Little or none, Madam; the great beauty - of the Duke of Richmond’s eye proceeded from its fine and - uncommon colour, dark blue, which would be totally lost on the - stage, the light being constantly either too high or too low. - Garrick’s eye, unaccompanied by the action of his mouth, would - not fascinate. When you are near a person, a pretty woman for - instance, and have a good light, the contraction and expansion - of the pupilla, which bids defiance to our art, is delightful; - it is more perceptible in fine grey and light blue eyes, than - in any other colour. We, however, cannot deny the majestic look - of the Belvedere Apollo, though unassisted by iris, pupil, - eye-lashes, or colour.’ - - “_Dr. Johnson._--‘Sir, a tiger’s eye, and, I am told, a - snake’s, will intimidate birds, so that they will drop from - trees for its prey, without using their wings.’ - - “After Dr. Johnson had quaffed about twenty-four cups of tea, - he gave a blow of considerable length from his mouth, drew his - breath, and said, ‘Sir, I believe you are right, it is but - rational to suppose so: I wish that rogue Burke was here.’ - - “I am sorry, my dear Sir, that my memory is not better, so as - to give you verbatim what passed. I feel like a person giving - evidence in a court, trammelled by the apprehension of saying - too much, or, as a late friend of mine said, ‘remembering a - great many circumstances that never happened;’ and I only write - this to show my readiness to comply with any request you could - possibly make of your obliged friend, - - “M. PHILLIPS.” - - “If you ask how it comes, the faithful Bossy was not present; - Bossy was not always producible after dinner.” - -[Illustration: RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN - -“Tell Lady Besborough that my eyes will look up to the coffin-lid as -brightly as ever.”] - -“_Wednesday, 27th March._ - -ROYAL BUN HOUSE, CHELSEA, - -GOOD FRIDAY. - -_No Cross Buns._ - -“Mrs. Hand respectfully informs her friends, and the public, that in -consequence of the great concourse of people which assembled before her -house at a very early hour, on the morning of Good Friday; by which her -neighbours (with whom she has always lived in friendship and repute) have -been much alarmed and annoyed; it having also been intimated, that to -encourage or countenance a tumultuous assembly at this particular period, -might be attended with consequences more serious than have hitherto been -apprehended; desirous, therefore, of testifying her regard and obedience -to those laws by which she is happily protected, she is determined, -though much to her loss, not to sell _Cross Buns_ on that day, to any -person whatever;--but Chelsea Buns as usual. - -“Mrs. Hand would be wanting in gratitude to a generous public, who, for -more than fifty years past, have so warmly patronised and encouraged -her shop, to omit so favourable an opportunity of offering her sincere -acknowledgments for their kind favours; at the same time, to assure them -she will, to the utmost of her power, endeavour to merit a continuance of -them.”[258] - - -1794. - -The origin of wooden tessellated floors having been a subject of -much inquiry among many of my friends, I here insert a copy of an -advertisement introduced in a catalogue of books, published 1676, under -the licence of Roger L’Estrange.[259] - -“There is now in the press, and almost finished, that excellent piece -of architecture,[260] written by Andrea Palladio, translated out of -Italian, with an Appendix, touching Doors and Windows, by Pierre le Muet, -Architect to the French King: translated out of French, by G. R.; also -Rules and Demonstrations, with several designs for the framing any manner -of Roofs, either above pitch, or under pitch, whether square or bevel; -never published before; with designs of Floors of Variety of small pieces -of Wood, lately made in the Palace of the Queen-Mother, at Somerset -House--a curiosity never practised in England. - -“The third Edition, corrected and enlarged, with the new model of the -Cathedral of St. Paul’s as it is now building.” - -The floors of the oldest parts of the British Museum,[261] retained -specimens of this tessellated work, until they were removed on the -construction of the new building. - - -1795. - -Having often heard my father expatiate upon the extraordinary talents -of Keyse,[262] the proprietor of Bermondsey Spa, as a painter, I went -one July evening to Hungerford, and engaged “Copper Holmes”[263] to -scull me to “Pepper Alley Stairs”; from thence I proceeded to the -gardens. This I was the more anxious to accomplish, as that once famed -place of recreation was most rapidly on the decline. I entered under a -semicircular awning next to the proprietor’s house, which I well remember -was a large wooden-fronted building, consisting of long square divisions, -in imitation of scantlings of stone. My surprise was great, for no one -appeared, but three idle waiters, and they were clumped for the want of -a call. The space before the orchestra, which was about a quarter the -size of that of Vauxhall, was in the centre, totally destitute of trees, -the few that these gardens could then boast of being those planted close -to the fronts of the surrounding boxes of accommodation, as a screen to -prevent the public from overlooking the gardens. - -My attention was attracted by a board with a ruffled hand, within a -sky-blue painted sleeve, pointing to the staircase which led “To the -Gallery of Paintings.” In this room I at first considered myself as the -only spectator; and as the evening sun shone brilliantly, the refraction -of the lights gave me a splendid and uninterrupted view of the numerous -pictures with which it was closely hung, each of which had just claims -to my attention, as I found myself frequently walking backwards to enjoy -their deceptive effects. When I had gone round the gallery, which by -the bye was oblong, and in size similar to that of the Academician, J. -M. W. Turner, in Queen Anne Street, I voluntarily recommenced my view, -but, in stepping back to study the picture of the Green-stall, “I ask -your pardon,” said I, for I had trodden upon some one’s toes; “Sir, it -is granted,” replied a little thick-set man, with a round face, arch -look, closely curled wig, surmounted by a small three-cornered hat, -put very knowingly on one side, not unlike Hogarth’s head in his print -of the Gates of Calais. “You are an artist, I presume; I noticed you -from the end of the gallery when you first stepped back to look at my -best picture. I painted all the objects in this room from nature and -still life.” “Your Greengrocer’s Shop,” said I, “is inimitable; the -drops of water on that Savoy appear as if they had just fallen from the -element. Van Huysum could not have pencilled them with greater delicacy.” -“What do you think,” said he, “of my Butcher’s Shop?” “Your pluck is -bleeding fresh, and your sweetbread is in a clean plate.” “How do you -like my bull’s eye?” “Why it would be a most excellent one for Adams or -Dollond[264] to lecture upon. Your knuckle of veal is the finest I ever -saw.” “It’s young meat,” replied he; “any one who is a judge of meat can -tell that from the blueness of its bone.” “What a beautiful white you -have used on the fat of that South Down leg! or is it Bagshot?”[265] - -“Yes,” said he, “my solitary visitor, it is Bagshot; and as for my white, -that is the best Nottingham, which you or any artist can procure at Stone -and Puncheon’s, in Bishopsgate Street Within. Sir Joshua Reynolds,” -continued Mr. Keyse, “paid me two visits. On the second, he asked me -what white I had used; and when I told him, he observed, ‘It is very -extraordinary, Sir, how it keeps so bright; I use the same.’ ‘Not at all, -Sir,’ I rejoined: ‘the doors of this gallery are open day and night; and -the admission of fresh air, together with the great expansion of light -from the sashes above, will never suffer the white to turn yellow. Have -you not observed, Sir Joshua, how white the posts and rails on the public -roads are, though they have not been repainted for years?--that arises -from constant air and bleaching.’ - -[Illustration: J. M. W. TURNER, R.A. - -FROM A WATER-COLOUR SKETCH BY J. T. SMITH] - -“Come,” said Mr. Keyse, putting his hand upon my shoulder, “the bell -rings, not for prayers, nor for dinner, but for the song.” As soon as -we had reached the orchestra, the singer curtsied to us, for we were -the only persons in the gardens. “This is sad work,” said he, “but the -woman must sing according to our contract.” I recollect that the singer -was handsome, most dashingly dressed, immensely plumed, and villainously -rouged; she smiled as she sang, but it was not the bewitching smile of -Mrs. Wrighten,[266] then applauded by thousands at Vauxhall Gardens. -As soon as the Spa lady had ended her song, Keyse, after joining me -in applause, apologised for doing so, by observing that, as he never -suffered his servants to applaud, and as the people in the road (whose -ears were close to the cracks in the paling to hear the song), would make -a bad report if they had not heard more than the clapping of one pair of -hands, he had in this instance expressed his reluctant feelings. - -As the lady retired from the front of the orchestra, she, to keep herself -in practice, curtsied to me with as much respect as she would had Colonel -Topham been the patron of a gala night.[267] “This is too bad,” again -observed Keyse; “and I am sure you cannot expect fireworks!” However, -he politely asked me to partake of a bottle of Lisbon, which upon my -refusing, he pressed me to accept of a catalogue of his pictures. - -Blewitt[268] (who at that time lived in Bermondsey Square), the scholar -of Jonathan Battishill,[269] was the composer for the Spa establishment. -The following verse is the first of his most admired composition,--“In -lonely cot by Humber’s side.” - -My old and worthy friend _Joseph_ Caulfield,[270] Blewitt’s favourite -pupil, of whom he learned thorough bass, related to me the following -anecdote of a musical composer, as told him by his master:--“When I -was going upstairs,” said Blewitt, “to the attics, where one of my -instructors lived (for I had many), I hesitated on the second-floor -landing-place, upon hearing my master and his wife at high words. ‘Get -you gone!’ said the lofty paper-ruffled composer, ‘retire to your -apartments!’ This command of her lord she did not immediately obey; -however, in a short time after, I heard the clattering of plates against -the wall, and upon entering the room, I discovered that the lady had -retired, but not before she had covered the whitewashed wall profusely -with the unbroiled sprats.” - -“I was at a musical party,” continued my friend Joseph, “at Lord -Sandwich’s,[271] in Hertford Street, Mayfair, when, among other -specimens of the best masters, I heard Battishill’s beautiful composition -of - - “Amidst the myrtles as I walk, - Love and myself thus entered talk, - ‘Tell me,’ said I, in deep distress, - ‘Where I may find my Shepherdess.’”[272] - -Upon expressing my pleasure at hearing the above performed in so superior -a style, his Lordship told me he had written a sequel, which he thus -repeated:-- - - “Love said to me, ‘Thou faithful swain, - Thy search in myrtle groves is vain; - Examine well thy noblest part, - Thou’lt find her seated in thy heart.’” - -It appears that in poetry, as well as in painting and prints, and also -in dwellings, decorations, and dress, there has ever been a fashion for -a time. Battishill was the composer of that justly celebrated glee, -commencing with “Underneath this _myrtle_ shade.” Myrtles, after having -had a great run, were succeeded by Cupid’s darts; and that little rogue -Love played _old gooseberry_ with the hearts of Chloes and Colins, Robins -and Robinets; then the ever-blooming lasses of Patterdale and Richmond -Hill attracted our giddy notice. These were succeeded by “Bacchus in -green ivy bound,” giving “Joy and pleasure all around.” After that, -moonlight meetings were preferred, and “Buy a broom, ladies,” was -continually dinning our ears “through and through.” - - -1796. - -In the summer of this year, the late John Wigston, Esq., then of -Millfield House, Edmonton, having repeatedly expressed a wish to see the -famous George Morland before he commenced a collection of his pictures, -I having been known to that child of nature in my boyish days, offered -to introduce them to each other.[273] Morland then resided in Charlotte -Street, Fitzroy Square, in the house formerly inhabited by Sir Thomas -Apreece. He received us in the drawing-room, which was filled with -easels, canvases, stretching-frames, gallipots of colour, and oil-stones; -a stool, chair, and a three-legged table were the only articles of -furniture of which this once splendid apartment could then boast. Mr. -Wigston, his generous-hearted visitor, immediately bespoke a picture, for -which he gave him a draft for forty pounds, that sum being exactly the -money he then wanted; but this gentleman had, like most of that artist’s -employers, to ply him close for his picture. - -[Illustration: GEORGE MORLAND - -“There! go back and tell the pawnbroker to advance me five guineas more -upon it.”] - -As Mrs. Wigston had a great desire to see Morland, he was invited to -take a day’s sport with the hounds, which the artist accepted, with a -full assurance of punctuality. However, as usual with that eccentric -man, he only arrived time enough for dinner, accompanied by eight of -those persons denominated _his friends_. Mrs. Wigston, an elegant and -most accomplished lady, was in consequence deprived of a sight of this -far-famed genius. I was deputed by my honoured friend Mr. Wigston to -take Mrs. Wigston’s abdicated chair, and carved for this pretty set, -consisting of persons unaccustomed to sit at such a table. Our worthy -host soon discovered their strong propensity for spirituous liquors, -three of them even during dinner, instead of taking wine, of which there -were many sorts on the table, calling for a glass of brandy. After -hearing several jokes and humorous songs from some of the party, George -Morland declared he must go, having an engagement with Mrs. Laye, and -other friends, at “Otter’s Pool.”[274] - -When Morland and his party entered the stable-yard, the following -altercation took place between Mr. Wigston and his groom. - -_Mr. Wigston._--“Bring out these gentlemen’s horses.” - -_Groom._--“Horses, horses! they’ll find ’um at the ‘Two Jolly Brewers.’ -Horses, indeed!” - -_Mr. Wigston._--“And why, Sir, were they sent there?” - -_Groom._--“Why, I would not suffer such cattle to come near your stud; -for I never saw such a set-out in my life!” - -The party accordingly betook themselves to the “Brewers”; but upon our -return to the honest though rough diamond of a groom, he observed that it -was past two o’clock, and that the dog ought to have been let loose two -hours ago! - - -1797. - -Although my mother continued till the time of her death in the habit -of the Society of Friends, and my father followed most of the popular -Methodists, I, from my earliest days of reflection, gave a preference -to the Established Church of England. Notwithstanding this, my -inquisitiveness now and then induced me to hear celebrated preachers of -every sect. I remember one Sunday morning in this year, after intending -to enter some church on my way to dine with my great-aunt on Camberwell -Green, my ears were most agreeably greeted with the swelling pipes of -the Surrey Chapel organ.[275] Why, thinks I to myself, should not I -hear Rowland Hill? Surely it must be now full twenty years since I saw -him in Moorfields, at my last visit to the Tabernacle. In I accordingly -went; and though a smile with me was always deemed highly indecorous -during divine worship, yet the truth must out; I could not help sometimes -laughing--as heartily, though not so loudly, I hope, as all of us when -led into the enjoyment of Momus’s strongest fits by the inimitable -Mathews. - -No sooner was the sermon over and the blessing bestowed, than Rowland -electrified his hearers by vociferating, “Door-keepers, shut the doors!” -Slam went one door; bounce went another; bang went a third; at last, -all being anxiously silent as the most importantly unexpected scenes of -Sir Walter Scott could make them, the pastor, with a slow and dulcet -emphasis, thus addressed his congregation:--“My dearly beloved, I speak -it to my shame, that this sermon was to have been a charity sermon, -and if you will only look down into the green pew at those--let me -see--three and three are six, and one makes seven, young men with red -morocco prayer-books in their hands, poor souls! they were backsliders, -for they went on the Serpentine River, and other far distant waters, -on a Sabbath; they were, however, as you see, all saved from a watery -grave. I need not tell ye that my exertions were to have been for the -benefit of that benevolent institution the Humane Society.--_What!_ I -see some of ye already up to be gone; fie! fie! fie!--never heed your -dinners; don’t be Calibans, nor mind your pockets. I know that some of -ye are now attending to the devil’s whispers. I say, listen to me! take -my advice, give shillings instead of sixpences; and those who intended -to give shillings, display half-crowns, in order not only to thwart the -foul fiend’s mischievousness, but to get your pastor out of this scrape; -and if you do, I trust Satan will never put his foot within this circle -again. Hark ye! I have hit upon it; ye shall leave us directly. The Bank -Directors, you must know, have called in the dollars; now, if any of you -happen to be encumbered with a stale dollar or two, jingle the Spanish in -our dishes; we’ll take them, they’ll pass current here. Stay, my friends, -a moment more. I am to dine with the Humane Society on Tuesday next, and -it would shock me beyond expression to see the strings of the Surrey -Chapel lay dangle down its sides like the tags upon Lady Huntingdon’s -servants’ shoulders. Now, mind what I say, upon this occasion I wish for -a bumper as strenuously as Master Hugh Peters did, when he recommended -his congregation in Broadway Chapel to take a second glass.” It is -recorded that when he found the sand of his hour-glass had descended, he -turned it, saying, “Come, I know you to be jolly dogs, we’ll take t’other -glass.”[276] I understand that Rowland Hill is not made up of veneer, but -of solid well-seasoned stuff, with a heart of oak, and ever willing to -exercise kindness to his fellow-creatures, upon the system of my friend -Charles Lamb.[277] - -[Illustration: ROWLAND HILL - -“His ideas come red hot from the heart.” - -_Sheridan_] - -In May this year I applied to my worthy friend, Mr. John Constable, now a -Royal Academician, for any particulars which he might be able to procure -respecting Gainsborough, he being also a Suffolk man; and I had the -pleasure of receiving the following letter:-- - - “EAST BERGHOLT, _7th May, 1797_. - - “_Dear Friend Smith_,--If you remember, in my last I promised - to write again soon, and tell you what I could about - Gainsborough. I hope you will not think me negligent when I - inform you that I have not been able to learn anything of - consequence respecting him: I can assure you it is not for the - want of asking that I have not been successful, for indeed I - have talked with those who knew him. I believe in Ipswich - they did not know his value till they lost him. He belonged to - something of a musical club in that town, and painted some of - their portraits in a picture of a choir; it is said to be very - curious. - - “I heard it was in Colchester; I shall endeavour to see it - before I come to town, which will be soon. He was generally - the butt of the company, and his wig was to them a fund of - amusement, as it was often snatched from his head and thrown - about the room, etc.; but enough of this. I shall now give you - a few lines verbatim, which my friend Dr. Hamilton, of Ipswich, - was so good as to send me; though it amounts to nothing, I am - obliged to him for taking the commission. - - “‘I have not been neglectful of the inquiries respecting - Gainsborough, but have learned nothing worth your notice. - There is no vale or grove distinguished by his name in this - neighbourhood. There is a place up the river-side where he - often sat to sketch, on account of the beauty of the landscape, - its extensiveness, and richness in variety, both in the fore - and back grounds. It comprehended Bramford and other distant - villages on one side; and on the other side of the river - extended towards Nacton, etc. Friston alehouse must have been - near, for it seems he has introduced the Boot signpost in many - of his best pictures. Smart and Frost[278] (two drawing-masters - in Ipswich) often go there now to take views; whether they be - inspired from pressing the same sod with any of this great - painter’s genius, you are a better judge than I am. Farewell.’ - - “This, my dear friend, is the little all I have yet gained, - but though I have been unsuccessful, it does not follow that I - should relinquish my inquiries. If you want to know the exact - time of his birth, I will take a ride over to Sudbury, and look - into the register.[279] There is an exceeding fine picture of - his painting at Mr. Kilderby’s, in Ipswich. - - “Since I last wrote to you I have made another attempt at - etching; have succeeded a little better, but yet fall very - short. I shall send you an impression soon. - - “I doubt there is nothing in my last parcel of cottages worth - your notice; am obliged to you for the little sketch after - Hobbima. I understand the present exhibition is a very good - one; I understand Sir G. Beaumont excels. My friend Gubbins - informs me that you have finished Lady Plomer’s Palace,[280] - and that you have made a sketch from the fire in the Minories; - surely it must have put our friend C----h to the rout.[281] - Thine sincerely, - - “JOHN CONSTABLE.” - -Mrs. Pope, the actress, died this year in Half Moon Street, Piccadilly, -and was buried in the cloisters of Westminster Abbey.[282] - -Being anxious to add something more to the memory of this amiable -character, I applied to her surviving husband; when that gentleman very -obligingly favoured me with the following copy of a record, which he made -soon after her death:-- - -“The best of women and the best of wives drew her last breath at -half-past two o’clock on Wednesday morning, the 15th of March, 1797. - -“Her illness lasted about seven weeks; her complaint palsy, beginning in -her head, and depriving her of the use of her left hand. Her death was an -awful lesson; her loss irreparable.”[283] - -In the room with the bow-window on the first-floor of the same house, Mr. -Pope[284] produced some excellent portraits in crayons, of persons of the -first fashion, many of them little inferior in every respect to those of -the celebrated Francis Cotes;[285] the inimitable whole-length portrait -of Grattan, of which there is an engraving, will be a lasting and mutual -record of the artist and patriot. The following letter, given to me by my -late worthy friend Dr. Mathew, was written by Mrs. Pope, to her friend -Mrs. Mathew, of Rathbone Place:-- - - “DUBLIN, _July 6th_. - - “I flatter myself that my ever loved and most highly esteemed - friends will be pleased to receive the assurance of my health, - and to know that I am in the possession of as much comfort as - _my_ mind is capable to receive out of England. Thank God, all - things as yet go on well, and the exertions of business do not - seem to do that injury to my health which I had great reason - to fear. We have acted six nights, _Jane Shore_ first, a _very - great_ house, _well received_, and Pope’s speech to _Gloster_ - twice repeated, which I think proves in a great degree the - loyalty of the people. - - “_Gloster’s_ speech, thus:-- - - “‘What if some patriot for the public good - Should vary from your scheme,--new mould the State? - - “‘_Hastings._--Curse on the innovating hand that ’tempts it! - Remember him, the villain, righteous Heaven, - In thy great day of vengeance: blast the traitor - And his pernicious counsels; who for wealth, - For power, the pride of greatness, or revenge, - Would plunge his native land in civil wars.’ - - “It is impossible to describe the effect this speech had on - the audience. I think you would have been gratified to have - heard it; it is the first time a speech in a tragedy was ever - repeated. Perhaps it proves the loyalty of this city. I hear - there are sad doings in the country parts of Ireland; I trust - we shall meet with nothing of it: we stay in Dublin all this - month, then go to Cork. Our second characters were _Mr._ and - _Mrs. Beverley_, highly esteemed and greatly spoken of; third, - _Belvidera_ and _Jaffier_--with good success. Their last new - play, _How to grow Rich_, twice; and yesterday _Elizabeth_ - and _Essex_, which, by the way, Pope acted well. Next week - _Columbus_. I count the nights, though now I trust I shall be - able to go through them all. So much for myself. - - “And now, my friends, let me beg that you will favour me with - a little account of yourselves. I ardently wish to hear that - you are all well and happy, in the full possession of that - _true felicity_, which your goodness of heart so justly merits. - God bless you both! Mr. Pope unites with me in respectful - remembrance to the Baron, and affectionate esteem to the whole - family, particularly in respect and affection to Mrs. and Miss - Mathew. Adieu: I don’t like to leave off, and yet I hardly - think you can read what I have already written. - - “Ever your most affectionate - - “E. POPE.” - - -1798. - -This year, in consequence of the death of Mr. Green,[286] who had been -drawing-master to Christ’s Hospital, I stood candidate for the situation; -and, though I was unsuccessful, my testimonials being so flattering, I -cannot withstand the temptation of printing them, whatever may be said by -my enemies, who may not be able to produce anything half so honourable. - - “May 10th, 1798. - - “We whose names are subscribed, having seen specimens of - drawings by John Thomas Smith, are of opinion that he is - qualified for the office of drawing-master in the school of - Christ’s Hospital. - - I not only think him qualified as an artist, but greatly to be - respected as a man. - - BENJAMIN WEST, PREST. R.A. - - Being not personally acquainted with Mr. J. T. Smith, I have - examined his performances, and I think him well qualified for - the above office. - - J. F. RIGAUD, R.A. - - I have known him from a child, and think him an honest man and - well _qualified_ for the office. - - JOSEPH NOLLEKENS, R.A. - - I have long been acquainted with Mr. J. T. Smith’s merits as a - good artist and a worthy man. - - JOHN FLAXMAN, Jun., - Sculptor, Associate R.A.; - R.A. of Florence and Carrara. - - We subscribe to the above opinion.-- - - W. BEECHEY, R.A. elect. - W. HAMILTON, R.A. - THOMAS STOTHARD, R.A. - JOHN RUSSELL, R.A. - J. BACON, R.A. - T. BANKS, R.A. - JAMES BARRY, R.A., - Professor of Painting. - JOHN OPIE, R.A. - R. COSWAY, R.A. - JAMES NORTHCOTE, R.A. - JOS. FARINGTON, R.A. - RICHARD WESTALL, R.A. - HENRY FUSELI, R.A. - H. COPLEY, R.A. - - I have long known Mr. Smith as an artist and respectable man, - and believe him to be perfectly capable of filling the office - he solicits with honour. - - P. REINAGLE, A. - - We subscribe to the above opinion. - - FRANCIS BARTOLOZZI, R.A. - RICHARD COLLINS. - CALEB WHITEFOORD. - - We have known Mr. Smith for upwards of fourteen years, and we - have found him an able drawing-master to our daughter, whose - drawings he has never touched upon; a practice too often - followed by drawing-masters in general: and we believe him to - be a truly valuable member of society, as a husband, father, - and good man. - - JAMES WINTER LAKE. - JESSY LAKE. - - We can never subscribe our names with greater satisfaction, - than in signifying the very high opinion we have of Mr. Smith, - both as to his talents and character. - - JAMES LAKE. - ATWILL LAKE. - - I fully subscribe to the above opinion, - - RICHARD WYATT, Milton Place. - - I believe Mr. Smith to be a very deserving man, and well - qualified for the situation he is ambitious of obtaining. - - JOHN CHARLES CROWLE. - - Thomas Allen has a great respect for Mr. Smith, both as a man - and an artist. - - JOSEPH WILLIAMSON, A.M., - Vicar of St. Dunstan in the West. - - I am personally acquainted with Mr. J. T. Smith, and esteem him - one of the best of men. - - JOHN BOYDELL, Alderman. - - I am happy to bear testimony to the character of Mr. Smith as a - man, and to find him so highly respected as an artist. - - T. THOMSON. - - I have long known Mr. Smith to be an ingenious artist, an able - instructor, and a benevolent and honest man. - - JOHN CRANCH. - - I have known Mr. Smith many years, and believe him very capable - of filling the office of drawing-master to Christ’s Hospital - with credit to himself and advantage to the charity. - - HENRY HOWARD. - - J. SWAINSON. - T. WHITTINGHAM. - J. NIXON, Basinghall Street. - HENRY SMITH, Drapers’ Hall. - ALEX. LEAN SMYTH, the Hudson’s Bay Company. - ARTHUR BALL, } - JOHN BROOME, } Hudson’s Bay House - GEORGE WHITEHEAD, Cateaton Street. - - Providence, which placed me next door to Mr. J. T. Smith for - several years, made me intimately acquainted with a faithful - husband, an affectionate father, and an honest man. - - CHARLES GOWER, M.D.” - -[Illustration: JAMES BARRY, R.A. - -“I reflect with horror upon such a fellow as I am, and with such a kind -of art, with house-rent to pay and employers to look for.”] - - -1799. - -On the 4th of August this year, died at his mansion in Rutland Square, -Dublin, the Right Hon. James, Earl of Charlemont,[287] who was born 18th -of August, 1728. This gentleman was truly a nobleman, for he was one of -the greatest patrons of the fine arts this country could boast of. He was -the great friend of Hogarth; bought many of his pictures, particularly -that most elegant performance so justly celebrated under the title of -“The Lady’s Last Stake,” so admirably engraven by Mr. Cheesman.[288] The -following is a copy of an original letter given to me by a late worthy -friend; it is addressed to the late Sir Lawrence Parsons, Bart.,[289] and -written by Lord Charlemont within eight months of his Lordship’s death. - - “DUBLIN, _12th Jan., 1799_. - - “MY DEAR SIR LAWRENCE,--As nothing has ever affected me - with more painful astonishment than the shameful apathy and - consequent silence of the country at the present desperate - crisis of our fate as a nation, so have I experienced few more - real pleasures than in having found, by the public papers, - that a meeting of your county, at least, has been called; a - pleasure which, though principally derived from my ardent - zeal for the public service, is still further increased by - my friendship for you, as I am too well acquainted with your - sentiments to doubt for a moment that such call has been in the - highest degree satisfactory and flattering to your feelings. - Neither can I entertain the slightest apprehension that the - result of any meeting of Irishmen will be other than the firm - and spirited condemnation of a measure, replete with every - disgrace and danger in their country. Never, indeed, were my - beloved countrymen so forcibly called upon as at the present - emergency, maturely to form their opinions and to speak aloud - the dictates of their hearts. Their ancestors call upon them - from their graves to preserve those national rights which they - have transmitted to them. Their children from their cradles, - with mute but prevailing eloquence, beseech them to protect - and to defend their birthrights; and, with a more awful voice, - their country calls upon them not by their silence to betray - her dearest interests, or by their supineness to leave _her_ - enslaved whom they found free! Thus invoked, is it possible - that Irishmen should remain silent? - - “But surely I need dwell no longer upon a subject with which - you are so much better acquainted; and, indeed, the state of - my health, and particularly of my eyes, is such as to render - it impossible for me to write more.--I must therefore, however - unwillingly, conclude by assuring you that I am, and ever - shall be, my dearest Parsons, your most faithful and truly - affectionate - - “CHARLEMONT.” - -In this year, James Barry, the painter of those mighty pictures on the -walls of the great room of the Society of Arts, received a severe blow -by having his name erased from those of the Royal Academicians by King -George III., who believed what had been represented respecting the -Professor’s conduct in the Royal Academy.[290] - - “BUCKINGHAM STREET, FITZROY SQUARE. - - “DEAR SIR,--Permit me to thank you for the satisfaction of - having seen that curious monument of English antiquity, St. - Stephen’s Chapel, Westminster, when the ancient architecture - and painting were discovered by the removal of the modern - wainscot, which formed the interior of the House of Commons. - - “Notwithstanding this branch of antiquity has never been - my particular pursuit, I am highly gratified to see such - materials in the general history of art rescued from oblivion - by publication, for which, Sir, we are indebted to your zeal - and industry, as some of the interesting pictures were effaced - soon after their discovery, by ignorant curiosity; in addition - to the careless and ruinous manner in which the discovery - itself was made, of which circumstances I complained to several - persons on the spot, particularly to the Rev. Mr. Brand,[291] - Secretary to the Antiquarian Society. - - “As the best testimony I can give to the fidelity and ability - of your publication, give me leave to subscribe my name for - a copy of the work, and to offer such assistance as I can - give, in general observations on the arts of design, when St. - Stephen’s Chapel was in its splendour. - - “I remain, dear Sir, with great regard, your much obliged - - “JOHN FLAXMAN.” - -The admission of one hundred additional members into the House of -Commons, arising from the union with Ireland, obliged Mr. Wyatt to cut -away the side-walls of the room internally, in order to make recesses for -two extra benches.[292] - -[Illustration: THE OLD HOUSE OF COMMONS] - - -1801. - -In the autumn of this year I passed a most agreeable day with the Hon. -Hussey Delaval,[293] at his house near Parliament Stairs.[294] This -learned and communicative gentleman, among whose works that on Colours is -generally considered the most interesting, was as friendly to me, as the -jealousy of that well-known odd compound of nature, my antagonist, John -Carter,[295] who was of our party, would allow; for with that artist’s -opinions as to Gothic architecture, Mr. Delaval so entirely coincided, -that he employed him to provide the ornamental decorations of his house, -which were mostly in putty mixed with sand, and in some instances -cast from the decorations of several Gothic structures, particularly -Westminster Abbey. This house was originally fire-proof, the floors being -of stone or composition, and the window-sashes of cast iron, but since -the death of Mr. Delaval, wood has been substituted for the sashes and -other parts. - -The apartments are ten in number, besides small offices. The lower rooms -consist of two halls: in the north wall of the first are three pretty -Gothic recesses for seats, for servants or persons in waiting; the second -hall is filled with Gothic figures placed upon brackets under canopies. -The chimney-piece and other parts of the dining-parlour looking over the -Thames, are decorated in a similar manner; the kitchen is on the same -floor towards the north. The staircase leading to the first-floor is a -truly tasteful little specimen, not equalled by anything at Strawberry -Hill, which, by reason of Mr. Bentley’s[296] fancy mouldings interfering -so often with parts which are really chaste, must be considered a -_mule_ building. The drawing-room and library also look over the water. -On the same floor are two bed-chambers towards the west; above which -are two attics, with a door opening upon the embattled leads over the -drawing-room. Upon these leads we took our wine--attended by female -servants only, as Mr. Delaval never would allow a man-servant to enter -the house, but with messages--and here enjoyed the glowing, Cuyp-like -effect of the sun upon west-country barges laden either with blocks of -stone or fresh-cut timber, objects ever picturesque on the water. Mr. -Delaval was so pleased with this scenery, and the pencil of my friend G. -Arnald, Associate of the Royal Academy, that he bespoke two pictures of -him, Views up and down the River, the figures in which, by the order of -Mr. Delaval, were painted by his friend G. F. Joseph, A.R.A. They were -exhibited at Somerset House.[297] - - -1802. - -How often do we find peculiar attachments and propensities in the minds -of persons of reported good understanding. Within my time, many men have -indulged most ridiculously in their eccentricities. I have known one who -had made a pretty large fortune in business, get up at four o’clock in -the morning and walk the streets to pick up horseshoes which had been -slipped in the course of the night, with no other motive than to see how -many he could accumulate in a year. I also remember a rich soap-boiler -who never missed an opportunity of pocketing nails, pieces of iron hoops, -and bits of leather, in his daily walks; and these he would spread upon a -large walnut-tree three-flapped dining-table, with a similar view to that -of the above-mentioned gentleman. This wealthy citizen would often put on -a red woollen cap, in shape like those worn by slaughter-house men, and -a waggoner’s frock, in order to stoke his own furnace; after which, he -would dress, get into his coach, and, attended by tall servants in bright -blue liveries, drive to his villa, where his hungry friends were waiting -his arrival. - -The allusion to these peculiarities, which certainly are harmless, will -serve by way of prelude to a more extraordinary one. The late Duke of -Roxburgh,[298] whose wonderful library will ever be spoken of with the -highest delight by bibliomaniacs, had an attachment to the portraits -of malefactors as closely as Rowland Hill to his petted toad. I made -many drawings of such characters for his Grace during their trials or -confinement; that which I made this year, was of Governor Wall, whose -trial produced much discussion.[299] Having been deprived of admission -at the Old Bailey on the day of his trial, I went to the Duke, and he -immediately wrote to a nobleman high in power, for an order to admit me -to see the unfortunate criminal in the condemned cell, which application -was firmly, and, in my humble opinion, very properly, refused. I walked -home, where I found Isaac Solomon waiting to show me some of his improved -black-lead pencils. Isaac, upon hearing me relate to my family the -disappointment I had experienced, assured me that he could procure me -a sight of the Governor, if I would only accompany him in the evening -to Hatton Garden, and smoke a pipe with Dr. Forde, the Ordinary of -Newgate,[300] with whom he said he was particularly intimate. Away we -trudged; and, upon entering the club-room of a public-house, we found the -said Doctor most pompously seated in a superb masonic chair, under a -stately crimson canopy placed between the windows. The room was clouded -with smoke, whiffed to the ceiling, which gave me a better idea of what I -had heard of the Black Hole of Calcutta than any place I had seen. There -were present at least a hundred associates of every denomination; of -this number, my Jew, being a favoured man, was admitted to a whispering -audience with the Doctor, which soon produced my introduction to him. - -“Man’s life is all a mist, and in the dark our fortunes meet us.” -Standing beneath a masonic lustre, the Doctor immediately recognised me -as a friend of John Ireland, but more particularly of his older crony, -Atkinson Bush; he requested me to take a pipe, to me a most detestable -preliminary. He then whispered, “Meet me at the felon’s door at the break -of day.” There I punctually applied, but, notwithstanding the order of -the Doctor, I found it absolutely necessary, to protect myself from an -increasing mob, to show the turnkey half-a-crown, who soon closed his -hand and let me in. I was then introduced to a most diabolical-looking -little wretch, denominated “the Yeoman of the Halter,” Jack Ketch’s head -man. The Doctor soon arrived in his canonicals, and with his head as -stiffly erect as a sheriff’s coachman when he is going to Court, with an -enormous nosegay under his chin, gravely uttered, “Come this way, Mr. -Smith.” - -As we crossed the Press-yard a cock crew; and the solitary clanking of -a restless chain was dreadfully horrible. The prisoners had not risen. -Upon our entering a stone-cold room, a most sickly stench of green twigs, -with which an old round-shouldered, goggle-eyed man was endeavouring to -kindle a fire, annoyed me almost as much as the canaster fumigation of -the Doctor’s Hatton Garden friends. - -[Illustration: NEWGATE CHAPEL ON THE EVE OF SEVERAL EXECUTIONS] - -The prisoner entered. He was death’s counterfeit, tall, shrivelled, and -pale; and his soul shot so piercingly through the port-holes of his head -that the first glance of him nearly petrified me. I said in my heart, -putting my pencil in my pocket, God forbid that I should disturb thy last -moments! His hands were clasped, and he was truly penitent. After the -Yeoman had requested him to stand up, “he pinioned him,” as the Newgate -phrase is, and tied the cord with so little feeling, that the Governor, -who had not given the wretch the accustomed fee, observed, “You have -tied me very tight;” upon which Dr. Forde ordered him to slacken the -cord, which he did, but not without muttering. “Thank you, Sir,” said the -Governor to the Doctor, “it is of little moment.” He then observed to the -attendant, who had brought in an immense iron shovelful of coals to throw -on the fire, “Ay, in one hour that will be a blazing fire;” then, turning -to the Doctor, questioned him: “Do tell me, Sir: I am informed I shall -go down with great force; is it so?” After the construction and action -of the machine had been explained, the Doctor questioned the Governor as -to what kind of men he had at Goree. “Sir,” he answered, “they sent me -the very riffraff.” The poor soul then joined the Doctor in prayer; and -never did I witness more contrition at any condemned sermon than he then -evinced. - -The sheriff arrived, attended by his officers, to receive the prisoner -from the keeper. A new hat was then partly flattened on his head; for, -owing to its being too small in the crown, it stood many inches too high -behind. As we were crossing the Press-yard, the dreadful execrations -of some of the felons so shook his frame, that he observed, “the clock -had struck;” and, quickening his pace, he soon arrived at the room -where the sheriff was to give a receipt for his body, according to the -usual custom. Owing, however, to some informality in the wording of -this receipt, he was not brought out so soon as the multitude expected; -and it was this delay which occasioned a partial exultation from those -who betted as to a reprieve, and not from any pleasure in seeing him -executed. For the honour of England, I may say we are not so revengeful -as some of our Continental neighbours have been; as Mrs. Cosway[301] -assured me that she was in the room with David, then esteemed the first -painter in Paris, at the time that he and Robespierre were in power; and -that when the Reporter, from the guillotine, came in to announce eighty -as the number of persons executed that morning, David, in the greatest -possible rage, exclaimed, “No more!” - -[Illustration: DR. ARNE - -HE COMPOSED “RULE BRITANNIA”] - -After the execution, as soon as I was permitted to leave the prison, I -found the Yeoman selling the rope with which the malefactor had been -suspended, at a shilling an inch; and no sooner had I entered Newgate -Street, than a lath of a fellow, past threescore years and ten, who had -just arrived from the purlieus of Black Boy Alley,[302] woe-begone as -_Romeo’s_ apothecary, exclaimed,--“Here’s the identical rope at sixpence -an inch.” A group of tatterdemalions soon collected round him, most -vehemently expressing their eagerness to possess bits of the cord. It -was pretty obvious, however, that the real business of this agent was -to induce the Epping butter-men to squeeze in with their canvas bags, -which contained their morning receipts in Newgate market.[303] A little -further on, at the north-east corner of Warwick Lane, stood “Rosy Emma,” -exuberant in talk, and hissing-hot from Pie Corner,[304] where she had -taken her morning dose of gin and bitters; and as she had not waited to -make her toilet, was consequently a lump of heat. - - “Now, my readers, I have been told, - Love wounds by heat, and Death by cold; - Of size she would a barrow fill, - But more inclining to sit still.” - -Possibly she might have been a descendant of Orator Henley, and I make -no doubt at one time passionately admired by her Henry. I can safely -declare, however, that her cheeks were purple, her nose of poppy-red or -cochineal. - - “The lady was pretty well in case, - But then she’d humour in her face; - Her skin was so bepimpled o’er, - There was not room for any more.” - -Her eyes reminded me of Sheridan’s remark on those of Dr. Arne, “Like -two oysters on an oval plate of stewed beet-root.”[305] I regretted -most exceedingly, while she was cutting her rope and twisting her -mouth, that most of her once-famed ivories had absconded; but it gave me -inexpressible delight to see that her lips were not at all chapped. If -Emma’s lips had been ever so deeply cracked, she could not have benefited -by my friend “Social Day” Coxe’s[306] Conservatoria, as it was not then -sold. - -Emma in her tender blossom, I understand, assisted her mother in selling -rice-milk and furmety to the early frequenters of Honey Lane market; and -in the days of her full bloom, new-milk whey in White Conduit Fields, -and at the Elephant and Castle. She must have been, as to her outward -charms, during her highest flattery, little inferior to the beautiful -Emma Lyon;[307] but in her last stage, perhaps not altogether unlike -the heroine so voluptuously portrayed by my late highly talented -friend, the Rev. George Huddesford, in his poem entitled “The Barber’s -Nuptials.”[308] Rosy Emma, for so she was still called, was the reputed -spouse of the Yeoman of the Halter, and the cord she was selling as the -identical noose was for her own benefit. This was, according to the -delightful writer, Charles Lamb, - - “For honest ends, a most dishonest seeming.”[309] - -[Illustration: LADY HAMILTON AS A BACCHANTE - - “Romney! expert infallibly to trace … - The mind’s impression too on every face.” - - _Cowper_] - -Now, as fame and beauty ever carry influence, Emma’s sale was rapid; -had she been as lamentable as a Lincolnshire goose after plucking-time, -“Misery’s Darling,” or like Alecto when at the entrance of Pandemonium, -she would have had a sorry sale.[310] This money-trapping trick, steady -John, the waiter at the Chapter Coffee-house, assured me was invariably -put in practice whenever superior persons or notorious culprits had been -executed. Then to breakfast, but with little or no appetite; however, -after selecting one of Isaac Solomon’s H.B.’s, I made a whole-length -portrait of the late Governor by recollection, which Dr. Buchan, the -flying physician of the “Chapter”[311] frequenters, and several of the -Pater-Noster vendors of his _Domestic Medicine_, considered a likeness; -at all events, it was admitted into the portfolio of the Duke, with the -following acknowledgment written on the back: “Drawn by memory.” - - -1803. - -About this time, in order to see human nature off her guard, I agreed -with a good-tempered friend of mine, one of Richard Wilson’s scholars, to -perambulate Bartholomew Fair, which we did in the evening, after taking -pretty good care to leave our watches at home. Our first visit was to a -show of wild beasts, where, upon paying an additional penny, we saw the -menagerie-feeder place his head within a lion’s mouth. - -Our attention was then arrested by an immense baboon, called _General -Jacko_, who was distributing his signatures as fast as he could dip his -pen in the ink, to those who enabled him to fill his enormous craw with -plums, raisins, and figs. The next object which attracted our notice was -a magnificent man, standing, as we were told, six feet six inches and a -half, independent of the heels of his shoes. The gorgeous splendour of -his Oriental dress was rendered more conspicuous by an immense plume of -white feathers, which were like the noddings of an undertaker’s horse, -increased in their wavy and graceful motion by the movements of the -wearer’s head. - -As this extraordinary man was to perform some wonderful feats of -strength, we joined the motley throng of spectators at the charge of -“only threepence each,” that being vociferated by Flockton’s[312] -successor as the price of the evening admittance. - -After he had gone through his various exhibitions of holding great -weights at arm’s-length, etc., the all-bespangled master of the show -stepped forward, and stated to the audience that if any four or five -of the present company would give, by way of encouraging the “Young -Hercules,” _alias_ the “Patagonian Samson,” sixpence apiece, he would -carry them all together round the booth, in the form of a pyramid. - -With this proposition my companion and myself closed; and after two -other persons had advanced, the fine fellow threw off his velvet cap -surmounted by its princely crest, stripped himself of his other gewgaws, -and walked most majestically, in a flesh-coloured elastic dress, to the -centre of the amphitheatre, when four chairs were placed round him, by -which my friend and I ascended, and, after throwing our legs across his -lusty shoulders, were further requested to embrace each other, which we -no sooner did, cheek-by-jowl, than a tall skeleton of a man, instead -of standing upon a small wooden ledge fastened to Samson’s girdle, in -an instant leaped on his back, with the agility of a boy who pitches -himself upon a post too high to clear, and threw a leg over each of -our shoulders; as for the other chap (for we could only muster four), -the Patagonian took him up in his arms. Then, after _Mr. Merryman_ had -removed the chairs, as he had not his full complement, Samson performed -his task with an ease of step most stately, without either the beat of a -drum, or the waving of a flag. - -I have often thought that if George Cruikshank, or my older friend -Rowlandson, had been present at this scene of a pyramid burlesqued, their -playful pencils would have been in running motion, and I should have been -considerably out-distanced had I then offered the following additional -description of our clustered appearance. Picture to yourself, reader, -two cheesemonger, ruddy-looking men, like my friend and myself, as the -sidesmen of Hercules, and the tall, vegetable-eating scarecrow kind of -fellow, who made but one leap to grasp us like the bird-killing spider, -and then our fourth loving associate, the heavy dumpling in front, whose -chaps, I will answer for it, relished many an inch thick steak from the -once far-famed Honey Lane market,[313] all supported with the greatest -ease by this envied and caressed _Pride_ of the _Fair_, to whose powers -the frequenters of Sadler’s Wells also bore many a testimony. - -In the year 1804, Antonio Benedictus Van Assen engraved a whole-length -portrait of this Patagonian Samson, at the foot of which his name was -thus announced, “_Giovanni Baptista Belzoni_.” This animated production -was executed at the expense of the friendly Mr. James Parry, the justly -celebrated gem and seal engraver, of Wells Street, Oxford Street. - -[Illustration: GIOVANNI BAPTISTA BELZONI - -“Belzoni _is_ a grand traveller, and his English is very prettily broken.” - -_Lord Byron_] - -After the close of Bartholomew Fair, this Patagonian was seen at that -of Edmonton, exhibiting in a field behind the Bell Inn, immortalised by -Cowper in his “Johnny Gilpin;” and I have been assured that, so late as -1810, at Edinburgh, he was, during his exhibition in Valentine and Orson, -soundly hissed for not handling his friend the bear, at the time of her -death, in an affectionate manner. Several years rolled on, and he was -nearly forgotten in England, until the year 1820, and then many people -recognised in the Egyptian traveller Belzoni the person who had figured -away at fairs, as I have stated. The following anecdotes, in private -circulation, of this extraordinary man may not be considered wholly -uninteresting. - -He was a native of Padua, and educated in order to become a profound -monk; but, during the frenzy of war, being noticed by the French army, in -consequence of his commanding figure, to be admirably well calculated for -a fugleman, prudently avoided seizure for so deadly a service, by getting -together what few things time would permit him, and so left Rome. I -should have stated to the reader that, upon his arrival in London in the -year 1803, he walked into Smithfield during Bartholomew Fair time, where -he was seen by the master of a show, who, it is said, thus questioned his -_Merry Andrew_:--“Do you see that tall-looking fellow in the midst of -the crowd? he is looking about him over the heads of the people as if he -walked upon stilts; go and see if he’s worth our money, and ask him if -he wants a job.” Away scrambled Mr. _Merryman_ down the monkey’s post, -and, “as quick as lightning,” conducted the stranger to his master, who, -being satisfied of his personal attractions, immediately engaged, plumed, -painted, and put him up. - -The reader will readily conceive that a man like Belzoni, seriously -educated for the duties of the Church, and accustomed to associate -with people of good manners, could with no little reluctance endure -the vulgar society his pecuniary circumstances alone compelled him to -associate with. However, after the expiration of nine years, in the -course of which time he had married and saved money, he and his wife -were enabled to visit Portugal, Spain, and Malta, from which place they -embarked for Egypt. Fortunately for Belzoni, the wife he had chosen -more than equally shared his numerous dangers, by spiritedly joining -in all his enterprises, which some of my readers will recollect are -most delightfully described by herself in what she styles “A Trifling -Account,” printed at the end of her husband’s _Travels in Egypt, Nubia_, -etc.[314] - -As most of my readers have perused this work, I shall only state that, -shortly after the arrival of Belzoni and his wife in England, my friend -Dr. Richardson,[315] the traveller, who had been kind to them in every -possible way when in Egypt, introduced me to them when they lodged in -Downing Street, Westminster. Here I not only had great pleasure in seeing -my steady supporter again, but enjoyed most pleasantly the conversation -I had with his enterprising partner, whose sensible and intrepid cast of -features well accorded with her artless, unsophisticated, and interesting -“Trifling Account,” to which I have alluded. - -In 1784, when Sir Ashton Lever petitioned the House of Commons for a -lottery for his museum, Mr. Thomas Waring made the following declaration -before the Committee to whom the petition was referred:--“That he had -been manager of Sir Ashton’s collection ever since it had been brought to -London in the year 1775; that it had occupied twelve years in forming; -and that there were upwards of twenty-six thousand articles. That the -money received for admission amounted, from February 1775 to February -1784, to about £13,000, out of which £660 had been paid for house-rent -and taxes.” Sir Ashton Lever proposed that his whole museum should -go together, and that there should be 40,000 tickets at one guinea -each.[316] - -[Illustration: BARTHOLOMEW FAIR] - -Few people would believe that so lately as this year, the Duke of Dorset, -Lord Winchilsea, Lord Talbot, Colonel Tarleton, Mr. Howe, Mr. Damer, Hon. -Mr. Lennox, and the Rev. Mr. Williams played at cricket in an open field -near White Conduit House.[317] Who could have conjectured that Du Val’s -Lane, branching from Holloway, within memory so notoriously infested with -highwaymen that few people would venture to peep into it even in mid-day, -should, in 1831, be lighted with gas?[318] - -In 1784, Nathaniel Hillier’s[319] collection of prints was sold by -Christie: they were well selected as to impression, but much deteriorated -in value by Mr. Hillier’s attachment to strong coffee, with which he had -stained them. It has been acknowledged by one of the family that, what -with the expense of staining, mounting, and ruling, his collection only -brought them one-fifth of the cost of the prints in the first instance. - -Dr. Samuel Johnson also died this year [1784]; during the time the -surgeon was engaged in opening his body, Sir John Hawkins, Knight, was in -the adjoining room seeing to the weighing of the Doctor’s tea-pot, in the -presence of a silversmith, whom Sir John, as an executor, had called upon -to purchase it.[320] - - -1805. - - “Mr. Townley presents his compliments to Mr. West, and requests - that, when he sees Mr. Lock[321] at his house, he will be so - good as to deliver to him the packet sent herewith, containing - two prints from Homer’s head,--Mr. T. not knowing where Mr. - Lock lives in town. The drawing representing the ‘Triumphs - of Bacchus’ by Rubens,[322] in the eighth night’s sale at - Greenwood’s, differing much from the bas-relief in the Borghese - Villa, from which Caracci is supposed to have composed his - picture of that subject in the Farnese Gallery,[323] Mr. T. has - no intention to bid for it. - - “PARK ST., WESTMINSTER, _21st Feb. 1787_.” - - * * * * * - - “MY DEAR SIR,--I return you many thanks for your kind - information respecting the sale of the marbles at the late Lord - Mendip’s house at Twickenham.[324] Had I been there and in - spirits, the fine Oriental alabaster vase would not have been - sold so cheap, and would probably have come to Park Street. - I should also have probably purchased the medallion of an - elderly man over a chimney-piece. I shall be glad to find out - who bought it, and at what price. I should also have liked the - ancient fountain. Pray, what was it sold for, and who bought it? - - “I mean to take a farewell look at the _robaccia_ at Wilton, to - verify my former notes on that collection. - - “I flatter myself that many bad symptoms of my long disorder - begin to abate, though it still, I feel, has strong hold upon - me. I shall remain here about a fortnight longer, then return - to Park Street. - - “If you will give me the pleasure of a line from you, you may - direct to me, No. 36, Milsom Street, Bath. I am, sir, ever most - faithfully yours, etc. - - “C. TOWNLEY. - - “BATH, 36, MILSOM STREET, _11th June 1802_.” - - -1806. - -In the month of June this year, the late Atkinson Bush,[325] then of -Great Ormond Street, brought to my house Mr. Parton, vestry-clerk of -St. Giles’s-in-the-Fields, with a view to obtain such particulars of -that parish as I was acquainted with, he being then busily engaged in -collecting materials for its history. In the course of conversation, I -was astonished to find that it was his intention to have a plan of the -parish engraved for his work, purporting to have been taken between the -years twelve and thirteen hundred, a period more than two centuries -and a half earlier than Aggas’s plan of London, and from which I could -not help observing that in my opinion he had most glaringly borrowed. -When he assured me he had not, my request was then to know his authority -for producing such a plan, but for that question he was not provided -with an answer, nor did he appear to be willing to be probed by further -interrogatories. To my great astonishment, when Mr. Parton’s book made -its appearance, I not only found this plan professing to be between the -years twelve and thirteen hundred so minutely made out, with every man’s -possession in the parish most distinctly attributed, but every plot of -garden so neatly delineated, with the greatest variety of parterres, -walks with cut borders, as if the gardener of William III. or Queen Anne -had then been living. As Mr. Parton omitted to give any authority for the -introduction of so wonderfully early a piece of ichnography, I applied -to several leading men in the parish of St. Giles, but could gain no -intelligence whatever respecting it: so much for this plan of St. Giles’s -parish, as produced by Mr. Parton.[326] - -[Illustration: “The Townley Marbles.”] - - -1807. - -On the 7th of November of this year, aged 65, died at Rome the celebrated -Angelica Kauffmann, who was appointed a member of the Royal Academy by -King George III. at its foundation.[327] That she was a great favourite -with the admirers of art may be inferred by the numerous engravings from -her productions by Bartolozzi and the late William Wynn Ryland.[328] -Her pictures are always tasteful, and often well composed, clearly and -harmoniously coloured, and extremely finished with a most delicate but -spirited pencil. Indeed, her talents were so approved by her brother -Academicians, that those gentlemen allotted her compartments of the -ceiling in their council-chamber at Somerset Place for decoration, in -which most honourable and pleasing task she so well acquitted herself, -that her performances are the admiration of every visitor, but more -particularly those who possess the organ of colour. She etched numerous -subjects; the best impressions are those before the plates were -aqua-tinted. - -When I was a boy, my father frequently took me to Golden Square to see -her pictures, where she and her father had for many years resided in the -centre house on the south side. There are several portraits of her, but -none so well-looking as that painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds, of which -there is an engraving by Bartolozzi. - -Angelica Kauffmann was a great coquette, and pretended to be in love -with several gentlemen at the same time.[329] Once she professed to be -enamoured of Nathaniel Dance;[330] to the next visitor she would divulge -the great secret that she was dying for Sir Joshua Reynolds. However, she -was at last rightly served for her duplicity by marrying a very handsome -fellow personating Count de Horn. With this alliance she was so pleased, -that she made her happy conquest known to her Majesty Queen Charlotte, -who was much astonished that the Count should have been so long in -England without coming to Court. However, the real Count’s arrival was -some time afterwards announced at Dover; and Angelica Kauffmann’s husband -turned out to be no other than his _valet de chambre_. He was prevailed -upon subsequently to accept a separate maintenance.[331] After this man’s -death she married Zucchi, and settled in Rome. During her residence -there, she was solicited by the artists in general, but more particularly -by the English, to join them in an application to this country for -permission to bring their property to England duty free; and as I possess -the original letter which that lady wrote to Lord Camelford[332] upon the -subject, I cannot refrain from inserting it. - - “MY LORD,--I do not know, if by having lived several years - in England, and having the honour to be a R.A., I may be - sufficiently entitled to join with the artists of Great Britain - in their request, or better to say, in returning thanks to your - Lordship for patronising them in a point so very essential, - which is to assist them in obtaining the free importation of - their own studies, models, or designs, collected for their - improvement during their own stay abroad. - - “The heavy duty set upon articles of that nature causes that - the artist, whose circumstances do not permit him to pay - perhaps a considerable sum, must either be deprived of what - he keeps most valuable, or buy his own works at the public - sale at the Custom House. This I have myself experienced on my - coming to England,--and I mention it here, in consequence of - the opinion of some of my friends, who think that my assertion, - added to what other artists may have reported to that purpose, - may be of some use to obtain their object. - - “I heard from Dr. Bates,[333] and Mr. Reveley,[334] the - architect, how very much your Lordship is inclined to support - the earnest supplication drawn up by some of the artists, which - proves your Lordship to be a protector of the fine arts, and - of those who profess them. Consequently I have some reason to - hope that I may not be judged too impertinent for addressing - these lines to you. I have the honour to be, with the greatest - respect, my Lord, your Lordship’s most obliged humble servant, - - “ANGELICA KAUFFMANN. - - “TRINITÀ DE’ MONTI, _the 26th Dec. 1787_.” - -This year, my laborious work, entitled _Antiquities of Westminster_, was -delivered to its numerous and patient subscribers.[335] The following -congratulatory letter is one of the many with which I have been honoured -by its extensive and steady friends:-- - - “LICHFIELD CATHEDRAL CLOSE, - _Thursday, 2nd July 1807_. - - “Mr. White[336] presents his best respects to Mr. Smith. - His precious little box, from some unaccountable delay in - Cambridge, did not arrive till yesterday evening, accompanied - by a letter, which receives this early acknowledgment. Though - Mr. White has not had leisure to inspect critically the - literary portion of Mr. Smith’s elegant and splendid volume, - yet his whole time since it came has been occupied in studying - and admiring its numerous, accurate, and highly finished - engravings, which alone give it a superiority to any book of - art’s illustration which Mr. White can at present recollect. - Mr. Smith’s offer of a few loose prints is peculiarly kind and - acceptable; and Mr. White so far avails himself of it. - - “Mr. White cannot refrain expressing his concern and - astonishment, that Mr. Smith should have experienced so - bitter a recession from friendly promises and assistance, - as Mr. H. obliged him to feel; at the same time, the candid - and unequivocal statement which Mr. Smith has made, must - exonerate him from the world’s reproof, and account for the - long protraction of the work. Mr. White cannot but indulge - the hope, that so noble an addition to our architectural - antiquities, so admirable an elucidation of every _precedent_ - history of London, will most amply remunerate the pocket, - though no success can recompense that anxiety of mind which - Mr. Smith has undergone. The beautiful Cathedral of Lichfield - has been recently ornamented with some very fine ancient - painted windows, from the dissolved convent near Lille. If Mr. - Smith would publish them in colours, Mr. White thinks that - the subscription would fill rapidly; and if Mr. Smith would - but come down and look at them, Mr. White would be happy in - extending every accommodation, and rendering every assistance - to him. When the windows are known, the plan will be certainly - adopted by other artists of inferior competency.” - - -1808. - -On the first of November this year, George Dance, the Royal Academician, -signed the dedication page of his first volume of portraits of eminent -men drawn in pencil, with parts touched lightly with colour from life, -and engraved by William Daniell, A.R.A., now a Royal Academician (he died -1837), consisting of thirty-six in number. The second volume, which also -contained thirty-six in number, was published in 1814.[337] - -Fuseli, when viewing several of these portraits, was heard by one of Mr. -Dance’s sitters to make the following observations upon the likenesses. -Of Benjamin West he said, “His eye is like a vessel in the South Sea,--I -can just spy it through the telescope;” of that of Joseph Wilton the -sculptor, he observed, “How simple are the thinking parts of this man’s -head, and how sumptuous the manducatory;” of that of James Barry he made -the following declaration, “This fellow looks like the door of his own -house;” of that of Northcote he exclaimed, “By _Cot_, he is looking sharp -for a rat;” and of that of Sir William Chambers, he observed, drawling -out his words, “What a _grate_, heavy, _humpty-dumpty_, this leaden -fellow is.”[338] - -[Illustration: JAMES NORTHCOTE, R.A. - -“By _Cot_, he is looking out sharp for a rat.” - -_Fuseli_] - -In this sort of wit Fuseli had a formidable force of gunnery, and his -shot seldom missed its destination; however, it cannot shatter the above -work, as most of the portraits are of worthies too well known even to -need it necessary to engrave their names under them. - -The greater portion of these likenesses are highly valuable to the -illustrators of Boswell’s _Life of Johnson_, and, indeed, most of the -modern biographical publications. - - -1809. - -I cannot more pleasantly close this year than by inserting a copy of one -of John Bannister’s bills for his BUDGET;[339] and as the original is -now an extreme rarity, I conclude that some of those “_gude folks_” who -witnessed the delightful humour displayed by that gifted son of Thespis, -may possibly be better enabled to recollect how much they giggled -twenty-three years ago. - - “Oh the days when I was young!” - -The type of the long lines in the original bill, which is of a small -folio size, being too small to be read without spectacles, I have -necessarily, in some instances, been obliged to increase the number of -lines in the following copy. - - “THEATRE, IPSWICH. - - POSITIVELY FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY. - - Patronised by their Majesties, - Before whom Mr. Bannister had the honour of performing, - At the Queen’s House, Frogmore. - - The Public are most respectfully informed, - On Wednesday, the 29th of November, 1809, - Will be presented, - - A MISCELLANEOUS DIVERTISEMENT, - With considerable vocal and rhetorical variations, called - - BANNISTER’S BUDGET; - OR, AN ACTOR’S WAYS AND MEANS! - - Consisting of - Recitations and Comic Songs; - Which will be sung and spoken by - MR. BANNISTER, of the late Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. - - “The above Divertisement is entirely new; the prose and verse - which compose it having been written _expressly_ for the - occasion of MR. BANNISTER’S TOUR, by Messrs. Colman, Reynolds, - Cherry, T. Dibdin, C. Dibdin, Jun., and others. - - The whole of the Entertainment has been arranged and revised by - MR. COLMAN. - - The songs (which Mr. Reeve, Jun., will accompany on the - pianoforte,) are principally composed by Mr. Reeve. - - PROSPECTUS OF THE DIVERTISEMENT. - - “Part I.--Exordium.--Mr. Bannister’s Interview with - Garrick.--Garrick’s Manner attempted by Mr. Bannister in a - Shaving Dialogue.--Mr. Doublelungs in the Clay-pit.--Macklin’s - advice to his Pupils.--The Ship’s Chaplain, and Jack Haulyard, - the Boatswain; or, Two Ways of Telling a Story.--Sam - Stern.--The Melodramaniac, or Value of Vocal Talent.--Mr. and - Mrs. O’Blunder, or, Irish Suicide! - - “Part II.--Superannuated Sexton.--Original Anecdotes of - a late well-known eccentric Character.--Trial at the Old - Bailey.--Cross-Examination.--Counsellor Garble.--Barrister - Snip-snap.--Serjeant Splitbrain.--Address to the Jury.--Simon - Soaker, and Deputy Dragon. - - “Part III.--Club of Queer Fellows!--President Hosier.--Speech - from the Chair.--Mr. Hesitate.--Mr. Sawney Mac Snip.--Musical - Poulterer.--Duet between a Game Cock and a Dorking Hen.--Mr. - Molasses.--Mr. Mimé.--Monotony exemplified.--Mr. Kill-joy, the - Whistling Orator.--Susan and Strephon.--Budget closed. - - Rotation of Comic Songs to be introduced on this particular - occasion. - - “IN PART I. - - Vocal Medley. - Captain Wattle and Miss Roe (by particular desire). - Tom Tuck’s Ghost. - Song in Praise of Ugliness! - The Debating Society. - - “IN PART II. - - The Deserter; or, Death or Matrimony. - Miss Wrinkle and Mr. Grizzle, - and - The Tortoiseshell Tom Cat. - - “IN PART III. - - THE TRAGEDY OF OTHELLO; OR, - FINE FLEECY HOSIERY. - The Marrow-fat Family. - Jollity Burlesqued, and - Beggars and Ballad-singers. - - The doors to be opened at six o’clock, and to begin precisely - at seven. Boxes, Upper Circle, 4s.; Lower Circle, 3s.; Pit, - 2s., Gallery, 1s. - - N.B. Care has been taken to have the Theatre well aired.” - - -1810. - -My reader will find by the following copy of a paper written by the -Rev. Stephen Weston, B.D.,[340] and read at the Society of Antiquaries’ -meeting, 25th January 1810, that the term Swan-_hopping_ is to be -considered a popular error. - -“It appears in the Swan-rolls, exhibited by the Right Honourable Sir -Joseph Banks, that the King’s were doubly marked, and had what was -called two nicks, or notches. The term, in process of time, not being -understood, a double animal was invented, unknown to the Egyptians -and Greeks, with the name of the Swan with Two Necks. But this is -not the only ludicrous mistake that has arisen out of the subject, -since Swan-upping, or the taking up of Swans, performed annually by -the Swan companies, with the Lord Mayor of London at their head, -for the purpose of marking them, has been changed by an unlucky -aspirate into Swan-hopping, which is not to the purpose, and perfectly -unintelligible.”[341] - - -1811. - -In the summer of this year, the Earl of Pembroke allowed me to copy a -picture at Wilton, painted by the celebrated architect, Inigo Jones. -It is a view of Covent Garden in its original state, when there was a -tree in the middle. The skill with which he has treated the effect is -admirable. - -There is also, in that superb mansion, a companion picture of Lincoln’s -Inn Fields by the same artist. - - -1812. - -The political career of John Horne Tooke, Esq., is well known, and the -fame of his celebrated work, entitled the _Diversions of Purley_, will be -spoken of as long as paper lasts. - -In the year 1811 a most flagrant depredation was committed in his house -at Wimbledon by a collector of taxes, who daringly carried away a silver -tea and sugar caddy, the value of which amounted, in weight of silver, -to at least twenty times more than the sum demanded, for a tax which -Mr. Tooke declared he never would pay. This gave rise to the following -letter:-- - - “TO MESSRS. CROFT AND DILKE. - - “GENTLEMEN,--I beg it as a favour of you, that you will go in - my name to Mr. Judkin, attorney, in Clifford’s Inn, and desire - him to go with you both to the Under Sheriff’s Office, in New - Inn, Wych Street. - - “I have had a distress served upon me for taxes, at Wimbledon, - in the county of Surrey. - - “By the recommendation of Mr. Stuart, of Putney, I desire Mr. - Judkin to act as my attorney in replevying the goods; and I - desire Mr. Croft and Mr. Dilke to sign the security-bond for me - that I will try the question. - - “Pray show this memorandum to Mr. Judkin. - - “JOHN HORNE TOOKE. - - “WIMBLEDON, _May 17th, 1811_.” - -As Mr. Croft and Mr. Dilke were proceeding on the Putney Road, they met -the tax-collector with the tea-caddy under his arm, on his way back -with the greatest possible haste to return it, with an apology to Mr. -Tooke,--that being the advice of a friend. The two gentlemen returned -with him, and witnessed Mr. Tooke’s kindness when the man declared he had -a large family.[342] - -On the 18th of March this year (1812), Mr. Tooke died, at his house at -Wimbledon. He was put into a strong elm shell. The coffin was made from -the heart of a solid oak, cut down for the purpose. It measured six feet -one inch in length; in breadth at the shoulders, two feet two inches; the -depth at the head, two feet six inches; and the depth at the feet, two -feet four inches. This enormous depth of coffin was absolutely necessary, -in consequence of the contraction of his body. His remains were conveyed -in a hearse and six, to Ealing, in Middlesex, attended by three mourning -coaches with four horses to each. It was Mr. Tooke’s wish to have been -buried in his own ground; but to this the executors very properly made an -objection.[343] - - -1813. - -At the sale of the effects of the Rev. William Huntington (vulgarly -called the “Coal-heaver”), which commenced on the 22nd of September, and -continued for three following days, at his late residence, Hermes Hill, -Pentonville, one of his steady followers purchased a barrel of ale, -which had been brewed for Christmas, because he would have something to -remember him by.[344] - -[Illustration: WILLIAM HUNTINGTON (S.S.) - -“I cannot get D.D. for want of cash, therefore I am compelled to fly to -S.S., by which I mean Sinner Saved.”] - - -1814. - -Mr. John Nixon, of Basinghall Street, gave me the following information -respecting the Beefsteak Club. Mr. Nixon, as Secretary, had possession -of the original book. Lambert’s Club was first held in Covent Garden -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, and a wine-cellar, etc., entirely -independent of the Bedford Coffee-house. When the Lyceum, in the Strand, -was rebuilt, Mr. Arnold fitted up a room for the Beefsteak Club, where it -remained until the late fire. - -The society held at Robins’s room was called the “Ad Libitum” Society, of -which Mr. Nixon had the books; but it was a totally different society, -quite unconnected with the Beefsteak Club.[345] - - -1815. - -One of the biographers of Mrs. Abington, the first actress who played -the part of Lady Teazle in the _School for Scandal_, and so justly -celebrated in characters of ladies in high life, states that she died on -the 1st of March 1815, in her 84th year. Another informs us that she -died on the 4th; but neither of the writers say where she died, or where -she was buried; on inquiry, I found that she died at Pall Mall.[346] Of -all the theatrical ungovernable ladies under Mr. Garrick’s management, -Mrs. Abington, with her capriciousness, inconsistency, injustice, and -unkindness, perplexed him the most. She was not unlike the miller’s -mare, for ever looking for a white stone to shy at. And though no one -has charged her with malignant mischief, she was never more delighted -than when in a state of hostility, often arising from most trivial -circumstances, discovered in mazes of her own ingenious construction.[347] - -Mrs. Abington, in order to keep up her card-parties, of which she was -very fond, and which were attended by many ladies of the highest rank, -absented herself from her abode to live _incog._ For this purpose -she generally took a small lodging in one of the passages leading -from Stafford Row, Pimlico,[348] where plants are so placed at the -windows as nearly to shut out the light, at all events, to render the -apartments impervious to the inquisitive eye of such characters as -Liston represented in _Paul Pry_. Now and then she would take the small -house at the end of Mount Street, and there live with her servant in the -kitchen, till it was time to reappear; and then some of her friends would -compliment her on the effects of her summer’s excursion. - - “ADELPHI, _November 9_. - - “Mr. Garrick’s compliments to Mrs. Abington, and has sent her - on the other side a little alteration (if she approves it, not - else) of the epilogue, where there seems to be a patch: it - should, he believes, run thus:-- - - “Such a persecution! - ’Tis the great blemish of the constitution! - No human laws should Nature’s rights abridge, - Freedom of speech, our dearest privilege; - Ours is the wiser sex, though deemed the weaker, - I’ll put the Question, if you’ll cheer me, _Speaker_. - - “Suppose me now bewig’d, etc.[349] - - “Mrs. A. is at full liberty to adopt this alteration or not. - Had not our house overflowed last night in a quarter of an - hour, from the opening of Covent Garden had suffered much. As - it was, there was great room in the pit and gallery at the end - of the third act. - - “Much joy I sincerely wish you at your success in Lady Bab. May - it continue till we both are tired, you with playing the part, - and I with seeing it. - - “MRS. ABINGTON, 62, PALL MALL.” - - * * * * * - - TO RICHARD COSWAY, ESQ., R.A. - - “I have found another letter, which you will see is part - of the history I took the liberty of troubling you with. I - cannot express how much I am obliged to you for your goodness - and friendly confidence in telling me what you had heard of - this trumpery matter, as it has given me an opportunity of - convincing you, in some little degree, that _my conduct_ stands - in no need of protection, nor can at any time subject me to - fears from threatful insinuations of necessitous adventurers. I - am, Sir, your very much obliged and humble servant, - - “F. ABINGTON.” - - * * * * * - - TO RICHARD COSWAY, ESQ., R.A. - - “Mrs. Abington will feel herself most extremely mortified - indeed if she has not some hope given her that Mr. and Mrs. - Cosway will do her the very great honour of coming to her - benefit this evening. - - “She has been able to secure a small balcony in the very midst - of persons of the first rank in this country, which she set - down in the name of Mrs. Cosway, till she hears further; it - holds two in front, and has three rows holding two upon each, - so that Mr. Cosway may accommodate four other persons after - being comfortably seated with Mrs. Cosway. - - “_February 10th._ Nine o’clock.” - - * * * * * - - “ADELPHI, _December 8th_. - - “DEAR MADAM,--I altered the beginning of your epilogue, merely - for your ease and credit. I leave it wholly to your own - feelings to decide what to speak or what to reject. I find the - epilogue is liked, and therefore I would make it as tolerable - as possible for you. I assure you, upon my word, that if - you please yourself, you will please me. In my hurry I find, - looking over the lines this afternoon, that I have made a false - chime. I have made _directed_ and _corrected_ to chime, which - will not do: suppose them thus, - - “Does not he know, poor soul, to be _detected_ - Is what you hate, and more to be corrected.-- - - or thus:-- - - “Does not he know, in faults to be _detected_ - Is what you hate, and more to be _corrected_.[350] - - “I most sincerely wish you joy of your friend’s success. The - comedy will be in great vogue. - - “I am, Madam, your very humble Servant, - - “D. GARRICK.” - - Bad pen, and gouty fingers, - Poor Anacreon, thou growest old![351] - - * * * * * - - “PALL MALL, _November 4th, 1794_. - - “Mrs. Abington begs leave to present her compliments to Mr. - Webster, and to assure him that she feels perfectly ashamed - of the trouble which she has repeatedly given him, and is now - about to give him; but, indeed, she has so much dependence upon - the goodness of his heart, as well as of his understanding, - that she flatters herself he will forgive her committing - herself to him, upon matters which require more sense as well - as more management than falls to the share of the generality - of her acquaintance. The enclosed letter will explain to Mr. - Webster the nature of Mrs. Abington’s present difficulty, as he - will see she is in danger of losing the fine picture which has - been for near six years in the hands of Mr. Sherwin, for the - purpose of making a print from it. There is not one moment to - be lost, if Mr. Webster will have the goodness to undertake the - business; and she begs of him not to mention the matter further. - - “The picture is the property of Mrs. Abington, and given by Sir - Joshua Reynolds to Mr. Sherwin at his own particular request, - that Sir Joshua would favour him so far as to let him have the - preference of the many artists who, at the time the picture was - painted, applied for it to engrave a plate from it. - - “Mrs. Abington begs leave to present her kindest love and - regards to Mrs. Webster, and flatters herself that the whole - family are perfectly well. - - “She has this moment heard that all the armaments will now end - in peace. - - “To JOHN WEBSTER, ESQ., Duke Street, Westminster.” - -As Sherwin’s plate from this beautiful picture was published by the late -Mr. John Thane,[352] on February 1st, 1791, and as Mrs. Abington’s letter -to Mr. Webster is dated November 4th, 1794, it appears that the engraver -retained it nearly four years after the plate was finished; so that, -according to Mrs. Abington’s date, it must have been upwards of two years -in hand. - -My old friend, Mr. Thomas Thane, son of the publisher, who is now in -possession of the plate, kindly gave me impressions of it in three -states. The first is a great rarity: a proof before any letters, and the -reduction of the plate. The second is after the sides of the plate had -been reduced, with the names of the painter, engraver, and publisher, -perfectly engraved, and the name of Roxalana slightly etched. The third -and last state is, after the etched name Roxalana has been taken out and -engraved higher in the plate, to make room for some lines of poetry. - -At page 70 of the Wilmot Letters in the British Museum is the following -letter, addressed by the Hon. Horace Walpole to Mrs. Abington the -actress:-- - - “PARIS, _September, 1771_. - - “If I had known, Madam, of your being at Paris, before I - heard it from Colonel Blaquière,[353] I should certainly have - prevented your flattering invitation, and have offered you any - services that could depend on my acquaintance here. It is plain - I am old, and live with very old folks.”[354] - -Further on the same writer observes:-- - - “I have not that fault at least of a veteran, the thinking - nothing equalled to what they admired in their youth. I do - impartial justice to your merit, and fairly allow it not only - equal to that of any actress I have seen, but believe the - present age will not be in the wrong, if they hereafter prefer - it to those they may live to see. Your allowing me to wait on - you in London, Madam, will make me some amends for the loss - I have had here; and I shall take an early opportunity of - assuring you how much I am, Madam, your most obliged humble - servant, - - “HORACE WALPOLE.” - - * * * * * - - “MADAM,--You may certainly always command me and my house. My - common custom is to give a ticket for only four persons at a - time; but it would be very insolent in me, when all laws are - set at nought, to pretend to prescribe rules. At such times - there is a shadow of authority in setting the laws aside by - the legislature itself; and though I have no army to supply - their place, I declare Mrs. Abington may march through all my - dominions at the head of _as large_ a troop as she pleases;--I - do not say, as she can muster and command, for then I am sure - my house would not hold them. The day, too, is at her own - choice; and the master is her very obedient humble servant, - - “HOR. WALPOLE. - - “STRAWBERRY HILL, _June 11, 1780_.” - - * * * * * - - MRS. ABINGTON TO MRS. JORDAN. - - “NO. 19, ETON STREET, GROSVENOR PLACE, - - “_January 6th, 1807_. - - “I beg leave, dear Madam, to make my grateful acknowledgments - for the favour of your kind remembrance. Your ticket with - those of dear Miss Betsworth, and the Miss Jordans, was sent to - my present habitation on New Year’s day. - - “I have not slept in London since I came from the Wealds of - Kent, where I passed my summer upon a visit to Sir Walter and - Lady Jane James, and their lovely family.[355] It is near a - grand scene of Gothic magnificence, called Bayham Abbey, a seat - of Lord Camden’s, the brother of Lady Jane. In their peaceful - retreat and accomplished society, I have very much recovered - my health and spirits, and hope to have the happiness of - seeing you soon, as I am now looking for something to inhabit - in London. In the meantime, if you, dear Madam, or the Miss - Jordans, will do me the honour of calling at my present abode, - which are two rooms, where I keep my clothes and trumpery, I - shall be much flattered; and beg you to accept the compliments - of the season, and a sincere wish that you may see many, - many returns, with every happiness you are so well entitled - to expect. Adieu, my dearest Madam. Be pleased to make my - compliments to the ladies, and believe me your most obliged, - etc., - - “F. ABINGTON.”[356] - -[Illustration: MRS. JORDAN - -“The very sound of the little familiar word _bud_ from her lips … was a -whole concentrated world of the power of loving.”--_Leigh Hunt_] - - -1816. - -As a playful relaxation from my former more serious applications, -I commenced my work of the most remarkable London Beggars, with -biographical sketches of each character.[357] By this publication I -gained more money than by all my antiquarian labours united. Her late -Majesty, Queen Charlotte, and the Princess Elizabeth, much encouraged -their publicity; but I must acknowledge that my greatest success was -owing to the warm and friendly exertions of the late Charles Cowper,[358] -Esq., of the Albany, a gentleman whose memory must be dear to every one -who had the pleasure of knowing him. - -Much about this time, the Print Room of the British Museum was closed, in -consequence of the death of the highly talented Mr. William Alexander, -when several friends exerted their interest to procure me the situation -of Keeper, an appointment which, I hope, I have held with no small -benefit to that National Institution, and with credit to myself. The -interest required to obtain this appointment may be conceived, when the -number of candidates is considered. The following letter was written -by his Grace the late Archbishop of Canterbury to one of his Grace’s -relations:-- - - “ADDINGTON, _Sept. 16th, 1816_. - - “MY DEAR MADAM,--With such interest as Mr. J. T. Smith - possesses, I am astonished he should think it worth while to - waste his strength in pursuit of such a trifling office as that - which is now vacant in the Museum. - - “It is impossible to resist the testimony which your Ladyship, - and many others, have borne to his merits and qualifications. - He certainly shall have my vote; and I have reason to believe - he will have the votes of the other two principal Trustees, to - whom the appointment belongs. - - “C. CANTUAR.”[359] - - -1817. - -Perhaps the only gala day now which gladdens the heart of the loyal -spectator, is the one afforded by Thomas Doggett, comedian, on the 1st -of August, to commemorate the accession of the House of Brunswick. This -scene is sure to be picturesque and cheerful, should the glorious sun, -“that gems the sea, and every land that blooms,” reflect the pendent -streamers of its variegated show, in the quivering eddies of Father -Thames’s silver tide. At what time Mr. Thomas Doggett was born, I am -ignorant. All I have been able to glean of him is, that Castle Street, -Dublin, has been stated as the place of his birth; and that he had the -honour of being the founder of our water games. Colley Cibber, speaking -of him, says, “As an actor he was a great observer of Nature; and as a -singer he had no competitor.” He was the author of the _Country Wake_, -a comedy, and was a patentee of Drury Lane Theatre until 1712; and my -friend, Mr. Thomas Gilliland,[360] in his work entitled _The Dramatic -Mirror_, states his death to have taken place on the 22nd of September -1721. - -In 1715, the year after George I. came to the throne, Doggett, to quicken -the industry and raise a laudable emulation in our young men of the -Thames, whereby they not only may acquire a knowledge of the river, but -a skill in managing the oar with dexterity, gave an orange-coloured -coat and silver badge, on which was sculptured the Hanoverian Horse, -to the successful candidate of six young watermen just out of their -apprenticeship, to be rowed for on the 1st of August, when the current -was strongest against them, starting from the “Old Swan,” London Bridge, -to the “Swan” at Chelsea. On the 1st of August 1722, the year after -Doggett’s death, pursuant to the tenor of his will, the prize was first -rowed for, and has been given annually ever since.[361] - - “They gripe their oars; and every panting breast - Is raised by turns with hope, by turns with fear deprest.” - -This gratifying sight I have often witnessed; and the -never-to-be-forgotten Charles Dibdin considered it so pleasing a subject, -that in 1774 he brought out at the Haymarket Theatre a ballad opera, -entitled _The Waterman, or the First of August_. In this piece, Tom Tug, -the hero, is in love with a gardener’s daughter, before whom he sings, - - “And did you not hear of a jolly young waterman, - Who at Blackfriars’ Bridge used for to ply; - And he feathered his oars with such skill and dexterity, - Winning each heart, and delighting each eye,” etc. - -Poor Tug, who considered himself slighted for another lover, whom the -girl of his heart appeared to prefer, after declaring that he would go -on board a man-of-war to cast away his care, sings a song, of which the -following is the first verse:-- - - “Then farewell, my trim-built wherry, - Oars and coat and badge farewell! - Never more at Chelsea ferry - Shall your Thomas take a spell,” etc. - -However, Tom rowed for Doggett’s Coat and Badge, which he had an eye -upon, in order to obtain the girl, if possible, by his prowess. She was -seated at the Swan, and admired the successful candidate before she -discovered him to be her suitor Thomas, then - - “Blushed an answer to his wooing tale.” - -The part of Tom Tug was originally performed by Charles Bannister, -and esteemed so great a favourite, that Mr. Garrick selected the -entertainment of _The Waterman_, to follow the comedy of _The Wonder_, on -the evening of his last performance on the stage.[362] Had the author of -_The Waterman_, when composing that little entertainment, suspected that -the Plague’s blood-red bills of - - “LORD, HAVE MERCY UPON US,” - -had been fixed upon this house, the Swan, his Muse most likely would have -whispered, “You must not sadden these scenes.” Pepys, in his _Diary_, -made the following entry:-- - -“_April 9th, 1666._--Thinking to have been merry at Chelsey, but being -come almost to the house, by coach, near the water-side, a house alone, I -think the Swan, a gentleman walking by called to us to tell us that the -house was shut up of the sickness.” - - -1818. - -It is scarcely possible for any person, possessing the smallest share -of common observation, to pass through ten streets in London, without -noticing what is generally denominated a character, either in dress, -walk, pursuits, or propensities. As even my enemies are willing to give -me credit for a most respectful attention to the ladies, I hope they will -not in this instance impeach my gallantry, because I place the fair sex -at the head of my table of remarks, as to the eccentricity of some of -their dresses. Miss Banks,[363] the sister of Sir Joseph, was looked -after by the eye of astonishment wherever she went, and in whatever -situation she appeared. Her dress was that of the _Old School_; her -Barcelona quilted petticoat had a hole on either side for the convenience -of rummaging two immense pockets, stuffed with books of all sizes. This -petticoat was covered with a deep stomachered gown, sometimes drawn -through the pocket-holes, similar to those of many of the ladies of -Bunbury’s time, which he has introduced in his prints. In this dress I -have frequently seen her walk, followed by a six-foot servant with a cane -almost as tall as himself. - -Miss Banks, for so that lady was called for many years, was frequently -heard to relate the following curious anecdote of herself. After making -repeated inquiries of the wall-vendors of halfpenny ballads for a -particular one which she wanted, she was informed by the claret-faced -woman, who strung up her stock by Middlesex Hospital-gates, that if she -went to a printer in Long Lane, Smithfield, probably he might supply -her Ladyship with what her Ladyship wanted. Away trudged Miss Banks -through Smithfield, “_all on a market-day_”; but before she entered Mr. -Thompson’s shop, she desired her man to wait for her at the corner, by -the plumb-pudding stall. “Yes, we have it,” was the printer’s answer -to the interrogative. He then gave Miss Banks what is called a book, -consisting of many songs. Upon her expressing her surprise when the man -returned her eightpence from her shilling, and the great quantity of -songs he had given her, when she only wanted one,--“What, then!” observed -the man, “are you not one of our chanters? I beg your pardon.” - -It has been stated that this lady and Lady Banks, out of compliment to -Sir Joseph, who had been deeply engaged in the production of wool, had -their riding-habits made of his produce, in which dresses those ladies -at one period upon all occasions appeared. Indeed, so delighted was -Miss Banks with this _overall_-covering, that she actually gave the -habit-maker orders for three at a time,--and they were called _Hightum_, -_Tightum_, and _Scrub_. The first was her best, the second her second -best, and the third her every-day one. - -I have been informed that once, when Miss Banks and her sister-in-law -visited a friend with whom they were to stay several days, on the evening -of their arrival they sat down to dinner in their riding-habits. Their -friend had a large party after dinner to meet them, and they entered the -drawing-room in their riding-habits. On the following morning they again -appeared in their riding-habits; and so on, to the astonishment of every -one, till the conclusion of their visit. - -Being in possession of an immense number of tradesmen’s tokens -current at this time, I left them in Soho Square, with a note begging -Miss Banks’s acceptance of any she might want. After a few hours, her -footman’s knock at my door announced the arrival of Miss Banks, who -entered the parlour holding up the front of her riding-habit with both -hands, the contents of which she delivered upon the table, at the same -time observing “that she considered herself extremely obliged to me for -my politeness, but that, extraordinary as it might appear, out of so many -hundred there was not one that she wanted.” - -Although Miss Banks displayed great attention to many persons, there were -others to whom she was wanting in civility. I have heard that a great -genius, who had arrived a quarter of an hour before the time specified -upon the card for dinner, was shown into the drawing-room, where Miss -Banks was putting away what are sometimes called _rattle-traps_.[364] -When the visitor observed, “It is a fine day, Ma’am,” she replied, “I -know nothing at all about it; you must speak to my brother upon that -subject when you are at dinner.” Notwithstanding the very singular -appearance of Miss Banks, she was in the prime of life, a fashionable -whip, and drove four-in-hand. - -Mrs. Carter,[365] the translator of Epictetus, was also singular in her -dress. Her upper walking-garment, in the latter part of her life, which -was cut short, was more like a bed-gown than anything else. The last time -I met this benevolent lady was in 1801, at Mrs. Dards’s exhibition,[366] -an immense collection of artificial flowers made entirely by herself with -fish-bones, the incessant labour of many years. I remember, in the course -of conversation, Mrs. Dards observed, “No one can imagine the trouble I -had in collecting the bones for that bunch of lilies of the valley; each -cup consists of the bones which contain the brains of the turbot; and -from the difficulty of matching the sizes, I never should have completed -my task had it not been for the kindness of the proprietors of the -London, Free-Masons’, and Crown and Anchor Taverns, who desired their -waiters to save all the fish-bones for me.” - -[Illustration: HENRY CONSTANTINE JENNINGS (OR NOEL) - -“… barring his eccentricities.”] - -This ingenious person distributed a card embellished with flowers and -insects, upon which was engraven the following advertisement:-- - - NO. 1, SUFFOLK STREET, COCKSPUR STREET. - - “MRS. DARDS begs leave to inform her friends in particular, and - the public in general, that after a labour of thirty years, she - has for their inspection and amusement opened an exhibition - of shell-work, consisting of a great variety of beautiful - objects equal to nature, which are minutely described in the - catalogue. Likewise is enabled to gratify them - - “_With bones, scales, and eyes, from the prawn to the porpoise,_ - _Fruit, flies, birds, and flowers, oh, strange metamorphose!_” - - “Open from ten to six in the summer,--from ten to four in the - winter. - - “ADMITTANCE 1s. CATALOGUE 6d.” - -Mr. Jennings,[367] latterly known as Constantine Noel, barring his -eccentricities, was an accomplished gentleman, a traveller of infinite -taste, and one of the most liberal and entertaining companions -imaginable. Mr. Noel’s figure was short, thin, and much bent by age; -and he was very singular in his dress. The crown of his hat fitted his -head as close as a _pitch-plaster_; his coat was short, of common cloth, -and, like Mr. Wodhull’s, regularly buttoned up from his waist to his -chin. His stockings were not striped blue and white, like those of Sir -Thomas Stepney,[368] but of _pepper-and-salt_ mixture, and of worsted. He -stepped astride in consequence of the bowness of his legs, and generally -attracted notice by striking his walking-stick hard on the stones with -his right arm fully extended, while his left hung swinging low before -him. He wore thick-sole shoes, with small buckles, and seldom showed -linen beyond the depths of his stock. - -My father, who knew him well, used to relate the annexed anecdote. Mr. -Noel one day, when at the corner of Rathbone Place, close to Wright’s, -the intelligent grocer, finding himself rather fatigued, called -repeatedly to the first coachman, who, after laughing at him for some -time, increased the insult by observing, “A coach, indeed! a coach! who’s -to pay for it?” - -“You rascal,” exclaimed Mr. Noel, clenching his stick in the position of -chastisement, “why don’t you come when I call, Sir; I’ll make an example -of you, I will.” - -The coachman continued laughing, till a gentleman accosted Mr. Jennings -thus:--“My worthy friend, what is all this about?” - -The coachman was immediately curbed; and when Mr. Noel’s friend had -parted with him, by shaking his hand in the coach, the coachman, touching -the front of his hat, wished to know of his _honour_ “_Where to?_” - -“I’ll give you a pretty dance,” replied Mr. Noel; “drive me to h----, you -rascal; to Whitechapel, and from thence to Hyde Park Corner. I’ll take -care it shall be long enough before you get any dinner, you rascal, I -will.” Then, with a nod and a smile to the assembled crowd, he declared, -to their no small amusement, “I’ll punish him.” - -Dr. Burges, of Mortimer Street, whose singular figure has been etched by -Gillray, under which he wrote, “From Warwick Lane,” was one of the last -men who wore a cocked-hat and deep ruffles. What rendered his appearance -more remarkable, he walked on tiptoe.[369] - -It was the regular custom of Mr. Alderman Boydell, who was a very early -riser, at five o’clock, to go immediately to the pump in Ironmonger Lane. -There, after placing his wig upon the ball at the top of it, he used to -sluice his head with its water. This well-known and highly respected -character,[370] who has done more for the British artists than all the -print-publishers put together, was also one of the last men who wore the -three-cornered hat commonly called “Egham, Staines, and Windsor.” - -I recollect another character, a bricklayer, of the name of Pride, of -Vine Street, Piccadilly, who wore the three-cornered hat commonly called -“The Cumberland Cock.”[371] - - -1822. - -In October this year the venerable Mrs. Garrick departed this life, when -seated in her armchair in the front drawing-room of her house in the -Adelphi. She had ordered her maid-servants to place two or three gowns -upon chairs, to determine in which she would appear at Drury Lane Theatre -that evening, it being a private view of Mr. Elliston’s improvements -for the season. Perhaps no lady in public and private life held a more -unexceptionable character. She was visited by persons of the first -rank; even our late Queen Charlotte, who had honoured her with a visit -at Hampton, found her peeling onions for pickling. The gracious Queen -commanded a knife to be brought, saying, “I will peel some onions too.” -The late King George IV. and King William IV., as well as other branches -of the Royal Family, frequently honoured her with visits. - -In the course of conversation with Mrs. Garrick (to whom I had been -introduced by the late Dr. Burney), that lady expressed a wish to see -the collection of Mr. Garrick’s portraits, which the Doctor had most -industriously collected. After the honourable trustees had purchased -the Doctor’s library, which contained ten folio volumes of theatrical -portraits, I reminded Mrs. Garrick of her wish, in consequence of which I -received the following letter:-- - - “Mr. Beltz[372] presents his compliments to Mr. Smith, and is - desired by his respected friend Mrs. Garrick to acquaint him, - in answer to the favour of his letter of the 12th inst., that - she proposes (unless she should hear from Mr. Smith that it - will be inconvenient to him) to do herself the pleasure of - calling on him at the British Museum on Tuesday next, between - twelve and one, for the purpose of inspecting the prints of Mr. - Garrick, to which Mr. Smith refers. - - “HERALDS’ COLLEGE, _Aug. 18th, 1821_.” - -On the appointed morning Mrs. Garrick arrived, accompanied by Mr. Beltz. -She was delighted with the portraits of Mr. Garrick, many of which were -totally unknown to her. Her observations on some of them were extremely -interesting, particularly that by Dance, as Richard III.[373] Of that -painter she stated, that Mr. Garrick, who had been the artist’s best -friend and benefactor, behaved in the most dirty manner in return; for -in the course of his painting the picture Mr. Garrick had agreed to give -him two hundred guineas for it. One day at Mr. Garrick’s dining-table, -where Dance had always been a welcome guest, he observed that Sir Watkin -Williams Wynn,[374] who had seen the picture, spontaneously offered -him three hundred guineas for it. “Did you tell him it was for me?” -questioned Mr. Garrick. “No, I did not.” “Then you mean to let him have -it?” Garrick rejoined. “Yes, I believe I shall,” replied the painter. -“However,” observed Mrs. Garrick, “my husband was very good; he bought me -a most handsome looking-glass, which cost him more than the agreed price -of the picture; and that was put up in the place where Dance’s picture -was to have hung.” Mrs. Garrick being about to quit her seat, said she -should be glad to see me at Hampton. “Madam,” said I, “you are very good; -but you would oblige me exceedingly by honouring me with your signature -on this day.” “What do you ask me for? I have not taken a pen in my hand -for many months. Stay, let me compose myself; don’t hurry me, and I will -see what I can do. Would you like it written with my spectacles on, or -without?” Preferring the latter, she wrote “E. M. Garrick,” but not -without some exertion. - -“I suppose now, Sir, you wish to know my age. I was born at Vienna, -the 29th of February, 1724, though my coachman insists upon it that I -am above a hundred. I was married at the parish of St. Giles at eight -o’clock in the morning, and immediately afterwards in the chapel of the -Portuguese Ambassador, in South Audley Street.” - -A day or two after Mrs. Garrick’s death, I went to the Adelphi, to know -if a day had been fixed for the funeral. “No,” replied George Harris, one -of Mrs. Garrick’s confidential servants; “but I will let you know when it -is to take place. Would you like to see her? she is in her coffin.” “Yes, -I should.” Upon entering the back room on the first-floor, in which Mr. -Garrick died, I found the deceased’s two female servants standing by her -remains. I made a drawing of her, and intended to have etched it. “Pray, -do tell me,” looking at one of the maids, “why is the coffin covered -with sheets?” “They are their wedding sheets, in which both Mr. and Mrs. -Garrick wished to have died.” I was informed that one of these attentive -women had incurred her mistress’s displeasure by kindly pouring out a cup -of tea, and handing it to her in her chair. “Put it down, you hussey; -do you think I cannot help myself?” She took it herself, and a short -time after she had put it to her lips, died. This lady continued her -practice of swearing now and then, particularly when any one attempted to -impose upon her. A stonemason brought in his bill with an overcharge of -sixpence more than the sum agreed upon; on which occasion he endeavoured -to appease her rage by thus addressing her:--“My dear Madam, do -consider”--“My dear Madam! What do you mean, you d---- fellow? Get out of -the house immediately. My dear madam, indeed!!” - -On the following day I received the promised letter, by the post. - - “SIR,--The funeral is fixed to leave the Adelphi Terrace soon - after ten o’clock to-morrow morning. Mrs. Garrick’s carriage, - the Dowager Lady Amherst’s, Dr. Maton’s, and Mr. Carr’s[375] - are the only carriages that will join the funeral. Your - obedient servant, - - “GEORGE HARRIS, - - “Servant to Mrs. Garrick.” - -On the day of the funeral, Miss Macauley,[376] the authoress, wishing to -see this venerable lady interred, placed herself under my protection; but -when we arrived at the Abbey, we were refused admittance by a person who -observed, “If it be your wish to see the waxwork, you must come when the -funeral’s over, and you will then be admitted into Poets’ Corner, by a -man who is stationed at the door to receive your money.” - -“Curse the waxwork!” said I; “this lady and I came to see Mrs. Garrick’s -remains placed in the grave.”--“Ah, well, you can’t come in; the Dean -won’t allow it.” As soon as the ceremony was over, we were admitted for -sixpence at the Poets’ Corner, and there we saw the earth that surrounded -the grave, and no more, as we refused to pay the demands of the showmen -of the Abbey. Surely this mode of admission to see the venerable -structure, and the monuments put up there at a most liberal expense by -the country, as memorials of departed worth, is an abominable disgrace to -the English Government.[377] - -Being disappointed in a sight of the burial, I applied to my friend, the -Rev. Thomas Rackett, one of Mrs. Garrick’s executors, for a list of those -persons who attended the funeral. - - IN THE FIRST COACH. - - Christopher Philip Garrick, and Nathan Egerton Garrick, - great-nephews of David Garrick; the Rev. Thomas Rackett, and - George Frederick Beltz, Esq., Lancaster Herald, Executors of - Mrs. Garrick’s will. - - IN THE SECOND COACH. - - Thomas Carr, Esq., Mrs. Garrick’s solicitor; and Mrs. Carr. - - IN THE THIRD COACH. - - Mr. James Deane, Agent to Mr. Carr, frequently employed by - Mrs. Garrick; Mr. Freeman, of Spring Gardens, Mrs. Garrick’s - apothecary. - - THOMAS RACKETT.[378] - - _December 4th, 1827._ - -[Illustration: THE GARRICKS - - “The fops that join to cry you down - Would give their ears to get her.” - -_Edward Moore on Garrick’s Marriage_] - -As Mr. Garrick was married by his friend, the celebrated Dr. -Francklin,[379] who at that time had a chapel in Great Queen Street, I -was anxious to ascertain whether the ceremony took place there or at -the parish church. I therefore applied to my friend, the Rev. Charles -M’Carthy, who favoured me with the following certificate:-- - - June 22, 1749. David Garrick, of St. Paul, Covent Garden; and - Eva Maria Violetti, of St. James’s, Westminster. - - T. FRANKLIN. - C. M’CARTHY, Curate and Reg.[380] - - -1823. - -In 1822, to the disgrace of the Antwerp picture collectors, -notwithstanding their professed zeal for the protection of high works -of art, they allowed the most precious gem, their boasted corner-stone, -to be carried away from their city. However, to the great honour of Mr. -Smith, the picture-dealer, it was secured for England. - -This corner-stone, which had been coveted by most of the amateurs in -the world, was no less a treasure than the picture known under the -appellation of the “Chapeau de Paille,”[381] by Rubens, which had been -in the Lunden’s, and then the Steir’s family, from the time it was sold -after the painter’s death, to the 29th of July, 1822, the day on which it -was brought to auction for the benefit of the last possessor’s family. - -When the auctioneer ordered the doors of the case in which it was kept to -be thrown open, every person took off his hat, and greeted the picture -with loud and repeated cheerings. After the company had, for some time, -gratified their eyes, the doors were locked and biddings commenced, the -company remaining uncovered till the bidders were silent. It was then -knocked down for the sum of thirty-two thousand seven hundred florins, to -a foreigner displaying an orange ribbon, hired by the real purchaser, Mr. -Smith, who suspected that if an Englishman had offered to bid, he would -have brought down a direful opposition. When it was discovered that it -was to be conveyed to England, the Antwerpers not only shed tears, but -followed it to Mr. Smith’s place of residence, expressing the strongest -desire to take their farewell look. Mr. Smith, not willing to risk its -safety, gave a seaman five guineas to convey it on shipboard by night, -and saw it safely landed on British ground. - -Upon its arrival in London, King George IV. commanded a sight of it; -and on the morning of Tuesday, September 3rd, Mr. Smith had it conveyed -from his house in Marlborough Street, to Carlton Palace, where it was -placed in the King’s dressing-room, the King keeping the key of the -case, that only private friends might see it. After the expiration of a -fortnight, the picture was returned; and in the month of March, 1823, it -was publicly exhibited at Stanley’s rooms. The Right Hon. Sir Robert Peel -became its liberal purchaser and protector. This picture is painted on -oak, and has been joined at the lower part across the hands, and there is -every reason for believing that Rubens painted it in the frame, as the -ground was unpainted upon, within the width of the rabbit. - -The popular report respecting this picture is, that it was the portrait -of Elizabeth Lunden, a young woman to whom Rubens was particularly -partial, who died of the small-pox, to the great grief of the painter. - -In this year I find the following letter in my album:-- - - “MY DEAR SIR,--Your desire to know the place of my nativity, - the profession for which I was intended, my first appearance - on the stage, and in town. This both honours and gratifies me, - inasmuch as your request places my name with men of genius and - education, the persons of all others I am most ambitious to be - found with. - - “The city of Bristol gave me birth, in 1778.[382] I was - brought up an artist, which profession I quitted for studies - more congenial to my feelings. Immortal Shakspeare wrought - the change, and his great contemporaries added fuel to flame. - Notwithstanding this mighty stimulus, in the year 1798 I made - my first attempt, in the part of young Hob, in _Hob in the - Well_,[383] in a town in Radnorshire, the theatre a barn in the - environs; the receipts seven shillings; my share sevenpence. I - removed from this luxury to the Stafford Company, thence to the - York Theatre, where I succeeded my friend Mathews, and in which - situation I remained seven years. - - “October 12th, 1809, I made my début in London, in the Theatre - Royal, Lyceum, with the Drury Lane Company. The devouring - element had destroyed that magnificent pile Old Drury, which - caused the professors to employ that place of refuge. The - pieces I selected for the terrific ordeal, were _The Soldier’s - Daughter_ and _Fortune’s Frolic_;[384] the characters, Timothy - Quaint and Robin Roughhead. The public were infinitely more - kind than my negative merits deserved; and with gratitude I - acknowledge, that up to the present period, their bounty very - far exceeds the humble ability of their devoted servant, and - your true friend, - - “EDWARD KNIGHT.[385] - - “THEATRE ROYAL, DRURY LANE, - - “GARDEN COTTAGE, COVENT GARDEN, GROUND CHAMBERS, - - “_Nov. 15th, 1823_.” - - -1824. - -The following notice is written in my album this year, by Major -Cartwright:-- - -“John Cartwright, born at Marnham, near Tuxford, in the county of -Nottingham, on the 17th of September, 1740, old style, corresponding with -the 28th, new style. In the year 1758 he entered the naval service, under -the command of Lord Howe; was promoted to a lieutenancy in September, -1762, and continued on active service until the spring of 1771. Then -retiring to recruit his health, he remained at Marnham till invited by -his old Commander-in-chief, in the year 1775 or 1776; but not approving -of the war with America, he declined accepting the proffered commission. -About the same time he became Major of the regiment of Nottinghamshire -Militia, then for the first time raised in that county, in which he -served seventeen years. - -“When George III. arrived at the year of the Jubilee, a naval promotion -of twenty Lieutenants to the rank of Commanders, and the name of J. C. -standing the twentieth on the list, he was commissioned as a Commander -accordingly. - -“In the year 1802 he published _The Trident_, a work in quarto, having -for its object to promote that elevation of character which can -alone preserve the vital spirit of a navy, as well as to furnish an -inexhaustible patronage of the arts. - - “JOHN CARTWRIGHT, residing in Burton Crescent, _26th Jan., 1824_.” - -The Major died on the 23rd of September this year, at his house in Burton -Crescent, at the venerable age of eighty-four.[386] - - -1825. - -An author, in whose real character I was for many years deceived, -frequently importuned me to caricature literary females. But this -malicious advice, being repugnant to my feelings, I never could listen -to, nor is it my intention even to make public a memory-sketch now in my -possession of the adviser, when he was stooping over and pretending to -kiss the putrid corpse of him a portion of whose vast property he is in -possession of, and, I was going to say, happily enjoys.[387] Profoundly -learned as the person above alluded to considers himself to be, the -reader will, after perusing the following lines, written purposely for my -album, be convinced that jealousy towards the fair sex must be that man’s -master-passion. - -IMPROMPTU LINES BY MISS BENGER, ON THE PAUCITY OF INFORMATION RESPECTING -THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF SHAKSPEARE. - - Lives there, redeemed from dull oblivion’s waste, - One cherished line that _Shakspeare’s_ hand has traced? - Vain search! though glory crowns the poet’s bust, - His story sleeps with his unconscious dust. - Born--wedded--buried! Such the common lot, - And such was his. What more? almost a blot! - Even on his laurelled head with doubt we gaze; - And _fancy_ best his lineaments portrays. - Thus like an Indian deity enshrined, - In mystery is his image; whilst the mind - To us bequeathed, belongs to all mankind. - Yet here he lived; his manly high career - Of strange vicissitude, was measured here. - Not his the envied privilege to hail - The Eternal City! or in Tempe’s vale - Breathe inspiration with luxurious sighs, - And dream of Heaven beneath unclouded skies. - His sphere was bounded, and we almost trace - His daily haunts, where he was wont to chase - Unwelcome cares, or visions fair recall; - His breath still lingers on the cloistral wall, - With gloom congenial to his spirit fraught; - And thou, O Thames, his lonely sighs hast caught. - When one, the rhyming Charon of his day, - Who tugged the oar, yet conned a merry lay, - Full oft unconscious of the freight he bore, - Transferred the musing bard from shore to shore. - Too careless _Taylor!_ hadst thou well divined - The marvellous man to thy frail skiff consigned, - Thou shouldst have craved one tributary line, - To blend his glorious destiny with thine! - Nor vain the prayer!--who generous homage pays - To genius, wins the second meed of praise.[388] - -The much-famed Cup, carved from Shakspeare’s Mulberry-tree, lined with, -and standing on a base of silver, with a cover surmounted by a branch -of mulberry leaves and fruit, also of silver-gilt, which was presented -to Mr. Garrick on the occasion of the Jubilee at Stratford-upon-Avon, -was sold by Mr. Christie on May the 5th, 1825,[389] who addressed the -assembly nearly in the following words, for the recollection of which I -am obliged to the memory of my worthy friend, Henry Smedley, Esq.:[390]-- - - “Though this is neither the age nor the country in which relics - are made the objects of devotion, yet that which I am now to - submit to you must recall to your recollection the Stratford - Jubilee, when the pilgrims to the shrine of Avon were actuated - by a zeal as fervent as could have been exhibited either at - Loretto or Compostella. Let me then entreat a liberal bidding, - when I invoke you by the united names of Shakspeare and of - Garrick. I perceive that this little Cup is now submitted to - eyes well accustomed to appreciate the most exquisite treasures - of ancient arts; and that the rough and natural bark of the - mulberry-tree is regarded with as much veneration as the - choicest carving of Cellini or Fiamingo.” - -After one hundred guineas had been bid, Mr. Christie added, “I was -wishing that I had some of Falstaff’s sack here, with which I might fill -the Cup, and pledge this company, so as to invigorate their biddings; -but I think I may say now that at least there is no want of spirit among -them.” - - -1826. - -The term _busby_, now sometimes used when a large bushy wig is spoken of, -most probably originated from the wig denominated a buzz, frizzled and -bushy. At all events, we are not satisfied that the term busby could have -arisen, as many persons believe, from Dr. Busby, Master of Westminster -School, as all his portraits either represent him with a close cap, or -with a cap and hat.[391] - -During a most minute investigation of a regular series of English -portraits, which I was led into by a friend, in order, if possible, to -clear up this point, I was induced to look for the origin of wigs in -England, and their various sorts and successions, by commencing at the -time of William the Conqueror. In this search I was not able to find any -representation of wigs earlier than those worn by King Charles II.[392] -upon his Restoration, in proof of which I refer the reader to Faithorne’s -numerous portraits of that monarch, and he will find that that sort of -wig continued to be worn, with very little deviation, by succeeding kings -till George II.’s time, with whom it ended. The Merry Monarch, it has -been stated, followed the fashion of wearing a wig from Louis XIV.,[393] -with whom that custom commenced with the kings of France. The Duke of -Burgundy wore a wig. - -King George III. commenced his reign with wearing his own hair dressed -and powdered in the style of Woollett’s beautiful engraving of his -Majesty,[394] after a picture painted by Ramsey. King George III. wore a -wig, in the latter part of his reign, made from one of those worn by Mr. -Duvall, one of the masons of the Board of Works, with which shape his -Majesty was much pleased. - -The line in Pope, - - “Eternal buckle takes in Parian stone,” - -alludes to the wig carved on the monument of Sir Cloudesley Shovel in -Westminster Abbey.[395] - -This sort of wig, which received the appellation of “A Brown George,” -was also worn by several persons of rank, particularly the late Earl of -Cremorne.[396] Townsend, a Bow-street officer, condescendingly noticed -by the King, thought proper to wear a wig of this kind, in which he -appeared at the morning service in Westminster Abbey. - -It is worthy of observation, that in the reign of King Charles II. the -Lord Mayors of London followed his Majesty’s example, by wearing wigs -precisely of the same make, and equal to those worn by the Royal Family, -the highest courtiers, and persons of the first eminence in official -capacities. Nay indeed, Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey, a wood and coal-monger, -wore wigs of this shape, perhaps because he was a Justice of the Peace -within the King’s Court. The same kind of wig, equally deep, but with -curls rather looser and more tastefully flowing, was also worn by the -following high literary characters in the reigns of Charles II., James -II., William III., and Queen Anne:--Waller, Dryden, Addison, Steele, -Congreve, Vanbrugh, Butler, Rowe, Prior, Wycherley, etc.[397] Of these, -perhaps the two last-mentioned were the most foppish in their wigs, -particularly Wycherley, from whom the sets of large and beautifully -engraven combs of the finest tortoise-shell are named. With these combs -(which were carried in cases in their pockets) the wearers of wigs -adjusted their curls, ruffled and entangled by the wind. These combs are -held as curiosities by many of our old families. The last I saw was in -the possession of the friendly Dr. Meyrick, author of _The History of -Armour_. I have somewhere read that Wycherley, who was esteemed one of -the handsomest men of his day, was frequently seen standing in the pit -of the theatre combing and adjusting the curls of his wig, whilst in -lolling conversation with the first ladies of fashion in the boxes.[398] -Most of Sir Godfrey Kneller’s portraits were painted in this flowing wig, -particularly that celebrated series entitled Queen Anne’s Admirals.[399] -These pictures were lately moved by command of King George IV. from -Hampton Court Palace to the Nautical Gallery in Greenwich Hospital, where -they are placed to the highest advantage among numerous other portraits -of England’s naval victors. - -The actors at this time wore immense wigs, particularly Bullock, -Penkethman, etc.; Cibber’s was in moderation. It must here be observed, -that I now allude to their private wigs; their state wigs were, as -they are now, purposely caricatured to please the galleries.[400] I -believe that the first wig worn by an English divine was that of John -Wallis,[401] engraved by Burghers, and published at Oxford in the year -1699; it was profusely curled, but not so deep over the shoulders as -those of statesmen. - -There were many singular, and, indeed, learned characters whose wigs -were peculiarly shaped, such, for instance, as that of Bubb Doddington, -Lord Chesterfield, and the Duke of Newcastle. MacArdell’s print of Lord -Anson, after a picture by Sir Joshua Reynolds, was, I have every reason -to think, the first of the shape erroneously called the Busby. This sort, -Dr. Samuel Johnson, Armstrong, Hunter, the Rev. George Whitfield, Lord -Monboddo, etc., wore in their latter years. - -[Illustration: DR. OLIVER GOLDSMITH - -“The fellow took me for a tailor.”] - -The earliest engraved portraits of Dr. Johnson exhibit a wig with -five rows of curls, commonly called “a story wig.”[402] Among the old -dandies of this description of wig we may class Mr. Saunders Welch, Mr. -Nollekens’ father-in-law--he had nine storeys. So was that worn by Mr. -Nathaniel Hillier,[403] an extensive print-collector, as is represented -in an engraved portrait of that gentleman. Dr. Goldsmith’s wig was small -and remarkably slovenly, as may be seen by Bretherton’s etching. Sir -Joshua’s portrait of him is without a wig. Mr. Garrick’s wigs (I mean -his private ones) were three in number,--the first is engraved by Wood, -published in the year 1745; the second is by Sherwin, engraved for Tom -Davies; the last is from a private plate by Mrs. Solly, after a drawing -by Dance. I will leave off here with the wig, and give a few instances -of the tails. These perhaps originated with the Chinese, but the first -specimen of a tail, which I have hitherto been able to procure, to -which a date can be given, is in Sherwin’s print of Frederick, King of -Prussia.[404] - - -1827. - -The Londoners, but more particularly the inhabitants of Westminster, who -had been for years accustomed to recreate within the chequered shade of -Millbank’s willows, have been by degrees deprived of that pleasure, as -there are now very few trees remaining, and those so scanty of foliage, -by being nearly stript of their bark, that the public are no longer -induced to tread their once sweetly variegated banks.[405] - -Here, on many a summer’s evening, Gainsborough, accompanied by his -friend Collins, amused himself by sketching docks and nettles, which -afforded the Wynants and Cuyp-like effects to the foregrounds of his -rich and glowing landscapes. Collins resided in Tothill Fields, and was -the modeller of rustic subjects for tablets of chimneypieces in vogue -about seventy years back. Most of them were taken from Æsop’s Fables, and -are here and there to be met with in houses that have been suffered to -remain in their original state. I recollect one, that of the “Bear and -Bee-hives,” in the back drawing-room of the house formerly the mansion of -the Duke of Ancaster on the western side of Lincoln’s Inn Fields.[406] - -Millbank, which originally extended with its pollarded willows from -Belgrave House[407] to the White Lead Mills at the corner of the lane -leading to “Jenny’s Whim,” afforded similar subjects to those selected by -four of the old rural painters; for instance, the boat-builders’ sheds on -the bank, with their men at work on the shore, might have been chosen by -Everdingen;[408] the wooden steps from the bank, the floating timber, and -old men in their boats, with the Vauxhall and Battersea windmills, by Van -Goyen;[409] the various colours of the tiles of the cart-sheds, entwined -by the autumnal tinged vines, backed with the most prolific orchards, -with the women gathering the garden produce for the ensuing day’s market, -would have pleased Ruysdael;[410] and the basket-maker’s overhanging -smoking hut, with a woman in her white cap and sunburnt petticoat, -dipping her pail for water, might have been represented by the pencil of -Dekker.[411] It was within one of the Neat House Gardens[412] near this -bank that Garnerin’s kitten descended from the balloon which ascended -from Vauxhall Gardens in the year 1802.[413] This descent is thus handed -down in a song attributed to George Colman the younger, entitled - - PUSS IN A PARACHUTE. - - Poor puss in a grand parachute - Was sent to sail down through the air, - Plump’d into a garden of fruit, - And played up old gooseberry there. - The gardener, transpiring with fear, - Stared just like a hundred stuck hogs; - And swore, though the sky was quite clear, - ’Twas beginning to rain cats and dogs. - - Mounseer, who don’t value his life, - In the Thames would have just dipped his vings, - If it vasn’t for vetting his vife, - For vimen are timbersome things: - So at Hampstead he landed her dry; - And after this dangerous sarvice, - He took a French leave of the sky, - And vent back to Vauxhall in a Jarvis. - - -1828. - -Most willingly would I have resigned all the pleasures I ever enjoyed, -save that of my wedding-day, to have joined the throng of enthusiastics -in art, who assembled at Nuremberg this year, to do homage to the memory -of that morning star in art, Albert Dürer. Of the many descriptions -of the proceedings upon that glorious occasion, none gave me higher -delight than that of Mr. L. Schutze,[414] of Carlsruhe, an artist of -very considerable abilities, who, upon my requesting him to favour me -with an account, goodnaturedly complied with my wishes, but with all the -diffidence of one who had not long written in the English language. - - “At the festival which took place in Nuremberg, 1828, on - the 6th and 7th of April, the month on which Albert Dürer - died three hundred years before, some pupils of Cornelius in - Munich, intended to paint some transparent sceneries, the - most interesting ones, taken from his life, and to exhibit - them at the Festival. For this purpose they gave notice to - the magistrates and to the artists that they would arrive on - the 28th of March. The magistrates and artists were quite - satisfied with this offer, and resolved to welcome them some - miles from Nuremberg. Two gentlemen of consideration offered - their coaches, with four horses, and the most part of the - artists took post-coaches, all with four horses. One gentleman, - Mr. Campe,[415] a very clever man, and member of the Artists’ - Society, who led the procession, which consisted of eight - coaches with about thirty artists, took a barrel with wine - in his coach, and also a very old and interesting pitcher, - which was presented to A. Dürer by one of his particular - friends. About eight miles from Nuremberg, in Reichersdorf, - we stopped at the inn, intending to wait for the artists from - Munich. Mr. Campe ordered a good breakfast, and put up his - barrel and golden pitcher. Scarcely was all prepared, and the - breakfast ready, when we saw the artists arrive (we called them - ‘Cornelians,’ after the name of their master[416]), with a flag - and green branches in their caps, and merry singing. A loud - _vivat_ was the first expression of welcome; they were quite - astonished to find there so great a company. We now invited - them to come in, and to take refreshments after their fatigues. - The first proceeding was now to fill the pitcher with wine, - and to drink their health. There were about thirty-six artists - from Munich. After having made some speeches, having taken the - breakfast, and emptied the barrel, we, all quite refreshed and - pleased, took place in our chair-waggons, into which we invited - also the Cornelians, and rode back to Nuremberg. - - “At the old castle we all descended from our waggons, and saw - the old building, which is so very interesting in the history - of Germany. Then we went down to the house of Albert Dürer, - where all the strangers who arrived entered their names in a - book. Several gentlemen of consideration had offered to give - lodging to some of the strange artists, which was accepted with - great pleasure by them. Many others of them had free lodging - in the inns. The magistrates paid all their necessaries during - their stay. Every day artists and strangers arrived, and the - house of Albert Dürer was the place of meeting. The Cornelians - began to paint their transparencies: they had drawn the - sketches for them already in Munich. There were seven pictures; - they represented, firstly, Albert Dürer coming in receiving - instructions from Wohlgemuth; secondly, his marriage ceremony; - thirdly, the Banquet in Utrecht; fourthly, the Goddess of Art - crowns Albert Dürer and Raphael; fifthly, Dürer on board ship; - sixthly, the death of Dürer’s mother; seventhly, Dürer’s death. - We artists in Nuremberg painted Dürer’s figure, and several - allegories and writings, about sixty feet high altogether, - also transparencies, which we intended to exhibit on the road, - opposite his house. - - “Cornelius and many of the first artists from Munich, and from - other parts of Germany, arrived, and Dürer’s house was always - crowded: certainly a very interesting time to make acquaintance - with artists from several parts of the continent, and also to - see again old friends. The 6th of April, in the morning at six - o’clock, we went altogether to the grave of Albert Dürer. It - was very bad weather, all the night, much snow was falling, and - a very disagreeable wind blew. When we arrived at the grave, - and the musicians, who were with us, began to play, and we - began to sing, the sun at once appeared and looked friendly - down upon us. We sang three songs with accompaniments of - instruments; and then a speech was made, after which we went - home. Scarcely were we arrived there, when it again began to - snow, and it was very disagreeable all the day. - - “After noon, at half past six o’clock, an Oratorium composed - by Schneider,[417] took place in the Town-house. Mr. Schneider - came himself from Dessau, two hundred and fifty miles from - Nuremberg, to direct it. In the Town-house may still be seen - a triumphal procession, painted on the wall by Albert Dürer. - On one side the musicians were placed, and opposite to them - the seven transparencies were exhibited; they were beautifully - finished and pleased everybody. - - “After the oratorium a splendid supper took place, where - all the artists took part, and also several gentlemen of - consideration. Mr. Campe distributed to those present some - printed poems and books, containing interesting tales or - descriptions of clever men, contemporaries of Albert Dürer. - Then there were music and dancing. - - “On the 7th, at nine in the morning, there was a meeting - in the Town-house; all the artists were dressed in black, - and had flat hats and swords, except the strangers. The - magistrates distributed medals with Dürer’s portrait. At half - past eleven o’clock the procession began:--the magistrates, - the two burgomasters, the clergymen, many officers, and - all the artists, about three hundred persons together. The - military with music made a line in the streets through which - the procession passed. The King was expected, but did not - come. In the Milk-market (now called Albert Dürer’s Place) - the procession commenced; some speeches were made, then the - foundation-stone of a monument to Albert Dürer was laid, and - trumpets and cymbals resounded. Then all was finished, and all - went home. At two o’clock a brilliant dinner took place in the - Court of Bavaria, accompanied by music; and several poems and - songs were distributed, and the poor were not forgotten,--a - rich collection being made for them. In the theatre, the - play called _Albert Dürer_ was performed; and then our great - transparency was illuminated, and on the house where Albert - Dürer was born, and likewise where he had lived during the - latter part of his life, several inscriptions were illuminated. - A procession with flambeaux and fireworks ended the - festival-day. Some of the richest inhabitants arranged dinners - and suppers, and other rejoicings, to honour the artists. The - magistrates ordered also a very brilliant supper on the last - evening, before the artists parted, and bade them farewell. - - “L. SCHUTZE.” - -[Illustration: THE WIG IN ENGLAND - -A MACARONI READY FOR THE PANTHEON] - -For the following dates I am indebted to Albert Dürer’s Diary, contained -in the _Foreign Quarterly Review_ for January 1833, a work replete with -most interesting information. Albert Dürer was born in 1471; his father -taught him the goldsmith’s craft. In 1486 he was bound for three years -to Michael Wohlgemuth, an engraver on wood. He was married to Agnes, an -_un-lamb-like_ daughter of Hans Frey. He died on the 6th of April, 1528, -of a decline. His wife, an avaricious shrew, “_gnawed him to his very -heart,--he was dried up to a faggot_.”[418] Little did Albert Dürer -think, particularly from the period of his unhappy marriage to the hour -of his dissolution, when he was only fifty-seven years of age, that such -honours would be paid to his memory. - -The following letter is perhaps worth insertion here:-- - - “QUEEN STREET, MAYFAIR, - - “_Dec. 22, 1828_. - - “MY DEAR SIR,--Shortly after my return from Rome, in 1798, - I espied a bust in Rosso Antico, lying under a counter at a - broker’s shop, in Great Portland Street. I recognised its - antiquity; it was _a Faun_, large as life, in the best style - of art. I bought it for the trifling sum of £1. I had it in - my study many months. During this period, I often assisted - Nollekens in the architectural department of his monuments, - receiving no thanks; but an invitation one day, as we talked - Italian together. On accidentally mentioning my antique Faun, - he came to see it, and was so struck with its beauty, that he - would never rest till he got it out of my hands. He succeeded, - by offering me some models of his own, and ten pounds. Wishing - to oblige him, I let him have the bust, and he sent me two - miserable models not much higher than my thumb, of a Bacchus - and Ariadne, since broken to pieces. - - “This bust was in the collection at his sale, and it was - knocked down by Christie to the Duke of Newcastle for a hundred - and sixty pounds. - - “With great respect, ever yours truly, - - “CHARLES HEATHCOTE TATHAM.”[419] - -The following letter is curious:-- - - “In the winter of 1815, making a tour of the Netherlands, I - was in Bruges when the well-known statue, or rather group, of - the ‘Virgin and Child,’ by Michael Angelo Buonarotti, which - had been carried from the church of Notre Dame to Paris, was - restored, in a packing-case, to that church. On this occasion - a procession of the priests and officers of the church, and - of some of the municipal officers, took place; and a Mass was - celebrated. About a month afterwards, I was again in Bruges, - and saw this fine work of art replaced in its former situation, - on the altar of one of the small chapels. It is, indeed, a - wonderful work. - - “I was about the same period in Antwerp, and was present - when the pictures which had been taken to Paris, arrived in - carriages, and were escorted into the city by an English - regiment, then in garrison there (either the 15th or 25th of - infantry), preceded by the band of that regiment playing ‘God - save the King,’ and accompanied by the members of the Academy - of Antwerp, and the magistracy of the city. I own I felt all - the pride of an Englishman at seeing these works of art, which - British valour had regained, thus restored to the places from - whence they had been pillaged. - - “STEPHEN PORTER.[420] - - “TEMPLE, _Feb. 5, 1828_.” - -In July, I went to Hungerford Stairs to gain what information I could -respecting “Copper Holmes.” A waterman, whose face declared he had seen a -few liberal days, accosted me with the usual question, “Oars, sculler?” -I shook my head; but, upon a nearer approach, asked him the following -question, “How long has Copper been dead?” “There sits his widow at that -window mending her stockings,” said he; “we’ll go and put it to her.” - -On approaching her the waterman said, “This gentleman wants to know how -long Copper has been dead?” “How do you do?” said I, “your husband has -often in my early days rowed me to Pepper Alley.” “He died,” said the -woman (who retained enough in her care-worn features to induce me to -believe she had been pretty), sticking her needle on her cap, “he died, -poor fellow, on the 3rd of October, 1821, and a better man never trod -shoe-leather. He was downright and honest, and what he said he would do, -he did. I had been his wife two-and-twenty years; but he married me after -he left the _Ark_. His first wife lived in the _Ark_ with her children.” -“What vessel had the _Ark_ been?” “She had been a Westcountryman, and -it cost him altogether (with her fittings-up with sheets of copper) -one hundred and fifty pounds, and that gave him the name of ‘_Copper -Holmes_.’ His Christian name was Thomas. Ay, Sir, his lawsuit with the -City crippled him:[421] but I will say this for him, his Majesty had not -a better subject than poor Copper.” While she uttered this declaration, -both her eyes, which were seriously directed to her nose, were moistened -with the tears of affectionate memory, which induced me to turn to my -new acquaintance the waterman, and ask where he was buried? “In the -Waterman’s churchyard, Sir, under the pump-pavement on the south side of -St. Martin’s church.[422] Lord bless you! don’t you know the Waterman’s -burying-ground? I could take you to the spot where fifty of us have been -buried.” “What was his age?” “Sixty-six when he died.” - -After parting with the widow, I requested the master of the ceremonies -to allow his man to ferry me over to the King’s Head Stairs, Lambeth -Marsh. “He shall,” said Charles Price; “and I’ll go with you, too.” The -waggish, though youthful countenance of the lad employed to bring in our -boat, revived the pleasure Mathews had afforded me in his description of -Joe Hatch,[423] and induced me to inquire after the waterman whose look, -voice, and manner he had borrowed for that inimitable representation. -“George Heath, you mean, Sir,” answered the boy; “Of Strand Lane,” -observed Price; “Heath is his real name. Lord bless ye, he’s a -good-hearted fellow! Why, I have often known him put his hand in his -pocket and relieve a fellow-creature in distress.” - -This mention of Hatch induced me to question Price as to the Halfpenny -Hatch,[424] where Astley had first rode,[425] before he took the ground -at the foot of Westminster Bridge, on which the present Amphitheatre -stands. Before Price could answer, as we had made the shore, “You -will find the Halfpenny Hatch (for it still remains, though in a very -ramshackled state) at the back of St. John’s Church, Waterloo Road, at -the end of Neptune Place,” I was told upon my landing by a little chubby, -shining, red-faced woman, in what was formerly called a _mob-cap_. -Thither I went, and to my great surprise found the Halfpenny Hatch in -a dell, by reason of the earth being raised for the pavement of the -adjacent streets.[426] Field was the name of the person who occupied -the house; and, only a few years ago, money was received for the -accommodation of the public who chose to go through the hatch. It was -built subsequent to the year 1771, by Curtis, the famous botanist,[427] -whose name it still retains; but the original Hatch-house, Mrs. Field -informed me, was still standing at the back of the present one. - -The ground belonging to the Halfpenny Hatch was freehold, of about seven -acres, and sold by the Curtis family to Messrs. Basing, Atkins, and -Field, for the sum of £3500. They disposed of it in about six months -afterwards to Mr. Roupell, the present owner, for the sum of £8000.[428] -Being determined to take a sketch of the remains of this vine-mantled -Halfpenny Hatch, I took water at Strand Lane Stairs[429] on the following -evening, where I found George Heath busily engaged in his boat. Upon -seeing a poor chimney-sweeper who descended the steps with me, he stood -up and cried out, “I tell you what, Sir Cloudesley Shovel, although you -are a miller, depend upon it, I’ll dust your jacket for the injury you -have done my vessel.” A ferryman observed, “His wife was gone to take -a walk up Highgate Hill.” “A strainer,” observed George Heath. During -the time occupied in sketching, William Field, who lives in the Hatch, -pointed out part of the gate which had received a bullet, supposed -to have been aimed by some scoundrel at the elder Mr. Curtis, who -providentially escaped, though the ball, which came from a considerable -distance, passed only a few inches above his head. - - -1829. - -On the 25th of July, 1829, being on my way to the great Sanctuary, my -pleasure was inconceivable upon observing that the intended repairs of -Whitehall Chapel had commenced. The scaffolding was erected before its -street-front, and the masons had begun their restorations at the south -corner, strictly according with the fast decaying original.[430] “Well,” -said I to my respected friend, Mr. Henry Smedley, whose house I had -entered just as the chimes of the venerable Abbey and St. Margaret’s -had agreed to complete their quarters for nine, “I am delighted to -find that Inigo’s beautiful front of Whitehall is in so fair a way of -recovery.”[431] - -Bonington’s drawings, held at a respectful distance from the -_butter-dish_, were the next topic of conversation.[432] “I agree with -you,” observed my friend, “they are invaluable; even his slightest -pencil-touches are treasures. I have shown you the studies from the -figures which surround Lord Norris’s monument in the Abbey; have they not -all the spirit of Vandyke?[433] Ay, that drawing of the old buildings -seems to be your favourite; what a snug effect, and how sweetly it is -coloured!--there never was a sale of modern art so well attended.” - -After taking boat at the Horse Ferry for Vauxhall,--for the reader must -be informed that Mr. Smedley and myself had an engagement to pass the day -with Mr. William Esdaile, on Clapham Common,[434]--I asked the waterman -some questions as to “Copper Holmes.” He could not speak correctly as -to the time of his death, but said that he had been much reduced by the -lawsuit he had with the City about his barge. “Yes, that I know,” said I; -“and it certainly was a nuisance on the banks of the Thames, and also an -encroachment upon the City’s rights and privileges.” - -On arriving at Mr. Esdaile’s gate, Mr. Smedley remarked that this was -one of the few commons near London which had not been enclosed.[435] The -house had one of those plain fronts which indicated little, but upon -ascending the steps I was struck with a similar sensation to those of -the previous season, when first I entered this hospitable mansion. If I -were to suffer myself to utter anything like an ungrateful remark, it -would be that the visitor, immediately he enters the hall, is presented -with too much at once, for he knows not which to admire first, the choice -display of pictures which decorate the hall, or the equally artful and -delightful manner in which the park-like grounds so luxuriantly burst -upon his sight. Mr. Esdaile entered the library during our admiration of -its taste of design and truly pleasing effect. - -The walls are painted with a subdued red, a colour considered by most -artists best calculated to relieve pictures, particularly those with -broad gold frames. The first picture which attracted our notice was the -upper one of two upon the easel nearest the window. The subject is a -Virgin and Child, attributed to Albert Dürer, though I must own the style -is so elegantly sweet, with so little of the German manner, that I should -have considered it the work of a high Italian master. The upper one of -the two pictures on the correspondent easel near the bookcase, is from -the exquisite pencil of Adrian Ostade; it was the property of Monsieur de -Calonne,[436] at whose auction Mr. Esdaile purchased it when he became a -collector of pictures. - -It would be highly presumptuous in me to attempt to describe the pictures -from so cursory a view. Suffice it to say, they are chiefly of the first -class; and I cannot charge the possessor with an indifferent specimen. -Wilson and Gainsborough were honoured with two of the best places in -this room, which commands a most beautiful view of the grounds. In -passing to the best staircase, our eyes were attracted by the works of -Rubens, Ruysdael, Salvator Rosa, etc. I was highly gratified with the -standing of the colours of one of the rich landscapes from the easel -of my old and worthy friend, George Arnald, A.R.A. This picture was -originally purchased by my revered patron, Richard Wyatt, of Milton -Place, Egham, at whose sale Mr. Esdaile bought it. Two sumptuously rich -and large dishes of Oriental china, with their stands, occupy the corners -of the staircase, which leads to several chambers; the walls of the -left-hand one of which are adorned with drawings, framed and glazed, by -Cipriani and Bartolozzi; but more particularly with several architectural -ruins by Clerisseau, in his finest manner. On the north side of this room -stands a magnificent japan glazed case, which contains specimens of the -Raphael ware and Oriental porcelain, with two richly adorned alcoves, -with figures of Gibbon the historian, and his niece, manufactured at -Dresden. - -In Mr. Esdaile’s bedroom are other specimens of curious porcelain, of -egg-shell plates, cups and covers of the dragon with five claws, and two -exquisite black and mother-o’-pearl flower-pots, from the collection -of the Duchess-Dowager of Portland. On the top of a curiously wrought -cabinet, in the drawing-room below stairs, stand three dark rich blue -vases of Sèvres, and two vases of deep blue, embossed with gold leaves, -from the Chelsea manufactory. These articles, with a curious figure of -Harlequin set in precious stones, the body of which is formed of an -immense pearl, were purchased by Mr. Esdaile at the sale of her late -gracious Majesty Queen Charlotte. The lower parts of the japan case in -the upper room are filled with drawings; so are two other cases which -stand on the western side of the room, made purposely for their reception. - -The first drawings of our repast this day (for it would take twenty to -see the whole) were those by the inimitable hand of Rembrandt, many of -which were remarkably fine, one particularly so, of a man seated on a -stile near some trees, which appear to have been miserably affected by -a recent storm. This drawing is slight, and similar in manner to the -artist’s etching, called by some collectors the “Mustard Print.” One of -the drawings with landscapes on both sides is remarkably curious, as -they are drawn with what is called “the Metallic Pen”; it is certainly -the first specimen of the kind I have seen. The Ostade drawings were -our next treat, two of which the artist etched; one is the long print -of a merry-making on the outside of an alehouse, penned and washed; the -other is of the backgammon-players, completely finished in water-colours. -At this time the servant announced nooning; after which Mr. Smedley -requested to see Hogarth’s prints, in order to report to Mr. Standly[437] -the rarities in Mr. Esdaile’s collection. In this, however, we were -disappointed, as it did not contain any which that gentleman did not -possess. - -On our return to Mr. Esdaile’s room, we were indulged with several of -Hogarth’s drawings. A volume containing numerous drawings by Wilson was -then placed on the table. “Bless me,” said I, “here is the portrait of -my great-uncle, Tom of Ten Thousand.”[438] This is the identical drawing -thus described by Edwards:--“It may, however, be asserted, that he drew -a head equal to any of the portrait-painters of his time. A specimen of -which may be seen by a drawing, now in the possession of J. Richards, -Esq., R.A.,[439] which is the portrait of Admiral Smith, and which was -drawn before Wilson went abroad. It is executed in black and white chalk, -as large as life, upon brown French paper, and is treated in a bold, -masterly manner; but this is not a work which can authorise the critic to -consider him as superior to the other portrait-painters of his day.”[440] - -This drawing was made by Wilson, before he commenced the picture which -I am now in possession of, so well engraved in mezzotinto by Faber. Of -these inestimable drawings, which are mostly in black chalk, stumped, -perhaps the most interesting are those for Celadon and Amelia, and the -Niobe. Valuable and truly epic as these specimens certainly are, I must -say, for my own part, I should give the preference to the book containing -those by Gainsborough, of rustic scenery. I had seen many of them before, -in the possession of the artist, Colonel Hamilton, Mr. Nassau, and -Mr. Lambert. Two that were possessed by the latter, are stamped with -Gainsborough’s initials in gold. - -Dr. Richardson,[441] Mr. Esdaile’s son-in-law, having arrived, and dinner -being announced, we gave up these fascinating sources of pleasure, for -that which would enable us to enjoy them another day. - -The Doctor, with his accustomed elegance of manners, delighted us during -our repast with some most interesting observations made during his -travels; after which, Flora invited us to the garden, where Mr. Esdaile -had, with his usual liberality, allowed her to display some of her most -rare as well as picturesque sweets. On our return from the enchanting -circuit of the grounds, our general conversation was on the pleasures we -had received; and, indeed, so delighted were we with the entertainment of -the day, that we talked of little else till our arrival at Westminster -Bridge. - -[Illustration: LONDON STREET MERCHANTS: DOOR-MATS - -ETCHED BY J. T. SMITH] - -Beautiful and truly valuable as Mr. Esdaile’s drawings unquestionably -are, it would not only be considered an impeachment upon my judgment, but -a conviction of the deepest injustice towards that wonderful collection -so classically formed by Sir Thomas Lawrence, were I not unequivocally to -state, that this latter is by far the most choice, as well as extensive, -of any I have yet seen or heard of, and perhaps it may be stated with -equal truth, ever formed. What catalogue can boast so formidably of -Michael Angelo, Raphael, Claude, Rubens, and Rembrandt?[442] Surely -none; for I have seen those of Sir Peter Lely, the Duke of Argyle, and -Hudson,[443] at the last of whose sales the immortal Sir Joshua employed -me as one of his bidders, his pupil Mr. Score[444] was another. It would -be assuming too much, to attempt a description of the individual and high -importance of the productions of all the four above-mentioned masters, -possessed by the liberal President. - -As prospective pleasures are seldom realised, a truth many of my readers -must acknowledge, and being determined never to colour a picture at once, -but to await the natural course of events,[445] I on the 3rd of August -started with my wife for Hampton Court, not only to see the present state -of that palace, but to notice the sort of porcelain remaining there, -without fixing upon any further plan for the completion of the day’s -amusement. - -King William III., who took every opportunity of rendering these -apartments as pleasing to him as those he had left in the house in the -Wood, introduced nothing by way of porcelain, beyond that of delf, and on -that ware, in many instances, his Majesty had W. R., surmounted by the -crown of England, painted on the fronts. Of the various specimens of this -clumsy blue and white delf, displayed in the numerous rooms of this once -magnificent palace, the pride of Wolsey and splendour of Henry VIII., the -eight large pots for the reception of King William III.’s orange-trees, -now standing in her Majesty’s gallery, certainly have claims to future -protection. As for the old and ragged bed-furniture, it is so disgraceful -to a palace, that, antiquary as I in some degree consider myself, I -most heartily wish it in Petticoat Lane. In passing through the rooms, -I missed the fine whole-length picture of Admiral Nottingham,[446] and -also the thirty-four portraits of the Admirals. The guide informed me -that they were presented by our present King, William IV., to the Painted -Hall at Greenwich. “A noble gift,” said I, “but where can they put them -up?” In order to take some refreshment, we entered the parlour of the -“Canteen,” that being the sign of the suttling-house of the Palace. -During our stay, Legat’s[447] fine engraving from Northcote’s forcibly -effective picture of the “Death of the Princes in the Tower,” which -honoured the room, caught the attention of one of two other visitors to -the Palace. “Bless me,” said he, “are those brutes going to smother those -sweet babes? Why, they are as beautiful as the Lichfield children.”[448] -The observation was not made to me, and as the subject has been too often -mentioned, I shall forbear saying more about it. - -As my wife and I were strolling on, in order to secure places for -our return to London in the evening, I ventured to pull the bell at -Garrick’s Villa, and asked for permission to see the temple in which -Roubiliac’s figure of Shakspeare had originally been placed.[449] -Mr. Carr, the present proprietor of the estate, received us with the -greatest politeness. Upon expressing a hope that my love for the fine -arts would plead my apology for the intrusion, he assured me it would -afford him no small pleasure to walk with us to the lawn. “Do sit down, -for a tremendous storm appears to be coming on; we must wait a little.” -His lady, of most elegant manners, at this moment entered the room and -cordially joined in her husband’s wishes to gratify our curiosity, -observing that, if we pleased, she would show us the house. This offer -was made in so delightful a manner, that we were truly sensible of the -indulgence. - -Upon returning to a small room which we had passed through from the hall, -“Ah! ah!” said I, “you are curious in porcelain, I see,--the crackle. -What fine Dresden! I declare here is a figure of Kitty Clive, as the -_Fine Lady_ in Lethe, from the Chelsea manufactory.”[450] There is an -engraving of this by Moseley, with the landscape background etched by -Gainsborough. This figure of Mrs. Clive, which was something less than -a foot in height, was perfectly white, and one of a set of celebrated -characters, viz., John Wilkes; David Garrick, in _Richard the Third_; -Quin, in _Falstaff_; Woodward, in the _Fine Gentleman_; the Duke of -Cumberland, etc. Most of these were characteristically coloured, and are -now and then to be met with.[451] - -“How you enjoy these things!” observed Mrs. Carr. “This is the -drawing-room; the decorated paper is just as it was in Mr. Garrick’s -time; indeed, we have had nothing altered in the house. I never enter -this room without regretting the enormous expense we were obliged to -incur, in taking down a great portion of the roof, owing to a very -great neglect in the repairs of the house during Mrs. Garrick’s time. -Fortunately it was discovered just as we took possession of the premises, -or the consequences might have been fatal.” “Your grounds are beautiful,” -observed my wife. “Yes,” said Mrs. Carr, “and several of the trees -were planted by Mrs. Garrick; that mulberry-tree was a sucker from -Shakspeare’s tree at Stratford; that tulip-tree was one of her planting, -and so was the cedar. Now you shall see our best bed-room.” The end of -this room which contains the bed is divided from the larger portion by a -curtain suspended across the ceiling, which gives it the appearance of -a distinct drawing-room, for the comfort of a visitor, if indisposed. -“We will now go to Mr. and Mrs. Garrick’s bed-room.” Notwithstanding the -lowness of the ceiling, the room still carries an air of great comfort. -Here we were again gratified with a display of some choice specimens of -Oriental porcelain. - -We then descended to the dining-room, in which were portraits of the -Tracy family. On one side of the chimneypiece hangs a half-length picture -of Mrs. Garrick, holding a mask in her right hand. This was painted by -Zoffany,[452] before her marriage, who was one of her admirers; over the -sideboard hangs a portrait of Tom Davies, the author of the _Life of -Garrick_, who had been his steadfast friend.[453] We then returned to the -bow-room, in which we were first received; from thence we entered the -library, and were then shown Mr. Garrick’s dressing-table. On our return -to the bow-room, I asked Mr. Carr in what part of the house Hogarth’s -Election pictures had hung. “In this,” said he; “one on either side of -the fireplace.”[454] - -The rain still continuing, our amiable shelterers insisted on our -staying dinner, as it was impossible to see the Temple in such a -storm. We accepted this hospitable invitation; and in the course of -conversation Mrs. Carr assured us that we were not only seated upon the -sofa frequently occupied by Dr. Johnson, but also the identical cover. -“Now, Mrs. Smith, I will show you my Garrick jewels, which Mr. Carr, in -consequence of a disappointment I received, by their not being left to me -by will, according to Mrs. Garrick’s repeated promises, most liberally -purchased for me at the price fixed upon them by Messrs. Rundell and -Bridge; for I must inform you that the intimacy of my family with -Mrs. Garrick was of thirty years’ standing, and that lady and I were -inseparable.” The first treasure produced was a miniature of Mr. Garrick, -set in brilliants; the second, a rich bracelet of pearls, containing the -hair of Mr. and Mrs. Garrick. Mrs. Carr politely presented my wife and -myself with impressions of a profile of Mr. Garrick, contemplating the -features of Shakspeare. - -After dinner was announced, and in the course of taking our wine, I -thanked our worthy hosts for their hospitality. “This house,” said Mr. -Carr, “was ever famous for it. Dr. Johnson has frequently knocked up Mr. -and Mrs. Garrick at a very late hour, and would never go to bed without -a supper.”[455] I asked his opinion as to the truth of the anecdote -related by Lee Lewis concerning Mrs. Garrick’s marriage. “There certainly -is,” he replied, “a mystery as to who her father was.” Mrs. Carr observed -that, after Mrs. Garrick had read Lewis’s assertions, she, with her usual -vivacity, exclaimed, “He is a great liar; Lord Burlington was not my -father, but I am of noble birth.” - -“Is it true,” I asked, “that Lord Burlington gave Mr. Garrick £10,000 to -marry her?” - -“No, nor did Mrs. Garrick ever receive a sum of money from Lord -Burlington: she had only the interest of £6000, and that she was paid by -the late Duke of Devonshire.”[456] - -The rain now subsided; and as we passed through the passage cut under -the road, Mrs. Carr stopped where Mrs. Garrick had frequently stood, -while she related the following anecdote. ‘_Capability Brown_,’[457] -was consulted as to the communication of these grounds with those by -the water. Mr. Garrick had an idea of having a bridge to pass over the -road, similar to the one at Pain’s Hill;[458] but this was objected to -by _Capability Brown_, who proposed to have a tunnel cut. Mr. Garrick at -first did not like that idea; but Dr. Johnson observed, “David! David! -what can’t be over-done may be under-done.”[459] - -As we entered the Temple, instead of seeing a vacant recess, we were -agreeably surprised to find that the present owner had occupied it by a -cast of Roubiliac’s statue of Shakspeare, most carefully taken by Mr. -Garrard,[460] similar to the one with which he furnished the late Mr. -Whitbread for the hall of Drury Lane Theatre. On our return to the villa, -we were shown a small statue of Mr. Garrick, in the character of Roscius; -but by whom it was modelled I was not able to learn. The following -inscription was placed under the plinth:--“This figure of Garrick was -given to Mr. Garrard, A.R.A., by his widow, and is now respectfully -presented to Mrs. Carr, to be placed in Garrick’s Villa, July 14, 1825.” - -In the bow-room, in which we again were seated, is a portrait of Mr. -Hanbury Williams, and also two drawings of Mr. and Mrs. Garrick, by -Dance, of which there are lithographic engravings by Mrs. Solly, the -daughter of the Rev. Mr. Racket, with impressions of which that lady -honoured me for my wife’s illustrated copy of the _Life of Dr. Johnson_. -Mrs. Solly also favoured me with a sight of a pair of elegant garnet -bracelets, which had been left to her by Mrs. Garrick. The bell, -Nollekens’s old friend, announced the arrival of the stage, and we took -our departure. - -On the following morning, taking advantage of the Museum vacation allowed -to officers of that establishment, and feeling an inquisitive inclination -to know in what way the portraits of the admirals had been disposed of -in Greenwich Hospital, I went thither, where I found a display of great -taste in the distribution of the pictures which adorn the Painted Hall of -that national and glorious institution. Many of my readers will recollect -that in second editions of works errors are usually corrected. Such, I -understand, has been the case in the hanging of the pictures in this -splendid gallery; for, in the first instance, numerous small and also -indifferent subjects were hung at the top of the room, and the spectator -was told that this arrangement was merely to produce uniformity, until -a period arrived when larger and better productions could occupy their -places. The liberality of King William IV., who gave no fewer than -fifty-five pictures, in addition to the very valuable presents made by -the Governors of the British Institution, enabled Mr. Seguier, keeper of -the royal collection, to display his best taste in the re-arrangement. - -All the small pictures have been taken away, and a most judicious display -of whole-length portraits, the size of life, occupy their spaces. Modern -artists must not only be pleased with the truly liberal manner in which -their works are here exhibited, but will rejoice in having an opportunity -of retouching and improving their pictures, from the manner in which the -light falls upon them--an advantage always embraced in large edifices -by the old masters, but perhaps more particularly by Rubens, who, it is -well known, worked upon his performances after they had been elevated to -their respective destinations. I must own, without a wish to cast the -least reflection upon the works of other modern artists displayed in -this gallery, that the noble picture of the Battle of Trafalgar, painted -by Arnald, the Associate of the Royal Academy, at the expense of the -Governors of the British Institution, at present arrests most powerfully -the attention. - -As I was admiring the dignity of the Hampton Court admirals, who -never appeared to such advantage, a well-known voice whispered over -my shoulder, “You are not aware, perhaps, that Vandevelde painted the -sea-distances in those pictures?” “No,” answered I; “that is a very -interesting fact;” adding that “I could not believe Kneller to have -been the painter of all the heads.” Mr. Seguier rejoined, “Dahl, in my -opinion, painted some of them.”[461] In the course of conversation -he gave me no small pleasure by observing that he had read my work of -_Nollekens and his Times_.--“I can answer as to the truth of nine-tenths -of what you have asserted,” said he, “having known the parties well.” - -Upon leaving this interesting gallery, a pleasing thought struck me, that -if a volume of naval history, commencing with the early ballads in the -Pepysian Library, and ending with the delightful compositions of Dibdin, -were printed, and given to every collier’s apprentice as a reward for his -good behaviour, it might create in him that spirit of emulation which, -when drafted from his vessel, would induce him to defend the long-famed -wooden walls of Old England most undauntedly. Humble as the versification -of these our old ballads may justly be considered, yet I have frequently -seen the tear of gratitude follow the melody of Incledon while singing -the song of “Admiral Benbow.”[462] - -[Illustration: CHARLES DIBDIN - -“He found a voice for the British sailor.” - -_Tom Taylor_] - -“What, upon the old trot, Master?” observed a funny-mover,[463] as I -descended the rotten old stairs of Hungerford Market. “Will you make -one with us? I know you don’t mind where you steer.” We had hardly made -Chelsea Reach, when one of our crew noticed a foundered freshman, who -had most ingeniously piloted himself into a cluster of osiers, in order -to adjust his cravat, as a lady in our boat was to meet him that evening -in Vauxhall Gardens. Our steersman, who was fond of a bit of fun, thus -assailed him, “I say, Maty, why you’re water-logged there; you put me -in mind of the Methodist parson who ran adrift last Saturday nearly -in the same place: he made a pretty good thing of it.” “Ay,” observed -a dry old fresh-water passenger in our boat, “I saw the fellow; and -when the Battersea gardeners[464] quizzed him, he attempted to stand -up like a poplar; but the wind operating upon his head, it hung like a -bulrush. However, when he was seated, instead of advising them to make -ready for simpling-time, or bespattering them with low language, he -exercised his pulpit volubility in favour of vegetables, declaring that -for years he had lived upon them, and insisted that every young person -of every climate should eat nothing else, strengthening this opinion -with the following quotation from Jeremy Taylor, who declared that ‘a -dish of lettuce and a clear fountain would cool all his heats.’ After -this he most strenuously advised them to ask more money for their pecked -fruit than they had been accustomed to receive, observing, that they -should keep Shakspeare’s caution in mind, ‘Beware all fruit but what -the birds have pecked.’[465] At the close of his address, a descendant -of old Mother Bagley, called ‘The King of Spades,’ proposed to his men -not only to join him in all their coppers, but to fresh-water the poor -fellow’s boat, for which he thanked them, and declared that he was almost -ready to float in his own perspiration; but that he, like Sterne’s[466] -‘Starling,’ could not get out. The Mortlake boys soon gave him three -cheers, and away he scuttled like an eel towards Limehouse Hole, sticking -as close to his boat as a toad to the head of a carp.” - -At this the lady simpered. “Bless your heart, fair one,” observed the -narrator, addressing the lady who was destined for Vauxhall Gardens, “you -never saw such a skeleton as this vegetable-eater. As for his complexion, -it was for all the world like--what shall I say?” - -“Perhaps a Queen Anne’s guinea,” observed our waterman, “that they used -to let into the bottom of punch-ladles”--many of which were frequently to -be seen in the pawnbrokers’ windows in Wapping. - -“As for his voice during his preaching,” rejoined our entertaining -companion, “no lamb’s could be more innocent.” - -As we were tacking about, the wind standing fair to drop the lady at -Vauxhall-stairs, our old weathergage, the waterman, who reminded me -of Copper Holmes, thus addressed a lopped Chelsea Pensioner:--“I say, -old Granby,[467] people say that he who loves fighting is much more -the sexton’s friend than his own.” “Ay, Master Smelter,” answered the -corporal, “we are all alive here, and, like the Greenwich boys, willing -to fight again; Old England for ever!” - -I then requested the waterman to put me on shore, in order to visit -Chelsea College, purposely to see what had been done with my friend -Ward’s allegorical picture of the Triumph of the Duke of Wellington. The -Right Hon. Noblemen and Gentlemen, Governors of the British Institution, -wishing to perpetuate the memory of the noble victory on the plains -of Waterloo, they, with their accustomed liberality to the fine arts, -commissioned James Ward, Esq., R.A., to paint an allegorical picture -worthy a place in the Hall of that glorious establishment, Chelsea -Hospital. Having heard that Mr. Ward’s picture had been hung up, I went -thither, but, to my utter astonishment, found it not only suspended -without a frame (just as a showman in a fair would put out his large -canvas to display “the true and lively portraiture” of a giant, the -Pig-faced Lady, or the Fire-eater), but with its lower part projecting -over a gallery, just like the lid of a kitchen salt-box; so that the -upper and greater half, being on an inclined plane, had copiously -received the dust, and doubtless, if it be allowed to accumulate, -the Duke’s scarlet coat will undergo a brick-dust change, and his -cream-coloured horses become the dirtiest of all the drabs. - -If this picture be considered worth preserving, why expose it so -shamefully to injury by suffering it to hang as it does? If, on the -contrary, why not at once consign it to the waters of oblivion, by -casting it into Chelsea Reach? Mr. Ward’s superior talents have been in -numerous instances acknowledged by some of the best judges. - -Descending Villiers Street on one of my peregrination mornings, a -tremendous storm obliged me to request shelter of Mrs. Scott, the wife -of the present keeper of York Terrace, and successor of Hugh Hewson, -a man who declared himself to be the genuine character famed by Dr. -Smollett in _The Adventures of Roderick Random_, under the appellation of -Hugh Strap.[468] Here I met with a young man whose father had attended -Hewson’s funeral, who informed me that Hugh had been frequently known -to amuse the ambulators of that walk by recapitulating the enterprising -events which had taken place during his travels with the Doctor. Hugh, -who had for years followed the trade of a hairdresser, was buried in St. -Martin’s-in-the-Fields, and his funeral was attended by three generations. - -On my way towards Hungerford Stairs, my organ of inquisitiveness was -arrested by two carvings in stone, of a wheatsheaf and sickles, let into -either side of the north-end houses in the alley leading to the “The -Swan.” A waterman informed me that the south portion of Hungerford Market -was originally allotted for the sale of corn, but I have since learned -that that device is the crest of the Hungerford family. “Pray now,” said -I to my oracle, “do enumerate the signs of Swans remaining on the banks -of the Thames, between London and Battersea Bridges.” “Why, let me see, -Master, there’s the Old Swan at London Bridge, that’s one;--there’s -the Swan in Arundel Street, two;--then ours here, three;--the Swan at -Lambeth, that’s down, though;--well then, the Old Swan at Chelsea, but -that has long been turned into a brewhouse, though that was where our -people rowed to formerly, as mentioned in Doggett’s Will; now they row -to the sign of the New Swan beyond the Physic Garden; we’ll say that’s -four;--then there’s the two Swan signs at Battersea, six.”[469] - -Next evening, away I trudged to take water with George Heath (Mathews’s -Joe Hatch) at Strand Lane. “I find the Swan to be your usual sign up the -river,” said I. - -“Why, yes,” replied George; “I don’t know what a coach, or a waggon and -horses, or the high-mettled racer have to do with our river. Bells now, -bells, we might have bells, because the Thames is so famous for bells.” -Bless me, thought I, how delighted would my old friend Nollekens have -been, had he heard this remark! - -[Illustration: A PLEASURE PARTY ON THE THAMES] - -“You like bells, then, Master Heath?” - -“Oh yes! I was a famous ringer in my youth, at St. Mary Overies. They are -beautiful bells; but of all the bells give me Fulham; oh, they are so -soft, so sweet![470] St. Margaret’s are fine bells; so are St. Martin’s; -but after all, Fulham for my money, I say. I forget where you said I was -to take you to, Master?” - -“Row me to Hungerford,” said I. - -Here I alighted, and then went round to Wood’s coal-wharf, at the foot -of Northumberland Street,[471] where the said Mr. Wood dwells in the -very house in which Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey resided, who was strangled -in Somerset House.[472] Sir Edmund Berry was a woodmonger, and became -the court justice. In this appointment he was so active, that during the -time of the Great Plague, 1665, which continued to rage in 1666, upon the -refusal of his men to enter a pest-house, to bring out a culprit who had -furnished a thousand shops with at least a thousand winding-sheets stolen -from the dead, he ventured in alone, and brought the wretch to justice. -In Evelyn’s interesting work on medals, the reader will find that four -were struck, commemorative of Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey’s death; and in -addition to the elaborately engraved portraits noticed by Granger, he -will also find an original picture of him in the waiting-room adjoining -the vestry of St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields, where he was interred, and his -funeral sermon preached by Dr. Lloyd.[473] - -In a little work published in 1658, entitled _The Two Grand Ingrossers of -Coals, viz. the Woodmonger and the Chandler_,[474] the reader will find -the subtle practices of the coal-vendors shortly after that article was -in pretty general use. - -It is curious to observe how fond Horace Walpole, and indeed all his -followers, have been of attributing the earliest encouragement of the -fine arts in England to King Charles I. That is not the fact; nor is -that Monarch entitled, munificent as he was, to that degree of praise -which biographers have thought proper to attribute to him as a liberal -patron; and this I shall immediately prove. King Henry VIII. was the -first English Sovereign who encouraged painting, in consequence of -Erasmus introducing Hans Holbein to Sir Thomas More, who showed his -Majesty specimens of that artist’s rare productions. Upon this the king -most liberally invited him to Whitehall, where he gave him extensive -employment, not only in decorating the panels and walls of that palace -with portraits of the Tudors, as large as life, but with easel pictures -of the various branches of his family and courtiers, to be placed over -doors and other spaces of the state chambers. - -Holbein may be recorded as the earliest painter of portraits in -miniature, which were mostly circular, and all those which I have -seen were relieved by blue backgrounds. He was also the designer and -draughtsman of numerous subjects for the use of the court jewellers, as -may be seen in a most curious volume preserved in the print-room of the -British Museum, many of which are beautifully coloured. Holbein must -have been a most indefatigable artist, for he was not only employed -to paint that fine picture of King Henry granting the charter to the -Barber-Surgeons,[475] now to be seen in Barbers’ Hall, Monkwell -Street,[476] that in Bridewell of King Edward VI. granting the charter to -the citizens of London,[477] but numerous portraits for the Howards, and -other noble families; indeed, the quantity of engravings from the burin -of Hollar and other artists, from Holbein’s works, prove that painter to -have been just as extensively employed as Vandyke. - -[Illustration: SIR EDMUND BERRY GODFREY - -“He was esteemed the best Justice of Peace in England.” - -_Burnet_] - -King Charles I., it is stated, became possessed of numerous portraits -drawn by Holbein, of several personages of the crown and court of King -Henry VIII., from characters high in office, to _Mother Jack_,[478], -considered to have been the nickname of Mrs. Jackson, the nurse of Prince -Edward. These interesting drawings, it is said, the King parted with for -a picture; but how they again became the property of the Crown, I am -uninformed. However, true it is that they were discovered in Kensington -Palace, and taken from their frames and bound in two volumes. During Mr. -Dalton’s[479] librarianship he etched many of them in his coarse and -hurried manner. Since then Mr. Chamberlaine,[480] his successor, employed -Mr. Metz[481] to engrave one or two as specimens of an intended work, -but Mr. Bartolozzi’s manner being considered more likely to sell, that -artist was engaged to produce the present plates, which certainly are -far from being facsimiles of Holbein’s drawings, which I have seen. Many -of this master’s invaluable pictures are engraved and published in the -work entitled _Portraits of Illustrious Personages of Great Britain_; -accompanied by the biographical lucubrations of Edmund Lodge, Esq.[482] - -The liberality of the brothers Paul and Thomas Sandby, Royal -Academicians, will be remembered by every person who had the pleasure of -being acquainted with them; but more particularly by those who benefited -by their disinterested communications and cheering encouragement in -their art. For my own part, I shall ever consider myself indebted to -them for a knowledge of lineal perspective. By their indefatigable -industry, the architecture of many of the ancient seats of our nobility -and gentry will be perpetuated; and I may say, but for the very accurate -and elaborate drawings taken by Paul from Old Somerset House gardens, -exhibiting views up and down the river, much of the Thames scenery must -have been lost.[483] The view up the river exhibits the landing-stairs -of Cuper’s Gardens, and that part of the old palace of Whitehall then -inhabited by the Duchess of Portland, upon the site of which the houses -of that patron of the arts, Lord Farnborough,[484] and other noblemen and -gentlemen, have recently been erected. The one down the river displays -an uninterrupted view of the buildings on either side to London Bridge, -upon which the houses are seen, by reason of Blackfriars Bridge not then -being erected. These drawings are in water-colours, and are preserved -in the thirteenth volume of Pennant’s interesting account of London, -magnificently illustrated, and bequeathed to the print-room of the -British Museum by the late John Charles Crowle, Esq.[485] - -Should my reader’s boat ever stop at York Watergate,[486] let me request -him to look up at the three upper balconied windows of that mass of -building on the south-west corner of Buckingham Street. Those, and the -two adjoining Westminster, give light to chambers occupied by that -truly epic historical painter, and most excellent man, Etty, the Royal -Academician, who has fitted up the balconied room with engravings after -pictures of the three great masters, Raphael, Nicholas Poussin, and -Rubens. - -The other two windows illumine his painting-room, in which his mind and -colours resplendently shine, even in the face of one of the grandest -scenes in Nature, our river Thames and city edifices, with a most -luxuriant and extensive face of a distant country, the beauties of which -he most liberally delights in showing to his friends from the leads of -his apartments, which, in my opinion, exhibit the finest point of view of -all others for a panorama. The rooms immediately below Mr. Etty’s[487] -are occupied by Mr. Lloyd, a gentleman whose general knowledge in the -graphic art, I and many more look up to with the profoundest respect. The -chambers beneath Mr. Lloyd’s are inhabited by Mr. Stanfield,[488] the -landscape-painter, whose clear representations of Nature’s tones have -raised the scenic decorations of Drury Lane Theatre to that pinnacle -of excellence never until his time attained, notwithstanding the -productions of Lambert, Richards, nay, even Loutherbourg. Mr. Stanfield’s -easel pictures adorn the cabinets of some of our first collectors, and -are, like those of Callcott, Constable, Turner, Collins, and Arnald, -much admired by the now numerous publishers of little works, who -unquestionably produce specimens of the powers of England’s engravers, -which immeasurably out-distance the efforts of all other countries. - -However, although I am willing to pass the highest encomiums on the -landscape-engraver for his Liliputian labours, I am much afraid, in the -course of time, we shall have productions smaller still; and that the -diminutive size of a watch-paper, measuring precisely in diameter _one -inch, two-eighths, and one-sixteenth_, will be the noblest extent of -their labours. To men of their talent (and there are several among these -pigmy burinists), I will venture, now I am upon the silver streams of -noble Father Thames, to lead their attention to Woollett’s Fishery, but -more particularly to West’s La Hogue, and then let them ask themselves -this question: Would it not redound more to our glory to be master of -equal excellence in the grand style in which those works are produced, -than to contribute too long to the illustrations of scrapbooks only? -Yes, gentlemen, I think you would say so. Let me endeavour, then, to -arrest your gravers from this blinding of the public, by reducing -your works to so deplorable a nicety, that by-and-by you will find -yourselves totally blind. Why not, as talent is not wanting, prove to -the collectors that England has more Woolletts than one? It is true -there are several at present engaged in engraving plates from the fine -old pictures in the National Gallery, who have my cordial good wishes -for their success; yet I trust that, after that task is at an end, -they will, with a considerable augmentation to their numbers, pay a -becoming respect so justly due to modern painters of their own country, -whose works in historical subjects, as well as portraits and landscape, -extinguish unquestionably those of foreign powers; and I may say, with -equal truth, equal most of those of the old schools. Such a publication, -however successful their present one may be, I can answer for it would -be patronised by the noblemen and gentlemen of England with redoubled -liberality, and in such tasks the engravers will have the opportunity -of producing finer things by the more powerful, and indeed inestimable -advantage of having their progressive proofs touched upon by the painters -themselves. - -“Pull away, my hearty” (for I was again in a boat).--“To Westminster, -Master?”--“Ay, to Westminster.” - -Being now in view of the extensive yards which for ages have been -occupied by stone and marble merchants, “Ay,” said I, “if these wharfs -could speak, they, no doubt, like the Fly, would boast of their noble -works. Was it not from our blocks that Roubiliac carved his figures of -Newton, the pride of Cambridge, and that of Eloquence, in Westminster -Abbey; Bacon’s figure of Mars, now in Lord Yarborough’s possession; -Rossi’s Celadon and Amelia, and Flaxman’s mighty figure of Satan, in -the Earl of Egremont’s gallery at Petworth; as well as three-fourths of -Nollekens’s numerous busts, which, according to whisperings, have only -been equalled by Chantrey? And then, has not our Carrara been conveyed to -the studios of Westmacott and Baily?[489]” - -[Illustration: JOHN FLAXMAN R.A. - -“This little man cuts us all out in sculpture.” - -_Bankes_] - -After the truly interesting information the print-collectors have -received from the pen of Mr. Ottley,[490] a gentleman better qualified -than any I know to speak on works of art, more particularly those of -the ancient schools of Italy, it would be the highest audacity in me to -offer my own observations, however conversant my friends are pleased -to consider me on those subjects. All I shall therefore now add to Mr. -Ottley’s valuable stock of knowledge are the following circumstances, -which occurred respecting that beautiful impression in sulphur, taken -from a pax, engraved by Tomaso Finiguerra, before the said impression was -so liberally purchased by the Duke of Buckingham, who has most cheerfully -afforded it an asylum at Stowe. It has been for many years in the -Print-Room of the British Museum.[491] - -Mr. Stewart favoured me, at my earnest request, with the following -statement of the fortunate manner in which he secured this unique and -inestimable production as a treasure for England. - -“The sulphur cast, from the celebrated pax of ’Maso Finiguerra, came -into my hands in the following manner:--The Cavalier Seratti, in whose -valuable collection it originally existed, was captured in going from -Cagliari to Leghorn, and carried to Tunis, where he resided, I believe, -for one or two years; but, dying in captivity, the Dey of Tunis took -possession of the whole of his property. Such part of it as was not of -any intrinsic value was sold to a party of Jews, who brought it over to -Malta with a view of sending it to Great Britain for sale. This took -place about the commencement of 1804. The property coming from Barbary -was of course placed in the lazaretto. While there the plague broke out -in the island, and it was a full year before the property was liberated. -The Jews by this time had become apprehensive, owing to the numerous -obstacles they had encountered in the realisation of their projects; and -my friend the Abbate Bellanti, librarian to the Government Library, with -a view to retain the collection in his native island, induced a Maltese -merchant to make the Jews such an offer for the whole of the Seratti -collection as they at last accepted. The merchant, however, retracted; -and the abbot, after having made himself responsible for the bargain -towards the Jews, found himself in an unpleasant predicament. In this -dilemma he applied to me, and I readily engaged to fulfil the agreement -which the merchant had forfeited. The sulphur in question formed the -object of a separate bargain. I paid the value of £15 for it. I was very -unfortunate in the transmission of my collection to England, two ships -having been cast away in the Channel in November, 1815, both with a -considerable portion of my property on board. I was more successful with -the third portion, which arrived in 1816; in this was the sulphur cast. -I never would have parted with it but for the above accident, whereby at -that time I was much straitened in my circumstances. - -“The sulphur I sold to Mr. Colnaghi for £150, which I thought a low price -at the time for such an interesting and unique curiosity, indispensable -for illustrating and fixing the date of the invention of the art of -engraving (as it is now called). This sulphur, with the print preserved -at Paris, and the pax of Finiguerra himself, preserved at Florence, -together with the entry in the journal of the Goldsmiths’ Company, also -preserved at Florence, showing the date of the completion of the pax -to be 1452, form altogether an irrefragable chain of proof which must -satisfy the most sceptical. By a memorandum in Seratti’s own handwriting, -which is amongst my papers (but having been sent from Bombay to -Liverpool, I have not yet got), it appears that he purchased the sulphur -from a painter, who bought it with a heap of other trinkets at the stall -of a petty dealer in Florence: and on acquiring it Seratti compared -it with the pax itself, and ascertained it to be the genuine work of -Finiguerra. - -“I may add a few observations of my own, not altogether irrelevant to the -subject. - -“The silver vessel, or pax, generally enclosed some relic, and was -kissed by the congregation or other individuals in token of devotion; -and the Count Seratti mentions that the one of which this sulphur is in -part a facsimile, is very much worn by this repeated act of devoutness. -The word pax appears to be a corruption of pyxis, a box; and we have in -Shakspeare _a pyx of little value_. The engraving was usually filled up -with a metallic mixture of a dark composition, which, being fused by -the action of fire, became incorporated with the vessel itself. This -process was called Niello, or Anniello, Niellare, or Anniellare; hence -our _anneal_, the term probably derived from _nigellum_, or perhaps -even from Mêl, the Indian term for _black_, and applied to indigo, by -which name that dye was originally known in Europe, and it was probably -used in the composition before alluded to. The term _anniello_, and the -purpose to which these pyxes were applied, is further illustrative of a -passage in Shakspeare, which I believe has hitherto puzzled commentators. -It is this:--Hamlet accuses his uncle of having dispatched his father -‘unhousel’d, unanointed, _unanneal’d_;’ it alludes to the custom in -Catholic countries of offering relics preserved in their pyxes to be -kissed after extreme unction. - -“I shall be happy to communicate any further particulars respecting this -interesting vestige of art which may be required of me, in as far as I am -able. - - “J. STEWART. - -“_2nd May, 1829._” - - -1830. - -The glowing evening of the 16th of July added lustre to the enchanting -grounds of William Atkinson, Esq. of Grove End, Paddington;[492] and -perhaps, if I were to assert that few spots, if any, excel in the variety -of its tasteful walks and unexpected recesses, I should not outstep the -verge of truth. - -The villa was designed by Mr. Atkinson, with his usual attention -to domestic comfort; the grounds were peculiarly manured under his -direction, and the rarest trees and choicest plants he could procure from -all the known parts of the globe were planted by his own hand, and that -too in the course of the last twelve years. On the knolls the antiquary -will find sculpture from Carthage; and in the silent trickling dells the -mineralogist specimens of the varieties of English stone, imbedded in -the most picturesque strata. The delightful surprise of the spectator is -beyond belief, particularly on turning back to view his trodden path, -when that sun which fired the mind of Claude sparkles among the gently -waving branches from climes he may never visit. Upon my observing to -Mrs. Atkinson that in this meandering retreat my mind would be instantly -soothed, that lady then recalled to my recollection Allan Ramsay’s -_Gentle Shepherd_, by repeating the following lines: - - “How wholesome is’t to breathe the vernal air, - And all the sweets it bears, when void of care.”[493] - -Here the Waltonian, too, will find a seat, and view the canal-- - - “Kissing with eddies soft the bordering grass.” - -My thanks are here offered to my friend Mr. West,[494] late of Drury Lane -Theatre, now a professor of music, for the kind loan of an imperfect -copy (which he met with at a stall) of a work of rarity, of which I have -not been able to hear of another copy. It is not mentioned by Watt, and, -what is more remarkable, the Rev. Hartwell Horne,[495] of the British -Museum, never heard of it. It is a small quarto, bearing the following -title:-- - - “THE POST ANGEL, OR, UNIVERSAL ENTERTAINMENT. - - “London: printed, and to be sold by A. Baldwin, near the Oxford - Arms, in Warwick Lane, 1702, where is to be had the first and - second volume, or any single month, from January, 1701, to this - time; price of each, one shilling.”[496] - -Page 191 of the third volume affords the admirers of wax effigies the -following information:-- - - “TO THE EDITOR. - - “SIR,--You having promised to give an account of the - curiosities of art, as well as the wonders of nature, I thought - it would oblige the public to acquaint you that the effigies - of his late Majesty, King William III., of glorious memory, is - curiously done to the life in wax, dressed in coronation robe, - with so majestic a mien that nothing seems wanting but life - and motion, as persons of great honour upon the strictest view - have with surprise declared. Likewise the effigies of several - persons of quality, with a fine banquet, and other curiosities - in every room, passing to and from the King’s apartment, are - all to be seen at Mrs. Goldsmith’s, in Green Court, in the Old - Jury, London.” - -From the following flummery bespattered on this wax-worker by the editor -of the _Post Angel_, I may, with the greatest probability, conclude that -his substance was just as vulnerable as that of many of the hirelings who -feed themselves by puffing what they denominate “the fine arts,” and that -he had no objection to a dozen of port, _had it been ever so crusted_. - -“The Observator” states that “the ingenuity of man hath found out -several ways to imitate Nature, and represent natural bodies to the eye -by sculpture, picture, carving, waxwork, etc.; and though some of the -ancients were famed for this art, as Zeuxis and Apelles, yet our last -ages have outstripped them, and made considerable improvements, as may -be easily discernible to those who are skilled in antiquities, and have -observed the _rude_ and _coarse_ pieces of the ancients. Those that -question the truth of this, need but step to that famous artist, Mrs. -Goldsmith, in the Old Jewry, whose _workmanship_ is so absolute (_in -the effigies which she has made of his late Majesty_), as it admits of -no correction. She also made the late Queen, the Duke of Gloucester, to -the general satisfaction of a great number of the nobility and gentry. -I am not for the Hungarian’s wooden coat of mail, the work of fifteen -years; nor Myrmeride’s coach with four horses, so little that you might -hide them under a fly’s wing: these are but a laborious loss of time, an -ingenious profusion of one of the best talents we are entrusted with; but -_this effigy of his late Majesty_ has taken up but a small part of Mrs. -Goldsmith’s time, and yet it is made with so much art, that nothing seems -wanting but life and motion. I own,” continues this time-server, “’tis -little wonder to see a picture have motion; but Mrs. Goldsmith is such a -person (as all will own that see this effigy which she has made of King -William), that she has almost found the secret to make even dead bodies -alive.” - -[Illustration: THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH, R.A. - -“We are all going to heaven, and Van Dyck is of the company.” - -_His dying words_] - - -1832. - -“You are never idle,” observed my _old_, OLD, very OLD friend John -Taylor,[497] as he entered my parlour on the 3rd of November, in his -ninety-third year: “bless me, how like that is to your father! Well, -Howard is a very clever fellow! Pray now, do tell me, did your father -know Churchill? My friend Jonathan Tyers introduced me to him in -Vauxhall Gardens much about the time Hogarth represented him as a bear -with a pot of porter.[498] I think, to the best of my recollection, -the print was brought out in 1763. Mr. Tyers asked Mr. Churchill what -he thought of it. ‘Oh!’ said he, ‘it is a silly thing, Sir. I should -have thought Hogarth had known better.’” I then requested Mr. Taylor -to describe Mr. Churchill’s dress for Vauxhall Gardens. “Oh! not as a -clergyman, not in black, as he appeared in the pit of the theatre. Let me -see: his coat was blue, edged with a narrow gold lace; a buff waistcoat; -but I won’t be certain whether that was laced or not--I rather think it -was not. He had black silk small-clothes, white silk stockings, small -silver shoe-buckles, and a gold-laced three-cornered hat.” - -“Did you know Gainsborough, Sir?” “Oh! I remember him; he was an odd man -at times. I recollect my master Hayman coming home after he had been to -an exhibition, and saying what an extraordinary picture Gainsborough -had painted of the Blue Boy; it is as fine as Vandyke.”[499] “Who was -the Blue Boy, Sir?” “Why, he was an ironmonger, but why so called I -don’t know. He lived at the corner of Greek and King Streets, Soho; an -immensely rich man.” “Did you know Mrs. Abington?” “Oh yes; she was a -most delightful actress of women of fashion, though she made herself -very ridiculous by attempting the part of _Scrub_.[500] Mr. Hoole, when -he heard she was to play the character that evening, sent for a chair -and went to see her; but he said it was so truly ridiculous, that he was -quite disgusted. Ay, I see you have got Nollekens’s bust of Dr. Johnson. -I made two drawings of him when I was at Oxford: one was for Sir Robert -Chambers,[501] who married the pretty Miss Wilton, that went to India; -who had the other, I can’t immediately say. I remember the Doctor asked -me what countryman I was.--‘A Londoner, Sir, a Londoner.’ ‘And where -born?’ ‘In the parish of Ethelburga, in Bishopsgate Within.’ It is a very -small church; but my father and mother[502] were buried there, though I -suppose, by this time, there’s nothing of them left. My friend Jonathan -Tyers took milk and water for upwards of twenty years at his meals, -though he very well knew what a good glass of wine was, as well as any -man in England. Ay, and a fine haunch of venison, too. Many and many a -time I have dined with him in the gardens, when I was making the drawing -for Boydell, of Hayman’s picture of the Admirals. Mr. Tyers gave very -excellent dinners, I must say.” - -The truly skilful manner in which Mr. John Seguier has proceeded with the -pictures painted by Rubens, which adorn the ceiling of Whitehall Chapel, -will, I hope, prove a lasting record of his success in picture-cleaning. -When first I ascended the scaffold, my astonishment was beyond conception -at the enormous size of the objects. The children are more than nine -feet, and the full-grown figures from twenty to twenty-five in height. -The pictures were in a most filthy and husky state. However, it afforded -me infinite delight to hear Mr. Seguier declare, that he firmly believed -he should be able to remove Cipriani’s washy colouring completely; and -that he expected to find that of Rubens in its pristine state. Upon my -seeing these pictures on the floor, after they had been cleaned,[503] -I found his predictions verified, and can now, by the judicious -nourishment afforded to the canvas, announce their effect to be truly -glorious. Every precaution has been taken, under the able direction of -Sir Benjamin Clarke Stevenson, to render the roof impervious to the most -inveterate weather, so that posterity, in all probability, may long enjoy -the beauties of these masterpieces of art. - - “UPPER GOWER STREET, BEDFORD SQUARE, - _16th November 1832_. - - “MY DEAR SIR,--As I am desirous to make your valuable - collection of letters from bygone professional characters - complete, gratify me by accepting the accompanying original - communication from Mrs. Abington to Mrs. Jordan.[504] It will - call to your remembrance the period when that skilful and - excellent man, John Bannister, delighted the town by _his_ - performances; whose retirement from public life in June, 1815 - (after thirty-seven years of hard and honest service), opened - the doors of Old Drury to a young aspirant for histrionic - honours in the person of your humble servant. - - “I need not here enumerate _all_ the advantages derived from a - constant association with such an artist as John Bannister. An - uninterrupted friendly intercourse of many years manifested the - sincerity in which he penned the following note to me a short - time after my appearance at Drury Lane Theatre:-- - - “‘65 GOWER STREET, _Dec. 30, 1815_. - - “‘MY DEAR SIR,--I have been confined to my room more than - three weeks with the gout; but I am now recovering, though - slowly. Early next week, will you favour me with a visit - in Gower Street? It will please me to give you all the - information and gratification in my power, and to converse - with you personally about theatrical matters. - - “‘You are my successor, and I beg leave to say that I do - not know any person more calculated to tread in my shoes. I - sincerely hope you may never have occasion for the _gouty - ones_! I remain, my dear Sir, yours sincerely, - - “‘JOHN BANNISTER.’[505] - - “‘TO J. P. HARLEY, ESQ., Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.’ - - “And now, my dear Sir, with every sincere hope for your - continued health and happiness, believe that I am very truly - yours, - - “J. P. HARLEY.[506] - - “TO JOHN THOMAS SMITH, British Museum.” - - -1833. - -Mrs. Piozzi, in her anecdotes of Dr. Johnson, speaking of Porridge -Island, says it “is a mean street in London, filled with cook-shops, for -the convenience of the poorer inhabitants; the real name of it I know -not, but suspect that it is generally known by to have been originally a -term of derision.” - -Porridge Island consisted of a nest of old rat-deserted houses, lately -forming narrow alleys south of Chandos Street, and east of St. Martin’s -church, which were originally occupied by numerous cooks for the -accommodation of the workmen engaged in erecting the said church.[507] - - - - -FOOTNOTES - - -[1] Two other residences of Smith’s, less definitely associated -with his books or etchings, are recorded. The first is No. 8 Popham -Terrace, near the Barley Mow Tavern, in Frog Lane, Islington. His -sojourn here is mentioned, without dates, by Lewis in his _History -of Islington_ (1842). Frog Lane is now Popham Road, of which Popham -Terrace appears to have been part. In 1809, Smith was living at No. -4 The Polygon, Somers Town. - -[2] Thomas Lowe had taken Marylebone Gardens in 1763, at a rent -of £170. Fresh from his triumphs as a tenor at Vauxhall, he made -concerts the principal entertainment. In 1768 he compounded with -his creditors. - -[3] This theatre at Richmond was built two years before Smith’s -birth, and was opened in May 1765, by Mr. Love, who spoke a -prologue by Garrick. Love was the stage name of James Dance, who, -as a son of George Dance, R.A., the City Architect, adopted it that -he might not “disgrace his family,” a proceeding on which Genest -comments: “Shall we never have done with this miserable cant? -Foote, with much humour, makes Papillion say, in _The Lyar_: ‘As to -Player, whatever might happen to me, I was determined not to bring -a disgrace upon my family; and so I resolved to turn footman.’” -_The Devil to Pay_, by Charles Coffey, was adapted from a play by -Jevon called _The Devil of a Wife_, first produced at Drury Lane in -1731, when Love played “Jobson” and Mrs. Love “Nell.” - -[4] “A convivial glass-grinder, then residing at No. 6, in Earl -Street, Seven Dials, and who had, for upwards of fifty years, -worn a green velvet cap,” is Smith’s note on his uncle. In his -_Nollekens_ he says: “In the British Museum there is a brass medal -of Vittore Pisano, a painter of Verona, executed by himself … his -cap, which is an upright one with many folds, reminded me of that -sort usually worn, when I was a boy, by the old glass-grinders of -the Seven Dials.” - -[5] Dr. William Hunter (1718-83) was elder brother of the -celebrated Dr. John Hunter, to whom in 1768 he gave up his house -in Jermyn Street, taking possession of the one he had built for -himself in Windmill Street. In 1764 he had been appointed Physician -Extraordinary to the Queen. He became a foundation member of the -Royal Academy, as Professor of Anatomy. It is related that half an -hour before his death he exclaimed: “Had I a pen, and were I able -to write, I would describe how easy and pleasant a thing it is to -die.” - -[6] Now rebuilt as No. 38. - -[7] Strype’s edition of Stow, 1720, contains many such plates. John -Kip, the engraver, was born in Amsterdam. He died at Westminster in -1722. - -[8] In the miscellaneous pages of his _Nollekens_, Smith reports -Elizabeth Carter, of “Epictetus” fame, as saying to a Covent -Garden fruiterer, named Twigg (jocularly known as the “Twig of the -Garden”): “I recollect, Sir, when Mr. Garrick acted, hackney chairs -were then so numerous that they stood all round the Piazzas, down -Southampton Street, and extended more than half-way along Maiden -Lane, so much were they in requisition at that time.” - -[9] Voltaire first came to London in May 1726, after his -confinement in the Bastille, landing at Greenwich on a cloudless -night. His first impressions of London are quoted by Mr. Archibald -Ballantyne in his interesting _Voltaire’s Visit to England_. After -being the guest of Bolingbroke, Voltaire returned to Paris in a -state of indecision, but, again crossing the Channel, he settled -at Wandsworth, where he found a friend and host in Sir Everard -Falkener. He met Pope, and improved his English by attending the -theatres. Chetwood says: “I furnished him every evening with the -play of the night (at Drury Lane), which he took with him into the -orchestra (his accustomed seat): in four or five months he not only -conversed in elegant English, but wrote it with exact propriety.” -Voltaire became a well-known figure in London, and wrote his -_Henriade_ in his London lodging at the sign of the “White Peruke,” -Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, next door to the Bedford Head. - -[10] _Notes of Proceedings and Occurrences during the British -Embassy to Pekin_, 1816. Geo. Thos. Staunton, 1824. Printed for -Private Circulation. - -[11] Pliny the Younger, in writing to his friend, Baebius Macer, -on the habits and life of his uncle, C. Plinius Secundus (Pliny -the elder), says: “A shorthand writer constantly attended him, … -who, in the winter, wore a particular sort of warm gloves, that -the sharpness of the weather might not occasion any interruption -to my uncle’s studies; and for the same reason, when in Rome, he -was always carried in a chair. I recollect his once taking me to -task for walking. ‘You need not,’ he said, ‘lose these hours.’ For -he thought every hour gone that was not given to study” (_Letters -of Pliny the Younger_, bk. iii. letter 5, p. 82. Bohn’s Classical -Library). - -[12] The Catalogue of this exhibition is entitled: “A Catalogue -of the Paintings, Sculptures, Architecture, Models, Drawings, -Engravings, etc., now exhibiting under the Patronage of the Society -for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, at their -Great Room in the Strand, London.” It credits Mr. Nathaniel Smith, -St. Martin’s Lane, with the following:-- - -210. A bust as large as life. - -211. A figure of Time, imitating a bronze. - -[13] Smith’s naval ancestor won his sobriquet, “Tom of Ten -Thousand,” very easily. He had compelled the French corvette -_Gironde_ to salute the British colours in Plymouth Sound, for -which, on complaint, he was dismissed the navy for exceeding his -instructions, but was shortly reinstated. The public believed -that he had fired into the _Gironde_ to compel its respect to our -flag, and on this exaggerated report gave him the name “Tom of Ten -Thousand.” Smith, who rose to high rank, but won no great personal -distinction, presided over the court-martial which condemned -Admiral Byng in 1757. - -It may be added that the name “Tom of Ten Thousand” has been borne -by several men, notably by Thomas Thynne of Longleat, who was so -called on account of his wealth. He was murdered in Pall Mall in -February 1682, by three assassins hired by Count Königsmark. The -murder is realistically portrayed on his tomb in the south aisle -of Westminster Abbey. Another “Tom of Ten Thousand” was Thomas -Hudson, a native of Leeds, who lost a large fortune in the South -Sea Scheme, and, becoming insane, wandered the streets of London -for years, leaning on a crutch. - -[14] These coincidences of residence seem to be overstated by -Smith. It must have been after, not before, his visit to Italy, -which he made in his 36th year, that Wilson took apartments in the -Piazza on the north side of Covent Garden. He lived above the rooms -of Cock, the auctioneer, who was followed by Langford, and later -still by George Robins. Sir Peter Lely had lived in the same house -from 1662 until his death in 1680, and here his collections were -sold in 1667. Smith seems to be wrong about Kneller. This painter’s -house had been on the east side of the Square, known as the Little -Piazza. Its garden, stretching back to Bow Street, was the scene of -the famous quarrel between Kneller and Dr. Ratcliffe. A tenant who -did precede Wilson was Hogarth, who, though he did not reside at -Cock’s, had exhibited here his “Mariage à la Mode” gratis, with a -view to its sale. - -Wilson had a model made of a portion of the Piazza, which he used -as a receptacle for his implements. The rustic work of the piers -was provided with drawers, and the openings of the arches held -pencils and oil bottles. An unbending devotion to his Italian -manner of painting (he so Italianised a view of Kew Gardens that -George the Third failed to recognise it) and a rough temper brought -this fine painter to humbler dwellings in Charlotte Street, Great -Queen Street, and Foley Place; finally, to a room in Tottenham -Street. His fortunes were mended at the last by his appointment -as Librarian to the Royal Academy, and his succession to a small -estate in Wales on the death of his brother. - -[15] See a plate in the _Lady’s Magazine_ of 1870, in which Miss -Catley wears such elbow ruffles in the character of Rosetta in -_Love in a Village_. - -[16] The death of Molly Mogg was thus announced in the _Gentleman’s -Magazine_: “Mrs. Mary Mogg, at Oakingham: she was the person on -whom Gay wrote the song of ‘Molly Mogg.’” This song was first -printed in _Mist’s Weekly Journal_ of August 27, 1726, with a note -stating that “it was writ by two or three men of wit (who have -diverted the public both in prose and verse), upon the occasion of -their lying at a certain inn at Ockingham, where the daughter of -the house was remarkably pretty, and whose name is Molly Mogg.” -These “men of wit” were supposed to have been Pope, Swift, and Gay, -and it was believed that they had together concocted the song, but -the weight of evidence is in favour of Gay’s sole authorship. There -is, however, enough doubt to warrant one in holding to the pleasant -tradition that the three poets, over their cups at the Rose Inn, -made the song which began (original version):-- - - “Says my Uncle, I pray you discover - What has been the cause of your woes, - That you pine and you whine like a lover? - I’ve seen Molly Mog of the Rose. - - Oh, Nephew! your grief is but folly, - In town you may find better prog; - Half a crown there will get you a Molly, - A Molly much better than Mog. - - … - - The school boys delight in a play-day, - The schoolmaster’s joy is to flog; - The milk-maid’s delight is in May day, - But mine is in sweet Molly Mog.” - -[17] Finch’s Grotto Garden stood on the site now occupied by the -headquarters of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade. It was opened--six -years before John Thomas Smith was born--on the strength of a -spring in the grounds which a Dr. Townshend was willing to declare -medicinal. Concerts and fireworks were given with fair success, and -here “Tommy” Lowe accepted engagements after his failure in the -management of Marylebone Gardens. The tavern was burnt down in May -1795, and was replaced by another called the “Goldsmith’s Arms,” -afterwards styled the “Old Grotto New Reviv’d.” This tavern bore -the inscription-- - - “Here Herbs did grow - And flowers sweet, - But now ’tis call’d - Saint George’s Street.” - -All that is known about Finch’s Grotto is told by Mr. Warwick -Wroth in his admirable _London Pleasure Gardens of the Eighteenth -Century_. - -[18] This famous aid to the teething of children was invented about -the year 1717, when there appeared a _Philosophical Essay upon the -Celebrated Anodyne Necklace_, dedicated to Dr. Paul Chamberlen -(who died in this year), and the Royal Society. This tract, quoted -by Mr. J. Eliot Hodgkin in _Notes and Queries_ of Feb. 16, 1884, -argues the advantages of the necklace as follows:-- - -“For since the difficult _Cutting of Children’s Teeth_ proceeds -from the hard and strict Closure of their _Gums_; If you get Them -but once separated and opened, the _Teeth_ will of themselves -Naturally come Forth; Now the Smooth Alcalious Atoms of the -_Necklace_, by their insinuating figure and shape, do so make -way for their Protrusion by gently _softening_ and _opening_ the -hard swelled _Gums_, that the TEETH will of themselves without -any difficulty or pain CUT and come out, as has been sufficiently -proved.” - -Mr. Hodgkin describes the necklace as “of beads artificially -prepared, small, like barley-corns,” costing five shillings. An -early depôt was Garraway’s at the Royal Exchange Gate. In Smith’s -day they were sold in Long Acre by Mr. Burchell at the sign of the -Anodyne Necklace, and the price was still “5s. single,” with “an -allowance by the dozen to sell again.” Burchell advertised: “After -the Wearing of which about their Neck but One night, Children have -immediately cut their TEETH with Safety, who but just before were -on the Brink of the Grave.” - -[19] According to Daulby’s numbering. - -[20] For some curious erudition on go-carts see Smith’s _Life of -Nollekens_, where he says (1829 ed. i. 221): “When I was a boy, -the go-cart was common in every toy-shop in London; but it was to -be found in the greatest abundance in the once far-famed turners’ -shop in Spinning-wheel Alley, Moorfields: a narrow passage leading -from those fields to the spot upon which the original Bethlehem -Hospital stood in Bishopsgate Street. In 1825-26, however, both -Spinning-wheel Alley and Old Bethlehem were considerably altered -and widened, and subsequently named Liverpool Street.” - -[21] Hone says: “The late King George IV. and his brothers and -sisters, all the royal family of George III., were rocked. The -rocker was a female officer of the household, with a salary” -(_Every Day Book_). Rocker cradles are to-day made in Ireland by -villagers, and sold from door to door. - -[22] Two artists, father and son, bore the name of Israel von -Meckenen. They flourished in the fifteenth and early sixteenth -centuries, and appear to have collaborated on some 250 prints. The -British Museum has a fine set of their engravings. - -[23] The stone inscribed “Here lies Nancy Dawson” no longer exists. -M. Dorsay Ansell, the obliging keeper of the burial-grounds (now -laid out as one recreation-ground) of St. George the Martyr and -St. George’s, Bloomsbury, is frequently applied to for information -as to its existence. Eighteen years ago, when these grounds were -formed, careful search was made for interesting stones, and the -gravestone of Zachary Macaulay, among others, was discovered by Mr. -Ansell. That of Nancy Dawson was never found, but it may be buried -out of sight. - -Nancy Dawson is stated to have died at Haverstock Hill, May 27, -1767. Her portrait in oils still hangs in the Garrick Club, and the -print-sellers are familiar with her figure in theatrical costume. -She is believed to have been born about 1730, to have been the -daughter of a Clare Market porter, and to have lived in poverty in -St. Giles’s or in a Drury Lane cellar. The rather ill-supported -narratives of her career speak, as does Smith, of her waiting on -the skittle-players at a Marylebone tavern, which Mr. George Clinch -thinks (_Marylebone and St. Pancras_) may have been the old “Rose -of Normandy” in High Street. - -Nancy Dawson’s fortune was made in 1759 in the Beggars’ Opera. The -man who danced the hornpipe among the thieves happened to have -fallen ill, and his place was taken by Nancy, who was then a rising -young actress. From that moment her success was secure. Her real -monument is the song beginning-- - - “Of all the girls in our town, - The black, the fair, the red, the brown, - That dance and prance it up and down, - There’s none like Nancy Dawson! - - Her easy mien, her shape so neat, - She foots, she trips, she looks so sweet, - Her ev’ry motion’s so complete, - I die for Nancy Dawson!” - -[24] Musgrave’s note continues: “Whom she deserted upon his -discovering that she had an intrigue with the exciseman of that -district.” - -[25] Rubens’s beautiful second wife, Helena Fourment, who was only -sixteen when he married her. She is the subject of not a few of his -pictures. - -[26] Nollekens, the sculptor, highly approved of puddings for -children, and would say, “Ay, now, what’s your name?” “Mrs. -Rapworth, sir.” “Well, Mrs. Rapworth, you have done right; I wore a -pudding when I was a little boy, and all my mother’s children wore -puddings.” - -[27] The parent of the Royal Academy, as an exhibiting body, was -the Foundling Hospital in Guilford Street. A number of painters, -including Hogarth, Reynolds, Richard Wilson, and Gainsborough, -agreed to present pictures to Captain Coram’s charity. These -were shown with such success, that the possibility of holding -remunerative exhibitions was perceived, and in 1760 a free -exhibition was opened in the rooms of the Society of Arts. In -following years exhibitions were held in Spring Gardens. In 1765 -the “Incorporated Society of Artists of Great Britain” obtained -its charter; but disputes arose, and three years later twenty or -more painters successfully petitioned George III. to establish the -“Royal Academy of Arts in London.” So many of the original members -of the Royal Academy are mentioned by Smith, that it will be useful -to insert their names. They were all nominated by George III.: - - Sir Joshua Reynolds. - Benjamin West. - Thomas Sandby. - Francis Cotes. - John Baker. - Mason Chamberlin. - John Gwynn. - Thomas Gainsborough. - J. Baptist Cipriani. - Jeremiah Meyer. - Francis Milner Newton. - Paul Sandby. - Francesco Bartolozzi. - Charles Catton. - Nathaniel Hone. - William Tyler. - Nathaniel Dance. - Richard Wilson. - G. Michael Moser. - Samuel Wale. - Peter Toms. - Angelica Kauffman. - Richard Yeo. - Mary Moser. - William Chambers. - Joseph Wilton. - George Barret. - Edward Penny. - Agostino Carlini. - Francis Hayman. - Dominic Serres. - John Richards. - Francesco Zuccarelli. - George Dance. - William Hoare. - Johan Zoffany. - -A year and a day after the foundation of the Royal Academy, it -was resolved: “There shall be a new order, or rank of members, to -be called Associates of the Royal Academy.” Of the first twenty -Associates, the following are mentioned in the _Rainy Day_: Richard -Cosway, John Bacon, James Wyatt, Joseph Nollekens, James Barry (all -of whom were afterwards R.A.’s); and Antonio Zucchi, Michael Angelo -Rooker, and Biagio Rebecca. - -The first Royal Academy exhibition was opened to the public in -Pall Mall “immediately east of where the United Service Club now -stands” (Wheatley) on the 26th of April, 1769. Two years later, -the King assigned rooms in Somerset House to the Academy, but his -offer was not utilised until the new Somerset House was ready, in -1780. Here the annual exhibitions were held for fifty-eight years. -The Academicians then migrated to the eastern half of the National -Gallery building in Trafalgar Square. In 1869 the removal to -Burlington House was made. The history of the rise and progress of -the Royal Academy, which Smith wished might have been undertaken by -its secretary, Henry Howard, R.A., has been written very fully by -William Sandby, and again recently by the late J. E. Hodgson, R.A., -and Mr. F. A. Eaton in collaboration. - -[28] In this riot in St. George’s Fields, five or six people were -killed by the Guards, and about fifteen wounded. - -[29] Henry Fuseli (1741-1825) had come to London in 1763. On -presenting himself before Sir Joshua Reynolds, the following -dialogue occurred: “How long have you studied in Italy?” “I -never studied in Italy--I studied in Zurich--I am a native of -Switzerland--do you think I should study in Italy? and, above -all, is it worth while?” “Young man, were I the author of these -drawings, and were I offered ten thousand a year _not_ to practise -as an artist, I would reject the proposal with contempt.” - -[30] Dr. John Armstrong, whose poem, “The Art of Preserving -Health,” was long famous, is now best remembered as the author of -a few stanzas in Thomson’s _Castle of Indolence_ describing the -morbid effects of indolence. Haydon writes of Fuseli: “He swore -roundly, a habit which he told me he contracted from Dr. Armstrong.” - -[31] Sir John Eardley-Wilmot, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, -decided several cases arising out of Wilkes’s libels: his reply to -Lord North’s extraordinary letter was the only one he could make. -In spite of Wilkes’s easy victory at the poll, the House of Commons -declared that Colonel Luttrell ought to have been elected, and his -name was substituted for Wilkes’s in the return, a proceeding which -inflamed the situation. - -[32] Henry William Bunbury stands apart from his -fellow-caricaturists as a wealthy amateur. He was the second son -of the Rev. Sir William Bunbury, Bart., of Great Barton, Suffolk, -and married Catherine Horneck, the “Little Comedy” of Goldsmith. -Bretherton was an engraver and printseller in Bond Street. He -engraved nearly all Bunbury’s drawings, and it was said that he -alone could do so with good effect. - -[33] For almost a century the exodus of the London citizens to the -outlying country was considered fair game for satire. Bunbury’s -caricature of 1772 only records the humours which Robert Lloyd -had touched in “The Cit’s Country Box,” printed in No. 135 of the -_Connoisseur_. - - “The trav’ler with amazement sees - A temple, Gothic or Chinese, - With many a bell and tawdry rag on, - And crested with a sprawling dragon. - A wooden arch is bent astride - A ditch of water four feet wide; - With angles, curves, and zigzag lines, - From Halfpenny’s exact designs. - In front a level lawn is seen, - Without a shrub upon the green; - Where taste would want its first great law, - But for the skulking sly Ha-Ha; - By whose miraculous assistance - You gain a prospect two fields distance. - And now from Hyde Park Corner come - The gods of Athens and of Rome: - Here squabby Cupids take their places, - With Venus and the clumsy graces; - Apollo there, with aim so clever, - Stretches his leaden bow for ever.” - -Even Cowper saw little but absurdity in the demand for villas and -“summer-houses.” - - “Suburban villas, highway-side retreats, - That dread th’ encroachment of our growing streets, - Tight boxes neatly sash’d, and in a blaze - With all a July sun’s collected rays, - Delight the citizen, who, gasping there, - Breathes clouds of dust, and calls it country air.” - -Horace Smith, Lord Byron, and Thomas Hood all touched more or less -satirically on this subject. - -[34] There is a confusion here. Walpole in his _Anecdotes -of Painting_ deals only with Jonathan Richardson the elder -(1665-1745), portrait painter and critic; Smith refers to his son -(1694-1771). The two were greatly attached to each other. There -was a story that they sketched each other’s faces every day. Old -Richardson, who wrote a treatise on _Paradise Lost_, was able to -study the classics only through his son, on whom he doted. Hogarth -made a caricature, which he suppressed, of the father using his son -as a telescope to read the writers of Greece and Rome. W. H. Pyne -says of Old Richardson in _Wine and Walnuts_: “He seldom rambled -city-ways, though sometimes he stepped in at the ‘Rainbow,’ where -he counted a few worthies, or looked in at Dick’s and gave them -a note or two. He would not put his foot on the threshold of the -‘Devil,’ however, for he thought the sign profane. Fielding would -run a furlong to escape him; he called him Doctor Fidget.” - -[35] The milkmaids’ chief haunt was Islington, whence hundreds -of them carried the milk into London every morning. In his print -“Evening,” the scene of which is laid outside the “Middleton -Head,” Hogarth has an Islington milkmaid milking a cow, and in -his “Enraged Musicians,” a milkmaid with her cry of _Milk Belouw_ -contributes to the town noises. The “garlands of massive plate” -which the milkmaids carried round on May Day were borrowed -of pawnbrokers on security. One pawnbroker, says Hone, was -particularly resorted to. He let his plate at so much per hour, -under bond from housekeepers for its safe return. In this way one -set of milkmaids would hire the garland from ten o’clock till one, -and another from one till six, and so on during the first three -days of May. These customs had all but passed away when Smith -wrote his _Rainy Day_, but long after the milkmaids had ceased -to celebrate the London May Day the chimney-sweepers brought out -their Jacks-in-the-green, specimens of which have been seen in -the streets in the last twenty years. In 1825, Hone speaks of the -dances round the “garland” as a “lately disused custom.” - -[36] The boxes and pavilions at Vauxhall were decorated with -paintings at the suggestion of Hogarth, who permitted his “Four -Times of the Day” to be copied by Francis Hayman. He also presented -Tyers with a picture from his own hand, “Henry VIII. and Anne -Boleyn,” receiving in acknowledgment a gold ticket inscribed -“In perpetuam Beneficii memoriam,” and giving admission to “a -coachfull” of people. The Vauxhall paintings chiefly represented -sports and sentimental scenes. Among Hayman’s works were, “The Game -of Quadrille,” “Children Playing at Shuttlecock,” “Leap Frog,” -“Falstaff’s Cowardice Detected,” etc. In November 1841, twenty-four -of these pictures, all in a dirty condition, were sold in the -Gardens at prices varying from 30s. to £10. - -[37] Marcellus Lauron, or Laroon (1653-1702), was born at the -Hague, and came to London, where he painted draperies for Sir -Godfrey Kneller and executed his “Cryes of London,” engraved by -Tempest. His son, Captain Marcellus Lauron, or Laroon, was soldier, -artist, and actor, and a friend of Hogarth. - -[38] Probably Dr. George Armstrong, brother of Dr. John Armstrong, -author of the poem, “The Art of Preserving Health.” - -[39] In Smith’s boyhood the “Queen’s Head and Artichoke” was a -rural tavern and tea-garden in Marylebone Park, quarter of a -mile north of the New Road, now Marylebone Road. The Marylebone -Gardens were in decline, and their place was taken by three smaller -resorts, the “Queen’s Head and Artichoke,” the “Jew’s Harp,” and -the “Yorkshire Stingo.” The two first-named places were connected -by a zigzag path known as Love Lane. In his _Nollekens_ Smith has -this choice morsel: “Mrs. Nollekens made it a rule to allow one -servant--as they kept two--to go out on the alternate Sunday; for -it was Mrs. Nollekens’ opinion that if they were never permitted -to visit the ‘Jew’s Harp,’ ‘Queen’s Head and Artichoke,’ or Chalk -Farm, they never would wash _theirselves_.” The site of the -“Artichoke” was covered by Decimus Burton’s Colosseum. - -[40] The “Jew’s Harp,” dubiously explained as a corruption of -_jeu trompe_, _i.e._ toy-trumpet, stood near the lower portion of -the Broad Walk in Regent’s Park. Its arbours and tea-garden were -long an attraction to the London youth. Here Arthur Onslow, when -Speaker, was accustomed to sit in an evening smoking his pipe, and -sharing in the tavern talk. The landlord’s discovery that his guest -was the Speaker of the House of Commons cost him his customer, -for when Onslow found himself received at the “Jew’s Harp” with -ceremony, he discontinued his visits. - -[41] This farm in the possession of Thomas Willan was taken by -order of the Treasury for the formation of Regent’s Park in 1794. -It contained about 288 acres. - -[42] Marylebone Gardens had their main entrance in High Street, -Marylebone, and extended eastward to Harley Street. - -[43] Richard Kendall’s farm, comprising about 133 acres, was -absorbed in Regent’s Park. - -[44] The “Green Man” (rebuilt) stands east of Portland Road, -Metropolitan Railway Station, on the site of the “Farthing Pie -House,” at which scraps of mutton put into a crust were sold for a -farthing. The rural state of this neighbourhood, and the regrets -which the spread of London awakened, are set forth in Dr. Ducarel’s -speech in the chapter, “Nothing to Eat,” in Ephraim Hardcastle’s -(William Henry Pyne’s) delightful _Wine and Walnuts_:-- - -“‘Verily I cannot get this mighty street out of my head,’ said -the Doctor. ‘And then there is the new park--what do you call it? -Mary-le-bone--no, the Regent’s Park: it seems to be an elegant, -well-planned place, methinks, and will have a fine effect, no -doubt, with its villas and what not, when the shrubs and trees have -shot up a little. But I shall not live to see it, and I care not; -for I remember those fields in their natural, rural garb, covered -with herds of kine, when you might stretch across from old Willan’s -farm there, a-top of Portland Street, right away without impediment -to Saint John’s Wood, where I have gathered blackberries when a -boy--which pretty place, I am sorry to see, these brick-and-mortar -gentry have trenched upon. Why, Ephraim, you metropolitans will -have half a day’s journey, if you proceed at this rate, ere you -can get a mouthful of fresh air. Where the houses are to find -inhabitants, and, when inhabited, where so many mouths are to find -meat, must be found out by those who come after.’” - -[45] Smith seems to have understated the facts. James Easton, the -author of a curious work, entitled “_Human Longevity_, recording -the name, age, place of residence, and year of the decease of 1712 -persons, who attained a century and upwards, from A.D. 66 to 1799, -etc.” (Salisbury, 1799), enumerates sixty-one cases in this year as -against Smith’s forty-eight. He gives the following particulars of -the three cases named by Smith:-- - -“Mrs. Keithe--133, of Newnham, Gloucestershire. She, lived -moderately, and retained her senses till within fourteen days of -her death. She left three daughters, the eldest aged one hundred -and eleven; the second one hundred and ten; the youngest one -hundred and nine. Also seven great, and great great grandchildren. - -“Mr. Rice--115, of Southwark, cooper. - -“Mrs. Chun--138, near Litchfield, Staffordshire; resided in the -same house one hundred and three years. By frequent exercise, and -temperate living, she attained so great longevity. She left one son -and two daughters, the youngest upwards of one hundred years.” - -[46] According to one story, Mother Damnable was Jinney, the -daughter of a Kentish Town brick-maker, named Jacob Bingham. After -living with a marauder named Gipsy George, who was hanged for -sheep-stealing, Jinney passed from the protection of one criminal -to another, until she was left a lonesome and embittered woman. She -lived in her own cottage, built on waste land by her father, and -abused everyone. - - “’Tis Mother Damnable! that monstrous thing, - Unmatch’d by Macbeth’s wayward women’s ring. - For cursing, scolding, fuming, flinging fire - I’ the face of madam, lord, knight, gent, cit, squire.” - -The story went that on the night of her death hundreds of persons -saw the Devil enter her house. On the site rose the inn which bore -her portrait as its sign. Smith’s mention of the terror with which -it was regarded may have reference to its loneliness and gruesome -traditions. In his own day the inn was a pleasant resort. “Then the -old Mother Red Cap was the evening resort of worn-out Londoners, -and many a happy evening was spent in the green fields round about -the old wayside houses by the children of poorer classes. At that -time the Dairy, at the junction of the Hampstead and Kentish Town -roads, was not the fashionable building it is now, but with forms -for the pedestrians to rest on, they served out milk fresh from the -cow to all who came” (John Palmer, _St. Pancras_). This dairy, so -long a landmark to North Londoners, has just disappeared in favour -of a “Tube” railway station. - -[47] This curious work may still be seen in Little Denmark Street, -where its forty or fifty writhing figures, incrusted with grime, -look at a little distance like some ordinary floral design. The -original “Resurrection Gate” was erected about the year 1687, in -accordance with an order of the vestry. The bill of expenses is -extant, and its terms were contributed by Dr. Rimbault to _Notes -and Queries_ of June 23, 1864, showing the cost to have been £185, -14s. 6d., of which £27 was paid for the carving to an artist named -Love. In 1900, the present Tuscan gate in Little Denmark Street was -erected with the old carving inserted. - -[48] Probably Charles Harriot Smith, the architect, who was at -first a stone-carver. He died in 1864. - -[49] The Reverend James Bean was Vicar of Olney, Buckinghamshire, -and assistant librarian at the British Museum. He died in 1826, and -was buried in St. George’s, Bloomsbury, burial-ground. - -[50] Strype says these almshouses bore the inscription, “St. -Giles’s Almshouse, anno domini 1656.” They were removed in 1782. - -[51] Originally Queen Anne’s Square and now Queen Anne’s Gate. - -[52] The Pound stood, as Smith indicates, in the broad space where -St. Giles High Street, Tottenham Court Road, and Oxford Street met; -it was removed in 1765. - -[53] This song, entitled “Just the Thing,” is valuable as a -portrait of the eighteenth-century “hooligan,” ancestor of Mr. -Clarence Rook’s nineteenth century “Alf” in _Hooligan Nights_:-- - - “On Newgate steps Jack Chance was found, - And bred up near St. Giles’s Pound, - My story is true, deny it who can, - By saucy, leering Billingsgate Nan. - Her bosom glowed with heartfelt joy - When first she held the lovely boy. - Then home the prize she straight did bring, - And they all allow’d he was just the thing. - - At twelve years old, I have been told, - The youth was sturdy, stout, and bold; - He learn’d to curse, to swear, and fight, - And everything but read and write. - - But when he came to man’s estate, - His mind it ran on something great, - A-thieving then he scorn’d to tramp; - So hir’d a pad and went on the scamp. - At clubs he all Flash Soup did sing. - And they all allow’d he was just the thing. - - His manual exercise gone through, - Of Bridewell, Pump, and Horse Pond too, - His back had often felt the smart - Of Tyburn strings at the tail of a cart. - He stood the patter, but that’s no matter, - He gammon’d the Twelve, and work’d on the water, - Then a pardon he got from his gracious King, - And swaggering Jack was just the thing. - - Like a captain bold, well arm’d for war. - With bludgeon stout, or iron bar, - At heading a mob, he never did fail, - At burning a mass-house, or gutting a jail; - But a victim he fell to his country’s laws, - And died at last in religion’s cause. - NO POPERY! made the blade to swing, - And when tuck’d up he was just the thing.” - -[54] Mr. George Clinch, in his _Marylebone and St. Pancras_, -says that there is some reason to think that a portion at least -of Capper’s farm still remains. A large furniture establishment -at Nos. 195-198, Tottenham Court Road, exhibits on a wall in the -rear two tablets marking the boundary of St. Pancras and St. -Giles-in-the-Fields, and bearing eighteenth-century dates. An old -lease of the property, Mr. Clinch adds, contains a clause binding -the tenant to keep stabling for forty head of cattle, and it is -known that the premises were once used as a large livery stable. - -[55] Hanway Street now boasts only one milliner, but has several -art and curiosity shops of the kind Smith loved. The “Blue Posts” -(rebuilt) is still at the corner of Hanway Street. Mr. Joshua -Sturges’ book, published in 1800, was on draughts, not chess. It -was entitled _Guide to the Game of Draughts_, and was dedicated by -permission to the Prince of Wales. It has an engraved frontispiece, -“Figure of the Draught Table.” - -Sturges was probably not buried, as Smith states, in the Hampstead -Road, but in St. Pancras cemetery (see _Notes and Queries_, Series -II. x. 64). Lovers of draughts may be glad to have a copy of his -epitaph. It ran thus: “SACRED TO THE MEMORY of MR. JOSHUA STURGES. -Many years a RESPECTABLE LICENSED VICTUALLER in this Parish; who -departed this Life the 12th of August, 1813. Aged 55 years. He -was esteemed for the many excellent Qualities he possessed, and -his desire to improve the Minds, as also to benefit the Trade of -his Brother Victuallers. His Genius was also eminently displayed -to create innocent and rational amusement to Mankind, in the -Production of his Treatise on the difficult game of Draughts, -which Treatise received the Approbation of his Prince, and many -other Distinguished Characters. In private Life he was mild and -unassuming; in his public capacity neither the love of Interest or -domestic ease, could separate this faithful Friend from the Society -of which he was a Member, in the performance of Duties which his -Mind deemed Paramount to all others. His example was worthy of -Imitation in this World. May his Virtues be rewarded in the next. -Peace to his Soul, and respected be his Memory.” - -[56] Goodge Street (named after a Marylebone property owner) still -retains some of its original houses, but no house whose ground -floor has not been converted into a shop. Windmill Street, on -the other hand, is a quaint little street of artificers in wood -and metal, instrument makers, etc., many of its houses remaining -in their first state, with forecourts. The rural traditions of -this street are supported at No. 40 by a vine, bearing bunches -of unripened grapes in August 1903. Colvill Court is now called -Colvill Place, but it is essentially a court. The name Gresse’s -Gardens (after the father of Alexander Gresse the water-colour -painter) survives in Gresse Street, a queer little dusty, dusky -byway, easy to enter from Rathbone Place, but difficult to quit at -its southern end by Tudor Place. Here His Majesty’s mail vans are -stabled. - -[57] This pond is plainly marked also in Rocque’s map of 1745. -Considering its interesting name, it has obtained singularly little -mention by topographers. - -[58] Whitefield built his chapel--in 1756, not 1754--on land -leased for seventy-one years from General Fitzroy. He opened it on -November 7th of the same year, preaching a sermon from the text, -“Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus -Christ.” A house for the minister and twelve almshouses were added, -and the chapel enlarged. Whitefield proposed to be buried in its -vaults, and told to his congregation, “Messrs. John and Charles -Wesley shall also be buried there. We will all lie together.” -All three were buried elsewhere, but Mrs. Whitefield was buried -here: her remains and those of all other persons, except Augustus -Toplady, were removed to Chingford cemetery when the present -building was begun. A remarkable monument was that to John Bacon, -R.A., the sculptor, with its impressive inscription: “What I was as -an artist seemed to me of some importance while I lived, but what -I really was, as a believer in Jesus Christ, is the only thing of -importance to me now.” After a serious fire in 1857, the original -brick building was altered out of knowledge, and was finally -demolished in 1889. For some years an iron chapel and an appeal for -subscriptions occupied the ground. In 1892 the present ornately -fronted chapel, inscribed “Whitefield Memorial,” was built. In -1903, the present minister, the Reverend C. Silvester Horne, -received “recognition” as the thirteenth minister in succession to -Whitefield. - -[59] More correctly, Crab and Walnut Tree Field. - -[60] Smith makes a slip in locating the historic fight between -Broughton and Slack in April 1750, at the “Adam and Eve” tavern. -It took place in Broughton’s own Amphitheatre near Adam and Eve -Court in the Oxford Road. Smith correctly states the position -of this Amphitheatre in his _Antient Topography of London_ -(1810): “Broughton’s Amphitheatre is still standing; it is at the -south-west corner of Castle Street, Wells Street; the lower part -is a coal shed, the upper a stage for timber.” Its site is now -occupied by No. 62 Castle Street East, close to Adam and Eve Court. - -Here it was that the founder of the modern prize-ring, whose -“Broughton rules” were observed everywhere until 1838, met disaster -in his fight with the plucky Norwich butcher. The result was his -retirement from the ring, and the loss by his backer, the Duke of -Cumberland, of a bet of £10,000. In his later years, Broughton -lived in Walcot Place, Lambeth, where he died, aged 85. He was -buried in Lambeth Church. A monument to him in the West Walk of -the Cloisters of Westminster Abbey describes him as “Yeoman of the -Guard”; and it is stated in the _Dictionary of National Biography_ -that a place among the Yeomen was obtained for him by the Duke of -Cumberland. In his _Historical Memorials of Westminster Abbey_, -Dean Stanley says: “After his name on the gravestone is a space, -which was to have been filled up with the words ‘Champion of -England.’ The Dean objected, and the blank remains.” But the blank -does not remain. It was filled in 1832 with the names of Roger -Monk, another Yeoman of the Guard, and his wife. It is worthy -of note, too, that the _earliest_ name on the tablet is that of -Broughton’s wife, Elizabeth, who was actually buried here. - -[61] See note p. 105. - -[62] Fischer had the further distinction of being married to a -daughter of J. T. S., whose other daughter married a Mr. Smith, a -sculptor. - -[63] Gooseberry Fair followed the suppressed Tottenham Fair. Both -were held in and about the Adam and Eve Tavern. Richard Yates and -Ned Shuter appeared together at various London fairs. - -[64] Charles Fleetwood threw Drury Lane into confusion both behind -and before the scenes, by his unpunctual payment of salaries, and -by attempting to introduce pantomimes against the wishes of the -old play-goers. This led to noisy scenes in 1744, in one of which -Horace Walpole stigmatised Fleetwood as “an impudent rascal” from -his box, and was embarrassed by the enthusiastic approval of the -audience. - -[65] The exact site of the famous Footsteps is not easily -determined. Dr. Rimbault (_Notes and Queries_, February 2, 1850) -says that it was reputed to be “at the extreme termination of -the north-east end of Upper Montague Street.” It is placed a -little farther west by Robert Hill, the water-colour painter, who -stated in a letter, quoted by Mr. Wheatley in his _London_: “I -well remember the Brothers’ Footsteps. They were near a bank that -divided two of the fields between Montague House and the New Road, -and their situation must have been, if my recollection serves me, -what is now Torrington Square.” Smith says the Footsteps were “on -the site of Mr. Martin’s chapel, or nearly so.” Mr. John Martin, -the Baptist minister, had the chapel in Keppel Street. It still -exists. This brings the Footsteps a few yards south, but Smith’s -indefiniteness must be taken into account. That these markings -were visible as late as 1800 is proved by the following entry in -the Commonplace Book of Joseph Moser: “June 16th, 1800. Went into -the fields at the back of Montague House, and there saw, for the -last time, the Forty Footsteps: the building materials are there -to cover them from the sight of man.” The feeling with which these -curious marks were regarded by educated people may be judged by -a letter quoted in the _Gentleman’s Magazine_ of December 1804, -in which the writer expresses his conviction that “the Almighty -has ordered it as a standing monument of his great displeasure of -the horrid sin of duelling,” an opinion in which the poet Southey -concurred. In 1828, Miss Jane Porter published her novel, _The -Field of the Forty Footsteps_. - -[66] Nearly a hundred years later, a similar superstition survived -in London, and is thus noted by Brand in his _Popular Antiquities_: -“In the _Morning Post_, Monday, May 2nd, 1791, it was mentioned -‘that yesterday, being the first of May, according to annual and -superstitious custom, a number of persons went into the fields and -bathed their faces with the dew on the grass, under the idea that -it would render them beautiful.’” - -[67] The occasion was a dinner at Tom Davies’s in 1762. “BOSWELL: -Does not Gray’s poetry, sir, tower above the common mark? JOHNSON: -Yes, sir; but we must attend to the difference between what men -in general cannot do if they would, and what every man may do if -he would. Sixteen-string Jack towered above the common mark.” -Dr. William Bell, whom Rann robbed, was Rector of Christ Church, -London, 1780-99, and treasurer of St. Paul’s Cathedral. - -[68] Probably a mistake. These nosegays were given to condemned -criminals on their way to Tyburn by the St. Sepulchre authorities. -Rann was one of the last to receive the gift. - -[69] Saunders Welch, the father of Mrs. Nollekens, was educated -in Aylesbury workhouse, and for many years was a grocer in Museum -Street, then Queen Street. He succeeded Fielding as a Justice of -the Peace for Westminster. Smith says in his _Nollekens_ that he -met many people who recollected seeing him as High Constable of -Westminster, “dressed in black, with a large, nine-storey George -the Second’s wig highly powdered, with long flowing curls over his -shoulder, a high three-cornered hat, and his black baton tipped -with silver at either end, riding on a white horse to Tyburn with -the malefactors.” A long and warm friendship existed between -Saunders Welch and Dr. Johnson. “Johnson, who had an eager and -unceasing curiosity to know human life in all its variety, told me -that he attended Mr. Welch in his office for a whole winter, to -hear the examinations of the culprits” (Boswell). - -[70] To-day, High Street, Marylebone, is perhaps the most -perfect High Street left in London. Neither from its north end -in Marylebone Road nor from Oxford Street does it receive heavy -traffic; its shops exist for the fine streets and squares around -it, and it offers them the best of most things, from a tender -chicken to a county history. - -[71] “In the year 1741, the old church in which Hogarth has -introduced his “Rake at the Altar with the Old Maid” was taken -down, and the present one built on its site; so that the writers -who have stated that the scene took place in the present edifice -must acknowledge their error, if they will take the trouble to -refer to Hogarth’s fifth plate of the Rake’s Progress, where they -will find its publication to have taken place June 25, 1735.”--S. - -[72] Probably Christopher Norton, of the St. Martin’s Lane Academy. - -[73] Tradition reports that from Elizabeth it came to the Forsyths, -and thence to the Duke of Portland. In his _Marylebone and St. -Pancras_, Mr. Clinch writes: “In the year 1703 a large school was -established here by Mr. De la Place. That gentleman’s daughter -married the Rev. John Fountayne, Rector of North Sidmouth, in -Wiltshire, and the latter succeeded Mr. De la Place in the school. -The school is said to have obtained a considerable reputation among -the nobility and gentry, whose sons there received an educational -training previously to their removal to the universities.” - -[74] “Mr. Fountayne had one son, afterwards Dean of York, and -three daughters, viz. Mrs. Hargrave, Mrs. Jones, and Mrs. Metz. -Mrs. Hargrave was lately living; she was the wife of Counsellor -Hargrave, and was esteemed a great beauty. Another daughter -of Monsieur De la Place married the Rev. Mr. Dyer, brother to -the author of _Grongar Hill_, to whose nephew, the late Mr. -Dyer, the printseller, I am obliged for some parts of the above -information.”--S. - -[75] Reproduced in Mr. Clinch’s _Marylebone and St. Pancras_ (1890). - -[76] Michael Angelo Rooker (1743-1801), the water-colour painter -and engraver. “His works are drawn with conscientious accuracy, -and show a sweet pencil” (Redgrave). He died March 3, 1801, in -Dean Street, Soho, and was buried in the ground belonging to St. -Martin-in-the-Fields, in the Kentish Town Road. Examples of his -work are hung at South Kensington. - -[77] The wonderful extra-illustrated copy presented to the Museum -by John Charles Crowle, and valued at £5000. - -[78] That is to say tiled. - -[79] The Rev. John Fountayne was more than “noticed” by Handel; -the two men were intimate. A grandson of Fountayne wrote in 1832: -“One evening as my grandfather and Handel were walking together -and alone, a new piece was struck up by the band. ‘Come, Mr. -Fountayne,’ said Handel, ‘let us sit down and listen to this -piece--I want to know your opinion of it.’ Down they sat, and -after some time the old parson, turning to his companion, said, -‘It is not worth listening to--it’s very poor stuff.’ ‘You are -right, Mr. F.,’ said Handel, ‘it is very poor stuff--I thought so -myself when I had finished it.’ The old gentleman, being taken -by surprise, was beginning to apologise; but Handel assured him -there was no necessity; that the music was really bad, having -been composed hastily, and his time for the production limited; -and that the opinion given was as correct as it was honest” -(Hone’s _Year Book_). “Clarke” was doubtless Dr. Adam Clarke, the -Wesleyan, who died in Bayswater in 1832, and was well known for his -bibliographical and theological works. - -[80] Lady Harrington might well lend her jewels, since she often -borrowed. Horace Walpole tells how, at the Coronation of George -III., she appeared “covered with all the diamonds she could borrow, -hire, or seize, with the air of Roxana, the finest figure at a -distance.” - -[81] The great actress. She played Violante to Garrick’s Don Felix -in the actor’s last appearance. - -[82] In his _Memoirs_, the Rev. John Trusler, who was educated -at Dr. Fountayne’s school, does not spare Mrs. Fountayne’s -tuft-hunting tendencies. In one instance she was covered with -ridicule through the action of a Soho pastry-cook named Jenkins, -who, wishing his son to enter the school, arranged that he should -do so under the name of the Prince De Chimmay. When Mrs. Fountayne -discovered that his father made tarts a mile from the school door, -“she had the laugh so much against her, that she could not show her -face for months.” - -[83] The Royal College of Physicians, then housed in Warwick Lane. - -[84] Norfolk Street was the northern continuation of Newman Street; -it is now merged in Cleveland Street. - -[85] John Baptist Locatelli, a native of Verona, had his studio in -Union Street, Tottenham Court Road, from 1776. He was befriended -by Horace Walpole, with whom he quarrelled bitterly over a group -representing Theseus offering assistance to Hercules. Walpole -refused to take this work, although he had already paid the -sculptor £350 on account, and was probably justified, since -Nollekens said the group looked “like the dry skins of two -brickmakers stuffed with clotted flocks from an old mattress.” -Locatelli worked also for the brothers Adam, and he superintended -the carving of the basso-relievos put up by Nollekens on the -outside of the Sessions House, Clerkenwell Green. In 1796 he left -England for Milan, where Buonaparte employed him and granted him a -pension. (See Smith’s _Life of Nollekens_, 1829, pp. 119-123, and -Thornbury’s _British Artists_, vol. ii. pp. 9-16). - -[86] Wilson, upon whom a note has been given under the year 1766, -lived at No. 36 Charlotte Street, Fitzroy Square, within a few -minutes’ walk of this group of elms. He was accustomed of a fine -evening, says Redgrave, to throw open his window and invite his -friends to enjoy with him the glowing sunset behind the Hampstead -and Highgate hills. Fitzroy Square was not begun until 1790-94. -To-day the miles between Charlotte Street and these northern -heights are filled by streets. Nevertheless, Hampstead church -can still be seen from Charlotte Street, piercing the northern -distance, and, but for the slight deflection of Rathbone Place, -it would be visible from Oxford Street. John Constable afterwards -lived in the same street. The elms under which Wilson and Baretti -walked must have had their roots in the ground on which the east -side of Cleveland Street is built. - -[87] It is difficult to form an idea of this instrument. It was -beaten with a rolling-pin, and appears to have been used as a drum -in such a way (according to the manner in which it was struck) -as to produce something like notes. This is indicated in Bonnell -Thornton’s burlesque, _Ode to St. Cecilia’s Day_, in which occur -the well-known lines which amused Dr. Johnson:-- - - “In strains more exalted the salt-box shall join, - And clattering and battering and clapping combine; - With a rap and a tap while the hollow side sounds. - Up and down leaps the flap, and with rattling rebounds.” - -The character of the neighbourhood round the “Farthing Pie House” -(Portland Road Station) in Smith’s boyhood, may be judged by -Smith’s statement in his _Vagabondiana_, that “when the sites of -Portland Place, Devonshire Street, etc., were fields, the famous -Tommy Lowe, then a singer at Mary-le-bone Gardens, raised a -subscription, to enable an unfortunate man to run a small chariot, -drawn by four muzzled mastiffs, from a pond near Portland Chapel, -called Cockney Ladle, which supplied Mary-le-bone Bason with water, -to the ‘Farthing Pie House’ … in order to accommodate children with -a ride for a halfpenny.” - -[88] By Queen Anne Street Smith means the street which has borne -the successive names of Little Queen Anne Street, Queen Anne Street -East, Foley Place, and (now) Langham Street. The present Queen Anne -Street is on the _west_ side of Portland Place; it was originally -Great Queen Anne Street, then Queen Anne Street West. A curious -interest attaches to these streets, neither of which runs, as it -seems destined to do, into Portland Place. Thus:-- - -[Illustration] - -Their failure to run directly into Portland Place (see dotted -lines) is a relic of Foley House which occupied the site of the -Langham Hotel, and interposed its gardens where these streets would -have joined. It was afterwards intended to build a Queen Anne -Square at the foot of Great Portland Street, but this project fell -through. - -[89] There were many ponds in the fields on which the streets -of St. Pancras and Marylebone are built. In an early view of -Whitefield’s Tabernacle, a pond is delineated on a spot now -covered, as nearly as may be judged, by Torrington Square. Farther -west, on the site of Duke Street, Portland Place, was the Cockney -Ladle, in which small boys bathed at the risk of having their -clothes seized by the parish beadles. Close by this--on the site -of the backs of the east side of Harley Street--was the Marylebone -Basin, a dangerously deep water. Many drownings occurred in ponds -of which no trace or memory remains. Thus, the _St. James’s -Chronicle_ of August 8, 1769, says: “Two young chairmen [_i.e._ -carriers of sedan chairs] were unfortunately drowned on Friday -Evening last, in a Pond behind the North-Side of Portman-Square. -They had been beating a Carpet in the Square, and being thereby -warm and dirty agreed to bathe in the above Pond, not being aware -of its great Depth. The Man who first went in could swim, and while -he was swimming his Companion went in, but being presently out of -his Depth he sunk. The Swimmer immediately made to the Place to -save his Companion; but he, coming up again under the Swimmer, -laid fast hold of him, and they both sunk down together and were -drowned.” - -[90] “On Friday last, Mr. Carlile, a Quaker of about 17 years of -age, had the misfortune to fall into Marylebone-Bason, and was -drowned” (_Daily Advertiser_, June 18, 1744). - -[91] And from their contiguity to a French Protestant chapel, -founded in 1756. - -[92] The difficulty of writing recent history is exemplified by -Smith in his account of Marylebone Gardens, which is far excelled -by Mr. Warwick Wroth’s chapter on Marylebone Gardens in his _London -Pleasure Gardens of the Eighteenth Century_ (1896). Fully to -annotate Smith’s chronology of these gardens would require many -pages, and the result would be unsatisfactory. I shall therefore -deal with only the more prominent names he mentions. - -[93] May 7, 1668. - -[94] M. Wroth says: “In 1691 the place was known as Long’s Bowling -Green at the Rose, and for several years (_circ._ 1679-1736) -persons of quality might have been seen bowling there during the -summer-time. - - ‘At the Groom Porters battered bullies play; - Some Dukes at Marybone bowl time away.’” - -These lines, often erroneously attributed to Lady Mary Wortley -Montague, occur in Pope’s _The Basset-table, an Eclogue_. - -[95] Rockhoult, or Rockholt House, was at Leyton, in Essex, and was -“for a short period an auxiliary place of amusement for the Summer -to the established Theatres” (_Gentleman’s Magazine_, July 1814). -It was opened about 1742, and was apparently regarded as “the place -to spend a happy day.” A ballad to “Delia” exclaimed-- - - “Delia, in whose form we trace - All that can a virgin grace, - Hark where pleasure, blithe as May, - Bids us to Rockholt haste away.” - -[96] “The principal shareholder and manager of Ranelagh at this -date was Sir Thomas Robinson, Bart., M.P., whose gigantic form was -for many years familiar to frequenters of the Rotunda; a writer of -1774 calls him its Maypole, and Garland of Delights. Robinson lived -at Prospect Place, adjoining the gardens.” - -[97] The New Wells belonged to the Islington group of pleasure -gardens, and stood on ground now occupied by Lower Rosomon Street, -Clerkenwell. It flourished 1737-50, and numbered a collection of -rattlesnakes among its attractions. - -[98] Cuper’s Gardens, a great resort. The Feathers Tavern at the -end of Waterloo Bridge is the successor of the tavern originally in -the gardens, the site of which is traversed by the Waterloo Road. -They were closed in 1759, after which Dr. Johnson, passing them in -a coach with Langton, Beauclerk, and Lady Sydney Beauclerk (mother -of his friend), jokingly proposed, to Lady Sydney’s horror, that -they should lease them: “She had no notion of a joke, sir; she had -come late into life, and had a mighty unpliable understanding.” - -[99] Advertised as “the Pariton, an instrument never played in -publick before.” - -[100] Mary Ann Falkner was a niece of George Falkner, the Dublin -printer, whom Foote caricatured on the stage. She appeared at -Marylebone from 1747 to about 1752, giving such songs as “Amoret -and Phyllis,” “The Happy Couple,” and “The Faithful Lover.” Much -sought after, she remained faithful to her husband, a linen draper -named Donaldson, until his conduct threw her under the protection -of the second Earl of Halifax. - -[101] M. Wroth says, on good evidence, that Trusler became -proprietor only in 1756. - -[102] The career of young John Trusler, afterwards the Rev. Dr. -Trusler, is interesting. Without a collegiate training, he took -Holy Orders, and officiated as a curate in London. His eye for -business revealed to him the possibilities of sermon-mongering, and -he was soon making a respectable income by supplying clergymen all -over the country with sermons in script characters. His operations -became something of a scandal, and Cowper scourged him in “The -Task”-- - - “He grinds divinity of other days - Down into modern use, transforms old print - To zigzag manuscript, and cheats the eyes - Of gallery critics by a thousand arts. - Are there who purchase of the doctor’s ware? - Oh, name it not in Gath! It cannot be - That grave and learned clerks should need such aid. - He doubtless is in sport, and does but droll, - Assuming thus a rank unknown before-- - Grand caterer and dry-nurse of the Church!” - -Trusler also issued the morning and evening services so printed and -punctuated as to indicate to incompetent readers how they should be -delivered. Cowper writes-- - - “He teaches those to read, whom schools dismiss’d, - And colleges, untaught; sells accent, tone, - And emphasis in score, and gives to prayer - The _adagio_ and _andante_ it demands.” - -Prospering at this business, Trusler set up a publishing -establishment in Wardour Street, from which he issued manuals -of all kinds, including his most respectable work, _Hogarth -Moralised_, in which Mrs. Hogarth became a partner and collaborator. -At the age of 85 he died in his villa at Englefield Green, Middlesex. - -[103] Miss Trusler’s seed and plum cakes were famous. In a judgment -on Mrs. Cornelys for keeping an objectionable house, Sir John -Fielding sagely remarked that her Soho assemblies were unnecessary, -having regard to the many attractions elsewhere, such as “Ranelagh -with its music and fireworks, and Marylebone Gardens, with music, -wine, and plum-cake.” - -[104] The arrival of three Cherokee Indian chiefs in the spring of -1762 roused the liveliest interest in London. These braves came -over in token of friendship after the ratification of a treaty -of peace at Charlestown, South Carolina. They were well-made -men, six feet in height, and were dressed, says the _Gentleman’s -Magazine_ (May 1762), “in their own country habit with only a -shirt, trousers, and mantle round them; their faces are painted of -a copper colour, and their heads adorned with shells, feathers, -ear-rings, and other trifling ornaments. They neither of them -can speak to be understood, and very unfortunately lost their -interpreter in their passage. A house is taken for them in Suffolk -Street, and cloaths have been given them in the English fashion.” -Among the thousands of Londoners who went to see the “Cherokee -Kings” was Oliver Goldsmith. - -[105] By an indenture dated August 30, 1763. This document, which -Smith’s namesake Thomas Smith quoted in his _History of the Parish -of Marylebone_, shows that the Gardens were attached to the Rose -Tavern, and that they contained walks, statuary, boxes, benches, -and musical appliances and books. Lowe’s lease was for fourteen -years at the annual rent of £170. - -[106] Not the well-known Stephen Storace (who was born only in this -year), but his father, a Neapolitan, described by George Hogarth -as “a good performer on the double bass in the band of the Opera -House.” - -[107] Nan Catley won hearts by her breezy manner and air of -camaraderie. Hers “was the singing of unequalled animal spirits; -it was Mrs. Jordan’s comedy carried into music.… She was bold, -volatile, audacious” (Boaden: _Life of Mrs. Siddons_). - -[108] Long before this, Dick Turpin had appeared in the Garden -itself, and had surprised Mrs. Fountayne, the wife of the -Marylebone schoolmaster, with a kiss. He impudently remarked, “Be -not alarmed, madam; you can now boast that you have been kissed by -Dick Turpin. Good-morning!” - -[109] Lowe was now glad to obtain singing engagements at Sadler’s -Wells and other tea-gardens. His career from riches to poverty is -illustrated in the story, told by John Taylor in his _Records of -My Life_, that, soon after becoming master of Marylebone Gardens, -he was seen riding thither in his chariot with a large iron trunk -behind it, which he explained he had purchased “to place the -profits of the Gardens in.” Taylor adds that he had last seen Lowe -in a lane near Aldersgate Street, coming out of a butcher’s shop, -with some meat in a checked handkerchief. - -[110] An editorial note in the third edition of the _Rainy Day_ -suggests that this name was made popular by Prior’s “Chloe.” This -seems probable, for Prior gave all the vogue of an ideal to this -woman, who, in real life, was the wife of a coachman in Long Acre, -and was described by Johnson as “a despicable drab of the lowest -species.” - -[111] See note on Weston, p. 208. - -[112] Charles Bannister, the vocalist and actor, father of the more -famous John Bannister. - -[113] Signor Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, born near Ancona in the -first decade of the eighteenth century, composed numerous operas -and oratorios. Of the former his _La Serva Padrona_ was revived in -London as late as 1873. - -[114] Felix Giardini, a Piedmontese musician, came to England -in 1750, and met with encouragement. He died in Russia in -1793. After hearing him play at Bath, Gainsborough bought his -viol-di-gamba, but was soon disgusted to find that the music -remained with the Italian. Horace Walpole was not enthusiastic -about Giardini as a composer, and advised Mason to employ Handel -to set his _Sappho_. “Your Act is classical Athenian; shall it be -subdi-di-di-vi-vi-vi-ded into modern Italian?” - -[115] Dr. Arnold’s appearance at Bow Street was in respect of a -rocket-stick which had descended in the sacrosanct garden of Mrs. -Fountayne. - -[116] “To James Winston, Esq. [secretary to the Garrick Club, -and several times mentioned in the diary of John Payne Collier], -I am obliged for the above notices; indeed, to that gentleman’s -disinterested indulgence I am also indebted for many other curious -particulars introduced in this work, selected from his most -extensive and valuable library of English Theatrical Biography, -both in manuscript and in print, a collection formed by himself -during the last thirty years.”--S. - -[117] “Torré was a printseller in partnership with the late Mr. -Thane, and lived in Market Lane, Haymarket.”--S. - -[118] Dr. William Kenrick, the rampageous critic and playwright. -His comedy _The Duellist_ is his best-remembered work. In July -1774 he began a course of lectures in the “Theatre for Burlettas” -at Marylebone Gardens, which he termed “a School of Shakespeare,” -an entertainment which he also gave at the Devil Tavern in Fleet -Street. Kenrick attacked Dr. Johnson’s Shakespeare. On Goldsmith -saying that he had never heard of Kenrick’s writings, the doctor -replied: “Sir, he is one of the many who have made themselves -public, without making themselves known.” - -It is curious that Smith omits to mention Dr. Johnson’s rampageous -visit to the Gardens to see Torré’s fireworks, with his friend -George Steevens, the Shakesperian commentator. It may have taken -place in this year, 1774. - -[119] Robert Baddeley began his connection with the stage as cook -to Foote. He was the original Moses in the _School for Scandal_. -It was he who bequeathed £100 to provide the cake and wine which -actors and journalists still consume on Twelfth Night. He is stated -by Dr. Doran to have been the last actor to wear the royal livery -of scarlet, which, as “His Majesty’s Servants,” the Drury Lane -players were entitled to assume. - -[120] A posthumous son of Henry Carey, author of “Sally in our -Alley.” “Saville Carey I have heard sometimes touch Nan Catley’s -manner feebly in the famous triumph of her hilarity, ‘Push about -the Jorum’” (Boaden: _Life of Mrs. Siddons_). His worthless -daughter, Nance Carey, bore to one Kean, a tailor, or a builder, -a child whom she neglected and abandoned. This boy became Edmund -Kean, the great actor (Doran’s _Their Majestys’ Servants_, vol. ii. -pp. 523-26). - -[121] These initials thinly disguise such well-known entertainers -as Garrick, Bannister, Mrs. Baddeley, and the singers Mr. Darley, -Mr. Vernon, and Nan Catley, all of whom were imitated by the -versatile Carey. - -[122] As Abel Drugger, one of his finest parts. - -[123] The “Forge of Vulcan” was Signor Torré’s masterpiece; in it -appeared Venus and Cupid in dialogue, in more or less relevant -circumstances of flame and lava. - -[124] Fantoccino, the Italian puppet-entertainment, was introduced -to France by an Italian named Marion (hence “marionettes”), and -then into England. The great London Fantoi show of the eighteenth -century was Flockton’s. - -Breslaw, the conjurer, began his London appearances in 1772, in -Cockspur Street. In 1774 he gave his entertainment on alternate -days here and at the “King’s Arms” opposite the Royal Exchange. -It is told of him while performing at Canterbury, he promised the -Mayor that if the duration of his licence were extended he would -give one night’s receipts to the poor. The Mayor agreed, and the -conjurer had a full house. Hearing nothing further of the money, -the Mayor called on Breslaw to inquire. The following dialogue -ensued. - -“Mr. Mayor, I have distributed the money myself.” - -“Pray, sir, to whom?” - -“To my own company, than whom none can be poorer.” - -“This is a trick!” - -“Sir, we live by tricks.” - -[125] Baggio Rebecca, decorative painter, died in 1808. Of his -election as Associate of the Royal Academy in 1771, Leslie says: -“Academic advancement was rapid in those days. Every man who -displayed the least ability was certain of election.” Rebecca had -a small share in decorating the Royal Academy lecture-room at -Somerset House. - -[126] Most of these localities have ceased to be the resort of -bird-fanciers. To-day the chief London quarters for song-birds are -St. Giles’s, Leadenhall Market, and, above all, Sclater Street in -Spitalfields, known as “Club Row.” - -[127] The sights in this famous cockpit are recorded by Hogarth in -his print of 1759, and by Rowlandson in Ackermann’s _Microcosm of -London_ (1808). - -Bainbridge Street survives as a narrow lane behind New Oxford -Street, leading from Dyott Street to the back of Meux’s brewery. - -At the beginning of the eighteenth century the cockpit behind -Gray’s Inn (its exact locality is not easily discovered), enjoyed -“the only vogue” (Hatton). Mr. William B. Boulton (_The Amusements -of Old London_, 1901) quotes a description of it by Von Uffenbach, -a German traveller, who says it was specially built for the sport. - -Pickled-Egg Walk, afterwards Crawford’s Passage (now Crawford -Passage, Ray Street, Clerkenwell), was named after the proprietor -of the Pickled-Egg Tavern, who brought from the West of England -a recipe for pickled eggs and supplied this novel cate to his -customers. Pink mentions a tradition that Charles II. once paused -here in a suburban journey and ate a pickled egg. The mains fought -at the cockpit here were regularly advertised in the newspapers. - -Charles Hughes and Charles Dibdin, the song-writer, opened the -“Royal Circus and Equestrian Philharmonic Academy” in 1782. - -Cock-fighting was made illegal in 1849, but a statement in _Cocking -and its Votaries_ (1895), by S. A. T. (for private circulation), -makes it quite manifest that “not a few wealthy men in England -still follow up this sport, stealthily but with much zeal--a fact -that is as discreditable to the guardians of the law as it is to -themselves.” I quote Mr. J. Charles Cox in his admirable edition of -Strutt’s _Sports and Pastimes_ (1903). - -[128] Behind this formal entry lies the most affecting farewell -scene ever enacted on a London stage. The doors of Drury Lane -Theatre were opened at “half after five” on that evening of June -10, 1776, and the profits of the performance were announced to be -given to the Theatrical Fund. It was but the last of a series of -farewell nights in which Garrick had played his great parts for the -last time to densely crowded houses. As Mr. Percy Fitzgerald says: -“Other actors retire in one night, Garrick’s departure filled a -whole season and only culminated on this last night.” “Last night,” -he wrote, “I played Abel Drugger for the last time. I thought the -audience were cracked, and they almost turned my brain.” - -On June 5, King George and his Queen attended to see Garrick’s last -“Richard.” Distinguished people were turned nightly from the doors, -and many became almost frantic to think that they must see Garrick -now or never again. Hannah More wrote: “I pity those who have not -seen him. Posterity will never be able to form the slightest idea -of his perfections.… I have seen him within three weeks take leave -of Benedick, Sir John Brute, Kitely, Abel Drugger, Archer, and -Leon.” - -On the last night, of all, Garrick played Don Felix in Mrs. -Centilivre’s comedy, which he chose, perhaps, as a foil to the -tragedy of his farewell. In his Life of the actor Mr. Fitzgerald -thus describes the supreme moment: “He retired slowly--up--up -the stage, his eyes fixed on them with a lingering longing. Then -stopped. The shouts of applause from that brilliant amphitheatre -were broken by sobs and tears. To his ears were borne from many -quarters the word ‘Farewell! Farewell!’ Mrs. Garrick was in her -box, in an agony of hysterical tears. The wonderful eyes, still -brilliant, were turned wistfully again and again to that sea of -sympathetic faces, one of the most brilliant audiences perhaps -that ever sat in Drury Lane; and at last, with an effort, he tore -himself from their view.” - -[129] Garrick’s last season at Drury Lane was Mrs. Siddons’ first. -She was but twenty-one years of age, and made no striking success, -though “her type was enlarged in the bill” (Boadley). - -[130] A single short fall of lace from the hat has been far from -unfashionable in recent years. Fans were carried later than 1776. A -print of two ladies in outdoor costume in the _Gallery of Fashion_, -published in May 1796, is reproduced by Fairholt, who remarks: -“Both ladies carry the then indispensable article--a fan.” Indeed, -the fashion-plates of the eighteenth century disclose hardly any -period in which fans were not carried out of doors. - -[131] Norton Street is now Bolsover Street, running south from near -Portland Road Station, parallel east of Great Portland Street. In -the eighteenth century it had considerable pretensions. From it -Sir William Chambers’s funeral proceeded to the Abbey in March -1796. Wilson, Turner, and Wilkie all painted here. It is now a dull -macadamised street in whose houses upholstering, steel-cutting, -etc., are carried on. - -[132] Smith erroneously notes that “this house, subsequently -inhabited by the Duchess of Bolton, Sir John Nicholl, Sir Vicary -Gibbs, and by Sir Charles Flower, Bart., has been recently pulled -down, and several houses built upon the site.” The premises remain -to this day, but they form several houses. As early as 1776 -Northouck noted that Baltimore House was “either built without a -plan, or else has had very whimsical owners; for the door has been -shifted to different parts of the house, being now carried into the -stable-yard.” - -[133] The map engraved for Northouck’s _History of London in 1772_ -shows that Smith was justified in these statements. The unexpected -break in the houses which still occurs on the south side of -Guilford Street is a relic of the desire to leave this square open -to Highgate. This intention was defeated when the north side of -Guilford Street was built. Thenceforward the north-westward growth -of London was rapid, and by 1845 rurality had been pushed up to -Chalk Farm by advancing brick and mortar. - -[134] This Italian painter exhibited portraits and water colours -at the Royal Academy from 1774 to 1778. He painted the principal -ceiling at the old East India House. - -[135] This painting is said to represent Mary, and her son James -(afterwards James I. of England) as a boy four years of age. Doubts -have been thrown on its history. (See _Gentleman’s Magazine_, vols. -xlviii. and xlix.) - -[136] A fortune-teller by tea-leaves, the leaves being “grouted” or -turned over in the cup. - -[137] At this time Charles Towneley (1737-1805) was living at No. -7 Park Street (now, with Queen Anne’s Square, named Queen Anne’s -Gate), where he entertained, among others, Sir Joshua Reynolds, -Nollekens, and Johann Zoffany. The Townley collection of Greek -and Roman statues, altars, urns, busts, etc., now in the British -Museum, was freely shown to the public in Park Street. - -[138] It was from Mr. Tunnard’s house, on Bankside, that Smith -etched the river procession which brought Nelson’s body to -Whitehall, mentioned in Smith’s note, p. 182. - -[139] The manager, and afterwards part proprietor, of Thrale’s -brewery. He hung a fine mezzotint portrait of Johnson in the -counting-house, and when Mrs. Thrale, in Johnson’s presence, asked -him why he had done so, he replied, “Because, madam, I wish to have -one wise man there.” “Sir,” said Johnson, “I thank you. It is a -very handsome compliment, and I believe you speak sincerely.” - -[140] The Rev. James Beresford became Rector of Kibworth Beauchamp, -Lincoln, in 1812. He died in 1840. - -[141] Elizabeth Carter, of “Epictetus” fame, the friend of Dr. -Johnson. See note, p. 231. - -Anna Letitia Barbauld, the well-known miscellaneous writer, whose -poem “Life! I know not what thou art” is her one imperishable -composition. - -Angelica Kauffman, the painter (1741-1807). See Smith’s account of -her under the year 1807. - -Mrs. Sheridan was the beautiful, clever, and faithful wife of -Richard Brinsley Sheridan, whom she assisted in the management of -Drury Lane Theatre. - -Charlotte Lenox, born in New York, 1720, was the author of _The -Life of Harriot Stuart_, in which she portrayed her own youth. -She found interest in high quarters, and was given apartments in -Somerset House, which, however, she lost when that building was -demolished. Dr. Johnson insisted on his friends sitting up all -night at the Devil Tavern to celebrate Mrs. Lenox’s “first literary -child” (_Harriot Stuart_), an immense apple pie being part of the -entertainment. In the morning the waiters were so sleepy that the -party had to wait two hours for their reckoning. - -Mrs. Montague, the original “blue stocking,” had little womanly -taste, but her mind was well stored and active; she lived in an -atmosphere of English and foreign talent, and her assemblies at -Montague House, in Portman Square, are historical. Dr. Johnson was -severe on her _Essay on the Writings and Genius of Shakespeare_, -remarking: “Reynolds is fond of her book, and I wonder at it; for -neither I nor Beauclerk nor Mrs. Thrale could get through it.” - -Hannah More had appeared in the London literary firmament in 1774; -her tragedy _Percy_ had just been given by Garrick, and her star -was in brightest ascension. - -Such was the fame of Mrs. Catherine Macaulay, author of a forgotten -_History of England_, that Dr. Wilson, Rector of St. Stephen’s, -Walbrook, erected a statue to her in the chancel of that church -during her lifetime. It was very properly removed by his successor. - -Mrs. Elizabeth Griffith wrote several plays which Garrick presented -with success. _The Letters of Henry and Frances_, which she wrote -in collaboration with her husband, a dramatist, were popular. - -[142] At No. 5 (now No. 4) Adelphi Terrace, Garrick lived between -1772 and 1779. He died at about 8 a.m. The house is distinguished -by a commemorative tablet, as also (recently and more artistically) -is his previous residence in Southampton Street, Strand. - -[143] Boswell says: “Garrick’s funeral was talked of as -extravagantly expensive, but Dr. Johnson, from his dislike to -exaggeration, would not allow that it was distinguished by an -extraordinary pomp. ‘Were there not six horses to each coach?’ -said Mrs. Burney. JOHNSON: ‘Madam, there were no more six horses -than six phœnixes.’” On this Croker notes: “There certainly were, -and Johnson himself went in one of the coach and six.” Richard -Cumberland saw Johnson standing beside the grave, at the foot of -Shakespeare’s statue, bathed in tears. Horace Walpole wrote to the -Countess of Ossory, February 1, 1779: “Yes, madam, I do think the -pomp of Garrick’s funeral perfectly ridiculous,” and he gave his -reasons with epigrammatic force. Others were of the same opinion; -and John Henderson, the actor, wrote “a rather bitter impromptu -on Mr. Garrick’s Funeral,” in which Garrick is represented as -directing the pageant. - - “‘Call all my carpenters--bid George attend. - And ransack Monmouth Street from end to end; - Buy all the black, defraud the starving moth. - Or let him, if he will, defile the cloth: - Bring moth and all--we have no time to lose-- - If there’s not black enough, then buy the blues.’ - … - Thus far he spoke, in an imperial tone, - And quite forgot the funeral was his own.” - -[144] Antonio Zucchi, A.R.A., who became Angelica Kauffmann’s -second husband, was employed by the brothers Adam, the architects -of the Adelphi. The cost of the mantelpiece is given by Mr. -Wheatley as £300, the probable figure. Mrs. Garrick died in the -same house in 1822. - -[145] The “English Grotto,” as it was called, was one of the -Islington group of tea-gardens. Its proprietor, Jackson, pleased -his public by an ingenious water-mill, an “enchanted fountain,” and -a display of gold and silver fish. A pleasingly rustic view in the -Crace collection is reproduced by Mr. Wroth in _London Pleasure -Gardens of the Eighteenth Century_. - -[146] Francesco Bartolozzi, R.A., was an original member of the -Royal Academy, and he engraved its diploma. His rapid rise, and -his appointment to be engraver to the King at £300 a year, were -disturbing to Sir Robert Strange, who treated him with misplaced -contempt. “Let Strange beat that if he can,” exclaimed Bartolozzi, -on executing his “Clytia.” Unfortunately he was improvident, and -his studio became a manufactory of facile chalk studies, to many of -which he put only the finishing touches. After a brilliant career -in England, he went to Lisbon, where he was knighted, and died -there in 1815, in his 88th year. - -[147] John Hinchliffe (1731-94), the son of a livery-stable -keeper in Swallow Street, was born in Westminster, and educated -at Westminster School. He was consecrated Bishop of Peterborough, -Dec. 17, 1769. He bought some of Smith’s youthful imitations of -Rembrandt and Ostade. A note on Sherwin will be found under 1782. - -[148] In 1781, Mary Robinson (1758-1800), known as “Perdita,” -had ceased to be the mistress of the Prince of Wales, afterwards -George IV., whose bond for £20,000, never paid, was exchanged for -the pension of £500 a year awarded her by Fox in 1783. She was -portrayed by Reynolds twice, and by Romney, Gainsborough, Hoppner, -Zoffany, and twice by Cosway. - -The original name of Mrs. Robinson’s family had been M’Dermott, -which had been changed by an ancestor to Darby. Mrs. Darby had -brought up her daughter under difficult circumstances. Obliged -to earn her own living during her husband’s absence in America, -she started a ladies’ boarding school in Little Chelsea, in which -the future “Perdita” (as we learn from her autobiography) taught -English literature to the daughters of the well-to-do citizens, and -read to them “sacred and moral lessons on saints’ days and Sunday -evenings.” The “high personage” referred to in this paragraph is of -course the Prince, in whom Richard Cosway, the courtly miniaturist, -found a lavish patron. - -[149] Anticipating, on a higher scale, Dickens’s servant-girl -bride, who, on stepping into a hackney-coach after the ceremony, -“threw a red shawl, which she had, no doubt, brought on purpose, -negligently over the number on the door, evidently to delude -pedestrians into the belief that the hackney-coach was a private -carriage” (_Sketches by Boz_). - -[150] Smith’s first master, John Keyse Sherwin, had been a pupil of -Bartolozzi. In his studio in St. James’s Street, he was patronised -by the Duchesses of Devonshire and Rutland, Lady Jersey, and other -ladies of rank, many of whom were eager to figure in his drawing -of “The Finding of Moses,” in which the Princess Royal appeared as -Pharaoh’s daughter. He was a wonderfully skilful portrait artist: -“I have often seen him,” says Smith, “begin at the toe, draw -upwards, and complete it at the top of the head in a most correct -and masterly manner. He had also an extraordinary command over the -use of both his hands.” He was an irregular worker, however, and -debt and dissipation helped to kill him at the age of 39. - -The sitting given to Sherwin by Mrs. Siddons took place soon after -her re-appearance at Drury Lane Theatre, the beginning of her real -fame, October 10, 1782. After opening with Isabella in Garrick’s -version of _The Fatal Marriage_, she played Euphrasia in _The -Grecian Daughter_. - -[151] William Henderson, a collector, lived at No. 33 Charlotte -Street, Fitzroy Square, where he was the neighbour of Constable. - -[152] Mathews’ collection, the formation of which had been the -passion of his later years, was not dispersed. It consisted almost -entirely of portraits, and on these he is said to have laid out -about £5000. For their accommodation the younger Mathews built a -special gallery for his father at Ivy Cottage, Kentish Town, from -a design by Pugin. In gratifying his tastes, Mathews found that -he had sacrificed his privacy to sight-seers; the rural cottage -in which he had sought peace became a show-place. The collection -ultimately passed to the Garrick Club. - -[153] Apparently Smith refers to his will, as it then existed; but, -as a matter of fact, he left no will. On his death, letters of -administration were granted to his widow, the value of his estate -being only £100. The second of the two witnesses was doubtless John -Pritt Harley. See note, p. 321. - -[154] John Charles Crowle of Fryston Hall, Wakefield, lawyer -and antiquary, was a member of the Dilettanti Society, and its -Secretary, 1774-78. He was a noted joker and boon companion, and -left a tangible proof of his interest in art and antiquity in the -illustrated and interleaved copy of Pennant’s _History of London_ -which he bequeathed to the British Museum. He died in 1811. - -[155] Rats’ Castle is described by Smith in his _Nollekens_ as “a -shattered house then standing on the east side of Dyot Street, and -so called from the rat-catchers and canine snackers who inhabited -it, and where they cleaned the skins of those unfortunate stray -dogs who had suffered death the preceding night.” Nollekens -obtained models for his Venuses from Mrs. Lobb, an elderly lady in -a green calash, at the Fan Tavern in Dyot Street. This street was -named after Richard Dyot, a parishioner of St. Giles-in-the-Fields. -“The name was changed to George Street in consequence of a filthy -song which attained wide popularity, but the original name was -restored in 1877” (Wheatley). - -[156] This inscription appears to be incorrect. An editorial -note to the 1845 (second) edition of the _Rainy Day_ points out -that this well-known beggar died April 25, 1788, and that the -_Gentleman’s Magazine_ recorded his death thus: “In Bridewell, -where he was confined a second time as a vagrant, the man known by -the name of Old Simon, who for many years has gone about this city -covered with rags, clouted shoes, three old hats upon his head, -and his fingers full of brass rings. On the following day, the -Coroner’s Inquest sat on his body, and brought in their verdict, -‘Died by the visitation of God.’” - -[157] Dr. John Gardner, a well-known character, erected his tomb in -the churchyard of St. Leonard’s, Shoreditch, some years before his -death, and inscribed it: - - DR. JOHN GARDNER’S LAST AND BEST BEDROOM, - -but finding that he was assumed to be already dead, and that his -practice as a worm-doctor in Norton Folgate was declining, he -interpolated the word “intended” thus: - - DR. JOHN GARDNER’S INTENDED LAST AND BEST BEDROOM. - -A correspondent of _Notes and Queries_, Aug. 25, 1860, wrote: “I -remember him well; a stout, burly man with a flaxen wig: he rode -daily into London on a large roan-coloured horse.” It was said -that he was buried in an erect position by his own wish. Gardner’s -tombstone is still carefully preserved, and is a curiosity of -the Hackney Road, whence the inscription can be read through the -churchyard railings. It now runs: - - 1807 - - Dr. John Gardner’s - Last and best Bedroom - Who departed this life the 8th - Of April, 1835, in his 84th year. - Also are here Interred two of His - Sons and Two of His Granddaughters. - -[158] “Funeral Weever”: John Weever (1576-1632), poet and -antiquary; author of _Ancient Funeral Monuments_, 1631. - -[159] “I know not whether Mrs. Nollekens was of Lord Monboddo’s -opinion, that men originally had tails; but I could have informed -her that it has been asserted that the species of monkeys that -have no tails are more inclined to show tricks than those that -have.”--(Smith.) - -[160] The antiquary, and correspondent of White of Selborne. He -joined this year (1783) the club founded by Johnson at the Essex -Head in Essex Street, Strand. - -[161] Mrs. Nollekens was Mary, second daughter of Mr. Saunders -Welch, the police magistrate. Her flightiness and parsimony are -Smith’s endless sport in his Life of her husband, and he was -willing to believe that her character resembled that of Pekuah, the -favourite attendant of the princess, in _Rasselas_. Miss Hawkins -says in her _Anecdotes_, that Johnson drew Pekuah from Mary Welch, -and that she had this from Anne Welch. In any case, the Doctor -found “Pekuah’s” vivacity agreeable. Smith relates: “I have heard -Mr. Nollekens say that the Doctor, when joked with about her, -observed, ‘Yes, I think Mary would have been mine, if little Joe -had not stepped in.’” - -[162] “The name of Norman was so extensively known, that I consider -it hardly possible for many of my readers to be ignorant of his -fame; indeed, so much was he in requisition, that persons residing -out of Town would frequently order the carriage for no other -purpose than to consult Dr. Norman as to the state of Biddy’s -health, just as people of rank now consult Partington or Thompson -as to the irregularities of their children’s teeth” (Smith: -_Nollekens_). - -[163] George Keate was a man of miscellaneous talent. His -best-known literary works are his serio-comic poem “The Distressed -Poet” (1787), and his “Account of the Pelew Islands from the -Journal of Captain Henry Wilson.” He enjoyed the friendship of -Voltaire at Geneva, and was careful that the world should know it. -In her _Early Diary_, Miss Burney gives a good portrait of Keate -as she met him “at the house of six old maids, all sisters, and -all above sixty.” She found him a “sluggish” conversationalist who -aimed continually at making himself the subject of discussion, -“while he listened with the greatest nonchalance, reclining his -person upon the back of his chair and kicking his foot now over, -and now under, a gold-headed cane.” - -[164] This dealer probably bought dog-skins. “The dexterous of all -dentists” may be explained by the following passage in Smith’s -_Vagabondiana_ (1817): “It is scarcely to be believed that some few -years ago a woman of the name of Smith regularly went over London -early in the morning, to strike out the teeth of dead dogs that had -been stolen and killed for the sake of their skins. These teeth she -sold to bookbinders, carvers, and gilders, as burnishing tools.” - -[165] The Last Supper was one of many religious subjects which -the Quaker artist painted for his uncritical patron, George III. -It was a transparent painting, and was let into the east window, -which was structurally altered for its accommodation; but it was -long ago removed, and the window restored. It is a commonplace -that West’s powers lagged far behind his ambition. “Twenty years -after his death,” says Mr. E. T. Cook, “some of his pictures, for -which he had been paid 3000 guineas, were knocked down at a public -sale for £10; and such of his pictures as had been presented to -the National Gallery have now been removed to the provinces.” -West’s work for George III. is represented by seventeen paintings -in the Queen Anne’s Drawing-Room at Hampton Court. These include -“Hannibal Swearing never to make Peace with Rome,” “The Death of -Epaminondas,” “The Death of General Wolfe” (a picture of some -value), “The Final Departure of Regulus from Rome,” etc. - -[166] Richard Wyatt of Egham was a well-known amateur, and the -patron of John Opie. He married Priscilla, daughter of John Edgell -of Milton Place, and had three sons and four daughters. - -[167] Anne, or Nancy, Parsons is supposed to have been the daughter -of a Bond Street tailor. She lived under the protection of a Mr. -Horton, a West India merchant, with whom she went to Jamaica. On -her return she lodged in Brewer Street, and, after living with -Duke of Dorset and others, became the mistress of the Duke of -Grafton. Junius bitterly says: “The name of Miss Parsons would -hardly have been known if the first Lord of the Treasury had not -led her in triumph through the Opera House, even in the presence of -the Queen. When we see a man act in this manner, we may admit the -shameless depravity of his heart, but what are we to think of his -understanding?” Ultimately Nancy Parsons married Charles, second -Viscount Maynard. - -[168] Sir Richard Colt Hoare, second baronet (1758-1838), began -life in the family bank, but, being made independent of business, -he married a daughter of William Henry, Lord Lyttelton, and devoted -himself to travel, study, and his art collections. He completed -histories of ancient and modern Wiltshire, and smaller works, and -was an excellent example of the wealthy antiquary. - -[169] George Huddesford (1749-1809) was an artist in early life, -studying under Reynolds; in middle life he took to scribbling, -and showed a turn for satire. A collected edition of his works -appeared in 1801, entitled: “The Poems of George Huddesford, M.A., -late Fellow of New College, Oxford. Now first collected, including -Salmagundi, Topsy-Turvy, Bubble and Squeak, and Crambe Repetita, -with corrections and original additions.” - -[170] These verses begin-- - - “In Liquorpond-street, as is well known to many, - An Artist resided who shaved for a penny. - Cut hair for three-halfpence, for three pence he bled, - And would draw, for a groat, every tooth in your head. - - What annoy’d other folks never spoil’d his repose, - ’Twas the same thing to him whether stocks fell or rose; - For blast and for mildew he car’d not a pin, - His crops never fail’d, for they grew on the chin.” - -[171] Henry Kett (1761-1825) was a frequent subject of caricatures. -The learned Thomas Warton’s comment on his “Juvenile Poems” was-- - - “Our Kett not a poet! - Why, how can you say so? - For if he’s no Ovid - I’m sure he’s a Naso.” - -From his long face he was known as “Horse” Kett, and, enjoying the -joke, he would say that he was going to “trot down the ‘High.’” - -[172] George Stubbs, A.R.A., the great horse-painter of the -eighteenth century. He painted sixteen race-horses, including -Eclipse, for the _Turf Review_. His physical strength was such -that he was said to have carried a dead horse up three flights -of stairs to his dissecting attic. His “Fall of Phaeton” was -popular, and showed him capable of great things. Many of Stubbs’s -finest pictures are now in the possession of the King, the Duke of -Westminster, Lord Rosebery, and Sir Walter Gilbey, who has produced -an important work on his life and art. Stubbs lived for forty years -at 24 Somerset Street, Portman Square. - -[173] Woodforde was a dull but correct painter of historical -subjects. He died at Ferrara. - -[174] In Horwood’s map of London, of 1799, Orange Court is seen -behind the King’s Mews. - -[175] Miss Pope lived in Great Queen Street for forty years. -Among her friends she was known as Mrs. Candour, from her playing -that character, and from her habit of taking the part of any -person spoken against in company. “I never heard her speak ill of -any human being.… I have sometimes been even exasperated by her -benevolence,” says James Smith, who writes delightfully about her -in his Memoirs. Churchill sang her praises-- - - “See lively Pope advance in jig and trip, - Corinna, Cherry, Honeycombe, and Snip.” - -The actress did not die in Great Queen Street, but at 17 Michael’s -Place, Brompton, July 30, 1818. - -[176] General John Burgoyne (1722-92) took part in the War of -Independence, and surrendered with 5000 men at Saratoga on October -15, 1777. After a term as Commander-in-Chief in Ireland, he gave -rein to his literary tastes, and wrote, among other plays, his -delightful comedy, _The Heiress_. He died at No. 10 Hertford -Street, August 4, 1792. - -[177] It stood in Charlotte Street, looking east along Windmill -Street. Robert Montgomery, of “Satan” memory, became minister of -this chapel in 1843. - -[178] Mrs. Mathew, wife of the Rev. Henry Mathew, of Percy Chapel, -was famous for her assemblies at her house, No. 27 Rathbone Place, -and her encouragement of artists. Here were seen Mrs. Barbauld, -Mrs. Chapone, Mrs. Carter, the translator of Epictetus, and Mrs. -Edward Montagu. Mrs. Mathew “was so extremely zealous in promoting -the celebrity of Blake, that, upon hearing him read some of -his early efforts in poetry, she thought so well of them as to -request the Rev. Henry Mathew, her husband, to join Mr. Flaxman -in his truly kind effort in defraying the expense of printing -them” (Smith: _Nollekens_). Mr. Mathew consented, and wrote the -“advertisement” for the volume, which was entitled _Poetical -Sketches, by W. B._, and bore the date 1783. Not a few of the old -houses in Rathbone Place remain, with their ground floors turned -into shops. In these or similar houses lived Nathaniel Hone, R.A., -who died here in 1784; Ozias Humphry, R.A., at No. 29; E. H. -Bailey, the sculptor; and Peter de Wint. - -[179] Smith’s prediction was strikingly borne out at the sale of -the Earl of Crewe’s collection of the productions of Blake, held -at Sotheby’s rooms March 30, 1903. The _Illustrations of the Book -of Job_, containing twenty-two engravings, twenty-one original -designs in colours, and a portrait of Blake by himself, was keenly -contested. Bidding began at £1500, and ended at £5600, at which -price the _Job_ passed to Mr. Quaritch. Blake’s original inventions -for Milton’s “L’Allegro” and “Il Penseroso” brought £1960, and all -the remaining sixteen lots fetched high prices. - -[180] Edward Oram, son of Old Oram, assisted Philip James De -Loutherbourg, R.A., in the management of the Drury Lane scenery and -stage effects. “Old” William Oram, “of the Board of Works,” was -Surveyor to that body. He was much employed in panel decoration. - -[181] John Ker, third Duke of Roxburgh, the book collector.--Sir -John Fleming Leicester, first Baron de Tabley (1762-1827), was -a patron of artists, and a good draughtsman. The public were -freely admitted to his collection of British pictures at his -house at 24 Hill Street, Berkeley Square.--Mr. Richard Bull was a -well-known figure at the print sales and a subscriber to Smith’s -publications.--Anthony Morris Storer, an ardent collector and -“Graingeriser,” extra-illustrated Grainger’s _Biographical History -of England_, and left the work to Eton College. A rather candid -sketch of Storer is drawn by Rev. J. Richardson in his entertaining -_Recollections of the Last Half Century_.--A note on Dr. Lort -will be found elsewhere.--Mr. Haughton James, F.R.S., was born in -Jamaica; he became a member of the Dilettanti Society in 1763.--Mr. -Charles John Crowle and Sir James Winter Lake, Bart., so frequently -mentioned by Smith, are the subjects of other notes. - -[182] In this list of Smith’s patrons the following are of -interest:--The “beautiful Miss Towry” was Anne, daughter of Captain -George Phillips Towry, R.N., commissioner of victualling, who -became the wife of Lord Ellenborough, afterwards Lord Chief Justice -of England, Oct. 17, 1782. Her beauty was so great that passers-by -would linger to watch her watering the flowers on the balcony of -their house in Bloomsbury Square. Lady Ellenborough bore thirteen -children, and, surviving her husband many years, died in Stratford -Place, Oxford Street, Aug. 16, 1843, aged 74. Her portrait was -painted by Reynolds. - -Mr. Douglas was James Douglas, author of _Nenia Britannica, a -Sepulchral History of Great Britain_. As a youth he helped Sir -Ashton Lever to stuff birds for his museum. His abilities in -painting were considerable, and we owe to him a full-length -portrait of Captain Grose. His _Travelling Anecdotes_ is an -interesting book. - -By “Mr. Chamberlain Clark” Smith means Mr. Richard Clark, but he -antedates his title of City Chamberlain, to which post he was -appointed only in 1798; he held it until 1831, and was Lord Mayor -in 1784. - -Dr. Joseph Drury was Headmaster of Harrow for twenty years, -1785-1805. He will always be remembered as Lord Byron’s headmaster. - -John Wigston figures in Smith’s notes under the year 1796 as a -patron of Morland. - -Information concerning Captain Horsley and the Boddams will be -found in Robinson’s _History of Enfield_. - -Mr. Henry Hare Townsend was the owner of Bruce Castle, which he -sold in 1792; it was afterwards occupied by Rowland Hill, who -brought hither his school, disciplined on the “Hazlewood” system, -before he became a public man and the founder of penny postage. - -The Mr. Samuel Salt, whose name comes last in Smith’s list of -his patrons, is no other than Charles Lamb’s Samuel Salt of -the Inner Temple. “July 27. At his chambers in Crown Office -Row, Inner Temple, Samuel Salt, Esq., one of the benchers of -that hon. society, and a governor of the South Sea Company” -(_Gentleman’s Magazine_, July 1792).--Lawrence Sterne, at whose -burial he assisted, was laid in the St. George’s (Hanover Square) -burial-ground, facing Hyde Park, March 22, 1788. Sterne’s grave is -well kept. - -[183] The formation of Virginia Water was carried out at the -instance of the Duke of Cumberland, as Ranger of Windsor Forest. -Thomas Sandby, his Deputy Ranger, lived in the Lower Lodge, -where he was soon joined by his brother Paul, the eminent -water-colourist. The construction of the Virginia Water occupied -him for several years, but it was completed long before the birth -of Smith. The works were entirely destroyed by a storm in September -1768, and Smith witnessed in this year, 1785, only the finishing -touches to the then reconstructing lake. - -[184] In 1796, the Feathers Tavern, on the east side of the square, -made way for Charles Dibdin’s “Sans Souci” theatre, in which he -gave a single-handed entertainment. Here he produced his song, “My -Name d’ye see’s Tom Tough.” - -[185] The wealthy and talented “Athenian” Stuart (1713-88) had his -sobriquet from his journey to Athens, and his account of Greek -architecture embodied in _The Antiquities of Athens Measured and -Delineated_, compiled by himself and his fellow-traveller, Nicholas -Revett, and completed by Newton and Reveley. Hogarth satirised -Stuart’s first volume (1762) in his print, “The Five Order of -Perriwigs as they were worn at the Late Coronation, measured -Architectonically.” - -[186] Samuel Scott, whose paintings, “Old London Bridge,” “Old -Westminster Bridge,” and a “View of Westminster,” are in the -National Gallery, was one of Hogarth’s companions in the famous -“Tour,” described in Gostling’s verses. - - “Sam Scott and Hogarth, for their share, - The prospects of the sea and land did.” - -Scott’s portrait by Hudson is in the National Gallery. - -[187] See note, p. 98. - -[188] Luke Sullivan engraved several of Hogarth’s works, and among -them his “Paul before Felix” (now in Lincoln’s Inn), to which he -sat as model for the angel. He was a handsome, dissipated Irishman, -and lodged at the “White Bear” in Piccadilly. His etching of the -“March to Finchley” is superb. Ireland says that Hogarth had -difficulty in keeping him at work on this plate. Sullivan was -destroyed by his habits, and died prematurely. - -[189] Francis Grose (1731-91), the famous antiquary, humorist, and -spendthrift, who is immortalised by Burns-- - - “A chield’s amang you takin’ notes, - And, faith, he’ll prent it.” - -[190] Valuable as this book certainly was for a number of years, it -is now superseded by the elaborate work produced by Dr. Meyrick [_A -Critical Inquiry into Ancient Armour_, by Sir Samuel Rush Meyrick, -1824], an inestimable and complete treasure to the historian, the -artist, and the stage.--S. - -[191] Thomas Hearne (1744-1817) belonged to that group of artists -whose tinted topographical drawings initiated water-colour. He -died in Macclesfield Street, Soho, April 13, 1817, and was buried -in Bushey churchyard by Dr. Monro, Turner’s “good doctor” of the -Adelphi, who used to set Turner and Girtin to make drawings for him -in the Adelphi at the price of “half a crown apiece and a supper.” - -[192] See note on Mr. Baker, p. 115. - -[193] Henry Edridge, A.R.A. (1769-1821), was born in Paddington, -established himself as a portrait painter in Dufour’s Place, -Golden Square, in 1789, and died in Margaret Street, Cavendish -Square. He was the friend and pupil of Thomas Hearne, and, like -him, was buried in Bushey churchyard by the benevolent Dr. Monro. -The British Museum Print Room has pencil portraits by Edridge, and -three of his sketch-books.--William Alexander (1761-1816) preceded -Smith as Keeper of the Prints and Drawings in the British Museum. -He was a skilful water-colourist, and the Print Room has his -original sketches for the illustrations in the officially published -_Ancient Terra-cottas_ and _Ancient Marbles_, dealing with the -Museum collections.--Edmunds was an upholsterer in Compton Street, -Soho. - -[194] The elephant was Chunee, the “Jumbo” of the Georgian era. -Smith writes of his arrival under 1785, but it was not until 1809 -that he and Mr. Baker could have seen Chunee coming from the -docks. This famous elephant stood eleven feet in height, and was -the attraction at Mr. Cross’s menagerie until March 1826, when his -death was ordered. Chunee’s carcass was valued at £1000. Lord Byron -must have seen Chunee when he “saw the tigers sup” in 1813, and -Thomas Hood’s lament on his death is well known. Exeter Change, -which stood at the Strand end of Burleigh Street, did not long -survive its elephant: in April 1829 it was sold out of existence by -George Robins. - -[195] Abraham Langford (1711-74), the most fashionable auctioneer -of his day, had his rooms in the Piazza, Covent Garden. He was -buried in St. Pancras churchyard, and identical laudatory verses -were cut on both sides of his tombstone-- - - “His spring was such as should have been, - Adroit and gay, unvexed by Care or Spleen, - His Summer’s manhood, open, fresh, and fair, - His Virtue strict, his manners debonair,” etc. - -Foote satirised Langford in _The Minor_ as Smirke (not Puff) the -auctioneer, who raises a Guido from “forty-five” to “sixty-three -ten” by declaring that “it only wants a touch from the torch of -Prometheus to start from the canvas.” - -[196] Samuel Paterson (1728-1802), originally a stay-maker, became -a bookseller, and about 1753 opened auction rooms in what remained -of Essex House, which stood much on the site of Devereux Court, -Essex Street. He afterwards removed to Covent Garden. He would -have succeeded better in business had he been less fond of reading -the books he sold. He was the first auctioneer who sold books in -lots.--Hassell Hutchins, the auctioneer of King Street, Covent -Garden, died in 1795. - -[197] It was George Michael Moser (1704-83) who made the historic -interruption: “Stay, stay, Toctor Shonson is going to say -something.” Born at Schaffhausen, he rose from cabinet-making (in -Soho) and the chasing of watch-cases and cane heads, to be the -First Keeper of the Royal Academy. Sir Joshua Reynolds pronounced -him the first gold-chaser in the kingdom. He enamelled trinkets for -watches with so much skill as to set a fashion, and it was said -that George II. once ordered him a hat full of money for some of -his works. Moser lived in Craven Buildings, which have lately been -demolished to make way for Aldwych and Kingsway. He died, however, -in his official keeper’s residence at Somerset House. - -[198] John Millan had a bookshop at Charing Cross for more than -fifty years. Richard Gough, the antiquary, frequented Millan’s -shop, which he describes as “encrusted with Literature and -Curiosities like so many stalactitical exudations.” Behind sat “the -deity of the place, at the head of a Whist party.” - -[199] Johnson’s letter to Sir Joshua Reynolds on behalf of young -Paterson was dated June 2, 1783; his three letters to Ozias -Humphrey, April 5, April 10, and May 31, 1784. He asks Humphrey to -allow the boy to frequent his studio and see him paint. The Doctor -had chosen good teachers for the youth. “Humphrey’s miniatures, -before those of any other, remind us of the excellences and -graces of Reynolds” (Redgrave: _A Century of Painters_, i. 421). -Humphrey had himself been greatly encouraged in his youth by -Reynolds, who said to him: “Born in my country, and your mother a -lace-maker!--why, Vandyck’s mother was a maker of lace,” and he -lent him some of his pictures to copy. - -[200] Richard Gough (1735-1809), the antiquary whose _British -Topography_, _Sepulchral Monuments_, translation of Camden’s -_Britannia_, and other works, are in every great library. The -_Britannia_ occupied him seven years, and his investigations led -him all over the country. It is said that during the seven years in -which he was translating it he remained so accessible to his family -at Enfield, that no member of it was aware of his undertaking. He -was esteemed by Horace Walpole, who, however, often made a jest of -his antiquary mind. Thus: “Gough, speaking of some Cross that has -been renowned, says ‘there is now _an unmeaning market-house_ in -its place.’ Saving his reverence and our prejudices, I doubt there -is a good deal more _meaning_ in a market-house than in a cross” -(Letter to Rev. W. Cole, Nov. 24, 1780). - -[201] There were four Basires in direct succession. Smith refers to -the second in the line, James Basire (1730-1802), the illustrator -of _Vetusta Monumenta_. He compares him unfavourably with William -Woollett (1735-85) and John Hall (1739-97), but it is not clear -that West despised Basire, who, indeed, engraved his _Pylades and -Orestes_. - -[202] Dr. Lort was Librarian, not Chaplain, to the Duke of -Devonshire. He moved in the Johnson set. For nineteen years he -held the Rectory of St. Matthew’s, Friday Street, in which church -(now demolished) there was a tablet to his memory. He died at 6 -Savile Row, Nov. 5, 1790, after a carriage accident at Colchester. -A water-colour portrait of him, by Sylvester Harding, is in the -British Museum Print Room. In her diary Madam D’Arblay gives an -entertaining picture of Dr. Lort as he appeared in the Thrale -circle at Streatham, where on one occasion he talked against -Dr. Johnson to his face without, it seems, any tragic results. -“His manners,” she says, “are somewhat blunt and odd, and he is -altogether out of the common road, without having chosen a better -path.” - -[203] Old Cole, _i.e._ William Cole (1714-1782), was pronounced -by Horace Walpole an “oracle in any antique difficulties.” The -two travelled France together. Cole, who for many years was -in Holy Orders, had filled forty folio volumes with notes on -Cambridgeshire, concerning which he wrote to Walpole: “They are -my only delight--they are my wife and children.” He earned such -nicknames as Old Cole, Cole of Milton (where he lived), and -Cardinal Cole (from his leanings to Romanism). Cole’s “wife and -children” are now in the British Museum MSS. Department. - -[204] The Rev. Dr. Isaac Gossett was proud of his long series of -priced catalogues. Every bookseller knew his fad for milk-white -vellum. So keen a bibliophile was Gossett, that an illness which -kept him from the sale of the Pinelli collection vanished when he -was given permission to inspect one of the volumes of the first -Complutensian Polyglot Bible of Cardinal Ximenes, on vellum, and in -the original binding. Dr. Gossett died in Newman Street, December -16, 1812, and was buried in Old Marylebone cemetery. - -[205] Edward Cocker (1631-7?), writing master and arithmetician, is -referred to in the phrase “according to Cocker.” The _Dictionary of -National Biography_ gives 1675 as the date of his death, but Mr. -Wheatley (_London Past and Present_) quotes the Register of Burials -at St. George the Martyr’s, Southwark: “Mr. Edward Cocker, Writing -Mr. Aug. 26, 1676.” - -[206] The wine and wit of Caleb Whitefoord (1734-1810) were both -good. Smith reports Mrs. Nollekens as saying: “My dear Mrs. -Pardice, you may safely take a glass of it, for it is the last -of twelve which Mr. Caleb Whitefoord sent us as a present; and -everybody who talks about wine should know his house has ever been -famous for claret.” Smith, who often acidulates his ink, suggests -that Whitefoord’s little presents and constant attendance on the -Nollekens’ household showed the covetous collector rather than the -kindly man. Burke, who thought meanly of Whitefoord’s services as -secretary of the Commission for concluding peace with America, -described him as a “diseur de bons mots.” Goldsmith mourns his -wasted abilities in his “Retaliation”-- - - “Here Whitefoord reclines, deny it who can; - Tho’ he merrily lived, he is now a grave man. - What pity, alas! that so lib’ral a mind - Should so long be to Newspaper Essays confin’d! - … - Whose talents to fit any station were fit, - Yet happy if Woodfall confessed him a wit.” - -Whitefoord’s Cross Readings of the newspapers--a form of humour -that has been revived somewhat recently--delighted the town in -1766; Goldsmith envied him the idea, and Johnson praised his -pseudonym--“Papyrius Cursor.” The following are specimens of these -Cross Readings:-- - - “Yesterday Dr. Pretyman preached at St. James’s-- - And performed it with ease in less than sixteen minutes” - - “Several changes are talked of at Court-- - Consisting of 9050 triple bob-majors.” - - “Sunday night many noble families were alarmed-- - By the constable of the watch, who apprehended them at cards.” - -The wealthy wine-merchant and art lover lived to be the patron in -David Wilkie’s painting, “The Letter of Introduction.” He died in -Argyll Street, and was buried in the churchyard of St. Mary’s, -Paddington, where lie Nollekens, Mrs. Siddons, Haydon, and many -others of note. - -[207] Captain William Baillie’s copies of Rembrandt’s etchings -are still bought--by the simple--in the print-shops. The captain -quitted the 18th Light Dragoons in 1761, and joined the Covent -Garden Colony of artists. He knew everybody. Henry Angelo heard him -say that for more than half a century he had passed his mornings -in going from one apartment to another over the Piazza. His works, -which have now little value, were issued by Boydell in 1792, and -re-issued in 1803. One of his exploits, mentioned by Redgrave, -was to purchase for £70 Cuyp’s fine “View of Dort” and convert it -into two separate pictures called “Morning” and “Evening,” which -were afterwards piously purchased for £2200 and reunited. Captain -Baillie died Dec. 22, 1810, aged eighty-seven, at Lisson Green, -Paddington. He was for many years a commissioner of Stamp Duties. - -[208] Edwards’ _Anecdotes of Painters_ is a useful little -supplement to Walpole’s larger work. He was buried in old St. -Pancras churchyard, now a recreation ground, where his name, -however, does not appear on the memorial erected by the Baroness -Burdett-Coutts to those whose graves were obliterated. His portrait -in chalk is in the Print Room. - -[209] Mr. George Baker, the lace-man, died in St. Paul’s Churchyard -in 1811. He compiled “A Catalogue of Books, Poems, Tracts, and -small detached Pieces, printed at the Press at Strawberry Hill, -belonging to the late Horace Walpole, Earl of Orford,” 4to. Twenty -copies only were printed, and were distributed in May 1811. Mr. -Baker made a lifelong hobby of print-collecting, and his Hogarths, -Woolletts, and Bartolozzis were scarcely surpassed. - -[210] Woodhouse’s pictures and drawings were sold in 1801; the -catalogues are in the British Museum. - -[211] Joseph Musgrave, Esq., was a subscriber to Smith’s -_Antiquities of Westminster_. - -[212] “The most _acid_ of all Manningtree’s evil and jealous-minded -spirits, originally held in the service of that famous -witch-finder-general, Matthew Hopkins” (Smith).--Hopkins, after -bringing old women to execution as witches, was himself “swum” -and hanged in 1647 for witchcraft. “Vinegar Tom” was one of the -“imps” which a one-legged beggar woman named Elizabeth Clarke was -persuaded by Hopkins to declare was under her control. Hopkins had -originally been a lawyer at Manningtree. - -[213] Samuel Wodhull, who lived wealthily in Berkeley Square, is -best remembered for his translation of Euripides (1774-82), the -first complete rendering of the Greek tragedian in English. He was -buried at Thenford, his native place, in Northamptonshire. - -[214] Thomas Worlidge (1700-66), a skilful etcher after Rembrandt, -and illustrator of a book on antique gems, was nicknamed -“Scritch-Scratch.” He is said to have had thirty-three children -by his three marriages. He lived in the famous house in Great -Queen Street (now divided and numbered 55-56) in which Reynolds -had been the pupil of Thomas Hudson, and which now bears a tablet -proclaiming it one of the homes of Sheridan. - -[215] After Rawle’s death, his effects were sold at Hutchins’, -Covent Garden, where this Charles the Second wig was bought by -Suett, the actor, who, says Smith, “to prove to the company that it -would suit him better than his harum-scarum opponent, put it upon -his head, and, thus dignified, went on with his biddings, which -were sometimes sarcastically serious, and at others ludicrously -comic. The company, however, though so highly amused, thought it -ungenerous to prolong the biddings, and therefore one and all -declared that it ought to be knocked down to him before he took -it off his head. Upon this Suett immediately attempted to take it -off, but the ivory hammer, with the ruffled hand of the auctioneer, -after being once flourished over his head, gave it in favour of -the eccentric comedian.” Suett appeared in this wig in Fielding’s -_Tom Thumb_, and we are told that “sick men laughed themselves well -to see him peeping out of the black forest of hair.” Finally this -wonderful wig was lost in the fire which destroyed the theatre -at Birmingham. Mrs. Booth, the mother of the actress, was met by -Suett, and all he said was: “Mrs. Booth, my wig’s gone.” - -[216] Rawle died November 8, 1789 (_Gentleman’s Magazine_, 1789). - -[217] From the _Public Advertiser_, July 12, 1774: “Miniature -Painting.--Mr. Beauvais, well known at Tunbridge Wells to several -of the nobility and gentry for taking a striking likeness, either -in water colours or India ink. Miniature pictures copied by him -from large pictures, to any size, and pictures repaired if damaged. -He also teaches, by a peculiar method, Persons of the least -capacity to take a Likeness in India Ink, or with a black lead -pencil, in a short time. To be spoke with at Mr. Bryan’s, the ‘Blue -Ball,’ St. Martin’s Street, Leicester Fields, from eleven to one -o’clock.” - -[218] “A most facetious, fat gentleman,” is Henry Angelo’s -description of Mr. Mitchell, the wealthy partner in the bank -of Hodsol & Company, and the unstinting patron of Rowlandson. -Mitchell lived in Beaufort Buildings, in the Strand, which two -years ago were demolished for the extension of the Savoy Hotel. -Here the worthy banker loved to gather round him such choice -spirits as Thomas Rowlandson, John Nixon, and Thomas Wolcot (Peter -Pindar). “Well do I remember,” says Henry Angelo, “sitting in -this comfortable apartment, listening to the stories of my old -friend Peter Pindar, whose wit seemed not to kindle until after -midnight, at the period of about his fifth or sixth glass of -brandy and water. Rowlandson, too, having nearly accomplished his -twelfth glass of punch, and replenishing his pipe with choice -Oronooko, would chime in. The tales of these two gossips, told in -one of those nights, each delectable to hear, would make a modern -Boccaccio.” - -[219] William Packer of Great Baddow, and of Charlotte Street, -Bloomsbury, was many years in the brewery of Combe, Delafield, & -Company in Castle Street, Long Acre. This brewery was the nucleus -of Watney, Combe, Reid, & Co.’s present establishment. - -[220] John Henderson (1747-85) was known as the “Bath Roscius” -from his success at Bath under John Palmer. After a great career -at Drury Lane, he died at his house in Buckingham Street, Adelphi, -November 25, 1785, it was said from a poison accidentally given to -him by his wife. In addition to his Hogarths, he collected books -relating to the drama. His library was described by the auctioneer -who dispersed it as “the completest assemblage of English dramatic -authors that has ever been exhibited for sale in this country.” It -contained many books of crimes and marvels. - -[221] John Ireland (died 1808) must not be confounded with the -Shakespearian impostor. He was brought up to watchmaking in Maiden -Lane. With Henderson he frequented the Feathers Tavern in Leicester -Fields, and he wrote the actor’s biography. He is best known by his -_Illustrations to Hogarth_, published by Boydell, and containing -his portrait by Mortimer as frontispiece to the third volume. - -[222] The employee is better remembered than the employer. William -Seguier (1771-1843), topographical landscape-painter and picture -restorer, was appointed Keeper of the Royal Pictures by George IV. -He was also the first director of the National Gallery. Haydon -pays him this tribute: “June 19, 1811. Seguier called, on whose -judgment Wilkie and I so much rely. If Seguier coincides with us we -are satisfied, and often we are convinced we are wrong if Seguier -disagrees.” - -[223] Carlo Antonio Delpini, the best clown of his day, played at -Drury Lane and Covent Garden. He devised many stage mechanisms for -pantomimes. In 1783 he arranged a masquerade at the Pantheon in -celebration of the coming of age of the Prince of Wales, from whom -in his old age he received a gift of £200. Delpini, we are told, -had a presentiment that he should not die till the year “eight,” -which was realised, for he died in the year 1828, at the age of -88. He was born in the parish of St. Martin, at Rome, and drew his -last breath in the parish of St. Martin, London (to be precise, in -Lancaster Court, Strand). - -[224] John Palmer (1742-98), the original Joseph Surface, was -known off the stage as Jack Plausible. Once, in patching up a -quarrel with Sheridan, he said: “If you could see my heart, Mr. -Sheridan,” and was answered, “Why, Jack, you forget I wrote it.” -The Royalty Theatre, at which Smith hoped to be employed by him, -was the ill-starred house in Well Street, in St. George’s in the -East. The opposition of the great theatres caused its degeneration -to a house for pantomimes and concerts. Palmer fell into debt and -into Surrey Gaol. Nevertheless he appeared at Drury Lane as late as -1798. He is described by Charles Lamb as “a gentleman with a slight -infusion of the footman,” for which reason “Jack in Dick Amlet was -insuperable.” Palmer died on the stage. His last uttered words, -spoken in _The Stranger_, are said to have been: “There is another -and a better world,” but this has been disputed: it is contended -that the words really uttered by him as he fell were those in the -fourth act: “I left them at a small town hard by.” - -[225] Just forty years after Smith’s visit, in 1869, a -correspondent of _Notes and Queries_ had the curiosity to make a -similar journey of discovery. He found only one of the dolphin -knockers remaining, that on the door of No. 6. In June 1903 I found -that this had gone the way of all men and knockers, but I am told -it was there up to the early nineties. The neighbourhood can still -show a few door-knockers of ancient types. There are old lion’s -head-and-ring knockers in Gunpowder Alley and Hind Court. At No. 3 -Red Lion Court is a good knocker, into which is introduced a bat -with outstretched wings. The old knocker of No. 9 Bell’s Buildings, -Salisbury Square, is adorned with the figure of a naked boy playing -on a pipe. There is a fine example of a dolphin knocker at 25 Queen -Anne’s Gate. - -[226] The Garrat mock elections have often been described. Garrat -was a rural spot between Wandsworth and Tooting. A committee -organised to protect the village common from encroachments -developed into a roaring municipal farce which was repeated after -every General Election. The publicans of the southern villages -willingly subscribed to the carnival, and reaped handsome profits; -while Foote spread the fame and vogue of the elections by his farce -_The Mayor of Garrat_. A mock knighthood was given, as a matter of -course, to each mayor on his election. The first recorded mayor -was Sir John Harper, a retailer of brick-dust, and the next, the -most famous of all, Sir Jeffery Dunstan, a humorous vagabond whose -ostensible trade was in old wigs. He was constantly portrayed, or -used as the basis of caricature. In one print he is seen standing -on a stool, asking “How far is it from the first of August to -Westminster Bridge?” “Sir Jeffery” used his tongue with great -freedom, and the authorities were so destitute of humour as to -arrest him and obtain his imprisonment. The next Mayor of Garrat -was Sir Harry Dinsdale. He was born in Shug Lane, Haymarket, in -1758, and appears to have haunted the Soho neighbourhood, for he -married a woman out of St. Anne’s workhouse. He died in 1811. - -[227] It must have been from his house No. 37, on the north -side of Gerrard Street, now a restaurant, but retaining its old -appearance and marked by a commemorative tablet, that Burke went to -Westminster Hall on May 10, 1787, to impeach Warren Hastings. Of -Burke’s life in Gerrard Street we have no nearer glimpse than that -given by Smith. - -[228] General John Money (1752-1817) was one of the earliest of -English aeronauts. It was in an ascent from Norwich, July 22, 1785, -that he was carried out to sea, where he “remained for seven hours -struggling with his fate” before he was rescued.--Philip Reinagle, -R.A. (1749-1833), was an animal, landscape, and dead game painter. -Examples of his landscape work are at South Kensington. - -[229] The Charles Greville here referred to was an early patron of -Lawrence at Oxford, when the artist was a mere boy; also of Romney, -whose portrait of Wortley Montague, the eccentric pseudo-Turk, he -both bought and copied. - -[230] Sir William Hamilton (1730-1803), who married Emma Hart, -Nelson’s Lady Hamilton, was a keen archæologist, and made a -magnificent collection of Greek vases, which he sold to the British -Museum. He purchased the Barberini, or “Portland,” vase from Byres, -the architect, and sold it for 1800 guineas to the Duchess of -Portland, in the sale of whose property it was bought by the family -in 1829 for £1029. On February 7, 1745, after its acquisition by -the British Museum (Montagu House), it was wantonly broken in -pieces by a visitor named William Lloyd, who was sentenced to a -fine or imprisonment. The fine was paid anonymously. - -[231] Smith’s little present to Sir George Beaumont is the more -interesting to us, because of that painter’s well-known love of -brown, and his dictum that “there ought to be at least one brown -tree in every landscape.” Beaumont’s name is inseparably associated -with the National Gallery, and also with Wordsworth’s noble poem on -his picture of Peele Castle in a Storm, containing the lines-- - - “Ah! then if mine had been the painter’s hand - To express what then I saw; and add the gleam, - The light that never was on sea or land, - The consecration, and the Poet’s dream,-- - - I would have planted thee, thou hoary pile, - Amid a world how different from this! - Beside a sea that could not cease to smile; - On tranquil land, beneath a sky of bliss.” - -[232] Henry Salt, the great traveller and British consul-general in -Egypt. He sold antiquities to the British Museum, and had dealings, -resulting in a quarrel, with Belzoni. - -[233] Smith evidently refers to the plan affected by Alexander -(not the greater John Rosher) Cozens, of throwing a blot, and then -working it into a landscape composition. - -[234] Smith expresses himself rather oddly here, for he married -only once, his wife being Anne Maria Prickett, who, after a union -of forty-five years, was left his widow. - -[235] Sir James Winter Lake, Bart., a man of wealth and culture, -compiled “Bibliotheca Lakeana” (a catalogue of his library) in -1808, and “British Portraits and Historical Prints, collected by J. -W. L.” in the same year. His extra-illustrated _Granger’s History_ -extended to forty large folio volumes. - -Lady Lake is mentioned in one of the many amusing dialogues -recorded by Smith in his _Life of Nollekens_. Panton Betew, the -silversmith of Old Compton Street, Soho, talking to Nollekens of -their common memories, says: “Ay, I know there were many very -clever things produced there (at Bow); what very curious heads -for canes they made at that manufactory! I think Crowther was the -proprietor’s name; he had a very beautiful daughter, who is married -to Sir James Lake. Nat. Hone painted a portrait of her, in the -character of Diana, and it was one of his best pictures.” - -[236] Smith’s general meaning is plain, but I cannot with -confidence explain the reference to Tooley Street. It may -be no more than a slightly contemptuous way of referring to -villa-building tradesmen (nobodies, like the three Tooley Street -tailors) who at that time were building their Camomile Cottages in -the country. - -[237] The part of Major Sturgeon, J.P., “the fishmonger from -Brentford,” was played by Foote in his own comedy, _The Mayor of -Garratt_ (1763). Sturgeon brags: “We had some desperate duty, Sir -Jacob … such marchings and counter-marchings from Brentford to -Ealing, from Ealing to Acton, from Acton to Uxbridge. Why, there -was our last expedition to Hounslow; that day’s work carried off -Major Molassas.”… Zoffany painted Foote in this character. - -[238] Elizabeth Canning (1734-73), a domestic servant in -Aldermanbury, startled London in 1753 by the circumstantial -story she told of her capture in Moorfields, and her subsequent -imprisonment and ill-treatment at Enfield by “Mother Wells” and -a gipsy woman, Mary Squires. After Squires had been condemned -to death, and Wells had been burned in the hand, the case was -revised, with the result that Squires was pardoned and her accuser -transported for perjury. The affair, which had originally come -before Henry Fielding, the novelist, at Bow Street, aroused an -incredible amount of feeling in London. - -[239] _The Merry Devil of Edmonton_ was for long carelessly -attributed to Shakespeare. Mr. Sidney Lee, in his _Shakespeare’s -Life and Work_, says: “It is a delightful comedy … but no sign of -Shakespeare’s workmanship is apparent.” - -[240] Thomas King (1730-1805) was a clever comedian. His stage -career in London lasted fifty-four years. In November 1789 he -played the part of Sir John Trotley in Garrick’s _Bon Ton, or -High Life above Stairs_. “His acting,” says Charles Lamb, “left -a taste on the palate sharp and sweet as a quince; with an old, -hard, rough, withered face, like a john-apple, puckered up into -a thousand wrinkles; with shrewd hints and tart replies.” The -prologue of _Bon Ton_ has these lines:-- - - “Ah! I loves life, and all the joys it yields-- - Says Madam Fussock, warm from Spital-fields. - Bone Tone’s the space ’twixt Saturday and Monday, - And riding in a one-horse chair o’ Sunday! - ’Tis drinking tea on summer afternoons - At Bagnigge-Wells, with China and gilt spoons! - ’Tis laying by our stuffs, red cloaks, and pattens, - To dance _Cow-tillions_, all in silks and sattins!” - -[241] Skelton says of Eleanor Rumming-- - - “She breweth noppy ale, - And maketh thereof fast sale - To travellers, to tinkers. - To sweaters, to swinkers, - And all good ale-drinkers.” - -The woman kept an alehouse at Leatherhead, which, it is thought, -Skelton may have visited when staying with his royal master at -Nonsuch Palace. It has been claimed, however, on interesting -evidence, that her alehouse was “Two-pot House,” between Cambridge -and Hardwicke. (See _Gentleman’s Magazine_, Nov. 1794, and -_Chambers’ Book of Days_ under June 21.) - -[242] This passage in St. Martin’s Lane was built by a Mr. May, -who lived in a house of his own design in St. Martin’s Lane. Here -Smith himself lived at his father’s house, the Rembrandt Head, No. -18, for some years; the house is now absorbed in Messrs. Harrison’s -printing establishment. I have found no trace of Hartry, the -valiant cupper, but only of a dentist of that name, who may have -been his son. - -[243] John Adams, teacher of mathematics, published _The -Mathematician’s Companion_ (1796). “The following use was made -of Hogarth’s plates of the Idle and Industrious Apprentices, by -the late John Adams, of Edmonton, schoolmaster. The prints were -framed and hung up in the schoolroom, and Adams, once a month, -after reading a lecture upon their vicious and virtuous examples, -rewarded those boys who had conducted themselves well, and caned -those who had behaved ill” (Smith: _Nollekens_). - -[244] Samuel Ireland was father of William Henry Ireland, who -forged Shakespearean MSS. and put forward the spurious play -_Vortigern_. In his well-known _Graphic Illustrations of Hogarth_ -he proves himself rather “a snapper-up of unconsidered trifles than -a contributor of serviceable information” (Austin Dobson: _William -Hogarth_: enlarged ed. 1898). This work must not be confused with -John Ireland’s _Hogarth Illustrated_. - -[245] Perhaps it was an ordnance map mistake. “On the south side -of Nag’s Head Lane, near Ponder’s End, is a deep well, probably -the brick conduit noted in Ogilby’s roads 1698, and known by the -name of Tim Ringer’s Well (King’s Ring Well, 2076 in the ordnance -map), which was formerly considered infallible as a remedy for -inflammation of the eyes” (Hodson and Ford: _History of Enfield_, -1873). - -[246] Durance, or Durants, was visited by James I. when it was the -home of Sir Henry Wroth, to whom Ben Jonson wrote his lines-- - - “How blessed art thou, canst love the country, Wroth - … - And though so near the City and the Court, - Art ta’en with neither’s vice or sport.” - -Wroth’s executors sold the manor to Sir Thomas Stringer, who -married a daughter of Judge Jeffreys. - -[247] “But above all, I must not forget the Tulip Tree, the largest -and biggest that ever was seen; there being but one more in Great -Britain (as I am informed), and that at the Lord Peterborough’s. -It blows with innumerable flowers in the months of June and July” -(John Farmer: _History of Waltham Abbey_). - -[248] Known as Cheshunt House or the Great House. When Smith -visited it in 1791, it had been much modernised. There is no -evidence, says Thorne (_Environs of London_), that the o’er great -Cardinal ever lived there. Ten years after Smith’s visit, the Rev. -Charles Mayo pulled down the larger part of the building in order -to repair the remainder. After his time it remained desolate and -neglected. - -[249] Cornelius Janssen (1590-1665) is best remembered for his -portrait of Milton as a boy, engraved in the first volume of -Professor Masson’s Life of the poet. His original portrait of Sir -Hugh Myddelton, now in the committee room of the Goldsmiths’ Hall, -represents the great engineer with his left hand resting on a conch -from which a stream of water gushes; over this are inscribed the -words: “Fontes Fondinæ.” This portrait was presented to the Company -by Lady Myddelton. - -[250] Robert Lemon, the archivist. He discovered Milton’s “De -Doctrina Christiania,” and gave assistance to Sir Walter Scott. - -[251] Sir Robert Strange was engraver to Prince Charles. His -distinguished career was chequered by his political sympathies, -and by his bitter criticism of the Royal Academy, in consequence, -partly, of its exclusion of engravers. Knighted by George III. -(after he had engraved West’s apotheosis of the three royal -children), he died in his last London home in Great Queen Street, -July 5, 1792. See note, p. 82. - -[252] The bill of which Smith gives particulars is quoted in -full by William Hookham Carpenter in his _Pictorial Notices of -Sir Anthony Van Dyck_ (1844). “It is more than probable that the -account had been submitted to the supervision of Bishop Juxon, who, -by the influence of Archbishop Laud, was appointed to the office of -Lord Treasurer in 1635, which he held till 1641; and Anthony Wood -tells us ‘he kept the King’s purse when necessities were deepest, -and clamours were loudest.’” Vandyke had from Charles, in addition -to payments against pictures, an annuity of £200 a year and houses -at Blackfriars and Eltham. - -[253] On February 23. After lying in state in the Royal Academy, -the remains of Sir Joshua Reynolds were interred, on Saturday, -March 3, in the crypt of St. Paul’s Cathedral, near the -resting-place of Sir Christopher Wren. The pall was borne by ten -peers, and the Archbishop of York took part in the service. - -[254] Burke’s tribute had appeared in the _Annual Register_. - -[255] Lieut.-Colonel Molesworth Phillips, whose career links Dr. -Johnson to Charles Lamb, was the companion of Captain Cook on his -last voyage. His marriage in 1782 to Susannah Elizabeth, daughter -of Dr. Charles Burney, and sister of Fanny Burney, brought him -into the Johnson set. He escorted Miss Burney to Westminster Hall -to hear Warren Hastings on his defence. Lamb, recalling his old -whist-playing friends in his “Letter of Elia to Robert Southey,” -names him as “the high-minded associate of Cook, the veteran -Colonel, with his lusty heart still sending cartels of defiance to -old Time.” He died in 1832. - -[256] Mrs. Cholmondeley, who appears several times in Boswell’s -_Life_, was a younger sister of Peg Woffington, and the wife of the -Hon. and Rev. George Cholmondeley. - -[257] “Sheridan had very fine eyes, and he was very vain of them. -He said to Rogers on his deathbed, ‘Tell Lady Besborough that my -eyes will look up to the coffin-lid as brightly as ever.’” - -[258] The Old Bun House at Chelsea flourished for nearly a century -and a half, and yielded a livelihood to four generations of the -same family. In its best days it was the resort of royalty and -rank. Queen Charlotte presented Mrs. Hand with a silver mug, -containing five guineas. The shop had a pleasant arcaded front, -and, besides buns, offered its customers the sight of a number -of curiosities. As many as fifty thousand people would assemble -here on Good Friday mornings, and it is clear that Mrs. Hand had -reason to issue her curious notice. The site of the Bun House and -its garden is on the north side of the Pimlico Road, between Union -Street and Westbourne Street. The name of Bunhouse Place, at the -back, commemorates the establishment, which disappeared in 1839. - -The danger of a mob assembling outside a London bun-shop on Good -Friday morning has passed away. Mr. Henry Attwell sadly observed, -in _Notes and Queries_, April 28, 1900, that “the last Good Friday -of the nineteenth century” found the hot-cross bun degenerated -from a spiced bun (“the spice recalling to the few who cared about -its religious suggestiveness the embalming of our Lord”) into a -vulgarised currant bun marked with deep indentures for convenience -of division, instead of the old slight cross in which there was a -touch of mystery. - -[259] Roger L’Estrange, the pamphleteer and miscellaneous writer -(1616-1704), was deprived of his office of surveyor and licenser of -the press in 1688. - -[260] _The First Book of Architecture_, first published in English -in 1668. - -[261] Then Montagu House. “I apprehend,” says Smith, in his -_Antient Topography of London_, “that the custom of inlaying, or -tesselating, wooden floors commenced in England in the reign of -King Charles the First, and ended in that of Queen Anne. I have -secured patterns of four such floors: two belonging to the reign -of Charles the First, and two to that of Charles the Second. No. 1 -is from that part of Whitehall lately inhabited by the Duchess of -Portland. No. 2 is from Somerset House. Nos. 3 and 4 are from the -present old gallery and waiting-room in the Marquis of Stafford’s -house in Cleveland Row.” - -[262] One of the first exhibitors before the establishment of the -Royal Academy (S.). Keyse opened Bermondsey Spa in 1770, and in -1780 obtained a music licence. His greatest bid for public favour -was a farewell representation of the Siege of Gibraltar. The -present Spa Road crosses the site of the gardens, which were closed -about 1805. - -[263] See note, p. 269. - -[264] George Adams (died 1773) and his son George (died 1796) were -mathematical instrument makers to George III. A book by the father -on Terrestrial Globes was supplied with a dedication to the King -by Dr. Johnson.--Peter Dollond (1730-1820) was second in the line -of opticians. He was succeeded by his nephew, George Huggins, who -assumed the name of Dollond. - -[265] A critic wrote: - - “Keyse’s mutton - Show’d how the painter had a strife - With nature, to outdo the life.” - -Keyse’s realism had been anticipated by such painters as Jordaens -and Snyder, whose butcher’s meat remains painfully juicy in the -galleries of Brussels and Antwerp. - -[266] “Mrs. Wrighten had a vivacious manner and a bewitching smile, -and her ‘Hunting Song’ was popular” (Wroth: _London Pleasure -Gardens_). - -[267] Captain Edward Topham (1751-1820), after a brilliant -regimental career in the Horse Guards, gave himself up to fashion -and drama. He produced several plays, and in 1787 founded the -_World_, a scurrilous daily paper, which brought him into the law -courts. In Rowlandson’s well-known _Vauxhall_, the foremost figure -in the crowd is an elderly beau, standing bolt upright, and defying -through his glass the stare of a gaudy female of mature years who -has found another cavalier. This is Captain, afterwards Major, -Topham. He wrote the life of Elwes, the miser. - -[268] Jonas Blewitt, who died in 1805, lived at Bermondsey, -near the Spa Gardens, for which he wrote many songs. He wrote a -_Treatise on the Organ_, and must not be confused with his son, the -better-known Jonathan Blewitt, the musical director of the Surrey -Theatre. - -[269] Jonathan Battishill (1738-1801), composer, organist of Christ -Church, Newgate Street, and St. Clement’s, Eastcheap, first became -known by his music to the song “Kate of Aberdeen.” His anthems were -sung in St. Paul’s Cathedral, and he set many of Charles Wesley’s -hymns to music. - -[270] Smith underlines _Joseph_ to distinguish him from his -better-known brother, James Caulfield, who was the author and -printseller, and the publisher of much “Remarkable Persons” -literature. Joseph Caulfield was a musical engraver, and a capable -teacher of the pianoforte. He lived in Camden Town. - -[271] John Montagu, fourth Earl of Sandwich (1718-92), “was the -soul of the Catch Club, and one of the Directors of the Concert of -Ancient Music, but he had not the least real ear for music, and -was equally insensible of harmony and melody” (Charles Butler’s -_Reminiscences_). It was his treachery to Wilkes that gave -Lord Sandwich his popular nickname, Jemmy Twitcher, taken from -Macheath’s words in the _Beggar’s Opera_: “That Jemmy Twitcher -should peach me, I own surprised me.” - -[272] About the year 1770 Battishill wrote this glee in a -competition for a gold medal offered by the Noblemen’s Catch Club. - -[273] Smith had been Morland’s fellow-student at the Royal Academy, -and they had frequently walked home together. Among his innumerable -addresses, Morland had several in the Fitzroy Square region. - -[274] Otter’s Pool was a country house at Aldenham, Herts, -afterwards for many years the seat of Sir James Shaw Willes, the -judge of common pleas. - -[275] Surrey Chapel is now occupied by a large machinery firm. -Rowland Hill used to say, in allusion to its octagonal form, that -he liked a round building because there were no corners for the -devil to hide in. Here he won the devotion of his congregation and -the esteem of the many distinguished people who came to hear him. -Sheridan said: “I go to hear Rowland Hill because his ideas come -red-hot from the heart.” Dean Milner said to him, “Mr. Hill! Mr. -Hill! I felt to-day ’tis this slap-dash preaching, say what they -will, that does all the good.” He died at his house in Blackfriars -Road, April 11, 1833, aged 88, and was buried in a vault under his -pulpit. - -[276] This fanatical advocate of Charles the First’s execution (at -St. Margaret’s, Westminster) was one of the regicides executed in -1660. - -[277] Smith is nowhere mentioned by Lamb, and other evidence of -their acquaintance is wanting. - -[278] George Frost (1754-1821) is remembered as the intimate friend -of Constable. Smart was John Smart (1740-1811), the miniature -painter. He died in London. - - “His genius lov’d his Country’s native views; - Its taper spires, green lawns, or sheltered farms; - He touch’d each scene with Nature’s genuine hues, - And gave the _Suffolk_ landscape all its charms.” - -[279] Smith had evidently asked Constable to ascertain for him the -exact date of Gainsborough’s birth. This is still uncertain: it -took place in Sepulchre Street, Sudbury, at the end of April or -beginning of May 1727. He was baptized on 14th May of that year in -the Independent meeting-house in Sudbury. - -[280] James Gubbins was a subscriber to Smith’s _Remarks on Rural -Scenery_ (1797), a volume of etchings of cottage and rural scenes -around London. One of its drawings represents a squatter’s shanty -in Epping Forest, bowered in trees, and is entitled “Lady Plomer’s -Palace on the summit of Hawke’s Hill Wood, Epping Forest.” - -[281] The Minories drawing referred to by Constable was Smith’s -etching in his _Antient Topography_ of the north and east walls of -the Convent of St. Clare, the remains of which were destroyed by -fire on March 23, 1797. Only a year before, Mr. John Cranch (the -C----h of Constable’s letter) had presented Smith with a sketch of -the convent. Constable, therefore, refers to the swift supersession -of Cranch’s sketch by Smith’s drawing after the fire. - -[282] Elizabeth Pope died on 15th March of this year, aged 52. -The funeral to the Abbey was met everywhere by great crowds. -Her abilities had not been dimmed by those of Garrick, Mrs. -Siddons, and Miss Farren, and her private life was blameless. The -resemblance she bore to Lady Sarah Lennox was such that George -III., seeing her act late in her career, exclaimed to his queen, -“She is like Lady Sarah still.” There is a fine story of her -parting with Garrick. On June 8, 1776, his last appearance but one, -when he was playing Lear to her Cordelia, Garrick said to her with -a sigh: “Ah, Bess! this is the last time of my being your father; -you must now look out for someone else to adopt you.” “Then, -sir,” she exclaimed, dropping on her knees, “give me a father’s -blessing.” Garrick, deeply touched, raised her, and said, “God -bless you!” - -[283] Nevertheless Pope married two more wives. His most lasting -affections appear to have been set on table delicacies. Once, when -Kean asked him to act with him at Dublin, and take a benefit there, -he declined, saying: “I must be at Plymouth at the time; it is -exactly the season for mullet.” He maintained that there was but -one crime: peppering a beef-steak. - -[284] Pope had begun life as a crayon portrait painter in his -birthplace, Cork. A highly finished water-colour portrait of Henry -Grattan, from his hand, is in the British Museum Print Room. - -[285] Francis Cotes, born in Cork Street, 1725, was a foundation -member of the Royal Academy, and famous for his crayon portraits. -He built himself a house in Cavendish Square (No. 32), in which -Romney afterwards lived for twenty-one years, followed by Sir -Martin A. Shee. It was demolished in 1904. The British Museum has -four portrait subjects by Cotes in crayon. He is poorly represented -in the National Gallery by a small portrait of Mrs. Brocas. - -[286] Benjamin Green, born at Halesowen, became a drawing-master -at Christ’s Hospital, and member of the Incorporated Society of -Artists. He published many topographical plates, and engraved the -illustrations in Morant’s _History and Antiquities of the County of -Essex_ (1768). His drawings of Canonbury Tower and Highbury Barn -are in the British Museum Print Room. He died about 1800. - -[287] The Right Honourable James Caulfield, first Earl of -Charlemont (1728-99), distinguished himself in Ireland politically; -in London he mixed with the Reynolds and Johnson set and was a -member of the Dilettanti Club. In the college at St. Andrews, which -Johnson and Boswell playfully imagined might be staffed by members -of the Literary Club, Lord Charlemont was assigned the chair of -modern history, and it was on Lord Charlemont that Boswell, Burke, -Sir Joshua Reynolds, and others laid the task of bringing Dr. -Johnson’s conversational powers into play by asking him whether a -ludicrous statement in the newspapers that he was taking dancing -lessons from Vestris was true. - -[288] Thomas Cheesman, who had been pupil to Bartolozzi, engraved -“The Lady’s Last Stake, or Picquet, or Virtue in Danger,” after -Hogarth. He lived, successively, at 40 Oxford Street, 71 Newman -Street, and 28 Francis Street. His portrait, by Bartolozzi, is in -the National Portrait Gallery. - -[289] Sir Lawrence Parsons (1758-1841), afterwards Earl of Rosse. -Like Lord Charlemont, he was opposed to the Union, and twelve -days after the date of this letter he moved in the Irish House of -Commons an address to the Crown to expunge a paragraph in favour of -the Union. This was carried by a majority of five votes. - -[290] Had James Barry possessed no more than a tithe of the suavity -of Reynolds or West, his career would have been more fortunate. In -vain Burke, his best friend, pointed out that his business was to -paint, not to dispute. He used his chair of painting at the Royal -Academy to vilify the members to the students. In 1799 the climax -arrived, and the Academicians resolved on his expulsion. The King -consented, and the following entry appears in the records: “I -have struck out the adjoining name, in consequence of the opinion -entered in the minutes of the Council, and of the General Meeting, -which I fully approve. April 23, 1779.--G. R.” No work of Barry’s -is in the National Gallery, but he has an enduring memorial in -his six great paintings in the hall of the Society of Arts, John -Street. Here he finally lay in state among his works--as Haydon -said, “a pall worthy of the corpse.” - -[291] John Brand (1744-1806), the excellent historian of -Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and author of the _Popular Antiquities_. He -came to London in 1784, to fill the rectory of St. Mary-at-Hill. In -the same year he was appointed Resident Secretary of the Society of -Antiquaries, but he continued to discharge his duties in the City, -and died there, suddenly, in his rectory. He was buried in the -chancel of his church. - -[292] The publication Flaxman indicates, and to which he wishes -to subscribe, is Smith’s important “Antiquities of Westminster, -the old Palace, St. Stephen’s Chapel (now the House of Commons).… -Containing two hundred and forty-six engravings of topographical -subjects, of which one hundred and twenty-two no longer remain.” - -The reduction of the thickness of the side walls of St. Stephen’s -Chapel from three feet to one foot gave additional four feet to -the width of the chamber. So soon as the wainscotting was removed, -it was seen that the walls were adorned with beautiful paintings -of scriptural and historical subjects. The discovery excited great -interest, both on account of the antiquity of the paintings, which -were found to date from Edward III., and the fact that they were -painted in oils and were consequently among the earliest specimens -of that class of painting. Smith obtained permission to copy them. -He began work each morning, as soon as it was light, and was -followed so closely by the workmen that they sometimes demolished -in the afternoon the painting he had copied in the morning. This -task occupied him for six weeks. These valuable drawings are -engraved and coloured in the _Antiquities of Westminster_. - -[293] Edward Hussey Delaval (1729-1814) of Seaton-Delaval, -Northumberland, the chemist, has a claim on the remembrance of -Londoners. In 1769 he and Benjamin Franklin were commissioned to -report to the Royal Society on the best means of protecting St. -Paul’s from lightning. Parliament Stairs, where his house stood, -was at the west end of the present Houses of Parliament, giving -access to the river from Abingdon Street. Delaval, who traced his -descent from the Conqueror’s standard-bearer at Hastings, died -here, aged 85. - -[294] Parliament Stairs were open several months in the summer for -the accommodation of those gentlemen of Westminster School, who -practise the manly and healthy exercise of rowing; the key was held -by Mr. Tyrwhitt, whose servants regularly opened and closed the -gates night and morning.--S. - -[295] John Carter, F.R.S. (1748-1817), is airily described by -Michael Bryan as “a harmless and inoffensive drudge.” He was -employed by the Society of Antiquaries, and by Horace Walpole and -others. His chief work, _The Ancient Architecture of England_, -occupied him many years. Carter was enthusiastically musical, but -the two operas on which he ventured are forgotten. - -[296] Richard Bentley, only son of Dr. Bentley, the Master of -Trinity. He designed beautiful illustrations for Walpole’s -_edition-de-luxe_ of six of Gray’s poems, including the _Elegy_, -and gave much assistance in the architectural treatment of -Strawberry Hill. Walpole was under no delusion about their joint -experiments in Gothic. “Neither Mr. Bentley nor my workmen had -_studied_ the science,” he wrote to Thomas Barrett (June 5, 1788); -“my house therefore is but a sketch for beginners.” - -[297] George Arnald (1763-1841) is represented in the National -Gallery by one pleasing landscape, hung in Room XX., “On the Ouse, -Yorkshire.” Some of his London subjects are reproduced by Smith in -his _Westminster_. His “View of the Palace and Abbey,” painted in -1803, just excludes Delaval’s house on the left.--George Francis -Joseph, A.R.A. (1764-1846), was a well-known portrait painter in -his day. He is represented in the National Gallery by portraits of -Spencer, Perceval, and Sir Stamford Raffles, and in the British -Museum Print Room by a water-colour portrait of Charles Lamb, -engravings from which appear in many editions of Lamb’s works. - -[298] John Ker, third Duke of Roxburgh (1740-1804), one of the -greatest of book-collectors, lived at No. 11 St. James’s Square. -Smith’s epithet “the late” appertains to the time at which he wrote -this passage. - -[299] The case of Colonel Joseph Wall was remarkable for the -culprit’s twenty years’ evasion of justice. His crime was the -murder of a soldier while he was Lieutenant-Governor of Goree, -in Senegambia, in 1782. The command of the fort at Goree was an -inferior appointment, usually given to some claimant who stood -in no great favour with the War Minister, and the troops of the -garrison were commonly regiments in disgrace. Wall exercised -his authority with great cruelty, and in 1782 punished Benjamin -Armstrong, a sergeant, with a wilful severity which resulted in his -death. Aware of the nature of his action, Wall fled to France. He -then came to England, and was tried by court-martial for cruelty; -but the proceedings hung fire, and he went to reside at Bath. He -was re-arrested in 1784, but escaped to the Continent. Finally, in -1797, he wrote to the Home Secretary, offering to stand his trial -for murder. He was tried, and sentenced to death, and, though the -likelihood of a reprieve seemed great, was hanged outside Newgate, -January 28, 1802. - -[300] The _Gentleman’s Magazine_ records that Dr. Forde, the -Ordinary of Newgate, was “a very worthy man, and was much and -deservedly esteemed by the City magistrates, who, on his retirement -from office, settled on him an annuity which provided for the -comforts of his latter days.” Dr. Forde no doubt satisfied the City -authorities, but the Parliamentary Committee which investigated the -state of the prison in 1814 reported: “Beyond his attendance in -chapel, and on those who are sentenced to death, Dr. Forde feels -but few duties to be attached to his office. He knows nothing -of the state of morals in the prison; he never sees any of the -prisoners in private; … he never knows that any have been sick -till he gets a warning to attend their funeral; and does not go to -the infirmary, for it is not in his instructions.” Dr. Forde was -succeeded by the Rev. Mr. Cotton, who first officiated August 8, -1814. - -[301] Maria Cosway, wife of Richard Cosway, the miniaturist. - -[302] Black Boy Alley was notorious in the eighteenth century, and -at one time was infested by a gang who drowned their victims in the -Fleet River. No fewer than twenty-one were executed at once, after -which the humour of the neighbourhood called the place Jack Ketch’s -Common. In 1802, and earlier, Black Boy Alley was the scene of a -weekly display of badger-baiting. - -[303] In the eighteenth century, Epping sent butter and sausages to -the London market, but the industry declined long ago. - -[304] Pie Corner was at the Smithfield end of Giltspur Street, -a short distance north from the Old Bailey. “A very fine dirty -place,” is D’Urfey’s description of this spot, where the Great Fire -of London ended. It was long famous for its greasy cook-shops. - -[305] In his _Nollekens_ Smith puts the same jibe into the mouth of -John Hamilton Mortimer, the painter. “Mortimer made Dr. Arne, who -had a very red face with staring eyes, furiously angry by telling -him that his eyes looked ‘like two oysters just opened for sauce -put upon an oval side-dish of beet-root.’” - -[306] Peter Coxe, an auctioneer, and the author of a poem in -four cantos called “The Social Day,” published in 1823. He wrote -also “The Exposé, or Napoleon Buonaparte unmasked in a Condensed -Statement of his Career and Atrocities” (1809). His emollient -has escaped my search. Coxe was one of a long line of well-known -men who lived in the middle one of the three houses into which -Schomberg House, Pall Mall, was divided. He died in 1844. - -[307] This generous woman, better known under the lawful title -of Lady Hamilton, when I showed her my etching of the funeral -procession of her husband’s friend, the immortal Nelson, fainted -and fell into my arms; and, believe me, reader, her mouth was equal -to any production of Greek sculpture I have yet seen (S.).--Smith’s -etching was entitled, “An Accurate View (drawn and etched by J. T. -Smith, Engraver of the _Antiquities of London and Westminster_) -from the house of W. Tunnard, Esq., on the Bankside, adjoining the -Scite of Shakespeare’s Theatre, on Wednesday the 8th January 1806, -when the remains of the great Admiral Lord Nelson were brought from -Greenwich to Whitehall.” - -[308] - - “The Fair One, whose charms did the Barber enthral, - At the end of Fleet Market of fish kept a stall: - As red as her cheek no boil’d lobster was seen, - Not an eel that she sold was as soft as her skin.” - - THE BARBER’S NUPTIALS. - -[309] From _The Wife’s Trial_, Lamb’s dramatic version of Crabbe’s -_Confidant_. See Mr. Lucas’s _Works of Charles and Mary Lamb_, vol. -v. p. 257. - -[310] All previous relic-selling at Newgate was, however, eclipsed -by the sale held in the partly demolished prison on Wednesday, 4th -February 1903. The following account appeared in the _City Press_ -of 7th February:-- - -“In its way, probably, the sale which Messrs. Douglas Young & Co. -conducted in the middle of the week, within the gloomy precincts -of crime-stricken Newgate, was the most unique and memorable of -its kind ever held. Crowds of the curious and speculative were -naturally attracted to the fortress prison site. - -“Interest more particularly hovered around the old toll bell, with -its famous loyal inscription, and solid ton of metal. The hour was -late when the lot (No. 188 in the catalogue) was reached, but that -circumstance did not in any way detract from the briskness of the -bidding. Starting at £30, the offers rapidly mounted; and, finally, -the prized souvenir of many a tragic decade passed into the hands -of Mr. Richardson (acting as agent for Madame Tussaud’s) for the -exact sum of £100. The old flagstaff, whence the black flag was -hoisted immediately after an execution had taken place, fell to -the enterprise of Mr. Fox, a Cape gentleman, who, for 11½ guineas, -has ensured that in future the Union Jack shall flutter in South -African breezes from its fateful masthead. - -“The famous oak and iron-cased half-latticed door associated with -memories of Mrs. Elizabeth Fry, of philanthropic fame, went for -£20; while Sir George Chubb secured for £30, amidst some cheering, -the wonderful old massive oak and iron-bound half-latticed main -entrance door that was fixed up when the prison was rebuilt after -the Great Fire of 1666. A warder’s key-cupboard, fitted with shelf -and iron hooks--identical with the one referred to in _Barnaby -Rudge_--extracted £12, 10s. from the pockets of the bidder; while -the appointments of the condemned cells, both male and female, -realised fairly good prices--the former in particular. - -“The chapel pulpit, at £8, 10s., was a distinctly disappointing -figure; while it cannot be said that £5, 15s. was an extravagant -sum to pay for the complete equipment of the execution shed. The -taste for criminology, in the shape of the plaster casts of the -heads of nine victims of the gallows, worked out at five guineas. - -“Some of the liveliest bidding of the day took place over the -numerous lots of copper washing bowls, in which the inmates of -Newgate testified that cleanliness was next to godliness. The -lowest price realised was £2, 12s. 6d. for a set of three bowls; -while sets of four realised, on several occasions, as much as £5. -Altogether it was a sale in which monotony and curiosity singularly -intermingled, and, withal, one ever to be remembered by those who -happened to be present.” - -[311] The flying physician of the Chapter Coffee House was Dr. -William Buchan, who, in the last half of the eighteenth century, -was regularly consulted at this coffee-house in St. Paul’s Alley -by ailing bookmen. His advice frequently took this form: “Now, -let me prescribe for you. Here, John, bring a glass of punch for -Mr.----, unless he likes brandy and water better. Take that, sir, -and I’ll warrant you’ll soon be well. You’re a peg too low, you -want stimulus, and if one glass won’t do, call for a second.” His -place was in a box in the north-east corner of the room, known as -the “Wittenagemot,” where he not only prescribed, but acted as an -arbiter of debate. James Montgomery, in his _Memoirs_, describes -him as “of venerable aspect, neat in his dress, his hair tied -behind with a large ribbon, and a gold-headed cane in his hand, -quite realising my idea of an Esculapian dignitary.” - -Buchan was, indeed, a physician of repute, and his _Domestic -Medicine, or the Family Physician_, was not only the first English -work of its kind, but ran into nineteen large editions. It was said -that the publishers gave him £700 down for it, and reaped £700 a -year. In Russia and in America and the West Indies the book was -welcomed. The Empress Catherine sent the author a gold medallion -and a complimentary letter. - -To members of the Society of Friends the career of this genial -doctor is of some interest, inasmuch as at one time he was -physician to the Yorkshire branch of the Foundling Hospital at -Ackworth, an unfortunate institution which in 1779 was taken over -by this Society, to become the flourishing and historic school of -to-day. Buchan lived many years with his son at No. 6 Percy Street, -Rathbone Place, and died there February 25, 1806, aged seventy-six. -He was buried in the west cloister of Westminster Abbey, near Dr. -Richard Jebb, and Wollett, the engraver. - -[312] Flockton was for nearly half a century a showman at St. -Bartholomew’s and Sturbridge Fairs. These lines appeared on some of -his bills:-- - - “To raise the soul by means of wood and wire, - To Screw the fancy up a few pegs higher; - In miniature to show the world at large, - As folks conceive a ship who’ve seen a barge, - This is the scope of all our actors’ play, - Who hope their _wooden_ aims will not be thrown away!” - -He died at Camberwell, April 12, 1794, leaving £5000, most of which -he bequeathed to his company. An engraving of his show bears the -almost Yankee inscription, “The Only Booth in the Fair;” and on the -balustrade of the stairs to its entrance is inscribed the curiously -modern injunction, “Tumble up! tumble up!” - -[313] Honey Lane Market, famous in the eighteenth century for -its provisions, keeps its name close to Cheapside. In 1835, the -pillared and belfried market-house gave place to the City of London -School, since removed to the Thames Embankment. The “Market” is -still an odd oasis of domestic shopping in the City’s larger -operations. - -[314] This was Belzoni’s “Narrative of the Operations and Recent -Discoveries within the Pyramids, Temples, Tombs, and Excavations, -in Egypt and Nubia;--and of a--Journey to the Coast of the Red Sea, -in search of--the Ancient Berenice;--and another to--the Oasis -of Jupiter Ammon. By G. Belzoni. London:--John Murray, Albemarle -Street.--1820.” At the end of the book comes “Mrs. Belzoni’s -Trifling Account--of the--Women of Egypt, Nubia, and Syria.” - -That Belzoni, turned author, retained the physical strength of -his showman days, is shown in a story told by Dr. Smiles in his -_Memoirs of John Murray_. “Like many other men of Herculean power, -he was not eager to exhibit his strength, but on one occasion he -gave proof of it. Mr. Murray had asked him to accompany him to -the Coronation of George IV. They had tickets of admittance to -Westminster Hall, but on arriving there they found that the sudden -advent of Queen Caroline, attended by a mob claiming admission -to the Abbey, had alarmed the authorities, and who had caused -all doors to be shut. That by which they should have entered was -held close and guarded by several stalwart janitors. Belzoni -thereupon advanced to the door, and, in spite of the efforts of -these guardians, including Tom Crib and others of the pugilistic -corps who had been engaged as constables, opened it with ease, and -admitted himself and Mr. Murray.” - -[315] Dr. Robert Richardson (1779-1847) went to Egypt and Palestine -with the Earl of Belmore in 1816, and published his _Travels_ in -1822. Lady Blessington lent the book to Byron, who said: “The -author is just the sort of man I should like to have with me -for Greece--clever both as a man and a physician.” Richardson -afterwards settled in Rathbone Place. He died in Gordon Street, -Gordon Square, Nov. 5, 1847. - -[316] The creator of the Leverian Museum was the eldest son of -Sir Darcey Lever, of Alkrington, near Manchester. As a young man -he had delighted in horses and birds. His treasures had grown in -interest and numbers, until he was persuaded to turn a private -hobby into a public speculation. He hired Leicester House in 1771, -and for thirteen years maintained and increased it, at a cost of -£50,000, against which he could set only £13,000 in receipts. In -1784 he was authorised to issue 36,000 guinea tickets, of which -one was to entitle the holder to the entire museum. A proposal -for the purchase of the museum by the nation, which Dr. Johnson -favoured, came to nothing. Only 8000 tickets had been sold when -the drawing took place. The one prize, the museum, was drawn by a -Mr. Parkinson, who thus acquired for a guinea the largest general -collection in Europe, including the curiosities collected by -Captain Cook in his South Sea voyages. - -Sir Ashton Lever died suddenly in 1788, at Manchester. Meanwhile -Mr. Parkinson had built the Rotunda in Albion Place, at the -south end of Blackfriars Bridge, for the display of the “Museum -Leverianum.” The scheme failed, and in 1806 the museum was sold by -auction at King & Lochee’s rooms in King Street, Covent Garden, -the sale lasting sixty-five days. The catalogue filled 410 -octavo pages, and there were 7879 lots. The deserted “Rotunda” -at Blackfriars deteriorated until it was known to Tom Taylor as -“something very much like a penny gaff.” Taylor, by the way, tells -us that Sir Ashton Lever conceived the idea of sending a ship-load -of potatoes to the defenders of Gibraltar, and this was done. - -[317] By “this year” Smith means 1784. His note is little more -than a copy of the following newspaper paragraph of May 29, 1784, -quoted by Lewis in his _History of Islington_: “Thursday a grand -cricket-match was played in the White Conduit Fields. Among the -players were the Duke of Dorset, Lord Winchilsea, Lord Talbot, -Colonel Tarleton, Mr. Howe, Mr. Damer, Hon. Mr. Lennox, and the -Rev. Mr. Williams. A pavilion was erected for refreshments, and a -number of ladies attended.” - -John Frederick Sackville, third Duke of Dorset (1745-99), was a -member of the Hambledon Club, and of the committee which drew up -the original laws of the M.C.C. He employed several of the best -cricketers of his day, and presented Sevenoaks with a cricket -ground. As our Ambassador to France he arranged for a British -cricket eleven to play in Paris, but the Revolution disturbances -prevented the match. - -The Earl of Winchilsea (1752-1826) was also a member of the -Hambledon. He introduced four wickets, two inches higher than the -standard. “The game is then rendered shorter by easier bowling -out,” said the _Hampshire Chronicle_, but the Earl’s plan is still -a dream and a controversy. - -The Hon. Mr. Lennox is referred to in a newspaper of the period as -“nephew to his grace of Richmond,” and he and Lord Winchilsea are -described as the chief performers at White Conduit House. - -Colonel Sir Banastre Tarleton went through the War of Independence -with distinction, and lived with “Perdita” (Mary Robinson) for some -years, receiving from her much devotion. He represented Liverpool -in Parliament for twenty-two years, and attained the rank of -General. - -The White Conduit Club, of which these gentlemen were members, -has a high importance in the history of cricket, for out of it -sprang, in 1787, the Marylebone Cricket Club. “The M.C.C. Club,” -says Mr. Andrew Lang in a sketch of cricket history, “may be said -to have sprung from the ashes of the White Conduit Club, dissolved -in 1787. One Thomas Lord, by the aid of some members of the older -association, made a ground in the space which is now Dorset Square. -This was the first ‘Lord’s’.” Two removals brought the ground to -its present location in St. John’s Wood, where the first recorded -match was played, June 22, 1814. - -[318] Du Val’s Lane is now represented by Hornsey Road. It seems -to have been originally “Devil’s Lane,” but to have been popularly -re-named from Claude Duval (1643-70), the highwayman, who, like -Dick Turpin, favoured this district. Born at Domfront in Normandy, -Du Val came to England in the train of the Duke of Richmond, -and took to the road. He was famous for his gallantries to his -victims. He was captured on January 17, 1669 or 1670, in the -Hole-in-the-Wall Tavern, Chandos Street, and although intercession -was made for him by ladies of rank, he was hanged at Tyburn within -four days. The exhibition of his body at the Tangier Tavern, St. -Giles’s, drew such crowds that it had to be stopped. It is hard to -believe that Du Val was accorded a grave in the centre aisle of -Covent Garden Church, and that his epitaph began-- - - Here lies Du Vall: Reader, if male thou art, - Look to thy purse; if female, to thy heart; - -but it is so stated in the _Memoirs of Monsieur Du Val_, 1670. His -funeral, we read, “was attended with many flambeaux, and a numerous -train of mourners, whereof most were of the beautiful sex.” - -[319] Nathaniel Hillier, of Pancras Lane, merchant, died March 1, -1783, aged 76 (_Gentleman’s Magazine_). - -[320] This tea-pot passed into the possession of that eccentric -virtuoso, Henry Constantine Noel, of whom Smith gives an account -under 1818. Noel had the following extraordinary inscription -engraved on it:-- - -“We are told by Lucian, that the earthen lamp, which had -administered to the lucubrations of Epictetus, was at his death -purchased for the enormous sum of three thousand drachmas: why, -then, may not imagination equally amplify the value of this -unadorned vessel, long employed for the infusion of that favourite -herb, whose enlivening virtues are said to have so often protracted -the elegant and edifying lucubrations of Samuel Johnson; the -zealous advocate of that innocent beverage, against its declared -enemy, Jonas Hanway. It was weighed out for sale under the -inspection of Sir John Hawkins, at the very minute when they were -in the next room closing the incision through which Mr. Cruickshank -had explored the ruinated machinery of its dead master’s thorax; so -Bray the silversmith, conveyed there in Sir John’s carriage, thus -hastily to buy the plate, informed its present possessor, Henry -Constantine Noel, by whom it was, for its celebrated services, -on the 1st of November 1788, rescued from the undiscriminating -obliterations of the furnace.” - -[321] In this letter, Charles Townley, the collector of the Townley -marbles, probably refers to William Lock (1732-1810), the wealthy -connoisseur, and a friend of Madame d’Arblay. He lived at Norbury -Park, where he was hospitable to Madame de Staël. He was described -as the “arbiter, advocate, and common friend of all lovers of art.” - -[322] The “Triumph of Bacchus” was one of eight great pictures -which Rubens painted for the palace at Madrid. - -[323] Annibale Caracci was employed by Cardinal Farnese to decorate -the famous gallery that bears his name. He produced a masterly -series of frescoes. - -[324] Welbore Ellis, first Baron Mendip, was the third owner of -Pope’s Villa at Twickenham, after the poet. - -[325] “1811, Feb. 3.--In Great Ormond Street, Atkinson Bush, Esq., -in the 76th year of his age” (_European Magazine_, February 1811). - -[326] Parton’s book, _Some Account of the Hospital and Parish of -St. Giles’ in the Fields, Middlesex_ (1822), by “the late” Mr. -John Parton, gives the plan in question, but does not touch on the -matter of its authenticity. It is clear, however, that his plans -and maps are largely conjectural. - -[327] A distinction she shared with Miss Mary Moser. These are -the only women who have been members of the Royal Academy, but it -cannot be said that their talent was very exceptional. Peter Pindar -irreverently said that Mary Moser was made an R.A. for “a sublime -Picture of a Plate of Gooseberries.” - -[328] The annals of British art do not contain a more tragic story -than that of “the late” William Wynn Ryland. A man of great talent, -he was engraver to George III., and an exhibitor at the Royal -Academy; but it was his fate to be hanged at Tyburn for forging a -bond of several thousand pounds. How he presented this document in -person at the India House, is narrated by Henry Angelo as a proof -of his extraordinary self-command. - -“The cashier, on receiving the document, examined it carefully, and -referred to the ledger; then, comparing the date, observed, ‘Here -is a mistake, Sir; the bond, as entered, does not become due until -to-morrow.’ - -“Ryland, begging permission to look at the book, on its being -handed to him, observed: ‘So I perceive--there must be an error -in your entry of one day;’ and offered to leave the bond, not -betraying the least disappointment or surprise. The mistake -appearing to the cashier to be obviously an error in his office, -the bond was paid to Ryland, who departed with the money. The next -day the true bond was presented, when the forgery was discovered, -of course; and, within a few hours after, the fraud was made -public, and steps were taken for the recovery of the perpetrator. - -“This document, lately in the possession of a gentleman now -deceased, I have often seen. It is, perhaps, the most extraordinary -piece of deceptive art, in the shape of imitation, that was ever -produced.” - -A reprieve for Ryland was sought on the ground of his extraordinary -abilities, but, as was usual in cases of forgery, without success. -George III. is said to have replied: “No; a man with such ample -means of providing for his wants could not reasonably plead -necessity as an excuse for his crime.” But the artist’s petition -for a respite was both granted and renewed. He explained that he -desired no extension of life except as the means of completing -his last engraving, and so adding to his wife’s stock of plates. -The subject was Queen Eleanor sucking the poison from the arm of -her husband, Edward I., from a painting by Angelica Kauffmann. He -laboured hard on this work, and when he received the first proof -from his printer, said, “Mr. Haddril, I thank you; my task is now -accomplished.” He was hanged within a week, and his was the last -execution at Tyburn. Henry Angelo says that, like Dr. Dodd, Ryland -was allowed to proceed to Tyburn in a mourning coach. - -The story of William Blake’s prophecy of Ryland’s end is well -known. His father had intended to apprentice him to Ryland, but was -frustrated by the unaccountable attitude of the boy, who, after -they had called on the engraver at his studio, said, “Father, I do -not like the man’s face; it looks as if he will live to be hanged.” -Twelve years later came the fulfilment. Col. W. F. Prideaux -recently mentioned in _Notes and Queries_ that he possesses a -curious collection concerning Ryland’s case which was formed by the -Rev. H. Cotton, the ordinary of Newgate. It includes the original -handbill offering a reward for Ryland’s apprehension, and a drawing -of the engraver’s mother by John Thomas Smith. - -[329] In the _Dictionary of National Biography_, Miss E. T. Bradley -sums up the impressions Angelica Kauffmann made: “Goldsmith -wrote some lines to her; Garrick, whom she painted, was much -fascinated by her, and Fuseli paid addresses to her. Her most -serious flirtation, however, was with Sir Joshua Reynolds, whose -acquaintance she made directly she arrived in London. He painted -her portrait twice. She frequently visited his studio, and painted -a weak and uncharacteristic portrait of the painter, which -Bartolozzi engraved. Nathaniel Dance, whom she had met in Italy, is -also said to have been hopelessly in love with her.” - -[330] Sir Nathaniel Dance-Holland, first baronet (1734-1811), met -Angelica Kauffmann in Italy, and was said to have been hopelessly -in love with her. He was an original member of the Royal Academy, -but resigned his diploma in 1790 on his marriage to Mrs. Drummer, -known facetiously as “The Yorkshire Fortune,” from her possession -of £18,000 a year. He assumed the additional name of Holland, and -sat in Parliament for Grinstead. In his time he was a capable but -stiff portrait painter, and painted full-length portraits of George -III. and his Queen. - -[331] A deed of separation was obtained from Pope Pius VI. After -the “Count’s” death, Angelica Kauffmann married in London, July -14, 1781, Antonio Pietro Zucchi, a Venetian painter who had long -lived in England, and had been employed by Adam, the architect. He -decorated Garrick’s house in the Adelphi. He died in 1795. - -[332] Thomas Pitt, first Baron Camelford, was a prominent -politician and an opponent of Lord North. At Twickenham, where he -settled in 1762, he and Horace Walpole exchanged ideas on Gothic -architecture. - -[333] Probably the well-known Dr. Bates, M.D., of Missenden, Bucks. - -[334] Willey Reveley, architect, and editor of vol. iii. of -Stuart’s _Antiquities of Athens_. - -[335] Smith’s task had been protracted by his tiresome quarrel -with his collaborator, John Sidney Hawkins. They pamphletted and -“vindicated” to their hearts’ content, but the dispute is not worth -unravelling. - -[336] Henry White, then Sacrist of Lichfield Cathedral. - -[337] George Dance, who died in 1825, was the architect of the -recently demolished Newgate Prison, also of St. Luke’s Hospital -and the Guildhall entrance façade. He was the last survivor of the -foundation members of the Royal Academy, and was buried in St. -Paul’s Cathedral. William Daniell, R.A., was well known for his -Indian and Oriental illustrations. He painted a panorama of Madras, -and another of “The City of Lucknow and the mode of Taming Wild -Elephants.” His painting, “A View of the Long Walk, Windsor,” is in -the royal collection. - -[338] Fuseli’s quaint violences of speech were many, and gained -in effect from his Swiss accent. He swore roundly, a habit which -Haydon says he caught from his friend Dr. Armstrong, the poet. He -said a subject should interest, astonish, or move; if it did none -of these, it was worth “noding by Gode.” A visitor to his imposing, -but unsuccessful, Milton Gallery of forty paintings, said to him, -“Pray, sir, what is that picture?” “It is the bridging of Chaos; -the subject from Milton.” “No wonder,” said the inquirer, “I did -not know it, for I never read Milton, but I will.” “I advise you -not, sir, for you will find it a d----d tough job.” He said, on -looking at Northcote’s painting of the angel meeting Balaam and -his ass: “Northcote, you are an angel at an ass, but an ass at an -angel.” Once, at the table of Mr. Coutts, the banker, Mrs. Coutts, -dressed like Morgiana, came dancing in, presenting her dagger at -every breast. As she confronted Nollekens, Fuseli called out, -“Strike--strike--there’s no fear; Nolly was never known to bleed.” -He recommended a sculptor to find some newer emblem of eternity -than a serpent with a tail in its mouth. The _something newer_ -(says Cunningham) startled a man whose imagination was none of the -brightest, and he said, “How shall I find something new?” “Oh, -nothing so easy,” said Fuseli; “I’ll help you to it. When I went -away to Rome I left two fat men cutting fat bacon in St. Martin’s -Lane; in ten years’ time I returned, and found the two fat men -cutting fat bacon still; twenty years more have passed, and there -the two fat fellows cut the fat flitches the same as ever. Carve -them--if they do not look like an image of eternity, I wot not what -does.” - -[339] In the last ten years of his stage career Bannister travelled -with his “Budget” of songs, anecdotes, and imitations, through -England, Scotland, and Ireland. - -[340] The Rev. Stephen Weston, F.R.S. (1747-1830), a well-known -antiquary and classical scholar, held the Devonshire livings of -Mainhead and Little Hempston, Devon, but left that county after -the death of his wife. He engaged in some spirited attempts to -translate Gray’s _Elegy_ into Greek, and published his _Elegia -Grayiana, Græce_, in 1794. He was fond of the French capital, -and published _The Praise of Paris_ in 1803. An old friend of -Nollekens, he was present at the funeral so airily described by -Smith in his life of the sculptor. - -[341] Swan _upping_ (or marking) is still carried out yearly on the -Thames by the representatives of the Crown and by the Dyers’ and -Vintners’ Companies, who have the privilege of keeping swans on the -river. Formerly the state barges of the City went up to Staines, -and ceremonies were performed. Even to-day the expedition of the -swan-markers is picturesque; the skiffs bear the flags of the -several authorities, the markers wear flannels and distinguishing -jerseys, and the overseers don special tunics and peaked caps. The -birds are caught by means of long hooked poles. - -[342] Tooke did not, therefore, “try the question” of his silver -caddy; but had it not been returned he would have done so in his -character of the inimitable litigant. “A court of law,” says -Hazlitt, in his masterly portrait of Tooke in _The Spirit of -the Age_, “was the place where Mr. Tooke made the best figure -in public. He might assuredly be said to be ‘native and endued -unto that element.’ He had here to stand merely on the defensive: -not to advance himself, but to block up the way: not to impress -others, but to be himself impenetrable. All he wanted was _negative -success_; and to this no one was better qualified to aspire. Cross -purposes, _moot-points_, pleas, demurrers, flaws in the indictment, -double meanings, cases, inconsequentialities, these were the -playthings, the darlings of Mr. Tooke’s mind; and with these he -baffled the Judge, dumbfounded the Counsel, and outwitted the Jury. -The report of his trial before Lord Kenyon is a masterpiece of -acuteness, dexterity, modest assurance, and legal effect. It is -much like his examination before the Commissioners of the Income -Tax--nothing could be got out of him in either case!” - -[343] He had, indeed, prepared a tomb for himself in his garden -at Wimbledon, and the funeral invitations, as first sent out, -contemplated his burial here. He was buried in a family vault at -Ealing, to which the following inscription was added: “JOHN HORNE -TOOKE, late of Wimbledon, Author of the _Diversions of Purley_: was -born June 1736, and died March 18, 1812, contented and happy.” - -[344] The Rev. William Huntington obtained influence over -multitudes by a grotesque piety and a compelling pulpit manner. He -appended the initials S.S. to his name, signifying “Sinner Saved.” -His true name was Hunt, and he himself tells how he added two -syllables to it as a disguise after being called upon to support -an illegitimate child. The son of a Kentish day labourer, he had -been errand boy, gardener, cobbler, and coal-heaver. At last he -turned wholly preacher, and in that character came up to London -from Thames Ditton, “bringing two large carts, with furniture and -other necessaries, besides a post-chaise well filled with children -and cats,” as he relates. He became minister of Margaret Street -Chapel, where he urged the power of prayer, telling his hearers -that whenever he wanted a thing--a horse, a pair of breeches, or a -pound of tea--he prayed for it and it came. In 1788 his admirers -built him a chapel in the Gray’s Inn Road at a cost of £9000. He -called it Providence Chapel, and was shrewd enough to obtain the -personal freehold. He carried pulpit brusqueness to the extreme. -“Wake that snoring sinner!” and “Silence that noisy numskull!” -were his frequent observations. By his marriage with the widow of -Sir James Sanderson, who had been Lord Mayor of London, he gained -wealth, and in 1811 he became the tenant of Dr. Valangin’s mansion -on Hermes Hill, Pentonville. This eminent Swiss physician had named -his estate Hermes Hill in honour of Hermes Trismegithus, the fabled -discoverer of chemistry. Huntington’s health failed him, and he -exchanged the air of Pentonville for Tunbridge Wells, where he -died July 1, 1813. Smith’s story of the disciple who purchased a -barrel of beer at the sale of Huntington’s effects is apparently -true. Extravagant prices were paid for less perishable souvenirs. -An arm-chair worth fifty shillings fetched sixty guineas, and an -ordinary pair of spectacles seven guineas. The Pentonville mansion -has long disappeared, but Hermes Street dingily perpetuates its -curious history. - -[345] Smith’s Beef Steak friend, John Nixon, was an Irish factor, -who, with his brother Richard, lived over his warehouses in -Basinghall Street. He was wealthy and convivial, a bachelor, a good -business man, an admirable host, an amateur actor, and a comic -artist. His drawing of “The Jolly Undertakers” regaling themselves -at the Falcon Tavern, near Clapham Junction, is well known; the -landlord’s name was Robert Death, and the undertakers are seen -regaling themselves “at Death’s door.” Nixon’s original picture -long remained at the Falcon (now rebuilt), and was considered a -fixture. - -The history of the Sublime Society of Beef Steaks was mournfully -recalled two years ago by the closing and subsequent sale of its -last home, the Lyceum Theatre. John Rich, the patentee of Covent -Garden Theatre, is usually named as its founder, but the germ of -the Society (its members loathed the name of Club) lay in the -creature needs of his scene painter, George Lambert, of whom -Edwards relates in his _Anecdotes of Painting_-- - -“As it frequently happened that he was too much hurried to leave -his engagements for his regular dinner, he contented himself with -a beefsteak broiled upon the fire in the painting-room. In this -hasty meal he was sometimes joined by his visitors, who were -pleased to participate in the humble repast of the artist. The -savour of the dish and the conviviality of the accidental meeting -inspired the party with a resolution to establish a club, which was -accordingly done under the title of the ‘Beefsteak Club’; and the -party assembled in the painting-room. The members were afterwards -accommodated with a room in the playhouse, where the meetings were -held for many years.” - -Among the earlier members were Hogarth, Theophilus Cibber, George -IV., when Prince of Wales, the Earl of Sandwich, George Colman, -Wilkes. Charles Morris, the Laureate of the Beefsteaks, was -admitted in 1785, and remained a member till his death in 1838, -after being for more than fifty years the life and soul of the -Society. “Die when you will, Charles, you’ll die in your youth,” -were Curran’s words, and Morris died young at ninety-three. His -“Sweet shady side of Pall Mall” is the best London song of its kind. - -The Society dined and wined itself into the nineteenth century -without a thought of change, but when Covent Garden Theatre was -burnt down in 1808, the Beefsteakers, who had taken shelter at the -Bedford Coffee House, went to the Lyceum Theatre at the invitation -of Samuel James Arnold. There, for sixty years, they met in a -banquet room behind the stage. In 1867 the number of members had -fallen to eighteen, and in that year the famous coterie closed its -doors and sent its Lares and Penates to Christie’s, that mart of -abandoned playthings. “Brother” Walter Arnold’s _Life and Death of -the Sublime Society of Beef Steaks_ (1871) is a singularly complete -and interesting memorial of the “jolly old Steakers of England.” - -The “Ad Libitum” Society, of which Nixon was also a member, and -which was quite distinct from the Beefsteaks, held its meetings -successively at the Shakespeare Tavern, the Piazza Coffee House, -Robins’s Rooms, and the Bedford Coffee House. Thomas Dibdin gives a -list of its members in his _Reminiscences_. - -[346] Mrs. Abington died on the 4th. - -[347] Garrick’s troubles with this actress were such that he wrote -to her in reply to one of her complaints: “Let me be permitted to -say, that I never yet saw Mrs. Abington theatrically happy for a -week together.” During his later managership Garrick had ceaseless -struggles with his actresses, by which he was greatly wearied. “The -lively ‘Pivy’ Clive, the stately Mrs. Barry, Pope, the established -Hoyden of the theatre, Miss Younge, Mrs. Yates, Mrs. Abington, all -tried the effect of a modified revolt” (Percy Fitzgerald: _Life of -Garrick_). - -[348] Stafford Row was near Stafford Gate, St. James’s Park. Mrs. -Yates died here in 1787, and Mrs. Radcliffe, the author of the -_Mysteries of Udolpho_, in 1823. - -[349] These lines occur in the epilogue to General Burgoyne’s -comedy, _The Maid of the Oaks_, written by him expressly for Mrs. -Abington, who performed the part of Lady Bab Lardoon in the season -1773-74. Garrick wrote the epilogue in question to be spoken by -Mrs. Abington. - -[350] These lines do not belong to _The Maid of the Oaks_, the -subject of Garrick’s letter of 9th November. I have not been able -to trace them. - -[351] See Wilmot’s Letters, British Museum.--S. - -[352] John Thane (1748-1818) was a well-known printseller in Soho, -and the editor of _British Autography: a Collection of Facsimiles -of the Handwriting of Royal and Illustrious Personages, with their -Authentic Portraits_ (1793). - -[353] John Blaquière (1732-1812) sat in both Irish and United -Kingdom Parliaments. At this time (1771) he was Secretary of -Legation in Paris. - -[354] This letter is the earliest from Walpole to Mrs. Abington -in Peter Cunningham’s collection, where it bears the more precise -date, September 1, 1771. At that time Walpole had no private -acquaintance with Mrs. Abington. Eight years later, Mrs. Abington -is still seeking his acquaintance, for he writes in April 1779 to -excuse himself from an invitation she had sent him. But on May 22, -1779, Walpole says at the end of a letter to the Honourable H. S. -Conway: “I am going to sup with Mrs. Abington, and hope Mrs. Clive -will not hear of it.” No doubt he did so, and it was after this -stage in their acquaintance that he wrote the letter of June 11, -1780 (see opposite page). - -[355] Sir Walter James James, first Baronet (1759-1829), married -Jane, sister of John Jeffreys, second Earl, and first Marquis, -Camden. - -[356] At this time Mrs. Jordan was absent from the stage, in -obedience to her lover, the Duke of Clarence, afterwards William -IV. By him she had ten children. She had also four children by Sir -Richard Ford, and a daughter by her Cork manager, Richard Daly. -But, says Leigh Hunt, she “made even Methodists love her.” In 1811 -the Duke of Clarence made an arrangement by which she received -£4400 a year for the maintenance of herself and all her children, -on condition that if she returned to the stage the Duke’s daughters -and £1500 a year were to revert to him. All these daughters married -well. Mrs. Jordan died embarrassed and unhappy at St. Cloud, a good -deal of mystery shrouding her end. Tate Wilkinson tells how she -finally exchanged her maiden name of Bland for Jordan. “You have -crossed the water, my dear,” he said to her once, “so I’ll call you -Jordan.” “And by the memory of Sam! if she didn’t take my joke in -earnest, and call herself Mrs. Jordan ever since.” - -[357] In a letter dated January 24, 1816, in my possession, which -was evidently intended to be sent as a circular to some of his -stauncher patrons, Smith states that he had found the previous -year very “unprofitable to the Arts,” and that owing to the great -number of families who left England for France “last season” -(_i.e._ after Waterloo), his income had been small. He has applied -himself closely to his etching table, and is now able to lay before -his correspondent the first three numbers of a small work at a -remarkably cheap rate. This was his _Vagabondiana, or Anecdotes of -Mendicant Wanderers through the Streets of London, with Portraits -of the Most Remarkable drawn from Life_. The increase of beggars -in London had engaged serious attention, and legislation was in -the air. The Society for the Suppression of Mendicity was founded -in 1818. Smith’s work is the artistic forerunner of Charles Lamb’s -_Complaint of the Decay of Beggars in the Metropolis_, written -in 1822, when “the all-sweeping besom of sectarian reform” had -done its work. The Herculean legless beggar whose portrait Lamb -draws with so much gusto, appears in Smith’s gallery of etchings. -But whereas Mr. E. V. Lucas identifies him as Samuel Horsey, I -venture to think he was the beggar named John MacNally. Smith’s -figure of Horsey hardly suggests a Hercules, nor does another -portrait of him from Kirby’s “Wonderful and Scientific Museum.” I -suggest that the beggar of whom Lamb wrote, in 1822, “He seemed -earth-born, an Antæus, and to suck in fresh vigour from the soil -which he neighboured; he was a grand fragment; as good as an Elgin -marble; the nature, which should have recruited his left leg and -thighs, was not lost, but only retired into his upper parts, and -he was half a Hercules,” was identical with the beggar whom John -Thomas Smith describes as an “extraordinary torso”: “His head, -shoulders, and chest, which are exactly those of Hercules, would -prove valuable models for the artist.” This Hercules is John -MacNally. Were there two London legless beggars who could suggest -to two minds such images of antique magnificence of physique? It is -possible, but unlikely. - -[358] First cousin, once removed, of the poet. - -[359] Charles Manners-Sutton, Archbishop of Canterbury 1805-28. - -[360] Thomas Gilliland, whose _Dramatic Mirror_ is still consulted, -was not too popular with the actors and actresses whose lives he -compiled. He was practically warned off the Green-room of Drury -Lane Theatre by Charles Mathews, the elder. - -[361] Smith is mistaken as to the date of the first race. This -was rowed on August 1, 1716. A portrait of a waterman in his -boat, still preserved in the Watermen’s Hall, St. Mary’s Hill, is -supposed to represent the first wearer of the coat and badge, a -white horse being painted on the back-board of the boat. It is said -that John Broughton, afterwards the prize-fighter, and the founder -of boxing, was this winner. Under Doggett’s will, only one prize, -the coat and badge, was given, but additional prizes have been -added under the will of Sir William Jolliff, in 1820, and by the -Fishmongers’ Company. These prizes are generous. Even the last of -the six young watermen to reach the winning-post is sure of £2; the -other unsuccessful candidates receive sums from £3 to £6 each. The -winner of the race is £10 in pocket, his name is added to the long -roll of previous winners, and he wears Doggett’s coat (made to fit -him) among the coated élite of Watermen’s Hall. - -A clever and genial man, Doggett was known everywhere by his -immense wig, on the top of which, not without the aid of pins, -rested a small cocked hat. He carried a rapier, and took snuff -incessantly. Only two portraits of him are known: one represents -him dancing the Cheshire Round with the motto, “Ne sutor -ultra crepidam,” and the Garrick Club has a portrait, but its -authenticity is questioned. - -[362] _The Waterman_ was, indeed, announced as the after-piece to -_The Wonder_, but Garrick had no part in it, and his great farewell -scene rendered its performance impossible alike to actors and -audience. - -[363] Sarah Sophia Banks (1744-1818) was a virtuoso, and collector -of natural history specimens. She kept house for her brother, Sir -Joseph Banks, at 32 Soho Square, at the corner of Frith Street. -Here Sir Joseph, who is mentioned by Smith elsewhere, gave his -Sunday evening conversaziones, at which Cavendish and Wollaston -were the prominent guests. Sir Henry Holland describes these -evenings in his _Recollections_. Gifford of the _Quarterly_ -remarked to Moore, that the Banks’ mansion was to science what -Holland House was to literature. Horace Walpole poked incessant fun -at Sir Joseph’s curiosity about remote Atlantic islands, and Peter -Pindar scribbled verses like this:-- - - “To give a breakfast in Soho, - Sir Joseph’s bitterest foe - Must certainly allow him peerless merit: - Where on a wagtail and tom-tit - He shines, and sometimes on a nit: - Displaying powers few gentlemen inherit.” - -The house was afterwards the home of the Linnæan Society, and is -now the Hospital for Diseases of the Heart. - -[364] Knick-knacks. - -[365] Elizabeth Carter (1717-1806), of “Epictetus” fame, was the -daughter of a Kent parson. She enjoyed the friendship of Dr. -Johnson, to whom she was introduced by Cave. Mrs. Carter wrote -Nos. 44 and 100 of the _Rambler_, essays which Johnson esteemed -highly. Her resolution in acquiring a knowledge of Greek and Latin -was extraordinary: she placed a bell at the head of her bed, and -arranged that the sexton, who rose between four and five o’clock, -should ring it by means of a cord which descended into the garden -below. Her translation of Epictetus appeared in 1758; it was -published by subscription at one guinea, and she made £1000 by it. -Her attainments brought her many distinguished friends, and it -was thought that Dr. Secker, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury, -wished to marry her. Mrs. Carter was one of the little company -who dined with Johnson at Mrs. Garrick’s house, May 3, 1783, when -Hannah More, looking at Johnson, “was struck with the mild radiance -of the setting sun.” - -[366] Mrs. Dards’ exhibition was at No. 1 Suffolk Street, Cockspur -Street. The British Museum has one of her catalogues, dated 1800. - -[367] This singular character, whose real name was Henry -Constantine Jennings (1731-1819), died within the Rules of the -King’s Bench, after spending one fortune on works of art and -losing another on the turf. About 1778 he brought to England -the antique sculpture known as Alcibiades’ Dog (now at Duncombe -Park, Yorkshire), whence he had his nickname, “Dog Jennings.” His -purchase of this work for a thousand guineas was the subject of one -of Dr. Johnson’s conversations, recorded by Boswell. Jennings lived -in the most easterly of the five houses into which Lindsey House, -Chelsea, was divided in 1760. In Smith’s _Nollekens_ he appears as -a little man in a brown coat walking in Marylebone Fields, where -Nollekens was for giving him twopence, mistaking him for a pauper. - -Jennings was twice married, and at one time laid claim to a lapsed -peerage. At Chelsea, where he maintained his house and grounds in -a state of luxurious neglect, it was his custom twice a day to -exercise himself with a ponderous lead-tipped broadsword: then (to -use his own words), “mount my chaise horse, composed of leather and -inflated with wind like a pair of bellows, on which I take exactly -one thousand gallops.” Among his treasures was a statue of Venus, -which he prized so highly, that for the first six months after -acquiring it he had it placed during dinner at the head of his -table, with two footmen in laced liveries in attendance on it--a -situation that to-day would be worthy of Mr. Anstey’s humour. - -[368] Sir Thomas Stepney, ninth and last baronet of Prendergast, -Pembroke, died September 12, 1825, aged 65. He was long a member -of White’s Club, and wore blue and white striped stockings, a -peculiarity he shared with Nollekens, the sculptor. A worthier -distinction was his descent from Sir Anthony Vandyke. Sir John -Stepney, the third baronet, had married the daughter and heiress of -the painter. - -[369] Of John Burges, M.D. (1745-1807), there is a manuscript -memoir in the library of the Royal College of Physicians. He made -a fine collection of the _materia medica_, which ultimately passed -to the college, where it is still preserved. Gillray’s legend “From -Warwick Lane” refers, of course, to the earlier location of the -college in the city. - -[370] At the Royal Academy dinner of 1789 the health of Alderman -Boydell as “the Commercial Mæcenas of England” was proposed by -Edmund Burke. It was in this year that the Alderman began to -exhibit in Pall Mall the works which he had commissioned for his -Shakespeare Gallery. Next year he became Lord Mayor. Unfortunately, -he miscalculated his financial powers, and the outbreak of the -French Revolution entailed on him such loss of foreign custom -that his death in 1804 was clouded by misfortune. He had employed -nearly all the best artists and engravers of his day, and had spent -£350,000 in his business. His Shakespeare Gallery, consisting of -170 pictures, was disposed of by lottery; the winner being Tassie, -the gem-modeller, who sold them at Christie’s for £6157. - -[371] First fashionable in 1745, and named after William, Duke of -Cumberland. Smith might have seen it in his boyhood. It was smartly -cocked in front. - -[372] George Frederick Beltz (1777-1841), Lancaster Herald, and -author of _Memorials of the Order of the Garter_, was one of -Mrs. Garrick’s executors, and wrote the memoir of her in the -_Gentleman’s Magazine_ of November 1822. - -[373] “Mr. Dance, in this picture of Garrick, has been guilty of an -egregious anachronism. He has actually given Richard the Third the -_star_ of the Order of the Garter, when he ought to have known that -it was not introduced before the reign of King Charles I.” (Smith: -_Nollekens_). - -[374] Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, fifth baronet (1772-1840), a -generous patron of artists. His town house in St. James’s Square -had fine pictures. He died after a fall from his horse in the -hunting-field. - -[375] The Dowager Lady Amherst would appear to be Elizabeth, -daughter and co-heir of Lieutenant-General Honourable George Cary, -who married, 1767, Jeffrey, first Lord Amherst, Field-Marshal, who -died in 1797, aged 80. Lady Amherst died in 1830.--William George -Maton, M.D., dated his fortune from the day when he was approached -by an equerry at Weymouth as a person who might be able to name a -plant (_arundo epigejos_) which one of the royal princesses had -found. He was thus brought into the presence of Queen Charlotte, -and later became her physician extraordinary. Maton died on March -30, 1835, and was buried at St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields. There is a -tablet to him in Salisbury Cathedral.--Mr. Carr was Mrs. Garrick’s -solicitor, and was to be the next occupant of the famous Garrick -Villa at Hampton. - -[376] Elizabeth Wright Macauley, novelist, actress, and preacher of -the gospel, died at York, March 1837, aged 52, in rather straitened -circumstances. Her London home was at 52 Clarendon Square, St. -Pancras. She published, in 1812, _Effusions of Fancy_, a collection -of poems consisting of the “Birth of Friendship,” the “Birth of -Affection,” and the “Birth of Sensibility.” In the last year of -her life she had travelled the country lecturing on “Domestic -Philosophy,” and giving recitations. - -[377] At an earlier time the Abbey had been free to sight-seers, -but a wanton injury to the figure of George Washington in Major -André’s monument had led to the imposition of admission fees. -Not long after Smith’s encounter, Charles Lamb wrote his protest -against these fees, of which he says: “In no part of our beloved -Abbey now can a person find entrance (out of service time) under -the sum of _two shillings_.” Lamb’s complaint may have been rather -overstrained by reason of its incorporation in his bitter letter to -Southey in the _London Magazine_ for October 1823. - -Free admission was given to the larger part of the Abbey under Dean -Ireland. Authorised guides were first appointed in 1826, and the -nave and transepts were opened, and the fees lowered in 1841 at the -suggestion of Lord John Thynne (Dean Stanley: _Historical Memorials -of Westminster Abbey_). - -[378] The Rev. Thomas Rackett (1757-1841), Rector of Spetisbury -with Charlton-Marshall, Dorset. He was a musician, a naturalist, an -antiquary, and a friend of Garrick. He had been guided as a youth -by Dr. John Hunter. His daughter Dorothea married Mr. S. Solly of -Heathside, near Poole. She is mentioned on p. 290. - -[379] Dr. Francklin was probably the “Thomas Franklin” who signed -the round-robin to Dr. Johnson asking him to re-write Goldsmith’s -epitaph in English. Here the absence of the _c_ from the name -causes Croker to doubt the identity, and Dr. Birkbeck Hill to -reject it. It is curious that Smith, with Garrick’s marriage -certificate before him, makes the name agree with the questioned -signature in the memorial to Johnson. Francklin knew Johnson and -dedicated to him a translation of Lucian. “BOSWELL. I think Dr. -Franklin’s definition of _Man_ a good one--A tool-making animal. -JOHNSON. But many a man never made a tool; and suppose a man -without arms, he could not make a tool.” Francklin founded the -_Centinel_, a paper of the _Tatler_ variety, and published many -translations. He was the first Chaplain to the Royal Academy, and -composed a song, “The Patrons,” that was sung at the inaugural -dinner. - -[380] This certificate does not answer Smith’s inquiry: the place -of the marriage. As a matter of fact, Dr. Francklin’s chapel, where -the ceremony was performed, was not in Great Queen Street, but in -Queen Street, near Russell Street, now Museum Street. The Charity -School opposite the side entrance of Mudie’s Library marks the site -of the chapel in which the knot was tied between David Garrick and -Eva Maria Violetti. The facts are given correctly by a writer in -_Notes and Queries_ (March 31, 1877), who puts in the following -documents:-- - -“On the 22nd June, 1749, Garrick was married to Eva Maria Violetti -by M. Francklin, at his chapel near Russell Street, Bloomsbury; and -afterwards, according to the rites of the Roman Catholic Church, by -the Rev. M. Blyth, at the chapel of the Portuguese Embassy in South -Audley Street” (Garrick’s _Correspondence_, 1831). - -“Yesterday was married, by the Rev. Mr. Francklin, at his chapel, -Russell Street, Bloomsbury, David Garrick, Esq., to Eva Maria -Violetti” (_General Advertiser_, June 23, 1749). - -[381] No picture in the National Gallery is better known and -admired than Rubens’s “Chapeau de Paille.” It is a portrait of -Mdlle. Lunden, with whom Rubens was in love. He is said to have -painted her portrait without her knowledge while she sat in her -garden, and to have obtained her acceptance of the picture. On her -untimely death Rubens begged back this portrait, which her family -had christened “Le Chapeau de Paille,” promising a replica in -exchange. This is the National Gallery picture. In it, instead of a -straw hat (chapeau de paille), Rubens has introduced a beaver hat -(chapeau de poil), but the original name is still in vogue, though -the name “Chapeau de Poil” appears on the frame of the picture in -Room xii. of the National Gallery. In 1822 the picture passed from -the Lunden family to M. Van Niewenhuysen for 89,000 florins, and -from him it was acquired, through Smith the printseller, by the -British Government. - -[382] Edward Knight, known as LITTLE KNIGHT, is universally stated -to have been born in Birmingham in 1774; “Bristol” and “1778” are -probably misprints. - -[383] _Flora, or Hob in the Well_, a farce by Cibber, adapted from -Thomas Doggett’s _Country Wake_. - -[384] _The Soldier’s Daughter_ is a comedy by Cherry, Timothy -Quaint being a minor character.--_Fortune’s Frolic_ is a farce by -Allingham. Robin Roughhead, a labourer, succeeds to the title and -wealth; then he marries his humble sweetheart, Dolly, and makes the -best of landlords. - -[385] Of Knight as an actor we read: “There was an odd quickness, -and a certain droll play about every muscle of his face, that fully -prepared the audience for the jest that was to follow. His Sim, in -_Wild Oats_, may be termed the most chaste and natural performance -on the stage.” It was remarked of Knight, however, that he was too -fond of laughter and tears, “squeezing his eyelids, and fidgetting -and pelting about, till he got the necessary moisture.” - -[386] A bronze statue in the garden of Burton Crescent shows -Cartwright as a small, excessively bald man, seated with what might -be a blue-book in his hand. A luxuriant fig tree was threatening -to engulf him in its foliage in September 1905. The inscription -states that he was “The First Consistent and Persevering Advocate -of Universal Suffrage, Equal Representation, Vote by Ballot, and -Annual Parliaments.” For every evil, even for cold weather or bad -plays, he prescribed “Annual Parliaments and Universal Suffrage.” -The Reverend J. Richardson, in his _Recollections_, says that for -many years the Lords of the Admiralty gave Cartwright half-pay, -without suspecting that the “John Cartwright” on their books -was their arch-critic, “Major” Cartwright, whose commission in -the Nottinghamshire Militia had put this handle to his name and -disguised his identity. - -[387] It may be hoped that, had Smith lived to prepare his BOOK FOR -A RAINY DAY for the press, he would have expunged these embittered -references to the wealth of Nollekens and legateeship of Francis -Douce. - -[388] Elizabeth Ogilvy Benger (1778-1827) was an amiable woman and -a popular writer of history and biography. She was a friend of the -Lambs, Mrs. Barbauld, Mrs. Aikin, Campbell, and others. Among her -works are _Memoirs of Mary Queen of Scots and Anne Boleyn_, and a -poem on the slave-trade. - -[389] From Mr. W. Roberts’ “_Memorials of Christie’s_, it appears -that the original cup from Shakespeare’s mulberry tree, which was -presented to David Garrick by the Mayor and Corporation, at the -time of the Jubilee at Stratford, realised 121 guineas on April -30, 1825.” Smith mis-states the date. On May 30, 1903, a figure of -Shakespeare carved from the tree was sold at Sotheby’s for £13, 5s. - -[390] See note, p. 273. - -[391] This derivation has been questioned by others. The _New -English Dictionary_ leaves the point doubtful, but quotes the -_Globe_ of July 24, 1882: “The ‘Busby,’ so often used colloquially -when a large bushy wig is meant, most probably took its origin … -not from Dr. Busby, the famous headmaster of Westminster School, -but from the wig denominated a ‘Buzz,’ from being frizzled and -bushy.” May it not be that the word sprang from “buzz,” in -association with the name of the famous headmaster?--the one -originating and the other confirming its use. - -[392] Nevertheless periwigs were known in England considerably -earlier. Fairholt mentions one that was ordered “for Sexton, the -king’s fool,” in the reign of Henry VIII. In Hall’s _Satires_ -(1598) a courtier is made to lose his periwig while trying to bow -on a windy day. Other instances are quoted by Fairholt in _Costume -in England_. - -[393] The Duke of Wellington once entertained a dinner-table with -an account of Louis XIV.’s wig. His remarks were thus reported, at -first hand, in _Notes and Queries_ of Nov. 25, 1871, by Mr. Herbert -Randolph:-- - -“I was in the year 1834 or 1835 dining in company with the Duke -of Wellington at Betshanger in Kent, then the seat of Frederick -Morice, Esq., now of Sir Walter James. It was about the time when -the Bishop of London (Dr. Blomfield) had first appeared in the -House of Lords without his wig, and a smart controversy arising -out of the fact was going on. Opposite to the Duke at table hung -a portrait of an admiral of Queen Anne’s time, an ancestor of -Mr. Morice, and the finely painted ‘Ramillies wig’ upon his head -caught the Duke’s attention. He took occasion from this to give, in -his terse and decided manner, a complete history of wigs, having -evidently mastered the subject in reference to the question of the -day. He concluded, to the point, by saying: ‘Louis the Fourteenth -had a hump, and no man, not even his valet, ever saw him without -his wig. It hung down his back, like the judges’ wigs, to hide -the hump. But the Dauphin, who hadn’t a hump, couldn’t bear the -heat, so he cut it round close to the poll; and the episcopal wig -that you are all making such a fuss about is the wig of the most -profligate days of the French court.’” - -[394] It was Woollett’s pleasing custom to celebrate the completion -of a plate by firing a cannon from the roof of his house, No. 36 -Charlotte Street, Fitzroy Square. On this occasion he doubtless -used an extra charge of powder. - -[395] No allusion to Sir Cloudesley Shovel was intended by Pope. -The line occurs in the _Moral Essays_, Epistle iii.-- - - “When Hopkins dies, a thousand lights attend - The wretch, who living saved a candle’s end; - Shouldering God’s altar a vile image stands, - Belies his features, nay extends his hands; - That live-long wig which Gorgon’s self might own, - Eternal buckle takes in Parian stone.” - -Pope’s own note to the last line reads: “Ridicule the wretched -taste of carving large periwigs on bustos, of which there -are several vile examples among the tombs of Westminster and -elsewhere.” Pope’s real victim, Hopkins, was “Vulture” Hopkins, who -died in his house in Broad Street in 1732, leaving a fortune of -£300,000 with peculiar conditions attached. Several thousand pounds -were expended on his funeral. - -[396] Thomas Dawson, Viscount--not Earl--of Cremorne, died 1813. - -[397] The full-dress wigs of English judges are the nearest -survival of the great Queen Anne wigs familiar in the portraits of -these men. They are made of white horse hair, elaborately treated. - -[398] Combing the wig in the theatre and the drawing-room was a -habit, like twirling the moustache. Dryden pictures the wits rising -as one man in the pit of the theatre and beginning to comb their -wigs while they stared at a new masked beauty. “It became the mark -of a young man of _ton_ to be seen combing his periwig in the Mall, -or at the theatre” (Fairholt: _Costume in England_). Hats were not -worn on perukes that cost forty or fifty pounds. In Wycherley’s -_Love in a Wood_ (1672) we read: “A lodging is as unnecessary a -thing to a widow that has a coach, as a hat to a man that has a -good peruke.” - -[399] It is said that, as a rule, Lely’s male portraits of the -Charles II. period can be distinguished at once from Kneller’s -portraits of the Court of William III., by observing that in the -former the ends of the wig descend on the chest, in the latter they -fall behind the shoulders. - -[400] The distinction is particularly important in the case of -Cibber, whose wig in the part of Sir Fopling Flutter was so -admired that he regularly had it brought in a sedan-chair to the -footlights, where he publicly donned it with great applause. -Cibber’s modest private wig can be studied in Roubiliac’s coloured -bust in the National Portrait Gallery. - -[401] John Wallis, D.D. (1616-1703), a distinguished mathematician -as well as theologian. - -[402] Several particulars of Johnson’s wigs are given by Boswell. -The improvements he made in his dress through the influence of Mrs. -Thrale included “a Paris-made wig of handsome construction.” “In -general,” says Croker, “his wigs were very shabby, and their fore -parts were burned away by the near approach of the candle, which -his short-sightedness rendered necessary in reading. At Streatham -Mrs. Thrale’s butler always kept a better wig in his own hands, -with which he met Johnson at the parlour door, when the bell -had called him down to dinner; and this ludicrous ceremony was -performed every day.” - -[403] “Mr. Hillier, I believe, was of the same family as the late -Nathaniel Hillier of Stoke, near Guildford, one of whose daughters -married Colonel Onslow. He was a most extensive collector of -engravings, and his cabinets contained numerous rarities, but he -spoiled all his prints by staining them with coffee, to produce, -as he thought, a mellow tint, but by which process he not only -deprived most of them of their pristine brilliancy, but rendered -their sale considerably less productive” (Smith). The trick of -staining prints with coffee was once fairly common among collectors. - -[404] Probably the pendent bobs or “dildos” on the “campaign” wig -introduced in the reign of Charles II. were the origin of the -pigtail. The “Ramillies” wig, named after the battle of 1706, had a -long plaited tail, and immediately became the fashion. By 1731 the -pigtail wig had reached its height of popularity and absurdity. - - “But pray, what’s that much like a whip, - Which with the air does wav’ring skip - From side to side, and hip to hip?” - -asks a country visitor in _The Metamorphosis of the Town_, and is -answered-- - - “Sir, do not look so fierce and big, - It is a modish pigtail wig.” - -[405] Horwood’s map of London (1799) shows the river walk from -Abingdon Street almost to Chelsea Bridge between willows, along -the water-edge, and nursery gardens. A good idea of Millbank as it -was at this period may be obtained from the Earl of Albemarle’s -_Fifty Years of my Life_ (vol. i. cap. vi.), where we see the boys -of Westminster School roaming these spaces, hiring guns from Mother -Hubbard, and obtaining dogs and badgers from their obliging friend, -William Heberfield, “Slender Billy,” who was mercilessly hanged in -1812 for passing forged notes. See a curious account of Palmer’s -village in Charles Manby Smith’s _Curiosities of London Life_ -(1853). Smith has an etching of the Willow Walk in his _Remarks on -Rural Scenery_ (1797). - -[406] William Collins, a modeller of mantelpieces and friezes, was -an intimate friend of Nathaniel Smith (J. T. S.’s father), and is -described by Smith, in his _Antient Topography of London_, as a -fascinating modeller in clay and wax, and carver in wood. He took -many of his subjects from Æsop’s Fables, and was much employed by -Sir Henry Cheere, the statuary, who then had workshops near the -south-east corner of Henry the Seventh’s Chapel. Roubillac worked -here when he first came to England. Collins died in Tothill Fields, -May 31, 1793. His mantelpiece in Ancaster House remains. - -[407] Belgrave House stood at the west end of Millbank Row, the -continuation of Abingdon Street. The Millbank of Gainsborough’s -days extended from this point southward and westward (as it rounded -the obtuse promontory) as far as the White Lead Mills, whence -Turpentine Lane led north to the Jenny’s Whim Tavern and bridge. -This picturesque wooden bridge spanned a reservoir of the Chelsea -water-works. - -[408] Albert van Everdingen (1621-1725), a Dutch painter of -landscapes and sea-pieces. - -[409] Jan van Goyen (1596-1656) was born at Leyden. His favourite -subjects were river banks with peasants. Three of his pictures are -in the National Gallery. - -[410] Jacob van Ruysdael (1628-82), the greatest of Dutch landscape -painters. - -[411] Cornelius Gerritz Dekker (died 1678) painted at Haarlem; one -of his landscapes is in the National Gallery. - -[412] The Neat House Gardens added much to the pleasantness of the -river walk at Millbank. They were held by gardeners who grew fruit -and vegetables here for the London markets. About 1831 the soil -taken to form St. Katherine’s Docks was brought up the river and -laid upon them; after which Lupus Street and many other Pimlico -streets were built on their site. It is a pity that no local -name-relic exists of gardens which Massinger knew as a place for -musk-melons (_City Madam_, Act iii. sc. 1), which Pepys visited -with his wife, and which “would have pleased Ruysdael.” - -[413] On August 3, 1802, Garnerin, or Garnerini, ascended in a -balloon from Vauxhall Gardens with his wife and Mr. Glasford. A -cat, which they dropped in a parachute, fell safely in a garden at -Hampstead, and the balloon itself, after passing over the Green -Park, Paddington, etc., descended in a paddock at Lord Rosslyn’s, -at the top of Hampstead Hill. Mrs. Garnerin afterwards lost her -life through ascending from Paris with fireworks. - -[414] I conjecture that this is a misprint, and that Smith’s -correspondent was St. Schültze, an artist and writer of ability, of -whom Eckermann, in his _Conversations with Goethe_, writes, May 15, -1826: “I talked with Goethe to-day about St. Schültze, of whom he -spoke very kindly. ‘When I was ill a few weeks since,’ said he, ‘I -read his _Heitere Stunden_’ (Cheerful Hours) ‘with great pleasure.’ -If Schültze had lived in England, he would have made an epoch; for, -with his gift of observing and depicting, nothing was wanting but -the sight of life on a large scale.” - -[415] Friederich Campe compiled for the occasion a little book -called _Reliquien von Albrecht Dürer_. - -[416] Peter von Cornelius. Born at Düsseldorf in 1783, he achieved -his great reputation at Munich, where he directed the Academy and -embellished many public buildings. He died so late as 1867. - -[417] Johann Gottlieb Schneider (1789-1864), of Dresden, one of the -first organists of his day. - -[418] After Dürer’s death from a decline, his close friend, -Porkheimer, wrote to Johann Tscherte, of Vienna: “Nothing grieves -me deeper than that he should have died so painful a death, which, -under God’s providence, I can ascribe to nobody but his huswife, -who gnawed into his very heart, and so tormented him, that he -departed hence the sooner; for he was dried up to a faggot, and -might nowhere seek a jovial humour, or go to his friends.… She and -her sister are not queans; they are, I doubt not, in the number of -honest, devout, and altogether God-fearing women; but a man might -better have a quean, who was otherwise kindly, than such a gnawing, -suspicious, quarrelsome, good woman, with whom he can have no peace -or quiet, neither by day nor by night.” - -[419] The architect, and author of a fine work on _Ancient and -Ornamental Architecture at Rome and in Italy_, the materials for -which he collected in the tour he mentions to Smith. He married -the daughter of Smith’s acquaintance, Williams, a well-known -button-maker in St. Martin’s Lane. William Blake found in him a -good friend, and was worshipped by his son, Frederick Tatham, -who said that a stroll with Blake was “as if he were walking -with the Prophet Isaiah.” Late in life Charles Tatham fell into -money difficulties, but obtained the post of warden of Greenwich -Hospital, where he died in 1842. - -[420] Stephen Porter of the Middle Temple, and of Trinity College, -Cambridge, translated from the German a play called _Lovers’ Vows_, -by Augustus von Kotzebue, 1798. - -[421] Copper Holmes had constructed a floating home out of a West -Country vessel, which cost him £150. He appears to have had his -name “Copper” from the metal he acquired with this hulk. His ark -was considered a nuisance, and the City authorities brought an -action to compel him to remove it. He died in 1821. - -[422] “The flat pavement on the southern side of the church, facing -the “Golden Cross,” is called “the Watermen’s Burying-ground,” -from the number of old Thames watermen who were brought thither to -their last long rest from Hungerford, York, and Whitehall Stairs” -(Walford: _Old and New London_). - -[423] The reference is to an impersonation of Joe Hatch, -the waterman, which Charles Mathews included in one of the -single-handed “At Home” entertainments which he started in 1818. -“One of the best occasional delineations of character, is that of -Joe Hatch, a waterman, who is also termed the Thames Chancellor and -Boat Barrister, a fellow (we presume a real portrait, though we -have not the good fortune to know the original) who lays down the -law of his craft, promotes and allays quarrels, and gratifies his -fare with a ‘long, tough yarn’ of his own adventures” (_Memoirs of -Charles Mathews_). - -[424] “Curtis’s Halfpenny Hatch was a passage across St. George’s -Fields from Narrow Wall, opposite Somerset House. It was a -halfpenny toll-way through extensive nursery grounds” (_Wine and -Walnuts_). It is now commemorated in the name Hatch Row, Roupell -Street, Lambeth, and I have found that Palmer Street is still -called, locally, “up the Hatch,” though, of course, nothing in -the shape of a Hatch has existed within living memory. “Hatches,” -or gates, at which halfpennies were levied, were common on the -outskirts of London. Nollekens told Smith that he remembered one in -Charlotte Street, kept by a miller, and another between the Oxford -Road (Oxford Street) and Grosvenor Square. - -[425] Philip Astley, the great equestrian, was inspired by the -feats of Johnson and others at the Three Hats Tavern, Islington, -to give his exhibitions in an open field near the Waterloo Road. -The price of admission was sixpence. Astley started with only -one horse, given him by General Elliott, in whose regiment he -had served. A clown named Porter supplied the comic relief. In -1770 he moved to the foot of Westminster Bridge, where his famous -Amphitheatre took shape. He is said rarely to have given more -than five pounds for a horse, troubling “little for shape, make, -or colour; temper was the only consideration.” His circus was -repeatedly burnt down, but it became one of the recognised sights -of London. On September 12, 1783, Horace Walpole writes: “I could -find nothing at all to do, and so went to Astley’s, which indeed -was much beyond my expectation. I do not wonder any longer that -Darius was chosen king by the instructions he gave to his horse; -nor that Caligula made his a consul.” - -After Astley’s death in 1814, his manager, the great Ducrow, became -the head of the circus business. The Ducrow family monument is a -striking object in Kensal Green cemetery, where also is seen the -monument of the Cooke family, whose head, Thomas Cooke, owned a -circus in Astley’s time, and took it to Mauchline in 1784, where it -was visited by Burns. The writer of an interesting article on the -Cookes in the _Tatler_ of July 29, 1903, says: “The aristocrats of -the sawdust, they have been entertaining for at least 120 years, -and to-day wherever there is a circus there is a Cooke.” - -[426] This “dell” is still apparent in Salutation Court, in which -is Hatch Row. - -[427] William Curtis (1746-99) had this botanical garden in Lambeth -Marsh, and there collected some of the material for his _Flora -Londinensis_. Later, he opened his large establishment at Brompton. -In 1782, he rendered a curious service to the suburbs by writing -_A Short History of the Brown-Tail Moth_, to allay “the alarm -which had been excited in the country round the Metropolis by an -extraordinary abundance of the caterpillars of this moth, and which -was so great, that the parish officers … attended in form to see -them burnt by bushels at a time” (Nichol’s _Literary Anecdotes_). -Curtis was buried in Battersea parish church. - -[428] Richard Palmer Roupell, a wealthy lead-smelter in Gravel -Lane, Southwark, owned much property in Southwark, Lambeth, and -elsewhere. He lived at Aspen House, Brixton. There is a Roupell -Road at Streatham and a Roupell Street in Lambeth. The name -of Curtis, the botanist, deserves, but has not found, similar -perpetuation in the neighbourhood. - -[429] Strand Lane Stairs was the river outlet of Strand Lane, a -narrow street which ran down from the Strand east of Somerset -House. As Mr. Wheatley points out, it was originally the channel -of the rivulet which crossed the Strand under Strand Bridge. The -landing-place is now lost under the Embankment, but the upper -portion of the lane still exists, and leads to the famous Roman -Bath, which every Londoner intends to, but does not, visit. - -[430] This restoration of the Chapel (the Banqueting House) was -carried out by Sir John Soane, 1829-30. - -[431] Henry Smedley, of Westminster, gave up the profession of the -law for the study of the arts. He died in his house in the Broad -Sanctuary, March 14, 1832. - -[432] Richard Parkes Bonnington had not been dead a year when this -talk was proceeding. His success had outrun his strength, and a -most promising career was closed by consumption, September 23, -1828. He lies in St. James’s Church in Pentonville. Bonnington’s -work is much appreciated in France. In the Louvre, where he studied -as a boy, there are one or two fine examples of his work. The -National Gallery has his “Venice: the Pillars of Piazzetta.” That -the British Museum Print-Room has a fine collection of his sketches -is largely due to the fact that he died during a visit to England, -and that his drawings went to Christie’s, where they fetched £1200. - -[433] This elaborate and beautiful work stands in the centre -of St. Andrew’s Chapel. Beneath a canopy supported on columns -lie the effigies of Lord and Lady Norris, and round them kneel -their six soldier sons, four of whom died on the field. In his -_Antient Topography_ Smith tells how Roubiliac admired this -stately cenotaph. “When my father had occasion to go to his master -(Roubiliac) during the time he was putting up Sir Peter Warren’s -monument in the Abbey, he was generally found standing by the -monument of Norris, or by that of Vere. On one of these attendances -he was observed with his arms folded before the north-west corner -figure of one of the six knights (the sons) who support the -cenotaph of Lord Norris, and appeared as if rivetted to the spot. -My father, who had thrice delivered his message, without being once -noticed, was at last smartly pinched on the elbow by Roubiliac, who -at the same time said, but in a soft and smothered tone of voice, -‘Hush! Hush! He’ll _speak_ presently.’” - -[434] William Esdaile (1758-1837) was a partner in the banking -house of Esdaile, Hammet, & Co., 21 Lombard Street. He took up -print-collecting and bought lavishly. Falling into ill health, he -spent the last five years of his life in poring over his prints, -and died in his Clapham house, October 2, 1837. The disposal of his -remarkable collection at Christie’s occupied sixteen days, and was -attended by buyers from the Continent. - -[435] The Clapham visited by Smith was that of Lord Macaulay’s -young manhood and of Ruskin’s boyhood, and was rural and open -beyond the belief of the present generation. In his recently -published _Life and Letters of Sir George Grove_, Mr. Charles L. -Graves says: “All the way from Wandsworth Road to Clapham Junction -the neighbourhood was a favourite resort for solid City people, the -wealthiest living on Clapham Common. But Clapham was thoroughly -rural and not even semi-suburban in the ‘twenties’ and ‘thirties.’ -Mr. Edmund Grove distinctly recollects seeing a man in the stocks -at Clapham, then a most picturesque village with a watch-house for -the ‘Charlies,’ and old inns with timbered fronts and spacious -courtyards.” - -[436] Charles Alexandre de Calonne succeeded Necker as -comptroller-general of finance in 1783. He was unable to reduce -French finance to order, and in 1787 found it advisable to retire -to England. In Sir Nathaniel Wraxhall’s _Memoirs_ I find the -following:-- - -“The tester of Calonne’s bed having fallen upon him during the -night, together with a portion of the ceiling of the room, he -narrowly escaped suffocation. All Paris, when the fact became -known, exclaimed, ‘Juste ciel!’ The tester of a bed is denominated -in French ‘le ciel du lit.’… With him may be said to have commenced -the emigration (to England) which soon became so general.” - -[437] Henry Peter Standly, of St. Neot’s, an active magistrate, -possessed an unrivalled collection of Hogarth’s prints and -drawings, which was dispersed at Christie’s in 1845. He purchased -drawings of landscapes from Smith. - -[438] See note, p. 4. - -[439] John Inigo Richards, R.A., was one of the original members -of the Royal Academy, and its secretary from 1788. He was for many -years principal scene-painter at Covent Garden. He died in his -Academy apartments, Dec. 18, 1810. - -[440] Edwards’s _Anecdotes of Painters_.--S. - -[441] Probably Dr. Robert Richardson, M.D., who had been travelling -physician to Lord Mountjoy. He died in Gordon Street, Bloomsbury, -November 5, 1847. - -[442] Enthusiasm for art and carelessness of money went to the -forming of Sir Thomas Lawrence’s unrivalled collection. Cunningham -says: “Of every eminent artist he had such specimens as no other -person possessed; not huddled into heaps, or scattered like the -leaves of the Sibyl, but arranged in fine large portfolios properly -labelled and enshrined.” - -[443] Smith could not have seen the whole of Sir Peter Lely’s -collection of prints and drawings. These were sold by auction in -1687, the sale lasting more than a month.--Thomas Hudson (1701-79) -painted the portraits of members of the Dilettanti Society, and, -being wealthy, collected many fine prints and drawings.--Archibald -Campbell, third Duke, formed a very fine library. - -[444] This name is given as Serre in the three old editions of the -_Rainy Day_--a very misleading erratum. William Score was born in -Devonshire about 1778. He became a pupil of Joshua Reynolds, and -regularly exhibited portraits at the Royal Academy. - -[445] “Sir Joshua Reynolds commenced two of his finest historical -pictures without settling in what way the compositions were to be -completed, or, indeed, without even thinking of their subjects. -The head of Count Ugolino at Knowle, and the Infant Christ in -Macklin’s picture, were painted on the canvases long before the -artist considered subjects or combinations” (S.).--This historical -painting, says Northcote, existed simply as a head of the Count -until Burke and Goldsmith praised it, whereupon Sir Joshua had his -canvas enlarged in order that he might add the other figures. When -finished, the picture was bought by the Duke of Dorset for 400 -guineas. It is not Reynolds at his best, and Charles Lamb, who saw -it at the Reynolds exhibition held in 1813 in Pall Mall, criticised -it rather severely. - -[446] Charles Howard, Earl of Nottingham, Lord High Admiral at -the defeat of the Armada, best known to history as Lord Howard -of Effingham. The portrait Smith missed was painted by Frederigo -Zucchero, whose (attributed) portraits of Queen Elizabeth, -Leicester, Raleigh, and James I. are in the National Portrait -Gallery. His Howard is now in the Painted Hall at Greenwich. The -portraits of the Admirals were presented to Greenwich Hospital -by George IV. (not William IV.) in 1823. William IV. added five -naval pictures in 1835. As will be seen on a later page, Smith’s -curiosity about the hanging of these pictures led him to visit -Greenwich next day. - -[447] Francis Legat, a Scotch engraver, came to London about 1780, -and lived at 22 Charles Street, Westminster. Here he engraved “Mary -Queen of Scots resigning her Crown” after Hamilton in 1786, and -later Northcote’s painting. He died in 1809. - -[448] Chantrey’s group, “The Sleeping Children,” in Lichfield -Cathedral. - -[449] This statue is now in the British Museum. - -[450] The Chelsea porcelain manufacture was founded about 1745, -and was at the height of its fame from 1750 to 1764 under Mr. -Sprimont. The works finally closed in 1784. The Chelsea potters -went forthwith to Derby, where they founded the Chelsea-Derby -pottery. Remains of the old Chelsea furnaces, in which Dr. Johnson -was allowed to test his compositions, are still to be seen in the -cellars of the Prince of Wales Tavern, at the corner of Justice -Walk and Lawrence Street, Chelsea. - -[451] The case of Chelsea china in the British Museum contains -similar figures of the Earl of Chatham, George III., a Thames -waterman wearing Doggett’s Coat and Badge, etc. - -[452] Johan Zoffany, R.A., born at Frankfort about 1735, painted -portraits of Garrick, one of the best representing the actor as -Abel Drugger. - -[453] Thomas Davies, the actor and bookseller, more famous as the -introducer to Dr. Johnson of Boswell. Johnson wrote the first -sentence of his _Memoirs of David Garrick_. - -[454] These pictures were the “Canvass,” the “Poll,” the -“Chairing,” and the “Election Feast.” They are said to have been -painted by Hogarth for about forty-five guineas apiece. At the sale -of Garrick’s pictures at Christie’s in June 1823 they were bought -by Sir John Soane, and are in the Soane Museum. - -[455] In 1829 the surprising period of seventy-three years had -elapsed since Garrick became the tenant of his famous villa. He had -enlarged and improved the house, planted many trees in the grounds, -and erected on his lawn a “Grecian Temple” to receive the statue of -Shakespeare by Roubiliac which now stands in the entrance hall of -the British Museum. Here also stood his famous Shakespeare chair, -designed by Hogarth: it is now in the possession of the Baroness -Burdett-Coutts. At Hampton Garrick received his friends with great -hospitality, and occasionally gave _fêtes champêtres_ with the -accompaniments of fireworks and illuminations. Horace Walpole, -finding himself a fellow-visitor with the Duke of Grafton, Lord and -Lady Rochford, the Spanish Minister, and other great people, wrote -to Bentley: “This is being _sur un assez bon ton_ for a player.” -Garrick gave treats to the children of Hampton in his grounds. -After his death, Hampton House and the house in Adelphi Terrace -were occupied for forty-three years by Mrs. Garrick. She preserved -the Hampton furniture exactly as her husband left it. - -[456] The mystery of Mrs. Garrick’s origin has never been cleared -up. Some authorities say that she was the daughter of a respectable -Vienna citizen named John Veigel. According to the story told -by Charles Lee Lewis (see his _Memoirs_, 1805), and denied by -Mrs. Garrick, she was the fruit of a liaison which the Earl of -Burlington formed with a young lady of family on the Continent. -At the time of her birth the Earl was back in England, whence he -remitted funds for his daughter’s support. The money is said to -have been dishonestly retained by the person in whose charge she -was placed, and the child herself to have been forced to earn a -living as a dancer. The Earl, hearing of this, arranged that she -should come to England and dance for a higher salary. Later he -took her into his house as companion and teacher to his legitimate -daughter. Then Garrick appeared on the scene, and the benevolent -Earl said to him: “Do you think you could satisfactorily receive -her from my hands with a portion of ten thousand pounds?--and here -let me inform you that she is my daughter.” - -The above story is told by Lee Lewis on the authority of “an aged -domestic who lived at the time it happened at Burlington House, -Piccadilly.” Apparently the same gossiping lady is referred to in -the following note in Mr. Percy Fitzgerald’s _Life of Garrick_: “A -curious little story comes to me, told originally by a housekeeper -in the Burlington family, and, though based on such a loose -foundation, may be worth repeating. On this authority, the story -ran that Lord Burlington, coming to see her, was struck by a -picture, and, on inquiry, found she was actually the daughter of a -lady whom he had known abroad. The result was the discovery that -the Violette was actually his daughter. The authority of the old -housekeeper seems below the dignity of biography, but her testimony -comes to us very circumstantially.” - -The story of Violette’s relationship to the Earl of Burlington -was supported by the covert kindness which she received from that -nobleman. But it has to be remembered that she was the “rage” of -the whole town, “the finest and most admired dancer in the world,” -according to Walpole, and that Lady Burlington, not less than her -lord, was so fond of her, that she would accompany her to the -theatre, and wait in the wings with a pelisse to throw over her -when she came off the stage. Mr. Fitzgerald’s conclusion on the -whole matter is that “her father was someone of rank at Vienna, -possibly one of the Starenberg family, from whom it is said she -brought letters of introduction to England.” - -[457] Lancelot Brown (1715-83) is generally considered the founder -of modern “natural” as distinct from “formal” landscape-gardening. -He laid out Kew, the grounds of Blenheim, and parts of St. James’s -Park and Kensington Gardens. His conversational abilities, extolled -by Hannah More, contributed to his fame. John Taylor relates that -he once assisted the gouty Lord Chatham into his carriage. “Now, -sir, go and adorn your country,” said the grateful statesman. To -which Brown aptly replied: “Go you, my lord, and save it.” - -[458] Pain’s Hill, at Cobham, Surrey, was considered a triumph of -landscape gardening by Horace Walpole and other connoisseurs. Its -owner, the Hon. Charles Hamilton, not content with artificial ruins -and temples disposed after the pictures of Poussin and Claude, -added a hermitage and engaged a hermit at £700 a year. But as the -hermit had all the hardship, and Hamilton all the sentiment, the -arrangement broke down. - -[459] Mr. Carr’s mention of Johnson’s frequent visits recalls the -answer he made to Garrick when asked how he liked the spot: “Ah, -David! it is the leaving of such places that makes a death-bed -terrible.” Some interesting matter relating to the Garricks at -Hampton will be found in Mr. Henry Ripley’s _History and Topography -of Hampton-on-Thames_. The existence of the villa has recently been -threatened by the westward extension of London’s electric tramways, -but, happily, the danger of its removal has been averted. - -[460] George Garrard, A.R.A. (1760-1826), animal painter and -sculptor, led a successful movement to obtain copyright protection -for works of plastic art. He died at Queen’s Buildings, Brompton. - -[461] Michael Dahl (1656-1743) was born in Stockholm. He settled in -London, and became the rival of Kneller. “If he excelled, it was -only in the mediocrity by which he was surrounded” (Redgrave). He -was buried in St. James’s Church, Piccadilly. - -[462] “I have not heard that song better performed since Mr. -Incledon sung it. He was a great singer, sir, and I may say, in -the words of our immortal Shakespeare, that, take him for all -in all, we shall not look upon his like again.” In these words -Hoskins of the _Cave of Harmony_ complimented Colonel Newcome on -his rendering of “Wapping Old Stairs.” Incledon began life in the -navy, where he sang himself into the good graces of his Admiral. -Coming to London in 1783, he became a public singer; but it was not -until 1790 that his success was established by his performance in -_The Poor Soldier_ at Covent Garden. In his later years he relied -mainly on the provinces, in which he travelled under the style of -“The Wandering Melodist.” Though exquisite in song he was clumsy -in appearance. Leslie, the painter, describes him as having “the -face and figure of a low sailor,” yet with these “the most manly -and at the same time the most agreeable voice I ever heard.” -Another good authority records that his voice “was of extraordinary -power, both in the natural and the falsetto. The former, from A to -G, a compass of about fourteen notes, was full and open, neither -partaking of the reed nor the string, and sent forth without the -smallest artifice; and such was its ductility, that when he sang -_pianissimo_, it retained its original ductility. His falsetto, -which he could use from D to E or F, or about ten notes, was rich, -sweet, and brilliant.” - -[463] Funny-movers attended to the boats. A funny was a narrow, -clinker-built pleasure boat for a pair of sculls. “A most -melancholy accident happened one evening this week in the river off -Fulham. A young couple, on the point of marriage, took a sail in a -funny, which unfortunately upset, and the two lovers were drowned” -(_Annual Register_, 1808). - -[464] The Battersea market-gardeners were famous. A rhyme of 1802 -says-- - - “Gardeners in shoals from Battersea shall run, - To raise their kindlier hot-beds in the sun.” - -The first asparagus raised in England is said to have come from -Battersea; and such was the extent of the market-gardens, that -large numbers of Welshwomen tramped thither every spring for -employment in the summer months. - -[465] Not Shakespeare. - -[466] In _A Sentimental Journey_. See “The Passport,” “The -Captive,” and “The Starling.” - -[467] “Old Granby” was doubtless intended as a jesting compliment -to the pensioner, in allusion to the bluff Lord Manners, Marquess -of Granby, renowned for his toughness and gallantry. - -[468] Hugh Hewson died in 1809, and it appears from a newspaper -of that year, quoted by Robert Chambers (_Favourite Authors_: -Smollett), that he was proud of being the prototype of Strap. “His -shop was hung round with Latin quotations, and he would frequently -point out to his acquaintance the several scenes in _Roderick -Random_ pertaining to himself, which had their foundation, not -in the Doctor’s inventive fancy, but in truth and reality. The -Doctor’s meeting him at a barber’s shop at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, -and the subsequent mistake at the inn; their arrival together in -London, and the assistance they experienced from Strap’s friend, -were all of that description.” - -But there are four Straps in the field. Faulkner, in his _Chelsea_, -finds the “real” Strap in one William Lewis, a book-binder, who -died in 1785. Smollett, he says, induced Lewis to set up business -in Chelsea, and procured him customers. “I resided seven years in -the same house with his widow, and had frequent opportunities of -hearing a confirmation of the anecdotes of her husband, as related -by the celebrated novelist.” - -Another claimant was one Duncan Niven, a Glasgow wig-maker, -referred to in the _Gentleman’s Magazine_ as “the person, it -is said, from whom Dr. Smollett took his character of Strap in -_Roderick Random_.” - -Lastly, one Hutchinson, a Dunbar barber, had some pretensions to be -Strap. - -[469] Of these taverns the most famous are the Old Swans at London -Bridge and Chelsea. The former stood for centuries beside Swan -Stairs (now represented by the Old Swan Pier), and was well known -to all passengers on the river who elected to avoid the dangerous -“shooting” of London Bridge. On July 30, 1763, Dr. Johnson and -Boswell landed for this reason at the Old Swan on their way down to -Greenwich, re-embarking at Billingsgate. - -The name of the Old Swan of Chelsea, an inn known to Pepys, is -perpetuated in Old Swan House, a modern residence built from the -designs of Mr. Norman Shaw. The “New Swan,” which, however, was -really a second “Old Swan,” has also disappeared, but, according -to Mr. R. Blunt’s excellent _Historical Handbook to Chelsea_, its -quaint garden, entered by steps from the river, under the long -signboard, is within the memory of many residents. - -[470] “The bells of this church were recast by Ruddle, and tuned -by Mr. Harrison, the inventor of the Timekeeper; they are esteemed -equal to any peal of bells in this Kingdom, and have nearly the -same sound as those of Magdalen College, Oxford” (Faulkner: -_Historical Account of Fulham_, 1813). - -[471] In _Magna Britannia_ it is not only stated that this street -was originally called Hartshorn Lane, but that Ben Jonson once -lived in it (S.). The belief that Ben Jonson lived here as a boy -rests on the statement of Fuller, who, in his _Worthies_, says: -“Though I cannot with all my industrious inquiry find him in his -cradle, I can fetch him from his long coats. When a little child -he lived in Hartshorn Lane, near Charing Cross, where his mother -married a bricklayer for her second husband.” - -[472] The circumstances of this crime have remained an unsolved -mystery. Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey was found in a ditch near -Primrose Hill on the evening of October 17, five days after his -disappearance from his house in Green Lane, Strand, and five weeks -after hearing Titus Oates swear to the existence of a Popish plot. -Smith’s statement that he was murdered in Somerset House rests on -the utterly corrupt and contradictory testimony of Miles Prance, -the Roman Catholic silversmith. His evidence, however, sent three -men to the gallows, who protested their innocence to the last. -The whole subject is re-examined by Mr. Andrew Lang in _Longman’s -Magazine_ of August 1903. - -Four different medals were struck to commemorate and characterise -the murder. In one of these Godfrey is represented walking with a -sword through his body, while on the reverse St. Denis is shown -carrying his head in his hand, with the inscription-- - - “Godfrey walks uphill after he is dead; - Dennis walks downhill carrying his head.” - -The design of another medal illustrates Prance’s statement that -Godfrey’s body was first moved from Somerset House in a sedan -chair, and then on a horse to Primrose Hill. - -The burial of the murdered Justice in St. Martin’s Church was -attended by more than a thousand people of distinction, and his -portrait was placed in the vestry-room, where it hangs to this day. - -[473] William Lloyd (1627-1717), successively Bishop of St. -Asaph, Lichfield-and-Coventry, and Worcester, was Vicar of St. -Martin’s-in-the-Fields 1677-80. - -[474] “The two grand Ingrossers of Coles: viz. The Woodmonger, and -the Chandler. In a dialogue, expressing their unjust and cruell -raising the price of Coales, when, and how they please, to the -generall oppression of the Poore. Penn’d on Purpose to lay open -their subtile practices, and for the reliefe of many thousands of -poore people, in, and about the Cities of London, and Westminster. -By a Well-willer to the prosperity of this famous Common-wealth. -London, Printed for John Harrison at the Holy-Lamb at the East end -of S. Pauls, 1653.” - -[475] It has been demonstrated by Mr. Sidney Young in his learned -work, _The Annals of the Barber Surgeons_ (1890), that this -painting cannot represent the granting of the Charter by Henry -VIII. This event occurred in 1512, when the King was but twenty-one -years of age; Holbein makes him a man of fifty. Mr. Young believes -Holbein’s subject to be the Union of the Barbers Company with the -Guild of Surgeons, accomplished by Act of Parliament in 1540. - -[476] Of this picture, which narrowly escaped the Fire of London, -Pepys thus speaks in his Memoirs:--August 28, 1688. “And at noon -comes by appointment Harris to dine with me: and after dinner he -and I to Chyrurgeons’-hall, where they are building it new,--very -fine; and there to see their theatre, which stood all the fire, and -(which was our business) their great picture of Holbein’s, thinking -to have bought it, by the help of Mr. Pierce, for a little money: I -did think to give £200 for it, it being said to be worth £1000; but -it is so spoiled that I have no mind to it, and is not a pleasant, -though a good picture.”--S. - -[477] This painting represents Edward VI. presenting the Royal -Charter of Endowment to the Lord Mayor in 1552; it cannot, -therefore, be by Holbein, who died in 1543. Walpole attributes the -painting to Holbein, but says the picture was not completed by him. -He states that Holbein introduced his own head into one corner. -Wornum thinks that there is not a trace of this master’s hand in -the picture. - -[478] Her portrait has not been identified with certainty. An old -Windsor catalogue, however, contains her name. - -[479] Richard Dalton was keeper of pictures and antiquary to George -III., and one of the artists who presented to George III. the -petition for the foundation of the Royal Academy. In 1774, Dalton -published about ten etchings from Holbein’s drawings. Perhaps his -greatest service to British art was his bringing Bartolozzi to -England. - -[480] John Chamberlaine (1745-1812), antiquary, succeeded Dalton -in 1791, and published “_Imitations of Original Drawings_, by -Hans Holbein, in the Collection of His Majesty, for the Portraits -of Illustrious Persons at the Court of Henry VIII.” He died at -Paddington Green. - -[481] Conrad Martin Metz (1755-1827) studied engraving in London -under Bartolozzi; he engraved and imitated many drawings by the old -masters. - -[482] Edmund Lodge (1756-1839), Clarenceux Herald in 1838. His -book, known briefly as _Lodge’s Portraits_, was originally issued -in forty folio parts. - -[483] Of Sandby’s “View of Westminster from the garden of old -Somerset House” there is an engraving by Rawle in Smith’s -_Westminster Antiquities_. - -[484] Charles Long, Baron Farnborough (1761-1838), was Secretary -of State for Ireland, and held other important posts. Thomas Moore -calls him “the most determined placeman in England” (Memoirs, iv. -28). His advice was sought on the decoration of the royal palaces -and on London street improvements. He gave many fine pictures to -the National Gallery. - -[485] These views may still be seen in Crowle’s “Pennant,” in the -Print Room. The first represents London from Somerset House about -1795, and the second Somerset House from the east showing the -Lambeth site of Westminster Bridge, etc. In addition, there are in -the Crace collection two London views by Thomas Sandby, and seven -by Paul. See note on Crowle, p. 86. - -[486] In Smith’s day the river washed the base of the Water Gate, -covering at high tide the gardens in which the London County -Council’s band now plays in summer in London now possesses an -approximation to an out-of-door Parisian café. Samuel Scott’s “View -of Westminster from the Thames,” National Gallery, Room xix., shows -the old state of things. - -[487] Etty removed to Buckingham Street in the summer of 1824, from -Stangate Walk, Lambeth. At first he took the “lower floor,” but, -says Gilchrist, “the top floor was the watch-tower for which our -artist sighed,” and he soon obtained it. Here, “having above him,” -as he said, “none but the Angels, and the Catholics who had gone -before him,” he lived for twenty-three years, finding an excellent -housekeeper in his niece. The house stands unaltered, presenting -five storeys to the river just behind the Water Gate. Etty’s last -years (he died in 1849) were given to his birth-place, York, where -his tomb is an object of interest in the grounds of St. Mary’s -Abbey. - -[488] Clarkson Stanfield (1793-1867), the marine and landscape -painter, was scene-painter at three London theatres, including -Drury Lane. “Incomparably the noblest master of cloud-form of all -our artists,” was Ruskin’s praise of this artist; “the soul of -frankness, generosity, and simplicity,” was Dickens’s praise of the -man. - -[489] Roubiliac’s statue of Newton, made for Trinity College, was -pronounced by Chantrey “the noblest, I think, of all our English -statues.” Similarly Roubiliac’s figure of Eloquence was considered -by Canova “one of the noblest statues he had seen in England”: it -occurs in the monument to John, Duke of Argyll and Greenwich, in -Poets’ Corner. - -John Bacon, R.A. (1740-99), established his reputation by his -figure of Mars, which won him the good word of West, the patronage -of the Archbishop of York, and his election as A.R.A. See note on -p. 33. - -John Charles Felix Rossi, R.A. (1762-1839), was born at Nottingham. -He executed statues of Lord Cornwallis, Lord Heathfield, and -others in St. Paul’s Cathedral, and decorated Buckingham Palace. -His “Celadon and Amelia” was executed in Rome. His is the colossal -figure of Britannia in Liverpool Exchange. He was buried in St. -James’s churchyard, Hampstead Road. - -Flaxman’s “Michael vanquishing Satan” was commissioned by Lord -Egremont, and is now at Petworth. - -Of busts, alone, Nollekens executed at least two hundred. - -Chantrey’s genius was fully acknowledged by Nollekens, who would -say when asked to model a bust: “Go to Chantrey; he’s the man for -a bust! he’ll make a good bust for you! I always recommend him” -(Smith: _Nollekens_). - -Londoners see Sir Richard Westmacott’s statues every day without -knowing it. His is the Achilles statue to Wellington in Hyde Park, -the Duke of York on the York Column, and the statue of Fox in -Bloomsbury Square. His statues in St. Paul’s and the Abbey are -numerous; the Abbey has his beautiful monument to Mrs. Warren, a -mother and child. - -Edward Hodges Baily, R.A. (1788-1867), studied under Flaxman. -The bas-relief on the Marble Arch is his, several statues in St. -Paul’s, and the figure of Nelson in Trafalgar Square. - -[490] William Young Ottley (1771-1836), author of _The Origin and -Early History of Engraving_. His knowledge of painting is described -as “astonishing” by Samuel Rogers. On Smith’s death Ottley became -Keeper of the Prints. - -[491] Maso Finiguerra, a skilful Florentine goldsmith, engraved -in 1452 a silver plate to be used as a pax in the church of San -Giovanni, and in order to judge of the effect of his design, -the lines of which he intended to fill with enamel, he poured -some liquid sulphur upon the plate. He then succeeded in taking -impressions of the design on paper. These impressions were once -thought to be the earliest known engravings. It is now proved that -they were not, and that Finiguerra may have had direct instruction -from an early German engraver. - -[492] The site of Mr. Atkinson’s villa and grounds is indicated by -Grove End Road, west of Lord’s Cricket Ground. - -[493] Smith misquotes Ramsay, who wrote-- - - “How halesome ’tis to snuff the cawler air, - And all the sweets it bears, when void of care.” - -_Gentle Shepherd_, 1st ed., Act i. Sc. i. 5, 6. - -[494] William West, actor and composer, lived to a great age, and -was known as the “Father of the Stage.” Some of his songs, such as -“When Love was fresh from her Cradle Bed,” were popular. He died in -1888. - -[495] The Rev. Thomas Hartwell Horne, Rector of St. Edmund the -King and St. Nicholas Acon, was a valuable servant of the British -Museum, to which he came as cataloguer in 1824. He died at his -house in Bloomsbury Square, January 27, 1862. Watt was Robert Watt, -the bibliographer, compiler of _Bibliotheca Britannica_, etc.; he -died in 1819. - -[496] The Post Angel, of which the British Museum has a copy, -was one of the enterprises of John Dunton. His rigmarole preface -sets forth that “by Post-Angels I mean all the invisible Host of -the Middle Region, that are employed about us either as Friends -or Enemies”; his design is “to shew how we should enquire after -News, not as Athenians but as Christians, or (in other words) a -Divine Employment of every Remarkable Occurrence.” Features of this -periodical were “The Lives and Deaths of the most Eminent Persons -that Died in that Month,” and recurrent pious reflections under the -head of “The Spiritual Observator.” - -[497] John Taylor, who was Smith’s life-long friend and the most -genial and patriarchal of artists, died at his house in Cirencester -Place, November 21, 1838, in his ninety-ninth year. Smith mentions -under the year 1779, that he had been the pupil of Frank Hayman, -after which he took up the drawing of portraits in pencil, for -which he received seven-and-sixpence to a guinea each. It is said -that, in Oxford alone, in six or eight years, Taylor drew, or -painted, more than three thousand heads. Finding this employment -poorly paid, he took the advice of his fellow-artist “Jack” Gresse -and set up as drawing-master, investing his savings in annuities -which were to expire in 1840. He died just in time to escape want. -See the early reference to Taylor, p. 80. - -[498] This caricature was brought out on September 7, 1762, and -was entitled “The Bruiser, C. Churchill (once the Reverend!) -in the Character of a Russian Hercules, regaling himself after -having kill’d the Monster CARICATURA that so sorely galled his -virtuous friend, the Heaven-born Wilkes.” Mr. Austin Dobson says: -“Churchill, who had been ordained a priest and abandoned that -calling, appears as a bear, grasping a club, which is inscribed -‘Lye 1, Lye 2,’ etc., and regaling himself with a quart pot of -‘British Burgundy.’” - -[499] Hayman died in 1776, so that this statement has a bearing -on the vexed question of the date of the “Blue Boy,” which some -writers put as late as 1779. Sir Walter Armstrong is convinced -that 1770 is the correct date. If so, Gainsborough could not have -painted the picture, as he is said to have done, to confute a -passage in Sir Joshua Reynolds’s eighth Discourse, which was not -delivered until December 1778. The Blue Boy was Master Jonathan -Buttall, the ironmonger’s son. The subject, history, and ownership -of this famous picture have been the subjects of a controversy -second only, in lengthy inconclusiveness, to that on the Letters of -Junius. In all probability the original picture is the one in the -possession of the Duke of Westminster. - -[500] When advanced in life, and unfitted for sprightly parts, -Mrs. Abington determined to appear as Scrub, the man-of-all-work -to Lady Bountiful in Farquhar’s comedy, _The Beaux’ Stratagem_. -“I was present,” says John Taylor, in his _Records of My Life_, -“and remember nothing in her performance that might not have been -expected from an actor of much inferior abilities. As a proof, too, -that, like many of her profession, she thought herself capable of -characters not within the scope of her powers, I once saw her play -Ophelia to Mr. Garrick’s Hamlet; and, to use a simile of my old -friend Dr. Monsey, she appeared _like a mackerel on a gravel walk_.” - -[501] Hitherto, in the RAINY DAY, _William_ Chambers has appeared, -another misleading slip. Sir Robert was the Indian judge, and is -referred to by Johnson in a letter to Boswell, dated March 5, 1774: -“Chambers is married, or almost married, to Miss Wilton, a girl -of sixteen, exquisitely beautiful, whom he has, with his lawyer’s -tongue, persuaded to take her chance with him in the East.” Miss -Wilton was the daughter of Joseph Wilton, R.A., the sculptor. - -[502] Mr. Taylor’s father was not only highly respected, but for -many years held a principal situation in the Custom House (S.). - -[503] They were cleaned and “restored” by John Francis Rigaud, R.A. - -[504] Doubtless the letter from Mrs. Abington to Mrs. Jordan, -printed under the year 1815. - -[505] John Bannister (Honest Jack) left the stage on the night of -June 1, 1815, when he played in Kenney’s comedy _The World_, and -_The Children in the Wood_. “Your whole conscience stirred with -Bannister’s performance of Walter in the _Children in the Wood_,” -says Lamb; and Haydon, who in 1826 met Bannister by accident in -Chenies Street, Bedford Square, writes: “He held out his hand just -as he used to do on the stage, with the same frank native truth. -As he spoke, the tones of his favourite ‘Walter’ pierced my heart. -It was extraordinary, the effect. ‘Bannister,’ said I, ‘your voice -recalls my early days.’--‘Ah,’ said he, ‘I had some touches, had I -not?’” - -[506] John Pritt Harley (1786-1858) distinguished himself as -singer and actor. He appeared at Drury Lane in 1815, the year of -Bannister’s retirement, and succeeded to many of that comedian’s -parts. He was known as Fat Jack--from his thinness. “I have an -exposition of sleep upon me,” were his last words, spoken on the -stage of the Princess’s Theatre on August 20, 1858. He had hardly -made his exit when he was seized with paralysis, and he died at -14 Upper Gower Street two days later. Harley was an excellent -Shakespearean clown, and an ardent collector of walking-sticks. - -[507] Porridge Island and another rookery called The Bermudas -disappeared about 1829. These were cant names. - - - - -GENERAL INDEX - - - Academy, Royal, its origin and foundation members, 12. - - Ackworth School, 185. - - Adelphi Terrace, No. 5, 80, 239-240. - - “Ad Libitum” Society, 213. - - Admirals’ portraits at Greenwich, 282. - - Aeronaut, an early English, 129. - - Amphitheatre, Broughton’s, 33. - - Anodyne necklaces, 8. - - Auctioneers, famous London, 108-110. - - - Balloon ascent from Vauxhall, 260. - - Baltimore House, 75. - - Bankside, a house on, 78. - - Banqueting House, restoration of Rubens’s ceiling, 319-320. - - Barber-Surgeons’ Hall, 301. - - Battersea market gardeners, 293. - - Beaufort Buildings, festive nights in, 120. - - Bedroom, Dr. John Gardner’s last best, 89. - - Beech-tree at Windsor demolished, 131. - - Beech-tree, drawn by J. T. Smith, 129. - - Beefsteaks, Sublime Society of, 213-214. - - Beggars, famous London, 87, 88, 89, 223. - - Belgrave House, 259. - - Bells, Thames-side church, 298-299. - - Bermondsey Spa, 150-152. - - Bird-fanciers, their London quarters, 69. - - Bistre from a burnt tree, 131. - - Black Boy Alley, 180. - - Bloomsbury Square, Lady Ellenborough in, 100. - - Blotting, the art of, 132. - - Blue Boy, Gainsborough’s, 317. - - Bolsover Street, painters in, 75. - - Bookseller, a Strand, 109. - - Bow, cane-heads made at, 134. - - Brentford, election at, 15. - - Bridewell, picture by Holbein in, 302. - - Brown tree, Sir George Beaumont’s craze for a, 131. - - Buckingham Street, Etty’s rooms in, 305. - - ---- Stanfield, R.A., in, 306. - - “Budget,” John Bannister’s, 206-207. - - Bun House at Chelsea, 147. - - Busby wig, 251. - - - Cake, the Baddeley, 64. - - Capper’s Farm, Great Russell Street, 30. - - Caterpillars, plague of, 272. - - Centenarians, 25. - - “Chapeau de Paille” of Rubens, 243-245. - - Chapter Coffee House, 184. - - Charles II. eats a pickled egg, 70. - - Cheesecakes, etc., at Marylebone Gardens, 57. - - Chelsea Hospital, 295. - - Chelsea porcelain, 284. - - Cherokee Kings at Marylebone, 57. - - “Chloe,” Prior’s, 60. - - Chunee, the elephant, 107. - - Circus, Astley’s, 270-271. - - “Cit’s Country Box,” 17. - - City of London _v._ Copper Holmes, 269. - - Clapham, old, 275. - - Coals, price of, 300. - - “Cocker, according to,” 113. - - Cock-fighting yesterday and to-day, 70. - - Cockney Ladle, 48, 49. - - Cockpits in London, 69-70. - - Coffee used to stain prints, 256. - - Collectors described, 110-122. - - Colvill Court, 32. - - Combing of wigs, 255. - - Conjurer, Breslaw the, 68. - - Connoisseurs at the “Feathers,” etc., 104-106. - - Cooper’s Hill, 99. - - Covent Garden, its hackney chairs, 3. - - ---- artists residing there, 5. - - ---- painting of, by Inigo Jones, 209. - - Crab-tree Fields, 33. - - Cradles, 9. - - Cricket in White Conduit Fields, 192-193. - - Cross Readings, Caleb Whitefoord’s, 113. - - “Cumberland Cock” hat, 236. - - Cup carved from Shakespeare’s mulberry, 250. - - Cuyp, adventure of a, 114. - - - Dards’ Exhibition, 232. - - Denmark Street, St. Giles’s, 27. - - Devonshire Mews, 43. - - Dew, Londoners bathing their faces in, 38. - - Dickens anticipated, 84. - - Dog, Alcibiades’, 233. - - Dog, a London beggar’s, 88, 89. - - Dog-doctor, famous London, 90. - - Doggett’s Coat and Badge, 225-227. - - Dogs, teeth of dead, 91. - - Door-knockers in Fetter Lane, 124-125. - - Draughts player, a famous, 31. - - Drownings in Portman Square, 49. - - Drury Lane Theatre, mismanagement of, 36. - - Dublin, Mrs. Pope and her husband at, 164-166. - - Du Val’s Lane, 193. - - Dyot Street, 87. - - - Edmonton, exclusiveness of, 134. - - ---- rambles near, 134. - - ---- George Morland at, 157. - - Elephant at Exeter Change, 107. - - Elms near Fitzroy Square, 47. - - Elocution, Dr. Trusler’s short cut to, 55. - - Engraving, Smith’s views on, 307. - - Epitaph on Sturges, a draughts-player, 31. - - Epitaph, a remarkable Shoreditch, 89. - - Epping butter, 56, 181. - - Etchings by Baillie, 115. - - Eternity, Fuseli’s image of, 205. - - Execution of Governor Wall, 179-180. - - Exeter Change elephant, 106-108. - - Eye, power of the human, 146-147. - - - Fall of lace, worn by ladies, 75. - - Fans, carried out of doors, 75. - - Fantoccino, 67. - - Farthing Pie House, 24, 47. - - Feathers Tavern in Leicester Fields, 104. - - Feathers Tavern at Waterloo Bridge, 53. - - Fetter Lane, Dolphin door knocker in, 125. - - Field of the Forty Footsteps, 36, 37. - - Finch’s Grotto, 7. - - Fitzroy Square, 47. - - Forgery by W. Wynn Ryland, 198. - - “French Gardens,” 50. - - Funeral, Garrick’s extravagant, 81. - - ---- Henderson’s skit on, 81. - - Funny, a Thames pleasure boat, 293. - - - Garlands, carried by milkmaids, 20. - - Garrat elections, 127. - - Garrick’s villa at Hampton, 283-290. - - George IV., his rocker cradle, 9. - - Gerrard Street, Edmund Burke in, 128. - - Go-carts, 8. - - Goloshes, 75, 79. - - Goodge Street, 32. - - Goose, at Greenwich, 6. - - Gooseberry Fair, 35. - - Grangerised “Pennant,” 86. - - Great Queen Street, No. 55-56, 117. - - Green Man Tavern, 47. - - Greenwich Hospital, pictures at, 290-291. - - Gresse’s Gardens, 32. - - Grosvenor Square, Dr. Johnson shakes a thief in, 78. - - Grotto Garden, 82. - - Guilford Street, gap in, 76. - - - Halfpenny Hatch, 270. - - Hanway Street, 31. - - Harley Fields, 24. - - Hartshorn Lane, 299. - - Hat called “Egham, Staines, and Windsor,” 236. - - ---- “Cumberland Cock,” 236. - - Hermes Hill, 241. - - Highgate, view of, from Bloomsbury, 76. - - High Street, a typical, 39. - - Honey Lane Market, 188. - - Hooligan, an eighteenth-century, 29. - - Horse, Stubbs, R.A., carries a dead, 95. - - Horses at Garrick’s funeral, 81. - - Hot Cross Buns, 148-149. - - Hungerford Stairs, 297. - - - Ireland, the Union with, 169. - - Islington, rural delights of, 17. - - ---- seen from Bloomsbury, 76. - - - Jack-in-the-green, 20. - - “Jenny’s Whim,” 259. - - Jew’s Harp House, 22-23. - - “Jolly Undertakers, The,” 213. - - - Kendall’s Farm at Regent’s Park, 24. - - Kentish Town, dairy near, 26. - - ---- Charles Mathews at, 85. - - Kitten in a parachute, 259-260. - - - _Ladies’ Pocket Book_, 79. - - Langham Hotel, 49. - - “Last Supper,” Benjamin West’s, 91. - - Leverian Museum, 191. - - Leyton, Rockhoult House at, 52. - - “Little Sea,” the, 32. - - London, its rural openness in 1777, 75. - - Londoners’ superstitions, 37, 38. - - Long’s Bowling Green, 51. - - Lottery to dispose of Leverian Museum, 191. - - - Marionettes, 68. - - Marylebone, Academy at, 41-46. - - Marylebone Basin, Quaker youth drowned in, 50. - - Marylebone Gardens, 51-68. - - Marylebone Park, 41. - - Marylebone, Old, 39-50. - - Masks over doors, 28. - - May Day, customs on, 19. - - Mayors of Garrat, 127. - - Medals commemorating murder of Sir E. B. Godfrey, 299. - - Middlesex Hospital, 32. - - Millbank, old, 258-259. - - “Milkmaid, A Merry,” 21. - - “Moses, The Finding of,” fashionable version, 85. - - Mother Red-cap Tavern, 25, 26. - - - Nelson, his remains brought to Whitehall, 182. - - Newgate, Smith’s visit to, 178-183. - - ---- auction at, 183-184. - - Newman Street, view from, 46. - - New Wells, the, 52. - - Norris monument in Westminster Abbey, 274. - - Norton Street, 75. - - Nuremberg, Dürer festival at, 261-265. - - - Onions, peeled by Queen Charlotte, 236. - - Otter’s Pool, 157. - - Oxford Street, old tablet, 31. - - - Paddington, a villa at, 312-313. - - Pain’s Hill at Cobham, 289. - - “Papyrius Cursor,” 113. - - Parachute descent, a famous, 259-260. - - Pariton, a musical instrument, 53. - - Parliament Stairs, 173. - - Pax by Tomaso Finiguerra, 309-312. - - Percy Chapel, Charlotte Street, 96. - - Phlebotomist, a busy, 137. - - Pickled Egg Walk, 70. - - Pie Corner, 181. - - Pimlico, formation of, 260. - - Pipes, New River water, 36. - - Poets’ Corner, 240-242. - - Ponds in old Marylebone, 49. - - Porridge Island, 322. - - Portland Place, 48, 49. - - Portland Vase, the, 130. - - Portman Square, chairmen drowned at, 49. - - Portraits, collected by Charles Mathews, 85. - - Portraiture made easy, 119. - - _Post Angel_, a curious journal, 314. - - Printsellers, portrayed by Rowlandson, 122. - - Prize fight, a famous, 33. - - Puddings, worn by children, 11. - - ---- praised by Nollekens, 12. - - Pump in Ironmonger Lane, 235. - - - Queen Anne Street, 48. - - “Queen’s Head and Artichoke,” 22. - - - Rathbone Place, gatherings at, 96. - - Rats’ Castle, 87. - - Rattlesnakes at Islington, 52. - - Regent’s Park, farms near, 24. - - Rembrandt’s Three Trees “improved,” 115. - - “Resurrection Gate,” 27. - - Rockhoult House, 52. - - Rose Tavern at Marylebone, 51, 58. - - Royal Academy, 12, 13, 68. - - ---- two women admitted, 198. - - Runnymede, 99, 101. - - - St. Bartholomew’s Fair, Belzoni at, 186-187. - - St. Clare, Convent of, 162. - - St. George’s Chapel, George III. in, 102. - - St. George’s Fields, riot in, 13. - - St. Giles in the Fields, 28, 29, 197. - - St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields, watermen’s burial ground at, 269. - - St. Paul’s, protection of, from lightning, 173. - - St. Sepulchre’s Church, old custom at, 38, 39. - - St. Stephen’s Chapel, discoveries in, 171-173. - - Salt-box, what was it? 48. - - Scrub, Mrs. Abington as, 318. - - Sculptors enumerated by Smith, 308. - - Sermon by Rowland Hill, 159-160. - - Sermon-monger, Dr. Trusler as a, 55. - - _Serva Padrona, La_, 61. - - Sessions House, Clerkenwell, 47. - - Shakespeare Gallery, Boydell’s, 235. - - Shakespeare, Dr. Kenrick’s lectures on, 63. - - ---- Miss Benger’s lines on, 249. - - ---- his mulberry tree, 250. - - Showman, Flockton the, 186. - - Simon, a London beggar, 87. - - Slack, his fight with Broughton, 33, 34. - - Society of Arts, wall paintings at, 171. - - Soho, watch-house in, 126. - - Soho Square, Sir Joseph Banks in, 229. - - Songs and glees, 155. - - Spinning-wheel Alley, 9. - - Statues, notable London, 308. - - Strand Lane Stairs, scene at, 272-273. - - Stratford Jubilee, 250. - - Surrey Chapel, 158. - - Swan signs on the Thames, 297. - - Swan-upping, 208. - - - Tea-leaves, fortune-telling by, 77. - - Tea-pot, Dr. Johnson’s, 194. - - Teething of children, 8. - - Temple Bar, elephant passes through, 107. - - Tessellated floors, 149. - - Thames, Sandby’s views of, 304. - - Thrale’s Brewery, 78. - - Toplady, buried, 33. - - Topographical collections, 99. - - Tottenham Court Road district, 26 et seq. - - Trusler (Miss), her fruit-tarts and cheesecakes, 56. - - - Ugolino, Sir Joshua Reynolds’s, 281. - - - Vauxhall Gardens, pictures at, 20. - - Venus waited on by footmen, 233. - - Viol-di-gamba, Gainsborough and the, 61. - - Virginia Water, formation of, 102-104. - - - Walnut Tree Field, 33. - - _Waterman, The_, 227-228. - - Waterman’s Hall, portrait in, 226. - - Watermen, Thames, 268-270. - - Watermen’s Burial Ground, 269. - - Westminster Abbey, prize-fighter’s monument in, 34. - - ---- admission to, 241. - - Whips carried by ladies, 79. - - Whitefield’s Tabernacle, 32, 33. - - Whitehall Chapel, repairs of, 273. - - Wigs in England, 251-257. - - Willan’s Farm at Regent’s Park, 23. - - Wimbledon, Horne Tooke at, 209-211. - - Windmill Street, 32. - - Women as Royal Academicians, 198. - - - - -INDEX OF PERSONS - - - Abington (Mrs.), 214-212, 308. - - Adams (George), 151. - - Adams ( John), 139. - - Amherst (Lady), 240. - - Angelo (Michael), 27-28. - - Armstrong (Dr. George), 21. - - Armstrong (Dr. John), 15. - - Arnald, A.R.A., 175, 277. - - Arne (Dr.), 181. - - Arnold (Dr. S.), 62. - - Arnold (S. J.), 213. - - Astley, 270-271. - - Atkinson, 312. - - - Bacon, R.A., 13, 33, 308. - - Baddeley, 64. - - Baillie (Captain), 114. - - Baily, R.A., 309. - - Baker, R.A., 12. - - Baker, 115. - - Banks (Sir Joseph), 229. - - Banks (Mrs.), 229-231. - - Bannister (Charles), 61. - - Bannister (John), 206-207, 320. - - Barbauld (Mrs.), 79. - - Baretti, 47. - - Barrett, R.A., 12. - - Barrington (Hon. Daines), 89. - - Barrow, 42. - - Barry, R.A., 13, 170, 171. - - Bartolozzi, R.A., 12, 82. - - Basire, 111. - - Bates (Dr.), 202. - - Battishill, 154, 155. - - Bean (Rev.), 27. - - Beaumont (Sir G.), 94, 131. - - Beauvais, 119. - - Bell (Dr.), 38. - - Beltz, 237. - - Belzoni, 187-190. - - Benger, 249-250. - - Bentley, 174. - - Beresford, 78. - - Bingham, 26. - - Blake (William), 97, 199. - - Blaquière, 220. - - Blewitt, 153. - - Bonnington, 273. - - Boswell, 147. - - Boydell, 235. - - Brand, 172. - - Breslaw, 68. - - Bretherton, 16, 17. - - Broughton, 33, 34, 226. - - Brown (“Capability”), 288. - - Buchan (Dr.), 184-185. - - Bull, 99. - - Bunbury, 17. - - Burchell, 8. - - Burges (Dr.), 235. - - Burgoyne (General), 96, 216. - - Burke (Edmund), 128, 144. - - Burlington (Lord), 287. - - Burney (Miss), 22. - - Burton, 22. - - Busby (Dr.), 251. - - Bush, 196. - - Buttall, 318. - - Byron (Lord), 18, 108. - - - Caillot, 63, 68. - - Calonne, 276. - - Camelford (Lord), 201. - - Campe, 262. - - Canning (Elizabeth), 135. - - Capper, 30. - - Caracci, 195. - - Carey, 65. - - Carlile, 50. - - Carlini, 13. - - Carr, 283. - - Carr, 240. - - Carter (Elizabeth), 3, 79, 231. - - Carter (John), 173. - - Cartwright (Major), 247-248. - - Catley, 6, 58. - - Catton, R.A., 12. - - Caulfield, 154. - - Chamberlaine, 303. - - Chamberlen, 8. - - Chamberlin, R.A., 12. - - Chambers, R.A., 12, 75. - - Chambers (Sir Robert), 318. - - Chantrey, R.A., 283, 308. - - Charlemont (Earl of), 168-170. - - Charles II., 70. - - Cheesman, 169. - - Chetwood, 3. - - Cholmondeley (Mrs.), 146. - - Christie, 250-251. - - Chun, 25. - - Churchill, 316-317. - - Cibber, 255. - - Cipriani, R.A., 12, 129, 319. - - Clarence (Duke of), 222. - - Clark, 101. - - Clarke (Dr. Adam), 44. - - Cocker, 113. - - Coffey, 2. - - Cole, 111. - - Collins, 258. - - Constable, R.A., 47, 160-162. - - Cooke, 271. - - Coram, 12. - - Cornelius, 262. - - Cosway, R.A., 13, 217. - - Cosway (Maria), 180. - - Cotes, R.A., 12, 164. - - Cowper (Charles), 224. - - Cowper (William), 18, 55. - - Coxe (“Social Day”), 182. - - Cozens, 132. - - Cranch, 162. - - Cremorne (Lord), 253. - - Crowle, 43, 86, 304. - - Cumberland (Duke of), 34. - - Curtis, 271. - - - Dahl, 292. - - Dalton, 303. - - Dance (James), 1. - - Dance, R.A. (George), 1, 204. - - Dance, R.A. (Nathaniel), 12, 237. - - Daniell, R.A., 204. - - Darby, 83. - - Dards, 232. - - David, 180. - - Davies (Tom), 110, 285. - - Dawson (Nancy), 10. - - Dekker, 259. - - De la Place, 41, 42. - - Delaval, 173-175. - - Delpini, 123. - - De Wint, 97. - - Dibdin, 70, 104, 292. - - Dinsdale, 126. - - Doggett, 225-227. - - Dollond, 152. - - Dorset (Duke of), 192. - - Douglas, 100. - - Drury (Dr.), 101. - - Ducarel, 24. - - Ducrow, 271. - - Dunstan, 127-128. - - Dunton, 314. - - Duvall, 253. - - Dürer, Albrecht, 261-265. - - Du Val, 193. - - Dyer, 42. - - Dyot, 87. - - - Easton, 25. - - Edmunds, 106. - - Edridge, A.R.A., 106. - - Edwards, A.R.A., 115. - - Edy, 87. - - Elizabeth (Queen), 22. - - Ellenborough (Lord), 100. - - Esdaile, 273-274, 277. - - Etty, R.A., 305. - - Everdingen, 259. - - - Faber, 5. - - Falkner, 53. - - Farnborough (Lord), 304. - - Fielding (Sir John), 56. - - Finch’s Grotto, 7. - - Finiguerra, 309. - - Fischer, 35. - - Fitzroy, 33. - - Flaxman, R.A., 96, 98, 128, 172, 308. - - Fleetwood, 36. - - Flockton, 68, 186. - - Foote, 1, 108, 135. - - Forde (Dr.), 177. - - Fountayne, 40, 42, 43. - - Fountayne (Mrs.), 44, 45, 59. - - Fourment, 11. - - Francklin, 242-243. - - Frost, 161. - - Fuseli, R.A., 14, 204-205. - - - Gainsborough, R.A., 12, 160, 258, 317. - - Gardner, 89. - - Garnerin, 259-260. - - Garrard, R.A., 289. - - Garrick-- - Seen by Smith, 87. - Farewell of the stage, 70-74, 228. - Death and burial, 80-81. - His eyes, 146. - And Mrs. Pope, 163. - And Mrs. Abington, 215-216. - Presented with a cup, 250-251. - His wigs, 257. - His villa, 284-290. - - Garrick (Mrs.), 236-243, 285-288. - - Gay, 6. - - George III., 5, 101-102, 130, 247, 253. - - George IV., 9, 35, 245, 282. - - Giardini, 61. - - Gilliland, 225. - - Godfrey (Sir E. Berry), 254, 299. - - Goldsmith (Dr.), 17, 57, 257. - - Goodge, 32. - - Gossett (Dr.), 112. - - Gough, 109-110, 140. - - Goyen, 259. - - Granby (Marquis of), 295. - - Green, 166. - - Gresse, 32. - - Greville, 129. - - Griffith, 80. - - Grose (Captain), 105. - - Gubbins, 162. - - Gwynn, R.A., 12. - - - Hamilton (Sir W.), 127. - - Hamilton (Lady), 129, 182. - - Hand, 147. - - Handel, 43. - - Hargrave, 42. - - Harley, 86, 320-321. - - Harrington (Lady), 44. - - Harris, 213. - - Hart (Emma), 129. - - Hartry, 137. - - Hawkins (Sir John), 194. - - Hayman, 13, 20, 317. - - Hearne, 105. - - Heath, 270, 298. - - Heberfield, 258. - - Henderson (John), 81, 121. - - Henderson (William), 85. - - Henry VIII., 301. - - Hewson, 296. - - Heywood, 122. - - Hill (Rowland), 101. - - Hill (Rev. Rowland), 158-159. - - Hillier, 194, 256. - - Hinchliffe (Dr.), 82. - - Hoare, R.A., 13. - - Hoare (Sir R. C.), 93. - - Hogarth-- - In Covent Garden, 5. - And Vauxhall Gardens, 20. - March to Finchley, 30, 33. - His engraver, Sullivan, 34. - Rake’s Progress, 40. - The “Five Orders of Perriwigs,” 104. - Vogue of his prints, 121. - Caricature of Churchill, 317. - - Hogarth (Mrs.), 56. - - Holbein, 301-302. - - Holmes (“Copper”), 150, 268-269. - - Hone, R.A., 12, 97, 134. - - Hone (W.), 9, 20. - - Hopkins, 116. - - Hopkins (“Vulture”), 253. - - Horne (Rev. H.), 314. - - Horneck, 17. - - Howard, R.A., 12. - - Howard of Effingham, 282. - - Huddesford, 93, 103, 183. - - Hudson (Tom of Ten Thousand), 5. - - Hudson (Thomas), 280-281. - - Hughes, 70. - - Humphry, R.A., 97, 109. - - Hunter (Dr. William), 2. - - Huntington (Rev. W.), 211-212. - - Hutchins, 108. - - Hutchinson (“Strap”?), 297. - - - Incledon, 292-293. - - Ireland (Dean), 241. - - Ireland (Samuel), 139. - - - Jackson, 82. - - James I., 76. - - James, 99. - - James (Sir W. J.), 222. - - Janssen, 142. - - Jeffreys (Judge), 140. - - Jennings (or Noel), 233-235. - - Johnson (Dr. Samuel)-- - His mention of John Rann, 38. - Joke about Cuper’s Gardens, 53. - Visits to Marylebone Gardens, 63. - Described by Smith, 77. - Seizes a thief, 78. - Discusses Garrick’s funeral, 81. - His original for Pekuah, 90. - Befriends Paterson, 109. - Discusses the human eye, 146-147. - His death, 194. - With Garrick at Hampton, 289. - - Jones (Inigo), 209. - - Jonson, 299. - - Jordan (Mrs.), 221-223. - - Joslin, 41. - - Junius, 93. - - - Kauffman, R.A., 12, 79, 197, 200. - - Kean, 65. - - Keate, 90. - - Keithe, 25. - - Kendall, 24. - - Kenrick, 63. - - Kett, 94. - - Keyse, 150, 152. - - King, 136. - - Kip, 2, 3. - - Kneller, 5, 21, 291. - - Knight, 245-246. - - Königsmark, 5. - - - Lake (Sir J. W.), 107, 134. - - Lamb (Charles), 160, 223, 241. - - Lambert, 213. - - Langford, 108. - - Lauron, 21. - - Lawrence, R.A., 98, 280. - - Legat, 283. - - Leicester (Sir F.), 99. - - Lely (Sir Peter), 5, 255, 280. - - Lemon, 142-143. - - Lennox, 193. - - Lenox (Lady Sarah), 163. - - Lenox (Charlotte), 79. - - L’Estrange, 149. - - Lever (Sir Ashton), 100, 191. - - Lewis (“Strap”?), 296. - - Lloyd, 17. - - Lloyd (Bishop), 300. - - Locatelli, 46. - - Lochee, 85. - - Lock, 195. - - Lodge, 303. - - Lort (Dr.), 99, 111. - - Love (James), 1. - - Love (artist), 27. - - Lowe, 1, 7, 48, 59. - - - MacArdell, 11. - - Macaulay (Catherine), 80. - - Macauley, 240. - - MacNally, 223. - - Manners-Sutton (Archbishop), 225. - - Marion, 67. - - Marlborough (Duke of), 2. - - Martin, 37. - - Mary Queen of Scots, 76. - - Mathew (Rev. H.), 96. - - Mathew (Mrs.), 128. - - Mathews (Charles), 85. - - Maton (Dr.), 240. - - Maynard (Viscount), 92. - - Mayo (Dr.), 141. - - Meckenen, 9. - - Mendip (Lord), 195. - - Metz, 303. - - Meyer, R.A., 12. - - Meyrick (Dr.), 105, 254. - - Millan, 109. - - Mitchell, 119. - - Mogg, 6. - - Money (Major), 128. - - Monk, 34. - - Monro (Dr.), 105. - - Montagu (Mrs.), 79. - - Montagu (Lady M. W.), 51. - - Montgomery (“Satan”), 96. - - More (Hannah), 80. - - More (Sir T.), 301. - - Morland, 156. - - Moser, R.A., 12, 28, 37, 109. - - Moser, R.A. (Miss), 12, 197. - - “Mother Damnable,” 26. - - Muet, 149. - - Musgrave (Sir W.), 10, 40. - - Musgrave, 116. - - Myddelton (Sir Hugh), 142. - - - Nelson (Admiral Lord), 182. - - Newton, R.A., 12. - - Niven (“Strap”?), 297. - - Nixon, 212. - - Noel (or Jennings), 194. - - Nollekens, R.A., 12, 38. - - Nollekens (Mrs.), 22, 39, 89, 113. - - - Onslow (Speaker), 22. - - Oram, 98, 104. - - Orford (Lord), 35. - - Ottley, 309. - - - Packer, 121. - - Palmer, 123. - - Parkyns, 42. - - Parsons (Sir L.), 169. - - Parsons (Nancy), 92. - - Parton, 196. - - Paterson, 108, 110. - - Peel (Sir R.), 245. - - Penny, R.A., 13. - - Pepys, 228, 302. - - Pergolesi, 61. - - Peters, 160. - - Petitot, 35. - - Phillips (Lieut.-Col.), 145. - - Piozzi, 322. - - Pliny, 3. - - Pope (actor), 163-164. - - Pope (Alexander), 253. - - Pope (Mrs.), 163. - - Pope (Miss), 95. - - Porter, 268. - - Porter (Miss), 48. - - Prickett (Mrs. J. T. Smith), 133. - - Prior, 60. - - Pyne, 19, 24. - - - Rackett, 241-242. - - Ramsay, 313. - - Rann, 38. - - Ratcliffe (Dr.), 5. - - Rawle, 117. - - Rebecca, R.A., 13, 68. - - Reinagle, 129. - - Rembrandt, 9, 115, 278. - - Reynolds (Sir Joshua), 12, 14, 97, 144, 146, 152, 219, 281. - - Rice, 25. - - Rich, 213. - - Richards, R.A., 13, 279. - - Richardson (Dr.), 190, 279. - - Richardson (Jonathan), 18, 19. - - Rigaud, R.A., 319. - - Robins, 5. - - Robinson (“Perdita”), 83. - - Robinson (Sir T.), 52. - - Roma, 76. - - Rooker, 13, 42. - - Rossi, R.A., 308. - - Roubiliac, 274, 308. - - Roupell, 272. - - Rowlandson, 87. - - Roxburgh (Duke of), 99, 176. - - Rubens, 11, 12, 195, 244, 319. - - Rumming, 137. - - Ruysdael, 259. - - Ryland, 198. - - - Salt (Henry), 132. - - Salt (Samuel), 101. - - Sandby, R.A. (Paul), 12, 131, 303. - - Sandby, R.A. (Thomas), 12, 92, 102-103, 303. - - Sandwich (Lord), 96, 104. - - Schneider, 264. - - Schültze, 261. - - Score, 281. - - Scott (Samuel), 104. - - Seago, 87. - - Seguier, 122, 319. - - Serres, R.A., 13. - - Shakespeare, 9. - - Sheridan, R.B., 123, 146, 158. - - Sheridan (Mrs.), 79. - - Sherwin, 83, 84. - - Shovel (Sir Cloudesley), 253. - - Shuter, 35. - - Siddons, 74, 84. - - Slack, 33, 34. - - Smart, 161. - - Smedley, 250, 273-274. - - Smith (Admiral), 4, 278-279. - - Smith (Charles), 27. - - Smith (Nathaniel), 4. - - SMITH (JOHN THOMAS)-- - Birth, 2. - His stick “Bannister,” 78. - Runs to Garrick’s funeral, 80. - Kissed by “Perdita,” 83. - His will, 86. - Sits for head of St. John, 91. - Meets George III., 101-102. - Visits Chunee the elephant, 107. - Thinks of being an actor, 123. - Marries, 132. - Illustrates Pennant, 133. - Lives at Edmonton, 133. - Applies for mastership, 166-168. - Publishes _Antiquities of Westminster_, 202. - Keeper of the Prints, 224. - Publishes _Vagabondiana_, 223. - - Smollett, 296. - - Solly (Mrs.), 242, 290. - - Southey, 37. - - Sprimont, 284. - - Squires, 135. - - Standly, 278. - - Stanfield, R.A., 306. - - Staunton, 3. - - Steevens, 63. - - Stepney (Sir T.), 234. - - Stewart, 309-312. - - Storace, 58. - - Storer, 99. - - Strange (Sir R.), 82, 142. - - Stuart (“Athenian”), 104. - - Stubbs, R.A., 95. - - Sturges, 31. - - Suett, 118. - - Sullivan, 34, 105. - - - Tanner, 8. - - Tarleton (Sir B.), 193. - - Tarr, 2. - - Tatham, 267. - - Taylor, 80, 316-319. - - Thane, 219. - - Thompson, 29. - - Thrale, 78. - - Thynne (Thomas), 5. - - Thynne (Lord John), 241. - - Toms, R.A., 12. - - Tooke, 209-211. - - Topham (Colonel), 153. - - Toplady, 33. - - Torré, 63. - - Townley, 77, 195-196. - - Townsend, 101. - - Townshend, 253-254. - - Towry, 100. - - Trusler (Rev. J.), 45, 55. - - Trusler (Miss), 56. - - Tunnard, 78. - - Turner, R.A., 151. - - Turpin, 59. - - Twigg, 3. - - Tyers, 20, 316, 319. - - Tyler, R.A., 12. - - - Vandyke, 142. - - Veigel (Mrs. Garrick), 287. - - Voltaire, 3. - - - Wale, R.A., 12. - - Wall (Governor), 176-180. - - Walks (Dr.), 255. - - Walpole (Horace), 18, 36, 61, 111, 220-221. - - Walpole (Sir R.), 94. - - Warton, 94. - - Watt, 314. - - Weever, 89. - - Welch, 39. - - Wellington (Duke of), 252. - - Wells (“Mother”), 135. - - Wesley, 33. - - West, 313. - - West, P.R.A. (Benjamin), 12, 91, 129, 195. - - Westmacott, R.A., 308. - - Weston, 208. - - White, 202. - - Whitefield, 24, 32, 33. - - Whitefield (Mrs.), 33. - - Whitefoord, 113. - - Wigston, 156, 157. - - Wilkes, 13, 15-16, 75, 93. - - Willan, 23. - - Willes (Sir J. S.), 157. - - William III., 281-282, 315. - - William IV., 291. - - Wilmot, 15, 16. - - Wilson, R.A., 5, 12, 47, 75. - - Wilton, R.A., 12, 318. - - Wilton (Miss), 318. - - Winchilsea (Earl of), 192. - - Winston, 62. - - Woffington, 21. - - Wolcot (Dr.), 119-120. - - Wolsey (Cardinal), 141. - - Woodforde, 95. - - Woodhouse, 116. - - Woodhull, 117. - - Woollett, 253, 307. - - Worlidge, 117. - - Wrighten, 153. - - Wroth (Sir H.), 140. - - Wyatt, 92. - - Wyatt, R.A., 13, 172. - - Wynn (Sir W. W.), 238. - - - Yates, 35. - - Yates (Mrs.), 44. - - Yeo, R.A., 12. - - - Zoffany, R.A., 13, 285. - - Zuccarelli, R.A., 13. - - Zucchero, 76, 282. - - Zucchi, A.R.A., 13, 81, 200. - -_Printed by MORRISON & GIBB LIMITED, Edinburgh_ - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's A Book for a Rainy Day, by John Thomas Smith - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BOOK FOR A RAINY DAY *** - -***** This file should be named 54693-0.txt or 54693-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/4/6/9/54693/ - -Produced by MWS and the Online Distributed Proofreading -Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from -images generously made available by The Internet -Archive/American Libraries.) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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